Major-General (later Lieutenant-General) George Cookson (1760-1835), Royal Artillery, 1814 (c)

Oil on canvas by an unknown artist, 1814 (c).

George Cookson was born at Farnborough in Hampshire, on 29 April 1760, the son of a Royal Navy captain. After two years in the Navy he was given a cadetship to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1778. He served in the West Indies, the Netherlands and in the Egyptian campaign (1798-1801). He distinguished himself at Alexandria and was appointed to command all the artillery in Egypt. After serving in Ireland he participated in the expeditions to Hanover in 1805, and Denmark in 1807.

In 1808, Cookson commanded the horse artillery under Sir John Moore in the Peninsula. From April 1809 to August 1814 he was on home service in Sussex although he participated in the Walcheren expedition in 1809. Cookson's eldest son was killed in the Peninsular War at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro in 1811. Cookson rose to the rank of lieutenant-general. He died at Esher on 12 August 1835.