Havelock-Allan, Sir Henry 1st Baronet

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Lieutenant General Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet VC, GCB, DL (6 August 1830 – 30 December 1897) was a British soldier and politician.   

He is on the site because of the very odd events that happened when he was killed, communications from the dead or dying!

Life

Havelock was born in Cawnpore, India on 6 August 1830, the son of Major General Sir Henry Havelock and his wife, Hannah née Marshman –the daughter of missionaries Joshua Marshman and his wife Hannah.

He was 26 years old, and a lieutenant in the 10th Regiment of Foot during the Indian Mutiny when on 16 July 1857 at Cawnpore, the 64th Regiment had suffered badly under artillery fire. When the enemy was seen rallying their last 24-pounder, the order was given to advance, and Lieutenant Havelock immediately placed himself, on his horse, in front of the centre of the 64th, opposite the muzzle of the gun and moved on at a foot pace, in the face of shot and grape fired by the enemy. The advance went steadily on, led by the lieutenant and finally the gun was rushed and taken by the 64th. For this deed, Havelock was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 25 September 1857 he was badly wounded in the Siege of Lucknow.

On returning to England in 1860, he joined his regiment at Shorncliffe. He became deputy assistant adjutant-general at Aldershot on 1 October 1861. He was posted with his regiment to New Zealand in August 1863, where he was appointed deputy assistant quartermaster-general and served under Major General Duncan Cameron from 1863 to 1864. He participated in the Invasion of Waikato, being present at Rangiriri, Waiari, Paterangi, Rangiawhia, and at the siege and capture of Orakau. For his services during this period, he was Mentioned in despatches, promoted to major (28 June 1864), and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in August 1866.

In March 1867 he was posted to Canada, where he served as assistant quartermaster-general for two years. He then spent three years in Dublin performing the same role. In 1870 he was given leave of absence to act as a War correspondent in the Franco-Prussian War, being present at the Battle of Sedan. In 1877, he attended the Russo-Turkish War in the same capacity. He was promoted to colonel on 17 June 1868, and major general on 18 March 1878.

Ill health forced him to retire from the active list on 9 December 1881, with the honorary rank of lieutenant general. However, when the Anglo-Egyptian War broke out the following year, he made his way to the British headquarters in Ismaïlia telling a war correspondent: "Don't for goodness' sake mention me in your despatches, for my wife thinks I'm somewhere on the Riviera, but I could not resist coming here to see the fun.[sic]" He petitioned British commander Sir Garnet Wolseley for a role on the staff; but Wolseley refused, writing to his wife:

Nonetheless, he was able to see action at the battles of Kassassin and Tel el-Kebir, where he supposedly led a charge armed with nothing but a riding crop.

Death

In 1895, he became colonel of the Royal Irish Regiment, stationed in India. It was there that he was killed by Afridi clansmen on the Afghanistan side of the Khyber Pass in 1897.  He was later buried in Rawalpindi.

References

• Allan, Sir Henry Marshman Havelock - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press
• Vetch, Robert Hamilton (1901). "Havelock-Allan, Henry Marshman". Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement).

Observations

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• Visions and moving objects on the death of General Henry Havelock-Allan