Henry Paget , 1st Marquess of Anglesey Field Marshal Henry William Paget , 1st Marquess of Anglesey , KG , GCB , GCH , PC ( 17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854 ) , styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as The Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815 , was a British military leader and politician , now chiefly remembered for leading the charge of the heavy cavalry against d ' Erlon ' s column during the Battle of Waterloo . He also served twice as Master - General of the Ordnance and twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . Background and education . Born in London , as Henry Bayly ( his father assumed the name Paget in 1770 ) , he was the eldest son of Henry Paget , 1st Earl of Uxbridge , by his wife Jane , daughter of the Very Reverend Arthur Champagné , Dean of Clonmacnoise , Ireland . Captain William Paget , Sir Arthur Paget , General Sir Edward Paget , Vice - Admiral Sir Charles Paget and Berkeley Paget were his younger brothers . He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church , Oxford . Member of Parliament . Paget entered parliament at the 1790 general election as member for Carnarvon , a seat he held until the 1796 general election when his brother Edward was elected unopposed in his place . He then represented Milborne Port from 1796 until he resigned his seat in 1804 by appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds , and again from the 1806 election to January 1810 , when he took the Chiltern Hundreds again . Military career . At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars , Paget raised the regiment of Staffordshire volunteers and was given the temporary rank of lieutenant - colonel in 1793 . As the 80th Foot , the corps took part in the Flanders campaign of 1794 under Paget ' s command . In 1795 he was made a lieutenant - colonel of the 16th Light Dragoons ; in that same year , he married the daughter of George Villiers , 4th Earl of Jersey . In 1796 he was made a colonel , and by 1801 he had become colonel of the 7th Light Dragoons . In 1802 he was promoted major - general , and six years later lieutenant - general . He commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore ' s army during the 1809 Corunna campaign , wherein his troopers provided excellent rear - guard defence during the long retreat . The British cavalry showed a distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the action of Sahagún and routed the " Chasseurs a Cheval " of the Imperial Guard at Benevente . This was his last service in the Peninsular War , because his liaison with Lady Charlotte , the wife of Henry Wellesley , afterwards Lord Cowley , made it impossible subsequently for him to serve with Wellington , Wellesley ' s brother . His only war service from 1809 to 1815 was in the disastrous Walcheren expedition ( 1809 ) , in which he commanded a division . In 1810 he was divorced and then married Lady Charlotte Wellesley , who had at about the same time been divorced from her husband . Waterloo . In 1815 , he was appointed cavalry commander in Belgium , under the still resentful eye of Wellington . On the eve of Waterloo , Paget had his command extended by Wellington so as to include the whole of the allied cavalry and horse artillery . He handily covered the retirement of the Anglo - Allies from Quatre Bras to Waterloo on 17 June , and on 18 June led the spectacular cavalry charge of the British centre , which checked and in part routed D ' Erlon ' s " corps d ' armée " ( see Waterloo campaign ) . One of the last cannon shots fired that day hit Paget in the right leg , necessitating its amputation . According to anecdote , he was close to Wellington when his leg was hit , and exclaimed , " By God , sir , I ' ve lost my leg ! " — to which Wellington replied , " By God , sir , so you have ! " According to his aide - de - camp , Thomas Wildman , during the amputation Paget smiled and said , " I have had a pretty long run . I have been a beau these 47 years and it would not be fair to cut the young men out any longer . " He was to have an articulated artificial limb fitted by James Potts . Lord Uxbridge ' s amputated leg had a somewhat macabre after - life . Honours . Paget was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in January 1815 , and on 4 July 1815 , just over two weeks after Waterloo , the Prince Regent created him Marquess of Anglesey . He was also made a Knight of the Order of St George of Russia and a Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa of Austria the same year . In 1816 he was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order and in 1818 he was made a Knight of the Garter . A 27m high monument to his heroism ( designed by Thomas Harrison ) was erected at Llanfair PG on Anglesey , close to his country retreat at Plas Newydd , in 1816 . A separate monument to Uxbridge ' s leg was erected at Waterloo , but the bones were later disinterred and put on display . The Dutch King made him a Commander of the Military Order of William . Later career . In 1819 Anglesey became full general , and at the coronation of George IV , he acted as Lord High Steward of England . His support of the proceedings against Queen Caroline , alleging her infidelity , made him for a time unpopular , and when he was on one occasion beset by a crowd , who compelled him to shout " The Queen ! " , he added the wish , " May all your wives be like her . " In April 1827 , he became a member of the Canning administration , taking the post of Master - General of the Ordnance and becoming a member of the Privy Council . Under the Wellington administration , he accepted the appointment of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ( March 1828 ) . In December 1828 , he addressed a letter to the Roman Catholic primate of Ireland stating his belief in the need for Catholic emancipation , which led to his recall by the government ; on the formation of Earl Grey ' s administration in November 1830 , he again became lord - lieutenant of Ireland . In July 1833 , the ministry resigned over the Irish question , he spent thirteen years out of office , then joined Lord John Russell ' s administration in July 1846 as master - general of the ordnance , finally retiring in March 1852 with the rank of field - marshal and colonel of the Royal Horse Guards . He also held the honorary posts of Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey between 1812 and 1854 and Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire between 1849 and 1854 . Death and funeral . Lord Anglesey died on 29 April 1854 and was buried at Lichfield Cathedral , where a monument is erected to his honour . Marriages and children . Lord Anglesey was first married on 5 July 1795 in London to Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers ( 16 December 1774 - 16 June 1835 ) , daughter of George Villiers , 4th Earl of Jersey and Frances Villiers , Countess of Jersey . They had eight children : Lord Anglesey and Lady Caroline were divorced on 29 November 1810 . The same year , he married secondly to Lady Charlotte Cadogan ( born 12 July 1781 ) , former wife of Lord Henry Wellesley and daughter of Charles Sloane Cadogan , 1st Earl Cadogan and Mary Churchill . Mary was a granddaughter of Lady Maria Walpole , an illegitimate daughter of Robert Walpole and Maria Skerret . They had ten children , of whom seven survived infancy : Death . Lady Anglesey died on 8 July 1853 , aged 71 . Lord Anglesey survived her by less than a year and died on 29 April 1854 , aged 85 . He was succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage , Henry .