Phineas Riall

General Sir Phineas Riall, KCH (15 December 1775 – 10 November 1850) was the British general who succeeded John Vincent as commanding officer of the Niagara Peninsula in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. In 1816, he was appointed Governor of Grenada. Military career Riall was born at Clonmel, Ireland, into a wealthy Protestant landowning family. He was the third son of Phineas Riall (1737–1797) of Heywood, County Tipperary, whose father had founded the Riall Bank of Clonmel. His mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Charles Caldwell of Dublin and a sister of Admiral Sir Benjamin Caldwell. He was a cousin and from 1790 the brother-in-law of the traveller, author and collector General Sir George Cockburn of Shanganagh Castle, County Dublin. Riall entered the army as an ensign in 1794 and rose rapidly through purchased commissions. Even though he spent seven years on half pay (i.e. without any regimental or staff appointment), he was a major in the 15th Regiment of Foot in 1805. He sailed with them to the West Indies, and seems to have first seen serious action when he commanded the regiment at the capture of Martinique in 1809. The next year, he commanded a brigade at the capture of Guadeloupe. After this, he returned to England. Over the next two years, he received promotion to colonel and major general through seniority. He was then posted to Canada, where initially he commanded the Montreal district, then accompanied Lieutenant General Drummond to Upper Canada.