Sir James Carmichael-Smyth, 1st Baronet

This article is about the colonial administrator. For his father, the Scottish physician, see James Carmichael Smyth (physician).
Sir James Carmichael-Smyth

Bt
Born(1779-02-22)22 February 1779
London, England
Died4 March 1838(1838-03-04) (aged 59)
Georgetown, British Guiana
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
BranchBritish Army
RankMajor-general
Battles / warsWar of the Sixth Coalition
Peninsular War
Waterloo Campaign

Major-General Sir James Carmichael-Smyth, 1st Baronet, KCH, CB (22 February 1779 – 4 March 1838) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator.

Biography

Early life and family

Carmichael-Smyth was born in London the eldest son of Scottish physician and medical writer, James Carmichael Smyth and Mary Holyland.[1] His younger brother Henry Carmichael-Smyth, would achieve distinction as an officer serving the East India Company and for being the step-father of William Makepeace Thackeray.

Carmichael Smyth married Harriet Morse, daughter of Robert Morse, on 28 May 1816 and they had one son.[2]

Career

He was educated at Charterhouse School and the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, London[1] before joining the Royal Engineers in March 1795 as a second lieutenant. One of the chief engineering officers of the British Army in Southern Africa between 1795 and 1808, he then went to Spain under Lieutenant-general Sir John Moore in 1808–9. From 1813 to 1815 he was stationed in the Low Countries and was present at the ill-fated Siege of Bergen op Zoom in 1814 before going on to command the Royal Corps of Engineers & Sappers at Waterloo.[2] Prior to the battle, Smyth had created a plan of the ground that allowed Wellington to place his troops rapidly and advantageously.[3]

In 1818, he was on Wellington's staff at the Board of Ordnance. He was made a baronet in August 1821 on Wellington's recommendation.[1] He was sent by Wellington in 1823 to survey the defences in the Low Countries and the British West Indies and in 1825 to repeat the operation in British North America.[2] He was promoted major-general in May 1825 and, after carrying out some engineering works in Ireland, was made Governor of the Bahamas in May 1829.[1] In June 1833, he was transferred to be Governor of British Guiana, where he had to deal with issues related to the emancipation of slaves.[2]

Between 1815 and 1831, he had published eight volumes on the subjects of military engineering, defence, and slavery.

Death

He died of an illness on 4 March 1838 in Georgetown, Guiana and his son James Robert Carmichael became the second baronet.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Vetch, R. H.; Stearn, Roger T. (3 January 2008) [23 September 2004]. "Smyth, Sir James Carmichael-, first baronet (1779–1838), army officer and colonial governor.". In Stearn, Roger T. (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25951. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d Raudzens 1988
  3. ^ Dalton 1904, p. 229.

References

Further reading


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