The Armies of India - Fletcher

7/22/2019 The Armies of India - Fletcher

1/541

, /. '..


2/541

Cornell UniversityLibrary

The original of tiiis book is intine Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions inthe United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022927283


3/541


4/541


5/541

Cornell University LibraryUA 842.M16The armes of India /

3 1924 022 927 283

THE ARMIES OF INDIA


6/541

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUMEEACH CONTAINING FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

IN COLOURINDIA

By MORTIMER MENPES akdFLORA ANNIE STEELKASHMIR

By Major E. MOLYNEUX, D.S.O., andSir FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND, K.C.I.E.

BURMABy R. TALBOT KELLYA. AND C. BLACK, 4, 5 AND 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, w.

AGENTSAmerica . . The Macmillan Company64 & 66 Fifth Ayinue, New YorkAustralasia , . The Oxford University Press

205 Flinders Lane, MelbourneCanada . . The Macmillan Company of Canada, Ltd,

St. Martin's House, 70 Bond Street, TorontoIndia .... Macmillan & Company, Ltd.Macmillan Building, Bombay

309 Bow Bazaar StSeet, Calcutta


7/541


8/541

V\


9/541

HIS MAJESTYTHE KING-EMPEROR


10/541


11/541

THE

ARMIES OF INDIAPAINTED BYMAJOR A. C. LOVETT

THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE REGIMENTDESCRIBED BY

MAJOR G. F. MacMUNN, D.S.O.ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY

WITH FOREWORD BYFIELD-MARSHAL EARL ROBERTS

V.C, K.G., K.P., O.M., Etc.

LONDONADAM AND CHARLES BLACK

1911


12/541

Gardner's Horse, 1850


13/541

FOREWORDIt wiU readily be believed that I have read thisshort history of the Armies of India, written byMajor MacMunn and illustrated by Major Lovett,with the greatest interest. Having spent so manyeventful years of my life in India, and having beenso intimately associated with the Indian Army, inpeace and war, I think that no one is better ablethan myself to esteem that Army at its proper value,as regards what it haswith the help of Britishtraining and exampleachieved in the past, or toappreciate what it is capable of doing in the futureunder the same conditions. And this intimate kTiow-ledge of its capabilities enables me to realize to thefullest extent the enormxtus responsibility which restsupon all who are concerned with the administrationand handling of such a splendid andpotent machine.It is most imperfectly known in England, and often


14/541

vi THE ARMIES OF INDIAinsufficiently understood in India, how diverse anddivergent in many respects are the numerous raceswhich we enlist into our Indian Armyin creed, incustoms, in temperainent, and traditions. Yet eachand all of these factors must be attentively studied,and the most careful consideration given to thedifference of treatment they impose in arrangingthe conditions of service for such widely differentidiosyncrasies, if we would maintain and developthe fighting efficiency of our Indian soldiers, andthe strength of the bonds of loyalty and devotionby which they are attached to our service. MajorMacMunns masterly review of the methods bywhich the ewisting army has attained its presentstate of perfection will greatly help to a properunderstandingfor the necessity of carefully study-ing the varying characteristics of the several Indianraces J while the admirable illustrations by MajorLovett clearly depict the fine physical types wehave in our Indian soldiers. For these reasons Icordially recommend this book to all who areinterested in the welfare and prosperity of ourgreat Indian Army more particularly to allofficers of the British and Indian Services whose


15/541

FOREWORD viiduty must constantly bring them into contact withIndian troops.

In conclusion, let me say that no account of theArmies of India would be complete which did notinclude a description of the Imperial Service Tro&psorganized and maintained by the Rulers of thegreat Feudatory States of Hindustan ; and I ampleased, therefore, to see that the origin and develop-ment of these fine, serviceable troops are fully setforth in this volume. Encouraged by the BritishGovernment, and advised and assisted by Britishofficers, these corpspersonally led by their ownPrinceshave more than justified the high expecta-tions formed of them when their organization wasfirst proposed; and they constitute, at the presenttime, a mxrral and material accession of strength tothe paramcmntpower which can hardly be overrated.

The joint authors of this interesting volume havedone their work well, and I hope that their interest-ing and instructive narrative will have the widecirculation which it deserves.

ROBERTS, F.M.


16/541


17/541

CONTENTSPAGEForeword ....... . v

CHAPTER IThe Army of the Honourable East India Company . 1

CHAPTER nThe two great Mahratta Wars ... .37

CHAPTER mThe Army of the Great Mutiny 82

CHAPTER IVThe Indian Armies under the Crown . 106

CHAPTER VThe Military Races of India . . .129

ix


18/541

X THE ARMIES OF INDIACHAPTER VI

PAOEThe Indian Armv in 1911 . . . . .173

CHAPTER VIIThe Armies of the Native States .... ipi

CHAPTER VIIIConclusion ......... 208INDEX 221


19/541

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS1. His Majesty the King-Emperor '. . . Frontispiece

FADING PAGE2. Corps present at the Siege and Assault of Delhi,

1857

Cavalry

3. Governor-General's Bodyguard' 4. Governor's Bodyguard, Madras .5. Governor's Bodyguard, Bombay6. 1st Duke of York's Own Lancers and 3rd SkinnerHorse......7. British Officers of Indian Cavalry8. 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry and 8th9. 10th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers

10. 11th King Edward's Own Lancers11. 12fh Cavalry ....12. 14th Murray's Jat Lancers13. 15th Lancers ....14. 18th King George's Own Lancers15. 19th Lancers ....16. The former Hyderabad Contingent Cavalry .17. 25th Cavalry

24610

1216202428;32 >34'38.40444648


20/541

xii THE ARMIES OF INDIAFACING PAGE

18. 27tli-irigfit Cavalry and 26th King George's OwnLight Cavalry ....... 52

19. 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers . . . - 54n0. 32nd Lancers, 33rd Queen's Own Light Cavalry, and34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse . 5621. 37th Lancers/35th Scinde Horse, and 36th Jacob's ^ ^

Horse 6022. 38th King George's Own Central India Horse . . 64H23. Queen's Own Corps of Guides . .... 6624. No. 31 Mountain Battery 7025. 2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners ... 7226. 3rd Sappers and Miners ...... 7627. 1st and 3rd Brahmans 8028. Rajput Regiments ....... 8429. 5th Light Infantry and 6th Jat Light Infantry . . 8830. Pioneer Regiments ....... 9031. 15th Ludhiana Sikhs 9432. 19th Punjabis 9633. 20th Duke of Cambridge's Own Infantry and 30th i/ii

Punjabis 10034. Punjab Regiments . . . . . . .104

35. 22nd Punjabis 10836. 24th Punjabis 11237. 26th Punjabis II638. Dogras 11839. S3rd Punjabis 120-40. 35th Sikhs 124^41. 39th Garhwal Rifles 12642. 40th Pathans .130


21/541

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii^ FACING PAGE43. 42nd D^'Regiment . . ^ . . .13244. 43rd Erinpura Regiment, 44th Mcrwara Infantry, and

lOSthJirfantry . . ^ 13645. 45th Rattray's Sikhs 13846.^gth'and33rdPmijabis J/'^? ^- . . . .14047. Frontier Force........ 14248. Frontier Force . .14449. Camatic Infantry 14850. 82nd Punjabis 15251. The former Hyderabad Contingent Infantry . 15452. 101st Grenadiers and 102nd King Edward's Own

i^i^r^ . Grenadiers ........ 15653. Mahratta Infantry 15854. Rajputana Infantry . . . . .16255. 124th Duchess of Connaught's Own Baluchistan

*) ' Infantry ........ l64^6. 125th Napier's Rifles I66' 57. 127th Queen Mary's Own Baluch Light Infantry . 16858. 2nd King Edward's Own Gurkha Rifles . .1705^. 4th Gurkha Rifles 17260. 6th Gurkha Rifles 17461. 9th Gurkha Rifles 17862. Major - General H.H. Maharaja Sir Pratap Singh

Bahadur, G.C.S.I., K.C.B 180&Z. Colonel H.H. Maharaja Sir Ganga Singh, Bahadur of

Bikaner, G.C.I.E., K.C.S.1 18464. Alwar Lancers 18865. Jodhpur Sardar Risala 190&%. Bikaner Ganga Risala 192


22/541

THE ARMIES OF INDIA67. Mysore Transport Corps and Mysore Lancers


23/541

THE AEMIES OF INDIACHAPTER I

THE ARMY OF THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIACOMPANY

By the legion's road to Rimini.The English have as yet ruled in India barelyone -half the time that the Romans ruled inBritain, though their rule in the East has muchin common with that of Rome north of theChannel. For the last century and a half havethe English legions, European and Indian, trampedthe trunk roads of Hindustan as those of Rometramped Merry England before it was Englandat all. Up and down the length and breadth ofIndia, as up and down Watling Street and theVia Fossa, or up and down the legion's road toRimini, at the legion's pace, have tramped thoseEnglish legions since Clive decided that there


24/541

2 THE ARMIES OF INDIAshould be one king and not a dozen in India,and that one, neither French nor Dutch norPortuguese.And the marvel of it all is that these trampingdisciplined legions are not the beef and porridgeand potato-reared lads of the Isles, but for themost part men of the ancient races of Hindustan,ruled and trained and led after the manner ofthe English.From the doorkeepers and trained bands thatfirst guarded the factories of the early merchants,the army of John Company Bahadur grew andprospered, by the secret of ever-increasing scopeand labour, till it became the great shako -cladarmy of the Line that vanished for the most partin the tragedy of '37.

Of the three great presidential armies, thelarger part, that of Bengal, and part of that ofBombay, disappeared, and with it the gloriousrecord of successful war and faithful service, in astorm of unreasoned and uncalled-for mutiny, thatburied in a month the tradition of a century.

The army that now upholds the Empire ofHindustan, is based on a systematic grouping ofmen by race and sept and clan, with a view to thefull development of race efficiency.


25/541


26/541

CORPS PRESENT AT THE SIEGE AND ASSAULT OF DELHI, 1857loTH Duke of Cam-9TH bridge's OwnHodson's Horse Lancers(Hodson's Horse)

S7THWilde's Rifles(Frontier Force)

1STKing George'sOwn SappersAND Miners

2IST PrinceAlbert Victor'sOwn Cavalry(Frontier Force)(Daly's Horse)

S5THCoke's Rifles(Frontier Force)

22NDSam Browne'sCavalry(Frontier Force)

3RD QueenAlexandra'sOwn GurkhaRifles

32ND Sikh PioneersQueen's Own Corps

. of Guides(Lumsden's)

54TH Sikhs(Frontier Force)

2ND KingEdward's OwnGurkha Rifles(The Sirmoor Rifles)

S6th PunjabiRifles

(Frontier Force)

127TH QueenMary's OwnBaluch LightInfantry


27/541

f'l


28/541


29/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 3This careful grouping has been the subject of

much attention during the last twenty years, andhas called for a thorough study of the clans andtribal systems of India, ending in a method ofrecruiting which is remarkable, and of a rankand file which is numerous and admirable. Itis also well calculated to prevent the decline ofmartial qualities, which follows so quickly in theEast on an era of peace. The results of twentyyears of this system it is the object of this bookto describe and Ulustrate. To arrive, however, atthe present stage, and to understand that vastorganization by class and clan which are illustratedherein, it is necessary to trace the rise of the armiesof India through their separate presidential exist-ence, to one vast whole.

It is proposed to deal with the subject in thefollowing order :

The Army of the Honourable East India Company.The Army of the Great Mutiny.The Armies as transferred to the Crown.The MiUtary clans and tribes.The Indian Army of to-day.The Armies of the Feudatory States.The army of great John Company took its origin

from three separate nuclei, separated by many


30/541

4 THE ARMIES OF INDIAmiles of road and sea and hostile territory.These three centres originated in, first, an ensignand thirty men, reinforced by a gunner and hiscrew, stationed in Bengal towards the end of theseventeenth century ; second, a detachment sentto garrison Bombay, the dower of Catherine ofBraganza, Charles the Second's bride ; and third,the forming of companies and soldiers from factorydoorkeepers and watchmen in Madras. Thesecuriously haphazard beginnings were the unmedi-tated foundations of three immense armies ofhorse, foot, and artillery.

The raising of actual native regiments was firstundertaken by the French, and it was due to thecoming struggle for mastery in Southern Indiathat we owe the first conception of a regular nativearmy. In 1748 Dupleix raised several battalionsof Musalman soldiery armed in the Europeanfashion in the Carnatic, and a few years laterStringer Lawrence followed suit in Madras. Thedistances that separated the three presidenciesresulted in each force growing up on divergentprinciples and with different organizations, of whichthe ill results survive to some extent even to thisday. European companies were formed from de-tachments sent from England, from runaway sailors,


31/541


32/541

GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S BODYGUARDDaffadar

Sayyid ofShahpur [Musalman)


33/541


34/541


35/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 5men of disbanded French corps, from Swiss andHanoverians, from prisoners of war, and any whitematerial in search of a livelihood. In 1748 theregular European corps of the Company's service,who now form part of the British Line and theRoyal Artillery, were first formed from theseheterogeneous detachments and scattered com-panies. In 1754 the first Royal troops came totake their share in garrisoning the East Indies, the39th foot being the first in the Indies. By 1759,two years after Plassey, six regular native battalionsexisted in Madras, and a few years later similarcorps were formed in Bombay.

During the constant wars with the French,with Mysore and the Mahrattas, the presidentialarmies grew and developed and were brigaded. In1793 the fall of Pondicherry for the last time endedonce and for all the power of the French in India,though their influence lasted for many years after,and even in the year of grace 1911 there are oldnative ofiicers to be found in the Feudatory Stateswho can drill their men in French. When thisgreat struggle came to an end, and Lord Cornwallishad humbled the Tiger of Mysore, and, after themanner of the English, given him one more chance,it became high time to put some organization and


36/541

6 THE ARMIES OF INDIAsystem into the mass of troops that had grown upduring the years of war. So in 1795 we comeupon the first general reconstruction, on a definiteprinciple, throughout the three armies. At thisdate there were 13,000 Europeans in the country.King's and Company's, and some 24,000 nativetroops in Bengal and Madras respectively, with9000 in Bombay. The reorganization took theaccepted form of collecting artillery companiesinto battalions, cavalry troops into regiments, andforming the infantry into two-battalion regiments.This of course meant renumbering the whole of thebattalions in each of the three armies except thefirst half, and incurring the usual dislike of corpsfor a change of the number under which they havewon fame, however necessary that be. Theuniforms of corps were more strictly assimilatedto those of the King's troops, and a regular armycame into being.

The result was as follows :Benffal.-r-Europea.n Artillery. Three battalions of 5 com-panies each.

European Infantry. Three battalions of 10 com-panies each.

Native Cavalry. Four regiments.Native Infantry. Twelve regiments of 2 bat-

talions.


37/541


38/541

GOVERNOR'S BODYGUARD, MADRASMadrasi Musalman


39/541


40/541


41/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 7MadrasEuropean Infantry. Two battalions of 10 com-

panies.Artillery. Two European battalions of 5 com-panies each, with 15 companies of lascars.Native Cavalry. Four regiments.Native Infantry. Eleven regiments of 2 bat-

talions.Bombay,European Artillery. Six companies.

European Infantry. Two battalions of 10 com-panies.

Native Infantry. Four regiments of 2 battalionsand a marine battalion.

In those days the whole of India swarmed withmen of military predilections. The Afghan races,who for the last sixty years have been cribbed andconfined to their own hills, wandered at will throughthe land to sell their sword to the highest bidder.Every native chief had Arab and Afghan soldiery.Afghan soldiers of fortune, on the waning of theMogul authority, had hacked their way to powerand were forming principalities. The Rohillas. thedescendants of Afghan and Turki settlers, still pre-served many of their original characteristics, anddrew fresh recruits from relatives in the borderhills.

The old coast armies were largely filled by theseadventurers or their half-bred children, or else bylow-caste men, who on European food and with


42/541

8 THE ARMIES OF INDIAEuropean leading gladly fought the high -casteraces that had oppressed them. The irregularhorse, which came into being in Lord Lake's time,was largely recruited from the soldiers of fortuneand masterless men that broke away from thefalling fortunes of the crumbling States. It shouldbe remembered that in few cases were the rulersthen going down before us more than mushroomkingsadventurers who had themselves displacedthe old rulers or the old Mogul governors ; in hardlyany case had they more claim to power than thegood old rule ; the simple plan. The slackening ofthe Mogul authority had been the signal for a vastscramble among the free-lances, in which thecruelty and oppression endured by the long-suffer-ing peasantry was beyond belief. To every districtfrom which British successes had driven the free-lance and the alien Schwartzrdter, the Britishuniform and the white face were a sign offreedom and mercy, when the peasant dare tillthe field and the woman creep out from herhovel.

Then, too, because in every land, but moreespecially in the East, it is good to be on thewinning side, soldiers of all kinds flocked to theCompany's colours, and the leader of free-lances


43/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 9tried to preserve some izzat^ in serving the newmaster, who at any rate paid regularly.

In 1798 Lord Mornington, later the MarquisWellesley, The great Marquis, became Governor-General, and, seeing farther ahead than most,realized that whatever the folk at home would say,the British in the East must either go forward or beoverwhelmed, and that forthwith, and so determinedthat however so much others might care to fritteraway an empire, he would have none of it. Alreadyfar-seeing men had settled that there was to be oneEuropean power in Hindustan, fighting the Frenchwherever they found them, and Lord Morningtonhad determined that there should not only be oneEuropean power, but only one paramount power inthe Peninsula. With the fall of the French State,French soldiers of fortune had drifted to most ofthe native courts of India, ready to minister to thedesire for what then seemed the secret of power,troops trained on the European model. Mahrattaand Musalman States, alarmed at the might of theEnglish, were preparing to destroy the power of theCompany. Buonaparte himself was openly traffick-ing with Tippoo in Mysore, with Scindia, withHolkar and the Bhonsla, the leading chiefs of the

' Prestige.


44/541

10 THE ARMIES OF INDIAMahratta confederacy, while the French Isles ofFrance and Bourbon harboured privateers to preyon the Indiamen, and formed a base for designs onIndia itself.

So the great Marquis started forth himself tostrike first, lest worse befall. Tippoo, the Tiger ofMysore, profiting little by the chance given him sixyears earlier by Lord Cornwallis, again broke alance, and fell once and for all to General Harris.Arthur Wellesley and Stevenson broke the powerof Scindia in two pitched battles and a dozensuccessful sieges and assaults. General Lake, theCommander-in-Chief, led his troops from Bengalagainst the chief gatherings of the Mahrattas,defeating Scindia's trained forces, the army thatDe Boigne and Perron had organized with suchcare, at Deig and Laswarrie. Delhi fell, the oldblind Mogul was rescued from his Mahrattajailers and pensioned, and Holkar was chased byLake for 350 miles, till he fled to his own country.

Then came the swing back of the pendulum,and the British took reverses that lessened theirhold on the imagination of the East for many yearsto come. General Lake left the final pursuit ofHolkar to a force under Colonel Monson of the76th Foot, and that ofiicer followed far away from


45/541


46/541

GOVERNOR'S BODYGUARD, BOMBAYMusalman Rajfut


47/541


48/541


49/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 11his own base and into the season of the rains, tillHolkar, tampering with his auxiUaries, and evenwith his regular troops, turned on him. Monson wascompelled to retire, and the withdrawal graduallychanged to a flight, and the flight to a debacle,despite the heroism of his Europeans, and some ofhis native troops. The second reverse was theCommander-in-Chief's failure to take Bhurtpore,the capital of a Hindu State. Time after time werehis columns, usually headed by the 76th Foot, hurledback from the impracticable breaches with heavyloss, till at last the old soldier reluctantly determinedto abandon the siege of the great mud fortress ;and for years after, when our action was thoughthigh-handed, we were told to go bully Bhurtpore.With the exception of these two failures, the threeyears' campaign against the Mahrattas was con-spicuous by its success, and by the treaties whichbrought the States concerned, not within the actualBritish Empire, but to a definite state of alliedfeudatories, with in many cases their power forevil at any rate much curtailed.

There is an old medal, so old that its youngestwearer has long passed to his rest, which com-memorates the days when the great sepoy armywas evolving itself in the school of experience as an


50/541

12 THE ARMIES OF INDIAarmy of the Line, in battle and march and siege,earning much fame in the process. It bears theinscription, To the Army of India, and its tallyof clasps includes the history of the wars of theMarquis Wellesley, of Arthur Wellesley, hisbrother, and General Gerard Lake, the Commander-in-Chief, as well as the later victories ofLord Moiraand Malcolm and Hislop. Assaye, Argaum,Ghawilghur, Asseerghur, Laswarrie,AUighur, Battle of Deig, Capture ofDeig,Battle of Delhi, Defence of Delhi, are among

the honours that the medal commemorates, andwhich were borne on the colours of corps till, forthe most part of the Bengal Army, they were wipedoff the record in the whirlwind of Mutiny.

During these wars more regiments, both horseand foot, were continually being raised, and afterthem the army became still more regular and con-trolled by regulation, in close touch with theincreasing garrison of King's troops, and more andmore European in its dress and equipment.Irregulars too were added to the army at thisperiod, and as the question of regulars versusirregulars has been hotly argued in India in thepast, it may be well to understand the difference.To-day, the Silladar Cavalry are the legitimate


51/541


52/541

1st duke of YORK'S OWN 3rd SKINNER'S HORSELANCERS Muscdman Rajput(SKINNER'S HORSE)Hindustani Musalman


53/541

A B-Uwm


54/541


55/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 13heirs of the old irregulars, and the whole nativearmy is largely modelled on what fifty years agowas termed the Irregular System. The regulararmy, both horse and foot, resembled in its organiza-tion the British Line. The establishment of officersresembled that of the King's service, and companiesand troops were commanded by the British officers,while the native officers were but understudiespromoted by seniority, and not for efficiency, andwere men of great age. On the cross over the longtrench graves on the battlefield of Chillianwallaare inscribed the names of two Brahman subadars,and against their names is recorded their ages, 65and 70. In war time men no doubt came tocommissioned rank earlier, but in peace under theregular system the native officers were aged figure-heads. In the irregular corps the British officerswere few, and native officers had definite commandofcompanies and troops, and came to great authorityand efficiency thereby. The irregular cavalry wereenlisted on the old system of the countrythe sil-ladar systemwhereby in return for a sum down thesoldier came with horse, arms, and accoutrementscomplete. This is the system which, considerablydeveloped, holds in the Indian cavalry to-day, withthe exception of the three light cavalry regular


56/541

14 THE ARMIES OF INDIAregiments of the old Madras cavalry, which stillexist as part of the old line, and which still wearthe French grey and silver of the old regular lightcavalry that played so leading a part in the Mutiny.

The irregulars were not esteemed at their worthby the rest ofthe army, till the wars in Afghanistanand the Punjab showed the immense value of thepower of resource and initiative that they possessed.This was probably accentuated by the fact thatwhile this spirit was far more present in all ranksin the earlier wars, the Pdx Britannica had killedit among the peasantry and it only remained amonga smaller class.

It should be remembered that during theearlier years of the nineteenth century the Indianarmy fulfilled an essentially imperial role. Thereduction of the oversea colonies and naval stationsof our European enemies during the Napoleonicwars was entrusted to it. The oversea expeditionswere numerous, and this power to commenceexpeditions from a self-supporting base, was and isone of the great strategical assets which India addsto our imperial power.

So early as 1762, an expedition composed ofMadras troops took part in the war with Spain bycapturing Manila.


57/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 15In 1795, an expedition from India captured

Ceylon from the Dutch and French, the nativetroops being from Madras, with the exception ofsome artillery companies fromBengal.

In 1795, an expedition fromMadras captured Amboyna andthe Spice Islands from the Dutch.

In 1801, a force from Indiaunder Sir David Baird proceededto join the British force in Egypt,tne 2nd and 13th Bombay In-fantry and some native artillerytaking part.

In 1808, a force of volunteersfrom the Bengal army proceededto occupy Macao with a view toforestalling the French.

In 1810, the depredations ofthe French privateers on British commercedemanded the capture of Mauritius (lie deFrance), Bourbon and Rodrigues. Expeditions,in which Bombay and Madras corps and volunteerbattalions from the Bengal army took part, reducedthe islands with little difficulty.

In 1811, a large naval and military force

Native Officer,Calcutta Kative Militia,

1795.


58/541

16 THE ARMIES OF INDIAproceeded to capture the Island of Java from theDutch and French. The troops included severalvolunteer battalions from Bengal, and some horseartillery and pioneers from Madras. The expedi-tion met with considerable resistance, and wasentirely successful. Sir Samuel Auchmuty was incommand, and the famous Gillespie was one ofthe brigadiers. The accounts of the actions, thecapture of Weltevrede and the like, read likeactions of the South African War, from thewell-known Dutch names which occur.

The end of the Mahratta Wars of 1803-4meant no prolonged peace for the Indian Army.In 1814 broke out the war with Nepal due toGurkha inroads, and after preliminary disasterswas brought to a successful conclusion whenGeneral Ochterlony took the fieldthe terrible Lony Ochter of the luUabywith fresh troopsand selected generals. From this time, after themanner of the English, the conquered race wasformed into soldiers, and from it spring the Gurkhabattalions that are such a famous part of theIndian Army of to-day.

In 1817 two causes once more involved Indiain a far-reaching war. The Mahratta States, chafingunder treaties, and garrisons that prevented their


59/541


60/541

BS

p '^u

2

Z O w oK> El] ^Q U = 2 5 &o J-w 2-

J}


61/541


62/541


63/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 17overrunning the territories of their weaker neigh-bours, were busy planning fresh resistance, whileallied with them and even a worse evil, were thePindaris. This was the name given to theenormous bands of free-lances, who, seizing strong-holds and forming centres wherever they pleased,scourged the country round, swept and raidedwhere they listed, and brought half India to thestate of Europe in the days of Wallenstein andTilly. These vast bodies of masterless soldiery,chiefly horse with many odd guns, had grown fromthe gradual break-up of Mogul armies, and hadcontinually been reinforced from Afghan tribes-men, Arabs, and any adventurous and lawless ladwho liked to hear the lark sing rather than themouse squeak, and they lived at their ease on thepeasantry of India.

The horror they inspired in the people hashardly been forgotten to this day, and still perhapskeeps the grandchildren of those who suffered,grateful to the British who saved them.

In 1817, therefore, things had come to such apass, that if we were to keep India as a land forhonest men to live in, the Mahratta confederacymust be reduced to a proper status, and thePindaris driven from the land. If we realize that

3


64/541

18 THE ARMIES OF INDIAthe Pindaris were operating over a country abouttwice the size of France, and provided by naturewith every kind of bolthole and fastness, we shallperhaps understand the task that Lord Moira, theGovernor-General, had set himself. The combinedforces of the Mahratta States and the Pindarisamounted to at least 100,000 horse, 70,000disciplined foot, and over 500 guns. Against these,the Indian Army took the field in two large forcesthe Army of the Deccan, commanded by SirThomas Hislop, consisting of seven divisions, andthe Grand Army, commanded by the Governor-General himself, consisting of four divisions. Botharmies were strong in cavalry, there being severalregiments of Rohilla horse, with Gardner's andSkinner's Irregulars, and most of the regular nativecavalry, as well as several regiments of Britishligtit dragoons, which were reduced in subsequentintervals of peace.

The events of this campaign are too numerousto be described in detail, but among the mostfamous are the defence of Seetabuldee (the NagporeResidency), the battles of Kirkee against thePeshwa, the battle of Mahidpore against Holkar,and the famous battle of Corygaum near Poona,where the 2nd/lst Bombay Infantry (now the


65/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 19102nd Grenadiers), with 250 horse and a detach-ment of Madras Artillery, resisted the most des-perate attacks of the whole of the Peshwa's army.The medal to the Army of India already referredto bears for these campaigns the clasps, Kirkee,Poona, Kirkee and Poona, Seetabuldee,Nagpore, Seetabuldee and Nagpore, Maheid-

poor, Corygaum. When the main forces opposingus had been crushed as an army in being, many wearymonths followed in chasing Mahratta and Pindaribands from one stronghold to another, andreducing innumerable hill forts, till the land hadpeace. Perhaps the feature of this war was theincreasing number of irregular horse, who provedfar the best suited to the final stage of the work,and the subsequent attempt to improve theorganization of the army, that had shown defectsin the wide strain put on it.

It must not be supposed that in all these yearsof an alien army there had not been mutinies ; alarge army controlled by a trading company, withlarge ideas on the subject of profits, was bound tohave passed through periods of well-foundedgrievance. In 1806 had been the serious mutinyof Vellorethat should have been as the writingon the walland in 1824 the corps ordered to


66/541

Naik, BombayGrenadier Bat-talion, 1801.

THE ARMIES OF INDIAmarch to Arracan had refused to go.These will be referred to in the chapteron the Great Mutiny. In 1824 thewhole of the armies were reorganizedand renumbered, the double -battalionregiments being abolished, and the linein each army was renumbered from 1upwards by single battalions, receivingtheir new numbers in accordance withtheir original date of formation. TheArmy of 1824, therefore, was composedas follows :

Bengal.Three brigades of horse artillery of four troopseach, of which one troop was native. Fivebattalions of artillery of four companies each.A corps of sappers and miners, with a cadre of47 engineer officers, and a corps of pioneers.

2 battalions of European infantry.8 regiments of light cavalry (regulars).5 regiments of irregular horse.68 battalions of native infantry.Several local corps and legions.

Madras.Two brigades of horse artillery, one Europeanand one native.

3 battalions of foot artillery of 4 companies each,with 4 companies of lascars attached.

3 regiments of light cavalry.2 corps of pioneers.2 battalions of European infantry.


67/541


68/541

6th king EDWARD'S OWN CAVALRY8th cavalry

Jdts


69/541


70/541


71/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 2152 battalions of native infantry.3 local battalions.

Bombay.4< troops of horse artillery.8 companies of foot artillery.A corps of engineers and pioneers.3 regiments of light cavalry.2 regiments of irregular horse.2 battalions of European infantry.24 battalions of native infantry.

It will be seen, therefore, how fast the greatarmies were growing, to keep pace with theterritories we had acquired, and the responsibilitieswe had undertaken.

From the close of the Pindari wars, the expedi-tion to Burma in 1824, and the capture of Bhurt-pore, were the chief military events till we come tothe First Afghan War. It will be rememberedhow, in 1805, Lord Lake was compelled toabandon the siege of Bhurtpore after losing 446killed and 2479 wounded, in four separate assaults.In 1825 the insolence of the rulers of this virginfortress knew no bounds, and circumstances forcedthe Government to reduce it. The Commander-in-Chief, Lord Combermere (the Stapleton Cottonof Peninsula and Waterloo fame), advancedagainst the place in December 1825, with aforce consisting of a cavalry and two strong


72/541

22 THE ARMIES OF INDIAinfantry divisions, backed up, by what Lord Lake solacked, half the heavy guns in India. The fortresswas eventually stormed, with the loss of close on1000 killed and wounded, and a loss to the garrisoncomputed at 8000. The prestige thus regainedby the British was great, and the last clasp on theold medal was for Bhurtpore. The Burmese Warwhich was going on during 1825, was also com-memorated by a clasp for Ava, and its history,while devoid of large engagements, is a record ofdifficult and harassing operations in hill and swampand jungle, both in Burma itself and in the Assamand Arracan districts.

About this time the whole of the infantry, in-cluding the local battalions, were clothed in scarletwith white pants, the only exception being the riflebattalions. The head-dress, though resembling ashako, was still made of black cloth on an iron, andlater a wicker frame. The regular cavalry wereall in French grey with various facings, the officersbeing dressed as dragoons, hussars or lancers. Thehorse artillery officers were in the English dragoonhelmets, with varying crests and plumes, and thenative horse artillery wore high Persian skin head-dresses. The irregular horse were in varieties ofnative clothing, the officers the same, though we


73/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 23see portraits of James Skinner, or Old Sekunder,as he was called, at the head of his regimentdressed as an officer of dragoons.For twelve years after the fall of Bhurtpore thearmy had comparative peace. As a result of theMarquis Wellesley's policy, and that followed bythe Marquis of Hastings (Lord Moira) after theclose of the Pindari war, there grew up many con-tingents paid for by the native States, but com-manded by Company's officers, drilled like our owntroops, and enlisting, in the case of the majority,the same races as the Bengal Army. Service insome of them was much sought after, and theGwalior contingent came to be regarded asa corps d'dlite, famed for its discipline andappearance.

In 1838 a policy was adopted which was toinvolve India in four years' war, immense disasterand chagrin, and a loss of prestige to which perhapsthe Mutiny is of ,all causes most directly traceable.This policy consisted of forming a friendlyAfghanistan to assist in opposing the advanceof the Bear. The rightful ruler of Afghanistan,Shah Soojah ul Mulk, driven forth by his ownfolk by reason of his incompetence, was a pensionerin our midst. He had apparently sufficient follow-


74/541

24 THE ARMIES OF INDIAing to justify our restoring him as our ally, shouldthat course seem desirable, which to the brains ofthe time it did. There was no question of rightor wrong. On all and every occasion Afghans hadswept into Hindustan to slay, to rape, to loot, andto devastate. If, in the policy of security andgood government, it was desirable to turn thetables, it was only a question of expediency andcounting the cost, and the pros and cons. At anyrate, to those in power the course seemed good,and the famous Tripartite Treaty was signedbetween ourselves, the Shah, and Ranjit Singh,the Maharaja of the Punjab. To place HisHighness on the throne of his fathers and maintainhim there, a contingent was raised in India, withBritish officers, of Hindustanis and Gurkhas, andto support it the Army of the Indus was collected.Since, however, the Punjab was foreign, and nottoo trustworthy, it was decided to advance intoAfghanistan by the lengthy if easier route ofSukkur, Quetta, Kandahar, and Ghuznee. Theforce consisted of a brigade of cavalry, a Bengaldivision, a Bombay column, and the Shah's con-tingent, 6000 strong. The campaign that ensued,with all its successes, disappointments, disasters,and controversies cannot be discussed here. The


75/541


76/541


77/541


78/541


79/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 25force under Sir John Keane reached Kabul in1839, after the successful storming of Ghuznee, andimmense trouble due to want of carriage, cold andsickness, and after abandoning the useless baggageand camp followers responsible for much of thetrouble. All was couleur de rose. The Shah saton the throne of his fathers ; much of the army waswithdrawn ; English officers rode freely over thecountry ; the Khyber route was opened ; ladies,children, soldiers, families, flocked to the canton-ment at Kabul ; the contingent garrisoned theoutposts, the brigades of occupation sat in Kabuland Kandahar. All was peace and content onthe surface. We read in Sir Neville Chamberlain'slife, of officers riding in from Ghuznee to Kabulfor the races. The Shah was to present a medalto the troops for the storming of Ghuznee ; he hadalready started a magnificent order of Knighthood,the Order of the Douranee Empire, and hadconferred it on the leading lights of the army andpolitical service, to the derision of those who didnot receive it. Then came the sinister rumours,the gathering of the storm, the murder of theEnvoy Sir William Macnaghten and the Envoy-elect Sir Alexander Burnes, the squabbles of aneifete commander and inefficient garrison, the


80/541

26 THE ARMIES OF INDIAattempt to evacuate Kabul in the snow, the takingof hostages, and lastly, the massacre of half-frozentroops and frost-bitten followerssuch a disasterand humiliation as had never before happened toBritish arms. Bright spots there were. Thedefence of Kelat-i-Ghilzai by the 3rd Shah's,now the 12th (Kelat-i-Ghilzai) Regiment, underCaptain Craigie, with a few European artillerymen,the defence of Jellalabad by Sale and the Illus-trious garrison, the sturdy demeanour of Nott atKandahar, with his splendid Sepoy regiments, allwere bright spots, to redeem incompetence andpusillanimity. But the world looked at the failure ;a British brigade annihilated under most pitiablecircumstances was what the Eastern world saw,and rejoiced at. Then came the avenging armyunder Pollock, with trembling sepoys to beheartened and redisciplined at Peshawar, and afinal advance, not so much to rescue the Englishmen and women in captivity as to help the sturdyNott, who had agreed with Pollock to carry out theorders to evacuate Afghanistan by coming viaKabul on their joint responsibility. This methodof evacuating Afghanistan enabled vengeance tobe taken on the guilty capital, and the Britishprisoners to be rescued. Besides the medal


81/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 27for the storming of Ghuznee in the first phase,special medals were given for the defence ofKelat-i-Ghilzai and Jellalabad respectively, andanother to the avenging armies, bearing theinscription Victoria Vindex. The armies ofNott and Pollock then marched down from Kabul,and after traversing an almost hostile Punjab,passed the British frontier into Ferozepore, to findan immense reception awaiting them from theGovernor-General, Lord EUenborough, at the headof a reserve army. An interesting incident of thetimes, was the intense camaraderie between the13th Foot and the 35th Bengal Native Infantry,parts of the Illustrious garrison, which endedin the whole of the latter feasting their Britishcomrades before parting at Ferozepore, Eventhe 35th, however, went under in '57, and withthem the battery of artillery on whose guns LordEUenborough had engraved a mural crown for itsshare in the defence. Despite, however, thetriumphant finale, the maimed and frost-bittenremnants of the earlier occupation, rescued frombegging in the Kabul bazaars, told a tale of lessenedprestige that was not forgotten for many years.

During the strain of the Afghan War, however,India was still able to find troops for Imperial


82/541

28 THE ARMIES OF INDIAoversea purposes. In 1840, a large amount ofBritish property had been destroyed by the Chinesein an attempt to solve by a short cut the opiumproblem, and an expedition under

Sir Hugh Gough was sent toSouth China. The major por-tion of the force were troops ofthe Madras Line, for, as it hadbecome a habit for the BengalArmy not to cross the seas, theusual volunteer battalions alonerepresented the Bengal Army.An aftermath of the Afghanwars was the trouble in Scinde,ending in Sir Charles Napier'sshort and famous campaign, inwhich three Bombay CavalryA Grenadier Sepoy of 30tli -, . -n i -r n uegimeDt of Bengal Native and two Bombay Iniautry regi-

Infantry, 1815. , i iments took part with the 22ndFoot. The annexation of Scinde that followed,still further extended the responsibilities of thesepoy army, and necessitated more battalions.

This same year, 1843, was to see an importantthough short campaign in internal India. Aminority in Scindia's domain, the State of Gwalior,had resulted in dissensions between two factions.


83/541


84/541

llTH KING EDWARD'S OWN LANCERS(PROBYN'S HORSE)

RiSALDARDurrani [Afghan)


85/541


86/541


87/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 29The army took opposite sides to that supported byGovernment, and the army was a very considerableforce, still retaining the European organizationand drill that it had learnt in the days of DeBoigne and his successors. Gwalior was a largeHindu State, and there was considerable danger ofan attempt to combine with the other great Hindupower, the Sikhs of the Punjab, To obviate anyoutbreak of the Gwalior troops, an army ofexercise was collected as a precautionary measurenear Agra, and another force at Jhansi. Eventuallythe state of affairs at Gwalior necessitated a moveof the British troops on the capital, but it was notexpected to be more than a promenade, and someladies even accompanied the force. While SirHugh Gough advanced from Muttra, Sir JohnGrey advanced from Jhansi, and to every one'ssurprise, the Mahratta army was found in positionnear Maharajpore, and also at Punniar. Theformer force opened fire on Sir Hugh Gough, anda severe engagement ensued, in which the Gwaliorartillery was especially well served. The battle atPunniar was also a severe one, though on a lesserscale. These two victories, however, completedthe overthrow of the Gwalior troops and endedthe disturbing conditions in the Durbar. A six-


88/541

30 THE ARMIES OF INDIApointed bronze star was awarded the troops, witha silver centre, and the words Maharajpore and Punniar respectively in the centre.

In the winter of 1845 the most serious troublethat had threatened India for many years came toa head. The Sikhs, who had lost the firm hand ofthe sagacious Ranjit Singh, and were burning toinvade British India, finally crossed the Sutlejin large numbers near Ferozepore. The Sutlejcampaign with its hard-fought battles, its vicissi-tudes and successful conclusion, is a story by itself,and has often been told from many points of view.The native troops that took part in the campaignwere entirely from Bengal, and acquitted them-selves with varying credit. The Sikhs were farthe severest foe that had been met in India, andthe climate was rigorous to natives of Hindustan,while there was considerable feeling towards thelast Hindu State. The bulk of the fighting fell onthe European troops, whose casualties were verysevere.

Large additions were made to the army at theoutbreak of the campaign, including the formationof eight more regiments of cavalry. The canton-ing of a force of occupation at Lahore during theminority of the young Maharaja, put some strain


89/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 31on the army, and a special force was raised for thegarrisoning of the JuUundur Doab.

The attempt to bolster up the Sikh State, thatwas adopted as a definite policy after the FirstSikh War, was soon doomed to failure. TheSikhs had not yet made up their minds to accepteven British domination, and an outburst wasprecipitated by the murder, at Mooltan, of twoBritish officers lent to the Durbar. This tookplace in the early summer of 1848, and it wassome time before a force for the reduction ofMooltan, into which Mool Raj, the rebellious Sikhgovernor, had thrown himself, could be assembled.Events, too, soon showed that the outbreak atMooltan was likely to become general, and a largearmy was organized at Ferozepore, consisting offour brigades of cavalry and three divisions ofinfantry.

The reinforcement of the force attackingMooltan, by a Bombay brigade, the final captureof the fortress, the passing of the Chenab, thehard-fought battle of Chillianwalla, the final crush-ing of the Sikhs at Gujarat, and the surrender ofthe Sirdars and their followers at Rawalpindi, withthe pursuit of the Afghan horse to the Khyber,are all matters of history and of full record.


90/541

32 THE ARMIES OF INDIASuffice it here to say that the Bengal native armyformed the bulk of the force, reinforced for thecrowning victory of Gujarat by the Bombaybrigade that had taken part in the storm ofMooltan. The brunt of the heavy fighting inthis war fell as usual on the European troops, butsome of the native infantry corps were especiallydistinguished and suffered ,very heavy casualties.The losses sustained by the British troops in thesetwo Sikh wars were very severe, far more so thanany portion, especially the native infantry, hadbeen accustomed to experience for many years.

The annexation of the Punjab was followed bymore additions to the native army, with very littlecorresponding increase in the European garrison,while the exigencies of holding the immense areaannexed, and of watching the Afghan frontier,demanded a grouping of the European troops inthe North of India, and a very large native garrison.The frontier brigade organized in the JullundurDoab was moved to the Afghan border, and fromit, with the addition of several new corps, recruitedlargely from the Khalsa regiments that had beendisbanded, the Punjab Irregular Force was formed,which, known later as the Punjab Frontier Force,has become so famous a portion of the Indian


91/541


92/541

12tH CAVALRYJemadar


93/541


94/541


95/541


96/541

34 THE ARMIES OF INDIAable one, given the conditions as they appeared tomen at the time.

The war in the Crimea had withdrawn someEuropean troops from India which had not beenreplaced in 1857. The Second Burmese War,unavoidably thrust on us in 1853, had called forstill more troops of occupation, and in 1856, aPersian expedition removed several Europeancorps for the time beyond the seas. Several nativecorps of the Bombay Army took part in thePersian expedition and gained considerable dis-tinction. Between 1849 and 1857 the new frontierat the foot of the Afghan hUls gave much trouble,and numerous small frontier expeditions, to impressthe laws of meum and tuum on the tribes, werenecessary.

The foregoing in brief is the outline of thecauses which gradually formed the huge IndianArmy, and of the magnitude and the vastness ofthe services it rendered both in India and in theEmpire generally. Minor infidelities and mutiniesthere had been, and many failings of the service asa whole had been often pointed out, with manyaberrations of judgment on the part of theadministration. The fact remains, however, thatcome rain come shine, this vast alien force had, for


97/541


98/541

14th MURRAY'S JAT LANCERSRisaldar-Major


99/541


100/541


101/541

ARMY OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 35a hundred and fifty years, rendered the most faith-ful military service to their masters, while animmense feeling of attachment had grown upbetween officers and men. So much so that whenthe storm came, the retired officers from Indiacould not credit the news. What dear old Jackmutiny, kill his sahibs, murder their familiesimpossible I Such were the views of the massof officers who had spent happy and often gloriouscareers with the sepoy regiments. However, blowup that sepoy army did, with all the romance andtragedy and inconsequence imaginable; and tounderstand in outline how and why it did so, isessential to a right understanding of the conditionsof to-day. The Indian Army, as we now know it,is the result of the evolution of the portion of thearmy that remained faithful, and the reconstructionof that that fell away.

That great army stood in 1857 at 311,538(Imperial Gazetteer), with 39,500 Europeans,King's and Company's. It was, too, dressed andequipped for the most part on a pedantic modelof the British Army. In the great lines of battledrawn up to meet the Sikhs, the European andNative Infantry were dressed in their scarletcoatees and white ducks, with tall black shakos


102/541

36 THE ARMIES OF INDIAand white bufF cross -belts. The artillery andcavalry, other than the irregulars, were also dressedmuch as their European brethren. For the mostpart, too, corps fought in their full dress, after themanner of the time. The 24th Foot at Chillian-walla, for instance, had their shakos pulled offforcing their way through the thorn jungle to getat the Sikh guns. Some corps, like the 61st Foot,however, went into action in shell -jackets andforage-caps with white covers. How this enormousarmy, in its European costume of coatee andshako, came to mutiny and rue untold, and howthe modern army grew up in its place, will beoutlined in the following chapters.


103/541

CHAPTER IITHE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS

In the foregoing chapter, the history of the armyfrom its inception to the Mutiny has been runthrough in outline. AUusion has been made tothe great campaigns, but to describe these indetail and write a history of the wars of theCompany's Army would require many volumes.Nor is it possible to dwell on the exploits of thenative regiments, and the actions in which theyindividually came to fame, even if this wereconfined to those that still figure on the ArmyList. There are, however, two great campaigns inthe early portion of the nineteenth century whichare specially remarkable, and which, more than anyothers, formed the real India of to-day, and resultedin that consolidated Indian Army which lasted till1857 in Bengal, and practically to this day in theother Presidencies.

37


104/541

38 THE ARMIES OF INDIAThese campaigns are the two great Mahratta

wars, of which the first lasted from 1803 to 1806,and included the famous battles of Sir ArthurWellesley and Lord Lake ; and the latter, from1817 to 1819, represented the final conclusionswith the Mahrattas, and the ridding of the countryfrom the scourge of the Pindari bands of free-lancesand robbers. The Sikh wars and the First AfghanWar are well known from the many histories andbiographies that bear on them. These twoMahratta campaigns, however, are little known,yet many of the most famous battle honours of thesurviving Company's regiments, as well as those ofthe British Line, are derived from them.

The enemy who fought against us were prin-cipally the Mahratta chiefs, who controlled immensebands of mercenary horse and foot, largely trainedand officered by Frenchmen, and comprising everylawless man in the country-side, with Persians,Arabs, Afghans, and even negroes. There was nocase of the patriot fighting for his country-side,and the campaigns have, to a great extent, but con-fined the Mahratta chiefs to their rightful provinces,and curbed the immense pretensions and scramblingconquests that had ensued on the collapse of theMogul Empire. The country-side only longed


105/541


106/541

15th lancers (CURETON'S MULTANIS)Honorary Native CommandantNawab Sir Hafiz Muhammad' Abdullah Kan, K.C.I. E.


107/541


108/541


109/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 39for deliverance from an era like to the worst daysof the Palatinate.

The daring of some of these troops is clearlyevinced in the casualties that they inflicted on thevictorious British, while the political conceptionsof some of the chiefs were magnificent. None ofthem, however, possessed the power to consolidatea Hindu rule, and their pretensions resulted inconstant devastation of their neighbours' or rivals'territories, including our own.

The result of these campaigns brought theBritish paramount to the borders of the Punjab,bestowed peace on millions of people, and gaveour own territories, for the first time, completeimmunity from cruel raids. Incidentally, it brokethe fortunes of many of the barons who lived byraiding and pillage and adventurer service, and ofthe thousands of hereditary and mercenary soldiersfor whom there was no place in our ranks.Several thousands were absorbed in our irregulars,but the remainder had, perforce, to turn peasant.

The campaigns that brought this about it isnow proposed briefly to describe, as a fittingcomplement to the outline history of the Company'sArmy, more especially as in these extremelyarduous campaigns the backing of British troops


110/541

40 THE ARMIES OF INDIAwas far smaller thaji in later years. Some of theevents, too, such as the defence of Seetabuldee andthe fight at Corygaum, both in 1817, againstoverwhelming odds, with only a small force ofEuropean artillery in the way of backing, areamong the most famous events in the wholemilitary history of our Empire.

The First Mahratta War, 1803-6The history of the Governor-Generalship of Lord

Mornington, afterwards the Marquis Wellesley, isone of struggle against the French influence inIndia, as revived by the plans and ambitions of theEmperor Napoleon, and against the hostility ofthe Mahratta princes. When Sivaji, the Mahrattaprince and leader known to the Moguls as themountain rat, had established his Hindu kingdomamong the mountains of Western India, he hadformed a barrier to the power of Islam and itsproselytizing influence which at first had promisedto revive some of the glories of the old Hindu rulein India. On his death, however, the solidarityof the Mahrattas soon passed away. The nominalsovereignty remained in the hands of the Rajasof Satara, but the high officers of state soon raised


111/541


112/541

18th king GEORGE'S OWN LANCERSHonorary Lieutenant

Hon. Malik Umar Hayat Khan, CLE.Tiwana of Shahpur[Punjabi Musalman)


113/541


114/541


115/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 41semi-independent principalities for themselves. TheRajas of Satara exercised nominal control throughtheir Peshwa or hereditary minister of the crown,who soon also became a territorial ruler. TheMahratta princes, of whom the principal wereScindia, whose capital was Gwalior ; Holkar, theruler of Indore ; the Bhonsla at Nagpore, togetherwith the Peshwa at Poona, were always at warwith their neighbours in some form of confederacy,or else individually among themselves. Combinedagainst the Mogul power, against the Nizam, oragainst the British, fighting the Rajput princes,and scouring the territories of their neighbourswith hordes of horse, they and their name had beena horror and offence in the land for generations.

The first steps necessary to counteract theFrench influence had been to destroy, once and forall, the cruel and impossible ruler of Mysore,Tippoo Sultan, son of the great Hyder Ali. Thehistory of his and his father's wars with theBritish, and his own implacable and unreasoningbehaviour, had resulted, as has been related in theprevious chapter, in his death at the final stormingand capture of Seringapatam. In Hyderabad theNizam had a force of 15,000 men trained byM. Raymond, and officered by many of the


116/541

42 THE ARMIES OF INDIAFrench officers left out of employment when theFrench power had died out, and reinforced byofficers from Europe. Some were royalist refugees,others sent by Napoleon to push French influence.The Governor-General insisted, as a price of hisprotection of the Nizam against the demands andinvasions of the Mahrattas, that this force shouldbe disbanded and replaced by a British subsidiaryforce. To fortify the Nizam in his resolution,four Madras battalions and some guns marchedinto Hyderabad, and the French-trained force wasdisbanded, the officers coming to the British forprotection, and many of the men re-enlisting inthe British service. This took place at the endof 1798.

The ground was now clear for compelling theMahratta princes to enter into agreement withthe British, to cease from attack and raid onBritish territory and that of its allies, and combinefor the defence of Hindustan against the Afghaninvader.

For several years after the death of the PeshwaMadho Rao, intrigue and counter - intrigue,killings, poisonings, and inter-Mahratta battlingswith European leaders on each side, had torn theStates to distraction. At last, in 1802, Jeswant


117/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 43Rao Holkar defeated the joint forces of thePeshwa and Seindia close to Poona, and BajeeRao, the former, fled to British territory andsigned the Treaty of Bassein, whereby he vowedalliance with the British, in return for a subsidiaryforce of some European artillery and six battalionsof sepoys to protect him in his capital.

The other Mahratta chiefs were much incensedat the Peshwa's defection from the cause ofindependent and combined hostility to all andevery neighbour. For twenty-five years the con-federacy had avoided all foreign alliances, and nowthe head of them had accepted it. Holkar pro-claimed Bajee Rao's brother, Amrut Rao, Peshwa inhis stead, and it became necessary for us to supportBajee Rao, and generally obtain some settlement.

The foregoing description is necessary tounderstand the situation that brought GeneralArthur Wellesley in the Deccan and GeneralLake, the Commander-in-Chief in Hindustan, intothe field for the campaign that practically madethe modern India.The British had been organizing for some timefor a war that was obviously inevitable. Thetheatre of war was enormous, and necessitated theemployment of several entirely separate forces.


118/541

44 THE ARMIES OF INDIAThe Army of the Deccan

General Wellesley advanced on Poona with8000 foot, 1700 cavalry, and 2000 Mysore horsefrom Mysore, through the Southern MahrattaStates, to reinstate the Peshwa, bringing in histrain many Mahratta chieftains to support theirhead. Colonel Stevenson came up with theSubsidiary Force, and the Nizam's troops fromHyderabad, the latter numbering 9000 horse and6000 foot.

The Commander-in-Chief advanced with 10,500men on Delhi, leaving 3500 in reserve at Allahabad.Eight thousand men under General Stuart movedinto the Southern Mahratta States, and 8000 underColonel Murray entered Gujarat. Five thousandwere also sent towards Cuttack, which provincewas held by the Bhonsla (the Raja of Berar).The British force totalled 50,000 men, which wasfar larger than any hitherto put into the field.

AssayeThe first move consisted of a forced march, to

save Poona from being burned by Holkar. GeneralWellesley then stormed the town and powerfulfortress of Ahmednagar, which became an excellent


119/541


120/541

19th lancers (FANE'S HORSE)Punjabi Mitsalman


121/541


122/541


123/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 45base to store his reserve supplies. The stormingof the town wall was a remarkable feat, and cost169 men ; while the fort, one of the strongest inIndia, surrendered after two days' bombardment.It is not possible to follow the details of thecampaign, but suffice it to say that GeneralWellesley shortly after found himself in a positionto strike at the combined forces of Scindia andthe Bhonsla near Jalna, in the territory of Aurunga-bad, with the troops under his immediate command.Swollen rivers prevented Colonel Stevenson fromjoining him, though only a few miles off, andWellesley found himself in front of some 55,000Mahrattas, posted in the fork of two rivers, theJua and the Kelna, the swollen Kelna being amile in front of their position. Scindia and- theBhonsla had with them a magnificent park ofartillery, massed in the vicinity of the village ofAssaye.

The enemy's position indicated no particulardesire to come to action for the time being, butthe opportunity was too good to be missed, despitethe fact that the British numbered but 4500,

With that audacity which has never failed thecombatant in the East who is ready to grasp thenettle danger with the hand of courage, the British


124/541

46 THE ARMIES OF INDIAleader decided to attack. How to get at theenemy was the difficulty, for at present their linefaced him, with a swollen and unfbrdable river intheir front. The quick eye of General Wellesley,however, showed him two villages opposite eachother on the river, which, he felt, must mean apracticable ford. The British were at once movedin that direction, and succeeded in crossing, to findthat the enemy, pivoted on the village of Assaye,had changed front half left to meet them.

The total number of the British was but 4500,of whom some 2200 were cavalry. This smallforce, immediately it could form up, advanced withenthusiasm on the enormous force of the Mahrattas,and their immense line of artillery. The enemy'sinfantry included 116 regular battalions, 600 menof M. Pohlman's brigade, and 2500 of M. Dupont.Four battalions belonging to the Begum Sumruwere also present. The impetuosity of the Britishattack resulted in a determined counter-attackby the rallied enemy and the descent of theircavalry, only driven off by determined chargesof the British dragoons and native cavalry. Afterthree hours, however, the enemy were in fullflight, leaving 1200 dead and 98 guns on the field.

The British casualties were over 2000, in which


125/541


126/541

THE FORMER HYDERABAD CONTINGENT CAVALRY30TH Lancers (Gordon's Horse)

Lance DaffadarJat

20TH Deccan HorseSik/i

29TH Lancers (Deccan Horse)RisaldarDekhani Musalman


127/541


128/541


129/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 47all corps shared heavily. The 74th Foot lost themost, with 10 officers killed and 6 wounded, andrank and file in proportion, while the l/4th and2/12th battalions of Madras native infantry lostheavily also. The native corps that took part werea party of Madras sappers, the 4th, 5th, and 7thNative Cavalry, and the l/2nd, l/4th, l/8th, 1/lOth,2/12th battalions and the Pioneers. Of these onlythree are still in the service, besides the sappers,viz. the l/2nd, now the 62nd Punjabis ; the l/4th,now the 64th Pioneers ; and the 2/12th, now the84th Punjabis. The present 63rd PalamcottahLight Infantry and 73rd Carnatic Infantry werewith Wellesley at Ahmednagar, while the present66th, 79th, 80th, 81st, and 82nd were with ColonelStevenson's force a few miles from Assaye. Itwill be seen that it was the old Madras Line, thenat the zenith of its fame, which formed the entirenative portion of the victorious army in the Deccan.The reductions that the piping times of peace havenecessitated have unfortunately removed fi-om theArmy List all the corps of Madras cavalry thatgained such fame in this campaign, as well asH.M. 19th Light Dragoons.

After Assaye, Colonel Stevenson moved on tocapture the immense hill-fortress of Aseergurh,


130/541

48 THE ARMIES OF INDIAthen belonging to Scindia, which eventuallycapitulated. During these operations severalFrench officers and non - commissioned officerssurrendered on various occasions. Some hadalready been found dead after different engage-ments, an officer of high rank being found on thefield of Assaye.

ArgaumAfter reforming his force that had fought at

Assaye, General Wellesley moved on to completethe overthrow of the Bhonsla's forces, as Scindiahad arranged an armistice pending negotiations.On the 28th of November Wellesley, havingjoined with Stevenson for the purpose of movingon the strong hill-fort of Gawilgurh, in the north ofBerar, came on a large force of the Bhonsla's andScindia's troops drawn up at the village ofArgaum. The troops of Scindia were there incontravention of the armistice, and though latein the day, the General decided to attack. Theenemy's position was five miles long, and his forceincluded large numbers of Persian and Arabmercenaries. The fighting was desperate, the l/6thMadras native infantry, now the 66th Punjabis,repulsing an overwhelming charge of Scindia's


131/541


132/541

25th cavalry (FRONTIER FORCE)Bangash{Paikan)


133/541


134/541


135/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 49horse. The fire from the heavy batteries of theMahrattas, however, succeeded in disorganizingmany of the native troops at the earlier stages, andit was not till late in the evening that the enemywere in full flight, with the loss of much of theircamp and treasure and 38 guns. The British losswas 346 all told.

GawilgurhFrom Argaum, Wellesley pushed on at once to

the Bhonsla's fort of Gawilgurh. On the 12th ofDecember breaching batteries were opened, andthe place was stormed on the 14th, in the faceof determined opposition. Our losses amountedto 146.The storming of Ahmednagar, the battles ofAssaye and Argaum, and the capture of the im-pregnable fortresses of Asdfergurh and Gawilgurh,were the main features of General Wellesley'scampaign, and were followed by overtures forpeace on practically our own terms. They wereall operations of more than usual severity. Thebattle of Assaye was as desperate as any in ourhistory, and full in its promise of the power ofleading, possessed by the newly discovered SepoyGeneral. The casualties, in their proportion to


136/541

50 THE ARMIES OF INDIAthe size of the force, were as heavy as any onrecord. When, close on half a century later, theBritish Government came to make up its jewelsand award medals for half -forgotten services,clasps for all these actions, except Ahmednagar,were added to the medal To the army in India.They have been described in some detail herCjbecause it was in this war and that of 1817 thatthe real Indian Empire was founded, by the oldIndian Army, and the corps that took so con-tinuous a share in the campaign in the Deccanstill survive intact.

The Grand ArmyThe other campaign of the same war, thatconducted by Lord Lake himself, equally famous,

was so far as the Indian Army is concerned chieflythe work of corps lost in the cataclysm of '57.There are, however, still four corps on the rolls ofthe army who marched with the Commander-in-Chief, and a briefer outline of this phase of thewar is therefore desirable for the glory of JackSepoy and the famous 76th Foot, who formed thekernel of this sledge-hammer army. The Indiancorps who remain are the 1st Cavalry (Skinner'sHorse), the 1st Brahmans (then the l/9th of the


137/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 51Bengal Line), the 2nd Queen's Own Rajput LightInfantry (then the 2/15th), and the 4th PrinceAlbert Victor s Rajputs (then the 2/16th).The Grand Army had been assembling atKanauj, where the large force of cavalry, threeregiments of dragoons,and five regiments ofnative cavaby had beenexercised together forsome months and trainedas a division. It washere that the first horseartillery was formed,by attaching two six-pounder galloper guns toeach cavalry regiment.The infantry of theforce consisted of oneEuropean battalion, the 76th, and eleven nativebattalions.

The immediate object was the destruction ofthe large force belonging to Scindia, which wasdisciplined under M. Perron, the successor ofDe Boigne. This force numbered nine brigades,with a total of 43,000 men and 464 guns. Itwas maintained by the revenue of what was

17th Begiment Bengal Inegolar Cavalry,18S0.


138/541

52 THE ARMIES OF INDIAknown as The French State, being the Doabbetween the Ganges and the Jumna. This hadbeen assigned to the administration of De Boigneand Perron, to defray the cost of the force andthe pay of the Europeans. In August the GrandArmy slowly moved up towards the Mahrattafrontier, and on the 28th was at Coel, within afew miles of M. Perron's army at AUigurh. Aregular advance of the army on the 29th so im-pressed the Mahrattas that General Perron movedoff after a skirmish to Delhi, leaving a ColonelPedron in the fort of AUigurh.

AlligurhAs AUigurh was General Perron's headquarters,

in which he had buUt his barracks and stores, it wasdecided to storm it at once, in spite of its twicetriple series of gates and bastions. The assault wasmade early on the 4th of September, and carriedwith a loss of 260 kUled and wounded, in whichthe 76th Foot, who were always to bear the bruntof aU Lake's battles, lost 5 officers and 19 rank andfile kiUed, and 4 officers and 62 rank and filewounded, the l/4th Native Infantry losing almostas many, including 1 British officer killed and 4wounded. The enemy's loss' was very heavy. M.


139/541


140/541

27th light cavalry 26th KING GEORGE'S OWNLIGHT CAVALRYBritish Officer DaffadarMadrasi- Musalman of the Carnatic


141/541


142/541


143/541


144/541

64 THE ARMIES OF INDIAand the 2/4th Native Infantry again suffered nearlyas heavily, while the 2/15th, now the 2nd Rajputs,the only corps of the Indian Army taking part inthis battle that is still extant, lost an officer and16 men killed and 9 men wounded.

The next day Lord Lake entered Delhi, andrescued the Mogul Emperor, the blind Shah Alam,from his Mahratta jailors, who, while ruling underhis seal, maintained him in poverty and squalor.On the 19th M. Bourquien and four of his officerssurrendered, anxious for protection against thepeople of Delhi. After leaving a garrison atDelhi, and arranging treaties with minor chiefs,the British Army returned south towards Agra, tocapture that stronghold, which still maintainedmany regular troops, and the gun foundry, wherea Scotchman turned out many of the numerousguns in the Mahratta hands. En route, a treatyof alliance was concluded with the Jat Raja ofBhurtpore. On arrival before Agra, the fort andgarrison were summoned to surrender ; and onrefusing, the force of several battalions camped onthe glacis were attacked and dispersed or drivenwithin the huge sandstone bastions. Twenty-sixguns were taken, the British loss amounting to228. The 2/9th now the 1st Brahmans; the


145/541


146/541


147/541


148/541


149/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 552/15th, now the 2nd Rajputs ; and the l/16th,now the 4th Rajputs, took part in these opera-tions, the 2/9th having two British officers killed.After some negotiations Colonel Sutherland,the commandant of the fortress, completed arrange-ments for a surrender, which included 164 guns,and all the stores in this immense stronghold andpalace. The great gun of Agra, weighing 96,600pounds, with a calibre of 23 inches, was among thetrophies.

LaswarrieStill a further portion of Scindia's organized

forces required to be dealt with. Some battalionswhich had escaped from Delhi, and the ChevalierDudrenac's brigades which had come up from theDeccan, had taken post on the flank of our com-munications with Delhi, and needed attention.The Chevalier himself, with two officers, hadsurrendered shortly before Lord Lake's arrivalat Agra. The Governor- General had issued aproclamation calling on foreign and British (EurO'pean) subjects now serving with the hostile Statesto leave their service, promising safe conduct andprotection for their property, and many wereavailing themselves of this offer, hastened by the


150/541

56 THE ARMIES OF INDIAfact that in several cases the troops had turned ontheir officers and murdered them.

On the 27th of October 1803 Lake marchedfrom Agra in the direction of Deig. Lake himself,anxious to bring the enemy to battle and end thecampaign, pushed on ahead with the cavalrydivision of three regiments of dragoons and fiveof native cavalry. On November 1, in the earlymorning, hearing that the enemy were at Laswarrie,he pushed on, covering the 25 miles in six hours,the infantry following behind. Before the day wasfar advanced the cavalry came up with the enemyand at once closed, with the object of, at any rate,forcing the Mahrattas to keep their ground. Theenemy deployed an enormous line of guns linkedwith chains, but up and down and through this theeight regiments charged, and charged again. TheBritish dragoons lost 8 officers and 34 men killed,and 19 officers and 89 men wounded, and 310horses. The native cavalry lost 1 officer killedand 5 wounded, with 17 troopers killed and 69wounded, and 172 horses. No better instanceof the cavalry spirit can be quoted, and it wasrewarded with entire success. The enemy changedposition slightly, and formed again for battle. Bynoon up marched the unfailing infantry, done to a


151/541


152/541

32nd lancersLance DaffadakMusalman Rajput

53ed QUEEN'S OWN LIGHTCAVALRY 34th PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR'SDAFFADAR O^N POONA HORSEKaimkhani Ratore Rajput


153/541


154/541


155/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 57turn, but ready for more. They had marched 65miles in forty-eight hours, while the cavalry haddone 45 miles in twenty-four hours.

After a short halt the whole force went intobattle in the full heat of the sun. The enemy'scannonade was terrific, and by evening the Britishlosses had totalled 834, but the whole of theMahratta army was destroyed, large numbers killedand many prisoners, and 71 guns were taken. The76th lost 2 officers and 41 men killed, and 4 officersand 170 men wounded. The 2/12th N.I. also lostheavily. The 1st Brahmans, the 2nd Rajputs, andthe 4th Rajputs took part, under their old numberslosing 16, 37, and 87 respectively of all ranks killedand wounded.

The victory of Laswarrie would have closedthis phase of the campaign but for the activityof Holkar. Scindia, the Bhonsla, the Raja ofBhurtpor, and most of the minor Rajas hadnow entered into offisnsive and defensive allianceswith the British, as a result (rf this and Wellesley'scampaign. The forces in Cuttack and Bundelkhundhad been equally successful. In the formercampaign some Madras native infantry had takenpart, of which the present 69th Punjabis are thesole survivors. Gwalior, Scindia's capital, had been


156/541

58 THE ARMIES OF INDIAreduced, in which service the present 1st Brahmansalso shared, and the troops had some hopes ofgoing into summer quarters to escape the dailygrowing heat. The attitude of Holkar, however,in threatening the Doab, and endeavouring tostir up the chiefs who had made peace, necessi-tated one more effort, and Lord Lake in personmade an advance in force towards Holkar. Thiscampaign involved many minor actions, and muchskirmishing with the Mewatis in the brokencountry between Agra and Rajputana, but withoutany opportunity offering of bringing Holkar andhis main forces to book.

Summer of 1804At last the army withdrew towards the Jumna,

and moved into cantonments, after enduring heavylosses, especially among the Europeans, from theintense heat. Many corps did not get intoquarters till the commencement of the rains. Tocover the Doab, Colonel Monson was left on theChumbal with a considerable detachment.

Monson's RetreatIt was this detachment which was to experience

the first real disaster to British arms in India, and


157/541

THE TWO GREAT MAHRATTA WARS 69which was to prolong the war to 1806. In Julythe news that Holkar had advanced, inducedColonel Monson to leave his camp and move tomeet him. As Holkar withdrew Monson followedfor many marches, till, fearful for his supplies andcommunications, he decided to fall back. Thiswas the signal for the advance of vast hordes ofthe enemy, and for the general hostility of allthose through whose country he passed. Want ofsupplies and swollen rivers reduced the troops tothe greatest straits, and though fighting constantly,demoralization at last set in, and the force, entirelynative, at last fell to pieces, the survivors arrivingby detachments at the British border. Of the fiveinfantry battalions composing the force, the 2/2 1st,a newly raised battalion, did well (now the 5thLight Infantry), and is the only survivor on theArmy List.

Defence of DelhiThe news of this disaster to the invincible

English spread rapidly. Lord Lake at oncetook steps to collect the army from its summerquarters, and on the 1st of October advancedtowards Muttra from the vicinity of Agra. Holkarhad already occupied Muttra. As the British


158/541


159/541


160/541

37th lAnCERS(BALUCH HORSE) '^ 35th SCINDE HORS\,v-Baluch KOT DAFFADAEBaluch

36th JACOB'S HORSEPathan

{All of the Derajat District)


161/541


162/541


163/541


164/541

62 THE ARMIES OF INDIACapture of Deig

The battle of Deig, however, was by no meansthe last that the British were to see of the place.It belonged to Bhurtpore, and as an aftermath ofthe Monson disaster, our ally of Bhurtpore hadfallen away from his agreement. The fortress ofDeig opened its gates to Holkar's troops after thebattle, as did also Bhurtpore itself. As the landcould have no rest so long as Holkar was burningand slaying all and sundry, with friendly haunts todo it from, it was necessary to reduce Deig. Onthe 11th of December the British appeared beforethe walls. On the 24th the breaches were ready,and by dawn on Christmas Day the place was ours,with the loss of 43 killed and 184 wounded. Ahundred cannon of sorts were taken.

Siege of BhurtporeNext to reckon with was Bhurtpore itself. By

this time the army with Lord Lake had beenconsiderably reinforced, and shattered troops re-lieved by fresh ones, saving always the 76th, whomnothing daunted, and the dragoon regiments. Onthe 1st of January 1805 the British enca

Date post:	10-Feb-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	mike-sweeting
View:	223 times
Download:	0 times

The Armies of India - Fletcher

Documents