"19th century British infantry." Topic
7 Posts
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Paskal | 07 May 2018 2:28 a.m. PST |
Hello everyone , At the Battle of Aliwal fought on 28th January 1846 during the First Sikh War, HM 53rd Foot is a light infantry regiment or not? Some writers point this out and others do not ? Thank you for helping me. |
22ndFoot | 07 May 2018 5:08 a.m. PST |
I do not believe that the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment were light infantry at Aliwal in 1846. They only became the King's Shropshire Light Infantry in 1881 when they were merged with the 85th, or The King's Regiment of Light Infantry (Bucks Volunteers) under the Childers Reforms. As a side note, A E Housman wrote some wonderful stirring Victorian poetry inspired by the campaigns of the Shropshire Regiment which is well worth a read if you're interested in the regiment during the period. |
John Armatys | 07 May 2018 5:21 a.m. PST |
According to Lumley's Amalgamations in the British Army 1660 – 2008 (Partizan Press 2009) the 53rd Foot (Shropshire) was a foot regiment until 1881, when it merged with the 85th Foot (King's Light Infantry) to form The Shropshire Regiment (King's Light Infantry), which became The King's (Shropshire Light Infantry) a year later. |
22ndFoot | 07 May 2018 11:15 a.m. PST |
Paskal, As ever, the regimental museum is a great source of information including, as a link at the bottom of the first page linked to below, a reconstruction of a soldier of the regiment in the First Sikh War: 53rd in the Sikh Wars – Regimental Museum page. link 53rd Generally – Regimental Museum page. link A letter after the Battle of Aliwal. link Also, in The British in India, 1825 to 1859, John French notes: "The 53rd had not been in India long, having only recently arrived from Ireland. Wore white covers on their shakos, and had black chinstraps. Some officers wore forage caps. Their red shell jackets had scarlet red plain facings and shoulder straps. They are described as wearing dark trousders ('Home Service') with a red stripe. A reconstruction in the regimental museum, however, shows mid-grey trousers with red welt. White leather equipment had brass fittings. Boots were black." Despite the reconstruction, the illustration in the letter from Aliwal appears to show the drak trousers and, on the right of the picture, what appears to be members of the light company with wings rather than plain red straps. Hope this helps. |
Paskal | 07 May 2018 10:24 p.m. PST |
Yes,22ndFoot and John Armatys,Thank you for your help, A old and bad source "Uniforms and Weapons Soldiers of the XIXth Century Volume 1 and 2" (but they are nice books anyway) that made me lose all my afternoon saturday! So the only British infantry regiment – purely light – during the Sikh wars, is the HM 60th?
No less than 241 men of the HM 53rd have been declared unfit for service overseas, 241 small men who remain quiet in their country. Fortunately there was a lot of smoke in the battles of that time thanks to the black powder, otherwise … |
22ndFoot | 08 May 2018 5:17 a.m. PST |
Paskal, Don't forget The 60th (The King's Royal Rifle Corps) were Rifles and wore green. Jon |
Paskal | 08 May 2018 10:07 a.m. PST |
Yes and the rifles companies of the BNI ? Baker or Brunswick carbines like HM 60 th and green uniforms ? |
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