Thomas Esmonde was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Details

He was 26 years old, and a Captain in the 18th Regiment (later The Royal Irish Regiment), British Army during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 18 June 1855 at Sebastopol, Crimea, after being engaged in the attack on the Redan, Captain Esmonde repeatedly assisted, at great personal risk, in rescuing wounded men from exposed situations. Also, on 20 June while in command of a covering party he rushed to a spot where a fireball from the enemy had just lodged, and extinguished it before it could betray the position of his men, thus saving the party from a murderous fire of shell and grape which was immediately opened where the fireball had fallen.

Further information

He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The medal

please update if you know where his medal is publicly displayed

Reference

• Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
• Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)

See also

External links

This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference (http://www.victoriacross.net) with permission.