Richard England (British Army officer, born 1793)
Sir Richard England | |
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Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order (Ottoman Empire)Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Order of the Medjidie, First Class |
Early life and family
England was the son of Lieutenant General
Career
England was promoted to lieutenant on 1 June 1809, and served in that year in the expedition to the Walcheren and in the attack on Flushing. He was employed in the adjutant-general's department in Sicily in 1810 and 1811, and served in the defence of Tarifa as a volunteer on his way to take up his appointment. He was promoted captain into the 60th Regiment on 11 July 1811, and exchanged into the 12th on 1 January 1812. In that year he went on leave to Canada to join his father, after whose death he returned to England, married Anna Maria, sister of Sir J. C. Anderson, in 1814, and in 1815 joined his regiment at Paris after the Battle of Waterloo.[2]
He remained in France until the withdrawal of the army of occupation in 1818, and after serving as aide-de-camp to Major General Sir Colquhoun Grant, commanding at Dublin from 1821 to 1823, he was promoted major into the 75th Regiment of Foot on 4 September 1823, and on 29 October 1825 took command of the regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel, in the place of the Duke of Cleveland. He kept this commanded for many years and led the regiment to the Cape in 1833. On the outbreak of the Kaffir War in 1836, Lieutenant General Sir Galbraith Cole, who was then in command at the Cape, chose Colonel England to command the eastern frontier with the temporary rank of brigadier general, and he served throughout the campaigns of 1836 and 1837 in this rank. For his services he received a medal, and on 28 June 1838 was promoted full colonel.[2]
In 1839 England was transferred to the command of the
He remained at Kandahar till the close of 1842, when it was decided to abandon that place, and he was then placed in command of the force which retired through the Bolan Pass into Sind, while Nott marched with seven thousand picked troops on Ghuznee and Cabul. It cannot be said that England had greatly distinguished himself during these operations. Nott complained greatly of him, and though he did what he was appointed to do, and had relieved Kandahar, his operations were not considered as successful as they might have been, and he had suffered reverses, which were very like defeats, from the Balúchís both during his advance and his retreat. Nevertheless, he was made a
England remained unemployed until 1849, when he received the command of the Curragh brigade, and he was promoted major general on 11 November 1851. In 1854 the censure passed on his behaviour in Afghanistan seemed to be forgotten, and he was placed in command of the
It was during the trying winter of 1854–55 that England chiefly distinguished himself. He suffered the greatest privations with his troops, but yet he never applied to come home and was the last of the original general officers who had accompanied the army to the Crimea to leave it. Before he did return, he directed the attack on the Redan on 18 June 1855, and it was not his fault that the result of that day's hard fighting was not a great success. In August 1855 he was, however, obliged to obey the doctor's orders and return to England. For his services he was promoted lieutenant general, and appointed a
He died at St. Margaret's, Titchfield, Hampshire, on 19 January 1883.[1]
References
- ^ a b Charles Edward Buckland, Dictionary of Indian Biography (1906), p. 139
- ^ a b c d e f g This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "England, Richard (1793–1883)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.