Part 12

Colonel Godby, who commanded the garrison, on observing the approach of the British force, moved out from Loodiana and joined the relieving force. General Wheeler's brigade also arrived, and on January 28th the battle of Aliwal was fought. About 10,000 men against 20,000 with 68 guns, Sir Harry Smith boldly advanced upon the Sikh position held by the flower of that fine army. The British cavalry drove the Sikh horsemen on their own infantry, and captured several guns, while the British infantry made terrible havoc with the bayonet. The battle commenced at 10 a.m., and by 1 o'clock the Sikh army was flying in disorder, the whole of their artillery being left in possession of the victors. In this action the British losses were 151 killed, 413 wounded, and 25 missing. The 16th Lancers, who had greatly distinguished themselves, lost 8 officers and 100 men. Colonel Robertson, who was present with the 31st, records a "magnificent charge of the 16th Lancers, who rode right through one of the enemy's squares. As they (the Lancers) came round our right flank a regiment of sepoys, our own men, opened fire upon them!" The gallant Colonel, however, at the risk of his life, ran along the line knocking up their muskets with his sword as he shouted in Hindustani, "Our men, our own men!"

The following regiments were engaged at Aliwal: H.M.'s 31st, 50th, and 53rd Foot and 16th Lancers. The H.E.I. Co.'s troops were the 1st and 2nd Goorkas, 30th, 36th, 47th, and 48th Bengal Native Infantry and a wing of the 24th; 1st, 3rd, and 5th Bengal Light Cavalry; 4th Irregular Cavalry and the Bodyguard; Bengal Horse and Foot Artillery; Bengal Sappers and Miners.

=Sobraon.=--The completeness of the victory at Aliwal did not utterly dispirit the Sikhs, for they made a bold stand at Sobraon, where, on February 10th, they desperately disputed the day with the army composed of the combined forces of Sir Hugh Gough and Sir Harry Smith. The Sikhs held their 3,500 yards of entrenchments, shielding 70 guns, with 34,000 men, while on the other bank of the Sutlej 20,000 more were ready for battle. Sir Hugh Gough's army of 16,224 men--6,533 Europeans and 9,691 native troops--prepared for battle at sunrise, when the British batteries opened fire, but with little effect upon the enemy's guns in the strong redoubts. At 9 o'clock the European infantry advanced to attack, and then, without firing a shot, under a galling fire rushed upon the Sikhs, while the cavalry, passing in single files through the gaps in the entrenchments made by the sappers, re-formed and sabred the stubborn Sikh artillerymen at their posts. Those who fled were drowned in thousands in the waters of the Sutlej, which was red in places with the blood of men and horses, and the fine army of Sikhs (Khalsas) melted away, after leaving about 8,000 on the field of battle. No longer was there any doubt as to the determination of the British to maintain their prestige and possessions, and the haughty chieftains sought peace from their conquerors. The youthful Maharajah Dhuleep Singh was, however, compelled to treat in person. As a result the victors occupied the rich district between the Sutlej and the Beeas, and he was allowed to nominally rule the Punjab until the war indemnity of £1,500,000 was paid. It was a dear victory for the British: the 10th lost 3 officers and 130 men; the 29th Regiment lost 13 officers and 135 men; the 31st, 7 officers and 147 men, two of the officers--Ensign Tritton and Jones--being killed while bearing the regimental colours, which were ultimately planted on the highest point of the enemy's entrenchments by Sergeant Bernard McCabe, who as Captain McCabe was mortally wounded when leading a fourth sortie from Lucknow on October 1st, 1857. The 50th lost 12 officers and 227 men. Generals McLaren and Cyril Taylor were among the dead, also Major-General Sir Robert Dick, who gained considerable fame as leader of the 42nd Highlanders during the Peninsular War and at Waterloo, and who fell at the moment of victory.

The regiments engaged at Sobraon were: H.M.'s 9th, 10th, 29th, 31st, 50th, 53rd, and 62nd Infantry Regiments; 3rd Light Dragoons; 9th and 16th Lancers; 1st Bengal Europeans; 1st and 2nd Goorkas; 1 company 12th, 16th, wing of 24th, 26th, 33rd, some of the 38th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 47th, 59th, 63rd, and 68th Bengal Native Infantry; with the 45th and 59th in reserve; 3rd, 4th, and 5th Bengal Light Cavalry; 2nd, 8th, and 9th Irregular Cavalry; 10 troops of Horse Artillery; 11 companies Foot Artillery. The 73rd Bengal Native Infantry stationed at Rhodawalla also received the medal. It should be noted that the record of regiments engaged does not necessarily represent all the units taking part. Details and drafts from various corps were often present through one cause or another, or by accident. This should be borne in mind whenever a medal comes under notice. The medal rolls will generally assist, but there have been instances, and very serious ones for the collector, where the want of accuracy in a medal roll has cost him very dearly. Dr. Payne gives an instance of this on page 74 of "British and Foreign Orders, War Medals and Decorations," a bar for Corygaum being on a medal awarded to a man of the 65th Foot, as well as the bar for Poona. The first-named bar made the medal one of the rarest of the series issued to a British soldier, but the medal roll led Dr. Payne to think it a fraud, which later evidence demonstrated was not the case.

=The Sutlej Medal.=--The first, or Sutlej medal, 1¼ in. in diameter, bearing the legend "ARMY OF THE SUTLEJ," was given with three bars for four battles; that is to say, that those who fought through all the battles had their record on the medal and three bars. A soldier taking part in the battle of MOODKEE would have the name impressed in raised letters, with the date, 1845, in the exergue of the medal, and the succeeding battles on the bars, as in the illustration facing page 112, of a medal awarded to a man of the 31st Royal East Surrey Regiment--this and the 50th Royal West Kent Regiment being the only two British regiments to receive the three bars, for FEROZESHUHUR, ALIWAL, and for SOBRAON, the battle which determined the first campaign. This was the first Indian medal issued with bars. The ribbon is dark blue, edged with dark crimson. The medal, with W. WYON, R.A., on the truncation of the Queen's head and W.W. above the left-hand corner of the exergue, is generally considered a good one, and certainly it does stand out among the many issued during the reign of Queen Victoria as symbolic and suited for its purpose. The names of the recipients are impressed in Roman capitals on the edges. The medal is attached to the ribbon by means of a scroll bar fixed to the medal by a claw clip acting on a swivel, so that the medal may be turned about when fixed on the breast.

SECOND PUNJAB CAMPAIGN

This originated in a murderous assault made upon the British officials accompanying the Sirdar Khan Singh, who was deputed to take over the charge of the fortress of Mooltan (Multan) and province from the native Governor Dewan Moolraj, who had resigned. On arriving at the gate of the fortress the officers and their escort were attacked and killed by some of the Governor's men. A punitive force, including a body of 1,400 Sikhs, was consequently sent to punish the city, but the Sikhs went over to the rebels, and it was found necessary to send a strong force to reduce the mutineers who had been excited by Moolraj. Mooltan, a city three miles in circumference, is of considerable antiquity; it was taken by Alexander the Great, and at the beginning of the eleventh century by Mahmud of Ghazni, and by Tamerlane at the end of the fourteenth century; besieged by Ranjit Singh in 1810, he was bought off by the Afghan Governor, but it fell in 1818, and was annexed to the Punjab.

General Whish marched upon the city from Lahore with a force which included H.M.'s 10th and 32nd Regiments, and concentrated at Mooltan in the middle of August; but he had realised, after the desertion of 5,000 Sikhs under Sheer Ali, that it was fruitless to maintain the siege, and therefore raised it on September 15th. Lieutenant Edwardes, however, had by superhuman energy and indomitable pluck raised a force of Sikhs and Mahommedans, which was of the greatest possible assistance in holding Moolraj and his army of about 8,800 infantry and 1,200 cavalry, with 54 guns, in check, twice defeating him in battle at Kineyree and Suddoosam.

=Edwardes's Medal.=--For his splendid services the H.E.I. Co. presented him with a gold medal designed by W. Wyon, R.A., bearing on the obverse the bust of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and on the reverse, resting upon a lotus flower, the figures of Valour and Victory, crowning the arms of Major (afterwards Sir Herbert) Edwardes; beneath, in allusion to the youthfulness of the hero, the infant Hercules strangling serpents. Within the border is the inscription, FROM THE EAST INDIA COMPANY TO LIEUTENANT AND BREVET-MAJOR H. B. EDWARDES, C.B., FOR HIS SERVICES IN THE PUNJAB A.D. MDCCCXLVIII.

=Where "El Chico Blanco" fell.=--While Whish and Edwardes had been holding the ground, Lord Gough assembled an army at Ferozepore, and marching into the Punjab met the rebels at Ramnuggur on the banks of the Chenab on November 28th, 1848, where after a determined battle the enemy drew off beaten. It was here Lieutenant-Colonel William Havelock, K.H., "El Chico Blanco," the fair-haired and gallant boy-leader of the Peninsular War, was killed while leading the 14th Dragoons in the cavalry charge. Colonel Havelock was brother to Sir Henry Havelock, and his six-bar Peninsular medal is in the great collection of my friend Dr. A. A. Payne, of Sheffield. Brigadier-General Cureton, C.B., the commander of the cavalry division, also fell. The brilliant charges made by the 13th and 14th Light Dragoons, and the 5th and 8th Light Cavalry, against the great bodies of hostile horsemen numbering nearly 4,000, called forth special mention in general orders. Various minor engagements were fought while Major-General Whish renewed the siege of Mooltan, which lasted twenty-five days, during which time a shell from one of the British mortar batteries struck the "Jumma Musjid," or Great Mosque, while another blew up a powder-magazine with 400,000 lb. of powder, when, states Colonel Maude, "as if by mutual consent the firing on both sides ceased a while, every one gazing upwards with silent awe and wonder! Then from the British camp arose one long burst of triumph, which was speedily answered by a furious cannonade from our courageous and still unsubdued enemy." Two breaches had been made in the walls by January 1st, 1849, one at the Delhi Gate and one near the "Khonee Boorj," or Bloody Bastion; this the Bombay European Fusiliers, the 4th Rifles, and the 19th Native Infantry were told off to storm, but the "Old Toughs," as the Fusiliers were called, had to make three desperate attempts before they and their comrades could gain the summit. Meanwhile the 32nd, with two Bengal regiments in support, had been ordered to storm the Delhi Gate; but their efforts were unsuccessful owing to the imperfect breaching, and they entered the city by the "Khonee Boorj." So Mooltan was won, but no rest was obtained until the troops reached the Soharee Gate, after fighting through the streets of the blood-stained city, in the siege of which the British force lost 1,200 in killed and wounded.

The British regiments which took part in the siege were the 10th, 32nd, and 1st Batt. 60th Rifles (only 100 of this regiment received the single bar for Mooltan, and fakers frequently remove the Goojerat bar from a medal in order to enhance its value); likewise a Naval Brigade (Indus Flotilla) of about 100 men; 1st (Royal) Bombay Fusiliers; 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 19th Bombay Native Infantry; 8th, 49th, 51st, 52nd, and 72nd Native Infantry; Bengal and Bombay Sappers and Miners; 1st and 2nd Scinde; Irregular Horse and 1st and 11th Bengal Light Cavalry; and 7th, 11th Irregular Cavalry with a detachment of the 14th. Likewise a detachment of Guides and Horse and Foot Artillery.

=Chilianwala.=--After the fall of Mooltan, Major-General Whish, with the 10th, 32nd, and the 60th Rifles, proceeded to join Gough's army, and was in time to take part in the final battle of Goojerat. The sanguinary battle of Chilianwala was fought on January 13th, 1849, and although described by Sir Henry Havelock as "the most sanguinary, and the nearest approximation to a defeat," it was not at first decided to issue a bar for the engagement. It was not an officers' battle; all the more reason, therefore, that the bar should be given to the soldiers "whose dauntless valour rectifies the errors of its commanders," for, as the _Calcutta Review_ rightly affirmed, the soldiery "redeemed their errors with its blood," the unfortunate 24th, which advanced on the Sikh guns with unloaded muskets, losing no less than 14 officers and 241 men killed in the action, and 10 officers and 253 men wounded, besides losing one of their colours which was left on the field, but four others shared the same fate when after this confused battle Lord Gough drew his men off a mile in order to find water. The total loss of the British was 38 officers and 564 men killed, 94 officers and 1,557 men wounded, and 104 missing. The Sikhs, who "fought like devils," lost about 3,000 killed and 4,000 wounded.

The following British regiments took part: 24th, 29th (whose "undaunted bravery" was placed on record), 61st Foot; 3rd, 9th, and 14th Light Dragoons; Bengal Horse and Foot Artillery; the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers; 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 31st, 36th, 45th, 46th, 56th, and 69th Bengal Native Infantry; 1st, 5th, 6th, and 8th Bengal Light Cavalry; 3rd and 9th Irregular Cavalry and Bengal Pioneers.

=Goojerat.=--The last battle of the campaign was fought at Goojerat (Gujerat) on February 21st, 1849. Hitherto the Sikhs had proudly attacked; in this instance they acted upon the defensive under Sheer Singh, who commanded a force of 34,000 Sikhs, with 59 guns, and about 1,500 Afghans under the command of a son of the Ameer. In this battle the British General was superior in artillery, having 97 guns, but only 24,000 men. In advancing upon the Sikh position, Gough, as usual, intended sending his infantry forward before the artillery had done its work. Colonel Robertson alleges that, "Sir Hugh Gough's simple strategy was to put the strongest regiment into the hottest place, and no attempt was made to outflank or turn a position, which must account for the heavy list of casualties." However, on this occasion, Malleson states his staff induced the veteran to mount the top story of an isolated building which commanded a complete view of the battlefield, and then quietly removed the ladder, and only replaced it when the artillery had done its work. Then this indomitable army went for the well-served Sikh guns, and put the enemy to rout, leaving the cavalry to pursue them for twelve miles. The power of the Sikhs was broken, the Punjab became a possession of the British Crown, and the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh granted a pension. The Sikh losses were terrific, but only 29 officers and 671 men of the British force were placed _hors de combat_.

The following regiments were represented at Goojerat: 10th, 24th, 29th, 32nd, 53rd (which arrived in the evening), 60th, and 1st Batt. 61st Foot; 3rd Light Dragoons, 9th Lancers, and 14th Light Dragoons; 1st Bombay Europeans; 1st and 2nd Bengal Europeans; 3rd, 8th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 31st, 36th, 45th, 46th, 51st, 52nd, 56th, 69th, 70th, 72nd Bengal Native Infantry; 19th Bombay Infantry; 1st, 5th, 6th, and 8th Bengal Light Cavalry; 3rd, 9th, 11th, and 14th Irregular Cavalry, and Scinde Horse; 4 field batteries of Bombay Artillery, and 9 troops of Horse Artillery; 2 companies of Bengal Sappers and Miners, 6 companies of Bengal Pioneers, and 1st Company of Bombay Pioneers. A Brigade of Seamen from the Indian Navy which accompanied the Bombay column were awarded the medal.

=The Punjab Medal.=--The obverse bears the diademed head of Queen Victoria by Wyon, and the legend VICTORIA REGINA, and the reverse Sikh chiefs laying down their arms before a victorious British General seated on horseback in the front of his troops, who are drawn up in line with colours flying. In the background are palm trees, and above TO THE ARMY OF THE PUNJAB. In the exergue is the date MDCCCXLIX. The medal is 1⅖ in. in diameter, and has the names of the recipients impressed on the edge in Roman capital letters. The clasps for suspension, and the bars, are similar to those on the Sutlej medal; the ribbon is 1¾ in. wide, and of dark blue with bright-yellow stripes at the side.

FIRST NEW ZEALAND WAR

During this time trouble had arisen in the distant colony of New Zealand, the sovereignty of which had been ceded to Britain in 1840, a year after the first settlers had established themselves. The trouble arose mainly owing to the occupation of tribal land, although other causes were alleged. The first outbreak took place in July 1844, when a police magistrate and a number of settlers were killed, and a powerful chief, Hone Heke, tore down the British flag at Kororareka--in the north islands--took possession of the township and plundered it. H.M.S. "Hazard," with a detachment of the 95th, was sent to quell the disturbance and guard the place, but so persistent and successful was Heke in his attacks that it was deemed advisable, in March 1845, to abandon the settlement and embark the inhabitants for Auckland. On the arrival of reinforcements from Sydney, the Union Jack was again hoisted, and martial law proclaimed. A force consisting of the 58th Regiment, a detachment of the 96th, Seamen and Marines from the "Hazard" and "North Star," and a number of natives under Colonel Hulme of the 96th Regiment, then proceeded to Okaihau, where Heke had built a Pah or fortification. Although only 18 miles inland, the troops were four days in reaching their goal, and then the place was found impregnable, and as no artillery accompanied the expedition, it was forced to return, having lost 14 killed and 39 wounded. The expedition being strengthened by reinforcements, another attempt was made to try conclusions with Heke, who had entrenched himself at Oheawai. The 58th Regiment, with detachments of the 96th and 99th, a number of volunteers from Auckland, and 30 men from the "Hazard," in all 630 men with 250 natives and 4 guns, under the command of Colonel Despard, appeared before Oheawai on June 23rd; the guns, however, proved useless for the work, but breaches were made with a 32-pounder brought up by the commander of the "Hazard." On July 1st an assault was made by 200 soldiers and seamen, but half the stormers were killed or wounded, and they were compelled to retire. They consequently sat down in front of the stockades, and when preparing to make another assault, on July 10th, they discovered that the enemy had evacuated their Pah. In November 1845 more active measures were taken by the newly appointed Governor, Captain (afterwards Sir George) Grey. A force of about 1,170 soldiers, volunteers, and seamen, with 450 natives, 4 guns, and rocket tubes, were sent against the chiefs Heke and Kawiti. While a friendly Maori chief, Macquarrie, kept Heke engaged at Ikorangi, the main force attacked the Pah at Ruapekapeka held by Kawiti, which after withstanding a siege from December 31st until January 10th, 1846, was practically abandoned by the Maoris, and then taken with a loss of 13 men killed and 30 wounded. The chiefs were pardoned, and the war in the North Island ended. Meanwhile trouble had been brewing in the South Island, which was brought to a head by an attack in May 1847 on a party of the 58th Regiment. A reprisal was made by the British attacking the stockade of Rangihaeata, and dispersing the natives, 600 of whom, however, on May 19th made an attack on the Wanganui settlement, and maintained it for several hours until night fell, when they retired. The place was held by 170 of the 58th, assisted by a gunboat. Early in June an attack was made on a detachment of the 65th; but following a sortie from the block-houses, held by the 58th, the Maori chiefs sued for peace.

The regiments engaged were the 58th, 65th, 96th, 99th; Royal Artillery; Royal Engineers; H.E.I. Co.'s Artillery; Royal Marines, and the crews of nine of Her Majesty's ships, the names of which are recorded in the naval section. The medal for the war was not authorised until March 1869.

=Medal for Peninsular War.=--It would appear strange that although a medal was so readily awarded for Waterloo, no recognition was given to the veterans of the Peninsular, and that they should have to wait until 1847 before a medal was issued as a record of, and reward for, their services against the veteran troops of France. That they ultimately received a decoration was due to the efforts of the veteran Duke of Richmond, who, on July 21st, 1854, presented a petition in the House of Lords, "requesting their Lordships' recommendation of them to their Sovereign, that they may receive a decoration for the services they had performed." The gallant Duke urged the claims of the junior officers, non-commissioned officers, and men in simple but powerful terms, while the Duke of Wellington, who had previously refused to present a petition to King George, opposed the grant to the survivors of over sixty battalions of the army who had, as he admitted, served under him in six campaigns.

He appeared, according to the record of the debate, to have thought only of the senior officers. "Have no rewards been bestowed upon these officers?" he asked. "New modes were discovered and adopted of distinguishing and rewarding the officers." Medals had been struck and distributed to 1,300 officers, special brevets were issued, and 7 officers raised to the peerage, as the Duke of Wellington pointed out; but he had no word of remembrance, no word of support for the thousands of officers and men whose only rewards had been hardship and scars. No word of commendation for the men who kept "grim Busaco's bloody ridge," and ultimately hurled the veterans of Marengo and Austerlitz into the ravine below; or for those who added laurels to Britain's fame at Fuentes d'Onor (Fountain of Honour); the Fusiliers and their brave companions in arms who fought so splendidly and so fiercely on the heights of Albuera, where the 57th--the first battalion of the Middlesex Regiment--gained their coveted _nom de guerre_, "Die Hards," for, as Napier states, "nothing could stop that astonishing infantry," which turned the day in the bloodiest battle of the war. It was indeed a soldiers' battle, but the senior officers, as usual, received the gold medal. What a case the Duke of Richmond had if only by stating the result of this one battle, after which "1,800 unwounded men, the remnant of 6,000 unconquerable British soldiers, stood triumphant on the fatal hill." The Iron Duke must have forgotten the gallant storming of the breaches at Ciudad Rodrigo, the success of which gained for him his viscountcy; the storming of Badajoz, which caused him to weep at the cost of the victory, and Orthes, where Picton's men climbed the rough, rocky bank, and Colborne's 52nd undauntedly pressed forward knee-deep in the marshy swamp and up the hill to the victory which practically determined the Peninsular campaign.