Thomas Trigge was born around 1742 and joined the army as an
Ensign in the
12th Regiment of Foot during the Seven Years' War. He served in Germany, including the battles of
Minden,
Villinghausen and
Wilhelmsthal. Trigge commanded the 12th Regiment during the
Great Siege of Gibraltar and was included in a commemorative painting.
Charles Holloway,
George Koehler and
Mackenzie are among those recorded as the principal officers serving in the siege which was painted by
George Carter for the
City of London. The
National Portrait Gallery have a
gouache sketch but the final painting is at the
National Army Museum. He became
Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth in September 1790 which came with the additional post of General Officer Commanding
South-West District from 1793. While Commander-in-Chief in the
West Indies, a joint Army and Navy expedition under Lieutenant-General Trigge and Vice-Admiral
Seymour captured
Suriname from the Dutch on 20 August 1799. They also captured a French corsair of 20 guns, the
Hussard, commanded by Marie-Étienne Peltier. He was at the origin of the Quasi-War decided by Burnel, the governor of French Guiana. In March 1801, Trigge and Rear-Admiral
Duckworth captured
St. Martin (a Franco-Dutch possession),
St. Bartholomew (Swedish), and
St. Thomas,
St. John, and
St. Croix (Danish). For his successes, he was made a
Knight of the Bath. == Bibliography ==