(1858–1882) The East India Company raises European Cavalry regiments—Their formation—The Bengal 1st European Light Cavalry—Services transferred to the Crown—The “White Mutiny”—Made 19th Light Dragoons, afterwards Hussars—General Pattle—Regiment at Meerut—General Hall—Regiment ordered to England—Badges of old 19th Light Dragoons granted—Regiment ordered to Ireland—Guidons of old 19th Light Dragoons presented to the regiment—Regiment returns to England—Ordered on active service.
In May 1857, the mutiny of the Bengal Native Army occurred, which so profoundly changed the nature of British administration in India. Through carelessness and false economy, the East India Company had allowed the number of European troops in India to sink to a dangerously low level, in proportion to the number of native troops. As against some 230,000 native soldiers, the European troops numbered less than 40,000 men, of whom about 23,500 were royal troops. The Company’s European[221] troops in India consisted, at that time, of nine battalions of Infantry, seventeen troops of Horse Artillery, and forty-eight companies of Foot Artillery. Apart from other measures for restoring tranquillity, it was determined to raise three additional battalions of Infantry, and to replace the mutinous Bengal Native Cavalry by Europeans. Of the ten regiments of regular Bengal Native Cavalry, seven had mutinied, and two had been disarmed.
In November 1857, intimation was sent to the Governor General that it had been decided to form four regiments of Cavalry, for the Company’s service, of men recruited in England, of ages between 20 and 30 years, and of a standard height not less than 5 ft., and not exceeding 5 ft. 4 in. Each regiment was to consist of ten troops, with 70 privates per troop, together with the usual number of officers, non-commissioned officers and staff. All accoutrements, arms, and equipments were to be of a lighter description than those in common use by British Cavalry: and the men were to be collected at a depot in England (Warley), to be trained for three months, before being embarked for India. A lower standard of height than that of the Royal Army was adopted, with the intention that the recruiting for the Royal Army should not be interfered with, and it was thought that, by tapping a new stratum of recruits, men would be easily obtained. These anticipations were justified. The whole nation had been roused by the sufferings of our countrywomen in India, and recruits flocked in. Three weeks later, the Court of Directors were obliged to write to the Governor General that, in consequence of the very rapid recruiting, accommodation could not be provided for the men, in England, and it was necessary to embark a large body of them, for Calcutta, at once.
With regard to these undersized men, it may be said here, that a large number of them made excellent soldiers[222] in time; but there was a considerable proportion of them, big men on short legs, over 25 years of age at the time of enlistment, who were unfit for cavalry purposes.
After being kept some time near Calcutta, the men were gradually forwarded to Allahabad, where they were collected in June 1858, an almost undisciplined mob, without permanent officers, without horses, and without equipments. On the 17th June, we find Major General Sir William Mansfield (afterwards Lord Sandhurst) writing to Major General Sir Hope Grant, then in the field against the rebels: “We are about to organize the four regiments of Bengal Dragoons, and to divide the recruits into four bodies without delay. How would it suit you to have one of these young corps attached to the ‘Bays’ (2nd Dragoon Guards), and another to the 7th (Hussars)? Not a man has ever been on a horse, and the men are at present armed with muskets.”
By the end of June, the apportioning of the men into regiments was complete, and, on the 3rd July, the regiment with which our interest lies, became established as the Bengal 1st European Light Cavalry, to be quartered at Allahabad. The other three regiments marched for various cantonments in North Western India. A fifth regiment was formed at Peshawur, in November, of volunteers from Royal infantry regiments, who had been formed into a cavalry corps for temporary service during the Mutiny.
To officer each of these regiments, the officers of two of the ten mutinied or disbanded Bengal Native Cavalry regiments were utilized: but, instead of placing them upon a single list, they were kept on separate lists for promotion, which were styled Right and Left Wings, corresponding to their late regiments. All officers newly appointed, who had belonged to neither of the old Native regiments, were to be borne on the strength of the Right Wing, so that, in process of time, the Left Wing was destined to disappear;[223] but the process would have been one of thirty years or more, according to the rate of promotion then existing in the Company’s service.
The Bengal 1st European Light Cavalry was officered by the surviving officers of the 1st and 3rd Bengal Native Cavalry, both of which regiments had mutinied. For remounts, the men were given a number of horses hastily purchased at the Cape of Good Hope and in Australia, most of them wild unbroken bush horses that had never been handled. An officer who served with the regiment at this time, writing of it forty years afterwards, says:—
“No regiments were ever raised under such absurd conditions, and, if the object had been to prove them a failure, no course better calculated to achieve that end could have been pursued. The only old soldiers sent to assist us were two or three infantry men from a Fusilier regiment, none higher in rank than Corporal. When the authorities were addressed on this subject, one or two cavalry soldiers, I think from the 7th Hussars, were sent; the highest in rank being a Lance Corporal who was promptly made a Troop Sergeant Major, and I don’t think turned out a success. The horses, like the men, were all untrained, and some of the horses from the Cape were perfect devils, very difficult to clean, and for some time impossible to ride or to shoe. I have a vivid recollection of one roan, who stood in his stall for days covered with mud, because no one could go near him. Out of the crowd of raw recruits, we had to find all our Non-Commissioned officers from Troop Sergeant Major downwards, so it may be imagined what little respect was paid to the highest grades.”
On the 1st November 1858, the Crown assumed the government of India, and the East India Company thenceforth ceased to exist. No attention was paid to the view that might be taken of the change, in the ranks of the Company’s army. The British soldier, though he yields to discipline, never forgets that he is a soldier by his own free will; he objects to be treated like a conscript. The late[224] Company’s European soldiers quickly came to believe that their rights had been infringed. Had they been asked to volunteer for service under the Crown, they would have done so almost to a man; but they objected to be handed over “like bullocks,” as they expressed it. The Indian government consulted its legal advisers, who treated the objection as a purely technical one, prompted by a wish for the offer of a bounty. So long as the men were retained for the local service for which they had enlisted, it was considered that they had no grievance. It was decided that the men had no case, and a General Order to this effect was published in April 1859. The agitation quickly assumed a serious aspect, and, during May, there was a time when, in a few cantonments, a collision between the Royal and the late Company’s European troops appeared possible. The movement was not confined to the newly raised regiments, but was equally shared in by the old soldiers of the late Company, who had shown their fine qualities on many a hard fought field. The behaviour of the 1st Bengal European Light Cavalry was similar to that of the local European forces in most other places. All guards and barrack duties were performed without demur, but the men refused to turn out for parade. On one occasion the canteen was broken into, and an attempt was made to release prisoners. Mutinous language was used to officers in a few instances, and shots fired in defiance, but not with evil intent. Under the circumstances already related, it is surprising that nothing worse occurred. In one instance alone, in one of the newly raised infantry regiments, was there a dangerous attempt to act as an organized armed body hostile to the State. This was speedily repressed, and the ringleader shot.
The Calcutta government quickly recognized its mistake. In the end of June, orders were published[225] allowing the men the option of discharge, but no bounty was offered to those who elected to remain, while those who took their discharge were not allowed the option of re-enlistment, as long as they remained in the country. Under the feeling of exasperation that had grown up, upwards of 10,000 men elected to take their discharge, of whom 2800 re-enlisted on reaching England.
The trouble with the Indian local European forces, in 1859, has been frequently cited as a cogent reason against the maintenance of a body of British troops in India, for local service only; a measure that would overcome many difficulties now felt in army administration. Those who study the events of 1859 must recognize that the trouble arose, not from the conditions of service, but from the mistakes of those in authority at Calcutta. The “White Mutiny” was no mere outbreak against discipline: it was the vindication of the men’s claim to be consulted in the disposal of their services.
While these events were in progress, orders were received for the regiment to march to Cawnpore, which it did in June.
Early in 1861, it was determined to cease the maintenance of any European force for local service in India, and, on 6th May, the officers, non-commissioned officers and men were called on to volunteer for General Service. They responded, almost to a man, and the regiment received the designation of the 19th Light Dragoons. In the same way, the Bengal 2nd and 3rd European Light Cavalry became the 20th and 21st Light Dragoons; the 4th and 5th being disbanded. At the same time, the establishment was assimilated to that of other British cavalry regiments in India, viz. nine troops (one at the depot in England) with 585 corporals and privates: 693 of all ranks. Three months later, under Horse Guards order of 17th August 1861, the designation of the regiment was[226] changed to the 19th Hussars. The standard for recruits was assimilated to that of other Hussar regiments.
At the beginning of February 1862, the regiment was moved to Lucknow.
On the 30th July, in the same year, the complete roll of officers was gazetted.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Vanbrugh Jenkins.
 
Major John Hatfield Brooks.
Roland Richardson.
 
Captain Henry Cadogan Craigie.
Sir John Hill, Bt. Bt. Major.
Henry Edward Ellice.
Robert Baring.
Melville Clarke.
Hugh Henry Gough, V.C., Brevet Major.
Frederick Peter Luard.
Richard Talbot Plantagenet Stapleton
Charles Manners Sutton Fairbrother.
 
Lieutenant Charles Hay Fairlie.
Abel Henry Chapman.
Cecil Clarke Jervoise.
Arthur George Webster.
Robert Morris.
Edward Stirling Rivett-Carnac.
John Biddulph.
George Cortlandt Buller Taylor.
Charles John Prinsep.
Albert Hearsey.
 
Cornet Elliot Alexander Money.
Joseph Boulderson.
Frederick Henry Huth.
Charles Robert St. Quintin.
Francis Dallas Harding.
Seymour Duncan Barrow.
 
Riding Maste............