General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Frederick Adam (17 June 178117 August 1853) was a Scottish major-general at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, in command of the 3rd (Light) Brigade. He was the fourth son of William Adam of Blair Adam and his wife Eleanora, the daughter of Charles Elphinstone, 10th Lord Elphinstone. He was later a Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, who built

Mon Repos, Corfu Mon Repos is a villa on the island of Corfu, Greece. It lies south of Corfu City in the forest of Palaeopolis. Since 2001, it has housed the Museum of Palaiopolis—Mon Repos. History The villa was built as a summer residence for the Briti ...

and other important landmarks in that Protectorate.

Military career

He was born at the family home of Blairadam House, just north of

Kelty Kelty (Scottish Gaelic: Cailtidh) is a former coal mining village located in Fife, Scotland. Lying in the heart of the old mining heartlands of Fife, it is situated on the Fife/Kinross-shire boundary and has a population of around 6,000 r ...

in Fife. At the age of fourteen in 1795, Frederick Adam entered the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He trained at the artillery school at the Royal Arsenal,

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

. In the same year, he was commissioned as a first lieutenant and in 1796 he was promoted to second lieutenant. He took part in the campaigns in the Netherlands and Egypt under Sir

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

, he was promoted to the rank of major in 1803 and a lieutenant colonel in 1804. From 1806 to 1811 he was stationed on

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. Between 1812 and 1813 he was in Spain fighting in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, where he was severely wounded at

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

. On 12 April 1813, while commanding the Light Brigade in John Murray's expeditionary force, Adam led a brilliant rearguard action against the corps of Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet at

Biar Biar (, ) is a town and municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Vinalopó, province of Alicante, Spain. Biar lies at the foot of the Serra de Mariola and is located 39 km from the city of Alicante. The economy in Biar is based on manufact ...

. The following day, his 2/27th Foot battalion inflicted 350 casualties on Suchet's 121st Line Regiment during the

Battle of Castalla In the Battle of Castalla on 13 April 1813, an Anglo-Spanish-Sicilian force commanded by Lieutenant General Sir John Murray fought Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's French Army of Valencia and Aragon. Murray's troops successfully repelled a ser ...

. He was wounded again in an action at Ordal on 13 September 1813.

Waterloo

On 18 June 1815, Adam commanded the 3rd British Brigade in Henry Clinton's 2nd Division at the

. At the crisis of the battle, Adam's 1/52nd (Light) Foot performed a left-wheel to enfilade the flank of the French Imperial Guard's main attack while the British Guards engaged the head of the column. Under fire from two directions, the French guardsmen put up a brief resistance then fled. After their unsuccessful attack on the British centre, the Guard rallied to their reserves of three (some sources say four) regiments, just south of

La Haye Sainte La Haye Sainte (named either after Jesus Christ's crown of thorns or a bramble hedge round a field nearby) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road in Belgium. It has changed very little since it ...

for a last stand against the British. But a charge from Adam's brigade threw them into a state of confusion and those which were left retreated towards

La Belle Alliance La Belle Alliance is an inn situated a few miles south of Brussels in Belgium, chiefly remembered for its significance in the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). There are two plaques on the building: one is "In memory of the F ...

. It was during this stand that Colonel

Hugh Halkett General Baron Hugh Halkett, GCH, CB, (30 August 1783 in Musselburgh – 10 December 1863 in Hanover, Germany) was a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars and later a general of infantry in the Hanoverian service. Early career Halkett ...

took the surrender of General Cambronne. The French Imperial Guard made a last stand in squares on either side of the

. General Adam's Brigade charged the square which was formed on rising ground to the (British) right of La Belle Alliance and again threw them into a state of confusion. The other square was attacked by the Prussians. The French retreated away from the battlefield towards France. The French artillery, and everything else belonging to them, fell into the hands of the British and Prussians.

Later life

From 1817 to 1824, Adam continued his career in the army. Between 1824 and 1832 he was a popular Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. His commissioning of the construction of public buildings on Corfu was appreciated by the local population. Corfu Mon Repos R01

From 25 October 1832, to 4 March 1837, he was Governor of Madras and, in 1846, he was promoted to general.

Military commands

Incomplete list of military commands: * 1813 - commanded Anglo-Allied Light Brigade at Biar and Castalla. * 1813 - commanded Anglo-Allied Advanced Guard at Ordal. * 1815 - commanded 3rd (Light) British Brigade at Waterloo. * 1829 - 1835 Colonel of 73rd ''Perthshire'' Regiment of Foot. * 1835 - Colonel of 57th Foot who were stationed in India. * 1843 - Colonel 21st Fusiliers.

References

* Keegan, John. ''

The Face of Battle ''The Face of Battle'' is a 1976 non-fiction book on military history by the English military historian John Keegan. It deals first with the structure of historical writing about battles, the strengths and weaknesses of the "battle piece," and th ...

.'' Vintage, 1977. * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' Greenhill, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adam, Frederick 1780s births 1853 deaths 57th Regiment of Foot officers 73rd Regiment of Foot officers British Army generals British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Governors of Madras Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Royal Scots Fusiliers officers Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Waterloo Medal Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa British people of the Greek War of Independence Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom