| Sir Willoughby Cotton | |
|---|---|
Sir Willoughby Cotton, by James Atkinson |
|
| Born | 1783 |
| Died | May 4, 1860 (aged 77) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1798–1854 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands held | Commander of the forces in Jamaica 1829–1834 Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth 1835–1840 Commander of the Bengal Army 1838–1840 Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army 1847–1850 |
| Battles/wars | Peninsular War, Waterloo Campaign, First Anglo–Burmese War, Great Jamaican Slave Revolt, First Anglo-Afghan War |
| Awards | Knight Commander, Hanover Order Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Military General Service Medal with 3 Clasps (Burgos, Vittoria, Nive) Army of India Medal with AVA clasp Ghuznee Medal Mentioned in Despatches Order of the Dooranee Empire |
Lieutenant General Sir Willoughby Cotton GCB, KCH (1783–1860) was a British soldier. During his career, Cotton played major roles in the First Anglo–Burmese War, the 1831-32 slave revolt in Jamaica and the First Anglo-Afghan War.
Cotton was the Commander-in-chief of Bombay from April 1847 to December 1850.[1] and was invested as a Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Bath.[2] He was also groom of the bedchamber to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester.[3]
Contents |
Willoughby Cotton was born in 1783,[4] to Admiral Rowland Cotton and Elizabeth Aston. They also had a daughter, Sydney Arabella Cotton. Rowland Cotton was from a well-established Chester family, while Elizabeth was the only daughter of Sir Willoughby Aston, 5th Baronet Aston, of Aston, Chester.[5]
Cotton married Lady Augusta Maria Coventry on May 16, 1806, in Marylebone, London.[6] They had three children together, Augusta Mary Cotton, Willoughby Cotton and Maj.-Gen. Corbet Cotton.[4]
Willoughby Cotton entered Rugby School at the age of 12 in 1795.[7] Cotton, aged 14, was a ringleader in the “Great Rebellion” of November 1797.[8] Aggrieved by the attitude of the Head Master, Dr. Henry Ingles (1794–1806), to the breaking of a window, students blew his classroom door off and followed this by burning desks and books upon the close, before retreating to the Island (a Bronze Age burial mound surrounded by a moat. Ingles called in the local militia, whereupon the Riot Act was read and the island taken. Soldiers stole round to the rear, and wading across the moat, drawn sword in hand, took the whole party prisoners. Cotton was among the students to be expelled as a result of this confrontation.
Cotton entered the Third Guards (renamed the Scots Guards in 1831) as an Ensign in the First Battalion, on October 31, 1798. He quickly gained his Lieutenancy, on November 25, 1799, and took part in Lord Cathcart`s expedition to Hanover in 1805. The First Battalion and Cotton were also involved in the 1807 Copenhagen Expedition, again commanded by Lord Cathcart. Cotton was appointed Adjutant-General to the reserve under the Command of Arthur Wellesley (soon to become the Duke of Wellington) and was involved in the Battle of Kioge on August 29, 1807.[9]
Cotton was deployed to the Iberian Peninsular in April 1809, where he served as Adjutant-General to the Light Division under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd. Cotton was present throughout the retreat to the lines of Torres Vedras and subsequent advance, seeing action at the Battle of Côa. On the 12 June 1811 he attained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Third Guards and then returned to England in August. Cotton returned to the Peninsular in April 1813 and was involved in the Capture of Burgos on the 10 to 12 of June;[10] which is different from the unsuccessful Siege of Burgos in 1812. He was then present at the decisive battles of Vittoria on the 21 June 1813 and Nive on the 9 to 13 December. Cotton then served in France, commanding the Light Division during the Passage of Adour on the 23 February 1814. He was involved in the Siege of Bayonne and commanded the piquets of the Second Brigade of Guards on the night of the French Sortie, 14 April 1814.[11] It was during the French sortie that, according to the writings of fellow Guards officer Captain Gronow, Cotton was taken prisoner.[12] He “escaped by giving up his watch and all the money” on him, receiving a beating for “the smallness of the sum.” Cotton returned to England with the First Battalion of the Third Guards in April 1814, but returned to France in June 1815 due to the loss of Second Battalion Officers at the Battle of Waterloo.[13]