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			{{Short description\|British Army general}}
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{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name =Sir Thomas Beckwith
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Thomas Sydney Beckwith
| birth_date = 17 February 1770<ref>''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975''</ref>
| death_date = 15 January 1831 (aged 61)
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place = [[Ford, Northumberland]], England
| death_place = [[Mahabaleshwar]], [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay]], British India<ref>''India, Select Deaths and Burials, 1719-1948''</ref>
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| allegiance ={{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]
| branch =[[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]]
| serviceyears =
| rank =[[Lieutenant-General]]
| unit =
| commands =[[Bombay Army]]
| battles =[[War of 1812]]
| awards =[[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
| relations =
| spouse = {{marriage|Lady Mary Douglas|1817}}
}}
[[Lieutenant-General]] '''Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB}} (17 February 1770{{snd}}15 January 1831) was an English officer of the [[British Army]] who served as [[quartermaster general]] of the British forces in [[Canada]] during the [[War of 1812]], and a commander-in-chief of the [[Bombay Army]] during the [[British Raj]].<ref name=odnb>Stephens, H. M. (2004). [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1915?docPos=1 Beckwith, Sir Thomas Sydney (1772–1831)], rev. Roger T. Stearn, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press.</ref> He is most notable for his distinguished service during the [[Peninsular War]] and for his contributions to the development and command of the [[95th Rifles]].<ref>Urban, M. (2003). ''Rifles: Six years with Wellington's legendary sharpshooters.'' Faber and Faber.</ref>

==Family==
His father was Major General [[John Beckwith (major-general)|John Beckwith]], who commanded the [[Lancashire Fusiliers|20th Regiment of Foot]]. His brothers were Captain John Beckwith, Sir [[George Beckwith (British Army Officer)|George Beckwith]] and Brigadier General Ferdinand Beckwith. He was also the uncle of Major-General [[John Charles Beckwith (British Army Officer)|John Charles Beckwith]]. He entered the Army himself in 1791, joining the [[71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot]], and served with them in India.<ref name=odnb/>

In 1817, he married Lady Mary Douglas, eldest daughter of [[Sir William Douglas, 4th Baronet|Sir William Douglas, 4th Baronet of Kelhead]]. His wife, whose brothers [[Charles Douglas, 6th Marquess of Queensberry|Charles]] and [[John Douglas, 7th Marquess of Queensberry|John]] succeeded as [[Marquess of Queensberry]], was elevated to the rank of a daughter of a marquess by royal warrant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lodge |first1=Edmund |title=The Peerage of the British Empire as at present existing: To which is added the Baronetage |date=1849 |publisher=Saunders and Otley |page=[https://archive.org/details/peerageofbritish00lodg/page/443 443] |url=https://archive.org/details/peerageofbritish00lodg |quote=Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith. |accessdate=27 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Their only son, Thomas Sydney Beckwith, was a captain in the Rifle Brigade, and died in Gibraltar on 21 March 1828.<ref name=odnb />

==Service with the 95th Rifles==
In 1800, he was appointed to command a company in Colonel [[Coote Manningham]]'s "Experimental Corps of Riflemen", which later was designated the 95th Regiment and subsequently the [[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|Rifle Brigade]]. He was promoted to Major within the Corps in 1802. The next year, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and took command of the 1st Battalion. Beckwith was one of the favourite officers of Sir [[John Moore (British Army officer)|John Moore]] in the famous camp of [[Shorncliffe Redoubt|Shorncliffe]], and aided that general in the training of the troops which afterwards became the [[Light Division]].<ref name=odnb/>

He served on the expeditions to [[Hanover Expedition|Hanover]] in 1806 and [[Copenhagen Expedition|Copenhagen]] in 1807, before joining the [[Peninsular War#British intervention|expedition to the Peninsula]] under Major General [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]]. He took part in the [[Battle of Vimeiro]], and the expedition into Spain under Sir John Moore, in which the Rifles bore the brunt of the rearguard fighting.<ref name=odnb/>

The next year, he returned to Portugal and was appointed to command the 1st Brigade of the Light Division. Beckwith took part in [[Robert Craufurd|Craufurd]]'s great march to the field of [[Talavera de la Reina|Talavera]]. In 1810, during the French invasion of Portugal, he was present at the [[Battle of the Coa]] and the [[Battle of Busaco]]. During the subsequent operations to drive the French from Portugal, he fought at the [[Battle of Fuentes de Onoro]], and distinguished himself at the [[Battle of Sabugal]].<ref name=odnb/>

==Quartermaster General==
In 1812, he was appointed Assistant [[Quartermaster General]] to the British forces in [[British North America|North America]]. As such, he went to [[Bermuda]] to command a force that he divided into two brigades, one composed of the [[New South Wales Corps|102nd Regiment of Foot]] (which had 'til then been stationed at [[St. George's Garrison, Bermuda|St. George's Garrison]] as part of the [[Bermuda Garrison]]), Royal Marines, and a company of Independent Foreigners recruited from French prisoners-of-war, was under the command of the commanding officer of the 102nd Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel [[Charles James Napier]] (who was also his second-in-command), and the other under Lieutenant-Colonel Williams of the Royal Marines.<ref>{{cite book |last=Napier, K.C.B. |first=Lieutenant-General Sir William Francis Patrick |author-link= |date=1857 |title=The Life and Opinions of General Sir Charles James Napier, G.C.B. Volume I (of IV) |url= |location=London, England |publisher=John Murray, Albemarle Street |page= |isbn=}}</ref>

Beckwith went in command of this force to [[Chesapeake Bay]] in 1813.<ref name=Elting80>{{cite book|last=Elting|first=John R.|title=Amateurs to Arms: a Military History of the War of 1812|date=22 August 1995|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=0-306-80653-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/amateurstoarmsmi00elti/page/80 80]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/amateurstoarmsmi00elti/page/80}}</ref> At the [[Battle of Craney Island]], Beckwith's troops, 700 Royal Marines and soldiers of the 102nd Regiment of Foot along with a company of Independent Foreigners, came ashore at Hoffler's Creek near the mouth of the Nansemond River to the west of Craney Island on the morning of June 22, 1813, and were repulsed by shore batteries while attempting to land.<ref>Forester, C. S. ''The Age of Fighting Sail'', New English Library, {{ISBN|0-939218-06-2}}.</ref> He subsequently captured [[Hampton, Virginia]] but the men of the Independent Companies misbehaved, giving Beckwith's troops an evil reputation for atrocities.<ref name=Elting80/>

In 1814, he was promoted to Major General and appointed Quartermaster General to the troops in Canada under Sir [[George Prevost]]. Prevost's expedition into New York was defeated at the [[Battle of Plattsburgh]]. The Peninsular veterans in the force considered that Prevost and his staff (including Beckwith) were at least partly responsible for the defeat (in Beckwith's case, for failure to provide sufficient intelligence on the geography and enemy dispositions).<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitsman|first=J. Mackay|title=The Incredible War of 1812|year=1999|publisher=Robin Brass Studio|isbn=1-896941-13-3|page=255}}</ref>

Beckwith was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] in 1812 and a [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] in 1815. In 1827, he was made Colonel Commandant of his old corps, the Rifle Brigade.<ref name=odnb/>

==Later service in India==
In 1829, he was appointed Commander in Chief of the [[Bombay Army]]. In 1830, he was promoted Lieutenant General, but died of fever the following year at [[Mahableshwar]].<ref name=odnb/>

==See also==
* [[Baker rifle]]
* [[History of British light infantry]]
* [[British Army during the Napoleonic Wars]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{DictCanbio|ID=2749}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Beckwith, Sir Thomas Sydney|volume=3|pages=610–611}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Beckwith, Thomas Sydney |first=Henry Morse|last= Stephens|volume=4}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Andrew Barnard|Sir Andrew Barnard]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Colonel-Commandant of the 2nd Battalion,<br /> [[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|Rifle Brigade]] | years=1827–1831}}
{{s-aft|after=[[George Ridout Bingham|Sir George Ridout Bingham]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Bradford|Sir Thomas Bradford]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bombay Army|C-in-C, Bombay Army]]|years=1829–1832}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Colin Halkett|Sir Colin Halkett]]}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Governor of Bombay]]
| before= [[John Malcolm|Sir John Malcolm]]
| after= [[John Romer (politician)|John Romer]]
| years= 1830–1831 }}

{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Thomas Sydney}}
[[Category:1770 births]]
[[Category:1831 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:British Army generals]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation Ontario people]]
[[Category:Rifle Brigade officers]]
[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]
[[Category:Commanders-in-chief of Bombay]]
[[Category:71st Highlanders officers]]
[[Category:People from Ford, Northumberland]]

Thomas Sydney Beckwith - Revision history

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