Leighton Cathcart Dalrymple

Lieutenant Colonel Leighton Cathcart Dalrymple was a British Army officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars. He commanded the 15 Light Dragoons during the Battle of Waterloo.

Family Leighton was born in 1785 to General Sir Hew Dalrymple, Baronet. He was the second son of Hew and Frances Leighton, youngest daughter and co-heiress of General Leighton of Loton Park (her father).

Military career Dalrymple likely began his military career in the early 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars. He served as an aide-de-camp to General Sir James Henry Craig. On 16 December, 1813, Dalrymple was promoted to a Lieutenant Colonel in the 5th (or the King's) Regiment of Light Dragoons (Hussars).

Other work In 1812, while serving as a British army officer, Dalrymple visited Wakefield and Leeds to observe the pioneering steam locomotive Salamanca, designed by John Blenkinsop. He wrote a detailed letter describing the locomotive’s mechanical features and operation, and drew a sketch. This account is considered one of the earliest surviving eyewitness descriptions of a working railway engine. The letter is preserved in the Science Museum Group Collection.