Colonel Richard Wadeson (1826-85)
Awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery in the Indian Rebellion.
Gordon Highlander Richard Wadeson modestly said he was awarded the Victoria Cross for ‘just standing in front of the wounded’ during the Indian Rebellion. In fact, the newly promoted Lieutenant saved the lives of two soldiers during two separate cavalry charges in 1857.
The Indian Rebellion – also known as India’s First War of Independence – was a major rebellion by soldiers and civilians against British rule between 1857 and 1858. During the conflict, 182 members of the British Armed Forces and British Indian Army were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British honour awarded for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
The Mutiny Memorial near Kashmir Gate in Delhi, built by the British Indian Government in 1863, in memory of the soldiers who died during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In 1972, on the 25th anniversary of India’s Independence, a new plaque was added to the memorial. It says that the ‘enemy’ mentioned by the British were actually the freedom fighters and martyrs of India, who fought bravely against the repressive colonial rule in the First War of Indian Independence. (Credit: Pallav.journo / Wikimedia Commons)
Richard Wadeson’s citation reads: ‘For conspicuous bravery at Delhi on the 18th of July, 1857, when the Regiment was engaged in the Subjee Mundee, in having saved the life of Private Michael Farrell, when attached by a Sowar [Indian mounted soldier] of the enemy's Cavalry, and killing the Sowar. Also, on the same day, for rescuing Private John Barry, of the same Regiment, when, wounded and helpless, he was attacked by a Cavalry Sowar, whom Lieutenant Wadeson killed.’
(Credit: Greywolf)
Richard later became Lieutenant Governor of The Royal Hospital, Chelsea. He is commemorated on a brass plaque at the Hospital.
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(Credit: Illustrated London News)
