Lieutenant-General Forbes Champagné (2 July 1754 – 23 October 1816) was a British Army officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War and officiated as Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army from 1807 to 1811.
Background Champagné was born into a family of French Huguenot exiles in Ireland, the son of the Very Rev. Arthur de Robillard Champagné, Dean of Clonmacnoise, and Marianne Hamon, daughter of Colonel Isaac Hamon. His paternal great-grandfather was Chevalier Josias de Robillard, Seigneur de Champagné de Torxé, Saintonge, who fled to Holland after the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, joining William of Orange's army. He married Marie de la Rochefoucauld of the noble house of the same name. Their daughter Susanne married Henri de la Motte-Fouqué, baron de Saint-Seurin et de Tonnay-Boutonne, and was mother of Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué. Their eldest son, Josias de Robillard (Forbes' grandfather), distinguished himself at a young age in service of Major-General Isaac de Monceau de la Melonière, who commanded a regiment of exiles in William's army during the Irish campaigns. He married Lady Jane Forbes, daughter of Arthur Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard.
Forbes had three brothers: General Sir Josiah Champagné; Rev. Arthur Champagné, vicar of Castlelyons; and Rev. George Champagné, Canon of Windsor and Rector of Twickenham. He had six sisters, including Jane, who married the Earl of Uxbridge; Henrietta, wife of Sir Erasmus Dixon Borrowes, 6th Baronet; and Marianne, wife of Sir Charles des Voeux, 1st Baronet.
Military career Champagné was commissioned into the 4th Regiment of Foot in 1773. He served in the Southern Colonies during the American Revolutionary WarSouthern Campaigns in the Revolutionary War and took part in the Battle of Wetzell's Mill in 1781.The American Revolution in North Carolina By 1796 he had been appointed Commanding Officer of the 20th Regiment of Foot.Reminiscences of my military life from 1795 to 1818, by Charles Steevens
He was promoted to colonel on 26 January 1797 and to major general on 25 September 1803.The Army List, 1812, p. 6 He started officiating as Commander-in-Chief, India in 1807 and was also appointed colonel of the 1st Battalion of the 95th Regiment of Foot in 1809.British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 95th Regiment of Foot
Promoted to lieutenant general on 25 July 1810, he ceased officiating as Commander-in-Chief, India, following the appointment of Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet in 1811.
He lived in MertonBulletin 168 Merton Historical Society, December 2008 and died on 23 October 1816.The Paget Brothers 1790-1840
References
External links Urwin, Gregory J. W. (18 October 2016). Journal of the American Revolution: "With Cornwallis to the Dan: Deconstructing the 'Forbes Champagné Letter'