Historical Record of the Fifty-sixth, or the West Essex Regiment of Foot: Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1755, and of its subsequent services to 1844.Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Fifty-sixth, or the West Essex Regiment of Foot: Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1755, and of its subsequent services to 1844.
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 56th (West Essex) -- History
In the beginning of this year, a detachment of the regiment, under
Lieutenant John Elliot Cairnes, performed duty as marines, in
the Indian Sea, on board of His Majesty’s ship Psyche, which was
engaged in the war with the Rajah of Travancore, who governed a
populous province at the south-west extremity of Hindoostan. This
province was indebted for its independence to the valour of British
troops, who rescued it from the power of Tippoo Sultan, when the
forces of the Mysore had overrun the country, in 1790; and in 1795
a treaty of alliance was concluded with the rajah, who engaged to
subsidize three battalions of British Sepoys for the defence of
his dominions. Some disputes arising from the payments to be made
in consequence of this treaty, produced war; the British Sepoys
stationed at Quilon were menaced with annihilation; the house of
the resident, Colonel C. Macauly, at Cochin, was attacked; and the
Twelfth and Nineteenth British regiments were suddenly ordered to
the scene of contest. A detachment of the FIFTY-SIXTH, on board
the Piedmontaise frigate, were employed in services connected with
the safety of the troops at Quilon, and the preservation of the
life of the British resident. This frigate cannonaded the port of
Aleppi, where a party of the Twelfth Foot had been treacherously
seized, their wrists broken with a heavy piece of iron, their
hands tied behind them, and after lying several days in a dungeon,
were precipitated from a rock into the sea. This detachment of
the FIFTY-SIXTH landed at Quilon, under Lieutenant Warren, to
co-operate in the preservation of the life of the British resident,
who had escaped from Cochin. The services of the detachment under
Lieutenant Cairnes, on board of the Psyche, were connected with the
operations of the army under Brigadier-General the Honorable A. St.
Leger; and under the cover of the frigate’s broadside, the soldiers
of the regiment stormed and captured a strong battery, commanding
_Colatchi Bay_; thus co-operating in the capture of _Travandrum_,
the capital, which reduced the refractory Rajah of Travancore to
submission.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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