User:Kaliforniyka/Thomas Fox-Strangways
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Thomas Fox-Strangways | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 28 December 1790 Brympton, Somerset Bracebridge Heath, Lincolnshire, England |
| Died | 5 November 1854 (aged 63) Inkerman, Crimea, Russian Empire |
| Cause of death | Killed in action |
| Buried | Cathcart's Hill, Crimea |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1806–1854 |
| Rank | Brigadier-General |
| Unit | Royal Horse Artillery |
| Commands | Royal Artillery |
| Wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Sword Order of Saint Anna KCB (posthumous) |
| Alma mater | Royal Military Academy, Woolwich |
| Spouse(s) |
Sophia Eliza Harenc
(m. 1833–1854) |
| Relations | Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester (grandfather) |
Brig.-Gen. Thomas Fox-Strangways KCB (28 December 1790 – 5 November 1854) was a British Army officer of the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean War. He was killed at the Battle of Inkerman in Crimea while commanding the Royal Artillery of the British Army of the East.[1]
Early life and family
[edit]Fox-Strangways was born in Maiden Newton the second son of Rev. Hon. Charles Redlynch Fox-Strangways. He was likely born in Brympton, Somerset, where his father was rector beginning in 1788. He was also Rector of Maiden Newton and later of Rewe;[2]
His father was the youngest child of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester and his wife, Elizabeth Fox, Countess of Ilchester, daughter of Thomas Strangways Horner. His great-grandfather Sir Stephen Fox – the "richest commoner in the three kingdoms" — was Paymaster-General of His Majesty's Forces to Charles II who donated the funds for Royal Chelsea Hospital.[3] His mother was Jane Haines, daughter of Rev. Nathan Haines, vicar of St. Mary's Church, Nottingham, and Susannah Chudleigh, cousin to the infamous Duchess of Kingston-upon-Hull.[4]
He was baptised 27 April 1791 in Maiden Newton, Dorset.[5] He had five brothers, Capt. Charles Fox-Strangways (1789–1836), Rev. Henry Fox-Strangways (1793–1860), George Fox-Strangways (1802–1858), Rev. Edward Fox-Strangways (1806–1838), and Stephen Fox-Strangways (1811–1839); and one sister, Susannah Fox-Strangways (1808–1854), who eloped with the Irish actor William O'Brien.[4][6]
Among his father's siblings were Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester and Lady Harriet Acland. His cousins included the third and fourth earls of Ilchester, diplomat John Fox-Strangways, Louisa, Marchioness of Lansdowne, Windham Quin, 2nd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl and Kitty Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon.[6]
Military career
[edit]Fox-Strangways was educated at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.[1] He entered the Royal Artillery as a gentleman cadet on 18 December 1806, just shy of age 16.[7] He was promoted to First Lieutenant on 1 February 1808.[8]
Napoleonic Wars
[edit]In the spring of 1813, Fox-Strangways served in the Royal Horse Artillery's Rocket Brigade during the War of the Sixth Coalition and distinguished himself early in battle. The Rocket Brigade, commanded by under Capt. Richard Bogue, was sent to Germany attached to Bernadotte, Crown Prince of Sweden.
At the Battle of the Göhrde on 16 September 1813, Fox-Strangways successfully led a detachment of the battalion to capture a French fortification. He was given special recognition following the battle, in which the French were defeated.[9]
The following month, at the three-day Battle of Leipzig, Bogue was killed by a bullet almost instantly and Fox-Strangways took command of the brigade.
"On the first day he created quite a sensation by the execution he dealt on the French. The rocket practice was quite a novelty with the Allies. On the 18th he also distinguished himself by the efficiency of his operations. Indeed it may be said, that Strangways' Rocket Brigade saved the honour of the Swedish army, for the Crown Prince had been particularly careful of his men. He allowed the fighting to fall on the Russians, Prussians and Austrians, but he particularly pointed out to them the admirable brigade he had had at work for the common cause. On the 19th the Crown Prince again saved his Swedes and his honour by the exertions of Lieutenant Strangways. The allied sovereigns, however, had been witnesses of the young officer's conduct during the operations preceding the storming of the royal city. The brigade were at work, and their practice told beautifully upon the forces covering the approach to the town, while Napoleon was retiring with the main body of his army. Leipzig having surrendered unconditionally, on the same evening the Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and the British ambassador (Lord Cathcart) at the express desire of Alexander, proceeded to the Swedish position to inspect Strangways' Rocket Brigade. The young lieutenant of artillery was congratulated by all the sovereigns, but he was paid the most particular attentions of the Emperor of Russia, who questioned him most minutely as to the modus operandi of the force under his command."[9]
After the battle, the Crown Prince awarded him the Swedish Order of the Sword and a gold medal for "bravery and good conduct"; and Tsar Alexander, who awarded him with the Order of Saint Anna.[10]
Strangways went on to serve in Waterloo campaign of 1815. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Waterloo and was not originally expected to live.[10]
Crimean War
[edit]He was appointed Captain in January 1837[11] and Lieutenant Colonel in 1846.[12]
He was subsequently promoted to Brevet-Major on 23 November 1841. On 1 April 1846 he was made Lieutenant-Colonel and became a full Colonel on 20 June 1854.
General Sir William Cator who became ill
On the outbreak of the Crimean War, he embarked with the army as a Lieut-Colonel of Horse Artillery, succeeding to the command of the whole of the artillery with the rank of Brigadier-General, on General Sir William Cator's resignation through sickness.
In 1854, a year into the Crimean War, Fox-Strangways left the retirement list.[13]
He was appointed a Colonel in June 1854[14] and two months later promoted to Brigadier General while employed on a special service in Turkey.[15]
Commanding the Royal Artillery.
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He was killed at the Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854, while commanding the Royal Artillery against the Imperial Russian Army at Inkerman, Crimea (now Ukraine).
He landed with the army in Crimea, and and commanded the RA at the battles of the Alma and Balaklava and at Battle of Malakoff, the first bombardment of Sevastopol. On the morning of the 5th November 1854, at the battle of Inkerman, General Strangways was on horseback at Lord Raglan's right hand when a shell from the enemy burst among the staff, and carried away his left leg. The shock was so great that he died about an hour afterwards. Lieut-Colonel John Miller Adye, the Assistant Adjutant-General to the Artillery, was with him when he fell.
Brigadier-General Strangways was known to have distinguished himself in early life, and in mature age throughout a long service, he maintained the same character. The mode in which he had conducted the command of the Artillery, since it was placed in his hands by the departure through illness of Major-General Cator, is entitled to my entire approbation, and was equally agreeable to those who were confided to his care. RAGLAN
He was posthumously awarded the Crimea Medal with four clasps and the Turkish Crimea Medal.
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Francis Seymour - 4th Division (Scots Fusilier Guards) - (1819-killed at Inkermann - 5 November 1854). (Scots Fusilier Guards). Aged 35. son of Colonel Sir Horace Beauchamp Seymour brother of Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester
Brigadier-General Thomas Leigh-Goldie (1807 – 5 November 1854)
The tombs of the generals on Cathcart's Hill
A memorial plaque is dedicated to him at St Marys Church, Melbury Sampford, West Dorset, near the family seat of Melbury House.[16]
Personal life
[edit]On 20 July 1833, married Sophia Eliza Harenc (1805–1871), daughter of Benjamin Harenc of Foots Cray, Kent, the son of a Huguenot refugee. She was the elder sister of cricketers Charles Harenc, Edward Harenc, and Archibald Harenc.[18][19] They had one daughter, Sophia Maria (1834 - 18 January 1900) married 26 April 1864, Christian Frederick Newell, reverend and author.[6] In 1870, Newell was listed as the guardian of Arthur Henry Fox Strangways (his great-nephew).[20]
Queen Victoria announced in July 1855 that he would have been invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) had he lived. In 1856, his widow was given a precedence of the wife of a KCB and styled Lady Fox-Strangways.[21] She was granted a grace and favour apartment at Hampton Court Palace until her death on 19 March 1870.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Ryan, George (1855). Our Heroes of the Crimea: Being Biographical Sketches of Our Military Officers. London: Geo. Routledge & Co. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-174-99963-5. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ Foster, Joseph (1891). Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886: Their Parentage, Birthplace, and Year of Birth, with a Record of Their Degrees. Parker and Company. p. 1363. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ Henning, B. D., ed. (1983). "FOX, Stephen (1627-1716), of Farley, Wilts. and Whitehall.". The House of Commons 1660–1690. The History of Parliament Trust.
- ^ a b Godfrey, John T. (1901). Notes on the Parish Registers of St. Mary's Nottingham, 1566 to 1812: Being a Series of Extracts, with Annotations. H.B. Saxton. p. 80. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ Dorset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812
- ^ a b c Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1910). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage. Harrison & Sons. p. 992. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ "No. 15985". The London Gazette. 20 December 1806. p. 1648.
- ^ "No. 16121". The London Gazette. 20 February 1808. p. 269.
- ^ a b Ryan 1855, p. 149
- ^ a b Wright, Henry Press (1873). The Story of the 'Domus Dei' of Portsmouth, Commonly Called The Royal Garrison Church. J. Parker. pp. 75–76. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "No. 19458". The London Gazette. 17 January 1837. p. 117.
- ^ "No. 20591". The London Gazette. 3 April 1846. p. 1236.
- ^ "No. 21566". The London Gazette. 27 June 1854. p. 1991.
- ^ "No. 21564". The London Gazette. 22 June 1854. p. 1938.
- ^ "No. 21587". The London Gazette. 25 August 1854. p. 2630.
- ^ "Brigadier General Thomas Fox-Strangways, Knight Commander of The Bath". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
- ^ You must specify issue= and date= when using {{London Gazette}}.
- ^ Agnew,, David Carnegie Andrew (1886). Refugees naturalized in and after l681. Turnbull & Spears. p. 403. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975
- ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995
- ^ "No. 21920". The London Gazette. 9 September 1856. p. 3038.
External links
[edit]
Category:1794 births Category:1854 deaths Thomas Category:British Army major generals Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War Category:British military personnel killed in the Crimean War Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:British Life Guards officers Category:Military personnel from Somerset Category:Recipients of the Waterloo Medal