Edward Mathew Edward Mathew ( 1729 – 25 December 1805 ) began his military career in the British army as a commissioned officer . By the time of the American Revolutionary War he had risen to the rank of colonel . Promoted to brigadier general , he was assigned to command the elite Brigade of Guards in the American campaign . In 1776 he led the Guards at Long Island , Kip ' s Bay , and Fort Washington where he spearheaded one of the assault forces . In the Philadelphia Campaign , he commanded his brigade at Brandywine , Germantown , White Marsh , and Monmouth . As a major general , he took part in the highly successful Chesapeake raid on Virginia ports in 1779 . He led one of the columns in action at Battle of Springfield in 1780 . He commanded in the West Indes in 1782 and became a full general in 1797 . His beloved daughter Anna predeceased him in 1795 . Mathew is likely to have been the model for a character in one of Jane Austen ' s novels . Early career . Born in 1729 , Mathew became an ensign in the Regiment of Coldstream Guards ( 2nd Foot Guards ) in 1746 . In 1760 he married Lady Jane Bertie ( d . 21 August 1793 ) , daughter of Peregrine Bertie , 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven . By the year 1775 he was a colonel and aide de camp to King George III . He was appointed commander of the brigade of Guards in America with the rank of brigadier general . Mathew is described as " generous , full of honors , kind " . However , he had a darker side that had a " bitter , stiff , and dictatorial presence " . Though he dearly loved his daughter Anna , he could also erupt into a despotic rage . Because he was father - in - law to Jane Austen ' s brother James , he is supposed to have inspired the character General Tilney in her novel " Northanger Abbey " . American Revolutionary War . The British army formed the 1 , 000 - strong Brigade of Guards by selecting the men by lottery from the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd Foot Guards Regiments . The brigade was split into two battalions of about 500 troops each . Other regiments of foot assigned their light and grenadier companies to converged elite battalions , leaving only the eight line companies to fight with the parent unit . The Guards Brigade , however , retained its two flank companies . The grenadier company and the line companies of Hyde , Wrottesley , Cox , and Garth became the 1st Guards Battalion , while the light company and the line companies of Stephen , Murray , O ' Hara , and Martin were assigned to the 2nd Guards Battalion . A detailed organization down to the company level can be found in the Brandywine order of battle . Lieutenant Colonel Sir George Osborn , 4th Baronet commanded the grenadier company while Captain Thomas Twistleton led the light company . The Guards Brigade landed on Long Island on 22 August 1776 and was present in the Battle of Long Island five days later . On 15 September the Guards Brigade took part in the Battle of Kip ' s Bay , landing in the first wave . Mathew played a significant role at the Battle of Fort Washington on 16 November . With two light infantry battalions under his leadership , he boated across the Harlem River near what is now 200th Street and established a bridgehead . This effort was followed up by Lord Charles Cornwallis with the Guards Brigade , two grenadier battalions , and the 33rd Foot . The advance of this and other columns resulted in a resounding British victory including the capture of 2 , 818 Americans . After the American victory at Trenton , the 1st Guards Battalion was assigned to Cornwallis for the Princeton Campaign in early January 1777 . However , Mathew stayed behind with the 2nd Battalion in New Brunswick , New Jersey . The Guards were involved in several skirmishes during the Forage War . The grenadier and light companies of the Guards were in action at the Battle of Short Hills on 26 June 1777 where one of their officers was mortally wounded . On the 29th , the British army abruptly abandoned New Jersey . Sir William Howe sailed with his army from New York on 23 July . At the end of August , the British troops landed at Head of Elk , Maryland at the north end of Chesapeake Bay . Among the Guards officers present during the subsequent Philadelphia Campaign were Captain - lieutenant Richard FitzPatrick of the 1st Foot Guards , Colonel Charles O ' Hara of the 2nd Foot Guards , and Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Wrottesley . On 11 September 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine , Mathew ' s brigade joined the flanking column under Howe and Cornwallis . This body of troops reached a position behind the American right flank before it was discovered . The Guards Brigade deployed on the right of the first line around 4 : 00 PM . Osborn commanded both the grenadier company on the right and the light company which deployed as skirmishers in front . The Guards faced two Maryland brigades under the command of Major General John Sullivan . Because Sullivan was also the American right wing commander , he left the Marylanders in charge of the senior officer , Brigadier General Philippe Hubert Preudhomme de Borre . Attempting to shift the troops to the right , de Borre bungled his assignment , throwing his lines into disarray . The attack of the Guards brushed aside their confused opponents . The brigade reported only one killed , five wounded , and two missing , including one casualty from the grenadiers and three from the light company . The evening before the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777 , Howe alerted Osborn of a possible attack and ordered the Guard Brigade ' s grenadier and light companies to support the Queen ' s Rangers on the right flank . In the morning they were attacked by a force of Maryland and New Jersey militia . The militia effort quickly collapsed , allowing the British to wheel to their left to outflank a brigade of Connecticut continentals . At some point in the action , Mathew led forward the line companies of the Guards Brigade to reinforce Osborn ' s flank companies . During the Battle of White Marsh in December 1777 , the Guards light company under Captain Twistleton fought with the army ' s vanguard at Edge Hill . In early 1778 Mathew was promoted to the " local rank " of major general . Mathew led his brigade at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 . At Monmouth , Colonel Harry Trelawny led the 502 - man 1st Guards Battalion while Lieutenant Colonel James Ogilvie commanded the 480 - strong 2nd Guards Battalion . Trelawny was wounded and about 40 casualties were inflicted when some of Anthony Wayne ' s troops under Lieutenant Colonels Walter Stewart and Nathaniel Ramsey fired on the Guards while concealed in a wood . Joined by the 1st Grenadier Battalion , the Guards quickly flushed the Americans out of the trees . General Henry Clinton fitted out a joint navy and army expedition in the spring of 1779 . Under Commodore Sir George Collier and Mathew , the force sailed from New York City on 5 May and reached Hampton Roads four days later . When the expedition approached Fort Nelson near Norfolk , Virginia , its 100 - man American garrison under Major Thomas Matthews immediately decamped and retreated toward the Great Dismal Swamp . On 11 May , the British force occupied Norfolk , Suffolk , Portsmouth , and the Gosport Shipyard . The Americans burned a 28 - gun frigate and two French merchantmen to prevent their capture . Besides seizing enormous amounts of tobacco , naval cannons , and marine supplies , the British burned or captured 137 ships . The damage inflicted on the state of Virginia in the Chesapeake raid was estimated at £2 , 000 , 000 . Mathew and Collier returned to New York in triumph , having suffered no loss of life . The Guards Brigade joined Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen ' s 5 , 000 raid on New Jersey on 7 June 1780 . Mathew was one of six brigade commanders employed on the expedition . After the initial attack stalled , the British - Hessian force lunged forward again on 23 June to bring on the Battle of Springfield . While Knyphausen hammered at Springfield Bridge , he sent Mathew with half his force in a flanking move via Vauxhall Bridge . Colonel Israel Angell ' s 2nd Rhode Island Regiment held back Knyphausen ' s column for 40 minutes as Brigadier General William Maxwell and Major Light Horse Harry Lee delayed Mathew ' s envelopment . At length , Major General Nathanael Greene had to commit additional troops to block Mathew ' s turning movement . In the face of strong resistance , Knyphausen called off the operation in the afternoon and returned to Staten Island . Mathew left North America for England later in 1780 . Later career . In November 1782 , Mathew was appointed commander - in - chief in the West Indes . In 1779 , Charles Hector , comte d ' Estaing ' s French fleet had seized Grenada from the British . At the end of the conflict , the island was restored to Great Britain and its new governor Mathew reported that the local fortifications on Richmond Hill were in a " ruinous condition " . The old French fortifications were completely replaced by new works called Forts Frederick , Adolphus , Lucas , and Mathew . Much of the construction labor was performed by the 300 - strong Carolina Corps , a military unit formed from African - American slaves freed and recruited by the British army . A report from 1787 stated that progress on the forts was satisfactory . Mathew was promoted to full general in 1797 . While on his second tour as Governor of Grenada , King George forgot to have the Treasury approve his salary . Despite his innocence , Mathew was billed by the government in 1792 for the £11 , 000 that he was paid as his legitimate wage . By this time , the king was suffering from fits of madness and could not confirm details such as whether he authorized Mathew ' s salary . After his death the family had to pay back £23 , 000 to the Royal Exchequer . On 27 March 1792 , James Austen married Mathew ' s daughter Anne . James ' first wife had died and he was anxious to remarry . Anne , then 30 years old , was considered a spinster . The couple had one child in 1793 , Jane Anna Elizabeth . Though Mathew helped support the couple who lived on James ' £300 yearly wage as a clergyman , the two ran through their funds quickly . The general purchased the rank of chaplain in the 86th Foot Regiment so that his son - in - law could live on the salary . However , Anna died very suddenly on 3 May 1795 . Mathew died on 25 December 1805 .