PRINCE EDWARD SAXE-WEIMAR, KP, GCB, GCH, GCVO, PC, IN THE Summary Prince Edward joined the Army aged 17 and on the eve of the Crimean War was a 30-year- old Company Commander with 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards. He had never been in action. Throughout the campaign, he was in the thick of the front line fighting, even at Inkerman where he modestly claimed that ‘I was not in the thick of it’. Outgunned and outnumbered by the Russians for most of the time, ravaged by sickness and hampered by an outmoded command and administration still stuck in a Napoleonic Wars mindset, the nevertheless distinguished itself in its resilience, determination and toughness in bloody hand to hand fighting. A courageous and dedicated , Prince Edward was much loved by his men and fellow officers1. Despite being a cousin of the Queen, he shared the same dangers and discomforts as the rest of his Regiment and his decision to remain on in the Crimea as an A.D.C. to Lord Raglan demonstrated his commitment to soldiering alongside his Battalion. Chronology and outline description of events 1841 1 June: Prince Edward received a commission in the Grenadier Guards. See Record of Service attached. 1850 21 November: Adjutant2 3rd Battalion. 1854 22 February: Prince Edward accompanied the 3rd Battalion of The Grenadier Guards with the Army of the East to the Crimea. The battalion arrived at Scutari on 28 April. See photograph attached. 9 July: He received a brevet majority3. His regimental rank was Captain. ALMA

1 There are two light hearted entries about Prince Edward in Higginson's "Seventy-one Years of a Guardsman's Life" as follows:  Page 92-Aboard SS Ripon 27th Feb 1854 "I am on the back of Prince Edward and gained a signal victory over Balgonie mounted on Colonel Cox."  Page 130-Camp Aladyn 13th Jul 1854 "Prince Edward has been with me and he has lost 30lb. since he left England, 10lb. since he has been here. We little men, you see, have the pull. 2 The Adjutant was/is the Commanding Officer’s personal staff officer. The position is only offered to young officers of outstanding ability. 3 The brevet conferred rank in the British Army, but importantly, not in the regiment. Advancement in the regiment could take place generally only by purchase or by seniority, and when there was a suitable vacancy (caused by the death, retirement or promotion of a more senior officer). When on duty with his regiment, only regimental rank counted. 20 September: The Battalion advanced to the Alma River. Prince Edward’s Company, No 2, was standing on the main road leading to the bridge at Bourliouk and as a battery of the First Division was in front of it and especially attracting the fire of the enemy’s guns, his company was for some time exposed to the same direct fire. Hamilton writes; “Nothing could have surpassed the steadiness and coolness of the Grenadier Guards under fire on this occasion…they had the advantage of being thoroughly well officered.” BALACLAVA 26 September: Together with No 1 company [Col Lindsay], Prince Edward and No 2 Company are sent into Balaclava to protect the town. 27 September: Prince Edward took over No 1 Company. SEVASTOPOL 19 October: During the siege of Sevastopol, Prince Edward and Lt Davies4 were struck by the splinters of a shell that exploded close to them. The Prince was struck in the leg but the force of the blow was diminished by a thick wrapper and handkerchief, which were both cut through and through and although severely confused at the time, as not being able to move for some days, the Prince refused to leave the trenches until his company was officially relieved5. He was mentioned in despatches6. INKERMAN 5 November: Between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on a dull, wet, foggy morning, Prince Edward’s No I Company relieved Col Reeve’s 4 Company at the isolated advanced post at Quarter-guard Point to the West of the British line. The post commanded one of the southernmost fingers of Careenage Ravine, known as the Wellway. The night had been wet and the weapons of the old picquets were soaked and largely ineffective. During the relief, shots were heard on Shell Hill, where the picquets engaged a mass of grey-coated Russian infantry looming out of the mist By 6 a.m. it was clear that about 20,000 Russians were advancing up the Wellway7. Using the mist to his advantage, Prince Edward ordered his company - happily with dry weapons - forward in skirmishing line and then adopt the prone position to engage the Russians with rifle fire, keeping a whole battalion at bay. He maintained this exposed position for the remainder of the day, attracting considerable artillery fire.8 Higginson is fulsome in his assessment9: "I lay some stress on this, because, although the loss in Prince Edward's company was slight in comparison to the rest of the battalion, I am convinced that the almost unassailable post that he occupied, and the cool precision with which his men delivered their

4 Davies died on the way home to England see Algernon Percy A Bearskin’s Crimea pp 37 5 Hamilton Vol 3 6 Gazette 7 Nov. 1854 [attached] 7 Algernon Percy A Bearskin’s Crimea pp 55 8 Kinglake's Invasion of the Crimea, vi. 107; Letters of , 1837-1861, iii. 69 [Benson, John Murray]: Prince Edward's Report of his experiences to the Queen). 9 Higginson's "Seventy-one Years of a Guardsman's Life" pp 205 fire, contributed largely to lead Soimonoff into committing the fatal mistake for which he has been so justly blamed." Inkerman was a ferocious engagement. At Alma, the 3rd Battalion with a strength of 700, fired some 9,000 rounds: at Inkerman, only 400 strong and later reduced to 200, it fired 19,000 rounds. Sir John Fortescue, the great historian of the British Army, wrote of Inkerman:

‘The moral ascendancy of the British was astonishing. They met every attack virtually with a counter-offensive, and hesitated not to encounter any numbers whether with bullet, bayonet or butt. There never was a fight in which small parties of scores, tens, or even individuals, showed greater audacity or achieved more surprising results. They never lost heart nor, by all accounts, cheerfulness. The enemy might be in front, flanks or rear, or all three points together: it mattered not. They flew at them quite undismayed and bored their way out . . . Never have the fighting qualities of the British been seen to greater advantage than at Inkerman.’ 25 December: The Prince featured in William Simpson’s famous painting ‘Christmas on the Heights before Sevastopol’. See attached. He is 8th from Left. 1855 11 April: He received a brevet Lieutenant -Colonelcy "for distinguished Service in the Field". 18 May: Prince Edward received his promotion to be captain of a company which meant returning to England to join a home battalion. Instead, he gladly accepted the appointment of ADC to Lord Raglan which enabled him to stay on in the Crimea. 18 June: Prince Edward was engaged in the desperate but unsuccessful attack on the Malakoff and the Redan. 5 October: He was appointed A.D.C. to Queen Victoria and retained the position till 22 February 1869, when he was promoted major-general. 1856 27 April: The Brigade of Guards return to England. For his services in the Crimea, he received the Crimean medal with four clasps and the Turkish 3rd Class of the Order of Medjidie. The French Emperor awarded him Knight 5th Class of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour10. 1867 He maintained his involvement with his soldiers and in particular with the care of the Regiment's casualties and sick. In 1867, he became Chairman of the Trustees of the Grenadier Guards Hospital in Rochester Row.

Selected Bibliography

10 London Gazette 4 August 1856 [attached] Tony Heathcote: The British Field Marshals Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement – Edward of Saxe-Weimar Alexander Kinglake: Invasion of the Crimea A.C. Benson: Letters of Queen Victoria, 1837-1861, Volume 2 [ letters to Queen Victoria] Michael Springman: The Guards Brigade in the Crimea Algernon Percy: A Bearskin’s Crimea Hamilton: History of the Grenadier Guards Volume 3 A Stranger in the Hague: the letters of Queen Sophie of the Netherlands to Lady Malet 1842-77 Further Sources The Royal Archives at Windsor – correspondence with Queen Victoria Possibly The Goodwood Archives

Uumb. 21619. 3353

The London Gazette EXTRAORDINARY.

3ut|jorftg.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1854.

Portman- Square, Midnight, This facility of repairing and re-arming the November 6, 1854. defences naturally renders the progress of the IS Grace the Duke of Newcastle has this assailants slower than could be wished ; and I H evening received a Despatch, of which the have it not in my power to inform your Grace, following is a copy, addressed to his Grace by with anything like certainty, when it may be General Lord Raglan, G.C.B. expected that ulterior measures may be under- taken. Before Selastopol, October 23, 1854, I have the honour to transmit to your Grace MY LORD DUKE, the Return of killed and wounded between the THE operations of the siege have been carried 18th and 20th instant inclusive. on unremittingly since I addressed your Grace In my last I announced to your Grace the on the 18th instant.* death which had just been reported to me of that On that afternoon, the French batteries not deeply lamented officer the Honourable Colonel having been able to re-open, the enemy directed Hood of the Grenadier Guards. No other mili- their guns almost exclusively on the British en- tary officer has since fallen ; but Major Prince trenchments, and maintained a very heavy fire Edward of Saxe Weimar Avas slightly wounded upon them till the day closed, with less damage, on the 19th. His Serene Highness insisted, how- I am happy to say, to the works, and with fewer ever, upon remaining in the -trenches until the casualties than might have been anticipated. detachment to which he was attached was relieved On the following morning, shortly after day- at the usual hour, and he has now resumed his light, General Canrobert not only resumed his duty. . fire from the batteries which had been injured, Captain Lord Dunkellin of the Coldstream but materially added to the weight of his attack Guards was unfortunately taken prisoner yes- by the fire of batteries which he had caused to terday morning before daylight in front of the be constructed the previous day; and these have trenches. continued ever since ; and he has had it in his The naval batteries have continued their exer- power to push his approaches forward, and like tions without intermission, and I regret to have to the English, materially to injure the defences of report the death of two gallant officers of the the place ; but these are as yet far from being Royal Navy; the Honourable Lieutenant Ruthven subdued, neither is a serious diminution of their who has died of his wounds, and Lieutenant fire perceivable. Greathed of Her Majesty's ship Britannia. Both Our fire has also been constant and effective ; are universally regretted. The latter received a but the enemy having at their disposal large mortal wound while laying a gun, after having, bodies of men, and the resources of the fleet and to use the language of Brigadier-General Eyre, arsenal at their command, have been enabled who was then in charge of the trenches, " per- by unceasing exertion to repair their redoubts " formed his duty in the batteries in a manner to a certain extent, and to replace many of the " that excited the admiration of all." guns that have been destroyed in a very short space of time ; and to resume their fire from A considerable body of Russians appeared two works which we had succeeded in silencing. days ago in the vicinity of Balaklava, but they have since withdrawn, and are no longer to be * This Despatch has not been received. seen in in our front. 21909. 2699

SUPPLEMENT TO The London Gazette Of FRIDA Y the 1st of A UG UST. 8utjjoritg*

MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1856.

Whitehall, August 2, 1856. OFFICERS (4m CLASS)—continued. rflHE Queen has been pleased to give and grant For Service in Royal Marines. _1_ unto the undermentioned officers and men in Colonel Thomas Hurdle, C.B. Her Majesty's service Her Majesty's royal licence Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Holloway. and permission, that they may accept and wear the Insignia of the several Classes of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour, attached to their KNIGHTS (STH CLASS). respective names, which His Majesty the Emperor of the French hath been pleased to confer upon For Service as Commanders. them as a mark of His Imperial Majesty's appro- Captain John James Bartholomew Edward Frere. bation of their distinguished services before the William Farquharson Burnett, C.B. enemy during the late war, and that they may Leopold George Heath, C.B. enjoy all the rights and privileges thereunto be- Henry Downing Rogers, C.B. longing ; viz. :— Henry Schank Hillyar, C.B. ROYAL NAVY AND ROYAL NAVAL George Granville Randolph. BRIGADE. Lord John Hay, C.B. Augustus Frederick Kynaston, C.B. GBAND CROSS (!ST CLASS). Richard Ashmore Powell, C.B. Admiral Lord Lyons, G.C.B. John Borlase, C.B. Rowley Lambert. John James Kennedy. GRAND OFFICER (2ND CLASS). Cowper Phipps Coles, Rear-Admiral the Hon. Sir Richard Saunders Commander William Montague Dowell. Dundas, K.C.B. John Edmund Commerell. For Service as Lieutenants. COMMANDER (3RD CLASS). Commander William Rae Rolland. Rear-Admiral Sir Houston Stewart, K.C.B. Henry Lloyd. William Bowden. OFFICERS (4TH CLASS). John Proctor Luce. For Service as Captains. William Gore Jones. William Armytage. Rear-Admiral Sir Stephen Lushington, K.C.B. Henry Frederick McKillop. Frederick Thomas Michell, C.B. John Francis Campbell BIcKenzie. Charles Graham, C.B. William Horton. Thomas Wren Carter, C.B. John Hay Crang. Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel, C.B. James Bull. Lewis Tobias Jones, C.B. Samuel Pritchard. William Peel, C.B. John William Whyte. William Moorsom, C.B. Radulphus Bryco Oldfield. William Robert Mends, C.B. William Brabazon Urmston. Thomas Abel Brcmage Spratt, C.B. Henry James Raby. Sherard Osborn, C.B. John Halliday Cave. SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, AUGUST 4, 1856. 2701

GRAND OFFICERS (2ND CLASS)—continued. OFFICERS (4iH CLASS) — continued. Major-General Sir John Lysaght Pennefather, Infantry. KC.B. Colonel Charles Thomas Van Straubenzee, 3rd Sir William , Regiment. of , Bart., K.C.B. Frederick Horn, C.B., 20th Regiment. Charles Richard Sackville, Lord West, C.B. COMMANDERS (3RD CLASS). Daniel Lysons, C.B., 23rd Regiment. Major-General the Earl of Lucan, K.C.B. Frank Adams, C.B., 28th Regiment. Sir Henry John William Ben- Lieutenant-Colonel James- Thomas Mauleverer, tinck, K.C.B. C.B., 30th Regiment. Sir Henry William Barnard, K.C.B. Lord Rokeby, K.C.B. Colonel Duncan Alexander Cameron, C.B., 42nd Regiment. Lieutenant-General Sir William John Codring- Honourable Augustus Almeric Spencer, ton, K.C.B. C.B., 44th Regiment. Major-General Sir Harry David Jones, K.C.B. Robert Garrett, 46th Regiment. Sir Richard Airey, K.C.B. Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Thomas Farren, C.B., The Hon. Sir James Yorke Scar- 47th Regiment. lett, K.C.B. Sir William Eyre, K.C.B. Colonel Charles Warren, C.B., 55th Regiment. The Earl of Cardigan, K.C.B. Charles Trollope, C.B., 62nd Regiment. Sir Hugh Henry Rose, K.C.B. Horatio Shirley, C.B., 88th Regiment. Sir , K.C.B. Arthur Johnstone Lawrence, C.B., Rifle Sir Richard James Dacres, K.C.B. Brigade. Charles Ash Windham, C.B. Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet- Colonel Francis Seymour, Scots Fusilier Guards. Royal Artillery. OFFICERS (4xn CLASS.) Major-General John Edward Dupuis, C.B. Staff. Colonel James William Fitzmayer, C.B. John St. George, C.B. Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet- Edward Charles Warde, C.B. Colonel Thomas Montagu Steele, C.B., Military David Edward Wood, C.B. Secretary, Coldstream Guards. Colonel the Honourable William Lygon Paken- Lieutenant-Colonel John Miller Adye, C.B. ham, C.B., Adjutant-General. Royal Engineers. Sir John Hall, K.C.B., M.D., Inspector-General of Hospitals. Colonel Alexander Gordon. Colonel William Montagu Scott McMurdo, Di- Frederick Edward Chapman, C.B. rector-General Land Transport Corps. Major and Colonel Lord Frederick Paulet, Cold- stream Guards. Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet-Colo- KNIGHTS (STH CLASS). nel the Hon. Alexander Gordon, C.B., Quar- termaster-General's Department. Staff. Colonel Arthur Augustus Thurlow Cunynghame, Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet- C.B. Colonel Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Colonel Honourable Percy Egerton Herbert, C.B., Grenadier Guards. Quartermaster-General. Colonel Charles Tyrrwhitt, Unattached. Colonel Richard Wilbraham, C. B., Assistant Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Lennox Adjutant-General. Brownlovv Maitland, Deputy Assistant Quarter- Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel and Brevet- master-General, Grenadier Guards. Colonel Studholme Brownrigg, C.B., Grenadier Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable James William Guards. Bosville Macdonald, C.B., Unattached. Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Sterling, C.B., As- Major Hon. William Colville, Aide-de-Camp? sistant Adjutant-General. Rifle Brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable St. George Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Pym Harding, Gerald Foley, C.B., Unattached. Aide-de-Camp and Assistant Adjutant-General, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Stopford Claremont, 22nd Regiment. C.B., Unattached. Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence Shadwell, Aide-de-Camp and Assistant Quartermaster- Cavalry. General, Unattached. Brevet-Major Gustavus Hume, Aide-de-Camp Colonel Lord George Augustus Frederick Paget, and Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General, 38th C.B. Regiment. Colonel Frederick George Shewell, C.B., 8th Hussars. Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Douglas Mac- kenzie, Assistant Quartermaster General, 92nd Infantry. Regiment. Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Edmund Gilling Halle- Major and Colonel Charles William Ridley, Gre- well, Assistant Quartermaster-General, Unat- nadier Guards. tached. Colonel the Honourable George Frederick Upton, Brevet-Colonel Edward Robert Wetherall, As- C.B., Coldstream Guards. sistant Quartermaster-General, Unattached. Edward Walter Forestier Walker, C.B., Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Hon. Francis Colborne, Scots Fusilier Guards. C.B., Assistant Quartermaster-General, Unat- , C.B. tached. A 2