Sir Thomas Picton (August, 1758 – June 18,
1815) was a British Army officer from Wales who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero,
Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible temperament." He is chiefly remembered for his exploits under
the Duke of Wellington in the Iberian Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, where he was
mortally wounded while his division stopped d'Erlon's corps attack
against the allied centre left, and so became the most senior officer to die at Waterloo.
Early life
Picton was the younger son of Thomas Picton, and was born in Poyston, Pembrokeshire,
Wales. In 1771 he obtained an ensign's commission in the 12th Regiment of Foot, but he did not join until
two years later. The regiment was then stationed at Gibraltar, where he remained until he was
made captain in the 75th in January 1778; he then
returned to Britain.
The regiment was disbanded five years later, and Picton quelled a mutiny amongst the men by his prompt personal action and
courage, and was promised the rank of major as a reward. He did not receive it, and after living
in retirement on his father's estate for nearly twelve years, he went out to the West Indies
in 1794 on the strength of a slight acquaintance with Sir John
Vaughan, the commander-in-chief, who made him his aide-de-camp and gave him a captaincy in the 17th foot. Shortly afterwards he was promoted major.
New World operations
Under Sir Ralph Abercromby, who succeeded Vaughan in 1795, he took part in the capture of St Lucia (for which he was promoted to
lieutenant colonel) and also in that of St
Vincent. After the reduction of Trinidad, Abercromby made Picton governor of the island.
He administered the island with such success that the inhabitants petitioned against the retrocession of the island to
Spain, and their protest, with Picton's and Abercromby's representations, ensured the retention of
Trinidad as a British possession. In October 1801 he was gazetted brigadier-general. By this time the rigour of his
government, as reported by his enemies, had led to a demand by humanitarians at home for his removal. Colonel William Fullarton (1754–1808) procured the
appointment of a commission to govern the island, of which he himself was the senior member, Samuel Hood the second, and Picton himself the junior. Picton thereupon tendered his
resignation, and Hood, as soon as the nature of Fullarton's proceedings became obvious, followed his example (1803).
On his way home Picton took part with great credit in military operations in St Lucia and Tobago. Realizing, however, that the attacks upon him were increasing in virulence, he quickly returned to
Britain, and in December 1803
he was arrested by order of the Privy Council. He was tried
in the court of kings bench before Lord Ellenborough in
1806 on a charge of unlawfully applying torture to extort a confession from Luise Calderon, a
mulatto woman who was charged, along with a man, with robbery. The torture consisted in compelling the woman to stand on one leg
on a flat-headed peg for one hour. The punishment was ordered under Spanish law (which in default of a fresh code Picton had been
appointed to administer in 1801), and approved by Picton. On these grounds the court returned a
technical verdict of guilty, which was superseded in 1808 by a special verdict on retrial. The inhabitants of the island, who had
already given him a sword of honour, and had petitioned the king not to accept his resignation, subscribed towards his legal
expenses. Picton contributed the same sum to a relief fund after a widespread fire in Port of
Spain. He had meanwhile been promoted major-general, and in 1809 he had been governor of Flushing in the Netherlands during the Walcheren expedition.
Europe service
In 1810, at Wellington's request, he was appointed to command a division in Spain. For the
remaining years of the Peninsular War, Picton was one of Wellington's principal subordinates. The commander-in-chief, it is true,
never reposed in him the confidence that he gave to Beresford,
Hill and Robert Craufurd. But
in the resolute, thorough and punctual execution of a well-defined task Picton had no superior in the army. His debut, owing
partly to his naturally stern and now embittered temper, and partly to the difficult position in which he was placed, was
unfortunate. On the River Coa in July 1810 Craufurd's division became
involved in an action, and Picton, his nearest neighbour, refused to support him, as Wellington's direct orders were to avoid an
engagement. Shortly after this, however, at Busaco, Picton found and used his first
great opportunity for distinction. Here he had a plain duty, that of repulsing the French attack, and he performed that duty with
a skill and resolution, which indicated his great powers as a troop-leader.
After the winter in the lines of Torres Vedras, he added to his reputation and
to that of his division, the 'Fighting' 3rd, at the Battle of Fuentes de
Onoro. In September he was given the local rank of lieutenant-general, and in the same month the division won great glory
by its rapid and orderly retirement under severe pressure from the French cavalry at El Bodon. In October Picton was appointed to
the colonelcy of the 77th Regiment of Foot.
In the first operations of 1812 Picton and Craufurd, side by side for the last time, stormed the
two breaches of Ciudad Rodrigo, Craufurd and Picton's second in command. Major-General
Henry Mackinnon, being mortally wounded. At Badajoz, a month
later, the successful storming of the fortress was due to his daring self-reliance and penetration in converting the secondary
attack on the castle, delivered by the 3rd Division, into a real one. He was himself
wounded in this terrible engagement, but would not leave the ramparts, and the day after, having recently inherited a fortune, he
gave every survivor of his command a guinea. His wound, and an attack of fever, compelled him to return to Britain to recruit his
health, but he reappeared at the front in April 1813. While in Britain he was invested with the
collar and badge of a K.B. by the prince regent George, and in June he was made a lieutenant-general in the army.
The conduct of the 3rd division under his leadership at the battle of Vittoria and
in the engagements in the Pyrenees raised his reputation as a resolute and skilful fighting
general to a still higher point. Early in 1814 he was offered, but after consulting Wellington
declined, the command of the British forces operating on the side of Catalonia. He thus bore his share in the Orthez campaign and in the final victory before Toulouse.
On the break-up of the division the officers presented Picton with a valuable service of plate, and on the June 24, 1814 he received for the seventh time the thanks of the House of Commons for his great services. Somewhat to his disappointment he was not included
amongst the generals who were raised to the peerage, but early in 1815 he was made a
G.C.B.
Death
When Napoleon returned from Elba, Picton, at
Wellington's request, accepted a high command in the Anglo-Dutch army. He was severely wounded at Quatre Bras on the June 16, but concealed his wound and retained
command of his troops. At Waterloo, two days later, while repulsing with impetuous
valour "one of the most serious attacks made by the enemy on our position," he was shot through the temple by a musket ball,
making him the highest ranking victim of the battle on the allied side. Since his luggage had not arrived in time, he had fought
the battle wearing civilian clothes and a top hat.
His body was brought home to London, and buried in the family vault at St George
church, Hanover Square. A public monument was erected to his memory in
St Paul's Cathedral (Picton is one of only two Welshmen buried in the cathedral), by
order of parliament, and in 1823 another was erected at Carmarthen by subscription, the king
contributing a hundred guineas.
Namings in his honour
- The town of Picton, New Zealand was named in his honour.
- Picton Road is a Highway in Australia
- Picton Road is located in the Laventille area of Port of
Spain, in Trinidad.
- Picton Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire is HQ of UK 3 Div
- A First World War Royal Navy Lord Clive-class monitor was named
HMS Sir Thomas Picton in his honour.
- Sir Thomas Picton School (Ysgol Sir Thomas Picton) is a mixed comprehensive
school in Haverfordwest, Pembokeshire, Wales.
- Picton Street, Montpelier Bristol in the United Kingdom, was built and named in honour of Sir Thomas Picton who, as Captain
Picton, in 1783 endeared himself to Bristolians by bravely facing the rebellious 75th Battalion on College Green and averting a
military mutiny. There is also a fine double-bayed villa in the street named after him, Picton Lodge.
- There is a General Picton Inn in Porthcawl. There is also a General Picton public house in Picton Place, Nantyffyllon,
Maesteg, Mid Glamorgan. The public house sign contains an image of Thomas Picton. The area also
contains a Picton Street also named after him. he owned a large amount of land very close to The General Picton public
house.
References
See Robinson's Life of Sir Thomas Picton (London, 1836), with which, however, compare Napier's and Oman's histories of
the Peninsular War as to controversial points.
Barbero, Alessandro, The Battle of Waterloo, Walker & Co., New York, 2005, p. 14.
External links
Political Summary
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