Orders, Decorations and Medals

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, no clasp (Serjt. Chas. Roberts, 54th Regt.) polished, otherwise very fine £600-700

Sergeant Charles Roberts was on board the Sarah Sands, bound for India with 368 officers and men of the regiment together with a number of women and children, a total of some 500 persons with the crew, when that ship caught fire on 11 November 1857, some days after leaving Cape Town. For 18 hours the troops and loyal members of the crew fought the fire with admirable discipline, having successfully got all the women and children into the ship’s boats, some of which had already been launched by cowardly crewmen. The regimental colours, kept in the saloon, were saved by the bravery of half a dozen volunteers who reached them after repeated attempts. Several casks of powder blew up most of the ship aft of the mainmast but in the process also blew away much of the burning woodwork, enabling the fire to be finally extinguished. The uniforms of the soldiers had been almost scorched from their bodies, many had collapsed and others were terribly burned. Not one life was lost in this disaster and the ship eventually reached Port Louis at Mauritius. Due to the severe burns suffered by men of the 54th Regiment, few of them went on to serve in the Indian Mutiny and their medals are consequently scarce. Sergeant Charles Roberts was clearly one of the more senior recipients amongst the survivors. Sold with copies of the Muster Lists which confirm him as being present aboard the Sarah Sands.