The 104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) was a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, raised by the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

in 1765. Under the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation w ...

it amalgamated with the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) to form the

Royal Munster Fusiliers The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1922. It traced its origins to the East India Company, East India Company's Bengal European Regiment raised in 1652, which later became the 101st Regiment ...

History

Early history

The regiment as first raised by the

as the 2nd Bengal European Regiment when it was formed from the 1st Bengal European Regiment in 1765. It went to take part in an action at

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (today Bareilly, Moradabad, Badaun and Rampur; ) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the ...

in April 1774 during the First Rohilla War before being absorbed by the Marine Battalion in 1803. It was re-raised as the 2nd Bengal (European) Regiment in 1822 and took part in a deployment to

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

in 1825 before being disbanded in 1830.

The Victorian era

Monument of the Battle of Chillianwala 3

The regiment was re-raised as the 2nd Bengal (European) Light Infantry from a nucleus of 1st Bengal (European) Regiment in 1839. It saw action at the

Battle of Chillianwala The Battle of Chillianwala (also spelled Chillianwallah) was fought in January 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh war in the Chillianwala region ( Mandi Bahauddin) of Punjab, now part of Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by t ...

in January 1849 and the

Battle of Gujrat The Battle of Gujrat was a decisive battle in the Second Anglo-Sikh War, fought on 21 February 1849, between the forces of the East India Company, and a Sikh army in rebellion against the company's control of the Sikh Empire, represented by ...

in February 1849 in the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

during the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

. The regiment became the 2nd Bengal (European) Fusiliers in 1850 was deployed to Burma again in 1853 during the Second Anglo-Burmese War and then served at the

Siege of Delhi The siege of Delhi was a decisive conflict of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but was essentially sparked by the mass uprising by the ...

in autumn 1857 during the

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

. After the Crown took control of the

Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three Presidencies of British India, presidencies of the East India Company's Company rule in India, rule in India, later the forces of the the Crown, British Crown in British Raj, India, composed pr ...

in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion, the regiment became the 2nd Bengal Fusiliers in November 1859 and then the 2nd Royal Bengal Fusiliers in May 1861. It was then renumbered as the 104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) on transfer to the

in September 1862. Although a new commanding officer was appointed on transfer to the British Army, both majors and six of the twelve captains had prior service in the regiment. During the

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic of 1869, the regiment left its barracks at

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

on the North West Frontier for the countryside, to try to alleviate the impact of the disease. After the regiment had returned to barracks with the end of the epidemic, the commanding officer's wife, Elizabeth Webber Harris, was presented with a gold replica Victoria Cross, by the officers of the regiment, for her tireless endeavours tending the sick men. The presentation had the approval of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and was made by General Sir

Sam Browne General (United Kingdom), General Sir Samuel James Browne, (3 October 1824 – 14 March 1901) was a British Indian Army cavalry officer, known best as the creator of the Sam Browne belt. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the most prest ...

, commander of the Peshawar garrison. The regiment embarked for England in 1871. As part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attentio ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 104th was linked with the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers), and assigned to district no. 70 at Ballymullen Barracks in

Tralee Tralee ( ; , ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the River Lee') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) to form the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *''Rohilla War'': Rohilcund 1774 (inherited from predecessor regiment) *''Second Anglo-Sikh War'': Chillianwallah, Goojerat, Punjaub * ''Indian Mutiny'': Delhi 1857

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the Regiment were: ;2nd Bengal Fusiliers (HEIC) *c.1859: Maj-Gen. Robert Blackall ;104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) (British Army) *1862–1863: F.M. Sir Patrick Grant, GCB, GCMG *1863–1867: Gen. Sir George Bell, KCB *1867–1874: Gen. George Dixon *1874–1881: F.M. Sir Frederick Paul Haines, GCB, GCSI, CIE

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) Honourable East India Company regiments Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1854 Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 1839 establishments in British India