SERVICES OF THE REGIMENT IN INDIA, 1849–57
On the 1st December, 1848, the regiment was ordered to be augmented
to the establishment as per margin,[15] and received instructions to
prepare for service in the East Indies, and on the 9th January, 1849,
two companies, with head-quarters, proceeded to Cork, and embarked
on the 11th, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Trydell, in the
freight ship _Bombay_, for Bombay, and sailed for its destination
on the 17th of the same month.
[Sidenote: 1849.]
The remainder of the regiment followed in the succeeding months of
February and March, as follows, viz.--
In the _China_, under Major Townsend.
In the _Mermaid_, under Brevet Major Ainslie.
In the _Marion_, under Lieutenant-Colonel Law.
In the _Ursula_, under Captain Lloyd.
In the _Zion’s Hope_, under Major Swinburne.
On the 8th May, 1849, the head-quarters arrived in Bombay, and on the
10th, disembarked and proceeded to Poona, and arrived at that station
on the 18th of the same month. The whole of the regiment, however, was
not assembled at Poona till the 14th July, 1849, where it remained till
November, 1850.
During the stay of the regiment at Poona, it lost by disease two
officers (Captain the Hon. W. Gage and Surgeon Ledingham), 5
sergeants, 1 drummer, and 69 rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1850.]
In November, 1850, the regiment marched in four divisions on the 2nd,
3rd, 4th, and 11th of the month for Panwell and Bombay, and embarked in
steamers for Kurrachee, where the head-quarters arrived and disembarked
on the 14th of the same month, but the last division did not join the
regiment till the 1st December following.
[Sidenote: 1851.]
In January, 1851, Lieutenant-Colonel Trydell was appointed to the
command of the Poona brigade, and Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Law assumed
command of the regiment.
From November, 1850, to 31st December, 1852, the regiment was
stationed at Kurrachee, and lost through disease during that period 5
officers--viz., Major Townsend, Lieutenant and Adjutant W. Hall,[16]
Ensign Graham, Quartermaster Colburn (at Poona when on leave), and
Assistant-Surgeon Boyce--and 6 sergeants, 3 drummers, and 135 rank and
file, chiefly cases of cholera, fever, and dysentery.
On two occasions--viz., in May and June, 1851, and again in September
and October, 1852--the regiment was visited with cholera, fever, and
dysentery, and suffered greatly, and on the last occasion it was
considered necessary to remove the regiment from the barracks and
encamp the men on Ghizree Heights, near the sea.[17]
[Sidenote: 1852.]
It, however, soon recovered from these fell diseases, and numbered
upwards of 950 efficient soldiers, men strong and stalwart in form,
perfect in discipline, and influenced in no ordinary degree by an
ardent _esprit de corps_, the prestige of the honourable name and
high reputation won by the 83rd wherever it served.
[Sidenote: 1853.]
On the 8th February, the right wing of the regiment (448 strength),
under the command of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Swinburne, proceeded in
river steamers by the Indus River to Hyderabad, there to be stationed.
On the 15th March, 1853, the establishment of the regiment was altered
by Horse Guards’ letter, dated 24th March, 1853, to 12 captains, 20
lieutenants, 4 ensigns, and 1 adjutant.
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Swinburne, after a long and
distinguished service of forty-four years in the 83rd Regiment,
retired from the service on the full pay of his rank of major. He
served throughout the whole of the Peninsular campaign (the greater
part of the time as adjutant), and received a medal and ten clasps for
Talavera, Busaco, Fuentes d’Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca,
Vittoria, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse. He was engaged with the regiment
in the Kandyan rebellion and in Canada, and, embarking with the
regiment for India, left it on the 22nd May, 1853, with the esteem and
veneration of every individual in it.
He was succeeded in the majority by Captain Henry Lloyd.
The head-quarters, consisting of 5 subalterns, 4 staff, 19 sergeants,
6 drummers, and 353 rank and file, embarked at Kurrachee on board the
Hon. E.I.C. steam frigate _Semiramis_, for Gogo, _en route_
for Deesa; landed at Gogo on the 22nd December, where they were halted
and encamped awaiting further orders.
On the departure of head-quarters from Scinde, Major-General Sir Henry
Somerset, K.C.B., issued a very complimentary order to the regiment.
Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Law was then commanding, and Lieutenant E. H.
M. Mainwaring was adjutant.
[Sidenote: 1854.]
On the 9th January, 1854, Major Henry Lloyd joined from England, and
assumed command of the head-quarters division at Gogo, Guzerat.
On the 22nd January, 1854, the head-quarters division, under Major
Lloyd, marched from Gogo, and arrived at Deesa on the 13th February.
On the 23rd April, Major Henry Lloyd made over command of the
head-quarters division to Captain E. W. Bray, the senior officer, and
left Deesa for Kurrachee, there to assume command of the right wing.
On the 6th May, Major Henry Lloyd died at Cambay of Asiatic cholera,
while proceeding by that route to Kurrachee, to assume command of the
companies there stationed.
On the 14th October, the half-yearly inspection of the head-quarters
division of the regiment took place at Camp Deesa, under
Brigadier-General Forster Stalker, C.B., commanding northern
division of the army. Captain E. W. Bray at that time commanded, and
Lieutenant E. H. M. Mainwaring was adjutant.
[Sidenote: 1855.]
On the 4th January, Colonel W. H. Law joined from Kurrachee, and
assumed command of the head-quarters division of the regiment stationed
at Deesa.
On the 29th March, the half-yearly inspection of the head-quarters
division of the regiment took place at Camp Deesa, under Major-General
F. Stalker, C.B., commanding northern division of the army.
On the 2nd April, the right wing, consisting of seven companies, under
the command of Captain C. W. Austen, arrived at Bombay, from Kurrachee,
and was quartered in the barracks of Colaba.
During its service in Scinde the regiment lost through disease, 5
officers, 6 sergeants, 4 drummers, 142 rank and file.
On the 9th March, a draft, consisting of 1 sergeant, 2 corporals,
and 35 privates, under the command of Ensign G. Mylne, joined the
head-quarters of the regiment at Deesa from England.
On the 29th October, the half-yearly inspection of the head-quarters
division of the regiment took place under Major-General F. Stalker,
C.B., commanding northern division of the army.
On the morning of the 22nd December, the right wing of the regiment,
consisting of seven companies (strength--1 field officer, 2 captains,
4 subalterns, 20 sergeants, 8 drummers, 477 rank and file), under
the command of Major Kelsall, embarked at Bombay on board of the
_Ajdaha_ for Domus, where it disembarked on the following day,
and on the 25th commenced its march upon Deesa, viâ Surat, Baroda, and
Ahmedabad, and finally reached its destination on the 25th January,
1856, after having been separated from head-quarters for a period of
three years.
[Sidenote: 1856.]
On the 21st January, an order was received to hold a wing of the
regiment in readiness to proceed on field service.
On the 30th of the same month, 42 recruits, under the command of
Lieutenant Cooper, joined the regiment from England.
On the 27th March, the half-yearly inspection of the regiment took
place, under Brigadier N. Wilson, K.H., commanding Deesa Field
Brigade.
On 16th May, Colonel W. H. Law retired on full pay from the service,
with the rank of major-general; he served in the Peninsular War, and
was present at the battles of Nivelle and Nive, for which he received
the war medal and two clasps. Colonel Trydell being brigadier at Poona,
the command of the regiment devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel Kelsall, the
second lieutenant-colonel.
On the 1st August, Lieutenant and Adjutant E. H. M. Mainwaring died at
Poona.
On the 27th October the half-yearly inspection of the regiment took
place, under Brigadier N. Wilson, K.H., commanding Deesa Field
Brigade.
[Sidenote: 1857.]
On the 23rd March a detachment, in strength 3 sergeants, 4 drummers, 9
rank and file, 6 women, and 15 children, proceeded, under the command
of Lieutenant Dickenson (and in medical charge of Assistant-Surgeon
Miles), to Mount Aboo.
During the month of May, 1857, the regiment was held in readiness for
field service, in consequence of the mutinies of the Bengal native
army; and on the 26th of that month the left wing, composed of Nos. 5,
6, 7, and the Light Company (strength--1 field officer, 2 captains,
6 subalterns, 2 staff, 18 sergeants, 6 drummers, 250 rank and file),
under the command of Major Steele, proceeded on active service and
marched on Nusseerabad, where it arrived on the 12th June, having
performed a march of 237 miles in seventeen days during the hottest
time of the year without a single casualty.
On the 13th June No. 7 Company was detached from the left wing to
garrison the fort and arsenal of Ajmere.
The left wing was reinforced by Nos. 1, 2, 3 Companies (strength--1
captain, 2 subalterns, 7 sergeants, 3 drummers, 200 rank and file),
which left the head-quarters at Deesa on the 17th June, and arrived at
Nusseerabad on the 10th July.
On the 9th July two companies, under the command of Captain Read, were
detached from Nusseerabad to Neemuch, 143 miles distant, where they
arrived on the 18th of the same month.
On the 14th July the Grenadier Company, under the command of Captain
Jones, left head-quarters for Ahmedabad, the native troops in garrison
there having displayed symptoms of disaffection.
On the 10th August the left wing at Nusseerabad disarmed a detachment
of the 12th Regiment N. I., which had exhibited evident symptoms of
a mutinous spirit; and on the night of the 12th of the same month,
the detachment at Neemuch, under Captain S. Read, was called out to
suppress a mutiny of a squadron of the 2nd Bombay Light Cavalry; the
night was exceedingly dark, but the detachment succeeded in making
several prisoners, and sustained a loss of one man killed (Private
Chambers) and two wounded.
On the 21st August the detachment of the 50 invalids at Mount Aboo
was attacked by about 150 mutineers of the Joudpoor Legion, who
were repulsed with some loss in killed and wounded, without the
detachment having sustained any loss. On receipt of this intelligence
at Nusseerabad, a wing of the Joudpoor Legion, there stationed, was
disarmed by the 83rd Regiment.
On the 30th August a detachment of 3 officers and 119 rank and file,
under the command of Brevet Major Heatly, proceeded from Nusseerabad
for the purpose of preserving the peace of the city of Ajmere during a
Mohammedan festival. This detachment was joined on the 1st September by
a detail of 1 sergeant and 30 rank and file from the company stationed
in the fort of Ajmere. The detachment then proceeded on active service
to Beawar, where it was reinforced by 1 captain, 2 sergeants, 1
drummer, and 50 rank and file from Nusseerabad; the detachment then,
with four guns of the Bombay Horse Artillery and some native troops,
proceeded by the mountain pass of Burr, on a reconnaissance to Awah,
which they found to be a strongly entrenched village, garrisoned
by about 3000 armed men, well provided with artillery. On the 18th
September an unsuccessful attack was made on the village, in which
three men, 83rd Regiment, were wounded, two of our four guns were
disabled, and one artilleryman was killed and two wounded, and some
casualties occurred amongst our native troops; the whole force then
returned to Ajmere, where it arrived on the 28th September.
On the night of the 18th September the detachment stationed at Neemuch,
under the command of Captain Read, together with two guns supported
by a detail of native troops, marched from Neemuch to take the walled
village of Nimbhera, sixteen miles distant, which was occupied by
mutineers and rebels with three guns; during the following day the
force took up a position near the village, and opened fire with the
view of effecting a breach; the fire was kept up till dark, when
further operations were suspended till next day. During the night of
the 19th the enemy, leaving their guns, ammunition, etc., hastily
evacuated the village, which was taken possession of by the force on
the morning of the 20th.
During the action of the 19th Assistant-Surgeon Miles was wounded in
the leg, and Lance-Corporal Thomas Young was killed.
On this occasion each man of the detachment received 8 rupees (16s.)
prize-money. On the night of the 20th September the force returned to
Neemuch, leaving 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, and 30 rank and file, under
Ensign Chamley, to occupy the village, which detachment rejoined the
following day.[18]
A considerable body of the Mundisore insurgents having occupied the
fort and village of Jeerun, about ten miles from Neemuch, on the
morning of the 23rd October a detachment of 50 of the 83rd, commanded
by Captain Read, together with a company of the 12th Bombay N. I., some
native cavalry, and two guns, moved against them from Neemuch. A very
determined resistance was offered by the enemy, and Captain Read was
killed by one of their first musket shots, while leading on his small
detachment. Captain Tucker commanding the cavalry was killed, and the
officer commanding the native infantry detachment was severely wounded
about the same time. The enemy advancing in great force, the infantry
retired to a fresh position, and the enemy having suffered severely
from their fire, withdrew into the fort of Jeerun, which was occupied
and blown up on the following morning, the enemy having evacuated it in
the night. In addition to the death of Captain Read, two privates were
wounded in this affair.
On the 9th November the small fortified position at Neemuch, which was
garrisoned by a detachment of the 83rd Regiment, under Ensign Chamley,
and some native troops, the whole under command of Major Simpson, 2nd
Light Cavalry, was attacked by a very large insurgent force, which
invested the fortification for fifteen days; their several attempts at
assault by escalade were repulsed with heavy loss, and on the 23rd of
the month they broke up and retired on the advance of a force from Mhow
to the relief of the garrison, which had sustained a loss of about 20
in wounded during the siege.
The head-quarters of the regiment, which had remained at Deesa up to
this time, received orders to advance into Rajpootana, and marched
for Mount Aboo on the 26th October, under command of Colonel Trydell;
thence it proceeded to Nusseerabad, where it arrived on the 28th
November.
The detachment at Neemuch was now relieved by two companies commanded
by Major Austen.