Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet

He led the infantry advance towards the loaded enemy cannon.

Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet, VC, GCB (1830–1897), was a British Army officer whose courage at Cawnpore became the defining action of a long military and parliamentary career. Commissioned in 1846, he served in Persia in 1857 before becoming aide-de-camp to his father, Major-General Sir Henry Havelock, during the Indian rebellion.

On 16 July 1857, Lieutenant Havelock of the 10th Regiment of Foot rode in front of the 64th Regiment towards an enemy 24-pounder at Cawnpore, now Kanpur. Under continuing artillery fire, he maintained a steady advance until the infantry rushed and captured the gun. His Victoria Cross citation, published in the London Gazette on 15 January 1858, drew on his father’s telegram of 18 August 1857 and described his conspicuous leadership directly before the gun. Although gazetted after his promotion to Captain in the 18th Regiment, his rank at the action was Lieutenant. Queen Victoria presented the VC at Buckingham Palace on 8 June 1859.

Wounded during the first relief of Lucknow in September 1857, Havelock continued his military career in India and later served in the New Zealand Wars and staff appointments in Canada and Britain. He received the baronetcy originally intended for his father and subsequently adopted the surname Havelock-Allan. His honours included the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, the 1897 Jubilee Medal, and campaign medals for Persia, the Indian rebellion and New Zealand.

He retired in 1881 with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-General and also served as Member of Parliament for Sunderland and South East Durham. Appointed colonel of the Royal Irish Regiment, he travelled to India in 1897 to investigate criticism of its 2nd Battalion. While accompanying operations near the Khyber Pass, he was killed on 30 December 1897. He was buried at Rawalpindi.