AN HISTORIC WATERLOO RELIC: A MOUNTED HOOF FROM 'GENERAL' RI...

Hammer

£1,600

AN HISTORIC WATERLOO RELIC: A MOUNTED HOOF FROM 'GENERAL' RIDDEN BY GENERAL FANE AT THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO IN 1815. A horse's hoof and steel shoe fitted with a finely engraved brass mount: 'General Aged 26 Years. He was ridden by General Fane at the Battle of Waterloo 1815. And finally became the property of Mr John Mills Stamford who had him shot 28 Decr. 1833'. 8cm high, 15cm front to back, 12cm wide. The Waterloo Roll records Captain Mildmay Fane with the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot (2nd Battalion), Captain Mildmay Fane's Company. Fane served with the Army from the 28th July 1814 and the Regiment from 30th March 1815. Descended from an illustrious and wealthy family Captain Fane was severely wounded at Quarter Bras before going on to become Colonel in Chief of the 54th regiment of Foot. The 44th were heavily engaged at Waterloo suffering 202 casualties from a strength of 445. Captain Fane's career in the military was long and distinguished, he is recorded on the Roll for the Military General Service Medal as being entitled to the Vittoria, St Sebastian and Nive clasp, and of course he was also awarded the Waterloo Medal. Although he is recorded as being severely wounded at Quatre Bras it is unclear what these wounds were and they certainly did not prevent him continuing with his Military Career. Raised to the rank of General in 1863 he was to be appointed as Colonel in Chief of the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment from 1860, a position he held until his death in 1868. In 1881 the Regiment was amalgamated with the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Dorsetshire Regiment. The 7th son of the Honourable Henry Fane M.P (1739-1802), and his mother Anne, the daughter of Edward Buckley Baston, Mildmay was born into a family of thirteen siblings. The family had a long and illustrious Military tradition, Sir Henry being Commander in chief in India, and his brother Charles dying in 1813 whilst fighting in the Peninsula Wars. The military tradition spanned many generations with one of his earlier forebears having led the Kings forces in the 17th Century. Mildmay, born in 1795, was also the grandson of Thomas Fane 8th Earl of West Morland, MP for the town of Lyme Regis which had been described by some as the family's 'pocket borough'. Thomas Fane was re-elected on many occasions between 1772 and 1796 during which time he is recorded as making not a single spoken contribution in the House. Best known today for having been painted alongside Inigo Jones and Charles Blair by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a most impressive work that is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The family had estates in many counties including Somerset, Dorset, Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire and numerous homes including Brympton D'Evercy, making them one of the wealthiest families in the land. Mildmay Fane's home was the magnificent Fulbeck Hall in the County of Lincolnshire, and the nearby church of St Nicholas' has many memorials to the family, the village having been home to the family since 1632. It was here that he died on March 12th 1868 at the age of 73, a result of a fall from his horse whilst out hunting. A previous census (1861) recording him as head of the household which he shared with several nieces, a great nephew and nine servants including a Butler and Footman. His own memorial in the church was erected by the officers of the 54th Regiment: 'In Memory of General Mildmay Fane, 7th Son of the Honble H. Fane of Fulbeck, who served in the peninsula at the battle of Vitoria, Assault & Capture of San Sebastian, and the battle of the Nive, also in the campaign of 1815 including the battle of Quatre Bras in which he was wounded. Died March 12th 1868, Aged 73. This tablet is erected by Officers of the 54th Regiment, who served under him as their commanding officer between 1828 and 1851 in token of their great esteem for his memory and of honor, respect and love with which they regard him'. The Fane family are of further importance to Military history through Fane's Horse, a Regiment which still exists as the 19th Lancers, an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army, and whose men, as volunteers served under General Walter Fane in the Second Opium Wars. Walter Fane being the sixth son of the Reverend Edward Fane (1782-1862), Rector of Fulbeck and Mildmay's older brother. A photograph of Mildmay taken in 1861 can be seen on the Library of 19th Century Photographs online via the following link: www.19thcenturyphotos.com/General-Mildmay-Fane-126144.htm *Condition: A finely presented hoof, the engraving very slightly rubbed but clear and legible. A fine relic from 1815.