Henry Sheehy Keating 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 . Early service . Keating joined the British Army in 1793 , at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars . 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 . 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 France . 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 , 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 guineas 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 . 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 Cheltenham 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 . Portrayal in Fiction . Keating is a secondary character in the novel The Mauritius Command by Patrick O ' Brian , which portrays the Mauritius campaign of 1809 – 1811 . He is favourably portrayed as a capable and determined commander .