Marcus Rainsford
Marcus Rainsford | |
|---|---|
 Captain Marcus Rainsford (left) | |
| Born | circa 1758[citation needed] |
| Died | 4 November 1817 (aged 58–59) London, England |
| Resting place | St Giles in the Fields, London, England |
| Education | Trinity College Dublin TCD |
| Occupation(s) | Soldier, Author, Historian |
| Known for | Author of the Haitian Revolution |
Captain Marcus Rainsford (circa 1758 – 4 November 1817)[citation needed] was an Officer in the British Army, serving in the Battle of Camden 1780, in the American Revolution. He published ‘An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti,’ London, in 1805.
Biography
Captain Marcus Rainsford(fl. 1805), author, of Sallins, Kildare, was born circa 1758.
He was educated in Trinity College Dublin TCD and obtained an MA in 1773
Rainsford joined the Irish Volunteers (18th century) in 1779
He obtained a commission and saw service in the 105th regiment, commanded by Francis, lord Rawdon (afterwards second) Earl of Moira, during the American war of independence.
He took part in the Battle of Camden in 1780, during the American Revolution.
In 1794 he served under the Duke of York in the Netherlands, and was afterwards employed in raising black troops in the West Indies.
In 1799 he visited St. Domingo, and had an interview with Toussaint L'Ouverture.
He was subsequently arrested and condemned to death as a spy, but was reprieved and eventually set at liberty.
Of this adventure he published an account, entitled ‘A Memoir of Transactions that took place in St. Domingo in the Spring of 1799’ (London, 1802, 8vo; 2nd edit. entitled ‘St. Domingo; or an Historical, Political, and Military Sketch of the Black Republic,’ 1802, 8vo).
He also published ‘An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti,’ London, 4to, 1805; and a poem in the heroic couplet, entitled ‘The Revolution; or Britain Delivered,’ London, 1801 (2nd edit. 8vo).
Rainsford died in November 1817 and is buried in St Giles in the Fields, London, England
- ^ https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Rainsford,_Marcus_(DNB00)
- ^ http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_230368/(after)-Rainsford,-Marcus/Captain-Marcus-Rainsford-c.1750-c.1805-with-a-private-soldier-of-the-Black-Army,-frontispiece-to-An-Historical-Account-of-the-Black-Empire-of-Hayti,-published-1805