102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)

Last updated
102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)
Active1742–1881
Country Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg East India Company (1742–1858)
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom (1858–1881)
Branch Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg Madras Army (1742–1862)
Flag of the British Army.svg  British Army (1862–1881)
Type Line Infantry
Role Light Infantry
SizeOne battalion (two battalions 1774–1799 and 1824–1830)
Garrison/HQ Naas Barracks, County Kildare
ColorsBlue Facings,
MarchQuick:Slow:
Engagements Second Carnatic War
Seven Years' War
Third Carnatic War
Third Anglo-Mysore War
Third Anglo-Maratha War
First Anglo-Burmese War
Second Anglo-Burmese War
Indian Rebellion

The 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) was a regiment of the British Army raised by the Honourable East India Company in 1742. It transferred to the command of the British Army in 1862. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 103rd Regiment of Foot in 1881 to form the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Contents

History

General Sir Robert Vivian, colonel of the regiment in the 1860s General Sir Robert John Hussey Vivian.png
General Sir Robert Vivian, colonel of the regiment in the 1860s

Formation

The regiment was raised by the Honourable East India Company as the Madras Europeans from independent companies in 1742 – "European" indicating it was composed of British soldiers, not Indian sepoys. [1] It saw action at the siege of Arcot in autumn 1751 during the Second Carnatic War and went on to fight at the Battle of Plassey in June 1757, the Battle of Condore in December 1758 and the Battle of Wandiwash in January 1760 during the Seven Years' War. [2] It also fought at the siege of Pondicherry in September 1760 during the Third Carnatic War. [2] It became the 1st Madras Europeans, on formation of the 2nd and 3rd Madras Europeans, in 1766. [1] It went on to become the 1st Madras European Regiment in 1774. [1] After that it took part in the siege of Nundydroog in October 1791 and the siege of Seringapatam in February 1792 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. [2]

Early nineteenth century

A view of Ternate occupied by the regiment in the early nineteenth century Ternate Island.jpg
A view of Ternate occupied by the regiment in the early nineteenth century

The regiment next took part in expedition to the Dutch East Indies seeing action at the capture of Amboyna in February 1796 and its recapture in February 1810, the capture of Ternate in April 1801 and its recapture in August 1810 and the capture of Banda in March 1796 and its recapture in August 1810. [2]

The Victorian era

The regiment returned to India in 1816 and took part in the Battle of Mahidpur in December 1817 during the Third Anglo-Maratha War. [2] It was deployed to Burma in 1824 for service in the First Anglo-Burmese War: it formed part of an army which advanced up the River Irrawaddy to the Kingdom of Ava. [2] It returned to India arriving in Madras in 1826. [2] It transferred to Malacca in 1835 [2] and became the 1st Madras (European) Fusiliers in 1843. [1] After returning to India in early 1852 it was deployed to the Province of Pegu in April 1852 during the Second Anglo-Burmese War. [2]

The regiment fought at the siege and relief of Lucknow in November 1857 during the Indian Rebellion. [2] Three members of the regiment were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions during the siege. [3] [4] After the Crown took control of the Presidency armies in the aftermath of the Rebellion, the regiment became the 1st Madras Fusiliers in July 1858 and then the 1st Royal Madras Fusiliers in May 1861. [1] It was then renumbered as the 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers) on transfer to the British Army in September 1862. [1] [Note 1] The regiment embarked for England in 1870 and was then deployed to Gibraltar in April 1876 and to Ceylon in 1879. [2]

As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 102nd was linked with the 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers), and assigned to district no. 66 at Naas Barracks in County Kildare. [6] On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers) to form the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. [1]

Plassey the tiger

The 102nd kept a tiger, named Plassey, during their deployments in India and the regiment's garrison at Dover. Named after the Battle of Plassey, the Bengal tiger cub was among a pair captured by Captain Frank Thackwell of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, and later gifted to the 102nd. Plassey was among the other mascots of the 102nd, that being a dog and an antelope. Plassey came to be such a symbol of the regiment that the cap badge showed him. After the regiment was shipped back to Europe, Plassey stayed with the Dover garrison, where he lived alongside a pair of leopards. However, after having "alarmed" residents, Plassey was sent to the London Zoo, where he died in 1877. [7] [8]

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: [1]

Victoria Crosses

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment included: [1]

102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)

Notes

  1. "Her Majesty's Government have expressed an anxious desire to preserve the proud recollections of distinguished service which belong especially to the older Regiments of each Presidency, and to incorporate with Her Majesty's Army, Corps which have so greatly contributed to the acquisition and maintenance of Her Majesty's Dominions in the East. Her Majesty having graciously determined to mark Her estimation of the services of Her Indian Armies, by conferring the designation of "Royal" upon three of the European Regiments, and by selecting for this honour one Regiment from each Presidency...has much gratification in announcing that the following Regiments will henceforward bear the honourable designation of "Royal" Regiments...The 1st Madras Fusiliers. The...older Regiments in the several Presidencies will thus be converted into Regiments of Her Majesty's General Army, and will be numbered and designated as follows...The 102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers). [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward William Derrington Bell</span> Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Major General Edward William Derrington Bell, was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 32nd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 46th Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Dublin Fusiliers</span> Irish infantry regiment of the British Army

The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two British Army regiments in India, the Royal Bombay Fusiliers and Royal Madras Fusiliers, with Dublin and Kildare militia units as part of the Childers Reforms that created larger regiments and linked them with "Regimental Districts". Both regular battalions of the Regiment fought in the Second Boer War. In the First World War, a further six battalions were raised and the regiment saw action on the Western Front, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. In the course of the war three Victoria Cross were awarded.

The 89th Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised on 3 December 1793. Under the Childers Reforms the regiment amalgamated with the 87th Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Victoria's in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seaforth Highlanders</span> British military unit

The Seaforth Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service in World War I and World War II, along with many smaller conflicts. In 1961 the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders, which merged, in 1994, with the Gordon Highlanders to form the Highlanders. This later joined the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Fusiliers and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to create the present Royal Regiment of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 85th Regiment of Foot to form the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1881.

The 105th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised by the Honourable East India Company in 1766. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 51st Regiment of Foot to form the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ghazni</span> 1839 battle of the First Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Ghazni took place in the city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on Tuesday, July 23, 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot</span> Military unit

The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 108th Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1881.

The 108th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. However, it was raised initially as part of the Madras Army, by the East India Company (EIC) in 1766.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">106th Regiment of Foot (Bombay Light Infantry)</span> Military unit

The 106th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1862 to 1881, the third to bear the number after the Black Musqueteers (1761–1763) and a regiment raised briefly in 1794. It was formed by renaming the 2nd Bombay European Regiment, formed by the Honourable East India Company in 1839. In 1881 the 106th Regiment was joined with the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot to form the Durham Light Infantry, as its second regular battalion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">103rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)</span> Military unit

The 103rd Regiment of Foot was a regiment raised in 1662. It transferred to the command of the Honourable East India Company in 1668 and to the command of the British Army in 1862. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 102nd Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1881.

The 101st Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the East India Company and British Army that existed from 1652 to 1881. The regiment was raised in India in 1652 by the East India Company as the company's first non-native infantry regiment. Over the following two centuries, the regiment was involved in nearly all of the East India Company's conflicts which consolidated British rule over India. The Royal Bengal Fusiliers was transferred to the command of the British Army in 1862 following the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the end of Company rule in India. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 104th Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Munster Fusiliers in 1881.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Haines</span> British general and commander of British forces in India

Field Marshal Sir Frederick Paul Haines was a British Army officer. He fought in the First Anglo-Sikh War, in the Second Anglo-Sikh War and then in the Crimean War: during the latter conflict at the Battle of Inkerman, he held an important barrier on the post road guarding the approach to the 2nd Division camp for six hours. He served in India during the Indian Rebellion before becoming Commanding Officer of the 8th Regiment of Foot in the United Kingdom and then Commander of a Brigade in Ireland. He went on to be General Officer Commanding the Mysore Division of the Madras Army and then Quartermaster-General to the Forces in the United Kingdom. He returned to India to become Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army in May 1871 and then Commander-in-Chief, India in April 1876: he commanded the forces in India during the Second Anglo-Afghan War and successfully argued for a large force being made available before mobilisation occurred, but once the war started the Governor-General of India, Lord Lytton, was inclined to by-pass Haines and deal direct with commanders in the field, causing friction between the two men.

The 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot, was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 92nd Regiment of Foot to form the Gordon Highlanders in 1881.

The 104th Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised by the Honourable East India Company in 1765. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 101st Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Munster Fusiliers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Army</span> Army of the Bengal Presidency of British India

The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Native Infantry</span> Regular infantry component of the Bengal Army in British India

The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing into law of the Government of India Act 1858. At this latter point control of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency passed to the British Government. The first locally recruited battalion was raised by the East India Company in 1757 and by the start of 1857 there were 74 regiments of Bengal Native Infantry in the Bengal Army. Following the Mutiny the Presidency armies came under the direct control of the United Kingdom Government and there was a widespread reorganisation of the Bengal Army that saw the Bengal Native Infantry regiments reduced to 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madras Army</span> Military unit

The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.

Sir John Blick Spurgin (1821–1903) was a British army officer, a prominent figure of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers): Locations". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  3. "No. 22154". The London Gazette . 18 June 1858. p. 2958.
  4. "No. 22212". The London Gazette . 24 December 1858. p. 5515.
  5. "No. 22514". The London Gazette . 28 May 1861. pp. 2252–2253.
  6. "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  7. "'Plassey', the pet tiger of the Royal Madras Fusiliers, 1870 (c) | Online Collection | National Army Museum, London". collection.nam.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  8. "From terriers to tigers: British Army mascots | The Gazette". m.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022.

Further reading