Alexander Woodford

Field Marshal Sir Alexander George Woodford GCB GCMG (1782 - 26 August 1870) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator.

Career

He entered the army in 1794 as Cornet in the 14th Light Dragoons. In 1795 he was appointed a Lieutenant and in 1799 joined the 9th Foot, from Winchester College, and was present in the campaign in North Holland in 1799.

In 1800 he was exchanged and returned to England, and promoted by purchase to a Captain-Lieutenancy in the 9th Foot in the same year and exchanged into the Coldstream Guards as Lieutenant and Captain in 1800.

Woodford was appointed to the staff as Aide de Camp to Major-General Hon James Forbes, afterwards Lord Forbes, and was stationed at Ashford and Dover forming part of the army assembled on the coast to repel the threatened invasion of 1803. In 1807, he rejoined the Coldstream Guards for the Expedition to the Baltic, and was present at the capture of Copenhagen. In 1808, he resumed the staff appointment as Aide de Camp to Lord Forbes and served with him in Sicily in 1808-1810. I n that year he was promoted by purchase to be Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel Coldstream Guards, and joined the second battalion the same year.

In 1811, he joined the 1st Battalion serving under the Duke of Wellington in Portugal, and was present at the siege and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, and with the corps covering the siege of Badajoz.

He commanded the light companies of the Guards at the Battle of Salamanca, in defence of the Arapiles, and was present at the capture of Madrid and the siege of Burgos. He commanded the rearguard of the army in the retreat from Burgos. In 1813, Woodford succeeded to the command of the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, and was present at the Battle of Vittoria, and during the operations before San Sebastian, and in the Pyrenees. He was present at the passage of the Bidassoa, and entry into France, and at the crossing of the Nive and Nivelle, and at the affair before Biarritz in December 1813. In 1814 he embarked in the Gironde for England and was promoted to 2nd Major Coldstream Guards, having been previously appointed Aide de Camp to the Prince Regent. In 1815, he took command of the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards at Brussels and was present at the action at Quartre Bras, 16th June, and at the Battle of Waterloo.

He was engaged as Senior Officer in the defence of Hougomont by the Duke of Wellington's special order, from midday until night and entered France a second time at the head of the Coldstream, at Malplaquet, as well as being present at the capture of Paris. He served with the army of occupation for three years at Cambrai and embarked for England from Calais in 1818. In 1820, he was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel Coldstream Guards. In 1825, he was made Major-General and appointed Lieut-Governor of Malta in that year, and was acting Governor of Malta from 28 November 1826 - 15 February 1827.

He was Major-General on the staff in the Ionian Islands in 1827 and second in command, Acting Lord High Commissioner of Corfu in 1832.

He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar in 1835 and succeeded Lord Chatham as Governor of Gibraltar from 1 September 1836 - 11 October 1842. He built the lighthouse at Europa Point between 1838-1841.

Woodford was furthermore appointed Colonel of the 40th Regiment and was President of the Clothing Board for several years. He was President of the Crimean Enquiry and was appointed Lieut-Governor of Chelsea in 1856 and Governor in 1868, Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1863 and Field Marshal in the army in 1868. He received the Peninsular and Waterloo medals, the gold medal for Salamanca, Vittoria and the Nive, as well as the cross of Maria Theresa, and St George of Russia, and was Knight Grand Cross of the Military order of the Bath, and of St Michael and St George.

William Seymour in "Decisive Factors in Twenty Great Battles of the World" (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1988) writes "so close was the fighting that Bull's guns were no longer able to give support, but the arrival of Colonel Woodford with his Coldstream battalion - less two companies - drove the French away from the gate."

Sir Alexander died in 1870 and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Personal life

He married Charlotte Mary Anne Fraser (died 2 April 1870). They had at least three sons, Charles John Woodford who died in 1857 during the Indian Mutiny, John William Gordon Woodford (born 23 November 1826) in Malta, and his eldest son, the Reverend Adolphus Woodford, who became a distinguished freemason based in London.

His daughter married Lt-General George Frederick Upton, 3rd Viscount Templetown (1802–1890).

References

* [http://www.woodforde.co.uk/page29.htm Biography]