TEETHING PROBLEMS, 1856–1867 67
confirmed by the home government. The War Office could not deny the
initial provisional bestowal of the Cross without undercutting the authority
of a commander in the field, but the bar was another matter entirely, as it
had come in as a recommendation through normal channels and was thus
subject to review. Peel solicited the opinion of Horse Guards on the question
when the bar recommendation reached London. He had not objected to the
provisional VCs granted before his instructions to Sir Colin Campbell arrived
in India, but this situation merited special attention:
With regard however to the case of Brevet-Major Sir H. Havelock of the
18th Regiment I should be glad to be favoured with your Royal Highness’s
opinions, whether, as this officer has already received the Victoria Cross
for a previous act of gallantry, the nature of the act of gallantry reported
in the papers enclosed in Sir Henry Storks’ letter of the 10th instant, was
such as would entitle him to the bar to be attached to the ribbon by
which the Cross is suspended, in accordance with the fourth clause of the
Royal Warrant.^83
The War Office found itself in agreement with the General-Commanding-
in-Chief’s solution to the situation: dump it back on Campbell.^84
Subsequent events offer an insight into the mid-Victorian military mind.
There was nothing the Indian Staff could do about the original, but when
the opportunity arose for them to quash the bar recommendation, they did.
Sir Colin Campbell lost no time convening a board of field officers to review
the recommendation. The board condemned the bar recommendation and
followed up with a weak explanation that the bar could not be recommended
for an award that had not been officially confirmed by Her Majesty.^85
Campbell was unable openly to criticize a fellow general officer’s decision
(particularly the now deceased Major General Henry Havelock, promoted
for his defense of Lucknow and who died after Campbell’s force extricated
the besieged Residency defenders) even when he knew it was wrong and
dishonorable; only when queried by a higher authority was he able to voice
his concerns, and as we can see, he still had to be circumspect. It would
still not do to call official attention to a general’s blatant act of nepotism
to award his own son for an act of questionable extreme valour, and a
manufactured technicality had to be produced to cover the denial of the bar.
With the exchange of inquiry and report the true situation was known
by everyone that mattered. Havelock junior kept the original VC because
the Army did not air its dirty laundry in public – that was the price of
maintaining the honor of the Victorian officer corps. The message had been
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