Victoria Cross Recipient. Served in the British Army as a Lieutenant. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during the Battle of Fattehabad, Afghanistan, during the Second Afghan War (1878-79), when he took command of the cavalry of (Queen Victoria's Own) Corps of Guides after the commander had been mortally wounded, and saved the life of one of his troopers who had been unhorsed and surrounded by Afghans. His greatest fame came as commander of a military detachment of the Corps of Guides, for the British Resident at Kabul. On September 3, 1879 the 70-odd members of the Residency were attacked by thousands of Afghans. He and the vast majority of the defenders were killed, with Lieutenant Hamilton himself falling in hand-to-hand combat. The exact location of his grave is unknown; his body was disposed of (probably burned) in the ruins of the Residency compound. The character "Wally" in M. M. Kaye's "The Far Pavilions" was based on Lt. Hamilton.
Victoria Cross Recipient. Served in the British Army as a Lieutenant. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery during the Battle of Fattehabad, Afghanistan, during the Second Afghan War (1878-79), when he took command of the cavalry of (Queen Victoria's Own) Corps of Guides after the commander had been mortally wounded, and saved the life of one of his troopers who had been unhorsed and surrounded by Afghans. His greatest fame came as commander of a military detachment of the Corps of Guides, for the British Resident at Kabul. On September 3, 1879 the 70-odd members of the Residency were attacked by thousands of Afghans. He and the vast majority of the defenders were killed, with Lieutenant Hamilton himself falling in hand-to-hand combat. The exact location of his grave is unknown; his body was disposed of (probably burned) in the ruins of the Residency compound. The character "Wally" in M. M. Kaye's "The Far Pavilions" was based on Lt. Hamilton.
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Records on Ancestry
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