William Robert CORFIELD ¹

  General Notes:

William Robert Corfield was sent to England as a boy and educated at Blundell's School in Devon. (14th August 1817 - 29th June 1821) On leaving school he enlisted in the HEIC (Honourable East India Company), arriving in India 4th May 1822. While an ensign he dispersed a body of mutinous troops belonging to the ruler of Oudh and seized two guns that they brought against him. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1823, he was a the siege and capture of Bhurtpore in 1825, and subsequently awarded the India Medal with clasp. As Captain, 31st NI (Native Infantry), he was awarded another medal in 1832. William was involved in operations in the Kol country 1836-37, and in 1837 commanded the 31st Bengal NI throughout the First Afghan War.
The First Afghan. War (1838-40) began because of a perceived threat from the Russians whose influence at the Persian court was seen as a move against British India. Because of this, a large HEIC army moved into Afghanistan to give control of Kabul to the faction they supported. Although the aim of the expeditionary force was Kabul, they initially had to capture Ghazni (Khelat) which they besieged on 21/22 July 1839. It soon became apparent to Gen Keane, leading the force, that it was impossible to besiege the town for long. It was also impractical to bypass it for Kabul because lines of communication could be cut. Thus Keane decided on an immediate attack, and his soldiers massed at the Kabul gate ready to storm it two days later. A wing of the 31st Bengal NI, under the command of William Corfield, was involved in this attack.
The first group of soldiers under Col Dennie charged to seize control of the gate and hold it waiting for the rest of the HEIC soldiers to advance into the fort. However the vanguard, instead of holding the gate, entered the town, and routed the soldiers inside it. The rest of the troops suspected that this vanguard had been surrounded and isolated, so hesitated. Brig Sale, who was in charge of the attack on the gate, held back and decided not to commit reinforcements as he was certain that Dennie's troops had been cut to pieces. News soon reached Sale that this was not so, and the bugler, taking the initiative, instead of blasting the retreat, called for an 'advance double' and the town was captured. Over 1200 Afghan soldiers were killed and 1600 captured, compared to 17 HEIC soldiers lost and 165 injured. William Corfield was awarded a bronze star medal with clasp, and the British force marched towards Kabul which fell without a fight. William was in Kabul until 1840 when his regiment was withdrawn. The War ended with the British withdrawal from Kabul in 1842.
In 1842, William was attached to the Light Infantry Brigade of the Army of the Sutlej. In 1843 he served in the Gwalior Campaign and was present at the battle of Maharajpore, in which he was awarded another bronze star. William then served in the Second Sikh War, with his brother in the 31st NI, at Ramnagar, Sadulapuir, Chilianwala, Gujerat, and the subsequent pursuit of the Sikhs and Afghans to Peshawar. As a result he was promoted to a Major, 2 February 1845, in 31st NI (commanding 30th NI).
He commanded the regiment which formed part of the force proceeding to Kohat under Sir Charles Napier, fighting Afridis at Kohat Pass in February 1850, in which he was awarded a frontier medal with clasp, and was promoted to Brevet Lieut-Col after the end of the Sikh War. He was promoted to Lieut-Col in 1851, going on leave until 1857.
William was transferred to 34th NI, 4 July 1857, which was involved in the Mangal Pande incident at the beginning of the Indian Mutiny, and was technically disbanded before it mutinied. His obituary noted: 'During the eleven years he commanded the 31st Bengal NI the regiment attained a higher degree of discipline, so much so that it was the only battalion of the Bengal Army which remained loyal throughout the Mutiny'. He is also the only Corfield to be recorded in Kaye and Malleson's monumental work on the Mutiny. They record that William commanded a small and loyal force in May 1858, which took part in a number of skirmishes and 'had beaten the rebels continuously.'
As a result of this, William had been transferred to the 22nd NI, which had also mutinied. However he was then posted to China. The HEIC had controlled the opium trade with China, having fought a war (1839-40) over this. In 1850 a Rebellion had broken out in which a young intellectual mounted a challenge to the Chinese Emperor. This took on a religious fervour, as the Taipings as his supporters became known, adopted Christian beliefs. For several years it looked as though the Taipings would seize power, and as a result the European powers, anxious to preserve their trade with Imperial China, sent in soldiers with the additional aim of extracting further concessions from the Chinese. This stance had come about after Palmerston won the 1857 British elections. Thus the Bengal Brigade, under William Corfield, was despatched to China where it remained 1858-60, after which he was awarded a medal and promoted to being Colonel in 1860. He was eventually promoted to General on .the same day as his brother, Frederick. William died 30 November 1882, at 128 Lexham Gdns, Earl's Court, leaving £2663 in his Will.

  Notes:

• Occupation: 31st NI, 1843-1855, Bengal, India. ²

• Census: Lt Gen H M Army, 3 Apr 1881, 128 Lexham Gardens, Kensington, London, England. ³

William married Mary Anne SELLACK. (Mary Anne SELLACK was born in 1835 in Plymouth, Devon, England and died on 15 Sep 1921 in Southsea, Hampshire.)