James Frederick Lyon

Sir James Frederick Lyon (* 1775 on the Atlantic Ocean , † October 16, 1842 in Brighton , England) was Lieutenant General in the British Army and Governor of Barbados . He was knighted as a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Guelph Order and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath .

Life

Lyon was the son of Captain James Lyon († 1775) and Mary b. Hamilton. He was born on board a transport ship on his way home from America. His father had died there in the Battle of Bunker Hill . Lyon married Anne, daughter of Edward Coxe von Hampstead.

Act

On August 4, 1791, Lyon joined the 25th Infantry Regiment of Sussex as an ensign . On April 26, 1793 he was made lieutenant . On board the Marlborough he took part as leader of a division of the 25th Infantry Regiment (according to other sources 24th Regiment) in May and June 1794 under Admiral Richard Howe in the naval battles of the English Channel Fleet against France. He became captain on April 5, 1795 and major on February 21, 1799 . After several other missions, the 97th Infantry Regiment took part in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. With this regiment he took part, now as a commander, in the war on the Spanish peninsula from 1808 to 1811. During this time he received a medal and a clasp for the Battle of Vimeiro and the Battle of Talavera . Lyon and his regiment also took part in the Battle of Buçaco and the first victory at Badajoz . In 1811 he received the post of Colonel . From June 1813, Lyon was sent to northern Germany. There he supported the establishment and organization of Hanover's new army and was then a division leader under Wallmoden in the campaign in Mecklenburg and Holstein in autumn 1813, including in the Göhrde . This was followed by the use in the siege of Hamburg until 1814. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to major general. During the campaign in 1815 he led the 6th Brigade of the Hanoverian Army . The brigade was not involved in the Battle of Waterloo . Her job was to cover Hal . After the Wars of Liberation, he represented General von Alten as Commander-in-Chief of the Hanoverian Army. From 1817, military command duties followed on the islands over the leeward . On September 7, 1829 he was appointed Colonel of the 24th Infantry Regiment (later South Wales Borderers ) and remained so until his death. In 1830 he rose to lieutenant general.

From 1829 to 1833, Lyon was also used as governor of Barbados . He left a lasting impression, because it is thanks to his approval that people of color could also vote there. On the other hand, he financed the construction work after a hurricane out of pocket. In 2006 a postage stamp was issued in his honor.

literature

• Gisela Hummel (Ed.): Too few tents, not even enough straw. The less glamorous location of the Hanoverian army after Waterloo. Letters of the Hanover High Command (= Welfenschriften , Vol. 91), A5 brochure (almost 50 pages) with a selection of transcribed letters from the letter book , Lower Saxony Main State Archive Hanover , signature Hann. 41 XXI No. 100 , Wedmark: Selbstverlag, 2014, passim