Dictionary of Indian Biography/Combermere, Stapleton Cotton, first Viscount
COMBERMERE, STAPLETON COTTON, FIRST VISCOUNT (1773–1865)
Field-Marshal : son of Sir R. S. Cotton, fifth Baronet : M.P. : born Nov. 1773 : educated at Westminster, and at a private Military Academy in Bayswater : entered the Army in 1790, in the 23rd Fusiliers; served in Flanders : was Lt-Colonel of a Cavalry regt. at the Cape on his way to India, where he was engaged in 1799 against Tippoo, being at Malvalli and Seringapatam : returned to England, 1800 : was M.P. for Newark, 1806–14 : as Maj-General he commanded, first a Brigade in the Peninsula, from 1808, and later the whole cavalry Division : succeeded as Baronet in 1809 : was at Talavera and Salamanca : K.C.B. in 1812 : and at other engagements, including the Pyrenees campaign and Toulouse : was made Baron Combermere in May, 1814, and received a pension. He commanded the allied cavalry in France in 1815–6 : was Governor of Barbados 1817–20, and Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, 1822–5 : as C. in C. in India, 1825–1830, he besieged and took Bhartpur on Jan. 18, 1826, and was made Viscount in 1827 : Constable of the Tower, 1852 : Field-Marshal, 1855 : he was G.C.B. in 1815 : G.C.H. in 1817 : D.C.L. in 1830 : Privy Councillor, 1843 : K.C.S.I., 1861 : died Feb. 21, 1865.