| EDWIN H. TETLEY |
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| Agra Militia Cavalry |
There is evidence that Edwin H. Tetley was born at Allygurh in the Bengal
Presidency circa 1832. At the time of the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in
May of 1857, Edwin was an uncovenanted civil servant, employed as a
Sectioner in the Board of Revenue in the Secretariat at Agra. Edwin was also
a member of the Agra Militia Cavalry, having enlisted upon the formation of
the unit in June of 1857. According to a Memorandum of Instruction, by M.E.
Reade:
“The (Agra) Militia is composed of military officers of regiments which have
mutinied, or have been disarmed, of members of the Civil Service holding
appointments, of salaried clerks in the public offices, of sectioners, of men
drafted from the European regiments, of pensioners, of Christian drummer,
musicians, &c., from Native regiments, and of individuals not heretofore in the
service of Government. It is an additional complication that some of the Agra
Volunteer Horse now serve in the Militia, and some of the Militia have been
drafted into the recently constituted Rifle Company.”
Allen’s Indian Mail of August 21st, 1857, quoting the Mofussilite Press of
June 30th states:
The Agra Militia was embodied last Friday and Saturday mornings, and was
drilled yesterday for the first time, on the parade ground at Hurree Purbut.
The cavalry portion of the force, which is under the immediate command of
Captain Prendergast, musters about fifty sabres; while the infantry, under
Captain Lamb, is divided into four companies, each numbering about forty
five—this is independent of the infantry under Captain Rawlins, which parades
near the Metcalfe Testimonial. The men have taken to their work kindly; and
although they may never become adepts at drill, yet they will nevertheless be
sufficiently instructed in a few days to render them a very serviceable force,
fully equal to encounter five times their number of armed men.
Presidency circa 1832. At the time of the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny in
May of 1857, Edwin was an uncovenanted civil servant, employed as a
Sectioner in the Board of Revenue in the Secretariat at Agra. Edwin was also
a member of the Agra Militia Cavalry, having enlisted upon the formation of
the unit in June of 1857. According to a Memorandum of Instruction, by M.E.
Reade:
“The (Agra) Militia is composed of military officers of regiments which have
mutinied, or have been disarmed, of members of the Civil Service holding
appointments, of salaried clerks in the public offices, of sectioners, of men
drafted from the European regiments, of pensioners, of Christian drummer,
musicians, &c., from Native regiments, and of individuals not heretofore in the
service of Government. It is an additional complication that some of the Agra
Volunteer Horse now serve in the Militia, and some of the Militia have been
drafted into the recently constituted Rifle Company.”
Allen’s Indian Mail of August 21st, 1857, quoting the Mofussilite Press of
June 30th states:
The Agra Militia was embodied last Friday and Saturday mornings, and was
drilled yesterday for the first time, on the parade ground at Hurree Purbut.
The cavalry portion of the force, which is under the immediate command of
Captain Prendergast, musters about fifty sabres; while the infantry, under
Captain Lamb, is divided into four companies, each numbering about forty
five—this is independent of the infantry under Captain Rawlins, which parades
near the Metcalfe Testimonial. The men have taken to their work kindly; and
although they may never become adepts at drill, yet they will nevertheless be
sufficiently instructed in a few days to render them a very serviceable force,
fully equal to encounter five times their number of armed men.
____________________________________________________________________________________
When the residents of Agra learned in early July that the Neemuch mutineers had reached Futtepore Sikri, a city about twenty
miles distant from Agra, the civilians residents of Agra abandoned their homes in the city and moved into the Fort for the
protection it offered. The Fort had been made as habitable as possible and had been well provisioned by the authorities.
In a census of Agra taken during the Mutiny, Edwin Tetley is shown as serving in the Militia Cavalry at position “F” in the Agra
Fort, which was “The Gateway from the Armoury Square.” Other individuals with the surname Tetley listed in the census as living in
the Fort during the Mutiny were C.S. Tetley and his wife (believed to be Edwin‘s father and mother); H. J. Tetley, a civil pensioner,
and his wife; and C. G. Tetley of the Agra Militia Infantry (possibly Edwin’s brother).
Edwin Tetley’s Indian Mutiny medal is named in the correct manner for a civilian, i.e., impressed initials and surname, without any
unit or regiment. Edwin’s entitlement to the Indian Mutiny medal is verified by the Return for the Agra Militia, which indicates
that along with 75 other members of the Militia Cavalry, Edwin was recorded as having actually been “under fire” with the
mutineers. While the medal roll does not state the occasion or occasions when that occurred, the Agra Militia Cavalry was in action
several times with the mutineers, including near Agra on the 4th and 5th of July, 1857, near Allyghur on the 24th of August, and at
the battle of Agra on the 10th of October when the Militia Cavalry served with the Movable Column under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Greathed.
Numerous accounts exist which praise the Agra Militia Cavalry’s conduct on the various occasions when they were in action against
the mutineers. An account of the action near Agra in early July of 1857 contained in Annals of the Indian Rebellion by N. A. Chick
records:
On the 4th July, one of the advance videttes had seen and interchanged compliments with a couple of the rebels' patrols, and so
Lieut. James, the officer in command, communicating the circumstance to the authorities, retired upon the plains before Agra,
adjacent to Shahgunge. Here Major Prendergast, commandant, met the militia cavalry and told them of the coming strife on the
morrow. The men were then dismounted and directed to picket their horses, when simultaneously with a roaring storm and a tearing
shower of rain, was heard from the opposite quarter of the road first a brisk fusilade and then a dropping fire.
The Kotah contingent, false traitors, who had come to aid them in battle, had mutinied and discharging their pieces at their officers,
had killed the serjeant major, narrowly missing the doctor. The militia cavalry, not quite forty strong, were alone on the field
with these black hearts, yet Prendergast, undaunted by fearful odds, with only six of his men (Rushton, Goodall, White, Kinlock,
Hyland and Salt) galloped into the rebellious camp, and favoured by the heavy rain and the confusion, positively, in view of the
whole main body, secured their artillery of two guns with every charge of ammunition!
The gunners at once submitted and surrendered. Prendergast now called up all the cavalry, and dividing the forty, pursued
the fleeing cravens with one portion, while the other under Page was left to guard the captured and much prized guns.
The pursuit was by no means a fruitless one. The Kotah contingent convoy consisting of eighty camels, laden with their small
ammunition and their bedding and cooking utensils, was taken, the guard over it cut up, stragglers put to the sword, and the rear
ranks of the compact mass itself charged by the intrepid Prendergast. The hand of Providence was over the volunteers that eve!
Next day was the 5th July, when the battle of Sussia was won and lost, a battle which, however misunderstood and misrepresented
by commentators at a distance from the scene of action, was in truth a singularly bold and brave affair. If disgraceful to the
officer commanding, it was pregnant with glory to the soldiers engaged. With eminent courage, for nearly four hours, the troops
presented a solid and immoveable front to the swarming enemy, under circumstances disadvantageous in themselves, but made doubly
fatal by the blundering leadership of their palsied Captain. Not the destructive thunder of the foes artillery, not the appalling
numbers of the emboldened enemy could stir the firmly planted foot of the inconsiderable European force.
Then the enemy, driven at the point of the bayonet from the village which gives the battle its name, driven from the mangoe tope
behind the village, their ammunition like that of our own expended, their largest gun leaped upon and spiked by the gallant old
Colonel Fraser, were effectually cowed, and had actually broken ground, when horrible infatuation, Brigadier Polwhele sounded the
retreat. Gnashing their teeth in maddening rage, the victorious soldiers fell back. The routed enemy, seeing no body running after
them, stopped running away themselves, and now our humiliation commenced. The rebels harassed our retreat to within range of the
fort guns, and not a shell was sent in among them! During the battle the militia cavalry made a dashing charge into a body of
horse who threatened the guns on the right. The little band seemed swallowed up for a time in the overpowering numbers
of the enemy, and they returned not till after several of their number had fallen. Among these were O'Connor, Jourdan, the
two brothers Home, Smith and Carlton. Among the wounded on this day were Prendergast, Rae, Blackburn, White, and Doyle. Many
more had their horses killed under them, and it was a very small minority indeed that came off "scot-free." The militia
infantry steadily acted rear-guard in the retreat. The militia artillery, though they repeatedly volunteered, were sternly bid to
keep their post's upon the fort bastion.
Reminiscences of the Sepoy Revolt, by S. Dewe′ White gives this account of the same action:
But I must not forget here to mention that a gallant charge was made by our sixty mounted militia, composed of
members of the Civil Service, officers of mutinied and disarmed native regiments, clerks, and some equestrians of a
wandering circus from France. This mere handful of men had the boldness to charge the mutineer cavalry. Of course they
were far too few to make any impression, except this—that Englishmen, when once their blood is up, are too plucky to count the
numbers of their foe! They returned with the loss of their head man of the circus, Monsieur Jordan, who was killed, and six others
were mortally wounded in the hand-to-hand combat.
Like many of the units which were quickly raised during the Indian Mutiny, the Agra Militia was disbanded after the Mutiny and
replaced by a local levy.
Edwin H. Tetley was to survive the Mutiny and is recorded as having married Matilda Kirk in India in 1863. No additional
biographical information about Edwin has come to light.
miles distant from Agra, the civilians residents of Agra abandoned their homes in the city and moved into the Fort for the
protection it offered. The Fort had been made as habitable as possible and had been well provisioned by the authorities.
In a census of Agra taken during the Mutiny, Edwin Tetley is shown as serving in the Militia Cavalry at position “F” in the Agra
Fort, which was “The Gateway from the Armoury Square.” Other individuals with the surname Tetley listed in the census as living in
the Fort during the Mutiny were C.S. Tetley and his wife (believed to be Edwin‘s father and mother); H. J. Tetley, a civil pensioner,
and his wife; and C. G. Tetley of the Agra Militia Infantry (possibly Edwin’s brother).
Edwin Tetley’s Indian Mutiny medal is named in the correct manner for a civilian, i.e., impressed initials and surname, without any
unit or regiment. Edwin’s entitlement to the Indian Mutiny medal is verified by the Return for the Agra Militia, which indicates
that along with 75 other members of the Militia Cavalry, Edwin was recorded as having actually been “under fire” with the
mutineers. While the medal roll does not state the occasion or occasions when that occurred, the Agra Militia Cavalry was in action
several times with the mutineers, including near Agra on the 4th and 5th of July, 1857, near Allyghur on the 24th of August, and at
the battle of Agra on the 10th of October when the Militia Cavalry served with the Movable Column under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Greathed.
Numerous accounts exist which praise the Agra Militia Cavalry’s conduct on the various occasions when they were in action against
the mutineers. An account of the action near Agra in early July of 1857 contained in Annals of the Indian Rebellion by N. A. Chick
records:
On the 4th July, one of the advance videttes had seen and interchanged compliments with a couple of the rebels' patrols, and so
Lieut. James, the officer in command, communicating the circumstance to the authorities, retired upon the plains before Agra,
adjacent to Shahgunge. Here Major Prendergast, commandant, met the militia cavalry and told them of the coming strife on the
morrow. The men were then dismounted and directed to picket their horses, when simultaneously with a roaring storm and a tearing
shower of rain, was heard from the opposite quarter of the road first a brisk fusilade and then a dropping fire.
The Kotah contingent, false traitors, who had come to aid them in battle, had mutinied and discharging their pieces at their officers,
had killed the serjeant major, narrowly missing the doctor. The militia cavalry, not quite forty strong, were alone on the field
with these black hearts, yet Prendergast, undaunted by fearful odds, with only six of his men (Rushton, Goodall, White, Kinlock,
Hyland and Salt) galloped into the rebellious camp, and favoured by the heavy rain and the confusion, positively, in view of the
whole main body, secured their artillery of two guns with every charge of ammunition!
The gunners at once submitted and surrendered. Prendergast now called up all the cavalry, and dividing the forty, pursued
the fleeing cravens with one portion, while the other under Page was left to guard the captured and much prized guns.
The pursuit was by no means a fruitless one. The Kotah contingent convoy consisting of eighty camels, laden with their small
ammunition and their bedding and cooking utensils, was taken, the guard over it cut up, stragglers put to the sword, and the rear
ranks of the compact mass itself charged by the intrepid Prendergast. The hand of Providence was over the volunteers that eve!
Next day was the 5th July, when the battle of Sussia was won and lost, a battle which, however misunderstood and misrepresented
by commentators at a distance from the scene of action, was in truth a singularly bold and brave affair. If disgraceful to the
officer commanding, it was pregnant with glory to the soldiers engaged. With eminent courage, for nearly four hours, the troops
presented a solid and immoveable front to the swarming enemy, under circumstances disadvantageous in themselves, but made doubly
fatal by the blundering leadership of their palsied Captain. Not the destructive thunder of the foes artillery, not the appalling
numbers of the emboldened enemy could stir the firmly planted foot of the inconsiderable European force.
Then the enemy, driven at the point of the bayonet from the village which gives the battle its name, driven from the mangoe tope
behind the village, their ammunition like that of our own expended, their largest gun leaped upon and spiked by the gallant old
Colonel Fraser, were effectually cowed, and had actually broken ground, when horrible infatuation, Brigadier Polwhele sounded the
retreat. Gnashing their teeth in maddening rage, the victorious soldiers fell back. The routed enemy, seeing no body running after
them, stopped running away themselves, and now our humiliation commenced. The rebels harassed our retreat to within range of the
fort guns, and not a shell was sent in among them! During the battle the militia cavalry made a dashing charge into a body of
horse who threatened the guns on the right. The little band seemed swallowed up for a time in the overpowering numbers
of the enemy, and they returned not till after several of their number had fallen. Among these were O'Connor, Jourdan, the
two brothers Home, Smith and Carlton. Among the wounded on this day were Prendergast, Rae, Blackburn, White, and Doyle. Many
more had their horses killed under them, and it was a very small minority indeed that came off "scot-free." The militia
infantry steadily acted rear-guard in the retreat. The militia artillery, though they repeatedly volunteered, were sternly bid to
keep their post's upon the fort bastion.
Reminiscences of the Sepoy Revolt, by S. Dewe′ White gives this account of the same action:
But I must not forget here to mention that a gallant charge was made by our sixty mounted militia, composed of
members of the Civil Service, officers of mutinied and disarmed native regiments, clerks, and some equestrians of a
wandering circus from France. This mere handful of men had the boldness to charge the mutineer cavalry. Of course they
were far too few to make any impression, except this—that Englishmen, when once their blood is up, are too plucky to count the
numbers of their foe! They returned with the loss of their head man of the circus, Monsieur Jordan, who was killed, and six others
were mortally wounded in the hand-to-hand combat.
Like many of the units which were quickly raised during the Indian Mutiny, the Agra Militia was disbanded after the Mutiny and
replaced by a local levy.
Edwin H. Tetley was to survive the Mutiny and is recorded as having married Matilda Kirk in India in 1863. No additional
biographical information about Edwin has come to light.
