Gother Mann

Gother Mann (21 December 1747 – 27 March 1830) was an English army officer and military engineer in the Royal Engineers. He commanded a body of militia on Dominica when the island was captured by the French in September 1778, and his small garrison, outnumbered, surrendered on terms. In 1781 he was employed in a tour of survey of the north-east coast of England. He was sent to North America as commanding engineer in the province of Quebec from 1785 to 1791, served under the Duke of York in Holland in 1793, and in 1794 went back to the Canadas, where he remained till 1804, when he went home to England. He was made a colonel in 1797, colonel-commandant of his corps in 1805, lieutenant-general in 1810, and general in 1821. He was appointed inspector-general of fortifications in 1811, and held the office until death. Some of his plans for fortifying Canada are preserved in the British Library and Canada. Early years, 1747–1771 Gother Mann, second son of Cornelius Mann and Elizabeth Gother, was born at Plumstead, Kent, on 21 December 1747. His father, a first cousin of Sir Horace Mann, went to the West Indies in 1760, and died at Saint Kitts on 9 December 1776. Gother was left under the charge of his uncle, Mr. Wilks of Faversham, Kent. After graduating from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he obtained a commission as practitioner engineer and ensign in the Royal Engineers on 27 February 1763. He was employed in England on the defences of Sheerness and of the River Medway until 1775, having been promoted sub-engineer and lieutenant on 1 April 1771.