Colonel C. P. Cramer, C.B., King’s Royal Rifle Corps

Charles Pierson Cramer was born on 25 November 1837, and appointed Ensign in the 60th Rifles on 14 August 1858. He was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1863, and to Captain in May 1870. He saw service with the 3rd Battalion K.R.R.C. in the Zulu War of 1879, and was present at the action of Gingindhlovu and the relief of Ekowe. He later commanded the 2 Companies which acted as escort and guard to King Cetchwayo from Black Umvolosi to Ulundi (Medal with clasp).

Promoted to Major in July 1881, Cremer next served during the Egyptian campaign of 1882, including the engagement of Tel-El-Mahuta, the action at Kassasin, and was Brigade Major of Ashburnham’s Brigade at the battle of Tel-El-Kebir, where his horse was shot (Brevet of Lt.-Col.; despatches London Gazette 2 November 1882; Medal with clasp; 4th Class Osmanie; Bronze star).

Cramer was promoted to Colonel in November 1886, and appointed to the command of the 1st Battalion in 1891. He participated in the Hazara Expedition of 1891 (Medal with clasp), and later saw service with the Miranzai Expedition in the same year (Clasp). He was severely wounded at the storming of Sangar, on the Samana, on 17 April 1891, when Colonel Cramer led the 1st K.R.R.C. in a bayonet charge against the village, which was successfully taken. He was the most senior casualty during this campaign, was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 15 September 1891) and created a Companion of the Bath for his services in the Hazara and Miranzai Expeditions (London Gazette 24 November 1891).

Colonel Cramer was obliged to retire on account of his wounds and died on 11 April 1898.

Charles Pierson Cramer, who served with the 3rd Battalion of the 60th Rifles, had the eye of a satirist and his sketches are alive with the detail of war. The battle of Gingindhlovu on 2nd April 1879 is titled, "Here they come!"

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"In this sketch he depicts six-foot tall British soldiers dwarfed by nine-foot aloe-plants in a sketch inscribed, "The prevailing vegetation..."
While in another, the captured Zulu king Cetshwayo, whom Cramer was detailed to guard, is shown seated forlornly wrapped in a blanket, underneath Cramer writes, "Alas! a sad farewell to all my greatness!

The collection holds three albums of sketches by Cramer covering his military career from when he attended the academy at Aldershot to his service in the Ashanti War, the Anglo-Zulu War and the Egyptian Campaign of 1882. The Albums are a fascinating insight into the mind of a British army captain at the height of Queen Victoria's Empire. From jingoistic fervour, peppered with class and race prejudice, Cramer's works mature to sedate scenes of the Zanzibar coast and Egyptian pyramids.
Source:Campbell collection.

Mr G. I have sent you a P.M.