| Regiment. | Army. | |||
| Colonel | Sir John Burgoyne, Bt. | 24 Sept. 1781. | 29 Aug. ’77. | Maj.-Gen. E. Indies, 1st June ’81. |
| Lt. Colonel | John Floyd | do. | ||
| Major | Thomas Nash | do. | ||
| Captains | Jonathan Thomas | do. | 28 June 1779. | |
| John Beckwith | 27th. | |||
| Thomas Crewe Dodd | 28th. | |||
| Capt.-Lieut. | John Petley | 29th. | ||
| Lieutenants | Wm. Gilbert Child | 24th. | 26 Feb. 1780. | |
| William Walton | 25th. | 23 March ’81. | ||
| Guy Henry Crawford | 27th. | |||
| T. S. Venables Hinde | 28th. | |||
| William Sage | 3rd Dec. | 9 Oct. ’78. | ||
| Cornets | George Williams | 24th Sept. | ||
| John Campbell | 25th do. | |||
| Thomas Eyre | 26th. | |||
| John Horsefall | 27th. | |||
| John Jaffrey | 28th. | |||
| Robert Anstey | 29th. | |||
| Adjutant | Robert Hilton | 24th Sept. ’81. | ||
| Surgeon | John M‘Cullock | 24th Sept. ’81. | ” |
On the 5th January 1782, the Regiment embarked at Portsmouth, on board the ships Ceres and Royal Henry forming part of the East India fleet sailing under convoy of Vice Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton. In the same fleet sailed the two newly raised Infantry Regiments, a Hanoverian regiment raised to serve the East India Company for seven years, drafts for four King’s regiments then serving in India, and some recruits, raised in Ireland, for the Company’s service. Lieutenant Colonel Floyd, with the greater part of the Regiment, was on board the Ceres. Sir John Burgoyne, with the rest of the Regiment, sailed in the Royal Henry. Floyd was in command of the Regiment: Sir John Burgoyne being apparently in command of the whole of the Troops. The voyage was an uneventful one, though not without some apprehension of meeting a French fleet. It was known that a French fleet was fitting out in Brest, under the Comte de Guiche, to intercept them. On the 27th February, intelligence was received of a combined French and Spanish fleet of 41 sail of the line and 18 frigates, that was cruising to intercept the convoy. The frigate that brought the intelligence had also passed close to a French squadron of 14 sail, that had only just missed the convoy: probably the squadron from Brest. But no enemy was seen, and on 28th April, the fleet was safely anchored in Rio, where it lay till 3rd June. In those days it was the custom to carry beer for troops at sea, as a protection against scurvy. The log of the Ceres records that on 3rd March the beer had come to an end, and spirits were served to the troops. On the 15th March, the log records that there was “delivered to Lieut. Colonel Floyd, Commanding Officer of the troops on board, 1 Chest of Tea belonging to the Honble Company, for the use of the military.” Later on again the issue of spruce beer to the troops is recorded. It is evident that much attention, according to the medical lights of that day, was paid to the health of the troops, with a view to landing them in India in as healthy a condition as possible. On the 31st March, they crossed the line with all the ceremonies observed on those occasions, now long since obsolete. The log records that at P.M. the Captain “mustered the ship’s Company to know who had crossed the Line before, when we found 81 who had not, who all agreed to pay the usual forfeit except one Seaman and two Boys who were accordingly ducked three times from ye Lee Main Yard Arm.” We may be sure that all on board relieved the monotony of the voyage by taking part in the rough festivities of the day. Lt. Colonel Floyd says in a private letter, “Our dragoons are divided into two watches, and relieve each other every four hours, so the half of them are always on deck, chiefly for the sake of their health, and to assist the seamen in the operations of the ship, at which they now begin to be very handy.” On the 15th July, when nearing the Cape, a Danish ship “fresh from the Cape” was spoken, and gave news that, on the 13th, 4 French sail of the line and 9 transports were to have sailed for the Mauritius: also, that on 26th June, a French frigate and 12 transports with troops had sailed from the Cape. But nothing more eventful occurred, and on 6th Sept., the whole fleet anchored in Bombay. There the convoy was broken up, and, on 15th, the Ceres and Royal Henry sailed for Madras, where they cast anchor on 19th and 20th October. Hardly had they done so, when bad weather set in; the ships were blown from their anchorage, and, it was not till 26th and 27th October, that the Regiment disembarked; the first British Cavalry Regiment to land in India. Three deaths occurred among the men during the voyage, Private Jonas Bateman on 23rd April, Private Joseph Gardner on 4th June, and Private Simon Kemp on 23rd September.
The reinforcements were sorely needed. So badly had the East India Company’s affairs prospered that, in October, there appeared a probability of the whole of the British establishments in southern India being destroyed. Every where was discord, and disaster. The relations of the Madras Council, both with the naval and military commanders, were greatly strained. Sir Eyre Coote had been obliged to return to Bengal for a time on account of his health, and Sir Hector Munro, Commander-in-Chief in Madras, had resigned his command, while the pay of the Native Army was many months in arrears. So great had been the losses among the European officers, that, in spite of the stringent orders of the Court of Directors, the Madras Government had granted Commissions to anybody they could lay their hands on. Four naval actions had taken place off the coast during the year, between the French fleet under Suffren and the English fleet under Hughes, without any decisive result, though the balance of advantage was with the French. Trincomalee had been captured by the French, and the shattered English ships had no place nearer than Bombay where they could refit. By land, operations had been equally unsuccessful. In February, a British detachment consisting of about 100 Europeans, 1500 sepoys, 360 Cavalry, and 9 field pieces under Colonel Brathwaite, was forced to surrender to a combined Mysore and French force, and, in April, Cuddalore yielded to the same enemy. The operations of Sir Eyre Coote, who was at that time Commander in Chief in India had not been successful. In an attempt on Arnee he was outmanœuvred by Hyder, several small reverses were experienced, and, finally, he had fallen so seriously ill that he was forced to resign his command, and sail for Bengal. Negapatam was attacked by Suffren and Hyder in July, and was only saved by the timely appearance of the British fleet. To make matters worse, famine was raging in Madras. The country had been abandoned to the undisturbed possession of the enemy; great numbers of natives had flocked into the town for protection from Hyder’s Cavalry, and the ill success of our arms, together with scarcity of funds and bad management, prevented the collection of adequate supplies. “Hundreds perished daily.”[6]
In the beginning of October, there were only 30,000 bags of rice in the place, the monthly consumption being 50,000. A large quantity of rice was afloat in the roads but could not be landed, owing to all the harbour boats being taken up for the service of the fleet.[7] On 15th October, a terrible storm arose: the fleet was blown off the coast, the flag ship being so much damaged that she was kept afloat with difficulty; several merchant ships were stranded or foundered at their anchors, and all the rice afloat was lost. “The shore for several miles was covered with wrecks and with the bodies of the dead and dying.”[8] Before the storm, the Admiral had declared his intention of carrying his ships round to Bombay, and had positively refused to stop on the coast, though the absence of the fleet imperilled the safety of Madras. Some relief had been gained by the establishment of peace with the Mahrattas, in May (treaty of Salbye), though the final ratifications were not exchanged till February 1783: so that even in this quarter peace was not definitely secured.
It was under these depressing circumstances that the 23rd Light Dragoons landed in India, not to leave it again until the British arms were triumphant everywhere; a result to which the Regiment contributed in no small degree. Their arrival gave promise that future successes in the field should not be so barren in results as had frequently been the case in the past. In their dispatch of 31st October 1782, the Madras Government, showing their satisfaction at the arrival of the 23rd Light Dragoons, quote Sir Eyre Coote’s opinion that “a body of cavalry would have procured him the most solid and decisive advantages over the enemy” in the earlier operations.
The regiment landed with a strength of 360 privates fit for duty, and, by all accounts, appears to have been a splendid lot of men. Madras letters described the troops landed as “remarkably healthy, and as fine a body of men as ever came to India ... particularly Burgoyne’s men, who, when mounted, will be as fine a body of men as ever went into the field.” A contemporary writer mentions them as “this sightly corps,” and Burgoyne himself, in the midst of his troubles two years later, writes, “the men are now the finest you can imagine.” Immediately after landing, firelocks were served out to the men, and a party of them were exercised in heavy gun drill. In the course of the general mismanagement that distinguished the Madras administration at that day, the regiment was first quartered in Fort St. George, in what has been described as “a suffocating bombproof, from which three or four hundred French prisoners, afflicted with various pestilential diseases had been recently removed. The consequences were such as might have been expected. A fatal mortality so much prevailed that no less than two or three of the men were daily sent to their graves.” In consequence of the scarcity of provisions, biscuit was issued to all the European troops instead of rice. After a time, the regiment was moved to San Thomé, four or five miles from Madras. The four hundred horses ordered to be in readiness for the regiment, were not forthcoming, the few horses available in Madras not being large enough to carry European dragoons. An application for horses had been made to Bengal, but received a discouraging reply. An allowance of Rs. 600 per horse was therefore made to Sir John Burgoyne, to do his best with in mounting the regiment. The Bengal government were ready to send horses but could not find means of transport. In the Calcutta Gazette for 21st December an advertisement appears, asking owners and freighters of ships to quote rates, and state what number of horses they would convey to Madras for government. A week later, the Gazette mentions that “Lt. Colonel Eyre’s regiment of (native) cavalry is arrived at Cowgatchy from Monghyr. It is reported that this regiment is to be dismounted, and the horses sent to Madras for the European cavalry lately arrived there.” But freight for the horses was not obtained. Bengal had been denuded of troops, and it was impossible to send the horses by land without a strong escort. It was not till June following that four hundred horses arrived from Bengal, by land, and the regiment was at last complete.