Hyderabad 1843 (T. Huxtable, 2nd C: Mr. E:I:C:Sr. Meteor) some nicks and small bruises, otherwise very fine

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Douglas-Morris Collection of Naval Medals.

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On the day following the battle of Meeanee, six of the opposing principal Amirs surrendered unconditionally as prisoners of war, who were later to be held captive in Hyderabad. On 20 February 1843 a British force accompanied by a party of seamen had taken formal possession of that place, wherein Sir Charles Napier formed a fortified camp. Shere Mahomed amassed an army of some twenty thousand Belooches by the latter days of March, and took up a strongly entrenched position at Dubba, about four miles from Hyderabad. Mahomed hoped to rescue the six Amirs from Napier’s fortified camp as the British came out to attack his lines. Once this intelligence was known, the six princes were moved to the secutity of the H.E.I.C. Vessel COMET, lying with steam up in the river awaiting immediate orders as circumstances might require. The other steamers, METEOR and NIMROD took up positions to protect the river side of the fortified camp. On 24 March Sir Charles Napier marched out with five thousand men to attack Shere Mahomed at Dubba, where the Belooch army were defeated. No seamen took part in the battle, these three steamers being several miles away from the battlefield, but their crews were awarded the medal for Hyderabad in recognition of their defensive ancillary activities.

2nd Class Master T. Huxtable is confirmed on the medal roll which shows his initial as ‘F’. The roll also indicates that his medal was unclaimed and returned to the Mint, but obviously his reward was not melted down as the Mint intended. A total of 52 medals were issued for Hyderabad to the crews of the COMET (19), METEOR (15) and NIMROD (18). The 61 Natives aboard the three steamers, were issued with unnamed medals.