The Indian Mutiny medal to Captain George Hare, C.B., Hyderabad Contingent, assassinated by a fanatic in December 1858

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Central India (Capt. G. Hare, 5th Infy. Hd. Cont.) good very fine
£2000-2500

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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George Hare, the fourth son of Captain Joseph Hare, H.M’s 22nd Light Dragoons, was born probably in India on 2 November 1821, and was nominated by John Cotton, Esq., for a Cadetship in the Madras Infantry ‘when abroad’. His statement of services records: ‘Having satisfied the Govt. on the points of qualification required by the Court of Directors, he is admitted on the establishment from the 19th ult: the date of the G.O. announcing his appointment as a Cadet, he having been in the country on that date, G.O. 1 May ‘38.’ He did duty with the 19th Madras Native Infantry at the Presidency until January 1839 when he was posted ‘to the 20th Madras N.I. as 3rd Ensign’. Promoted Lieutenant on 3 October 1840, his earlier domicile in India stood him in good stead in May of the following year when he showed ‘creditable progress’ in his study of the ‘Hindoostanee language’ and ‘the Moonshee allowance’ was directed ‘be disbursed to him’. In August 1841 he was appointed Interpreter and Quartermaster of his corps.

In December 1843, he was placed at the disposal of the Resident at Hyderabad and seconded to the 5th Infantry of the Hyderabad Contingent - a British officered force maintained at the insistence of the British by the Nizam of Hyderabad, ostensibly to protect him but also to keep him in line. Hare was advanced to the rank of Captain in December 1852, and was serving in that rank at the time of the Mutiny. From July 1857 he commanded a wing of the 5th Infantry in the Hyderabad Contingent Field Force, which assembled at Edlabad to protect North Berar and to prevent mutineers and rebels from crossing into the Nizam’s domain. The Hyderabad Contingent F.F. remained at Edlabad held up longer than necessary by heavy rains and a severe outbreak of cholera until October when it marched to suppress an insurection in the Hoshangabad District, where some opportunist members of the native landed gentry had returned to the mendicant ways of their ancestors and plundered several villages. After successful operations against the fort at Piplia, in which ‘Thakoor Bhowani Sing, his brother Suchet Sing, another brother, an uncle, and some relations - all men of consequence’ perished, Hare and the Hyderabad Contingent joined Sir Hugh Rose’s hot weather Central India campaign of 1858.

The first obstacle to Rose’s advance was the town of Rathgahr, and for services during the siege Hare was thus mentioned by Sir Hugh in his despatch dated 7 February, Saugor, ‘Captain Hare and Lieut. Westmacott, attached to the Hyderabad Cavalry, did good service.’ While at Saugor, Hare was sent with a detachment of all arms of the Contingent to ‘take the little fort of Sanoda, where the rebels had stores of supplies, with orders at the same time to make practicable for siege artillery, for use against Garhakota, the ford of the River Beas. The rebels fled on Captain Hare’s approach, leaving large supplies of grain’. In February he was present at the capture of Garakhota, from which large numbers of rebels escaped. ‘Capt. Hare, with the Hyderabad Cavalry, two troops of the 14th Light Dragoons under Captains Need and Brown, and two guns of Horse Arty. under Lieut. Crowe, set forth in pursuit. After a rapid ride of twenty-five miles, Capt. Hare found them on the other side of the river Beas. Leading his guns and cavalry across the stream, he opened fire and swiftly charged them. A great number were slain, and many made prisoners, as was also a good deal of the plunder captured. Thus the mutinous sepoys of the 51st and 52nd Bengal Native Infy. were punished, and the beautiful little fort of Garrakota [sic] fell into our hands.’ On this occasion Sir Hugh recommended Hare in his desptach ‘for his intelligence and activity in pursuing and coming up with the rebels.’

At the siege of Jhansi, Hare found himself obliged to man a most unhealthy spot from 21 March until the assault went in on 3 April: ‘No one considered the left attack a desirable spot. Anyone ran a considerable risk of being hit going in, and as great coming out, and almost as large a one when in the batteries. It was situated on a rising ground opposite their chief battery, the mamelon, and very close to it; there were no trees for shelter from the sun, and only large fragments of rock, well heated through, under which to take shelter from the enemy’s fire. The men working the guns and mortars here were necessarily exposed, and we lost a good many, chiefly gunners of the Hyderabad Contingent. Captain George Hare, commanding a regiment of infantry of that service, held this attack during the greater part of the siege. Any kind of ease when not actually engaged was totally out of the question. The rock was so hot no one could sit or lie on it without feeling scorched, and when standing upright the head of the individual was exposed to the enemy’s fire.’ Again Sir Hugh ‘particularly brought to notice’ Captain Hare.



After the capture of Jhansi, Hare marched with the Contingent under Major Orr to prevent the Rajahs of Banpur and Shahgarh crossing the Betwa and doubling back to join the main body of rebels. The Rajahs were engaged at Kotra, but it proved impossible to cut off their retreat and the Contingent proceeded to Kunch, arriving in time to take part in the battle fought there by Sir Hugh on 5 May. Hare who commanded 241 bayonets on this occasion notched up another honourable mention. On the 22nd, when Sir Hugh’s Field Force advanced and attacked Calpee, Hare was entrusted with the command of a force of all arms to protect the British camp and was commended for his ‘intelligence and devotion to duty’.

The Central India campaign came to a close in June with the fall of Gwalior, and by late November, Hare, having been promoted Brevet Major for his recent services in the field (London Gazette 16 November 1858), was stationed with the 5th Infantry at Ellichpore, between Asseerghur and Nagpore. Hare had been mentioned in despatches no less than six times for his services during the mutiny (Calcutta Gazette 9 June, 14 & 28 July, and 11 August, 1858; and 2 March and 28 September, 1859).

On the evening of 1 December 1858, he was relaxing in the mess with brother officers of the Contingent, when, ‘a sudden report of a musket fired into the room, startled the whole party and made them rise from the table. Captain Hare ... rose from his seat, but immediately afterwards exclaimed, “I am hit!” and fell to the ground. He was quickly raised by his brother officers, and placed on a sofa. Doctor Burn, the surgeon of the station, was sent for, and, on examining the wounds in the side of the victim, he pronounced them mortal. In ten minutes the murdered officer became insensible, and shortly after expired. After perpetrating the foul act, the assassin, a sepoy of the 5th Regt., rushed towards the lines, calling upon his comrades to rise, for he had performed a great deed; and shouting that next morning the victorious army of the King of Delhi, would arrive on the parade ground, when every European must be put to death. Owing to the darkness that prevailed, the assassin escaped for a time, although the whole of the 5th Regt. - in which it did not appear he had any accomplices - turned out in search of him.

On the 9th of the month, however, he was discovered and captured at a village called Ashtee, a short distance from the scene of his crime, and was sentenced to be blown from a gun at Ellichpore. On his way to the place of execution, the determined ruffian snatched a pistol from one of his guards, and fired at the officer in charge of the party, but without effect. In the struggle to recover the pistol, the man was severely wounded, and was led, covered with blood, to the muzzle of the gun, from which he was presently blown.

Hare was unlucky to meet such a fate at the hands of a Hyderabad man, for although there had initially been some trouble from the Nizam’s Muslim subjects who supported the restoration of the Moghul emperor at Delhi, there had been no general disturbances in the state. The assassin was probably a looney, and certainly his timing left a lot to be desired as the flames of rebellion had been dying down for sometime. Futhermore the King of Delhi had been in captivity for over a year, and rthe emnants of his rebel army was being hunted down towards the Nepalese border.

On 22 March 1859, the London Gazette announced the award of a C.B. to ‘Major George Hare (deceased)’. Presumably it was passed to his widow, Adeline Augusta, daughter of George Bailey of the 6th Foot. In 1863, Mrs. Hare, then of Woodford House, Bognor, who had no private means beyond her husband’s pension, made an application on behalf of her eldest son, George John, for a commission in the Indian Army based upon her husband’s record of service. Happily George John was commissioned on 23 April 1865.

Refs: Hodson Index (NAM); IOL L/MIL/11/46; IOL L/MIL/9/298; History of the Hyderabad Contingent (Burton); The Indian Mutiny (Forrest); Recollections of the Campaign in Malwa and Central India (Sylvester); The History of the Indian Mutiny (Ball).