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NEW RELEASES FOR OCTOBER 2022
WELLINGTON IN INDIA
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803
THE 74[SUP]th[/SUP](HIGHLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT
The regiment was raised in Glasgow by Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell for service in India in October 1787. In accordance with the Declaratory Act 1788 the cost of raising the regiment was recharged to the East India Company on the basis that the act required that expenses “should be defrayed out of the revenues” arising there.
The regiment embarked for India in February 1789 and took part in the Siege of Bangalore in February 1791 and the Siege of Seringapatam in February 1792 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
At the Battle of Assaye in 1803 casualties were so high, every officer in the regiment was killed or wounded and what was left of the unit had to be led out of action by its regimental sergeant major.
From an initial strength of about 500, the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] lost ten officers killed and seven wounded, and 124 other ranks killed and 270 wounded.
The predominant arm in India was the infantry. The King’s and EIC native battalions were organized on similar lines, with the only difference being that the EIC battalions had 2 Grenadier companies and no light company, as it was believed that the native Indian soldier was considered a poor skirmisher.
The 74[SUP]th[/SUP] (Highland) Regiment of Foot wore kilts and plaids of Government tartan from the time they were raised in 1787. However, they were soon ordered to India, where the regiment spent 18 years.
On arrival at Madras the kilt was discontinued as unsuitable. In 1803 the soldiers wore linen white trousers and black round hats.
Captain A. B. Campbell of the 74[SUP]th[/SUP], who had on a former occasion lost an arm, was seen in the thickest of the action with his bridle in his teeth, and a sword in his right hand, “dealing destruction around him”. He was to survive the battle although “one of the enemy in the charge very nearly transfixed him with the bayonet, which actually pierced his saddle”.
Wellesley’s infantry formed up in two lines on the far bank, with the British regiments on the outside flanks, the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] opposite Assaye, the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] Madras Native Infantry in the centre of the first line and the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 12[SUP]th[/SUP] Madras Native Infantry in the second.
The 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Light Dragoons and the 3 Madras cavalry regiments formed the reserve. The Mysore cavalry remained on the near bank of the Kaitna.
During the Battle of Assaye in 1803, Wellesley’s right flank was in turmoil. The commander of the right flank, Lieutenant Colonel William Orrock, had mistaken his orders and continued on an oblique path directly towards Assaye. The 74[SUP]th[/SUP] under command of Major Samuel Swinton had moved so far north, it created a large gap in the centre of the British line, and brought the units on the flank under a barrage of cannonade from the artillery around the village and the Maratha left. The two battalions began to fall back in disarray, and Pohlmann ordered his infantry and cavalry forward to attack. The Maratha cavalry virtually annihilated the pickets, but the remnants of the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] were able to form a rough square.
Realising the destruction of his right flank would leave his army exposed and outflanked, Wellesley ordered a detachment of British cavalry under Colonel Patrick Maxwell, consisting of the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Light Dragoons and elements of the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] Madras Native cavalry into action.
The cavalry dashed directly towards the 74[SUP]th[/SUP]’s square, crashed into the swarming Maratha cavalry and routed them.
The regiment remained on home service until 1810, when it was sent to the Peninsular War (1808-1814) for four years.
It fought at Busaco in 1810, Fuentes de Onoro in 1811, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca in 1812, Vitoria, Nivelle, Orthes and Toulouse.
The Regiment saw service in Ireland at the time of Waterloo in 1815, and spent most of the following three decades in Canada and the West Indies.
In 1851, it arrived in the Cape Colony (in what is now South Africa) for the Eighth Cape Frontier War(1850-1853)
The troopship “Birkenhead” foundered off the coast of Southern Africa, the largest draft of new troops on board was intended for the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] foot. Their discipline on deck as the vessel sank, later known as the “Birkenhead Drill”, allowed the women and children on board to be saved.
The Regiment was to return to India in 1854, remaining there for ten years and fighting in the Indian Mutiny (1857-59)
WIN74-07
WELLINGTON IN INDIA,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803,
THE 74[SUP]th [/SUP](HIGHLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT
2 LINE INFANTRY.
(2 pcs)
WIN74-07N
WELLINGTON IN INDIA,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803,
THE 74[SUP]th [/SUP](HIGHLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT
4 LINE INFANTRY.
(4 pcs)
THE MARATHA EMPIRE
MARATHA CAVALRY
The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] September 1803 near Assaye in Western India where an outnumbered Indian and British force under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated a combined Maratha army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar.
The battle was the Duke of Wellington’s first major victory and the one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his famous victories in the Peninsular War and his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
The Maratha cavalry in the 1803 campaign was probably their weakest arm, yet by far the most numerous.
The Marathas employed three classes of cavalry.
The first were the BARGIRS, the cream of their cavalry, paid for and maintained by the state. At the death of Shivaji in 1680, they made up two thirds of the cavalry force, yet by the Battle of Panipat in 1761, their numbers had dropped to just 6,000 out of 38,000 cavalrymen.
This situation continued in the ealry years of the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Century as the Marathas continued to put more emphasis on their regular infantry battalions.
The second type of cavalry were known as SILLIDARS, who were irregular cavalry and these men provided their own horses and weapons.
M-WIN-18
WELLINGTON IN INDIA,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803,
THE MARATHA EMPIRE,
MARATHA CAVALRY
PINDARRIE.
(2 pcs)
The third type were known as PINDARRIES, and these were from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, with many being Muslims from the north.
Pindarries were an irregular light horse formation who were paid a fee or provided their retainers with a percentage, normally one sixth of any booty taken for the right to plunder.
They were used in the military role for screening the movement of troops, reconnaissance, raiding and cutting supply lines. They were not good against formations of steady infantry or cavalry, but were perfectly capable of cutting down unwary troops.
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
WELLINGTON IN INDIA
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803
THE 74[SUP]th[/SUP](HIGHLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT
The regiment was raised in Glasgow by Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell for service in India in October 1787. In accordance with the Declaratory Act 1788 the cost of raising the regiment was recharged to the East India Company on the basis that the act required that expenses “should be defrayed out of the revenues” arising there.
The regiment embarked for India in February 1789 and took part in the Siege of Bangalore in February 1791 and the Siege of Seringapatam in February 1792 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
At the Battle of Assaye in 1803 casualties were so high, every officer in the regiment was killed or wounded and what was left of the unit had to be led out of action by its regimental sergeant major.
From an initial strength of about 500, the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] lost ten officers killed and seven wounded, and 124 other ranks killed and 270 wounded.
The predominant arm in India was the infantry. The King’s and EIC native battalions were organized on similar lines, with the only difference being that the EIC battalions had 2 Grenadier companies and no light company, as it was believed that the native Indian soldier was considered a poor skirmisher.
The 74[SUP]th[/SUP] (Highland) Regiment of Foot wore kilts and plaids of Government tartan from the time they were raised in 1787. However, they were soon ordered to India, where the regiment spent 18 years.
On arrival at Madras the kilt was discontinued as unsuitable. In 1803 the soldiers wore linen white trousers and black round hats.
Captain A. B. Campbell of the 74[SUP]th[/SUP], who had on a former occasion lost an arm, was seen in the thickest of the action with his bridle in his teeth, and a sword in his right hand, “dealing destruction around him”. He was to survive the battle although “one of the enemy in the charge very nearly transfixed him with the bayonet, which actually pierced his saddle”.
Wellesley’s infantry formed up in two lines on the far bank, with the British regiments on the outside flanks, the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] opposite Assaye, the 10[SUP]th[/SUP] Madras Native Infantry in the centre of the first line and the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 12[SUP]th[/SUP] Madras Native Infantry in the second.
The 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Light Dragoons and the 3 Madras cavalry regiments formed the reserve. The Mysore cavalry remained on the near bank of the Kaitna.
During the Battle of Assaye in 1803, Wellesley’s right flank was in turmoil. The commander of the right flank, Lieutenant Colonel William Orrock, had mistaken his orders and continued on an oblique path directly towards Assaye. The 74[SUP]th[/SUP] under command of Major Samuel Swinton had moved so far north, it created a large gap in the centre of the British line, and brought the units on the flank under a barrage of cannonade from the artillery around the village and the Maratha left. The two battalions began to fall back in disarray, and Pohlmann ordered his infantry and cavalry forward to attack. The Maratha cavalry virtually annihilated the pickets, but the remnants of the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] were able to form a rough square.
Realising the destruction of his right flank would leave his army exposed and outflanked, Wellesley ordered a detachment of British cavalry under Colonel Patrick Maxwell, consisting of the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Light Dragoons and elements of the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] and 5[SUP]th[/SUP] Madras Native cavalry into action.
The cavalry dashed directly towards the 74[SUP]th[/SUP]’s square, crashed into the swarming Maratha cavalry and routed them.
The regiment remained on home service until 1810, when it was sent to the Peninsular War (1808-1814) for four years.
It fought at Busaco in 1810, Fuentes de Onoro in 1811, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca in 1812, Vitoria, Nivelle, Orthes and Toulouse.
The Regiment saw service in Ireland at the time of Waterloo in 1815, and spent most of the following three decades in Canada and the West Indies.
In 1851, it arrived in the Cape Colony (in what is now South Africa) for the Eighth Cape Frontier War(1850-1853)
The troopship “Birkenhead” foundered off the coast of Southern Africa, the largest draft of new troops on board was intended for the 74[SUP]th[/SUP] foot. Their discipline on deck as the vessel sank, later known as the “Birkenhead Drill”, allowed the women and children on board to be saved.
The Regiment was to return to India in 1854, remaining there for ten years and fighting in the Indian Mutiny (1857-59)
WIN74-07
WELLINGTON IN INDIA,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803,
THE 74[SUP]th [/SUP](HIGHLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT
2 LINE INFANTRY.
(2 pcs)
WIN74-07N
WELLINGTON IN INDIA,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803,
THE 74[SUP]th [/SUP](HIGHLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT
4 LINE INFANTRY.
(4 pcs)
THE MARATHA EMPIRE
MARATHA CAVALRY
The Battle of Assaye was a major battle of the Second Anglo-Maratha War fought between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company. It occurred on 23[SUP]rd[/SUP] September 1803 near Assaye in Western India where an outnumbered Indian and British force under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated a combined Maratha army of Daulatrao Scindia and the Bhonsle Raja of Berar.
The battle was the Duke of Wellington’s first major victory and the one he later described as his finest accomplishment on the battlefield, even more so than his famous victories in the Peninsular War and his defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
The Maratha cavalry in the 1803 campaign was probably their weakest arm, yet by far the most numerous.
The Marathas employed three classes of cavalry.
The first were the BARGIRS, the cream of their cavalry, paid for and maintained by the state. At the death of Shivaji in 1680, they made up two thirds of the cavalry force, yet by the Battle of Panipat in 1761, their numbers had dropped to just 6,000 out of 38,000 cavalrymen.
This situation continued in the ealry years of the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Century as the Marathas continued to put more emphasis on their regular infantry battalions.
The second type of cavalry were known as SILLIDARS, who were irregular cavalry and these men provided their own horses and weapons.
M-WIN-18
WELLINGTON IN INDIA,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE 1803,
THE MARATHA EMPIRE,
MARATHA CAVALRY
PINDARRIE.
(2 pcs)
The third type were known as PINDARRIES, and these were from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, with many being Muslims from the north.
Pindarries were an irregular light horse formation who were paid a fee or provided their retainers with a percentage, normally one sixth of any booty taken for the right to plunder.
They were used in the military role for screening the movement of troops, reconnaissance, raiding and cutting supply lines. They were not good against formations of steady infantry or cavalry, but were perfectly capable of cutting down unwary troops.
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
