Early life Thomas Rice Henn was the third son of Thomas Rice Henn of Paradise Hill,
County Clare, Esquire, , Recorder of
Galway, by Jane Isabella, his wife, the second daughter of
Francis Blackburne, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was born in Dublin on 2 November 1849. He was educated at Windermere College, and entered the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, second in the list of successful candidates, at the early age of seventeen.
India and Afghanistan On 7 July 1869 Henn obtained a commission in the Royal Engineers, and after the usual course of study at Chatham was sent to India. He was posted to the
Bombay Sappers and Miners at
Kirkee, the second company of which he commanded in the
Afghan War of 1880. He was present in the
Bolan Pass, and also at
Kandahar, when he was appointed brigade major of Royal Engineers.
Battle of Maiwand ()|230x230px In July 1880 Henn took part in the advance of the brigade under
General Burrows to the
Helmund, and was killed in the disastrous
Battle of Maiwand. When the battle became a rout Henn and his sappers were alongside the battery of
Horse Artillery. Its commander,
Major Blackwood, had been mortally wounded, and
Captain Slade, who succeeded him, ordered the battery to limber up and retire. Henn, already wounded in the arm, successfully covered the operation with his handful of men, firing volleys upon the crowd of
Ghazis pouring down upon them. Henn then fell steadily back, carrying the wounded Blackwood, and following the line of retreat of the
66th Regiment across the
nullah to a garden on the other side. Behind the wall of the garden Henn and the remnant of his company of sappers, supported by a party of the 66th and some native grenadiers, took up their stand. There they held the enemy at bay, fighting till every man was killed to cover the retreat of their comrades. Around the spot were afterwards found, lightly buried, the bodies of Henn and fourteen sappers, forty-six men of the 66th Regiment, and twenty-three native grenadiers. == Memorials ==