Part 22
=Bechuanaland.=--At Christmastide a rebellion broke out at Pokwani in Bechuanaland, about 40 miles north of Kimberley. The Cape Mounted Police and the Diamond Fields Police set out on Christmas Eve to deal with the recalcitrant natives, and after manœuvring in the pouring rain all Christmas Day, the chief's stronghold was attacked and carried on Boxing Day, and the rising was entirely crushed by December 27th, 1896. For this short campaign the Cape Government, with the approval of the Home Government, issued a medal in 1900 to those who had participated in this and other campaigns against the natives, and bars were issued for service in Basutoland in 1880-1, and Transkei, 1880-1, including Griqualand East and Tembuland.
=The Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal.=--The medal awarded is entitled the Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal; it is 1⁷⁄₁₆ in. in diameter, and bears on the obverse the bust of Queen Victoria facing left, with the inscription VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX. On the reverse are the arms of Cape Colony, and the motto SPES CONA. It is suspended from a 1¼ in. blue ribbon, with a broad yellow stripe down the centre. The bars issued with the medal are, reading upwards from the medal, BASUTOLAND, TRANSKEI, BECHUANALAND. The only soldiers connected with the Imperial forces who received this medal with any of the bars were officers serving with the Colonial troops. A medal with the single bar "Transkei" has realised £3 2_s._ 6_d._ in the sale-room; with two bars, "Transkei" and "Basutoland," £2 15_s._ The medals are generally engraved in rather large square Roman capitals.
=The Dongola Expedition.=--The Dongola expedition took place in 1896, and for this the Khedive of Egypt ordered a medal to be issued to all the British and native troops who served at, and south of, Sarras between March 30th and September 23rd, 1896, and at Suakin under Brigadier-General Egerton during the same period. Two bars were awarded; one inscribed HAFIR for services south of Fareia on September 29th, and the other FIRKET for those engaged south of Akashen on June 7th, each name being inscribed in English and Arabic on a single bar. The medal bears on the reverse an oval shield, charged with three crescents, and stars above, backed by a trophy of arms and flags, and a panel below bearing an inscription in Arabic reading "The recovery of the Sudan, 1314 H." On the obverse is the cypher of the Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, and ~1314 H.--A.D. 1897~. It is suspended from an orange-coloured watered ribbon, with a broad blue stripe down the centre, by means of a straight clasp. The medal was issued unnamed; bronze medals without bars were issued to camp followers and non-combatants. This being a foreign decoration it was necessary for Queen Victoria to give her troops permission to wear the medal. The first British regiment to receive it was the 1st Batt. North Staffordshires. Later the following regiments received the medal without bars, which were added afterwards: 1st Seaforth and Cameron Highlanders; half a battalion of the 1st Lincolns; 21st Lancers; a detachment of the 16th Company Eastern Division R.A.; 32nd Field Battery R.A.; 2nd Company Royal Engineers. To those who took part in the operations at and about Kerma, on the Nile, in 1897, the Khedive's medal was given with a bar inscribed SUDAN 1897, and to those who were engaged at and near Assouan and Abu-Hamed the medal with bar for ABU-HAMED was awarded; the bars only being issued to those already in possession of the medal.
=Matabeleland, 1893, and Rhodesia, 1896.=--In 1896 Queen Victoria authorised the granting of a medal by the British South Africa Company to its own forces and details from British regiments and the local Mounted Rifles and Police. All who took part in hostilities between October 16th and Christmas Eve 1893 were awarded the medal for MATABELELAND, and those only of the Queen's officers who had received permission to take part in the operations were allowed to accept and wear the medal. It is 1⁷⁄₁₆ in. in diameter, and has on the reverse a representation of the British lion boldly charging, though wounded in the chest with an assegai. In the exergue, in tall thin Roman capitals, is BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY, and above either MATABELELAND 1893 or RHODESIA 1896. On the obverse is a rather poor effigy of Queen Victoria. The suspender is very ornate, the rose, shamrock, and thistle having been used in a weak sort of manner to decorate it. This clasp or suspender is the most unsuitable and least beautiful of any in the whole series. The ribbon, 1-1\4 in. wide, is composed of three blue and four yellow stripes. It is the first instance of a chartered company being authorised to award a medal since the H.E.I. Co. gave the Mutiny medal. A bar for Rhodesia 1896 was given to those already in possession of the medal. The bar for MASHONALAND 1897 was added the following year, but those who did not possess the medal were awarded one with the name and date on the reverse as explained above. In this campaign the only Imperial troops employed were detachments of the 2nd Hampshires and the 7th Hussars.
=Regiments Engaged.=--Among those who received the medal for Matabeleland were a company of the 2nd W. Riding Regiment; 1 officer and 18 men of the 1st Batt. "Black Watch"; 3 men of the 2nd York and Lancaster Regiment; a detachment of the 3rd Dragoon Guards; Cape Mounted Rifles and British Bechuanaland Police. Those entitled to wear the medal for services in Rhodesia between March 24th and December 31st, 1896, were details of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Royal Rifles; 2nd and 4th Rifle Brigade; 1st Royal Irish; 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers; 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers; 1st Derbys; 1st Leicesters; 2nd Norfolks; 2nd Hampshires; 2nd Royal West Kent; 2nd W. Riding Regiment; 2nd York and Lancasters; 24th, 25th, and 26th Western Division Royal Artillery; Army Ordnance and Army Service Corps. The 7th Hussars was the only cavalry regiment employed.
THE SUDAN
The battles of Toski in 1889, or Tokar in 1890, did not settle the unrest in Egypt. It smouldered and again broke into serious flame in 1897. Thanks, however, to the admirable organisation of the Egyptian army by Earl (then Sir Herbert) Kitchener, and the prompt measures which he took to deal with the Dervishes, the British flag and the Egyptian crescent soon flew over what remained of the Residency of Khartoum. Before, however, this was achieved the battles of the Atbara and Omdurman had to be fought, and for these bars bearing the legends THE ATBARA and KHARTOUM were issued with the medal to those who took part in the fights.
=The Atbara.=--The battle of the Atbara was fought on the morning of Good Friday 1898, the attack of the Anglo-Egyptian army of about 12,000 men being made at sunrise after a night march, during which the troops had plodded across the desert from Umdabieh in brilliant moonlight; they halted just before 5 o'clock for a rest, during which they shiveringly discussed the prospects of the battle, for if the days are scorching in the Sudan, the nights are icily cold. Then the squares formed, and the army marched forward to battle. At first the artillery played upon Mahmud's camp, but the Dervishes seemed to take little heed of it, for it is said it was fully half an hour before they began to reply with their rifles. Then at 7.30 a.m. the great guns stopped; the bugles rang out "Advance!" and as the pipers played "The March of the Cameron Men," the infantry advanced to the attack. Again the enemy took little heed, until the Cameron men reached the top of the ridge overlooking the zareba, and then the rifles of the Dervishes rang out, but they could not stop the Camerons' onslaught; followed by the Lincolns, the Seaforths, and the Warwicks, they went clean through the zareba. General Gatacre and Private Cross of the Camerons distinguished themselves by being the first in. The onslaught of the British and Sudanese was irresistible, and whoever could of the fighting Dervishes rushed riverward. Osman Digna again decamped, but a number of other leaders, including Mahmud, were either killed or taken prisoners; 4,000 Dervishes were taken prisoners, and 3,000 killed. The Camerons lost Captain Finlay and Urquhart, and the Seaforths Lieutenant Gore, the three Scots officers falling as they led their men into the zareba; 18 men were also killed, and 88 wounded. Fourteen native officers were killed, while the native regiments also lost 50 killed, and 319 wounded. The Sirdar at the conclusion of the battle highly complimented the Colonel of the Camerons upon the steadiness of their advance in face of the fire which greeted them at the zareba.
=Omdurman.=--This battle quieted the Dervishes until August, when preparations were made to give them the _coup de grâce_. This happened on September 2nd, 1898, at Omdurman--made famous by the maiden charge of the 21st Lancers under Captain Martin against enormous odds--when the enemy lost 11,000 killed, 16,000 wounded, and 4,000 made prisoners. The British infantry division was again commanded by General Gatacre, the Brigadiers being Generals Wauchope and Lyttleton. The 1st Brigade consisted of the Camerons, Seaforths, Lincolns, and Warwicks, and a Maxim Battery. The 2nd Brigade comprised 1st Grenadier Guards; 1st Northumberland Fusiliers; 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, and 2nd Rifle Brigade. Macdonald, Maxwell, and Lewis again commanded three brigades of the Egyptian army, and Collinson Bey a fourth. There were 7,500 Britishers, and 12,000 Egyptians.
[Illustration: VICTORIAN VOLUNTEER OFFICER'S DECORATION.
EDWARDIAN COLONIAL AND AUXILIARY FORCES DECORATION.
VOLUNTEER OFFICERS' DECORATIONS FOR LONG SERVICE.]
On April 2nd the Dervish army advanced against the British, their front extending for about 3 miles. The British formed an obtuse angle, and at 6.30 a.m. opened fire upon the advancing hosts with such precision that hundreds were mown down, but the Dervishes did not falter. As Steevens said, "No white troops could have faced that torrent for five minutes, but the Baggara and the blacks came on." There was no fear; the black-eyed houris were waiting with outstretched arms to receive such doughty warriors. Still they could not stand against their foe, but they retired with such caution that they were able to re-form. The pressure of their well-drilled enemy, however, was too great, and they began to flee. The bravest of them, however, planted their standards as rallying-points, and stood their ground until they were killed; the others appeared to be making for Omdurman, 5 miles from the scene of battle, and to prevent this the 21st Lancers were ordered to charge. They hacked their way through the dense mass of men who feared nothing. Then the Khalifa's stalwarts made a last effort, but Macdonald's Sudanese steadily met the onslaught; repulsed it, sent the Dervishes flying in all directions, and the battle of Omdurman was won. Mahdism was worsted, but Osman Digna had again eluded the victors. At last Khartoum was taken, the captives set free, and the dominion of the rebel slave-trader overthrown.
=Khartoum.=--To those who took part in this battle, which ended in the taking of Khartoum, a bar for KHARTOUM was added to the Khedive's medal, and a bar for GEDAREF to all engaged in the capture of the place, and the fighting which followed in the district.
The following British regiments were engaged in the campaign: 1st Grenadier Guards; 1st Seaforth and 1st Cameron Highlanders; 1st Warwicks; 1st Northumberland Fusiliers; 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers; 1st Lincolns; 2nd Rifle Brigade; a detachment of 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers, with 4 Maxim guns; 16th Company Eastern Division R.A.; 32nd and 37th Field Batteries R.A.; 21st Lancers; a detachment of Royal Engineers; Army Service and Army Ordnance Corps; Royal Army Medical Corps.
=Sudan, 1899, and Gedid.=--Early in 1900 a bar bearing the record SUDAN 1899 was awarded to those who had taken part in the second Dongola campaign, and a medal with bar for GEDID was issued to those who were engaged in the actions at that place on November 22nd and 24th, 1899, which resulted in the defeat of the Khalifa Abdulla El Taaishi. Bronze medals were issued to the civilian syces and authorised camp followers. The number of bars issued with the Khedive's Sudan medal varies from one to eight, but it is seldom that European soldiers received medals with more than two bars. European officers in some instances received more, but Major-General Sir Archibald Hunter, I think, has the distinction of possessing one bearing six bars.
=Three Later Bars.=--In 1905 and 1906 it was decided to add three more bars to the Khedive's Sudan medal, one for BAHR-EL-GHAZEL 1900-2 for services rendered in the reconquest of that province; one for JEROK for operations in the Blue Nile province against Wad-el-Mahmud in 1904; one for NYAM-NYAM to those employed against the Nyam-Nyam tribesmen in the province of Bahr-el-Ghazel in 1905.
=Queen's Sudan Medal.=--In March 1899 Her Majesty Queen Victoria approved of a new medal being struck to commemorate the military operations in connection with the reconquest of the Sudan. The medal, 1⅖ in. in diameter, in silver was granted to all officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the British, Indian, and Egyptian forces, and native allies who were employed in the military operations in Egypt resulting in the capture of Abu-Hamed, the reconquest of the Province of Berber, the defeat of Emir Mahmud's army on the Atbara, and the final operations resulting in the overthrow of the Khalifa's troops at Khartoum. Civilian syces, civilian servants of officers, and authorised followers were entitled to the medal in bronze. No bars were issued with this medal. On the obverse is a half-length effigy of Queen Victoria, facing left, crowned, with a lace veil flowing behind, on which a small Imperial crown is placed, wearing the Ribbon and Star of the Order of the Garter, the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, and the Imperial Order of the Crown of India, holding a sceptre in her right hand. Legend, VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX. On the reverse is a figure of a winged Victory seated, having a palm-branch in her outstretched right hand, and a laurel wreath in her left. There are two flags behind on either side--the British being on the left and the Khedive's to the right; beneath on the pedestal which supports the figure is the word SUDAN in intaglio, the space beneath the pedestal being filled by the decorative disposition of three lilies of the Nile in leaf. This is, in my opinion, the most symbolic and beautiful medal issued since Wyon took for his model a Greek coin, and based his figure of Victory--which adorns the Waterloo medal--upon it. The name of the recipient, together with his rank and regiment, was generally engraved upon the edge of the medal in neat Roman capitals. I have seen some with the lettering impressed in very small Roman capitals. The medal is suspended by a straight bar from a black and yellow ribbon 1¼ in. wide, divided down the centre by a narrow crimson stripe.
=East and Central Africa Medal.=--A medal to replace the old one with swivel ring was issued to those who took part in the troubles which occurred in the Uganda Protectorate during 1897 and 1898. The medal, 1⅖ in. in diameter, had on the obverse the same bust of Queen Victoria as the Sudan medal, and on the reverse Britannia with the British lion beside her, holding out in her left hand a palm branch and a scroll toward the rising sun, and in her right a trident. In the exergue, in Roman capitals, is the denomination EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA. The medal for Somaliland 1902-4 (illustrated facing page 296) is the same but for the inscription in the exergue. Two bars were issued with the medal, LUBWA'S and UGANDA 1897-8. A bar with the date 1898 was issued to those who fought against the Ogaden Somalis from April to August 1898, and a bar for UGANDA 1899 was awarded to those employed in the military operations against Kabarega in the Protectorate between March and May 1899. The ribbon, 1¼ in. wide, is half red and yellow, and the names, etc., of recipients are impressed or engraved on the edge in light Roman capitals.
=Royal Niger Co.'s Medal.=--For participation in military operations in the Niger Company's territories during the period of 1886 to 1897 the Company awarded a silver medal to the members of its executive staff, and bronze medals to the natives. The names of the recipients were impressed upon the silver medals, but the native's number only was indented upon the edge of the bronze medals issued to those who were actually serving on December 31st, 1899. These medals, which were struck by Messrs. Spink & Son, bear on the obverse the diademed bust of Queen Victoria, and on the reverse a shield bearing a Y-shaped elevation, with the words ARS, JUS, PAX; behind the shield is a trophy of arms and flags. This medal, 1½ in. in diameter, is suspended from a ribbon 1½ in. wide, composed of three equal stripes of yellow, black, and white, by means of a straight clasp. The bars, 1⅖ in. long by ³⁄₁₀ in. wide, have the record NIGERIA 1886-1897 attached to the silver medals, but NIGERIA only on the bronze.
=Ashanti, 1900.=--After the rebellion of certain native tribes had been quelled, and the siege of Kumassi raised, King Edward VII approved of a medal--the first bearing his effigy--being issued to those who had taken part in the operations, and a bar inscribed KUMASSI also to those who had defended or relieved the city. On the obverse is the bemedalled bust of King Edward in Field-Marshal's uniform, which was used later on the South Africa medal 1901-2; on the reverse is modelled a lion looking toward the left of the medal, where the rising sun is depicted behind a hill. The lion is statant gardent in front of an African shield, whereon are two assegais, one being significantly broken; below is a plain panel with the word ASHANTI. The ribbon is alternately black and green--three black and two green stripes. The suspender is straight, and the names, etc., of recipients--mostly native soldiery--indented in small block letters on the edge of the medal, a few were issued engraved. The Flying Column was composed of 100 of the West African Regiment, 250 of the 2nd Central African Regiment, 350 West African Frontier Force, and 40 Sierra Leone Police with 2 guns. Some men of the 3rd W.I.R. also received the medal with bar for Kumassi.
[Illustration: KING EDWARD'S MILITIA LONG SERVICE MEDAL.]
[Illustration: KING EDWARD'S MILITIA LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL. (Reverse.)]
[Illustration: KING GEORGE'S TERRITORIAL EFFICIENCY MEDAL.]
CHINA, 1900
The Chinese society known as Boxers had been for some time engaged in agitating against foreigners, but did not become generally known to the English-speaking race until the murder of an Anglican missionary, the Rev. Sidney Brooks, on December 31st, 1899. They first, about a century ago, selected the title of I Ho Ch'uan, or Fist of Righteous Harmony; the society was, however, suppressed by Imperial edict, but, like most associations which have a strong religious or political basis, it was not exterminated, and as the political interference of certain missionary enthusiasts became more daring their activities again burst forth. They determined to destroy the foreigner and all his works, so that their countrymen might pursue their own ways, and work out their own salvation. All very laudable, in a way, but the patriots degenerated into bloodthirsty fanatics, and as the Chinese authorities were unable to deal with the rebels against Imperial authority--or indeed, as some say, appeared to make covert cause with them--it became necessary for the principal Powers to send troops to suppress the disturbances and protect the lives and property of their subjects. Great Britain, France, Germany, America, Japan, and Russia sent troops, which took part in the military and naval operations in the North of China and the Yangtse Valley from June 10th to December 31st, 1900. The most stirring events in the campaign were the defence of the Legations in Pekin from June 10th to August 14th, and the relief of Pekin between the same dates.
=Defence of Legations.=--On Sunday, June 10th, 1900, the Summer Legation at the Hills was burnt down, and from that time onward no one dared leave the city, while inside the Europeans lived in constant fear of the Chinese inhabitants, for within the very walls the German Minister actually took prisoner a fully dressed and armed Boxer. The Boxers and Imperial troops attacked the city again and again, until it became necessary for the Europeans and their servants to take refuge in the various Legations, and then on June 20th the siege began in earnest. Eighteen officers and 389 men, assisted by 100 volunteers, formed the combined force, and they had with them four guns of uncertain quality. It has been said by Dr. Morrison that the Japanese had only 100 rounds of ammunition per man, the Italians 120, the Russians 145, and the rest at most 300 rounds per man. On the first day the Austrians, for some unexplained reason, abandoned their Legation, and thus weakened the general defence by leaving a corner of the square open to the enemy. Then the Belgian Legation was burnt, and on the morning of June 22nd the Americans, Austrians, Germans, Italians, Russians, and Japanese began to retire on the British Legation, but the masterly activity of Sir Claude MacDonald induced the French and Austrians to return to the French Legation, and the others to resume their posts, thus preventing a catastrophe. The fear of fire was ever present with the besieged, for again and again buildings were ignited, and but for the well-organised fire committee would have helped the investing Boxers to make short work of the defence. Meanwhile the enemy vigorously attacked the Legations, and bombarded the city until a somewhat peaceable period ensued during an armistice which, however, hardly raised the hopes of the besieged, for news had reached them that the European powers believed them to have been massacred.
On August 10th the spirits of the defenders were greatly raised by the receipt of messages from the relief force, and the knowledge gained that the Japanese and American troops had defeated the enemy near Pei Ts'ang on the 5th, and had occupied Yang Ts'un next day, while the allied forces of America, Britain, and Russia were marching on from that place, and hoped to reach Pekin by the 13th or 14th. This news was conveyed in a letter from the Japanese Colonel Shiba, and it was indeed prophetic, for at 2 o'clock on August 14th the Sikhs marched on to the lawn of the British Legation, followed by General Gaselee and his staff, and then, the work of clearing the enemy out of the environs having been completed by the Sikhs, the relief of the Legations was effected.