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Auction: 19003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 18

The Indian Mutiny Medal awarded to Private E. Donaghy, 1st Madras (European) Fusiliers, who was killed in action at the storming of the Secundra Bagh on 16 November 1857; in this epic struggle eighteen Victoria Crosses were awarded, the highest number for any single action

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Relief of Lucknow (E. Donaghy, 1st Madras Fusrs.), light contact marks, very fine

Edward Donaghy, a Belfast man and a sawyer by trade, enlisted into the Honourable East India Company's 1st Madras (European) Fusiliers at Glasgow on 7 January 1847 (see L/Mil/11/103). He arrived in India aboard the troopship Greenlaw a few months later. During the Indian Mutiny, this regiment saw service as three distinct units. The bulk of the regiment, 376 men in total, formed part of Havelock's force for the First Relief of Lucknow, eventually becoming part of its besieged garrison. Private Donaghy was among 101 officers and men who took part in the Second Relief, forming part of what became known as the Battalion of Detachments. This unit comprised men from the 5th and 90th Regiments, as well as some Sikhs and loyal Sepoys. The third portion of the regiment, some 150 men, remained at Allahabad when the Second Relief Force began its advance on Lucknow.

The final advance for the relief of the Lucknow garrison began at dawn on 16 November 1857. Sir Colin Campbell's force was met by a hail of lead from the loopholed walls of the Secundra Bagh, a high-walled enclosure. Campbell ordered a gun forward to breach the walls, and it was the Madras Fusiliers who manhandled it into position under heavy fire. Lieutenant Woods described the action:

'Sir Colin had ordered a gun to breach the wall of the Secundra Bagh, about 200 yards off. To this effect it was necessary to drag the gun above a smooth mound. The Chief turned to me and gave his instructions, whereupon my men, scarcely waiting to hear the order, slung their rifles and pulled up the gun in about 15 seconds to his evident and expressed admiration. There was absolutely no cover for the gun nor for those who worked it, and bullets rained like hail among the metal… After about half-an-hour's pounding, Lieutenant Graeme came to say the 93rd were about to assault by the breach at the corner and we were to force the gateway if possible.

I went towards the gateway with Lieutenant Dobbs and Duncan and a few of our men. Not a soul was visible between us and the reddish walls pierced with loopholes. Peeping through the cracks of the gate, I descried, 50 yards in front of me, a 6 or 9-pounder pointing, with a company of red-coated sepoys drawn up in good order behind it. I said to Graeme who was close at hand - "Look out for grape, there is a gun in front of us." I now pushed the double gates with all my strength but they merely swung back a few inches. A gun had been sent for, but before its arrival one of our men placed his Enfield against what seemed to be the rivet of the obstructing gate and blew it away in a moment. Without further loss of time the hive was broken into, and three of four Fusiliers bayoneted every sword-bearing and shield-carrying Ghazi who resisted.'

Privates Leahy and Smith of the Madras Fusiliers were the first men through the gate, Smith winning the Victoria Cross for his gallantry. No mutineers were left alive in the Secundra Bagh; they were caught in a trap from which they could not escape, and some 1,800 of them perished. Bitter street-fighting ensued. A large mosque called the Shah Nujjef had to be stormed following a sharp bombardment by the Naval Brigade. By the end of the day the Battalion of Detachments had lost 150 men killed and wounded. The Madras Fusiliers had Lieutenant Dobbs and five men killed during the assault on the Secundra Bagh, including Private Donaghy. The regiment's Nominal Roll states that Donaghy died intestate; sold with copied research and Casualty Roll confirmation.


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Sold for
£800

Starting price
£550