The 1st Battalion lands on the Crimea.
The Royal Welch were one of the first units to land in the Crimea as part of a joint British and French force. Major Daniel Lysons, RWF, claimed to be the first British soldier to have set foot on the Crimea following a hotly contested row to the shore. Lyons went on to command the Regiment in the Crimea following the death of Lieutenant Harry Chester the much loved and respected commanding officer at the Battle of The Alma on the 20th of September 1854. Daniel Lysons wrote an account of his experiences in his book “The Crimea First to Last”.
LYSONS, Daniel�Born on 1 August 1816 at Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, he was the second son of Rev. Daniel Lysons MA FRS, of Hempsted Court, Gloucestershire, and his second wife Josepha Catherine, daughter of John Gilbert Cooper Esq. of Thurgarton Priory, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at the Reverend Harvey Myatt’s School at Bath, and Shrewsbury School (1829–32), after which he was in Nîmes for two years (1832–3) learning French.
He purchased his commission as ensign in the 1st (The Royal) Regiment of Foot on 26 December 1834 and as lieutenant 23 August 1837. He served with his regiment in Canada during the insurrection, including the actions of St. Denis (November 1837), where he was honourably mentioned in Colonel Gore’s despatches, and of Eustache. He was also mentioned in despatches and in General Orders on the occasion of the wreck of the transport Premier on 4 November 1843 and was promoted captain in the 3rd West India Regiment on 29 December the same year.
He transferred to RWF and purchased his majority on 3 August 1849. The first British soldier to land in the Crimea, he was present at the battle of the Alma where he acted as Assistant Adjutant General, 2nd Division, a service for which Lord Raglan, in his despatch of 28 September 1854, reported that ‘Lieutenant-General Sir de Lacy Evans eulogises the conduct of Major Lysons’. Promoted lieutenant-colonel on 21 September 1854 he took command of RWF in succession to Lieutenant-Colonel H. Chester who had been killed in action (q.v.). He was also present at the battle of Inkerman, the minor affairs of Bulganac,
Kirby update by RJMS - May 2011 Edn
McKenzie’s Farm and the capture of Balaclava. Present during the whole of the siege of Sebastopol, he led the main column of the attack on the Redan by the Light Division on 18 June 1855, commanding the 1st Brigade of the Light Division in the later part of the action when he was severely wounded in the leg and was mentioned in despatches. At the final assault on the Redan on 8 September 1855 he was severely wounded when a ball lodged in his thigh.
Appointed CB on 5 July and promoted brevet colonel on 17 July 1855, he was given command of 2nd Brigade, Light Division from October 1855 until the end of the war in the Crimea. He received the Crimea medal with the clasps ‘Alma’, ‘Inkermann’ and ‘Sebastopol’; The Turkish Crimea medal and the Sardinian medal ‘Al Valore Militare’ and was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honour 4th Class and to the 3rd Class of the Turkish Order of Medjidie.
After the Crimean War he was sent to Canada to organise the Militia of Canada at the Trent affair in December 1861. His subsequent promotions and appointments were DQMG in Canada 1862-67; major-general 6 March 1868 commanding the Brigade in Malta; Brigade Commander at Aldershot 1869-1872 and Northern Division 1872-74; QMG to the Forces 1876–80; promoted lieutenant-general 2 June 1877 and elevated to KCB. He was appointed colonel 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot on 28 August 1878. Promoted General on 14 July 1879 he commanded the Aldershot Division from 1880-83. On 26 June 1881 he was appointed Hon. colonel 1st (Volunteer) Bn. The Royal Fusiliers (10th Middlesex), elevated to GCB in 1886 and on 26 March 1890 was appointed Constable of the Tower of London.
He was responsible for the publication of various drill books and wrote The Crimean War From First to Last, John Murray (1895) and Early Reminiscences, John Murray (1896). He married first Harriet Sophia, daughter of Charles Bridges of Overton in 1856 and
second Anna Sophia Biscoe daughter of Rev. Robert Tritton of Morden, Surrey, in 1865. His second son, Lieutenant Henry Lysons, was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Zulu War.
Lieutenant-General Sir Daniel Lysons GCB died on 29 January 1898 at 22 Warwick Square, London. The Times of 3 February 1898 carries an account of his funeral on 2 February at Rodmarton, and simultaneous memorial service, at which the Queen was represented, in St Gabriel’s Church, Warwick Square, London SW. A list of those who attended, which included three field marshals, four admirals and eighteen generals, is in the Parish Magazine.
The Oxford DNB has a detailed biography, including many sources and a list of portraits. The National Portrait Gallery has two likenesses of him, one of which is a chromolithograph (1878) by Sir Leslie Ward (the caricaturist Spy).
Obituary�The Times 31 January 1898�St Gabriel’s Parish Magazine, March 1898 (RWF Museum L/652/53) Who Was Who, Vol. I
Memorials�St Giles’s Church, Wrexham, North Wales
Also of�General Sir Daniel Lysons GCB sometime Lieut Colonel Commanding 1st Battn RWF QM General of the Forces and Constable of the Tower Born 1816 Died 1898
References�Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online at
Kirby update by RJMS - May 2011 Edn
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/17297
Burke, Bernard J, Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1852 vol. 1, page 780–1
Wikipedia – Royal Welch Fusiliers officers online at
http://en.wikipedia.org/…/Category:Royal_Welch_Fusiliers_of…
The Times 3 February 1898�Auden, J. E. (Ed.) Shrewsbury School Register, Vol. 1 1798–1908, Wilding & Son,
Shrewsbury, 1928, pages 76–7�Ward, Beatrice (Ed.), Letters of Edwin Utterton from the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny,
Privately printed Gibraltar, 1964, pages 16, 18, 24, 24, 36, 46�Kirby, Major E. L. (Ed.) Letters of Boscawen Trevor Griffith from the Crimea. Privately
published, nd.
He purchased his commission as ensign in the 1st (The Royal) Regiment of Foot on 26 December 1834 and as lieutenant 23 August 1837. He served with his regiment in Canada during the insurrection, including the actions of St. Denis (November 1837), where he was honourably mentioned in Colonel Gore’s despatches, and of Eustache. He was also mentioned in despatches and in General Orders on the occasion of the wreck of the transport Premier on 4 November 1843 and was promoted captain in the 3rd West India Regiment on 29 December the same year.
He transferred to RWF and purchased his majority on 3 August 1849. The first British soldier to land in the Crimea, he was present at the battle of the Alma where he acted as Assistant Adjutant General, 2nd Division, a service for which Lord Raglan, in his despatch of 28 September 1854, reported that ‘Lieutenant-General Sir de Lacy Evans eulogises the conduct of Major Lysons’. Promoted lieutenant-colonel on 21 September 1854 he took command of RWF in succession to Lieutenant-Colonel H. Chester who had been killed in action (q.v.). He was also present at the battle of Inkerman, the minor affairs of Bulganac,
Kirby update by RJMS - May 2011 Edn
McKenzie’s Farm and the capture of Balaclava. Present during the whole of the siege of Sebastopol, he led the main column of the attack on the Redan by the Light Division on 18 June 1855, commanding the 1st Brigade of the Light Division in the later part of the action when he was severely wounded in the leg and was mentioned in despatches. At the final assault on the Redan on 8 September 1855 he was severely wounded when a ball lodged in his thigh.
Appointed CB on 5 July and promoted brevet colonel on 17 July 1855, he was given command of 2nd Brigade, Light Division from October 1855 until the end of the war in the Crimea. He received the Crimea medal with the clasps ‘Alma’, ‘Inkermann’ and ‘Sebastopol’; The Turkish Crimea medal and the Sardinian medal ‘Al Valore Militare’ and was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honour 4th Class and to the 3rd Class of the Turkish Order of Medjidie.
After the Crimean War he was sent to Canada to organise the Militia of Canada at the Trent affair in December 1861. His subsequent promotions and appointments were DQMG in Canada 1862-67; major-general 6 March 1868 commanding the Brigade in Malta; Brigade Commander at Aldershot 1869-1872 and Northern Division 1872-74; QMG to the Forces 1876–80; promoted lieutenant-general 2 June 1877 and elevated to KCB. He was appointed colonel 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot on 28 August 1878. Promoted General on 14 July 1879 he commanded the Aldershot Division from 1880-83. On 26 June 1881 he was appointed Hon. colonel 1st (Volunteer) Bn. The Royal Fusiliers (10th Middlesex), elevated to GCB in 1886 and on 26 March 1890 was appointed Constable of the Tower of London.
He was responsible for the publication of various drill books and wrote The Crimean War From First to Last, John Murray (1895) and Early Reminiscences, John Murray (1896). He married first Harriet Sophia, daughter of Charles Bridges of Overton in 1856 and
second Anna Sophia Biscoe daughter of Rev. Robert Tritton of Morden, Surrey, in 1865. His second son, Lieutenant Henry Lysons, was awarded the Victoria Cross in the Zulu War.
Lieutenant-General Sir Daniel Lysons GCB died on 29 January 1898 at 22 Warwick Square, London. The Times of 3 February 1898 carries an account of his funeral on 2 February at Rodmarton, and simultaneous memorial service, at which the Queen was represented, in St Gabriel’s Church, Warwick Square, London SW. A list of those who attended, which included three field marshals, four admirals and eighteen generals, is in the Parish Magazine.
The Oxford DNB has a detailed biography, including many sources and a list of portraits. The National Portrait Gallery has two likenesses of him, one of which is a chromolithograph (1878) by Sir Leslie Ward (the caricaturist Spy).
Obituary�The Times 31 January 1898�St Gabriel’s Parish Magazine, March 1898 (RWF Museum L/652/53) Who Was Who, Vol. I
Memorials�St Giles’s Church, Wrexham, North Wales
Also of�General Sir Daniel Lysons GCB sometime Lieut Colonel Commanding 1st Battn RWF QM General of the Forces and Constable of the Tower Born 1816 Died 1898
References�Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online at
Kirby update by RJMS - May 2011 Edn
http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/17297
Burke, Bernard J, Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1852 vol. 1, page 780–1
Wikipedia – Royal Welch Fusiliers officers online at
http://en.wikipedia.org/…/Category:Royal_Welch_Fusiliers_of…
The Times 3 February 1898�Auden, J. E. (Ed.) Shrewsbury School Register, Vol. 1 1798–1908, Wilding & Son,
Shrewsbury, 1928, pages 76–7�Ward, Beatrice (Ed.), Letters of Edwin Utterton from the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny,
Privately printed Gibraltar, 1964, pages 16, 18, 24, 24, 36, 46�Kirby, Major E. L. (Ed.) Letters of Boscawen Trevor Griffith from the Crimea. Privately
published, nd.
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