[1] In September 1852, O'Connor was appointed as Governor of the Gambia, and was invested with command of all British troops in West Africa.

During the conflict with the Marabouts, known as the Soninke-Marabout War, O'Connor negotiated an attempted peace that acquired for Britain a significant tract of land in Kombo.

[1] O'Connor led a joint Anglo-French force against the Marabouts again in 1855, having been personally wounded in an earlier battle, with shots through the left shoulder and right arm.

In August 1855, he was able to storm Sabbajee again, raising the town and preventing the growth of Marabout forces in that area of Kombo.

[1] O'Connor led British troops against Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica in 1865, when several Europeans were murdered by rebellious Jamaicans.