Colonel Sir Thomas Noel Harris (9 October 178323 March 1860) 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 who fought during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

and the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by ...

before finishing his career as Chief Magistrate of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Early life

Harris was born in 1783 in

Whitwell, Rutland Whitwell is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population at the 2001 census was 41. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and was included together with the neighbouring ...

, to

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Hamlyn Harris and Elizabeth Harris. Educated at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson (rector), Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oa ...

, in 1801 he enlisted 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 87th Regiment of Foot. He became a Lieutenant in the

52nd Regiment of Foot The 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India du ...

in 1802 and purchased a captaincy in the

18th Light Dragoons The 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first formed in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War before being amalgamated with the 13th Hussars to form the 13th/18th Royal H ...

in 1807 before retiring through ill health having been refused a transfer to

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 ...

Military career

In 1811 he joined the

13th Light Dragoons The 13th Hussars (previously the 13th Light Dragoons) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War and the First World War but then amalgamated w ...

as a

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

, was promoted to a lieutenancy in the

18th Hussars The 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first formed in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War before being amalgamated with the 13th Hussars to form the 13th/18th Royal ...

and afterwards served in the

from 1811-1813 as deputy assistant adjutant general attached to headquarters. From Spain he was sent to Germany where he served as '' aide-de-camp'' to Sir Charles Stewart (later Sir

Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebel ...

). He was present at the battles of Grossbergen,

Dennewitz Dennewitz is a village of Germany, in the federal state and old Prussian province of Brandenburg, near Jüterbog, 40 km. S.W. from Berlin. It is part of the municipality of Niedergörsdorf, Teltow-Fläming district. History It is memorable a ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in October 1813. In his later narrative of the war Vane noted the gallantry displayed by Harris and his "efficient assistance". After the Battle of Leipzig he was presented with a fine sword by merchant and adventurer

Edward Solly Edward Solly (25 April 1776 – 2 December 1844) was an English merchant living in Berlin, who amassed an unprecedented collection of Italian Trecento and Quattrocento paintings and outstanding examples of Early Netherlandish painting, at a tim ...

inscribed with the legend ''From Edward Solly To Thomas Noel Harris, In Commemoration Of Their Fellowship At The Memorable Battle Of Leipzig Of The 18th And 19th Of October 1813.'' In 2015, the sword was sold for £43,750 at a

Bonham's Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought tog ...

auction. From late 1813 until early 1814, Harris was attached to the staff of the Prussian General Blücher and at the end of his service received a gold ring and the feathers from Blücher's hat as a token of the latter's esteem. On 30March 1814, following the capitulation of Paris, Harris was sent to London by Stewart bearing dispatches with the news. He made the journey without rest while fending off attacks by supposedly friendly troops. He was taken to

Carlton House Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James' ...

to deliver dispatches to the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

. In April 1815 he was appointed Brigade-Major to the 18th Hussars under Major-general Sir Hussey Vivian. On 15June he attended the

Duchess of Richmond's ball The Duchess of Richmond's ball was a ball hosted by Charlotte, Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras. Charlotte's husband Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, was in command of a reserve fo ...

in Brussels. On receiving the order to join units, Harris left immediately in his red swallow-tailed court dress coat, which he subsequently wore at the battles of

Quatre Bras Quatre Bras (, French for crossroads; literally "four arms") is a hamlet in the municipality of Genappe, Wallonia, Belgium. It lies on the crossroad of the Charleroi-Brussels road (currently named N5) and the Nivelles-Namur road south of Genappe ...

and Waterloo. He spent the eve of Waterloo with his cousin Lieutenant John Clement Wallington of the

10th Hussars The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...

. During the subsequent battle he had two horses shot from under him, but while charging in advance of one of the squadrons in his brigade his right arm was shattered by a musket ball. He was carried to the farmhouse of

Hougoumont Château d'Hougoumont (originally Goumont) is a walled manorial compound, situated at the bottom of an escarpment near the Nivelles road in the Braine-l'Alleud municipality, near Waterloo, Belgium. The site served as one of the advanced defensi ...

where his arm was amputated and was subsequently cared for by Wallington who took him to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In October 1815 Harris returned to France and carried with him four swords voted by the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

for the commanders of the four allied armies. Harris became a lieutenant-colonel in 1823 and was appointed Inspecting Field-Officer of Militia in Nova Scotia and then Surveyor-General at Halifax. In 1830 he retired on half-pay. On his return he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. He retired from the army in September 1834 and became Chief Magistrate in Gibraltar.

Awards

He was rewarded for his military service with a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and the Prussian Order of Military Merit, the Russian Orders of

St. Anna According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come on ...

and St. Vladimir as well as made a

Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

and a Groom of Her Majesty's Most Hon.

Privy chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

. For his services in the Peninsular War he received the Gold Cross with four clasps.

Family life

He married secondly, Eliza Mary, eldest daughter of Joseph Bettesworth of Ryde in the Isle of Wight, and widow of

Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon (14 August 1779 – 9 December 1828) was a British Royal Navy officer and peer. He was sometimes known by his second Christian name, Francis, Earl of Huntingdon. Family background Hastings was the ...

on 26April 1838.

Legacy

Harris' grandson published a biography of his grandfather in 1893: * These is a memorial to him in the nave of St Laurence's Church, Ramsgate, Kent, which states that he 'served and bled for his country'.

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Thomas Noel 1783 births 1860 deaths Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Knights Bachelor Recipients of the Army Gold Cross Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Knights Fourth Class of the Military Order of William People from Rutland