Howard Craufurd Elphinstone

Major-General Sir Howard Elphinstone VC
Born	12 December 1829 Cumenhoff, Livonia, Russia
Died	8 March 1890 (aged 60) At sea near Madeira
Buried at	Lost at sea
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Royal Engineers
Commands held	Western District
Battles/wars	Crimean War
Awards	Victoria Cross Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) Order of the Medjidie (Ottoman Empire) Order of the Red Eagle (Prussia)

Major-General Sir Howard Craufurd Elphinstone VC KCB CMG (12 December 1829 – 8 March 1890) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early career and the Crimean War

Born in Livonia, Elphinstone joined the Corps of Royal Engineers as a gentleman cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in December 1847.^[1] With the outbreak of the Crimean War, Elphinstone was posted to the Crimea and it was during the Siege of Sebastopol that he won the Victoria Cross.

Victoria Cross

On 18 June 1855, he was 25 years old, and a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC. His citation read:

For fearless conduct, in having, on the night after the unsuccessful attack on the Redan, volunteered to command a party of volunteers, who proceeded to search for and bring back the scaling ladders left behind after the repulse; and while successfully performing this task, of rescuing trophies from the Russians, Captain Elphinstone conducted a persevering search, close to the enemy, for wounded men, twenty of whom he rescued and brought back to the Trenches.^[2]

Further honours

With the end of the war he was decorated by both Napoleon III, Emperor of France being appointed as a Knight of the Legion of Honour;^[3] and Abdülmecid I, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire who appointed him to the 5th class of the Order of the Medjidie.^[4]

Subsequent career

Elphinstone ended the Crimean War as a brevet Major^[4] and as a substantive second captain in the Royal Engineers^[5] but was promoted to the substantive Army (but not Corps) rank of Major in 1858.^[6]

In 1859 he joined the Royal Household of Queen Victoria as governor to Prince Arthur, the third son of Queen Victoria, and later also governor to Prince Leopold, Her Majesty's fourth son. In 1865 the Queen rewarded him for his service as governor by appointing him as a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Civil division).^[7] In 1868 he was appointed a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel^[8] and in 1870 he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.^[9]

Further honours came Elphinstone's way when Prince Arthur obtained his majority in 1871, firstly in May he was appointed Comptroller of the Household to Prince Arthur,^[10] the same month he was made a Companion of the Military Division of Order of the Bath,^[11] and finally in July was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Civil Division of the Order of the Bath.^[12]

He married Annie Frances Cole (1856-1938) and they settled at Pinewood, Bagshot, close to Prince Arthur's home at Bagshot Park. Lady Elphinstone lived at Pinewood until her death in 1938.^[13] They had four daughters: Victoria (1877-1952); Irene (1878-1957), Olive (1882-1968) and Mary (1888-1965). All four married army officers. Mary married Colonel Robert Singleton McClintock, son of Francis Leopold McClintock.

Promotions also followed; in 1872 his substantive promotion to Major was confirmed^[14] and the following year he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.^[15]

Returning to military service Elphinstone served as an Aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1877^[16] and was promoted to Colonel at the end of 1881^[17] and was appointed as Officer Commanding Royal Engineers in Mauritius, a post he was reluctant to take up, so much so that he was prepared to resign from the army; however under customs then allowed in the British Army, a posting could be avoided if an other officer was prepared to take the posting instead. Normally this involved payment to the substitute officer but Elphinstone was fortunate to meet fellow Royal Engineer officer, Colonel Gordon (Gordon of Khartoum) who was willing to take the posting to Mauritius without payment.^[18] During 1884–5 he served as military attache in Berlin^[16] In 1887 he was promoted to major-general^[19] and in 1889 he became General Officer Commanding Western District but he drowned in 1890 when he fell overboard while on a trip to Madeira.^[20]

Memorial

Memorial in Exeter Cathedral

There is a brass plaque to his honour in the Nave of Exeter Cathedral. It names the people who attended Elphinstone's memorial service in the cathedral - a large number were royalty and Queen Victoria sent a representative. His VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London.

Notes

1. The London Gazette: no. 20810. p. 4757. 28 December 1847. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
2. The London Gazette: no. 22149. p. 2757. 4 June 1858. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
3. The London Gazette: no. 21909. p. 2705. 4 August 1856. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
4. The London Gazette: no. 22107. p. 1261. 2 March 1858. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
5. The London Gazette: no. 21905. p. 2555. 25 July 1856. Retrieved 12 January 2011.(Wrongly named in the Gazette as Howard Crawford Elphinstone)
6. The London Gazette: no. 22217. p. 79. 11 January 1859. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
7. The London Gazette: no. 23008. p. 4194. 29 August 1865. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
8. The London Gazette: no. 23373. p. 2362. 24 April 1868. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
9. The London Gazette: no. 23638. p. 3561. 29 July 1870. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
10. The London Gazette: no. 23733. p. 2122. 2 May 1871. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
11. The London Gazette: no. 23739. p. 2474. 20 May 1871. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
12. The London Gazette: no. 23755. p. 3181. 14 July 1871. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
13. "Sir Howard and Lady Elphinstone". Bagshot Village.
14. The London Gazette: no. 23876. p. 3194. 16 July 1872. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
15. The London Gazette: no. 23984. p. 2738. 6 June 1873. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
16. Porter p. 322
17. The London Gazette: no. 25051. p. 6840. 23 December 1881. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
18. Boulger pp. 72–73.
19. The London Gazette: no. 25672. p. 725. 11 February 1887. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
20. Parry & Wood p. 445.

References

•  Sidney Lee, ed. (1901). "Elphinstone, Howard Crawfurd". Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement​. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Boulger, Demetrius Charles (6 May 2009). The Life of Gordon. Volume 2. The Echo Library. ISBN 978-1-4068-9346-5.
• Parry, D. H. & Wood, Stanley L. (2005). The V. C. Its Heroes And Their Valor. Kessinger. ISBN 978-1-4179-5112-3.
• Porter, Whitworth (1915). History of the Corps of Royal Engineers. Volume 3. Chatham: Royal Engineers Institute.

Further reading

• Nora, Buzzell, ed. (1997). The Register of the Victoria Cross (3rd ed.). This England. ISBN 978-0-906324-27-1.
• Downer, Martin (2008). The Queen's Knight. Corgi. ISBN 978-0-552-15508-3.
• Harvey, David (1999). Monuments to Courage: Victoria Cross Headstones and Memorials. Volume 1, 1854–1916. Kevin & Kay Patience. ISBN 978-1-84342-356-0.
• McClintock, Mary Howard (1945). The Queen Thanks Sir Howard - the Life of Major General Sir Howard Elphinstone, VC, KCB, CMG. London: John Murray.
• Napier, Gerald (1997). The Sapper VCs: The Story of Valour in the Royal Engineers and Its Associated Corps. HMSO. ISBN 978-0-11-772835-6.