Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere

British Army officer and slave plantation owner

Field Marshal Stapleton Cotton, 1st Viscount Combermere (14 November 1773 – 21 February 1865), was a British Army officer, diplomat and politician. As a junior officer, he took part in the Flanders Campaign, in the Fourth Anglo Mysore War and in the suppression of Robert Emmet's insurrection in 1803. He commanded a cavalry brigade in Sir Arthur Wellesley's Army before being given overall command of the cavalry in the latter stages of the Peninsular War. He went on to be Commander in Chief, Ireland and then Commander in Chief, India. In the latter role he stormed Bharatpur—a fort which previously had been deemed impregnable.

Cotton was born at Lleweni Hall in Denbighshire, the second surviving son of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, 5th Baronet and Frances Cotton (née Stapleton). When he was eight, Cotton was sent to board at the grammar school in Audlem some 8 mile (13 km) from the family's estate at Combermere Abbey, where he was tutored by the headmaster, the Reverend William Salmon, who was also chaplain of the private Cotton chapel outside the estate gates. A quick, lively boy, he was known by his family as 'Young Rapid,' and was continually in scrapes. After three years in Audlem, he continued his education at Westminster School where he joined the fourth form under Dr. Dodd and his contemporaries included future soldiers Jack Byng, Robert Wilson and the poet Robert Southey. He was then sent to Norwood House, a private military academy in Bayswater, which was run by a Shropshire militiaman, Major Reynolds, an acquaintance of his father's. On 26February 1790, Cotton's father obtained for him a second lieutenancy, without purchase, in the 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers, which he joined in Dublin in 1791. He was promoted to lieutenant in the 77th Regiment of Foot on 9 April 1791 and, having transferred back to the 23rd Regiment of Foot on 13 April 1791, he was promoted to captain in the 6th Dragoon Guards on 28 February 1793. He served with his regiment at the Siege of Dunkirk in August 1793 and at the Battle of Beaumont in April 1794 under the Duke of York during the Flanders Campaign. He became a major in the 59th Regiment of Foot on 28 April 1794 and commanding officer of the 25th Light Dragoons (subsequently 22nd) with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 27 September 1794. In 1796 Cotton went with his regiment to India. En route he took part in operations in Cape Colony (July to August 1796), and on arrival was present at the Siege of Seringapatam in May 1799 during the Fourth Anglo Mysore War, He became commanding officer of the 16th Light Dragoons, then based in Brighton, on 18 February 1800. Promoted to colonel on 1 January 1800, he was posted with his regiment to Ireland in 1802 and took part in the suppression of Robert Emmet's insurrection in 1803. he was given command of a cavalry brigade at Weymouth. He was deployed to Portugal in April 1809 and commanded a cavalry brigade in Sir Arthur Wellesley's Army. He took part in the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812, where he was second in command of the Army. During the engagement he successfully led a cavalry charge against Maucune's division, leading Wellington to exclaim, "By God, Cotton, I never saw anything so beautiful in my life; the day is yours." According to Wellington's subsequent despatch, "Cotton made a most gallant and successful charge against a body of the enemy's infantry which they overthrew and cut to pieces." At the end of the battle he was accidentally shot by a Portuguese sentry. and an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and Sword on 11 March 1813. Cotton went on to fight at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813, the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 4 January 1815.

Cotton was not present at the Battle of Waterloo as the command of the cavalry had been given, at the insistence of the Prince Regent, to Lord Uxbridge, a more senior general. When Uxbridge was wounded Cotton took over his command and served with the Army of Occupation following the cessation of hostilities. In the West Indies, Cotton's aide de camp was Sir Thomas Moody

Cotton is mentioned in unverified stories of the Chase Vault as being a witness to its allegedly "moving coffins" while serving as Governor of Barbados. Between 1814 and 1820, Cotton undertook an extensive remodelling of his home, Combermere Abbey, including Gothic ornamentation of the Abbot's House and the construction of Wellington's Wing (now demolished) to mark Wellington's visit to the house in 1820. He was appointed the last Governor of Sheerness in January 1821 and became Commander in Chief, Ireland in 1822.

Having been promoted to full general on 27 May 1825 Cotton became Commander in Chief, India. For his success in India he was raised in the peerage as Viscount Combermere on 8February 1827. On his return to England, he brought with him the 17.75 ton Bhurtpore gun, and was promoted to field marshal on 2 October 1855. He was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Star of India on 19 August 1861. Cotton also served as honorary colonel of the 20th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons, and of the 3rd (The King's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons and then as honorary colonel of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards. He died at Colchester House in Clifton on 21 February 1865 aged 91 and was buried at St Margaret's Church, Wrenbury. An obelisk was also erected in his memory on the edge of Combermere Park in 1890. Combermere was succeeded by his only son, Wellington Henry Stapleton Cotton.