Assignment # 6

William Hall VC (April 28, 1827– August 25, 1904) was the first black person, the first Nova Scotian, and third Canadian-born recipient of the Victoria Cross. Born at Horton's Bluff, Nova Scotia, in 1827 as the son of freed American slaves, at age 17 Hall joined the merchant navy as a seaman. Later, he volunteered for the Royal Navy at Liverpool, England, February 1852.
When the Indian Mutiny broke out in May 1857, Hall was on HMS Shannon en route to China. She was intercepted and ordered to Calcutta (city has been renamed Kolkata). A Shannon Brigade was formed of several gunners, sailors, and marines, under Captain William Peel. The ship was towed over 600 miles up the Ganges River to Allahabad. Then the force fought across country to Campbell's headquarters at Cawnpore and were in time to take part in the relief of Lucknow.
On 16 November 1857 at Lucknow, India, naval guns were brought up close to the Shah Nujeff mosque, and the gun crews kept up a steady fire in an attempt to breach the waIls, while a hail of musket balls and grenades from the mutineers inside the mosque caused heavy casualties. Able Seaman Hall and Lieutenant Thomas James Young, the battery's commander, were eventually the only survivors, all the rest having been killed or wounded, and between them they loaded and served the last gun.
Hall remained with the Navy, rising to the rating of Quartermaster Petty Officer in HMS Peterel before he retired in 1876 and returned to his home village in Horton Bluff. Hall is buried in Hantsport, Nova Scotia where his grave is marked by a monument at the Baptist church. His Victoria Cross is preserved at the Nova Scotia Museum.