A Famous Welshman: Sir Thomas Picton, hero or villain?

Purely by chance, just as I was putting the finishing touches to my new novel, I came across the furore in the media about the status and reputation of Sir Thomas Picton, who figures very prominently in the story. He was one of Wellingtons closest lieutenants in the Battle of Waterloo, and the most senior officer to be killed in the battle. Wellington obviously disliked him intensely, and was not very supportive of the idea that he should be treated as a national hero and buried in St Pauls Cathedral -- but he was without doubt a very effective tactician and leader of men, and Wellington obviously valued him as a soldier who could be trusted to deliver on the battlefield. He was uncultured, foul-mouthed, and short tempered, and was clearly very different in temperament from many of the other army officers of the time, who more often than not came from the ranks of the gentry.

Sir Thomas made his reputation in the West Indies, where he was eventually appointed Governor of Trinidad -- which had been annexed by the British from Spain. As Governor, he ruled with a rod of iron on the principle of Let them hate me, as long as they fear me. He was sadistic and brutal, and used torture and summary executions without trial as a matter of course, to maintain peace on the slave plantations and in the mixed population of free people of mixed races, in which the white settlers were very much in the minority. He claimed that everything he did was in the national interest and was designed for the upkeep of law and order, but a buildup of resentment against his brutal and sadistic regime came to a head when he authorized the torture of a mulatto girl called Louisa Calderon, who was either 13 or 11 years old at the time. She was tortured by a method called picketing -- so as to obtain a confession from her. She was tortured on two successive days, and then imprisoned in irons for a further 8 months. Picton was recalled to Britain and prosecuted, and in a famous court case in 1806 he had to face the wrath of William Garrow, the most famous barrister of the day (as seen on BBC TV!) charged with the torture of a free child. He was found guilty, but powerful allies (including many plantation owners) rallied to his cause and obtained a retrial, at which he was acquitted on the technicality that although the British were in charge on the island, Spanish law still applied! That was of course ludicrous, and Pictons reputation was destroyed.........

Later on he sought to redeem himself through service to his country, and by invitation from Wellington, he resumed his military career, being closely involved in the campaign against Napoleon in Spain and Portugal.

In Trinidad, and in many other places as well, Picton is seen as a brutal thug who should never have held high office and been given a place in St Pauls Cathedral, let alone honoured in place names in Wales and on the island which he terrorised. Streets and even a large secondary school in Haverfordwest are named after him, and of course there is the impressive Picton Monument in Carmarthen -- and one might ask with some justification whether his achievements on the battlefield were sufficient for him to be accorded this level of respect. There is a portrait of him in the Carmarthen court room, and some people who have a real respect for our principles of justice want it removed, in the light of the fact that in his lifetime he applied summary justice, terrorised a whole community, and showed a cavalier disregard for the law. The campaigners have a point.