he was, however, not actively engaged, at the various cavalry affairs of 1812, notably at Llerena and Castrejon, at the battle of Salamanca and the advance on Madrid, and then in the advance on Burgos. During the siege of Burgos Downman commanded the artillery upon the right of the English position. He commanded the whole of the artillery, both horse and field, of the rearguard during the retreat from Burgos, where he was frequently engaged, and he was specially mentioned in Lord Wellington's despatch for his gallantry at the affair of Celada. For his services at Salamanca he received a gold medal, and he was promoted lieutenant-colonel by brevet on 17 Dec. 1812. He returned to England invalided in 1813, and handed over the command of the royal horse artillery with the army to Major (afterwards Sir) Augustus Frazer. He was appointed to the command of the royal artillery in the eastern district and then in Sussex, and was promoted lieutenant-colonel in the royal horse artillery on 20 Dec. 1814; the next year he was also made a C.B. on the extension of the order of the Bath. He was knighted in 1821, promoted colonel in 1825, major-general in Jan. 1837, lieutenant-general in Nov. 1846, and K.C.B. on 6 April 1852. He became a colonel-commandant of the royal horse artillery in 1843, was director-general of artillery in 1843–4, and was appointed to the command of the Woolwich district and garrison in 1848. He died at Woolwich, while still holding his command there, on 10 Aug. 1852.
[Royal Military Calendar, ed. 1820, iv. 437–9; Duncan's Hist. of the Royal Regiment of Artillery; Kane's List of Officers of the Royal Artillery; Sir A. S. Frazer's Letters from the Peninsula; Gent. Mag. October 1852.]
DOWNMAN, WILLIAM (1505–1577), bishop of Chester. [See Downham.]
DOWNSHIRE, Marquis of. [See Hill, Wills, 1718–1793.]
DOWNTON, NICHOLAS (d. 1615), commander in the service of the East India Company, was early in 1610 appointed to command the company's ship Peppercorn, and sailed under Sir Henry Middleton in the Trade's Increase. After touching at the Cape Verd Islands and in Saldanha Bay, they arrived at Aden on 7 Nov. They were received with apparent friendliness, and after inquiring into the prospects of trade, Middleton, leaving the Peppercorn at Aden, went on to Mocha, where he anchored on 15 Nov. After friendly intercourse for some days, on the 28th he was treacherously knocked down, made prisoner, and heavily ironed. The Turks then attempted to seize the ships, but were beaten off with great loss. Nearly at the same time a number of the Peppercorn's men were seized at Aden; and Downton, coming round to Mocha to confer with his general, found himself for the time being in command of the expedition. He remained in the Red Sea, carrying on an occasional correspondence with Middleton, who, on 11 May 1611, succeeded in escaping to the ships. For the next eighteen months they continued, for the most part in the Red Sea or Arabian Sea, visiting the several ports, and seeking to establish a trade; as to which Downton relates that having bought a quantity of pepper at Tecoa on the west coast of Sumatra, on examining it they ‘found much deceit; in some bags were small bags of paddy, in some rice, and in some great stones; also rotten and wet pepper put into new dry sacks.’ Towards the end of 1612 Middleton went on to Bantam in the Peppercorn, leaving Downton to follow in the Trade's Increase. In doing so the ship struck on an unseen rock, and when got off was found to be leaking badly. Downton returned to Tecoa and had her refitted as well as possible; but on joining Middleton it was decided that the ship could not go home till she had been careened. It was accordingly determined that Downton should take the Peppercorn to England, and he sailed on the homeward voyage on 4 Feb. 1612–13. The voyage was one of difficulty and distress. Within three days after leaving Java Head half the ship's company were down with sickness. ‘He that escapes without disease,’ Downton wrote, ‘from that stinking stew of the Chinese part of Bantam must be of strong constitution of body.’ The passage was tedious. Many of his men died, most were smitten with scurvy, he himself was dangerously ill; and the ship, in a very helpless state, unable by foul winds to reach Milford Haven, anchored at Waterford on 13 Sept. 1613, and a month later arrived in the Downs.
On 1 Jan. 1613–14 a new ship of 550 tons was launched for the company, and named the New Year's Gift. Downton was appointed to command her, and to be general of the company's ships in the East Indies. On 7 March the fleet of four ships put to sea; on 15 June they anchored in Saldanha Bay, and arrived at Surat on 15 Oct. The Portuguese had long determined to resist the advance of the English [cf. Best, Thomas], and were at this time also at variance with the nawab of Surat. To crush their enemies at one blow they collected their whole available force at Goa. It amounted to six large galleons, besides several smaller vessels, and
