The unique Ashantee War C.G.M. awarded to Coloured Seaman Tom Dollar for gallantry whilst serving with Lord Gifford’s Scouts

Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, V.R., 2nd issue (Tom Dollar, Able Seaman R.N. Ordashu) minor official correction to final two letters of ‘Ordashu’, mounted for display with erased East & West Africa medal with Coomassie clasp, good very fine £7000-8000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Bill and Angela Strong Medal Collection.

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Ex Captain K. J. Douglas-Morris Collection, October 1996.

The circumstances surrounding approval for this award and the manner in which it was earned can only be described as bizarre. The citation which led ultimately to the award of this naval gallantry medal was written, not by a naval officer commenting on a sailor, but by an army officer in praise of an irregular army scout who, Sir Garnet Wolseley personally confirmed, was worthy of receiving an army decoration, the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Lieutenant (later Captain) Lord Gifford, V.C., of the 24th Foot was the persistent instigator of events which finally led to the deserved recognition of one of his men. Gifford had raised and commanded a party of sixty eight non-Europeans who crossed the Prah River, and who were sometimes referred to later as his “plucky scouts”, a party which by 7 March 1874 suffered four men killed and the high proportion of twenty eight men wounded. This small group included Tom Dollar, a seafaring Krooman who, in 1873, volunteered to serve with the army whilst on leave in the Gold Coast, having been unfairly severed a year earlier from his avowed career in the Royal Navy. The twenty four year old, noble and gallant Gifford stated:

“When appointed to the command of the Scouts in the second phase of the Ashantee Campaign of 1874, I asked for this man’s service as a scout in consequence of the gallantry I had personally seen him display at Abrakrampa on 5 November 1873. He served throughout the remainder of the late war as a Scout, particularly distinguishing himself at Becquah and in the advance guard engagements near the River Ordah, where he was severely wounded whilst pluckily leading the Scouts against the ambuscade. Although suffering from the wound he received the day previous, he took part in the action before entering Coomassie until ordered to desist. In all the skirmishes the Scouts had, Dollar was the first man to volunteer to lead against the Ashantee fire.” (Signed by Captain Lord Gifford V.C. on 9 January 1875).

Tom Dollar was born on 12 July 1831 in Gambia, West Coast of Africa, his first entry into the service occurring on 28 November 1853 when he signed aboard H.M. Sloop Arab at the anchorage off Freetown, Sierra Leone. Twelve Kroomen were entered as supernumeraries at this time inclusive of a Head Krooman and Tom Dollar rated as the 2nd Head Krooman. To have been rated in this supervisory capacity, Dollar must have produced convincing evidence of many years spent formerly as a mariner and leader. In June 1854 he was made a member of Arab’s ship's company in the prime rate of Able Seaman, which he held for the next thirteen years before being advanced to Petty Officer status. During October 1859 he had signed on to serve ten years as a continuous service man in the Navy whilst aboard H.M.S. Arrogant, then undergoing a refit in Portsmouth Dockyard. After earning the campaign medal for the Second New Zealand War whilst serving aboard H.M.S. Curacoa, he was subsequently paid off as Captain of the Hold from H.M.S. Jumna on 16 May 1872, but instead of being sent aboard H.M.S. Duke of Wellington (Flag Ship at Portsmouth) to await his next draft, he was discharged to shore. The practical consequence of this directive meant that he was no longer considered to be a member of the R.N., despite the fact that his re-engaging agreement with the service was not due to be completed before April 1876, a year beyond his pensionable time. The Admiralty remained blissfully ignorant of this mis-judgement until they received a letter from Lord Gifford in March 1874 which praised Tom Dollar's “gallant conduct” in the War, commenting additionally that Dollar “had [also] saved a boy from drowning”. By an Admiralty Order dated 2 June 1874, their Lordships graciously rectified the former injustice inflicted on the Krooman in this manner: “This man was erroneously discharged to shore on the paying off of Jumna and sent out to the Gold Coast where he served as a Volunteer in the Ashantee War. Their Lordships direct his reinstatement in the Duke of Wellington from the date of such discharge so as to cover the whole of the time and enable him to continue under his original engagement.” However, they were unable to honour the man with a decoration because none existed beyond the Victoria Cross for sailors at this time. The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal in its new form was not approved until a month later on 7 July 1874.

Admiral Milne forwarded Gifford's citation to General Wolseley which led to a formal letter from the Horse Guards, War Office, to the Admiralty dated 13 January 1875: “.. application from Admiral Milne and Captain Lord Gifford V.C. late 24th Foot on behalf of Tom Dollar, coloured seaman H.M.S. Monarch, who is recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal on account of his services during the late Ashanti Campaign, and to acquaint you that Major General Sir Garnet Wolseley fully corroborates what Lord Gifford states regarding this man, and considers him well worthy of any reward or distinction which it may be in the power of the Lords Commissioners to confer upon him.” This application merited one comment by an Admiralty clerk: “The claims of this man are quite equal to those of several of the men to whom the Conspicuous Gallantry Medals were given”. The First Lord approved its award on 19 January 1875, but there was an annoying sting in the tail when another clerk pointed out that “As he was not a Petty Officer he cannot be given any money reward as well.”

After being made a pensioner in May 1875 Tom Dollar remained in the service until finally discharged to shore as a Petty Officer 1st Class, not unexpectedly being then aboard H.M.S. Flora, the base vessel lying at Simon's Bay, Cape of Good Hope. Twenty two C.G.M.’s were awarded for gallantry during the Ashantee Campaign of 1873-74. Sold with copies of the four-part article Kroomen and Seedies, by the late Captain K. J. Douglas-Morris, which includes a lengthy biography of Tom Dollar.