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Auction: 22003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 22

(x) Sutlej 1845-46, for Moodkee 1845, 1 clasp, Ferozeshuhur (Lieut Henry A: O'Molony 50th Regt), polished with a few minor knocks, nearly very fine

Henry Anthony O'Molony was born in 1810, second son of Lambert and Honaria Molony (note slight difference in surname), in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. His father is noted as a Judge on the East India Company's Bengal Establishment, additionally serving as an officer in the Company's forces in Calcutta c.1801. Henry appears to have been commissioned Ensign in the 16th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot in December 1833, being promoted Lieutenant in March 1837 before transferring into the 50th (the Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot sometime after.

The 50th Foot were posted from Australia to India in 1841, consequently seeing a great deal of service during the Gwalior Campaign (December 1843) and First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46). At the Battle of Moodkee (Mudki) on 18 December 1845, the regiment was on the extreme left flank of the first line of infantry as part of Colonel Wheeler's 2nd Brigade; advancing against the the Sikhs across a fairly flat and featureless plain, though the battle ended in a British victory the battalion accordingly took significant casualties - some 109 officers and men killed and wounded; only the 31st Foot had a higher 'butcher's bill' at 157 men respectively.

At the Battle of Ferozeshuhur (Ferozeshah) only three days later, the sadly-depleted 50th Foot were initially in the Reserve force (commanded by the renowned veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, Major-General Sir Harry Smith) but were later committed to the attack on the Sikh positions: again they suffered significant casualties of some 124 officers and men killed and wounded. O'Molony was lucky to survive both encounters; as a junior officer in a hard-pressed regiment he would have been in the thick of the fighting. However he did not live to return to Britain with the remainder of the battalion, instead dying at Meerut in 1849. He was survived by a wife, Emily Ann (whom he had married in 1844), and four young children.

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Sold for
£850

Starting price
£450