William Ponsonby
Sir William Ponsonby K.CB ( 1772 - June 18, 1815 near Waterloo ) was a British general.
As major general and commander of the 2nd (heavy) brigade ( Union Brigade ) of the reserve cavalry ( Lord Uxbridge ), he led the counter-attack against the infantry of the 1st French corps of General Jean-Baptiste Drouet d'Erlon in the battle of Waterloo . During the subsequent counterattack by French cavalry units , he fell .
He hadn't ridden into battle on his best horse. Taken along by the unregulated continuous attack of the Scots Grays , his horse was finally too exhausted to be able to carry him out of the reach of the 4 e régiment de chevau-légers lanciers and to which he finally fell victim. John Keegan wrote that Ponsonby fell for a false thrift .
Individual evidence
- ↑ JB Romberg: New Picture of Brussels , 1820, ( online )
- ↑ John Keegan : The Face of War . Econ Verlag 1978; P. 174.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ponsonby, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British Major General |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1772 |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 18, 1815 |
| Place of death | Waterloo |