Poona photograph, 1865

A picture of Dunn in the uniform of the 33rd Foot was taken by the Bandmaster at Poona in 1865 and a copy given to one of the Corporals in the Band. A Sergeant Major W. Cain, who had joined the regiment in 1885 and serving with it in India until 1905, had known the band corporal, who had been discharged by then and on his falling on thin times the Sergeant Major interested the officers in doing something for him.

He was very grateful and in 1907, feeling that he was getting very old and that he might not have much more time left, gave Cain his precious Dunn picture, which he had for some 42 years amongst his treasures.

Cain himself emigrated to Canada in 1911, the picture coming with him and in 1933 he saw in the "Mail and Empire" – probably a clipping, rather than the actual paper, as it was published in Toronto and he was then living in Ardley, British Columbia – a short article on the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade. He determined to find out if there were any Dunn descendants in Canada, so as to give them the picture taken almost 80 years before.

Failing to find any – there were none, in fact – he presented the photo to the Canadian Military Institute, remarking that he felt it was of "quite national value".

In November 1867 the regiment sailed to take part in the Abyssinian campaign.

The first Lieutenant-Colonel embarked with the regiment, but he was appointed a Brigadier-General almost immediately, and Dunn, who had been made Brevet-Colonel in June of 1866, took over its command.

Medals

Awarded the Victoria Cross. Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and Sebastopol, the Turkish medal. the Abyssinian medal and, at some time, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Lieutenant Dunn served the Eastern campaign of 1854, including the battles of the Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman and the Siege of Sebastopol. (Medal and four Clasps and the Victoria Cross.) Also served in the Abyssinian campaign of 1868 with the 33rd Foot. (Medal.)

Victoria Cross

Awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the Charge at Balaclava, 25th October 1854.

Recommendation for the award of the Victoria Cross, London Gazette, 24th of February 1857.

(Click on image to enlarge)

The citation for the Victoria Cross states:

"For having in the Light Cavalry charge on the 25th October 1854, saved the life of Sergeant Bentley, 11th Hussars, by cutting down three Russian lancers who were attacking him from the rear, and afterwards cutting down a Russian Hussar, who was attacking Private Levitt, 11th Hussars."

(Click on image to enlarge)

He returned to England to receive his Victoria Cross from the hands of Queen Victoria at a ceremony held in Hyde Park on the 26th of June 1857 when, although he had left the Army. he stood in line wearing the full-dress uniform of the 11th Hussars. Some 61 crosses were presented on this occasion to members of the forces.

On the Queen's right is Prince Frederick William of Prussia and beyond him Prince Alfred and the Prince of Wales. Standing on the Queen's left is Lord Panmure, Secretary of War, with Prince Albert and the Duke of Cambridge on horseback.

Watercolour pictures of the scene (Dunn is pictured on the extreme left in the close-up one) were commissioned by Queen Victoria, the originals of both now being in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle and the other, viewed from the main stand occupied by distinguished visitors, other minor spectators being on wooden stands erected north and south across the park for nearly a third of a mile (in this he is pictured to the right of the Royal Princes.)

Both pictures were given by Prince Albert to the Queen for Christmas 1857, Thomas having been paid 80 guineas for them on the 5th of January 1858.

Either one or the other was borrowed from the Queen in February of 1869 to make a steel engraving, the profits from the sale of whch were to be given to Thomas's widow, his brother, William Lomas, being permitted to borrow the drawing as long as it was returned by December. A full report of the occasion appeared in the Illustrated London News on the 4th of July 1857.

The artist responsible for these pictures was George Housman Thomas (1824-1868).

When ARD's medal group was sold at auction in 1894, included in the Lot was a sword and a portrait of him by Chevalier Louis William Desange.

Further detailed medal information archived.

Commemorations

[PB: He went to Harrow (see above), but since he survived the Crimea he is not commemorated on Harrow memorials at the school or in Portsmouth. But check if he is represented elsewhere.]

Death & burial

Alexander Roberts Dunn died as the result of a shooting accident at Senafe, Abyssinia, on the 25th of January 1868 and was buried in a small walled-off enclosure forming part of a Moslem cemetery on the outskirts of Senafe.

[PB: It is often said that he died in an accidental shooting, but see elsewhere in this entry.]

Grave of Alexander Roberts Dunn at Senafe,

Find A Grave: LT Alexander Roberts Dunn (accessed 17.12.2017). Very brief info, but with a small photograph of the grave ("Added by Steve Beattie" — did he take the photograph? No date.) Asserts (incorrectly?) his birth year was 1833.

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"The graveyard with Dunn's cross built into a cairn by the soldiers from Gagetown."

MysteriesofCanada: "There has been some discussion of exhumation of Dunn and the return of his body to Canada."

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The stone which was placed over his grave bears the legend: "In memory of A.R. Dunn, V.C. Colonel, 33rd Regiment, who died at Senafe, on the 25th of January 1868, aged 34 years 6 months."

Extract from "The Iron Duke" (the Duke of Wellington's Regimental Magazine.) The Regimental Court of Enquiry into his death reported:

"The Court having considered the evidence before it, is of the opinion that the death of Colonel Dunn was purely accidental and caused by his own rifle exploding whilst he was in the act of using his brandy flask while sitting on a stone and shooting."

Extract from "The V.C. and D.S.O." [publication details?]:

"His death must have been almost instantaneous – both barrels going off, and discharging their contents into his right side. He was just able to say, "Run for a doctor," and then dropped dead. The servant who was with him when the accident occurred – one of a race which rarely allows itself to be betrayed into the outward display of any emotion – was so overcome that in the first frenzy of grief he broke to pieces the rifle that had killed his master."

The author G.A. Henty was a War Correspondent during the campaign. According to his account in The March to Magdala (London, 1868):

On my arrival in camp I found that a deep gloom hung over everyone, and I heard the sad news that Colonel Dunn, the commanding officer of the 33d, had the day before accidentally shot himself when out shooting.

The native servant who alone was with him reports that he himself was at the moment stooping to pour out some water, that he heard the report of a gun, and turning round saw his master stagger back, and then sink into a sitting position with the blood streaming from his breast.

The man instantly ran back to camp, a distance of five miles, for assistance, and surgeons at once galloped off with bandages, &c., followed by dhoolie wallahs, with a dhoolie to carry him back to camp.

When the surgeons arrived, they found Colonel Dunn lying on his back, dead. His flask was open by his side, his cap pulled over his face. He had bled to death in a few minutes after the accident. It is supposed that the gun was at full cock, and that the slight jar of putting the butt to the ground must have let the hammer down.

There are very few men who could have been less spared than Colonel Dunn; none more deeply regretted. As an officer he was one of the most rising men in the service, and had he lived would probably have gained its highest honours and position.

He was with the 11th Hussars in the Balaclava charge, and when the men were asked to select the man who in the whole regiment was most worthy of the Victoria Cross, they unanimously named Lieutenant Dunn. Never was the Victoria Cross placed on the breast of a more gallant soldier.

When the 100th regiment was raised in Canada, he enrolled a very large number of men, and was gazetted its major. After attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel he exchanged into the 33d, of which, at the time of this sad accident, he was full colonel, and was next on the list for his brigadier-generalship.

He was only thirty-five years of age, the youngest colonel in the British service, and would, in all human probability, have been a brigadier-general before he was thirty-six. Known as a dashing officer, distinguished for his personal bravery, a colonel at an age when other men are captains, there was no rank or position in the army which he might not have confidently been predicted to attain, and his loss is a loss to the whole British army.

But not less than as a soldier, do all who knew poor Dunn regret him as a man. He was the most popular of officers. Unassuming, frank, kind-hearted in the extreme, a delightful companion, and a warm friend – none met him who were not irresistibly attracted by him. He was a man essentially to be loved.

In his regiment his loss is irreparable, and as they stood beside his lonely grave at the foot of the rock of Senafe, it is no disgrace to their manhood to say that there were few dry eyes amongst either officers or men.

He was buried, in accordance with a wish he had once expressed, in his uniform, and Wolfe's lines on the burial of Sir John Moore will apply almost word for word to "the grave where our hero we buried."

[Source: G.A. Henty, "The March to Magdala" (London, 1868), available online as a Project Gutenberg EBook, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39470/39470-h/39470-h.html (accessed 10.2.2013)]

EJB attributed the following to Henty, too. Can we find the SOURCE? It's not from "The March to Magdala".

"On Saturday morning this unfortunate officer went out shooting in the best of health and the highest spirits, to be borne back to camp in less than five hours a lifeless corpse. It appears that he separated from his companion and attendants and remained behind with a single servant.

After some time he sat down to rest on a rock, and asked the man for water; he was in the act of unscrewing his brandy-flask when it was supposed his foot slipped, and catching the hammer of his double-barrelled rifle, exploded the piece. Both charges, – one a bullet, the other slugs, – entered the left breast and came out behind the shoulder.

The medical testimony showed that he must have expired in ten minutes and almost without pain. His attendant man hastened back to camp for assistance but no human aid could avail, and before the surgeon reached the fatal spot the poor colonel must have been dead more than an hour.

Not any shadow of suspicion is attached to the servant, who is well known and no marks of any struggle having taken place were visible. The unfortunate gentleman was found in a recumbent position, with his cap drawn over his eyes and his pipe and flask lying beside him, whilst a placid and almost smiling countenance showed how peacefully his spirit had passed away.

It was indubitably a pure accident, and a more melancholy one it has seldom fallen upon anyone's lot to record...

He has been interred in a quiet nook among the neighbouring rocks in company with two privates of his own regiment, and a commemorative stone or "tumulus" will be erected to mark the spot."

However, it appears from the private papers of Colonel W.A. Wynter, then an Ensign in the 33rd, that another explanation of the manner of his death is possible:

"Early in January the long march to Magdala had begun. On the 26th of January the regiment had reached Senafe, and that evening Colonel Dunn and James Sinclair, the Surgeon of the regiment, went out shooting. Each took an Indian hospital orderly with them and shortly afterwards separated. Soon afterwards Sinclair heard a shot, and saw the Colonel's orderly running towards him. The orderly only said briefly – 'Colonel Sahib is dead'.

Sinclair ran with him and soon found Colonel Dunn lying dead, his rifle by his side, his pipe by him...

Before he left India he had made a fresh will. He was a man of considerable fortune and had a large sum to leave. With him in India was his valet, Hastie, who had been in his service for many years. The witnesses to the new will were Hastie and a Captain Lacy, the senior captain in the 33rd, of whom, incidentally, Wynter remarks, "was unfit even to command a corporal's guard." Dunn, after the witnessing, gave Hastie a cheque for £300. This was in lieu of the £300 left him in a former will.

Dunn also wrote to his sister, from whom he had been estranged, and told her that "he had made things alright for her." In his former will all his money was left to Mrs. Douglas, with whom he had been living ever since removing her from his commanding officer.

On Dunn's death his kit was examined, and it was found that not only his rings, which, says Wynter, "were many and valuable," had disappeared, but also the second will: 'The former will was produced for probate, Mrs. Douglas inherited all the money and Hastie got another £300. Dunn's family contested the will, and took the case to court – where a compromise was made and Dunn's sister got a share of the money. Hastie worked on the feelings of the family and their influence got him a position in a Post Office in Scotland.'

How then did Dunn die? Wynter speculates as follows:

"He had no reason to shoot himself. He was only 32 years of age [sic, he was 34], a full Colonel, and next for a Brigade. A description of the accident – if accident it was – is to be found in a book, 'Letters from Abyssinia, By a Staff Officer.' It runs, 'Another sad accident occurred just before we arrived here. Colonel Dunn of the 33rd Foot shot himself dead with his own rifle when out shooting. He was leaning over, going uphill, to take some water from his man-servant, below him; he leant his arm, it would appear, over the muzzle of his rifle and his garter, or something, caught in the trigger, sending the contents of both barrels completely through his body, one of the barrels being loaded with slugs. He was greatly liked by his men and everybody, being a most popular man, and had just got command of his regiment. Is it not wonderful how these accidents occur to men who have handled firearms all their lives?'

The disappearance of the will and Dunn's rings had an ugly aspect, and it seems, much to Mrs. Douglas's advantage, and that of Hastie, that Dunn should die at this juncture. One would have liked to have known something more of the Indian orderly who was the sole witness of Dunn's tragic death...

The subsequent history of some of the characters is not without its own interest. Colonel Douglas still refused to divorce his wife, and following his death in 1871 she married a William John Walters in March of the following year, and so disappears from the scene.

Hastie, in his Scottish post office, was tried and convicted of embezzlement in 1870, and sent to prison. At Liverpool in the 1920's an old man is said to have confessed on his death-bed that he was involved in the affair and the sum he is said to have been given, equated with the £300 given to Hastie in the first will. He had destroyed the rifle. Was this man the servant, Hastie, perhaps? No confirmation that Hastie was in Abyssinia with Colonel Dunn can, however, be found."

[PB: It would be worth checking all quotations against original sources, as it is not always clear where they start and end, and where EJB has made comments.]

Extract from the Daily Telegraph, 11th of August 1984:

"V.C. remembered"

"The grave of Canada's first V.C. holder, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Dunn, has been freed from decades of neglect following a decision of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to now inspect it regularly at its site in the tiny village of Senafe, Ethiopia.

A decade ago a Canadian officer heard of the grave of Dunn, who is buried along-side several other members of the regiment. Two years work on the graves has now been completed and the first maintenance visit by the Commission is scheduled for later this year, subject to military activity in that part of the country."

Enquiry [by EJB] of the War Graves Commission brought further information:

"Not only Lieutenant-Colonel Dunn, but six other British soldiers lie buried in this cemetery... These graves are not within the commitment of the Commission, but we are empowered by the terms of our Royal Charters to undertake agency work on behalf of our partner governments.

In this instance we were asked by the Canadian Government to renovate the site on their behalf as they were naturally very interested in the grave of Lieutenant-Colonel Dunn, their first V.C.

In 1982 our agents in Ethiopia were able to carry out this work and it was hoped they would be able to make periodic visits in the future, but because this part of Ethiopia is controlled by the Ethiopian Liberation Front, further inspections have not so far been possible.

The site is some 135 kilometres from Asmara. We know that the inscription of the stone reads:

'In memory of A R Dunn V.C.

Colonel 33rd Rt who died at

Senafe on the 25 Jan'y 1868.'

The Cemetery is known to have been renovated twice during the time of the Italian Administration, once in 1926 by the Officers of the 6th Native Battalion and later in 1927. In 1942 it was again renovated on the orders of the G.O.C., Eritrea."

Further information

Dunn's sword

Dunn carried a sword longer than the regulation length type and there is a story that this sword originally belonged to General Wolfe and said to have been carried by him on the Heights of Abraham at Quebec. This is said to have disappeared after the battle and was not seen again until it turned up in Dunn's possession, Being a Canadian-born family the possibilities are there...

Extract from the memoirs of R.S.M George Loy Smith, published in 1987 under the title of A Victorian R.S.M..

"At the time of disembarkation in the Crimea proper – It was now that Lieutenant Dunn offered me his regimental sword, he having provided himself with a second before leaving England. I gladly accepted it (it being far superior to my own) and have never since worn any other."

Extract from a letter sent to the Editor of the "Army and Navy Gazette" and published in that journal on the 9th of September 1894:

"Sir, – In the Illustrated London News (the American edition) of September the 1st, I found an elaborate description of what was called "General Wolfe's sword" and a statement that the same had been purchased by the Canadian Minister of Militia.

May I be permitted to express the opinion that the sword in question never belonged to General Wolfe and that the Minister has been imposed upon.

The "News" states that on the General being carried off the field his sword was left on the ground. This is possible, certainly, but improbable. It then goes on to say – "The heavy tramp of battalions and the placing of artillery to complete the demolition of the citadel which formed the French head-quarters, completely hid the weapon and it lay there for 90 years..."

Now, I ask your readers, what would have been left of a sword blade that had been in the ground for 90 years. Nothing, I contend, but rust. Depend upon it, that sword if found as stated, was placed there to be found, just like so much gold and silver in certain mines.

The "News" goes on to say that Major (Lieutenant-Colonel) Dunn of the 100th and 33rd Regiments, made the sword "terrible to the enemy's of the country" at the Balaclava Charge.

Now, just fancy a subaltern charging a battery with a sword that had reposed in the ground for 90 years.

I knew Dunn, and served with him in his last campaign, I need hardly add that he was not the man to be guilty of such an absurdity.

Altogether, this yarn is a tough one, – apparently not too tough for the Minister of the Militia – but too tough, I am sure, to be digested by most of your readers and by...

[Signed] 'Grandad' "

The Editor of the "A. and N.G." added:

"We believe the sword stated to be that of Wolfe, was not in Lieutenant Dunn's possession until after the Crimean campaign; Lieutenant Dunn used a special sword, longer than the service pattern."

On the 29th of September, a Lieutenant-Colonel C.M. Warde sent the Editor of the "A. & N.G." a copy of the letter he had sent to the "Illustrated News", in which he said that "the relics of General Wolfe came into the possession of a General George Warde, who was the executor of Wolfe's will, and then into the possession of the writer's grand-father, who presented the sword worn by Wolfe to the United Services Museum."

He quoted three letters from the U.S.I. between the 17th October 1836 and the 21st November 1836, acknowledging the gift of the sword, and that it had been duly ticketed and deposited in a glass case at the Museum...

An official catalogue of the Museum published in November of 1908 lists as Item 208:

"Short sword, or hanger, worn by Major-General James Wolfe when he fell in the hour of victory at Quebec on the 13th September 1859. It was given by his mother to his school-fellow and friend, General the Hon. George Warde, Colonel of the 4th Dragoon Guards. It bears the inscription: "Heinrich Koll me fecit. Heinrich Koll. Solingen." Given by George Warde, Esq."

Extracts from the Illustrated London News for the 18th of August and the 22nd of September 1894:

"The Sword of General Wolfe

"Whatever may be the future of the North American continent the conquest of Quebec will always remain one of the world's historical landmarks, in that it put an end, once and for all, to the dreams of a French dominion on Canadian soil.

Very naturally the Canadians are congratulating themselves at this moment upon having secured a reminder of that great event in the sword which was carried by the immortal Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham.

For some time past this sword has been in the hands of Messrs.

Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge, and has now been bought by the Hon J.C. Patterson, Dominion Minister of Militia, to be placed, no doubt, among other trophies of its kind in the library of the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa.

It is an excellent specimen of an officer's sword of the period, with a hilt of silver and a three-cornered blade.

The history of this relic is a curious one. It appears from documents which have been preserved that for nearly a century it lay beneath the ground on the very spot on the Plains of Abraham where Wolfe fell mortally wounded on September 13th 1759.

It was, it will be remembered, in the very heat of the engagement with the French troops under Montcalm that Wolfe received his fatal wound. Of the two previous wounds he had taken no heed, though one was in the groin. Hastily covering the trace of them with his handkerchief, and bidding those about him to say nothing on the subject lest his soldiers should grow faint-hearted he led his favourite Grenadiers to the charge.

But a third ball completely overcame him: he was led a little to the rear and disencumbered of his arms and accoutrements by his attendants and servants, and when the welcome cry had come, "They run. They run", the lifeless corpse was borne away to the flag-ship in the St. Lawrence river below without a thought of the sword which had been hastily thrown down on the damp earth.

The heavy tramp of the battalions and the planting of artillery to complete the demolition of the citadel which formed the French head-quarters completely hid the weapon from sight, and there it lay for ninety years or so, until the foundations were dug for the monument which marks in one obelisk the bravery of the French and English alike.

It was taken to a Montreal gun-smith and by him sold to Mr. Stewart Derbishire, for many years the Queen's printer in Canada.

Shortly afterwards the 100th Regiment was raised in Canada to proceed to the Crimea [sic] and it was then presented to Major Dunn in the hope that he would, to use Mr. Derbishire's own words, "again make it terrible to the enemies of our country." It is believed to have been used by Major Dunn in the terrible charge of the Six Hundred at Balaclava, and it is fitting that the Victoria Cross which that gallant officer received from the hands of his Sovereign should pass with the sword and other medals into the proud care of the Canadian people."

The Battle of the Swords

One would expect a Minister of Militia to know a sword when he sees it, and would certainly expect the Minister of Militia for Canada to make sure that when he purchased the weapon of the greatest hero in Canadian history he got what he wanted.

Yet the experts of the United Services Institution declare that when the Hon. James C. Patterson bought the sword as described in the Illustrated London News for the 18th of August, to place it among Canada's historical relics as the sword with which the gallant Wolfe died fighting on the Heights of Abraham in 1759, he paid good money for naught.

In their museum, they claim, is the real sword, and if we put on one side the authority of the Minister of the Militia as one who should know the sword of General Wolfe when he sees it, the Institution certainly has a strong case. At any rate, we have here all the elements of a very pretty battle of relics.

The history of the sword which took the fancy of the Canadian Minister of Militia, and should now be stimulating Canadians to all manner of heroic deeds, will be remembered. It was picked up on the field of battle, almost one hundred years after the event, exactly on the spot, or so it is said, where Wolfe fell mortally wounded.

It is easy to understand that in the hurry of battle the sword even of a dying commander might have been covered up by loose earth, and so remain hidden for a long period of years. This was the case for the relic now at Ottawa. It remained just under the surface until excavations were made for a memorial stone.

Next, the sword passed into the hands of Major Dunn, one of the heroes of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, and has now gone to take its place in Canada's national archives. There is nothing improbable in this story, but now there is something more probable in the history of the weapon which has lain, almost unnoticed amongst the other relics of its kind, in the Museum of the United Services at Whitehall, London, and is now only brought into the full light of publicity to dash the hopes of patriotic Canadians to the ground.

In the first place, it claims an excellent descent. The attached label tells us that it was "The sword worn by General Wolfe when he fell at Quebec, 13th September 1759; presented to George Warde, Esq. who was Wolfe's friend during life and the executor of his will, to whom the sword came direct from the mother of Wolfe himself." On the grounds therefore, of descent, the case for the Wolfe sword is a strong one.

The question of dates is also important. The Dunn sword now in Ottawa, lay for one hundred years on the field of battle, that is, until 1850; but the Warde sword was actually in the Museum of the Institution in London in 1836, or fourteen years before the Dunn weapon was unearthed on the Heights of Abraham.

Then the swords themselves present a curious difference. The Dunn sword is said to be of a type generally in use amongst French and Spanish soldiers in the last century, and most probably, as the advocates of the Warde sword suggest, belonged to one the French officers engaged at the battle of Quebec.

The Warde sword on the other hand, is very like a hanger, a short sword about two feet in length, such as the British officers were in the habit of carrying, together with a rifle. No doubt we shall hear from the Minister of Militia, but the case seems strong against him, and we are afraid he cannot escape from the dilemma in the happy way of the Roman prelates, who, when asked to explain how there could be two holy coats, one at Treves and one at Argenteuil, placidly explained that both were genuine; they were worn together, or at least one was worn at one time and one at another.

Wolfe could hardly have carried a long sword as well as a rifle and hangar; and there is no record of him changing weapons during the short sharp engagement.

There is one suggestion however, which may be thrown out as a compromise. French Canadians are very anxious to suggest that the sword of the French commander, General Montcalm, should now be found and placed side by side with that of General Wolfe.

The Dunn sword is a very handsome weapon, with some appearance, it is said, of French origin. Why not accept it as the sword of Montcalm, and try to come to terms with the United Services Institute to secure the Warde weapon as a relic of Wolfe.

The two swords would then repose side by side at Ottawa, and perpetuate good-will between the two races."

A Canadian source (March 2001) states:

"The sword of Lt. Alexander Roberts Dunn, VC. is currently on public display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. The sword, complete with scabbard, is a Light Cavalry Officer's 1822 pattern and has a blade nearly 3 inches longer than the regulation.

Despite the myth propagating a link with General James Wolfe, who captured Quebec in 1759, this story can have no basis in fact. The sword was presented to the Canadian Museum's predecessor, the Military Museum, in 1894 by E.O Davis, late of the 100th Regiment, a unit raised by Dunn himself.

Whilst I can offer no evidence to support the belief that the sword was presented to [sic] Dunn by Sergeant Major Loy-Smith in the Crimea, another link between the two soldiers can be found in a camp stool that is now displayed besides the sword.

According to the Testimonial that accompanies the chair it was given by Dunn " to his Sergeant-Major George Loy Smith whose widow now sends it to this Museum." The document is again sighed by the same E.O. Davies and dated "Sydenham, England, 20th September 1894." At some stage the initials "AD" have been carefully carved in the wooden legs of the folding chair, perhaps during a long day at Sebastopol."

See also the record of 766 George Loy Smith, 11th Hussars regarding a sword and as to the disposal of some of his property after his death)

Dunn's Star

In September 1969 a letter was written to the Editor of the Journal of the Orders and Medals Research Society, in which the writer, after explaining that he was in possession of a photograph of Dunn's medals, queried the origin of the Star which is with them. The School authorities said it was for saving life under fire, but do not know by whom it was presented.

A later letter in answer to this stated that the writer also possessed a similar Star and was also unable to trace the origin.

He described the item as being a seven-pointed star, executed in silver, in the centre of which there is a raised medallion holding a red enamelled crucifix on a white enamelled background. Surrounding this are the words "In Hoc Signo Vinces" and in the space left are two laurel branches crossing at the stems. The star has a pin brooch. The Star in the possession of the writer of the second letter is hall-marked as made in London in 1878, some ten years after Dunn's death."

A further letter stated that:

"According to the Journal of the Leinster regiment for January of 1911, Dunn's medals included the four clasp Crimea, the Turkish medal, the Abyssinian medal and the Star of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem...Oddly enough, I see that with the group loaned to the Centenary Exhibition by the Dominion of Canada there was a Sardinian War medal, although Dunn was not entitled to this, and there was no Star."

Extract from a Press release issued by the Canadian Department of Public Records and Archives (Historical Branch), 4th of November 1966:

Historical Plaque Unveiled In Canada Commemorates Canada's First Victoria Cross.

On Sunday, the November 13th, at 2 p.m. a historical plaque commemorating Alexander Dunn, Canada's first winner of the Victoria Cross, was unveiled in Clarence Square, at the south-east corner of Clarence Square and Spadia Avenue, opposite Wellington Street, Toronto. The plaque is one of a series of such markers to be erected throughout the Province by the Department of Tourism and Information...

[A list of the more prominent people present follows.]

The plaque was unveiled by Major B. Handley, V.C. Sergeant-at-Arms of the Provincial Legislature. The historical plaque bears the following inscription:

CANADA'S FIRST VICTORIA CROSS. – Born in 1835, a short distance south of this site, Alexander Dunn was educated at Upper Canada College and Harrow, England. In 1853 he was commissioned Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars.

A participant in the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on October 25th 1854, he saved the life of two men of his regiment by cutting down their Russian attackers, and thus became Canada's first winner of the newly-created Victoria Cross.

In 1858 Dunn helped to raise the 100th Royal Canadian Regiment, and which he later commanded.

In 1864 he transferred to the 33rd (Duke of Wellington's Regiment) and four years later was accidentally killed while hunting in Africa."

Much of what is already known of his background is also repeated, but one or two previously unknown points are raised. Although baptised simply Alexander, young Dunn received the middle name of Roberts, perhaps after the death of his mother in 1835, nee Charlotte Roberts.

The house in which young Alexander spent his boyhood was built in 1820-21 by his father, then newly-arrived from England. Known as "Dunstable", it stood in what is now the middle of Richmond Street, just east of Spadia Avenue, surrounded by quite extensive grounds.

Extract from an article which appeared in the "Military Mail", June 1901:

"Acknowledged as an expert swordsman, a skilful rider and an unrivalled marksman. As a young officer, to illustrate his skill he once placed a small cap case upon the head of his favourite servant and fired at it with his pistol at a range of 16 yards. Out of 40 shots he hit the case no less than 36 times – and the servant stood as steady as a rock."

Article by Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun, 1st of December 2004:

CRIMEA HERO, A LADIES' MAN

LIEUT. DUNN'S SWORD SPEARED 3 HUSSARS

By PETER WORTHINGTON, TORONTO SUN

IT SEEMS an odd thing to say, but winning the Victoria Cross was only one of the colourful aspects of Alexander Dunn's life. In 1854 he was the first Canadian to win the world's most prestigious and democratic valour award – and the only VC winner in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.

Dunn was a tall (6-foot-3), handsome, daring officer who was not shy around the ladies.

He came from a wealthy family and went to school at Upper Canada College, where his VC is on display.

At age 19 he purchased a commission in the 11th Hussars and went to war against Russia.

Timidity was never his failing, and in the Crimea Lieut. Dunn carried a sword considerably longer than regulation.

On the day of the charge – a foolhardy attack on Russian guns by the "noble six hundred" (Tennyson) – Dunn dismounted to come to the aid of a sergeant, and his long sword speared three Russian hussars.

Dunn helped the wounded sergeant on to his own horse, and went on foot to save another soldier being attacked by Russians.

Half of those who made the charge were casualties, but Dunn survived unscathed.

Within weeks, he resigned his commission and "eloped" with the wife of his colonel (!) to return to Canada.

Two years later when he came to Britain to receive the VC, the colonel whose wife he borrowed lent him his uniform for the occasion.

Dunn purchased a colonel's rank and led a regiment to Malta, then India during the mutiny, and finally to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) where he died under mysterious circumstances in 1868.

Out hunting, he was shot in the chest. Theories abounded: Suicide, an accident while trying to open a brandy bottle on the barrel of his gun, murdered by his manservant, shot by a jealous husband.

Alexander Roberts Dunn was only 35 – the son of John Henry Dunn, receiver-general of Upper Canada. His grave is at Senafe, Ethiopia, and despite efforts by some, the Canadian government has shown no interest in having his remains returned to Canada.

References & acknowledgements

Census information for 1851 kindly provided by Chris Poole.

Links

• Wikipedia: Alexander Roberts Dunn
• Lieutenant-Colonel John Douglas, 11th Hussars.
• 1260, Private Robert Levitt, 11th Hussars.

[PB: Dunn's actions appear to have been depicted on at least three cigarette cards.]

(Click on image to enlarge)

"Cigarette Card — The Charge of the Light Brigade | Wills's "Scissors" Cigarettes, "Heroic Deeds" (issued in India in 1913) #2 Lieutenant A.R.Dunn, 11th Hussars, winning the Victoria Cross during the Charge of the Light Brigade."

[Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/490610953138592082/ (accessed 3.4.2017).]

Victoria Cross Heroes, No. 21 [ADD info.]

(Click on image to enlarge)

[PB: The image at the head of this page is from the Player's series ?, published 1914?. (Other Crimea Light Brigade images are of Berryman and Farrell, and ??.

For an earlier representation of Dunn saving Bentley, see the article "VC hero cards are a collector's dream", Scunthorpe Telegraph, 6 September 2012:http://chargeofthelightbrigade.com/allmen/allmenD/allmenD_11H/dunn_a_11H/dunn_a_11H_vc_cigcard.html (accessed 17.1.2014).]