Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Indian Mutiny ‘Clause 13’ V.C. to Rough Rider Edmond Jennings, 1st Troop, 1st Brigade, Bengal Horse Artillery, for gallantry during the Relief of Lucknow in November 1857, specifically for rescuing a wounded officer when under attack and conveying him to safety on his own horse, following which his fellow non-commissioned officers elected him for the award of the Victoria Cross - a fitting reward at the end of twenty four years’ service in India

Victoria Cross, reverse of the suspension bar inscribed ‘Rough Rider E. Jennings. Bengal Artilly.’, reverse centre of the Cross inscribed ‘Novr. 1857’, on original double pronged presentation mounting pin, good very fine £20,000-£30,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Simon C. Marriage Collection of Medals to the Artillery.

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The Jennings Victoria Crosses
Two Victoria Crosses are known to this recipient, the one offered for sale here, and a second one which is held by the “F” (Sphinx) Battery, 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (the successor unit to Jennings’ original unit), together with his campaign medals. Whilst the exact reason for two Victoria Crosses named to this man is a matter of some conjecture, the most likely reason is that the first-named V.C. was sent out to India for presentation to him there (as were the other Bengal Artillery Victoria Crosses), but that once it was known that he was returning home to the U.K. Queen Victoria herself expressed a wish to personally decorate him with the V.C. at an Investiture at Windsor on 9 October 1860, and a second Cross was consequently named up (in the event Jennings’ ship had been delayed in departing India, and he did not arrive in time, thereby missing the Windsor investiture).

Given the slight difference in the way the unit is abbreviated and the absence of a calendar date on the V.C. in this lot, when compared to the V.C.s awarded to Park and Laughnan, which were both sent out to India, and are named ‘Gunner J. Park Benl. Artily. 14 to 22 Novr. 1857’ and ‘Gunner T. Laughnan Benl. Artily. 14 to 22 Novr. 1857’ respectively (and indeed the other Jennings V.C., which is dated ‘14 to 22 Novr. 1857’ in full), it seems likely that the V.C. in this lot was the one that was named up for presentation by Queen Victoria herself, and the presence of the original Victorian mounting pins would seem to support this conjecture.

Falling on hard times towards the end of his life, Jennings sold his Victoria Cross and campaign medals, and they were acquired by Colonel Littledale, of Cheltenham. They have appeared twice at auction, the first time at Sotheby’s on 25 November 1910, when as part of the Colonel Littledale Collection (Lot 130A) they sold for £67 to ‘White’; and then secondly at Glendining’s on 24 July 1946, when as part of the Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Godfrey Dalrymple White, Bt., Collection (Lot 112) they sold for £105 to Dr. James Muirhead. Following Dr. Muirhead’s death in 1963 they were acquired by “F” (Sphinx) Battery, 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery for £600.

The Victoria Cross in this lot was sold by Charles Lusted in November 1980 (when it was listed at £5,500).
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V.C. London Gazette 24 December 1858: Rough Rider E. Jennings, Bengal Artillery (in a joint citation with Lieutenant Hastings Edward Harrington, and Gunners J. Park, T. Laughnan, and H. McInnes, all Bengal Artillery)
Date of Acts of Bravery: From 14th to 22nd November 1857
Act of Bravery for which conferred: Elected respectively, under the 13th clause of the Royal Warrant of the 29th January 1856, by the officers and non-commissioned officers generally, and by the private soldiers of each troop or battery, for conspicuous gallantry at the relief of Lucknow, from 14th to the 22nd November 1857’

Edmond Jennings (often mistakenly referred to as Edward Jennings) was born in Ballinrobe, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, in 1815, ‘a place which he himself describes as a barren wilderness, physically and mentally’ (The Bangalore Spectator, 4 November 1880 refers), and enlisted in the Honourable East India Company’s service at Tullamore, Co. Westmeath, on 2 April 1836. He arrived in Calcutta on 5 December 1836, and was posted to the 1st Troop, 1st Brigade, Bengal Artillery in 1838. He saw active service during the First Afghan War (Medal for Ghuznee 1839), and during the First Sikh War (Medal for Aliwal without clasp).

Appointed a Rough Rider on 7 December 1855, Jennings served throughout the Great Sepoy Mutiny with the Bengal Horse Artillery (Medal with three clasps, for Delhi, the Relief of Lucknow, and Lucknow); is recorded as having received a slight wound to his right arm during the capture of Delhi; and was elected by his comrades to receive the award of the Victoria Cross for his gallantry during the Relief of Lucknow between 14 and 22 November 1857, specifically for the following action, as reported in the Civil and Military Gazette at the time of the recipient’s death:
‘During the siege of Lucknow Jennings, accompanied by half a dozen of his troop, was one day entrusted with the conveyance of a despatch to a Captain Rennington. On the return journey the attention of the party was arrested by the cries of a European. Jennings at once volunteered to go in quest, the others remaining on the look-out. A high wall had to be surmounted; then the horseman galloped along a narrow street, at the end of which he discovered a British officer standing with his back against a wall, bayonet in hand, endeavouring to keep at bay a small host of excited natives, armed with short swords. The trooper shouted, in the vernacular, “They are coming”, on hearing which the horde broke and scattered, not before, however, the gallant Irishman had cut down at least half a dozen. The ground thus cleared, Jennings dismounted, and attended to the wants of his superior, whom he found bleeding freely from several sabre wounds and a gunshot wound, the most serious one on his hip. The trooper had with him some rum, which he administered, and then put the well-nigh exhausted Lieutenant on his own beast, and safely emerging from between two cross-fires of artillery, deposited his bleeding charge at the general hospital, the officer declaring that but for this intervention he could not have held out another half hour.’

A few days later Jennings was summoned to the hospital by the young officer he had rescued, and was presented with a gift of 1,000 rupees. Reputedly, Sir Colin Campbell was in the hospital at the time, and hearing about the gallant act offered Jennings a commission, although the offer was declined on the basis that he could neither read nor write (The Bangalore Spectator, 4 November 1880 refers).

Elected to receive the Victoria Cross for his gallantry at Lucknow by his fellow non-commissioned officers, Jennings retired on 21 March 1859, and returned to the United Kingdom the following year, after 24 years in India. He was later employed as a local corporation scavenger (a road sweeper) in North Shields, Northumberland, on the wage of 18 shillings a week (to go with his 7 shillings per week military pension, and £10 per annum Victoria Cross annuity), and died in poverty in North Shields on 10 May 1889. Buried in a pauper’s grave in Preston Cemetery, North Shields, a new headstone was erected over his grave in September 1997.



Victoria Cross Royal Warrant - Clause 13 Awards
When drawing up the original warrant for the Victoria Cross there was understandable concern with singling out one or two individuals for special recognition for acts of bravery, as this had the potential to cause resentment amongst their comrades, as was recognised by Lord Panmure and Queen Victoria herself: ‘The Queen feels that the selection will be dreadfully difficult, and possibly may give more heart-burnings than satisfaction.’ This probably explains why so many medals were given to those men that had saved the lives of others, rather than trying to compare the daring or danger of one particular act over another, which was almost certainly going to lead to all manner of claims and disputes. On the other hand, few would complain at the Victoria Cross being given to those who had risked their lives saving some of their own comrades and this is especially true in circumstances where the advice of Prince Albert’s memorandum of 22 January 1855 was followed. He suggested that ‘their distribution should be left to a jury of the same rank as the person to be rewarded. By this means alone can you ensure the perfect fairness of distribution and save the officers in command from the invidious task of making a selection from those under their orders’.

The announcement of the creation of the Victoria Cross appeared in the London Gazette of 5 February 1856, with Prince Albert’s suggestion being incorporated into Clause 13 as follows:
‘Thirteenthly: It is ordained that, in the event of a gallant or daring act having been performed by a squadron, ship’s company, a detached body of seamen and marines, not under fifty in number, or by a brigade, regiment, troop or company, in which the Admiral, General, or other commanding such forces, may deem that all are equally brave and distinguished and that no special selection can be made by them: then in such case, the Admiral, General, or other officer commanding, may direct, that for any such body of seamen or marines, or for every troop or company of soldiers, one officer shall be selected by the officers engaged for the Decoration; and in like manner one petty officer or non commissioned officer shall be selected by the petty officers and non commissioned officers engaged; and two seamen or private soldiers, or marines shall be selected by the seaman, or private soldiers or marines, engaged respectively, for the Decoration; and the names of those selected shall be transmitted by the senior officer in command of the naval force, brigade, regiment, troop, or company, to the Admiral or General Officer Commanding, who shall in due manner confer the Decoration as if the acts were done under his own eye.’

A total of 29 Victoria Crosses were awarded under Clause 13 during the Indian Mutiny 1857-58, of which 16 are known to reside in museums, with one other recorded as having been lost by the recipient. The Victoria Cross was not awarded again under Clause 13 until the Boer War, when 4 were given to members of Q Battery for the action at Sanna’s Post, all of which are known to be in museums. The remaining 13 balloted awards were all given for gallantry during the Great War (6 for the Lancashire Fusiliers at Gallipoli; 3 to ‘Q’ Ships; and 4 for the Zeebrugge raid), 12 of which are known to be in museums.

Sold with a fine cabinet photograph of the recipient wearing his medals; and copied research.