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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 976

Of Heavy Brigade interest

A pair of deed boxes, the property of General Sir Henry Dalrymple White K.C.B. (1820-86), Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons in the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, Balaklava, 25 October 1854.

Both of black-painted steel, 11 inches x 15¾ inches x 11½ inches (28 x 40 x 29cm), bearing the brass labels of Chubb & Son, 128 Queen Victoria St., St Pauls, London, and with two carrying handles labelled 'COL. H.D. WHITE. C.B.' in yellow paint dateable to 1855-68 and the other 'Genl Sir H.D. White. K.C.B 3.' in white paint, dateable to 1879-86, generally very fine, the paint a little worn with age overall and the locks either absent or non-functional (2)

Henry Dalrymple White was the eldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir John Chambers White. Following education at Harrow School and the Royal Military College Sandhurst, he was commissioned Cornet by purchase in 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons on 11 May 1838. He was promoted Lieutenant by purchase on 8 February 1839 and Captain, 17 May 1844, purchasing the Majority on 22nd December 1848 and being promoted to command his regiment in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 June 1854. His conduct at Balaklava brought him the brevet rank of colonel on 28 November 1854 and he remained with, and in command of, his regiment until the end of the war in the Crimea. Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (C.B.) on 5th July 1855, he received the Crimean War Medal with three clasps and the Turkish Crimean War Medal, as well as being appointed a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour and to the 4th class of the Turkish Order of the Medjidieh. Retiring from regimental command to half-pay in February 1858, he was appointed to the Staff as Assistant Adjutant-General of Cavalry in 1863, being given command of the Cavalry brigade in Ireland in 1866. In 1868, he was promoted major general and appointed both to command the Aldershot Cavalry brigade and fill the post of Inspector-General of Cavalry, finally retiring in 1870. Appointed colonel of 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) in 1873, he transferred to the colonelcy of 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons the following year, retaining the appointment until his death. Promoted lieutenant-general and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) in 1877, he was promoted general in 1879. He died in Bournemouth in 1886.

Offered with the undress ribbon and buckle of a C.B. (discovered inside one of the boxes upon their acquisition by the current owner) and extracts from the Regimental history mentioning General White's service.

NB: an 1822 pattern heavy cavalry officer's sword once owned by General White is in the collections of the National Army Museum (Acc. No. 2002-11-747-1).



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Sold for
£110