List of Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross recipients explained

The Victoria Cross (VC) was introduced in Great Britain on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War.[1] For the Indian Mutiny (also known as India's First War of Independence, Revolt of 1857, or the Sepoy Mutiny) the VC was awarded to 182 members of the British Armed Forces, the Honourable East Indies Company (HEIC) and civilians under its command. The VC is the highest British honour and is awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy". Created in 1856 for the British Army and Royal Navy, eligibility was extended in 1857 to members of the HEIC and in 1858 to non-military personnel bearing arms as volunteers.[2]

Queen Victoria created the tradition of the British monarch presenting the VC to the recipient, personally presenting 74 of the 111 awards for the Crimean War. Many VCs for the Indian Mutiny were sent to India for presentation and while there is documentation for 42 presentations, the information on 51 presentations which were likely presented in India is vague and it not known if the medal was personally presented or received by post. There were 18 Indian Mutiny VCs sent to next of kin where the award was posthumous, or the recipient died before presentation. The Queen personally presented 63 Indian Mutiny awards after the recipients returned to the UK.[3]

The Indian Mutiny began as a mutiny of sepoys of British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut. It soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi region.[4] The rebellion posed a considerable threat to Company power in that region,[5] and it was contained only with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The rebellion proved to be an important watershed in Indian history; it led to the dissolution of the East India Company in 1858, and forced the British to reorganise the army, the financial system, and the administration in India.[6] India was thereafter governed directly from London—by the British government India Office and a cabinet level Secretary of State for India—in the new British Raj, a system of governance that lasted until 1947.

Indian troops were not originally eligible for the VC, because since 1837 they had been eligible for the Indian Order of Merit—the oldest British gallantry award for general issue. When the VC was created, Indian troops were still controlled by the Honourable East India Company, and did not come under Crown control until 1860. European officers and men serving with the Honourable East India Company were not eligible for the Indian Order of Merit; the VC was extended to cover them in October 1857. The first citations of the VC varied in the details of each action; some specify one date, some date ranges, some the name of the battle and others have both sets of information. The Indian Mutiny holds the record for the most VCs won in a single day; 24 on 16 November 1857, of which 23 were at the Second Relief of Lucknow and one was for an action south of Delhi.[7]

The original royal warrant did not address the question of posthumous awards, and a policy to avoid posthumous awards was adopted. Between the Indian Mutiny in 1857 and the beginning of the Second Boer War, the names of nine officers and men were published in the London Gazette with a memorandum stating they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross had they survived. A further three notices were published in the London Gazette in September 1900 and April 1901 for the Second Boer War. On 8 August 1902, as an exception to policy for the Second Boer War, a notice was published stating the Victoria Crosses were to be sent to next of kin of the three mentioned in the notices in 1900 and 1901. In the same notice the first official posthumous awards were announced. Five years later in 1907, the posthumous policy was reversed for earlier wars, and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six of nine officers and men whose names were mentioned in notices in the Gazette dating back to the Indian Mutiny. Prior to the reversal of policy It had been discovered that the crosses of three of the five Indian Mutiny memoranda names had been sent to next of kin shortly after the memoranda was gazetted. The Victoria Cross warrant was explicitly amended to allow posthumous awards in 1920, but one quarter of all awards for World War I were posthumous..[8]

Recipients

NameUnitDate of actionPlace of actionNotes-->
04343rd Regiment of Foot1859-01-022 January 1859Kurrereah, India
0044th Bengal Native Infantry1858-03-011 March 1858Amethi, India
01313th Bengal Native Infantry1857-06-3030 June 1857 to
22 November 1857[9] 		Lucknow, India
0022nd Dragoon Guards1858-10-088 October 1858Sundeela Oudh, India
08484th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2828 September 1857,
16 November 1857		Bolandshahr, India
Lucknow, India
Bengal Military Police Battalion1858-09-2727 September 1858Suhejnee, Near Peroo, India
06060th Rifles1858-05-066 May 1858Bareilly, India
0077th Queen's Own Hussars1858-03-1919 March 1858Lucknow, India
0022nd Bombay Light Cavalry1857-08-1212 August 1857,
23 October 1857		Neemuch, India
Jeerum, India
0022nd Dragoon Guards1857-09-2828 September 1857Bolandshahr, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-07-2929 July 1857Oonao, India
08484th Regiment of Foot1857-07-1212 July 1857 to
25 September 1857		Lucknow, India
09090th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2626 September 1857Lucknow, India
Royal Regiment of Artillery1858-04-033 April 1858Jhansi, India
0011st Bengal European Fusiliers1857-11-1616 November 1857Narnoul, India
04646th Bengal Native Infantry1858-08-3131 August 1858Seerporah, India
Commissariat Department1857-05-1111 May 1857Delhi, India
0011st Bengal European Fusiliers1858-03-099 March 1858Lucknow, India
08686th Regiment of Foot1858-04-033 April 1858Jhansi, India
0022nd Bengal European Fusiliers1857-06-1212 June 1857Delhi, India
05656th Bengal Native Infantry1858-04-1515 April 1858Fort Ruhya, India
07272nd Regiment of Foot1858-03-3030 March 1858Kotah, India
01313th Regiment of Foot1858-04-066 April 1858Azumgurh, India
0088th King's Royal Irish Hussars1858-09-088 September 1858Beejapore, India
Naval BrigadeNaval Brigade1858-09-2727 September 1858Suhejnee, Near Peroo, India
01919th Madras Native Infantry1859-01-1515 January 1859Chichumbah, India
08686th Regiment of Foot1858-04-011 April 1858Jhansi, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-07-077 July 1857Jhelum, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1859-01-1515 January 1859Maylah Ghat, India
07575th Regiment of Foot1857-06-088 June 1857Delhi, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-08-1212 August 1857Boursekee Chowkee, India
01313th Bengal Native Infantry1857-06-3030 June 1857Chinhut, India
01111th Bengal Native Infantry1857-10-022 October 1857Ghota Behar, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1858-04-1515 April 1858Fort Ruhya, India
01010th Regiment of Foot1857-08-1212 August 1857,
14 March 1858		Lucknow, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-09-2828 September 1857Bolandshahr, India
06060th Rifles1857-09-1010 September 1857Delhi, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-09-2828 September 1857Bolandshahr, India
03232nd Regiment of Foot1857-07-044 July 1857,
27 September 1857		Lucknow, India
0011st Madras European Fusiliers1857-09-0626 September 1857Lucknow, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
05353rd Regiment of Foot1857-10-022 October 1857Ghota Behar, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1858-03-099 March 1858Lucknow, India
05353rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-09-2828 September 1857Bolandshahr, India
06464th Regiment of Foot1857-11-2828 November 1857Cawnpore, India
Bengal Veterans Establishment1857-05-1111 May 1857Delhi, India
0077th Queen's Own Hussars1858-12-3131 December 1858River Raptee, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-10-1010 October 1857Agra, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1858-05-055 May 1858Bareilly, India
06060th Rifles1857-06-2323 June 1857Delhi, India
Loodiana Regiment1857-06-044 June 1857Benares, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1858-03-066 March 1858Lucknow, India
Bombay Engineers1859-10-066 October 1859Kathiawar, India
03232nd Regiment of Foot1857-08-2121 August 1857Lucknow, India
0055th Bengal European Cavalry1857-08-1515 August 1857,
18 August 1857,
27 January 1858,
3 February 1858		Khurkowdah, India
Not known
Shumshabad, India
Meangunge, India
0011st Bengal European Light Cavalry1857-11-1212 November 1857,
25 February 1858		Alumbagh, India
Jellalabad, India
09090th Regiment of Foot1857-11-1717 November 1857Lucknow, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
0055th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2424 September 1857Alumbagh, India
07575th Regiment of Foot1857-09-1111 September 1857Delhi, India
09090th Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
02323rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1818 November 1857Lucknow, India
Naval BrigadeNaval Brigade1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-06-1919 June 1857Delhi, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-11-1414 November 1857 to
22 November 1857		Lucknow, India
Naval BrigadeNaval Brigade1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-06-088 June 1857
10 October 1857		Delhi, India
Agra, India
01010th Regiment of Foot1857-07-1616 July 1857Cawnpore, India
RifleRifle Brigade1858-03-1111 March 1858Lucknow, India
05252nd Regiment of Foot1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
06060th Rifles1857-06-00June to
September 1857		Delhi, India
0088th King's Royal Irish Hussars1858-06-1717 June 1858Gwalior, India
09090th Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-07-099 July 1857Delhi, India
0088th King's Royal Irish Hussars1858-06-1717 June 1858Gwalior, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-09-1626 September 1857Lucknow, India
08484th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
09090th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2626 September 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Sappers and Miners1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
Bengal Sappers and Miners1858-02-2323 February 1858Sultanpore, India
05353rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
02626th Bengal Native Infantry1858-10-1414 October 1858Baroun, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-11-1414 November 1857 to
22 November 1857		Lucknow, India
08686th Regiment of Foot1858-04-033 April 1858Jhansi, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-06-088 June 1857Delhi, India
Bengal Civil Service1857-11-099 November 1857Lucknow, India
Bombay ArtilleryBombay Artillery1858-03-1717 March 1858Chundairee, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-09-2828 September 1857Bolandshahr, India
05353rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
02424th Bombay Native Infantry1857-07-1010 July 1857Kolapore, India
01010th Regiment of Foot1857-06-044 June 1857Benares, India
08484th Regiment of Foot1857-07-2929 June 1857,
16 August 1857,
25 September 1857		Oonao, India
Bithoor, India
Lucknow, India
Bengal Horse ArtilleryBengal Horse Artillery1857-11-1414 November 1857 to
22 November 1857		Lucknow, India
03232nd Regiment of Foot1857-07-077 July 1857,
26 September 1857		Lucknow, India
01414th Light Dragoons1858-04-011 April 1858Betwa, India
07272nd Bengal Native Infantry1858-05-2323 May 1858Calpee, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
0011st Madras European Fusiliers1857-09-2121 September 1857Mungulwar, India
Bengal Civil Service1857-07-3030 July 1857Arrah, India
Royal Regiment of Artillery1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
Naval BrigadeNaval Brigade1857-11-2222 November 1857Dacca, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1858-03-1111 March 1858Lucknow, India
Bengal Civil Service1857-07-3030 July 1857Arrah, India
0011st Bengal European Fusiliers1857-06-2323 June 1857Delhi, India
0011st Bengal European Fusiliers1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
0055th Regiment of Foot1857-10-022 October 1857,
22 December 1857		Lucknow, India
Bengal Artillery1857-11-1414 November 1857 to
22 November 1857		Lucknow, India
0055th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2626 September 1857Lucknow, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2626 September 1857Lucknow, India
09595th Regiment of Foot1858-01-066 January 1858Rowa, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1859-01-1515 January 1859Maylah Ghat, India
Bengal Ordnance Depot1857-10-2828 October 1857Agra, India
0022nd Dragoon Guards1858-10-088 October 1858Jamo, India
02323rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1818 November 1857Lucknow, India
Military TrainMilitary Train1858-04-1515 April 1858Azumgurh, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
Military TrainMilitary Train1858-04-1515 April 1858Azumgurh, India
08484th Regiment of Foot1857-07-1212 July 1857 to
25 September 1857		Lucknow, India
01313th Regiment of Foot1858-04-066 April 1858Azumgurh, India
Rifle BrigadeRifle Brigade1858-03-1111 March 1858Lucknow, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1858-03-1919 March 1858Lucknow, India
Bengal Artillery1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
03232nd Regiment of Foot1857-06-3030 June 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Artillery1857-11-1414 November 1857 to
22 November 1857		Lucknow, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
08686th Regiment of Foot1858-04-033 April 1858Jhansi, India
0088th King's Royal Irish Hussars1858-06-1717 June 1858Gwalior, India
01111th Bengal Native Infantry1857-05-3030 May 1857 to
18 September 1857		Delhi, India
Madras Engineers1857-11-2121 November 1857Mundisore, India
0022nd Punjab Cavalry185-00-001857 to
1858[10] 		Agra, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-06-1919 June 1857Delhi, India
05353rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1717 November 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Veterans Establishment1857-05-1111 May 1857Delhi, India
06161st Regiment of Foot1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
09090th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2121 September 1857,
25 September 1857		Lucknow, India
Bengal Horse Artillery1857-09-1616 September 1857Delhi, India
03434th Regiment of Foot1859-04-2727 April 1859Kewane Trans-Gogra, India
Bengal Horse Artillery1858-01-022 January 1858Khodagunge, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1857-09-2828 September 1857Bolandshahr, India
Naval Brigade1858-03-1313 March 1858Lucknow, India
Bengal Army1858-09-2727 September 1858Kuthirga, India
07171st Regiment of Foot1858-06-1616 June 1858Marar, India
03737th Bengal Native Infantry1857-06-044 June 1857Benares, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1858-03-1919 March 1858Lucknow, India
0011st Madras European Fusiliers1857-09-2626 September 1857Lucknow, India
0011st Bengal European Fusiliers1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
Bengal Sappers and Miners1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
Naval Brigade1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
Rifle Brigade1858-06-1313 June 1858Lucknow, India
06060th Bengal Native Infantry1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1858-04-1515 April 1858Fort Ruhya, India
08484th Regiment of Foot1857-10-066 October 1857Lucknow, India
Corps ofCorps of Royal Engineers1858-04-033 April 1858Jhansi, India
05252nd Regiment of Foot1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
0011st Madras European Fusiliers1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
Bengal Sappers and Miners1857-09-1414 September 1857Delhi, India
0099th Queen's Royal Lancers1858-01-1717 January 1858Shumsabad, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1858-04-1515 April 1858Fort Ruhya, India
09393rd Regiment of Foot1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India
06060th Rifles1857-08-022 August 1857 to
13 September 1857		Delhi, India
Bengal Sappers and Miners1857-09-1616 September 1857Delhi, India
Bengal Artillery1857-09-2727 September 1857Lucknow, India
04242nd Regiment of Foot1858-04-1515 April 1858Fort Ruhya, India
06060th Rifles1857-07-099 July 1857Delhi, India[11]
Bengal Horse Artillery1857-07-099 July 1857Delhi, India
0022nd Bengal Native Infantry1857-07-00July 1857Indore, India
06060th Rifles1857-06-1919 June 1857Delhi, India
06666th Bengal Native Infantry1858-02-1010 February 1858Choorpoorah, India
07575th Regiment of Foot1857-07-1717 July 1857Delhi, India
06060th Rifles1857-09-1414 September 1857,
18 September 1857		Delhi, India
02525th Bombay Light Infantry1858-06-2020 June 1858Gwalior, India
07878th Regiment of Foot1857-09-2525 September 1857Lucknow, India
0088th King's Royal Irish Hussars1858-06-1717 June 1858Gwalior, India
0011st Punjab Cavalry1857-11-1414 November 1857Lucknow, India
0033rd Bombay European Regiment1858-04-033 April 1858,
2 May 1858		Jhansi, India
Lohari,[12] India
Rifle Brigade1858-03-1111 March 1858Lucknow, India
01717th Lancers1858-10-1919 October 1858Sinwaho, India
Naval Brigade1857-11-1616 November 1857Lucknow, India

References

General
Specific

Notes and References

  1. Ashcroft, M; 2006; preface; XI–XIII
  2. The National Archives, Victoria Cross Register Vol 1, pages 58-60 and 146-150; M J Crook, The Evolution of the Victoria Cross, 1975, ISBN 0 85936 041 5, Chapters 11 and 12.
  3. Victoria Cross presentations and locations by Dennis Pillinger and Anthony Staunton, published in 2000, ISBN 0 646 39741 9
  4. Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar; 2004; pp.169–172
    Bose, Jalal; 2003; pp.88–103; Quote: "The 1857 rebellion was by and large confined to northern Indian Gangetic Plain and central India."
  5. Bayly, C.A.; 1990; p.170; Quote: "What distinguished the events of 1857 was their scale and the fact that for a short time they posed a military threat to British dominance in the Ganges Plain."
  6. Bayly, C.A.; 1990; pp.194–197
  7. Arthur, Max; p. XIV
  8. Crook, MJ, Chapter 8 pp.68–90
  9. Web site: Robert Aitken details . National Archives . 20 August 2008 . 7 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110607045053/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7499437&queryType=1&resultcount=1 . live .
  10. Probyn was awarded his VC for numerous gallant acts throughout the period of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
  11. The 'siege' mentioned in the citation is not identified and is often wrongly assumed to be Lucknow. He served at Delhi where he was badly wounded in September 1857.
  12. Leek,Alan; (2018):"Frederick Whirlpool VC"; Big Sky Pub;pp 140

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