The two principle points of note about Mecham's career are therefore his involvement in the defence of Lucknow and his later prominent role in the activities of legendary cavalry force Hodson's Horse.

The Siege of Lucknow is a particularly prominent episode in the history of the Mutiny, and Mecham's illustrations gave images, rather sanitised ones, to the bloody ordeal that both besieged and besiegers experienced. The defenders were made up of British military men (many of whom had narrowly escaped the revolt and retribution of their Indian sepoy soldiers), loyal Indian soldiers and civilians, including large numbers of women and children.

Aside from his art, Mecham left a further record of the Siege in the form of a long letter to his mother, which thankfully survived and has been published, in abridged form, by the Journal of the Families in British India Society (Journals 18 (2007) & 19 (2008)). This letter has been preserved by the Mecham family and was transcribed by Sylvia Murphy.

In his letter, Mecham describes many aspects of the Siege and his personal experiences. He was present from the beginning until the very end, and the relief under Sir Colin Campbell. Mecham recounts details about the enemy's use of mines and explosives, as a way of gaining entry into the makeshift fortification. Mecham and the other soldiers set about detecting these mines as they were underway, counter-mining, destroying them, and in some cases breaking into the enemy mines and fighting underground.

He describes the horrific conditions during the siege, the death and suffering caused by enemy action and also cholera and other afflictions, and the need to keep the wounded underground, and bury the dead at night, due to enemy marksmen and artillery.

On one occasion, an explosion from a mine blew up a group of men including Mecham, but by chance he landed back on the rubble with practically no injuries. Most of his comrades were killed in the explosion.

The account, while making for grim reading, is an invaluable primary source.

As a lieutenant in Hodson's Horse, Mecham found himself transformed from an officer of Native Infantry, to a cavalryman. This raises several questions about his skills as a horseman, and also where he procured his cavalry equipment during wartime. This is also a very pertinent question which relates to the sword which has come into my custodianship, and which inspired this article. Through Beato's photographs, we can see that Mecham was equipped with some equipment that appears to have been cavalry-specific, one item being the sword. We shall come back to this point below.

Hodson's Horse was an irregular cavalry force, created by William Stephen Raikes Hodson, specifically to oppose the Bengal uprising. On 19th May 1857, General Anson issued the order, "Lieutenant W S R Hodson, 1st European Fusiliers, and officiating Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, is appointed Commandant of a corps of Irregular Horse, which he is directed to raise at Kurnaul".

During the Mutiny, Hodson's Horse achieved a legendary status for their effectiveness, due in large part to the larger-than-life figure of Hodson himself. Hodson was a man of singular drive, and after his execution of the princes at Delhi, many would say ruthlessness. Regardless of moral judgements, he was without question a superb soldier, horseman and swordsman. All accounts of the time speak loudly on these qualities, and there are several detailed accounts of his personal exploits in hand to hand combat. He led from the front, trained with his men (including sword and lance skills), and seems to have been loved by them.

Mecham can have barely known Hodson himself, having only joined the regiment a very short time before Hodson's death. But Mecham absolutely must have known Hodson's formidable reputation.

Should you want to learn more about Hodson or the regiment, you will find several books and a wealth of online material easily obtainable, so I shall not waste further space here.

As an officer of Hodson's Horse, Mecham was very active and present at several significant actions. At the Battle of Nawabganj on 13th June 1858, after a night march, the British-led cavalry decided to attack the right flank of the enemy position. Surprising the enemy with a dawn attack, the enemy nevertheless tried to attack the British rear in order to seize the supply train. In response, Hodson's Horse divided into two squadrons, Major Daly making a frontal attack, while Mecham took the other half, consisting of around 100 men, around to their left flank. This was successful, though Mecham was badly wounded in the process. Mecham seems to have been extremely active during this period, and like the other officers of Hodson's Horse, led from the front and got stuck in.

In November 2023, I was delighted to have the opportunity to acquire one of the swords of Clifford Henry Mecham. The sword's owner had been identified by a previous owner, but in my view not really appreciated in terms of his historical importance.

The sword came to me rather dirty and unloved. It had clearly been allowed to get rusty at some point and was subsequently cleaned, not very professionally. This has resulted in the loss of some hilt detail to the backpiece and guard. I have gently, and I hope more expertly, cleaned the sword since acquiring it, but due to its historical importance, I have not done any further work that might harm it. I am an archaeologist by training, after all, and I see this particular sword as an historical artifact to be preserved.

Firstly, why was Mecham buying a new sword in June 1859? The sword was started in June and finished in December 1859. The answer seems relatively simple: he had been promoted to command of the 3rd Regiment of Hodson's Horse, and also returned to England on sick leave. Either or both of these facts could have led him to order a new sword.

But let's also consider that when he joined Hodson's Horse, it was unplanned and he had been an infantry officer. It is highly likely that he was originally armed with an infantry officer's sword. It is unknown whether he still had that original sword at Lucknow, but if he did, then it is also possible that it got damaged or lost during that siege. I know from years of collecting and dealing that very many officers engaged in the Mutiny purchased new weapons right after the war, either because their Mutiny swords had been horribly damaged, or simply because they wanted better fighting weapons.

We know from Beato's photographs that in 1858, riding with Hodson's Horse, Mecham had a light cavalry officer's sword, with typical three bar hilt. The photos hint that his scabbard was perhaps leather covered, with exposed steel at the chape (the leather covering being a protection against the scabbard getting too painful to handle in the sun), or perhaps a wood and leather scabbard with steel fittings. Either is possible and both were popular adaptations to Indian service.

Aside from this, his Mutiny sword appears very normal and regulation for a light cavalry officer. It's not a patent solid hilt, the guard is conventional, the blade is slightly curved. He appears to be using a white or beige buff leather sword knot, and is also armed with an Adams 1851 model revolver, probably in 'Dragoon' 38 bore (.50).

Where did he get the sword? Was he already equipped with this sword in the Madras Native Infantry? Not impossible - Native Infantry officers certainly did sometimes carry cavalry swords. Or was this something he acquired after joining Hodson's Horse?

In any case, here I have a different sword, which the Wilkinson records (thanks to Richard Milner at Wilkinson Sword Research) show Mecham purchased in 1859. There is no doubt that he purchased the sword for himself, rather than as a gift for someone else, as his initials are plainly etched on the blade.

Moreover, we see that in this photograph of 1863 or 1864, he is now equipped with a new sword. I believe this very same sword now in my possession: