The 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, also known as the 3rd Bengal Native Cavalry, was a locally recruited
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
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 ...
's
Bengal Army
The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.
The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...
. Raised in 1797, the regiment took part in conflicts throughout
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, serving with distinction in the
Second Anglo-Maratha War
}
The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
Background
The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War, ...
, the
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...
and the
First Anglo-Sikh War
The First Anglo-Sikh War was fought between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company in 1845 and 1846 in and around the Ferozepur district of Punjab. It resulted in defeat and partial subjugation of the Sikh empire and cession of ...
, earning various
battle honours
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.
In European military t ...
.
In April 1857, 85 men of the regiment refused to accept cartridges for their
carbine
A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.
The smaller size and lighter ...
s and were tried by court-martial, convicted, and sentenced to up to 10 years' hard labour. After the men were imprisoned, the regiment freed their jailed comrades and headed to Delhi, where their arrival led to the outbreak of the
Indian Mutiny
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...
. Following the events of the mutiny, all the Bengal Light Cavalry regiments were disbanded.
History
On 7 January 1796, the
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
of the East India Company instructed the
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
to raise four 465-strong regiments of Native cavalry for its Bengal Army. Consequently, in 1797, the 3rd Bengal Native Cavalry was raised in
Oude by
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
J. P. Pigot. At first, the terms "Bengal Native Cavalry" and "Bengal Light Cavalry" were used interchangeably, but by 1857 the regiment was referred to as the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry in official paperwork.
The regiment served with distinction during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, taking part in the
Battle of Delhi and the
Battle of Laswari
The Battle of Laswari took place on 1 November 1803 near Laswari village, Alwar. It was part of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
The British under Gerard Lake were anxious to finish the war by neutralizing the last substantial force that the Marath ...
in 1803, as part of a force commanded by
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Gerard Lake
Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake (27 July 1744 – 20 February 1808) was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India.
Background
He was ...
against the forces of
Daulat Rao Sindhia
Shrimant Daulat Rao Shinde (also Sindhia; 1779 – 21 March 1827) was the Maharaja (ruler) of Gwalior state in central India from 1794 until his death in 1827. His reign coincided with struggles for supremacy within the Maratha Empire, and war ...
; for their service during this campaign, the regiment was awarded an Honorary Standard bearing the inscription "Lake and Victory" and an extra
Jemadar
Jemadar or jamadar is a title used for various military and other officials in the Indian subcontinent.
Etymology
The word stems from Urdu (), which derives through Persian ''jam'dar'' from Arabic ''jamā‘a(t)'' 'muster' + Persian ''-dār'' ...
. The regiment earned the "Delhi 1803", "Leswarree" and "Deig" battle honours during this campaign.
The 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry was present throughout the
Siege of Bharatpur
The siege of Bharatpore was a siege that took place in the Indian princely state of Bharatpur (now part of Rajasthan) between December 1825 and January 1826. British troops under Lord Combermere initially surrounded the state's capital until ...
(December 1825 – January 1826) as part of a cavalry
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
, taking part in the final assault on the fortress and earning the "Bhurtpore" battle honour. The regiment also took part in the 1839 First Anglo-Afghan War, participating in the
Battle of Ghazni
The Battle of Ghazni (or Ghuznee) took place in the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 23, 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War.
Prelude
In the 1830s, the British were firmly entrenched in India but by 1837, feared a Rus ...
, earning the "Affghanistan 1839" and "Ghuznee 1839" battle honours. During the 1845–1846 First Anglo-Sikh War, the regiment fought in the
Battle of Aliwal
The Battle of Aliwal was fought on 28 January 1846 between the British and Sikh forces in northern India (now Punjab). The British were led by Sir Harry Smith,Smith, Sir Harry. ‘'The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith Baro ...
and the
Battle of Sobraon
The Battle of Sobraon was fought on 10 February 1846, between the forces of the East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa Army, the army of the Sikh Empire of the Punjab. The Sikhs were completely defeated, making this the decisive battle of the F ...
and was awarded battle honours for both.
Meerut
In 1857, the regiment had been stationed in
Meerut
Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
for three years, forming part of the
Meerut Division under
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
William Hewitt. The East India Company planned to supply its locally recruited "Native" regiments with the
Pattern 1853 Enfield
The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket (also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifled musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867; after which many we ...
rifle during that year, accompanied by a new type of ammunition that came in the form of a greased paper cartridge. The standard drill (or formal procedure) for loading this ammunition required the user to bite the paper cartridge to open it. Rumours began to circulate within the
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
that the grease for the cartridges was made from a mix of
lard
Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.[Lard]
entry in the o ...
from pigs and
tallow
Tallow is a rendering (industrial), rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides.
In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain techn ...
from cows, and was therefore offensive to both
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
sepoy
''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...
alike. These rumours reached
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
George M. Carmichael-Smyth, in temporary command of the regiment, while he was on leave in
Mussoorie
Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill st ...
. On his return to Meerut, Carmichael-Smyth received orders for the new drill, which applied to all weapons currently in use including those which did not take the new form of ammunition. Carmichael-Smyth modified the drill so that cartridges would be torn by hand, rather than biting.
On 23 April, Carmichael-Smyth announced a parade for the following day, during which the men of the regiment would be taught the new drill, using the muskets and ammunition which they had been using for years, rather than the new rifles or ammunition. During that evening, the men decided that they would not accept the cartridges; some approached a junior officer directly, and when they were told that none of the new cartridges were being used, they stated that using any type of cartridge would "lay themselves open to the imputation from their comrades and from other regiments of having fired the objectionable ones." These concerns were communicated to Carmichael-Smyth, who decided that the parade would go ahead as planned; during the night, Carmichael-Smyth's tent and some buildings were destroyed by fire. The following morning, 90 men, the regiment's
carabinier
A carabinier (also sometimes spelled carabineer or carbineer) is in principle a soldier armed with a carbine. A carbiniere is a carabiniere musket or rifle and were commonplace by the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The word is de ...
s or
skirmisher
Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an i ...
s, were lined up to carry out the new parade drill using
blank ammunition
A blank is a firearm cartridge that, when fired, does not shoot a projectile like a bullet or pellet, but generates a muzzle flash and an explosive sound ( muzzle report) like a normal gunshot would. Firearms may need to be modified to allow a bl ...
. When Carmichael-Smyth arrived at the parade ground, he found that no man had taken their ammunition, and he ordered the
Havildar Major
Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry units, where the equivalent is daffadar.
Like a British sergeant, ...
to carry out the drill. There was then an attempt to distribute the cartridges to the rest of the carabiniers but this was refused, despite a speech from Carmichael-Smyth reminding the men that the cartridges were the type they had been using for years. Out of 90 men, 85 refused the order to accept the ammunition.
Hewitt convened a Court of Inquiry, judged by Indian officers, to investigate the events. The inquiry found that the ammunition issued to the men was of the same type the men previously used, and was in fact manufactured under the supervision of one of the five men who had accepted his ammunition during the parade. During the inquiry, only one man expressed a concern regarding the greased cartridges; the wider concerns of the men were based on the perceived stigma that they would face if they had accepted the ammunition. The inquiry found that the men had no reasonable cause, and no religious grounds, to refuse to accept the cartridges. A
court martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
was ordered, again composed entirely of Indian officers (six Muslim, nine Hindu), and this took place over a three-day period with each of the 85 men giving a plea of "not guilty". The men were found guilty, by 14 of 15 officers, of disobeying orders, and were sentenced to 10 years' hard labour. The judges asked Hewitt to take into consideration the fact that the men were of good character and had been misled, but this was ignored as Hewitt felt there had been no expression of remorse. Eleven of the men, the youngest, had their sentences reduced from 10 to 5 years, but sentences of the remaining men were confirmed on 8 May.
At 05:00 on 9 May 1857, a parade of the entire Meerut Division took place, to announce the sentences of the convicted men. The troops present included the
60th Rifles
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
,
6th Dragoon Guards
The Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1685 as the Lord Lumley's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as His Majesty's 1st Regiment of Carabiniers in 1740, the 3rd Regiment of Horse (Carabi ...
, and batteries of
Bengal Artillery
The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.
The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Govern ...
, as well as the
11th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, the
20th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry and, dismounted, the remainder of the men of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry. The sentences were read, and the men stripped of their uniforms, then placed in shackles, while the Meerut Division watched. Despite pleas from the condemned men, none of their fellow soldiers came to their assistance. The entire process took around two hours to complete, following which the convicted soldiers were handed over to the civilian authorities and taken to the local jail under armed escort. After the parade, Hewitt communicated to his headquarters that all was calm, but during the night various junior officials received warnings of impending trouble from concerned sepoys or members of their household staff.
Mutiny
![The Sepoy revolt at Meerut](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/The_Sepoy_revolt_at_Meerut.jpg)
The following day, a Sunday, at around 18:00, a general disturbance was reported in the town bazaar and columns of smoke were seen, rising from burning buildings. The 60th Rifles were waiting outside the local church, ready to attend a service, which had been delayed by half an hour on account of unusually warm weather; the sound of gunfire from the town alerted them to trouble. They headed to their own barracks, armed themselves, and were on their parade square awaiting orders when they were attacked by mounted troopers from the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry. Upon finding the 60th Rifles unexpectedly armed and waiting for them, the troopers rode away, headed directly to the jail and released their comrades with the help of a local blacksmith. At the same time, soldiers from the 11th and 20th Regiments of Bengal Native Infantry were mutinying, killing some of their officers and some civilians (while helping some of their officers and officers' families to escape), and burning a number of buildings within the town. One company of the 60th Rifles was ordered to guard the
treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
, a second company was ordered to guard their barracks, and the remainder of the 60th Rifles, joined by the 6th Dragoon Guards, headed to the barracks of the Native Infantry regiments. When they arrived, they found the buildings ablaze and the area deserted. Hewitt, concerned about the possibility of attack, withdrew the troops back toward their barracks and encamped them nearby. Throughout the mutiny and subsequent rioting, one
troop
A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...
consisting of between 80 and 90 members of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry remained loyal to their officers. The mutinying soldiers from the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry, having released their comrades from the jail, returned to Meerut and joined in with the rioting along with members of the local civilian population, and then the mutineers from all three regiments left, heading to Delhi, although the fact that they had left Meerut was not discovered by the military authorities until the following morning and they did not know the direction in which the mutineers had departed.
![Massacre of officers by insurgent cavalry at Delhi,](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Massacre_of_officers_by_insurgent_cavalry_at_Delhi%2C.jpg)
At approximately 09:00 on 11 May, a small body of cavalry, followed by a larger body in the distance, was seen approaching Delhi along the road between that city and Meerut. The East India Company employees immediately noted that this was unusual, and the senior military officers present within the city attempted to contact Meerut by
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
to enquire about the approaching troops, but the telegraph line between Delhi and Meerut appeared to have been cut. The
54th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, one of three Bengal Native Infantry regiments garrisoned within Delhi's
Red Fort
The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift hi ...
, was ordered to intercept them. A party of East India Company civil servants went to secure the fort's Calcutta Gate, but when they arrived they found that troopers from the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry had already taken control of it. A struggle ensued which led to the death of a cavalry trooper and a civilian. A small group of troopers from the regiment headed toward the city's jail and released the inmates, meeting with no resistance. The main body of the regiment then arrived, joining up with the party at the Calcutta Gate, and then collectively they entered the fort and attacked the civilians within. A small group from the advance party gained access to the private courtyard of
Bahadur Shah II
Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah ''Zafar'' (; ''Zafar'' Victory) was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (24 October 1775 – 7 November 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor as well a ...
and told him that he should take command of them. The regiment spread out throughout the fort and the city, and was eventually joined in mutiny by the forces of Bahadur Shah II and members of the Bengal Native Infantry who were based within the fort; a widespread outbreak of looting, burning of buildings and murder of East India Company employees and civilian shopkeepers took place, and the Indian Mutiny began in earnest. The mutineers of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry remained at Delhi until the breaking of 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 September 1857. They withdrew first to
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
, then later to
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, where the majority of the men died through combat, disease or starvation. Those that eventually managed to make their way back to their homes found themselves shunned by their communities for their part in the mutiny. The regiment itself, in common with every other regiment of Bengal Light Cavalry, was disbanded at the end of the Indian Mutiny.
Historical perspective
The way the situation had been handled was subject to criticism; firstly, the choice by Carmichael-Smyth to hold the firing drill parade was immediately criticised by his superior, Hewitt, who felt that had the parade not been held, the issue with the cartridges "would have blown over." Furthermore, a junior officer from Carmichael-Smyth's regiment, Lieutenant John Campbell MacNabb, felt that the drill parade was unnecessary and stated that the dislike held by the men toward their commanding officer was an aggravating factor in the events that followed. When Hewitt informed the Commander in Chief, Major General
George Anson, about the public nature of the men's sentence, and of placing them in irons in front of the entire Meerut Division, on 9 May, Anson confirmed the sentences but did not approve of the "unusual procedure" that Hewitt had followed. For his conduct on 10 May, Hewitt later faced criticism from
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Sir
Patrick Grant, (who was the acting Commander in Chief by that point, following Anson's death) and from
John Lawrence (who was then Commissioner of
Punjab province). Following the mutiny of the troops at Meerut, Hewitt's command of the Meerut Division was taken away. At a subsequent appeal, Hewitt and his immediate subordinate,
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Archdale Wilson
Lieutenant-General Sir Archdale Wilson, 1st Baronet, GCB (1803 – 9 May 1874) was a British Bengal Army and British Army artillery officer who saw service during the Second Sikh War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857, during which he was commend ...
of the Bengal Artillery, blamed each other for the way the situation unfolded; Hewitt said that Wilson was responsible for the tactics on the day, and Wilson stated that as Hewitt was the overall commander, responsibility lay with him; Hewitt lost the appeal. The historian Kim A. Wagner, in his 2010 book ''The Great Fear of 1857,'' stated that the senior officers' fear of "making a 'wrong decision'" led them to make no decision at all, "with devastating results".
Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
Frederick Roberts, in his 1897 book ''Forty-one Years in India,'' gave an opposing view; Roberts stated that he doubted "whether anything would have been gained" by an attempt to pursue the mutineers as the cavalry available (the 6th Dragoon Guards) was at that time composed mainly of recruits with horses that had not yet been broken and it was impractical to follow the mutineers with either infantry or artillery. Roberts went on to say "after careful consideration of all the circumstances of the revolt at Meerut, I have come to the conclusion that it would have been futile to have sent the small body of mounted troops available in pursuit of the mutineers on the night of the 10th May, and that, considering the state of feeling throughout the Native army, no action, however prompt, on the part of the Meerut authorities could have arrested the Mutiny. The sepoys had determined to throw off their allegiance to the British Government, and the when and the how were merely questions of time and opportunity." The actions of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry themselves were described by
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Agha Amin, writing for ''Defence Journal'', as "a coup d'état and an outstanding example of initiative and courage."
See also
*
Causes of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* {{cite book , last=Wagner , first=K , year=2010 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=35sGgU8A4CEC , title=The Great Fear of 1857, publisher= Peter Lang , location=Witney, isbn=978-1906165277
1857 in India
19th-century military history of the United Kingdom
Bengal Presidency
Indian Rebellion of 1857
Military history of British India
Honourable East India Company regiments
Military units and formations established in 1797
Military units and formations disestablished in 1857