The 79th Carnatic Infantry was an infantry regiment of the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

. They could trace their origins to 1777, when the 20th Carnatic Battalion was raised from sub-units of the 1st, 3rd, 8th and 16th Carnatic Battalions.

History

As part of the

Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, 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 until the Government ...

, the regiment took part in the

Battle of Carnatic A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, the

Battle of Sholinghur The Battle of Sholinghur was fought on 27 September 1781 at Sholinghur, West of Chennai (Madras), between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore led by Hyder Ali and East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. Haider Ali's forces were surpris ...

, the

Battle of Seringapatam A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

during the

Second Anglo-Mysore War The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in ...

and 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 ...

. In 1903, under a general policy to move the focus for recruitment from Madras to the "

martial races Martial race was a designation which was created by army officials in British India after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in which they classified each caste as belonging to one of two categories, the 'martial' caste and the 'non-martial' caste. T ...

" of North-West India, the establishment of the 79th Carnatic Infantry was reduced to 600 officers and men. The intention was to convert this and other Carnatic units which still retained their traditional recruiting basis, to garrison troops. However the influx of recruits from southern India on the outbreak of World War I enabled the 79th Carnatic Infantry not only to be brought up to full strength, but to provide a complete company for the newly raised 1/156th Infantry. By 1914 the regiment was linked ("grouped") with the

75th Carnatic Infantry The 75th Carnatic Infantry were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1776, when they were raised as the 15th Carnatic Battalion by enlisting men from the 2nd, 6th and 12th Carnatic Battalions. Their ...

and the

86th Carnatic Infantry The 86th Carnatic Infantry was an infantry regiment originally raised in 1794 as the 36th Madras Native Infantry, part of the Presidency of Madras Army which was itself part of the Honourable East India Company Army. The presidency armies, lik ...

, with a shared recruitment and training centre at

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

. During World War I the 79th Carnatic Infantry was assigned to Mesopotamia for service against the Ottoman Turks. Initially the regiment performed

lines of communication A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicati ...

and garrison functions but it saw active service in Kurdistan after November 1918. After World War I the Indian government restructured the army, moving from single battalion infantry regiments to multi-battalion regiments. The 79th Carnatic Infantry now became the 3rd Battalion,

3rd Madras Regiment The 3rd Madras Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army formed after the World War I reforms of the Indian Army. The infantry regiments were converted into large regiments with four or five battalions in each regiment plus a t ...

. At Independence this regiment became part of the new Indian Army. In May 1950 the 3rd Battalion was disbanded but in March 1962 it was re-raised, still with its old connection to the 79th Carnatic Infantry.

Victoria Cross

Captain

Herbert Mackworth Clogstoun Major Herbert Mackworth Clogstoun VC (13 June 1820 – 6 May 1862) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Detai ...

19th Madras Native Infantry,

was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

during the Indian Mutiny when the following deed took place on 15 January 1859:

Previous names

*20th Carnatic Battalion - 1777 *20th Madras Battalion - 1784 *2nd Battalion, 7th Madras Native Infantry - 1796 *19th Madras Native Infantry - 1824 *19th Madras Infantry - 1885 *79th Carnatic Infantry - 1903

Uniform and insignia

As the 19th Madras Native Infantry under the East India Company, the regiment wore red coats with French grey facings. Similar sky blue facings were replaced by yellow in 1882. Prior to 1914 the full dress of the 73rd Carnatic Infantry included a khaki turban and the scarlet "zouave" jacket peculiar to Madras infantry regiments, with white facings. No regimental badge is recorded as being worn by the regiment before World War I but as part of the 3rd Madras Regiment it wore a star surmounted by a crown. This was replaced by a shield with crossed swords and scroll in 1946.

References

Sources

* *{{cite book, last=Sumner, first=Ian, title=The Indian Army 1914-1947, year=2001, publisher=Osprey Publishing, isbn=1-84176-196-6 British Indian Army infantry regiments Military history of the Madras Presidency Military units and formations established in 1777