Orders, Decorations and Medals

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 3 clasps, Defence of Lucknow, Lucknow, Central India (Asst. Surgn. G. B. Hadow, 1st Compy. 5th Bn. Bl. Arty.); together with another, 2 clasps, Defence of Lucknow, Lucknow (Asst. Surgn. H. P. Hadow, 4th Oudh Irreg. Infy.) note differing initials, the first with one set of unofficial rivets, generally very fine or better (2) £3000-3500

Gilbert Bethune Hadow was born on 15 August 1832, qualified M.R.C.S. in 1854, and was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the Bengal Medical Service on 20 January 1855. He was posted to the 4th Infantry, Oudh Irregular Force in May 1856, and to the 4th Company, 1st Bengal Artillery on 5 January 1858. Hadow served throughout the defence of Lucknow, the capture of Lucknow, the campaign in Oudh in 1858, and in Central India in 1859, latterly as a medical officer attached to the 2nd Gwalior Infantry and details of Bombay Infantry.

Hadow was a prolific letter writer during his service in India, and all his correspondence is now in possession of Worcester College, Oxford. As a medical officer during the siege of Lucknow, Hadow was witness to many of the more famous episodes of the siege, among others the death of Sir Henry Lawrence:

“While waiting for breakfast in the former drawing room of the Residency, but now turned into the 32nd Mess Room, a shell came into the next room and exploded over a bed on which Sir Henry Lawrence was lying; one piece of it gave him a mortal wound, shattering his left thigh and tearing open a wound into his abdomen. I was by his side in a minute, but of course could do nothing, he himself knew it was mortal, and begged not to be disturbed.”

Towards the final relief of the city by Lord Clyde, Hadow found himself engaged on more military matters, as illustrated by the following extract which describes his prowess as a sharpshooter:

“Till the Brigadier had determined what I should do, I was turned into a sharpshooter, being supplied with one of the new Enfield rifles; I took up position where I could see anyone who attempted to cross either of two streets, which were at right angles to one another, with the angle towards me. Here I amused myself for three or four days, practising long range shooting at any armed creature that chose to show itself, and by the time other employment was found for me, I had knocked over nineteen men. It is curious how calmly one can shoot at a fellow creature when you know he would shoot at you if he had the chance.”

Hadow’s views towards the mutineers were clear enough, and no doubt prompted by the dwindling number of children who were ‘dropping and dying from day to day on account of the close confinement’. He once inspected, in horror, the remains of a friend who had been hit by a round shot and lay crumpled on the floor, ‘just as if a suit of clothes filled with sand had been thrown down’. It was probably sights like this that prompted him to tell his sister how he wanted to have the opportunity of actually running through a mutineer, ‘I want more of their blood, and I’ll have it yet’.

Hadow’s extensive correspondence contains many more entries of a similar nature, and ultimately provides a fascinating insight into one of the most famous sieges of British military history. In addition to the more obvious observations, he also has time for recording less likely matters, among them news of the introduction of the Indian Mutiny medal:

“The order for decorations is out - I shall have a medal, and two clasps - one for the Residency, the other for the fall of Lucknow - and we all hope we may have one for the Rohilcund Campaign.”

In fact, Hadow’s later services also involved participation in Brigadier Troupe’s Oudh Campaign of 1858, and service in the Central Indian jungles between May and September 1859, attached to the 2nd Gwalior Infantry and details of Bombay Infantry. His letters cover this part of the mutiny with equal precision. Gilbert Hadow eventually attained the rank of Surgeon Major and died at Aligarh on 31 July 1876.

Sold with a small tinted ambrotype (believed to be of the recipient) in its original gilt mount and frame, together with a superb large framed coloured image taken from the original.