This distinguished officer commenced his military career as cornet in the third dragoon guards in 1756; in 1762 he was appointed captain in the third horse (now sixth dragoon guards), and was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment in 1773. Under his vigilant care and attention to all the duties of commanding officer, his regiment became distinguished as an efficient cavalry corps; and he was rewarded with the rank of colonel in the army in 1780; in the following year he was appointed colonel of the 103d regiment, or King's Irish infantry, which corps was disbanded at the peace in 1783. In 1787 he was promoted to the rank of major-general; and in September, 1790, he was appointed colonel of the sixty-ninth regiment, from which he was removed in 1792 to the SIXTH foot. On the breaking out of the war with France in 1793, he was promoted to the local rank of lieut.-general on the continent, and he held a command under the Duke of York, in Flanders. In this service he highly signalized himself, and his conduct was spoken of in the warmest terms of commendation in his Royal Highness's despatches; particularly his gallantry at the battle of Cateau on the 26th of April, 1794, and in the general attack made on the French posts on the 11th of May following. He also took an active and distinguished part in conducting the unfortunate retreat through Holland, and was wounded before Nimeguen on the 27th of October, 1794. Shortly after his return to England he was sent with an expedition to the West Indies, to complete the deliverance of the French West India islands from the power of the republican government, and to reduce to obedience the insurgents in the islands of St. Vincent and Grenada. In this service he had distinguished success: he took Grenada--obtained possession of the settlements of Demarara and Essequibo--completed the capture of St. Lucia and St. Vincent--and afterwards reduced the Spanish colony in the island of Trinidad, and placed it under the dominion of the British crown. In the mean time he had been appointed to the colonelcy of the Princess Royal's dragoon guards, and created a Knight of the Bath; and in November, 1796, he was removed to the command of the Scots Greys. His distinguished merit was also rewarded with the appointment of lieut.-governor of the Isle of Wight, and the government of Forts George and Augustus.