Others besides Peel testified to his gallant bearing on this occasion. Sir Stephen Lushington, Commander of the Naval Brigade, writes:—“I can strongly recommend this young officer for his gallantry and good conduct during the whole time he was under my command. He was severely wounded on the 18th of June, when conveying the ladders.” Lord Lyons also thus alludes to him in a speech which he made at the Mansion House:—“Nothing in the annals of chivalry contains a brighter instance of devotion than was exhibited by Captain Peel and his aides-de-camp, one of whom, Mr. Wood, when wounded placed the scaling-ladders against the walls of the Redan.” On the 6th of September, 1855, Captain Peel addressed the following letter to Sir John Page Wood:—“Your son was only known to me through his gallant behaviour. On the 17th of October he volunteered, with Mr. Daniels, my other aide-de-camp, to bring up powder from the rear, through a fire which daunted others; and the spirit he showed on that occasion was not exceptional, but was maintained throughout. It was the more noble as there were no spectators. The names of these two heroes are known through the whole army; and I almost thought it inconvenient having two such spirits around me. I trust his wound is doing well. It must be very tedious and painful.”
Owing to the severe wound he had received at the attack on the Redan, Wood was obliged to return to England to recruit his health. For reasons which need not now be specified, he was induced to transfer his services from the navy to the army, and in September, 1855, he received his commission as a cornet in the 13th Light Dragoons. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty testified the value of his services in the navy, and their secretary, Mr. Phinn, addressed the following letter to his father in their name:—“In accepting the resignation of your son, Mr. H. E. Wood, I am to express their Lordships’ regret that so gallant an officer is lost to the naval service.” It might have been expected that Mr. Wood’s gallantry at the Redan would have been at once rewarded with the Victoria Cross; in the age of chivalry many knights had earned their spurs by less heroic deeds. But our young hero had yet to wait for years, and to perform still more daring deeds of valour, before his claim to wear the symbol of his sovereign’s favour upon his breast was recognised. He had not yet completed his eighteenth year, and it may be that his youth stood in the way of his obtaining this honourable distinction. Be that as it may, it formed no obstacle to his being enrolled in the Legion of Honour, and an effort was made by those who knew how to appreciate his gallantry to procure for him the Cross. Sir Stephen Lushington forwarded his name, and wrote to him:—“I still hope to see the Victoria Cross on your breast.” Admiral Richards, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, supported his claims, and was so sanguine of success, that he wrote to his father as follows:—“You may rely upon it that none of his class can be recommended for the Cross of Valour without your brave boy being one. His is now a world-wide fame, and requires no certificates, no testimonials, to bolster it up. It is difficult to imagine what kind of naval merit can include if his excludes.”
Our readers will experience the same difficulty in discovering the grounds on which Mr. Wood’s claim was disallowed, and his name omitted from the list of those who received the Cross of Valour. Political considerations ought to have no influence in deciding the claims of those who aspire to this honour; where all are equally brave, all ought to be equally rewarded. But it was not so in this case. It was in vain that his friends remonstrated, and Sir Stephen Lushington wrote thus strongly in his favour:—“It is still my opinion that Mr. Wood deserves the Victoria Cross as much as any one that I recommended at the same time, not excepting his gallant chief, the late Sir William Peel; and it will afford me much pleasure to hear that he has received the much-desired honour.... He was one of the first officers I recommended for it, and certainly one of the most gallant in the Naval Brigade.” The writer of this letter went even so far as to remonstrate with the authorities on the omission of Mr. Wood’s name, but all this led to nothing; and our young hero, tired of inaction, and longing for other opportunities of distinction, exchanged into the 17th Lancers, and embarked for India.
His indefatigable perseverance in mastering the native languages, aided by the high character he had already attained in the field, soon procured for him the favourable notice of his superiors in India. After a residence of one year and nine months, thirteen of which were spent in fighting and hard marching in pursuit of the rebels, Lieutenant Wood passed the examination for interpreter in Hindostani, thus justifying Sir Joshua Reynolds’s remark, that genius is only another name for perseverance. Young men of Wood’s indomitable courage and perseverance must ultimately attain to distinction in any career; the world may be careless at first, but it cannot always ignore their claims. We have the testimony of a distinguished Indian officer, Major-General Beatson, that, after a residence of eighteen months, he already knew more of the native languages than most officers who had spent ten years in India. The continuance of the rebellion afforded him opportunities of proving that intellectual effort is not incompatible with the highest courage. During the action at Sindwaho, he greatly distinguished himself. Owing to the paucity of officers in the 3rd Bombay Cavalry, he had volunteers to command, a troop of the 3rd Light Cavalry, during the campaign; and in the hottest of the fight he rode up almost single-handed and attacked a body of the enemy. His gallantry on this occasion was recognised by His Excellency the Governor-General of India, whose attention had been directed to it by Lieutenant-Colonel Curtis, 1st Bombay Lancers, and Colonel De Salis. He had continued to act as brigade major to Brigadier Somerset, and on the breaking up of the field brigade under his command, the latter recommended him in the strongest terms to the favourable notice of the Assistant-Adjutant-General. Some idea may be formed of the value of Lieutenant Wood’s services at this period, from the following extract from Brigadier Somerset’s letter:—“It only remains for me to say, that, in the various duties which have devolved upon Lieutenant Wood, as my only staff officer, while under my command he has shown the most unwearied zeal, particularly on occasion of the rapid pursuit of the enemy—calling for the utmost exertion from all—especially from one whose position did not admit of his taking advantage of a few short hours that others had for rest—as well as the highest intelligence and facility for the management of native Indians, quite unusual in one so recently arrived in this country.”
Brigadier Somerset concluded by recommending him for employment upon the staff of the army, or with native cavalry; and this recommendation was not without its immediate effect. In times of peace such appointments are usually given to those who are backed by the strongest influences; but such are the exigencies of the service during the prevalence of war, that merit cannot be altogether overlooked. A general, in the selection of his staff, consults only his own interests in striving to have the right man in the right place. General Michel at once appointed him to the command of a troop of irregular cavalry, and in August, 1859, he was acting as Brigade Major under General Beatson, who thus alludes to his abilities in the command of native troops:—“In this officer I have a strong proof that it is not having passed a long time with native troops which alone renders an officer fit for irregular cavalry. Lieutenant Wood’s knowledge of his duties as a cavalry officer, his zeal and energy in all situations, render him more valuable as a staff officer with irregular troops than most officers I have met with in India, who have been all the period of their service with native corps.... He has all the qualifications of a first-rate soldier, in addition to the highest principles of a gentleman.”
Lieutenant Wood’s services in the Crimea and India were of such a nature that they could not be altogether forgotten, and though they were overlooked for the moment, circumstances eventually occurred which brought them fresh to the remembrance of the public, and enabled him to secure that honourable distinction to which he had never ceased to aspire. At the commencement of the year 1860 the Indian mutineers, disheartened by repeated reverses in the field, broke up into detached parties, and concealing themselves in the jungle, endeavoured to protract the contest by plundering the inhabitants of the surrounding districts. Among those who had suffered most from their depredations was a potail of the name of Chemmum Singh, who resided in the vicinity of the jungles between Beora and Muksudnugger. The rebels who had taken refuge there committed frequent depredations in the Barseah district, and though frequently attacked by different parties had always contrived to escape. Chemmum Singh, whose loyalty was doubtless intensified by personal loss, was naturally anxious to get rid of such unpleasant neighbours, and made known their movements to the commander of the district. Intelligence of this reached the ears of the rebels, who resolved to have their revenge. Issuing forth at night, they seized the unfortunate potail and carried him and his relations off to the jungle, with the intention of reviving that species of trial which, in the old Border warfare, was known as Jedburgh or Jeddart justice. They meant to hang him first, and try him afterwards.
It would have fared ill with the poor potail if it had not so happened that Lieutenant Wood arrived at this juncture, after a long march, at Sindhora, the post where his regiment was stationed. Though worn out with his long march, he no sooner heard of what had happened than he resolved at once to attempt a rescue. Hastily collecting a Duffadar and four Sowars of his own regiment, and a Naick and six Sepoys of the Bareilly levy, he started with this small body of men in search of the rebels. He knew that success depended not so much on the numbers as the courage of his men, and forced his way into the jungle in the direction where the rebels were supposed to be concealed. After proceeding twelve miles from Sindhora, without perceiving any traces of the enemy, his practised eye detected the glare of a fire in a dense part of the jungle. He at once suspected that this had been kindled by the robbers whose lurking-place he was trying to discover, and made up his mind to attack them before they were aware of his presence. He dismounted, and leaving three Sowars to take charge of the horses, advanced through the jungle on foot with the other two of his party. For three miles they crept through the dense bush, using every precaution so as not to attract the notice or excite the alarm of the robbers. At length their perseverance was rewarded: at one o’clock P.M. Lieutenant Wood witnessed a tableau vivant in the dense jungle of Sindhora, which he is not likely ever to forget. There, in the midst of the bush, at the distance of twenty-six feet from the place where the party of rescue lay concealed, were the whole of the robbers, stretched on the ground, and fast asleep, some five of their number, who kept drowsy watch over their comrades, and the unfortunate potail, who was waiting his doom with all the calm indifference of Oriental fatalism. They were roused up in a manner they little expected. The party of rescue fired a volley; and Lieutenant Wood rushed forward into the nullah amongst the rebels, followed by the Duffadar and Sowar of his regiment. The latter, inspired by his example, followed him into the thickest of the danger; but the Naick and six Sepoys of the Bareilly levy consulted their safety by remaining in the rear. If he had been properly supported, the whole body of the rebels might have been killed or captured; as it was, they were seized with a panic and fled into the jungle, leaving their arms and several of their comrades who had fallen, behind. Thus one brave man, with two native followers, routed and put to flight a body of seventy rebels, who were well armed and familiar with the country. While such a deed may not be altogether unrivalled in the annals of the suppression of the Indian Mutiny—a period when our countrymen seem to have vied with one another in the display of the most daring courage—it may at least be affirmed that it has never been surpassed, or accompanied with more excellent effect. The band of robbers, routed and put to flight, never ventured to return to the scene of their former depredation, and the inhabitants of the surrounding country were indebted to Lieutenant Wood for the safety of their lives and property. Chemmum Singh and his relatives were restored to liberty, and the party of rescue having accomplished the object of their expedition, returned to Sindhora. Lieutenant Wood’s services on this occasion were honourably mentioned in a despatch by Colonel Sir Richmond Shakespeare, and gratefully acknowledged by the Governor-General of India.
It might have been expected that such distinguished conduct, on repeated occasions, would now have secured for this gallant young officer that Cross of Valour which had ever been to him an object of honourable ambition. Fresh difficulties, however, arose, and the authorities at home were slow to recognise his claims. General Sir J. Michel, who had ever taken a warm interest in his career, and had the best opportunities of studying his character, had already, in April, 1859, addressed a letter to the chief of the staff, recommending Lieutenant Wood to his favourable notice. By the regulations of the service, he was precluded from general promotion; but Sir John Michel recommended him for a brevet majority, as soon as he should obtain the rank of captain. “His services under my command,” writes Sir John, “are as follows:—
“On marching from Mhow, in August, 1858, the left wing, 3rd Bombay Cavalry, being deficient in officers, he volunteered to take charge of a squadron, and whilst in command was present at the actions of Raggurh, where his squadron did excellent service; he also commanded these men at the actions of Sindwaho and Kerai.