Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The unique and exceptional 1891 ’Capture and Defence of Thobal’ V.C. group of five awarded to Lieutenant, later Colonel, C. J. W. Grant, 12th Regiment (2nd Burma Battalion) Madras Infantry, the ‘Hero of Manipur’ who, upon hearing of the treachery at Manipur, March 1891, immediately set out to relieve the presumed British captives and exact retribution; advancing his 80 man Tammu detachment towards Manipur under continued desultory opposition, he stormed the enemy position at the head of his men under a heavy fire at Thobal, driving the 800 strong foe from their entrenched defences.

Taking up a defensive position within improvised fortifications, he then became surrounded by an estimated 2000 of the returning enemy which attacked the small besieged force over a period of eight days. Holding out against overwhelming odds, Grant led a number of brilliant sallies to dislodge and disperse the Manipuris each time they approached and then, in negotiations over the release of prisoners, deceived them into thinking they were facing a much larger force - he ‘borrowed two stars from a jemadar’s shoulder-straps and placed them on his own. He was no longer a Subaltern commanding a small detachment, but a Colonel, with his regiment at his back.’

With dwindling ammunition and growing disease among his ranks, Grant successfully withdrew his force to link up with reinforcements, and, leading his men to the attack once more in taking an enemy fort, he was badly wounded - ‘the bullet had gone through the root of my neck just above the shoulder and carried all the cloth of my collar and shirt right thro’ the wound leaving it quite clean’ - after which he was carried triumphantly into Manipur by his men and those concerned in the murder of British officers were brought to justice and punished.

To be sold together with a substantial associated archive of historical importance - items of particular significance including: Grant’s unpublished leather bound ‘Officer’s Field Note and Sketch Book and Reconnaissance Aide-Memoire’ in which he meticulously records the march to Manipur and the capture and subsequent defence of Thobal, illustrated by several detailed sketches of both actions and positions; and a file of original letters, including the negotiations between Grant and the Manipuris and a coded message from Grant in Greek characters to the relief force

Victoria Cross, reverse of suspension bar engraved ‘Lieut: Chas. Jas. Wm. Grant Indian Staff Corps’, reverse of Cross engraved ‘27th March 1891’; India General Service 1854-95, 2 clasps, N.E. Frontier 1891, Burma 1885-7, clasps mounted in this order (Lieut. C. J. W. Grant 12th Madras Infy.); 1914-15 Star (Bt. Col. C. J. W. Grant. V.C.); British War and Victory Medals (Bt. Col. C. J. W. Grant.) suspension claw loose on IGS and light pitting from Star, otherwise generally very fine or better (5) £300,000-£400,000

V.C. London Gazette 26 May 1891:
‘For the conspicuous bravery and devotion to his country displayed by him in having, upon hearing on the 27th March, 1891, of the disaster at Manipur, at once volunteered to attempt the relief of the British Captives, with 80 Native Soldiers, and having advanced with the greatest intrepidity, captured Thobal, near Manipur, and held it against a large force of the enemy. Lieutenant Grant inspired his men with equal heroism, by an ever-present example of personal daring and resource.’

Charles James William Grant was born in Bourtie, Aberdeenshire in 1861, the son of Lieutenant-General P. C. S. St. J. Grant, and was educated privately and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment on 10 May 1882, and joined the Madras Staff Corps in 1884. He initially served as a Wing Officer with the 5th Madras Native Infantry and was attached to the 12th Madras Native Infantry for the expedition against King Thebaw in Upper Burma, 1885-87, before transferring to the 12th Madras Native Infantry on 1 June 1890.

Coup and Treachery at Manipur
In the autumn of 1890 the semi-independent state of Manipur, lying in the hill country between India and Burma, was governed by a Maharajah subject to the control of a British Resident. Dissatisfied with these arrangements, the Senapati, or Commander-in-Chief, led a palace coup, deposing the Maharajah and installing one of his own brothers on the throne. Although considerable freedom was granted to the native states in the management of their own affairs, this rebellious act called for the involvement of the Governor-General of India who at once instructed the Chief Commissioner of Assam, James Wallace Quinton, to go to Manipur with a body of troops and settle the matter on the merits of the case.

Mr Quinton arrived at the Residency in Manipur accompanied by 400 Gurkhas under the command of Colonel Skene on 22 March 1891 and, having decided on the arrest and banishment of the Senapati, invited him to a meeting at the Residency for the purposes of executing his capture. Suspecting the trap, however, the native chief declined to attend on account of ill-health and Quinton then, unwisely given the circumstances, resolved to seize him in his palace. Upon attacking and entering the palace on 24 March, it was discovered that the Senapati had fled and fighting ensued, continuing all day. The British forces finally withdrew, retiring on the Residency which they held under a heavy fire for several hours. With ammunition running critically low, Quinton decided to pursue a truce with the Senapati and so together with Frank Grimwood – the Resident, Colonel Skene and several officers he agreed to go to the palace unarmed for the purposes of negotiating a settlement. What exactly occurred at the palace is not known but the talks failed and the British party were later murdered, with Grimwood reportedly being speared to death. The remaining British officers and the Resident’s wife Mrs Ethel Grimwood effecting an escape from the Residency in the dead of night, eventually reached the safety of a British outpost several miles away.

Grant’s Relief Column – Assault on Thobal
As news of the disaster in Manipur reached the British, Lieutenant C. J. W. Grant, 2nd Burma Infantry, commanding the detachment at Tammu, some 60 miles to the south-east of Manipur, immediately volunteered to rescue the supposed prisoners, and having received permission to advance, left early on 28 March with thirty men of the 43rd Gurkha Rifles and fifty men of the 12th Madras Infantry.

The little column, with no artillery, three elephants and a few ponies had only advanced 7 miles before they were under fire. This was to prove sporadic but continual throughout the rest of the day culminating in the discovery of a road block made out of felled trees and twisted wire ropes, ‘Taking twenty men, he [Grant] passed beyond the obstacles, which the Gurkhas with kookris began to clear away. The Manipuris were on the hill above... The twenty men on their way up the hillside fired 40 or 50 shots, and then rushed the position from the flank. It proved to be a shelter trench 90 yards long and was held by 150 men. These, in their flight, left some guns and accoutrements behind them.’ (Manipur, a narrative, refers).

At length, after a toilsome march of two days, Grant’s men reached Palel which the enemy had garrisoned with large numbers and a stubborn resistance was expected. Instead, the Manipuris were routed and forced to flee, with Grant pursuing them for three miles and taking three prisoners. One of the latter informed him that Quinton’s party had been executed, ‘I did not like the news much, but I did not believe it. I considered the matter, and arguing that if the military authorities wished me to return they could easily recall me by a messenger from Tammu, I decided to push on. I thought I might find a fort of some kind in which I could entrench myself, leave my baggage and transport under a small guard, and go out with the rest of my men, taking plenty of ammunition. In that way I believed I might afford help to the prisoners.’ (Ibid)

Having informed the authorities of his intentions via messenger, Grant was soon again in motion, pushing on for Manipur under the moonlight of 30 March. Approaching Thobal, some 14 miles east of Manipur, the following morning, they saw a bridge, directly on their route, in flames. As Grant rushed to secure the bridge, the Manipuris opened fire at close range from covered positions on the other side, ‘Hurrying forward to put out fire when 200 yards from river met with heavy fire from opp. bank. Advanced by alternate rushes to 100 yds, losing one man, Mahd. Lyat shot thro’ the head by sniper rifle. I was grazed by a bullet, but no damage. Fire very severe and enemy entirely concealed, could only fire at puffs of smoke.’ (Grant’s Field Note Book refers)

Grant reformed his men and the order to advance was given, ‘they behaved beautifully. It was like a page out of the drill book. There was a volley from the right party, and a rush from the left, and vice versa... The enemy were firing through loopholes in walls, hidden by hedges. We got to within 100 yards of them, but a watercourse was between us, and I could not tell their numbers. We lay down and fired for ten minutes, but made no impression. I went back to the supports on each flank and ordered them to creep up wide of the first firing line, but like brave fellows, as they are, they jumped up, rushed forward right to the edge of the stream and began firing. The fighting line fixed bayonets and joined them. There was a cry from the left that the enemy were running, and then we plunged pell-mell into the watercourse. It was rather deep, and one little Gurkha disappeared altogether. For a second I myself got fast in weeds, and was ignominiously hauled out by a Jemadar, but we got across somehow. The Manipuris were seen in full flight, their white clothing making them excellent targets. On the enemy’s left was a line of rifle pits, and in these numbers were caught, like rats in a trap, and bayoneted. On the right were the compound walls giving good shelter, but behind them lay a number of dead, shot through the head. There was 800 Manipuris holding this position.’ (Ibid)

Twenty minutes after the firing of the first shot, the enemy’s trenches were captured. Grant then took up the position which he fortified as well as possible with the materials at his disposal.

The Defence of Thobal
The following day the Manipuris returned:
‘1 April 91, 6am. Enemy advancing in force. Sent out 30 men to meet them, we fired 3 shots only, dropped 2 of the enemy. I got one at 700 yards. Enemy retired behind hill. Measured ranges up to 500 yards in front of position, found blood all about from yesterday’s action.’ (Ibid)

Later that afternoon the Manipuris advanced to within 600 yards of Grant’s position before being repelled, ‘Then from hills 1,000 yards off, at 3.45pm, 2 guns opened fire and shelled us till 6.30pm with elongated common shell and shrapnel from two 9 pounder rifled guns. The enemies practice was very good till we got the exact range of the guns by “smoke and report” and then after 30 mins concentrated individual fire of 10 martinis we silenced one gun and the other retired to a higher hill 1500 yards off where they only ran the gun up to the crest to fire, retiring to load, and their firing was wilder, as they feared to lay the gun accurately.” (Ibid)

Whilst Grant was engaging the artillery the Manipuris had surrounded his position and from there kept up heavy rifle fire throughout the night. In an effort to maintain as much of their dwindling supply of ammunition as possible Grant ordered not a single shot to be fired in return during the night.

On 2 April the Manipuris showed no signs of renewing hostilities and Grant took the time to strengthen his position and also to pen the following summary, ‘Enemy appeared from 2,000 to 2,500 strong and at 6pm occupied an enveloping line 4 miles long. They were better armed than we are. I attribute our success chiefly to the fact that the enemy are nearly all in white coats and so distinctly visible. The men’s behaviour is wonderful; under the hottest fire they pay attention to all directions... I consider every sepoy deserves the Order of Merit.’ (Ibid)

Negotiations and Impersonations
At 3pm Grant was out with a party near the enemy lines when a man signalling with a flag came running forward and presented a letter from some prisoners at Manipur beseeching Grant to withdraw his force or they would all be put to death. Grant replied that he was quite willing to retire if the prisoners were set at liberty and suitable hostages were given for their safety but on no other conditions would he move a single step backwards. This suggestion did not please the Manipuris and with both sides remaining inflexible, the Manipuris sent forward a captured Telegraph Signaller named Mr Williams to act as an intermediary in the talks. At this point Lieutenant Grant realising a bluff would be required to succeed in holding off the enemy, decided to act the part of a Colonel:
‘He borrowed two stars from a jemadar’s shoulder-straps and placed them on his own. He was no longer a Subaltern commanding a small detachment, but a Colonel, with his regiment at his back. It was to this ruse that he unquestionably owed much of the respect with which he was afterwards treated by the Manipuris, who had no real idea of the strength of force with him, or that one solitary young officer was leading them. They had had a taste of the fighting quality of these bold intruders into their country, who continued to push forward, even when they knew that 500 Gurkhas had been beaten at Manipur itself and officers of high position killed.’ (Manipur, a narrative, refers)

The negotiations continued for four days with no agreement being arrived at. The Senapati, negotiating in bad faith throughout, then sent word that he had 3,000 men that would soon make an end of Grant and his Gurkhas. To this the Lieutenant replied that he didn’t care even if he had 5,000.

At dawn on the 6 April the enemy renewed the attack and made a determined effort to carry the position by infantry and artillery - fifteen shells landed in the camp wounding two of the elephants - but at all points the Manipuris were met by rapid and well directed fire. Creeping out of the fort with ten Gurkhas, Grant made a brilliant sally and, after dispersing a large body of the Manipuris, returned without loss to the fort. Later in the day, he went out with seven men and, armed with his revolver and a 16 bore double barrelled breech-loader dislodged some of the enemy who were firing from behind a hedge. This having been accomplished, Grant found himself, as he expressed it, ‘in a bit of a hole, for 30 or 40 were in a corner behind a wall six feet high, over which they were firing at us.’ There was no other option, the wall had to be cleared so they charged and ’after the hottest three minutes on record’ succeeded in their aim. Grant returned to the camp after this achievement to find himself faced with a new danger; ammunition was running short. Fortunately, the Manapuris had now learned by experience the danger of approaching within range of the rifles and the frequency of organised assaults began to decrease.

On 9 April, Grant received orders to retire. That night during a terrible thunderstorm, he set out and early on the following morning, joined some troops under Captain Presgrave that had been sent out to meet him. The two parties then returned together to Palel.

Punitive Expedition - Wounded
Affording himself little respite, Grant and his men were attached to the Tammu Column, one of three columns under the overall command of Brigadier-General Collet, C.B., which were to advance on Manipur, capture the Regent, and restore British authority.

Grant and Presgrave were to wait for the advanced body of the Tammu Column under the command of Major Sir Charles Leslie. With this in mind they marched their combined force of 197 men back to Palel, ‘They were advancing towards Palel when they met a picquet of the enemy, which immediately retreated. A little further on they encountered three hundred Manipuris who did not long withstand their attack. Lieutenant Grant, with a portion of his force, pursued and killed fifty of the enemy, and Grant’s charger was shot under him.’ (Manipur, a narrative, refers).

On 24 April a fortified position blocking the road to Manipur was found near the village of Langatel. The mud fort appeared to be garrisoned by approximately 300 Manipuris, a letter written by Grant to his mother shortly after the event gives the following, ‘On 25th I went out from Palel with 50 of my own men, Sikhs, 50 of our mounted infantry under Cox and 50 2nd 4th Gurkhas, the whole under Drury of 2nd 4th Gurkhas. We had orders only to reconnoitre the enemies position, not to attack… Soon they started shrapnel and made lovely practice the enemy replying with 2 small guns and rifles. Then we got impatient and advanced and worked round to their west flank... Then our party charged but were brought up by a deep nullah under their walls, down and up we scrambled and when a lot of our men had collected within 10 paces of their walls, firing at every head that showed. The enemy put up a white flag and I at once stopped the fire. Then they sprang up and fired at us. I felt a tremendous blow on the neck and staggered and fell, luckily on the edge of the nullah rather under cover, but feeling the wound with my fingers and being able to speak and feeling no violent flow of blood I discovered I wasn’t dead just yet, so I reloaded my revolver and got up.

After I had seen all the Manipuris near the fort polished off I sent for a dresser and lay down in one of the huts in the fort and soon had my clothes off and found the bullet had gone through the root of my neck just above the shoulder and carried all the cloth of my collar and shirt right thro’ the wound leaving it quite clean. I was soon bound up and the men shampooed me and kept away the cramp. It was only a very violent shock and felt much better in the evening... The Manipuris here say we killed over 400 so we paid off part of our score against their treachery.’

The next morning the column advanced to Grant’s fort at Thobal to find that it had been abandoned.

Triumphant Entrance into Manipur - V.C. Recognition
Entering a deserted Manipur on 27 April, Grant and his men were honoured, ‘My Thobal party, by order of the General, being first to enter the palace on our side... I alas in my doolie did not get up till 2 hours after as it poured all the march and the mud was awful... General Collett commanding the whole army came today to see me and said all sorts of nice things to me.’ (letter to mother dated 28 April 1891 refers)

The Royal Family had fled Manipur, destroying both the Rajah’s palace and the armoury before they left. The remains of the Chief Commissioner and the rest of his party were exhumed from the grounds of the Residency and given a proper burial. Chandra Dhuya Singh, his brother Prince Angao Sana and the Senapati were captured in May, the latter was tried and executed, and the two others were exiled to the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Grant received a Brevet Majority and was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery and devotion to his country, the decoration being presented by the Governor at Ootacmund, 6 July 1891, and all of the men that were with him at Thobal were awarded the Order of Merit. When questioned about their part in the action at Thobal they attributed everything to Grant, ‘How could we be beaten under Grant Sahib? He is a tiger in fight. When hundreds of Manipuris were coming close he just took ten men out to stop them, and in a minute they had beaten the enemy back. We could not help winning under such a sahib.’

Later that year Grant was appointed A.D.C. to Lieutenant-General Sir J. C. Dormer, Commander-in-Chief, Madras. Promoted Lieutenant Colonel in June 1904 he was given command of the 89th Punjabis in 1906. Made Brevet Colonel the following year he served as Commandant of the 92nd Punjabis, 1907-11. Grant retired in 1913, only to reengage as D.C.O. attached 3rd Royal Scots for service during the Great War. He lived out the rest of his life in Sidmouth, Devon.

To be sold with the following archive:
(i) Thirteen items of insignia including: 12th (2nd Burma Battalion) Madras Infantry Victorian Officer’s shoulder belt plate; 6th Punjab Rifles Victorian Officer’s pouch belt plate; 89th Punjabis Victorian Officer’s helmet plate, hallmarked silver; 92nd Punjabis Officer’s silver cap badge, etc.

(ii) Inkwell fashioned from 9 pdr shell case retrieved from Thobal by Grant, case in the shape of a horses’ hoof and engraved ‘Thobal 1st April 1891’, with silver hinged lid, stamped O.R.R., surmounted by a silver cannon, all mounted on a turned mahogany base with a small silver plaque engraved ‘Helen Grant from Her Son’.

(iii) Commission appointing C. J. W. Grant a Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment, dated 5 May 1882.

(iv) Royal Military College Gentleman Cadet’s Certificate, dated December 1881; Examination For Promotion Special Certificate, dated November 1889; Riding Certificate, dated 26 September 1891.

(v) Two Parchment copies of Grant’s Record of Officers Service; General Orders of 1891 containing Grant’s V.C. notification and further related correspondence; original handwritten despatch from Brigadier T. Graham, commanding Tammu Column, Manipur:
‘In conclusion I would beg to mention the following officer: Lieut. C. J. W. Grant 12th (Burma) Madras Infantry. This officer has already been reported upon for excellent service done by him on and after the 28 March, when he held his own at Thobal against 2000 of the enemy and 2 guns, although his detachment numbered only about 80 men, having previously turned 800 of them out of the entrenchment he afterwards held. Again at Palel he had his pony shot under him whilst pursuing the enemy on 13 April, and he also led his men to the attack on 25 April when he was badly wounded.’

(vi) Grant’s Officer’s Field Note and Sketch Book and Reconnaissance Aide-Memoire, leather bound, in which he records in detail the march to Manipur, the capture and subsequent defence of Thobal, including several detailed sketches of both actions and positions. An important unpublished primary source.

(vii) Folder of original letters, including those negotiating between Grant and the Manipuris and a coded message from Grant in Greek characters to the relief force, with a similar folder of transcripts of the originals and of the diary of events made in his Field Note Book.

(viii) A superb scrap book compiled by the recipient replete with numerous annotated photographs taken during the relief expedition, the inside cover with dedication to ‘Douglas & Helen Grant from their loving son, Charlie - 1891’.

(ix) Scrap book of newspaper cuttings relating to Grant and the expedition.

(x) Copy of Manipur, in red cloth boards - an extremely rare published narrative of the Manipur expedition, and a copy of War Office official Correspondence Relating to Manipur.

(xi) Signed portrait photograph of recipient in uniform.

(xii) Official photograph of V.C. Dinner, 9 November 1929, with original named invitation and a handwritten seating plan.

(xiii) Several other photographs relating to Grants military career; copies of The Dwarf, dated 4 April 1891; The Graphic, dated 18 April 1891; Punch, dated 25 April 1891; and other documents and ephemera.