[3] He first saw action in 1778 during the American War of Independence as a lieutenant in the 82nd Regiment of Foot, which was raised in Lanarkshire for service in North America by the 8th Duke of Hamilton.

In 1779, he distinguished himself in action during the Penobscot Expedition in present-day Maine, when a small British detachment held off a much larger American force until reinforcements arrived.

[6] His personal intervention was credited with turning the tide at the Battle of Foulksmills on 20 June and he regained control of Wexford town before General Gerard Lake could, thereby possibly preventing its sacking.

[9] He returned to Great Britain in 1803 to command a brigade at Shorncliffe Army Camp near Folkestone, where he established the innovative system of drill and manoeuvre.

[9] Sir Arthur Bryant wrote: "Moore's contribution to the British Army was not only that matchless Light Infantry who have ever since enshrined his training, but also the belief that the perfect soldier can only be made by evoking all that is finest in man – physical, mental and spiritual.

He also initiated the cutting of the Royal Military Canal in Kent and Sussex, and recruited about 340,000 volunteers to a militia that would have defended the lines of the South Downs if an invading force had broken through the regular army defences.

Before succumbing to his wounds, Moore confided to his old friend and aide-de-camp, Colonel Paul Anderson:[b] "You know, I always wished to die this way, I hope the people of England will be satisfied!

[18] The first verse runs: Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

ending six verses later with: Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, But we left him alone with his glory.

Although the historian Napier [19] attributes the funeral monument to Marshal Soult, it was erected by orders of the Spanish commander, the Marquis de la Romana, when he returned to Corunna after the French abandoned Galicia.