Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-06-23T01:24:12Z

robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:54, 23 June 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=July ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=July 2020}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| name =Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham		\| name =Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

2022-06-23T01:24:12Z

robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:54, 23 June 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=July ~~2020~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=July 2022}}
	{{Infobox military person		{{Infobox military person
	\| name =Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham		\| name =Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham
Line 23:		Line 23:
	\| laterwork =		\| laterwork =
	}}		}}
	[[Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|KCB\|KCH}} (29 January 1772 – 19 January 1841), whose Christian names were contracted by himself and his friends into "Samford", was a British and Spanish army officer during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Following the conflict he served in the British Army ~~predominately~~ in India.		[[Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|KCB\|KCH}} (29 January 1772 – 19 January 1841), whose Christian names were contracted by himself and his friends into "Samford", was a British and Spanish army officer during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Following the conflict he served in the British Army predominantly in India.

	==Biography==		==Biography==
Line 70:		Line 70:
	;Attribution		;Attribution
	*{{DNBIE\|title=Whittingham, Samuel Ford\|page=960}}		*{{DNBIE\|title=Whittingham, Samuel Ford\|page=960}}
	*{{DNB\|last=Vetch \|first=Robert Hamilton \|wstitle=Whittingham, Samuel Ford \|volume=61 \|pages=148-150}} Endnotes:		*{{DNB\|last=Vetch \|first=Robert Hamilton \|authorlink=Robert Hamilton Vetch\|wstitle=Whittingham, Samuel Ford \|volume=61 \|pages=148-150}} Endnotes:
	**''War Office Records'';		**''War Office Records'';
	**''Despatches'';		**''Despatches'';

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Removing :Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 March 25#Category:Royal Guelphic Order

2021-04-14T10:04:06Z

Removing Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 March 25#Category:Royal Guelphic Order

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
| name =Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham
| image =Samuel Ford Whittingham.jpg
| caption =Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham
| birth_date =29 January 1772
| birth_place = [[Bristol]]
| death_date =19 January 1841
| death_place = [[Madras Presidency]], British India
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial = [[Fort St. George, India|Fort George]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| allegiance ={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom <br/> Spain
| branch =[[Image:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]] <br/>[[Spanish Army]]
| serviceyears = 1803–1841
| rank =[[Lieutenant-General]]
| unit =
| commands =[[Madras Army]]
| battles =[[Napoleonic Wars]]
| awards =[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[Lieutenant General]] '''Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB|KCH}} (29 January 1772 – 19 January 1841), whose Christian names were contracted by himself and his friends into "Samford", was a British and Spanish army officer during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Following the conflict he served in the British Army predominately in India.

==Biography==
Whittingham was the elder son and second child of William Whittingham of [[Bristol]]. Born in Bristol on 29 January 1772, Samuel Ford was educated at Bristol and was intended for the law. He was determined to become a soldier, but unwilling to oppose his father's wishes during his lifetime, he temporarily entered the mercantile house of his brother-in-law, travelling for it in Spain.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=148}}

In 1797 he was enrolled at Bristol in the mounted volunteers, a force organised among the wealthier citizens following a threatened French invasion. On his father's death, on 12 September 1801 (aged 60), at Earl's Mead, Bristol, Samford, who was in Spain, became independent, and took steps to enter the army. On his return to England he was gazetted ensign on 20 January 1803. He bought a lieutenancy on 25 February, and was brought into the [[1st Life Guards]] on 10 March the same year. He went to the military college at [[High Wycombe]], and joined his regiment in London towards the end of 1804. Introduced by [[Thomas Murdoch (merchant)|Thomas Murdoch]], an influential merchant, to [[William Pitt the Younger]], the then [[Prime Minister (UK)|Prime Minister]], as an officer whose knowledge of the Spanish language would be useful, Whittingham was sent by Pitt at the end of 1804 on a secret mission to the [[Peninsula War|Iberian Peninsula]], and during absence promoted, on 14 February 1805, to be captain in the [[20th Foot]]. On his return he was complimented by Pitt, and on 13 June 1805 he was transferred to the command of a troop in the [[13th Light Dragoons]].{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=148}}

On 12 November 1806 Whittingham sailed from Portsmouth as deputy-assistant quartermaster-general of the force, under Brigadier-general [[Robert Craufurd]], intended for [[Lima]]; but on arrival at the [[Cape of Good Hope]] on 15 March 1807 its destination was changed, and on 13 June it reached [[Montevideo]], recently captured by Sir [[Samuel Auchmuty (British Army officer)|Samuel Auchmuty]]. General [[John Whitelocke]] had arrived to take command of the combined forces, and as Whittingham's staff appointment ceased on the amalgamation of the forces, Whitelocke made him an extra [[aide-de-camp]] to himself. He took part in the disastrous attack on [[British invasions of the River Plate|Buenos Aires]] and in the capitulation on 6 July, and sailed for England on 30 July. He gave evidence before the general court-martial, by which Whitelocke was tried in London in February and March 1808. Owing to his having served on Whitelocke's personal staff, Whittingham's position was a delicate one; but he acquitted himself with discretion.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=148}}

Whittingham was immediately afterwards appointed deputy-assistant quartermaster-general on the staff of the army in [[Sicily]]. On arrival at [[Gibraltar]], however, he acted temporarily as assistant military secretary to Lieutenant-general [[Sir Hew Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, of High Mark|Sir Hew Dalrymple]], the governor, and, hearing of a projected campaign of the Spaniards under [[Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén|Don Xavier Castaños]] against the French, obtained leave to join Castaños as a volunteer, with instructions to report in detail to Dalrymple on the progress of affairs. This special duty was approved from home on 2 July 1808, and on the 18th of the same month Whittingham was appointed a deputy-assistant quartermaster-general to the force under Sir [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]], but was ordered to remain with Castaños. He took part under La Peña on 18 July 1808 in the victorious [[battle of Baylen]], and for his services was made a colonel of cavalry in the Spanish army on 20 July.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|pp=148,149}}

On his recovery from a severe attack of rheumatic fever, Whittingham was sent to [[Seville]] on a mission from the [[Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duke of the Infantado|Duke of Infantado]], and in February 1809 joined the army corps of the [[Jose Maria de la Cueva, 14th Duke of Alburquerque|Duke of Alburquerque]] in [[La Mancha]], where he took part in several cavalry affairs with such distinction that he was promoted to be brigadier-general in the Spanish army, to date from 2 March 1809. He was present at the [[battle of Medellin]] on 28 March, when the Spanish general [[Gregorio García de la Cuesta|Cuesta]] was defeated by the French general [[Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno|Victor-Perrin]]. On this occasion Whittingham re-formed the routed cavalry and led them against the enemy. He reported constantly throughout these campaigns to the British minister in Spain, [[John Hookham Frere]], as to the state and operations of the Spanish army.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}}

A short time previous to Wellesley's advance into Spain Whittingham joined the British headquarters on the frontier of Portugal, and became the medium of communication with the Spanish general Cuesta. On 28 July at the [[battle of Talavera]] he was severely wounded when gallantly bringing up two Spanish battalions to the attack, and was mentioned in Sir Arthur Wellesley's despatch of 29 July 1809. He went to Seville to recover, and lived with the British minister, Lord Wellesley; employing himself during his convalescence in translating Dundas's ''Cavalry Movements'' into Spanish. He was promoted to be major-general in the Spanish army on 12 August.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}}

On the appointment of Castaños to be captain-general of [[Andalusia]], Whittingham became one of his generals of division. At [[Isla-de-Leon]], whither he went by Sir Arthur Wellesley's direction to see General [[Francisco Javier Venegas|Venegas]] about the defence of Cadiz, he was given the command of the Spanish cavalry, which he remodelled upon British lines.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}}

Whittingham served in command of a force of Spanish cavalry and infantry under [[Manuel la Peña|La Peña]] at the [[battle of Barrosa]], on 5 March 1811, and kept in check a French corps of cavalry and infantry which attempted to turn the Barossa heights by the seaward side. In June he went to [[Palma, Majorca]], with the title of inspector-general of division, and, in spite of the opposition and intrigues of Don Gregorio Cuesta, captain-general of the Balearic Islands, raised a cavalry corps two thousand strong, and established in February 1812 a college in Palma for the training of officers and cadets of his division.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}}

On 24 July 1812 the Majorca division embarked for the eastern coast of Spain to co-operate with the troops under [[Lord William Bentinck]] from Sicily. In October Whittingham's corps (increased to seven thousand) was employed on outpost duty with its headquarters at [[Muchamiel]], three miles from [[Alicante]]. In March 1813 Whittingham was appointed inspector-general of both the cavalry and infantry troops of his division. He was engaged on the 7th of the month in the [[battle of Xegona|affair of Xegona]], and on the 15th in the [[battle of Concentayña|affair of Concentayña]] was wounded by a musket-ball in the right cheek, and was on both occasions most favourably mentioned by [[Sir John Murray, 8th Baronet|Sir John Murray]] in despatches. On 13 April he took part in the victorious [[battle of Castalla]], and was again mentioned in despatches. When Murray invested [[Tarragona]] on 3 June Whittingham's division occupied the left. On [[Louis Gabriel Suchet|Suchet's]] advance to relieve the place Whittingham vainly suggested to Murray that a corps of observation should be left before Tarragona, and that Murray should move to meet Suchet with all his force. The siege was raised. Murray was relieved in command of the army by Lord William Bentinck, and Whittingham covered the retreat, checking and repulsing the French column in pursuit, and joining the main army again at [[Cambrils]]. In July he was given the command of the cavalry of the II and III army corps in addition to his own division.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}}

In March 1814 Whittingham escorted King [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]] in his progress to [[Madrid]], and was presented with a mosaic snuffbox by the king, who on 16 June 1814 promoted him to be lieutenant-general in the Spanish army. On 4 June Wellington wrote from Madrid to the Duke of York, in anticipation of Whittingham's return home: "He has served most zealously and gallantly from the commencement of the war in the peninsula, and I have had every reason to be satisfied with his conduct in every situation in which he has been placed".{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}} Whittingham was promoted to be colonel in the British army and appointed aide-de-camp to the prince regent from the date of Wellington's letter.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=149}}

In January and February 1815 Whittingham gave evidence in London before the general court-martial for the trial of Sir John Murray. On 3 May he was made a companion of the [[order of the Bath]], and also knighted. On Napoleon's escape from Elba Whittingham returned to Spain, at the special request of King Ferdinand, who conferred upon him the [[Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand|grand cross of the order of San Fernando]]. He was employed as a lieutenant-general in the Spanish army under General Castaños. When the war was over he resided at Madrid, enjoying the favour of the court, and using for good such influence as he possessed with the king. In July 1819 he took leave of the Spanish court, upon accepting the [[Governor of Dominica|Lieutenant-governorship of Dominica]]. Sir [[Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley|Henry Wellesley]] wrote at this time to [[Lord Castlereagh]], expressing the sense he entertained of Whittingham's services both during the war and after, and reporting that he left Spain with the testimony of all ranks in his favour, "but without any other reward from the government for the valuable services rendered by him to the Spanish cause than that of being allowed to retain his rank in the Spanish army".{{sfn|Vetch|1900|pp=149,150}} His private means had been reduced by losses, and he was at this time a poor man with an increasing family. He arrived at Dominica on 28 March 1820. On his departure to take up the appointment, dated 5 October 1821, of quartermaster-general of the king's troops in India, the inhabitants presented him with the grand cross of San Fernando set in diamonds, while the non-resident proprietors of estates in the island gave him a sword of honour. On his arrival in England he was made a knight commander of the [[Hanoverian Guelphic Order]].{{sfn|Vetch|1900|pp=149,150}}

Whittingham reached Calcutta on 2 November 1822. He was busy in 1824 with the preparations for the expedition to Ava, and in November of that year with the [[Barrackpur Mutiny]]. On 27 May 1825 he was promoted to be major-general, retaining his appointment as quartermaster-general until a command became vacant. He took part in the [[siege of Bhartpur]], was slightly wounded on 13 January 1826, but was present at the capture on the 18th. He was made a knight commander of the order of the Bath, military division, on 26 December, for his services at Bhartpur, and received the thanks of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. In February 1827 he was appointed to command the [[Cawnpore Division]]. On 1 November 1830 he was transferred to the [[Mirat Command]], on exchange with Sir [[Jasper Nicholl]]. His tenure of command came to an end in August 1833, and he then acted temporarily as military secretary to his old commander, Lord William Bentinck, the governor-general, with whom he returned to England in 1835.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=150}}

On arrival in England in July he was near fighting a duel with Sir [[William Francis Patrick Napier|William Napier]], on account of the slur which he considered that Napier had cast on the Spanish troops in his ''History of the War in the Peninsula'', but the matter was arranged by Sir [[Rufane Donkin]]. In October 1836 Whittingham was appointed to the command of the forces in the [[Windward Islands|Windward]] and [[Leeward Islands]] of the [[West Indies]]. He sailed for Barbados on 22 December, with the local, exchanged in a few months for the substantive, rank of lieutenant-general. In September 1839 he was given the command of the [[Madras Army]]; he arrived at Madras on 1 August 1840, and died there suddenly on 19 January 1841. He was buried with military honours at [[Fort St. George, India|Fort George]] on the following day, salutes being fired at the principal military stations of the presidency. A tablet to his memory was placed in the garrison church, Madras.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=150}}

==Works==
Whittingham published:{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=150}}
*(1811) ''Primera Parte de la Táctica de la Caballeria Inglesa traducida'', [[8vo]]
*(1815) ''A System of Manœuvres in Two Lines''
*''A System of Cavalry Manœuvres in Line'', London and Madrid, [[8vo]].

He was the author of several unpublished papers on military and political subjects, which in 1900 were in possession of the family. A list of them is given in the ''Memoir of Whittingham's Services'' (1868), which has as frontispiece a portrait engraved by H. Adlard from an original miniature.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=150}}

==Family==
Whittingham married at Gibraltar, in January 1810, Donna Magdalena, elder of twin daughters of Don Pedro de Creus y Ximenes, intendant of the Spanish royal armies, by whom he had a large family, and several of his sons were in the army.{{sfn|Vetch|1900|p=150}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Lee |first=Sidney |authorlink=Sidney Lee |year=1903| title=[[Dictionary of National Biography]] Index and Epitome |page=[https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofnati00leesuoft#page/1401/mode/1up 1401]}}
;Attribution
*{{DNBIE|title=Whittingham, Samuel Ford|page=960}}
*{{DNB|last=Vetch |first=Robert Hamilton |wstitle=Whittingham, Samuel Ford |volume=61 |pages=148-150}} Endnotes:
**''War Office Records'';
**''Despatches'';
**''Royal Military Cal.'' 1820;
**''Gent. Mag.''' 1841;
** ''Memoir of the Services of Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham, &c.,'' edited by Major-general Ferdinand Whittingham, C.B., [[8vo]], London, 1868, new edit. same year;
**Southey's ''Peninsular War'';
** Watt's ''Bibl. Brit.'';
** Allibone's ''Dict. of English Lit.'';
** Cannon's ''Regimental Records of the 71st Highland Light Infantry''.

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Jasper Nicolls|Sir Jasper Nicolls]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Madras Army|C-in-C, Madras Army]]|years=1839–1841}}
{{s-aft|after=[[George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale|The Marquess of Tweeddale]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittingham, Samuel Ford}}
[[Category:1772 births]]
[[Category:1841 deaths]]
[[Category:Governors of Dominica]]
[[Category:Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army generals]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Spanish generals]]
[[Category:Commanders-in-chief of Madras]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]

Samuel Ford Whittingham - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

Bot: robot: Create/upgrade articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Removing :Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2021 March 25#Category:Royal Guelphic Order