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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 68

The important India General Service Medal to Major-General Richard Hall, 49th Madras Native Infantry; Hall commanded the defence of Martaban during the 1852 Second Burma War, holding the city against overwhelming numbers

India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, Pegu (Major Richd. Hall. Commg. 49th Regt. M.N.I), officially impressed naming, minor edge nick to obverse at 9 o'clock, suspension a little slack, nearly very fine

Richard Hall was born at Saffron Walden, Essex on 21 March 1803. Educated at Felsted College, he passed his military examination at East India House, Leadenhall Street on 16 August 1820. Departing for India aboard the Prince Blucher, he arrived at Madras on 13 February 1821 and was commissioned an Ensign with the 25th Madras Native Infantry. A talented linguist, he became the 49th Madras Native Infantry's Interpreter on transferring to that regiment in December 1823, with the rank of Lieutenant. On 29 August 1834 he advanced to Adjutant of the 49th, then stationed at Berhampoor in western Bengal.

The 49th took part in the 1836 expedition to subdue the Khond tribes, an aboriginal people inhabiting the mountains of Upper Goomsur, in the Orissa region. Their Rajah defied Company authority, making tax collection extremely difficult. By late 1837, however, the Rajah died of 'natural causes' and Upper Goomsur was completely annexed. Hall was promoted to Captain on 5 March 1838, also serving as Assistant to the Commissioner of Goomsur. The traditional rite of Suttee, in which widows would sacrifice themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres, was still widely practised in the region. Hall co-ordinated efforts to suppress the custom.

The fighting became very intense on 26 May, when a force of 2,000 men under Mung-Bo, the former governor of Martaban, emerged from the jungle to fall upon undefended British picquets. The Burmese surrounded Martaban, and were repulsed with great difficulty following the arrival of the 51st Light Infantry. Colonel Bogle, leading the reinforcements, praised Hall's stubborn defence of the city in his despatches:

'I have no doubt that the gallantry displayed by Major Hall and the troops under his command… will have a most beneficial effect on the tranquility of the region.'

Hall finally retired from the Madras Army on 31 December 1861, with the rank of Major-General. He lived at 10 Fellows Road, Hampstead and died on 31 December 1861; sold with copied research.

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Sold for
£650