the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Dragoons; 4th and 5th Dragoon Guards; the Light
Brigade, consisting of the 13th Light Dragoons and 17th Lancers in
the first line, 4th Light Dragoons and 8th and 11th Hussars in the
second line, and the 93rd Highlanders; but men of the Rifle and Naval
Brigades, and of the artillery and various line regiments, including
the 4th, 19th, 21st, 30th, 33rd, 44th, 47th, 50th, 53rd, 68th, and
77th, were also present and received the medal with the bar for
Balaklava.
[Illustration: ABYSSINIAN WAR MEDAL, 1867-8.]
[Illustration: CANADA MEDAL, 1866 AND 1870.]
[Illustration: ASHANTEE WAR MEDAL, 1873-4.]
[Illustration: ZULU WAR MEDAL, 1877-9.]
=Inkermann.=--On Sunday, November 5th, 1854, the battle of Inkermann
was fought. The Russians had received considerable reinforcements;
it is estimated that by that time 120,000 troops were under Prince
Mentschikoff's command, and the Czar's soldiers were in high fettle,
owing to the presence in camp of the Czar's sons, Michael and Nicholas.
A general advance was made by the Russians, Mount Inkermann being
the objective, and the battle commenced by an assault thereon by
General Danneburg with about 40,000 men. The Mount of Inkermann and
the district thereof was held by the Second Division under General
Pennefeather. At daybreak masses of Russians were discerned marching
to the attack, and soon afterwards the armies were in conflict. Then
began the "soldiers' battle," which was to add lustre to the record
of the several British regiments whose gallantry gained the day. How
can one adequately paint the picture of 200 men of the 30th charging a
couple of Russian battalions and putting them to rout, or of the 49th
defeating a strong column and chasing their flying foemen? How can one
do justice to the 525 men of the 41st who fought and dispersed five
battalions of the enemy, and the 260 men of the 77th who put to rout
1,500 of the famous Tomsk Regiment? In the first stage of the battle
4,000 British soldiers beat back 15,000 Russians from the slopes of
Inkermann, where, in the detached fighting that had taken place, many a
V.C. was well earned. In the second stage the terrific struggle ranged
around the worthless sand-bag battery; seven times did the Russians
capture it, and as often was it retaken by the British, each time with
awful slaughter, until the dead lay around the battery in heaps and
filled the entrenchment. In this useless and stubborn fight Generals
Adams, Cathcart, and Torrens fell. There young Captain Stanley of
the "Die Hards" fell as he called to his men to "remember Albuera"
and follow him. There a few hundred Coldstreams, who had 8 officers
killed, fought back to back against 6,000 Russians, and sustained "the
bloodiest struggle ever witnessed since war cursed the earth." Then
two 18-pounders were ordered up by Lord Raglan, and, as happened at
the Alma, helped to determine the events of the day. An artillery duel
resulted, many a British gunner falling by his gun, in the discomfiture
of the enemy ere the Zouaves, led by their Vivandière, pushed into the
fight and drove the Russians toward the sand-bag battery, where the
dead had formed a wall. The French Zouaves and British soldiers then
made short work of the contest, and the Zouaves' standard was firmly
planted on the sand-bag battery. By 1 o'clock the battle was decided,
but such was the straggling and intermittent nature of the fighting
that it was not until 3 o'clock that Mount Inkermann was again entirely
in the possession of the allies. In this great battle 10 British
Generals were killed or wounded--Lord Raglan alone being unharmed--39
officers and 558 men killed, and 1,760 officers and men wounded (rather
more than one-third of the total strength of the army engaged). The
French lost 130 killed and wounded, and the Russians over 11,000,
including 256 officers killed.
The following regiments were present at Inkermann: Grenadiers,
Coldstreams, and Scots Fusilier Guards; 1st, 4th, 7th, 19th, 20th,
21st, 23rd, 28th, 30th, 33rd, 38th, 41st, 2 companies 46th, 47th, 49th,
50th, 55th, 57th, 63rd, 68th, 77th, 88th, 95th; 4th, 8th, 11th, and
13th Hussars; 17th Lancers and 2 batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery
and Royal Field Artillery.
Medals with bars for the Alma or Inkermann, or both, are rare to the
46th Foot, while the medals awarded the Coldstream Guards and to
participants in the charge of the Light Brigade realise good prices
when offered for sale.
=The Crimean Medals.=--In December 1854 Queen Victoria commanded that
a medal bearing the word "CRIMEA" should be struck, and that bars for
the ALMA and INKERMANN ("the soldiers' battle") should be awarded to
those who had taken part in the battles; but the world had wondered
at the "death-ride" of the Light Brigade--on October 29th, 1854--and
so no one was surprised when, in February 1855, a clasp for BALAKLAVA
was granted to those who rode so bravely into the jaws of death, and,
wonder of wonders, came out again; likewise to the Heavy Brigade and to
the regiments engaged in the vicinity. The bar for SEBASTOPOL was added
to the list in October 1855, so that the four-bar medal illustrated is
a complete record of one of the greatest of modern wars, significant
because of the fact that we fought shoulder to shoulder with our old
adversaries the French, and side by side with the Turks and Sardinians
against the Russian Army. The medal, designed by W. Wyon, represents on
the reverse a Roman warrior with a flying figure of Victory crowning
him with a laurel wreath; to the right of the figure is the word
CRIMEA arranged perpendicularly. The obverse is the same as that on
the Peninsular and India General Service medals. The bars are the most
ornate of the whole series given with British medals. A special bar for
AZOFF was given to the Navy. The suspender is of a very appropriate
character, suggesting a palm wreath issuing from a conventional cusp.
The ribbon is of pale blue with yellow edges, and, be it noted, the
ribbon for the Baltic medal--illustrated facing page 296--granted
to sailors and a few marines, is yellow, with pale-blue edges. The
Baltic medals were all issued unnamed, as were also the Crimean; but
some recipients of the latter had their name and regiment engraved
privately. Others were officially named later, with the same stamps as
were used for the Army General Service and early Kaffir War medals, in
square Roman capitals.
Five bars in all were issued, but four is the greatest number awarded
with any medal. The bars should read upward from the medal as follows:
Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol, but a number of the medals were
issued without the bars being fixed, and the order is consequently
sometimes found to be inaccurate; care should therefore be taken to
verify the record of the person named on the medal. Many medals were
issued before the grant of the bar for Sebastopol at the end of October
1855, and many exist without this bar, although all who took part in
the battles of Balaklava and Inkermann were entitled to it. The troops
who landed in the Crimea after September 9th, 1855, the day Sebastopol
fell, were not entitled to the medal unless they had been engaged
against the enemy after that date.
=The Turkish Medals.=--The Turkish Government, in whose cause we took
up arms, gave to the allies a silver medal suspended by a bright-red
ribbon with green edges ½ in. wide running through a small ring. This
is illustrated beside the British Crimean medal. These medals vary;
they were intended for the British, French, and Sardinian soldiers,
and had among the trophy of flags that of the country the recipient
belonged to in the front, beside the Turkish flag, and in the exergue
either CRIMEA 1855, LA CRIMEA 1855, or CRIMEE 1855, but as the ship
which was bringing the medals to England foundered, many men received
the French or Sardinian variety. These medals, 1⅖ in. in diameter, bear
on the obverse the Sultan's cypher encircled by a laurel wreath, with
the date in Arabic Hegira "1271."
They were generally issued unnamed, but I have several impressed.
=The French Medal.=--The Emperor of the French awarded crosses of the
Legion of Honour to officers and men who had been conspicuous during
the war, and the Médaille Militaire to about 500 non-commissioned
officers and men who had distinguished themselves. The Duke of
Wellington and Sir William Cordington, who was presented by Marshal
Pellisier with his own medal, were the only two British officers to
receive it. The medal is silver, the eagle and centre being gilt, and
the band surrounding the head of Louis Napoleon enamelled, likewise
that on the reverse, encircling VALEUR ET DISCIPLINE. The medal is
suspended from an orange-coloured ribbon with green edges.
=The Sardinian Medal.=--The King of Sardinia awarded the Sardinian war
medal to 400 officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Army,
sailors, and marines. The obverse has the arms of Savoy within a wreath
of palm or laurel encircled by the legend AL VALORE MILITARE. On the
reverse is a laurel wreath and the inscription SPEDIZIONE D'ORIENTE
1855-1856. The medal of silver is suspended by blue watered silk ribbon
through a broad loop with a flat top, much the same as the handle of
a flat-iron; medals of gunmetal with similar loops were given by the
German States for certain campaigns.
=Turkish General Service Medal.=--The Turkish General Service medal,
incorrectly called the "Danube Medal," was awarded by the Turkish
Government in 1855 to the officers and 30 men comprising the crew of a
British gunboat, and to a Colonel and 16 men of the Royal Engineers,
for services rendered on the Danube in 1854. On the obverse is the
cypher of the Sultan Abdil Mageed Khan II within a beaded circle, with
flags and laurel branches, and above all a crescent and star. On the
reverse is an elliptical star of twelve points, with a smaller one of
six in the centre; underneath is a scroll bearing an inscription in
Persian characters, reading "Mischani Iftikar" (Medal for Glory), and
under all a small star between laurel wreaths. The medal is 1⅕ in. in
diameter, and was suspended from a silver scroll bar by the same ribbon
as used with the Turkish Crimean medal. The General Service medals were
issued in gold and silver, gold to the officers and silver to the men.
=The Silistria Medal.=--Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmonds, who was one
of the officers to receive the medal referred to above, was awarded
another in gold for his services in the defence of Silistria in 1854.
Six other British officers also received the medal, but in silver. The
obverse is the same as the General Service medal, but on the reverse
is, within a beaded border, the fortress of Silistria, over which the
Turkish flag is flying, with the Danube in the foreground. In the
exergue on a scroll is SILISTRIA and the year of the Hegira "1271"
in Arabic characters. The medal is 1⁹⁄₂₀ in. in diameter, and was
suspended from a steel ring run through it by the same ribbon as used
with the Turkish Crimean medal.
=Kars Medal.=--The Sultan of Turkey granted a silver medal for his
brilliant defence of Kars to Sir William Fenwick Williams, and to
several other British officers who had served with him, and also to
his artillery servant. It has the same obverse as the Turkish General
Service medal, but on the reverse is depicted the citadel and town of
Kars, with the Turkish flag flying over the citadel, and underneath
KARS and the date Hegira "1272" (1856). The medal, 1⁹⁄₂₀ in. in
diameter, has a milled edge and was suspended from a straight silver
bar and clip by 1½ in. crimson ribbon with green stripes at the side.
=The Order of the Medjidie.=--The Sultan of Turkey rather profusely
awarded the newly established Order of the Medjidie to officers in the
British Army and Navy for services rendered in the Crimean War. Field
Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood was awarded the fifth class. He was then a
midshipman of seventeen. Five classes were given, and the recipients
exceeded 1,000. The size of the decorations gradually decreased
according to grade. The centre of the Badge of the first four classes
is gold, and that of the fifth silver; the first three classes wear the
Badge round the neck, suspended by a crimson ribbon with green edges,
whilst the other two classes suspend the Badge from the left breast by
a similar ribbon. The Badge or Cross is of silver, with seven triple
points or rays, between which are disposed seven small crescents and
stars of five points. On a red enamelled band in Arabic characters are
the words "Loyalty--Patriotism--Zeal" and the year of the Hegira "1268"
(1852, when the order was founded) around the cypher of the Sultan. The
badge is suspended from a red enamelled crescent and star.
=Persia.=--The Persian War followed in 1856-7; it was brought about
by the intimate relations of the Persian Government with Russia. A
rebellion broke out in Herat, "the Gate of Persia," and the place was
besieged by the aid of Russia; as this was contrary to the provisions
of a convention made between the Shah and the British Minister in 1853,
an expedition under General Outram was dispatched. It landed near
Bushire, and on December 9th, 1856, a battle was fought at Reshire,
and the next day another at Bushire. Conflicts also took place at
Kooshab--where the 3rd Bombay Cavalry broke a Persian square--Barajoom,
Mohummerah and Ahaz, before the "King of Kings" sued for peace.
The following regiments were engaged: 64th and 78th Foot, and 14th
Light Dragoons; and the regiments in the H.E.I. Co.'s service: 2nd
Bombay European Fusiliers; Bombay Sappers and Miners; 2nd, 3rd, 4th,
5th, 8th, 11th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 26th, 28th, and 29th
Bombay Infantry; 1st Scinde Horse; 3rd Bombay Cavalry and Poona Horse.
The India General Service medal, illustrated facing page 120, was
awarded with the clasp for PERSIA, or the clasp was added to the medal
of the soldier who had taken part in the second Burmese War; indeed,
the medal was instituted to obviate the necessity for designing medals
for each campaign, and multiplying the number which might adorn the
soldier's breast.
THE INDIAN MUTINY
On Sunday, May 10th, 1857, the native soldiers in Meerut openly
mutinied. It was not the fat used in the making of cartridges which
caused the outbreak; that was merely the ostensible reason, for
there can be little doubt that a section of the natives, failing to
understand European institutions and principles, were easily led by
political agitators to take the desperate step of rebellion. The
Kings of Oude and Delhi had been practically deposed by the Indian
Government, and it was the effort to restore the Mogul dynasty,
engineered by those who for political reasons wished to see the English
expelled from India, that had much to do with the mutiny--for mutiny it
certainly was, bred among men who had gathered extravagant notions of
their own importance and their ruler's weaknesses. The common people
were hardly affected--indeed, the princes were also, with the exception
of the Ranee of Jhansi and the Náná Sáhib, loyal to the British. The
arch-fiend of the mutiny was the Náná Sáhib, who had been quietly
waiting his opportunity for revenge upon the British for refusing
to continue the pension granted to his foster-father. The cartridge
incident merely helped him in his nefarious designs, and forwarded
the efforts of our external enemies. It was not, however, expected
that the mass of the people of India, with their princes, would remain
loyal as they did. At the time the mutiny broke out, in a population
of 18,000,000, 200,000 of whom were sepoys, there were only 38,000
British soldiers, so that it is quite evident that the outbreak was
not national, but military, otherwise they would have been swallowed
up in the tempest. Disaffection had occurred at two or three stations,
and the 19th and 34th Native Infantry had to be disbanded, the latter
after Mangul Pandy had shot two officers at Barrackpore. Then the more
determined outbreak occurred at Oude and Meerut; the English officers
were murdered, and the European civilians slaughtered before the two
regiments of mutineers marched off to join others in Delhi, which
became the centre of mutinous activity. They proclaimed as king a
descendant of the great Mogul, and attempted to capture the magazine,
but, as we shall see hereafter, ten Britishers gallantly defended it,
and ultimately blew it up. At this time the 8th were at Jallundur,
the 32nd at Lucknow, the 60th and 6th Carabineers, with a troop of
horse artillery and details of other regiments, at Meerut. The 61st at
Ferozepore, the 75th at Umballah, the 81st at Meeau Meer, the 37th were
called up from Ceylon, and the Madras Fusiliers from Madras. The 64th
and 78th hurried from Persia, and the 84th were recalled from Burmah.
The troops, which included the 93rd Highlanders, _en route_ for China
were ordered to India, and Sir Colin Campbell hurried off from England
to take command of the operations. Meanwhile the insurrection spread,
until the whole region between the Punjab and Lower Bengal was in
revolt, a district as great as Austria, France, and Prussia combined.
Within six weeks of the murder of Colonel Finnis at Meerut, of the 120
sepoy regiments only 25 had not mutinied, and of these only 5 could be
relied upon.
[Illustration: MEDAL FOR AFGHAN WAR.]
[Illustration: ROBERTS STAR FOR MARCH TO KANDAHAR.]
=Cawnpore.=--Náná Sáhib took his opportunity directly the news of the
rebellion at Meerut and Delhi became known. Placing himself at the
head of the rebels, he proclaimed himself Peshwa of the Mahrattas,
and on June 6th informed General Sir Hugh Wheeler that he was about
to attack the position held by him, a miserably slight fortification
within which he had gathered about 1,000 souls, of whom only 465 were
males of all ages and classes. How bravely they fought, despite hunger,
thirst, and disease, for twenty days, and only surrendered when a safe
passage to Allahabad had been guaranteed by the bloodthirsty Náná,
and how by his treachery they were butchered by gunshot and sword, or
burnt to death, is one of those heroic episodes which will live for
ever; while the butchery of the women and children also by order of
the Náná Sáhib will blot the pages of Indian history for all time. On
July 16th General Havelock, who had hastened to the relief, defeated
the Náná with 7,000 men and powerful artillery, a few miles south
of the city, and he fled during the night. Next morning the British
soldiers entered Cawnpore, too late to save the unfortunate captives.
Havelock's little army, which had marched 126 miles in eight days and
captured 24 guns, consisted of 435 men of the 64th, about 300 78th
Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs), 190 of the 84th, 400 of the 1st Madras
Fusiliers, 20 Volunteer Cavalry, 76 Royal Artillery, 450 Sikhs, and 50
Irregular Native Horse. "Better soldiers have never trod the earth,"
states Archibald Forbes; and when we consider the sweltering heat of
the Indian summer, the men wading "in a sea of slush ... while the
flood of tropical rain beat down," and fighting against overwhelming
odds, we may heartily endorse Dr. Fitchett when he says, "In the whole
history of war, men have seldom dared, and endured, and achieved more
than did Havelock's column in the gallant but vain struggle to relieve
Cawnpore"; and of the "Ironsides" who were to press on to relieve and
reinforce Lucknow, only 250 remained to participate in the glorious
march.
=Delhi.=--On May 11, 1857, the 3rd Native Cavalry, who had outstripped
their infantry companions in revolt on the long march of 38 miles from
Meerut, appeared before the King's palace at Delhi, and declared they
had "slain all the English at Meerut, and had come to fight for the
faith." The old King had no desire to become embroiled in the tumult
that had begun to rage around him, but his guards, sympathising with
the mutineers, opened the gates and stood by while the miscreants
murdered the English officers and officials, and their families, and
any white person they could find. Lieutenant Willoughby, with 2 other
officers and 7 British soldiers, determined not only to sell their
lives dearly, but to do as much hurt to the rebels as possible, before
they accepted their fate. Their daring exploit of keeping nearly 2,000
mutineers at bay as long as they could serve the 10 guns, and coolly
taking their chance of life and death as they blew the magazine and the
surging masses of sepoys into the air, is one of the most brilliant
in history. Brave Conductor Scully, who fired the train, and four of
his companions heroically met their death, but the three officers,
Willoughby (who was captured later and killed), Raynor, and Forrest,
and Conductor Buckley, miraculously escaped for the time being.
Meanwhile the Commander-in-Chief, General Anson, had collected all
the available troops and marched upon Delhi, but dying of cholera at
Kurnaul, the command devolved upon Major-General Reed. Major-General
Sir Henry Barnard had collected a number of men at Aleepore, and
Brigadier-General Archdale Wilson had quitted Meerut with about 700
men in order to join forces with the Commander-in-Chief. On May 30th
he was attacked by the mutineers at Ghazee-ood-deen-nuggur, but drove
off his assailants numbering over 4,000. They returned to the attack on
the following day (Whit-Sunday), but the 6th Carabineers and the Rifles
drove them off with considerable slaughter, and captured 26 guns.
Then commenced the siege of Delhi, but for three and a half months
the ancient city withstood the assaults of the besiegers. First
Badlee-ke-Serai was taken, the 75th particularly distinguishing itself
in the valiant fight which the English troops made in acquiring it,
and then, after the Delhi cantonments had been taken and burned, the
Goorkas giving splendid evidence of their loyalty and gallantry, the
army sat down before the city, and the British lines were slowly
but deliberately pushed forward. On June 17th one of the enemy's
positions near the Ajmeer gate was taken; and on June 23rd, the fatal
day of prophecy when British rule was to cease, the mutineers made a
determined advance from the city, but after a hard day's fighting, in
which they had charged the Rifles, the Guides, and the Goorkas again
and again, they were compelled to retire.
In June cholera broke out in the camp, and early in July Sir Henry
Barnard was among its victims, while the 8th and 61st regiments
suffered considerably. Again and again the rebels sallied forth, only
to be beaten back, and the fighting proceeded gallantly week after
week, during which time Major Tombs, Lieutenant Hill, and a number
of men gained the V.C. Then Brigadier-General John Nicholson, having
gained a brilliant victory at Nujjuffhur, and prevented an attack upon
the rear of the British camp, rode in on August 7th. Shortly after his
little army marched in; it comprised 680 men of the 52nd, a wing of the
61st, the 2nd Punjab Infantry, and a field battery with detachments of
Beloochees and military police.