Orders, Decorations and Medals

Sold by order of a direct descendant

The important ‘Tel-el-Kebir’ C.B., India service C.S.I, and Crimean War Al Valore Militare group awarded to Major-General William Earle, Grenadier Guards, late 49th Foot, given command of the River Column on the Nile Expedition he led the attack at the battle of Kirbekan and was killed in action at the moment of victory

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge, 18 carat gold and enamels, hallmarked London 1881, complete with swivel-ring suspension and gold ribbon buckle; The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, C.S.I., Companion’s breast badge, gold, silver and enamels with central onyx cameo of a youthful Queen Victoria, the motto of the Order set with small diamonds, suspended from a five-pointed silver star and gold ribbon bar, top suspension bar removed for mounting; Crimea 1854-55, 3 clasps, Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Captain William Earle. 49th Regiment) regimentally impressed naming; Al Valore Militare (Captain William Earle, 49th Regt.); Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel, the reverse inscribed ‘William Earle Grenadier Guards’; Turkish Crimea, Sardinian issue (William Earle, Grenadier Guards); Egypt & Sudan 1882-89, 3 clasps, Tel-el-Kebir, The Nile 1884-85, Kirbekan (Maj: Genl. W. Earle. C.S.I.); Khedive’s Star 1882; Order of the Medjidie, 2nd Class set of insignia, comprising neck badge and breast star, silver, gold and enamel, some chips to red enamel on the star, the first six mounted as worn on a contemporary wearing bar, all contained in a purpose made glass fronted display case, the earlier campaign medals with contact marks, nearly very fine, otherwise generally extremely fine (10) £18000-22000

William Earle was born on 18 May 1833, third son of Sir Hardman Earle of Allerton Tower, Lancashire, the head of an old Liverpool family, who was created a baronet in 1869. Educated at Winchester, he was commissioned as Ensign in the 49th Foot on 17 October 1851. He was promoted Lieutenant on 6 June 1854, and in that year accompanied his regiment to the Crimea, where it formed part of Pennefather's brigade in the 2nd division under Sir De Lacy Evans. He served with that regiment throughout the Crimean war, and was present at the battle of the Alma, the repulse of the Russian sortie on 26 October, the battle of Inkermann, and the attack on the Redan on 18 June 1855. For his services he received the Crimean medal with three clasps, the Sardinian and Turkish medals, and the fifth class of the order of the Medjidie.

During the campaign, on 16 February 1855, he had been promoted Captain, and on its conclusion in 1856 he exchanged into the Grenadier Guards as Lieutenant and Captain. On 28 April 1863, he was promoted Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel, and on 21 July of the following year he married Mary, second daughter of General Sir William John Codrington. He found no difficulty in getting plenty of staff employment, and was Assistant Military Secretary to General Sir W. J. Codrington, Governor of Gibraltar, from 1859 to 1860. He was Brigade-Major in Nova Scotia in 1862 and 1863, and Military Secretary to General Sir C. H. Doyle, commanding in North America, from 1865 to 1872. On 20 May 1868, he was promoted Colonel, and in 1872 he accompanied Lord Northbrook to India as a Military Secretary, and remained in that capacity until 1876, when he returned with his chief, and was made a C.S.I.

In 1878 he became a Major in the Grenadier Guards, and on 31 October 1880, was promoted Major-General, and at once appointed to the command at Shorncliffe, from which he was transferred in 1881 to the command of the 2nd Infantry Brigade at Aldershot. In 1882 he was sent to Egypt, and placed in command of the garrison of Alexandria, and remained during Lord Wolseley's campaign of Tel-el-Kebir in that position. For his services in the defence of Alexandria he was made a C.B., and he was also rewarded by the Khedive with the second class of the Order of the Medjidie.

Earle remained at Alexandria in command from 1882 till the end of 1884, when Lord Wolseley selected him to accompany the force intended to go up the Nile to the rescue of General Gordon at Khartoum. After the army had concentrated at Korti, Lord Wolseley despatched the column, known as the Desert Column, under the command of Sir Herbert Stewart across the desert towards Khartoum, while he sent another division of his forces up the Nile under the command of Earle, with Colonel Henry Brackenbury as his chief of the staff. Earle's column was not expected to reach Khartoum until some time after Stewart's, and one of the principal reasons for its despatch was to punish the tribes which had murdered Colonel J. D. H. Stewart and Frank Power when on their way from Khartoum in the previous year. This was successfully accomplished, and the village of the murderers at Berti was burnt.

Kirbekan

Berti had been occupied on 4 February, and on the following day Earle received news that Khartoum had fallen and that Gordon was killed. He and Brackenbury were both convinced that an immediate recall was to be expected, and instructions were given to halt the advance. However, three days later Wolseley received the Government’s instructions to continue the campaign, and told Earle to push on to Abu Hamed and there await instructions. It was known that the Arabs, heartened by the news about Khartoum, awaited them some five miles away at Kirbekan, and in due course they found themselves in that area, confronting an unknown number of the enemy.

Kirbekan was full of rocky hillocks, something less than a hundred feet in height, and the Arabs were ensconced among them behind breastworks from where their rifles effectively covered both the road onwards to Abu Hamed and the river. Parallel to these hillocks, but several yards behind them, was a ridge about 300 feet high, and they could be seen moving about along its summit. The left of the Arab position was this formidable ridge, the right rested on the river. Between this and the other shore of the Nile there lay the large island of Dulka. The British officers thought that they were opposed by an outpost of only 300 or 400 men, and that as soon as they advanced a sudden attack would be made on them from the hills behind Kirbekan. In fact, there were some 1,500 to 2,000 men of the Monassir and Robatat tribes holding the position.

Earle, Brackenbury and Colonel Butler discussed the best method of attack but it was not until after a reconnaissance by Butler that a decision was made. On his reconnaissance he had noticed sandy wadis going round the ridge, and on the afternoon on 9 February he took out a Hussar patrol and moved unseen to within half a mile of the Arab position. Earle agreed that this should be the form of attack, and on the morning of 10 February it was carried out. Two companies of the Staffords, with guns, made a frontal approach and held the Arabs in play with gun and rifle fire, while another six companies of the Staffords and six of the Black Watch began the march into the desert and then round the enemy position. The Staffords wore red coats and the Black Watch their kilts. With them went Earle, Brackenbury, and the regimental officers.

The manoeuvre was completely successful. With hardly a shot fired at them the Staffords and the Black Watch marched round the eastern end of the ridge, turned left, and halted under cover. By this time the Arabs had seen them, and there was some fire which hit two or three men. Earle ordered Colonel Eyre of the Staffords to take two companies and try to storm the ridge from its western shoulder. These companies were, however, exposed to such a heavy fire from the summit, as well as from the hillocks to the south, that, after climbing one-third of the way up the shoulder, they were forced to take shelter under a cluster of rocks. It was while in this position that Colonel Eyre received his death wound. At the same time, Earle ordered two companies of the Black Watch down to the river to cut off retreat in that direction, and set the rest of the men to drive the Arabs from the hillocks by rifle fire.

General Earle, seeing that the time had arrived for assaulting the koppies, was just about to give the order, when suddenly a body of the enemy’s spearmen charged down towards the nearest company of the Black Watch which was somewhat advanced to the left front. The Highlanders stood firm and poured a withering fire on these gallant Arabs, who beat a precipitate retreat. It was during this period that Colonel Coveney of the Black Watch was killed. The order was then given to charge. With pipes playing, the Highlanders charged at a steady double over the open ground, gained the bases of the two rocky pyramids, and took them, never halting, except to scramble from one boulder to another, till the last Arab in their way had fled. A desperate stand was made by some few of the enemy on the summits of the koppies.

Just at the moment of victory, occurred the lamentable death of the General Commanding. His death is thus described by General Brackenbury, who was near him when he fell:-

‘The assault was over, and the two main koppies were in our hands; the troops were searching the sconces and holes among the rocks; and there was, as there must always be after such an effort, some need to collect them and form them up for fresh work. Between the crest of the two main koppies there was a depression forming a small flat plateau, on which was built a stone hut some 10 feet square, with a thatched roof. General Earle was engaged in forming up the men in the ranks on this plateau, not more than 10 yards from the hut, when a sergeant of the Black Watch said, “There are a lot of men in that hut, and they have just shot one of our men.” General Earle ordered the roof to be set on fire; but on its being said that there was a quantity of ammunition in the hut, he ordered the roof to be pulled down, and himself approached the hut. I was close to him and said, “Take care, Sir; the hut is full of men.” Our men had set the roof on fire, and my attention was attracted for a moment by seeing a native, who rushed out from the side door of the hut, bayonetted by one of our men. As I turned my head back towards the General, I saw him fall, shot through the head from a small square window in the hut, close to which he had approached. He lived only a few minutes, tended to the last by his Aide-de-Camp, Lieutenant St. Aubyn, and by the Senior Medical Officer, Surgeon-Major Harvey.’

At first he was buried under a palm tree, near to Colonel Eyre and Colonel Coveney, but when Colonel Brackenbury, who succeeded Earle, brought back his column, he also brought back the body of Earle, which was sent to England and buried at Allerton. An excellent statue of Earle was made by C. B. Birch, A.R.A., and erected at Liverpool, his native town.