Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Hon. Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby (6 July 178311 January 1837) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

military officer.

Early life and education

Ponsonby was the second of three sons of Frederick Ponsonby, Viscount Dungannon (who succeeded as the 3rd Earl of Bessborough in 1793) and

Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough (16 June 1761 – 11 November 1821), born Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer (generally called Harriet), was the wife of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough; the couple were the parents of Lady C ...

. He was the brother of

John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough, PC (31 August 1781 – 16 May 1847), known as Viscount Duncannon from 1793 to 1844, was a British Whig politician. He was notably Home Secretary in 1834 and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ...

and

William Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley William Francis Spencer Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley (31 July 1787 – 16 May 1855), was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1826 and 1837. He was raised to the Peerage in 1838. Life Ponsonby was the youngest ch ...

, and his sister was the "notorious"

Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812 she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and ...

, who married the Prime Minister

Viscount Melbourne Viscount Melbourne, of Kilmore in the County of Cavan, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the Lamb family. This family descended from Matthew Lamb, who represented Stockbridge and Peterborough in the House of Commons. In 1755 h ...

. He was educated at Harrow.

Early career

Ponsonby joined the army as a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a so ...

in January 1800, serving in the 10th Light Dragoons. He was promoted

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in June 1800 and

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 20 August 1803. He exchanged to the 60th Regiment of Foot in April 1806 and served on the staff of the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...

, then

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

, and briefly for his successor, the

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

. Promoted

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

on 25 June 1807, he went into the

23rd Light Dragoons The 23rd Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army which existed several times. 1st existence It was created in 1781 as the 23rd Regiment of (Light) Dragoons by Sir John Burgoyne, Bt. at Bedford but renumbered in 1786 as the 19t ...

on 6 August 1809 and went with them to serve in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

. He fought well at Talavera. He was promoted

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

on 15 March 1810, and served as assistant

adjutant-general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

at Buçaco and Barrosa, directing a successful charge by a squadron of the 2nd Regiment of Hussars (

KGL The King's German Legion (KGL; german: Des Königs Deutsche Legion, semantically erroneous obsolete German variations are , , ) was a British Army unit of mostly expatriated German personnel during the period 1803–16. The legion achieved th ...

) against the French dragoons. He was given command of the

12th Light Dragoons The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...

on 11 June 1811. After the fall of Badajoz, he distinguished himself in the

battle of Villagarcia In the Battle of Villagarcia (also known as the Battle of Llerena) on 11 April 1812, British cavalry commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton routed a French cavalry force led by ' Charles Lallemand at the village of Villagarcia in ...

(or Llerena) on 11 April 1812, temporarily commanding Anson's brigade. Ordered by Sir Stapleton Cotton to detain a superior force of French cavalry under

Charles Lallemand Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, he successfully delayed them until reinforcements could arrive to flank the French and pursue them into Llerena. He led the 12th Light Dragoons to disperse some of the broken French infantry after the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, so ...

, and was wounded while covering the withdrawal from

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...

. At Vitoria, his regiment was part of the force, under Sir Thomas Graham, that blocked the French retreat towards

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine r ...

. He took part in the

Battle of the Pyrenees The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive (the author David Chandler recognises the 'battle' as an offensive) launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon’s or ...

and the fighting that followed in the south of France. In Paris at the time of the abdication of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

as Emperor of the French, he rode through the night to bring the news to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

, who famously, at an inn after defeating the French at the Battle of Toulouse, snapped his fingers and turned on his heel "in a triumphal pastiche of a flamenco dance."

Waterloo Campaign

During the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte, but he ...

, the 12th Light Dragoons were attached to

Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur General Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur (1763 – 10 December 1849) was a British Army officer who fought in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Biography Vandeleur, born in 1763, was the son of Richard Vandeleur (died 1772) and Elinor, da ...

's light cavalry brigade. At the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

, the 12th and

16th Light Dragoons The 16th The Queen's Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, before being amalgamated with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers to form the 16th/5th Lancers in 1922. History Early wars ...

were told to charge down the slope, but no further, to support the withdrawal of the Union Brigade of heavy cavalry. But, like the Union Brigade (led by his second cousin, William Ponsonby), the light horse charged (as he later admitted) too far. Ponsonby was wounded in both arms, and knocked off his horse by another sabre cut. A French lancer saw him move where he lay and stabbed him in the back with his lance, exclaiming "''Tu n'es pas mort, coquin''" (You're not dead, you rascal). A French skirmisher then robbed him but luckily for Ponsonby, a Major de Laussat of the French Imperial Guard Dragoons found him and treated him kindly, giving him some brandy and promising to send help should the French prove victorious. Later, another French skirmisher used Ponsonby as a shield as he talked with him and fired over his body. Toward the end of the battle, he was ridden over by Prussian cavalry. During the night after the battle, he was roughed up by a Prussian looking for plunder, and a mortally wounded soldier of the Royal Dragoons had crawled upon Ponsonby's legs and lay dying. At last, Ponsonby was discovered by a soldier of the

40th Foot The 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteer ...

, who stood guard over him for hours until a cart became available to transport him back to Brussels. Despite the quixotic nursing ideas of his sister, the notorious

, and despite being further

bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

of over two days, he managed to survive against the odds from his seven major wounds.

Later career

Ponsonby went on half-pay on 26 August 1820, and was appointed "inspecting field officer" in the Ionian Islands on 20 January 1824. On 27 May 1825, he was promoted

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, commanding the troops in the Ionian Islands. The next year, on 22 December 1826, he was appointed

Governor of Malta A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, and remained there for eight and a half years. He met Baron de Laussat, his saviour at Waterloo, in 1827. During his Maltese tenure, he was made

GCMG The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in 1828, and KCB and KCH in 1831. He left the governorship in May 1835 (but remained the ''de jure'' Governor until 30 September 1836), and was appointed colonel of the

86th Regiment of Foot The 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Rifles in 1881. Histor ...

on 4 December 1835. He was transferred to the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons on 31 March 1836. During this period, he maintained a high degree of interest in the handling of cavalry, and corresponded with Wellington. He died suddenly at an inn, The Wellesley Arms at Murrell Green near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, on 11January 1837 and was buried in the crypt of St Nicholas' Church,

Hatherop Hatherop is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about north of Fairford in Gloucestershire, England. The River Coln forms part of the western boundary of the parish. History Barrow Elm, which is ab ...

, Gloucestershire. In 1838, Ponsonby's Column was erected in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 ...

in honour of the governor. It was destroyed by lightning in 1864.

Family

On 16 March 1825, Ponsonby married Lady Emily Charlotte (died 1877), the youngest daughter of

Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst, (22 May 176227 July 1834) was a High Tory, High Church Pittite. He was an MP for thirty years before ennoblement. A personal friend of William Pitt the Younger, he became a broker of deals across cabinet fac ...

. They had three sons and three daughters:Burke's Peerage, Hon. Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby (p. 126)
/ref> *Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (1825–1895), married Mary Elizabeth Bulteel on 30 April 1861 **Alberta Victoria Ponsonby (6 May 186215 October 1945), married Major-General William Montgomery of Grey Abbey, son of Hugh Montgomery and Lady Charlotte Herbert **Magdalen Ponsonby (24 June 18641 July 1934) ** John Ponsonby (25 March 186626 March 1952), married Mary Robley, daughter of Thomas Robley ** Frederick Edward Grey Ponsonby (16 September 186720 October 1935), married Victoria Kennard, daughter of Edmund Hegan Kennard and Agnes Hegan and had issue ** Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby (16 February 187124 March 1946), married Dorothea Parry, daughter of Sir Charles Parry, 1st Bt. and Lady Elizabeth Herbert and had issue * Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Edward Valette (3 December 182716 June 1868), married Catina Dahl *Georgina Melita Maria Ponsonby (16 February 182918 February 1895), unmarried *Harriet Julia Frances Ponsonby (27 October 183030 June 1906) *Selina Barbara Wilhelmina Ponsonby (20 January 183522 July 1919), married William Windham Baring on 2 January 1862, without issue *Frederick John Ponsonby (21 March 18373 February 1894), took holy orders and died unmarried

Notes

References

* * * * . ONDB Endnotes: **A. Ponsonby, Henry Ponsonby, Queen Victoria's private secretary: his life from his letters (1942) **J. Ponsonby, The Ponsonby family (1929) **Earl of Bessborough and A. Aspinall, eds., Lady Bessborough and her family circle (1940) **Army List ** H. T. Siborne, ed., Waterloo letters (1891) **GM, 2nd ser., 7 (1837) **The dispatches of ... the duke of Wellington ... from 1799 to 1818, ed. J. Gurwood, 13 vols. in 12 (1834–9) **Hart's Army List · W. F. P. Napier, History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France, 3rd edn, 6 vols. (1834–40) **D. Howarth, A near run thing (1967) **R. H. Gronow, The reminiscences of Captain Gronow, 4 vols. (1861–6) **E. A. Gray, Trumpet of glory (1985) **Cokayne, ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition rev ...

'' **Burke, Peerage

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponsonby, Frederick Cavendish 1783 births 1837 deaths People educated at Harrow School British Army generals British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kilkenny constituencies (1801–1922) Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 Younger sons of earls 10th Royal Hussars officers 12th Royal Lancers officers Governors and Governors-General of Malta Royal American Regiment officers 1st The Royal Dragoons officers 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot officers Recipients of the Waterloo Medal