Raglan, LORD.

Raglan, LORD. Fitzroy James Henry Somerset, eighth son of the fifth Duke of Beaufort, was born September 30, 1788. He entered the army in his sixteenth year, and in 1807 served on the staff of the Duke of Wellington in the expedition to Copenhagen. He went to the Peninsula as aide-de-camp to the duke, and in 1812 became his military secretary. As Lord Fitzroy Somerset his name became a household word. He was present at all the great actions of the Peninsular campaign, being among the first to mount the breach at the storming of Badajoz; and it was to him that the governor gave up his sword. On the return of Napoleon from Elba he served under the duke in Flanders, and lost his sword-arm in the crowning victory of Waterloo; and the very next day he was seen practising writing with his left hand. For his brilliant military services he was made K.C.B., and received orders from several foreign potentates. He was minister-plenipotentiary at Paris in 1815, and secretary to the French embassy from 1816 to 1819. The duke was appointed in 1819 Master of the Ordnance, and Raglan again became his secretary; and in 1827, when the former became commander-in-chief of the British army, Raglan was called to the Horse Guards as his military secretary. This office he held until the death of his chief in September 1852. He was then made Master-general of the Ordnance, and in October was called to the House of Peers as Baron Raglan of Raglan, in the county of Monmouth (q.v.). He had previously sat in the Lower House during the parliaments of 1818 and 1826 for the borough of Truro. While Master-general of the Ordnance he was sent as Commander-in-chief of the English forces to the Crimea in 1854 (see CRIMEAN WAR). The desperate infantry battle of Inkermann obtained for Raglan the baton of field-marsh; but as the campaign proceeded unfavourable comments began to be made upon his conduct of the war. During the winter of 1854-55 his soldiers suffered unspeakable privations, and hundreds perished in camp and on board transports for want of the food, clothing, and medicines which were in store, but could not be found in the confusion and mismanagement that prevailed—the fault mainly of the home authorities. The siege continued without much apparent success until June 18, when a general assault was ordered, and when Raglan's troops, as well as the French, received a terrible repulse. Raglan had been suffering from a slight attack of cholera, and the disaster of June 18 weighing upon his mind, he suddenly became worse, and died of exhaustion, June 28, 1855. His remains were brought to England and buried in the family cemetery at Badminton. He proved himself to be a skilful tactician, although it may be doubted whether he had the qualities of a great general. His personal bravery won universal admiration; and his courteous and noble bearing, his gentleness of temper and firmness of mind, and his constant worship of 'duty,' invest his character with something of the chivalrous. See Kinglake, Invasion of the Crimea (1863-87); and Hamley, The War in the Crimea (1891).