Thomas Sutcliffe

Thomas Sutcliffe (c. 1790 – 22 April 1849) was an English soldier of fortune. After periods in the Royal Navy and then as an army officer involved in the Battle of Waterloo, he became an army officer in the service of Colombia and then Chile. In later years he was a writer. Life Thomas Sutcliffe was a son of John Sutcliffe of Stansfield, near Halifax, Yorkshire, and great-grandson of John Kay, the inventor of the flying shuttle. He entered the Royal Navy, and was on board in the blockade of Corfu in 1809; he was captured by the enemy, but managed to escape to Albania. He afterwards held a commission in the Royal Horse Guards, and was with his regiment at the battle of Waterloo, where he was severely wounded. In 1817 he formed one of a band of adventurous Englishmen who went out to Colombia to aid those fighting for independence from Spain, and was appointed lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in the army of the republic. Here again he was made a prisoner of war, and was detained at Havana. He returned to England in 1821. He set out again for South America in August of the following year, and offered his services to the republic of Chile; he received the appointment of captain of cavalry.