Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 22075 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 46

Indian Mutiny 1857-58, 1 clasp, Delhi (Capt & Bt Major E. W. S. Scott, 3rd Bn Bengal Art.), about extremely fine

Edward William Smyth Scott, of County Wicklow in Ireland, was born in 1812 and appointed Second Lieutenant in the Bengal Artillery on 12 December 1828. Spending most of his professional career in India, socially he also appears to have done well by marrying - in May 1840 - Elizabeth Whish, daughter of Lt.-Gen. Sir William Whish K.C.B. (Medals sold in these rooms, 25 April 2018) and they went on to have no less than five children.

During the Indian Mutiny, Scott commanded a field battery of six guns in Brigadier Archdale Wilson's Meerut Brigade during the battles of Ghazee-ood-din-Nuggur (30 May 1857) and Badli-ki-Serai (8 June 1857): both small but complete victories over the mutinous Sepoys and which allowed the British to eventually reach the walls of Delhi to mount the famous siege and eventual capture.

By 1859, Scott is noted as 'Inspector-General of Ordnance and Magazines' and is believed to have retired shortly after, in 1863. Returning to England with his wife and family, he lived firstly in Wales before removing to Cambridge, where he died (by this time a Major-General) in 1892 at the age of 80. A local paper made note of the funeral:

'The funeral took place…of a distinguished officer, formerly of the Bengal Artillery, who had seen active service in the Indian Mutiny, he having made the second breach in the wall of Delhi. Major-General Scott has for the past few years lived a retired life in Cambridge, where his kindly nature endeared him to all who knew him. His family was represented at the funeral by Mrs Scott, Lady Napier and her sons, Mr and Mrs Crosbie, later of Trumpington vicarage, Mr and Mrs Kennett, and General Whish.' (Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 12 January 1892, refers); in a further fascinating point of military family connection, his daughter Mary Cecilia Smyth had married Field Marshal Robert Napier, Baron Napier of Magdala, in April 1861.

This medal is understood to have been gifted by a Mrs. M. de V. Bateson.

Subject to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium. For more information please view Terms and Conditions for Buyers.

Estimate
£300 to £500