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Auction: 18001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 549

Sold by Order of a Direct Descendant

'As to his personal character, he displayed all the Victorian virtues without their starchiness and attendant hypocracies. He is said to have been particularly concerned with conditions in military hospitals and to have made a point of visiting there every man wounded under his command - it also applies to the aftermath of Multan. He seems to have been devout and exceptionally kind and understanding and to have earned the very sincere attachment of all his troops, whatever their race and creed.'

An article by Major J. P. Kaestlin, in The Journal of the Royal Artillery, refers.

The important C.B. group of three awarded to Lieutenant-General Sir William Whish, Bengal Artillery, whose brilliant leadership turned the tide of war in the Punjab campaign in 1848-49, not least during his tenure of command of the British Army at the siege of Mooltan

A trailblazing and brilliant gunner from the outset, he was charged with forming a new rocket troop for the Bengal Army. He did not disappoint, his rockets causing the surrender of the fortress of Hattrass in February 1817, a pivotal victory in the Third Mahratta War

Having then lent valuable service at the siege of Bhurtpoor in 1826 - when he commanded the 1st Brigade of Horse Artillery - he was appointed C.B. for overseeing the standardisation of all ordnance in India: it proved to be an invaluable achievement when the Presidential and Royal Artilleries were amalgamated after the Mutiny

Yet it was for his crowning achievements in the Punjab campaign - for which he was elevated to K.C.B. - that he will best be remembered: he turned the tide of war by his brilliant victory at Al Suraj Khund in September 1848, Sir Hugh Gough stating, 'nothing could have been better timed, better planned or better executed'

That victory led to Whish's gallant and successful command at the siege of Mooltan, following which he again came to Gough's rescue by marching his force over 450 miles - and two rivers - inside a fortnight: by his subsequent seizure of some vital fords he trapped the Sikh army on the open plain of Goojerat

As described above Whish was imbued with significant philanthropic characteristics - the well-being of his men among them. That genuine sense of care was echoed in the sum of money he gave to his local parish, to be distributed annually to the poor on 22 January: the anniversary of Mooltan's surrender

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.), Military Division, Companion's badge, 52mm x 44 mm, gold and enamel (Hallmarks for Daniel Hockley, London 1831), with ring suspension for neck wear; Army of India 1799-1826, 1 clasp, Bhurtpoor (Major W. S. Whish. H. Arty.), short-hyphen reverse, officially impressed naming; Punjab 1848-49, 2 clasps, Mooltan, Goojerat (M. Genl. W. S. Whish, C.B. Comg. Mooltan F.F. Bengal Army), the enamel of the C.B. slightly chipped in places, the medals virtually as struck (3)


Confirmed by family repute and in accordance with the statutes of the Order at the time, his Knight Commander's set of Insignia was returned to the Central Chancery of Orders of Knighthood for re-issue.

William Sampson Whish was born at Northwold, Norfolk in February 1787, the son of Reverend Richard Whish, rector of West Walton, and Philippa, daughter of William Sandys of Helston.

On 23 April 1802 young William was nominated as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, obtaining his certificate on 14 March 1804. He subsequently received his commission as a Lieutenant in the East India Company's service on 21 August and reached Calcutta in December. On completing the Company's Young Officer Course at Fort William, then the headquarters of the Bengal Artillery, he became Captain of the newly-formed 2nd Troop of Horse Artillery in 1809; by 1814 he was commanding the Bengal Army's station at Meerut.

Rocket pioneer

In 1816, a shipment of Congreve rockets arrived from England and Whish was assigned the task of forming a new rocket troop for the Bengal Army on the pattern of Whinyates' famous 'O' Troop. He didn't disappoint, his Rocket Troop first seeing action at the Siege of Hattrass in February 1817, when it proved very effective at reducing what was reputedly India's strongest fort. The rockets caused its main magazine to explode, and Hattrass surrendered after ten days' bombardment without the need for an infantry assault. This surrender was pivotal to British victory in the Third Mahratta War, sparing the Marquis of Hastings' force and enabling it to manoeuvre against the Pindaris in March.

Army of India

Whish returned to Meerut as Brigade Major and in January 1826 commanded the 1st Brigade of Horse Artillery at the siege of Bhurtpoor The fortress was considered impervious to artillery, but once two breaches had been made in its 8-mile long walls it was stormed and taken within two hours.

His subsequent twelve years of peace-time soldiering saw Whish promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1827 and Colonel in 1835. In the latter year, he was made President of the Board convened to standardise ordnance throughout India. This standardisation was invaluable when the Presidential and Royal Artilleries amalgamated after the Mutiny. Whish received a C.B. in the 1838 Coronation Honours and succeeded Major-General Faithful in command of the Presidency Division of Artillery at Dum-Dum in the following year; by 1841 he was a Major-General.

The Sikh Wars - background

The Punjab, a region spanning 133,000 square miles in India's north-western corner, was in 1845 a self-governing province. Its Sikh inhabitants had enjoyed a period of prosperity under Ranjit Singh, an outstanding ruler who pacified dynastic feuds among the Sikh nobility.

Ranjit Singh enticed French, Dutch and British officers to the Punjab for the purpose of training the Sikh army. He soon had at his disposal a crack force of disciplined line infantry equal to any in Europe. Known as the 'Khalsa' army, this force was complemented by a powerful artillery arm organised on European lines, with two superb batteries of horse artillery. When Ranjit Singh died in 1839 the Sikh state lapsed once more into internal feuding, but the Khalsa army remained, its leaders dominating Sikh politics.

The year 1845 saw British strength in India at a precarious level. Hard fighting in Burma had been followed by the disastrous 1st Afghan War of 1839-42, during which the 44th Regiment were massacred at Gandamak on the retreat from Kabul. This reversal shattered the East India Company's reputation for invincibility and undermined the morale of its Native Regiments. It also threatened the North-West Frontier with raids from Afghan tribes. In November 1845, the British held this vast and porous frontier with only 7,000 men, comprised of 12 sepoy and just 2 British battalions. Across the River Sutlej in neighbouring Punjab, the Khalsa army numbered 40,000.

The Sikh state had viewed British expansion in India with consternation, while the British saw the annexation of the Punjab as a vital step in securing the North-West Frontier. The 1st Sikh War began when the Khalsa Army under Lal Singh crossed the Sutlej and took up a defensive position at Ferozeshuhur. The British army, under General Gough's leadership, endured sanguinary actions at Ferozeshuhur and Aliwal but achieved a decisive victory over Lal Singh at Sobraon on 10 February 1846. This victory enabled Lord Hardinge, the East India Company's Governor-General, to impose severe penalties on the Sikh state under the Treaty of Lahore. These included the cession of the Jullundur Doab - the area between the rivers Beas and Sutlej - to the British, a promise not to employ European mercenaries, and the payment of an indemnity of half a million pounds, failing which Kashmir wound also be ceded. The treaty restricted the Sikh army to 25 battalions and 12,000 horse. Hardinge also appointed Sir Henry Lawrence as British Resident at Lahore, Punjab's capital, with a small British garrison.

Advance on Mooltan

Since he was on sick leave in England, Whish missed the 1st Sikh War but he was nevertheless chosen to command the British garrison at Lahore, the 'Punjab Division', on returning to India in 1847. He worked tirelessly with Lawrence to impose the Lahore Treaty, and was at the Sikh capital on 19 April 1848 when Mooltan, 200 miles to the south-west, rose in revolt. The cause of this uprising was the British decision to replace Mooltan's popular ruler, Diwan Mulraj Chopra, with the pro-British Sardar Kahan Singh. When two British emissaries, Van Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, arrived in Lahore to arrange the transfer of power, Mulraj rallied his supporters and had both emissaries murdered.

Whish soon realised the potential of this incident to spread rebellion across the Punjab; he proposed marching to Mooltan immediately. He was restrained from doing so by Sir Frederick Currie, Sir Henry Lawrence's replacement as Resident at Lahore. Lawrence had gone to England on sick leave several months earlier, and his successor proved somewhat lethargic. The Mooltan rebellion was allowed to drag on until July, giving Mulraj plenty of time to gather ordnance and prepare the city's defence. British dithering encouraged the Sikhs to revolt.

The situation in Lahore was especially tense given that Whish's command, the Punjab Division, was composed of 20,000 Sikh auxiliaries under Sher Singh and only 600 British troops. Whish had repeatedly stressed the dangers of this situation to Currie and General Gough, the Commander-in-Chief. By July it became apparent that Lahore would fall unless the Sikh auxiliaries - inspired by Mulraj's success - were moved elsewhere. Whish was thus ordered to attack Mooltan with the Punjab Division, marching out on 24 July. As his force approached the city in early September, Mulraj sent overtures to Whish's Sikh auxiliaries and invited them into Multan's bazaars. Whish's Sikhs deserted and joined Mulraj in their thousands, while Sher Singh doubled back on Lahore with the remainder of his auxiliaries to block Whish's lines of communication. He had no option but to lift the 'siege' and on 15 September he withdrew southwards towards Bombay: the only direction from which British reinforcements might come.

It is a measure of General Gough's character that he immediately blamed Whish for the failed attack on Mooltan, claiming he "disapproved of the tactics". Yet Whish had sent pleas to Gough for reinforcements, especially British regulars and siege artillery, ever since the Multan rebellion began. At that time, Gough was relaxing among the cool lakes and woods of Simla. Gough suggested to Lord Dalhousie, the new Governor-General, that Whish's force was quite adequate, and that in any case the season was "too hot for campaigning" (Swinson 1968, xvii).

The Retreat from Mooltan

As Whish's force retreated from Multan, Mulraj set about harassing it. On 23 September there was an engagement at Al Suraj Khund which proves his brilliance as a commander. Private Waterfield of the 32nd Regiment, which had marched from Ferozepore to join Whish on 29 August, relates:

'In the evening it was strongly rumoured that the enemy intended to make an attack on our camp, but the British ever on the alert, can't well be taken by surprise. General Whish gave an order for the right wing of each regiment to be marched about one mile from camp… a body of the enemy's cavalry made their appearance, but a few rounds of shot and grape from our batteries, made them retire nor further molest us that day.'

From Waterfield's account it is clear that Whish's army - despite so many setbacks - had retained its discipline, cohesion and morale. This astonishing fact is testament to Whish's ability. Having repulsed Mulraj's cavalry, he deftly manoeuvred the 32nd against his opponent's flank. Whish not only routed the enemy force but captured all of its guns. The British artillery was handled with tremendous skill, and for this Whish deserves credit. Even Gough was later to remark that "nothing could have been better timed, better planned or better executed."

Having consolidated his forces, Whish marched once again towards Mooltan.

The Siege of Mooltan

Whish surrounded Mooltan on 7 November, and sporadic fighting took place for several weeks. It was not until 22 December, when reinforcements arrived from Bombay, that genuine siege operations could begin. He now had 16,000 men under his command, including powerful siege artillery and five regular British regiments. On Christmas Day the original trenches Whish's army had dug in September were re-occupied, and on 27 December a determined assault in four columns drove the enemy from Mooltan's suburbs into its centre. Whish then ordered a fierce bombardment, resulting in the explosion of the Mooltan's garrison's main magazine. He considered this the decisive moment of the siege, writing at the time:

'[The explosion] was awfully grand, and precisely similar to that at the siege of Hattrass. I hope the consequence may be the same - in which case the enemy may abandon the fort tonight; otherwise I contemplate assaulting the fort tomorrow.'

The explosion of Mooltan's magazine appears in the background of the full-length portrait of Whish (held in the collection of the Defence Academy, Shrivenham). The explosion did not, however, result in Mooltan's evacuation and the bombardment continued. Two breaches in the walls were pronounced practicable on 2 January 1849. An assault was ordered that afternoon: a mistake since there was not sufficient daylight left. Private Waterfield recalled:

'The storming party of our column consisted of the Grenadiers of the 1st and 2nd companies of our Regiment. There was not room to take us up in sections, so we formed four deep, and awaited the signal to advance, which was the firing from our batteries of a salvo at 3 pm. I was in the front four, and we was headed by Captain J. D. C. Smyth of our company, and Mr. McMahon, a volunteer … Though the ground was broken and narrow, and descending to the city wall, we soon reached the wall and found what they called a breach to be a small hole in the wall, where a small man could hardly get through. The enemy now peppered us with every kind of missiles … finding any attempt to get into the city quite useless, [Captain Smyth] gave us the order to retire, and enter the town by the Khoone Bhoorj (Bloody Bastion), the breach the Fusiliers had already entered.'

The 32nd thus suffered heavily assaulting a breach which Whish's Chief Engineer, Major R. Napier, had wrongly reported as practicable. Captain Smyth's quick thinking had nevertheless retrieved the situation; the British infantry were soon storming into Mooltan via the Khoone Bhoorj, which still stands today. Although Waterfield recorded that 'A whole company in line could enter this breach', the assault was very costly as the bastion's ramparts had not been entirely reduced. E. R. Crawford estimates British casualties around the Khoone Bhoorj at 250 men (Crawford 1967, 60). The storming of the Khoone Bhoorj is depicted in a dramatic painting by Martens; Whish appears in the foreground, wearing a blue frock coat and holding a telescope.The fighting became very confused as daylight faded, and the Sikhs offered stubborn resistance. Brigadier Markham, who commanded the 2nd Brigade during the assault, described the situation to Whish:

'The enemy offered considerable opposition in the narrow streets and ramparts, which were strongly barricaded but the troops carried all before them, and before dark that part of the city was in our possession, and we connected our posts with those thrown out from the left column. Mulraj had, in fact, retired into the citadel with three thousand picked men, closing his gates against the rest of his troops.'

Mulraj continued to defy the British from Mooltan's formidable citadel, so Whish established mortars to bombard the citadel on 6 January, and batteries were moved up on 8 January. Mulraj now attempted to negotiate, but Whish demanded unconditional surrender. This was refused. Whish's artillery made breaches in the citadel's walls and saps were driven up to them. Threatened with storming, the citadel finally surrendered on 22 January.

Following the British victory, all involved in the murder of Van Agnew and Anderson were hanged. Mulraj was imprisoned and his sword awarded to Whish - he can be seen proudly wearing the sword in his full-length portrait. His family later bequeathed the sword to the Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich, the Royal Artillery displaying it in the Officers' Mess.

Chilianwala

While the siege raged at Mooltan, Sher Singh had marched north with his force of Sikh deserters, picking up large numbers of recruits along the way. On 23 October he joined forces with his father, Chattar Singh, at Ramnagar on the Chenab. Garrisons of Sikh troops at Pakli and Bannu mutinied, killing their British and Muslim officers and then marching to join the army at Ramnagar. The northern Punjab rose in revolt. Dost Mohammed of Kabul, whose territory the British invaded in the 1st Afghan War, marched south with 5,000 cavalry and joined forces with Sher Singh. The combined Sikh force numbered 60,000.

Meanwhile, General Gough finally took action in November 1848. Troops were marched down from the hill stations around Simla, and reductions ordered in the Bengal Army at the conclusion of the 1st Sikh War were rapidly countermanded. The British Army crossed the Sutlej on 9 November and reached Lahore that very day. It comprised 21 battalions, of which 5 were British, and 12 cavalry regiments of which 3 were European. Gough had 11 batteries of artillery at his disposal, far superior in quality to the Sikh artillery since the Sikhs had lost their best guns at Sobraon. Dalhousie informed Gough that annexation was now the British policy, though a proclamation was issued to the people of the Punjab that the British were merely "restoring order" (Crawford 1967, 56).

On 22 November, Gough made contact with the Sikh army at Ramnagar, about 70 miles north-west of Lahore. The two sides were evenly matched, the Sikhs positioned in strong defensive earthworks along the Chenab's north bank. A frontal assault on these positions by the British would have been very costly, so Gough sent a column under General Thackwell to find an unguarded ford. Thackwell succeeded in turning the enemy's flank, and on 3 December the Sikhs withdrew north towards the river Jhelum. After waiting for supplies and reinforcements, the two armies fought a pitched battle at Chilianwala on 13 January 1849. Gough attacked late in the day, before his artillery were properly deployed. He launched his infantry into a belt of thorn and mimosa scrub a mile thick, and as they threshed about hopelessly the Sikhs kept up a relentless fire. The British infantry sustained 2,500 casualties, but with tremendous courage they kept advancing and took the Sikh positions.

Goojerat

Gough's mishandling of the action at Chilianwala provoked angry reactions in British newspapers, The Times exclaiming: 'Lord Gough is playing with the lives of our soldiers.' The Court of Directors of the East India Company recalled Gough and named Sir Charles Napier as his successor. News of Napier's coming spurred Gough into action; Gough offered battle hoping to save his reputation.

After Mooltan fell on 22 January, Whish left a brigade in the city and hurried to join Gough. It truly was a "relief". Whish's exhausted force covered 450 miles, over two major rivers, and by forced marches reached Ramnagar in under a fortnight. Gough and the Sikh army were barely 20 miles to the north. Through his own initiative, Whish swung right on reaching the Chenab and seized the fords at Wazirabad. This proved a brilliantly successful move. On 11 February, thinking that Whish was about to join Gough, Sher Singh extricated the Sikh army and moved towards Wazirabad, hoping to put the Chenab between himself and the British. Instead, he found the fords blocked by Whish. The Sikh army now found itself trapped on an open plain at Goojerat, and the result was a foregone conclusion. The flat terrain allowed the British artillery to have devastating effect, Whish's earlier ordnance reforms producing remarkable results. The 2nd Troop of Horse Artillery, Whish's old command, served with great distinction.

The decisive British victory at Goojerat on 21 February resulted in the final defeat of the Khalsa army and the annexation of the Punjab. A second Treaty of Lahore was drawn up, under which Maharajah Runjeet Singh was deposed and all his authority transferred to the Honourable East India Company. The Koh-i-Noor diamond was surrendered by the Maharajah and presented to Queen Victoria.

Whish meanwhile was elevated to K.C.B.

Journey's end

He was transferred to the Bengal Division in March and to the Cis-Jhelum Division in October 1851, but he never assumed the latter command. Nearly fifty years' soldiering in India had taken its toll on his health, and he went home again on sick leave. Though promoted Lieutenant-General on 11 November 1851, he never returned to India.

Whish lived in Cheltenham for three years, visiting London more and more frequently for medical treatment. It was during one of these visits, on 25 February 1853, that he died at Claridge's Hotel, aged 65. Before he died, Whish left a sum of money to Northwold, his native parish, with instructions that it should be distributed annually to the poor on 22 January, the anniversary of Mooltan's surrender.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation and research, comprising:

(i)
The box of issue for the recipient's Army of India Medal, inscribed 'Lt. Genl. Sir W. S. Whish, KCB - Rtd. October 24. 1852'; the envelope of issue for the Punjab Medal, inscribed 'Major General W. S. Whish C.B. Comg. Multan F.F. Bengal Army'.

(ii)
A newspaper cutting from the Pembrokeshire Herald, 1 February 1850, praising Whish's decision to distribute money to the poor.

(iii)
Four newspaper cuttings containing obituaries of Whish, all highly informative and revealing about the respect in which he was held.

(iv)
A family letter addressed to Whish's grandson, describing an encounter in a London Club between Whish, Lord Gough and Sir Charles Napier following the 2nd Sikh War.

(v)
Two handwritten family trees, showing the lineage of the Whish and Brazier families; a further family tree, in three parts, tracing the lineage of the Whish family back to 1713.

(vi)

Two letters concerning the full-length portrait of Whish at Shrivenham written by a Major in the Bengal Rocket Troop, a unit formed by Whish.

(vii)
Five letters pertaining to A. C. Whish's bestowal of Mulraj's Sword, captured by his ancestor at the Siege of Multan, to the Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich in April 1965.

(viii)
Copied research extracted from Major J. P. Hodgson's Officers of the Bengal Army (1927); a biography of Whish taken from the Dictionary of National Biography (1890); and a photographic reproduction of Whish's full-length portrait at Shrivenham, 213mm x 154mm.

Reference sources:

Crawford, E. R., The Sikh Wars, 1845-9, in B. Bond, ed., Victorian Military Campaigns (London, Hutchison, 1969), pp. 31-68.

Kaestlin, Major J. P., 'Lieutenant-General Sir William Whish, K.C.B.', The Journal of the Royal Artillery, Vol. 84, No. 1, pp. 25-30.

Swinson, A. and Scott, D., eds., The Memoirs of Private Waterfield (London, Cassell, 1968).




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