请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 John McNeill (British Army officer)
释义

  1. Early life

  2. Details

  3. Later life

  4. Honours

  5. References

  6. External links

{{for|other people with the same name|John McNeill (disambiguation){{!}}John McNeill}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}}{{Infobox military person
|name = Sir John Carstairs McNeill
|image =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1831|03|28|df=yes}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|1904|05|25|1831|03|28|df=yes}}
|birth_place = Colonsay, Argyllshire
|death_place = St James's Palace, London
|placeofburial = Oronsay Priory
|nickname =
|allegiance = United Kingdom
|branch = Bengal Army
British Army
|serviceyears =
|rank = Major General
|unit =
|commands =
|battles = Indian Mutiny
New Zealand Land Wars
  • Invasion of Waikato
Ashanti War
Mahdist War
1882 Anglo-Egyptian War
  • Battle of Tofrek

|awards = Victoria Cross
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order[1]
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
|relations = Alexander McNeill (brother)
Duncan McNeill, Lord Colonsay (uncle)
Sir John McNeill (uncle)
|laterwork = Equerry to Queen Victoria
}}

Major General Sir John Carstairs McNeill, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|VC|GCVO|KCB|KCMG}} (28 March 1831 – 25 May 1904) was a senior British Army officer and Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life

He was the son of Anne Elizabeth McNeill née Carstairs, and Alexander McNeill (1791–1850), brother of Duncan McNeill, Lord Colonsay (1793–1874) and of Sir John McNeill (1795–1883). His own brother was Alexander McNeill.[2] He was educated at St Andrews and at Addiscombe Military Seminary.[3]

Details

McNeill was 33 years old, and a lieutenant colonel in the 107th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Light Infantry) – later The Royal Sussex Regiment), while serving as an Aide-de-Camp to Lieutenant General Sir Duncan Cameron during the Invasion of Waikato (one of the campaigns in the New Zealand Wars), when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

{{quote|For the valour and presence of mind which he displayed in New Zealand, on the 30th of March, 1864, which is thus described by Private Vesper, of the Colonial Defence Force.

Private Vosper states that he was sent on that day with Private Gibson, of the same Force, as an escort to Major (now Lieutenant-

Colonel) McNeill, Aide-de-Camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Duncan Cameron. Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill was proceeding to Te Awamutu on duty at the time. On returning from that place, and about a mile on this side of Ohanpu, this Officer, having seen a body of the enemy in front, sent Private Gibson back to bring up Infantry from Ohanpu, and he and Private Vosper proceeded leisurely to the top

of a rise to watch the enemy. Suddenly they were attacked by about 50 natives, who were concealed in the fern close at hand.

Their only chance of escape was by riding for their lives, and as they turned to gallop, Private Vesper's horse fell and threw him. The natives thereupon rushed forward to seize him, but Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill, on perceiving that Private Vosper was not following him, returned, caught his horse, and helped him to mount. The natives were firing sharply at them, and were so near that, according to Private Vesper's statement, it was only by galloping as hard as they could that they escaped. He says that he owes his life entirely to Lieutenant-Colonel McNeill's assistance, for he could not have caught his horse alone, and in a few minutes must have been killed.[4]}}

On 22 March 1885, Maj. Gen. Sir John McNeill commanded a detachment of the Suakin Field Force, which fought an action against Mahdist insurgents led by Osman Digna at Tofrek, a few miles inland from Suakin. The action is also referred to as "the Battle of McNeill's Zeriba". [Note: in 19th century records, McNeill name is sometimes spelled M'Neill.]

Later life

McNeill later achieved the rank of major general, and in retirement became an equerry to Queen Victoria.

Honours

British honours
  • VC : Victoria Cross - 1864[4]
  • GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
  • KCB : Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
  • KCMG: Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Foreign honours
  • {{flag|Kingdom of Prussia}}: Knight 1st class of the Order of the Crown - 1899 - in connection with the visit of Emperor Wilhelm II to the United Kingdom.[5]

References

1. ^{{London Gazette |issue=27285 |date=15 February 1901 |page=1145 }}
2. ^{{cite news |title=The Passing of a Veteran |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=WC19150518.2.19 |accessdate=24 January 2016 |work=Wanganui Chronicle |issue=20358 |date=18 May 1915 |page=4}}
3. ^Philip A. Wilkins, The History of the Victoria Cross: Being an account of the 520 acts of bravery for which the decoration has been awarded and portraits of 392 recipients, Andrews UK Limited, 2012, {{ISBN|1781516731}}, 9781781516737
4. ^{{London Gazette|issue=22885|page=4027|date=16 August 1864}}
5. ^{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Court Circular|day_of_week=Saturday |date=17 February 1900 |page_number=11 |issue=36068}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20040905033220/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/strathcl.htm Location of grave and VC medal in Strathclyde]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070728023634/http://www.eastbournemuseums.co.uk/documents/RoyalSussex/RoyalSussexVCWinners.pdf Profile from Eastbourne Museums]
{{s-start}}{{s-herald}}{{s-bef|before=Sir Lynedoch Gardiner}}{{s-ttl|title=King of Arms of the Order of the Bath|years=1898–1904}}{{s-aft|after=Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane}}{{end}}{{authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, John Carstairs}}

20 : People from Argyll and Bute|1831 births|1904 deaths|British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857|British military personnel of the New Zealand Wars|New Zealand Wars recipients of the Victoria Cross|People of the Fenian Raids|People of the Red River Rebellion|British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War|British Army personnel of the Anglo-Egyptian War|British Army generals|British recipients of the Victoria Cross|Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order|Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath|Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George|Equerries|Royal Sussex Regiment officers|British East India Company Army officers|British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross|Alumni of Addiscombe Military Seminary

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/9/28 13:23:18