The rare First Burma and First Afghan Wars group of five awarded to Quartermaster-Sergeant J...

The rare First Burma and First Afghan Wars group of five awarded to Quartermaster-Sergeant J. N. Heseltine, 13th Prince Albert’s Light Infantry, an exemplary fighting soldier, who was wounded at the storm of Ghuznee and distinguished for his Gallantry during the Battle of Gundamuck, near Jellalabad and the Khyber Pass, on 11 November 1841; after leaving the army, he stayed on in India as ‘a man of property’ who owned several hotels Army of India 1799-1826, 1 clasp, Ava (Josh. N. Heseldine [sic], 13th. Ft.) short hyphen reverse, officially engraved naming in upper and lower case as issued in India; Ghuznee 1839 (*Qr. Mr. Serjt. J. N. Heseltine No. 268. 13th. or P.A. Lt. Infantry.*) contemporarily engraved naming, with hinged silver straight bar suspension; Defence of Jellalabad 1842, 2nd Flying Victory type (Josh. N. Heseldine [sic] 13th. Ft.) contemporarily engraved naming in upper and lower case as before, with original steel clip and straight bar suspension; Cabul 1842 (Qr. Mr. Serjt J. N. Heseltine No. 268. 13th. or P.A. Lt. Infantry.) contemporarily engraved naming, with original steel clip and bar suspension; 13th Light Infantry Regimental Merit Medal for 14 Years’ Good Conduct, hollow silver, chased, the edge inscribed ‘Josh. N. Heseldine [sic] 13th. Ft.’, light contact marks otherwise good very fine or better, the Defence of Jellalabad Medal one of the few (believed to be fewer than fifty) exchanged by men who remained in India when the regiment returned to England (5) £4,000-£5,000 --- Army of India Medal confirmed in Gould’s roll. Joseph Nelson Heseltine was born in Doncaster on 3 October 1803. A labourer by trade, he enlisted in the 58th Foot in 1822 and transferred to the 13th Foot later that year. In September 1822, the 13th Foot was moved from Ireland to Chatham in Kent, where it was brought up to strength for service in India - it is likely that Heseltine joined at that time. At Chatham it was reconstituted as a light infantry unit in December 1822 and re-titled as the 13th (1st Somersetshire) Regiment (Light Infantry). Ava The 13th Light Infantry arrived in Calcutta in May/June 1823. Soon after its arrival, Burmese forces attacked Cachar, a territory in Assam that was under British protection. War was declared against the kingdom of Ava on 5 March 1824. It was decided that the war would mainly be fought via amphibious attacks, with a key objective of conquering the port town of Rangoon, on the north bank of the Irrawaddy. The expeditionary force was organised at Port Cornwallis in the Andaman Islands under the joint control of Brigadier-General Archibald Campbell and Commodore Grant. The 13th Light Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel ‘Fighting Bob’ Sale, formed part of the 11,000 strong infantry component. The first task assigned to 13th Light Infantry was to seize and occupy the island of Cheduba, near Ramree on the Arakan Coast, astride the coastal trade route between Rangoon and Calcutta. Three companies were detailed to make this attack, whilst the remainder of the regiment proceeded to Rangoon. The attack on Rangoon passed off smoothly and the town was soon converted to a defensive stronghold. However, 50,000 Burmese men armed with muskets, swords and spears, all familiar with jungle fighting, dug in around Rangoon. During the 1824-25 campaigning season, Brigadier Campbell went on to the offensive. It was hard fought - artillery had to be man-handled through the jungle, soldiers were falling thick and fast due to disease and each town and fortified stockade was heavily defended. By February 1826 the Anglo-Indian army had advanced three hundred miles north to the town of Yandaboo and the Burmese capital was just four miles away. The advance on the capital began on 9 February 1826 with the 13th Light Infantry leading a night attack, which caused the enemy to flee. The capital was reached two weeks later. The King of Ava agreed to pay an indemnity and surrender a considerable part of his western and southern territories. Garrison Duties in India The 13th Light Infantry returned to garrison duty in India. From May 1826 to 1838, they were successively stationed in Baharampur, Dinapur, Agra and finally Karnal. Inspection Reports mention the newly-instituted regimental reward system of a gold medal to be awarded for 20 years Good Conduct and regimental service, and silver medals for 7 and 14 years of Good Conduct and service. The Reports also mention the frequency of courts martial. Heseltine was court-martialed in 1826 for ‘Signing his Captain’s name to a Pass from Evening Parade’. He was advanced to Corporal in 1831, Sergeant in 1833 and appointed Colour Sergeant in February 1837. The Inspection Reports suggest that the 13th Light Infantry’s rank and file comprised three main groups. At one extreme were the hard cases, habitual drunks who were repeatedly court-martialed. At the other extreme were ‘Havelock’s Saints’, who attended the all-ranks bible study classes established by the austerely religious Captain Henry Havelock, were Chapel-going Baptists and members of the regimental Temperance Society, which had 274 members in 1837. Heseltine’s record suggests that he was neither a drunkard nor a saint but part of the middle group, for which a separate Church of England chapel was built. Sergeant Heseltine married in Agra on 15 April 1833. He chose the traditional formality of banns rather than marrying ‘by permission of Commanding Officer’, the other route that serving soldiers could opt for. His age is given as 29, his wife was 19. She is named only as C. Sandison and was given away by Mr and Mrs Harding (Mrs Harding was illiterate). The Invasion of Afghanistan and the winter retreat In 1838 the 13th Light Infantry formed part of the 1st Brigade of the Army of the Indus, leaving Karnal for Ferozepore and crossing the Indus, marching through Scinde and Baluchistan to the Bolan Pass, then on to Kandahar. Heseltine was wounded in the left foot during the storming of Ghuznee on 23 July 1839, when Captain Vigor’s company was part of the Forlorn Hope. The rest of the 13th Light Infantry fought their way into the town after the Kabul Gate was blasted open to reveal a tunnel 150 yards long by 20 wide, where a desperate hand-to-hand struggle took place. The 13th Light Infantry then moved on to Kabul itself. One of Heseltine’s comrades, Sergeant George Godfrey, recorded that: ‘The country abounds with hills and valleys; the former are generally barren, the latter very fertile and well-watered in many parts, in some places very much reminding us of our own country... The Regiment lay in the Bala Hissar during the winter in temporary barracks and in the spring [1840] we went out to camp again. Afterwards a small force was formed and marched into Kohistan, a few marches from Cabool. We were engaged at a village called Tootum Durra and very soon succeeded in clearing the orchards and places round it. We routed the enemy and destroyed the village with very little loss on our part. They retreated across a small river at the back, into the hills. The next place we attacked was a small mud fort called Julgar [3 October 1840]. After cannonading it for some time a breach was made and an assault was undertaken, which did not prove so effectual as was expected, on account of the scaling ladders being too short, and not exactly of the right kind, as they were made of doolie poles. Fourteen of our men belonging to the storming-party were killed, one of whom was our sergeant-major, an excellent non-commissioned officer who stood very fair for a commission. After dusk the enemy made their escape, although closely watched, on account of the faithlessness of some...