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3218 Sapper George May

Royal Engineers 

By 

Lieutenant Colonel Edward De Santis, MSCE, BSAE, P.E., MInstRE

(December 2024) 

The Indian Mutiny Medal with clasp [CENTRAL INDIA]
(Image from the author’s collection) 

After his enlistment, Sapper May was posted to the 11^th Company, Royal Engineers.[i]  This company was one of the units posted to India as a result of unrest there that led to the mutiny of part of the East India Company's army in 1857.  

Sapper May saw active service in the campaign to put down the Sepoy rebellion, or Indian Mutiny as it was also known. May took part in the action in the Battle at Aliwah from 19 to 24 January 1854.[ii] The campaign in central India ended in June of 1858, but the 11^th Company remained in India until 1860 before it was posted home. For his service Dean was awarded the Indian Mutiny Medal with clasp [CENTRAL INDIA].[iii]  The medal with this clasp was awarded to those who served under Major General Sir Hugh Rose in actions against Jhansi, Kalpi, and Gwalior. Also to those who served with Major General Roberts in the Rajputana Field Force and Major-General Whitlock of the Madras Column.[iv]  

The Central India Campaign was one of the last series of actions in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The British Army and Bombay Army overcame a disunited collection of states in a single rapid campaign, although determined rebels continued a guerrilla campaign until the spring of 1859.[v]

The loyalty of the Indian soldiers (sepoys) of the East India Company's Bengal Army had been under increasing strain over the previous decade, and on 10 May 1857, the sepoys at Meerut, north of Delhi, broke into open rebellion. News of this outbreak spread rapidly, and most other units of the Bengal Army also rebelled.

Nine regiments of Bengal Native Infantry and three of cavalry were stationed in Central India. There was also a large Gwalior Contingent, raised largely from Oudh (or Awadh) and similar in organization to the irregular units of the Bengal Army, but in the service of the Maharajah Jayajirao Scindia of Gwalior, who remained allied to the British. Almost all these units rose up against their officers during June and July. There were very few British units to oppose them, and Central India fell entirely out of British control.

At Jhansi, British officers, civilians and dependents took shelter in a nearby fort on 5 June. They emerged three days later after being assured of their safety and were immediately murdered by the rebellious sepoys and irregulars. Rani Lakshmibai had no complicity in this act but was nevertheless blamed by the British (the rebels were then the only armed force in the city and no British forces were there to oppose them).

Over the next few months, most of the former Company regiments marched to take part in the Siege of Delhi, where they were eventually defeated. The Gwalior Contingent remained largely inactive until October, when they were led to defeat at Cawnpore by Tantya Tope. These defeats deprived the rebels of a substantial body of trained and experienced troops, and made the subsequent British campaign easier.

REFERENCES 

1.      Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Indian_campaign_of_1858

2.      Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Mutiny_Medal

3.      11^th Field Company, Royal Engineers, Indian Mutiny Medal Roll (L/MIL/5/73)

ENDNOTES