Augustine Prevost
British Army general of Genevan origin
Major-General Augustine Prevost (born Augustin Prevost; 22 August 1723 – 5/6 May 1786) was a Genevan army officer best known for his service in the British Army during the Seven Years' War and American War of Independence.
Early life and career
Prevost was born on 22 August 1723 in Geneva. He was the son of Augustin Prevost, a member of Geneva's Council of Two Hundred, and Louise Martine. He began his military career in the Royal Sardinian Army, and later served as an officer in Dutch States Army.
Career in the British Army
Like his younger brothers Jacques-Marc (1736–1781) and Jacques (1725–1776), Prevost entered British service as a major in the 60th Regiment of Foot (Royal American Regiment) at the regiment's establishment in 1756. He fought and was wounded during the North American phase of the Seven Years' War, known in the United States as the 'French and Indian War.'
In 1763 he briefly acted as the interim military Governor of West Florida. After the war, Prevost was posted to the West Indies, where he served as deputy inspector general at Kingston, Jamaica. He was promoted to colonel in 1774.
American War of Independence
By the summer of 1776, Prevost was in charge of a contingent of the 60th stationed in St. Augustine, the capital of British East Florida.
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This entry incorporates text from “Augustine Prevost” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.