Lieutenant-General Sir Joseph Thackwell (1 February 1781 – 8 April 1859) was a British Army officer. He served with the 15th Hussars in the Peninsular War at the Battle of Sahagún in 1808 and the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, and he lost his left arm at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He commanded the regiment from 1820 to 1832. He then served in India, commanding the cavalry in the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–89, and at the Battle of Sobraon in the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–46, and at the Battle of Chillianwala and Battle of Gujrat in the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–9. He also commanded the 3rd The King's Own Dragoons, was colonel of the 16th Lancers, and was appointed Inspector-general of cavalry.
Early life
Thackwell was the fourth son of John Thackwell, JP, of Rye Court and Moreton Court, Birtsmorton Court in Worcestershire (died 1808). He was commissioned as cornet in the Worcester Fencible Cavalry in 1798, was promoted to lieutenant in September 1799, and served in Ireland until the regiment was disbanded in 1800.
15th Hussars
In April 1800, he purchased a commission in the 15th Light Dragoons, and became lieutenant in June 1801. He was placed on half-pay in 1802 after the Peace of Amiens but was brought back to the regiment on its augmentation in April 1804. The regiment was converted into hussars in 1806, and Thackwell became captain in April 1807.
The 15th Hussars formed part of Lord Paget's hussar brigade in 1807, and was sent to the Peninsula in 1808. It played the principal part in the Battle of Sahagún on 21 December 1808, and to cover the retreat of General Sir John Moore's army to Corunna.
After some years of service back in England, the regiment was sent back to the Peninsula in 1813. It formed part of the hussar brigade attached to General Graham's corps. At the passage of the river Esla on 31 May 1813, Thackwell commanded the leading squadron which surprised a French cavalry picket and took thirty prisoners.
He took part in the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813 and in the subsequent pursuit, in the Battle of the Pyrenees at the end of July 1813, and in the Siege of Pamplona. He was also present at the battles of Orthez, Tarbes, and Toulouse. On 1 March 1814, after passing the river Adour, Thackwell was in command of the leading squadron of his regiment, and had a creditable encounter with the French light cavalry, on account of which he was recommended (unsuccessfully) for a brevet majority by Sir Stapleton Cotton. He was awarded the Peninsular Medal with two clasps.
He served with the 15th Hussars in the campaign of 1815, in General Colquhoun Grant's brigade, which was on the right of the line at the Battle of Waterloo. He wrote of his experiences at Waterloo. After several engagements with the French cavalry at Waterloo, the regiment suffered severely in charging a square of infantry towards the end of the day. Thackwell had two horses shot under him and was wounded in his left arm, which was amputated the next day.
He was promoted to the rank of major at Waterloo, and he was made brevet lieutenant-colonel on 21 June 1817. The regiment charged the crowd at the Peterloo massacre on 16 August 1819, at St Peter's Field in Manchester.
He took command of the regiment in June 1820. After serving nearly 32 years in the regiment, and nearly 12 as its commander, he was placed on half-pay on 16 March 1832, exchanging with Lord Brudenell. He was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order (KH) in February 1834.
India
Thackwell became a colonel in the army in January 1837, and in May 1837, by exchange, he took command of the 3rd The King's Own Dragoons, travelling with his new regiment to India and arriving in Calcutta in November 1837.
He became local major-general and was placed in command of the cavalry of the Army of the Indus in the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–39. He was present at the Siege of Ghazni, and he commanded the second column of the part of the army which returned to India from Kabul in the autumn of 1839. He was made a Commander of the Order of the Bath (CB) in July 1838, and advanced to KCB in December 1839.
He commanded the cavalry division of Sir Hugh Gough's army in the short campaign against the Marathas of Gwalior at the end of 1843, and was mentioned in Gough's despatch after the Battle of Maharajpur.
In the First Anglo-Sikh War he was again in command of the cavalry at the Battle of Sobraon on 10 February 1846. He led the cavalry in file over the entrenchments on the right of the line, doing work (as Gough said) usually left to infantry and artillery. He was promoted major-general on in November 1846.