AN IMPERIAL RUSSIAN BUGLE TAKEN DURING THE SIEGE OF SEVASTOPOL BY DRUMMER BOY McGILL OF THE 77TH (EAST MIDDLESEX) REGIMENT
AN IMPERIAL RUSSIAN BUGLE TAKEN DURING THE SIEGE OF SEVASTOPOL BY DRUMMER BOY McGILL OF THE 77TH (EAST MIDDLESEX) REGIMENT

MID-19TH CENTURY

Details
AN IMPERIAL RUSSIAN BUGLE TAKEN DURING THE SIEGE OF SEVASTOPOL BY DRUMMER BOY McGILL OF THE 77TH (EAST MIDDLESEX) REGIMENT
MID-19TH CENTURY
Of brass with applied badge embossed with an Imperial double-headed eagle to one side of the bell, and brass mouth-piece
10.5/8 in. (27 cm.) long
Provenance
Presented to The Hon. Charlotte Somerset (b. 1815), eldest daughter of Lord FitzRoy Somerset, by Lieut.-General Sir George Brown who in turn had been given it by Drummer Boy McGill.
Deposited with the Royal United Service Institution by Lt. Col. George Somerset, 3rd Baron Raglan, between 1895 and 1908; removed by Major FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan, in October 1952.
Literature
Lieut.-Col. Sir A. Leetham, Official Catalogue of the Royal United Service Museum, Whitehall, S.W., 3rd Edition, 1908, p. 204, no. 3076; and subsequent editions.

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Lot Essay

The entry from the museum catalogue notes the following concerning the present lot:
"Russian Bugle taken during the Siege of Sevastopol by Drummer Boy McGill, 77th Regiment. On the night of the attack on 19th April, 1855, a Russian Bugler was in the act of sounding, when McGill, a boy of 15, who was acting as Orderly Bugler to Colonel Egerton, commanding the Regiment, rushed forward into the enemy's Rifle pits, seized his antagonist and after a severe struggle, threw him, kept him down until he surrendered, when the lad took his bugle as a trophy, and returned to his C.O.'s side until the Colonel fell. The Boy had on previous occasions distinguished himself, and on this occasion severely wounded a Russian soldier who tried to prevent the capture. He presented the Bugle to Lieut.-General Sir George Brown, who gave it to The Honourable Charlotte Somerset. The Boy was mentioned in despatches and received English and Turkish Medals, and the French Medal for Valour."

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