the three armies were in all essentials similar. The officers were
mainly supplied by the Company's military college at Addiscombe in
Surrey (established in 1809), and by direct appointments. The Bengal
army was recruited from Hindustan, the infantry being mostly drawn
from Oudh and the great Gangetic plains. The soldiers were chiefly
high-caste Hindus, a sixth being Mahommedans. The cavalry was composed
mainly of Mahommedans, recruited from Rohilkhand and the Gangetic
Doab. The only other elements in the army were four Gurkha regiments,
enlisted from Nepal, and the local Punjab irregular force. The Madras
army was chiefly recruited from that presidency, or the native states
connected with it, and consisted of Mahommedans, Brahmans, and of the
Mahratta, Tamil and Telugu peoples. The Bombay army was recruited from
its own presidency, with some Hindustanis, but chiefly formed of
Mahrattas and Mahommedans; the Bombay light cavalry mainly from
Hindustan proper.
Including the local and irregular troops (about 100,000 strong), the
total strength amounted to 38,000 Europeans of all arms, with 276
field guns, and 348,000 native troops, with 248 field guns,--truly a
magnificent establishment, and, outwardly, worthy of the great empire
which England had created for herself in the East, but inwardly
unsound, and on the very verge of the great mutiny of 1857.
In 1856 the establishment in the several presidencies was a follows:--
+-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+-------+
| | Bengal. | Madras. | Bombay. | Total.|
+-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+-------+
| British Cavalry Regiments | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| British Infantry Battalions | 15 | 3 | 4 | 22 |
| Company's European Battalions | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| European and Native Artillery | | | | |
| Battalions | 12 | 7 | 5 | 24 |
| Native Infantry Battalions | 74 | 52 | 29 | 155 |
| Native Cavalry Regiments | 28 | 8 | 3 | 39 |
+-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+-------+
An account of the events of 1857-58 will be found under INDIAN MUTINY.
After the catastrophe the reorganization of the military forces on
different lines was of course unavoidable. Fortunately, the armies of
Madras and Bombay had been almost wholly untouched by the spirit of
disaffection, and in the darkest days the Sikhs, though formerly
enemies of the British, had not only remained faithful to them, but
had rendered them powerful assistance.