Thomas Henry Kavanagh VC (15 July 1821 – 13 November 1882) was a member of the Bengal Civil Service and Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry which can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He is one of only five civilians to have ever been awarded the VC.

Early life

Thomas Henry Kavanagh was born in 1821 in Mullingar.

Indian Mutiny

thumb|right|Kavanagh being disguised as a sepoy during the [[Siege of Lucknow]]

Kavanagh was a 36-year-old civilian in the Bengal Civil Service, an assistant commissioner in Oudh during the Indian Mutiny, when the following deed took place on 9 November 1857 at the Siege of Lucknow, India for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross:<blockquote>

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An erratum appeared in a later edition of the London Gazette stating that the deed was actually performed on 9 November as follows:

He was nicknamed by the British press as Lucknow Kavanagh.

He was an active freemason, and member of Morning Star No. 552 E.C.

Later life

In addition to the Victoria Cross, Kavanagh was promoted to be an assistant commissioner in Oudh, and helped in the suppression of scattered mutineers.

In fiction

Kavanagh appears in George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman in the Great Game in which he is portrayed as a bungling glory-seeker who has to be led through the enemy lines by a reluctant and terrified Flashman.

Sources

  • The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)

References

  • Thomas Henry Kavanagh VC
  • National Army Museum