Memorial to the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment, by Edward Richardson (1812-1869) in Canterbury Cathedral. 1850. According to the Gentleman's Magazine, "26 officers and upwards of 600 men were killed or wounded" in the campaign at the Sutlej, a tributary of the Indus, in the First Sikh War; and on the fourth anniversary of the battle of the Sobraon, which took place 10 February 1846, "the old colours of the gallant 31st Regiment were, by permission of the Dean and Chapter, placed in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral, immediately above the marble testimonial, executed by Mr. Richardson the sculptor, to those of the regiment who fell [there]" (426).

The memorial is hard to see because of the colours hanging on either side, but a representation of it in the appropriate volume of Richard Cannnon's military records (following p.213) shows the relief to be that of a cannon, with colours, ammunition etc. (no human figures). The names inscribed on scrolls at each corner are those of the engagements involved: Moodke, Ferozeshah, Sobraon and Aliwal.

Top photograph by Nilfanion, on Wikimedia, available offsite here on the Creative Commons License, and slightly corrected for perspective; second image downloaded from Cannon on the Hathi Trust, by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Hathi Trust and the contributing library and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. [Click on both images to enlarge them.]

Bibliography

Cannon, Richard. Historical record of the Thirty-first, or, The Huntingdonshire Regiment of Foot; containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1850.... London: Parker, Furnivall and Parker, 1850. Hathi Trust. Original from Yale University. Web. 5 January 2017.

"The Colours of The East Surrey Regiment (and its forebears the 31st and 70th of Foot). Thirty-First Regiment 1827-1848." Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment. Web. 5 January 2017.

The Gentleman's Magazine. Google Books. Free eBook. Web. 5 January 2017.


Created 5 January 2017