Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur

Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur (1763 – 1 November 1849) commanded a brigade of British cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo. His career in the British army began in 1781 as an ensign in an infantry regiment. He exchanged into a cavalry regiment in 1792 and served in the War of the First Coalition. In 1802 he went to India and fought in the Second Anglo-Maratha War as an acting cavalry brigadier. He returned from India in 1806 and was promoted to major general in 1811 in Portugal. He led an infantry brigade in the famous Light Division at Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca, San Millan, and Vitoria. Vandeleur commanded a cavalry brigade at the Nive in 1813 and was knighted in early 1815. After Waterloo he was colonel-in-chief of two cavalry regiments in succession and he was promoted to full General in 1838. He married in 1829 and had two children.

Family
Vandeleur's parents were Richard Vandeleur (died 1772) and Elinor Firman. He had two sisters, Elizabeth who married into the Moore family and Ellen who married William Armstrong. His father Richard's parents were John Vandeleur (died 1754) and Frances Ormsby. His father Richard's siblings were Crofton (died 1795), John Ormsby (died 1777), and Mary (died 1790). A number of cousins served in the British army and three paid the supreme price. Thomas Pakenham Vandeleur, son of his uncle John Ormsby Vandeleur, was killed at Laswari in 1803. Two of his uncle Crofton's sons died during the Peninsular War. Richard died at Campo Maior, Portugal while serving with the 88th Foot and Frederick was killed in action at Vitoria in 1813 with the 87th Foot. Vandeleur married a daughter of the Rev. John Glesse in 1829 and the couple had two children, a son and a daughter Ellen who married Colonel Richard Greaves.