Lord Henry Percy
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General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Lord Henry Hugh Manvers Percy, (22 August 1817 – 3 December 1877) was a
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer and a recipient of the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
forces. Outside his military career he was briefly a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Member of Parliament.


Background

Henry Percy, fourth child and third son of George Percy, Lord Lovaine (later 2nd Earl of Beverley) by Louisa Harcourt Stuart-Wortley, third daughter of
James Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie Colonel James Archibald Stuart, later Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie (19 September 1747 – 1 March 1818), British politician and soldier, was the second son of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and his wife Mary Stuart, Countess of Bute. On 8 June 1767 ...
, was born at Burwood House, Cobham, Surrey, on 22 August 1817. He was educated at
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
. He was styled Lord Henry Percy from 1865 after his father became 5th Duke of Northumberland at the age of 86. A collection of his papers is held at
Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle () is a castle and country house in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a G ...
, the seat of the
Duke of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke ...
.


Military career and Crimean War

He entered the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
as an
ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
in the
Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...
on 1 July 1836, and was present during the insurrection in Canada in 1838. Aged 37, he served as a captain and lieutenant-colonel in the 3rd Battalion,
Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...
, during the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
of 1854–5. He was present at the
Battle of Alma The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) was a battle in the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septemb ...
(where he was shot through the right arm), the
Battle of Balaklava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea. The eng ...
, the
Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Second French Empire, France against the Imperial Russian Empire, Russian Army. Th ...
(where he was again wounded), and the
Siege of Sebastopol A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
. For his valour at the
Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Second French Empire, France against the Imperial Russian Empire, Russian Army. Th ...
on 5 November 1854 he was awarded the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
with the following citation: The
subaltern Subaltern may refer to: *Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power * Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer * Subalternation, going from a univer ...
s in the
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
which Lieutenant-Colonel Percy commanded at Inkerman were Henry Neville and Sir James Fergusson, Bt. Neville was killed and Fergusson was wounded. Percy himself suffered during the action a black eye, gashes to the face and severe contusion on the back of the head. Forty-four members of his company were killed or wounded in the battle. On
Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
1854, Percy was taken ill with
dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
and Crimean Fever. He was therefore evacuated to the General Hospital, Scutari the following month. He survived the very high death rates which were prevalent in the hospitals of Scutari that winter and by mid February 1855 was well enough to be invalided back to England. He returned voluntarily to the Crimea in May and rejoined his regiment in the trenches before Sebastopol. He was promoted to full colonel in the summer of 1855, and then held the local rank of
brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
in command of the British-Italian Legion in
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
, where he arrived in August. The British-Italian Legion was a mercenary force raised following the passage of the 1854 Foreign Enlistment Act to fight for the allies (
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Great Britain and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
) in the
Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, modelled along the lines of similar foreign legions raised in the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. The
Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
had already entered the Crimean war on the side of the allies and
Count Cavour Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (, 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour ( , ), was an Italian politician, businessman, economist and noble, and a leading figure in the movement towa ...
, Prime Minister of Sardinia, was in theory supportive of the British Government and Percy's efforts to recruit and train a fighting force in Turin. However, the project became mired in bureaucracy, suffered from lack of funds and inadequate resources and was eventually rendered redundant by the fall of
Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
in September 1855 and a formal end to hostilities six months later. Given this, Percy resigned his command of the British-Italian Legion in October 1855 in a state of total exasperation. After leaving the British-Italian Legion, Colonel Percy was asked by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, British Ambassador to Turkey, to attempt to relieve the
Siege of Kars The siege of Kars was the last major operation of the Crimean War. In June 1855, attempting to alleviate pressure on the defence of Sevastopol, Emperor Alexander II ordered General Nikolay Muravyov to lead his troops against areas of Ottoman ...
,
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
, which was being defended by Brigadier-General Williams. However, Kars fell to the
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
ns on 28 November 1855, the day after Percy arrived in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, so the expedition was called off before it got under way. Colonel Percy was an accomplished linguist and Turkophile, so in January 1856, after the armistice in the Crimea but before the signing of the
Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...
in March 1856, he was ordered by General Codrington, Commander-in-chief of the British Army in the Crimea, to reconnoitre possible landing places in
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
in case of a continuation of hostilities along the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
front.


Relations with the Royal Family

From 29 June 1855 he was an Aide-de-camp to the
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
– a post he held until 10 February 1865. He was gazetted for the Victoria Cross (VC) on 5 May 1857. As the most senior officer in the British Army to be awarded the VC during the Crimean War, Percy was on the occasion of the first investiture of the Victoria Cross in
Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Pa ...
, on 26 June 1857 tasked with commanding the 62 recipients who had the decoration pinned to their breasts by Queen Victoria that day. In the summer of 1861, as commanding officer at
the Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the f ...
, he was tasked with overseeing the Prince of Wales' military induction. Colonel Percy was well regarded by the royal family: Prince Albert had previously recommended that Percy's infantry manual, ''Brigade Movements'' (1853) be distributed to every officer in the Brigade of Guards. In spite of the young Prince not being given as much commendation or responsibility in matters of drill as he had hoped, he liked Percy 'very much' – perhaps because the latter, being a strict disciplinarian, insisted on treating him just like any other junior officer. However, the Curragh visit was marred by the Prince's 'fall', following which Queen Victoria blamed her son for Prince Albert's death. 'The fall' came in the form of initiation in carnal pleasure with the actress Nellie Clifden, as arranged by junior officers at the Curragh.


Later military career

On the occurrence of the
Trent Affair The ''Trent'' Affair was a International incident, diplomatic incident in 1861 during the American Civil War that threatened a war between the United States and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain. The United States Navy, ...
in December 1861, Percy was sent to
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
in command of the first battalion of the Grenadier Guards. He had been promoted to be major in 1860, but retired from active service on 3 October 1862 owing to the chronic ill health he had suffered ever since the Crimean War. However, he remained on
half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...
and briefly commanded a brigade at
Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
– the place to which he and another Grenadier officer, Col. F. W. Hamilton, had first brought the army in 1853 when they selected Aldershot Heath and its surrounding area as a new training ground. In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, he was sent by
the Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...
, Commander-in-Chief, as an observer with the Prussian Army at Sedan. On 24 May 1873 he was gazetted a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
. He was also rewarded for his military services by being appointed to the colonelcy of the
89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot The 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised on 3 December 1793. Under the Childers Reforms the regiment amalgamated with the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victor ...
on 28 May 1874. He became a full
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
on 1 October 1877.


Politics

He succeeded his brother, Lord Lovaine, as
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for Northumberland North from
1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...
to
1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...
. He was found dead in his bed at his residence, 40
Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia ...
, London, on 3 December 1877, and was buried in the Percy family vault in St. Nicholas' Chapel,
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
on 7 December.''The Morning Post'', 5 December 1877 He was unmarried.


References


Further reading

* Barthorp, Michael (1991), ''Heroes of the Crimea: The Battles of Balaclava and Inkerman''. London, Blandford Press. * Bayley, C. C. (1977), ''Mercenaries for the Crimea''. Montreal and London, McGill-Queen's University Press. * Hamilton, Lieut-Gen Sir F.W. (1874), ''The Origin and History of the First or Grenadier Guards''. London, John Murray. * Higginson, General Sir George (1916), ''Seventy-One Years of a Guardsman's Life''. London, Smith, Elder & Co. * Mercer, Patrick (1998), Give them a Volley and Charge!' Inkerman 1854''. Staplehurst, Spellmount. * Neville, the Hon. Henry & the Hon Grey, (1870), ''Letters written from Turkey and the Crimea, 1854''. Privately printed, since republished in paperback. * Percy, Algernon (2005), ''A Bearskin's Crimea: Colonel Henry Percy VC and his Brother Officers''. Barnsley, Leo Cooper.


External links


Location of grave and VC medal
''(W. London)'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Percy, Henry Hugh Manvers 1817 births 1877 deaths People from Cobham, Surrey People educated at Eton College Burials at Westminster Abbey British recipients of the Victoria Cross Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel of the Crimean War British Army generals Grenadier Guards officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Percy, Lord Henry Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross