Warren Peacocke

General Sir Warren Marmaduke Peacocke KCH CTS KC (21 September 1766–22 August 1849) was a British Army officer of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most notable for his command of the Lisbon garrison during the Peninsular War.

After having served as an aide de camp during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, Peacocke fought as a company commander with his regiment in the Egypt Campaign between 1800 and 1801, for which he was made a Knight of the Order of the Crescent by the Ottoman Empire.

Tasked with organising troops ready to join the Duke of Wellington's army, as well as with arranging the rehabilitation of injured soldiers and coordinating with the Portuguese government, Peacocke was promoted to brigadier-general in May 1811 and major-general in June.

He was promoted to brevet major on 1 March 1794, and on 3 May 1796 was seconded from the regiment to become aide de camp to Major-General George Nugent in Ireland.

[10] Peacocke stayed on garrison duty in England for several years after this, before in 1805 his battalion joined the Guards Brigade commanded by Major-General Edward Finch.

[6][5] Peacocke went on campaign as part of Finch's Guards Brigade again in August 1807, when his battalion joined the expedition to Copenhagen tasked with capturing or destroying the Danish fleet to ensure it was not taken intact by the French.

The battalion then joined Major-General John Sherbrooke's army sent to secure Cadiz, sailing on 15 January 1809, but the Spaniards refused to allow the British force to disembark and instead they went to Lisbon.

Here the force joined Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley's Peninsular army and Peacocke fought with the Guards in a campaign to retake the city of Porto from the French.

Soon after this Peacocke's health began to deteriorate due to the rigors of service on campaign, and he retired to Lisbon to recuperate; while he went about this, he served as the temporary commander of the garrison there.

[6][5] Peacocke himself, however, never had the chance to officially take charge of his new brigade, because in the meantime Wellesley had discovered a need for a permanent commander of the Lisbon garrison, who would necessarily need to be a senior officer, to manage operations in support of the army from that city.

[Note 2][6] Peacocke now commanded all British soldiers serving in the garrison as well as all those landing at Lisbon to join Wellesley's main army.

Working alongside units of militia and the Ordenanças, his command during this period was described by military engineer Major-General Sir John Jones as "an efficient as well as imposing force".

[15] Many soldiers who were sent to recuperate in Lisbon attempted to accentuate their illnesses or injuries in order to spend more time away from the army, and this became one of Peacocke's most frequent problems.

[16] Captain Rees Howell Gronow echoed Wellesley's opinion of Peacocke, saying that he was "remarkable for his urbanity of manner, his untiring business habits, and a keen judgment which made him alike an accomplished statesman and an intelligent soldier".

While the majority of his contemporaries who had served as general officers under Wellesley were made Knight Commanders of the Order of the Bath, Peacocke was not.

Instead, he was made a Knight Bachelor on 27 July 1815, which award historians Ron McGuigan and Robert Burnham suggest was only given to him because of the Portuguese knighthood he already held.