Lieutenant-Colonel William Rennie VC (1 November 1821 – 22 August 1896) was a Scottish 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 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 forces.

Details

Rennie was 34 years old, and a

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 ...

and adjutant in the

90th Regiment of Foot The 90th Perthshire Light Infantry was a Scottish light infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1794. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot to form the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 188 ...

(later The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles),

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 Indian Mutiny when the following deeds took place at the siege of Lucknow for which he was awarded the VC:

Further information

Lieutenant Rennie was promoted to captain on 9 January 1863, major 10 December 1873, lieutenant-colonel 28 March 1874 and retired in 1875. He died at Elgin in August 1896, aged 74 years. His headstone is at Elgin Cemetery (Lair H-96), Moray, Scotland.

The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Cameronians Regimental Museum,

Hamilton, Lanarkshire Hamilton ( sco, Hamiltoun; gd, Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and nor ...

, Scotland. The museum had bought the medal in January 1969 for the then record value of £1700.''£1700 World Record...'';

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

; 22 January 1969; p. 12 col F

References

Monuments to Courage David Charles Harvey (29 July 1946 – 4 March 2004) was a historian and author. He is notable for his seminal work, ''Monuments To Courage'', which documents the graves of almost all recipients of the Victoria Cross, a task that took him over 3 ...

(David Harvey, 1999) *

The Register of the Victoria Cross ''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' is a reference work that provides brief information on every Victoria Cross awarded until the publication date. Each entry provides a summary of the deed, along with a photograph of the recipient and the fo ...

(This England, 1997) *

Scotland's Forgotten Valour ''Scotland's Forgotten Valour'' is a 1995 book by Graham Ross, published by MacLean Press under . (The typography of the title on the book uses capitalisation to contrast emphasis ("SCOTLAND'S FORgotten VALOUR"), to communicate additional meanin ...

(Graham Ross, 1995)

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Grampian)'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rennie, William British recipients of the Victoria Cross 1821 births 1896 deaths People from Elgin, Moray Cameronians officers Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross