John Simpson Knox

Storming the Redan, he lost an arm but survived the assault.

John Simpson Knox was born in Glasgow on 30 September 1828, the son of John Knox, a former soldier, and Rebekah, née Living. He ran away from home and enlisted in the Scots Fusilier Guards in May 1843, aged fourteen. By the time the regiment reached the Crimea in September 1854 he was an experienced sergeant.

At the Battle of the Alma on 20 September he showed conspicuous courage in the fighting and helped rally men during the advance. His service in the campaign brought him a commission in the Rifle Brigade, backdated to November 1854. He was therefore a lieutenant when he volunteered for a storming party in the attack on the Redan at Sevastopol on 18 June 1855. A severe wound cost him his left arm. The Victoria Cross recognised his conduct in both actions, first as a Guards sergeant and then as a Rifle Brigade officer.

Queen Victoria presented his decoration at the first VC investiture in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857. Despite his disability he continued serving, becoming an instructor of musketry at Hythe, Gibraltar and Portsmouth. In July 1862 he married Harriet Louisa Gale at Winchester; they had a son and six daughters.

Knox left the army as a brevet major in 1872 and became governor of Cardiff Prison. He subsequently governed Kirkdale Prison in Liverpool. Poor health prevented him taking up a final appointment at Hull, and he retired from the prison service in January 1892. He died at Cheltenham on 8 January 1897 and was buried in the town's cemetery.

Official Victoria Cross citation

When serving as a Serjeant in the Scots Fusilier Guards, Lieutenant Knox was conspicuous for his exertions in reforming the ranks of the Guards at the Battle of the Alma. Subsequently, when in the Rifle Brigade, he volunteered for the ladder-party in the attack on the Redan, on the 18th of June, and (in the words of Captain Blackett, under whose command he was,) behaved admirably, remaining on the field until twice wounded.

Supplement to The London Gazette of 24 February 1857. 24 February 1857, Numb. 21971, p. 662.