Barry St. Leger

Barrimore Matthew "Barry" St. Leger (bapt. 1 May 1733 – 23 December 1793) was a British Army officer. St. Leger was active in the Saratoga Campaign, commanding an invasion force that unsuccessfully besieged Fort Stanwix. St. Leger remained on the frontier for the duration of the war; after its conclusion, he served briefly as commander of British forces in Quebec. Life St. Leger was baptised on 1 May 1733 in County Kildare, Ireland. He was a younger son of Sir John St Leger, a leading Irish judge and politician, and his second wife Lavina Pennefather. He was the brother of Gen. Anthony St Leger (British Army officer), the founder of the St Leger Stakes. The St Legers of Kildare were a junior branch of the family of Viscount Doneraile, and the Pennefathers were a wealthy landowning family in County Tipperary. He was educated at Eton College, and then at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He joined the British Army in April 1756, serving as an ensign in the 28th Regiment of Foot. He saw service in the French and Indian War under the command of Jeffery Amherst at the 1758 siege of Louisbourg, and in 1759 under the command of James Wolfe at the Siege of Quebec. He was appointed brigade-major in July 1760 and served as a staff officer in the campaign against Montreal under James Murray. On 16 September 1762, St. Leger was promoted to major in the 95th Regiment of Foot. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, St. Leger was a lieutenant colonel in the 34th Regiment of Foot. He saw service in the 1776 British relief of Quebec following the Continental Army's 1775 invasion of that province.