Anglo-Zulu Wars Victoria Cross Recipient. A native of Ireland, he received the award from British Major General Sir Henry Hugh Clifford on January 16, 1880 at Fort Napier, South Africa for his actions as a sergeant in the volunteer Frontier Light Horse of the British Army on July 3, 1879 at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa during the Anglo Zulu War. His exact birth date and location is unknown but research indicates he was baptized in Dublin, Ireland in 1848. Nothing is known of his early life until December 1877 when he joined the Frontier Light Horse at Kingwilliamstown, South Africa. Following the end of the Anglo-Zulu War in July 1879, his unit disbanded and he was discharged. In October 1880, he joined the Herschel Native Contingent at the rank of captain and later served in Rhodesia with the Mashonaland Pioneer Column, a private force raised by mining magnate Cecil Rhodes and founder of the southern African territory of Rhodesia. While in Rhodesia, he was granted land and tried his hand at farming without success, and returned to Cape Town, South Africa. The year of his death (1891) is in dispute as research indicates that he tried to enlist in the Army to fight in the 2nd Boer War (October 1899 to May 1902) but was discharged due to his age. His exact death date and location remains unknown. His Victoria Cross citation reads: "For his conspicuous courage and bravery on several occasions during the campaign, and especially for his conduct on the 3rd July 1879, at the close of the reconnaissance before Ulundi, in assisting to rescue Sergeant Fitzmaurice, 1st Battalion 24th Mounted Infantry, whose horse fell and rolled on him, as the troops retired before great numbers of the enemy. When lifted up behind him by Lord William Beresford, the man, being half stunned by the fall, could not hold on, and he must have been left had not Sergeant O'Toole, who was keeping back the advancing Zulus, given up his carbine and assisted to hold Sergeant Fitzmaurice on the horse. At the time, the Zulus were rapidly closing on them, and there was not armed men between them and Sergeant O'Toole."
Anglo-Zulu Wars Victoria Cross Recipient. A native of Ireland, he received the award from British Major General Sir Henry Hugh Clifford on January 16, 1880 at Fort Napier, South Africa for his actions as a sergeant in the volunteer Frontier Light Horse of the British Army on July 3, 1879 at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa during the Anglo Zulu War. His exact birth date and location is unknown but research indicates he was baptized in Dublin, Ireland in 1848. Nothing is known of his early life until December 1877 when he joined the Frontier Light Horse at Kingwilliamstown, South Africa. Following the end of the Anglo-Zulu War in July 1879, his unit disbanded and he was discharged. In October 1880, he joined the Herschel Native Contingent at the rank of captain and later served in Rhodesia with the Mashonaland Pioneer Column, a private force raised by mining magnate Cecil Rhodes and founder of the southern African territory of Rhodesia. While in Rhodesia, he was granted land and tried his hand at farming without success, and returned to Cape Town, South Africa. The year of his death (1891) is in dispute as research indicates that he tried to enlist in the Army to fight in the 2nd Boer War (October 1899 to May 1902) but was discharged due to his age. His exact death date and location remains unknown. His Victoria Cross citation reads: "For his conspicuous courage and bravery on several occasions during the campaign, and especially for his conduct on the 3rd July 1879, at the close of the reconnaissance before Ulundi, in assisting to rescue Sergeant Fitzmaurice, 1st Battalion 24th Mounted Infantry, whose horse fell and rolled on him, as the troops retired before great numbers of the enemy. When lifted up behind him by Lord William Beresford, the man, being half stunned by the fall, could not hold on, and he must have been left had not Sergeant O'Toole, who was keeping back the advancing Zulus, given up his carbine and assisted to hold Sergeant Fitzmaurice on the horse. At the time, the Zulus were rapidly closing on them, and there was not armed men between them and Sergeant O'Toole."
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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