Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 57.djvu/11

 12 March 1850 he was appointed a member of the special committee of artillery officers at Ambala. On 30 Oct. of this year he was appointed adjutant and quartermaster of the second brigade, horse artillery, and on 13 Nov. adjutant of the Ambala division of artillery. On 30 Nov. 1853 he was removed to the foot artillery. He was promoted to be captain in the Bengal artillery on 25 July 1854, and to be brevet major for his services in the field on 1 Aug. On 27 Nov. 1855 he returned to the horse artillery.

On the outbreak of the mutiny, in 1857, Tombs was at Mirat, commanding the 2nd troop of the 1st brigade of the horse artillery, and on 27 May moved with the column of Brigadier-general (afterwards Sir) Archdale Wilson [q. v.] to co-operate with a force which the commander-in-chief was bringing down from Ambala. On approaching Ghazi-ud-din-Nagar, on the left of the river Hindun, on the afternoon of 30 May, the heat being very great, the column was attacked by the rebels. The iron bridge spanning the river Hindun was held, and Tombs dashed across it with his guns and successfully turned the right flank of the enemy, who were repulsed. Tombs's horse was shot under him during this action, and again in that of the following day, when the village of Ghazi was cleared (ib. 3 Oct. 1857). He marched with Brigadier-general Archdale Wilson on 5 June to Baghpat, crossed the Jamna, and joined the Ambala force under Sir H. Bernard at Paniput on 7 June.

The combined forces marched from Alipur on 8 June, and Tombs, with his troop, was detached to the right with a force under Brigadier-general (afterwards Sir) Hope Grant to cross the Jamna canal, and so get in rear of the enemy at Badli-ke-Serai. The rebels fought with desperation, but the British bayonet carried the day, and the cavalry and horse artillery converted the enemy's retreat into a rout. Tombs had two horses shot under him (ib. 3 Oct. 1857).

Tombs served all through the siege of Delhi. On 17 June he commanded a column which captured the Id-gah battery of the rebels and took a 9-pounder gun. This battery was on the south west of Paharipur, opposite the curtain between the Lahore gate and Garstin bastion; it was enclosed in a fort, and threatened to enfilade the British position. Tombs had two horses shot under him, and was slightly wounded. Sir Henry Bernard, the same evening at the staff mess, personally thanked Tombs for the gallantry which he had displayed, and proposed his health. ‘The hero of the day was Harry Tombs … an unusually handsome man and a thorough soldier’ (, Forty-one Years in India, 1898, i. 175). Tombs also commanded a column in the action of 19 June under Hope Grant.

On 9 July 1857 Tombs went to the aid of Lieutenant James Hills (now Sir J. Hills-Johnes) of Tombs's troop, who was attacked by some rebel horse while he was posted with two guns on picquet duty at ‘the mound’ to the right of the camp. Tombs ran through the body with his sword a sowar who was on the point of killing Hills. Both Tombs and his subaltern received the Victoria Cross for their gallantry on this occasion.

Tombs commanded the artillery of the force under Brigadier-general John Nicholson [q. v.] at the battle of Najafgarh on 25 Aug. 1857, when the enemy endeavoured to intercept the siege-train coming from Firozpur, and were signally defeated. He commanded No. 4 (mortar) battery during the Delhi siege operations in September, and he commanded the horse artillery at the assault of that city on 14 Sept., when he was wounded (London Gazette, 13 Oct., 14 and 24 Nov., 15 Dec. 1857, and 16 Jan. 1858). He was promoted to be brevet lieutenant-colonel on 19 Jan., and was made a companion of the Bath, military division, on 22 Jan. 1858 for his services at the siege of Delhi.

In March 1858 Tombs, in command of the 2nd troop of the 1st brigade of Bengal horse artillery, joined the artillery division, under Sir Archdale Wilson, of Sir Colin Campbell's army assembled at the Alam-Bagh for the attack on Lucknow. He took part in the siege and capture of the city, and was honourably mentioned in general orders for his services. Tombs commanded his troop in the operations for the subjugation of Rohilkhand with the force under Brigadier-general Walpole. He left Lucknow on 7 April for Malaon, and, after the unsuccessful attack on Ruilja, took part on the 22nd in the action at Alaganj, when the enemy were driven across the river and four guns were captured. On the 27th Tombs, with this force, joined that of the commander-in-chief and marched on Shahjahanpur, which was found evacuated; on 3 May united with the troops commanded by Major-general R. Penny at Miranpur Katra; on the 4th arrived at Faridpur, a day's march from Bareli, and on the 5th took part in the battle of Bareli.

On 15 May Tombs and his troop marched with the commander-in-chief's force to the relief of Shahjahanpur, and took part in the action of 18 May. On 24 May he commanded the artillery in a force under Brigadier-general Jones against Mohamdi, out of which