|
|
|
 |
| He was born in 1774 and entered the army as a cornet in the 4th Dragoons in 1798 but gained a reputation as an intelligence officer during the Peninsula War. His unit were called the Army Guides, responsible for de-cyphering enemy coded messages. In 1811 he cracked the Army Code of Portugal, a French code based on a combination of 150 numbers. Another code was worked out by him in 1812 in which an important letter from Joseph Bonaparte was found to have information that helped win the battle of Vittoria. He raised the Staff Corps of Cavalry in 1813 which acted as messengers and Military Police, the first unit of it's type in the army. He was awarded the KCB in 1815 which was elevated to GCB a year before his death in 1861. His last appointment was as Governor of the Royal Military College Sandhurst, from 1837 to 1856. He is buried there. |
Armed Forces | Art and Culture | Articles | Biographies | Colonies | Discussion | Glossary | Home | Library | Links | Map Room | Sources and Media | Science and Technology | Search | Student Zone | Timelines | TV & Film | Wargames
