Plan of the Battle of Waterloo created by Sergeant Major Edward Cotton, January 1846

Cotton served with the 7th (The Queen's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars) during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). He fought at Waterloo in 1815 and retired from the Army in 1829 after over 20 years service. He married a women from near Waterloo and eventually they opened an inn together. Cotton became something of an expert on the battle and collected many objects relating to it.