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General Sir James Frankfort Manners Browne, K.C.B., shows the following dates of rank, campaign service, and army appointments related to his service in the British Army:[1]
James Frankfort Manners Browne was born in 1823 in Dublin, Ireland.
He was the son of the Honourable the Dean of Lismore. He began wearing the
Queen's uniform in 1838 when, at the age of 15, he entered the Royal Military
Academy at Woolwich.
Browne was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on the
1st of January 1842 and was promoted to Lieutenant on the 1st of April 1845
and to Captain on the 7th of February 1854. About the time of his promotion
to Captain, the British Army was sending troops to fight the Russians in
the Crimea. Captain Browne, however, did not arrive in the Crimea until
early February 1855. He landed in the Crimea with the 1st Company Royal
Sappers and Miners, and served for nearly six months in the trenches before
Sebastopol.
On the 22nd of March and again on the 5th of April 1855 the Russians
made major sorties against the British positions before Sebastopol. Captain
Browne was present for both of these actions. He was also in charge of one
of the working parties of Engineers at the capture and defence of the Quarries
on the 7th of June 1855, for which he was honourably mentioned in despatches
and received the Brevet of Major. According to the Corps History the troops
attacking the Quarries were commanded by Colonel Shirley of the 88th Regiment
of Foot. He was assisted by Lieutenant Colonel R. Tylden, R.E., who guided
him as to the points of the attack and the distribution of troops in the
assault. The Royal Engineers employed in this operation under Lieutenant
Colonel Tylden were Captain Browne and Lieutenant Howard C. Elphinstone in
charge of the working parties, and Lieutenant J.G. Lowry as guide to the
attacking column. Lieutenant Colonel Tylden made the following report on
the operations:
The enemy's 'ambuscade' known as the Quarries, and the adjoining trenches
in front of the left of the right attack, were stormed and carried yesterday
evening about 7 p.m., by a party of 400 men from the Light and Second Divisions.
A good lodgement has been formed on our right of the Quarries, and the
communication thereto from the left advanced sap has been made good. Our
troops are at present in occupation of the Quarry lodgement, covering their
left, extending from thence to the right along the reverse of the enemy's
trench to his salient rifle pit at the centre. The whole of these works
of the enemy have been appropriated for our own use. The enemy's resistance
was energetic and determined, evinced, not only in defence of his Quarries,
but in the repeated efforts made during the night to retake his trenches
by turning their right, as well as by direct attacks. A reserve of 600
men formed the immediate support of the assaulting party, and a working party
of 800 men detailed for the forming of the lodgement communications, &c.,
were divided into four different parties, each for a special part of the
work. Three of these parties I brought forward in readiness to commence
work directly the enemy's trenches were taken, but such was the vigour of
the enemy's resistance and his numbers, that the assaulting party and their
reserve were insufficient to hold the captured trenches, and I quite concurred
in the necessity of those portions of the working party who were armed being
appropriated for this purpose. The last portion, 250 men, I kept in reserve
in the right ravine communication, notwithstanding that their services were
more than once urgently required as an armed party in front, and as soon
as the advance had been reinforced and regularly posted, I brought this
party forward, and with them the lodgement and communication. The former
was effected under the immediate direction of Lieut. Elphinstone, R.E.,
and when the darkness of the night and critical circumstances under which
the lodgement had to be made are considered, I think that this officer deserves
the highest praise for the creditable manner in which he executed this service.
I was glad to be able to assist Col. Shirley, who commanded the troops,
in posting them in the front, and in the orderly occupation by the reserve
of the enemy's trenches. The execution of the arrangements, as regarded
the working parties, as well as the general superintendance of the work,
is due to Captain Browne, R.E., who was the officer of Engineers in charge,
and who executed these service to my perfect satisfaction. Captain Browne
speaks in high terms of the conduct of Captain Wolseley [later Field
Marshal Lord Wolseley], 90th Regiment, Assisting Engineer, who was employed
in forming the communication to the lodgement. Lieut. Anderson, 96th Regiment,
Assisting Engineer, who is a zealous and intelligent officer, was unfortunately
hurt early in the night. We have unhappily to regret the loss of Lieut.
Lowry, R.E., an officer whose gallantry and untiring zeal, added to the
experience he possessed from many months' service in the siege, adds another
instance to recent losses in the corps which we cannot easily replace, nor
sustain without the deepest concern. Lieut. Lowry was the officer who conducted
the storming party, which service he performed in the most gallant and conspicuous
manner, and was subsequently killed by a casual shot.
Captain Browne's report differs somewhat from that of Lieutenant Colonel
Tylden with regard to Lieutenant Lowry's death. Browne wrote that:-
I have great regret in reporting to you the death of Lieut. Lowry,
R.E., who was killed whilst gallantly cheering on the men after their having
been repulsed.
Major General H.D. Jones, R.E. also praised the work of Tylden, Browne,
and Elphinstone in his report and added that:-
The Sappers and Miners were conspicuous, and by their gallantry and
zeal obtained for themselves strong marks of approbation from his Lordship,
the Field Marshal Commanding.
Lieutenant Colonel Tylden died in mid-June 1855 of wounds received during
an assault on the Redan. Captain Browne succeeded Colonel Tylden as Director
of Engineering of the Right Attack, and in the execution of the duties of
that appointment, during the 5th Bombardment of Sebastopol, was severely
wounded by a rifle ball on the 24th of August, which broke his left arm,
passed through his shoulder and injured his jaw. The nature of his wounds
was so severe that Captain Browne was evacuated from the Crimea and returned
home to England. For his war service he was awarded the Crimean Medal with
clasp [SEBASTOPOL], the Sardinian Al-Valour Militare and Turkish Crimea medals,
and the Turkish Order of Medjidie (5th Class).
Campaign medals were not Captain Browne's only rewards for this service
during the Crimean War. On the 17th of July he was appointed a Brevet Major
as a reward for this outstanding service. On the 2nd of August 1856 he
was made a Knight (5th Class) of the Order of the Legion of Honour by the
French government. This honour was confered upon him by a representative
of Her Majesty Queen Victoria at Whitehall in London. A further reward
for his war service was given to him on the 26th of December 1856 when he
was given a promotion to the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel.
Browne was promoted to the rank of Brevet Colonel on the 26th of December
1864. In 1866 he was appointed to the position of Assistant Adjutant General
of the Royal Engineers. On the 22nd of February 1870 he was appointed to
the rank of Temporary Major General and in 1871 he was made the Deputy Adjutant
General of the Royal Engineers. On the 1st of June 1873, while serving in
this latter capacity, Browne was given a promotion to the substantive rank
of Colonel.
In January of 1876 Major General Browne was assigned as the Commander
Royal Engineers and Colonel on the Staff of the South East District at Dover.
After serving in this capacity for about four and a half years, Major General
Browne was appointed Governor of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich
on the 2nd of June 1880. What followed now in his career was a series of
rapid promotions starting with his appointment to the rank of Temporary
Lieutenant General on the 13th of August 1881, promotion to the substantive
rank of Lieutenant General on the 22nd of August 1881, and appointment to
the rank of Temporary General on the 26th of April 1882. It would take almost
six years before he was finally promoted to the substantive rank of full
General on the 12th of February 1888. He retired from the Army shortly thereafter,
on the 5th of May 1888.
As a retired officer, General Browne was appointed the Colonel Commandant
of the Corps of Royal Engineers on the 6th of April 1890. He had reached
the pinnacle of his career - the senior ranking Engineer Officer in the
Army - 48 years after being commissioned into the Corps.
General Browne's final reward came in 1894 when he was appointed a Knight
Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).
At the time of his retirement, General Browne was a widower. He had
two daughters. His address was listed as 19 Roland Gardens, South Kensington,
London. He was a member of the United Services Club. As a young man General
Browne had been active in all kinds of field sports. He was an avid big
game hunter and shot buffalo and wapiti on the plains of North America as
well as moose in Nova Scotia.
General Sir James Frankfort Manners Browne, KCB died on the 6th of February
1911 at the age of 88.
UNIFORM DETAILS:[2]
In the photograph, Browne is wearing the 1857 pattern full dress uniform
of a Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers serving with troops, as denoted by
the 1857 pattern busby on the table. The tunic is of scarlet cloth edged
with blue velvet, single-breasted, with buttons 2 inches apart. The collar
and cuffs are also of blue velvet. There is a round back gold cord on the
edge of the collar and collar seam with his badge of rank (a crown) in silver
embroidery on the collar. The shoulder knot is of round back gold cord with
a triple twist and silver embroidered grenade. The busby is of picked seal
skin, 8 inches high in front and 9-1/2 inches high in back, with a light
blue bag hanging over the right side and hooked down to the busby. The busby
has a leather chin strap, and a gilt grenade on the left side to hold the
6-inch white goat's hair plume. The trousers are dark blue with a scarlet
stripe, rather than the regulation gold lace stripe, down the outer seam.
The sword is the regulation pattern blade for infantry, 32-1/2 inches long
by 1-1/8 inches wide, with a hilt of rolled gilt metal, with a scroll pattern,
pierced and engraved. The sword is in a brass scabbard and the sword knot
is of round gold cord with an acorn tip.
1. Who Was Who, 1897-1916, p. 94.
2. Hart's Annual Army List, 1906, pp. 204, 217 and 870.
6. Hart's Army List, January 1876, p. 108.
7. Monthly Army List, March 1882, p. 39.
8. The Royal Engineers Monthly List, January 1910, p. xxxv.
1. Kealy, P.H., The Uniforms of the Corps of Royal Engineers up to 1914, The Institution of Royal Engineers, Chatham, Kent, 1934, pp. 507-509.