Henry Havelock
Sir Henry Havelock KCB (born April 5, 1795 in Bishops-Wearmouth , Durham , † November 24, 1857 in Lucknow ) was a British major general who took part in several campaigns in British India .
Life
Havelock joined the army in 1815 and came to British India in 1823 with the 13th Infantry Regiment . During the First Birman War (1824) he served on Sir Archibald Campbell's General Staff and participated in several minor battles. In 1827, Havelock described the war in his History of the Ava campaigns (London). Unlike his richer comrades, he was unable to buy higher ranks, and it took him 23 years to be promoted to captain in 1838 .
Havelock took part in the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1839 . At the Battle of Ghazni he was General Willoughby Cotton's aide-de-camp . After a deployment in Kabul , he was transferred to General Sale in Jalalabad . Here he excelled in defending the city against Akbar Khan . He then published Narrative of the war of 1838/39 (2nd A., 2 vol., London, 1840) and Memoir of the Afghan campaigns (London 1841).
In late 1843 he accompanied Hugh Gough's army to Gwalior . Havelock was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1844 . He fought 1845-46, with distinction, in the First Sikh War , in the battles at Mudki , Ferozeshah and Sobraon .
During his time in India, Havelock gained a deep religious conviction and became a Baptist . He partially transferred this conviction to the soldiers under him, so that his regiment, the 13th Light Infantry , was nicknamed "Havelock's Saints" at times.
Due to his poor health, Havelock returned to Europe in 1849, but went back to Bombay in 1851 , where he was appointed Colonel and Quartermaster General of the Royal Forces in India. After the outbreak of the war against Persia , he received the command of the 2nd Division as major general , with which he took part in the campaign against Mohammerah . In April 1857 Havelock returned to Calcutta .
After the outbreak of the Sepoy Rebellion , Havelock took command of the corps that was intended to relieve the siege of Kanpur and the siege of Lucknow . He expelled the insurgents from Kanpur on June 16, marched from Allahabad on July 7, 1857 , and defeated the insurgents at Fatehpur on July 12. Reinforced by the troops of General James Outram , he defeated the main enemy on September 25th 8 km from Lucknow. There Havelock and Outram remained exposed to attacks by the opposing forces for several weeks until Commander-in-Chief Campbell came to their aid on November 17th.
On November 11, 1857, Henry Havelock was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of Bath . He died of dysentery on November 24th . Before the news of his death reached London, Queen Victoria had given instructions on November 26, 1587 to issue him a letters patent with the elevation to the hereditary baronet , of Lucknow. Due to his previous death, the award of the title never became legally effective. The title was instead awarded to his eldest son, Henry Marshman Havelock (* August 6, 1830, † December 30, 1897) on January 22, 1858 . His widow and other sons were legally treated as if the title had already been bestowed on Henry Havelock.
The Havelock coat was named after him.
Individual evidence
- ^ The London Gazette : 22064, 3851 , November 17, 1857.
- ^ The London Gazette: No. 22067, p. 4172 , November 27, 1857.
- ^ A b The London Gazette: No. 22085, p. 261 , January 19, 1858.
literature
- Philip J. Haythornthwaite: The Colonial Wars Source Book . ISBN 978-1-85409-436-0 .
- John Duncan: Heroes for Victoria, 1837-1901: Queen Victoria's Fighting Forces . ISBN 978-0-946771-38-7 .
Web links
- Sir Henry Havelock on thepeerage.com
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Havelock, Henry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British Major General |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1795 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bishops-Wearmouth , Durham |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 24, 1857 |
| Place of death | at Lucknow |