Augustine Prévost

Major General Augustine Prévost (b. 22 August 1723 Geneva, Switzerland – d. 4 May 1786 East Barnet, England) was a Swiss-born British soldier who served in the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence.

Prévost was born to a French Huguenot family that was originally from Poitou, France.

Seven Years War

Like his younger brother Mark Prevost, Prévost joined the 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot as a major on 9 January 1756 at the regiment's establishment. He fought in the French and Indian War, during which he suffered a wound.

American War of Independence

By the summer of 1776, Prévost, then a colonel, was in charge of a contingent of the 60th stationed in St. Augustine, the capital of British East Florida.

In the winter of 1778, following a proposal of Lord George Germain, Prévost, now a brigadier-general, was given orders by General Sir Henry Clinton to invade Georgia. Prévost dispatched two units north: one under the command of lieutenant-colonel Lewis V. Fuser and the other under his younger brother Mark. Prévost arrived at Savannah, Georgia, on 17 January 1779 which was protected by British Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. Prévost assumed command but also sent the message to General Clinton that he wished to resign, believing that a younger man should take his place. His forces launched an unsuccessful raid against Charles Town, South Carolina, whose indiscriminate looting antagonized ally and enemy alike. The major engagement of the affair was the Battle of Stono Creek, a British victory.

In September 1779 Brigadier General George Garth was sent to replace him, travelling from New York on HMS Experiment. Garth was, however, captured before he could reach Savannah and Prévost remained to defend the town from a combined French and Continental force in an action that came to be known as the Siege of Savannah.

Family

Augustine was married to Anette (Ann) Grand and father of Sir George Prévost, and of Major Augustine Prevost (b. 29 August 1744 Geneva – d. 17 January 1821 Greenville, NY). Major Prevost retired to manage his wife's family estate (Croghan Estates) and died as a citizen of the United States.

Descendents of Prévost settled in the United States and Peru.

References

• A regimental chronicle and list of officers of the 60th, or the King's, royal rifle corps by Nesbit Willoughby Wallace
• Notices généalogiques sur les familles-genevoises by Jacques Augustin Galiffe, Eugène Ritter, Louis Dufour-Vernes, 1833, p. 277.
• "The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies" by David Lee Russell