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Auction: 23111 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 28

The Ghuznee Medal awarded to Brigadier-General W. H. Ryves, 61st Native Infantry, who raised the 6th King Edward’s Own Cavalry at Fategarh in 1842

Ghuznee 1839 (Capt. W. H. Ryvers, 61st Regt. N.I.), note surname spelling, good very fine

William Henry Ryves was born on 9 January 1812, the son of Peter Thomas Ryves and Matilda Elizabeth Ryves (née Pirner). He joined the 61st Native Infantry as Ensign on 27 August 1829, and passed his
language examinations in Persian and Hindustani in September 1834. Ryves was appointed Interpreter and Quartermaster to the 9th Light
Cavalry in 1835, being made Adjutant of the 4th Local Horse in 1838.

During the Ghuznee campaign, he served once again with the 61st Native Infantry, and following the storming and capture of Ghuznee in July that year, he lead 25 soldiers of the 4th Local Horse as part of a larger force of Afghan soldiers and British & Indian officers sent in pursuit of Dost Mohammed towards Turkistan.

He reputedly raised the 6th King Edward’s Own Cavalry at Fategarh in 1842 and was promoted to Captain with the 51st Native Infantry in 1845. Ryves thence raised the Regiment that would become the 8th Lancers at Sultanpore in 1846. He was promoted Major in 1859, serving as Colonel in the 13th Bengal Lancers, becoming
Brigadier-General in the Bengal Army in 1870. He died of cholera at Agra, India, on 30 September 1873; sold together with a 3rd Edition (1872) of Veterinary Aide Memoire and Receipt Book for the use of Non-Professional Horse Owners in India, which he wrote in 1864.

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Sold for
£850

Starting price
£480