Single Campaign Medals
Besides the daily dangers of rebel fire from Johannes House, members of the Martinière Post were also subjected to two enemy attempts to drive mines under their position and blow it up. On 21 July, the day on which Schilling’s friend Polehampton was killed, a mine starting from the area of Johannes House was discovered in the nick of time, and the rebels dislodged by the use of grenades. However, the rebels’ second was a more successful attempt, as Schilling reported: ‘[it] carried entirely away the outer-room of the principal bungalow on the 10th August, while the boys were at prayers. The three doors in the partition wall, which fortunately remained standing, were blown open by the explosion. Before however the dust cleared away, those were barricaded with school tables, but not so as to prevent the first fatal casualty which occurred at the post, a soldier of the H.M’s 32nd Regiment, who accompanied the Brigadier on a visit of inspection.’
It was a moment of supreme danger. Rebels poured forth from Johannes House and the surrounding godowns and while maintaining a furious fusillade made a concerted effort to get into the Martinière Post. Inglis, visibly upset at the death of the soldier exclaimed, “Another of my brave men is gone”, and ordered those boys with muskets to fix bayonets. At length fire returned from the Martinière Post drove back the rebels, but a number of them succeeded in getting into the tykhanna (underground room). Captain McCabe of the 32nd came to the rescue, and, through holes bored in the floor, bombed them out with grenades. Three rebels were killed and the rest pushed out into Johannes’s godowns.
The constant threat posed by Johannes House was finally answered by a fifty-foot British counter mine started from the Martinère Post a week later. It was dug in three days by men of Cornish tin mining stock belonging to the 32nd. On the 21st a sharp fire was opened on Johannes House, into which, as was hoped, large numbers of rebels flocked in order to reply. The mine was then blown and the house collapsed in a heap of rubble. A hundred rebels including the notorious rebel sniper ‘Bob the Nailer’ perished.
By careful rationing, Schilling was able to feed all his people for upwards of two months without assistance from the Commissariat, although after the loss of the sheep, he had been given another flock by the authorities on condition that the Martinière should feed them with the supply of grain brought in by the school. When all the sheep had been eaten, Schilling drew rations of beef from the Commisariat, but finding the official allowance for children under 12 was inadequate - only an eighth of that allowed for an adult - he was obliged to purchase on behalf of the College, (‘at the best terms it could’, he stressed to the Trustees) bullocks heads and necks from which was made a ‘very substantial and palatable soup’. Water was ‘furnished in abundance by a large well in the compound, and was of excellent quality, until a bheestie who had come to draw some, was struck by a cannon shot and fell into it. The school then had to resort to a large well just outside the compound near the adjoining Native Hospital.
The shortage of suitable clothing for the boys, or ‘The Ragged Fusiliers’ as the soldiers of the 32nd called them, was an equally pressing matter as the availability of food. But, as ever, Schilling overcame the difficulty: ‘... the hard work that the boys had to undergo, so soon wore out what they had on, that it was with the utmost difficulty they were kept clothed, though the supply of men’s clothing purchased at the auctions of deceased officers’ effects, and from the stores of the 32nd Regiment was very liberal, and a large quantity was made up during the siege. On the approach of the cold season, the difficulty increased, but the efforts made were successful so far as to provide every boy leaving the Residency with a pair of shoes, and complete suit of warm clothing.’
Even after the arrival of Sir Colin Campbell’s Second Relief Force on 17 November, and the subsequent evacuation of non-combatants on the night of the 19th, the trials of the Schilling’s Ragged Fusiliers were far from over. ‘The endurance of the boys was put to a severer test during the march even than during the siege. Two hackeries and a few ponies purchased on the road, provided carriage for less than half the number, so that in the forced marches amidst the greatest confusion, the majority of them had to struggle on in the best way they could, to their journey’s end, then snatch a few hours’ sleep under trees, hackeries, or sheds, with insufficient covering against the cold (for many of them had been obliged, on the first march from the Residency, when they started without hackeries or camels, to abandon their blankets), and then hurriedly to start again. Happily the exertions made to provide them with food were successful, or otherwise they would never have braved as they did the extreme fatigue of the march.’
On 15 March 1858, Schilling, together with his family, staff and pupils arrived at Benares, where two bungalows were rented in the civil lines and a level of normality was resumed. The Founder’s Day feast of 1857 was now celebrated, and looking back on the experiences of the past seven months, Schilling observed: ‘Though the boys have lost in actual knowledge during the months that they have been without school work, they appear to have gained in intelligence by what they have gone through, and they are also more self-reliant, and show a more kindly feeling towards each other than before.’
Principal Schilling’s leadership was well rewarded. He was duly voted a gratuity of three months pay, and later became a Talukdar, or noble of Oudh, with an estate worth 30,000 pounds, thereby ensuring a comfortable retirement in England. The Martiniere contribution was officially recognised in Queen Victoria’s 1858 proclamation. Although the boys were all awarded the Mutiny medal, it was not until 1932 , following a request by the College, that the British Government recognised Martiniere`s role in 1857 by presenting it with Battle Honours - an honour held by no other educational institution in the British Empire. Schilling’s remarkable achievement in bringing nearly all of those dependent on him through the siege was acknowledged by his alma mater in 1858, when King’s, London, made him an Honorary Fellow. Continuing in India, he became a Governor of the Lawrence Military Asylum, before retiring to England. George Schilling died at 58 Crystal Palace Park Road, Sydenham, on 9 February 1886, and is buried in Elmers Green Cemetery.
Refs: Appendix B to the Report of the Proceedings of the Lucknow Martine Charities for 1856-57, and 1857-58; IOL L/MIL/5/86; Modern English Biography (Boase); The Times 18/2/96; A Memoir, Letters, and Diary of the Rev Henry S. Polehampton, M.A., (Polehampton & Polehampton); The Martinière Boys in the Bailey Guard. By One of Them (Hilton); The Mutinies in Oude (Gubbins).
x872
Patrick Kirwan volunteered to the 75th Foot on 01 February 1859. Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Lucknow (P, Kirwan, 1st Batn. 10th Regt.) brooch marks to obverse, otherwise nearly
very fine x873 £140-£180
William Ashton was born at Blackburn and enlisted on 20 February 1854, at Preston, aged 20 years 11 months. Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Lucknow (W, Ashton. 34th Regt.) suspension soldered and no longer swivels, edge
bruising and contact marks, better than good fine 874 x875 x876 £160-£200
Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Lucknow (Thos. Johnston, 93rd Highlanders) remains of menu-holder fittings to reverse of suspension and no longer swivels, otherwise toned, good very fine
£200-£260 Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Lucknow (Jas. Goodwin, 2nd Bn. Rifle Bde.) good very fine
Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Lucknow (Richd. Mormon, 2nd Bn. Rifle Bde.) nearly very fine Roll confirms as Morman.
www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable) £180-£220 £180-£220
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