Background
He was born in 1776 as the third son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, and elder brother of Lord Raglan.
He was born in 1776 as the third son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, and elder brother of Lord Raglan.
Joining the 15th Light Dragoons in 1793, he became captain in the following year, and received a majority after serving as aide-de-camp to Prince Frederick, Duke of York in the Dutch expedition of 1799. At the end of 1800 he became a lieutenant-colonel, and in 1801 received the command of the 4th Dragoons. From 1799 to 1802 he represented the Borough of Monmouth in the House of Commons, from 1803 to 1823 and from 1830 sat for Gloucestershire and from 1834 to 1837 was MP for Cirencester.
He commanded his regiment at the battles of Talavera and Buçaco, and in 1810 received a colonelcy and the appointment of aide-de-camp to the king. In 1811, along with the 3rd Dragoon Guards, the 4th Dragoons fought a notable cavalry action at Usagre, and in 1812 Lord Edward Somerset was engaged in the great charge of Le Marchant's heavy cavalry at Salamanca. His conduct on this occasion (he captured five guns at the head of a single squadron) won him further promotion, and he made the remaining campaigns as a major-general at the head of the Hussar brigade (7th, 10th and 15th Hussars).
At Orthes he won further distinction by his pursuit of the enemy; he was made KCB, and received the thanks of parliament. At Waterloo he was in command of the Household Cavalry Brigade, which distinguished itself not less by its stern and patient endurance of the enemy's fire than by its celebrated charge on the cuirassiers of Milhaud's corps.
The brigadier was particularly mentioned in Wellington's despatches, and received the thanks of parliament as well as the Army Gold Cross with one clasp for his services at Talavera, Salamanca, Vitoria, Orthez, and Toulouse. He also received the Military Order of Maria Theresa and was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Royal Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and Sword.
He was awarded a GCB in 1834.
The 'Lord Somerset Monument' stands high on the Cotswold Edge at Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire (grid reference ST772878), near the family's ancestral home of Badminton, Gloucestershire. It was erected in 1846.
On 17 October 1805 he married Lady Louisa Augusta Courtenay (1781 - 8 February 1825), a younger daughter of William Courtenay, 8th Earl of Devon, with whom he had several children, three sons and five daughters.
He was an English courtier and politician.
She was born in 1819.
She was born in 1808 and died in 1890.
She was born in 1811 and died in 1879.
She was born in 1815 and died in 1905.
She was born in 1807 and died unmarried in 1888.
He was born in 1821 and died in 1854.
He was born in 1817 and died in 1886.
He was born in 1806 and died in 1807.
He was a British Army officer.
