Lord Raglan 1st Baron Fitzroy James Henry Somerset born 30 September 1788 Badminton Gloucestershire England – died 28 June 1855 ( known before 1852 as Lord FitzRoy Somerset )
He was the eighth and youngest son of Henry Somerset 5th Duke of Beaufort by Elizabeth, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen - Lord Fitzroy Somerset was educated at Westminster School and entered the army in 1804. In 1807 he was attached to the Hon. Sir Arthur Paget's embassy to Turkey - and the same year he was selected to serve on the staff of Sir Arthur Wellesley in the expedition to Copenhagen. In the following year he accompanied the same general in a like capacity to Portugal, and during the whole of the Peninsular War was at his right hand first as aide-de-camp and then as military secretary.
He was wounded at the Battle of Bucaco, became brevet-major after Fuentes de Onoro, accompanied the stormers of the 52nd light infantry as a volunteer at Ciudad Rodrigo and specially distinguished himself at the storming of Badajoz, being the first to mount the breach and afterwards securing one of the gates before the French could organize a fresh defence. On 6 August 1814 he married Lady Emily Harriet Wellesley-Pole, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Mornington ( the Duke of Wellington's niece ) During the short period of the Bourbon rule in 1814 and 1815 he was secretary to the British embassy at Paris. On the renewal of the war he again became aide-de-camp and military secretary to the Duke of Wellington.
At Waterloo he was wounded in the right arm and had to undergo amputation - but he quickly learned to write with his left hand, and on the conclusion of the war resumed his duties as secretary to the embassy at Paris. From 1818 to 1820 and again in 1826–29, he sat in the British House of Commons as member for Truro. In 1819 he was appointed secretary to the Duke of Wellington as master-general of the ordnance - and from 1827 till the death of the duke in 1852 was military secretary to him as commander-in-chief. He was then appointed Master-General of the Ordnance, a Privy Counsellor (16 October 1852) and was created Baron Raglan (20 October 1852).
His failure to give coherent or timely commands on the field of battle led to numerous mistakes, and his blind ignorance of the growing rivalry between the Earl of Lucan and the Earl of Cardigan would have tragic consequences in the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade. At Balaklava and Inkerman he displayed a complete lack of any tactical acumen, sending small British units against large Russian contingents - on several occasions this resulted in the complete destruction of the British units. Despite this lack of competence on his part - the battle resulted in an Allied victory and he was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal.
During the trying winter of 1854–55 - the suffering he was compelled to witness the censures which he had to endure and all the manifold anxieties of the siege seriously undermined his health, and although he found a friend and ardent supporter in his new French colleague, General Pelissier, disappointment at the failure of the assault of 18 June 1855 finally broke his spirit, and very shortly afterwards on July 9, he died of dysentery. His body was brought home and interred at Badminton.
http://www.batteryb.com/crimean_war/biographies/raglan.html
