The rare and emotive Sutlej Medal to Captain J. J. Poett, 27th Bengal Native Infantry, who foug...

The rare and emotive Sutlej Medal to Captain J. J. Poett, 27th Bengal Native Infantry, who fought in the desperate defence of Ghuznee when surrounded by Afghan tribesmen during the First Afghan War, and suffered unimaginable hardships as a prisoner of Shumshoodeen Khan before the arrival of Major-General Pollock

Sutlej 1845-46, for Ferozeshuhur 1845 (Capt. J: J: Poett 27th Regt. N:I:), very fine, together with an envelope from a previous owner, with ink inscription

John Joseph Poett was born in Dublin on 25 March 1807, the son of Joseph and Julia Poett. Gaining a commission in the 27th Bengal Native Infantry, he served as a Captain with this regiment during the First Afghan War (1839-42), a conflict which should be remembered not just for its blunders and catastrophes, but also its examples of fortitude and resilience against impossible odds.

Ever fearful of the Russian threat to India, Lord Auckland, the Governor-General, watched with consternation as a Russo-Persian army attacked the city of Herat in western Afghanistan in 1838. Believing Emir Dost Mohammed of Afghanistan to be pro-Russian, Auckland decided to install a new Emir at Kabul, Shah Soojah, effectively a puppet ruler who was forbidden from negotiating with foreign powers without Britain's consent. This required a military expedition to Kabul, for which Auckland mobilised an 'Army of the Indus' at Ferozepore. Poett's regiment, the 27th Bengal Native Infantry, was assigned to the 5th Infantry Brigade under Colonel Dennis, which included the 2nd Bengal Native Infantry and HM's 3rd Foot (The Buffs). By April 1839 the Russians had lifted the siege of Herat and withdrawn, but Auckland decided to invade Afghanistan anyway.

The most direct route lay across the Punjab, but the Sikh Empire, though nominally allied to Britain, would not permit such an incursion. Instead the British force, led by Sir John Keane, had to weave through the treacherous Bolan and Kojak passes. Supporters of the incumbent Emir, Dost Mohammad, rallied at the stronghold of Ghuznee, which lay directly in Keane's path. Ghuznee was an imposing fortress with earthen walls 80 feet high, surrounded by a wet ditch. On the night of 22-23 July, Keane's engineers blew up Ghuznee's Kabul Gate, leading to the fortress's capture after a ferocious hand-to-hand struggle. Leaving the 27th Bengal Native Infantry at Ghuznee to act as a garrison, Keane proceeded to Kabul on 30 July. He entered the capital on 6 August, triumphantly installing Shah Soojah as Emir, but the Afghan population did not take to their new ruler. Instead they flocked to Dost Mohammed, whose son Akbar began harrying British lines of communication. Major-General Elphinstone, a man with no experience of India, was placed in command at Kabul. His incompetence allowed Dost Mohammed's insurrection to spread during the summer of 1841.

Poett and the 27th Bengal Native Infantry were at Ghuznee during this period. Numbering some 600 men, they were commanded by Colonel Thomas Palmer. Palmer had not been allowed to fully provision or repair the fortress after its capture in 1839. He had guns, but little ammunition for them and no gunners. In November 1841, Kabul rose in support of Dost Mohammad and Elphinstone ordered the infamous retreat. On 20 November, Ghuznee was surrounded by 20,000 Afghan tribesmen led by Shumshoodeen Khan, a nephew of Akbar. Ghuznee earned a brief reprieve when Colonel Maclaren approached with three regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, causing the Afghans to scatter into the mountains. Unfortunately, Maclaren was forced to turn back when his supply cattle died of exposure. The effect this had on morale at Ghuznee can well be imagined. Shumshoodeen's army returned on 7 December, and the garrison steeled itself for a long siege. Palmer received separate orders from Elphinstone and the British Political Agent to evacuate Ghuznee. He correctly assumed these orders to have been written under duress, both men being held by the enemy, and he ignored them.

As supplies dwindled and temperatures dropped to -25?, Palmer's junior officers urged him to evict the Afghan inhabitants still inside Ghuznee, but Palmer refused. He believed the Afghan civilians to be loyal, and would not see them freeze to death outside the walls. Though undoubtedly noble and humanitarian, Palmer's decision was to be the garrison's undoing. While the sepoys on the ramparts were being picked off by Afghan jezails, the Afghan inhabitants were secretly tunnelling beneath the walls. On 16 December they completed their subway, and signalled to Shumshoodeen's pickets. Thousands of Afghans then surged forward, pouring through the tunnel and emerging into the middle of Ghuznee. The sepoys staged a heroic defence, and Poett would have been in the thick of the action. Fighting alongside him was a young Lieutenant named John Nicholson, whose exploits at Delhi during the Indian Mutiny are well known. The Afghans found the garrison's unmanned guns and quickly put them to use. As round shot tore through their ranks, the 27th pushed the Afghans back three times until forced to retreat to the citadel.

The garrison held out for another month. With water supplies cut off, Palmer negotiated a truce on 15 January. He agreed to capitulate after Shumshoodeen promised safe passage to Peshawar. The garrison left the citadel on 6 March, and were held in captivity in the town. Asked to surrender his sword, Nicholson instead broke it across his knee and flung the parts at his captors. Sikh and Hindu sepoys who refused to convert to Islam were butchered while their British officers watched helplessly. The few sepoys who escaped from Ghuznee were killed or captured. The ten remaining officers, including Poett, were imprisoned in a filthy, ordure-ridden cell. Palmer was tortured to make him reveal the location of treasure, which the enemy believed to be hidden in the fortress. One of the officers, Lieutenant Davis, died of typhus.

Poett was to be incarcerated in the cell until 19 August. On that day, Shumshoodeen got word of the approach of Sir George Pollock's 'Army of Retribution', and ordered his men to give the prisoners far better treatment. On 24 August the nine surviving prisoners were taken to join other British hostages at Kabul. There they dined with Dost Mohammed's son Akbar. As news of Pollock's advance reached Kabul, Akbar moved the prisoners to Bamian to keep them out of reach, but Pollock sent a flying column under Brigadier Sale to rescue them. When news of the Afghan defeats reached their guards, the hostages (including Lady Florentia Sale) were able to negotiate their release before Sale even arrived. Pollock entered Kabul on 15 September and laid waste to its Grand Bazaar. Having exacted revenge, the combined British force withdrew from Afghanistan.

After this nightmare campaign, it took years to bring the 27th Bengal Native Infantry back up to strength. Poett nevertheless fought at the Battle of Ferozeshuhur on 21 December 1845, during the First Sikh War. Sir Hugh Gough's crude tactics and misuse of artillery in this battle led to unnecessarily high casualties, but Poett survived to claim his Sutlej Medal. Afterwards he returned to England on furlough. He married Rebecca Helena de Castilla, by whom he fathered five children. Poett was promoted to Major in the 27th Bengal Native Infantry on 6 February 1855, only to hear of his regiment's disarmament at Peshawar on 22 May 1857, during the early stages of the Indian Mutiny. He does not appear to have served in India after the First Sikh War.

Poett lived with his family in Exeter until his wife died in 1858. The family then moved to a house at Ashfield Terrace in Terenure, a suburb of Dublin (possibly where Poett was born). Poett died there on 10 January 1879.

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