Frederick Philipse Robinson
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Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, GCB (1763 - January 1, 1852) was a Virginian soldier who fought for Britain during the American War of Independence.
On the conclusion of peace he went to England, and in 1813 and 1814 he commanded a brigade under Wellington in Spain. He subsequently took part in the War of 1812 and commanded a brigade at the unsuccessful Battle of Plattsburgh. He was a provisional Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1815. Afterwards he was governor of Tobago, and he became a general in 1841. He died at Brighton, England.
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[edit] Origins
He was the fourth son of Colonel Beverley Robinson, son of John Robinson, President of the Council at Virginia, North America. The Robinsons were in point of property and family the leading men in that province. John Robinson was nephew to Dr. John Robinson, Bishop of London, and went to America as secretary to government. He resided at Williamsburg, and married Catherine Beverley, daughter of Robert Beverley, esq. of Beverley, Yorkshire. Dr. John Robinson, bishop of London, was distinguished both as a statesman and divine. He was ambassador to the court of Sweden from the year 1683 to 1708. In the year 1710 he was made Bishop of Bristol, in the following year Lord Privy Seal. In 1712 he was first Plenipotentiary at the Treaty of Utrecht, and soon after his return was translated to the see of London. He lies buried in the churchyard at Fulham. Colonel Beverley Robinson arrived in New York in 1745, as Captain of an Independent company, raised in Virginia, for the purpose of defending the frontier against the Indians, which company was disbanded in 1748. He soon afterwards married Susannah Philipse, daughter of Frederick Philipse, esq. with whom he obtained large landed property in New York. He died at Bath in March 1792, leaving a numerous family, of which the subject of this memoir was the fourth son, having been born in the Highlands, near New York, in September, 1763.
[edit] America
At the earliest commencement of the American war Colonel Beverley Robinson raised the Loyal American Regiment, which performed signal service to the royal cause until the peace in 1783. In this regiment young Frederick Philipse Robinson received an ensigncy in February 1777, and on 1 September 1778 he was appointed to the 17th Foot, which he joined in October following. In March, 1779, he commanded a company, in the absence of his captain, at the battle of Horseneck, under General Tryon. In July, 1779, being in garrison at the post of Stoneypoint, on the Hudson river, the place was stormed at midnight by a strong force of the Americans under General Wayne, and after a sharp and close conflict of more than an hour, during which the young ensign was wounded in the shoulder by a musket ball, he found himself a prisoner of war. Whilst detained as such at Lancaster, he was promoted to be Lieutenant in the 60th Foot on 1 September 1779, transferred to the 38th Foot on 4 November 1781, and, being released by order of General Washington, joined that regiment the end of November at Brooklyn, Long Island. The year 1783, which gave peace to Europe and America, destroyed the hopes of the American loyalists. They were involved in one general proscription, and obliged to abandon their property, which was declared forfeited for their attachment to the royal cause. The Robinsons were amongst these sufferers. The evacuation of New York took place in 1783—the 38th formed one of the six regiments which remained until the final embarkation, and arrived at Portsmouth January 1784.
[edit] West Indies
After serving in England and Ireland during the following nine years, Lieut. Robinson embarked with his regiment at Cork on the 24th Nov. 1793, forming part of Sir Charles Grey's expedition to the West Indies. He was present at the capture of Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadeloupe, including the storming of Fleur-de-l'Epée, and the heights of Palmonte. He was promoted to a company, 3rd July, 1794, and commanded the Grenadiers until after the capture of Guadeloupe, when, his health having suffered severely from the climate, he returned to England on sick certificate. On the 1st Sept. 1794, Capt. Robinson was gazetted Major of the 127th Foot, and removed to the 32nd Foot 1st Sept. 1795. Some time afterwards he was appointed Inspecting Field Officer at Bedford, received the rank of Lieut.-Colonel in the Army 1st Jan. 1800, and the command of the London Recruiting District, in Feb. 1809. He was actively employed in organising and drilling the Volunteers in the metropolis. In Dec. 1803, the Bank of England Supplementary Volunteer Corp« presented Lieut.-Colonel Robinson with a splendid piece of plate, " as a testimony of their respect and esteem, and the high sense they entertain of his great attention in bringing them to their present state of discipline."
[edit] Peninsula
On the 25th July, 1810, he became Colonel in the army, and having from the commencement of the war in the Peninsula most earnestly desired permission to serve with the force under Wellington, his request was at length granted, and in Sept. 1812, Colonel Robinson joined the army in Spain as a Brigadier- General. On the 4th June, 1813, he became a Major-General. No opportunity occurred of distinguishing himself until the action at Osona on 18th June, 1813, on which occasion his conduct was especially noticed. On the 21st of that month the memorable battle of Vittoria took place, in which General Robinson commanded the brigade which carried the village of Gamarra-Mayor at the point of the bayonet under a heavy fire of artillery and musketry, repulsing the numerous desperate efforts of the enemy to recover it. Sir Thomas Graham (Lord Lynedoch), in his order thanking the column, states— :' The attack of the village of Gamarra by Major-General Robinson's brigade was justly admired by all who witnessed it. Too much praise cannot be given to Major- General Robinson and the troops of his brigade for their persevering defense of a post so gallantly won, against numerous artillery and great masses of infantry, the enemy employed to retake it, in repeated attacks." On the 21st July, 1813, General Robinson took part in the first assault of St. Sebastian, and on the 31st August he commanded the attacking column at the second and successful assault, and was severely wounded. On the 7th October following the Major-General was at the head of the leading column at the passage of the Bidassoa ; on the 9th November was at the attack of Secoa and the Heights of Cibour ; on the 10th December, at the battle of the Nive, was again severely wounded. He recovered to take part in the operations at the blockade of Bayonne and the repulse of the sortie on 14th April, 1814, when he succeeded to the command of the fifth division.
[edit] Canada
In June, 1814, the Duke of Wellington selected General Robinson to proceed in command of a brigade to North America, and he accordingly embarked at Bordeaux with battalions of the 27th, 39th, 76th, and 88th regiments, and arrived at Brandypots, 100 miles below Quebec, on the 9th Aug. 1814. In September he commanded two brigades intended to attack the works of Plattsburg, but after having gallantly forced the passage of the Saranac, received orders from Sir George Prevost to retire. In November following, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief and Provisional Governor of the Upper Provinces in Canada, which he held until June, 1816, when he returned to England. He afterwards became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Tobago, fulfilling the duties to the entire satisfaction of the home government and the inhabitants of the colony.
[edit] Personal
On the 2nd Jan. 1815, General Robinson was nominated a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and he was advanced to be a Grand Cross in 1838. He attained the rank of Lieut.-General 27th May, 1825, and that of General 23rd Nov. 1841; and was appointed to the command of the 39th regiment on the 15th June, 1840. Sir Frederick was twice married, 1st. to Grace, daughter of Thomas Boles, esq. of Charleville, who died in 1806, and 2ndly in 1811 to Ann, daughter of — Fernyhough, esq. of Stafford, who died at Tobago. By the former lady he had a numerous family. Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson lived to become the oldest soldier in the British service, his first commission being of earlier date than those of the few general officers whose names preceded his in the Army List. For the last seven years he resided at Brighton, Sussex, in the possession of good health and in the exercise of all his mental faculties, enjoying the affectionate attendance of a beloved daughter and niece, and the society of an attached circle of friends, to whom be had endeared himself by his noble and amiable qualities. He died after a very few days illness on the first day of this present year, and on the 7th Jan. his honoured remains were consigned to their last resting-place in the churchyard of Hove, near Brighton.
[edit] References
- Gentleman’s Magazine February 1852 pp 188-190
| Preceded by Sir George Murray |
Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario 1815 |
Succeeded by Francis Gore |
| Preceded by John Campbell |
Governor of Tobago 1816-1828 |
Succeeded by Nathaniel Blackwell |
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