SECOND JELLALABAD MEDAL, "FLYING VICTORY," 1842.]
Awarded to Field-Marshal Hugh Viscount Gough, K.P., G.C.B., G.C.S.I]
[Illustration: CABUL, 1842, WITH ORIGINAL STEEL SUSPENDER.]
=Jellalabad.=--The defence of Jellalabad by the little force under Sir Robert Sale, including Captain (afterwards the famous Sir Henry) Havelock, is the bright gem which sparkles in the dross of this unfortunate campaign. The city was in a very poor condition when the gallant defender seized the place and proceeded to strengthen it. On November 12th, 1841, the garrison had only one half-day's rations, but by a plucky sortie they managed to drive off the Afghans and obtain supplies. The place was again invested on the 27th, but by a successful sally on December 1st they were routed. On January 9th the leader of the rebellion called upon Sir Robert Sale to surrender the fortress, but he naturally refused. Not only was the indomitable spirit of the British tried by the repeated attacks of the enemy, but it almost appeared as if Nature herself was in league with the insurgents, for within a month a series of earthquake shocks demolished a third of the place and part of the defences, and necessitated continual repair of the works. Then came the blockade by Mahomed Akbar Khan, who after assassinating the British envoy at Cabul was responsible for the destruction of the army which left that city. On April 7th, however, the defenders made a determined attack upon the camp of the besiegers, and the 6,000 men under Mahomed Akbar were put to rout, and the siege abandoned. The regiments engaged in the defence of Jellalabad, under Sir Robert Sale, were H.M.'s 13th Light Infantry; a squadron of the 5th Bengal Light Cavalry; 35th Bengal Native Infantry; detachments of Broadfoot's Sappers and the 6th Shah's Infantry; half the Shah's Mountain Train; 2nd and 6th Batts. Bengal Artillery; a few native officers, and 682 armed followers.
=First Jellalabad Medal.=--The "Illustrious" garrison of Jellalabad, which had kept the flag flying for five months, was awarded a medal by General Order dated Allahabad, April 30th, 1842. It is a very simple medal, 1½ in. in diameter, bearing on the obverse JELLALABAD in capital block letters taking the line of the medal above a mural crown, and on the reverse the date APRIL boldly occupying the centre, with VII above and ~1842~ below. The suspenders were of two kinds--a steel clip and ring, or a silver wire loop attached to a ring through a hole in the broad flat rim. The medals were mostly issued without names; a few were indented, but the majority were engraved. The ribbon of watered silk is 1⅘ in. wide, and shaded rainbow fashion from crimson to yellow and blue. Two thousand five hundred and ninety-six medals were issued, and the relatives of those defenders who succumbed between April 7th, 1842, and the date of issue in December received the medal. The rarer medals are those awarded to the Shah's Mountain Train and the Shah's Cavalry, also the 5th Bengal Light Infantry.