SCULPTED FIGURE
ZULU WAR COMMANDER

'LORD CHELMSFORD'

On offer here is an extremely well hand crafted, 10" tall figure of a LORD CHELMSFORD who was the commander of the British Forces during the wars against the Zulu nation. It was his collumn, The 24th Foot who were massacred at ISANDHLWANA.

Lt-General The Rt. Hon. Lord Chelmsford

Frederic Augustus Thesiger was born on 31st May 1827, the eldest son of Frederic Thesiger, later 1st Baron Lord Chelmsford, his wife Anna Maria. He was educated at Eton, commissioned as an Ensign in the Rifle Brigade on 31st December 1844 and exchanged to the Grenadier guards as an Ensign & Lieutenant on 28th November 1845.

He was promoted to Lieutenant and Captain on 27th December 1850, he went to Ireland in February 1852 as aide de camp to the Lord-Lieutenant and from January 1853 to August 1854 he was ADC to Sir Edward Blakeney who was commanding the forces there. He joined his battalion in the Crimea on 31st May 1855, and served there till the end of the war, being an aide de camp to General Markham, commanding the 2nd Division from 18th July to 29th September 1855 and deputy assistant quartermaster-general from 8th November 1855 to 24th June 1856. He was made Brevet Major on 2nd November 1855 and received the medal with clasp, the Sardinian and Turkish medals, and the Order of the Medjidie 5th Class.

He was promoted to Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel on 28th August 1857 and exchanged into 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment on 30th April 1858 to take part in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, fighting at the last action at Koondrye.

He was deputy adjutant-general of the British troops in the Bombay Presidency from 13th July 1861 to 31st December 1862. He was promoted to Brevet Colonel on 30th April 1863 and was employed in the Abyssinian expedition of 1868, as deputy adjutant-general. He received the medal for the Indian Mutiny and Abyssinian campaign and was made C.B. and Aide de Camp to the Queen.

On 22 January, the Centre Column, under Lord Chelmsford's personal command, was defeated at Isandlwana mountain. In one of the worst disasters of the Colonial era, over 1300 British troops and their African allies were killed. In the aftermath of Isandhlwana, the Zulu reserves mounted a raid on the British border post at Rorke's Drift, which was held by just 145 men. After ten hours of ferocious fighting, the Zulu were driven off. Eleven of the defenders of Rorke's Drift were awarded the Victoria Cross. The British flanking columns also saw action that same day.

The figure is cast in solid resin and has a bronze finish. He stands arms behind in the authoritative pose of a Commander. At his feet are amunition boxes straddled by maps.

This figure is solid and weighs 1lb 14 ozs and would make an excellent feature for any British military or Zulu war memorabilia collection.

DONT LET HIM SLIP AWAY AS I HAVE ONLY A FEW OF EACH OF THIS TYPE!