THERE WAS NOTHING BUT GOD ABOVE AND DUTY BELOW.
This was how Neville Chamberlain described his spartan existence on the frontier, far from the comforts of English society in a state of constant war and where he was an instrument of God's righteous will.

He was born 1820 in Rio de Janeiro the second son of Consul-general 1st Baronet Sir Henry Chamberlain, and as many spare sons of the gentry did he would go to find fame and fortune in India in the employment of the EIC

After a difficult and abortive attempt to gain a commission in the artillery he was persuaded to join the company and used family connections to secure a cadetship in the Bengal army and was shipped to India at 17, where he would be plunged into the crucible that was Afghanistan.

He was in the 16th BNI which was attached to the army of the Indus, and along with his younger brother Crawford took part in the storming of the Citadel at Ghzani. It was in this area he first crossed paths with John Nicholson who even at 19 appeared marked for greatness

The meeting was short lived as Chamberlains regiment was dispatched to Kandahar, and it was from here were he would witness Afghanistan's decent into Anarchy. He was apart of the army of retribution sent to Kabul to punish the Afghans and restore some British Honour

When Kabul was recaptured he was exposed to the realities of war as he saw vengeful British and Indian soldiers loot Kabul and raze it to the ground, it disgusted him. But this display of violence did not deter the Afghans from harassing the army all the way back to India

The retreat was made worse as they were marching along the corpse and bones of Elphinstones army being fired on snipers who appeared unreachable. It wasn't until Jalalabad that Neville was able to round up some of his attackers and out them to the sword

At the end of the Khyber pass at the edge of the Peshawar plain Chamberlain received his 5th and most life threatening wound, when he was shot in the thigh. The wound meant he was forced from frontline service and saw him transferred to the Governor Generals Bodyguard

However the wound was refusing to heal in the Indian climate meaning he was forced to return to England in 1845, meaning he wound miss the impending war between the Sikhs and British something he would deeply regret as he they were "an enemy worth facing"

He returned to India late in 1846 and was given a position as secretary to the Governor of Bombay, but this would soon change when Henry Lawrence sent for him to become the commissioner for Rawalpindi. It was from here he would play a key role in the coming Sikh uprising

He was given command of the 4th Irregular Cavalry Brigade, he distinguished himself at Chillianwala when we swam across the Chenab river, in full flood, to scout out the Sikh position

At Goojerat he again demonstrated his bravery through the immense "number of enemy he slew", and was personally thanked by Hugh Gough for his services. After this he was sent to Peshawar to drive Afghan marauders back across the mountains

With the Sikhs now conquered maters turned to integrating the region into the EICs government and Chamberlain was then given a series of civil and military roles ranging from assistant to James Abbott at Haripur to Military secretary of the Punjab board

But most significantly he was given command of the Punjab irregular field force, a large and incredibly loyal body of soldiers who would prove indispensable in the years to come

In May 1857, after months of growing tension in the Bengal army, violence erupted on the 10th with the Sepoys of Meerut rampaging through the Cantonment and marching on Delhi. News reached Peshawar on the 11th where Edwardes, Nicholson Chamberlain and Cotton held a council of war

A moveable column was assembled and Neville was given command with the orders to advance on Delhi and help sieze it back. He found comfort in God and the divine nature of British rule knowing that if he was to die it was part of God's will.

He was not destined to stay with the column and was needed at Delhi to become the Adjutant-General for the Field Force attacking the city, he wrote "to die doing one's duty is the best if deaths". The British foothold at Delhi appeared tenuous, high thousands of mutineers

pouring into the city where as the British army would never amount to more than 10,000 at its peak. They faced constant attacks and the ever present threat of disease and the fact senior officers dropped dead like mayflys

It was during an attack on the Sabzi Mandi suburb meant to drive the rebels back to the city and secure Delhi ridge that Chamberlain was again wounded, when he was shot through the arm while clearing a walled garden of mutineers. He would be confined for the rest of the siege

For the rest of the battle all he could do was recover and provide as much support as he could to John Nicholson by ensuring that Archdale Wilson did not succumb to cowardice and withdraw from the city. However during the final assault he was forced to take command

Of a retreating column and rally them to repulse the rebels. He was also there to watch his great friend John Nicholson die to wounds sustained in the city watching his burial a week later.

When he had regained his health he was again awarded command of the Punjab Irregular Force in 1858. He had grown tired of war and wrote to his brother that he no longer wished to see active service, but his skills were needed and he went on to fight on the frontier

Especially at the particularly crucial campaign at Ambela where he was again shot through the right arm at Crag Piquet. He would be famously known as the most wounded British officer in India. He was awarded command of the Madras army which he led for 6 years

But he was again sent to the frontier 1878 when he commanded a diplomatic mission to Afghanistan, but was blocked at Ali Masjid the site where he helped bury John Nicholsons brother Alexander. He would retire in 1881 and die in 1902

Chamberlain had sacrificed much blood and gave forty four years of his life in service to India, first to the East India Company and then to the Crown and he had served honourably throughout his long career.

"Chamberlain was the soul of chivalry"

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