sister Jane was the mother of Colonel William Tylden of the Royal Engineers. Auchmuty married Elizabeth Domvile Savage, only daughter of Francis Savage. Their second son was General Samuel Benjamin Auchmuty, Military career A loyalist, during the American War of Independence he was given an ensigncy in the loyal army in 1777, and in 1778 a lieutenancy in the 45th Foot, without purchase. When his regiment returned to England after the war, having neither private means nor influence, he exchanged into the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot, in order to proceed to India. He took part in the last war against Hyder Ali; he was given a staff appointment by Lord Cornwallis in 1790, served in the operations against Tippoo Sahib, and continued in various staff appointments up to 1797, when he returned to England a brevet lieutenant-colonel. In 1800 he was made lieutenant-colonel and Brevet colonel; and in the following year, as Adjutant-general to Sir David Baird in Egypt, took a distinguished share in the march across the desert and the Capture of Alexandria. On his return to England in 1803 he was knighted, and three years later he went out to the Río de la Plata as a brigadier-general. Auchmuty was one of the few officers who came out of the disastrous Buenos Aires expedition of 1806-7 with enhanced reputation. While General John Whitelocke, the commander, was cashiered, Auchmuty was at once re-employed and promoted major-general. In 1810 he was appointed to command the Madras Army. In the following year he commanded the expedition organized for the conquest of Java, which the governor-general, Lord Minto, himself accompanied. The storming of the strongly fortified position of Meester Cornelis (28 August 1811), stubbornly defended by a Dutch garrison under General Janssens, practically achieved conquest of the island, and after the action of Samarang (8 September 1811) Janssens surrendered. Auchmuty received the thanks of Parliament and was appointed KCB and, on his return home, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1822 he became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, and a member of the Irish privy council. He died suddenly in August 1822. Notes References |- |- 1758 births 1822 deaths Military personnel from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni Commanders-in-Chief, Ireland Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath British Army lieutenant generals British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars