Col. Edmond William Cotter (12 February 1852 – 23 August 1934) was an Irish Republican, who played for the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
Nile Expedition
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...
Valletta
Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...
, Malta, the second of three children born to John Cotter (1823–1882) and his first wife Jane Maria née Hickey (1830–1857).
John Cotter was a career soldier who had enlisted in the 3rd Foot 'The Buffs' aged 17 in 1840. At the time of Edmond's birth, John Cotter was a sergeant. During the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
(1853–1856), he was promoted to Colour Sergeant and Acting Adjt. Major, before further promotion in the field to Lieutenant in February 1856. This promotion was made permanent on 3 March 1858. He was promoted to Captain on 5 January 1870 and retired on 1 July 1881. While serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Buffs in Malta in 1858, Adjutant Cotter, not wanting to be shown up in front of the 21st Royal (North British) Fusiliers, spurred his men on with the words: "Steady, the Buffs! The Fusiliers are watching you", thus originating the expression, " Steady, the Buffs!".
Education
Cotter was educated at
St Munchin's College
St. Munchin's College is a boys–only Roman Catholic secondary school in Limerick, Ireland. It was founded by The Most Reverend John G. Young (bishop), John Young, Bishop of Limerick in 1796. As of January 2020, a total of 657 boys were enrolle ...
in
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
, Ireland followed by the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich
The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...
from 1868 to 1871.
Football career
Cotter represented the RMA at association football, before joining the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
. Cotter played as a forward and "revelled in rushes and scrimmages".
In November 1871, the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
Hitchin
Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
Kennington Oval
Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...
on 16 March 1872, which the Engineers lost 1–0, to a goal from
Morton Betts
Morton Peto Betts (30 August 1847 – 19 April 1914) was a leading English sportsman of the late 19th century. He was notable for scoring the first goal in an English FA Cup Finals, FA Cup final.
Early life
Betts was the son of Edward Betts of ...
.
Cotter was also a good cricketer who played for the Royal Engineers in 1873 and made one appearance for
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
in 1877.
Military career
Cotter graduated from RMA Woolwich and joined the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
as a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
on 2 August 1871. Fellow graduates on the same day were two of his fellow FA Cup finalists, Alfred Goodwyn and Herbert Muirhead, as well as
Richard Ruck
Major-General Sir Richard Mathews Ruck (27 May 1851 – 17 March 1935) was a British Army officer who served with the Royal Engineers, spending most of his career in the Submarine Mining Service, before becoming the Director of Fortifications ...
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
twelve years later.
Cotter received further promotions, to
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
on 18 January 1890 and to lieutenant-colonel on 1 October 1897, becoming a full
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
on 1 October 1901.
Cotter was based at Chatham between August 1871 and November 1873, when he was posted to the Gold Coast under General Garnet Wolseley, where he served in the Ashanti campaign, including the Defence of Quarman during the
Battle of Amoaful
The Battle of Amoaful was fought on 31 January 1874 during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War when Sir Garnet Wolseley defeated the Ashantis after strong resistance.Ashantee Medal with the Coomassie clasp.
Cotter returned to England with his regiment in March 1874, before being posted to India in November 1874, where he was an assistant engineer, returning to England in July 1876. Between January 1878 and March 1880, he was based in
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, returning to England where he was based in
Portsmouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...
and then in Ireland until December 1883, when he was again posted to India. In 1884, he was part of the Zhob Valley Expedition, where he was in command of the 4th Company,
Bengal Sappers & Miners
The Bengal Engineer Group (BEG) (informally the Bengal Sappers or Bengal Engineers) is a military engineering regiment in the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The unit was originally part of the Bengal Army of the East India Company's Ben ...
under Brigadier-General Sir Oriel Tanner.
Cotter returned to Chatham in February 1885, but his stay was short-lived and in April he was posted to Egypt where he served in the
Nile Expedition
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–1885), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to Sudan to help the Egyptians withdraw their garr ...
of 1884–85. He was a station officer at
Aswan
Aswan (, also ; ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city ha ...
and Shellal manning the lines of communication, before becoming the District R.E. Officer with the Frontier Field Force under Major General Francis Grenfell.
In October 1885, he returned to India until February 1891, during which time he served with the Burma Field Force Sappers & Miners in the Burma Expedition of 1887–88, for which he was awarded the India General Service Medal with clasp. He was posted back to England in 1891, where he was based in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
until September 1892, when he was again posted to Egypt for five years. He spent the last five years of his military service in Ireland based at
Cork
"Cork" or "CORK" may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
*** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine
Places Ireland
* ...
. On 8 November 1897, ''The Times'' reported that Lt. Col. E W Cotter was appointed Commanding R.E., Cork District following his promotion.
Cotter was reduced to half-pay in October 1902, and retired on £450 per year on 12 October 1904.
The family report that in the army, Cotter acquired the nickname 'Terror Cotter' for his terrible temper and that his servants would hide if they heard him approaching.
Irish Republicanism
During his posting at Cork, it is reported that Cotter "became keenly and publicly interested in the United Irish movement, embarrassing relations serving in HM Forces when visiting them on board HM Ships".
In 1915, Cotter travelled to Dublin to work for the
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...
Bulmer Hobson
John Bulmer Hobson (14 January 1883 – 8 August 1969) was an Irish republican. He was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) before the Easter Rising in 1916.D.J. Hickey & J. E. Doherty, ''A New D ...
as "an Irishman whose people had been in the British Army for several generations" and "a delightful old man hen aged 63 a man of first-rate ability", Cotter attempted to organise the Irish Volunteers on military lines. Another witness to the Irish Bureau of Military History, Diarmuid Coffey, described Cotter as "an elderly... idealistic nationalist (who) had commuted part of his pension in order to come over to Dublin and work for the Volunteers. He had a weak heart and was somewhat impulsive and excitable".
Cotter was appointed Chief of Staff under Moore, with Hobson and John Fitzgibbon as fellow members of the military staff. Cotter's time with the Irish Volunteers was short-lived, however, and he returned to England after three months when he ran out of funds to support himself, refusing offers of help, not wishing to be "a charge on the movement in any way". In his statement, Coffey said of Cotter:
He should be remembered as a great-hearted Irish gentleman who sacrificed his health and a large portion of the little money he had to serve his country but, unfortunately, owing to age and temperament was unable to make the mark which his intentions and devotion deserved.
Wife and children
Cotter married Jessie Tyeth Frost (1855–1937) on 8 October 1876 at St Stephen's by Saltash,
Saltash
Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...
, Cornwall. The couple had five children:
*Isabella Maud Cotter (1877-1902) married 1898, at Cork, Frank Beauchamp Macaulay Chatterton
*Edmond Brian Cotter (1879–1934), married 1902, at Bombay, Edith Violet Mayne
*John Luis Cotter MC (1880–1937) married Hilda May Jukes
*Phoebe Kathleen Cotter (1882–1963) married 1907, at
Yeovil
Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...
, George Henry Wedd
*Jessie Mary Elsie Cotter (1884–1962) married 1906, at Yeovil, Matthew George Hodgson Gribble (aka Jack Durham Matthews)
Death
Cotter died at Cranleigh Road,
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...