Served with distinction in the Army of the Queen of Portugal during the Civil War in that country.
On his return to England, he obtained a Commission in the British Army in somewhat romantic circumstances. Many years previously, Prince William Henry, afterwards King William IV, when serving as a midshipman in the Royal Navy on the North American Station, was present at a ball in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was struck with the charms of his dancing partner. He promised her that if at any time she sent him a request accompanied by the music of the dance, he would, if possible grant it. Many years passed; the young midshipman became an elderly King, and the young lady a grandmother. Her grandson was Edward Stanley. When he told his grandmother of his desire to obtain a commission, she remembered the King's promise and wrote to him, enclosing a copy of the music. He remembered his pledge and granted her grandson an Ensignancy without purchase in the 57th Foot, and he served in that Regiment for nineteen years, rising to the rank of Captain.
He is mentioned in the "History of the British Army" as leading the charge of the Middlesex Regiment in the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimea War.
Edward was later slain at the Battle of Sebastopol in 1854, but was
said to have killed many Russians with his sword before he himself was
killed.
