Lord Henry Percy

General Lord Henry Hugh Manvers Percy, (22 August 1817 – 3 December 1877) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Outside his military career he was briefly a Conservative Member of Parliament. Background Henry Percy, fourth child and third son of George Percy, Lord Lovaine (later 2nd Earl of Beverley) by Louisa Harcourt Stuart-Wortley, third daughter of James Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, was born at Burwood House, Cobham, Surrey, on 22 August 1817. He was educated at Eton. He was styled Lord Henry Percy from 1865 after his father became 5th Duke of Northumberland at the age of 86. A collection of his papers is held at Alnwick Castle, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland. Military career and Crimean War He entered the British Army as an ensign in the Grenadier Guards on 1 July 1836, and was present during the insurrection in Canada in 1838. Aged 37, he served as a captain and lieutenant-colonel in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, during the Crimean War of 1854–5. He was present at the Battle of Alma (where he was shot through the right arm), the Battle of Balaklava, the Battle of Inkerman (where he was again wounded), and the Siege of Sebastopol. For his valour at the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854 he was awarded the Victoria Cross with the following citation: