SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ‘F’ BATTERY ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY

A rare history of a little-known unit of the British Indian Army. First raised at the Bengali garrison town of Dum-Dum in 1800 as an experimental Brigade of Horse Artillery, the unit went through several name changes in the course of the succeeding century. As the 1st Troop in the 1st Brigade of the Bengal Horse Artillery, it took part in the Afghan wars and the disastrous retreat from Kabul in 1842 when there was only one survivor. The gun which was lost in that debacle was miraculously recovered in 1880. The unit also saw service in the Indian M utiny, taking part in the siege and storming of delhi and the rrlief of Lucknow. This is a concise and ,matter-of-fact unit history that should be in the collection of all interested in the history of British rule in India or the development of artillery in the 19th century.