A Collection of Medals The Property of a Gentleman
C.B. London Gazette 20 May 1898:
‘In recognition of services during the recent operations on the North-West
Frontier of India.’
Henry Alexius Abbott was born in Allahabad in January 1849, the fourth son of
Major-General Augustus Abbott, C.B., Bengal Artillery, and was educated back
home at King William’s College on the Isle of Man. First commissioned as a 2nd
Lieutenant in the 37th Regiment in February 1868, he transferred to the Indian
Army with an appointment as a Lieutenant in the 15th Sikhs in November 1870.
During the Second Afghan War, Abbott was present at the actions of Ahmed Khel
and Urzoo, near Ghuznee, and in the march from Kabul to the relief of
Kandahar, including the action of 2 September 1880, services that won him a
mention in despatches (London Gazette 3 December 1880, refers). He was
advanced to Captain in February 1880.
Next actively employed in the Suakin Expedition of 1885, he was present at the
actions of Hasheen and Tofrek, and operations at Tamaai, again winning a
“mention” (London Gazette 25 August 1885, refers), and gaining the Brevet of
Major. In the action at Tofrek on 22 March 1885, when Sir John McNeill’s zareba
was attacked, the 15th Sikhs held the left flank, and ‘stood their ground most
gallantly, pouring volley after volley into the enemy without any sign of
unsteadiness’.
Back in India, Abbott commanded the 15th Sikhs in the Miranzai Expedition of 1891, adding a third “mention” to his accolades
(London Gazette 15 September 1891, refers), prior to extensive service on the North-West Frontier in 1897-98, when he was present in
operations on the Samana and in the Kurram Valley during August and September of the former year, latterly in Colonel G. L. R.
Richardson’s flying column. The Colonel subsequently mentioned Abbott’s conspicuous services in the Kurram Valley in his despatch
dated at Shinwari on 28 January 1898:
‘I cannot speak too highly of the able manner in which Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott handled his small force. The fact that this force, in
the middle of an August day, captured the Samana Ridge, relieved Laka and Saifuldarra, and fought a rear-guard action home, with the
loss of one Sepoy killed, one wounded, one follower killed and one wounded, testifies to the skill with which the operation was
conducted ... Lieutenant-Colonel H. A. Abbott, commanding the 15th Sikhs, was my right-hand man throughout the operations. His
vast experience and untiring energy I cannot speak too highly of. He is a most valuable officer.’
In the Tirah operations of November 1897, Abbott was twice severely wounded, having been present in the actions of Chagru Kotal
and Dargai, at the capture of the Sampagha and Arhanga Passes, the reconnaissance of Saran Sar and action of 9 November, and in
operations in the Waran Valley and the action of 16 November. One of his severe wounds was received in the latter action, when the
15th Sikhs were charged with defending the heights either side of the Tseri Kandao, an incident later described by a fellow officer:
‘After a bit the Colonel [Abbott] arrived with about 10 men. He had signalled back to the main body that we were running short of
ammunition and had too many wounded to retire and asking for help. Just as he arrived, the answer came from Kempster, “retire on the
Gurkhas”. Again we signalled that we could not retire without leaving our wounded and got the same answer twice. So we ignored it
and made up our minds to stick it out the night if we could. Just then Custance and two companies of the 36th Sikhs arrived and almost
immediately he and our Colonel were wounded. The Colonel had taken a rifle and was trying to Shikar a man who was heaving bricks,
when the man fired a blunderbuss loaded with slugs and telegraph wire, bang in his face. He refused at first to go back and I had to
forcibly put him in a stretcher and pack him off ... ’
Abbott was thrice mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 1 March, 5 April and 3 May 1898 refer), advanced to substantive Colonel
in February 1898, and awarded the C.B.
Abbott’s final appointment was as a Temporary Brigadier-General commanding Allahabad Distirct, in which capacity he was awarded
the Delhi Durbar Medal (G.G.O. 626 of July 1903), and, having been placed on the Unemployed Supernumerary List in January 1906,
he was granted the honorary rank of Brigadier-General in August 1912.
According to one obituarist, the General, who was appointed Colonel of the 15th Sikhs in 1913, ‘bought an estate at Mashobra in the
Simla Hills, where he lived until his death in June 1924, except for a period during the war, when he went home quietly and took part
in the training of troops and even went to France’; sold with a full file of research, including a quantity of excellent copy images of
Abbott, as taken from the photograph album of Lieutenant-Colonel Rowcroft, a fellow 15th Sikh.
www.dnw.co.uk
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