Sir Charles Russell , 3rd Baronet Lieutenant - Colonel Sir Charles Russell , 3rd Baronet VC ( 22 June 1826 – 13 April 1883 ) , was a British Conservative politician and soldier . He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . Military career . Russell was the second but eldest surviving son of Sir Henry Russell , 2nd Baronet , British ' Resident ' at the court of Hyderabad in India , and his second wife , Marie Clotilde daughter of Benoit Mottet de la Fontaine , Baron Fieffé de St Corneille . He was educated at Eton College and entered the Grenadier Guards in 1847 . Charles inherited the baronetcy and the family estate of Swallowfield Park in Berkshire in 1852 . He became a lieutenant and a captain the following year and accompanied his regiment to the Crimea where he took part in the Siege of Sebastopol and the Battles of Alma , Balaclava and Inkerman . He was a 28 - year - old Brevet Major in the 3rd Battalion in the latter battle when the following action took place for which he was awarded the VC . On 5 November 1854 , Brevet Major Russell offered to dislodge a party of Russians from the Sandbag Battery if anyone would follow him . A sergeant and privates , Anthony Palmer and another who was subsequently killed - were the first to volunteer . The party met much resistance and several times seemed to be on the point of annihilation but their skill , especially with the bayonet , finally brought success . Major Russell himself fought with great valour and in single combat wrenched the rifle out of the grasp of a powerful Russian . His citation read : His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Guards Regimental Headquarters ( Grenadier Guards RHQ ) , Wellington Barracks , London , England . He later achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel . Politics . Russell was also involved in politics and sat as Conservative as Member of Parliament for Berkshire from 1865 to 1868 and for Westminster from 1874 to 1883 . Lord Salisbury appointed Sir Charles Chairman of the Peruvian Bondholders Committee . Its aim was to " stop Peru from contracting a fresh loan to buy munitions " . More broadly the Europeans wished to delay US Navy assistance to Peru , which had already been defeated by the Chileans . Both Britain and France had large investments to protect : the rise of Peruvian bond stock , they contended was due to debt and military defeats . Britain refused to become embroiled ; whereas the United States was spoiling for an international war . They secretly lobbied at Santiago against Russell and British interests to create a crisis . The Chileans " received with acclamation " in the City of London , assigning profits of Tarapaca mines and the Guano Islands to the indebted bondholders . On this basis Russell welcomed Chile ' s conquest of southern Peru . The Americans responded , to the alarm of Foreign Office and Admiralty , by leasing the Peruvian port of Chimbote as a Naval base . Russell was more concerned with the financial implications for City investors . Wary of the risks of direct intervention , the bondholders urged Parliament to recognise General Yglesias , the new Peruvian leader . The Americans stubbornly refused to grant the new government of 1884 recognition of its international status , even after the Treaty of Ancon had ceased hostilities . He died unmarried on 13 April 1883 and was buried in the family vault beneath All Saints ' Church , Swallowfield . He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his brother , George .