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Auction: 24112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 76

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, no clasp (Richd. Small, 6th Dragn. Gds.), suspension re-affixed, very fine

Provenance:
Spink, June 1992.

Richard Small was born at Stockton-on-Tees, Durham and enlisted in the 6th Dragoon Guards at Birmingham on 13 November 1855. Having served with his unit in India (Medal without clasp), he was discharged in November 1867. This did not last long, for he re-joined the 7th Dragoon Guards in January 1868 and was finally released in January 1877.

During the Indian Mutiny, the unit were painted in action against Indian Cavalry by Orlando Norrie, who depicted their action at the Battle of Bareilly on 7 May 1858. That painting is today in the Royal Collection Trust and bears the following information:

'The Rout & Pursuit of the Rebels by 'The Carabiniers' at the Battle of Bareilly (altered from Kuknow[li]), 7 May 1858.

During the Indian Rebellion, Bareilly in northern India (in the present day state of Uttar Pradesh) was the site of fierce rebel resistance, led by Khan Bahadur Khan, against British East India Company regiments. On 5 May 1858 Sir Colin Campbell's forces, which included Punjabi infantrymen, joined battle with Khan's army which had come out of the city to engage the enemy. After fierce fighting Khan's men retreated and the British forces took the city. The battle was witnessed by William Simpson, The Times correspondent, who described the mayhem caused by the confrontation in his diary:

"It was a veritable stampede of men and animals. Elephants were trumpeting shrilly as they thundered over the fields, camels slung along at the utmost of their jogging stride, horse and tats (ponies), women, and children were all pouring in a stream, which converged and tossed in heaps of white and black as it neared the road- an awful panic!"'

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Sold for
£140

Starting price
£100