William Inglis - Early Career

Early Career

Almost nothing is known of Inglis's birth or childhood, save that he was born in 1764, the third son of Dr. William Inglis, head of the College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. Even his mother's name is unknown, as is the location of his birth and any details of his education. Indeed, the first undisputed records about him which are known are those indicating that he was commissioned into the 57th Regiment of Foot as an ensign in 1779, although he did not actually join the regiment for another two years, meeting them in New York at the height of the American Revolutionary War in 1781. Following the British defeat, Inglis and his regiment travelled to Nova Scotia and Inglis spent the next ten years in Canada.

Whilst stationed in North America, Inglis became a lieutenant in 1782 and a captain in 1785. When his unit returned to Britain in 1791, the French Revolution had occurred and Inglis was engaged during the next two years maintaining order in the Midlands. When war with France broke out in 1793, the 57th was dispatched to the army of the Duke of York during his unsuccessful campaign against the French in the Low Countries. The same year, Inglis and his men were also briefly detached to a failed expedition to Brittany, but by the time the campaign had faltered in the winter of 1794, Ingis was back in Belgium.

Participating in the siege of Nijmegen and withdrawal to Bremen during the winter of 1794/95, Inglis performed well, and despite the failure of a second expedition to Brittany in 1795, he was promoted to major. In 1796, Inglis and his regiment were posted to the West Indies, arriving in early 1796 as they only vessel of the convoy to make it safely across the Atlantic on the ship Charon. Due to the consequent paucity of soldiers, Inglis was prominently involved in the British invasion of St. Lucia and the capture of the Morne Fortuné fort. Inglis had operated as second-in-command to Sir John Moore, who admired his subordinate's abilities, and Inglis was also later engaged in the capture of the islands of Grenada and Trinidad.

Whilst in the Caribbean, Inglis had been promoted to lieutenant colonel and in 1802 returned to Britain during the Peace of Amiens. He was employed until 1804 in raising a new second battalion of the 57th and in 1804 took over command of his new unit in the Channel Islands garrison. In the islands, Inglis found his men to be lacking discipline when off duty, referring to them as "fighting villains", but was repeatedly praised for the morale and ability of his men. The regiment left the Channel Islands in 1809 after five years and was attached to Sir Arthur Wellesley's army in Portugal for service in the Peninsula War.