Major Hugh Owen of the 7th & 18th Hussars, Macphail lith., 1849 Born at Denbigh he served with distinction in the Peninsular War, and in 1810 joined the Portuguese Army.
Colonel Hugh Owen begun his military career in the Shropshire Volunteers as a gazetted Captain in 1803.
He served in the Peninsular War, arriving in Portugal in 1809, as a Lieutenant of the 16th Light Dragoons Regiment, under the command of Lord Cambermere. He was present at Albergaria, Grijó and in the pursuit of the French Army under Marshall Soult on their flight to Salamonde.
At the battle of Talavera he commanded the united skirmishers of the 14th, 16th and 23rd Light Dragoons and of the 1st German Hussars of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Stapleton Cotton.
In 1810 was promoted a Captain of the Portuguese Army by Marshall Beresford serving as Aide-de-Camp of General Fane commander of a Brigade attached to the Hill Division on the retreat to the Lines of Torres Vedras and operations thereafter.
As a Major, he then served as aide de camp of General Benjamin d’Urban, commander of the Portuguese Cavalry Brigade.
At the battle of Vitória he commanded the cavalry charge that ended French resistance, having attracted the attention of Lord Wellington.
At the end of the war, in 1815, Owen entered the service of the Portuguese Army as a Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Chaves Dragoons Regiment.
He served in the Peninsular War, arriving in Portugal in 1809, as a Lieutenant of the 16th Light Dragoons Regiment, under the command of Lord Cambermere. He was present at Albergaria, Grijó and in the pursuit of the French Army under Marshall Soult on their flight to Salamonde.
At the battle of Talavera he commanded the united skirmishers of the 14th, 16th and 23rd Light Dragoons and of the 1st German Hussars of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Stapleton Cotton.
In 1810 was promoted a Captain of the Portuguese Army by Marshall Beresford serving as Aide-de-Camp of General Fane commander of a Brigade attached to the Hill Division on the retreat to the Lines of Torres Vedras and operations thereafter.
As a Major, he then served as aide de camp of General Benjamin d’Urban, commander of the Portuguese Cavalry Brigade.
At the battle of Vitória he commanded the cavalry charge that ended French resistance, having attracted the attention of Lord Wellington.
At the end of the war, in 1815, Owen entered the service of the Portuguese Army as a Lieutenant Colonel of the 6th Chaves Dragoons Regiment.
In 1820, he accompanied Marshal Beresford to Brazil having returned on August with dispatches to the Regency and transferred as a brevet Colonel to the 4th Portuguese Cavalry Regiment.
But, by this time the 1820 Revolution had taken place and the Provisional Junta had dismissed Marshall Sir William Beresford and all British Officers in the Portuguese Army.
But, by this time the 1820 Revolution had taken place and the Provisional Junta had dismissed Marshall Sir William Beresford and all British Officers in the Portuguese Army.
Colonel Hugh Owen then abandoned the Army but decided to stay in Portugal, marrying on December, 1820, a Portuguese rich heiress from Oporto – Maria Rita da Rocha Pinto Velho da Silva, dau. of a very wealthy Port Wine Merchant.
For his services during the Peninsular War he was made a Knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword and a Commander of the Order of St. Benedict of Avis. Awarded also the Army Gold Cross and the Peninsular Military General Service Medal with 4 clasps for Talavera, Albuera, Vittoria and Pyrenees and three Spanish medals.
In 1832, at the start of the Civil War he lived at Oporto then taken by the troops led by D. Pedro, duke of Braganza who immediately invited him the command the Cavalry as a General. Col. Owen refused being a British citizen and obeying the instructions from H.M. Government. But during the siege of Oporto by D. Miguel’s army he gave his collaboration to D. Pedro.
He published his memoirs of that period - The Civil War in Portugal: And the Siege of Oporto, London, E. Moxon, 1836, of which there was a Portuguese edition - O Cerco do Porto contado por uma Testemunha - O Coronel Owen, Porto 1915.
In 1856 he returned to Britain leaving behind his wife and children.
For his services during the Peninsular War he was made a Knight of the Order of the Tower and Sword and a Commander of the Order of St. Benedict of Avis. Awarded also the Army Gold Cross and the Peninsular Military General Service Medal with 4 clasps for Talavera, Albuera, Vittoria and Pyrenees and three Spanish medals.
In 1832, at the start of the Civil War he lived at Oporto then taken by the troops led by D. Pedro, duke of Braganza who immediately invited him the command the Cavalry as a General. Col. Owen refused being a British citizen and obeying the instructions from H.M. Government. But during the siege of Oporto by D. Miguel’s army he gave his collaboration to D. Pedro.
He published his memoirs of that period - The Civil War in Portugal: And the Siege of Oporto, London, E. Moxon, 1836, of which there was a Portuguese edition - O Cerco do Porto contado por uma Testemunha - O Coronel Owen, Porto 1915.
In 1856 he returned to Britain leaving behind his wife and children.
Sources: Edmund Burke, The Annual Register... for the Year 1860, London, Rivington, 1860, p. 478; «The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies», University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies, 1921, p. 269.
In his bookplate Colonel Hugh Owen bears pending from his arms the insignia of the Order of the Tower and Sword and its motto - «Valor e Lealdade». In the first and second quarters his other medals are shown.
Motto: Alert and Loyal.
F22494.
It is yet another British bookplate showing the insignia of the Order of the Tower and Sword obtained for services during the Peninsular War.
See, another miniature portrait of 1808 - at the National Portrait Gallery
