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Auction: 13001 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 2

A Good ´Crimea´ C.B. Group of Six to Colonel H.C.C. Owen, Royal Engineers, Who Lost a Leg as a Result of a Wound Received in the Trenches in Front of the Redan, Sebastopol, 19.4.1855
a) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Military Division, Companion´s (C.B.) breast Badge, gold (indistinct Hallmarks for London) and enamel, 1st 1815 wide suspension type, with swivel ring, maker´s initials ´IN´ on suspension loop, with its integral gold riband buckle
b) South Africa 1834-53 (2nd Capt. H.C.C. Owen, Rl. Engrs.), edge bruising
c) Crimea 1854-56, one clasp, Sebastopol, unnamed as issued, foliate suspension ends smoothed, possibly to facilitate mounting
d) France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, Chevalier´s breast Badge, silver, gold centres, and enamel, enamel damage
e) Turkey, Order of the Medjidieh, Fifth Class breast Badge, silver, gold, and enamel, minor enamel damage, with additional contemporary silver riband buckle
f) Turkish Crimea, British Die, neatly plugged with ring and ball suspension, light contact marks overall, nearly very fine or better, with several photographic images of recipient (lot)

Colonel Henry Charles Cunliffe Owen, C.B., (1821-67), born Lausanne, Switzerland, son of Captain C.C. Owen, R.N.; educated privately and at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich; commissioned Second Lieutenant Royal Engineers, 1839; Lieutenant 1841; embarked for the Cape of Good Hope for service in the Kaffir War of 1846-47, where he supervised the construction of the boat bridge over the Fish River (thanked for his services in General Orders by Sir P. Maitland and Sir G. Pechels); Second Captain 1847; permitted by the Commander-in-Chief to accept an appointment under the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 as computer of space for the United Kingdom, and later as superintendent of the Foreign Departments, and finally, after the Exhibition was opened, as its General Superintendent; appointed Inspector of Art Schools, Department of Practical Art, Board of Trade; elected as an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1852; with the outbreak of the Crimean War Owen joined the British forces before Sebastopol, where he was wounded by a musketball (19.4.1855 London Gazette 1.5.1855), when engaged in the trenches directing his men to turn some rifle-pits in front of the Redan, which had just been captured from the Russians; he lost his leg and was invalided home (C.B.; Mentioned in Lord Raglan´s Despatches; Legion of Honour; Medjidieh; given pension of £100 per annum); the History of the Corps of Royal Engineers by Whitworth Porter gives the following, ´On the night of April 19th two large rifle-pits which had been constructed by the Russians, well in front of their post at the Quarries, and which, owing to the advance of our trenches on the left of our right attack, had become perilously close, were assaulted. For the purpose of the attack 600 men of the 77th Regiment under Colonel Egerton were brought into the trenches, and Lieutenant Colonel Tylden, R.E., in charge of the right attack, explained the proposed course of proceeding. At 9.30pm the dash was made, the enemy driven out after a sharp resistance, and the working party brought forward to make the necessary lodgement. This consisted of 150 men, who were in the charge of Captain Owen, R.E., and Lieutenant Baynes, R.E., with a brigade of Sappers. The nearest rifle-pit was promptly reversed, so as to give cover from the Quarries, and connected on its left with our advanced boyeau, whilst on the right it was prolonged to form a more extended lodgement. The enemy returned repeatedly to the attack during the night, and a very heavy fire was kept up on the working party. The British were, however, not to be dislodged, and the pit from that moment became part of our advanced attack. Unfortunately, this success was not secured without heavy loss, Colonel Egerton, who led the assault, was killed, and both of the Engineers, Owen and Baynes, wounded, the latter mortally; Captain Own had his leg shattered by a grape shot, necessitating amputation´; Brevet Major July 1855; appointed Assistant Inspector-General of Fortifications at the War Office, October 1855; served as Deputy Inspector-General of Fortifications under Sir John Fax Burgoyne, 1856-60; Commanding Royal Engineer of the Western District; advanced Brevet Colonel, 1862; died as a result of a chill contracted whilst working, buried in Plymouth Cemetery and a stained-glass window was erected to his memory in the Chancel of St. James´s Church, Plymouth.

Provenance:
Spink, July 2007

Estimate
£3,500 to £4,500