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Corporal Robert Grant VC at Lucknow, 24th September 1857
In 1857, during the Indian Mutiny, the 5th (Northumberland) (Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot was part of Major-General James Outram’s little force which fought its way to Cawnpore, where the haggard remnants of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock’s regiments had been besieged by the mutineers. Then together, their combined force marched on 21st September, in a deluge of rain, to attempt the relief of Lucknow. They fought their way across a flooded landscape towards the Alam Bagh, the Prince of Oudh’s garden palace, where 12,000 of the enemy barred the way, with their cannon commanding the road.
The Alam Bagh was a very large enclosure, with a wall all around it. At each of the four corners of the wall was a two-storeyed tower. There was a gateway in the centre of each side of the wall. In the centre of the enclosure was a palace, the Bara Dari. On 23rd September, the British force advanced and drove the sepoys from their position. The 5th Regiment, on the right, with the 78th Highlanders cleared the enemy from the Alam Bagh, and the British entered the enclosure.
All night it rained. For three days Havelock’s men had marched and fought in a downpour, and on the 24th he let them rest. A reconnoitring party, under Lieutenant Brown, went forward from the Alam Bagh in skirmishing order, till they came under a heavy fire. The sepoys closed in on the little party, as the British withdrew in good order. Private E. Deveney had his leg carried away by a cannon-ball. Brown ran back to him, followed by Corporal Grant. Under a heavy fire they brought him safely to the Alam Bagh. For this deed Corporal Grant was later awarded the Victoria Cross.
Next morning was dull and grey, the country a sea of mud. Leaving 6 officers and 300 men at the Alam Bagh, the little British force advanced the last few miles to fight its way through the streets against tremendous odds, and into the besieged Residency at Lucknow.
The 5th Fusiliers were wearing white smock frocks and trousers. White covers and neck curtains were also made for their forage caps, to which were affixed peaks removed from their unused shakos. They were armed with the new Enfield rifles. Officers in this campaign dressed how they pleased, and I have depicted Lieut. Brown wearing his red shell jacket. In the background is the Alambagh.
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Printed image size(s): B2 only (58 x 38 cm)
Owner: Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Price(s): £70
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