Arthur Clifton

General Sir Arthur Benjamin Clifton GCB KCH KSA KSW (1771 – 8 March 1869) was a British soldier who fought in the Peninsular War and commanded the Second Union Cavalry Brigade at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815.

For the British Olympic boxer, see Arthur Clifton (boxer). For the composer who adopted the name Arthur Clifton, see Philip Antony Corri.

Sir Arthur Clifton
Sir Arthur Clifton by William Salter
Born1771
Died8 March 1869
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
RankGeneral
Unit1st Dragoons
Battles/warsNapoleonic Wars
AwardsGrand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order

Biography

Clifton was the third son of Sir Gervase Clifton, 6th Baronet,[1] (1744–1815), one time High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire.[2]

Educated at Rugby, he entered the army in 1794.[3] He served throughout the Peninsular War and received the gold medal and one clasp for service at the battles of Fuentes de Oñoro and Vittoria. On the death of Major General Sir William Ponsonby at Waterloo, Clifton commanded the 2nd Union Cavalry Brigade. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of general.[1]

He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 1838 Coronation Honours,[4] and raised to Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in 1861.[5] He died unmarried on 8 March 1869 aged 98 at his residence in the Old Steine, Brighton.[3]

Family

He was the brother of Sir Robert Clifton, 7th Baronet, Sir Juckes Granville Juckes-Clifton, 8th Baronet and Frances Egerton Clifton who married the Ven. Robert Markham, archdeacon of York, in 1797.[6]

References
  1. Dalton, Charles (1904). The Waterloo roll call. With biographical notes and anecdotes. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. p. 56.
  2. "No. 10702". The London Gazette. 10 February 1767. p. 1.
  3. "Death of General Sir Arthur Clifton". Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury. 13 March 1869. Retrieved 29 December 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "No. 19638". The London Gazette. 20 July 1838. p. 1660.
  5. "No. 22524". The London Gazette. 28 June 1861. p. 2689.
  6. Burke, John (1832). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn and R. Bentley. p. 581.
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