Harry Prendergast

General Sir Harry North Dalrymple Prendergast, VC, GCB (15 October 1834 – 24 July 1913) was a 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, in imperial times, Commonwealth forces.

Sir Harry North Dalrymple Prendergast
Prendergast in 1886
Born	15 October 1834 Madras, India
Died	24 July 1913 (aged 78) Richmond-upon-Thames, Surrey
Buried	Richmond Cemetery
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Madras Army  British Army  British Indian Army
Years of service	1845–1881
Rank	General
Unit	Madras Engineers Royal Engineers
Battles/wars	Anglo-Persian War Indian Rebellion of 1857 Third Anglo-Burmese War Abyssinian War
Awards	Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Early life

Prendergast was the son of Thomas and Caroline Lucy (née Dalrymple),[1] He was educated at Cheam School and then Brighton College, and, in later years, he was President of their old boys' association. He was also educated at Addiscombe Military Seminary.[2]

Details

Prendergast was 23 years old and a lieutenant in the Madras Sappers, Madras Army during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

For conspicuous bravery on the 21st of November, 1857, at Mundisore, in saving the life of Lieutenant G. Dew, 14th Light Dragoons, at the risk of his own, by attempting to cut down a valaitee, who covered him (Lieutenant Dew) with his piece, from only a few paces to the rear. Lieutenant Prendergast was wounded in this affair by the discharge of the piece, and would probably have, been cut down, had not the rebel been killed by Major Orr. He also distinguished himself by his gallantry in the actions at Ratgurh and Betwa, when he was severely wounded. Major-General Sir Hugh Rose, in forwarding his recommendation of this Officer, states:

"Lieutenant Prendergast, Madras Engineers, was specially mentioned by Brigadier, now Sir Charles Stuart, for the gallant act at

Mundisore, when he was severely wounded; secondly, he was specially mentioned by me when acting voluntarily as my Aide-de-Camp in the Action before besieging Ragurh, on the Beena river, for gallant conduct. His horse was killed on that occasion. Thirdly, at the Action of 'the Betwa', he again voluntarily acted as my Aide-de-Camp, and distinguished himself by his bravery in the charge, which I made with Captain Need's Troop, Her Majesty's 14th Light Dragoons, against the left of the so-called Peishwa's Army, under Tantia Topee. He was severely.wounded on that occasion."[3]

He received his VC from Queen Victoria at the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle on 4 January 1860 along with twenty-four other recipients of the decoration.

Further information

Prendergast served in the Persian War (1857), Central India Defence Force (1858), in the Abyssinian War (1867–68), in the Mediterranean (1878), before going to Burma.

His last field command was to lead the Burma Field Force in 1885–86 at the start the Third Anglo-Burmese War. In 1908 he was appointed Colonel-Commandant of the Royal Engineers.[4]

Prendergast was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902,[5][6] and was invested by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902.[7]

His recreations were listed as "boxing, fencing, sword-play, running, cricket, football, hunting and polo".[8]

He died at Heron Court, Richmond, Surrey, now in London, on 24 July 1913 and is buried in Richmond Cemetery.[9]

There is a bronze memorial tablet to him in Brighton College Chapel, but his sword that used to hang above it was stolen.

The medal

In the 1980s the medal, on loan from the Prendergast family to the National Army Museum was suggested to be a copy.[10][11] However, a subsequent 2020 study of its metal composition demonstrated it was an unusually close match to other Victoria Crosses, and in particular those dated to the same year, suggesting it was in fact genuine.[10][12] The medal is currently displayed at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, England.

References

1. Vibart, Henry Meredith (1914). The Life of General Sir Harry N. D. Prendergast: R. E., V. C., G. C. B. (The Happy Warrior). London, England: Eveleigh Nash. p. 29. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
2. Philip A. Wilkins, The History of the Victoria Cross: Being an account of the 520 acts of bravery for which the decoration has been awarded and portraits of 392 recipients, Andrews UK Limited, 2012, ISBN 1781516731, 9781781516737
3. "No. 22318". The London Gazette. 21 October 1859. p. 3793.
4. London Gazette
5. "The Coronation Honours". The Times (36804). London. 26 June 1902. p. 5.
6. "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1902. pp. 4189–4190.
7. "Court Circular". The Times (36842). London. 9 August 1902. p. 6.
8. Black, Adam and Charles (1920). Who Was Who, Vol.1, 1897–1915.
9. "General Sir Harry North Dalrymple Prendergast". Victoria Cross holders buried in the borough. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. 3 August 2009. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
10. "The Prendergast VC". The Prendergast VC. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
11. Steafel, Eleanor (28 October 2017). "The Victoria Cross mystery: museum accused of failing to properly investigate missing medal". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
12. Marriott, Andrew; Prendergast, James G. D. (19 November 2020). "Investigating the origin and authenticity of Victoria Cross medals using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 19953. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76783-y. ISSN 2045-2322.

Sources

• Colonel H M Vibart, The Life of General Sir Harry N D Prendergast, RE, VC, GCB (The Happy Warrior). (Eveleigh Nash, London, 1914)
• Martin D W Jones, 'The War of Lost Footsteps. A Re-assessment of the Third Burmese War 1885–1896.', The Bulletin of the Military Historical Society, xxxx no. 157 (August 1989), pp. 36–40
• The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
• The Sapper VCs (Gerald Napier, 1998)
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)

External links

• Royal Engineers Museum Sappers VCs
• Location of grave and VC medal (Surrey)