The Ron Penhall Collection

The Indian Mutiny C.B. pair awarded to Colonel J. W. Osborne, late Indian Army, who in his capacity as political agent at Rewah was responsible for raising a force that prevented the mutineers’ cutting our communications between Calcutta and Bombay - ‘it is not too much to say that he contributed more than almost any officer of his rank to the preservation of the Empire’: twice wounded in these operations, his life was saved on the second occasion by Private Henry Addison, 43rd Regiment, who was awarded the V.C.

The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Civil) Companion’s breast badge, gold, hallmarks for London 1857-58, complete with gold swivel-ring suspension and riband buckle; Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Central India (Captn. Willoughby Osborne, C.B., Rewah), this last with contact marks, otherwise generally very fine or better (2) £1800-2200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Ron Penhall Collection.

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C.B. London Gazette 18 May 1860.

John Willoughby Osborne was born in Madras in October 1833, the son of an officer serving in the19th Madras Native Infantry. Recommended for a cadetship in the H.E.I.C’s forces by Sir Henry Willcock, he gained appointment as an Ensign in his father’s old regiment in April 1850, but transferred to the 24th Native Infantry later that year. Advanced to Lieutenant in November 1856, shortly after having been placed ‘at the disposal of the Government of India for civil employment’, he was appointed Political Agent to the Court of the Maharajah of Rewah in July 1857. And, as the historian T. R. E. Holmes would have it, he was more than capable of facing the challenges ahead:

‘He was a noble type of the rough and ready soldier-statesman of the old East India Company, zealous, brave, clear-headed and self-reliant. He saw that upon his keeping a firm grasp of Rewah depended not only the conduct of the wavering chiefs of Bundlecund, but what was even more important, the security of the line of communication between Calcutta and Central India, the Deccan and Bombay; and, though his resources seemed wretchedly inadequate, he applied himself cheerfully and confidently to his task.’

The severity of Osborne’s predicament at Rewah is well illustrated by the following extract taken from The Times of 30 November 1857, the report stemming from information received from Calcutta in the previous month:

‘The Rewah Rajah, it is reported, though still faithful, has fled from his palace to some fort. The Political Agent, Lieutenant Osborne, is therefore left alone. His position and conduct are an excellent illustration of the scenes taking place all over India. He is a young Madras officer, and till this outbreak but little known by anyone. He is now living in Rewah in a tent without a single companion, without a friend within a hundred miles. He is so ill with a liver complaint that he cannot lie down, taking rest only in a chair. He has no guard, no soldiers, sentries or reliable servants. Every day the soldiery surround his tent, threatening to put him to death by torture. He admits their power, but tells them that he can take at least six of their lives before he dies. And so, day by day, there he lives, sick almost until death, all alone, and with murderers all round, confident only that his duty is to remain at his post, and that God is above him still. It is not such much men as these that Sepoys can subdue. So magical, indeed, is the influence of character, that to this moment Lieutenant Osborne, the sole European alive in Rewah, is felt by the natives to be at least a match for the regiment around him. To this hour, therefore, they are willing, when not stopped by force, to convey his messages and obey his commands ... ’

A similar picture is painted by T. R. E. Holmes, although when the crisis came, he appears to have enlisted some form of local support:

‘It was announced that the 50th at Nagode and the 52nd at Jubbulpore had mutinied. The news stimulated the rebellious passions of the disaffected at Rewah. They openly talked of murdering Osborne. He reported their intentions to Government, and wrote coolly of the contingency of his own death. On the 8 October 1857 the crisis came. Osborne heard that his office was to be attacked. Collecting about 100 men around him, he calmly awaited the issue. Early in the afternoon some 2500 budmashes thronged round the office, but, finding to their astonishment that the sahib was prepared to resist them, stopped short, hovered about for a few hours, and finally slunk off. From that moment Osborne’s attitude was changed. He no longer stood on the defensive ... ’

In fact, he helped raise the Rewah Levies, an irregular force placed under the command of Colonel Hinde, and went on to participate in no less than nine actions, all of which are summarised in the following terms in his official record of service:

‘He was engaged in the operations against the 3-gun fort of Kunchundpoore and present at its capture on 7 December 1857; Joorah on the 17 December; the fortified town of Myhere on 28 December; the 22-gun fort of Myhere on 3 January 1858; Jokehaie on 19 January; the 3-gun fort of Kunwarrah on 21 January; the 13-gun fort of Bigiragoogurh on 24 January (wounded); the fort of Jigneehut on 22 May; the action at Kurrereah on 2 January 1859 (wounded); and at Kentee on 5 March 1859 (C.B.; Medal with clasp for Central India; Honorary A.D.C. to the Viceroy of India)’.

Besides capturing 42 pieces of ordnance, the Levies took many prisoners, just over 100 of whom were sentenced to death. On one occasion, Osborne was attacked by one of these prisoners - who had concealed a sword - but he was saved by the timely intervention of the faithful Sirdar Debi Singh, who was himself wounded in warding off the mutineer’s blow; indeed he was to be saved by the timely intervention of another soldier in the above mentioned action at Kurrereah on 2 January 1859, namely Private Henry Addison of the 43rd Regiment, who was subsequently awarded the V.C. - he ‘received two dangerous wounds and lost a leg in this gallant service’ (London Gazette 2 September 1859 refers).

Osborne was appointed Political Agent at Bhopal in October 1862 and an Honorary A.D.C. to the Viceroy and Governor-General in January 1864. Advanced to Major in January 1870 and to Lieutenant-Colonel in January 1876, he ended his career as a Political Agent in the Eastern States of Rajputana. Retiring in the rank of Colonel in February 1883, he died in April of the same year.