Description of the Silver Medal struck in commemoration of the Victories of Meeanee and Hyderabad, and conferred on the Officers and Men engaged in those Battles.
On the obverse; the bust of Her Majesty, with the inscription "Victoria Regina."
On the reverse; the words "Meeanee," "Hyderabad," "1843," enclosed within branches of Laurel, and surmounted by the Imperial Crown.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] Cape Breton had been captured by the British in 1745, but was restored to the French at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. It was retaken in 1758 (as above narrated), and was finally ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Fontainebleau, in 1763.
[7] The grenadier company of the TWENTY-SECOND regiment, which had been incorporated with the "Louisburg Grenadiers," formed part of the armament, and was engaged in the battle on the heights of Abraham on the 13th of September, 1759.
[8] When the Marquis of Normanby (then Earl of Mulgrave) presented the regiment with New Colours at Jamaica, he remarked, in reference to the conduct of the regiment,—"I had myself the means of knowing upon the many times I have been at Falmouth, whilst your head-quarters were there, that the regiment was universally popular, and their departure generally regretted. During the few pleasant days I passed at Shuttlewood, in the camp of which the flank companies of the TWENTY-SECOND regiment formed a part, I remember upon remarking to the Major-General there commanding, the perfect good conduct of all there, he said, 'Yes, I never knew better men.'"
[9] Lieutenant Thomas Chute succeeded to the vacancy caused by the death of Captain Tew; Ensign Richard Pennefather was promoted Lieutenant; and Serjeant-Major Thomas Stack was appointed ensign in the TWENTY-SECOND regiment, the commissions being dated 18th February, 1843, the day following the battle of Meeanee.
[10] The following interesting circumstance is recorded by Major-General Napier, in his history of the conquest of Scinde, respecting the march into the desert in pursuit of Meer Shere Mahomed:—
"On one of those long marches, which were almost continual, the Twenty-fifth Sepoys, being nearly maddened by thirst and heat, saw one of their water-carriers approaching with full skins of water; they rushed towards him in crowds, tearing away the skins and struggling together, with loud cries of Water! Water! At that moment, some half-dozen straggling soldiers of the TWENTY-SECOND came up, apparently exhausted, and asked for some. At once the generous Indians withheld their hands from the skins, forgot their own sufferings, and gave the fainting Europeans to drink; then they all moved on, the Sepoys carrying the TWENTY-SECOND men's muskets for them, patting them on the shoulders, and encouraging them to hold out. It was in vain; they did so for a short time, but soon fell. It was then discovered that these noble fellows were all wounded, some deeply, but thinking there was to be another fight, they had concealed their hurts, and forced nature to sustain the loss of blood, the pain of wounds, the burning sun, the long marches, and the sandy desert, that their last moments might be given to their country on another field of battle!"