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Auction: 1006 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 1

The Superb and Rare H.M.S. Shannon Naval Brigade Indian Mutiny V.C., G.C.B. Group of Seven to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Nowell Salmon, Royal Navy, For His Gallantry as a Lieutenant During the ´Combined Operations´ Assault on the Shah Nujjiff Mosque During the Relief of Lucknow, 16.11.1857, During Which He Was Severely Wounded; Three Years Later He Captured the Notorious ´Filibuster´ William Walker in Honduras, For Which He Received the Thanks of the Central American States in the Form of a Large Gold Medal a) Victoria Cross, reverse of suspension bar engraved ´Commr. Nowell Salmon Naval Brigade´, reverse of Cross engraved ´16 Novr. 1857´ b) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Military Division, Knight Grand Cross (G.C.B.) set of Insignia, sash Badge, 83mm, silver-gilt (Hallmarks for London 1895) and enamel; Star, 97mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with gold retaining pin c) Baltic 1854, unnamed as issued d) Indian Mutiny 1857-58, two clasps, Relief of Lucknow, Lucknow (Lieut. Nowell Salmon. Shannon.) e) Jubilee 1897, silver f) Coronation 1902, silver g) Coronation 1911, minor contact marks, good very fine or better, together with the following related items: - The recipient´s miniature awards - The large gold medal, the obverse bearing the coat of arms of Honduras and inscribed ´La Gratitud del Pueblo de Honduras´, the reverse inscribed ´Rendicion de los Filibusteros, 1860´, 50mm, gold (101.79g), with gold marks to edge - The Recipient´s Naval Officer´s Sword, the retaining mechanism engraved ´N. Salmon R.N.´ - Two portrait photographs of the recipient, one in Naval uniform, the other with him wearing the collar and mantle of the Order of the Bath - One group photograph featuring the recipient with members of his family - Invitation to Admiral Sir Nowell and Lady Salmon to dinner from the Lieutenant Governor of British Colombia and Mrs. Dewdney - Letter to the recipient from Government House, Belize, congratulating him on the capture of William Walker (lot) Estimate £ 130,000-150,000 V.C. London Gazette 24.12.1858 Lieutenant (now Commander) Nowell Salmon, Naval Brigade ´For conspicuous gallantry at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857.´ G.C.B. London Gazette 25.6.1897 Admiral Sir Nowell Salmon, K.C.B., V.C., Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. K.C.B. London Gazette 21.6.1887 Vice-Admiral Nowell Salmon, C.B., V.C. C.B. London Gazette 29.5.1875 Captain Nowell Salmon, R.N., V.C. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Nowell Salmon, V.C., G.C.B., was born on the 20th February 1835, the son of the Rev. Henry Salmon, Rector of Swarraton, Hampshire, and the maternal grandson of Admiral Nowell. Educated at Marlborough, he entered the Royal Navy in May 1847, and served as Midshipman in H.M.S. Thetis from 1851. In 1853 he transferred as Mate to H.M.S. James Watt, and served in that capacity throughout the Baltic Campaign 1854-55, being promoted to Lieutenant, January 1856. In September 1856 Salmon was appointed to H.M.S. Shannon, commanded by Captain William Peel, V.C., which was then under orders to sail to Singapore, from which port she conveyed to Hong Kong Lord Elgin, Plenipotentiary Extraordinary to China. On the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny the Shannon sailed to Calcutta, and on arrival Captain Peel formed the Shannon Naval Brigade of 408 seamen and marines from his crew. The brigade, together with six 68-pounders, two 8-inch howitzers, and eight 24-pounders, started on its march to Allahabad on the 13th August 1857. On the 23rd October, Peel sent a party of 120 seamen, consisting of Lieutenant Salmon´s Company of small arm men, and a field piece party, to proceed with four of the 24-pounders to Cawnpore. By mid November Salmon´s party had rejoined the brigade on its advance on Lucknow. Reaching the Alumbagh on the 15th November, the brigade came under the command of Sir Colin Campbell´s Second Relief Force, who ordered it to start bombarding the defences. V.C. Action- The Assault on the Shah Nujjiff Mosque On the 16th November the men of the Shannon, finding themselves hard pressed during the attack on the Residency, endeavoured to gain a position nearby in the Shah Nujjiff Mosque, the aim being to use the building as a temporary fort and refuge for their exhausted comrades. On reaching the wall of the enclosure it was found to be 20 feet high; no entrance could be seen, and no scaling-ladders were available, so there was nothing for it but to breach the massive wall. The 24-pounders hammered away at the wall for some time, but made no impression whatsoever. A contemporary account says: ´The sailors were suffering great loss from one of the enemy´s sharpshooters, who, from a point of vantage on the wall, shot down from all that came within reach. A neighbouring tree commanded his hiding-place, but the attempt to climb it was fatal to several. Salmon, however, succeeded, and from it killed the sepoy.´ (The V.C. and D.S.O. refers). Leading Seaman Harrison then joined him, passing up loaded rifles as Salmon picked off more rebels until he was shot and severely wounded in the thigh by a musket ball. Harrison then took over and continued the work to good effect. Finally a breach in the wall was made, through which some of the men, after heavy loss, managed to drag a gun, and from that point of vantage began to use it with effect to cover the retreat of their comrades. This gun now occupied such a commanding position that the mutinous sepoys, seeing the havoc it caused in their ranks, directed their fire to the spot so as to render it in a very perilous situation. The men operating the gun fell rapidly, and the order was given to abandon the piece. Seaman William Hall, manning one of the other guns, but seeing the importance of the piece in the breach, left his position and hurried across the intervening space to assist Lieutenant Thomas Young in manning it. Amidst a storm of musket balls they continued to serve the gun until nightfall, when the mutineers withdrew with heavy losses, and at last the Shah Nujjiff was taken. Next morning the assault on Lucknow was completed, culminating in the celebrated meeting between Campbell and the two besieged Generals, Outram and Havelock. Mentioned in Sir William Peel´s final Despatch of the 31st March, 1858: ´Lieutenant Nowell Salmon- An excellent officer, distinguished himself in the Shannon´s Brigade at the relief of Lucknow, was severely wounded, and named for the Victoria Cross. Recommended for promotion´ (London Gazette 25.5.1858), Salmon was indeed promoted and awarded the Victoria Cross along with Lieutenant Young, Leading Seaman Harrison, and Able Seaman Hall, the latter the first black man to receive the V.C., for their gallantry in the taking of the Shah Nujjiff Mosque: ´Lieutenant (now Commander) Nowell Salmon, Naval Brigade, for conspicuous gallantry at Lucknow, on the 16th of November, 1857, in climbing up a tree, touching the angle of the Shah Nujjiff, to reply to the fire of the enemy, for which most dangerous service, the late Captain Peel, K.C.B., had called for volunteers´ (London Gazette 24.12.1858). So desperate had been the fighting during the assault on Lucknow as a whole on the 16th November that no fewer than 23 Victoria Crosses were earned in total on the one day. Commander Nowell Salmon was presented with his V.C. by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace on the 8th June 1859. Filibuster In 1859 Salmon was given the command of H.M.S. Icarus, serving in the Mediterranean and the West Indies. In 1860 he captured the notorious American Filibuster, William Walker, in the port of Trujillo, Honduras. Walker was an American lawyer and adventurer, who had organized several private military expeditions into Latin America, with the intention of establishing English-speaking colonies under his personal control, an enterprise then known as ´filibustering´, a term derived from the Spanish filibustero meaning pirate or buccaneer (In due course the freewheeling actions of the filibusters led to the name being applied figuratively to the political act of ´filibustering´ in the U.S. Senate). In 1854 a Civil War had erupted in Nicaragua between the Legitimist Party and the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party sought military support from Walker who, to circumvent U.S. neutrality laws, obtained a contract from Democratic President Castellón to bring as many as three hundred ´colonists´ to Nicaragua. These mercenaries received the right to bear arms in the service of the Democratic government. Walker sailed from San Francisco in May 1855, with approximately 60 men. Upon landing, the force was reinforced by 170 locals and about 100 Americans. On the 13th October, he conquered the Legitimist capital of Granada and took effective control of the country. Initially, as commander of the army, Walker ruled Nicaragua through puppet President Patricio Rivas, before declaring himself President of Nicaragua, after conducting an uncontested election. Having scared his neighbours and potential American and European investors with talk of further military conquests in Central America, Juan Rafael Mora, President of Costa Rica, declared war on his regime in April 1856. Walker´s army, weakened by an epidemic of cholera and massive defections, was no match for the Central American coalition of Costa Rican troops and American mercenaries, and a year later, in May 1857, Walker surrendered to Commander Charles Henry Davis of the United States Navy and was repatriated. Within six months, he had set off on another expedition, but he was arrested by the United States Navy Home Squadron and once again returned to the United States. In 1860 Walker once again returned to the region, only to be captured on this occasion by Salmon. The British government controlled the neighbouring regions of Belize and the Mosquito Coast (now part of Nicaragua), had considerable strategic and economic interest in the construction of an inter-oceanic canal through Central America, and regarded Walker as a menace to its own affairs in the region. Rather than hand him back to the United States authorities, Salmon handed Walker over to the Honduran authorities, who executed him by firing squad on the 12th September 1860, aged just 36. For his part in defeating Walker, Salmon received the thanks of the Central American States, who presented him with the large gold medal. Congratulations were also received from Government House, Belize: ´The panic was appeased- the First Filibuster I can legitimately say will be so disposed of!´ (letter to the recipient refers). Later Life Salmon was promoted Captain in December 1863, and commanded H.M.S. Defence in the West Indies and the Mediterranean; Valiant as the guard-ship in the River Shannon; and Swiftsure in the Mediterranean, where he served until December 1875, when he was appointed Naval Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty the Queen, in which role he was created a Companion of the Order of the Bath. He married Emily Augusta Saunders in January 1866, with whom he had a son Geoffrey (later Colonel G.N. Salmon, C.M.G., D.S.O., Rifle Brigade), and a daughter Eleanor. Promoted Rear-Admiral, August 1879, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope, and flew his Flag in H.M.S. Boadicea. Advanced Vice-Admiral in July 1885, and created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in celebration of Her Majesty´s Golden Jubilee, June 1887, he took up the appointment of Commander-in-Chief, China Station, in December 1887, serving for the next four years until he was promoted to Admiral, September 1891. In June 1894 Salmon was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, flying his Flag in H.M.S. Victory and living in the Admiralty House in Portsmouth Dockyard. Having been created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in celebration of Her Majesty´s Diamond Jubilee, his three-year term was extended for two months in order that he could command the Fleet at the Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead, held on the 26th June 1897, on which occasion he flew his Flag in H.M.S. Renown. Commenting on the Review, the First Lord of the Admiralty said: ´While compliments are being paid to the display at Spithead, we should not forget the Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, Sir Nowell Salmon, and his staff. The perfect mooring of that 25 miles of ships reflected the greatest credit upon all the Portsmouth officials.´ Appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty, August 1897, he was promoted to his ultimate rank of Admiral of the Fleet in January 1899, finally retiring from the active list in February 1905 after almost 58 years´ service. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Nowell Salmon died at home at Clarence Parade, Southsea, on the 14th February 1912, and was buried at Curdridge, Hampshire.

Sold for
£190,000