Mathew, Edward
Mathew, Edward
MATHEW, EDWARD. (1729–1805). British general. He entered the Coldstream Guards (Second Foot Guards) as an ensign in 1746 and in 1775 rose to colonel and aide-de-camp to George III. He went to North America as a brigadier general in 1776 and led a brigade of guards at Kips Bay on Manhattan on 15 September. At the taking of Fort Washington he led the two light infantry battalions that secured a foothold for Cornwallis's troops below Laurel Hill. He was promoted major general in America in 1778 and on the general establishment in 1779. In May of that year he made a dramatically successful raid on the Virginia coast with Admiral George Collier. In 1780 he led a brigade during Knyphausen's Springfield raid and commanded the turning movement across Vauxhall Bridge on 23 June. He returned to Britain later in the year and became commander in chief in the West Indies in November. He rose to full general in 1797.
SEE ALSO Collier, George; Fort Washington, New York; Kips Bay, New York; Springfield, New Jersey, Raid of Knyphausen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mackesy, Piers. The War for America, 1775–1783. London: Longman, 1964.
revised by John Oliphant