Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cosby, Henry Augustus Montagu
COSBY, Sir HENRY AUGUSTUS MONTAGU (1743–1822), lieutenant-general, only son of Captain Alexander Cosby, a direct descendant of Francis Cosby of Stradbally [q. v.], was born at Minorca, where his father was then stationed, in 1743. Captain Cosby was himself a distinguished officer, who after serving in the Duke of Montagu's regiment, and on the staff in Germany and Minorca, went on half-pay, and was sent to India by the directors of the East India Company in 1753 with a special mission to reorganise the company's troops. He first served as second in command to Major Stringer Lawrence in the Madras presidency, and was then transferred to Bombay, where he acted as second in command at the taking of Surat in 1759, of which important city he was appointed commandant, and where he died soon afterwards. Henry Cosby first saw service as a volunteer in the capture of Gheria, the stronghold of the Maráthá pirate Angria, by Colonel Clive and Admiral Watson in 1756, when he was only thirteen years of age. In 1760 he joined the company's Madras regiment of Europeans, which his father had disciplined, as an ensign. He was at once employed in Coote's advance on Pondicherry, and at the capture of that place he distinguished himself by saving the life of the major commanding H.M.'s 79th regiment, who offered him an ensigncy in his regiment, which he refused. He was present at the siege of Vellore, and on being promoted lieutenant was sent with a detachment of Europeans and sepoys to Masulipatam, where he remained in command until 1764. He threw up his command in order to serve at the siege of Madura in that year, and in 1767 he was promoted captain and appointed to the 6th battalion of Madras sepoys, which he commanded at the battles of the Chengama and of Errore, and at the siege of Arlier, where he was wounded in 1768. In 1771 he commanded the troops which stormed Vellore on 27 Sept., and was appointed governor of that place; in 1772 he went on the staff as brigade-major, and in 1773 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and appointed the first adjutant-general of the company's troops in Madras. In that capacity he served at the second siege of Tanjore in 1775, and was sent home with the despatches announcing its capture by Brigadier-general Joseph Smith, the commander-in-chief at Madras. He returned to India in 1777, and, after commanding a force against the celebrated palegar Bom Rauze, resigned his staff appointment in December 1778 to take up the lucrative appointment of commander of the nawáb of Arcot's cavalry. This force he thoroughly disciplined, and he played an important part at its head in the second war with Haidar Ali. His forced march from Trichinopoly was a great military feat, though he was just too late to join Colonel Baillie, who was defeated and forced to surrender at Pullalúr, and he managed to circumvent Haidar Ali, and cleverly joined Sir Hector Monro, under whom he did important service. In October 1782 he was ordered to England on sick leave, but was taken prisoner at the Cape on his way; he, however, managed to save the most important despatches concerning the war with Haidar Ali with which he was entrusted, and for so doing he was knighted by George III when he reached England on parole. In 1784 he returned to India for the last time, and after commanding in Trichinopoly and Tinnevelly as brigadier-general he was appointed colonel of the 4th Madras Europeans, and finally left India in December 1786, after thirty years of continuous service. He had made a large fortune in India, and purchased the beautiful seat of Barnsville Park, near Chepstow, which he greatly improved and embellished. In 1793 he married Agnes, daughter of Samuel Eliot of Antigua, and sister of Lady Le Despenser. He continued to take the keenest interest in all Indian matters, and was president of the committee of Indian officers in London, who were chosen to draw up the new regulations intended to settle the grievances of the company's officers. His services were so great and he became so popular in this capacity that he was presented with a piece of plate by the other officers on the commission, and was by their special request made one of the first major-generals on the Indian establishment, although he had been absent from India more than five years, the period allowed by the new regulations. He was also appointed to command the depôt which the East India Company thought of establishing in the Isle of Wight in 1796 for the recruiting service of their European regiments, a scheme which eventually came to nothing. Cosby was promoted major-general in 1793, and lieutenant-general in 1816 (antedated to June 1799), and died at Bath on 17 Jan. 1822. He was buried in Bath Abbey, where a monument was erected to him.
[Dodwell and Miles's Indian Army List; Gent. Mag. February and March 1822, nearly identical with the notice in the East India Military Calendar, i. 1–24, and therefore probably written by Sir John Philippart, the compiler of the Calendar.]