Robert Arbuthnot General Sir Robert Arbuthnot , KCB , was born at Rockfleet Castle , County Mayo , Ireland , on 19 November 1773 fourth son of John Arbuthnot Senior of Rockfleet , Co Mayo . He was a General in the army , a colonel in the 76th Regiment . He was a Brigadier General in the Portuguese Service and was appointed a Knight of the Tower and Sword of Portugal ( KTS ) . He married his first wife , Susan Vesey in Belfast on 1 February 1802 ( who died in Teddington , Twickenham on 30 June 1822 ) . Susan was the only child of Colonel William Vesey of Farm Hill . Sir Robert married second at St James ' s Church , Piccadilly , 4 January 1826 , Harriet Smith ( dsp 5 December 1861 ) , daughter of and co - heir of Thomas Smith of Castletown Hall , Lancashire . Sir Robert died in Hanover Lodge , Regent ' s Park on 6 May 1853 , a house in which Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas John Cochrane and David Beatty , 1st Earl Beatty , as well as the collector , Matthew Uzielli later lived . [ A plaque at St Boniface Church , Bonchurch , Isle of Wight states that he died at Bonchurch ] . He was awarded the Army Gold Cross , with three clasps , for the battles of Busaco , Albuera , Badajoz , Nivelle , Nive , Orthez , and Toulouse , and the Military General Service Medal , with two clasps , for Corunna and Ciudad Rodrigo . He was lieutenant - general , was the brother of the Right Honourable Charles Arbuthnot and of Lieutenant - general Sir Thomas Arbuthnot . He entered the army as a cornet in the 23rd light dragoons on 1 Jan . 1797 , and was present at the battle of Ballynamuck in the Irish rebellion on 8 Sept . of the following year . He subsequently served with his regiment at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in 1806 , and in South America as aide - de - camp to General ( afterwards Lord ) Beresford , with whom and the rest of the troops under General Beresford ' s command he was made a prisoner of war , and remained a prisoner for eighteen months , until released under the convention made by General Whitelock . On his return from America , Arbuthnot , then a captain in the 20th light dragoons , resumed his position on General Beresford ' s staff at Madeira , and served with him as aide - de - camp , and afterwards as military secretary , throughout the greater part of the Peninsular war . Few officers have taken part in so many general actions . Besides the battle of Ballynamuck , two at the Cape , and three in South America , Sir Robert was present at the battle of Corunna , the passage of the Douro , the battle of Busaco , the lines of Torres Vedras , the siege and reduction of Olivenza , the first siege of Badajoz , the battle of Albuera , the siege and storming of Ciudad Rodrigo , the third siege and storming of Badajoz , the battles of the Nivelle , Nive , passage of the Adour , and the battles of Orthes and Toulouse . He received the gold cross and three clasps for Busaco , Albuera , Badajoz , Nivelle , Nive , Orthes , and Toulouse , and the war medal and two clasps for Corunna and Ciudad Rodrigo . He also received Portuguese and Spanish orders , including the special star given by the Portuguese government to all English officers of superior rank engaged at Albuera . He brought home the despatches regarding Albuera , and on that occasion was appointed a brevet lieutenant - colonel . He was created a knight of the Tower and Sword by the government of Portugal , and in 1815 was appointed a K . C . B . In 1830 he attained the rank of major - general , and in 1838 was appointed to the command of the troops in Ceylon , after which he commanded a division in Bengal until his promotion as lieutenant - general in 1841 . In 1843 he was appointed colonel of the 76th foot . He lived at Hanover Lodge , Regent ' s Park where he died on 6 May 1853 . [ A plaque at St Boniface Church , Bonchurch , Isle of Wight states that he died at Bonchurch ] . Sir Robert Arbuthnot was an officer of conspicuous gallantry , and was remarkable for his quickness of eye and readiness of resource . At Albuera he distinguished himself by galloping between two regiments , the British 57th and a Spanish regiment , and stopping the fire which by mistake they were exchanging — a feat which he performed without receiving a single wound . In the same battle , at a critical moment , he was enabled by his quickness of sight to discern a retrograde movement on the part of the French , which Marshal Beresford had not perceived , and induced the latter to recall an order which he had just given for the retirement of two batteries of artillery . At an earlier period , in South America , when he and General Beresford were prisoners in the hands of the Spanish , and when all the officers were about to be searched for papers , he contrived by a clever stratagem to secrete in an orchard an important document , viz . the convention which had been executed between General Beresford and the Spanish general Linieres , and of which the Spanish were anxious to regain possession .