Anthony Pohlmann

Last updated

Anthony Pohlmann
Service / branchBritish East India Company Army
Battles / wars Anglo-Maratha Wars

Anthony Pohlmann was a German army officer and mercenary who served in the armies of the British East India Company and Gwalior State. [1]

Contents

Life

Pohlmann arrived in India as a sergeant in a Hanoverian Army regiment sent to fight alongside the East India Company's Madras Army. He deserted his unit in 1792 or 1793 and took employment in the army of the Maratha prince Daulat Rao Sindhia.

He served under the French mercenary Benoît de Boigne, who promoted him to captain in 1794. By 1795, he was in command of a battalion of infantry, serving alongside the Anglo-Indian military adventurer James Skinner. In early 1799, Pierre Cuillier-Perron – who superseded de Boigne as the overall commander of Scindia's troops – promoted Pohlmann to colonel and gave him command of Scindia's second brigade. Pohlmann was instrumental at defeating the Rajput armies of Jodhpur and Jaipur at the Battle of Malpura. At the Battle of Assaye in 1803, Pohlmann effectively commanded all the regular battalions in the Maratha Army, after Scindia and the Rajah of Berar absented themselves before the battle. [2] He re-entered service with the East India Company as a lieutenant colonel in 1804. [1]

Fiction

Anthony Pohlmann is a significant character in Bernard Cornwell's historical novels Sharpe's Triumph and Sharpe's Trafalgar .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maratha Confederacy</span> Indian political entity (1674–1818)

The Maratha Confederacy, also referred to as the Maratha Empire, was an early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent Maratha states often subordinate to the former. It was established in 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as the Maratha Chhatrapati and recognised by Emperor Bahadur Shah I as a tributary state in 1707 following a prolonged rebellion. Following this, the Marathas continued to recognise the Mughal emperor as their nominal suzerain, similar to other contemporary Indian entities, though in practice, imperial politics at Delhi were largely influenced by the Marathas between 1737 and 1803.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Assaye</span> Battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War

The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23 September 1803 near Assaye in western India. An outnumbered Indian and British force, under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley, defeated the combined Maratha army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar. The battle was Wellesley's first major victory and the one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his more famous victories in the Peninsular War, and his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Anglo-Maratha War</span> Conflict within the Maratha Confederacy involving the British East India Company

The Second Anglo-Maratha War was a large conflict within the Maratha Confederacy involving the British East India Company. It resulted in major loss of territory for the Marathas, including regions around Delhi and in present-day Gujarat falling into direct Company rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Delhi (1803)</span> Part of the Second Anglo-Maratha War

The Battle of Delhi or Battle of Patparganj took place on 11 September 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, between British East India Company troops of the Bombay Army under General Lake, and the Marathas of Scindia's army under General Louis Bourquin and Sardar Ravsaheb Wable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake</span> British general (1744–1808)

Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benoît de Boigne</span> French mercenary (1751–1830)

Benoît Leborgne, better known as Count Benoît de Boigne or General Count de Boigne, was a military adventurer from the Duchy of Savoy who made his fortune and name in India with the Marathas. He was also named president of the general council of the French département of Mont-Blanc by Napoleon I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Cuillier-Perron</span> French military adventurer

Pierre Cuillier-Perron was a French military adventurer in active in India.

<i>Sharpes Triumph</i> 1998 historical novel by Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe's Triumph is the second historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1998. Sharpe is a sergeant in the army who attracts the attention of General Arthur Wellesley at Ahmednagar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwalior State</span> State in the Maratha Confederacy (1731–1948)

The Gwalior State was a state within the Maratha Confederacy located in Central India. It was ruled by the House of Scindia, a Hindu Maratha dynasty. Following the dissolution of the Confederacy, it became part of the Central India Agency of the Indian Empire under British protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daulat Rao Sindhia</span> Maharaja of Gwalior (1779–1827)

Daulat Rao Scindia also conferred with the title "The defender of Delhi" was the Maratha Maharaja of Gwalior state in central India from 1794 until his death in 1827. His reign coincided with struggles for supremacy within the Maratha Empire, and wars with the expanding East India Company. Daulatrao played a significant role in the Second and Third Anglo-Maratha wars. While most Indian rulers had accepted British rule, Scindia's kingdom maintained its independence even as late as 1832 and continued collecting Chauth (taxes) from other neighbouring states and dependent Kingdoms till 1886. As per an answer given by Mill in a Parliamentary Committee in Britain on February 16, 1832, on the status of Scindia's kingdom it was mentioned that “he was independent.” This Committee finally reported to Parliament that “within the Peninsula, Sindhia is the only prince who preserves the semblance of independence.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Khadki</span> 1817 Indian colonial conflict

The Battle of Khadki, also known as or the Battle of Ganeshkhind and Battle of Kirkee took place at modern day Khadki, India, on 5 November 1817 between the forces of the British East India Company and the Maratha Confederacy under the leadership of Appasaheb Bhonsle. Company forces achieved a decisive victory, with Khadki later becoming a military cantonment under British rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Campbell (British Army officer, born 1776)</span> British Army officer and colonial governor

Lieutenant-General Sir Colin Campbell was a British Army officer and colonial governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Skinner (East India Company officer)</span> East India Company officer

Colonel James Skinner was an Anglo-Indian military adventurer and soldier of the East India Company of British India. Prior to this he also served briefly as a mercenary in the Maratha Army. He became known as Sikandar Sahib later in life and is most known for two cavalry regiments he raised for the British at Hansi in 1803, known as 1st Skinner's Horse and 3rd Skinner's Horse, which are still units of the Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assaye (battle honour)</span> 1803 British battle honour

The Assaye battle honour was awarded by the Governor General of British India to all East India Company battalions and British Army regiments that took part of the Battle of Assaye. The battle occurred on 23 September 1803, near the village of Assaye in western India where a small force under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley defeated a 50,000 strong army of the Maratha Confederacy. The British and native troops were awarded the battle honour Assaye with the device of Elephant vide General Order of Governor General dated 30 October 1803. The British regiments and Madras battalions involved were also presented with an honorary colour to mark their achievement. The Madras Battalions celebrated the victory for over a century till their disbandment in the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maratha Army</span> Land-based armed forces of the Maratha Confederacy

The Maratha Army was the land-based armed forces of the Maratha Confederacy, which existed from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries in the Indian subcontinent.

The Battle of Merta was fought on 10 September 1790 between the Gwalior State and the Rajputs of Jodhpur which resulted in a Maratha victory.

Amrut Rao was a Maratha noble, and the adopted son of Peshwa Raghunath Rao. In 1803, Yashwant Rao Holkar invaded Pune and deposed his adoptive brother Peshwa Baji Rao II. Subsequently, Holkar set up an ad hoc council nominally headed by Amrut Rao, and ran the Peshwa's government in his name. Holkar also installed Amrut Rao's son Vinayak Rao as the Peshwa to strengthen the legal status of his government, because Vinayak had been adopted by the widow of the deceased Peshwa Madhav Rao II. However, Baji Rao sought assistance from the British East India Company, whose advance forced Amrut Rao and his son to flee Pune. Subsequently, Amrut Rao signed a treaty with the British, agreeing to give up all claims over the Peshwa's office in return for a pension and an estate in Bundelkhand.

John Collins was a British colonel in the Bengal Native Infantry who served with the British East India Company.

Major General Nicholas Carnegie of Coates HEIC (1750–1824) was an 18/19th century British Army Officer

References

  1. 1 2 Millar, Simon (2006). Assaye 1803: Wellington's First and 'Bloodiest' Victory . Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp.  16–17. ISBN   1-84603-001-3.
  2. Compton, Herbert (1892). A particular account of the European military adventures of Hindustan, from 1784 to 1803. London: T. Fisher Unwin. pp. 381–382.