He was 25 years old when fighting in the action that resulted in his being awarded the VC. On 27 September 1858, at Suhejnee (Sahejani), near Peroo, Bengal, Chicken was attached to a party of cavalry from the Bengal Military Police Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Charles George Baker, and accompanied by a detachment of the 3rd Sikh Irregular Cavalry commanded by Lieutenant William Edward Delves Broughton. They routed a force of about 700 mutineers and in the pursuit which followed, Chicken forged ahead and charged into the middle of about 20 mutineers, killing five before he was forced off his horse and injured, sustaining severe wounds to his left wrist and left shoulder joints. He would have been killed if four of his fellow troopers had not arrived and rescued him.