Major General John Douglas
Ensign
61st Foot 18th July 1829
79th Highlanders 25th July 1829
Lieutenant 79th 25th Oct 1833
Captain 79th 11th May 1839
Captain 11th Light Dragoons 15th Nov 1839
Major 11th Hussars 24th
Dec 1852
Lt-Col 11th H 20th July 1854
Colonel of the Army 20th
June 1857
Half Pay 1859
Major General 6th March 1868
Died
Aldershot 10th May 1871
John Douglas led the 11th Hussars in the Charge of the Light
Brigade. He survived without serious wound. He had been brought into
the regiment by Lord Cardigan and as such, was one of Cardigan's
supporters to the extent that he acted as second to the Earl in the
duel with Captain Harvey Tuckett on Wimbledon Common on 12th
September 1840. Tuckett, a former officer of the 11th and a popular
hero of Bhurtpore had infuriated Cardigan by writing letters to the
Morning Chronicle criticising Cardigan's treatment of his officers.
Douglas was sent round to see Tuckett and demand an apology. This
failed so the duel was fought with the result that Tuckett was
severely wounded. Cardigan was tried by a friendly judge for illegal
duelling and wounding, and was ludicrously discharged. Captain
Douglas was also tried as an accessory to attempted murder and also
acquitted.
Born about 1810, in Glasgow, the son of
Archibald Douglas and Anna
McNeill, he married Rosa Maria Paget, daughter of Rt. Hon. Sir
Arthur Paget and Lady Augusta Fane, on 10 March 1842. He lived
in Glenfinart, Argyllshire,
Scotland, and died on 10 May 1871, without issue.
(Major General John Douglas, C.B., commanding the Cavalry
Brigade at Aldershot, was found dead in his bed on the....) [Colonel
Douglas died in bed in May 1871, commanding the Cavalry Brigade
at Aldershot.]
John's father, Archibald Douglas. was a partner in J, T & A
Douglas of Glasgow, and brother of John Douglas (q.v.), Thomas
Dunlop Douglas (q.v.) and Cecilia Douglas.
John Douglas
(1811-1871) received 'at least £40,000' under Thomas Dunlop
Douglas' will after the latter's death in 1869; his
grand-daughter Mary Caroline Douglas Campbell (daughter of
Archibald's daughter Anna Glassford and Richard Campbell) was
also 'one of the important legatees' of Thomas Dunlop Douglas'
estate.
John Douglas (1811-1871), an Army officer who
was present at the Charge of the Light Brigade, left £102,873 on
his death in 1871.
Col. John Douglas and Trumpet Major Perkins
Trumpet Major W. Perkins, 11th Hussars charged with the Light
Brigade and had his horse killed under him, 25.10.1854; Perkins Was
trumpeter to Colonel J. Douglas during the famous charge and is
recorded as having sounded the rally before the 11th and the 4th
Light Dragoons Charged the Russian Lancers.
Trumpet Major
William Perkins, born Maidstone, Kent; enlisted 11th Hussars, 1846;
served in the Crimea with the Regiment and was one of three
Trumpeters of the 11th Hussars who rode in the Charge of the Light
Brigade, Perkins stated, 'I was a Trumpeter to Colonel Douglas and
rode close to him in the charge and the retreat, until my horse was
killed after passing the Lancers. When halted about 100 yards in
right rear of the guns, I hear Colonel Douglas call out, 'What are
we to do now Lord Paget?', he replied, 'Where is Lord Cardigan?' and
galloped away. I never saw nor heard him again. The 11th alone
pursued the Russian Hussars to the end of the valley. When
surrounded, Colonel Douglas ordered us to rally on the 17th Lancers.
I immediately sounded the rally. We were then close face to face
with the Russian Cavalry. When engaged with the Lancers I saw
Lieutenant Dunn [V.C.], with one stroke of his sword sever a Russian
Lancer's head all but off' (A Victorian RSM, George Loy Smith
refers). Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas led the Regiment in the Charge,
and Perkins, as his Trumpeter, would have been party to the key
events involving the Regiment during the charge to the guns and the
retreat through the Russian Lancers, 'Shortly after the Light
Brigade had climbed into their saddles and been ordered to advance,
Colonel Douglas turned to address the men. In a firm loud voice he
said: "Eleventh, attention. Now men, in all probability we shall
meet the enemy today. When you do, don't cut but give them the point
and they will never face you again." What was left of the 11th after
they had reached the guns rallied behind Douglas and was then joined
by the 4th Light Dragoons under Paget (there is some debate as to
who took command). It was not long before they realised that the
Russian Lancers were blocking their retreat, recognisable due to the
pennons hanging from their lance heads. Douglas describes what
happens next: "I saw in our rear two squadrons of Lancers drawn up.
I instantly proclaimed, "They're the 17th, let us rally on them". At
that very moment Lieutenant Roger Palmer rode up and said, "I beg
your pardon, Colonel, that is not the 17th, that is the enemy" Well
I exclaimed, "We must only retire and go through them". So with the
4th Light Dragoons we charged the Russian Lancers and got past them
with few casualties" (Forgotten Heroes, The Charge of the Light
Brigade, R. Dutton refers).
It would appear that Perkins
sounded the rally before the 11th Hussars and the 4th Light Dragoons
charged back through the Russian Lancers.
Perkins was
promoted to Sergeant in 1858 and to Trumpet Major in 1864. He
received a L.S. & G.C. with a gratuity of £10 in 1869, this medal
being returned when he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in
1896, as is the custom. Perkins was discharged in 1871, after 24
years of service with the Colours.
Perkins attended the
First Balaklava Banquet, 25.10.1875; was a Member of the Balaklava
Commemoration Society in 1879; and attended the Annual Dinners in
1890, 1892, 1893 and 1897. During the Lord Mayor's Show of 1890 a
number of Crimean War Veterans (under banners of 'Battle of
Balaklava Heroes') processed in open topped carriages accompanied by
the bands of the Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards and the 2nd Life
Guards. In the programme for the event it lists that Trumpeters
Landfried of the 17th Lancers and Perkins of the 11th Hussars were
in a carriage at the head of the procession.
In later life
Perkins lived at 13 Red Post Lane, Forest Gate, Essex. He died in
1899 and his burial was paid for by the T.H. Roberts Fund.
The excitement caused by the announcement of war in the Crimea in
1853 was in direct contrast to the horrendous experience of the
soldiers sent out. The 11th Hussars provided two squadrons, 250 men
in all, under the command of Lt Col Douglas. The cavalry, commanded
overall by Lord Lucan were in two brigades, Heavy and Light. The
Light Brigade under Cardigan's command consisted of the 8th and 11th
Hussars, the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons and the 17th Lancers. The
main base for the British and French Army was at Varna on the
western side of the Black Sea. The conditions were bad and many died
from cholera and dysentery.
.JPG)
Resin
model sculpted by Maurice Corry
%20and%20Lieut.%20Col.%20John%20Douglas%20(d.1871).jpg)
Lord George Augustus Frederick Paget (1818-1880) and Lieut. Col.
John Douglas (d.1871). Douglas married Paget's cousin, Rosa Maria Paget. Paget also had a niece, Violet, who married Rev. Sholto
Douglas, Lord Blythswood.
Paget served in the Crimean War and fought at Alma and Balaclava in command of the 4th (The Queen's Own) Light Dragoons.
See also:
Douglas of Glenfinart
Sources
Sources for this article include:
• Charlotte S. M. Girard, 'Some further notes on the Douglas family', BC Studies, 72 (Winter, 1986-87), pp. 3-27.
• William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume Three 1860-1879
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