The Defence of Jellalabad medals to Lieutenant-General G. G. C. Stapylton, 13th Light Infantry, believed to have been the last survivor of the ‘Illustrious Garrison’ at Jellalabad

(a) Defence of Jellalabad 1842, Mural Crown (Lt. G. G. C. Stapylton, 13th Regt.) contemporary engraved naming, fitted with steel clip and bar suspension

(b) Defence of Jellalabad 1842, Flying Victory (Lieut. G: G: C: Stapylton 13th Regt.) officially impressed naming, fitted with straight silver bar suspension, contact marks, otherwise good very fine £3000-4000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Brian Ritchie Collection of H.E.I.C. and British India Medals.

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Ex Captain Hamilton (Sotheby July 1891) and Gaskell collection 1911.

Granville George Chetwynd Stapylton was born on 22 March 1823, and was commissioned Ensign in H.M’s 13th Regiment on 15 June 1839. In November of that year he sailed from Gravesend with a detachment of ninety men to join the regiment, then on active service in Afghanistan. He arrived at Calcutta, via the Cape of Good Hope, on 21 July 1840. He then proceeded by boat to Cawnpore, whence he marched to Cabul via Meerut, Frozepore, Peshawar and Jellalabad, finally reaching his regiment after a journey of seventeen months on 21 April 1841. By the time he arrived, the 13th Light Infantry had been in Afghanistan for nearly three years and in the autumn of 1841 was put under orders to return to India. The country between Jellalabad and Cabul had recently become disturbed after allowances paid to the local chiefs for keeping the peace along the line of communication had been discontinued. But nevertheless the tribesmen’s behaviour was not considered serious and, in October 1841, Major-General Sir Robert Sale’s Brigade, comprising the 13th Light Infantry, four companies of Sappers and Miners, two guns under Captain Augustus Abbott (Ritchie 1-58), and some cavalry set off for India.

En route, however, Sale was asked to clear the Khoord-Cabul Pass of tribesmen, who had inflicted heavy casualties on a small force of the 35th Native Infantry and two guns under Lieutenant-Colonel Monteath at Bootkhak on the night of the 10th. Accordingly, Stapylton was present two days later, when the combined forces of Sale and Monteath proceeded to force the Khoord-Cabul at daybreak. The general situation, however, continued to worsen, and, with the revolt in Cabul, the tribesmen became increasingly aggressive. Stapylton thus proceeded with Sale’s Brigade in the march to Jellalabad, taking part in the forcing of the Tazeane and Jagdalak Passes and the reduction of the fort at Mamoo Khel. Then finally with the country in open revolt, Sale decided to take refuge in Jellalabad, which was duly garrisoned on 13 November and was immediately invested by Afghan forces under Akbar Khan.

Stapylton served throughout the five month long ‘heroic defence of Jellalabad’, taking part in the sorties of 14 November and 1 December 1841, 11 March, 24 March and 1 April 1842. He was also engaged in the action of 7 April when the Jellalabad garrison finally broke out and drove off the besieging Afghans. Following the arrival of reinforcements from India under Major-General Sir George Pollock, Stapylton took part in the storming of the Jagdalak heights, the general action at Tazeane, and the recapture of Cabul. The regimental history of the 13th (Somerset) Light Infantry states that Stapylton ‘left on record a most interesting diary’, privately published in 1982 as Diary and Related Documents by Lieutenant-Colonel G. R. Chetwynd Stapylton.

Having been promoted Lieutenant on 13 January 1842, Stapylton was advanced to the rank of Captain in 1848 and appointed A.D.C. to General Sir William Gomm. He then transferred to the 98th Foot and was promoted Major in September 1857. Three years later he became Lieutenant-Colonel in the 32nd Light Infantry and was successively advanced to the ranks of Colonel in 1865, Major-General in 1870, and Honorary Lieutenant-General in 1881 on his retirement. On 23 September 1896 he was made Colonel of the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. He also held the Regimental Colonelcy of the 32nd (Duke of Cornwall’s) Light Infantry from 1902. General Chetwynd-Stapylton, latterly of 7 West Eaton Place, Belgravia, married Lady Barbara Emily Maria Leeson, the daughter of the 4th Earl of Milltown. He died aged ninety-two on 27 April 1915 and was believed to be the last survivor of the Illustrious Garrison at Jellalabad

Refs: Who Was Who 1897-1916; Army List 1899; History of the Somerset Light Infantry (Everett).