The 104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) was a
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, raised by the
Honourable East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
in 1765. Under the
Childers Reforms
The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms.
The reorganisation was ...
it amalgamated with the
101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) to form the
Royal Munster Fusiliers
The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...
.
History
Early history
The regiment as first raised by the
Honourable East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
as the 2nd Bengal European Regiment when it was formed from the
1st Bengal European Regiment
The 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) was an infantry regiment of the East India Company and British Army that existed from 1652 to 1881. The regiment was raised in British Raj, India in 1652 by the East India Company as the compan ...
in 1765.
It went to take part in an action at
Rohilkhand
Rohilkhand (previously Rampur State) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Rampur, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe. Th ...
in April 1774 during the
First Rohilla War
The First Rohilla War of 1773–1774 was a punitive campaign by Shuja-ud-Daula, Nawab of Awadh on the behalf of Mughal Emperor, against the Rohillas, Afghan highlanders settled in Rohilkhand, northern India. The Nawab was supported by troops of t ...
before being absorbed by the Marine Battalion in 1803.
[ It was re-raised as the 2nd Bengal (European) Regiment in 1822 and took part in a deployment to ]Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
in 1825 before being disbanded in 1830.[
]
The Victorian era
The regiment was re-raised as the 2nd Bengal (European) Light Infantry from a nucleus of 1st Bengal (European) Regiment in 1839.[ It saw action at the Battle of Chillianwala in January 1849 and the ]Battle of Gujrat
The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the company's control of the Sikh Empire, represented by ...
in February 1849 in the Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
during the Second Anglo-Sikh War
The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company, British East India Company that took place in 1848 and 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab r ...
.[ The regiment became the 2nd Bengal (European) Fusiliers in 1850 was deployed to Burma again in 1853 during the ]Second Anglo-Burmese War
The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, three wars fought between the Konbaung dy ...
and then served at the Siege of Delhi
The siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass up ...
in autumn 1857 during the Indian Rebellion
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
.[ After the Crown took control of the ]Presidency armies
The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India, composed primarily of Indian sepoys. The presidency armies were named after the presidenc ...
in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion, the regiment became the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers in November 1859 and then the 1st Royal Bengal Fusiliers in May 1861.[ It was then renumbered as the 104th Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) on transfer to the ]British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in September 1862.[ Although a new commanding officer was appointed on transfer to the British Army, both majors and six of the twelve captains had prior service in the regiment.
During the ]cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
epidemic of 1869, the regiment left its barracks at Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
on the North West Frontier for the countryside, to try to alleviate the impact of the disease. After the regiment had returned to barracks with the end of the epidemic, the commanding officer's wife, Elizabeth Webber Harris
Elizabeth Webber Harris (1834–1917) was an English nurse who was awarded a replica Victoria Cross (VC) in 1869, with the permission of Queen Victoria, for her bravery during a cholera outbreak in India. She remains the only woman to be awarded ...
, was presented with a gold replica Victoria Cross, by the officers of the regiment, for her tireless endeavours tending the sick men. The presentation had the approval of Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and was made by General Sir Sam Browne
General Sir Samuel James Browne, (3 October 1824 – 14 March 1901) was a British Indian Army cavalry officer, known best as the creator of the Sam Browne belt. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious award for gallantry ...
, commander of the Peshawar garrison. The regiment embarked for England in 1871.[
As part of the ]Cardwell Reforms
The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...
of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 104th was linked with the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers), and assigned to district no. 70 at Ballymullen Barracks
Ballymullen Barracks () is an Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish military installation at Tralee, County Kerry in Ireland.
History
The barracks were built for local militia units between 1810 and 1815. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on ...
in Tralee
Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...
. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms
The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms.
The reorganisation was ...
came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) to form the Royal Munster Fusiliers
The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...
.[
]
Battle honours
Battle honours won by the regiment were:[
*''Rohilla War'': Rohilcund 1774 (inherited from predecessor regiment)
*''Second Anglo-Sikh War'': Chillianwallah, Goojerat, Punjaub
* ''Indian Mutiny'': Delhi 1857
]
Regimental Colonels
Colonels of the Regiment were:[
;2nd Bengal Fusiliers (HEIC)
*c.1859: Maj-Gen. Robert Blackall
;104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) (British Army)
*1862–1863: F.M. Sir Patrick Grant, GCB, GCMG
*1863–1867: Gen. Sir ]George Bell George Bell may refer to:
Law and politics
* George Joseph Bell (1770–1843), Scottish jurist and legal author
* George Alexander Bell (1856–1927), Canadian pioneer and Saskatchewan politician
* George Bell (Canadian politician) (1869–1940) ...
, KCB
*1867–1874: Gen. George Dixon
*1874–1881: F.M. Sir Frederick Paul Haines, GCB, GCSI, CIE
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers)
Honourable East India Company regiments
Infantry regiments of the British Army
Military units and formations established in 1854
Military units and formations disestablished in 1881
1839 establishments in British India