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| Edward Spence was born in Dumfries on 28 Dec 1830. During the Indian Mutiny he was with the 42nd Highlanders taking part in the unsuccessful attack on Fort Ruhya in Rohilicund on 15 April 1858. Two officers were killed in this attack and their bodies lay in positions exposed to enemy fire. Private Spence volunteered with others to retrieve the body of the officer at the top of the glacis, the slope leading up to the fortress walls. In the process of this highly dangerous operation he covered the men who were carrying the body and was mortally wounded. He died two days later on 17 April. He received the Victoria Cross posthumously, gazetted on 27 May 1859, and 15 Jan 1907. |
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