William Ponsonby (13 October 1772 – 18 June 1815) was a British Army major-general and the MP for Londonderry from 1812 to 1815, succeeding George Thomas Beresford and preceding George Robert Dawson.
Biography[]
William Ponsonby was born in 1772 to a family of Anglo-Irish nobility, and he was the son of William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby. From 1796 to 1798, he served as the MP for Bandonbridge in the Irish House of Commons, and he then represented Fethard until 1801. In 1811, he became a dragoon officer in the British Army, and, while he was serving in Spain during the Peninsular War, he was elected MP for Londonderry in 1812. After John Le Marchant was killed during a British cavalry charge at the Battle of Salamanca, Ponsonby took over the brigade. In 1815, during the Hundred Days campaign, Ponsonby was given command of the Union Brigade, which consisted of cavalry regiments from England, Scotland, and Ireland, hence its name.
Waterloo and death[]
Ponsonby's body
At the Battle of Waterloo, Ponsonby led his brigade in a charge against the French after Thomas Picton was killed, but the British cavalry were counterattacked by lancers. Ponsonby attempted to flee, but his horse was mired in the mud, and he gave his watch to another soldier, asking him to deliver his watch to his son. The French lancers then came upon Ponsonby, demanding his surrender. Ponsonby did not understand them, and, when the French saw other British cavalrymen coming to Ponsonby's rescue, they were forced to kill him. The comrade to whom Ponsonby had entrusted his watch was also killed by pursuing lancers.