Robert Hamond Elwes was a 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...

 in the Grenadier Guards

Grenadier Guards

The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...

 famous for having died valiantly at the Battle of Laing's Nek

Battle of Laing's Nek

The Battle of Laing's Nek was a major battle fought at Laing's Nek during the First Boer War on 28 January 1881.-Background:Following the Boer declaration of independence for the Transvaal in 1880 the British suffered a series of disastrous defeats in attempting to regain the territory.On 20...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 as immortalized in Elizabeth (Lady Butler) Thompson

Elizabeth Thompson

Elizabeth Southerden Thompson, Lady Butler was a British painter, one of the few female painters to achieve fame for history paintings, especially military battle scenes, at the end of that tradition...

's painting, "Floreat Etona!" (1898).

Family and Early Life

Elwes was born in 1856 to Robert Elwes and Mary Frances Lucas at Congham House, near King's Lynn

King's Lynn

King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....

 in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. He was educated at Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. After graduating, he joined the Grenadier Guards where he gained 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...

 in November of 1879.

The First Boer War

Following the Boer declaration of independence for the Transvaal

South African Republic

The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

 in 1880 the British suffered a series of disastrous defeats in attempting to regain the territory. At the outbreak of the war

First Boer War

The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...

 Elwes shipped out to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 where he was seconded from the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards to the 58th Regiment

Northamptonshire Regiment

The Northamptonshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1960. Its lineage is now continued by The Royal Anglian Regiment.-Formation:The regiment was formed as part of the reorganisation of the infantry by the Childers reforms...

 and appointed Aide-de-Camp

Aide-de-camp

An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...

 to Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley

George Pomeroy Colley

Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley KCSI CB CMG was a British Army officer who became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Natal and High Commissionerfor South Eastern Africa....

, then the British High Commissioner for South East Africa and Commander-in-Chief of Natal

Colony of Natal

The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...

. On January 9, 1881 Elwes dined at Government House at Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg

Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...

 with Colley, his wife, Lady Colley, and other officers and members of the general’s staff. Guests included the author H. Rider Haggard

H. Rider Haggard

Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...

. The next day Elwes left Pietermaritzburg with the British Natal Field Force led by Colley who took them into the Transvaal via Newcastle

Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal

Newcastle is the third largest city and urban center in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Newcastle is located in the North West corner of the province along the Ncandu River and is moderately industrial....

 and Laing's Nek to Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

 to relieve the garrisons in the besieged towns who were desperately short of food and ammunition.

The Battle of Laing’s Nek

On the morning of 28 January, Colley tried to force a way through the pass. But the Boers, under the command of Commandant-General Joubert, had about 2,000 men in the area, with at least 400 fortifying the heights around Laing's Nek. Over-eager commanders drove their men so hard up the steep slope in their anxiety to get at the enemy that when the decisive charge was actually made, the exhausted infantrymen and cavalry came nowhere near the Boer defences before being mown down. At around 11.00am, Colonel Deane along with Elwes and other members of General's staff were ordered to lead the 58th up the hill, riding to their certain death against the Boer bullets. An eyewitness of the attack on described the incident:

“Poor Elwes fell among the 58th. He shouted to another Eton boy (an Adjutant of the 58th whose horse had been shot), ‘Come along Monck! Floreat Etona! We must be in the front rank!’ And he was shot immediately.”

The event was immortalized in Elizabeth Thompson's painting, "Floreat Etona!" (1898). Among those killed beside Elwes during that heroic charge were Major Poole, and Lieutenants Dolphin and Inman of the General’s staff.

External links

Illustrated London News 1881* http://www.iln.org.uk/iln_years/year/1881.htm

Guard's Memorial * http://glosters.tripod.com/guards1.htm

ArtNet * http://www.artnet.com/artists/lotdetailpage.aspx?lot_id=9B8D622B3020B595CCFEC10B8F145014