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Auction: 19003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 12

Indian Mutiny Medal 1857-59, no clasp (4857 Pte. A. Brown. 2/Rifle Bde.), naming impressed in block capitals, good very fine

Adam Brown was born at Oakham, Rutland in 1838. He enlisted into the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade at Westminster on 7 May 1855, aged 18. Six officers and 51 men (including Brown) are listed on the 2nd Battalion Roll as having been attached to the Camel Corps during the Indian Mutiny. The Camel Corps was formed at Lucknow in April 1858 and initially comprised of about 200 men of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Rifle Brigade; about as many Sikhs; and two companies of the 88th Foot. Commanded by Colonel Maxwell of the 88th, it rendered invaluable service during Sir Hugh Rose's Central India campaign. Rose engaged the forces of Tantia Tope, numbering 22,000 men and 28 guns, at the River Jumna on 22 May 1858. The Camel Corps screened the British left flank, and at 9 a.m. they came to the rescue of an isolated British battery. The British force, personally led by Rose, pursued the rebels until heatstroke prevented them from moving further. Out of the 200 riflemen only three had been wounded, though one officer and 25 men were laid low by the sun. The victorious Central India Field Force was disbanded on 1 June, having crushed the rebellion in that area. Brown was discharged at Umbeyla on 9 January 1861. The Medal Roll records that Brown's Medal was sent to him on 4 March 1863, hence the later impressed style of naming with his regimental number. He was entitled to clasps for 'Lucknow' and 'Central India'. On leaving the army he married and had three children. He opened a coffee house in London and lived with his family at 25 Cathles Road, Streatham. The 1911 census records an 'Army Pensioner' of this name living on his own as the caretaker of a block of flats in West Kensington; sold with copied service papers, census records and research.




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Sold for
£220

Starting price
£170