Leighton Cathcart Dalrymple

Dalrymple likely began his military career in the early 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars. He served as an aide-de-camp to General Sir James Henry Craig.^[4] On 16 December, 1813, Dalrymple was promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel in the 5th (or the King's) Regiment of Light Dragoons (Hussars).^[1] His regiment was present at the Battle of Waterloo.^[5]

In 1812, while serving as a British army officer, Dalrymple visited Wakefield and Leeds to observe the pioneering steam locomotive Salamanca, designed by John Blenkinsop. He wrote a detailed letter describing the locomotive’s mechanical features and operation, and drew a sketch. This account is considered one of the earliest surviving eyewitness descriptions of a working railway engine. The letter is preserved in the Science Museum Group Collection.^[3]