Edward Charles Whinyates
General Sir Edward Charles Whinyates,
Biography
Whinyates was the son of Major Thomas Whinyates of Abbotsleigh, Devon, and his wife Katharine Frankland, and was educated at
He became lieutenant in 1799 and accompanied the expedition in that year to
In February 1810 he embarked with his unit for the Peninsula, but their transport ship Camilla nearly sank and had to put back. Owing to this, D troop did not take the field as a unit until 1811. However, Whinyates was present at Busaco in 1810, acting as adjutant to the officer commanding the artillery. He was also at the Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811 with four guns, the cavalry affair at Usagre on 25 May, and in the actions at Fuentes de Guinaldo and Aldea de Ponte on 25 and 27 Sep
In 1812 D troop was with
In 1813 Whinyates was made captain, and consequently left the Peninsula in March. In 1814 he was appointed to the second rocket troop, and he commanded it at Waterloo. Wellington, who did not believe in rockets, ordered that they should be left behind. When he was told that this would break Whinyates's heart, he replied: ‘Damn his heart; let my orders be obeyed.’ However, Whinyates eventually obtained leave to bring them into the field, together with his six guns. When Ponsonby's brigade charged D'Erlon's corps, he followed it with his rocket sections, and fired several volleys of ground-rockets with good effect against the French cavalry. He then rejoined his guns, which were placed in front of Picton's division. In the course of the day he had three horses shot under him, was struck on the leg, and severely wounded in the left arm. He received a brevet majority and the Waterloo medal, and afterwards the Peninsular silver medal with clasps for Busaco and Albuera.
At the end of 1815, the rocket troop were sent to England to be reduced, and Whinyates remained behind until 1818, appointed to a troop of drivers in the army of occupation. He commanded H troop of horse artillery from 1823 to 22 July 1830, when he became regimental lieutenant-colonel and was made
On 1 April 1852 he was appointed director-general of artillery, and on 19 August commandant at Woolwich, where he remained till 1 June 1856. He had been promoted major-general on 20 June 1854, and became lieutenant-general on 7 June 1856,
He died at Cheltenham on 25 December 1865. In 1827 he had married Elizabeth, only daughter of Samuel Compton of Wood End, North Riding, Yorkshire but left no children. He did have five brothers, of whom four served with distinction in the army and navy.
See also
References
- ^ "No. 6609". The Edinburgh Gazette. 27 June 1856. p. 572.
- ^ "No. 7502". The Edinburgh Gazette. 17 January 1865. p. 59.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lloyd, Ernest Marsh (1900). "Whinyates, Edward Charles". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 61. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 5.