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Sir Edward Blakeney was born the 4th son of Colonel William Blakeney. He was captured in the expedition to Dutch Guiana in 1796 and was subjected to great hardship. He served in the war in Holland in 1799 and transferred several times before joining the Royal Fusiliers in 1804. He commanded the 1st Battalion from 1808 and took them to the Peninsula to fight under Arthur Wellesley. He was at Busaco, and Albuhera where he was badly wounded in the leg. He commanded both battalions at Aldea da Ponte in 1811 after Lt-Col Myers of the 2nd Battalion was killed at Albuhera. He fought at Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz, again badly wounded. He was at Vittoria and Pamplona in 1813, also the Pyrenees and Nivelle. He took part in the fateful battle of New Orleans in 1815 and was with the regiment in France after the battle of Waterloo. He commanded a brigade in Portugal under Henry Clinton in 1826. In Ireland he had command of the army at a time when there was great starvation and unrest. His marriage to Maria Gardiner produced no children. He died at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in 1868 and was buried at Oak Lane Cemetery in Twickenham.
1778 Born 26th March at Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
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