Crimean War Victoria Cross Recipient. He received the award from British Queen Victoria at the first investiture ceremony that occurred in Hyde Park, London, on June 26, 1857, for his actions as a lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British Army, at the Battle of Inkerman, Crimea, on November 5, 1854. Born in Cobham, Surrey, England on August 22, 1817, his father was the 5th Duke of Northumberland. In 1836 he joined the Grenadier Guards of the British Army and served in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, then later the Crimean War where he participated in the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Balaklava, the Battle of Inkerman, and the Siege of Sebastopol. It was during the Battle of Inkerman where his gallant service won him the Victoria Cross. By 1855 he held the rank of colonel and served as an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria until 1865. From 1865 until 1868 he served as in the House of Commons representing the Northumberland North constituency. In 1870 he was an observer with the Prussian Army at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War. He retired at the rank of general in October 1877 and died two months later at the age of 60. In addition to the Victoria Cross, he was also awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, the French Legion d'Honneur, and the Order of the Medjidie (Ottoman Empire). His Victoria Cross citation reads: "At a moment when the Guards were some distance from the Sandbag Battery at the Battle of Inkerman Colonel Percy charged singly into the Battery, followed immediately by the Guards; the embrasures of the battery, as also the parapet, were held by the Russians who kept up a most severe fire of musketry. At the Battle of Inkerman, Colonel Percy found himself with many men of various regiments who had charged too far, nearly surrounded by the Russians, and without ammunition. Colonel Percy, by his knowledge of the ground, although wounded, extricated these men, and, passing under a heavy fire from the Russians then in the Sandbag Battery, brought them safe to where ammunition was to be obtained, thereby saving some 50 men and enabling them to renew the combat. He received the approval of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge for this action on the spot. Colonel Percy was engaged with and put hors de combat, a Russian soldier."
Crimean War Victoria Cross Recipient. He received the award from British Queen Victoria at the first investiture ceremony that occurred in Hyde Park, London, on June 26, 1857, for his actions as a lieutenant colonel in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British Army, at the Battle of Inkerman, Crimea, on November 5, 1854. Born in Cobham, Surrey, England on August 22, 1817, his father was the 5th Duke of Northumberland. In 1836 he joined the Grenadier Guards of the British Army and served in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, then later the Crimean War where he participated in the Battle of Alma, the Battle of Balaklava, the Battle of Inkerman, and the Siege of Sebastopol. It was during the Battle of Inkerman where his gallant service won him the Victoria Cross. By 1855 he held the rank of colonel and served as an aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria until 1865. From 1865 until 1868 he served as in the House of Commons representing the Northumberland North constituency. In 1870 he was an observer with the Prussian Army at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War. He retired at the rank of general in October 1877 and died two months later at the age of 60. In addition to the Victoria Cross, he was also awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, the French Legion d'Honneur, and the Order of the Medjidie (Ottoman Empire). His Victoria Cross citation reads: "At a moment when the Guards were some distance from the Sandbag Battery at the Battle of Inkerman Colonel Percy charged singly into the Battery, followed immediately by the Guards; the embrasures of the battery, as also the parapet, were held by the Russians who kept up a most severe fire of musketry. At the Battle of Inkerman, Colonel Percy found himself with many men of various regiments who had charged too far, nearly surrounded by the Russians, and without ammunition. Colonel Percy, by his knowledge of the ground, although wounded, extricated these men, and, passing under a heavy fire from the Russians then in the Sandbag Battery, brought them safe to where ammunition was to be obtained, thereby saving some 50 men and enabling them to renew the combat. He received the approval of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge for this action on the spot. Colonel Percy was engaged with and put hors de combat, a Russian soldier."
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