General Sir Edward Bowater KCH (1787 – 14 December 1861) was a British soldier and courtier.

Background and education

Born in St James's Palace, Bowater descended from a

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

family and was the only son of the Admiral Edward Bowater. His mother Louisa was the daughter of Thomas Lane and widow of George Edward Hawkins, who had served as serjeant surgeon to King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

.Dod (1860), p. 127 He was educated at Harrow School and went then to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he graduated with a

Doctor of Civil Law Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; la, Legis Civilis Doctor or Juris Civilis Doctor) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees. At Oxford, the degree is a higher ...

Military career

He entered the British Army in 1804 and was commissioned as ensign into the 3rd Foot Guards.Rivington (1862), p. 405 Bowater was present in the

Battle of Copenhagen (1807) The Second Battle of Copenhagen (or the Bombardment of Copenhagen) (16 August – 7 September 1807) was a British bombardment of the Danish capital, Copenhagen, in order to capture or destroy the Dano-Norwegian fleet during the Napoleonic War ...

and was then transferred with his regiment to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He joined the Taking of Porto and following the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish a ...

, where he was wounded, he purchased a lieutenancy in August 1809. In December he left for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, however returned to the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

after two years. He fought in the

Battle of Salamanca The Battle of Salamanca (in French and Spanish known as the Battle of Arapiles) on 22July 1812 was a battle in which an Anglo-Portuguese army under the Earl of Wellington defeated Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces at Arapiles, ...

in July 1812 and the

Siege of Burgos At the siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of ...

in October. In the following year Bowater took part in the

Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leadin ...

in June and then was commanded to the

Siege of San Sebastián In the siege of San Sebastián (7 July – 8 September 1813), part of the Peninsular War, Allied forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington failed to capture the city in a siege. However in a second siege the Alli ...

until September 1813. A month later, he served in the Battle of the Bidassoa and in December was involved in the fightings of the

Battle of the Nive The Battles of the Nive (9–13 December 1813) were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army on French soil ...

. Bowater was advanced to a captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1814, receiving command of a company, and when

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

returned from his exile in 1815, he led his men in the Battle of Quatre Bras. He was wounded again in the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

in June. In 1826, Bowater was promoted to colonelUrban (1862), p. 110 and in 1837 to major-general, after which he was awarded a Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order. He obtained the colonelship of the

49th Regiment of Foot The 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1743. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Princes ...

in April 1846 and became lieutenant-general in November. In 1854 he was made a full general.

At court

Bowater was nominated an equerry to King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

in 1832, a position he held until the King's death six years later.Walford (1860), p. 67 In 1840 he was admitted to Prince Albert, who had shortly before arrived at the court, until 1846, when he was appointed

Groom in Waiting in Ordinary The office of Groom in Waiting (sometimes hyphenated as Groom-in-Waiting) was a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, which in earlier times was usually held by more than one person at a time – in the late Middle Ages there might be d ...

to the latter's wife

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

Personal life

In 1839, Bowater married Emilia Mary, the daughter of Colonel

Michael Barne Michael Barne (15 October 1877 – 31 May 1961) was an officer of the 1901-04 Discovery Expedition and was the last survivor of the expedition. Early life Barne was born at Sotterley Park, Suffolk, the son of Frederick Barne and his wife, La ...

. Their only daughter Louisa became the wife of

Rainald Knightley, 1st Baron Knightley Rainald Knightley, 1st Baron Knightley (22 October 1819 – 19 December 1895), known as Sir Rainald Knightley, 3rd Baronet, from 1864 to 1892, was a British Conservative Party politician. Origins Knightley was the son of Sir Charles Knightley ...

.Fox-Davies (1895), p. 578 Bowater died after short illness in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

in 1861, on the same day as his former master the Prince Consort, while accompanying the latter's son Prince Leopold on a sojourn.Urban (1862), p. 109

Notes

References

;Attribution

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowater, Edward 1787 births 1861 deaths Alumni of the University of Oxford People educated at Harrow School Scots Guards officers People from Westminster British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British Army generals Equerries Residents of Thatched House Lodge