Walter Long (lieutenant)

Lieutenant Walter Hillyar Colquhoun Long
Born	(1858-10-20)20 October 1858 London, United Kingdom
Died	18 February 1892(1892-02-18) (aged 33) London, United Kingdom
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Rank	Second lieutenant
Unit	6th Dragoons 94th Foot
Battles / wars	First Boer War Siege of Lydenburg

Walter Hillyar Colquhoun Long (20 October 1858 – 18 February 1892) was a British Army officer who fought in the First Boer War.[1]

He was first commissioned into the 2nd Somerset Militia as a sub-lieutenant in March 1877,[2] but in October of that year he was ranked as lieutenant, backdated to March.[3] In October 1878 he was transferred to the 6th Dragoons with the rank of second lieutenant,[4] and in March 1880 he was transferred again to the 94th Regiment of Foot.[5] As part of the 94th Regiment, at the age of 24 he played a crucial part in the defence of Lydenburg during a three month siege in 1881.[6][7][8]

He was the son of the landowner and politician Walter Long.[9] After he was court-martialled and criticised for his conduct of the defence of Lydenburg, in February 1892 he took his life at the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road, Westminster;[10][11] he was described as "formerly of Paris".[12]

Further reading

• Nicol, Cheryl (2016). Inheriting the Earth: The Long Family's 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire. Hobnob Press. ISBN 1906978379.

References

1. "First Anglo-Boer War 1880-1881". Retrieved 15 December 2013. After 5 December 1880 less than a hundred soldiers under 24 year-old Lieutenant Walter Long were left in Lydenburg.
2. "No. 24435". The London Gazette. 20 March 1877. p. 2134.
3. "No. 24509". The London Gazette. 5 October 1877. p. 5513.
4. "No. 24630". The London Gazette. 4 October 1878. p. 5423.
5. "No. 24827". The London Gazette. 26 March 1880. p. 2248.
6. M. Gough Palmer. "The Besieged Towns of the First Boer War, 1880-1881". Retrieved 15 December 2013. ...and on receipt of instructions from Pretoria immediately set to work to strengthen the defences.
7. M. Gough Palmer. "The Besieged Towns of the First Boer War, 1880-1881". Retrieved 15 December 2013. Lieutenant Walter Long, a 24-year old junior officer of the 94th, was placed in command...
8. Charles Norris-Newman (1884). With the Boers in the Transvaal and the Orange free state in 1880-1. p. 248. Retrieved 17 December 2013. ...application was made to Lieutenant Long, commanding the detachment left in the fort, to join the town in a system of general defence.
9. "Inquests". The Times. 23 February 1892. p. 11.
10. "LONG Walter Hillyar Colquhoun of the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road Middlesex" in Wills and Administrations 1892 (England and Wales) (1893), p. T 145
11. "Inquests". The Times. 23 February 1892. p. 11.
12. "No. 26298". The London Gazette. 17 June 1892. p. 3546.