This black silk top hat was worn by General Sir Thomas Picton, the Welsh commander of Wellington’s 3rd (‘Fighting’) Division, at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813.

The action was fought against Marshal Jourdan and King Joseph Bonaparte in the north east of Spain. Two years later, at Waterloo, he was exhorting his hard-pressed men to use the bayonet to repel a strong infantry assault by General Count Drouet d’Erlon’s 17,000 strong 1st Corps when a French musket ball ended his life. It entered his right temple, killing him instantly. The shot was probably fired from a smooth bore skirmisher’s or line infantry Charleville pattern musket.

Picton was somewhat eccentric and sported a nightcap at the Battle of Busaco in 1810. He certainly wore civilian clothes, including a top hat, at Waterloo.

Picton (1758-1815) was an able and experienced divisional commander who had fought under the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War (1808-14). The Duke found him a rather coarse and uncouth officer, but he was undoubtedly a tough character who inspired his troops. He had also served in the West Indies and had been involved in a scandal while governor of Trinidad. This problem arose from his involvement in the torture of a young mulatto girl, who was implicated in a robbery. He was found guilty by trial at the court of the King’s Bench in 1806, but the guilty verdict was reversed in 1808.

Picton had already been injured at the siege of Badajoz in 1812. When his body was stripped after his death, a deep gash was found on his upper abdominal wall. This was an injury he had received at Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815. Only his servant knew about this wound.

There is a memorial to this fiery Welshman in St Paul’s Cathedral. In 1823 a monument was raised by public subscription in Camarthen, South Wales.

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This object is in the collection of National Army Museum