The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Raymond Harvey Lodge Joseph de Montmorency VC (5 February 1867 – 23 February 1900) was a British 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 ...

(VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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. (Also considered a Canadian recipient due to his place of birth).

Early life career

De Montmorency was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, Canada, the eldest son and heir of

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Reymond de Montmorency, 3rd Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency Major-General Reymond Hervey de Montmorency, 3rd Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency, (21 September 1835 – 7 May 1902), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and peer in the peerage of Ireland. Life Montmorency was the son of Lodge Reymond de Montmorency ...

Representative Peer In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

of Ireland, who served in the Crimean War, the Indian Rebellion, Abyssinia and the Mahdist War, and his wife Rachel Mary Lumley Godolphin Michel, daughter of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

Sir John Michel. He was commissioned a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Lincolnshire Regiment The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army raised on 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments ...

on 14 September 1887, and transferred to the

21st Lancers The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, where W ...

as he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 6 November 1889.

Details of Victoria Cross

De Montmorency was 31 years old, and a

in the

21st Lancers (Empress of India's) The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, where Win ...

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 ...

during the

Sudan Campaign The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC: On 2 September 1898 at the

Battle of Omdurman The Battle of Omdurman was fought during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan between a British–Egyptian expeditionary force commanded by British Commander-in-Chief (sirdar) major general Horatio Herbert Kitchener and a Sudanese army of the M ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, after the charge, Lieutenant de Montmorency returned to help an officer who was lying surrounded by a great many Dervishes. He drove the Dervishes off and finding that the officer was dead, put the body on his horse which then broke away. Captain

Paul Aloysius Kenna Brigadier General Paul Aloysius Kenna, VC, DSO (16 August 1862 – 30 August 1915) was an English-born British Army officer of Irish descent and recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the ...

and a corporal then came to his assistance and he was able to rejoin his regiment. His citation read:

Later military career

De Montmorency was promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 2 August 1899, having in the previous October been despatched on special service to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, where he raised and commanded a special body of scouts, Montmorency's Scouts. Following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

in October 1899, the Scouts were involved in fighting in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

. He was killed in action at the

Battle of Stormberg The Battle of Stormberg was the first British defeat of Black Week, in which three successive British forces were defeated by Boer irregulars in the Second Boer War. Background When the British first drew up a plan of campaign against the Boer r ...

, Dordrecht, Cape Colony, on 23 February 1900. Brighton, Terry, ''The Last Charge: the 21st Lancers and the Battle of Omdurman''. Marlborough: Crowood, 1998. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Montmorency, Raymond Harvey Lodge Joseph British recipients of the Victoria Cross 21st Lancers officers British Army personnel of the Mahdist War British Army personnel of the Second Boer War 1867 births 1900 deaths Military personnel from Montreal British military personnel killed in the Second Boer War People educated at Marlborough College Royal Lincolnshire Regiment officers Heirs apparent who never acceded Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials in South Africa