Crimean War and transfer Anson entered the army at age 18, purchasing a commission as an ensign in the
Rifle Brigade. He spent the first part of his career at the regimental depot, where he was promoted to lieutenant. In January 1855, he joined the Rifle Brigades
fighting in Crimea. However, following the
capture of Sevastopol in September 1855, Anson left active service and was transferred to the
84th Regiment of Foot (later the
2nd Bn,
York and Lancaster Regiment), in
Burma, to join the staff of his uncle
Major-General George Anson,
Commander-in-Chief, India. Through this move, he was able to "obtain double pay and double promotion, and to escape all further regimental duty" in Crimea, where the bloody war would continue a further five months. The circumstances of his transfer, first reported in the
Weekly Chronicle of the United Service in March 1856, caused anger among the public, as reflected in a letter to
The Times, whose author cast the ultimate blame on
Viscount Hardinge, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces; and
Baron Panmure, the
Secretary of State for War: "I do not blame Captain Anson for this act, nor do I blame General Anson for it. They have but acted according to the customs sanctioned by the Horse Guards at home. The real culprits are Lords Hardinge and Panmure. The latter nobleman made his debut as Minister of War in the character of a military reformer, which I fear he will scarcely be able to sustain after the Dowbiggin exposure. We have seen him at the very moment when England was mourning Lord Raglan's loss-when hundreds of British parents were weeping for their children whose lives had been uselessly wasted on the
glacis of the Redan—when our statesmen, perplexed where to look for military talent, had at last doubtfully decided on
General Simpson as a temporary stop-gap—we have seen Lord Panmure, I say, at such a moment, in the midst of England's perplexity and sorrow, availing himself of the very despatch in which he had announced to the overtasked old General the high position which had been forced upon him in order to obtain for his nephew [Capt. Dowbiggin] the promotion which he feared he could not obtain on his own merits; and, I am sorry to say, we have heard the
Premier of England declare in Parliament that he thought the content of that despatch redounded to Lord Pamure's honour!" Anson later achieved the rank of
lieutenant colonel. ==Political career==