Читать книгу The Book of the V.C - A. L. Haydon - Страница 5

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Every nation loves to honour the brave deeds of her sons. We know how in olden times this was done, how the Romans conferred a “Civic Crown” upon the hero who saved a citizen’s life, and inscribed his name in letters of gold upon the marble wall in the Capitol. In these modern days it is the custom to bestow a medal or similar decoration upon the bravest of the brave, as a public mark of appreciation of their heroism.

So Russia has its Order of St. George, which is conferred solely for exceptional gallantry on the field of battle; Austria its Order of Maria Theresa (so exclusive that there are not more than twenty living possessors of its Cross); Prussia its Order “Pour le Mérite”; France its Legion of Honour and War Medal; and the United States a “Medal of Honour” which carries no privileges and confers no rank on the bearer, and which, curiously enough, is sent to the recipient through the post.

Great Britain’s symbol of the grand democracy of valour is a little Maltese cross of bronze, insignificant to look at beside many a more showy medal, and intrinsically worth only fourpence halfpenny, but the most coveted decoration of all that our soldiers and sailors can aspire to.

Somewhat reminiscent of a badge awarded to the 28th Regiment after the siege of Badajoz in the Peninsular War—a badge which bore a crown, a star, and the letters V.S., signifying “Valiant Stormer,”—the Victoria Cross is adorned with a crown surmounted by a lion, and a scroll bearing the simple inscription “For Valour.” On the reverse side of the medal is given the date or dates of the act of bravery for which it has been awarded, while the name of the recipient is inscribed at the back of the bar to which it is attached by a V. The Cross, which is cast from cannon that were taken at Sebastopol, is suspended from its wearer’s left breast by a piece of ribbon, blue for the Navy and crimson for the Army.

Such is the world-famed Victoria Cross. What, then, was its origin? For answer to this we must go back to the days of the Crimean War, fifty years ago. Up to this time decorations for distinguished services in the field were very sparsely distributed. The men of Wellington’s day were thought to be sufficiently honoured if they were “mentioned in despatches.” But after the Crimean campaign, in which British soldiers did such prodigies of valour, a feeling arose that some medal should be struck as a reward for bravery in the face of the enemy.

Perhaps it was the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava that inspired the idea, but, however this may be, a certain Captain Scobell, R.N., sometime M.P. for Bath, set on foot an agitation which at length drew the attention of the authorities and led in due course to the institution of the Victoria Cross. The new decoration, which by Queen Victoria’s special desire bore her own name, was first announced in the London Gazette on February 5th, 1856. The present year, therefore, celebrates its jubilee.

THE VICTORIA CROSS.

As stated in the original Royal Warrant, which is given in full in the Appendix, the Cross entitles all its bearers below commissioned rank to a pension of £10 a year, with an additional £5 for each extra clasp or bar,[1] and, by a recent clause, an increase to £50 a year in cases where the recipient is incapacitated by old age or ill-health. Another important new alteration in the rules provides that if a man dies in winning the V.C. the decoration shall be handed to his relatives.

It is the great distinction of the Victoria Cross that it may be won by the humblest member of the services. “Linesman and Lord,” private soldier, common sailor, Field-Marshal and Admiral, are all on a level on the Roll of Valour. Out of the 522 Crosses which have been bestowed up to the present time (June 1906), it has been, or is still, worn by three Field-Marshals, six Admirals, one clergyman, three civilians, and twenty-five Army doctors.

Furthermore, how truly democratic is the decoration is shown by the fact that it has been won by three men of colour—Seaman Hall, a negro serving in Captain Peel’s Naval Brigade at Lucknow, and Sergeant Gordon and Private Hodge, both of the West India Regiment.

Of the different campaigns in which the Cross was won the Indian Mutiny yielded the greatest number, 182. The Crimean War accounted for 111; the recent South African War comes third with 78; while the Zulu War provided 23; and the Afghan War of 1870–80, 16. In the list of V.C. regiments—excepting the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, which have forty-one and twenty-seven Crosses to their credit—the South Wales Borderers top the list with sixteen. Next in order come the Rifle Brigade (fourteen), the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, the 9th Lancers, and the Gordon Highlanders (thirteen each), and the Seaforth Highlanders (eleven). The Black Watch and the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) total ten each.

It is pleasing to note, too, in this connection how many V.C.’s have been won by Colonial troopers, for the most part in the late South African War. No fewer than twenty-five were awarded to South Africans, Australians, Canadians, and New Zealanders, showing of what sterling metal were these Sons of the Empire who crossed the seas to fight at the call of the Mother Country.

The first presentation of the V.C. took place on June 26th, 1857, the year after the close of the Crimean War. The scene of the ceremony was Hyde Park, and on that beautiful summer morning the sun shone down upon a brilliant spectacle. A large body of troops under the command of the veteran Sir Colin Campbell, comprised of Life Guards, Dragoons, Hussars, Royal Engineers, Artillery, and other regiments, together with a detachment of smart-looking Bluejackets, were drawn up in imposing array, and a vast number of people of all ranks had assembled to await the coming of Royalty, for the Queen herself was to pin the Crosses on to the heroes’ breasts with her own hand.

Just before ten o’clock, to the booming of a royal salute, her Majesty, with the Prince Consort, the Crown Prince of Prussia, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince Alfred (the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), all on horseback, rode into the Park and took their places near the dais that had been prepared. On a small table near by, showing up strongly against the scarlet cloth with which it was covered, lay the Crosses that were to be bestowed that morning. The little band of sixty-two heroes, headed by Lieutenant Knox, of the Rifle Brigade, meanwhile stood at ease a little distance off, the observed of all observers, until the signal was given, and then one by one they came forward as Lord Panmure, the then Secretary for War, read out their names.

As a complete list of these first recipients of the V.C. is given at the end of this volume I need not enumerate them here, but there were one or two, notably Lieutenant (now Rear-Admiral) Lucas, the first man to be awarded the decoration, Lieutenant Hewett (“Bully Hewett” as he was popularly known), the gallant Commander (late Rear-Admiral) Bythesea, and Lieutenant Knox, whose empty sleeve bore eloquent witness to his daring bravery at the storming of the Redan, who stood out from the rest. And hardly less conspicuous among those present were Lord Cardigan, at the head of the 11th Hussars and mounted on the very horse that carried him through the Balaclava Charge, and Fenwick Williams, the gallant defender of Kars.

The presentation, the most historic ceremony that Hyde Park has ever witnessed, was over in barely more than ten minutes. After the last Cross had been pinned on Major Bourchier’s breast the little band of heroes was drawn up in line again, and a review of the troops brought the proceedings to a close.

A truly glorious and inspiring record is that of the V.C. The stories of how the Cross was won, though they cannot be told as fully as one could wish, make a Golden Book of Valour that every British boy should be made familiar with, as the sons of the old Norsemen were made familiar with the sagas of their heroes. For they tell not merely of physical courage, which the ancients extolled as the highest of all the virtues, but of that moral courage which demands even more fully our admiration.

THE FIRST PRESENTATION OF THE V.C., IN HYDE PARK, JUNE 26, 1857.—Page 5.

One’s heart warms at the recollection of the giant M’Bean slaying his eleven sepoys single-handed at Lucknow, but his heroism pales before that of Kavanagh or of Surgeon Home and the other heroes of “Dhoolie Square.” Their gallant deeds were not performed in the fierce heat of battle, when in the excitement of the moment a man may be so lifted out of himself as to become unconsciously a veritable paladin, but done quietly, from a high sense of duty and in the name of humanity, in the face of what looked like certain death.

There is room only in the succeeding chapters for a recital of a limited number of the deeds that won the Cross. One would like to tell of all, making no exceptions, but such a task is beyond the scope of this volume. The most striking and most notable acts in the annals of the V.C. have accordingly been selected, and while keeping strictly to fact the endeavour has been made to present them in a worthily attractive setting.

And in calling to mind the heroism of the brave men who figure in these pages let us not forget those who may be said to have equally earned the distinction but who for some reason or other were passed over. Of such were Chaplain Smith, who was one of the heroes of Rorke’s Drift; Gumpunt Rao Deo Ker, the Mahratta sowar who stood by Lieutenant Kerr’s side at Kolapore, saving his leader’s life more than once in that terrible fight; and the gallant little bugler boy, Tom Keep, of the Grenadier Guards, who, while the battle of Inkerman was at its height and bullets were whistling round him (one actually passed through his jacket), went about tending the wounded on the field. These are names among many that deserve to be inscribed high up on the scroll which perpetuates the memory of our bravest of the brave.

Out of the 522 winners of the V.C. some 200 are alive at the present time. Death has been busy of late years in thinning the ranks. Only the other day, as it seems, we lost Seaman Trewavas, Mr. Ross Lowis Mangles (one of the few civilians decorated), General Channer, and Baker Pasha. We have, however, still with us the senior winner of the distinction, Rear-Admiral Lucas, whose exploit is narrated at length in its proper place, Field-Marshals Lord Roberts, Sir George White, and Sir Evelyn Wood, Admiral Sir Nowell Salmon, General Sir Redvers Buller, and many another hero of high rank. May the day be far distant when their names have to be erased from the survivors’ roll!

[1] No such clasp or bar has yet been granted.