This officer was a native of Leeds, and, being intended for the law, was articled to a solicitor in London; but preferring the profession of arms, he enlisted at Leeds, on the 5th of November, 1789, as a private trooper in the Royal Horse Guards (Blues). His conduct was generally approved of by his officers, and his attachment to the army remaining undiminished, his father enabled him to purchase the appointment of Quartermaster of a troop in the following year, namely, on the 4th of June, 1790; he was promoted to a Cornetcy, by purchase, on the 6th of June, 1794. He accompanied the four troops of the Blues to Flanders in 1793, as Acting Adjutant; and serving under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, he was present at several engagements, where the Blues distinguished themselves, particularly at Cateau on the 26th of April, 1794, where Acting Adjutant Elley evinced signal gallantry. He served with his regiment in the retreat through Holland to Germany, and, returning to England in November, 1795, he was promoted to a Lieutenantcy, by purchase, on the 26th of January, 1796. The rank of Captain-Lieutenant was conferred on this meritorious officer on the 24th of October, 1799, and he was promoted to Captain of a troop, by purchase, on the 26th of February, 1801. He was employed as Aide-de-camp to Major-General Staveley on the Staff of Great Britain, when the country was threatened with invasion by Buonaparte. He was promoted, by purchase, to Major of the Royal Horse Guards on the 29th of November, 1804, and to Lieut.-Colonel, by purchase, on the 6th of March, 1808. In 1808 he served as Assistant Adjutant-General to the cavalry of the army, which advanced into Spain under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, and was at the cavalry action at Sahagun, where the Fifteenth Hussars highly distinguished themselves; also at Benevente, where the French Imperial Guards were driven across the Esla with severe loss. Lieut.-Colonel Elley was also present at several other skirmishes, and at the battle of Corunna. The appointment of Assistant Adjutant-General to the cavalry of the British army in Portugal and Spain was held by Lieut.-Colonel Elley from 1809 to 1814; he proved a most valuable officer, and performed the duties of his situation with great ability during those arduous campaigns, in which the British troops gained many honours. He was present at most of the battles in Portugal, Spain, and France, until the power of Buonaparte was subdued and the Bourbon dynasty was restored to the throne of France. He received several severe wounds, particularly at Salamanca, where he narrowly escaped being taken prisoner; he was promoted to the rank of Colonel on the 7th of March, 1813: in 1815 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General to the cavalry of the army in Flanders, under His Grace the Duke of Wellington, and served at the battle of Waterloo[9]. He was rewarded with a silver medal for the battle of Waterloo; a cross and three clasps for the battles of Sahagun, Benevente, Talavera, Fuentes d'Onor, Salamanca, Vittoria, Orthes, and Toulouse. He was also constituted Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Knight Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order; Knight of Maria Theresa of Austria; Knight of St. George of Russia (fourth class). He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 12th of August, 1819; in 1821 he was appointed Governor of Galway, and in 1829 he was rewarded with the Colonelcy of the Seventeenth Lancers: in 1837 he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General. He died on the 28th of January, 1839, at his residence, near Andover, and was interred at the Chapel Royal, at Windsor.
Sir Joseph Stratton, K.C.H.,
Appointed 28th January, 1839.
Removed to the Eighth, or the King's Royal Irish, Regiment of Light Dragoons, Hussars, on the 24th of August, 1839.
Sir Arthur Benjamin Clifton, K.C.B., K.C.H.,
Appointed 24th August, 1839.
LONDON: HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.
FOOTNOTE:
[9] In Scott's Letters to his Kinsfolk it is recorded of Sir John Elley, that there were found, on the field of Waterloo, more than one of Napoleon's cuirassiers cleft to the chine by the stalwart arm of this gallant officer.