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Charles Knight Pearson | |
---|---|
Born | July 1834 Somerset, England |
Died | 2 October 1909 (aged 75) Surrey, England |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1852–1895 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Unit | 31st Regiment of Foot 3rd Regiment of Foot |
Battles/wars | Crimean War |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companion of the Order of the Bath Mentioned in Despatches (11 times) |
Lieutenant General Sir Charles Knight Pearson KCMG CB (July 1834 – 2 October 1909) was a military commander in the British Army during the Anglo-Zulu War (also known as the Zulu War). Pearson was born in Somerset to Commander Charles Pearson of the Royal Navy. After buying the rank of Ensign in the 99th Regiment of Foot in 1852, Pearson served during the Crimean War where he was Mentioned in Despatches. After steadily rising through the ranks, Pearson was sent to South Africa to command a battalion of the 3rd Regiment of Foot (the Buffs). After retiring for a short period, he rejoined the Army after the outbreak of the Zulu War. Pearson was placed in command of a column of infantry which then became besieged at Eshowe for 70 days until Lord Chelmsford relieved them. After the war, Pearson became Governor and Commandant of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, then commander of forces in the West Indies, before retiring in 1885. Pearson died in 1909.
Pearson was born in July 1834 in Thorne Coffin, Brympton, near Yeovil, Somerset to Commander Charles Pearson of the Royal Navy, who had served in the Peninsular War. [1] [2] He was educated at King's School, Bruton from 1847 until 1851.[ citation needed ]
Little is known of Pearson's early military career. Pearson bought the rank of Ensign in the 99th Regiment of Foot on 23 November 1852. He moved to the 31st Regiment of Foot on 18 February 1853. [3] He was promoted to lieutenant (without purchase) on 15 June 1855, [4] and served as adjutant of the 31st Regiment from 20 July 1855 during the Crimean War. [1] [5] He was present throughout the Siege of Sevastopol, including the "attack on the Redan", for which he was Mentioned in Despatches, he also received the Crimean medal with clasp and the Turkish Crimean War medal. [1] He was promoted to captain (by purchase) on 15 February 1856. [6] After a period on half pay, he returned to active duty on 7 August 1857, transferring to 3rd Regiment of Foot (the Buffs), [7] and purchased his promotion to major on 2 May 1865. [8]
He married Marian Catherine Mundy daughter of Lieut. Col. Sir Robert Miller Mundy in 1866. [1] Pearson purchased his promotion to lieutenant-colonel and command of 2nd battalion, the Buffs on 14 August 1867, [1] [9] and received a brevet promotion to colonel on 14 August 1872. [10] The Buffs were posted to South Africa, and in addition to command of the battalion he served as commandant in Natal from November 1876 to December 1877, and then served as a staff colonel in Natal and Cis-Vaal until September 1878 [1] He retired, and went on half pay on 30 November 1878. [11] However, with the outbreak of the Zulu war, he was placed in command of No 1 Column of the four columns Lord Chelmsford organised to begin the invasion of Zululand. [1]
While the British suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana, to the south-east at Battle of Inyezane, No. 1 Column had repelled a Zulu advance, this engagement apparently included the first use of a Gatling gun by British forces. [2] No. 1 Column was made up of 5,000 regular and Natal Native Contingent soldiers led by Pearson. They repelled a 6,000 strong Zulu attempt to stop the British advance to Ulundi. Pearson had suffered minimal losses for 400 Zulu and he advanced 4 miles further towards their objective; Eshowe. [12] Eshowe was originally planned to be a forward depot for a final advance towards Ulundi. This was thrown into doubt after the defeat at Isandlwana. Pearson received instructions from Lord Chelmsford stating "consider all my instructions cancelled and act in whatever manner you think most desirable in the interests of the column under your command." Pearson decided to dig-in and he ordered his column to build heavy fortifications around the garrison in preparation for a siege; the Siege of Eshowe had started. The siege lasted for 71 days until Chelmsford broke through to relieve them. [13] For his actions throughout South Africa he was Mentioned in Despatches a further 10 times, [1] and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) whilst he was still fighting, [14] On 6 October 1879 he received a hero's welcome in his home town of Yeovil, the church bells were rung, he was greeted by the Mayor, who compared him with previous West Country heroes such as Drake, Grenville, Raleigh and Hawkins, and presented with a specially inscribed sword. [2] The war was already somewhat controversial, the actions by Sir Bartle Frere and Lord Chelmsford which began it had not been specifically authorised by the British Government in advance, and the disaster at Isandlwana led to the defence of Eshowe by Pearson, and the famous action at Rorke's Drift being used to distract from the failure there. [15] [16] At this reception, Pearson defended the conduct of the war, and was supported by Sir Percy Douglas, who had preceded Chelmsford as the commander of British forces in South Africa. [2] He was invested with the insignia of a Companion of the Bath by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 8 December, [17] and those of a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 11 December 1879, [18] although this award was not actually gazetted until 19 December. [19]
After the war, Pearson became Governor and Commandant of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley on 5 May 1880. [20] Pearson was promoted from Colonel to Major-General on 1 April 1883. [21] On 1 April 1885, Pearson was promoted to the post of Major-General on the Staff to command troops in the West Indies. [22] He stayed in the post until March 1890. He was promoted to Lieutenant General on 28 January 1891 [23] and he retired on 1 April 1895. [1] [24] On 22 December 1899, he travelled to Southampton as part of the send off for his old battalion, 2nd Buffs, who were departing for South Africa once again, this time to fight in the Boer War. [25] Pearson died in Upper Norwood, Surrey (now South London) on 2 October 1909. [26]
The Battle of Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the Royal Engineers and Gonville Bromhead, of the 24th Regiment of Foot began once a large contingent of Zulu warriors broke off from the main force during the final hour of the British defeat at the day-long Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, diverting 6 miles (9.7 km) to attack Rorke's Drift later that day and continuing into the following day.
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Isandlwana and the British defence at Rorke's Drift. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, encompassing the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics into South Africa. In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand.
The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British invaded Zululand in Southern Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of approximately 1,800 British, colonial and native troops with approximately 350 civilians. The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields, but also had a number of muskets and antiquated rifles.
Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony William Durnford was an Irish career British Army officer of the Royal Engineers who served in the Anglo-Zulu War. Breveted colonel, Durnford is mainly known for his defeat by the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana, which was a disaster for the British Army.
General Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, was a British Army officer who rose to prominence during the Anglo-Zulu War, when an expeditionary force under his command suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of a Zulu force at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879. Despite this defeat, he was able to score several victories against the Zulus, culminating in the British victory at the Battle of Ulundi, which ended the war and partly restored his reputation in Britain.
The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years.
The siege of Eshowe took place during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. The siege was part of a three-pronged attack on the Zulu Impis of king Cetshwayo at Ulundi. After an incursion as far as Eshowe Colonel Charles Pearson was besieged there for two months by the Zulus.
The Battle of Ulundi took place at the Zulu capital of Ulundi on 4 July 1879 and was the last major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British army broke the military power of the Zulu nation by defeating the main Zulu army and immediately afterwards capturing and burning the royal kraal of oNdini.
The Battle of Gingindlovu (uMgungundlovu) was fought on 2 April 1879 between a British relief column sent to break the Siege of Eshowe and a Zulu impi of King Cetshwayo.
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Burmester Pulleine was an administrator and commander in the British Army in the Cape Frontier and Anglo-Zulu Wars. He is most notable as a commander of British forces at the disastrous Battle of Isandlwana in January 1879. Substantively a major, he held the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel.
Major General Sir Harcourt Mortimer Bengough joined the British Army in 1855, and retired in 1899, after more than forty years of distinguished service from the Crimea to all quarters of the Empire.
Major-General Sir Cornelius Francis Clery, was a British Army officer who took part in the Anglo-Zulu War and later commanded the 2nd Division during the Second Boer War.
Major-General Sir William Bellairs, was a British army officer.
The 12 January 1879 action at Sihayo's Kraal was an early skirmish in the Anglo-Zulu War. The day after launching an invasion of Zululand, the British Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford led a reconnaissance in force against the kraal of Zulu Chief Sihayo kaXongo. This was intended to secure his left flank for an advance on the Zulu capital at Ulundi and as retribution against Sihayo for the incursion of his sons into the neighbouring British Colony of Natal.
The Natal Native Pioneer Corps, commonly referred to as the Natal Pioneers, was a British unit of the Zulu War. Raised in November/December 1878 the unit served throughout the war of 1879 to provide engineering support to the British invasion of Zululand. Three companies were formed each comprising around 100 men and clad in old British Army uniforms. The units served at the battles of Isandlwana, Eshowe and Ulundi.
Major-General Sir John George Dartnell KCB, CMG was a British soldier and police officer who was the founder and first Commandant of the Natal Mounted Police. A veteran of the Indian Mutiny, he saw action in every campaign in South Africa from 1879 including the Zulu War and the First and Second Boer Wars.
Sihayo kaXongo was a Zulu inKosi (chief). In some contemporary British documents he is referred to as Sirhayo or Sirayo. He was an inDuna (commander) of the iNdabakawombe iButho and supported Cetshwayo in the 1856 Zulu Civil War. Under Cetshwayo, Sihayo was a chief of a key territory on the border with the British Colony of Natal and had a seat on the iBandla. Sihayo was an Anglophile who wore European clothes and maintained friendly relations with trader James Rorke who lived nearby at Rorke's Drift. By 1864, Sihayo was head of the Qungebe tribe and that year agreed a new western border of the kingdom with Boer leader Marthinus Wessel Pretorius.
Lt Gen Richard Thomas Glyn was a British Army officer. He joined the 82nd Regiment of Foot by purchasing an ensign's commission in 1850. Glyn served with the regiment in the Crimean War and rose in rank to captain before transferring to the 24th Regiment of Foot in 1856. He served with that regiment in the Indian Mutiny and was appointed to command it in 1872. In 1875 he accompanied the 1st battalion of the regiment on service in the Cape Colony and fought with them in the 9th Cape Frontier War of 1877–78. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath after the war.
Fort Pearson was a fortification constructed by the British on the Natal side of the border with Zululand in the lead up to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. An earthen redoubt on a 300-foot (100 m) high cliff overlooking the Tugela River, the fort and its two external redoubts commanded an important river crossing. The crossing was used by one of the columns of the first invasion of January 1879, that was then besieged at Eshowe in Zululand. The crossing was used again by the Eshowe relief column in March and the second invasion in April. The fort was strengthened in April 1879 and connected to Pietermaritzburg by telegraph by June. The war was won by the British in July but the fort was briefly occupied again by British troops in 1883 during the Third Zulu Civil War.
Major-General John Cecil Russell (1839–1909) was a British cavalry officer. After a brief service with the Oxford University Rifle Volunteer Corps Russell purchased a commission in the 11th Light Dragoons in 1860. He transferred to the 10th Light Dragoons and rose to the rank of captain by purchase before transferring to the 12th Lancers in 1872. Russell served with Garnet Wolseley in the 1873–1874 Anglo-Ashanti War and was considered a member of the Wolseley ring of rising men. In 1875 he was appointed an Equerry in Waiting to Edward, Prince of Wales and became an Extra Equerry in 1878.