British Indian Army

“ Both for the Indians themselves and for the Empire, the sending of the Indian Corps to Europe was a great adventure, in many respects the most remarkable event of the world war. The future lies on the knees of the gods, but to those, like the writer, who have seen the British and Indian troops side by side in the field, one thing at least is clear, and that is, that this campaign has knit even closer than before the ties of affection and respect existing between the Indian soldier and his British leaders. ”

“ Sweeping changes were made in our Indian army at the close of the Mutiny. That army now contains only two natives to one European, and the artillery is kept almost entirely in the hands of British soldiers. Many wars have occurred in India since it came under the British crown, but they have all been wars on her borders, keeping strife and danger far removed from every home in India. They have been wars to preserve internal peace, and to strengthen our frontiers, especially on the borders of Afghanistan, the only quarter from which an invading army could approach India except by sea. ”

“ Their government cannot trust them. The strength of the native army in India cannot exceed a certain proportion of the British army; they cannot handle the artillery; and numerous other restrictions are imposed upon the possession and use of arms by them. Why? Are they not fit to handle arms? Are they not brave? Are they intemperate? None of these things can be said of them. Yet no Indian can get a commissioned rank, however high by birth or social position, however fit by education. No Indian can be admitted into a military college in India or in Great Britain. ”

“ Officering of the Native Army The one thing left undone, and which I should like to have been able to accomplish before leaving India, was to induce the Government to arrange for more British officers to be given to the Native regiments in time of war. Nine to a Cavalry and eight to an Infantry corps may be sufficient in time of peace, but that number is quite too small to stand the strain of war. Indian soldiers, like soldiers of every nationality, require to be led ”

“ Not only is the number of British troops in India comparatively small, but the British Government has not feared to raise and keep up alongside of them an army of Indian regular troops twice as strong, and to arm and make efficient for war other bodies of men drawn from the population, notably some fine contingents of soldiery in the Feudatory chiefships. ”

“ When we reflect on the momentous issue decided by this and the preceding actions between the French and ourselves in India, and compare the number of the troops engaged with those we now mobilize for an Indian frontier campaign, it seems little short of marvellous that our Indian Empire should have been built up with such slender means. ”

“ In addition to the special battle honours, "Defence of Lucknow" and "Defence of Saugor," all regiments which took part in the suppression of the great rebellion in India should be awarded the battle honour "India, 1857-58."
For upwards of half a century a picked body of native troops kept watch and ward over the North-West Frontier of our Indian Empire, waging numberless campaigns against the independent tribes who people the borderland between our frontiers and those of Afghanistan. ”

“ An army of five thousand, or any other number, of British troops must have a large train of native attendants, to contend against the peculiarities of Indian climate and Indian customs. Mr Russell, marching with this portion of the late ‘Army of Oude,’ said: ‘If the people we see around us, who are ten or twelve to one as compared with us in this camp, were—not to arm and cut our throats, or poison us, or anything of that kind—but simply bid us a silent good-bye this night, and leave us, India would be lost to us in a day. ”

“ That India pays for her defense and also contributes towards the [Pg 58] defence of the Empire are facts which cannot be questioned. That she shall continue to do so in the future may also be assumed. That it is extremely desirable that in the matter of war supplies she should be self-dependent has been freely admitted. The permanent Indian army as constituted in pre-war days contained two-thirds Indians and one-third British. If the present strength of the Indian army be examined it will be found that the proportion of British troops is still smaller. ”

“ In the infantry, too, the old system of paying men and requiring them to equip, clothe and feed themselves, is in vogue to some extent. There is a reserve of the native army, numbering some 35,000 men. But it is rather a draft to replace wastage than a means of bringing the army up to a war footing in the European way. Indeed, a cardinal principle of the Indian forces, British and native alike, is that the units are maintained in peace at full war effective, often a little above their field strength. ”

“ It has been deeply impressed upon us by what we have heard from India that the wonderful wave of enthusiasm and loyalty now passing over that country is to a great extent based upon the desire of the Indian people that Indian soldiers should stand side by side with their comrades of the British army in repelling the invasion of our friends' territory and the attack made upon Belgium. ”

“ The Indian army is highly trained, and is under the command of British officers, who know and respect their men, and are trusted and esteemed by them. It has seen much fighting, not only against rebellious Indian tribes, but in Afghanistan, Uganda, the Sudan, Egypt, Persia, and China. It was in China, in the year 1900, that Indian soldiers made the acquaintance of the Germans, with whom we were then engaged in fighting the Boxers. ”

“ Three hundred millions of people would not be indefinitely “kept down” by an army of seventy thousand foreigners, however brave and well disciplined. The truth is that the British supremacy in India, though it has at times involved hard fighting, was founded upon the consent and active co-operation of the Indian races, and is maintained by the same means. ”

“ If we have to defend Afghanistan, we shall require a much larger force of British and native troops. It is to England we must look to supply the former, and to India for the power of expansion of the latter. White officers and transport are the essential requirements, and such a system in India as will enable us to draw large numbers to our colours. These are the essentials, and not merely the concentration of divisions and brigades, a plan which involves a loss in expansive power, and a withdrawal of the army from contact with the sources of that power—the people. ”

“ The Indian Corps has rendered a great, an inestimable service to the British cause. The first contingent came into the field at a moment when every man was wanted, and as its numbers were completed, it took over its share of our line and held it efficiently. Everything in trench warfare was new to the Indians, and for months they had no opportunity of displaying those qualities of dash that won them fame in many a hard fight in their own land. ”

“ It is that British rule in India is a rule based upon military supremacy; and that, therefore, our Indian army—English as well as native—is primarily a garrison, having its duties upon the places where it is quartered. We could not withdraw our troops from any part of India without incurring the risk of an outbreak in the districts thus denuded. The “Punjab Frontier Force” has always been a force distinct from the “Army of India,” and recognized as having special duties of its own. ”

“ The occasion was not primarily a military one, and the numbers of the force were limited; but 50,000 troops, British and Indian, were being drawn together to represent the armed might of the greatest power in the East, and to show that if ever he chose, the British Emperor of India would be able to throw into the scale of any 45 world-conflict an army in which the military efficiency of the West would be blended with the loyal devotion and numbers of the Indian fighting races. ”

“ The proportion between British and Indian troops observed since the Mutiny is roughly one British to two native, the Indian army being about 162,000 men. In addition the native army includes supply and transport corps, the medical service, and the veterinary service, officered in the higher ranks by officers of the A.S.C, R.A.M.C. and A.V.C. respectively.
The Indian army is recruited from Mahommedans and Hindus of various tribes and sects, and with some exceptions (chiefly in the Madras infantry) companies, sometimes regiments, are composed exclusively of men of one class. ”

“ That an Indian territorial army would, on paper at least, be less costly is beyond dispute, and if ultimately officered entirely or almost entirely by Indians, it would meet the Indian demand for a military career for those of the educated classes who regard themselves now as shut out in practice from the profession of arms. That demand cannot be met merely by the granting of British commissions to a few Indian officers, which is already raising many difficult regimental problems not easily grasped by Indians familiar only with the civil administration. ”

“ QUEEN’S TROOPS IN THE MADRAS ARMY. The following list applies to the state of affairs about the third week in June:
Summing up these entries, it will be seen that out of the 99 regiments of the line in the British army (the 100th, a new Canadian regiment, had not at that time completed its organisation) , no less than 59 were in India in June 1858; with a proportion of the other branches of the military service. Nothing can more strikingly illustrate the importance attached to the state of our Indian possessions. ”

“ GERMAN HUSSARS IN BRUSSELS
PHOTO © BROWN BROS., N.Y.
England's Indian Regiment Here is the pride of India's contingent, 70,000 native troops—Sikhs and Ghurkas from the Himalayas, Bengal lancers from the Ganges, and Mahrata infantrymen from the torrid central plains. They wear their turbans even in Europe, where the remainder of the uniform is khaki.
The helmeted officers are Englishmen. The Indians have already proved their courage and skill against the Germans. Like all the regulars of the British army, they are wonderful bayonet fighters. ”

“ So long as the delta of the Ganges remained in British hands, there would always be a base of operations for reconquering Upper India, if necessary; but that delta once lost, the services of a Clive, backed by a large army from England, would be again needed to recover it. A plan was therefore formed for locating five or six thousand European troops in Bengal, quartered at Calcutta, Dumdum, Chinsura, Barrackpore, Dinapoor, Benares, and one or two other places. It became very seriously contested whether any native army whatever would be needed in the province. ”

“ On the morning of the 21st, the Anglo-Indian army again took the offensive, and marched against the intrenched position of the enemy—and the details of the succeeding events of that bloody and glorious day are thus lucidly and modestly given.
“Instead of advancing to the direct attack of their formidable works, our force manœuvred to their right; the second and fourth divisions of infantry, in front, supported by the first division and cavalry in second line, continued to defile for some time out of cannon-shot between the Sikhs and Ferozepore. ”

“ It was held before the war by some 75,000 British and twice as many Indian troops. The numbers are completely altered now. Almost the whole regular force, both Indian and British, are away fighting in Mesopotamia, East Africa, France, and Egypt, while a new territorial force of Kitchener's army of London clerks and English civilians has taken its place.
One hundred and fifty secretaries in India were ready upon the outbreak of the war. All across India the Y M C A has opened huts, buildings, or tents for the territorial and other forces. ”

“ When we come to look carefully at our system, its morality is hardly clear. As we administer the revenues of India, nominally at least, for the benefit of the Indians, it might be argued that we may fairly keep on foot such troops as are best fitted to secure her against attack; but the argument breaks down when it is remembered that 70,000 British troops are maintained in India from the Indian revenues for that purpose, and that local order is secured by an ample force of military police. ”

“ The population from which it is drawn is so numerous and warlike—the land so wealthy—that the noble Indian army may vie with any force existing, in numbers, courage, and equipment. Its discipline and intelligence are in proportion. The European officers are all English, Irish, and Scotch gentlemen, whose honour and courage have created in their troops such an intrepid spirit as to render India secure against every evil from which an army can protect a country. ”

“ Undoubtedly the Indians have had a great many provocations, but, so far as restraint through fear is concerned, they have been subjected to very little of this very necessary discipline. Large bands of armed Indians have been able to keep brave but small detachments of United States troops within small camps or forts, to isolate them and taunt them for days in succession, to steal cattle, murder settlers, desolate the country, all because they had contempt for an army which was so small that it never could oppose more than a handful to any Indian raid which might suddenly be made. ”