Full medal write up
Ross Lewis Mangles (1833-1905) was born in Calcutta, India on 14th April 1833, the son of R.D, Mangles, a member of the Bengal Civil Service, and after his retirement MP for Guildford, and a Director of the Old East India Company). He was educated at Windlesham House School (1842-1843), Bath Grammar School (1843-1851), and at Haileybury College (1851-1852), entering the Bengal Civil Service in 1853. In 1857 he was Assistant Magistrate at Patna, accompanying the 45th (Rattray’s) Sikhs in quelling a disturbance in Patna City, subsequently joining the Arrah Relief Force as a volunteer.
Fifteen Europeans and fifty of Rattray’s Sikhs were holding out in Arrah against 4,000 mutineers. The Relief Force fell into an ambush on the night of 29th July 1857, and lost 300 of the 450 men. A retreat was made next morning under heavy fire from the Sepoys. At the first attack, Mangles was wounded, but regardless of that, he helped the surgeon to look after the injured men, and fetched water for them. Later, during the assault, Richard Taylor, of the 37th Regiment, implored Mangles not to leave him when he was wounded. Under a hail of enemy fire, he bound up Taylor’s wounds, and carried him six miles over swampy ground to safety…….
Original 14.8 x 11 cm photograph, pasted onto paper backing. Presumably removed from old album. The above taken from the fine vconline website:
http://www.vconline.org.uk/ross-l-mangles-vc/4587508043.html
A scarce original period VC recipient VC photograph.