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Royal Garrison Church
- Brigadier-General, Thomas Fox Strangways -

Further Information (From the 1873 Guide to the Church)
 
Brigadier-General Strangways served as a young subaltern with the Rocket Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery, sent to Germany and placed under the orders of the Crown Prince of Sweden in 1813, and was engaged in the battle of Goerde, 15th September, and the actions around Leipzig, 16th-19th October 1813, during which he succeeded to the command of the troop, his immediate commander, Major Bogue having been killed. For his services on that occasion he received the order of "St Anne" from the Emperor of Russia, and the order of the "Sword" and a gold medal for "bravery and good conduct" from the Crown Prince of Sweden, both of whom were eye witnesses of his gallantry during that short but eventful campaign.
 
He served in the campaign of 1815 and was dangerously wounded at Waterloo.
 
On the outbreak of the Crimean War, he embarked with the army for the east as a Lieut-Colonel of Horse Artillery, and succeeded to the command of the whole of the artillery (on General Cator's resignation through sickness) with the rank of Brigadier-General. He landed with the army in the Crimea, and was present at the battles of the Alma and Balaklava, and the first bombardment of Sebastopol. On the morning of the 5th November 1854, at the great battle of Inkerman, General Strangways was on horseback at Lord Raglan's right hand, when a shell from the enemy burst among the staff, and carried away his left leg. The shock was so great that he died about an hour afterwards. Lieut-Colonel Adye, the Assistant Adjutant-General to the Artillery, was with him when he fell, and received his last words. He was buried the following day on Cathcart's Hill, deeply lamented as a brave, chivalrous officer and a kind friend. A nobler soldier never breathed.
 
ADDENDUM
According to Colborne and Brine in "The Last of the Brave", Strangways marble gravestone inscription read:-

Also transcribed by Colborne and Brine from the stone is a substantial amount of script in a foreign language, possibly Russian or Greek.
 
Strangways name also appears on the monument to the Officers and men of the Royal Artillery at Cathcart's Hill.
 
The Crimean Hero
In his book "Our Heroes of the Crimea" George Ryan writes:-
 
GENERAL STRANGWAYS, OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY.
Thomas Fox Strangways was born on the 28th of December, 1790. He was the eldest surviving son of the Hon. and Rev. Charles Redlynch Fox Strangways, third son of Stephen first Earl of Ilchester, created in 1756. The first earl was the son of Sir Stephen Fox, the projector of the Military Hospital at Chelsea, and who, in furtherance of the institution, subscribed the princely sum of £13,000. The family have long been settled in Dorsetshire.
 
Thomas Fox Strangways entered the Royal Artillery on the 18th of December, 1806, in the sixteenth year of his age, as second lieutenant. After recommending himself to the heads of the artillery department at Woolwich, by his proficiency in the theory and practice of gunnery, and, above all, by his thorough knowledge of the science of fortification, he was set down for immediate active service. In fact, when but second lieutenant, Strangways was, by the most competent judges, admitted to be worthy of trust as an artillery officer.
 
In the the year 1812 the English government was in league with the German powers, in conjunction with Alexander of Russia, as to general union against the Emperor Napoleon. While matters were in the stage of being perfected, the ministry sent to Germany, in 1813, their experimental Rocket Brigade under the command of Major Bogue. Strangways was this officer's lieutenant. The Rocket Brigade was attached to the army under the Crown Prince of Sweden. On arriving at the head-quarters of the Swedish army, a detachment of the brigade was sent, under Lieutenant Strangways, to assist in the reduction of a fortress in possession of the French, and which was necessary to the communications of the Allies. He discharged the duty to the satisfaction of the chief in command of the corps to which he had been attached, and earned special praise for the services at the battle of Goerde. When the Allies made a concentration of their forces around Leipzig in October, 1813, Strangways had but just rejoined Major Bogue. The engagements fought before Leipzig in that month, commenced on the 16th. The English Rocket Brigade had a most important part to play in the Crown Prince of Sweden's army. At the very commencement of the engagement the commander, Major Bogue, was killed by a shot from one of the enemy's batteries. Lieutenant Strangways at once succeeded to the command. On the first day he created quite a sensation by the execution he dealt on the French.
 
The rocket practice was quite a novelty with the allies. On the 18th he also distinguished himself by the efficiency of his operations. Indeed it may be said, that Strangways' Rocket Brigade saved the honour of the Swedish army, for the Crown Prince had been particularly careful of his men. He allowed the fighting to fall on the Russians, Prussians and Austrians, but he particularly pointed out to them the admirable brigade he had had at work for the common cause.
 
On the 19th the Crown Prince again saved his Swedes and his honour by the exertions of Lieutenant Strangways. The allied sovereigns, however, had been witnesses of the young officer's conduct during the operations preceding the storming of the royal city. The brigade were at work, and their practice told beautifully upon the forces covering the approach to the town, while Napoleon was retiring with the main body of his army. Leipzig having surrendered unconditionally, on the same evening the Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and the British ambassador (Lord Cathcart) at the express desire of Alexander, proceeded to the Swedish position to inspect Strangways' Rocket Brigade. The young lieutenant of artillery was congratulated by all the sovereigns, but he was paid the most particular attentions by the Emperor of Russia, who questioned him most minutely as to the modus operandi of the force under his command. This victory was the road to Paris, and that road was not a little owing to the Rocket Brigade so ably handled by Lieutenant Strangways.
 
He was in the operations of the allied armies in the short campaign of 1814, but not as commander of the brigade, for, in accordance with the wretched system then as now prevailing, no sooner had he distinguished himself than he was superseded. It would have been wilful murder, in the judgment of the old dolls at the Horse Guards, to have left well alone. How it must have astonished the Allies to find this clever officer, whom they had just been praising, return to the obscurity of a subalternship.
 
For his services to the Allies he received from the Emperor of Russia the order of St. Anne, and from the Crown Prince of Sweden the order of the Sword and the Gold Medal of Sweden. "for bravery and good conduct" Upon his leaving the allied armies, he was presented by the generals, who had witnessed his conduct in the field, with the highest testimonials of efficiency. Of his gallantry in battle they spoke most flatteringly. At the close of Napoleon's empire in 1814, Lieutenant Strangways returned home to enjoy honourable obscurity.
 
The sovereign he had assisted to defeat at Leipzig was once more at the head of a great army. Napoleon had, like "a giant refreshed," left his sleeping apartments at Elba; and Strangways, like many other unrewarded hard-workers in the past campaigns, was sent out with the British Army to Belgium, under Wellington.
 
At the battle of Waterloo he commanded a gun in the rear of La Haye Sainte during the deadly assaults of the French on that position. While pointing his gun, he was struck in the hip and spine. He was unable to remain in command, though he insisted upon being allowed to die near his gun. He was, as a matter of course, removed to the rear. The surgeon gave an opinion that the wounds were mortal, and such had been the sufferer's idea from the moment he was disabled, and which caused him to request "to be allowed to die near his gun." He was conveyed from the immediate rear of the position to the village of Waterloo, and here he remained in the greatest torture for several days, the carnage of the 18th having left more cases than the surgeons could attend to. He was at length sent, with many other wounded officers, to Brussels, where the ball was extracted. He lay there for some months in a state of great danger. He regained strength, however, most unexpectedly, and was well enough to return home with the British army after it had restored the dry bones of legitimacy to the French throne.
 
There were great rejoicings in England! The people were proud of their soldiers. Lieutenant Strangways had been one of their bravest. He had shed his blood in the cause. He was rewarded? Yes, he had the same rank as those who had been kept at home. Bless those good old days! "It's a way we've got in the army!" His promotion bears dates:— Second lieutenant, 18th December, 1806; captain, 12th December, 1826; major by brevet, November 22nd, 1841, and regimental lieutenant-Colonel April, 1846. He had now served forty years. He had gone through all the little niceties of the old bogy rules that retard the advancement of merit. In fact, thanks to a good constitution, he had outlived the whole roll of the favoured, and at last he received the command of the Royal Artillery in the Dublin district. During his stay in Ireland Lieutenant-Colonel Fox Strangways made many friends, and, at the expiration of his term of command, many regrets were expressed at his departure by those to whom he had endeared himself by his kindness of disposition. On his return to England, being senior officer, he took the command of the Horse Artillery at Woolwich.
 
In September, 1853, the emperor of the French visited for the first time his northern departments. The English government, in acknowledgment of the compliment paid by the French monarch to our army during the summer of that year, in sending a Prince of the house of Napoleon to attend a field day at Chobham camp, deputed the Earl of Lucan to accompany his majesty during his northern tour. Our general had as aides-de-camp, Lords Worcester and Bingham, Colonel Harry D. Jones, and though last, not least, Colonel Fox Strangways. The writer having also gone the tour, he had the pleasure of daily interviews with Colonel Strangways, and the recollection of the invariable kindness he met with during the royal progress from the gallant officer, augments his regret at the melancholy fate of so fine a soldier and so good a man.
 
On the appointments to the army of the East, Colonel Fox Strangways had conferred on him the command of the Royal Horse Artillery. Upon his getting Scutari he was attached to the Light Division, and from thence he went with his command to Varna, then to Devna, to the camp of Aladyn, and farther to Monastir. While at this place exercising his Horse Artillery, he received a hasty summons from Lord Raglan to meet his lordship at Varna. Upon reaching head-quarters, he was appointed to the chief command of the artillery in the British expeditionary army. This appointment arose out of the illness of Brigadier General Cator, who, prior to the embarkation of our troops to the East, had been named to the post.
 
He was now in a position of vast responsibility. Our army was about to look the Russians in the face. Artillery was to be as trump card in the game of war. It is a giant friend in good hands. It is a weapon of self-destruction when possessed by the unskilful. On this occasion it was well placed. A master in the art was at its head. He knew every note of its fine deep bass voice. He had played his firt air on it in favour of Russia in 1813—he was about to reverse the tune in 1854. A man's lifetime had gone by — forty-three years! Fighting for Russia, he was a lieutenant! Well, he now commands all England's artillery against his old friend, Alexander's successor, and he is a general! Who says so? Not Lord Raglan — he dare not. The power is in London, and it must be done by the rule. No! He who was but a lieutenant when he commanded the English rocket brigade against the foremost warrior of the world, is now, while commanding our artillery — listen — a lieutenant-colonel! Down with such a system to the lowest deep. It withers us up into marrowless old men — it shakes loyalty — it breaks hearts! Down with it amongst the dead hagged wizards, and cover it over with the concrete of your malediction, that it may have no resurrection to further blast us with its hideous breath.
 
Lieutenant-Colonel Fox Strangways, commander of the entire force of the English artillery sent to batter down the Russian power in the East, senior in years and length of service to any of our eastern army's generals, save three, was not a full colonel. A general brevet gives him his chance, and he becomes a colonel at last. And so did others not half his years in life, nor quarter of his time in the service. To his credit, Lord Raglan represented to the home authorities the anomaly of Colonel Strangway's position, and then, but not till then, he had conferred on him the rank of brigadier-general. The honour was not only granted, but a most flattering acknowledgment accompanied it of Colonel Fox Strangways' "brilliant services." What a "brilliant" commentary upon years of neglect! Colonel Fox Strangways was actually on board ship for the Crimea when the promotion reached him, so that he landed there a new-made brigadier in his sixty-fourth year.
 
At the battle of the Alma General Strangways brought his artillery into excellent position. The assistance rendered by him in the attack, is mentioned most favourably by Lord Raglan, who says;— "the aid of the Royal Artillery in all these operations was most effectual. The exertion of the field officers and the captains of troops and batteries to get the guns into action was unceasing, and the precision of their fire materially contributed to the great results of the day. The manner in which Brigadier-General Strangways directed the artillery, and exerted himself to bring it forward, meet my entire satisfaction."
 
At the battle of Inkermann, General Strangways' great abilities as an officer mainly contributed to the victory. At seven in the morning of the 5th of November, he was with Lord Raglan and the Generals of Division in close and anxious consultation near the camps of the second and light divisions. He had just placed his artillery in order, and shortly afterwards its thunder was to be heard against a battery of the enemy's on a hill overlooking our position, and which had been dealing destruction to our troops. Owing to the execution of the artillery under his judicious command, the Russian guns on the hill were several times dismounted, and those interruptions to their deadly aim gave to our infantry frequent opportunities to advance upon the foe without the fear of that shot and shell which, at an early hour of the morning, had been decimating them in their batteries.
 
General Strangways was called to lend his assistance at a point of the field where some desperate work had been going on. Our troops had lost a redoubt mounting two guns. The order was given to retake it. This request had most gallantly been complied with by the 20th and 47th regiments, but the Ruasian artillery was point blank upon the recaptured battery, and to think of holding it would have been madness. The brave fellows were accordingly forced to fall back, and the Russians re-entered, the guns on the hill during their advance having suspended fire.
 
The Russian officer of artillery supporting the enemy at this point proved himself a most efficient commander. This was called the "Two-gun Battery." The place was taken and retaken many times. Our men were always ready to make a dash on their numerous foe, but so sure as they regained the contested point, so certain was it that the Russian artillery marked them for destruction the moment its own men were found to have retired sufficiently in the rear of the range. Under such circumstances the battery was not tenable. Strangways now arrived. He advanced his artillery so as to endeavour to command the Russian guns. The enemy increased their ordnance on this point. The cannonading went on in magnificent style for upwards of an hour. From seven o'clock until a little after eight, it was not only here, but on several other points of the rising ground, a pounding match of artillery. The guards came up towards the "Two-gun Battery" about eight o'clock, but some 20,000 of the enemy were not far off, under cover of their guns, ready to move at the word of command, and they had not long to wait.
 
They advanced in the very face of Strangways' showers of grape! Hundreds went down, but there were thousands of Russians to come on! General Strangways had left Lord Raglan (who was stationed some two hundred yards from where the contest for the battery was going on) to give directions as to altering the position of some guns. Having seen his guns in order, he was returning to the commander-in-chief, when a round shot (aimed it is supposed at the staff) struck the old general's leg with such force as to leave it hanging by a mere shred of jagged flesh and a portion of the trousers. Several other officers narrowly escaped being killed at the moment, for the shot had actually passed by the legs of Lord Raglan's horse, and just as poor General Strangways had got within 60 yards of his lordship it took effect upon the commander of our artillery. General Strangways never uttered a complaint of pain. His face was as placid as though nothing had occurred. He smiled faintly as Lord Raglan and the staff rode up to his assistance, and said, in that gentle voice the writer had so often listened to, "Will any one be kind enough to lift me off my horse?"
 
He was taken down from his charger, amidst the unfeigned sorrow of all present, for he was beloved by every man, and the emotion was of no ordinary kind that could bring tears from many a stout heart, as the gallant old soldier was laid on the earth. The field-surgeons in attendance saw that death must ensue, if immediate amputation was not had recourse to. He was therefore removed with great care to the rear; but he had lost so much blood, even before he had been lifted off his horse, that it was considered better not to torture him by an operation which, in his weak state, would facilitate the death he was so fast hastening to. After addressing a few words to the officers of the staff, and leaving his last message for those most dear to him in England, his last words were — "I die, at least, a soldier's death!" A few minutes after this exclamation, and General Fox Strangways was no more.
 
Lord Raglan, in his despatch of the battle of Inkermann regrets the loss of his gallant commander of artillery, and says of him- "Brigadier-General Strangways was known to have distinguished himself in early life, and in mature age, throughout a long service, he maintained the same character.
 
"The mode in which he had conducted the command of the artillery, since it was placed in his hands by the departure, through illness, of Major General Cator, is entitled to my entire approbation and was equally agreeable to those who were confided to his care"
 
General Fox Strangways was buried the day after the victory, at four o'clock in the afternoon, at Inkermann, beside Sir Geo. Cathcart and General Goldie, on the spot known as "Cathcart's Hill." The whole of the 4th division, the artillery, and Lord Raglan were present. The officers of the artillery wept like children, for he had ever exhibited towards them more of the solicitude of a fond parent than the austerity of the commander. He leaves a widow and daughter to mourn over the grave of as brave and able an officer as ever graced the British army, or suffered neglect at the hands of its rulers.
 
The circumstances of his death occasioned universal sadness in his native county of Dorset. No one could know General Fox Strangways without esteeming him. Sir John Hesketh Lethbridge has appealed to the men of Dorsetshire for the erection of a monument to the distinguished soldier, and he has not appealed in vain. That tribute will be paid to his memory. On it, however, should be inscribed the fact that— "after over forty years' service, during which period General Fox Strangways had been acknowledged to be a great artillery officer, by emperor, kings, and generals, he died full of years and honour, in the field of battle, within the second month of his having obtained the rank of brigadier-general, which distinguished reward, owing to the petition of the commander-in-chief, was granted him for 'brilliant services' rendered in his youthful days!"