Item details: A waist-up miniature portrait, measuring about 5.5cm x 5.5cm, in a metal frame behind bevelled glass. Artist unknown.
About the Item
This miniature portrait of the then-Lieutenant (later General) Patrick Edmonstone Craigie was completed in 1815, the year marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Craigie is depicted in an officer’s uniform of the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry).
Portrait miniatures were often fitted into lockets, watch-covers, or pieces of jewellery to be carried about. Others, like this one, were framed or placed on stands to display in the home.
About Major-General Patrick Edmonstone Craigie
Craigie began his military career in 1813, joining the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) as an ensign. Serving with the 2nd Battalion, he took part in the 1813–14 campaign in Holland, distinguishing himself particularly during the attacks on the fortified village of Merxem, on the outskirts of Antwerp, where he led the advance party of Major-General Sir Herbert Taylor’s Brigade. He also took part in the subsequent bombardment of Antwerp itself.
Craigie was promoted Lieutenant by purchase in 1814, Captain in 1821, and Major in 1826. He When appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1854, he transferred to command the 55th Regiment of Foot, leading it during the First Opium War (1839–42).
In China, Craigie commanded British forces on the island of Chusan (now Zhoushan Island) and served as its governor for eight months, overseeing its occupation until peace was declared. For his distinguished service, he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
He continued to rise through the ranks, being created Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB) in 1867 and promoted to full General the following year. General Craigie died at his home in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex in 1873, aged 79.
