Matthew Rosamund VC

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

 (12 July 1823 – 14 July 1866) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 recipient of the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Commonwealth

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 forces.

Details

Rosamund was born in the village of St. Neots, Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...

 (some records say Swallow Cliffe, Wiltshire; other says Seaton Town, Bedfordshire), the son and grandson of soldiers.

Rosamund was 33 years old, and a sergeant-major in the 37th Bengal Native Infantry

Bengal Native Infantry

The Bengal Native Infantry was part of the organisation of the East India Company's Bengal Army before the Indian rebellion of 1857.The infantry regiments underwent frequent changes of numbering during their period of existence...

, Bengal Army

Bengal Army

The Bengal Army was the army of the Presidency of Bengal, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia. Although based in Bengal in eastern India, the presidency stretched across northern India and the Himalayas all the way to the North West Frontier Province...

 during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed on 4 June 1857 at Benares led to the award of the Victoria Cross for Rosamund, Sergeant-Major Peter Gill

Peter Gill (VC)

Peter Gill VC was born in St Paul's Parish, Dublin and 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:Gill was approximately 25 years old, and a...

 and Private John Kirk

John Kirk (soldier)

John Kirk VC was an English 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:...

:
Rosamund later achieved the rank of lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 but died on board ship and was buried in the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

at the age of 43. His VC medal was sold at auction in 1903 and has not been located since.