Sir Joseph Muter (178023October 1840) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer who fought in 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 ...

and led the

Inniskilling Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the ...

at 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 ...

on 18June 1815. In 1816, following the inheritance of the Kirkside estate from his aunt, Miss Straton, he changed his name to Joseph Straton.

Early life and career

Born the youngest son of William Muter of Annfield, Fifeshire in and his wife, Janet Straton of Kirkside near Montrose in

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

, he was educated at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

where his classmates included James Abercromby, later

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

. Muter joined the

as a cornet in the

2nd Dragoon Guards The 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was first raised in 1685 by the Earl of Peterborough as the Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse by merging four existing troops of horse. Renamed several t ...

in December 1794. He was made a Lieutenant in December 1795. On 5September 1801 he was promoted from captain to major by purchase in the

13th Light Dragoons The 13th Hussars (previously the 13th Light Dragoons) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated wi ...

. In the year 1804/05 he spent a year studying at the

Royal Military College, High Wycombe The Royal Military College, High Wycombe was a military training facility for British Army officers in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. History The college was founded by Colonel John Le Marchant at the Antelope Inn in 1799 as a facility for tr ...

. On leaving he joined the Duke of Gloucester's staff. In May 1808 he was created a Lieutenant Colonel and joined the

23rd Light Dragoons The 23rd Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army which existed several times. 1st existence It was created in 1781 as the 23rd Regiment of (Light) Dragoons by Sir John Burgoyne, Bt. at Bedford but renumbered in 1786 as the 19t ...

. He later saw service in the

, back with the

and was present at the battles of Campo Mayor, Albuera Usagre Arroyo de Molinos and

Alba de Tormes Alba de Tormes is a municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The town is on the River Tormes upstream from the city of Salamanca. Alba gave its name to one of Spain's most i ...

. In June 1814 he was promoted to full Colonel.

Waterloo

At the

Muter commanded the 6th Inniskilling (Irish) Regiment of Dragoons as part of the Union Brigade. During the battle, in response to the French Infantry assault on

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

's left centre, the Union Brigade moved forward. Unobserved until late in their advance, they caught the French by surprise and took around 1,000 prisoners, despite the two British heavy cavalry brigades losing half their numbers at the hands of the French lancers and

cuirassier Cuirassiers (; ) were cavalry equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as men-at-arms and demi-lancers, discarding their lances and adop ...

s. Following the loss in battle of Major-General Sir William Ponsonby command of the 2nd Union Cavalry Brigade devolved upon Muter. At around 6pm, after

La Haye Sainte La Haye Sainte (named either after Jesus Christ's crown of thorns or a bramble hedge round a field nearby) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road in Belgium. It has changed very little since it ...

farm had fallen to the French, Muter was struck by a musket ball in the right wrist. The injury later became infected due to pieces of glove entering his body, with pus oozing from the wound. With treatment he subsequently recovered without the need for amputation. His role in the battalion was filled by Colonel Clifton after his removal from the battlefield. After Waterloo he was awarded the Russian

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

and made a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

(CB).

Later life

In 1816 he inherited considerable estates in Montrose and was thereafter known as Joseph Straton. He served in Ireland in 1819. In 1821, during a period in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being Sir David Brewster. He presented a lecture to the Society on the "Monuments of Thebes". He was also a member of the

Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history ...

in Edinburgh. He was promoted to Major General in 1825 and Lieutenant General in 1838. He was made Colonel of the 8th Light Dragoons on 24August 1839 and Colonel of the 6th Inniskilling (Irish) Regiment of Dragoons on 30April 1840. Some time around 1816 he changed his surname to Straton after inheriting a property belonging to his aunt in Kirkside, north of Montrose in Scotland. He retired due to ill health in the summer of 1840 and died in October 1840. Having no children, his estates went to his nephew, Joseph Muter, who also renamed himself (to Joseph Muter Straton). Muter left a legacy of around £70,000 (about £6.2 million at 2015 values) to the University of Edinburgh. He was later described as one of the greatest benefactors of the university.

Death

Muter died at Park Street off Grosvenor Square in London on 23October 1840 at the age of 63 and is buried in the family plot in Nether Kirkyard, St Cyrus, near Montrose, where there is monument with a dedication to him.

Artistic Recognition

His portrait (as Sir Joseph Straton) by William Salter is held at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

References

;Bibliography * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muter, Joseph 1780 births 1840 deaths British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh