British army officers famous for leading disastrous actions in Indian wars

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THE ROT OF FLEEING THE BATTLE , WRONG
WORDS OF COMMAND AND TACTICAL FIASCOS
WAS A SPECIAL TO BRITISH ARMY FEATURE IN
INDIAN BATTLES
Major A.H Amin (Retired)
OLD PAVO Cavalry (a unit no British Army, Pakistan
Army or Indian Army officer could have raised!)
Captain Dunbar of HM 10th Foot earlier led a larger
force over 410 men in the same area losing 50 killed
from HM 10th Foot and 76 killed from HM 37TH Foot.

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Captain Le Grand commanding two companies of
HM 35TH Foot on his own initiative 1 decided to
attack Kunwar Singh reported in Jagduispur Jungle,
20 miles north to south and 3 to 5 miles wide.2
Le Grand’s force comprised:--3
• 150 men from HM 35th Foot (two companies)
• 50 seamen from Naval Brigade.
• 150 men from Rattray’s Sikhs.
• Two 12 pounder howitzers.
The result of this attack carried out on 23rd April
1858 , was disastorous as Le Grand grossly
inexperienced in Indian warfare mishandled his
troops rushing headlong .He was attacked by
Kanwar Singh’s men who outnumbered him
1 Pages-469 and 470-A HISTORY OF THE INDIAN
MUTINY-VOLUME THREE- G.W Forrest-William
Blackwood and Sons-London and Edinburgh-1912.
2 Page-369-THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL AND INDIAN IN
THE MUTINY OF 1857-- COLONEL JULIAN R. J. JOCELYN-
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. LONDON-1915
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Page-470- A HISTORY OF THE INDIAN MUTINY-
VOLUME THREE-Op cit.

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overwhelmimgly and were supported by artillery
guns.
The two companies suffered heavy casualties losing
104 men including captain Le Grand , Lieutenant
Massey and Assistant Surgeon Clarke.4
Forrest stated that only 80 Europeans survived from
199 5which means that 104 men from HM 35th Foot
were killed as well as 15 men from naval brigade
and artillery .
A British historian consoled his readers by stating
that HM 35TH Foot did well in final pursuit of Kanwar
Singh under Brigadier Douglas .6 This was a false
claim because the battalion suffered not a single
fatal casualty after its ill fated fiasco of 23rd April
1858.
4 Pages-39 to 42- CASUALTY ROLL FOR THE INDIAN
MUTINY 1857-59-Op cit.
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Page-472- A HISTORY OF THE INDIAN MUTINY-
VOLUME THREE-Op cit.
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Page-308- THE BRITISH ARMY,ITS REGIMENTAL
RECORDS,BADGES,DEVICES ETC-Op cit.

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When a British reverse occurred in India, a very
unique excuse was furnished by British writers or
participants that a “wrong word of command” was
given. This excuse was cited when HM 9TH Lancers,
14th Light Dragoons and two Indian cavalry
regiments fled the battlefield at Chillianwallah.
Again in the case of Le Grande Malleson cited the
same excuse about wrong word of command,
stating as quoted below:--
“The exact course of the events which
followed has never been clearly explained. But this
is certain, that at a critical moment of the advance
into the thick jungle, when the men in extended
order were about to rush forward with a cheer, the
bugler sounded the retreat. By whom the order to
sound was given, or whether it was intended to
sound the retreat, is not known. The effect of it on
a scattered body of men unable to see each other
was to cause irretrievable confusion. To repair it Le
Grand used every means in his power, but in vain.

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The evil had been done. The men fell back in
disorder, followed by the enemy, and, abandoning
the howitzers, fled to Arah.”7
Captain Le Grand can be squarely blamed for the
disaster of 23rd April 1858 because there was a clear
precedent of Kanwar Singh having ambushed HM
10TH Foot earlier in almost the same region at Arrah.
It was theorized that captain Le Grande was trying
to imitate Major Vincent Eyre’s march to Arrah and
defeat of Kanwar Singh some months earlier in mid-
1857.
Major Vincent Eyre, a British company officer, had
defeated Kanwar Singh , in the same area at
Gajrajganj leading a predominantly British army
force smaller than Le Grande or Dunbar’s forces.
Naive British writers forget the fact that Vincent
Eyre had spent a whole life time in India, was above
all a British company officer who knew India like the
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Page-335- HISTORY OF THE INDIAN MUTINY OF 1857-
58 -VOLUME FOUR -Colonel Malleson- Longmans Green
and Company-London,New York and Bombay -1898.

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palm of his hand, while captain Le Grande was a
British army officer who had spent cushy time in
Ceylon and was absolutely clueless about the British
East Indian Company way of warfare! It is also
interesting to note that fiascos like units or subunits
breaking and fleeing the battlefield was a typically
“SPECIAL TO ROYAL BRITISH ARMY ACTION” and
rarely ever happened with the British East India
Company’s private units.
Note that the incident of fleeing the battlefield at
(1) Chillianwallah- HM 14TH Light Dragoons (2) Arrah
-HM 10th Foot and (3) Jagdispur – HM 35th Foot, (4)
HM 62nd Foot at FerozShah clearly noted by Littler
and Fortescue, were all GLORIOUS INCIDENTS
WHERE THE ROT STARTED WITH 100 PERCENT
ROYAL BRITISH ARMY BATTALIONS!