Sikkim Expedition 1888

Sikkim Expedition
1888
Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
Location: Sikkim
Combatants:
British Field Force	Tibetans
Result: British victory
Medals: India General Service medal Clasp: Sikkim 1888
Links:
Category: Sikkim Expedition 1888

	See our interactive map of Sikkim Expedition 1888 locations and routes on Google Maps

Summary

In response to the proposed Macaulay Mission to Tibet the Tibetans cross the Sikkim border via the Jelep Pass and established a fortified post. The Government of India despatched a field force which won a series of engagements before the conclusion of the Anglo-Chinese Convention.

Sikkim Field Force

Commanded by Brig-Gen Thomas Graham RA

• 32nd Bengal Pioneers (Musbee Sikhs) (700 men) Lt-Col Sir Benjamin Bromhead
• Two coys 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment (200 men) Capt Harold Wylly
• HQ wing 13th Bengal Infantry (400 men) Lt-Col Mitchell
• 9-1st Northern DivisionRoyal Artillery (4 guns) Major Keith
• Medical Officers and Transport

Total 1300 men with artillery

Reinforced August 1888 by

• 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment (200 men) Lt-Col McCleverty
• 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment of Gurkhas (600 men) Lt-Col Rogers
• 9-1st Northern DivisionRoyal Artillery (2 guns)
  

Reinforced October 1888 by

• One Coy Bengal Sappers and Miners Capt Sandbach RE

Field detachments

Lingtu Column

• 32nd Bengal Pioneers (300 men)
• 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment (100 men)
• 9-1st Northern DivisionRoyal Artillery (2 guns)
  

Intchi Column

• 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment (100 men)
• 13th Bengal Infantry (300 men)
• 9-1st Northern DivisionRoyal Artillery (2 guns)

Reserve

• 13th Bengal Infantry (100 men)
• 32nd Bengal Pioneers (400 men)

External links

Sikkim Expedition Medals and Their History - Google Books
Sikkim Expedition Britain and Tibet 1765-1947 - Google Books
Sikkim Map rootsweb.ancestry.com

Historical books online

• Report On The Sikhim Expedition by Lieutenant C. J. Markham 1890. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. Full title: Report on the Sikkim Expedition from January 1888 to January 1890, prepared by the Intelligence Branch of the Quartermaster General in India.
• "General Graham’s Expedition 1888" page 50, Frontier And Overseas Expeditions From India Volume IV North and North-Eastern Frontier Tribes. 1907 Archive.org.
• The 2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment in the Sikkim Expedition of 1888 by Herbert Augustus Iggulden 1900 Archive.org
• "A North-East Frontier Cemetery" by W J Buchanan page 6, Bengal, Past and Present Vol 9 July-Dec 1914. Gnatong on the trade route from Sikkhim to Tibet. Archive.org, mirror from ASI/IGNCA. Mentions the Connaught Rangers soldiers in the cemetery, whose role is briefly covered in Markham's 1890 Report Archive.org.