Major General Sir George Cooke

Biographical Summary

COOKE, Sir GEORGE (1768-1837), lieutenant-general, born in 1768, was the son and heir of George John Cooke of Harefield, Middlesex, grandson of George Cooke (d. 5 June 1768), prothonotary of the court of common pleas and member of parliament for Middlesex from 1767 to 1768, and great-grandson of Sir George Cooke (d. 4 Nov. 1740) of Harefield, prothonotary of the court of common pleas. His sister Penelope Anne married Robert Brudenell, sixth earl of Cardigan, and was the mother of James Thomas Brudenell, seventh earl [q. v.] Cooke was educated at Harrow, and at Caen in Normandy. He was appointed ensign in the 10th foot guards in 1784 and lieutenant and captain in 1792. In March 1794 he joined the flank battalion of the guards in Flanders, and in June was appointed aide-de-camp to Major-general (Sir) Samuel Hulse [q. v.] He was present when the combined armies took the field and attacked the French posts in April ; in the actions of 17 and 18 May, and at the affair at Boxtel on 15 Sept. In 1795 he joined the brigade of guards at Darley camp and became aide-de-camp to Major-general Edmund Stevens. In 1798 he was promoted to be captain and lieutenant-colonel in his regiment, and in August 1799 he went with it to Holland. He was present in the action at the Zuype on 10 Sept., and in the battle on 19 Sept., when he was severely wounded.

From 1803 until the spring of 1805 he held the post of assistant adjutant-general to the north-west district. In 1806 he went to Sicily, returning to England in December 1807. On 25 April 1808 he received the brevet rank of colonel, and in July 1809 he was employed in the expedition to the Schelde, whence he returned sick in September.

In April 1811 he went to Cadiz, and on 4 June attained the rank of major-general and succeeded to the command of the troops stationed there, which he retained until his return to England in July 1813. In November he went to Holland with the brigade of guards. He commanded the first division of the guards at Waterloo, and lost his right arm in the battle. He was appointed K.C.B. on 22 June 1815, and colonel of the 77th foot on the following day. He also received for his share in the engagement the insignia of the third class of the order of St. George of Russia and of the third class | of the order of Wilhelm of the Netherlands. On 20 Oct. 1819 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Portsmouth, a post which he resigned a few years later. On 19 July 1821 he obtained the rank of lieutenant-general, and on 23 Dec. 1834 he was transferred to the command of the 40th regiment. He died unmarried at his house, Harefield Park, on 3 Feb. 1837.

SOURCE: 'Cooke, George (1768-1837) (DNB01)', Wikisource.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cooke_(soldier)

Sir George Cooke (1768–1837), was a major general during the Battle of Waterloo, commanding the 1st Division of the 1st Corps, 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.