Thomas Sydney Beckwith Lieutenant - General Sir Thomas Sydney Beckwith , KCB ( 1772 – 15 January 1831 ) was an officer of the British army who served as quartermaster general of the British forces in Canada during the War of 1812 , and a commander - in - chief of the Bombay Army during the British Raj . He is most notable for his distinguished service during the Peninsular War and for his contributions to the development and command of the 95th Rifles . Early life . His father was Major General John Beckwith , who commanded the 20th Regiment of Foot . His brothers were Captain John Beckwith , Sir George Beckwith and Brigadier General Ferdinand Beckwith . He was also the uncle of Major - General John Charles Beckwith . He entered the Army himself in 1791 , joining the 71st ( Highland ) Regiment of Foot , and served with them in India . Service with the 95th Rifles . In 1800 , he was appointed to command a company in Colonel Coote Manningham ' s " Experimental Corps of Riflemen " , which later was designated the 95th Regiment and subsequently the Rifle Brigade . He was promoted to Major within the Corps in 1802 . The next year , he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and took command of the 1st Battalion . Beckwith was one of the favourite officers of Sir John Moore in the famous camp of Shorncliffe , and aided that general in the training of the troops which afterwards became the Light Division . He served on the expeditions to Hanover in 1806 and Copenhagen in 1807 , before joining the expedition to the Peninsula under Major General Arthur Wellesley . He took part in the Battle of Vimeiro , and the expedition into Spain under Sir John Moore , in which the Rifles bore the brunt of the rearguard fighting . The next year , he returned to Portugal and was appointed to command the 1st Brigade of the Light Division . Beckwith took part in Craufurd ' s great march to the field of Talavera . In 1810 , during the French invasion of Portugal , he was present at the Battle of the Coa and the Battle of Busaco . During the subsequent operations to drive the French from Portugal , he fought at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro , and distinguished himself at the Battle of Sabugal . Quartermaster General . In 1812 , he was appointed Assistant Quartermaster General to the British forces in North America . As such , he commanded the troops which were sent to Chesapeake Bay in 1813 . He had only one regiment of infantry and some undisciplined French former prisoners of war , the Independent Companies of Foreigners . At the Battle of Craney Island , Beckwith ' s troops were repulsed by shore batteries while attempting to land . He subsequently captured Hampton , Virginia but the men of the Independent Companies misbehaved , giving Beckwith ' s troops an evil reputation for atrocities . In 1814 , he was promoted to Major General and appointed Quartermaster General to the troops in Canada under Sir George Prevost . Prevost ' s expedition into New York was defeated at the Battle of Plattsburgh . The Peninsular veterans in the force considered that Prevost and his staff ( including Beckwith ) were at least partly responsible for the defeat ( in Beckwith ' s case , for failure to provide sufficient intelligence on the geography and enemy dispositions ) . Beckwith was made a Knight Bachelor in 1812 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815 . In 1827 , he was made Colonel Commandant of his old corps , the Rifle Brigade . Later service in India . In 1829 , he was appointed Commander in Chief of the Bombay Army . In 1830 , he was promoted Lieutenant General , but died of fever the following year at Mahableshwar .