General The Hon Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole KCB 1814 - 1816

The Honourable Galbraith Lowry Cole entered the army in March 1787, and after serving as a junior officer was promoted to the rank of Major in 1793, when the struggle between Great Britain and France had commenced.

In 1794 he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in Ward’s Regiment, afterwards disbanded; and in 1799 he was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in General Villette’s Corps which also afterwards disbanded. In 1801, he was promoted Colonel. He served in the island of Sicily as Brigadier General, and commanded the 1st Brigade at the Battle of Maida on the 4th July 1806.

Major General Sir John Stuart, afterwards Count of Maida, bore testimony, in his public despatch, to the gallant conduct of Brigadier General The Hon G L Cole on that occasion.

In 1808 he was promoted to the rank of Major General. His services were afterwards extended to the Peninsula, where he commanded a Division during the campaigns from 1810 to the overthrow of Napoleon, Emperor of France, and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty in 1814.

For his distinguished services in the Peninsular Campaign he was Mentioned in the Despatches of the Duke of Wellington. He received the local rank of Lieutenant General for his service in Spain and Portugal.

He was appointed Colonel of the 103rd Regiment in 1812 and obtained the rank of Lieutenant General in 1813. He was nominated a Knight of the most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, and on the extension of that order, in 1815, he received the decorations of Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. In commemoration of his distinguished services in Sicily, Portugal, Spain, and the South of France, he received the distinction of a Cross and four clasps, for the battles of Maida, Albuhera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes and Toulouse.

In 1814 he was removed to the 70th Regiment as Colonel. In 1816 to the 34th, and in 1826 to the 27th Regiment. He was appointed Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury Fort and in 1830 promoted to the rank of General.

He died in 1842.