Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Pilkington (1776 – 23 February 1853) was a British Army officer who served through the Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812. He saw initial service fighting as a marine at the Glorious First of June in 1794 where he was wounded twice, and subsequently served with his regiment, the 2nd Regiment of Foot, at the Invasion of Trinidad in 1795. Having returned to Britain Pilkington helped defeat the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and in the following year was part of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.
Pilkington began serving as a staff officer in 1800; while sailing to India in September his ship was captured by a French privateer, during which he was severely wounded. Released to continue on to India, Pilkington returned to Britain in 1803, subsequently serving as assistant adjutant general at Horse Guards for two years. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1809, he was sent to Nova Scotia as deputy adjutant-general. During the War of 1812 Pilkington commanded two expeditions in Maine, capturing Moose Island in July 1814 and Machias in September. He continued on in Nova Scotia until 1816. Made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1838, Pilkington received his final promotion, to lieutenant-general, in 1841.
Early life
Andrew Pilkington was born about 1776, the second son of Thomas Pilkington, a member of the gentry from Bridgenorth. He had two brothers; Matthew, a reverend, and Thomas, a justice of the peace, and one sister, Mary Anne. His mother's maiden name was Phillips; she was the niece of an admiral.
Military service
Early career and naval secondment
Pilkington joined the British Army as an ensign in an Independent Company on 7 March 1783 and was promoted to lieutenant in that company on 24 January 1791. Towards the start of 1793, with the French Revolutionary Wars ongoing, Pilkington transferred to the 2nd Regiment of Foot. Given command of the light company of the 2nd, Pilkington was sent to serve in the Channel Fleet with his men as marines. Stationed on board the 100-gun ship of the line HMS Royal George and under the command of Captain Love Parry Jones, he fought at the naval Glorious First of June on 1 June 1794, during which he was wounded by two splinters and had an epaulette shot off. In 1849 Pilkington received the Naval General Service Medal with a clasp for the battle.
Pilkington was promoted to captain on 2 March 1795, travelling with his regiment to serve in the West Indies Campaign in the same year. Still serving in the West Indies two years later, on 21 February 1797 Pilkington participated in the Invasion of Trinidad. After this he returned to Europe, being stationed in Ireland at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 which he assisted in putting down. Continuing his wide-ranging service, in August 1799 Pilkington joined the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.
Staff officer
Having returned from Holland, in 1800 Pilkington transferred to the 3rd Foot Guards. Appointed an aide de camp to Major-General Frederick St John, on 9 October Pilkington was sailing to India with the general on board the East Indiaman Kent when the ship was attacked by the 20-gun French privateer Confiance. Pilkington was severely wounded in the defence of the vessel, which lasted an hour and forty-seven minutes and ended when the French crew boarded Kent. Thirteen men from Kent were killed and forty-four wounded. Released to continue on to India, Pilkington eventually returned to England in 1803 during the Peace of Amiens. With the Napoleonic Wars underway, Pilkington was appointed an aide de camp to Major-General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser upon his return and subsequently was promoted to major on 31 March 1804. At the beginning of the following year Pilkington served in the short-lived Hanover Expedition, in which Fraser commanded a brigade. He then served as an assistant adjutant-general at Horse Guards between 1807 and 1808.
War of 1812
Moose Island
Promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 5 October 1809, Pilkington was transferred to serve in Nova Scotia as the deputy adjutant-general at Halifax. During the subsequent War of 1812 Pilkington held several commands, including in 1814 for offensive operations in Passamaquoddy Bay. On 5 July that year he left Halifax with two troop transports carrying the 102nd Regiment of Foot, about 1,000 men. They joined with a naval force under Captain Sir Thomas Hardy at Shelburne on 7 July. The historian John Boileau describes Pilkington at this time as "an able officer who knew the local situation well". It was planned that the combined force would capture Moose Island and all the other islands in the bay between Maine and New Brunswick.