Lieutenant-General Sir Joseph Thackwell (1 February 1781 – 8 April 1859) was a British Army officer. He served with the 15th Hussars in the Peninsular War at the Battle of Sahagún in 1808 and the Battle of Vitoria in 1813, and he lost his left arm at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He commanded the regiment from 1820 to 1832. He then served in India, commanding the cavalry in the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–89, and at the Battle of Sobraon in the First Anglo-Sikh War of 1845–46, and at the Battle of Chillianwala and Battle of Gujrat in the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1848–9. He also commanded the 3rd The King's Own Dragoons, was colonel of the 16th Lancers, and was appointed Inspector-general of cavalry. Early life Thackwell was the fourth son of John Thackwell, JP, of Rye Court and Moreton Court, Birtsmorton Court in Worcestershire (died 1808). He was commissioned as cornet in the Worcester Fencible Cavalry in 1798, was promoted to lieutenant in September 1799, and served in Ireland until the regiment was disbanded in 1800. 15th Hussars In April 1800, he purchased a commission in the 15th Light Dragoons, and became lieutenant in June 1801. He was placed on half-pay in 1802 after the Peace of Amiens but was brought back to the regiment on its augmentation in April 1804. The regiment was converted into hussars in 1806, and Thackwell became captain in April 1807. The 15th Hussars formed part of Lord Paget's hussar brigade in 1807, and was sent to the Peninsula in 1808. It played the principal part in the Battle of Sahagún on 21 December 1808, and to cover the retreat of General Sir John Moore's army to Corunna. After some years of service back in England, the regiment was sent back to the Peninsula in 1813. It formed part of the hussar brigade attached to General Graham's corps. At the passage of the river Esla on 31 May 1813, Thackwell commanded the leading squadron which surprised a French cavalry picket and took thirty prisoners. He took part in the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813 and in the subsequent pursuit, in the Battle of the Pyrenees at the end of July 1813, and in the Siege of Pamplona. He was also present at the battles of Orthez, Tarbes, and Toulouse. On 1 March 1814, after passing the river Adour, Thackwell