General Sir Thomas Trigge ( 1742 – 11 January 1814) was a British army officer who began his career in 1759 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, as an

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in the 12th Regiment of Foot. He remained with the regiment for the next 36 years, and commanded it during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. In 1795, he was military commander in the

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during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, participating in the capture of

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and several Dutch-held

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. He later returned to Gibraltar, serving briefly as lieutenant governor. He retired from active service in 1809 and died in London on 11 January 1814, being buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

with a monument by John Bacon.

Life

Thomas Trigge was born around 1742 and joined the army as an

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the 12th Regiment of Foot during the Seven Years' War. He served in Germany, including the battles of

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, Villinghausen and Wilhelmsthal. Trigge commanded the 12th Regiment during the Great Siege of Gibraltar and was included in a commemorative painting. Charles Holloway, George Koehler and Mackenzie are among those recorded as the principal officers serving in the siege which was painted by George Carter for the

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. The National Portrait Gallery have a gouache sketch but the final painting is at the National Army Museum. He became Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth in September 1790 which came with the additional post of General Officer Commanding South-West District from 1793. While Commander-in-Chief in the

, a joint Army and Navy expedition under Lieutenant-General Trigge and Vice-Admiral Seymour captured

from the Dutch on 20 August 1799. They also captured a French corsair of 20 guns, the ''Hussard'', commanded by Marie-Étienne Peltier. He was at the origin of the Quasi-War decided by Burnel, the governor of French Guiana. In March 1801, Trigge and Rear-Admiral Duckworth captured St. Martin (a Franco-Dutch possession), St. Bartholomew (Swedish), and St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix (Danish). For his successes, he was made a

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. In May 1802 Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, arrived in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

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with expectations that he would instil order in the garrison, where the troops were frequently drunken and ill disciplined. The Prince was enthusiastic and keen but his approach did not impress the troops and mutiny ensued. The Prince was able to keep order but he ignored the orders from his brother to return home until he felt that he had issued sufficient new rules. Eventually the Prince left Gibraltar, never to return and although he nominally remained the Governor it was Major General Trigge who was briefly the first in a long line of acting Lieutenant Governors. One of Trigge's first acts as acting Governor was to countermand 35 of the 169 new regulations his predecessor had introduced.

Bibliography

Tugdual de Langlais, ''Marie-Étienne Peltier Capitaine corsaire de la République : 1762-1810'', Coiffard Éditions, Nantes, 2017, 240 p.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Trigge, Thomas 1740s births 1814 deaths Suffolk Regiment officers 68th Regiment of Foot officers 44th Regiment of Foot officers British Army generals Governors of Gibraltar Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars