Penn Symons
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Penn Symons
Lieutenant-General Sir William Penn Symons KCB (17 July 1843 – 23 October 1899) was a British Army officer who was mortally wounded as he commanded his forces at the Battle of Talana Hill during the Second Boer War. While his forces won the battle, they had to abandon their position and fall back to Ladysmith. Symons and the more severely wounded were left to the Boers; he died three days later. A monument to his valour was raised in Victoria Park, Saltash, Cornwall, UK. Early life and family William Penn Symons was born on 17 July 1843 at Hatt, Cornwall, the eldest son of William Symons and Caroline Anne (''née'' Southwell). He was educated privately and commissioned as an Ensign of the 24th Foot (later the South Wales Borderers) on 6 March 1863. He married Jane Caroline (née Hawkins) of Edgbaston on 13 February 1877 but the couple was childless. Military career Symons was promoted to lieutenant on 11 December 1866 and captain on 16 February 1878. His first combat e ...
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Hatt, Cornwall
Hatt is a hamlet in the civil parish of Botusfleming in east Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the A388 road from Callington to Saltash. Hatt House was built of red brick in about 1720 and is of two and a half storeys.Pevsner, N. (1970) ''Cornwall''; 2nd ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 80 The hamlet's main community area is situated at the Hatt Roundabout, with a petrol station and a playing field nearby as well as a 'bus stop providing travel to Callington, Launceston, Saltash and Plymouth. Etymology The history of the name 'Hatt' is believed to originate in a tale, in which an unnamed cardinal was on a visit to Truro. After stopping at a local tavern, he went on his way but had lost his mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of .... A local found it, exclaiming "The Car ...
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Battle Of Talana Hill
The Battle of Talana Hill, also known as the Battle of Glencoe, was the first major clash of the Second Boer War. A frontal attack by British infantry supported by artillery drove Boers from a hilltop position, but the British suffered heavy casualties in the process, including their commanding general Sir William Penn Symons. Prelude Reinforcements sent to Natal by Britain immediately before the outbreak of war had moved into the northern path of the province of Natal, but not far enough forward to occupy the passes of the Drakensberg Mountains. As a result, the Boers could invade Natal from three sides. Lieutenant-General Sir George White in command of forces in Natal requested that forces at Glencoe (Dundee) be withdrawn to concentrate his forces at Ladysmith where he held the bulk of the British garrison. The Governor of Natal considered it necessary to hold the position for political and economic reasons, so he dispatched Lieutenant-General Sir William Penn Symons to t ...
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Lieutenant Colonel (United Kingdom)
Lieutenant colonel (Lt Col), is a rank in the British Army and Royal Marines which is also used in many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The rank is superior to Major (United Kingdom), major, and subordinate to Colonel (United Kingdom), colonel. The comparable Royal Navy rank is Commander (Royal Navy), commander, and the comparable rank in the Royal Air Force and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth air forces is Wing commander (rank), wing commander. The rank insignia in the British Army and Royal Marines, as well as many Commonwealth countries, is a crown above a Order of the Bath, four-pointed "Bath" star, also colloquially referred to as a British Army officer rank insignia, "pip". The crown has varied in the past with different monarchs; the current one being the Tudor Crown. Most other Commonwealth countries use the same insignia, or with the state emblem replacing the crown. In the modern British Armed forces, the established commander of a regiment ...
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Brevet (military)
In military terminology, a brevet ( or ) is a warrant which gives commissioned officers a higher military rank as a reward without necessarily conferring the authority and privileges granted by that rank. The promotion would be noted in the officer's title (for example, "Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain" or "Bvt. Col. Arthur MacArthur"). It is not to be confused with a '' Brevet d'état-major'' in Francophone European military circles, where it is an award, nor should it be confused with temporary commissions. France In France, ''brevet'' is a word with a very broad meaning, which includes every document giving a capacity to a person. For instance, the various military speciality courses, such as military parachutism, are ended by the award of a brevet. The more important brevet in the French military is that of the École de guerre (''lit''. "school of war"), the French Staff College. Between 1870 and 1940, an ''officier breveté'' was a graduate of the ''École ...
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Major (United Kingdom)
Major (Maj) is a military rank which is used by both the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank is superior to Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), captain and subordinate to Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), lieutenant colonel. The insignia for a major is a Crown (headgear), crown. The equivalent rank in the Royal Navy is Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy), lieutenant commander, and squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. History By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleonic wars, an infantry battalion usually had two majors, designated the "senior major" and the "junior major". The senior major effectively acted as second-in-command and the majors often commanded detachments of two or more company (military unit), companies split from the main body. The second-in-command of a battalion or regiment is still a major. File:British-Army-Maj(1856-1867)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1856 to 1867 major's collar rank insignia File:British-Army-Maj(1867-1880)-Collar Insignia.svg, 18 ...
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Sandile KaNgqika
King Sandile kaNgqika (c. 1820– 29 May 1878), known as 'Aa! Mgolombane!,' was the Right-Hand Paramount chief of the Xhosa Kingdom. A dynamic leader, he led the Xhosa armies in several of the Xhosa-British Wars. Having recently been equipped with modern fire-arms, Sandile's forces successfully inflicted losses on the British that led to Sandile gaining a reputation as a Xhosa warrior. He was captured during the War of the Axe in 1847, but on his release he was granted land in "British Kaffraria" for his people. He later supported his cousin brother Sarhili (Kreli), King of the entire Xhosa Nation of Great house, in a war against the Cape Colony and the Fingo tribe, and he was killed in 1878 in a shootout with Fingo soldiers. Early life He was born at Burnshill in 1820, at which time the Xhosa lands were still independent. His father Ngqika (after whom the entire Ngqika clan of Xhosa were named) died in 1829 while Sandile was still quite young and Maqoma, Sandile’s broth ...
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Ngqika
The Ngqika people are a Xhosa monarchy who lived west of the Great Kei River in what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. They were first ruled by Rarabe kaPhalo who died with his son Mlawu, who was destined for chieftaincy. The clan would be named after Ngqika ka Mlawu, the son of the then late Mlawu. It would be years before the child would rule his people who fought in the Xhosa Wars, which were sparked by the encroachment of European settlers on Xhosa lands. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) that was responsible for trading and colonising of South African land in what is described as “founding” several urban areas like towns and cities in already populated areas of the west of South Africa. The organisation continually changed the boundaries in the Cape Colony due to European invasion and migration, establishing the Great Fish River as the eastern frontier in 1778. In colonial times, the Ngqika lands were known as British Kaffraria. Later the Apartheid government ...
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Gcaleka
The Gcaleka House is the Great house of the Xhosa people, Xhosa Kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape. Its royal palace is in the former Transkei and its counterpart in the former Ciskei is the Rharhabe, which is the right hand house of Phalo. The Gcaleka House was founded by Gcaleka kaPhalo, who became King of the Xhosa nation in 1775 and young brother of Rarabe kaPhalo. History The Xhosa Kingdom had been the most feared Kingdom even before the establishment of the two royal Gcaleka and Rharhabe Houses. The Xhosa royal blood line stretches from Ntu, whose heir was Mnguni, the father of Xhosa people, Xhosa. The whole division within the Xhosa people, Xhosa nation stretches to the time when King Phalo had both of his intended wives arriving on the same day, and for whom he had already paid lobola, one from the Mpondomise, Mpondo royal family and one from the Thembu royal family. As both brides were from royal houses of high standing, Phalo had caused a dilemma within the Xho ...
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Captain (British Army And Royal Marines)
Captain (Capt) is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines and in both services it ranks above Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines), lieutenant and below Major (United Kingdom), major with a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines), lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy is considerably more senior (equivalent to the Army/RM rank of colonel) and the two ranks should not be confused. In the 21st-century British Army, captains are often appointed to be second-in-command (2IC) of a Company (military unit), company or equivalent sized unit of up to 120 soldiers. History A rank of second captain existed in the Ordnance at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the junior officer rank of captain. RAF captains had a rank insignia based on ...
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Lieutenant (British Army And Royal Marines)
Lieutenant (; Lt) is a junior officer rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above second lieutenant and below captain and has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and it is the senior subaltern rank. Unlike some armed forces which use first lieutenant, the British rank is simply lieutenant, with no ordinal attached. The rank is equivalent to that of a flying officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Although formerly considered senior to a Royal Navy (RN) sub-lieutenant, the British Army and Royal Navy ranks of lieutenant and sub-lieutenant are now considered to be of equivalent status. The Army rank of lieutenant has always been junior to the Navy's rank of lieutenant. Usage In the 21st-century British Army, the rank is ordinarily held for up to three years. A typical appointment for a lieutenant might be the command of a platoon or troop of approximately thirty soldiers. Before 1871, when the whole British Army switched to using the current rank of "lieutenant", th ...
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Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and North Edgbaston had a combined population of 42,295 at the 2021 census. Edgbaston is the location of Edgbaston Cricket Ground, the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, England, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and the Edgbaston Archery and Lawn Tennis Society, the oldest Tennis, lawn tennis club in the world. Etymology Edgbaston means "village of a man called Ecgbald", from the Old English language, Old English personal name + ''tun'' "farm". The personal name'' Ecgbald'' means "bold sword" (literally "bold edge"). The name was recorded as a village known as ''Celboldistane'' in the Hundred (county division), Hundred of Hemlingford (hundred), Coleshill in the 1086 Domesday Book until at least 1139, wrongly suggesting that Old ...
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Ensign (rank)
Ensign (; Middle English#Late Middle English, Late Middle English, from Old French ["mark", "symbol", "signal"; "flag", "standard", "pennant"], from Latin [plural]) is a junior rank of a Officer (armed forces)#Commissioned officers, commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the Military colours, standards and guidons, regimental colors, the rank acquired the name "ensign". This rank has generally been replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant. An ensign was generally the lowest-ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of Subaltern (military), subaltern existed. In contrast, the Arab rank of ensign, لواء, ''liwa (Arabic), liwa''', derives from the command of a unit with an ensign, not from the carrier of the unit's ensign, and is today the equivalent of major general. According to Thomas Venn's 1672 ''Military and Maritime Disci ...
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