The early services of this distinguished officer are connected with the fourth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in which corps he was appointed captain in March, 1764, and was promoted to the rank of major on the 1st of October, 1766. He was further advanced to the rank of lieut.-colonel of the fifth Fusiliers in 1769; was removed to the twelfth light dragoons in 1773, and to the fifty-fifth regiment in 1775. While serving with his regiment in North America, he evinced that valour, magnanimity, and military skill, which were afterwards more fully developed in the West, and also the East Indies. He was again removed to the lieut.-colonelcy of the fifth Fusiliers in 1777, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel Walcott, who died of wounds received at the battle of Germantown, in Pennsylvania, which was fought on the 4th of October, 1777. He commanded the fifth during the long and hazardous retreat from Philadelphia to New York; and having been appointed to act as brigadier-general, he proceeded with the expedition under Major-General James Grant to the West Indies. Brigadier-General Medows commanded the reserve, consisting of the fifth foot, grenadiers, and light infantry, at the attack of St. Lucia in December 1778; and having seized on the post of La Vigie, he evinced signal intrepidity in defending it against the attacks of a French force of very superior numbers: though severely wounded early in the day, he refused to quit his post, and finding his ammunition nearly expended, he drew up his men in front of their colours, and waving his sword, exclaimed, “Soldiers, as long as you have a bayonet to point against an enemy’s breast, defend these colours.” They did so, and secured the conquest of St. Lucia. His distinguished bravery was rewarded in 1780, with the colonelcy of the (late) eighty-ninth regiment: and in 1781 he was promoted to the local rank of major-general in the East Indies, where he acquired numerous laurels under General the Earl Cornwallis. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1782, and was appointed to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland regiment on the 11th of August, 1786; and his meritorious services procured him the honor of wearing the insignia of a Knight Companion of the Bath. Sir William Medows was afterwards appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Madras. In 1792 Sir William Medows was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; in 1796 he was appointed colonel of the seventh dragoon guards; and in 1798 was advanced to the rank of general. He was also Governor of Hull, and a member of the Privy Council in Ireland. The decease of General Sir William Medows, K.B., occurred on the 20th of November, 1813. GERARD LAKE, (Afterwards Viscount Lake.) _Appointed 2nd November, 1796_.