Rowland Hill , 1st Viscount Hill General Rowland Hill , 1st Viscount Hill GCB , GCH ( 11 August 1772 – 10 December 1842 ) served in the Napoleonic Wars as a trusted brigade , division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington . He became Commander - in - Chief of the British Army in 1828 . Early career . Educated at The King ' s School in Chester , Hill was commissioned into 38th Foot in 1790 . He was promoted to lieutenant on 27 January 1791 . On 16 March 1791 , after a period of leave , he was appointed to the 53rd Regiment of Foot . He was asked to raise an independent company and given the rank of captain on 30 March 1793 . He served at the siege of Toulon in Autumn 1793 from where he carried the dispatches to London . He then transferred to one of Major General Cornelius Cuyler ' s independent companies on 16 November 1793 . In 1794 he assisted Thomas Graham in raising the 90th Foot for which he was promoted to major on 27 May 1794 and to lieutenant - colonel on 26 July 1794 . He was promoted to colonel on 1 January 1800 . In 1801 he commanded the 90th Foot when they landed at Abu Qir Bay in Egypt as part of a force under Sir Ralph Abercromby : Hill was seriously wounded in the action when a musket ball hit his head . In the ensuing weeks Hill helped drive the French forces out of Egypt . Hill became a brigadier in 1803 and a major - general on 2 November 1805 . The Peninsula . Hill commanded a brigade at the Battle of Roliça and also at the Battle of Vimeiro in 1808 . He participated in Sir John Moore ' s 1808 – 1809 campaign in Spain , commanding a brigade at the Battle of Corunna . While serving under Wellington at the Second Battle of Porto , units of Hill ' s brigade launched an impromptu assault across the Douro River that ultimately routed Marshal Nicolas Soult ' s French corps from Oporto . Hill commanded the 2nd Infantry Division at the Battle of Talavera . The night before the battle , Marshal Claude Victor mounted a surprise attack , swept aside two battalions of the King ' s German Legion and seized a key elevation . As Hill later recounted , " I was sure it was the old Buffs , as usual , making some blunder . " Nevertheless , he led a reserve brigade forward in the dark . In the short clash that followed , Hill was briefly grabbed and nearly captured by a Frenchman , but his troops recovered the summit . This is the first occasion on which Hill supposedly swore . Still leading the 2nd Division during Marshal André Masséna ' s 1810 invasion of Portugal , Hill fought at the Battle of Bussaco . In autumn 1811 , Wellington placed Hill in independent command of 16 , 000 men watching Badajoz . On 28 October he led a successful raid on the French at the Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos . On 21 January 1812 he was appointed to the honorary position of Governor of Blackness Castle and on 22 February 1812 he was appointed a KB . He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword on 4 May 1812 . In May 1812 , after the capture of Badajoz , Hill led a second raid that destroyed a key bridge in the Battle of Almaraz . While Wellington won the Battle of Salamanca , Hill protected Badajoz with an independent 18 , 000 - man corps , including the British 2nd Division , John Hamilton ' s Portuguese division and William Erskine ' s 2nd Cavalry Division . He was promoted to lieutenant general on 30 December 1811 . After the British capture of Madrid , Hill had responsibility for an army of 30 , 000 men . Hill commanded the Right Column during the campaign and decisive British victory at the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813 . Still in corps command , he fought in the Battle of the Pyrenees . At Vitoria and in Wellington ' s invasion of southern France , Hill corps usually consisted of William Stewart ' s 2nd Division , the Portuguese Division ( under John Hamilton , Francisco Silveira or Carlos Le Cor ) and Pablo Morillo ' s Spanish Division . For his leadership in these battles he was awarded a medal and two clasps on 7 October 1813 . He led the Right Corps at the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813 . On 13 December 1813 , during the Battle of the Nive , Hill performed what may have been his finest work in his defence of St - Pierre d ' Irube . With his 14 , 000 men and 10 guns isolated on the east bank of the Nive by a broken bridge , Hill held off the attacks of Marshal Nicolas Soult ' s 30 , 000 soldiers and 22 guns . He fought the battle with great skill and " was seen at every point of danger , and repeatedly led up rallied regiments in person to save what seemed like a lost battle . . . He was even heard to swear . " Later , he fought at the Orthez and Toulouse . Wellington said , " The best of Hill is that I always know where to find him . " He was appointed Governor of Hull on 13 July 1814 and a commander of the Austro - Hungarian Order of Maria Theresa on 23 September 1815 . Nicknamed " Daddy Hill " , he looked after his troops and was adored by his men . On one occasion , he provided a wounded officer who arrived at his headquarters with a lunch basket . Another time , a sergeant delivered a letter to Hill . Expecting nothing but a nod of thanks , the man was astonished when the general arranged for his supper and a place for him to stay for the night . The next day , Hill gave him food and a pound for the rest of his journey . He was also Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Shrewsbury from 1812 to 1814 , when he was raised to his peerage as " Baron Hill of Almaraz and of Hawkestone in the county of Salop " . Hill was also colonel of the 3rd Garrison Battalion from 14 January 1809 , colonel of the 94th Regiment of Foot from 23 September 1809 , colonel of the 72nd Regiment of Foot from 29 April 1815 and colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards from 19 November 1830 . Waterloo and later career . At the Battle of Waterloo Hill commanded the II Corps . He led the famous charge of Sir Frederick Adam ' s brigade against the Imperial Guard towards the end of the battle . For some time it was thought that he had fallen in the melee . He escaped unwounded , however , and continued with the army in France until its withdrawal in 1818 . He received several awards from allied nations after the battle . On 21 August 1815 , he was made Knight Commander of the Order of Maria Theresa of Austria and Knight of St George of Russia . On 27 August 1815 the Dutch King William I made him a Commander of the exclusive Military Order of William . At the Coronation of George IV in 1821 , Lord Hill bore the Standard of England in the procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey . From 1828 to 1839 , he succeeded the Duke of Wellington as Commander - in - Chief of the Forces . He was also appointed Governor of Plymouth on 18 June 1830 and became " Viscount Hill of Almaraz " on 22 September 1842 . A keen foxhunter , Rowland Hill was master of the North Shropshire Foxhounds until 1823 . The pack exists to this day and hunts the north of the County , including the grounds of his birthplace , Hawkstone Hall . He later shared the Mastership with Sir Bellingham - Graham and Sir Edward Smythe , the hounds at this time being kennelled two miles south - east of Hawkstone Hall . Rowland Hill also formed the Hawkstone Otter Hunt around 1800 , which was maintained and hunted by successive Lords . He died at Hardwicke Grange , Hadnall , Shropshire on 10 December 1842 . He is buried in the churchyard at Hadnall , Shropshire .