26 August 1862 my Great Grandfather,William Richard Chase, was promoted to Corporal. At the time he was serving with the 19th Regiment of Foot in India. William had signed up for service in the 19th Regiment of Foot in Chatham, Kent on 7 September 1857 at the age of 19. His reasons for joining are unknown but perhaps he was attracted by a recruiting campaign and relished adventure or maybe his prospects in civilian life were scant. The Indian Mutiny had broken out on 10 May 1857 in Meerut and when news reached Great Britain the 19th Regiment of Foot was ordered to India to help quell the Mutiny. Between 22 July and 29 July 1857 the Regiment, consisting of 45 officers and 1007 men in three detachments, sailed from Portsmouth to India where it was to stay there until 1871. Quite when William went to India, as he joined up six weeks after the Regiment had left, is unknown. The Suez Canal did not open until 1869, so the Regiment would have had to make the long trip round Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. It transhipped at Point de Galle in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) with the last detachment arriving in Calcutta on 19 December where it was initially stationed at Fort William, Calcutta. Calcutta was at this time the administrative capital of India which was virtually run by The East India Company, although that Company had been losing its monopoly of trade. As a result of the Indian Mutiny power was transferred by the Government of India Act of August 1858 to the British Crown The Regiment remained at Fort William until 1858 when on 5 February it marched to Barrackpore. One company was sent to Dum Dum and two companies were left behind in Fort William. In Barrackpore the regiment stood guard over 6000 Sepoy prisoners. Sepoys were native soldiers. In July 1858 8 officers and 230 men of the Regiment marched to Dacca (now Dhaka). Late in October 1858 the remainder of the Regiment moved to Dinapore (now Danapore) via Raneegunge (now Raniganj), assembling on 24 November. On 22 January 1859 a detachment of 5 officers and 188 men marched from Dinapore to join in the pursuit of rebels in the Monghur (now Munger) district, rejoining headquarters a month later. Another detachment of 7 officers and 311 men marched from Dinapore to the Nepaul (now Nepal) borders. At the end of March 1859 the rest of the regiment followed with the exception of 3 officers and 130 left at Dinapore. These detachments returned to Dinapore on 18 May 1859. In that summer small parties of the Regiment were sent to Muzufferpore and Bankipore. They returned to Dinapore and the regiment then marched from Dinapore in February 1860 arriving in Benares (now Varanasai) on 12 March 1860. While there they sent a company to be stationed at Raj Ghat (Delhi) which was relieved each month. On 11 December 1861 the headquarters and seven companies of the regiment marched to Allahabad arriving on 19th December. The reminder of the Regiment was still based at Dacca. After a short stay the Regiment then went by rail to Shikirbad where the march continued via Agra, Allyghur, Delhi, Umballa, Jullundur and Umritsar to Mean Meer, reaching that destination on 25 February 1862. In early April 1962 the 3 companies that had been based in Dacca and then in Senchal rejoined headquarters. From February to August 1862 a company was on detachment at Lahore Citadel. Towards the end of August 1862 a cholera epidemic broke out in the 19th. As a result 3 companies moved in to camp at Shadra, a further 3 companies went to Chubeel and the remainder of the Regiment, consisting of headquarters and 4 companies went to Neaig Beg. On the 8 September 1862 the regiment reassembled at Mean Meer. In the meantime it had lost 64 men, 2 women and 5 children to the disease During this period. on 26 August 12 Private William Richard Chase was promoted to Corporal. Was this because of the death to cholera of an Corporal in his company and he was next in line for promotion? Alas we shall never know. On 19 March 1863 headquarters and 4 companies left Mean Meer and marched to Phillour. Two companies were left to garrison the fort and the remainder marched on to Kussowlie where they arrived on 9 April. There they remained until 4 October 1863 when they left for Ferozepore to relieve the 7th Royal Fusilers. The regiment now had detachments in Umritsar, Kangra and Kussowlie. These detachments marched to Jullunder early in 1864 where they were joined by headquarters and the companies from Ferozpore on 13 March. During this period, on 22 February 1864, Corporal William Richard Chase was promoted to Sergeant. After spending nearly two years in Jullunder the regiment left on 1 November 1865 arriving in Peshawar on 8 December 1865. Six weeks or so before leaving Jullunder, Sergeant William Richard Chase was “in arrest” on 12 September 1865 and after a court martial on 18 September was reduced to the rank of Private. As he was court martialed, in the 1800s this might imply that he had been absent on duty, absent without permission or had stuck an officer. As he was already a Senior NCO he would have been dealt with by Court Martial rather than Commanding Officers Orders which were used for internal discipline. Early in February 1867 the Regiment moved to Nowshera, with two companies being sent to Attock a few days after arrival. On 29 March 1867 he re-engaged for 21 years with rank of Private and on 1 April 1867 Private William Chase transferred to the 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade which returned to the UK shortly afterwards. The 19th Regiment of Foot after several amalgamations ended up in what is now The Green Howards and much of the above information came from The Green Howards Museum in Richmond, Yorkshire for which I am most grateful. Pictures Cap badge of the 19th Regiment of Foot Northern India 1857-1859
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 10:06:50 +0000
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