£3,000
Punjab Medal, 1849, named to Capt. R. N. Tronson. 2nd. Eur. Regt., with two clasps, Chilianwalla and Goojerat. The very first officer to take command of the newly formed Shanghai Volunteer Corps.
Robert Nixon Tronson was born in 1820 in Newry, Ireland. In 1881 he was living at 27 Avenue Elmers, Kingston on Thames, Surrey, married to Maria Jane Durrell (nee Cooke) with eight children, (three daughters and five sons) and three servants. His occupation is listed as Colonel in the Indian Army. In Burke's peerage he is noted as being a Major General in the Bengal Staff Corps.
In 1839 Tronson was serving as an ensign with the 56th regiment of Native Infantry at Dinapore; he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Bengal (European) Light Infantry (later 2nd European Bengal Fusiliers) on 29th January 1840 and 1st Lieutenant on 15th August 1842 attaining his captaincy on 15th November 1849. He served with them in the second Sikh War in the Punjab. The National Archives of India show him being put at the disposal of the Foreign Department for employment in the Punjab in 1851 and he is appointed both a Pension Pay Master for the regiment in Lahore and a captain in the Punjab police. In 1853 his career takes an unusual turn when Captain Tronson took command of the newly formed Shanghai Volunteer Corps, a small unit formed during the Taiping rebellion that was to see action in the Battle of Muddy Flat in April 1854 against Imperial Chinese troops*. It is believed that this battle was the first time the Americans and British had fought side by side as allies on land.
Tronson is appointed to the Bengal Staff Corps and promoted to Major in 1861. He passed away on November 9th 1882 in London.
* Notes on the Shanghai Volunteer Corps. Major A McKenzie Annand TD. Journal for the Society for Army Historical Research vol 53 no 214 Summer 1975 page 98.
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