Cotton was born at Lleweni Hall in Denbighshire,[1] the second surviving son of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, 5th Baronet and Frances Cotton (née Stapleton). When he was eight, Cotton was sent to board at the grammar school in Audlem some 8 miles (13 km) from the family's estate at Combermere Abbey, where he was tutored by the headmaster, the Reverend William Salmon, who was also chaplain of the private Cotton chapel outside the estate gates.[2] A quick, lively boy, he was known by his family as 'Young Rapid,' and was continually in scrapes.[3] After three years in Audlem, he continued his education at Westminster School where he joined the fourth form under Dr. Dodd and his contemporaries included future soldiers Jack Byng, Robert Wilson and the poet Robert Southey.[2] He was then sent to Norwood House, a private military academy in Bayswater, which was run by a Shropshire militiaman, Major Reynolds, an acquaintance of his father's. On 26February 1790, Cotton's father obtained for him a second-lieutenancy, without purchase, in the 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers, which he joined in Dublin in 1791.[4][5] He was promoted to lieutenant in the 77th Regiment of Foot on 9 April 1791[6] and, having transferred back to the 23rd Regiment of Foot on 13 April 1791,[7] he was promoted to captain in the 6th Dragoon Guards on 28 February 1793.[8] He served with his regiment at the Siege of Dunkirk in August 1793 and at the Battle of Beaumont in April 1794 under the Duke of York during the Flanders Campaign.[9] He became a major in the 59th Regiment of Foot on 28 April 1794 and commanding officer of the 25th Light Dragoons (subsequently 22nd) with the rank of lieutenant colonel on 27 September 1794.[10]
Cotton was elected Member of Parliament for Newark in 1806.[15] He was deployed to Portugal in April 1809 and commanded a cavalry brigade in Sir Arthur Wellesley's Army.[9] Cotton was both courageous and also splendidly dressed in battle throughout the Peninsular War and was nicknamed the "Lion d' Or" ("Lion of Gold").[5] He took part in the Second Battle of Porto in May 1809 and the Battle of Talavera in July 1809 and, having succeeded to his father's baronetcy in August 1809, returned home to view his estate.[9] He returned to Portugal in May 1810 and, having been promoted to the local rank of lieutenant-general and given overall command of the cavalry, fought at the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810 and then covered the withdrawal to the Lines of Torres Vedras later that year.[9]
After fighting at the Battle of Sabugal in April 1811 and the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811, Cotton was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-general on 1 January 1812.[16] He took part in the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812, where he was second-in-command of the Army. During the engagement he successfully led a cavalry charge against Maucune's division, leading Wellington to exclaim, "By God, Cotton, I never saw anything so beautiful in my life; the day is yours."[17] According to Wellington's subsequent despatch, "Cotton made a most gallant and successful charge against a body of the enemy's infantry which they overthrew and cut to pieces."[18] At the end of the battle he was accidentally shot by a Portuguese sentry.[9] In recognition of his gallantry he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Bath on 21 August 1812[19] and an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and Sword on 11 March 1813.[20]
Cotton was not present at the Battle of Waterloo as the command of the cavalry had been given, at the insistence of the Prince Regent, to Lord Uxbridge, a more senior general.[23] When Uxbridge was wounded Cotton took over his command and served with the Army of Occupation following the cessation of hostilities.[23]
Cotton is mentioned in unverified stories of the Chase Vault as being a witness to its allegedly "moving coffins" while serving as Governor of Barbados.[28] Between 1814 and 1820, Cotton undertook an extensive remodelling of his home, Combermere Abbey, including Gothic ornamentation of the Abbot's House and the construction of Wellington's Wing (now demolished) to mark Wellington's visit to the house in 1820.[29] He was appointed the last Governor of Sheerness in January 1821[30] and became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland in 1822.[31]
Having been promoted to full general on 27 May 1825 Cotton became Commander-in-Chief, India.[23] In that role on 18January 1826, after a three-week siege, he stormed the capital of the Princely state of Bharatpur (also known as Bhurtpore) with its fort, which had previously been deemed impregnable, and restored the rightful raja to the throne.[32] For his success in India he was raised in the peerage as Viscount Combermere on 8February 1827.[33] On his return to England, he brought with him the 17.75-ton Bhurtpore gun,[32] which for many years stood outside the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich.[34] He retired from active service in 1830.[23]
^The Royal Military Calendar or Army Service and Commission Book, Third Edition, Vol. V, 1820. p. 333.
^Slave Trade. Three Volumes. (Vol.2.) Papers Relating to Slaves in the Colonies; Slaves Manumitted; Slaves Imported, Exported; Manumissions, Marriages; Slave Trade at the Mauritius; Apprenticed Africans; Captured negroes at Tortola, St. Christopher's, and Demerara; etc. Session: 21 November 1826 – 2 July 1827: Vol XXII. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1826–1827. p. Slave Trade: Papers Relating To, p. 54.
^Rupprecht, Anita (September 2012). "'When he gets among his countrymen, they tell him that he is free': Slave Trade Abolition, Indentured Africans and a Royal Commission". Slavery & Abolition. 33 (3): 435–455. doi:10.1080/0144039X.2012.668300. S2CID144301729.