Regency Personalities Series-Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur
Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the��many period notables.
Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur
1763 ��� 1 November 1849
John Ormsby Vandeleur
Sir John Ormsby Vandeleur commanded a brigade of British cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo.
His career in the British army began in 1781 as an ensign in an infantry regiment. He exchanged into a cavalry regiment in 1792 and served in the War of the First Coalition. In 1802 he went to India and fought in the Second Anglo-Maratha War as an acting cavalry brigadier.
He returned from India in 1806 and was promoted to major general in 1811 in Portugal. He led an infantry brigade in the famous Light Division at Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca, San Millan, and Vitoria. Vandeleur commanded a cavalry brigade at the Nive in 1813 and was knighted in early 1815. After Waterloo he was colonel-in-chief of two cavalry regiments in succession and he was promoted to full General in 1838.
Vandeleur’s parents were Richard Vandeleur (died 1772) and Elinor Firman.
He had two sisters, Elizabeth who married into the Moore family and Ellen who married William Armstrong.
His father Richard’s parents were John Vandeleur (died 1754) and Frances Ormsby. His father Richard’s siblings were Crofton (died 1795), John Ormsby (died 1777), and Mary (died 1790).
A number of cousins served in the British army and three paid the supreme price. Thomas Pakenham Vandeleur, son of his uncle John Ormsby Vandeleur, was killed at Laswari in 1803.
Two of his uncle Crofton’s sons died during the Peninsular War. Richard died at Campo Maior, Portugal while serving with the 88th Foot and Frederick was killed in action at Vitoria in 1813 with the 87th Foot.
Vandeleur married a daughter of the Rev. John Glesse in 1829 and the couple had two children, a son and a daughter Ellen who married Colonel Richard Greaves
And Coming on April 1st, 2015
Beaux Ballrooms and Battles anthology, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the victory at Waterloo in story.
Looks good, huh? The talented writer and digital artist, Aileen Fish created this.
It will be available digitally for $.99 and then after a short period of time sell for the regular price of $4.99
The Trade Paperback version will sell for $12.99
My story in the anthology is entitled: Not a Close Run Thing at All, which of course is a play on the famous misquote attributed to Arthur Wellesley, ���a damn close-run thing��� which really was ���It has been a damned nice thing ��� the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life.���
Samantha, Lady Worcester had thought love was over for her, much like the war should have been. The Bastille had fallen shortly after she had been born. Her entire life the French and their Revolution had affected her and all whom she knew. Even to having determined who she married, though her husband now had been dead and buried these eight years.
Yet now Robert Barnes, a major-general in command of one of Wellington���s brigades, had appeared before her, years since he had been forgotten and dismissed. The man she had once loved, but because he had only been a captain with no fortune, her father had shown him the door.
With a battle at hand, she could not let down the defenses that surrounded her heart. Could she?
As her father���s hostess, she had travelled with him to Brussels where he served with the British delegation. Duty had taken her that night to the Duchess of Richmond���s ball. The last man she ever expected to see was Robert, who as a young captain of few prospects, had offered for her, only to be turned out by her father so that she could make an alliance with a much older, and better positioned (wealthy), aristocrat.Now, their forces were sure to engage Napoleon and the resurgent Grande Arm��e. Meeting Robert again just before he was to be pulled into such a horrific maelstrom surely was Fate���s cruelest trick ever. A fate her heart could not possibly withstand.
