John Drinkwater Bethune

Colonel John Drinkwater Bethune (born John Drinkwater, 1762–1844) was an English army officer, administrator and military historian, known for his account of the Great Siege of Gibraltar that came out in 1785. Origins Born at Latchford on 9 June 1762, he was the eldest son of John Drinkwater (1740–1797), a surgeon in the Royal Navy, and his first wife Elizabeth Andrews. Career At the age of fifteen he joined the 72nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Manchester Volunteers) as an ensign and was almost immediately posted to Gibraltar. From June 1779 to February 1783 this small British possession was under siege from French and Spanish forces, during which time he kept a careful record of events. When peace came, he had become a captain but his regiment was sent back to Britain and disbanded. From his notes he wrote A history of the late siege of Gibraltar, 1779–1783, with a description and account of that garrison from the earliest period, published in 1785, which was widely read and frequently reprinted. As a soldier, Drinkwater was more interested in the military than in the civil aspects, yet his account does give some glimpses of the sufferings of the civilians. In 1787 he rejoined the British Army in the 2nd Battalion of the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot and returned to Gibraltar. There he was publicly thanked by the military commander, General Eliott, for his book and was given funds to establish the Gibraltar Garrison Library. The regiment was then sent to defend Toulon against the French, where he acted as military secretary until the British had to evacuate in December 1793. From there, he served under the viceroy, Sir Gilbert Eliott, as military secretary and deputy judge-advocate of the Kingdom of Corsica until the French captured the island in October 1796.