General Gerard Gosselin (4 February 1769 – 11 June 1859) was a British Army officer of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After a short stint in the Marines, he joined the British Army in 1787 in the 34th Regiment of Foot. Having been promoted to lieutenant in 1791 he transferred to the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards in the same year, where he initially served as adjutant. Gosselin was promoted to captain in 1794 and almost immediately purchased his majority as well, transferring to the 130th Regiment of Foot. He travelled with this regiment to Jamaica where they served as garrison troops until returning home in 1796.
Gosselin subsequently served in a number of recruiting roles, becoming a lieutenant colonel in 1800, a colonel in 1810, and a major general in 1813. He was then sent to Sicily where he served on the staff of Lieutenant General Lord William Bentinck, and he commanded a brigade in the capture of Genoa in April 1814. Later in 1814 he was sent with his brigade to North America to serve in the War of 1812. Under the orders of Lieutenant General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke he then commanded the land component of an expedition into Maine, where in September they captured Castine and successfully fought the Battle of Hampden. Gosselin was made Provincial Governor of the area, a position in which he served until the end of the war in 1815. He briefly served as commander of the garrison at Halifax before returning to England in 1816. In retirement Gosselin became a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Kent. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1825 and general in 1841, he died at his home near Faversham in 1859, aged ninety.
Early life
Gerard Gosselin was born the third son of Colonel Joshua Gosselin and Martha Le Marchant on 4 February 1769. The families of Gosselin and Le Marchant were long established in the Channel Islands. His second eldest brother was Admiral Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin. He had two younger brothers who served in the army and navy respectively; they both died while serving at Trinidad in 1803. Gosselin did not immediately join the British Army, instead choosing to join the Marines on 29 November 1780. He never officially served with that corps despite this, and was placed on half pay when they were reduced at the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. After four years out of service he joined the army as an ensign in the 34th Regiment of Foot in 1787.
Army service
Gosselin was promoted to lieutenant on 6 January 1791. On 11 November of the same year he transferred from the 34th to the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards, where he became that regiment's adjutant. While serving in this role he became involved in a dispute with Captain John Bellenden Gawler over the latter being forced to leave the regiment, which resulted in a series of letters between the two being printed in the Morning Chronicle in 1793. On 6 June 1794 Gosselin was promoted to captain and given command of one of the 2nd's troops. He soon afterwards transferred out of the 2nd to instead command an independent company. Gosselin did so until 15 June when he purchased his majority in the 130th Regiment of Foot. The French Revolutionary War being underway, at the beginning of 1795 Gosselin sailed with that regiment to Jamaica, and upon arriving there he assumed command of the 130th, still a major. The regiment garrisoned Santo Domingo until 1796 when they were ordered home to England, and in 1798 they were further reduced, leaving Gosselin on half pay.
Gosselin was subsequently promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 January 1800 and in the following year he was appointed Paymaster to the Birmingham Recruiting District. He served in this role until 1804 when he moved to become Inspecting Field Officer of the Waterford Recruiting District, and then in 1807 he took on the same role in the Carlisle district. Gosselin was promoted to colonel on 1 July 1810 and then by seniority became a major general on 4 June 1813. He was then sent to Sicily where he served as a staff officer to Lieutenant General Lord William Bentinck. Bentinck attacked Genoa on 28 February 1814 and Gosselin took part in the expedition as commander of a brigade, subsequently serving as Commandant of Genoa after the city surrendered on 18 April. Genoa was evacuated by the British in December, but by this time Gosselin had left the Mediterranean.