William Medows General Sir William Medows KB ( 31 December 1738 – 14 November 1813 ) was an Englishman and a general in the British Army . Military career . Sir William was the son of Philip Medows , deputy ranger of Richmond Park , and Lady Frances Pierrepont , daughter of the Duke of Kingston - upon - Hull . He entered the British Army as an ensign in the 50th Regiment of Foot in 1756 . In 1760 he went with his regiment to join the allied army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick , who as Frederick the Great ' s lieutenant was defending western Germany against the French . Medows remained in Germany till March 1764 . In 1769 he obtained the lieutenant - colonelcy of the 5th Regiment of Foot , exchanging in September 1773 into the 12th Light Dragoons . In 1770 , Medows enjoyed a romantic friendship with his second cousin , Lady Louisa Stuart , then aged thirteen , a daughter of John Stuart , 3rd Earl of Bute . Medows was then forty - one , and Lord Bute considered him unsuitable and put a stop to it . Lady Louisa was bitterly disappointed , and never married . Later the same year , Medows married another lady , Frances Augusta Hammerton . In 1775 Medows again exchanged into the 55th Regiment of Foot , which was on the point of starting for America , to act against the revolted colonists . He distinguished himself at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777 , and again in the Battle of St . Lucia in 1778 . He returned to Great Britain in 1780 , and was now made colonel of the 89th regiment . Medows held a high command in the expedition sent out under Commodore Johnstone against the Cape of Good Hope in 1781 . A skirmish occurred with the French admiral , Suffren , ( also bound for the Cape ) at Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands on 16 April 1781 , and on arriving at the Cape of Good Hope the British found that Suffren had anticipated them and landed such strong reinforcements that an attack would be useless . Johnstone now decided to return to Europe . Medows , however , having heard that the British in the south of India were being hard pressed by Haider Ali , sultan of Mysore , sailed with three of the ships and a large body of troops to Madras ( now Chennai ) , where he arrived on 13 February 1782 . He accompanied Colonel William Fullarton in an expedition from Madras against Mysore , but the sudden conclusion of peace soon put a stop to the campaign . In September 1788 Medows received the posts of Governor of Bombay and commander - in - chief of the Bombay Army . He remained here till January 1790 , when he was transferred to become Governor of Madras . A war with Tipu Sultan , Hyder Ali ' s son and successor as sultan of Mysore , had arisen , and Lord Cornwallis , the governor - general , now instructed Medows to open the campaign . Starting from Trichinopoli at the head of fifteen thousand men on 15 June 1790 , Medows crossed the frontier into Mysore , and advanced in a westerly direction . On 22 July the army arrived at Coimbatore , which was found evacuated by the enemy . While he was able to secure the district , he spread his forces too thinly , and Tipu counterattacked against the smaller detachments , and Medows was forced to withdraw his forces to a few strong points in late 1790 . Lord Cornwallis then announced his intention of undertaking sole command of the British army . Medows served under Cornwallis through the campaigns of 1791 to 1792 , and commanded the right column in the night attack on the Seringapatam redoubts on 6 February 1792 . His attack was misplaced ; in the dark of night he ended up capturing a different fortification than the one intended ; in doing so , he dangerously exposed the British flank . Tipu attacked the weak point , and very nearly recovered his position , slightly wounding Cornwallis in the process . Tipu eventually sued for peace , and the fighting ended on 25 February while terms were negotiated . The next day , Medows attempted suicide , inflicting three bullet wounds on himself . While the reason for this is unknown , Cornwallis never blamed Medows for his actions on 6 February . Peace was eventually agreed , with Tipu agreeing to the Treaty of Seringapatam on 18 March . Medows resigned the prize - money ( nearly £5 , 000 ) which fell to his share and distributed it among the troops . He left for Great Britain in August 1792 . On 14 December of that year he was made a Knight of the Bath , on 12 October 1793 he was made a lieutenant - general , and in November 1796 he was appointed to the command of the 7th dragoon guards . At the brevet promotion of 1 January 1798 he was made a general and received the post of Lieutenant - Governor of the Isle of Wight . In 1801 he succeeded Cornwallis for a short space as Commander - in - Chief , Ireland . He died at Bath in 1813 . References .