Single Campaign Medals


After the battle, in order to indicate to the enemy that the forces of the Government were confident of being able to take care of themselves, the line of rifle-pits was filled up, and the camp at Amorha was pitched in the open plain. A small fort, however, was built to contain the sick, and the spare ammunition and baggage. There were many alarms until the end of April; and, during that period, the force was joined by the left wing of Her Majesty's 13th Light Infantry, while one of the Gurkha regiments was withdrawn from it and sent to Goruckpur. On April 17th, a detachment went out and defeated a body of marauding rebels near the village of Tilga, capturing a gun; and, on April 25th, another body was met near Jamoulee. Owing to the intense heat, this affair was an unsatisfactory one, for the rebels would not stand and could not be followed far. On the next day, the force moved to Kuptangunge. The enemy was then all round it. With a view to freeing it somewhat, an attack was made on April 29th on the fort of Nuggur by a detachment which included 96 officers and men, two guns, and a rocket tube from the Naval Brigade. The place was taken with but very trifling loss; and in the evening the detachment returned to camp. For some time afterwards the Brigade remained at Bustee, where it went into huts on June 13th. From Bustee, several small expeditions were made against detached bodies of the enemy. One of these expeditions, on May 31st, turned a party of mutineers out of a position near Amorha; and on June 18th, another party of more formidable strength, was defeated at Hurreah, but withdrew in good order.


On August 29th, a section of the Brigade, 50 strong, under Lieutenant Fawkes, with two guns, took part in an engagement near Lumptee, and did good and steady service; and on the same day, another section,under Lieutenant Turnour, also with two guns, assisted in repelling an attack on an outpost at Hurreah, and, following the enemy, routed him on September 1st at Debreah. On the evening of September 6th, Commander Grant, with 73 seamen and Marines, two 12-pr. howitzers, a 24-pr. rocket-tube, and a detachment of the 13th Regiment, left Amorha, with a view to relieving a small garrison of Sikhs in the friendly town of Bansee. At Gondah, Grant was joined by Captain Mulcaster, who arrived with a squadron of cavalry, and took command.


Bansee was reached on the 8th, after a splendid march of 50 miles in 39 hours, the men being often up to their knees in mud, and sometimes up to their waists in water. Bansee was relieved only just in time, for the gallant Sikhs holding it had but three percussion caps per man remaining. From Bansee, the expedition, which had been reinforced on the 10th by Brigadier Fischer, marched on the 12th, reaching Doomureahgunge on the 13th, and driving back a body of the rebels. The howitzers, under Lieutenant Ingles, were most excellently handled. On the 14th, an effort was made to catch a body of mutineers at Intwa; but the roads were so bad that the attempt had to be abandoned; and on the 17th, the expedition returned to Bustee. Another naval force, under Lieutenant Ingles, formed part of an expedition which left Bustee on September 27th for Bansee, and which, having crossed the Raptee, got up with, and dispersed, some mutineers at Mowee on September 30th, after most exhausting marches.


On October 1st, the outpost at Amorha, which included 50 of the Pearl's people, with two howitzers, under Lieutenant Fawkes, was attacked by about 1200 mutineers, with two guns. The enemy was repulsed, after Lieutenant Malay, who directed the howitzers, and four seamen, Lee, Williams, Rayfield, and Simmonds, had especially distinguished themselves.


On October 23rd, yet another expedition had to be despatched towards Bansee. On October 26th, when an insufficient British force was foiled in an attack on the jungle fort of Jugdespore, twenty-five miles north-west of Bustee, it was reported that the Brigade lost its guns in the retreat. There was no foundation for the story, which, however, gave rise to some amusing correspondence in the Indian papers.


In the middle of November, all the outlying parties were recalled, and the whole force left Bustee on the 24th for the northern jungle on the Nepal frontier, only a field hospital and guard remaining. A siege train had, in the meantime, arrived at Bustee, and had been handed over to the Pearl's people. On the 25th, Bhanpur was reached, and a Madras battery joined; and on the 25th, the force moved on to Doomureahgunge, where the rebels were very bloodily defeated, and a halt was made for some days, during which a bridge of boats was thrown across the Raptee, in face of a considerable army under Balla Rao, a near kinsman of Nana Sahib. On the evening of December 2nd, Brigadier Rowcroft learnt that another native force, under Nazim Mahomed Hossein, was six or eight miles up the river, intending to cross and join Balla Rao. On the 3rd, therefore, a detachment, which included 2 guns and 50 men of the Naval Brigade, under Captain Sotheby, went out to the attack, and found the rebels at Bururiah in a strong position. The enemy stood with unusual steadiness, until his flank was threatened; whereupon he retired and scattered, carrying off his guns. The detachment then returned to camp; and on December 5th, the Naval Brigade crossed the Raptee, the rest of the force soon following.


The movement was part of a concerted plan to encircle the shattered armies of the Begum, Lord Clyde being to the westward, Sir Hope Grant to the southward, and Brigadier Rowcroft drawing round from the eastward, while to the northward were the jungles of Nepal. A guard was left at the bridge at Doomureahgunge; and the remainder of the force marched to Intwa and camped there. The siege train, consisting of two 18-prs., one 8-in. howitzer, two 8-in. mortars, and two 5.5-in. mortars, arrived on the 18th and gave the Naval Brigade as much artillery as it could possibly manage. The mortars were entrusted to Lieutenant Pym, R.M. On the 20th, the force advanced from Intwa to Biskohur, in Oudh, and, on the 22nd, to Goolereah Ghat, five miles from Toolseepur, where the remnants of the enemy were collected in great force. On the 23rd, in concert with the army of Sir Hope Grant, the force crossed the Boora Raptee, and attacked. Near the centre were the four naval guns and two 24-pr. rocket tubes, under Commander Turnour, Lieutenant Maquay, and Midshipman Root. The rest of the Naval Brigade, and the siege train, under Captain Sotheby, was as close up as the nature of the ground would admit. In about an hour and a half, the rebels were completely routed, though they carried off most of their guns, and although the pursuit was somewhat ineffective, owing to lack of enough cavalry to undertake it properly. The mutineers numbered about 12,000; the attacking force, which had but 4 killed and about a dozen wounded, only 2500.


This was the last affair in which the Pearl's Brigade took part, and, indeed, the last general action of the Mutiny. The seamen and Marines hoped to enjoy a quiet Christmas at Toolseepur, but were ordered on almost immediately with Brigadier Rowcroft. After a useless pursuit, nearly as far as the Nepal frontier, the force returned. On the last day of the year, the Brigade lay at Puchpurwah; and on January 1st, 1859, it was ordered back to the ship at Calcutta. Brigadier Rowcroft, on taking leave of it on the 2nd, said:


“The successes we have gained are mainly due to your courage and gallantry. I have also observed the excellent discipline and conduct of your Brigade, which reflects great credit on Captain Sotheby, and the officers, as well as on yourselves. I therefore regret to lose your services; but I am glad that, upon your departure, you are homeward bound, which you all so much desire.”


365


Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Delhi (R. Mc.Connell, 1st. Bn. 60th. Rifles) two minor knocks to obverse field and light scratching to reverse, good very fine


£300-£400


Robert McConnell served with the 1st Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps during the Great Sepoy Mutiny, and was severely wounded at Delhi on 14 September 1857. Invalided to England on 5 April 1858, he was subsequently discharged.


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