Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Fine C.B. and Scinde Campaign Medal pair to Major-General R. Henderson, Madras Sappers and Miners, who captured an Enemy Standard at the Battle of Meeanee

The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge, gold and enamel, with hallmarks for London (year date obscured), manufacturer’s mark ‘W.N.’, circa 1845, complete with a wide bar swivel ring suspension, with a gold buckle on ribbon; Meeanee Hyderabad 1843 (Bt. Captn. R. Henderson, Engrs.), contemporary engraved naming, with hinged silver straight bar suspension, good very fine and better (2) £1800-2200

Ex Sotheby’s 7 July 1998, lot 50; ex D.N.W. 20 September 2002, lot 213.

Robert Henderson was born in August 1808, the son of Sir Robert Bruce Henderson, Bt., of Fifeshire. Following attendance at the military College Addiscombe, he was commissioned into the Madras Engineers in December 1825 and arrived in India in July 1827. Quickly coming to the notice of his superiors for the quality of his work, he qualified in Hindustani in May 1833 and became adjutant in February of the following year. In December 1840 he was given the brevet of Captain and appointed to the command of ‘C’ Company Madras Sappers & Miners. During 1841-42 he served in Cutchee and at Quita on the Afghanistan frontier under Major-General England.

Extensively engaged with his company in the Scinde campaign, he was present at the skirmish in the Bolan Pass under Major Simmons, 41st Regiment in April 1842; at the capture of Mahomed Shurreef in the Pishan Valley under Major Outram in July of the same year; at the second skirmish in the Bolan Pass in October 1842; at the capture and destruction of Fort Inamgurh in January 1843; and at Major-General Sir Charles Napier’s crowning victories at Meeanee and Hyderabad later that same year. He was one of six Engineer Officers employed in the Scinde campaign and one of four to be entitled to the Meeanee-Hyderabad Medal.

In his Meeanee despatch, dated 5 March 1843, Napier mentions Henderson in the following terns:
‘Captain Henderson, of the Madras Engineers, took a standard, and did good service with his excellent band of Sappers and Miners, not only in this engagement but throughout the campaign.’

During the battle, most of Henderson’s men were armed with tools, but fourteen of them, under his direct leadership and better equipped, became engaged with the enemy on the extreme right of the line, in the Shikargh. It was during the course of this action that Henderson climbed over an eight-foot wall to capture an enemy standard, dropping his sword in the process. Fortunately, his Jemadar, close on his heels, recovered the weapon and cut down one of the enemy who was closing in on them.

Further approbation and reward for his part in the battle followed. The Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, writing to express his satisfaction appointed him an Honorary A.D.C. He was again mentioned in Napier’s Hyderabad despatch dated 11 April 1843:
‘Nor must I omit to mention the labours of Captain Henderson and Lieutenants Outlaw and Boileau, with their hardy little band of Sappers, whose labours enabled the heavy 8-inch howitzers to come up into the action.’

Henderson finally parted company with Napier in 1844, and the General writing to him in the warmest of terms gave his sincere thanks for his ‘valour and good conduct ... in a long campaign’ and hoped that he would stay in contact with news of his ‘favourite little band of Sappers’. On a more official level, the General wrote of ‘C’ Company in the following terms:
‘Captain Henderson and Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates of the Madras Sappers and Miners, you have earned laurels in Scinde. No troops have more honourably conducted themselves in all the glories of the Bombay Army. You leave the country regretted by your companions. You have served under my immediate command for a year and a half. Your labours during our march into the desert were greater than those of any other soldiers and were undertaken with spirit. You did your duty bravely in the Battles of Meeanee and Hyderabad. In the former of these two actions you were conspicuously placed and nobly acquitted yourselves. I regret to lose you but justice to you after your hard service has made me send you to your own homes where an honourable reception awaits you. Go where you will, you will be attended with my sincere regards and my heartfelt respect. To my friend Captain Henderson, I have given a letter for the Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army that his Lordship may be aware of your worth.’

For his services in the Scinde, Henderson was advanced to Major in April 1845 and awarded the C.B. (London Gazette 27 February 1846). Further service in India followed and he gained the brevets of Lieutenant-Colonel in June 1854 and Colonel in November 1856. He was appointed Regimental Lieutenant-Colonel in August 1858 and Colonel in February 1861. He retired with the honorary rank of Major-General in September 1861.

NB: The Henderson family papers are lodged in the Indian Army Records at the British Library, an archive that includes the recipient’s original surveys and plans for Meeanee and Hyderabad, in addition to his correspondence and journals connected with the operations in the Scinde from 1840-44 - a copy of his official report on his Company’s movements accompanies the Lot.Sold with a quantity of other copied papers.