"Wellingto's Commander of Cavalry: The Early..." Topic

… LIFE AND MILITARY CAREER OF STAPLETON COTTON

"Despite a long career filled with victories, many modern readers think of the Duke of Wellington in terms of his greatest military success, the Battle of Waterloo. This leads them to believe that his leader of cavalry was his brother-in-law, Henry Paget, who rode at the Duke's side on that eventful day in June 1815. In fact, through the long campaigns of the Peninsular War, Wellington's cavalry was commanded by Stapleton Cotton, the subject of this book. Troops referred to him as the ‘Lion d'Or' in consequence of his habit of riding into battle, heedless of his personal safety, attired in the glittering extremes of military fashion adopted by a senior cavalry officer of the period. There can be little doubt that Cotton was a fine leader of cavalry and if not a favourite of Wellington's, then at least regarded as superior in ability to any officer who might have otherwise held the post. Perhaps, Cotton's finest hour came at the Battle of Salamanca where his superb management of the mounted arm caused the duke to proclaim, ‘By God, Cotton, I never saw anything so beautiful in my life-the day is yours!' Our editors have created this Leonaur original by carefully editing the substantial two volume biography of Sir Stapleton Cotton-later Lord Combermere-so that this text focuses entirely on Cotton's military career during the Napoleonic period, from his experiences in the disastrous Flanders campaign as a young officer to his first contacts with the future Duke of Wellington during the Mysorean War in India. The Peninsula War against Napoleon's French army is covered here in considerable detail that draws upon many documents written by Cotton and those who served with him. A concise biography of Stapleton Cotton, that outlines his entire career, has been appended, making this book an essential reference work for all those interested in both the man and the Napoleonic Wars."
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Amicalement
Armand

Finally got round to reading this. It's very much a family memoir rather than an academic, critical analysis but is an interesting read that gives a good summary of Cotton's long military career. I hadn't realised he served in India – where he met Wellesley for the first time. There's unfortunately little personal correspondence from the man himself but plenty of supporting material from family and military contemporaries to flesh out the story. Some of this is fascinating to the Peninsular War geek – the detail of the routes of march provided by Sir George Murray is hugely impressive. Despite being a product of the supposedly despised Purchase system, Cotton was clearly an accomplished commander and a key figure in the campaigns in Portugal, Spain and France. Wellesley was never personally close but respected Cotton's military ability. He asked for Cotton to command the cavalry in the Waterloo Campaign but was given Uxbridge for primarily political reasons. It's obvious that Cotton, who took over for the advance on Paris and the subsequent occupation, resented this slight for the rest of his life. Worth reading.

How amusing to see Henry Paget, Lord Uxbridge, referred to as Wellington's brother in law above.

If a chap runs off with your brother's wife, that does not make him etc………..

Did he ever marry her?

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

It would appear they married in 1810 so he was a Brother-in-law, albeit not a welcome one?

Nope. His brother's wife divorces his brother and marries elsewhere. The Beau she marries does not become Wellington's brother in law….

Funny enough there is much evidence of a reconciliation between the two gents, esp in later years.