General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Anthony Blaxland Stransham (22 December 1805 – 6 October 1900) was a senior

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

officer in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

. He was one of the navy generals of the attack in The Battle of Canton, which was a British victory.

Background

Stransham was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Stransham of the Royal Marines, and grandson of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Samuel Stransham, also of the Royal Marines.

Military career

Stransham entered the

on 1 January 1823. Four years after entering the service, he was present as a subaltern at the

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O.S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied ...

on 20 October 1827. Stransham led the Royal Marines during the First Battle of Canton in the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

on 18 March 1841. He was wounded and promoted to captain. He was awarded the Baltic Medal, having been with

Charles John Napier Admiral Sir Charles John Napier (6 March 1786Priscilla Napier (1995), who is not elsewhere free from error, gives the birth year as 1787 (p. 1, and book title), but provides no evidence. All other authorities agree on 1786. – 6 November 1860 ...

in 1854. From 1862 to 1867, General Stransham was Inspector-General of the Royal Marines. Later in his career, as a general, the "Grand Old Man of the Army" became a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

. He saw active service for over 53 years, retiring with the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

on 24 December 1875.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stransham, Anthony Blaxland 1805 births 1900 deaths British military personnel of the First Opium War Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Greek War of Independence Royal Marines generals Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War Military personnel from Norfolk People from North Norfolk (district) 19th-century Royal Marines personnel