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FLOYD, Sir John, 1st Baronet (1748-1818) - General
Distinguished cavalry officer and professional soldier. Commissioned: Cornet, 5 April 1760 [Eliott's Light Horse] [afterwards 15th or King's Royal Hussars]; Lieutenant 20 April 1763; Captain-Lieutenant 20 May 1770; Captain 25 May 1772 (15th Hussars); Major (21st Light Dragoons) 5 May 1779; gazetted Lieutenant-Colonel of a newly raised cavalry regiment for specific duty in India (23rd Light Dragoons, later named 19th Light Dragoons) 24 September; Colonel 18 November 1790; Major-General 5 October 1794; appointed Colonel (23rd Light Dragoons) 11 September 1800; promoted Lieutenant-General 1 January 1801; transferred to Colonelcy of 8th Light Dragoons 13 September 1804; promoted General 1 January 1812; created a baronet, 30 March 1816. Arrived in Madras in 1782 and was thereafter involved in a series of military actions against Tipu and his army. Between 1782-1800 he established a reputation as the most competent cavalry commander in South India. Appointed by Lord Cornwallis in 1790 to command all the cavalry units upon the Coramandel Coast. Took part in military actions at Coimbatore in July 1790, Satyamangalam in August 1790, wounded during the siege of Bangalore in March 1791 (carried a bullet in his neck for the rest of his life), fought at Arikera in May 1791, at Seringapatam in May 1792, the capture of Bangalore in 1793, at Maravilla in 1794, Mallavelli in 1799 and at the capture of Seringapatam in 1799. Acted as second in command to General Harris. When the siege of Seringapatam was being established it was Floyd who commanded the covering army sent westward by Harris to bring General Stuart's Bombay Army safely into camp from Sedaseer to Seringapatam. After the victory at Seringapatam he served as chairman of the Prize Committee established to divide and allocate the booty taken from Tipu's treasury. Returned to England in 1800 a wealthy and successful soldier. Served in Ireland 1809-1812; received sinecure office of Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury in 1813. When he was created a baronet in 1816 he was granted permission to include in his heraldic crest a lion rampant, bearing the standard of Tipu Sultan between its paws. Died: 10 January 1818, in London.
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