Historical Record of the Thirty-ninth, or the Dorsetshire Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1853.Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Thirty-ninth, or the Dorsetshire Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1853.
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army. Dorset Regiment -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 39th (Dorsetshire) -- History
In the month of August 1843, cholera appeared with great virulence.
Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Donald Urquhart, Surgeon Robert Stark, M.D.,
two serjeants, two corporals, forty-eight privates, women, and
children, died of this disease in the course of a month, after
a few hours’ seizure. The hospital was crowded with patients.
All the officers, Lieut.-Colonel Wright with about five others
excepted, were attacked with cholera symptoms. Captain Charles
T. Van Straubenzee of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment, was promoted to
the rank of Major on the 27th of August, in succession to Brevet
Lieut.-Colonel Urquhart.
The regiment was encamped at Rambaugh, near Agra, for ten days, in
consequence, until the disease disappeared.
The THIRTY-NINTH regiment formed part of the fifth brigade of the
“Army of Exercise,” assembled at Agra on the 25th of November 1843.
This force had been assembled in consequence of affairs in the
state of _Gwalior_, which had for some time required the attention
of the Indian Government, although it was not anticipated that
actual hostilities would take place. The events which led to the
collision between the Anglo-Indian troops and those of the once
powerful Mahratta kingdom, are as follow:--Upon the decease of
Maharajah Jhunkojee Rao Scindia, the British Government promptly
acknowledged as his successor the Maharajah Jyajee Rao Scindia, who
was nearest in blood to the late sovereign of Gwalior, and whose
adoption by the Maharanee, his Highness’s widow, was approved by
the chiefs. During the minority of the Maharajah, the office of
regent was to be held by Mama Sahib. In a short period the regent
was compelled by force to quit the Gwalior state, and the Dada
Khasgee Walla succeeded to the confidence of the Maharanee without
possessing generally that of the chiefs, and by his influence
various acts were committed insulting and injurious to the British
Government. The delivery of the Dada being peremptorily insisted
upon as a necessary preliminary to the re-establishment of the
customary relations with the Gwalior state, the Maharanee at
length complied with the request. The Governor-General, in order
to give friendly support to the youthful Maharajah, directed
the immediate advance of forces sufficient for the purpose. The
Anglo-Indian troops entered the dominions of Scindia, and a strong
government having been established at Gwalior, they received
orders to withdraw; but were not destined to return to their own
territory without a severe conflict. They had quitted Agra in the
early part of December, immediately after the arrival there of the
Governor-General of India, The Right Honorable Lord Ellenborough.
His Lordship accompanied the troops, and on the 23rd of December
they crossed the Chumbul river, and halted at Hingona, about twenty
miles from Gwalior, where the army rested for five days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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