India 1857 Musings

 

I found an interesting print of the war in India 1857.  A coloured lithograph from 'The Campaign in India 1857-58' and called "Mutinous Sepoys".  Points of interest include:

Two figures on the left wearing what looks like pale blue Company undress uniforms.  Are these artillery men or even dismounted cavalry men?

The red and green triangular flags in the background.  I have also seen images of these, often decorated, used as unit flags.

The red and green tack of the mounted soldier. Note too, he has been reading Captain Nolan and has ditched his unsuitable and restrictive Company uniform, kit and tack.  The poorly balanced and blunt British sword has been replaced with a sharp tulwar.  I recently read that for some units this had already been done officially as part of the learning from the Anglo-Sikh Wars.

One of the artillery men still wears his blue uniform coat.

The old Jemadar on his charpoy seems now in command.

As you can see it shows sepoys in a pre prepared position.  Presumably they are awaiting a British attack or besieging a British position.

It was enough revisit my paused Indian project above and below. 

 

A good result all round as I have invested a fair bit in it.  Model cities are time consuming projects.

Some Irregular Miniatures sepoys above and below. I nearly did them 6 to a base but 4 seems to suffice.

Note the flag.  I needed some good Indian flags for the Bengal sepoys so I made some. They show Hindu deities.  Accurate?  Maybe, close enough I'd say.  Some units continued with their original HEIC Colours.   We will see them too.

 

I thought I'd do a bit more.  First, HM 5th Northumberland Regiment.  Figures from Dixon.

Madras Presidency 1st Regiment below. Dixon again.  Everyone does this one.  It's the blue caps.

The flags are from Adrian's Walls made by "Nevermore".  A talented guy, generous too, he used to offer them free.  Anyhow, they are a good buy, but you will need to scan and resize.  The reason being a slight discrepancy in flag sizes. Easy enough and something I do anyhow.  Then again, it may not bother you.

I have some ideas for rules for the period. Or at least the crucial command and control bit.  

It is a tricky conflict to get a handle on. W H Russell who had covered the Crimean War arrived for the second part of it.  He noted an irrationality on the part of some of his British interviewees.  This shows up in some of our sources.  

The Bengal Sepoys, Russell was told, were all cowards who ran and fanatics who would fight to the death.  His informants found no contradiction in this.

They were not "one of the manly races of India" yet their key role in fighting the Sikh War seems to have fuelled their decision to try to expel the British.  

They had apparently acted without reason.  However, we find their wages had been cut by half in spending power. Their privileged access to the Courts unilaterally curtailed. Their independent Princely State annexed. That might have had anyone reaching for their tulwar.

The wider Indian politics were complex too as befits a multi nation/confessional Sub Continent.  India is a big place and was bigger again back then.

Reading through the whole affair is a bit like trying to cut up water.  Some believe one thing, others another.

 

That said Amarpal Singh has now turned his attention to it. His newest book is called The Siege of Delhi.  As he is the scholar who clarified what much of what actually happened in the Anglo-Sikh Wars we might expect great things. Let us hope so. I'll likely do a review.  

I've already read Hibbert, Russell, Dalrymple and Murray and more on the subject.

Also, I picked up a copy of Saul David's The Indian Mutiny for the price of a glass beer.  More reading ahead.

Meantime I'll paint more units.  

I hope to bring you more as we go.  Next time though we are back to the Crimean War.

Getting The Sepoys Right

In 1857 huge numbers of Honourable East India Company (HEIC) Sepoys revolted against British rule, killed or drove off their British officers and set about establishing native rule.  This event has been generally known as the Indian Mutiny.  Latterly, it has attracted the appellation of the First War of Independence.  Neither the reasons for this seismic event or what to call it need detain us here.  I want to talk about Sepoys.

Sepoys were Indian recruits trained in British methods and using British equipment.  The Sepoy was usually from a moderately well-off background and might well come from a military family.  Soldiering in India was a respectable profession and the HEIC had its pick of physically suitable recruits.   

The anonymous Diary of a Sepoy makes clear a battalion of Sepoys fought just like any other British battalion.  That is to say a couple of volleys or so and then in with the bayonet.  As the author, somewhat smugly, tells us that was usually enough for any native enemies.  That the Diary is now assumed to be a fake written for propaganda purposes does not devalue its military evidence.  If it’s true, as seems likely, that the authors were British officers we can absolutely trust their description of how a British Sepoy battalion fought in India.

Mostly the Sepoys revolted by battalions rather than as individuals.  Consequently, all of their British commissioned officers being dead or fled, the most senior officer available to them was the elderly Subedar Major who was likely to be nearing the end of his service or those whose length of service had entitled them to the rank of Subedar (junior officer).  More actively the Havildar Major (Sergeant Major) could be expected to be in his prime.  There was no officer structure above this level unless the battalion attached itself to a native prince and recognised his/her authority.  

In the absence of any such higher authority the battalion itself decided how and when it would fight.  This meant they fought as a single battalion, rather than as part of a Brigade or Division.  In general engagements the disadvantages of this are obvious.  At it’s simplest if no appropriate Indian royal happened to be about there was no one to rally the battalion if it was discomforted.

That said the Sepoys lost none of their previous military skills.  Their shooting was as good  as it had been and their charge as fierce.  Their morale was generally good and sometimes as Russell tells us they fought to the last.  If the Havildar Major ordered a volley or a charge he was obeyed.

Let me add something important, Sepoy regular artillery nearly always outshot its British counterparts.   

 

Three fires to two was a common comment from British officers and the Sepoys were more accurate too.  It had been the same in the Sikh Wars.

All that said the Sepoys were not destined to prevail. There was often no chain of command when they fought.  Their armament was quickly revealed to be inadequate against the Minie Rifle equipped British.  The Sepoys knew this and attempted to counter it, once by rolling bales of cotton in front of them to cover their advance into Musket range. There was rarely a strategic plan and often no tactical one to direct their actions.

It seems to me that it's worth attempting to reflect the foregoing in gaming the period.  It would certainly give us more interesting games than simply saying Sepoys -2 for shooting, Melee and Morale.

Sikh Akalis in 15mm ready for action!

This is my second unit of Sikh Akalis, also known as Nihangs, all are from QRF.  Akalis were the religious warriors of the Sikh Army.  At one time alongside the Gorchurra cavalry they had been the main arm of any Sikh force.  Ranjit Singh’s creation of a regular force changed that but both Akalis and Gorchurra continued to serve. The steel bands around their tall head wear are sharpened war quoits to be thrown at the foe.

There is a story that Ranjit Singh witnessed an incident in a temple that led to the creation of the Khalsa regulars.  A group of British sepoys entered a temple without removing their shoes.  The Nihangs present at once drew their swords determined to extract retribution for the insult.  The sepoys levelled their pieces and shot them down.  It is said Ranjit took the lesson to heart and began to build a formidable regular army.

The Akali were fierce and experienced close fighters as an account from the First Sikh War illustrates.  During the British advance a column of cavalry were challenged by a lone one- armed Akali brandishing his tulwar.  In a spirit of chivalry, the best swordsman of the troop rode forward to accept the challenge.  The Akali promptly killed him.  A second trooper took up the challenge and was slain.  A third trooper rode forward and pistoled to death the deadly Akali.  Despite the pre-contact illusions of the British officer class it rapidly became clear that the Sikh War was going to be a real fight.

I have given this unit my rendition of the Akali black flag.  It's carried by an armoured Nihang who is taken from from a QRF pack of Ottoman officers.  I painted his booted legs skin tone leaving his breeches to stand in for the compulsory Sikh shorts.  It worked nicely enough as you can see.