Orders, Decorations and Medals

An important four clasp I.G.S. to Lieutenant Colonel Charles McDowall Skene, Commanding 42nd Gurkha Rifles, who was awarded the D.S.O. for the capture of the Ruby Mines in Burma, and treacherously murdered at Manipur in March 1891

INDIA GENERAL SERVICE 1854-95, 4 clasps, Umbeyla, Burma 1885-7, Burma 1887-89, Chin-Lushai 1889-90 (Lieut. C. McD. Skene, 5th Punjab Infty.) the last clasp loose as issued, very fine

Charles McDowall Skene was born about 1844 and was a kinsman of the Duke of Fife. Educated at Addiscombe, he joined the Indian Army in 1860 and served with the 5th Punjab Infantry in the campaign on the North West Frontier in 1863, and was present at the forcing of the Umbeyla pass (medal with clasp). Having transferred to the 43rd Gurkha Rifles he served in the Burma Expedition 1886-89, during which he captured the Ruby Mines. For his services in the campaign he was mentioned in despatches and created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. He commanded the Northern Column in the Chin-Lushai Expedition, and was repeatedly mentioned in despatches from the Government of India. Colonel Skene met an untimely death at the hands of the rebellious Manipur people in March 1891, having been transferred to the 42nd Gurkha Rifles as Commanding Officer just previously.

Murder in Manipur

The Manipuris had assisted the Indian Government against the Burmese, and in 1887 a present was made to the Rajah of some hundreds of rifles, a supply of cartridges, and two 7-pounder field-pieces with a quantity of shell and case shot. These were the arms and munitions of war that were used with deadly effect against our troops in the revolt of 1891. A disputed succession and a palace revolution that had substituted one rajah for another had caused the Indian Government some anxiety. The dispossessed Rajah was intriguing for reinstatement, and the Indian Government, on the report of Mr. Grimwood, the local Resident, decided that the centre of agitation and trouble at the Manipur Court was a prince known as the Senaputi (literally the ""Lord of the Army""), and determined that he should be arrested and removed from the state. Mr. Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, was ordered to proceed to Manipur, hold a durbar, and arrest the Senaputi. He took with him an escort of 400 Goorkhas. There was already a guard of a hundred Goorkhas stationed at Manipur as an escort for Mr. Grimwood. Mr. Quinton reached Manipur early on the morning of March 22nd, and summoned a durbar for the same afternoon. The durbar met, but the Senaputi, who evidently had some information of what was intended, refused to leave the palace and meet the Commissioner. The durbar was adjourned till next day. Meanwhile, Mr. Grimwood saw the Rajah and endeavoured to impress upon him the importance of his minister attending the durbar, warning him that his absence would be a dangerous defiance of the Government's authority. But on the 23rd the Senaputi was still contumacious, and it was resolved to effect his arrest by force. Accordingly at dawn on the 24th Colonel Skene, of the Goorkhas, entered the palace at the head of 250 of his men. But the Manipuris had prepared for resistance. The palace was swarming with men (6,000 in all, it was said), two guns were in position to sweep the approach inside the main gate, and, as the Goorkhas entered, hundreds of rifles opened on them from roofs, windows, and loopholed walls. An attempt was made to rush the guns. It failed and Lieutenant Brackenbury, who led it, was literally riddled with bullets. Skene persisted in his attempt to take possession of the palace, and actually secured a footing in it. The fighting continued for some hours. About noon the Manipuris used their superiority in numbers to make a determined attack on the Residency. Colonel Skene then felt that he could no longer keep his small force divided between the Residency and the palace, and, carrying his wounded with him (among them poor young Brackenbury), he withdrew his men to the former building. The Manipur men came swarming after them, and the Residency buildings which were badly fitted for defence, were soon closely besieged. Heavy rifle firing went on till evening, many of the garrison being killed and wounded. The guns were dragged down from the palace, and the Residency was bombarded at close range. One shell burst in the stable and killed all the horses. Others exploded in the upper rooms, and it was only by great efforts that the place was kept ftom taking fire. At 7 o'clock Colonel Skene, after a consultation with his colleagues, decided to try what negotiation would do. The bugles sounded the ""Cease fire,"" and, after some delay, the Manipuris stopped firing; and Mr. Quinton, his secretary, Mr. Cossins, the Resident, Mr. Grimwood, and Colonel Skene and Lieutenant Simpson, of the Goorkhas, came out to meet the Rajah and his chiefs. They had no sooner left their own lines when they were treacherously attacked and seized before they could attempt either flight or resistance. A force was at once assembled on the northern border of Burma for the recapture of Manipur and the rescue of the prisoners. It was commanded by General Graham, and made up of four companies of the K.R.R.C., a Gurkha battalion, a battalion of Madras Infantry, and a British Mountain battery. On 26th April, Graham's three columns met near Manipur and entered the city which had been deserted by the rebel princes and their followers. ""The aspect of the place was extraordinary,"" wrote Reuter's correspondent with the force. ""Scarcely a human being was to be seen. The whole of the capital was wrapped in silence. As the troops marched into the midst of the cluster of houses, they encountered no foe, for there was not a fighting man within the walls. It was a deserted city. Moving on wearily, the British force entered the enclosures of the palace of the Majarajah. Here also was absolute stillness. The magazine had been blown up and the inside of the palace was a wreck. It had been sacked ftom end to end and hardly a thing of value remained in it. One discovery, which, though not unexpected, sent a thrill of horror through all ranks, was made. Within the palace enclosure were found the heads of the British officials and officers who had fallen a prey to the treachery of the rulers of Manipur’