War Medals and Their HistorySteward, William Augustus
History
War Medals and Their History
Steward, William Augustus
Great Britain. Army -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Medals, badges, decorations, etc.
=Kelat-i-Ghilzie.=--Colonel Wymer, C.B., with a detachment
which included a few men of "The Fighting Fortieth," marched on
Kelat-i-Ghilzie, a hill fort 84 miles from Candahar, in order to draw
off the garrison, which had held the fort during the winter, and (on
May 21st) five days before Colonel Wymer's arrival had succeeded in
defeating 4,000 Ghilzees who had attacked the fort. The garrison
of only 950, under the command of Captain Craigie, included about
100 Europeans. For this heroic defence a silver medal was issued to
every man taking part; it is 1⅖ in. in diameter, and depends from a
steel clip and bar, as in the medal illustrated facing page 96, and
was suspended from the same kind of ribbon. On the obverse is an
ornamental shield inscribed KELAT-I-GHILZIE, surrounded by a laurel
wreath with a mural crown above. On the reverse is a military trophy,
with a breast-plate and helmet forming the central feature, and
"INVICTA MDCCCXLII" on an ornamental tablet underneath. The names of
the recipients were all engraved, generally in script. None of the
Queen's Regiments took part in the defence, the majority (600) of
the defenders being of the Shah's army. Three companies of the 43rd
Bengal Infantry, 44 European Artillerymen including one officer, and 60
Sappers and Miners of the H.E.I. Co.'s service were also engaged. Only
55 Europeans received this medal.
=Recapture of Ghuznee.=--Ghuznee, with its garrison of exhausted
and half-frozen men, had capitulated in March under the orders of
Major-General Elphinstone, who had been taken prisoner at Cabul, and
died shortly afterwards. Elphinstone's orders to surrender Jellalabad
and Candahar had been ignored by Sir Robert Sale and Sir William
Knott. They not only had the determination of Englishmen, but knew the
treacherous character of their enemies. Colonel Palmer, unfortunately,
forced by the weakness of his men and relying upon the promise of a
safe escort for his sepoys to Hindoostan, agreed to surrender. The
troops were unarmed, and with their womenfolk had hardly left the
citadel when they were attacked and the majority massacred. Colonel
Palmer was tortured, and with nine other officers thrown into a
dungeon. When Sir William Knott appeared before Ghuznee, on September
5th, 1842, he found the city swarming with rebel troops, and great
bodies of cavalry and infantry in the mountainous environs. He drove
these off, erected breaching batteries, and prepared to attack the
city, but on the morning of the 6th it was discovered that the fortress
had been evacuated; and so with very few casualties Ghuznee was again
taken, over 300 unfortunate sepoys released, and the sacred gates of
Somnath, which Mahommedan invaders had taken from India centuries
before, were taken down as mementoes of a campaign which did nothing to
improve our prestige.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account