Robert Ellison (British Army officer)
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Hyde Park
United Kingdom
British ArmyRobert Ellison | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Black Bob |
| Died | 3 June 1843 (aged 52–53) Hyde Park |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army |
| Years of service | 1807–1843 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 1st Regiment of Foot Guards |
| Battles / wars | |
Colonel Robert Ellison (1790 – 3 July 1843) was a British Army officer who fought in the Peninsular War and at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.
The second son of Henry Ellison, of Hebburn, County Durham, and Henrietta, daughter of John Isaacson,[1] he joined the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards as an ensign by purchase on 17 December 1807. He became a lieutenant and captain on 20 December 1812 then saw service at Cádiz, Spain in 1811 and during the Peninsular War from 1812 to 1814. During the Waterloo Campaign he fought at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, for which he was promoted Brevet Major. At the latter battle he fought with the light companies at Hougoumont where "on one occasion, when he was forced to retreat from the orchard to the chateau, he would have been bayoneted by the French, had not the men, with whom he was a great favourite, charged back, and saved his life.[2]
After Waterloo he was at the taking of Péronne on 26 June 1815. Subsequently, he became a lieutenant-colonel on 15 April 1824 and a major and colonel on 9 January 1838[3]
Ellison's profuse growth of dark facial hair earned him the regimental sobriquet "Black Bob".[2]
