Description
Sutlej Medal 1845-6, reverse Aliwal, bar Sobraon, Private Christopher Rayworth, 53rd Shropshire Regiment of Foot, who died on service in Ferozepore during 1847.
Officially impressed: “CHRISTr RAYWORTH 53rd REGT”.
Confirmed on the medal roll.
Good preserved condition due to his early death.
Having survived the rigours of the Anglo-Sikh War of 1845-6, Christopher died at Ferozepore, Bengal, India whilst serving there with the 53rd Foot on 7th August 1847.
He was buried the same day by Chaplain Thomas A.C. Firminger.
According to his burial, Christopher was born about 1823 and was 24 by his death.
However there is only 1 Christopher Rayworth during this period, from what we can see, he was a little younger than this, being born about 1826.
He is shown on the 1841 Army Index as stationed with the 53rd Foot in Plymouth Devon with service number 1423.
The 1841 English Census records the 15 year old Christopher Rayworth as a Patient at the nearby Stoke Military Hospital at Stoke Damerel.
The 53rd were shipped out to India in December 1844, and were due to stay all the way until 1860, although many of the first contingent of men like Pte Rayworth would not live to return back at the end.
For further reading, here is an extract from the Regimental History of the 53rd Foot which recalls his service from 1841-1847 including the fighting in the Sutlej War where he earned this medal:
Beginnings, 1841 Census period:
The regiment remained at Plymouth until July 1841, when it embarked for Scotland and, marching to Edinburgh, was stationed in the castle of that city during the year 1842.
In April 1843, the regiment proceeded from Edinburgh to Ireland and was stationed at Belfast until September, when it marched to Enniskillen.
1844 Transport to India
The regiment marched from Enniskillen to Newry in January 1844 and, having been selected to proceed to India, the usual augmentation was made to its numbers. It proceeded to Manchester in July and embarked at Liverpool for Bengal on the 20th of August under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Shakespear Phillips, arriving at Calcutta on the 30th of December following.
On the 22nd of January 1845, the regiment proceeded from Chinsurah to Cawnpore, where it arrived on the 19th of March. In October, it marched to Agra, and on the 19th of December to Delhi, where it arrived and encamped on the 28th of December 1845.
During the brief period which elapsed between the 11th and 23rd of December 1845, the valley of the Sutlej was the scene of active and interesting operations. The frontier of the Punjaub had been crossed by a numerous and well-disciplined Sikh army, and the enemy had been repulsed in two sanguinary battles at Moodkee on the 18th of December and at Ferozeshah three days afterward.
After these successes, it was determined by the Commander-in-Chief in India to rest the main body of the army until strong reinforcements arrived, when a grand attack was to be made on the Sikhs, who had employed the interval in strengthening the position they had taken up on the British side of the river Sutlej, the boundary of the Punjaub from India.
53RD FOOT BEGIN THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE SUTLEJ WAR
Reinforcements accordingly proceeded to the frontier, and the FIFTY-THIRD was one of the regiments ordered to join the Army of the Sutlej. The regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Shakespear Phillips, marched from Delhi on the 5th of January 1846 and arrived at Kurnaul on the 10th of that month. Two days afterward, the FIFTY-THIRD marched to join the portion of the army detached under the command of Major-General Sir Harry Smith, who was proceeding to the relief of Loodianah, which was threatened by a force of twenty thousand Sikhs under the command of Runjoor Singh. The junction was effected on the 21st of January, on which day the regiment suffered severely from the heavy fire of the enemy’s artillery on the march to Loodianah, sustaining a loss of thirty-six men killed.
BATTLE OF ALIWAL, EARNING THE MEDAL
Major-General Sir Harry Smith, by a series of skillful movements, avoided a regular engagement and effected his communication with Loodianah, but not without severe loss. On the 28th of January, the Major-General determined to attack the Sikhs under Runjoor Singh in their strong position at Aliwal, and the result was a splendid victory. Runjoor Singh’s camp, with all his baggage, ammunition, and stores, fell into the hands of the victors, and the left wing of the Sikh army was thus almost completely disorganized.
Her Majesty’s FIFTY-THIRD, and the Thirtieth Native Infantry, formed the third brigade under Brigadier Wilson and were opposed upon the left to the “Aieen” troops, called Avitabiles, when the conflict was fiercely raging. The enemy, driven back on his left and center, endeavored to hold his right to cover the passage of the river and strongly occupied the village of Bhoondree, which was carried by the FIFTY-THIRD at the point of the bayonet. The regiment then moved forward in support of the Thirtieth Native Infantry by the right of the village.
After expressing his thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips of the FIFTY-THIRD regiment, Major-General Sir Harry Smith added in his official dispatch:
“I have only to report upon Her Majesty’s FIFTY-THIRD, a young regiment, but veterans in daring gallantry and regularity; and Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips’s bravery and coolness attracted the attention of myself and every staff officer I sent to him.”
The casualties of the regiment were limited to three men killed and eight wounded. Although the Sikh army was much disheartened at the sight of the numerous bodies which floated from the battlefield to the bridge of boats at Sobraon, yet in a few days they appeared as confident as ever of being able to retain their entrenched position and to prevent the passage of the river.
On the 3rd of February, the regiment marched from Aliwal and joined the headquarters of the Army of the Sutlej on the 8th of that month. The heavy ordnance having arrived, the Commander-in-Chief resolved to storm the formidable entrenchments of the Sikhs at Sobraon and finally expel them from the territory they had invaded. This was an undertaking of some magnitude. It was ascertained that the entrenchments were defended by thirty thousand of their bravest troops; besides being united by a good bridge to a reserve on the opposite bank of the river, on which was stationed a considerable camp with artillery, which commanded and flanked their fieldworks on the British side of the Sutlej.
BATTLE OF SOBRAON, EARNING THE CLASP
On the 10th of February, the FIFTY-THIRD formed part of the attacking division on the extreme left of the army under the command of Major-General Sir Robert Dick. The onset of Her Majesty’s FIFTY-THIRD was as gallant and effective as the other regiments, and they emulated their comrades in cool determination. The first success was gallantly seconded by the remainder of the army, and by eleven o’clock, after a severe hand-to-hand conflict, the Battle of Sobraon was gained. A sudden rise of the Sutlej rendered the river hardly fordable, and added to the loss of the Sikhs, numbers of whom were drowned in attempting the passage. Sixty-seven pieces of cannon, upwards of two hundred camel-swivels, numerous standards, and vast munitions of war were the trophies of the victory.
Captain Charles Edward Dawson Warren and eight rank and file of the FIFTY-THIRD regiment were killed. Lieutenant-Colonel William George Gold, Captain Thomas Smart, Lieutenants John Chester, Anthony B. O. Stokes, Robert Nathaniel Clarke, and John Breton, Ensigns Henry Lucas and William Dunning (Adjutant) were wounded. Captain Smart and Lieutenant Clarke died in a few days of their wounds. Lieutenant Dunning, who was promoted after the battle, also died of his wound on the 6th of April following. One sergeant and one hundred and four rank and file were wounded.
Medals were struck for the victories of Aliwal and Sobraon and were presented by the Government of India to the regiments present in those battles. Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to authorize the FIFTY-THIRD regiment to bear on its colors and appointments the words “Aliwal” and “Sobraon” to commemorate its gallantry in those victories.
The regiment marched from Sobraon on the 11th of February, forming part of the advance guard of the army proceeding to Lahore, where it arrived on the 13th of that month and encamped outside its walls until the 22nd of March, when the regiment received orders to march for Umballa, which it commenced on the following day, arriving there and entering the cantonments on the 8th of April 1846. On the 15th of October 1846, the regiment proceeded to Ferozepore and arrived there on the 28th of that month.
The regiment remained in cantonments at Ferozepore during the year 1847.
