The Lord Raglan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | FitzRoy James Henry Somerset |
| Born | (1788-09-30)30 September 1788 Badminton, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 28 June 1855(1855-06-28) (aged 66) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Years of service | 1804–1855 |
| Rank | Field marshal |
| Commands | Master-General of the Ordnance British troops in the Crimea |
| Wars | |
| Awards | |
| Spouse | |
| Signature |  |
Field MarshalFitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan,GCB, PC (30 September 1788 – 28 June 1855), known before 1852 asLord FitzRoy Somerset, was aBritish Army officer. When a junior officer, he served in thePeninsular War and theWaterloo campaign, latterly as military secretary to theDuke of Wellington. He also took part in politics asToryMember of Parliament forTruro, before becomingMaster-General of the Ordnance.
He became commander of the British troops sent to theCrimea in 1854: his primary objective was to defendConstantinople, and he was also ordered tobesiege theRussian port ofSevastopol. After an early success at theBattle of the Alma, a failure to deliver orders with sufficient clarity caused the fatefulCharge of the Light Brigade at theBattle of Balaclava. Despite further success at theBattle of Inkerman, a poorly coordinated allied assault on Sevastopol in June 1855 was a complete failure. Raglan died later that month, after havingdysentery anddepression.
Born atBadminton House inGloucestershire as the ninth and youngest son ofHenry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort and his wife Elizabeth (daughter of AdmiralEdward Boscawen),[1] Somerset was educated atWestminster School and was commissioned as acornet in the4th Light Dragoons on 16 June 1804.[2]
Promoted tolieutenant on 1 June 1805,[3] Somerset accompaniedSir Arthur Paget on his visit toSultan Selim III of theOttoman Empire, who had been aligning himself too closely with France, in 1807.[4] He became acaptain in the43rd Regiment of Foot on 5 May 1808 shortly before his appointment asaide-de-camp toSir Arthur Wellesley in July 1808.[1] Somerset accompanied Wellesley's Army when it was sent toPortugal later that month.[1] Somerset fought at theSecond Battle of Porto in May 1809, theBattle of Talavera in July 1809 and theBattle of Bussaco (where he was wounded) in September 1810.[1] He was appointed acting military secretary to Wellington in November 1810 and fought with him at theBattle of Pombal in March 1811, theBattle of Sabugal in April 1811 and theBattle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811.[1] Promoted tobrevetmajor on 9 June 1811, he also took part in theBattle of El Bodón in September 1811.[1] He specially distinguished himself at thestorming of Badajoz in March 1812 by being the first to mount the breach and by helping to secure the surrender of the French Governor and was duly promoted tolieutenant colonel on 27 April 1812.[4]
%2c_by_William_Henry_Haines_(1812-1884).jpg)
Somerset went on to fight with Wellington at theBattle of Salamanca in July 1812, theSiege of Burgos in September 1812 and theBattle of Vitoria in June 1813 as well as theSiege of San Sebastián in July 1813, theBattle of the Pyrenees in July 1813 and theBattle of Nivelle in November 1813.[1] They also fought together at theBattle of the Nive in December 1813, theBattle of Orthez in February 1814 and theBattle of Toulouse in April 1814.[1] Following Wellington's appointment asBritish Ambassador during the short period ofBourbon restoration, Somerset assumed a role as his secretary at the Embassy on 5 July 1814.[5] Somerset transferred to the1st Guards on 25 July 1814 and was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815.[6]
Somerset also saw action during theHundred Days: he served on Wellington's staff at theBattle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 and at theBattle of Waterloo two days later where he had to have his right armamputated[7] (and then demanded his arm back so he could retrieve the ring that his wife had given him).[8] Faced with the difficulties in dressing following the amputation, he invented the so-calledRaglan sleeve, sewn from the collar rather than the shoulder.[9]
Promoted tocolonel and appointed anaide-de-camp to thePrince Regent on 28 August 1815,[10] he was appointed a Knight of theBavarianMilitary Order of Max Joseph on 3 October 1815.[11] He remained with theArmy of Occupation in France until May 1816 when he returned to the post of secretary at the British Embassy inParis.[12]
Somerset was electedToryMember of Parliament forTruro in 1818[13] and became Wellington's secretary in the latter's new capacity asMaster-General of the Ordnance in 1819.[8] Somerset lost his seat at thegeneral election in 1820 but, having been promoted tomajor-general on 27 May 1825,[14] regained his seat in Parliament in 1826.[15] Following Wellington's appointment asCommander-in-Chief of the Forces in January 1827 Somerset becameMilitary Secretary in August 1827.[16] He stood down from Parliament in 1829 and was promoted tolieutenant-general on 28 June 1838.[17] Advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 24 September 1852, he became Master-General of the Ordnance on 30 September 1852[18] and was raised to thepeerage asBaron Raglan ofRaglan in the County ofMonmouthshire on 11 October 1852.[19]
Raglan became commander of the British troops sent to theCrimea with the temporary rank of fullgeneral on 21 February 1854[20] and was promoted to the substantive rank of full general on 20 June 1854.[21] While Raglan's primary objective was to defendConstantinople he was ordered by theDuke of Newcastle, who was at the timeSecretary of State for War, tobesiege theRussian port ofSevastopol "unless it could not be undertaken with a reasonable prospect of success".[22] An Anglo-French force under the joint command of Somerset and GeneralJacques St. Arnaud defeated GeneralAlexander Menshikov's Russian army at theBattle of the Alma in September 1854.[8]
During the campaign Raglan had the abstracted habit of referring to the Russian enemies as "the French". While this eccentricity is often cited as evidence of his unsuitability for high command, he did in fact speak fluent French and relations between the two allies in the field were good.[23]
At theBattle of Balaclava in October 1854, Raglan issued an order to theEarl of Lucan, his cavalry commander, who in turn ordered theEarl of Cardigan, a subordinate commander who happened to be Lucan's brother-in-law and who detested him, to lead the fatefulCharge of the Light Brigade leading to some 278 British casualties.[24] Despite an indecisive result at Balaclava the British and French allied army gained a victory at theBattle of Inkerman in November 1854 and Raglan was promoted to the rank offield marshal on 5 November 1854.[25] He was also awarded the Ottoman EmpireOrder of the Medjidie, 1st Class on 15 May 1855.[26]
Raglan was blamed by the press and the government for the sufferings of the British soldiers in the terrible Crimean winter during theSiege of Sevastopol owing to shortages of food and clothing[27] although this, in part, was the fault of the home authorities who failed to provide adequate logistical support.[4] A piecemeal allied assault on Sevastopol on 18 June 1855 was a complete failure.[4] The anxieties of the siege began to seriously undermine Raglan's health and he died unexpectedly on 28 June 1855, while suffering withdysentery anddepression.[4] His body was embalmed, his heart buried in the garden of his headquarters in Sevastopol,[28] and his body brought home and interred atSt Michael and All Angels Church, Badminton.[8]
Raglan had also served as honorary colonel of the53rd Regiment of Foot[29] and then as honorary colonel of theRoyal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues).[30]Cefntilla Court,Llandenny was built as a lasting memorial to Somerset in 1858: an inscription over the porch there reads:[31]
This house with 238 acres of land was purchased by 1623 of the friends, admirers and comrades in arms of the late Field Marshal Lord Raglan GCB and presented by them to his son and his heirs for ever in a lasting memorial of affectionate regard and respect.
Ablue plaque was erected outside Raglan's house at Stanhope Gate in London in 1911.[32]
.jpg)
On 6 August 1814 Somerset married Lady Emily Harriet Wellesley-Pole (daughter ofWilliam Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, and niece of the Duke of Wellington). They had three sons, and two daughters:[33]
| Ancestors of FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Raglan was portrayed byJohn Gielgud in the filmThe Charge of the Light Brigade (1968).[34] Lord Raglan is a character inGeorge MacDonald Fraser's novelFlashman at the Charge, in which he is described as a kindly, but ineffectual man, and completely unsuited for his command.[35]
Another item whose name appeared at the time was the raglan, a type of overcoat named after Lord Raglan, a British general in the Crimea. The garment was unusual in that the sleeves continued in one piece up to the neck, producing a larger, looser armhole that suited the one-armed general.
There is a stone in the garden with an inscription, which reads as follows:- To the Memory of Field Marshal Lord Raglan, G.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Crimea, died June 28, 1855. This inscription does not state the real purpose for which the stone was erected. It is known that Lord Raglan's body was embalmed before it was sent to England, and this marks the spot where his heart was buried.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forTruro 1818–1820 With:William Edward Tomline | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forTruro 1826–1829 With:William Edward Tomline | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Military Secretary 1827–1852 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Colonel of theRoyal Regiment of Horse Guards (The Blues) 1854–1855 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Master-General of the Ordnance 1852–1855 | Office abolished |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Raglan 1852–1855 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
