This originated in a murderous assault made upon the British officials accompanying the Sirdar Khan Singh, who was deputed to take over the charge of the fortress of Mooltan (Multan) and province from the native Governor Dewan Moolraj, who had resigned. On arriving at the gate of the fortress the officers and their escort were attacked and killed by some of the Governor's men. A punitive force, including a body of 1,400 Sikhs, was consequently sent to punish the city, but the Sikhs went over to the rebels, and it was found necessary to send a strong force to reduce the mutineers who had been excited by Moolraj. Mooltan, a city three miles in circumference, is of considerable antiquity; it was taken by Alexander the Great, and at the beginning of the eleventh century by Mahmud of Ghazni, and by Tamerlane at the end of the fourteenth century; besieged by Ranjit Singh in 1810, he was bought off by the Afghan Governor, but it fell in 1818, and was annexed to the Punjab. General Whish marched upon the city from Lahore with a force which included H.M.'s 10th and 32nd Regiments, and concentrated at Mooltan in the middle of August; but he had realised, after the desertion of 5,000 Sikhs under Sheer Ali, that it was fruitless to maintain the siege, and therefore raised it on September 15th. Lieutenant Edwardes, however, had by superhuman energy and indomitable pluck raised a force of Sikhs and Mahommedans, which was of the greatest possible assistance in holding Moolraj and his army of about 8,800 infantry and 1,200 cavalry, with 54 guns, in check, twice defeating him in battle at Kineyree and Suddoosam. Edwardes's Medal.—For his splendid services the H.E.I. Co. presented him with a gold medal designed by W. Wyon, R.A., bearing on the obverse the bust of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and on the reverse, Where "El Chico Blanco" fell.—While Whish and Edwardes had been holding the ground, Lord Gough assembled an army at Ferozepore, and marching into the Punjab met the rebels at Ramnuggur on the banks of the Chenab on November 28th, 1848, where after a determined battle the enemy drew off beaten. It was here Lieutenant-Colonel William Havelock, K.H., "El Chico Blanco," the fair-haired and gallant boy-leader of the Peninsular War, was killed while leading the 14th Dragoons in the cavalry charge. Colonel Havelock was brother to Sir Henry Havelock, and his six-bar Peninsular medal is in the great collection of my friend Dr. A. A. Payne, of Sheffield. Brigadier-General Cureton, C.B., the commander of the cavalry division, also fell. The brilliant charges made by the 13th and 14th Light Dragoons, and the 5th and 8th Light Cavalry, against the great bodies of hostile horsemen numbering nearly 4,000, called forth special mention in general orders. Various minor engagements were fought while Major-General Whish renewed the siege of Mooltan, which lasted twenty-five days, during which time a shell from one of the British mortar batteries struck the "Jumma Musjid," or Great Mosque, while another blew up a powder-magazine with 400,000 lb. of powder, when, states Colonel Maude, "as if by mutual consent the firing on both sides ceased a while, every one gazing upwards with silent awe and wonder! Then from the British camp arose one long burst of triumph, which was speedily answered by a furious cannonade from our courageous and still unsubdued enemy." Two breaches had been made in the walls by January 1st, 1849, one at the Delhi Gate and one near the "Khonee Boorj," or Bloody Bastion; this the Bombay European Fusiliers, the 4th Rifles, and the 19th Native Infantry were told off to storm, but the "Old Toughs," as the Fusiliers were called, had to make three desperate attempts before they and their comrades could gain the summit. Meanwhile the 32nd, with two Bengal regiments in support, had been ordered to storm the Delhi Gate; but their efforts were unsuccessful owing to the imperfect breaching, and they entered the city by the "Khonee Boorj." So Mooltan was won, but no rest was obtained until the troops reached the Soharee Gate, after fighting through the streets of the blood-stained city, in the siege of which the British force lost 1,200 in killed and wounded. FIRST INDIA GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL. Issued for Second Burmese War, 1854. MEDAL FOR SOUTH AFRICA, 1853. Awarded to Lieutenant-General A. C. Cavendish Bentinck. (Obverse.) INDIA GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL. With bar for Persia, 1856-7. The British regiments which took part in the siege were the 10th, 32nd, and 1st Batt. 60th Rifles (only 100 of this regiment received the single bar for Mooltan, and fakers frequently remove the Goojerat bar from a medal in order to enhance its value); likewise a Naval Brigade (Indus Flotilla) of about 100 men; 1st (Royal) Bombay Fusiliers; 3rd, 4th, 9th, and 19th Bombay Native Infantry; 8th, 49th, 51st, 52nd, and 72nd Native Infantry; Bengal and Bombay Sappers and Miners; 1st and 2nd Scinde; Irregular Horse and 1st and 11th Bengal Light Cavalry; and 7th, 11th Irregular Cavalry with a detachment of the 14th. Likewise a detachment of Guides and Horse and Foot Artillery. Chilianwala.—After the fall of Mooltan, Major-General Whish, with the 10th, 32nd, and the 60th Rifles, proceeded to join Gough's army, and was in time to take part in the final battle of Goojerat. The sanguinary battle of Chilianwala was fought on January 13th, 1849, and although described by Sir Henry Havelock as "the most sanguinary, and the nearest approximation to a defeat," it was not at first decided to issue a bar for the engagement. It was not an officers' battle; all the more reason, therefore, that the bar should be given to the soldiers "whose dauntless valour rectifies The following British regiments took part: 24th, 29th (whose "undaunted bravery" was placed on record), 61st Foot; 3rd, 9th, and 14th Light Dragoons; Bengal Horse and Foot Artillery; the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers; 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 31st, 36th, 45th, 46th, 56th, and 69th Bengal Native Infantry; 1st, 5th, 6th, and 8th Bengal Light Cavalry; 3rd and 9th Irregular Cavalry and Bengal Pioneers. Goojerat.—The last battle of the campaign was fought at Goojerat (Gujerat) on February 21st, 1849. Hitherto the Sikhs had proudly attacked; in this instance they acted upon the defensive under Sheer Singh, who commanded a force of 34,000 Sikhs, with 59 guns, and about 1,500 Afghans under the command of a son of the Ameer. In this battle the British General was superior in artillery, having 97 guns, but only 24,000 men. In advancing upon the Sikh position, Gough, as usual, intended sending his infantry forward before the artillery had done its work. Colonel Robertson alleges that, "Sir Hugh Gough's simple strategy was to put the strongest regiment into the hottest place, and no attempt was made to outflank or turn a position, which must account for the heavy list of casualties." However, on this occasion, Malleson states his staff induced the veteran to mount the top story The following regiments were represented at Goojerat: 10th, 24th, 29th, 32nd, 53rd (which arrived in the evening), 60th, and 1st Batt. 61st Foot; 3rd Light Dragoons, 9th Lancers, and 14th Light Dragoons; 1st Bombay Europeans; 1st and 2nd Bengal Europeans; 3rd, 8th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 31st, 36th, 45th, 46th, 51st, 52nd, 56th, 69th, 70th, 72nd Bengal Native Infantry; 19th Bombay Infantry; 1st, 5th, 6th, and 8th Bengal Light Cavalry; 3rd, 9th, 11th, and 14th Irregular Cavalry, and Scinde Horse; 4 field batteries of Bombay Artillery, and 9 troops of Horse Artillery; 2 companies of Bengal Sappers and Miners, 6 companies of Bengal Pioneers, and 1st Company of Bombay Pioneers. A Brigade of Seamen from the Indian Navy which accompanied the Bombay column were awarded the medal. The Punjab Medal.—The obverse bears the diademed head of Queen Victoria by Wyon, and the legend VICTORIA REGINA, and the reverse Sikh chiefs laying down their arms before a victorious British General seated on horseback in the front of his troops, who are drawn up in line with colours flying. In the background are palm trees, and above TO THE ARMY OF THE PUNJAB. In the exergue is the date MDCCCXLIX. The medal is 1? in. in diameter, and has the names of the recipients impressed on the edge in Roman capital letters. The clasps for suspension, and the bars, are similar to those on the Sutlej medal; the ribbon is |