More on Colonel Harris
July 2, 2018 - The Chairman in News & Blog Posts, Chairman's Blog
I have discovered more about Captain Harris whose coateee was recently DNA tested. Having been wounded he was left in the open on the battlefield overnight and was only found by his Brigade Commander, Hussey Vivian and his cousin Clement Wallington. Harris was so weak he could only whistle quietly but this was enough to save him.
He was taken back to Hougoumont where his arm was instantly amputated. He showed some style when he asked the surgeon to return the limb to him so he could shake it by the hand “once more before parting”. He lived to the ripe old age of 87, which is quite something for those days.
Being well acquainted with Blücher and having served with distinction in the 1814 campaign with the Prussians he must be one of very few British officers to ever have been awarded the Pour Le Merité. In the lower portrait it is the decoration around his neck.
