John Oswald (1771-1840)
Command Ratings
Sir John Oswald was a Scottish-born British Army officer whose active service spanned the late Revolutionary era and the Napoleonic period, with prominent employment in the Mediterranean, the Ionian Islands, and the Peninsular War. He was born at Dunnikier, near Kirkcaldy in Fife, on 2 October 1771, the son of James Townsend Oswald of Dunnikier. He spent part of his boyhood education at the military school at Brienne in France, a background that gave him fluent French and durable personal connections among French émigré and aristocratic circles, and which later proved valuable in dealings with local elites and intermediaries in the Mediterranean theater.
Oswald entered the British Army by purchase, receiving a commission as second lieutenant in the 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) on 23 February 1788, and transferring as first lieutenant to the 7th (Royal Fusiliers) on 29 January 1789. In June 1790 he embarked for Gibraltar with the regiment. On 24 January 1791 he was appointed captain of an independent company, and on 23 March 1791 he became a captain in the 35th Regiment of Foot. He briefly held staff employment as brigade-major to General Leland, but resigned that post when the grenadier company of the 35th, which he commanded, was ordered overseas, choosing to accompany it on active service.
In the West Indies in 1794, Oswald served with the 2nd provisional battalion of grenadiers in the reductions of Martinique, St Lucia, and Guadeloupe. He subsequently served in garrison at Port-au-Prince in Saint-Domingue until his company was drafted and cadre personnel were sent home to recruit. His advancement within the 35th was steady: he became major on 1 September 1795 and lieutenant-colonel of the regiment on 30 March 1797, thereafter exercising field command responsibilities that placed him among the regiment’s senior operational leaders.
In 1799 Oswald commanded the 35th in the Anglo-Russian expedition to North Holland. He was severely wounded in the action at “Crabbenham” (19 September 1799) during the fighting associated with the Bergen operations of that campaign, and was evacuated. The following year he embarked with both battalions of the 35th among the troops dispatched under Major-General Richard Pigot to the Mediterranean. Landing at Minorca, the force participated in the blockade of Valletta and the reduction of Malta (1800). Oswald remained on Malta in command of his regiment until the Peace of Amiens (1802), returning to Britain on leave and then rejoining at Malta when war resumed.
In October 1805 Oswald became brevet colonel. With the 35th he joined the troops under Sir James Craig after their withdrawal from Naples to Sicily, and he was appointed commander at Milazzo. In June 1806 he commanded the advance of Sir John Stuart’s force during its landing in Calabria, and at the Battle of Maida (4 July 1806) he commanded the third brigade of the army. Immediately after Maida he marched into Lower Calabria; in a prolonged local operation he captured Scylla Castle after a twenty-day siege, an episode repeatedly emphasized in contemporary regimental and biographical notices for the close assault and personal leadership involved. On returning to Sicily he received the local rank of brigadier-general.
In February 1807 Oswald accompanied Major-General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser’s expedition to Egypt; the two battalions of the 35th were among the first troops to land. In the operations against Alexandria he commanded troops sent against the city, captured the western lines, and drove the Ottoman defenders within the walls. After the capitulation he was sent against Rosetta, where he maintained a stubborn defense for about fifteen days against repeated sorties before withdrawal was ordered in the face of superior enemy concentration. After the expedition returned to Sicily, he held senior local commands, including appointment as commandant of Augusta by Sir John Moore.
From 1808–1811 Oswald’s service concentrated on the central and eastern Mediterranean littoral and islands. His brigadier-general rank was extended to the Mediterranean generally in June 1808, and in October he was appointed to command troops assembled at Milazzo. In 1809 he commanded the reserve in an expedition to the coast of Italy that resulted in the capture of Ischia and Procida; he became commandant of Procida. In September 1809 he commanded an expedition to the Ionian Islands, seizing Zante, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Cerigo. In March 1810 he conducted an operation against Santa Maura: landing on 23 March with about 2,000 troops, he drove the defenders behind their lines and led the storming of the strongest entrenchments; the place capitulated after eight days of open trenches. Thereafter he administered the civil and military government of the captured Ionian Islands.
On 11 February 1811 Oswald was appointed colonel of the 1st Greek Light Infantry, a corps largely recruited from Greek irregulars. In the same year he returned to Britain to present the strategic importance of the Ionian position to government authorities. He was promoted major-general on 4 June 1811 and was appointed to the Western District, commanding troops at Bristol during subsequent riots.
In August 1812 Oswald was appointed to the staff of the Peninsular Army and joined it on 22 October 1812 during the retreat from Burgos. He was present with Wellington in the cavalry fighting of 23–24 October, and on 25 October took temporary command of the 5th Division in the absence of Major-General Sir James Leith. In this interval he directed divisional actions at Villa Muriel and during the passage of the Carrión, then brought the division into winter quarters on the Douro. When Wellington resumed operations in May 1813, Oswald again commanded the 5th Division until Leith returned. He led it on the difficult march through northern Portugal and the Spanish provinces of Zamora, León, and Palencia, drove the French back at Osma on 17 June 1813, and joined Wellington at Vitoria on 20 June. He was in command of the 5th Division at the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) and during the Siege of San Sebastián; Leith resumed divisional command two days before the assault of 31 August 1813, Oswald reverting to brigade command. During that assault Oswald was wounded (as were Leith and Robinson), and divisional command passed to Major-General Andrew Hay.
After these operations he returned to Britain, the death of an elder brother and his father’s failing health having made him heir to the Dunnikier estates. He received parliamentary thanks and gold medals for Maida, Vitoria, and San Sebastián. On the disbanding of the Greek light infantry he became colonel-commandant of a battalion in the Rifle Brigade, and on 9 October 1819 he was appointed Colonel of the 35th Regiment of Foot.
Oswald’s later promotions and honors reflected seniority and accumulated service: he became lieutenant-general on 4 June 1814 and general on 10 January 1837. He was appointed K.C.B. on 4 June 1815, advanced to G.C.B. in 1824, and appointed G.C.M.G. in 1838. He died at Dunnikier on 8 June 1840.
Sources