In a see-saw campaign was slightly wounded, mishandled a crucial assault and attempted suicide before the war ended in Britain's favour.

In 1760 he went with his regiment to join the allied army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who as Frederick the Great's lieutenant was defending western Germany against the French.

In September 1775 Medows exchanged into the 55th Regiment of Foot, which was due to be sent to the Thirteen Colonies to fight in the American Revolutionary War.

Medows, however, having heard that the British in the south of India were being hard pressed by Haider Ali, sultan of Mysore, sailed with three of the ships and a large body of troops to Madras (now Chennai), where he arrived on 13 February 1782.

He accompanied Colonel William Fullarton in an expedition from Madras against Mysore, but the sudden conclusion of peace soon put a stop to the campaign.

Starting from Trichinopoli at the head of 15,000 men on 15 June 1790, Medows crossed the frontier into Mysore, and advanced in a westerly direction.

Medows served under Cornwallis through the campaigns of 1791 to 1792, and commanded the right column in the night attack on the Seringapatam redoubts on 6 February 1792.

[1] His attack was misplaced; in the dark of night he ended up capturing a different fortification than the one intended; in doing so, he dangerously exposed the British flank.

At the brevet promotion of 1 January 1798 he was made a general and received the post of Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight.