Field Marshal Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey KG GCB GCH (
17 May 1768 –
29 April 1854) was a British military leader and politician, now chiefly remembered for leading the
charge of the heavy cavalry against
d'Erlon's column during the
Battle of Waterloo.
He was the eldest son of
Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (d.
1812), and was educated at
Westminster School and
Christ Church, Oxford, afterwards entering parliament in
1790 as member for
Caernarvon. At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary wars, Lord Paget (as he was then styled) raised the regiment of Staffordshire volunteers and was given the temporary rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1793. As the 80th Foot, the corps took part in the Flanders campaign of
1794 under Paget's command.
In
1795 he was made a lieutenant-colonel of the regular army; in that same year, he married the daughter of the
Earl of Jersey. In
1796 he was made a colonel, and by
1801 he had become colonel of the 7th Light Dragoons. In
1802 he was promoted major-general, and six years later lieutenant-general. He commanded the cavalry for Sir
John Moore's army during the
Corunna campaign, wherein his troopers provided excellent rear-guard defense during the long retreat. This was his last service in the
Peninsular War, because his liaison with the wife of
Henry Wellesley, afterwards Lord Cowley, made it impossible subsequently for him to serve with
Wellington, Wellesley's brother. His only war service from
1809 to
1815 was in the disastrous
Walcheren expedition (1809), in which he commanded a division. In
1810 he was divorced and then married Lady Charlotte Wellesley, who had about the same time been divorced from her husband.
In
1815, he was appointed cavalry commander in Belgium, under the still resentful eye of Wellington. On the eve of
Waterloo, Paget had his command extended by Wellington so as to include the whole of the allied cavalry and horse artillery. He handily covered the retirement of the Anglo-Allies from
Quatre Bras to Waterloo on
17 June, and on
18 June led the spectacular cavalry charge of the British centre, which checked and in part routed D'Erlon's
corps d'armée (see
Waterloo campaign). One of the last cannon shots fired that day hit Paget in the leg, necessitating its amputation. According to anecdote, he was close to Wellington when his leg was hit, and exclaimed, "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!" -- to which Wellington replied, "By God, sir, so you have!" According to his
aide-de-camp, Thomas Wildman, during the amputation Paget smiled and said, "I have had a pretty long run. I have been a beau these 47 years and it would not be fair to cut the young men out any longer." Five days later, the
Prince Regent created him
Marquess of Anglesey and made him a
G.C.B., among other decorations from the allied sovereigns. A 27m high monument to his heroism (designed by
Thomas Harrison) was erected at
Llanfair PG on
Anglesey in
1816. A separate monument to his leg was apparently erected at Waterloo.
In
1818 the marquess was made a
Knight of the Garter, in
1819 he became full general, and at the coronation of George IV, he acted as
Lord High Steward of England. His support of the proceedings against
Queen Caroline made him for a time unpopular, and when he was on one occasion beset by a crowd, who compelled him to shout "The Queen!", he added the wish, "May all your wives be like her." In April
1827, he became a member of the
Canning administration, taking the post of
Master-General of the Ordnance and becoming a member of the
Privy Council. Under the Wellington administration, he accepted the appointment of
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (March
1828). In December 1828, he addressed a letter to the Roman Catholic primate of Ireland stating his belief in the need for Catholic emancipation, which led to his recall by the government; on the formation of
Earl Grey's administration in November
1830, he again became lord-lieutenant of Ireland. In July
1833, the ministry resigned over the Irish question, he spent thirteen years out of office, then joined
Lord John Russell's administration in July
1846 as master-general of the ordnance, finally retiring in March
1852 with the rank of field-marshal and colonel of the
Royal Horse Guards. 
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