3-065-818 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Lieutenant Lord Gifford, V.C., 24th Regiment, 1874. Engraving from a photograph by Messrs. Maull and Co. 'This young English nobleman...is now twenty-four years of age. He was educated at Harrow...Lord Gifford's gallant behaviour and useful service in the late campaign against the Ashantees will long be remembered to his honour...Sir Garnet appointed him leader of a party of seventy-five advance scouts or guides, who were Houssas, Opobos, Bonny men, and other native Africans of the wildest fighting disposition...Not a little of the success of Sir Garnet Wolseley's operations is due to the early and sure knowledge he gained of the enemy's movements and those of hostile or treacherous neighbours, through the frequent communications from Lord Gifford to Colonel Buller, head of the Intelligence Department. It was, of course, a service of more than ordinary personal risk, as the advance scouts, with their daring leader, were sometimes waylaid and shot at by the foe in ambush while penetrating the dense jungle of the tropical forest. More than half the band were killed or wounded; Lord Gifford happily escaped'. From "Illustrated London News", 1874.