I regret that I have been unable to trace the losses of all the native regiments; their total casualties amounted to 4 British officers and 135 native ranks killed and wounded.

Casualties at Pondicherry, 1793.

Regiments.Officers.Men.
K.W.K.W.
Royal Artillery-21217
Roy. Engineers14518
36th Worcesters--59
52nd Oxford L.I.1-25
71st Highl. L.I.-1814
73rd R. Highl.3-713
Petrie's batt.-126
Vigor's batt.-113
61st Pioneers--28
62nd Punjabis1-612
66th Punjabis--35
67th Punjabis1-916

Although no battle honours have been awarded to the Indian regiments which took part in the operations against Pondicherry in the years 1778 and 1793, I have been at some pains to give a brief account of the operations, both of which, with their accompanying loss of life, might have been avoided had the Home Government either insisted on the retention of the conquests we had made in the East, or, were that impracticable, refused to allow the rebuilding of fortifications in the French settlements in India. "Pondicherry, 1778 and 1793," might be added with propriety to the battle honours of regiments which took part in the sieges of those years.

Buxar, October 23, 1764.

Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

In the interval between Eyre Coote's victory at Wandewash in January, 1760, and the Battle of Buxar in October, 1764, our troops in India had been continuously at war; yet the colours even of those regiments which still survive, and which were then in the service of the Company, bear no record of the many stubborn fights, the by no means inglorious victories achieved over our gallant foes. In the South, the Government of Madras had been carrying on campaign after campaign against the trained troops of France and the scarcely less formidable army of Mysore. In the North, Clive and his successor had found foemen no less worthy of their steel in the armies of the Emperor of Delhi and those of the ruler of Oude, under Surajah Doolah. History—even Greek history—affords no more striking episodes than those early struggles of our countrymen in India; and though the names of Beerpore, Sooty, and Oondna Nullah are forgotten, they deserve to stand side by side with other well-remembered names that are emblazoned on the colours of the old Company's regiments. The Battle of Buxar was the final episode in the long-fought campaign with the ruler of Oude.

Now that the two senior battalions of the old Company's army have been converted into the Royal Munster and Royal Dublin Fusiliers, they are the only regiments which bear on their colours a memento of one of the finest actions ever fought in India. The British force numbered between 6,000 and 7,000 men, with twenty-eight guns. It included, besides the two European regiments in the Company's employ, a composite battalion, just 167 strong, made up of detachments of the 84th, or Coote's Regiment, and volunteers from the disbanded 89th Regiment and 90th (Light Infantry); two companies of Royal Marines, under Captain Wemyss; a handful of seamen, with a midshipman, working some guns side by side with the Bengal Artillery; and a small troop of cavalry, the total being about 1,200 Englishmen. To these must be added 900 Mogul horse and 5,000 sepoys. This little army was under the command of Colonel Sir Hector Munro, of the 89th Regiment. The two Company's battalions were inured to Indian warfare, and the men of the 90th (then the only Light Infantry regiment in the British army), had learned their lesson at the capture of Belleisle, Martinique, and Havana, under their brave Colonel, James Stuart, who was destined to add to the laurels gained at the Moro a great reputation in Southern India.

The force opposed to Munro was a formidable one. It included eight battalions trained and commanded by French officers, two batteries of artillery manned by Europeans, 5,000 Afghan horse, and 40,000 men of Shah Shujah Daulah's own fairly trained army. The battle was stubbornly contested, but the victory was complete. Our weakness in cavalry, however, prevented Munro reaping the full benefits of his success. In addition to the losses of the British contingent, the sepoy battalions lost 257 killed and 435 wounded. Our trophies included 137 guns, whilst the enemy left upwards of 2,000 dead on the field.