" C031BERMERE, STAPLETON COTTON, FIRST VISCOUNT, is eldest son of the late Sir R. S. Cotton, M.P. for Cheshire, and was born about the year 1770. He entered the army in 1791; and served in Flanders in the campaign of 1793-94. Two years later he embarked for the Cape of Good Hope under Sir Thomas Craig, in command of the 25th Light Dragoons, and, accompanying his regiment to India, went through the campaign of 1798-99 against Tippoo Sultan, and was present. at the siege of Seringapatam. In 1808 he accompanied Lord Wellington to the Peninsula in command of a cavalry brigade ; here he particularly signalised himself during the campaign in the north of Portugal and iu the operations at Oporto, and afterwards at the battle of Talavera. In the following year be was promoted to the local rank of lieutenant-general, and in 1810 was appointed to the command of the allied forces under the Duke of Wellington. In this position be remained till the close of the war in 1814, dis tinguishing himself at the head of his cavalry upon every occasion, and being frequently mentioned in the despatches. He covered the
retreat from Almeida to Torres Vedras, and took part in the battles of Bnsaco, Fuendes d'Onor, and Salamanca, where he was severely wounded ; and also in those of the Pyrenees, Orthes, and Toulouse. In 1817 he was appointed governor of Barbadoes and commander of the forces in the Weat Indies, which he exchanged in 1822 for the chief command of the British forces in India, and was at the head of the troops at the siege and capture of Bhurtpore in 1825-26. A peerage had been granted to him for his Peninsular services, and ho was now raised to a viscountcy for his Indian exploits. On the death of the Duke of Wellington he was sppoiuted Constable of the Tower of London and lord-lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets ; and in 1855 was advanced to the rank of Field-Marshal in the army. His lordship is a G.C.B.; he also holds an appointment in the court as Gold Stick in Visiting to her Majesty.