Followers

Sunday, May 26, 2024

A British Army for the Anglo-Sikh Wars




My Anglo-Sikh War collection began in the last century. Consequently this post will remind me of what I have and what I might need to add.  Above, the Rifles.



I also need to rate my forces for the Anglo-Sikh Wars.  It has occasioned much thought and some revisions to my previous thinking.  Research will do that.  A good thing and of course the thinking doesn’t stop.



Mostly the British liked a 2-1 combination. That is two native units to one British one.  The latter could be Company or HM.  Apart from the irregulars all were trained in the British manner. Drilled seems a reasonable category for all of the Regulars.



There is the question of superiority of British units.  In fact there was little observable difference in performance or staying power. Yet, the British commanders thought that there was. To model this I’m trying out the British units as Drilled Elite and the Sepoys and Sowars as simply Drilled.



A second question is what of the vaunted British Fire Power?  Experimentally I intend to limit the potential +D3 result to British Infantry units. Sepoys will not benefit.



The cavalry also followed the 2-1 model



Another Brigade.  Note the Governor General's Body Guard in the back rank.



The final Regular cavalry Brigade. It could do with another unit of Bengal Native Cavalry.  Or, maybe I will just attach the Horse Artillery.



The Indian irregular cavalry were a key component of the Army.  You see three such units below.



The British fielded a lot of artillery often of lighter calibre that that of the Sikhs.



You see all of my British artillery below.



I realise I have no Bengal Native Artillery.



No shortage of guns though.



Various British Commanders below including two versions of Sir Hugh Gough.  Governor General Hardinge's there too.

You can see my entire Anglo-Sikh War British Collection on this page. It has been quite a journey. We will see the Sikhs next time. 

12 comments:

  1. Handsome collection! Calibrating relative combat effectiveness is an art as well as science.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jonathan. Too true, it's an ongoing experiment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Simply splendid collection there:).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Steve. It's nice seeing them all together at last.

      Delete
  4. They look great OB....who knows if the British infantry were superior or if it's just British chauvinism? A bit of both, perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Keith. It's a big question. They were tough boys. The Sepoys were generally physically better specimens and from hereditary military families. In Britain and Ireland joining the Army was often a desperate act. The last option if you like.

      India was hard on non wealthy Europeans. Even out of combat mortality was high.

      For serious assaults HM or Company European battalions were mostly required to lead the Brigade. I wanted to reflect the thinking behind that.

      Currently, I think the racial thinking didn't really kick in until after the Sikh Wars.

      I'm still thinking about the whole thing.

      Delete
  5. Well they all look rather dashing, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  6. They do Ray I'm pleased to agree!

    ReplyDelete