Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 61.djvu/12

 Devonshire, by Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Frankland, bart., of Thirkleby Park, Yorkshire. He was educated at Mr. Newcombe's school, Hackney, and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, which he entered as a cadet on 16 May 1796. He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the royal artillery on 1 March 1798, and became lieutenant on 2 Oct. 1799. He served in the expedition of that year to the Helder, and in the expedition to Madeira in 1801. When Madeira was evacuated at the peace of Amiens, he went with his company to Jamaica, and was made adjutant. On 8 July 1805 he was promoted second captain, and came home. He served as adjutant to the artillery in the attack on Copenhagen in 1807. In the following year he was posted to D troop of the horse artillery.

In February 1810 he embarked with it for the Peninsula, but the Camilla transport, on board of which he was, nearly foundered, and had to put back. Owing to this, D troop did not take the field as a unit till 1811; but Whinyates was present at Busaco on 27 Sept. 1810, and acted as adjutant to the officer commanding the artillery. He was at Albuera on 16 May 1811 with four guns, and there are letters of his describing this and subsequent actions (, pp. 59 sq.). He and his troop took part in the cavalry affair at Usagre on 25 May, and in the actions at Fuentes de Guinaldo and Aldea de Ponte on 25 and 27 Sept.

In 1812 the troop was with Hill's corps on the Tagus; and at Ribera, on 24 July, Whinyates made such good use of two guns that the French commander Lallemand inquired his name, and sent him a message: ‘Tell that brave man that if it had not been for him, I should have beaten your cavalry’ (, p. 63). The captain of D troop died at Madrid on 22 Oct., and for the next four months Whinyates was in command of it. It distinguished itself at San Muñoz on 17 Nov., at the close of the retreat from Burgos, five out of its six guns being injured. General Long, who commanded the cavalry to which it was attached, afterwards wrote of the troop that he had never witnessed ‘more exemplary conduct in quarters, nor more distinguished zeal and gallantry in the field.’

On 24 Jan. 1813 Whinyates became captain, and consequently left the Peninsula in March. His service there won him no promotion, as brevet rank was not given at that time to second captains. In 1814 he was appointed to the second rocket troop, and he commanded it at Waterloo. Wellington, who did not believe in rockets, ordered that they should be left behind; and when he was told that this would break Whinyates's heart, he replied: ‘Damn his heart; let my orders be obeyed.’ However, Whinyates eventually obtained leave to bring them into the field, together with his six guns. When Ponsonby's brigade charged D'Erlon's corps, he followed it with his rocket sections, and fired several volleys of ground-rockets with good effect against the French cavalry (Waterloo Letters, pp. 203–10). He then rejoined his guns, which were placed in front of Picton's division. In the course of the day he had three horses shot under him, was struck on the leg, and severely wounded in the left arm. He received a brevet majority and the Waterloo medal, and afterwards the Peninsular silver medal with clasps for Busaco and Albuera.

At the end of 1815 the rocket troop went to England to be reduced, and Whinyates was appointed to a troop of drivers in the army of occupation, with which he remained till 1818. He commanded H troop of horse artillery from 1823 to 22 July 1830, when he became regimental lieutenant-colonel. He was made K.H. in 1823 and C.B. in 1831. He had command of the horse artillery at Woolwich from November 1834 to May 1840, and of the artillery in the northern district for eleven years afterwards, having become regimental colonel on 23 Nov. 1841.

On 1 April 1852 he was appointed director-general of artillery, and on 19 Aug. commandant at Woolwich, where he remained till 1 June 1856. He had been promoted major-general on 20 June 1854, and became lieutenant-general on 7 June 1856, and general on 10 Dec. 1864. He was made K.C.B. on 18 May 1860. He had become colonel-commandant of a battalion on 1 April 1855, and was transferred to the horse artillery on 22 July 1864. He was ‘an officer whose ability, zeal, and services have hardly been surpassed in the regiment’ (, ii. 37).

He died at Cheltenham on 25 Dec. 1865. In 1827 he had married Elizabeth, only daughter of Samuel Compton of Wood End, North Riding, Yorkshire. He left no children. He had five brothers, of whom four served with distinction in the army and navy.

The eldest, Rear-admiral (1778–1857), born on 7 Sept. 1778, entered the navy as first-class volunteer on 24 May 1793. He commanded a boat in the attack and capture of Martinique in March 1794, and assisted in boarding the French frigate Bienvenue. He was also present at the capture of St. Lucia and Guadeloupe.