| Administrative History | Sir James McGrigor was appointed Deputy Inspector of Hospitals for the northern district in June 1805 and was transferred to the southwest district in June 1806 (AMCS/7/2/1). In January 1809 he had to contend with large numbers of sick and wounded men arriving at Portsmouth after the retreat from La Coruna in the early stages of the Peninsular War, many of whom were suffering from typhus fever (AMCS/7/2/2). McGrigor was promoted to the position of Inspector-General of Hospitals on 25 August 1809 (AMCS/7/2/3-4) and then appointed Chief of the Medical Staff of the Peninsular army in late 1811, arriving in Lisbon on 10 January 1812 and remaining in post until the end of the war in 1814 (AMCS/7/2/5-9). He spent some time overseeing outstanding administrative and financial matters following the end of hostilities before retiring on half-pay from the army. However, in June 1815 he was appointed Director-General of the Army Medical Department. |