Colquhoun Grant

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Lieutenant-Colonel Colquhoun Grant (1780-1829) was a British Army soldier and intelligence officer during the Napoleonic Wars.

Of a family from the Scots aristocracy, Grant was commissioned into the 11th Foot in 1795, reaching the rank of Major by 1809 when he was posted to the Iberian Peninsula under the command of Wellington. In 1810 he was appointed to the personal staff as an Exploring Officer in the Peninsula Corps of Guides, a special reconnaissance unit who spoke the local languages.[1]

Grant was captured by French forces in late 1812, and taken to Paris for interrogation. He escaped and rejoined Wellington in early 1914. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel he was appointed as Commanding Officer of the Corps of Guides and Head of Intelligence for the Peninsular Army.

In 1821 Grant transferred to the 54th Foot as Lieutenant-Colonel, later commanding a brigade in the First Anglo-Burmese War.

He appears as a character in Susanna Clarke's fantasy novel set in the period, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Puppet Masters, John Hughes-Wilson, Cassell, London, 2004
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