# Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Cureton, Charles Robert

​CURETON, CHARLES ROBERT (1789–1848), brigadier-general and adjutant-general of the queen's forces in the East Indies, son of a Shropshire gentleman, was born in 1789. He obtained an ensigncy in the Shropshire militia on 21 April 1806, and was soon promoted to be lieutenant. Extravagant habits led to embarrassment, which compelled him to fly from his creditors. Disguising himself as a sailor, and leaving his regimentals on the seabeach, he embarked for London, where he enlisted as Charles Roberts in the 14th light dragoons in 1808. His friends concluded that he was drowned while bathing.
In the following year he was sent to join the headquarters of the regiment at Portalegre in Portugal, carrying with him very satisfactory recommendations from the officers under whom he had served at home. His merits and gallantry in action obtained promotion for him to the rank of corporal and sergeant. He took part with his regiment in the battles of Talavera on 27 July 1809, and Busaco on 27 Sept. 1810. On 1 Oct. following he was wounded in the right leg by a rifle ball in crossing the Mondego near Coimbra. At the battle of Fuentes d'Onor on 3 and 5 May 1811 he received on the 5th a severe sabre cut on the head which fractured his skull, and another on his bridle-hand. In March and April 1812 he took part with his regiment in the third siege and capture on 6 April of Badajos, in the battle of Salamanca on 22 July, the capture of Madrid on 14 Aug., and the battle of Vittoria on 21 June 1813.
Having been sent on some duty to St.-Jean de Luz in this year, he was recognised by an officer on the Duke of Wellington's staff as an old comrade of the Shropshire militia. Wellington made him sergeant of the post to the headquarters of the army, and on 24 Feb. 1814, in recognition of his services, he was gazetted, in his proper name, ensign without purchase in the 40th foot. He served with his new regiment at the battles of Orthes on 27 Feb. 1814, Tarbes on 20 March, and Toulouse on 10 April.
On 20 Oct. 1814 Cureton exchanged into the 20th light dragoons, was promoted to be lieutenant and appointed adjutant on 27 June 1816, and when the regiment was disbanded on 25 Dec. 1818, on the withdrawal of the troops from the occupation of France, he was placed on half-pay, but. was brought into the 16th lancers as lieutenant and adjutant on 7 Jan. 1819. His further commissions were dated: captain 12 Nov. 1825, major 6 Dec. 1833, brevet lieutenant-colonel 23 July 1839, regimental lieutenant-colonel 21 Aug. 1839, and brevet colonel 3 April 1846.
He went to India with his regiment in 1822, when he resigned the adjutancy and served at the second siege of Bhartpur under Viscount Combermere from December 1825 to its capture on 18 Jan. 1826, receiving the medal.
In 1839 Cureton accompanied his regiment ​to Afghanistan in the army of the Indus under Sir John (afterwards Lord) Keane. He was appointed assistant adjutant-general of cavalry, was specially selected to command the advanced column of the army through the Bolan pass, marched to Kandahar, was present at the assault and capture of Ghazni on 23 July. He commanded a force in advance of the army which seized the enemy's guns, and secured possession of the citadel of Kabul in August 1839. For his services he was mentioned in despatches, received from the amir of Afghanistan the third class of the order of the Durani empire, was promoted to a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy, and awarded the medal.
In the Gwalior campaign Cureton commanded a brigade of cavalry at the battle of Maharajpur on 29 Dec. 1843, was mentioned in despatches for his distinguished services, was awarded the medal, and on 2 May 1844 was made a companion of the Bath, military division. In the Satlaj campaign he commanded the whole of the cavalry in the force under Sir Harry George Wakelyn Smith [q. v.], and took part in the reduction of Dharm-Kote on 18 Jan. 1846, in the advance towards Ludiana, and in the action near Badowal on the 22nd, when it was due to the admirable efforts of the cavalry that Smith only lost a large portion of his baggage.
Cureton commanded the cavalry at the battle of Aliwal on 28 Jan., when he smashed up a large body of the celebrated Ayin troop trained by General Avitabile, and utterly routed the Sikh right, the 16th lancers breaking a well-formed infantry square of Avitabile's regiment, and, notwithstanding the steadiness of the enemy, reforming and charging back repeatedly. Sir Harry Smith signally defeated the Sikhs, and in his despatch of 30 Jan. said: 'In Brigadier Cureton her majesty has one of those officers rarely met with; the cool experience of the veteran soldier is combined with youthful activity; his knowledge of outpost duty and the able manner he handles his cavalry under the heaviest fire rank him among the first cavalry officers of the age; and I beg to draw his excellency's marked attention to this honest encomium;' while Sir Henry Hardinge, the governor-general, observed: 'This officer's whole life has been spent in the most meritorious exertions in Europe and Asia, and on this occasion the skill and intrepidity with which the cavalry force was handled obtained the admiration of the army which witnessed their movements.' Cureton commanded a brigade of cavalry at the battle of Sobraon on 10 Feb., and was again honourably mentioned in despatches. For his services in the campaign he received the thanks of parliament, the medal and clasp, and was made an aide-de-camp to the queen, with the rank of colonel in the army, on 3 April.
On 7 April 1846 Cureton was appointed adjutant-general of the queen's forces in the East Indies. In the Punjab, or second Sikh war, Cureton commanded the cavalry division and three troops of horse artillery at the action at Ramnagar on 23 Nov. 1848, and was killed when leading the 14th light dragoons to the support of the 5th light cavalry. He was buried with military honours. He was a strict disciplinarian, but a most genial and popular officer with all ranks.
Several of his sons survived him, and two were distinguished soldiers. Edward Burgoyne Cureton (1822–1894), lieutenant-general, colonel of the 12th lancers, became an ensign in the 13th foot on 21 June 1839. He was made brevet colonel 28 Dec. 1868, major-general 29 Sept. 1878, lieutenant-general 1 July 1881, colonel of the 3rd hussars 19 April 1891, and was transferred to the colonelcy of the 12th lancers 30 April 1892. He exchanged from the 13th foot into the 3rd light dragoons; served with the 16th lancers at the battle of Maharajpur on 29 Dec. 1843, and received the bronze star; served with his own regiment at Mudki on 18 Dec. 1845, when he was severely wounded, and at Sobraon on 10 Feb. 1846, receiving the medal and clasp for the campaign. Having exchanged with the 12th lancers, he served with them in the Kaffir war of 1851-3, was thanked for his services in general orders (London Gazette, 1 June 1852), and received the medal. He went through the Crimean campaign from 31 July 1855, took part in the battle of the Tchernaya, in the siege and capture of Sebastopol, and in the operations around Eupatoria, was mentioned in despatches, received a brevet majority, the war medal with clasp, and the Turkish medal. He retired from the active list in 1881. He died at Hillbrook River, Dover, on 9 Feb. 1894. He married in 1856 a daughter of Captain John Swindley.
Sir Charles Cureton (1826–1891), general, Bengal staff corps, was born on 25 Nov. 1826. He received a commission as ensign in the East India Company's army on 22 Feb. 1843. He became brevet colonel 14 Feb. 1868, lieutenant-colonel 22 Feb. 1869, major-general 22 Feb. 1870, lieutenant-general 1 Oct. 1877, general 1 Dec. 1888. He was appointed adjutant of the 12th regiment of irregular cavalry on 14 Jan. 1846, having arrived in India on 24 June 1843. He served in the Satlaj campaign, was present at the ​battle of Aliwal on 28 Jan. 1846, receiving the medal and clasp. In the Punjab campaign he was aide-de-camp to his father until his death at the battle of Ramnagar on 22 Nov. 1848, where he was himself slightly wounded. He took part in the passage of the Chenab on 2 and 3 Dec., in the battle of Gujrat, 21 Feb. 1849, and in the pursuit, under Sir Walter Gilbert, of the Sikh army, the capture of Attak, and the occupation of Peshawar, receiving the medal and clasp.
He served in the north-west frontier campaign of 1849 to 1852, including the expedition to the Usafzai in 1849, and the operations against the Mohmands in 1851 and 1852, receiving the medal and clasp. On 4 May 1852 he was appointed second in command of the 2nd irregular cavalry. He took part in the suppression of the Sonthal rebellion in 1856, and in the Indian mutiny in 1857. He served against the Sealkote mutineers, and took part in the action of Trimu Ghat, also against the Gogaira rebels. He raised and commanded Cureton's Multani cavalry, and continued to command it after it became the 15th Bengal cavalry. He served with it, and had charge of the intelligence department throughout the campaigns in Rohilkhand and Oude in 1858 and 1859, and was present at the actions of Bhagwala, Najina, Bareli, Shahjehanpur, Banai, Shahabad, Bankegaon, Mahodipur, Rasalpur, Mitaoli, and Biswa, was eleven times mentioned in despatches published in general orders, and received the medal and brevets of major and lieutenant-colonel. He distinguished himself as a cavalry leader, and performed many acts of great personal bravery (London Gazette, 17 and 28 July and 10 Aug. 1858, and 31 Jan. and 4 Feb. 1859). He served in the north-west frontier campaign of 1860, and on 2 June 1869 was made a companion of the order of the Bath, military division.
He commanded the Oude division of the Bengal army for five years from 22 Oct. 1879. He was promoted to be knight commander of the order of the Bath, military division, in May 1891. He died at Eastbourne, Sussex, on 11 July 1891. He married a daughter of the Rev. Dr. W. A. Holmes of Templemore, co. Tipperary, by whom he left three sons, two of whom are in the army.
R. H. V.