PROJECT ONE - Orders, Decorations and Medals relating to
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
from 1795 to the present.
A sample biography from the Miscellaneous Medals section
John Fraser, 24th Foot and the 1st Ceylon Regt.
Lt., Royal East Middlesex Militia under the command of Lt.Col. Wood,
1807-1809; Ensign, 24th Foot 19.4.1809; Lt. 12.9.1811; Capt., 1st Ceylon
Regt, 28.1.1813; Brevet-Major 31.10.1818; Major 21.6.1821, Bt.Lt.Col.
24.5.1827; Col. 23.11.1841; Maj.Gen. 20.6.1854; Col., 37th Foot 11.1.1858;
Lt.Gen. 17.10.1859.
Served in the Peninsula with the 24th Foot from June 1809 to June 1813,
including the action of Foz d'Arouce, Battle of Busaco, Battle of Fuentes
d'Onor on the 3rd and 5th May 1811, the siege of Cuidad Rodrigo, covering
the siege of Badajos, Battle of Salamanca, capture of Madrid, and the siege
of Burgos.
The first assault of Burgos took place at nightfall on the 19th Sept 1812
and Lt Fraser was employed with the Light Company of the 24th Foot, under
the command of Major the Hon'ble. E. C. Cocks of the 79th Regiment, they
were directed to attack the rear of the Horn work. The assault on the Horn
work was unsuccessful and the 24th lost in this affair, five rank and file
killed and sixteen wounded. On the afternoon of the 4th Oct, the 2nd
Battalion 24th Foot were marched into the trenches, where they were
organized into two storming parties, one hundred & forty men were detailed
for the assault on the main breach led by Lt. Stephen Holmes and 58 men for
the breach expected to be made by the mine, Lt. John Fraser volunteered to
lead this party. The attack was to be delivered in daylight and many
officers of other regiments managed to find their way to the hill to witness
the assault, Wellington himself being one of those present. At 5 p.m. the
signal for the explosion was given by Col. Jones, the engineer in charge,
the mine exploded and simultaneously the 24th Foot dashed forward.
The party who made for the new breach made by the mine, led by Lt. John
Fraser, were there so soon that many were hit by the falling stones and all
were covered with dust and fragments. This did not stop them, and before the
surprised enemy could offer much resistance they were up and over the
breach. Many of the French defenders had been killed and directly Captain
Lepper and the supports joined Lt Fraser's stormers the breach was secured
and the attackers started to consolidate. The main body had a harder task,
they had farther to go and here the defenders had not been shaken by the
explosion from the mine. But, headed by Lt. Holmes they swarmed up the
breach where a savage struggle followed. The 2nd Battalion 24th Foot
maintained themselves in the captured position until nightfall and were then
relieved.
On reaching their camp they found it thronged with officers who had come to
offer their congratulations. The storm had cost the 24th Foot twelve men
killed, two officers, Captain Coote and Lt. Stack, and 56 men wounded.
On the recommendation of Lord Wellington, Lt. John Fraser was promoted to
captain in the 1st Ceylon Light Infantry, as a result of his gallant
services at Burgos.
At the end of June 1813 Capt. Fraser returned from Spain to England and was
admitted on the 9th Oct 1813 to the Senior Department of the Royal Military
College at Farnham, where he studied for two years and passed his
examination on the 27th Nov 1815 obtaining a First Certificate of
Qualification. This Certificate procured for him on arrival in Ceylon in
1816 of being placed on the General Staff by Sir Robert Brownrigg as his
A.D.C and subsequently served on the Staff as a Deputy Assistant Quarter
Master General and he was employed in this position throughout the whole of
the Kandyan war in 1817 and 1818, for his services in the latter war he was
rewarded with a Brevet Majority on the 31.10.1818 (details of his services
during the Kandyan Wars can be found in the book "The Great Rebellion of
1818" by T. Vimalananda, 1970). For his ferocity in during the rebellion, he
earned the nickname 'Cheetah' (or 'Kotiya' in Sinhalese) from the natives.
Loss of health from exposure to the climate of Ceylon compelled him to visit
the Cape of Good Hope in the spring of 1821 to recuperate and later on that
year on 21st June, he purchased a Regimental Majority in the 1st Ceylon
Regiment for 1100.00 Pounds.
By 1825 he found himself financially embarrassed and was grateful to accept
the post with an increased income in charge of the Commissariat Department
offered to him by Sir Robert Brownrigg, as Commissary General, although he
states in a letter written at Colombo on 13th Nov 1826 "Knowing however that
this is not a department to promote my professional vigors, under the
increasing anxiety of that reflection which I have not failed to express to
Sir Edward Barnes." However in a letter written by Lt.Col. Henry Hardy (WO31
604) on the 7th May 1827 the then Deputy Quarter Master General in Ceylon,
stated the he was desirous of resigning his Staff appointment and resuming
Regimental life.
On 24th May 1827 Major Fraser was appointed Dep.Quar-Mast.-General and
rewarded with a Brevet Lieutenant Colonelcy.
Major John Skinner CMG wrote in his Autobiography published in 1891 entitled
"Fifty Years in Ceylon", "When visiting the Batticaloa district in May 1862,
1 received an express, informing me that my old friend and chief, General
Fraser, was very seriously ill at Kandy, and of his urgent request that I
should return immediately. I lost no time in obeying his summons; but my
progress was limited by the inability of my travelling establishment to
advance quickly.Day after day, fresh expresses reached me with bulletins of
my friend's state. Before I reached Newera Eliya, however, to my great grief
I received the sad tidings of his death, which occurred much sooner than was
expected, and I had the mortification of hearing that during the last few
days of his life he constantly inquired when I might be expected. He must
have had a presentiment of his death, for during several previous months he
always begged me not to go away, if I could avoid it, to any great distance
from him. He was a splendid soldier, and probably one of the most
accomplished general officers in the service. He had fought with the late
Sir Charles Napier, was a great friend and correspondent of his, and not
very unlike him in character. Instead of identifying himself so completely
with Ceylon, had he returned to England after the completion of his famous
satin-wood bridge at Peradeniya, his great abilities and soldier like
qualities were such that they must have placed him in a position in his
profession which, we all thought, would have led to a peerage. It is a
drawback in the Colonial Service that an officer is tempted and beguiled to
remain on, from year to year, until his interest in a new country, in which
he is made useful, overcomes the ardour of his zeal for his profession,
which he is thus often induced to leave."
He died a Lieutenant General and Colonel of the 37th Regiment, on 29th May
1862, at Kandy, where he had large estates.
Below is a photo of Fraser's Military General Service Medal with four
clasps, Busaco, Fuentes D'Onor, Cuidad Rodrigo and Salamanca, awarded for
his service in the Peninsular War, and the original box of issue. These
items are in a Private Collection in UK. |