Lieutenant Colonel Andrew John Macpherson (d. 1893)
/Lieutenant Colonel Andrew John Macpherson is commemorated by a memorial situated in the South Nave Aisle. Macpherson served at the Battle of Chilianwala and during the Indian mutiny.
Inscription reads:
In Loving Remembrance of
Lt. Col. Andrew John Macpherson
Died 4th April 1893.
This gallant officer of H.M. XXIV Regiment Served throughout the Punjab Campaign 1848 - 49
And was dangerously wounded at Chilianwala.
During the Indian Mutiny he commanded
A detachment in a severe action at Jhelum
for which he received
The thanks of the Commander-in-chief.
He subsequently raised the XXII Regiment Of Punjab Infantry in which he commanded
Until the close of the campaign, and was promoted for his distinguished services.
"Lord, I have loved the habitation of your house and the place where thine honour dwelleth."
Mary Mostyn, his wife, died 22 July 1935.
Lt. Col. Macpherson was commissioned as Ensign into the 24th Foot on 19th.April 1842. He became a Lieutenant on 26th July 1844 and Captain on 14th January 1849.
During the Punjab War of 1848/49, he was at the passage of the Chenab and at the action of Sadoolapore. He was severely wounded in the neck at Chilianwala and received the Punjab medal with the clasp for that battle. An account of the battle in which Macpherson is mentioned aned in which he gives some of his personal experiences aopears in the history of the South Wales Borderers (formerly 24th Foot) *
In the Indian Mutiny he commanded the 22nd. Punjab Regiment at Jhelum on 7th July 1857. In recognition of his services he was made a Brevet Major on 19th. January 1858.
Extract from the account of the Battle of Chilianwala taken from the Regimental History of the 24th Foot:
...The troops now halted and prepared to encamp, while the General endeavoured to reconnoitre the Sikh position as best he could. "Arms were piled," writes Macpherson, "artillery parked, horses off-saddled," the last thing anyohe expected being an immediate attack. Macpherson himself, with two other subalterns, having apparently no duties to attend to, climbed up a tree to do a little unofficial reconoitring. Greatly to their surprise they soon saw on the outskirts of the screen of jungle, "something flitting to and fro," which they recognised as the turbans of the Sikhs. As the inquisitive subalterns hastily dropped down from the tree to report their discoveries "round shot came pouring into our camp ground," and the Sikh artillery opened fire all along their line, revealing the fact that they had advanced their guns from their original position and that the camp chosen for the British position was well within their range.
(In the advance that followed the 24th had to pass through dense jungle which made control difficult. On emerging into the open the battalion came under very heavy fire. Instinctively the pace quickened and soon the Regiment was going forward at a run.)
Macpherson has described how the line pushed forward into the dense jungle, the men "answering the crash of the enemys Fire with one cheers" and pressing on undauntedly, though grape, canister and round shot swept them down in scores.
"My company," he writes, "was near the centre where the Colours were as a centre to aim at. One discharge of grape seems to have swept away my right section - for a moment I am alone and still unhurt. we go....the goal is almost won. from the guns more vivid, we can now aimEyuee thonen theasnoke the sakhs labouring at their guns....bayonets come down to the charge and with wild choking hurrahs, scarcely a shot having been fired, though our men were loaded, the battery is won."
*Col. Macpherson's accounts of the 24th’s doings were published under the title "Rambling Reminiscencies of the Punjab Campaign".
From the notebooks ‘The Naval and Military Memorials of Rochester Cathedral’ (1979)
by Roy Trett, OBE, TD,
Rochester Cathedral Chapter Library
The medieval tombs of the Presbytery and Quire Transept have had a tortured history which many effigies apparently moved and several defaced along with the medieval memorials and brasses over the Early Modern period.
Rochester Cathedral features an exceptionally large collection of Colonial-era military memorials and artefacts. This series has begun to highlight the stories behind these collections and their place in our global heritage.
