Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

William Collis Spring (1769 – 14 August 1825) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

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 Gurkha ...

officer of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

Early life

Spring was born into the Spring family in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland in 1769. He was the son of Captain John Spring and Mary Blennerhassett Collis, and the great-grandson of Robert Blennerhassett MP.

Military career

He purchased an ensigncy in the

48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881. History Early ...

in 1789, subsequently purchasing a lieutenancy in same regiment in 1793. He first saw service in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

against the French during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

, and was part of the force under

Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, (circa 23 October 1729 – 14 November 1807) was a British Army general in the 18th century and a scion of the noble House of Grey. He was a distinguished soldier in a generation of exceptionally capable military a ...

which captured several French island colonies. Between 6 May and 4 September 1795, he commanded a company in the

69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot The 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment in 1881. History Formation T ...

. He was then transferred to the

57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of line infantry in the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Middlesex Regiment in 1881. His ...

; the regiment with which he would remain for the rest of his career. Spring saw further service in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

with the 57th Foot, and was present at the Battle of

Morne Fortune Morne Fortune is a hill and residential area located south of Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. Originally known as Morne Dubuc, it was renamed Morne Fortuné in 1765 when the French moved their military headquarters and government admi ...

on 24 May 1796. After a period of inactive service in Trinidad he returned to England in 1803. In 1811, he joined the 1st Battalion of the regiment in the Peninsula Campaign. He fought with distinction and was injured at the

Battle of Albuera The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about sout ...

on 16 May 1811, alongside his commanding officer, William Inglis. Following the engagement, in which the 57th suffered high casualties, Spring was awarded the

Army Gold Medal The Army Gold Medal (1808–1814), also known as the Peninsular Gold Medal, with an accompanying Gold Cross, was a British campaign medal awarded in recognition of field and general officers' successful commands in campaigns, predominantly the Pe ...

. He commanded the 2nd battalion from 1811 to 1814. Spring was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 4 June 1813, and took command of the 57th Foot's 1st Battalion in 1815. Following the victory of the Allied armies at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near 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 armies of the Sevent ...

, Spring's battalion was part of the 16th British Brigade of Wellington's army of occupation in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Spring retired from the army in 1819 and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Kerry.

Marriage and issue

He married Anne, the only daughter of Lt. John Chilton Lambton Carter. Spring's youngest son, Captain Francis Spring, was killed at

Jhelum Jhelum (Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

whilst serving with the

24th Regiment of Foot Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, William 1769 births 48th Regiment of Foot officers 57th Regiment of Foot officers 69th Regiment of Foot officers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 18th-century Anglo-Irish people 19th-century Anglo-Irish people British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Deputy Lieutenants of Kerry People from County Kerry Recipients of the Army Gold Medal

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

1825 deaths

Early life

Military career

Marriage and issue

See also

References