15,832
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Amend introduction
In 1775 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clavering_(British_Army_officer) General John Clavering], commander-in-chief, gave the units in the three brigades sequential numbers which changed the number of every battalion except the 21st. In 1778 six battalions from the 1st Brigade were sent to Bombay for the 1st Maratha War and six new battalions raised to replace them. Six battalions which had been raised under British officers for the Vizier of Oude were brought into HEIC service.
===== Formation of Regiments =====
In 1781 every battalion was increased to 1,000 men and designated a regiment commanded by a major and consisting of two battalions under a captain. There was a further shuffling of numbers in 1783 and in 1786 the two battalions on in each regiment were amalgamated and the strength reduced to 30 regiments. Contemporary accounts then tend to refer to the units again as battalions rather than regiments. Shortly thereafter the trhee three brigades were changed to six each with one European battalion and six native battalions - total 36 native battalions.
===== 1796 Reforms =====
The 36 battalions of the Native Infantry Establishment were condensed into 12 regiments of two battalions each. 12 units became 1st Battalion, 12 units became 2nd Battalion and twelve units were absorbed by both battalions of each regiment.
===== 1824 Reforms =====
In 1824 the Naive Native Infantry battalions were separated into 68 regiments. There were subsequent re-numberings in 1775By the outbreak of the Mutiny these had increased to 74 regiments each composed of 10 companies of 100 privates, 1781, 1784, 1796 2 native commissioned and 1824 which makes identifying regiments at any particular time quite difficult12 native non-commissioned officers. '''The numbering adopted in the lists found in the [[:Category:Bengal Infantry Regiments|Category page]] is generally that of 1824with the addition of pages for those battalions which were disbanded before the 1824 reorganisation.'''===== Finding a regiment =====To find the chronology of any regiment in the Bengal Infantry between 1757 and 1861, refer to the [[Bengal Infantry Table]]. For simplicity the units are generally referred to as battalions before 1781 and regiments thereafter.
==See also==
==== Historical Books on-line ====
[http://www.archive.org/stream/anhistoricalacc00willgoog#page/n9/mode/2up ''An historical account of the rise and progress of the Bengal Native Infantry, from its first formation in 1757, to 1796''] by Captain Wiliams Williams 1817 (Google Booksarchive.org)<br>
[http://books.google.com/books?id=acEIAAAAQAAJ ''The Standing Orders for the Bengal Native Infantry, with a translation into Oordoo, in the Roman, Persian, and Naguree Characters''] by Brevt. Capt. Samuel Cross Starkey, 7th Regiment B.N.I 1846 (Google Books)
