Robert Montresor Rogers

He swam defended ditches and climbed into the enemy fortress

Robert Montresor Rogers was born at Dublin in 1834. Commissioned into the 44th Foot in 1855, he served during the final stages of the siege of Sebastopol and became a lieutenant. He later accompanied the regiment to China.

At the North Taku Fort on 21 August 1860, Rogers swam defensive ditches and reached the wall under intense fire. With assistance from fellow soldiers, he climbed through an embrasure and became one of the first British troops established inside. He was wounded during the assault and received the Victoria Cross.

After promotion to captain and later major, he commanded the 90th Light Infantry during the Zulu War of 1879, including operations around Kambula. He received the Companion of the Bath in 1886 and retired as a major general. He died at Maidenhead on 5 February 1895 and was buried in All Saints Churchyard.

Victoria Cross citation London Gazette, 13 August 1861, page 3363; joint citation for Robert Montresor Rogers, John McDougall and Edmund Henry Lenon:

For distinguished gallantry in swimming the Ditches, and entering the North Taku Fort by an embrasure during the assault. They were the first of the English established on the walls of the Fort, which they entered in the order in which their names are here recorded, each one being assisted by the others to mount the embrasure.