Lord Fitzroy Somerset married in the August of that year the second daughter of Lord Mornington, and thus became the nephew, by marriage, of the Duke of Wellington. None then dreamed what misfortune awaited the young bridegroom within the first year of his marriage. On Napoleon’s return from Elba, the Secretary went out with the Commander-in-Chief, and as his aide, he was on the field during the three days of June, which ended the war.
The Duke was wont to offer to bear the responsibility of an omission in the Battle of Waterloo—the neglecting to break an entrance in the back wall of the farmstead of La Haye Sainte, whereby the British occupants might have been reinforced and supplied with ammunition. It was the want of ammunition which gave the French temporary possession of the place, and that temporary possession cost many lives, and Lord Fitzroy Somerset his right arm.
He came home to his bride thus maimed before he was twenty-seven, but with whatever compensation an abundance of honor could afford. For nearly forty years afterwards it was supposed by himself and the world, that his wars were ended, and he devoted himself to official service at home.
He entered Parliament in 1818. He was always in request for secretaryships at the Ordnance and to the Commander-in-Chief. He rose in military rank at intervals, and became a Lieutenant-General in the year 1838.
When the Duke of Wellington died, and Lord Hardinge was made Commander-in-Chief, Lord Fitzroy Somerset became Master-General of the Ordnance, and was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Raglan.
It presently appeared that his wars were not over. During the long interval he had sent out his eldest son in the service of his country, and lost him in the field at Ferozeshah in 1845. Nine years after this bereavement, the father went out himself once more, and this time in full command.
When war with Russia was determined on, with Lord Raglan dwelt the traditions of the Iron Duke, and no one was so thoroughly versed in the wisdom which had for seven long and hard years won the successes of the Peninsular war. No one seemed so well to know the army and its administration, and no one else so effectually combined the military and practical official characters, a combination which, if always necessary to make a good general, is most emphatically so in the country which is the scene of the present war. To Turkey, therefore, he went, and after the battles of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman, was raised to the rank of Field-Marshal.
Public opinion is divided in this country as to his merits as a general; but the sequel will show, should the war be continued, whether he is capable of occupying the place inherited from Wellington.