Lieutenant-General Henry Adolphus Proctor, [C.B.], entered the British Army as an Ensign in January 1801 and was advanced to Lieutenant in March of the following year. As a Captain in the 82nd Foot, several years later, he participated in the Walcheren Expedition and was present at the siege of Flushing. Thereafter, he served 'at Gibraltar, Tarifa and in the Peninsula, from 1810 to December 1812, and subsequently in the Peninsula and the South of France, from April to July 1814, including the affair of the Posts near Malaga, the Battle of Barrosa (contusion on the body), and in the retreat from Madrid' (Hart's Army List refers).

Only a small detachment from the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Foot was present at Barrosa (and Tarifa), Proctor thereby qualifying for a unique single-clasp Military General Service Medal to an Officer of the 82nd Regiment - a cursory examination of the published roll would also suggest that only a handful of Other Ranks similarly survived to claim their identical Medals.

Embarked from Bordeaux for Canada in July 1814, Proctor commanded the 82nd at Fort Erie and throughout the successive operations of the Campaign on the Niagara Frontier - towards the end of the year he received the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel for his gallant conduct in repelling an attack made by the Americans on the Batteries before Fort Erie on 17.9.1814.

Proctor was advanced to Colonel in January 1837 and to Major-General in November 1846, and was appointed Colonel of the 97th Foot in November 1852. Latterly created a C.B., he was promoted to Lieutenant-General in June 1854.