medal code J2757

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AN OUTSTANDING 50TH FOOT SUTLEJ TO A LIGHT COMPANY OFFICER WHO WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF ALIWAL, HAVING HIS ARM AMPUTATED BUT CONTINUED TO SERVE, TAKING PART IN THE CRIMEAN WAR, HE WAS WOUNDED AT THE BATTLE OF INKERMANN AND FINALLY TAKEN PRISONER DURING A RUSSIAN SORTIE ON THE BRITISH TRENCHES BEFORE SEBASTOPOL. SPENDING THE REST OF THE WAR IN CAPTIVITY, HE WAS HONOURED BY FRANCE WITH THE KNIGHT OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR IN 1856

SUTLEJ 1845-6, FOR MOODKEE 1845, CLASPS, FEROZESHUHUR, ALIWAL ‘LIEUT. H: J: FRAMPTON 50TH REGT.’

Heathfield James Frampton a Gentleman Cadet of the Royal Military College was commissioned Ensign, 50th Foot on 4 August 1840. Promoted Lieutenant on 20 August 1841 and posted to India, he served in the Gwalior campaign of 1843 and was present at the battle of Punniar. At this battle, General Grey found a division of the Gwalior army entrenched at Punniar. The British assaulted the positions and drove the enemy from them. British casualties were 35 killed and 182 wounded,42 of which were suffered by the 50th Regiment. Medals were made from bronze form the guns captured during the Gwalior campaign.

Two years later, Frampton, who was an Officer in the Light Company, took part in the Sutlej campaign including the battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshuhur and Aliwal. At the the bloodbath that was the battle of Ferozeshuhur, Frampton’s company had been cut off from, the regiment and were taking heavy casualties and it was by his presence of mind in picking up a Sikh bugles and sounding the regimental call on it, that enabled the remnants of the company to rejoin the regiment. At the battle of Aliwal, Lieutenant Frampton was severely wounded, a wound that resulted in his arm being amputated. During the battle, the Light Company had been engaged in attempting to take a Sikh gun and were driven back several times; it may have been here that Frampton was wounded.

The 50th were one of the few British Regiments to take part in all the major battles of the Sutlej War, the other being the 31st Foot. The regiment sustained 109 casualties at Moodkee, second highest of any Regiment and 124 at Ferozeshuhur. The latter as terrible a battle that has been fought and very almost a defeat. At Aliwal a further 121 casualties were sustained; again the second highest number of casualties of regiments present and at the final battle at Sobraon, the regiment was again in the thick of things, suffering a further 239 casualties, by far the highest casualties of any other regiment. So high were the Officer casualties, that it was a lieutenant of the 50th who commanded the Regiment when they left the field of battle. When one considers the regimental strength at the start of the campaign was around 800 and taking into account men wounded in more than one action, the amount of casualties they had over a period of less than two months; 593 killed and wounded, was staggering. 5 Officers were killed during the campaign and 32 were wounded, the latter includes several Officers wounded more than once

The 50th returned to England in 1848 and despite the loss of his arm, Lieutenant Frampton remained with the regiment and was promoted Captain on 19 September 1848. In 1854, the 50th embarked for the Gallipoli peninsular, before landing in the Crimea in September 1854. Captain Frampton took part in the battle of Alma and Inkermann, during which Captain Frampton was wounded for a second time. His wound cannot of been of a very severe nature for in December he was back with the Light Company in the trenches before Sebastopol. However on the evening of the 21 December 1854, Captain Frampton, Lieutenant Clarke and 8 men were taken prisoner when a large Russian force made a sortie on the British Trenches. An account by Lieutenant Clarke of this action and the two Officers subsequent captivity is copied in part below.

Captain Clarke was released from captivity at the end of the War, having been promoted Major on 29 December 1854 and on returning to England, he finally retired from the Army in December 1855. In 1856 for his services in the Crimean Wart, he was honoured by France with the Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Frampton’s Army List entry;
“Major Frampton was present with the 50th Regt. in the battle of Punniar (Medal). Served the campaign on the Sutlej (Medal and two Clasps), including the battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshuhur, and Aliwal, m which last he was dangerously wounded, and had his arm amputated. Served the Eastern campaign until taken prisoner in the trenches before Sebastopol on the 22nd Dec. 1854, having been present at the battles of Alma and Inkermann (wounded),—Medal and Clasps, Knight of the Legion of Honour, and Turkish Medal”

Frampton’s bound manuscript notebook from 1846 is in the collection of the National Army Museum (1990-07-71). Frampton’s full set of medals were sold at DNW in 2004 but since then, the group has unfortunately been split up, the Crimea and Star were last seen on a London dealers website in 2020.

Condition, some pitting from Punniar Star, otherwise VF. A very fine Sutlej medal to a Light Company Officer who saw a great deal of action. Sold with some research, including a copy of the regimental history on CD.

Code J2757        Price £        SOLD