Indian Mutiny 1857-59, no clasp (Lt. Col. John A. Gildea, H.Ms. 81st Regt.) edge bruising, very fine £500-£700

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Indian Mutiny Medals, the Property of a Gentleman.

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Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, July 2004.

John Arthur Gildea was born in 1818 and was commissioned Ensign in the 81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot in August 1839, being promoted Lieutenant in April 1841, and Captain in April 1848. He served in the Crimea as Adjutant of 11th Regiment of the Turkish Contingent from September 1855 to its disbandment in May 1856, and was promoted Major in April 1856. Proceeding to India to rejoin his Regiment, in May 1857 the 81st were stationed at Mean Meer with one Regiment of Native Cavalry and three Regiments of Native Infantry including the 49th. At the outbreak of the Mutiny the 49th stirred into revolt and attacked the artillery lines at Mean Meer.

The Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research quotes the following extracts from the Diary of Arthur Moffat Lang:
‘In 1857 the cantonment of Mean Meer was garrisoned by a fairly typical mixture of British (Queens) and Indian troops. The Indian Army supplied the great majority of the 16th, 26th and 49th Native Infantry, the 8th Cavalry and four companies of Bengal Foot Artillery... I walked out without horse or arms and sending for both joined a party of the 81st under Gildea, Skerry and Deans, who were marching towards the Artillery Lines to defend them against some hundreds of the 49th (N.I.) who were reported to be attacking those lines.’

The intervention was successful, and Gildea was part of the detachment of the 81st at Mean Meer under Colonel Renny that disarmed one Regiment of Native Cavalry and three Regiments of Native Infantry all disaffected and ripe for mutiny.

S.S. Sultana
Advanced Lieutenant-Colonel, Gildea remained in India until 1865, before returning home in command of the Headquarter Wing (comprising A, D, G, F and H companies) of the 61st Foot, embarking the S.S. Sultanta at Calcutta on 23 February 1865.

The S.S. Sultana proceeded safely on her voyage until 22 March at about 8.30 p.m. when the ship encountered a terrific cyclone in the Indian Ocean which increased in intensity until midnight and continued to rage for many hours afterwards with unabated fury. The cyclone was accompanied by almost incessant flashes of forked lightning and deafening peals of thunder; the darkness between the flashes was most profound, the roaring of the wind at times overpowering the noise of the thunder.

The recipient’s own account of the voyage states:
‘Every sail on the yards, set or furled, was blown to shreds. One boat was actually torn into pieces by the wind and two others were carried away by the sea; masts and yards gave way and went over the side; while those held by the rigging bumped against the side of the ship with great violence. The sea rushed down the hatches before they could be battened down and carried away army racks, mess tables and most of the moveable items below; and these being washed from side to side as the ship rolled, created a dreadful din, which, with the noise and crash of breaking masts and yards, the roar of the elements above and the utter darkness between the decks was enough to appal the stoutest heart.’

The ship passed through the eye of the cyclone and was then battered until the 24 March when the cyclone finally abated. The crew and the soldiers of the 81st behaved with exceptional bravery, manning the pumps and protecting as much of the ship as they could, throughout this terrible ordeal. S.S. Sultana finally made Port Louis, Mauritius on 13 April 1865 without loss of life but with the S.S. Sultana severely damaged.

Promoted Colonel, Gildea retired on 27 December 1870, and was granted the honorary rank of Major-General. He died in 1873.

Sold with copied research.