The Thirteenth Hussars in the Great WarDurand, H. Mortimer (Henry Mortimer)
History
The Thirteenth Hussars in the Great War
Durand, H. Mortimer (Henry Mortimer)
Great Britain. Army. Hussars, 13th; World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories -- Great Britain
After Waterloo, the Thirteenth marched to Paris, where they remained
some weeks, and then they were sent northward again. At or near
Hazebrouck, a name now so familiar, they remained some months. In May
1816 the Regiment returned to England, arriving at Dover on the night
of the 13th. During the past year it had lost in killed, died, and
discharged, 3 officers and 65 men.
With Waterloo ended the first century of the Regiment’s service. If
ninety-five years of it had been rather colourless, the last five had
certainly been as full of fighting as any one could have desired.
[Illustration: INDIA]
For about three years after its return the Thirteenth remained in
England. The times which followed the war were bad, and the Regiment
was often employed maintaining order among the civil population, always
a detestable duty for soldiers, but nothing of note occurred. On the
9th February 1819 the Regiment sailed for India, and for the next
twenty years it rested peacefully in Eastern cantonments.
[Illustration: OFFICER OF THE 13TH LIGHT HUSSARS
1830-1836]
In India, as well as in Europe, the beginning of the century had been
a time of hard fighting in various fields, and when the Thirteenth
went out, the supremacy of the British among the Indian country powers
had hardly been established. It was only sixteen years since Sir Arthur
Wellesley had routed the Maratha armies at Assaye, and gained his first
great victory. After that time other powers had challenged the British,
and been with difficulty overthrown. Even in 1819 there remained
serious elements of disorder, and it was not until seven years later
that a period of complete peace began. Nevertheless, it may be said
that the period of general war closed in Asia as in Europe soon after
the fall of Napoleon.
The Thirteenth at all events had no fighting to do. They were sent
to the extreme south of India, where the name of their old chief was
very familiar, and the provinces about Bangalore, where they were
quartered, had many fighting traditions; but nothing occurred to test
the spirit of the Regiment. In that very pleasant place, and other
stations not far distant, the Thirteenth remained year after year, with
little to disturb them except inspections and reviews, enjoying plenty
of sport, after the manner of British Cavalry Regiments in the East,
and maintaining their efficiency in so far as it could be maintained
without service in the field. In 1832 a formidable plot was discovered
for a native rising in Bangalore. The Thirteenth with a British
Infantry Regiment, the Sixty-Second, and a detachment of European
Artillery, were to be suddenly attacked at night and massacred, after
which the conspirators hoped that a general mutiny of the Native Army
would follow. But the plot was revealed by a faithful native officer,
and was crushed without any fighting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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