Henry Sheehy Keating
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sheehy Keating KCB
(13 November 1775 – 12 September 1847) was born at Bansha
, County Tipperary
in Ireland
and was an officer of the British Army
during the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
who served in two important operations against French colonies. The most important of his services came during the Mauritius campaign, when he commanded the troops stationed on Rodrigues
, a small island use as a base by British forces during the campaign. Keating was instrumental in planning and executing a series of amphibious operations against the French held islands, culminating in the capture of both Île Bonaparte and Île de France
in 1810.
. Purchasing a commission in the 33rd Regiment of Foot, Keating was almost immediately despatched to the West Indies with his regiment. Serving the campaign against French colonies in the region under Sir Charles Grey
, Keating was promoted to lieutenant and fought in the invasion of Martinique
, during which he was twice grievously wounded and taken prisoner by the French. While recovering from his wounds, which included a broken arm from a musket
shot and a skull fracture from a shell splinter, Keating was held in a prison hulk for 18 months, before being sent to a more secure prison facility in La Rochelle
.
On his return to Britain in 1796, Keating was promoted to captain. In 1800 purchased a promotion to major and was transferred to the 56th Regiment of Foot
, then stationed in Ireland
. Serving as a brigade major, Keating was placed in command of recruitment in County Mayo
, a service for which he later received the thanks of both his senior officers and the local government. Serving through the Peace of Amiens, Keating became lieutenant colonel in command of the 56th on 1 August 1804.
. These colonies formed a base for a powerful squadron of French frigates, which were at the time causing severe damage to British trade in the region, breaking up East Indiamen
convoys and seizing ships with cargoes worth over £500,000. Keating, with a detachment of soldiers provided by the Madras government and using ships from the squadron of Commodore Josias Rowley
, who was in overall command, seized the small island of Rodrigues
. This provided an adequate base for British ships to operate from and for amphibious operations against the other islands to be staged.
Keating's first duty came in September 1809, when he was ordered to storm the port of Saint Paul
on Île Bonaparte. This harbour was sheltering a French frigate
named Caroline and two captured East Indiamen, but was defended by five powerful gun batteries. Keating and Rowley agreed that a frontal assault would fail, and instead devised a plan in which Keating, with 368 of his own men and 236 sailors and Royal Marines
under Nesbit Willoughby
would land at Point de Galet, 7 miles (11.3 km) from Saint Paul. The force would then advance and storm the batteries from the rear. The plan was a total success, Keating's men capturing each battery in turn early in the morning of 21 September and using the cannon
within to fire on the shipping in the harbour. A brief attempt at defence by local forces was brushed aside, and Keating and his men re-embarked in the evening, the force remaining offshore until 28 September.
Keating also masterminded the invasion and capture of Île Bonaparte and Île de France, being seriously wounded in the latter when he was stabbed in the thigh during a skirmish. for his service in the campaign, Keating was awarded 400 guinea
s worth of silver plate and given the governorship of the renamed Île Bonaparte, Ile Bourbon. In 1815, at the end of the war, Keating arranged for the island's return to representatives of the restored French king, Louis XVIII
.
aged 71. He remains are interred in the town's cemetery and a Memorial to him was erected in Christ Church, Cheltenham. He had earlier married Mary Anne Singer in Dublin, and the couple's eldest son, Henry Singer Keating
later became a prominent lawyer and MP
, serving twice as Solicitor General
.
by Patrick O'Brian
, which portrays the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811
. He is favourably portrayed as a capable and determined commander.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(13 November 1775 – 12 September 1847) was born at Bansha
Bansha
Bansha is a village in the barony of Clanwilliam, South Tipperary in Ireland. The village is part of the parish of "Bansha and Kilmoyler" in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Bansha is co-extensive with the pre-Reformation parish of Templeneiry of which the townland name of...
, County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and was an officer of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
during the French Revolutionary
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
who served in two important operations against French colonies. The most important of his services came during the Mauritius campaign, when he commanded the troops stationed on Rodrigues
Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
, a small island use as a base by British forces during the campaign. Keating was instrumental in planning and executing a series of amphibious operations against the French held islands, culminating in the capture of both Île Bonaparte and Île de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
in 1810.
Early service
Keating joined the British Army in 1793, at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. Purchasing a commission in the 33rd Regiment of Foot, Keating was almost immediately despatched to the West Indies with his regiment. Serving the campaign against French colonies in the region under Sir Charles Grey
Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey
Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, KB PC was one of the most important British generals of the 18th century. He was the fourth son of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet, of Howick in Northumberland. He served in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and French Revolutionary War...
, Keating was promoted to lieutenant and fought in the invasion of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, during which he was twice grievously wounded and taken prisoner by the French. While recovering from his wounds, which included a broken arm from a musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
shot and a skull fracture from a shell splinter, Keating was held in a prison hulk for 18 months, before being sent to a more secure prison facility in La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
.
On his return to Britain in 1796, Keating was promoted to captain. In 1800 purchased a promotion to major and was transferred to the 56th Regiment of Foot
56th Regiment of Foot
The 56th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, active from 1755 to 1881. It was originally raised in Northumbria as the 58th Regiment, and renumbered the 56th the following year when two senior regiments were disbanded...
, then stationed in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Serving as a brigade major, Keating was placed in command of recruitment in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, a service for which he later received the thanks of both his senior officers and the local government. Serving through the Peace of Amiens, Keating became lieutenant colonel in command of the 56th on 1 August 1804.
Eastern service
In 1807, Keating was sent for service in British India and in 1809 was detailed to command the land forces in a combined operation against the French held islands of Île Bonaparte and Île de FranceMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. These colonies formed a base for a powerful squadron of French frigates, which were at the time causing severe damage to British trade in the region, breaking up East Indiamen
East Indiamen
An East Indiaman was a ship operating under charter or license to any of the East India Companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries...
convoys and seizing ships with cargoes worth over £500,000. Keating, with a detachment of soldiers provided by the Madras government and using ships from the squadron of Commodore Josias Rowley
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG , known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was a naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810.-Naval career:...
, who was in overall command, seized the small island of Rodrigues
Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
. This provided an adequate base for British ships to operate from and for amphibious operations against the other islands to be staged.
Keating's first duty came in September 1809, when he was ordered to storm the port of Saint Paul
Saint-Paul, Réunion
Saint-Paul is the second-largest commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located on the extreme west side of the island of Réunion.Until 1999, near Saint Paul there was the 428 metres tall mast OMEGA Chabrier transmitter.- Transport :...
on Île Bonaparte. This harbour was sheltering a French frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
named Caroline and two captured East Indiamen, but was defended by five powerful gun batteries. Keating and Rowley agreed that a frontal assault would fail, and instead devised a plan in which Keating, with 368 of his own men and 236 sailors and Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
under Nesbit Willoughby
Nesbit Willoughby
Sir Nesbit Josiah Willoughby was an officer in the British Royal Navy who was knighted in 1827, and made rear-admiral in 1847. He is related to Sir Hugh Willoughby , who also figures in British naval history....
would land at Point de Galet, 7 miles (11.3 km) from Saint Paul. The force would then advance and storm the batteries from the rear. The plan was a total success, Keating's men capturing each battery in turn early in the morning of 21 September and using the cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
within to fire on the shipping in the harbour. A brief attempt at defence by local forces was brushed aside, and Keating and his men re-embarked in the evening, the force remaining offshore until 28 September.
Keating also masterminded the invasion and capture of Île Bonaparte and Île de France, being seriously wounded in the latter when he was stabbed in the thigh during a skirmish. for his service in the campaign, Keating was awarded 400 guinea
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
s worth of silver plate and given the governorship of the renamed Île Bonaparte, Ile Bourbon. In 1815, at the end of the war, Keating arranged for the island's return to representatives of the restored French king, Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
.
Retirement
In 1815, Keating was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He had continued to rise in rank, becoming a major general in 1813 and reaching lieutenant general in 1837. The year before he had been knighted, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. In April 1845, he was made honorary colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot. He died in September 1847 in CheltenhamCheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
aged 71. He remains are interred in the town's cemetery and a Memorial to him was erected in Christ Church, Cheltenham. He had earlier married Mary Anne Singer in Dublin, and the couple's eldest son, Henry Singer Keating
Henry Singer Keating
Sir Henry Singer Keating was a British lawyer and politician.The son of Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sheehy Keating, he attended Trinity College, Dublin and became a barrister at the Inner Temple in 1832, and a Queen's Counsel in 1849...
later became a prominent lawyer and MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, serving twice as Solicitor General
Solicitor General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...
.
Portrayal in Fiction
Keating is a secondary character in the novel The Mauritius CommandThe Mauritius Command
The Mauritius Command is a historical naval novel by British author Patrick O'Brian. It is fourth in the Aubrey-Maturin series of stories that follow the partnership of Captain Jack Aubrey and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin. It retells in fictional form the real campaign carried out by the Royal...
by Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
, which portrays the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811
Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811
The Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 was a series of amphibious operations and naval actions fought to determine possession of the French Indian Ocean territories of Île de France and Île Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars...
. He is favourably portrayed as a capable and determined commander.