Background
Simmons was born in Beverley, Yorkshire one of nine sons and three daughters.
Simmons was born in Beverley, Yorkshire one of nine sons and three daughters.
He at first studied medicine but in 1805 was given a commission as an assistant surgeon in the Royal South Lincolnshire Militia as the threat from Napoleon increased.
After four years service he transferred to the 1st Battalion of the 95th Rifles as a second-lieutenant since the normal lowest rank of ensign did not exist in the Rifles at that time. He was subsequently promoted to first-lieutenant on 25 July 1811. To captain on 17 April 1828 and to major on 16 February 1838.
Peninsular War
Wounded at Côa, in 1810 he was present at subsequent clashes in Pombal (1811), Fuentes de Oñoro (1811), Ciudad Rodrigo (1812).
Badajoz (1812), Salamanca (1812), Vitoria (1813), Pyrenees (1813), Nivelle (1813), Orthes (1814) and Tarbes where he was once again wounded. Waterloo Campaign
After fighting at the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815, the following day Simmons spent the night before Waterloo sheltering from the rain under a mud-smeared blanket.
On the morning of the 18th he fried his breakfast in the armoured breatsplate of a dead French cuirassier. During the subsequent battle he was shot through the liver, had two ribs broken and took a bullet in the chest.
His watch stopped at 4 pm, the time that he was hit.
He left the army a Battalion Major and died in Saint Helier, Jersey on 5 March 1858. There is a memorial tablet in the town"s Saint Saviors Church erected by his widow and he is named on the Rifle Brigade Memorial in Winchester Cathedral. Simmons married Anne Corbet, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Le Breton of Bagatelle.
The couple had three children, George, Anne Corbet and Francis Eliza.