John Vincent (general)

General John Vincent (1764–1848) was the British commanding officer of the Niagara Peninsula in Upper Canada when the United States attacked in the spring of 1813. He was defeated at the Battle of Fort George but was able to rebound and establish the new lines at Burlington Heights. He directed the campaign during the summer and fall that eventually forced the American to abandon the Niagara area in December 1813. Due to illness he was replaced by General Phineas Riall, though of the several officers of the 49th Regiment who reached high command during the War of 1812, Vincent was the longest-serving of them. British and Canadian accounts of the War give the impression of a modest, well-liked and generous officer, who gave whatever help he could to other commanders. From 1814, he had held the sinecure post of Lieutenant-Governor of Dumbarton Castle.

He was born in Ireland, the son of John Vincent (1734–1779) of Mardyke, Co. Limerick, Sheriff of Limerick, by his first wife, Catherine (d.1768), daughter and co-heiress of John Love (d.1750), of Castle Saffron (later renamed Creagh Castle), near Doneraile, Co. Cork, great grandson of Sir Philip Perceval.

Vincent entered the army as an Ensign in 1781. He transferred as a Lieutenant into the 49th Foot in 1783, becoming a Captain in 1786. He saw service with the regiment in the West Indies and was present at the taking of Haiti. After being promoted to Major in 1795, he was ordered back to England for his health, but the vessel on which he sailed was captured by a French frigate and he was detained a prisoner in France for one year. He took part in the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland in 1799 (was promoted to Lt.-Colonel in 1800), and was present at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 under Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. Two years later, the 49th were posted to Upper Canada, and Vincent was accompanied there by his nephew, William Vincent (who had married Frances Blood of Castle Fergus, Co. Clare, descended from the noted bravo and desperado Colonel Thomas Blood), who had joined the 49th in 1800. Vincent performed various garrison duties at York (Toronto), Fort St. George (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and Kingston, Ontario for the next ten years or so.

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