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 ...

Euston Henry Sartorius (6 June 1844 – 19 February 1925) was 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 ...

(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 forces. His brother

Reginald Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...

was also awarded the VC.

Life

Sartorius was educated at

Victoria College, Jersey Victoria College is a Government-run, fee-paying, academically selective day schoolRoyal Naval School The Royal Naval School was an English school that was established in Camberwell, London, in 1833 and then formally constituted by the Royal Naval College Act 1840. It was a charitable institution, established as a boarding school for the sons of ...

, New Cross. He then decided on an army career and attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, followed by the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

. In 1862 he joined the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 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 June 1869 at Broadstairs he rescued three girls from drowning, for which he received the Bronze Medal of the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...

.History of the Victoria Cross
/ref> In the 1870s, he spent four years as military surveying instructor at Sandhurst, and then travelled for a year overland, via Persia, to India to rejoin his regiment. When the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

(1878–80) broke out, the 59th Foot formed part of the southern Afghanistan Field Force, serving in and around

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

. In October 1879 Sartorius was part of a British advance upon a large Ghilzais force assembling at Shahjui. Under fire from British artillery, the Ghilzais retreated, taking refuge in an old hill-top fort. Sartorius won his VC for leading a small force that captured this fort.

VC action

Sartorius was a 35 year old captain in the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot (later

The East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nottingh ...

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

when the following deed took place on 24 October 1879 at Shahjui,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

for which he was awarded the VC: For his Afghan service, he was also made brevet major, and twice mentioned in dispatches.

Later career

Due to wounds received during his VC action, Sartorius partially lost the use of his left hand. Unable to continue as an active field officer, he was appointed to a staff post 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 Alder ...

. In the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War he was made deputy assistant adjutant-general and quartermaster-general, responsible for base and communications. For this, he was made brevet lieutenant-colonel, mentioned in dispatches, and received the fourth-class

Order of Osmanieh The Order of Osmanieh or Order of Osmaniye ( ota, نشانِ عثمانیہ) was a civil and military decoration of the Ottoman Empire. History The order was created in January 1862 by Sultan Abdülaziz. With the obsolescence of the Nişan-i ...

. He became a colonel in 1886, and was assistant adjutant-general in Portsmouth from 1891 to 1894. In 1896 he was made a companion 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 ...

, and went to Japan as military attaché. After promotion to Major-general in 1899, he retired in August 1901 but continued as colonel of a volunteer battalion of the

South Lancashire Regiment The South Lancashire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment, which recruited, as its title suggests, primarily from the South Lancashire area, was created as part of the Childers Re ...

. In retirement he lived at

Holmbury St Mary Holmbury St Mary is a village in Surrey, England centered on shallow upper slopes of the Greensand Ridge. Its developed area is a clustered town southwest of Dorking and southeast of Guildford. Most of the village is in the borough of Guildfo ...

, Surrey, and in London. Following a short illness he died at his residence in Chelsea, London, on 19 February 1925. He was buried at St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard,

Ewhurst, Surrey Ewhurst is a rural village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England. It is located south-east of Guildford, east of Cranleigh and south of Shere. The parish includes the smaller hamlets of Ellen's Green and Cox Green n ...

Family

His father was Admiral of the Fleet Sir

George Rose Sartorius Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rose Sartorius (9 August 1790 – 13 April 1885) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. After serving as a junior officer during the Napoleonic Wars, he was present, as a post-captain, at the surrender of Nap ...

. He had two elder brothers, both of whom also entered the army: George Conrad Sartorius, who retired as a colonel, and Major General

Reginald William Sartorius Major General Reginald William Sartorius (8 May 1841 – 8 August 1907) was an army officer, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and ...

, who was also awarded the VC. One of Victoria College Jersey's five

Houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

was later named 'Sartorius' after the three brothers, all of whom attended the school. He succeeded his father as Count of Penhafirme in the Portuguese nobility, and was confirmed in the title by King Carlos I on 20 June 1903. On 22 December 1874 he married Emily Jane, daughter of Sir

Francis Cook, 1st Viscount of Monserrate Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet, 1st Viscount (23 January 1817 – 17 February 1901) was a British merchant and art collector. Early life Cook was born on 23 January 1817 in Clapham, London. He was the son of William Cook and Mary Ann (née Lainson ...

; their son Euston Francis Frederick Sartorius was born in 1882 and served in the Grenadier Guards. Marquis of Ruvigny, ''The Nobilities of Europe'' (London, 1909
pp. 14–15

The medal

His Victoria Cross is held by the

National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the " Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a non-departmental public bo ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

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)

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Surrey)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sartorius, Euston Henry 1844 births 1925 deaths Burials in Surrey British military attachés British recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army generals Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Victoria College, Jersey Victoria Cross recipients from Jersey East Lancashire Regiment officers 59th Regiment of Foot officers Second Anglo-Afghan War recipients of the Victoria Cross British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Counts of Portugal