carrying his Sovereign’s colours as an ensign in the thirty-sixth
regiment, to which he was gazetted on the 19th January, 1795; he
was promoted to a lieutenancy on the 12th April, 1797, and on
the 8th January following exchanged into the twelfth foot, with
which regiment he served at the battle of Mallavelly gained by
Lieut.-General (afterwards Lord) Harris on the 27th March, 1799.
In less than two months occurred the siege of Seringapatam, where
Lieutenant Sale’s services were rewarded by a medal. He served
throughout the campaign of 1801, in the Wynaud country, and on
the 23rd March, 1806, obtained his company. Captain Sale took
part in the storming of the Travancore lines in 1809; and was at
the capture of the Mauritius in 1810. On the 30th December, 1813,
he was promoted to the rank of Major, and the second battalion
of the twelfth being reduced in January, 1818, Major Sale was
placed on the half-pay. On the 28th June, 1821, he exchanged to
the THIRTEENTH light infantry, with which he proceeded to India,
joined the expedition under Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell,
and served throughout the Burmese war, being present at the capture
of Rangoon and the storming of the stockades near Kemmendine, on
both occasions displaying such heroism, that he received the thanks
of the commanding officer on the field of battle, and particular
notice in the general orders. He also stormed the seven stockades
near Kumaroot and Pagoda Point: on the 1st December, of the same
year (1824) he stormed the enemy’s lines, and on the 5th of that
month led a body of 1600 men in the engagement which resulted in
the utter defeat of the foe, who was driven from all his positions.
On the 8th December, he commanded in the attack on the rear of the
enemy’s lines opposite the Great Pagoda at Rangoon; and on the
15th, stormed the intrenchments at Kokien, where he was severely
wounded in the head. In the following year, he commanded a brigade
at the reduction of Bassein, and subsequent operations from 10th
February to 2nd May, 1825. On the 2nd June, 1825, he attained the
rank of lieut.-colonel; on the 1st December, he commanded the first
brigade and repulsed the Shaans and Burmese at Prome, and the
next day stormed the lines and heights near Prome. He was again
severely wounded at the storming of Melloon on the 19th January,
1826. These services were honored with the riband of a companion
of the order of the Bath. He became colonel by brevet on the 28th
June, 1838, and in the following October, was appointed to the
command of the first Bengal brigade of the army of the Indus, which
formed the advance throughout the campaign in Affghanistan: he
commanded the detachment of 2500 men sent to Girishk in May, 1839,
and on the 23rd July, headed the storming party which captured
the fortress of Ghuznee, deemed by the Affghans impregnable. A
sabre-wound in the chin and contusions on the chest and shoulder
from musket-shots were the results of this formidable conflict;
but not the only results, for his services were acknowledged by
Lord Keane, and Her Majesty conferred upon him the star of a Knight
Commander of the Bath, and his name was enrolled in the list of
Eastern Knights constituting the order of the Dooranée Empire,
which had been founded by Shah Shoojah. In September, 1840, the
forces sent to subdue the Kohistan country were entrusted to his
command; and after storming the towns and fort of Tootumdurra,
Julgar, Babookooshghur, Kardurrah, and Purwan, he compelled Dost
Mahomed to surrender to the authorities at Cabool. In forcing the
Khoord Cabool Pass on the 12th October, 1841, he was shot through
the leg. His gallant defence of Jellalabad,--his daring sorties,
and final defeat of the besieging army under Akbar Khan, for which
services he received the thanks of Parliament, and was nominated
a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Military Order of
the Bath, are detailed in the Regimental Record, and completely
identify Sir Robert Sale’s name with the THIRTEENTH light infantry,
the connexion being rendered more intimate by Her Majesty, who
conferred on him the colonelcy of the regiment in December, 1843,
on the decease of General Edward Morrison. On the 29th March, 1844,
he was appointed by Her Majesty, Quartermaster-General to the
Queen’s troops serving in the East Indies. Advancing with the army
to repel the Sikh invasion, Sir Robert Sale had his left thigh so
dreadfully shattered by a grapeshot at the battle of Moodkee on the
18th December, 1845, that he did not long survive the wound, but,
after a distinguished career, fell like Wolfe, Sir John Moore, and
other heroes, in the hour of victory.
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM MAYNARD GOMM, K.C.B.
_Appointed 10th March, 1846._
LONDON: Printed by W. CLOWES and SONS, Stamford-street,
for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Variations in spelling (Mc. Creagh, M‘Creagh) have been changed
to M‘Creagh. Other instances of M‘ or Mc (M‘Bean, McGuire) have been
left unchanged.
Pg xxxiv: ‘Re-occcupied Cabool’ replaced by ‘Re-occupied Cabool’.
Pg 27: ‘with distintinguished’ replaced by ‘with distinguished’.
Pg 28: ‘four aptains’ replaced by ‘four captains’.
Pg 88: ‘in he defile’ replaced by ‘in the defile’.
Pg 121: ‘such as choose to’ replaced by ‘such as chose to’.
Pg 127: ‘the authorites at’ replaced by ‘the authorities at’.