William Carr Beresford
William Carr Beresford was one of the greatest Generals in the Napoleonic Wars. He received his baton as a Marshal when organising the Portuguese Army as a full fighting force ready to take its place amongst the greatest armies in Europe at that time.
After serving in the heat of the Egyptian desert at Alexandria, he crossed the Atlantic in 1807 with an army of 1,000 and took Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. He was subsequently captured himself, but six months later managed to escape.
At the Battle of Albuera, which took place on 16th May 1811, an allied army of some 35,000 British, Spanish and Portuguese troops under the command of Marshal William Carr Beresford defeated a French Army headed by Marshal Soult, one of the ablest of Napoleon’s Generals.
After retiring from the Army, Marshal Beresford bought the 2,300 acre estate of Bedgebury Park, near Goudhurst in Kent, with its magnificent House and arboretum. Details of the impact he and his family had on the parish of Goudhurst are described in fascinating detail in ‘The Beresfords of Bedgebury’ by Gordon Batchelor. See Online Store.