Patrick Wauchope (officer)

Patrick Wauchope, of Edmonstone (born January 26, 1750 , † March 31, 1807 in Rosetta , Egypt ) was a Scottish officer in the British Army during the Coalition Wars , most recently in the rank of major-general .

Life

He came from the Edmonstone line of the Midlothian- based Laird family Wauchope . His father was James Don-Wauchope, of Edmonstone , his mother Christian Inglis , daughter of Sir John Inglis of Cramond, 2nd Baronet .

As usual for a younger son of the lower landed gentry, he decided to pursue a military career. From 1789 he was major in the 50th Regiment of Foot , in 1793/94 he rose to lieutenant colonel , replacing William Edmeston as the regiment's commanding officer. Under Wauchope's leadership, the regiment took part in the British invasion of Corsica in early summer 1794 ; Wauchope himself served as military governor of Ajaccio the following year . He became the beginning of 1797 Brevet - Colonel promoted. In early 1801 he received the rank of Brigadier General and was transferred to the West Indies . The next promotion to major-general took place in September 1803 .

In March 1807, Wauchope was involved in the Alexandria expedition against Ottoman Egypt under General Mackenzie-Fraser : On March 17th, around 6000 British soldiers landed near the city of Alexandria , which was occupied by March 20th without major problems. Subsequently, the surrounding area should also be secured in order to enable the troops and residents in Alexandria to be supplied with food. General Fraser was planning to this end the occupation of the city Rosetta on the west Nile -Mündung and the south of it Rahmaniyyah . Patrick Wauchope was in command of this venture, accompanied by the lower-ranking Brigadier General Meade . They were assigned about 1,500 men (a quarter of the entire force), consisting of the 31st Regiment of Foot and the Chasseurs Britanniques . Fraser's decision to send only 1,500 men was a serious strategic mistake, as Rosetta was controlled by Muhammad Ali's elite Albanian troops and the British association was far too small to conquer the city. On the other hand, the troops were far too numerous for an advance guard ; Alexandria was also about 60 kilometers from Rosetta, out of range for rapid reinforcements.

On March 31, Wauchope's association reached the Aboumandour ridge before Rosetta after three days of march. There was no sign of enemy activity in the town below, which is why Wauchope assumed that the garrison had withdrawn from the advancing British. Without first sending scouts in advance, he now ordered to march into the city. This was a catastrophic mistake because the Albanians had set an ambush . In the maze of alleys, the British were suddenly shot at from the roofs and from the windows. Wauchope was fatally wounded and Meade was seriously injured in the head. A lieutenant-colonel took command and initiated a reasonably orderly retreat to Alexandria. 185 men were killed and around 280 wounded during the fighting.

In April a second advance on Rosetta followed under General Stewart , this time with 2,500 men, but it also failed.

Footnotes

1. ↑ Date of birth according to www.thepeerage.com : General Patrick Wauchope (based on Burke's Peerage );
   Date of death according to The Scots Magazine and Edinburgh Literary Miscellany , Volume 69, 1807, p. 638 ( Deaths ).
2. ^ Colonel of the Regiment was Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, 6th Baronet ; however, this position was largely ceremonial.
3. ↑ Steve Brown, www.napoleon-series.org: British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 50th Regiment of Foot
4. ↑ Sir John William Fortescue: A History of The British Army , Volume 6 (1807-1809), Macmillan, London 1910, Chapter XIV, pp. 13-17 ( available online )