In September 2026 Tripp Cory and his father Michael Cory, descendants in the United States of William Henry Cory, wrote to the editors of the E.J. Boys Archive. Their family owns Cory’s memoir of the Crimean War, which they photographed and transcribed: see The Memoir of William Henry Cory and the commentary. The messages are given here in date order, oldest first; contact details and earlier messages quoted in replies have been left out.
Where the correspondence touches on the memoir, the passage is given here.
| Msg | Point | What the memoir says |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Tony Margrave recalls that Cory was “in barracks in Hounslow” when he joined. | The memoir says he sailed to Dublin about ten days after enlisting and joined the regiment at Portobello Barracks (memoir p. 1). |
| 4 | Tripp Cory: “his account is not contemporaneous with the war. He wrote it later in life.” | The internal evidence points to 1857–58: it records his discharge on 7 November 1856, speaks of a comrade who is “now” at Hampton Court, and is addressed to a living clergyman; in December 1858 he was arrested, and he was in prison until 1862. See the commentary, note 3. |
| 8 | The assessment quoted by Michael Cory: his horse killed under him; Sergeant Jordan; Captain Lewis and the Resolute; officers taking the “luxuries”. | In the Charge “poor Jordan! he falls cloven to the chin – and at the same instant a big shot strikes my horse full in the chest – and down I go” (memoir p. 68). He meets “poor Captain Lewis – of the ill-fated ‘Resolute’ – in which vessel. on her first voyage. I had sailed for Sydney some 3 years before” (memoir p. 93). The “luxuries” (memoir p. 131–132). In 1859 his counsel placed the horse shot under him at Inkermann. |
| 9 | Tony Margrave, point 1: the 1st and 4th Divisions sent down on the day. | “The 1st and 4th Divisions under the Duke of Cambridge and Sir Geo. Cathcart” (memoir p. 65). |
| 9 | Point 2: the troop sent out to find Cardigan on the “bareback reconnaissance”. | “… it was determined to despatch a detachment of the 11th Hussars in search of him. – I was selected as one of the number” (memoir p. 10–11). |
| 9 | Point 3: the “Valley of Death” in Bulgaria. | “As we passed through the ‘Valley of Death’ – (Devna)” (memoir p. 23). |
| 9 | Point 4: the Tonning. | “The Troop to which I was attacked [sic] embarked in the Steamship ‘Tonning’ in June” (memoir p. 159). |
| 9 | Point 6: the regiments sent home to Portsmouth. | “… we arrived at [Portsm[cut off]?] from thence we proceeded to Aldershott Camp” (memoir p. 160). |
| 9 | Tony asks whether the memoir covers the Civil War. | It does not: it ends with his discharge on 7 November 1856. |
1 Tripp Cory to Philip Boys and Roy Mills
3 September 2026, 23:40 (BST)
To Mr. Boys and Mr. Mills:
Good evening. My name is Tripp Cory. I am a direct descendant of the man referred to in the subject line, William Henry Cory. My father and I have been searching for more information about our ancestor, but somehow we never came across your site. I wanted to let y’all know that it is an incredible resource for us.
I do not know if there is much we can add to your understanding , but we do have a copy of Cory’s diary. Another branch is said to have his Crimean war medal, which I have never seen, but my father has. Our branch of the family moved to Mississippi in the 1960’s, and we are rarely in contact with the South Carolina branches. I would also add that we may be able to provide some clarity on the naming issue, or at least when the family returned to the Cory name. I can certainly confirm that all of us use it.
If it would be of any use, I would be happy to provide a transcript of the diary. If any of you are available, I would be interested in talking with one of y’all for any information you may have or think we could obtain here in the states. We would love to uncover as best we can the full story of his life.
Best regards,
Tripp Cory.
2 Philip Boys to Tripp Cory
4 September 2026, 09:11
Hello, Tripp - it really is very good indeed to hear from you
(Your email disappeared into an odd folder on my computer, and I've only just seen it. So please excuse the delay in this reply.)
But just to say straight away how thrilled I am to be in contact. with you My father, EJ Boys, was intrigued for many years by your ancestor's life story, as have I been. He pieced together a lot of evidence but inevitably there was quite a lot of speculation too.
Since then my colleagues Roy Mills and Tony Margrave have done further important work, the latter particularly on WHC's military record in America.
I live only a couple of miles or so from where I believe WHC lived, and I've been thinking very seriously recently of giving a talk on him to local history societies.
But as you will know, WHC's story is still obscure in places, and I'd love to clarify it further.
A transcription of his diary - wow! - I can't tell you how much we'd all love to see it!
My very best wishes
Philip
3 Tony Margrave to Tripp Cory; copied to Philip Boys, Roy Mills and Wendy Leahy
4 September 2026
Dear Tripp
How wonderful to hear from you. I am a member of two societies that had an interest in Cory. One was the Crimean War Research Society and the other the American Civil War Round Table (UK). Both asked me to write something on Cory and so I did. This was some time ago. Attached are the articles. I have not read them since and hope what you have corroborates what I have written.
I always felt the thing that validated his claim was the one thing for which there was no evidence. He was in barracks in Hounslow I believe was when he joined the army, and his family did not live far away. They must have kept in touch before, during and after the war and his family would have knowledge the rest of us would not. They were convinced he was engaged in the Charge and I always felt they knew beyond doubt he was in the army, what regiment he was in, and received letters from him during the war that supported his laim
With Kind regards Tony Margrave
4 Tripp Cory to Philip Boys and Tony Margrave; copied to Roy Mills, Wendy Leahy and Michael Cory
5 September 2026, 18:15
Thank you both for the responses. It has been quite the surprise to learn about all this. My father, who I will attach to this thread, is in possession of the diary. We will get a transcription together as soon as we can and send a copy via email. I should note that his account is not contemporaneous with the war. He wrote it later in life, and it covers the Crimean War. I do not know that we have anything on his Civil War service. My father may can chime in with a bit more detail, as he knew the Cory descendants in South Carolina. We are far from Crimean War experts, so I will be interested to see how accurate y’all think his account is. We ran parts of it through Claude recently, which told us it seemed accurate, but we all know how AI can be.
Mr. Margrave, thank you for those articles. If you recall, were you in contact with American or English Cory’s? If you happen to have any information on our English family, we would greatly appreciate anything you know about them. My understanding is that the last contact with our relatives across the pond was in the 1920’s, so anything that could get us in touch with their descendants would be welcome. We hope to meet them one day.
Mr. Boys, we would love to hear about your talk on William Henry. Given our Southern heritage, his Confederate service is of particular interest to us, and paradoxically is the area we know the least about. It was an old family legend that he didn’t put Cory on his gravestone because he was a Confederate spy, but it would seem that we can put that one to bed now.
If there is any other information we can provide, let us know and we will offer what we can. I will be in touch soon regarding the diary.
Best, Tripp.
5 Philip Boys to Tripp Cory, and all
21 September 2026
Hello again, Tripp
Any progress with the transcription ?
We're so excited to see it!
If you need any help, do let me know.
All best
Philip
PS It's always possible you've sent an email and I didn't get it - it happens, so I thought I'd better get in touch again just in case.
6 Tripp Cory to Philip Boys and all
23 September 2026
Apologies for the delay, I thought I had a PDF of it already completed, but I only have them for a separate book from a different branch of the family. I live in Oxford (Mississippi), while my father is in Jackson. He has the diary, so as soon as he is able to get pictures of it sent to me I will forward them to y’all. Terribly sorry for the delay, but I wanted to let y’all know we have not forgotten and will get it out as soon as we can.
Best, Tripp.
7 Tripp Cory to Philip Boys and all
25 September 2026
Good morning. I apologize once again for the long delay. Attached you will find a PDF containing photographs of the memoir, as well as a transcript. We recently began using AI to help us transcribe a variety of older documents, and it is usually accurate, but, as we all know, it can make mistakes. I hope y’all get something useful out of it. We look forward to hearing any thoughts y’all may have. [link to a pdf of photographs of the memoir: WHC Memoir – Original Pages.pdf]
If that link doesn’t work, please let me know and I will figure out another way to send the pictures.
8 Michael Cory to Tony Margrave, Philip Boys and all
25 September 2026
Attached is the transcript and timeline that I had done using Claude.
Below, in italics, is Claude’s assessment after I included some of the previously provided information.
It looks genuine, and it's a rare and valuable document.
Why I believe it's authentic. The small details keep checking out. Captain Lewis and the Resolute being ordered outside Balaclava harbour and lost in the 14 November storm, Maude's wound, Parlby and the 10th Hussars, Menshikov's carriage: all are confirmed elsewhere. His account of his horse being killed under him also matches what was said in court in 1858, a completely independent record. Just as telling are his mistakes. He puts the 11th in the first line, names the nominal colonels rather than the men who actually led, and inflates the losses. A forger working from books would have copied the standard figures. These are the errors of a man writing from memory and old letters home, which is exactly what he says he's doing (p. 58).
Why it matters historically. Most rank-and-file accounts of the Charge were published decades later, often shaped by Tennyson and Kinglake. This one was written within two or three years, and it covers the whole campaign, not just 25 October. Its strongest parts aren't the Charge itself, which is vivid but brief. They are the winter of 1854–55: the tent-by-tent picture of the cavalry camp, the forage and biscuit runs, and carrying frostbitten infantry down from the front. He also accuses his own officers of taking the "luxuries" the public sent for the men, a complaint few privates put in writing. His ease with the French army, as an English trooper who spoke their language, is unusual too.
What it says about the man. He was educated, well read and literary, clearly above his rank. He was also careful about what he left out. He never explains the alias, blames "misfortune" for his enlistment, and says nothing of leaving "under a cloud." The pious tone and the letters to a clergyman may have been partly a bid for patronage or a character reference. Within about two years he was forging cheques, so the memoir is honest testimony but also self-presentation.
The identity chain from Cory to Canning is now strong, because the memoir supplies checkable facts: enlistment on 3 October 1853, Sergeant Jordan, and the Resolute voyage. The link from Cory to Tyson is solid but rests more on family evidence, such as the son's name change and the headstone. The muster rolls for No. 1604 would be the single best confirmation.
My advice is to get a copy to Tony Margrave and the E. J. Boys Archive, and to the King's Royal Hussars museum. They'd almost certainly want it, and it could well be worth publishing in full.
Michael V. Cory, Jr.
9 Tony Margrave to Michael Cory; copied to Tripp Cory, Philip Boys, Roy Mills and Wendy Leahy
26 September 2026, 10:26
Hi Michael and good morning to one and all
To say we are all very excited over here would be an understatement. The idea of using Claude to carry out a verification check is interesting. The old fashion way is to read the text and ask whether the author knew things that were not common knowledge. At least not the sort of things a fantasist would know.
Here are a few Claude could not know
1. Few would know the 1st and 4th Divisions were sent down on the day - unless they were there at the time. 2. He was with the troop sent out to find Cardigan when he embarked on the “Bareback reconnaissance”. 3. He is correct when referring to the “Valley of Death” in Bulgaria. It referred to the numbers who died of cholera. There was a road in Sebastopol later dubbed the Valley of Death and Tennyson took upon the reference for his tedious poem. (I hated poetry as a school kid) 4. It was annoying he did not give the name of this ship he left Dublin aboard but the Tonning was indeed one of the transports that carried the 11th home. It carried Capt Jas Miller & Lt George B Price and the men under their command and they were at sea via Malta June 20 - July 18, 1856. 5. For what it is worth the 11th did not accompany the cavalry division to Scutari for the winter 6. All the regiments destined for Britain in 1856 were directed to Portsmouth. They left from Dublin, Liverpool, London, Portsmouth and Southampton but who came back to the country were directed to Portsmouth. His narrative accords with this
I was first attracted to Cory at the request of the editor of Crossfire which is the journal of our Civil War Round Table. Does he write of his time in the Civil War.? Is the text being transcribed and could I see it. Or are you able to summarise what the family knows of his time with the Confederacy? I am sure my editor would appreciate a follow-up.
ATB Tony