Lieutenant-General Sir James Robert Steadman Sayer KCB

James Robert Steadman Sayer was born on 13 Jan 1826, the son of Robert Sayer of White Lodge, Sibton, Suffolk. His father was High Sheriff of Suffolk and his mother was Frances Julia Errington. James was commissioned into the King’s Dragoon Guards as a cornet on 23 May 1845. He was promoted to captain in Nov 1850 and in May 1855 he sailed with the regiment to the Crimea. They fought at Tchernaya and Sebastopol. He was promoted to major on 6 Feb 1857 and lieutenant-colonel, commanding the KDG, on 21 Oct 1859.
The regiment was sent to China for the Second China War in 1860 and Lt-Col Sayer commanded them for that campaign. They fought at Sinho and saw the surrender of Pekin. On 20 Sep the KDG made a daring and successful charge against Tartars in entrenched positions along a bank of the Pei-Ho River. The attack involved crossing a ditch and scaling a high bank on the other side. General Hope Grant commented that it was impossible for cavalry to carry out the manoeuvre that Sayer and his men achieved. He was mentioned in Sidney Herbert’s despatch to the Queen.
Sayer served in India for many years. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on 1 Mar 1861. In 1862 he married Sarah Ann Blundell in Madras. He was promoted to colonel on 21 Oct 1864. He retired from the army in 1883 with the rank of lieutenant-general but was made GOC Western District from 1883 to 1885. On 8 Feb 1886 he was appointed Colonel of the 8th Hussars, but when General Hankey died on 24 June of that year the post of Colonel of the King’s Dragoon Guards became vacant and was offered to Sir James who was keen to return to his old regiment. His appointment as Colonel of the KDG was gazetted on 25 June 1886. In 1906 he was elevated to KCB and died on 12 June 1908. The photo is a detail from a group of officers of the King’s Dragoon Guards at Norwich in 1894.

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