Later Career
Graham continued to serve in the Coldstream Guards after Waterloo. The 2nd Battalion advanced on Paris with the army, remaining there until 1816 as part of the army of occupation, after which they were posted to Cambrai. In November 1818 they returned to England. While stationed in London in 1820, a detachment of Guards were ordered to support the police with the arrest of the Cato Street conspirators, under the command of Captain FitzClarence (later given the title Lord Frederick FitzClarence), one of the illegitimate sons of the Duke of Clarence. The arrest was not straightforward, and a scuffle ensued. The Naval and Military Gazette (May 1845) identified Sergeant Graham as the man who saved FitzClarence's life.
Graham was discharged from the Guards in 1821, and enlisted in the 12th Royal Lancers as a private. When Graham joined the Lancers, they were stationed in Ireland, and returned to England in 1824. In 1826, two squadrons saw service in Portugal before returning to England. Graham was discharged for ill health – "an injured chest and worn out" – in July 1830, and received a Chelsea pension.
James Graham died in 1845, at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. He was buried with military honours. A memorial plaque was erected at the Hospital, and it was later transferred to St Tiernach's Church, in Clones.
His obituary appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine under the name "John Graham":
23 April. At the Royal Hospital of Kilmainham, Sergeant John Graham, formerly in the light company of the 2nd battalion of Coldstream Guards, the individual selected by the Duke of Wellington as "the bravest of the brave" in the desperate combat at Waterloo, in order to profit by the generous offer of the Rev. Mr. Norcross, Rector of Framlingham, to confer a pension, during life, upon the soldier most distinguished in the brigade of guards on that glorious day. After the most minute inquiry, carried out by Sir John Byng's directions, the laurel was awarded to an Irishman, John Graham, a native of Cloona, co. Monaghan.
Read more about this topic: James Graham (British Army Soldier)
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