Thomas Esmonde (VC)

Thomas Esmonde
Depiction of the Siege of Sebastopol
Born	25 May 1829 Pembrokestown, County Waterford
Died	14 January 1873 (aged 43) Bruges, Belgium
Buried at	Bruges Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	18th Regiment of Foot
Battles/wars	Crimean War Second Anglo-Burmese War
Awards	Victoria Cross

Thomas Esmonde VC (25 May 1829 – 14 January 1873) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was born in Pembrokestown, County Waterford, to the Esmonde family of Baronets. He was a brother of the 10th baronet.

Details

Esmonde was 26 years old, and a captain in the 18th Regiment of Foot (later The Royal Irish Regiment), British Army during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 18 June 1855 at Sebastopol, Crimea, after being engaged in the attack on the Redan, Captain Esmonde repeatedly assisted, at great personal risk, in rescuing wounded men from exposed situations. Also, on 20 June while in command of a covering party he rushed to a spot where a fireball from the enemy had just lodged, and extinguished it before it could betray the position of his men, thus saving the party from a murderous fire of shell and grape which was immediately opened where the fireball had fallen.

He later achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died Bruges, Belgium, 14 January 1873 after his eye was infected by a branch.

See also

Thomas Esmonde was the great-uncle of Eugene Esmonde.

References

• The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
• Clarke, Brian D. H. (1986). "A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men". The Irish Sword XVI (64): 185–287. 
• Irelands VCs (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

External links

• Thomas Esmonde (VC) at Find a Grave