Volume 2 — SIR STAPLETON COTTON’S MILITARY SERVICES (1813). Source.—Diary of Lord Colchester, 1861. Vol. ii., p. 440.

[March] 9th.—Sir Stapleton Cotton,[13] having on the 5th announced to me his arrival in London, I delivered to him the thanks of the House, in the following speech:

Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, in this interval between the active seasons of war, your proper sphere of duty is within these walls; and we hail with pride and pleasure your return among us, bringing with you fresh marks of royal[14] favour, the just reward of fresh services and triumphs.

Descended from a long line of ancestors, whose names are recorded in the earliest ages of our history, and characterized with those qualities of prudence, generosity, and valour, which have laid the foundations of English greatness, your race has exhibited many a model of that splendid worth which dignifies the gentlemen of England; always prompt to discharge the laborious duties of civil life, and never slow to take up arms at the call of their country. Such, in an eminent degree, was that venerated person from whom you have immediately derived your own hereditary honours, endeared by his active virtues to the public men of his own time, not unknown to some who still sit among us, and ever remembered by myself with the sincerest sentiments of respect and affection.

But, Sir, when the path of early life lay open to your choice, the then warlike state of the world called forth a congenial spirit, and your military ardour led you to encounter the toils and dangers of war in distant climes. Trained in the same camps, and animated by the same love of glory as the great captain who now commands our armies, and fills the world with his renown, you have bravely followed his brilliant career, and shared in his unexampled triumphs. Renouncing the charms of ease, and the seat of your ancestors, you have gallantly gone forth to the tented fields of Portugal and Spain, and, having reaped the harvest of our thanks for your achievements in the battle of Talavera, you now stand before us crowned with the never-fading laurels of Salamanca; your squadrons upon that memorable day, overthrowing the enemy’s embattled ranks, laid open the road to victory; and the work which your gallantry had commenced, your triumphant perseverance completed.

These heroic exploits have again entitled you to the public gratitude; and I do now, in the name and by the command of the Commons of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, deliver to you their unanimous thanks for your distinguished exertions in the battle of Salamanca, on the 22nd of July last, which terminated in a glorious and decisive victory over the enemy’s army.[15]