Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith (17 February 177015 January 1831) was a British Army officer who served as quartermaster general of the British forces in Canada during the War of 1812, and a commander-in-chief of the Bombay Army during the British Raj. He is most notable for his distinguished service during the Peninsular War and for his contributions to the development and command of the 95th Rifles.
Family
His father was Major General John Beckwith, who commanded the 20th Regiment of Foot. His brothers were Captain John Beckwith, Sir George Beckwith and Brigadier General Ferdinand Beckwith. He was also the uncle of Major-General John Charles Beckwith. He entered the Army himself in 1791, joining the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot, and served with them in India. Their only son, Thomas Sydney Beckwith, was a captain in the Rifle Brigade, and died in Gibraltar on 21 March 1828.
Beckwith went in command of this force to Chesapeake Bay in 1813. At the Battle of Craney Island, Beckwith's troops, 700 Royal Marines and soldiers of the 102nd Regiment of Foot along with a company of Independent Companies of Foreigners, came ashore at Hoffler's Creek near the mouth of the Nansemond River to the west of Craney Island on the morning of June 22, 1813, and were repulsed by shore batteries while attempting to land. He subsequently captured Hampton, Virginia where the Independent Companies of Foreigners committed numerous atrocities, motivated in part by anger over suffering a perceived massacre at the hands of American forces.
Beckwith was made a Knight Bachelor in 1812 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815. In 1827, he was made colonel commandant of his old corps, the Rifle Brigade.
- Sydney Point, Panchgani: A views point in the hill station of Panchgani, Maharashtra is named after him
See also
- Baker rifle
- History of British light infantry
- British Army during the Napoleonic Wars