9th-12th-Lancers - Year 2006 - Page 0120
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| Regiment | 9th/12th Lancers |
|---|---|
| Year | 2006 |
| Transcription |
118 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE 9TH/12TH ROYAL LANCERS (PRINCE OF WALES’S) Indian Mutiny he Mutiny that broke out in May 1857, initially at Meerut, was not a national uprising against British rule. While there was widespread discontent amongst much of the popula- tion of 150 million, the mutiny itselfwas largely confined to the Army of Bengal. It is noteworthy that for every European sol- dier, there were up to 20 native servants, cooks andbearers. The majority of the civil Indian population condemned the act of mutiny as a breach of faith with those from whom they ‘had taken the salt’. While not pretending that all Indians liked the British, it is certainly true that without the support of the major- ity the British would have been overwhelmed. The Army in India numbered some 300,000, of which around 37,000 were British, a ratio of 8:1. In Bengal, the Ganges Plain and the Punjab, there were more than 135,000 Indian troops (sepoys), and in isolated garrisons just 5 British regiments. The 9th Lancers, commanded by Hope Grant, were based at Umbala at the outbreak of the mutiny on 9th May, (one of only two cavalry regiments in N. India). The 12th Lancers were in the Madras Presidency in Central India. They were not involved in the initial fighting, but participated in many small but sharp actions in support of the fighting further north. Delhi was the seat of the Mughal Emperors and therefore, the obvious rallying point for any new regime in India. The mutineers from all over Bengal gathered there and attempted to seize the Arsenal, in which they were thwarted by its guards. The guards blew it up, sacrificing many of their number in the process. A force ofinitially 3,500 men advanced on the city to prevent the spread of the mutiny by holding down the main body of sepoys. By 8th June, this force was on the Ridge overlooking Delhi. Between then and the end of the seige, the force was gradually reinforced to a total of around 8,500, of whom 3,000 were European. At times, the besiegers were more like the besieged. In one hectic action, the Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Yule was killed, the same action in which Hope Grant was unhorsed and rescued by his orderly Rooper Khan ( who was subsequently awarded the The Order of Merit) and Troopers Purcell and Hancock who won the Victoria Cross. Sickness was ever present and the survival of the force uncer- tain. There was much hand-to-hand fighting often at night, the small force threatened from the city and from without. Dismounted lancers volunteered to serve the siege guns and many casualties were taken. At dawn, on 14th September, the four assault columns attacked the city. The right hand column was hard pressed when rescued by Hope Grant, who had been given command of all cavalry, both British and Indian. ‘It was necessary’ wrote Hope Grant in his dispatch, ‘to retain our position to prevent the enemy from taking our batteries... not a man flinched from his post... and when a poor fellow got knocked over, it seemed to put the men in good spirits. One lancer was killed and forty wounded. In the native cavalry, two were killed and twenty-three wounded’. There they sat, firm in their saddles, ‘ghastly motionless, as if they slept whilst unerr- ing grapeshot streamed upon them and made dreadful openings in their ranks’. As the mutiny historian Sir John Kaye wrote, ‘The courage of the 9th Lancers was never surpassed’. It took six days of street fighting before the city of Delhi was finally recaptured. With its fall, it was certain that the revolt would ultimately fail. There was much hard fighting to come, but the fate of the mutineers was sealed. The total losses of the 9th during the siege were one officer, twenty-six other ranks and thirty-nine horses killed, and two officers, sixty-four other ranks and forty-six horses were wound- ed. In addition, thirty-six horses were missing, giving a total of ninety-three all ranks and one hundred and twenty-one horses out of a strength of three hundred and ninety-one soldiers at Delhi. There was little respite for the 9th and they fought any number of engagements. At Balandshar, they won no less than 5 VCs in the storming of the town, and outside Agra, sepoys who had ini- tially successfully attacked the camp, were ridden down by them. The sepoys fled with a cry of ‘Delhi bhala-wallah’ (‘the Delhi Spearmen’). This has been the nickname of the 9th Lancers to this day. The regiment went on to take part in the operations before Lucknow and then at Cawnpore. At the latter, it was a case of 6,000 against 25,000 mutineers, and after an artillery bombard- ment, the cavalry drove them from the field. At Kali Nuddi, the sepoy infantry formed square, but one squadron of the 9th ‘jumped into the unbroken square’ and together, the Lancers and the Sikhs of the Hodson’s Horse pur- sued them. ‘Just before sunset, we saw the Lancers and the Sikhs returning with the captured standards and every gun that the enemy had brought to the battle... it was a sight never to be forgotten, the infantry and the sailors cheering the Lancers and the Sikhs... Sir Colin Campbell rode up and, lifting his hat, thanked them both for their day’s work. The fighting for the 9th Lancers ended at Kandi Kote in January 1859. Much of the fighting in the war had been especially savage on both sides. Perhaps that was not too surprising given the isola- tion of the small British garrisons, the early massacres of fami- lies and the fact that whoever was defeated would certainly die. It was a battle for their very survival and that of their families. There was the constant threat of disease especially cholera and the stress of just staying alive was as heavy as that of the ever present threat of attack. Many Indians stayed loyal to the Raj and like our own civil war in the 17th Century, members of the same family fought on opposing sides. It was not a war between the races. Within four months, the regiment was on its way home. As the transport dropped down to the river at Calcutta, 21 Guns crashed out a unique salute to ‘this distinguished regiment’. The farewell order of the Governor General ‘offered his thanks’ not only for its service before the enemy, ‘but for the admirable example which it has presented to the young soldiers of the Indian Army by its perfection of discipline, conduct and effi- ciency’. In the campaign, the 9th Lancers had marched over 3,000 miles and alone among all the regiments in India, had been present at all three great military engagements of the war: the Siege of Delhi, the Relief of Lucknow, and the final capture of that city. It had won the admiration of friend and foe alike, with the enemy giving them the nickname that they bear to this day... ‘The Delhi Spearmen’. The thirteen Victoria Crosses won by individuals serving with them was unequalled until the Great |
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