Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Downman, KCH, Royal Horse Artillery, 1832 (c)

Oil on millboard by Alexandre-Jean Dubois Drahonet (1791-1834), 1832 (c).

The identification of this picture, previously said to be of General Sir John Smith, rests on the interpretation of the brushstrokes indicating the insignia on his breast. Smith may be discounted from outset since he was not a horse gunner. In 1832 Downman was the only officer of the 'Horse Brigade' who had received a KCH (Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order) and was not also invested with the Order of the Bath (which would have been worn as well, as a matter of course).

Downman began his career as a Gentleman Cadet in 1787 and served with the Duke of York's army on the Continent in 1793 and 1794. There he fought in the actions of Lannoy, Rauxhain and Mourveaux, and also at Tournai on 18 May 1794, where he was captured. He was present at the surrender of San Domingo by Major-General Maitland to Toussaint L'Ouverture.

In the Peninsular War (1808-1814), he fought at Corunna and was general of the insurgent forces there attached to the cavalry under the command of Lord Henry Paget (later Marquess of Anglesey). In May 1811, as a major, Downman commanded the Horse Artillery at the battle of Fuentes d'Oñoro, and he was present at most of the subsequent significant actions of the War.

In 1825 Downman became ADC to the King, an appointment which he held until January 1837, five months before William IV's death. He was knighted at St James's Palace on 13 September 1831, receiving the KCH, and later (only four months before his own death), he became a KCB. He was Director General of Artillery from 1843 to 1844, and from 1846 until his death in August 1852 at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, he was Commandant of Woolwich District and Garrison.