Henry Sheehy Keating

Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Sheehy Keating, KCB (13 November 1775 – 12 September 1847) was a British Army officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He served in the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811, when Keating commanded the troops stationed on Rodrigues, a small island used as a base by British forces during the campaign. Keating was instrumental in planning and executing a series of amphibious operations against French colonies in the Indian Ocean, culminating in the capture of both Isle Bonaparte and Isle de France in 1810.

Early service Keating joined the British Army in 1793, at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. Purchasing a commission in the 33rd Regiment of Foot, Keating was almost immediately despatched to the West Indies with his regiment. Serving the campaign against French colonies in the region under Sir Charles Grey, Keating was promoted to lieutenant and fought in the invasion of Martinique, during which he was twice grievously wounded and taken prisoner by the French. While recovering from his wounds, which included a broken arm from a musket shot and a skull fracture from a shell splinter, Keating was held in a prison hulk for 18 months, before being sent to a more secure prison facility in La Rochelle.

On his return to Britain in 1796, Keating was promoted to captain. In 1800 he purchased a promotion to major and was transferred to the 56th Regiment of Foot, then stationed in Ireland. Serving as a brigade major, Keating was placed in command of recruitment in County Mayo, a service for which he later received the thanks of both his senior officers and the local government. Serving through the Peace of Amiens, Keating became lieutenant colonel in command of the 56th on 1 August 1804.

In 1815, Henry Keating was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He had continued to rise in rank, becoming a major general in 1813 and reaching lieutenant general in 1837. The year before he had been knighted, becoming a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. In April 1845, he was made honorary colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot.

He died in September 1847 in Cheltenham aged 71. His remains are interred in the town's cemetery and a Memorial to him was erected in Christ Church, Cheltenham.

Portrayal in fiction Keating is a secondary character in the novel The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian, which portrays the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811. He is favourably portrayed as a capable and decisive commander.