| abstract | - Pasley was born at Eskdale Muir, Dumfriesshire, on 8 September 1780. He was highly intelligent, capable of translating the New Testament from Greek at the age of eight. In 1796, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich; a year later he gained his commission in the Royal Artillery, and he was transferred to the Royal Engineers in 1798. He was present in the defence of Gata, the Battle of Maida, and the siege of Copenhagen. In 1807, then a captain, he went to the Iberian Peninsula, where his knowledge of the Spanish language led to his employment on the staff of Sir David Baird and Sir John Moore. He took part in the retreat to Corunna and the Walcheren Expedition, and received a severe wound while gallantly leading a storming party at Flushing. During his tedious recovery, he employed himself in learning German. After discontinuing service, he devoted the rest of his life to the foundation of a complete military engineering science and to the thorough organization and training of the corps of Royal Engineers. Though only a captain, his great success led him to act as the commanding royal engineer at Plymouth for two years and was given a special grant. Because the events of the Peninsular War emphasized the need for a fully trained engineer corps, the war office adopted Pasley's views. He was placed at the head of the new School of Military Engineering at Woolwich in 1812. Concurrently, Pasley was gazetted brevet major. He became brevet lieutenant-colonel in 1813 and substantive lieutenant-colonel in 1814. The first volume of his Military Instruction appeared in 1814 and contained a course of practical geometry which he had framed for his company at Plymouth. Two other volumes completing the work appeared by 1817 and dealt with the science and practice of fortification, the latter comprising rules for construction. He published a work on Practical Architecture and prepared an important treatise on The Practical Operations of a Siege (1829–1832), which was translated into French (1847). He became brevet colonel in 1830 and substantive colonel in 1831. From 1831 to 1834, he focused his attention on the standardization of coins, weights and measures, publishing a book on the topic in 1834. In 1838, he was presented with the freedom of the city of London for his services in removing sunken vessels from the bed of the Thames near Gravesend. From 1839 to 1844, he was occupied with clearing away the wrecks of HMS Royal George from Spithead and HMS Edgar from St. Helens. All this work was subsidiary to his great work of creating a comprehensive art of military engineering.
|
