The Brian Ritchie Collection of H.E.I.C. and British India Medals

The Indian Mutiny medal to General Sir Edward Greathed, K.C.B., who commanded the 8th Foot at the assault of Delhi, and subsequently a ‘moveable column’ and an Infantry Brigade, for which he received the C.B.

Indian Mutiny 1857-58, 2 clasps, Delhi, Lucknow (Col. E. H. Greathed, H.M. 8th Foot) fitted with silver ribbon buckle, toned, nearly extremely fine £1500-2000

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

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Edward Harris Greathed, the elder son of E. H. Greathed of Uddens, near Wimborne, Dorset, was born at South Audley Street, London, on 8 June 1812. He was educated at Westminster School and was commissioned Ensign by purchase in the H.M’s 8th Regiment of Foot on 22 June 1832. Promoted Lieutenant by purchase in May 1833, he sailed with the regiment to the West Indies in November of that year and served there until February 1836. Having bought his Captaincy in April 1838, he served one year in Canada, and first arrived in India in 1846, having recently acquired his Majority, also by purchase. On the outbreak of the Mutiny he had held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel for nearly three years.

Greathed arrived on Delhi Ridge in command of the 8th Foot on 30 June, and was present at the repulse of the enemy sorties of 9, 14 and 18 July. He commanded the 3rd Infantry Brigade in the repulse of the enemy attack of 23 July, and was selected by Archdale Wilson to command the column sent to occupy the Khoodsia Bagh and Ludlow Castle on 7 September, when the siege batteries were moved forward to commence breaching the city walls at a range of 180 yards. At the assault of the city on 14 September, the 8th Foot formed part of No. 2 Column under Brigadier William Jones (qv) of the 61st Foot, and took part in the storming of the breach near the Water Bastion. Inside the city Greathed met Lieutenant Noel Money (see Lot 103) of the Bengal Europeans, who remembered: ‘Colonel Greathed of the 8th Queen’s was now in the battery and seeing that I had lost my sword which had been stolen by a Sikh while I was laying the gun, he took a sword that had belonged to an officer of his regiment who had been killed just before, and gave it to me, saying, “Here, Money, this is one of our swords. If you use it as I saw you using your own a little while ago you will not disgrace it.”’

Greathed served in the city for the next five days, and, although his manner of conducting the street fighting was condemned as ‘most wretched’, he was selected by Archdale Wilson to command the 2,500-strong moveable column which left Delhi on the 24th to pursue mutineers fleeing into Oudh. Moreover, Greathed was variously considered by his juniors to be ‘a ‘regular muff’ who knew nothing; one who was ‘certainly not the right man in the right place’ being ‘not only a perfect fool’ but ‘a funk stick’, whose reputation at home was ‘just a lot of blether’.’

Having evacuated the column’s wounded to Meerut after the action at Boolundshuhur, Greathed resumed his march on 3 October, hoping to effect a junction with Sir Henry Havelock’s column and assist in the relief of the beleaguered garrison at Lucknow. On the 8th, however, Greathed decided to go to Bryjgarh in order to move closer to Agra, from which place he had been receiving a stream of urgent letters in ‘every language, living and dead ... beseeching, commanding him to hasten at the utmost speed’ to protect the European families, who, fearing attack by a large force of rebels concentrating at Muttra, had incarcerated themselves in the fort. Aware that the detour would prevent him from linking up with Havelock, Greathed felt unable to ignore the pleas and he marched at midnight on the 8th, proceeded by his cavalry and horse artillery. But after thirty-six hours word was received that the enemy no longer threatened Agra, and had withdrawn over the Kalle Nuddee, a stream about ten miles away. Accordingly, the leading units halted and waited for the infantry to catch up.

‘When Greathed arrived in Agra the panic had subsided. Most of the mutineers who had arrived at Muttra from Delhi had dispersed to their homes. The others, whose reported approach upon Agra had been responsible for the flood of letters handed to Greathed during his march up the Grand Trunk Road, were now said to have retired nine miles. The column was ‘not really needed’, after all. Thus it was that the ladies, looking down upon it from the walls of the fort, watched it pass with expressions of disgust at its dirtiness rather than gratitude for its prompt arrival. Greathed took his men to the parade-ground south of the fort where some went immediately to sleep while others had their breakfast, bargained with native vendors of drinks and sweetmeats, or talked to the soldiers of the garrison who had strolled down from the fort. Most of the civilians in the fort wandered down to the parade-ground; so had thousands of inhabitants of the city who had come out ‘to watch the camp being pitched, and to see what was going on’. ‘It seemed like a fair more than anything else’.

The carnival atmosphere was shortlived. Quite unexpectedly a band of rebels disguised as jugglers turned on their audience of 9th Lancers, while elsewhere on the parade-ground the quarter guard of the same regiment was attacked by rebel Sowars wearing uniform similar to the 2nd Punjab Cavalry. Two troops of rebel cavalry thundered out of the high crops which bordered the parade-ground and heavy guns opened fire on the camp. ‘Although taken so completely by surprise, the British troops reacted with a promptness and energy that one observer described as ‘simply astonishing’. An officer galloped off to the fort to fetch Greathed who had gone there for breakfast; the infantry rushed to seize their arms; the cavalry to saddle their horses. The Bengal Artillery, though in quarters ‘never the most amiable or the best disciplined’ of troops, demonstrated once more that on service they were certainly inferior to none’. The round shot were coming in pretty fast,’ Captain Barter wrote, ‘and it was really beautiful to see the artillery prepare for service. Their guns were all in park and the horses unharnessed and yet it was perfectly marvellous the rapidity with which they got into action, the enemy shot all the time rattling amongst the guns and limbers.’

‘Within minutes the British force was ready to repel the attack, many of the 75th in their shirt-sleeves, some of the 9th Lancers still in their stockinged feet. The troops in the fort marched out to support them, wearing bright new uniforms’, fifes playing, drums beating, bayonets gleaming in the sunlight, making the walls ‘re-echo with the tramp of footsteps as they fell to the time of the music’. But their help was not needed. By the time they reached the parade-ground the rebels had broken and fled, losing all their guns and ammunition, chased away through the crops of bajra whose tall shattered stalks indicated the path of their flight’.

The column rested near Agra for four days before continuing towards Lucknow. Brigadier Hope Grant (Ritchie I-110) at Delhi, meanwhile, had received a note from the Secretary to the Government of the North Western Provinces at Agra, who despairing of poor old Greathed, informed him: ‘You are to come on as sharp as you can; You are to come at once, by the mail if possible and take command.’

Greathed subsequently commanded the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the army under Sir Colin Campbell from 10 November to 9 January 1858, taking part in the relief of Sir James Outram’s force at Dilkusha, and the defeat of Tantia Tope at Cawnpore on 6 December 1857. He was created a Companion of the Bath on 1 January 1858 and was promoted Colonel on the 19th following. Advanced to Knight Commander of the Bath in 1865, Greathed returned to England in 1859, and was placed on Half-Pay until 1872, when he was appointed to the command of the Eastern District for five years. In 1880 he was made Colonel of the H.M’s 108th (Madras) Regiment of Foot and promoted General. He died at his oddly named family home, Uddens, on 19 November 1881.

Refs: Modern English Biography (Boase); WO 76/125; The Great Mutiny (Hibbert).