Orders, Decorations and Medals

Pair: Captain W. A. Dely, 61st Regiment
Punjab 1848-49, 1 clasp, Chilianwala (Captn., 61st Foot); Indian Mutiny 1857-58, 1 clasp, Delhi (Captn., 61st Regt.) generally very fine (2)

William Alexander Dely was born in St John’s, New Brunswick, on 4 February 1812. He entered the service as an Ensign in the 48th Regiment in November 1827, and was promoted Lieutenant in April 1833. He served in the campaign against the Rajah of Coorg in 1834, and in the following year transferred to the 54th Regiment, with whom he remained until December 1838 when he transferred to the 21st Regiment. In October 1847 he obtained his Captaincy and simultaneously transferred to the 61st Regiment. Dely served with the 61st throughout the Punjab Campaign of 1848-49 including the crossing of the Chenab, the battles at Sadoolapore and Chilianwala, and the pursuit of the enemy right to the Khyber Pass in March 1849. Later the same year Dely, along with 300 men of the 61st regiment, took part in the expedition into the Euzofzie country and saw action on 11 and 14 December 1849, when the villages of Saggow, Pullee, Zoormundie and Sheerkauee were captured and burnt.

Dely was on leave at the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in 1857, but rejoined the regiment in time to move on Delhi. At Alipore on 4 July 1857, a large body of mutinous sepoys, having plundered the town, were preparing to move on Delhi when they were surprised by several units including the 61st Regiment, commanded by Dely. It was at this action that mention of Dely is made by Lieutenant Charles John Griffiths in his Narrative of the Siege of Delhi, published in 1910, when he wrote:

‘The Regiment was commanded on this occasion by our Senior Captain [Dely], an officer of some 35 years service. He was without exception, the greatest oddity for a soldier that our Army has ever seen. 5ft 2ins in height, with an enormous head, short hunchback body, long arms and thin shrivelled legs, his whole appearance reminded one of Dickens’ celebrated character “Quilp”, in the Old Curiosity Shop. Entering the service in good times, when there was no examination by a medical man, he had through some back door influence, obtained a Commission in the Army. All his service has been passed abroad, exchanging from one regiment to another, for it would have been utterly impossible for him to have retained his Commission in England. Marching he was unable to keep step with the men, and on horseback he presented the most ludicrous appearance, being quite unable to ride, and looking more like a monkey than a human being. On our first advance across the plain the little Captain was riding in our front, vainly endeavouring to make his horse move faster, and striking him now and then on the flanks with his sword. I was on the right of the line, and together with the men, could not keep from laughing, when a friend of mine - a tall officer of one of the Native Infantry Regiments - rode to my side and asked me who that was leading the Regiment. I answered “He is our Commanding Officer”.’

Dely continued to command the 61st on the ridge outside Delhi, until 22 July when Lt.-Colonel Charles Deacon arrived and assumed command. In the operations on the ridge outside Delhi, Dely is recorded, on 1st/2nd August, as leading 50 men of his regiment, through shot and shell, to assist in the defence of a feature known as ‘Sammy House’. Repeated attacks were made on this position throughout the night and the following morning, but were beaten off with great loss to the enemy. Nicholson wrote in his despatches that ‘no soldiers ever advanced to the attack of a position with greater gallantry and steadiness than H.M.’s 61st Regiment.’ Dely took part in the main assault and capture of the City of Delhi on 14 August, and in the action at Najafgarh on 26 August. On termination of the siege he obtained leave to return to the hills, but before he could leave Delhi a fatal attack of cholera brought his career to a sudden end on 1 October 1857. The lot is sold with further research and a modern pencil caricature of Dely on horseback.