Augustus Henry Archibald Anson

Courage from Crimea to Lucknow At just twenty-two years old, with a wounded left hand and barely able to control his horse, Augustus Henry Archibald Anson charged straight into enemy fire. A volley tore around him, one bullet passed through his coat, yet he survived. Weeks later at Lucknow, his horse was killed beneath him as he entered the Secundra Bagh with the storming party. These were not isolated moments in an ordinary career. They formed part of the remarkable military life of Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable Augustus Henry Archibald Anson VC, a British Army officer whose service carried him through the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny and the Second Anglo-Chinese War. Born on 5 March 1835, Anson was the son of Thomas William Anson, 1st Earl of Lichfield, and was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He entered the British Army in 1853 and served with the Rifle Brigade before transferring to the 84th Regiment of Foot. His first experience of major warfare came in the Crimea, where he arrived in January 1855 and served during the operations before Sebastopol. His Crimean service brought him the Crimea Medal 1854-56 with the clasp Sebastopol and the Turkish Crimea Medal. He was also appointed to the Fifth Class of the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie, an award confirmed in the Supplement to The London Gazette of 2 March 1858, where the Honourable Augustus Henry Archibald Anson is specifically listed among the Fifth Class recipients. Yet it was in India that Anson's name entered the history of the Victoria Cross. During the Indian Mutiny he served as aide-de-camp to Brigadier-General Sir James Hope Grant and was attached to the 9th Lancers during the operations around Delhi. He was already carrying a wound in his left hand when, on 28 September 1857 at Bolundshahr, the enemy attempted to block the gateway through which the 9th Light Dragoons had charged. Anson seized a lance, dashed from the gateway and drove the men away from the carts being positioned across the entrance. Unable to properly check his horse because of his wounded hand, he was carried directly into the enemy, who fired a volley at him. One ball passed through his coat. He escaped. His courage was tested again at Lucknow on 16 November 1857. During the assault on the Secundra Bagh, Anson went in with the storming party as the gates were forced open. His horse was killed and Anson himself was slightly wounded, but he continued in the attack. Major-General Sir James Hope Grant's despatch, dated 12 August 1858, became the basis of Anson's Victoria Cross citation. The official citation concluded that he had shown the "greatest gallantry on every occasion." His Victoria Cross was formally announced in The London Gazette on 24 December 1858, covering his actions at both Bolundshahr and the Secundra Bagh. The Victoria Cross was not simply recognition of one spectacular charge. Anson's Indian service stretched across a sustained and dangerous campaign. He took part in the operations at Delhi and Lucknow and was present during further campaigning in 1858. His Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-58 is recorded with the three clasps Delhi, Relief of Lucknow and Lucknow, reflecting the remarkable breadth of his service during the uprising. Specialist Victoria Cross records also credit him with numerous mentions in despatches during his career, evidence of a reputation for active and conspicuous service extending well beyond the two actions named in his VC citation. Anson received his Victoria Cross from Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace on 8 June 1859, but his fighting career was not finished. He subsequently returned to active campaigning during the Second Anglo-Chinese War, again serving as aide-de-camp to Sir James Hope Grant. During the 1860 campaign he was present at the Taku Forts and at Peking, service represented by his China War Medal with the clasps Taku Forts 1860 and Pekin 1860. His complete recorded campaign group therefore traced an extraordinary geographical journey from the trenches before Sebastopol, through Delhi and Lucknow, to the final advance on Peking. His achievements were not confined to the battlefield. Anson was promoted brevet major in 1859, major in 1861, brevet lieutenant-colonel in 1870 and lieutenant-colonel later that year. He also entered public life, representing Lichfield in the House of Commons from 1859 to 1868 and later Bewdley until 1874. The parliamentary record confirms his representation of both constituencies, while the House of Commons Journal records the 1869 Bewdley election petition that resulted in Anson being declared duly elected. Anson retired from the Regular Army in 1873, although his connection with soldiering continued through the London Scottish Volunteers. His later years were overshadowed by serious illness. He died at Cannes, France, on 17 November 1877, only forty-two years old, and was buried in the Protestant section of the Grand Jas Cemetery. His life had lasted barely four decades, yet within it he had served in three major nineteenth-century conflicts, been repeatedly recognised in despatches, sat in Parliament, and earned Britain's highest decoration for valour. What makes Augustus Henry Archibald Anson VC particularly compelling is not simply the number of campaigns in which he fought, but the consistency with which he appears close to the point of greatest danger. At Delhi he was wounded. At Bolundshahr a bullet pierced his coat. At the Secundra Bagh his horse was shot beneath him and he was wounded again. From Crimea to India and China, his surviving record presents a young Victorian officer repeatedly exposed to combat and repeatedly returning to it. His Victoria Cross citation preserves the defining judgment of those who witnessed that service: a soldier whose gallantry was demonstrated not once, but "on every occasion." Source note for the ribbon rack: Anson's documented wearable group comprises the Victoria Cross; Crimea Medal with Sebastopol clasp; Indian Mutiny Medal with Delhi, Relief of Lucknow and Lucknow clasps; China War Medal with Taku Forts 1860 and Pekin 1860 clasps; Order of the Medjidie, Fifth Class; and Turkish Crimea Medal. The Victoria Cross has a formal individual gallantry citation. The campaign medals and Ottoman awards represent campaign service or appointment and therefore do not carry comparable individual gallantry citations.