Abyssinian War Medal 1867-1868

[ErikMuller]

Hello,

While researching a Dutch-Indies Army officer I found an obituary of another officer in a local newspaper, dating May 6th, 1896. The obituary was for a militia captain J.F.C. Prince. According to the accompaning article he, and another officer, were part of Lord Napier's force during the Abyssian War of 1867-1868. They were both awarded the Abyssinian War Medal in 1869.

The other Dutch officer was 1st Lieutenant T.F.J. Buys, a knight 4th class of the Military Order of William (the Dutch equivalent of the Victoria Cross) and recipient of the Sword of Honour for service in the Dutch Indies. In a book about the Sword of Honour, I found a picture of Buys wearing his Abyssinian War Medal (which I will add later, after my scanner is fixed).

Since my copies of the Medal Year Book have almost no information on the Abyssinian War Medal I have a few questions:

What were the exact criteria for this Medal?

When was it exactly instituted?

What was the Abyssinian War about (the Medal Year Book only speaks of a campaign against King Theodore)

Who won?

Is there a medal roll which gives a date for the award of this medal to the two Dutch officers?

And last but not least: who can explain the presence of the two Dutch 1st Lieutenants in Lord Napier's force and what could have been their task?

[Djedj]

Here's an extract from The Times, March 1st, 1869 re. medals :

"The Adjt.-Gen., Lord William?Paulet, has issued a general order to the army stating that the Queen has commanded a medal to be prepared to commemorate the services of the forces engaged in the various military operations in New Zealand during the years 1845, 1846, 1847, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865 and 1866, and directing that one of the medals shall be conferred on every surviving officer , non-commissioned officer, and soldier of the regular forces who actually served in the field against the enemy during the periods alluded to, excluding deserters and those dismissed for misconduct. Another general order states that the Queen has commanded that a medal in commemoration of the succesful operations in Abyssinia to be conferred upon Her Majesty's British and Indian forces who servedin that country between the 4th of October, 1867, and the 19th of April, 1868, including those who were employed on board ship, in transports, or in hospital on the coast."

The above re. NZ is quite relevant, as, when the question of a Medal for Abyssinia arrised by mid-1868, there were discussions with respect to the Maori Wars - where the fighting was quite fiercer, but which did not entitle to any Medal.

Seems they sorted out the issue, and they certainly took precautions that the order re. NZ Medals was issued before that for the Abyssinian ones.

I don't know when the Abyssinian Medals were distributed, but it seems the NZ ones were delivered from early 1870 on.

As for the war, I think the reason for the expedition was about liberating Europeans (about 60 men, women and children) held prisoners by King Theodore.

King Theodore died in the storming of Magdala on the 13th of April 1868, which ended the campaign. it was a British victory.

Cheers,

Jerome

[peter monahan]

ErikMuller

A very nice find indeed! Here's a little info on the campaign. I'm parphrasing Gordon's "British battles and medals" here:

About 14 000 Abyssinian medals were issued for the expedition, under Lt General Sir Robert Napier, against "Mad" Emporer Theodore who had imprisoned a number of British subjects including the British Consul, a Captain Cameron. They were locked up in 1865, had their release negotiated by a missionary in 1866 and were re-arrested, along with the negotiator, a month later. A series of unanswered ultimatums emsued and Queen Victoria declared war in parliament November 19th, 1867.

Essentially, the campaign involved a march from the coast to the capital, Magdala (about 300 miles / 500 km). The British fought one battle, at Arrogie on April 10, entered the capital on the 13th to find that the emporer had killed himself, burned the place down and went home. Total casualties 2 killed, 27 wounded. Nobody counted the dead Ethiopians.

The native defenders of the capital were barraged by a Naval rocket battery and fled without firing a shot.

The British won!

One of the most exoensive medals to make because the names were emobossed on the reverse.

The troops included many Indian regiments (horse and foot), 5 br infantry and 2 cavalry regts and lots and lots of service train - 40 000 men who didn't get the medal, plus 36 000 horses and mules, 7 000 camels and 44 elephants.

Crews of 5 vessels serving in the Red Sea receieved the medal, though only 83 sailors went on the expedition.

There's a bit more if you want it.

Peter

[Ulsterman]

There are a number of books on the subject-my favorite being the latest Flashman book, and Featherstones' Victorian Colonial Wafare-Africa, which has the ILN summary of the Ethiopian war within.

People don't seem to collect them as much-like the Ashanti medal, because there was almost no combat. Flashman said the whole incident was caused by lazy Foreign Office bureaucrats,.

Edited August 2, 2006 by Ulsterman

[ErikMuller]

There's a bit more if you want it.

Peter

Yes please

Thanks to everyone for the feedback!

Just one question, since Djedj and Peter give different details on the death of King Theodore (as I recall Abyssinia was still a Kingdom in that period and didn't have an Emperor till 1896, when Menelik declared the Ethiopia an Empire): did he die in the storming/bombardment of Magdala, or did he kill himself?

Erik

[ErikMuller]

Yes please

Thanks to everyone for the feedback!

Just one question, since Djedj and Peter give different details on the death of King Theodore (as I recall Abyssinia was still a Kingdom in that period and didn't have an Emperor till 1896, when Menelik declared the Ethiopia an Empire): did he die in the storming/bombardment of Magdala, or did he kill himself?

Erik

Can anyone supply me with an image of the Medal? Since I now have two pictures of T.F.J. Buys wearing the medal I want to write a small article on him for the magazines of the British and Dutch Orders and Medals Research Societies.

[Djedj]

Yes please

Thanks to everyone for the feedback!

Just one question, since Djedj and Peter give different details on the death of King Theodore (as I recall Abyssinia was still a Kingdom in that period and didn't have an Emperor till 1896, when Menelik declared the Ethiopia an Empire): did he die in the storming/bombardment of Magdala, or did he kill himself?

Erik

Erik, I suppose both points are open to discussion :

King Theodore's real name was Kassa - he assumed the name of Theodorus "because of an old prophecy which sets forth that an Emperor of that name would raise the kingdom of Abyssinia to a pitch of glory never before known". He was known in Europe as "King Theodore" indeed - but might have insisted on being adressed to as "Emperor" ?

As for his death, the Special Correspondent from the new York Herald reported, on april 13 :

"King Theodore was found dead, shot in the head. His body was recognized by the Europeans who had been released. Some say he was killed in battle, and others that he committed suicide."

The Special Correspondent from The Times had reported that on the eve of the storming of Magdala (April 12) : "The Abyssinian troops are utterly disheartened. Theodore has attempted suicide."

Jerome

[ErikMuller]

Erik, I suppose both points are open to discussion :

King Theodore's real name was Kassa - he assumed the name of Theodorus "because of an old prophecy which sets forth that an Emperor of that name would raise the kingdom of Abyssinia to a pitch of glory never before known". He was known in Europe as "King Theodore" indeed - but might have insisted on being adressed to as "Emperor" ?

As for his death, the Special Correspondent from the new York Herald reported, on april 13 :

"King Theodore was found dead, shot in the head. His body was recognized by the Europeans who had been released. Some say he was killed in battle, and others that he committed suicide."

The Special Correspondent from The Times had reported that on the eve of the storming of Magdala (April 12) : "The Abyssinian troops are utterly disheartened. Theodore has attempted suicide."

Jerome

Thanks!

Attached is a newspaper picture of Major General T.W.J. Buys, wearing the following decorations:

Neck crosses from top to bottom:

Knight 2nd class of the Order of St. Stanislas of Russia

Knight 2nd class of the Order of the Crown of Prussia

Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy

Medal bar from left to right:

Knight 4th class of the Military Order of William

Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands

Expedition Cross with clasp "Atchin 1873-1896"

Atchin Medal 1873-1874

Officer's Long Service Cross

Abyssinian War Medal (Great Britain)

The sword he holds in his hands is the Sword of Honour (which is part of the Military Order of William and ranks between the Knight 3rd and the Knight 4th class).

Edited August 2, 2006 by ErikMuller

[Ed_Haynes]

The medal . . .

For Brits it was separately struck on the reverse with unique naming for each recipient. For Indians (like this) it was engraved.

[Michael Johnson]

And like the Arctic Medal, the suspension was very prone to breakage.

[Ed_Haynes]

And like the Arctic Medal, the suspension was very prone to breakage.

Yes, literally within weeks of the first medals being sent out to Indian Army regiments, they were being sent back for repair with nasty notes from regimental adjutants about the stupid design. Eventually, the government refused to undertake such repairs, telling all who wrote in just to "do it themselves". The Calcutta Mint dodged it all by saying, "we didn't design them, we didn't make them" (it was one Victorian medal NOT made in Calcutta for distribution to the Indian Army).

[ErikMuller]

The medal . . .

For Brits it was separately struck on the reverse with unique naming for each recipient. For Indians (like this) it was engraved.

Thanks Ed!

Is this medal repaired? Because it looks quite unbreakable to me on this picture!