Thomas O’Maley (1779–1833), from County Galway, was a British army surgeon.
Martinique is the third largest island in the West Indies, with two good harbours, and in 1809 was taken from the French by a British military expedition, which notably suffered the lowest loss of life to disease of any expedition to that date. Dr O’Maley was the surgeon of the 4th Battalion, 65th Regiment of Foot, and in this extract he describes the whole of this ‘short but brilliant campaign’. It also provides details of the British order of battle (including West Indian regiments), the French surrender, the distribution of battle trophies (which included four French Eagle standards), and includes an extract from the official despatch.
To read the full article Become A Member