VC Action: Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus
Henry Archibald Anson VC (5 March 1835 – 17 November 1877)
was a son of the 1st Earl of Lichfield and it was when he
was 22 years old and a captain in the 84th Regiment of Foot
(later the 2nd Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment), during the
Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place for which
he was awarded the VC.
On 28 September 1857 at Bolandshahr, India,
the 9th Light Dragoons had charged through the town and were
reforming on the Serai when the enemy tried to close the entrance
by drawing their carts across it. Captain Anson, taking a
lance, dashed out of the gateway and knocked the drivers off
their carts. Owing to a wound in his left hand, he could not
stop his horse and rode into the middle of the enemy who fired
on him.
At Lucknow, on 16 November 1857 he again
showed great gallantry when he entered with a storming party
on the gates being burst open; his horse was killed and he
was slightly wounded.
Anson later achieved the rank of lieutenant
colonel and was some time Member of Parliament for Bewdley.
He died aged 41 in Cannes, France.
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