Colonel Sir Charles Philip Belson (1773 – 5 November 1830) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer who served during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

and the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign, also known as the Belgian campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two War of the Seventh Coalition, Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied arm ...

Career

Belson joined the army in 1794 as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the 13th Regiment of Foot and thereafter graduated to the 6th West India Regiment, 9th Regiment of Foot and the 7th Light Dragoons. He joined the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot in the

and for his service received the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

and two clasps. After the Battle of Quatre Bras he succeeded to the command of the 8th Brigade and at Waterloo he commanded the 28th when he had two horses killed under him and two wounded. The 28th maintained their

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

for over an hour in the face of repeated charges by French

cuirassier A cuirassier ( ; ; ) was a cavalryman equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as man-at-arms, men-at-arms and demi-lancers discarding their ...

s and lancers. He became lieutenant-colonel of the 56th Regiment of Foot on 9May 1816 and died at Blackheath, London on 5November 1830, aged 57.

References

;Bibliography * 1773 births 1830 deaths West India Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath {{British-Army-bio-stub