Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Borthwick, William (1760-1820)
BORTHWICK, WILLIAM (1760–1820), general, was the eldest son of Lieutenant-general William Borthwick, R.A., and entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich as a gentleman cadet in 1772. He became a second lieutenant R.A. in 1777, lieutenant in 1779, and captain-lieutenant in 1790, with which rank he served in Flanders. As brigadier-general he prepared the siege train with which Wellington bombarded Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, and was severely wounded during the siege. He also prepared the siege train for the last siege of Badajoz; but in April 1812 he was promoted major-general, and had to hand over his command to Colonel Framingham, because the number of artillerymen in the Peninsula was supposed not to justify the presence there of a general officer, After his return he received a gold medal for the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, but was not even made a C.B. He died at Margate on 20 July 1820.
[Jones's Siege Operations in the Peninsular war; Duncan’s History of the Royal Artillery.]