Lieutenant-Colonel J. North Crealock & Maj-Gen. H. Crealock

Last edited by littlehand on Fri Dec 17, 2010 12:24 am; edited 1 time in total

"John North Crealock, the third son of William Belto n Crealock, was born on 21 May 1836 and in 1849 followed his brothers to Rugby School. On 13 October 1854 his father purchased for him the rank of Ensign in the 95th Derbyshire Regiment (later the Sherwood Foresters, formed in 1881 from the 45th and 95th Regiments). Four years later he was promoted to Lieutenant and the following year became an Inspector of Musketry at Aldershot.

In 1857 his Regiment sailed for the Cape of Good Hope but on arrival they were re-routed to India, where the Mutiny had broken out. The 95th Regiment landed at Bombay and became part of the Rajputana Field Force, whose task it was to round up the insurgents outside Gwalior. The first success was the capture of Kotch, where the Maharaja had surrendered to th e mutineers. Eventually Gwalior was captured, but John North was wounded and took no further part in the campaign. He wrote a vivid illustrated diary," full of humane touches concerning the various people involved in the campaign. This diary tells us much more about John North than the campaign, during which he was thrice mentioned in despatches. His later campaign diaries and no tes are of a purely military nature.

In 1860 John North was appointed Inspector of Musketry, first to the Bombay Presidency and then to the Bombay Northern District. From December 1862 to May 1864 he was Aide-de-Camp to Sir William Mansfield, Comman der-in- Chief Bombay. He continued to serve in India and attended Staff College in 1868. He then returned to England and on 20 May 1869, at St Michael's Church, Chester Square, married Marion Lloyd. They had three sons. The eldest was John Mansfield Stradling, born in Dublin in 1871,named Mansfield after his father's Commander-in-Chief in India. The second son was Henry Keith Thesiger who died at the age of eight. The third son, Malcolm Elphinstone Fleming, became a lawyer. In 1870 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to General Officer Commanding Ireland and from 1871 to 1875 he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at Aldershot. He was promoted Major in 1875 and in 1877 he became Deputy Adjutant Quartermaster-General at Army Headquarters, Aldershot.

During the 9th Frontier War (also called the Kaffir or Xhosa War, and later the Border War), in March 1878, John North was posted to South Africa as Assistant Military Secretary to Lieutenant-General The Honourable Frederick Thesiger (who became Lord Chelmsford). Of this campaign John North wrote a very full account. In 1879, with the conclusion of the Frontier War, Lord Chelmsford was posted to Natal to cope with rising Zulu discontent on the borders and John North, now a Lieutenant-Colonel,
accompanied him as Military Secretary. The ensuing campaign gave John North adequate time for sketching and recording, as the forwarding of military supplies by ox-wagon over very rough country took so lo ng. The first illu strations of Rorke's Drift to appear in the Illuistrated London News were based on sketches by John North. Though he wrote no journal, his letters to Arthur Harness provide a vivid account of the campaign.` John North's brother, Henry Hope, was in command of the force proceeding up the coast from Durban, while John North was with Chelmsford on the way to Ulundi. Sir Garnet Wolseley, as we have seen, took a dislike to both brothers, writing: 'They are both snobs and, as they were not born gentlemen, they cannot help it.' John North was known as 'the wasp' and Wolseley described him as Chelmsford's
'evil genius' Nonetheless he was thrice mentioned in despatches. On the boat home he spent time sketching and many of these sketches were offered as prizes for sporting and other events during the voyage.

After the Zulu War, John North took over command of what became the 2nd Battalion Sherwood Foresters and was promoted full Lieutenant- Colonel and later Brevet Colonel. He commanded the Battalion in Gibraltar and in Alexandria in 1882, and was awarded the campaign medal with Khedive Star. The regimental history records:
There can be but few in the Battalion, who did not feel they were better soldiers for having known so progressive and so appreciative a commanding officer.

In 1887 he once again returned to Staff appointments in England and in 1892 was promoted to Major-General before going to Madras in 1893. He died at Rawalpindi on 26 April 1895, aged 58, and was buried in the churchyard at Littleham alongside his young son Keith and, later, his wife. There is a memorial window to him in the Catholic church at Bideford."

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"British General. An important participant in several of the British Army's most notable campaigns of the nineteenth century, he was commissioned an Ensign in the 95th Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) on October 13, 1854 and promoted to Lieutenant in 1858. Beginning in 1857, he served in India where he and his regiment participated in putting down the Indian Mutiny; during which he was was mentioned in dispatches three times and was wounded in action. In Bombay, he was Inspector of Musketry from 1860 to 1862, and Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to Lieutenant General William Rose Mansfield (1st Baron Sandhurst), Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay district, from 1862 to 1864. In 1868, he attended Staff College in India and the following year he was again appointed Aide-de-Camp to General William Rose Mansfield who had just become Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Ireland. From November 16, 1871 to May 19, 1875, he was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at Aldershot (the traditional homeland base garrison of the British Army). Promoted to Major on March 30, 1875, and in 1877 he became Deputy Adjutant Quartermaster General at Aldershot. In 1878, he was posted to South Africa where he served during the Ninth Frontier War (Xhosa War) as assistant military secretary to Lieutenant General Sir Frederic Augustus Thesiger (who soon became the 2nd Baron Chelmsford). He then served throughout the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, in which he held the rank of brevet Lieutenant Colonel and was military secretary to Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford. He was with Lord Chelmsford and half of the divided column which departed the camp at Isandhlwana on the morning of January 22, 1879 in search of the Zulu army, and during their absence the camp was overrun by the enemy and its British, Colonial, and African allies massacred. The following day, Chelmsford, Crealock, and the surviving half-column arrived at Rorke's Drift immediately after the infamous battle there which resulted in the award of eleven Victoria Crosses. A gifted artist (like his older brother Lieutenant General Henry Hope Crealock, who also served during the Anglo-Zulu War), his sketches of Rorke's Drift following the battle were the basis for the first images of the battleground appearing in "The Illustrated London News." Crealock was wounded at the battle of Gingindlovu on April 2, 1879, present at the relief of the besieged garrison at Eshowe on April 3, 1879, and was at the battle of Ulundi on July 4, 1879 which ultimately ended the Anglo-Zulu War. During the war, he was again mentioned in dispatches three times. He went to great lengths to shield Lord Chelmsford from any responsibility for the disastrous British defeat at the battle of Isandhlwana. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and on July 21, 1880 he was given command of the Second Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters. In 1882, he led his battalion during the Anglo-Egyptian War and held the command at Alexandria. He subsequently commanded the 45th Regimental District, at Derby, from November 24, 1885 to March 31, 1887. From April 1, 1887 to May 22, 1890 he was Assistant Adjutant General at Aldershot, and from May 23, 1890 to February 29, 1892 he was Assistant Quartermaster General at Aldershot. He next commanded the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Aldershot from April 1, 1892 to October 20, 1893. Promoted to Major General in 1892. He held commands in Burma from 1893 to 1895, and in Bengal, India from March 19, 1895 until his death at 56 years of age. He was the author and illustrator of "The Frontier War Journal of Major John Crealock, 1878: A Narrative of the Ninth Frontier War by the Assistant Military Secretary to Lieutenant General Thesiger," and "The Road to Ulundi: The Water-colour Drawings of John North Crealock" (both published posthumously). For his services to Great Britain, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)"
Source: Find a Grave.

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KEITH HENRY THESKER CREALOCK 1872-1880
Son of Lieutenant John North Crealock.

"St Giles Church
Village St
Normanton-by-Derby
DERBYSHIRE
England
DE23 8DE
Board/Plaque/Tablet
Church of England
On the South wall of the South aisle.

Inscription
ERECTED BY HIS COMRADES IN ARMS/ TO THE MEMORY OF/ MAJOR GENERAL JOHN NORTH CREALOCK, C.B. P.S.C./ WHO JOINED THE XCV REGIMENT AS ENSIGN 13. OCT. 1854,/ AND COMMANDED IT FROM JULY 1880 TO JULY 1885./HE WAS APPOINTED BREVET MAJOR 5. JULY 1872, BREVET LT. COLONEL, 1878 AND/ MAJOR GENERAL 1891. HE SERVED IN THE INDIAN MUTINY 1858-9 AT/ THE SEIGE AND CAPTURE OF KOTAH, CAPTURE OF CHUNDAREE, BATTLE/ OF KOTAH-KE-SERAI (WOUNDED), OPERATIONS RESULTING IN THE CAPTURE/ OF GWALIOR, SEIGE AND CAPTURE OF POWRIE, AND THE AFFAIR OF/ KOORIDYE, THREE TIMES MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES, MEDAL WITH CLASP,/ SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 1878-9, KAFFIR CAMPAIGN, ZULU CAMPAIGN, ACTIONS/ OF INYEZANA, GINGINHLOVO (WOUNDED), RELIEF OF ETSHOWE, BATTLE/ OF ULUNDI, THREE TIMES MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES, MEDAL WITH/ CLASP, C.B. EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN 1882, IN COMMAND OF THE 2ND. BATTN./ DERBYSHIRE REGIMENT (XCV), COMMANDANT AT ALEXANDRIA AND MEX,/ MEDAL AND BRONZE STAR. HE ALSO SERVED AS INSPECTOR OF/ MUSKETRY, ALDERSHOT 1855-6, AND N. DIVN. BOMBAY 1860-62. A.D.C./ TO LIEUT. GENERAL, BOMBAY 1862-64, A.D.C. TO G.O.C. FORCES IN/ IRELAND 1870-71. D.A.A.G. ALDERSHOT 1871-75. D.A.Q.M.G. (INTELL./ BRANCH, ARMY HEAD QUARTERS), ASST. MILY. SECY. CAPE OF/ GOOD HOPE 1978-79, MILY. SECY. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 1879, A.A.G./ ALDERSHOT 1887-90 A.Q.M.G. ARMY HEAD QUARTERS 1890-92,/ MAJ. GENERAL COMMANDING 2. INFANTRY BRIGADE, ALDERSHOT/ 1892-93, MAJ. GENERAL COMMANDING BURMAH DISTRICT 1893-95,/ MAJ. GENERAL COMMANDING RAWAL PINDI DISTRICT 1895, AT WHICH/ PLACE HE DIED ON THE 24. APRIL 1895, REGRETTED BY ALL WHO KNEW HIM./ HE WAS A SOLDIER ABOVE THE ORDINARY AND ONE WHOSE/ SERVICES HIS COUNTRY COULD ILL AFFORD TO LOSE."
War Memorial Archives

Posted on behalf of forum member Littlehand.

Posts : 3385 Join date : 2009-03-03 Location : Devon

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Lt.Col. J. Crealock 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment, Military Secretary to Lord Chelmsford & present at Gingindlovu & Ulundi - Memorial Window (Bideford)
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Lt.Col. J. Crealock 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment, Military Secretary to Lord Chelmsford & present at Gingindlovu & Ulundi (Littleham)
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» Lieutenant-Colonel J. North Crealock, Acting Military Secretary.
» Lieutenant-Colonel H. H. STOKES, M.B
» Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel D. B. Brown.