George Cooke (British Army officer)

Sir George Cooke (1768–1837), was a major general during the Battle of Waterloo, commanding the 1. Division, under overall command of the Prince of Orange.

He was the son and heir of George John Cooke, Harefield, in Middlesex, who descended from a line of prothonotaries of the Court of Common Pleas. He was educated at Harrow and at the military school in Caen, in Normandy, and appointed in 1784 as an ensign in the 10th Grenadier Guards. He achieved his lieutenancy in 1792, followed shortly by his captaincy. In March 1794, he joined the Guards in Flanders and was appointed aide-d-camp to Major General Sir Samuel Hulse. He served throughout the French Revolutionary Wars, in Flanders and Holland, at the conclusion of which we was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. From 1803 until early 1805, he held the post of assistant adjutant-general of the north west district. After receiving the rank of colonel (brevet) in 1808, he participated in the 1809 ill-fated Schelde expedition. After posts in Cadiz, he went to Holland in 1813, with the brigade of Guards, commanding in 1815, the Guards at Waterloo, where he lost his right arm in the battle. In 1819, he was appointed lieutenant governor of Portsmouth.

He died, unmarried, in Harefield Park, 3 February 1837.

Source

 * Dictionary of National Biography, "Sir George Cooke". Sup. Vol II 1901. p. 58.