Frederick Stovin

Who was Frederick Stovin?

General Sir Frederick Stovin GCB, KCMG was a British Army officer who served throughout the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. After the end of the wars, he commanded colonial garrisons and served in administrative roles in Ireland, before retiring with the rank of colonel to take up a position at court as a Groom in Waiting under Queen Victoria. In retirement, he continued to rise through the ranks of general officers by seniority, dying a full general.

He originally joined the army as an ensign in the 52nd Foot in 1800, and saw active service the same year in Spain. He later acquired a captaincy in the 28th Foot in 1803; he saw service in Germany and at the Battle of Copenhagen with the 28th, and then served on the staff under Sir John Moore until the Battle of Corunna. He was later an aide to General Alexander Mackenzie-Fraser, then to General Thomas Picton, and a divisional adjutant through the later stages of the Peninsular War. In 1814–15 he served in the War of 1812, as a staff officer with the expedition sent to New Orleans, and had he not been detained by prosecuting at a court-martial, he would have served at the Battle of Waterloo.

After the war, he commanded the 92nd Gordon Highlanders at Jamaica—where he scandalised his regiment by ordering them to adopt trousers instead of the kilt—and the 90th Light Infantry in the Ionian Islands, before retiring from active duty in 1829. He then held a number of administrative roles in Ireland, including the state secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant and the commissioner of police in Ulster, and after the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 became a palace courtier. His final military role was the colonelcy of the 83rd Regiment, which he held from 1848 until his death.