Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part I)

The C.I.E. and Indian Mutiny pair awarded to Lieutenant-General John Tennant, Bengal Engineers, who was Field Engineer during the siege of Delhi, and later in the defence of the Alumbagh and final capture of Lucknow

(a) The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, C.I.E., Companion’s 1st type breast badge with ‘India’ on the petals, gold and enamels, neatly inscribed on the reverse ‘Coll. J. F. Tennant, R.E.’, complete with gold top suspension brooch

(b) Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 2 clasps, Delhi, Lucknow (Lieut. J. F. Tennant, Bengal Engrs.) fitted with silver ribbon buckle, this with some wear on the high points, good very fine, the first nearly extremely fine £2500-3000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Brian Ritchie Collection of H.E.I.C. and British India Medals.

View
Collection

John Francis Tennant was born on 10 January 1829, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Bengal Engineers in June 1847. He arrived in India on 7 March 1849, and served for the next two years as Assistant Engineer on the Ganges canal. In 1851 he joined the Great Survey of India that was carried over the next eight years. From 20 August 1857, he served in the Mutiny as Field Engineer during the siege of Delhi. In the great assault on the 14th August, Tennant accompanied Column No. 4, under Colonel Reid, whose purpose was to guard the right flank with the cavalry under Hope Grant (qv), and, by advancing from Hindu Rao’s House through the outlying suburbs, force an entrance into the city through the Kabul Gate. In the event, No. 4 Column not only failed to reach the Kabul Gate from Kishanganj but was also repulsed by a strong counter-attack, during which the Kashmir irregulars, attached to the column, fled in panic. The column was only saved from disaster by the gallantry of Hope Grant’s cavalry and some Horse Artillery. For his services during the siege of Delhi, Tennant was mentioned in despatches by Colonel Baird Smith.

Tennant was subsequently present with the 4,000-strong garrison, under Sir James Outram, which held the Alumbagh from the end of November 1857 till the end of February 1858, while Lucknow, close to the north, still contained 90,000 rebels jubilant at Sir Colin Campbell’s retreat. The Alumbagh was attacked six times during this period but the garrison never failed to repulse the enemy. When Campbell returned in March, Tennant was one of the twenty-four Bengal Engineer officers who took part in the storm and capture of Lucknow, for which service he received a mention in Outram’s despatches.

Promoted Captain and Brevet Major in 1858, Tennant was appointed Government Astronomer at Madras in October 1859. The following year he became Commandant of the Sappers and Miners. He returned to the Public Works Department and subsequently served as Executive Engineer in Burma, the Punjab and Bengal. In 1867-68, and again in 1871, he was appointed to observe the eclipses of the sun, and in 1876 he superintended the observations of the transit of Venus at Roorkee and Lahore. From 1871 till his retirement as Lieutenant-General in 1884, he held the post of Master of the Mint at Calcutta. He was appointed a Companion of the Indian Empire in January 1879, and was a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. General Tennant died on 6 March 1915, at his home in west London.

Refs: Who Was Who; India Office List; Services of the Officers of the Bengal Army (Ubique); The Military Engineer in India (Sandes).