Editing Gregor MacGregor (section)

===British Army===
MacGregor joined the British Army at 16, the youngest age it was possible for him to do so, in April 1803. His family [[Purchase of commissions in the British Army|purchased him a commission]] as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] in the [[57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot]], probably for around [[Pound sterling|£]]450.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|p=111}}<ref>{{London Gazette
|issue=15571|page=369|date=2 April 1803}}</ref> MacGregor's entrance to the military coincided with the start of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] following the breakdown of the [[Treaty of Amiens]]. Southern England was [[British anti-invasion preparations of 1803–05|fortified]] to defend against a [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|possible French invasion]]; the 57th Foot was at [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]], [[Kent]]. In February 1804, after less than a year in training, MacGregor was promoted without purchase to [[lieutenant]] — an advancement that usually took up to three years. Later that year, after MacGregor had spent some months in [[Guernsey]] with the regiment's 1st Battalion, the 57th Foot was posted to [[Gibraltar]].{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=112–114}}

[[File:George Watson Gregor MacGregor.jpg|thumb|upright|MacGregor in the [[British Army]], painted by [[George Watson (painter)|George Watson]], 1804|alt=A young, rosy-cheeked man in the red uniform of the British Army.]]
MacGregor was introduced to Maria Bowater, the daughter of a [[Royal Navy]] admiral, around 1804. Maria commanded a substantial [[dowry]] and, apart from her by-now-deceased father, was related to two [[general officer|generals]], a member of parliament and the botanist [[Aylmer Bourke Lambert]].{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=114–115}} Gregor and Maria married at [[St Margaret's, Westminster|St Margaret's Church]], [[Westminster]] in June 1805 and set up home in London, at the residence of the bride's aunt. Two months later, having rejoined the 57th Foot in Gibraltar, MacGregor bought the rank of [[Captain (armed forces)|captain]] for about £900, choosing not to wait the seven years such a promotion might take without purchase. The 57th Foot remained in Gibraltar between 1805 and 1809. During this time MacGregor developed an obsession with dress, rank insignia and medals that made him unpopular in the regiment; he forbade any enlisted man or [[non-commissioned officer]] to leave his quarters in anything less than [[full dress]] uniform.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=114–117}}

In 1809 the 57th Foot was sent to Portugal as reinforcements for the [[Anglo-Portuguese Army]] under the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]], during his second attempt to drive the French out of Spain during the [[Peninsular War]]. MacGregor's regiment disembarked at Lisbon about three months into the campaign, on 15 July. By September it was garrisoning [[Elvas]], near the frontier with Spain.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=117–120}} Soon thereafter MacGregor was seconded to the 8th Line Battalion of the [[Portuguese Army]], where he served with the rank of [[Major (rank)|major]] from October 1809 to April 1810. According to Michael Rafter, author of a highly critical 1820 biography of MacGregor, this secondment came after a disagreement between MacGregor and a superior officer, "originally of a trivial nature", that intensified to such an extent that the young captain was forced to request discharge. This was promptly granted.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=117–120}}{{#tag:ref|MacGregor would assert much later that, as he was a Roman Catholic, the British Army had discriminated against him. There is no evidence to confirm this.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|p=284}}|group="n"|name="catholic"}} MacGregor formally retired from the British service on 24 May 1810, receiving back the £1,350 he had paid for the ranks of ensign and captain, and returned to Britain. The 57th Foot's actions at the [[Battle of Albuera]] on 16 May 1811 would earn it considerable prestige and the nickname "the [[Die hard (phrase)|Die-Hards]]"; MacGregor would thereafter make much of his association—despite having left the regiment one year prior.{{sfn|Sinclair|2004|pp=117-121}}