Later Career
In July 1796 poor health forced Simcoe to return to Britain. He was unable to return to Upper Canada and resigned his office in 1798.
He served briefly as the commander of British forces in Saint-Domingue (Haiti). There, in the spring of 1797, he defended the coastal town of Saint Marc but lost Mirebalais and the Central Plateau to the forces of Toussaint Louverture, leader of the slave revolt. This campaign signaled the end of the English attempt, in collaboration with the plantation owners, to restore slavery and other aspects of the ancien regime.
Simcoe was commissioned Colonel of the 81st Foot in 1798, but exchanged the position for the 22nd Foot less than six months later. He was also commander of the Western District in Britain. In 1806, he was appointed commander-in-chief of India (to succeed Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, who had died shortly after arriving in India.) Simcoe died in Exeter before assuming the post. Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake, was reappointed to replace Simcoe.
Simcoe was buried in Wolford Chapel on the Simcoe family estate near Honiton, Devon. The Ontario Heritage Foundation acquired title to the chapel in 1982.
Read more about this topic: John Graves Simcoe
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