Hon Charles Colville


General Hon Sir Charles Colville GCB GCH served in the 13th Regiment of Foot for 19 years during which time he was with them in the West Indies, the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and Egypt in 1801. He commanded the regiment at Gibraltar until they returned in 1805 and was highly praised by the Governor there for his handling of the outbreak of a fatal sickness. At Martinique he commanded the 2nd Brigade of Prevost's Division. In the Peninsula he was highly regarded by Wellington, but was badly wounded at the storming of the Trinidad bastion at Badajoz. He was present at Fuentes de Onoro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Vittoria, Nivelle, Nive and Bayonne. He superintended the final embarkation of the last English troops from France in 1814. His division at Waterloo was not heavily engaged but it was Charles Colville who called for the surrender of the Old Imperial Guard and received the famous reply from General Pierre Cambronne "Merde!" The last action in the war with Napoleonic France was Cambrai. Wellington compensated Colville for his lack of opportunity for glory at Waterloo by giving him the task of capturing this stubborn outpost that had stayed loyal to their Emperor. He achieved his objective with remarkably few casualties.

As governor of Mauritius, from 17 June 1828 to 3 Feb 1833, he was there at the time of a slave revolt against the crown. The slave owners were extremely hostile to to any reforms of the slave's working conditions. In 1830 he reported bad feeling against Britain and a general refusal to pay taxes.

1770 Born 7 Aug
1781 Ensign in 28th Regiment, 26 Dec
1787 Joined 28th as a Lieutenant
1791 Captain in 13th Regiment, May
1795 Major, 1 Sep
1796 Lieutenant-Colonel, 26 Aug
1798 Irish Rebellion
1800 Ferrol, Spain
1801 Egypt
1803 Commanded the 13th Regiment of Foot until 1812
1805 Colonel
1808 West Indies
1809 Brigadier-General
1809 Commanded Brigade at the capture of Martinique
1810 Major-General, 25 July
1810 Commanded Brigade in Peninsula
1811 Commanded the infantry at El Bodon
1812 Badajoz. Commanded 4th Division. Wounded
1814 Command of 5th Division at Bayonne
1815 GCB, March
1815 Colonel of 94th Regiment. Disbanded 1818
1815 Command of 4th Division at Waterloo
1815 Captured the fortress of Cambrai
1818 Married Jane Mure
1819 Lieutenant-General
1919 Commander-in-Chief, Bombay
1823 Colonel of 74th Regiment, 13 Jun
1828 Governor of Mauritius, until 1833
1834 Colonel of 14th Regiment, 12 Dec
1835 Colonel of 5th Regiment of Foot, 25 Mar
1837 General, 10 Jan
1843 Died on 27th March at Rosslyn House, Hampstead


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