A Compendium of Irish Biography/Blakeney, Sir Edward
Blakeney, Sir Edward, Lieutenant-General, G.C.B., son of W. Blakeney, Member for Athenry before the Union, was born in 1778. He entered the army when but sixteen, as cornet in a dragoon regiment, and saw much active service in Holland, Nova Scotia, the West Indies, at Copenhagen, and elsewhere. During the Peninsular War, he took part in the battle of Busaco, in the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and in the battles of Albuera, Vittoria, and the Pyrenees. In 1814 he was employed in the expedition against New Orleans. He acted as Commander-in-Chief in Ireland from 1832 to 1855, during which time he was a Privy-Councillor. He was appointed governor of Chelsea Hospital in 1856, and became a Field-Marshal in 1862. He died 2nd August 1868, aged about 90. [1]
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