Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby Major - General The Honourable Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby , GCMG , KCB , KCH ( 6 July 1783 – 11 January 1837 ) , styled The Honourable from 1806 to 1837 , was a British military officer , the second son of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough and Henrietta Ponsonby , Countess of Bessborough . Early career . Educated at Harrow , he joined the army as a cornet ( military rank ) in January 1800 , serving in the 10th Light Dragoons . He was promoted lieutenant in June 1800 and Captain on 20 August 1803 . He exchanged to the 60th Regiment of Foot in April 1806 and served on the staff of the Duke of Bedford , then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . Promoted major on 25 June 1807 , he went into the 23rd Light Dragoons on 6 August 1809 and went with them to serve in the Peninsular War . He fought well at Talavera . He was promoted lieutenant colonel on 15 March 1810 , and served as assistant adjutant - general at Buçaco and Barrosa , directing a successful charge by a squadron of the 2nd Regiment of Hussars ( KGL ) against the French dragoons . He was given command of the 12th Light Dragoons on 11 June 1811 . After the fall of Badajoz , he distinguished himself in the battle of Villagarcia ( or Llerena ) on 11 April 1812 , temporarily commanding Anson ' s brigade . Ordered by Sir Stapleton Cotton to detain a superior force of French cavalry under Charles Lallemand , he successfully delayed them until reinforcements could arrive to flank the French and pursue them into Llerena . He led the 12th Light Dragoons to disperse some of the broken French infantry after the Battle of Salamanca , and was wounded while covering the withdrawal from Burgos . At Vitoria , his regiment was part of the force , under Sir Thomas Graham , that blocked the French retreat towards Bayonne . He took part in the Battle of the Pyrenees and the fighting that followed in the south of France , bringing to Wellington the news that Napoleon had abdicated . Hundred days period . During the Hundred Days , the 12th Light Dragoons were attached to Vandeleur ' s light cavalry brigade . At the Battle of Waterloo , the 12th and 16th Light Dragoons were told to charge down the slope , but no further , to support the withdrawal of the Union Brigade of heavy cavalry . But , like the Union Brigade ( led by his second cousin , William Ponsonby ) , the light horse charged ( as he later admitted ) too far . Ponsonby was wounded in both arms , knocked off his horse by another sabre cut , and finally stabbed in the back by a French lancer and lay wounded in the field . A French skirmisher robbed him as he lay helpless on the ground . Luckily for Ponsonby , a Major de Laussat of the Imperial Guard Dragoons found him and treated him kindly , giving him some brandy and promising to send help . Later , another French skirmisher used Ponsonby as a shield as he fired over him . Toward the end of the battle , he was ridden over by Prussian cavalry and roughed up by a Prussian looking for plunder . At last , Ponsonby was discovered by a soldier of the 40th Foot who stood guard over him during the night . He was carried away in a cart , to a surgeon who tended to his seven major wounds and managed to stop the bleeding . He convalesced under the supervision of his sister Lady Caroline Lamb who nursed him back to health . He went on half - pay on 26 August 1820 , and was appointed " inspecting field officer " in the Ionian Islands on 20 January 1824 . The next year , on 16 March 1825 , he married Lady Emily Charlotte Bathurst ( d . 1877 ) , daughter of Henry Bathurst , 3rd Earl Bathurst . They had three sons and three daughters : Later career . On 27 May 1825 , he was promoted major - general , commanding the troops in the Ionian Islands . The next year , on 22 December 1826 , he was appointed Governor of Malta , and remained there for eight and a half years . He met Baron de Laussat , his saviour at Waterloo , in 1827 . During his Maltese tenure , he was made GCMG in 1828 , and KCB and KCH in 1831 . He left the governorship in May 1835 ( but remained the " de jure " Governor until 30 September 1836 ) , and was appointed colonel of the 86th Regiment of Foot on 4 December 1835 . He was transferred to the colonelcy of the Royal Dragoons on 31 March 1836 . During this period , he maintained a high degree of interest in the handling of cavalry , and corresponded with Wellington . He died suddenly at an inn near Basingstoke on 11 January 1837 .