Absolutely incredible story!!! This is our new favorite!!! Thank you so much for keeping these brave soldiers' stories alive! And thank you for such incredible videos!!
There is one more american soldier awarded the VC. The British Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey was awarded the American Medal of Honor, whilst the following year the american Unknown Soldier in Arlington was awarded the VC.
I have never heard of this event in history until now. Seely was both an American and British sailor. He fought bravely when Americans were slaughtering each other, his story will not be forgotten. Well done, amigo I do wonder what what ever became of his VC. Maybe it is sitting in some collectors parlor somewhere else?
Still missing. If held in the US it can be sold for cash since only the MofH is illegal to trade or sell. Correct me if I am out of date but other US awards can be traded.
Went to see the grave of a VC recipient today. Philips Park cemetery, Manchester. Joshua Lodge VC fought in defence of the mission station at Rorke’s drift in the Zulu wars. Also found another chap there who got a VC in WW1 in India I think. But, was even more surprised to find John Richardson, a private who was at the charge of the light brigade. Amazing to think they took part in those momentous moments in history.
Where do you find all these remarkable stories, Chris? Yet another great video about a person and event I had not heard of previously. I look forward eagerly to your videos and have enjoyed them all immensely.
Fascinating story, I was unaware that Queen Victoria's Navy had ever fought the Japanese. Nice to see Charles Gordon get mentioned again, I wonder if you could do a video devoted to his time in China. An awful lot of VCs seem to get lost over time, hopefully this one will be recovered one day.
@@TheHistoryChap I think there a BBC story ( can be googled ) listing the countries the british didnt invade ,a princely sum of 4 - great work as always !enjoyed it immensely
@@hachimaru295 I believe that BBC docco stretches the truth somewhat. It describes territory on which battles have been fought by the British and as we were all over the globe, you can imagine battles took place on neutral ground and that's not even accounting for more recent demarcation of countries. BBC history would have you believe we conquered 99% of the world lol.
The British Army and Royal Navy have fought in every corner of God's earth. They have carried out their duties with little funding from the British parliament, often under fed and with the Redcoats macabre sense of humour in adversity. Kipling put it succinctly in his Barrack Room Balads. "It's Tommy this and Tommy that and Tommy how's yer soul but it's thin rend line of heroes when the drums begin to roll". God bless all Redcoats and Bluejackets past and present.
One of the last Americans awarded was John Marginoff (sp) for services in Korea. I was stationed at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Center in the Eastern Sierra Mtns. near Bridgeport CA in the mid 80's where he worked as a civilian maintenance employee. A bit of a crusty ole' fart but a nice guy once you got to engage in a good conversation with him. ............................. enjoy
Great presentation. By the way. A VC awarded to a RN sailor would get one with a blue ribbon. Army recipients got their VC's with the red ribbon. As an ex Sapper myself. More information about General Gordon's exploits would be fascinating.
As you will, no doubt, be aware The blue ribbon for Royal Navy VCs was only used for a short time. The generally recognised colour of the ribbon is now red and that is why I used it for a modern audience.
Very interesting story about an action I knew nothing about. On the subject of the American Civil War have you thought of doing something about the CSS Alabama. Built in Britain, her two year cruise under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes is one of the most epic sea stories ever. told. Her crew were predominately British and I'm sure some must have fascinating little known stories to tell.
Britain formally acknowledging the Confederacy was a distinct possibility. The Union victory at Antietam and the subsequent Emancipation Proclamation changed the international context and recognition became less likely.
WOW, I'd NEVER ever heard of this little conflict OR of its forgotten hero William Seeley until you posted this today, Chris dear boy, my GOD did I certainly welcome this history lesson in time for Christmas. As someone else from a few hours ago has said Seely was both an American and British sailor, who fought bravely in a little foreign conflict, one which has ties, if you could call it that, to the great Tom Cruise movie 'The Last Samurai', a film which I certainly absolutely LOVE very much, on the other side of the Pacific while his fellow Americans were slaughtering each other, brothers against brothers, North vs South, in the Civil War, his story will certainly not be forgotten. Just HOW do you keep this up, eh, Chris old chap? And to think I hadn't even heard of your channel until you did one of your Dad's Army videos on here, but now... and I've STILL to even see a tonne of what you've already done regarding, well, such as the Africa conflicts and the Crimean War for example. You certainly do know JUST how to give history lessons on conflicts we Brits were involved in and those of us in this miserable century, hahaha there, never at all heard about, I can certainly thank you very much this year for the one on the Pig War of 1859 and this one too for examples I can refer to. Merry Christmas to ya, dear boy, and hopefully we'll have one last 2023 video to enjoy from ya before the new year of 2024 is upon us 😊😊😊👍👍🤏
Funny you should say that. There is a graveyard not far from my house where a medal of honor recipient is buried. I forget the name and details but it was for a naval action during the Spanish American war, I think. I'd need to go and look at the head stone again.
Great video Chris! And love your enthusiasm, smile and cheerful attitude. As Mainwaring said when he (rather unusually) praised Walker's cheery disposition, "chaps like you are the backbone of England."
Very interesting! Who would have thought that an American was involved in an action with the Royal Navy in the 1860s against Japanese forces? Always enjoy your reports.
I was most surprised to hear he was from my own state of Maine, I feel almost ashamed of myself that I've never heard of this before, another great video helping educate very many people.
as ex ships company of HMS Euryalus (Leander Class) i am truly impressed that you got the pronunciation correct, we had a huge list of mis pronunctiations displayed in the Ships Office.
It is not unheard of to award a foreigner some medal for valour. In fact the Soviet Union awarded medals to commonwealth soldiers for their efforts in the Arctic convoys long before the Arctic Star was commissioned and any homegrown sailors received them. Some skulduggery involving David Cameron no doubt.
Glad you enjoyed. I will try to tell the story of the other 4 American recipient, who crossed the border to Canada to sign up in the early part of WW1 (before the USA got involved).
Great story, thank you. I will be looking up more details in our National Archives on the Dutch Royal Navy ships of this action. This old salt has work to do, thanks again and seasonal greetings and happy New Year.
Thank you so much for this very informative video! It is too bad the VC is missing again. I wonder if this could be brought to a major TV company’s attention? Happy New Year!
Thank you for this video. As an American the image of this young man from Massachusetts running for his life from 300 "samurai" Indiana Jones style really tickles me.
Well done, Chris! I do enjoy all of your presentations. Damn, you make military history exciting! I only can pray that there is enough young military people out there today with the kind of focus and grit to do the job if called upon to do so. Rick, the half Brit, in Orlando appreciates you.
Just came across from TheNatashaDebbieShow. Your video was amazing and very informative. You now have a new sub from NW UK, I shall be having a good mooch through your catalogue 👍😊.
I thought the first American to earn a VC was William Hall. However, although Hall was born of former slaves who fled to Canada, he himself wasn’t born an American citizen, but he did volunteer and serve with the US navy during the Mexican-American war, subsequently signing up with the Royal Navy and serving in the Crimean war. It was however later during the Indian rebellion, at the Siege of Lucknow that he earned his VC, several years before the American sailor in this video did.
A man, born and raised in Venezuela, that I took college classes with, told me, "We (people of Venezuela) are Americans too. We live in the Americas.". :)
As a Mainer and a history buff I was indeed surprised and delighted by your video! Thank you very much. As an aside and not a criticism Topsham in Maine is pronounced “Tops-um” (yes I know it’s some weird American pronunciation but alas it is what it is) again Thank You sincerely for a wonderful video.
Very interesting. Of course, one has to wonder if any foreigners were awarded the MOH. Surprised the heck out of me to find 61 Canadians were awarded with it. Most during the ACW when the standard for receiving it wasn't as tough. There are also the 5 unknown soldiers from allied countries during WW1 that were awarded with it. Including Britain of course.
Caught this story on Mark Masterson YT channel; have subbed. Especially since your bookcase reflects mine. Their are so many historic interesting facts, I feel you will never be 'out of a job'. Look fwd to more vids.
Another excellent story sir. One that I myself had not heard before so I thank you for recounting it in excellent fashion as always. But I do have a question, are VCs serialized or engraved with the recipients name or anything like that? Anyone could have claimed that it was theirs at any time after the theft. Its a real low character person steal someone else's award. Thank again. Chap.
Some are engraved, but not all. There is a famous story of a VC found on the banks of the river Thames with no engraving. They believe it is one awarded at the battle of Inkerman in the Crimean war, but they can’t identify to which soldier
@@TheHistoryChap That's amazing that you have the medals. So many go missing over time. My grandfather also served in Italy, in logistics but hard to find out what he really did there
Looks like I’m not the first to admit they’d not heard of this incident. It inspired me to look into foreign born winners of the Medal of Honour/ honor. I was surprised to find some, admittedly a few were US persons born abroad, but there were others who weren’t.
I hope he has a big memorial in the place that he came from and if he doesn't understand why in the UK a Victoria cross holder who has died has an unmistakable monument 👍
I had a neighbor, Judge Alan Fraiser which the media reported as receiving the Victorian Cross for saving a RAF flier while in the US army during WW II. Is this not true or was he actually serving in a Canadian unit. Judge Frazier grew up in Texas in the Big Bend area I think in Alpine, Texas. He later practiced law in El Paso, Texas and was elected Chief Justice of a Texas Appellate Court.
There have been only six American recipients of the Victoria Cross. William Seeley 1864, HMS Euryalus Bellenden Hutcheson 1918, 75th Bn Canadian Expeditionary Force William Metcalf 1918, Canadian Expeditionary Force George Mullin 1917, Canadian Expeditionary Force Raphael Zengel 1918, Canadian Expeditionary Force The Unknown Soldier 1921 Only 1358 Victoria crosses have ever been awarded in total. When considering how many wars the British have fought since 1856 that isn't a lot. If your neighbour had been awarded the VC, he would be easy to find.
Good point THC, many moons ago as a fresh faced young Royal Marine I escorted the VCs of Cpl Thomas Hunter VC RM and Maj Anders Lassen VC SBS to a memorial service. When the SNCO took possession of the medals (to carry them in on a velvet cushion) we all had a sneak peek at them and only Cpl Hunters had his details on it. At the time we wondered if that was something to do with Maj Lassen being Danish but I never did get an answer.
That's interesting, given I'm pretty sure you mentioned before that some who could get a Victoria Cross couldn't because they're not members of His/Her Majesty's Armed Forces. Unless the condition is simply "be a member of the armed forces" and no actual nationality exists in the fine print. Or they changed it later, I dunno.
I'm not sure I have ever said that because my knowledge of the Victoria Cross is that it is open to anyone serving in the British (or Commonwealth) armed forces.
Man I was way off time wise, and I definitely didn't know people from Canada were also called Americans, definitely eye opening. I thought it was going to be someone who was actually a US citizen lol, I should have known better. Edit: I just google Topsham, ME, not nearly near Canada like I thought it was. That's pretty awesome.
If all else is equal, I rather be award the Medal of Honor than the VC, the American medal come with much more benefits and respects, partly due to the larger and richer country. In recent decades, I see things surfaced that indicated England and "colonies" may not even be worth fighting for.
@@SnoopReddogg For your info, even if the winner is dead, his kids get preferential treatments for admission to military college, and the reputation follow the kid's military career.
Chris you have an eye for important history, not great history! They didn't throw Vickies Kreuze around, that's for sure. And for the naval ways today look at the Red Sea ...All the best from Northern Germany Ludwig.
How about return the favour and make a video about Philip Baybutt! Took a trip to visit a brother and wound up earning the medal of honor! 1st Englishman to do so.
Yes this is true one was a sin of Danish immigrants living in England world war one,another was a Danish Canadian world war one.Second world war Lassen ,originally served in Danish merchant navy then came to UK and served in SAS,eventually being killed in Italy,I don't know about a fourth.Thats why the Danish have the Lassen medal named after him for bravery
