Immediately on the close of the proceedings, the Council addressed Burgoyne in peremptory and discourteous terms, desiring him to leave the country; and there appeared every chance of a fresh quarrel arising, when some influence (probably Sir John Dalling’s) intervened, and thenceforward there was peace. Burgoyne’s claims for arrears of pay and allowances, for himself as Commander in Chief, his Aide-de-camp, and his secretary, for the period he had been under arrest, were admitted; his passage money was advanced to him, and he was preparing to sail, when death overtook him on the 23rd of September at the age of forty-six. A tablet to his memory was placed in St. Mary’s Church in the Fort, by the officers of the King’s troops. Lang was withdrawn from the service by the Court of Directors who granted him a special pension of one thousand a year. Stuart, a few years later, was given the Colonelcy of H.M.’s 31st. In consequence of these disputes, the offices of Governor and Commander-in-Chief were, soon after, vested in the same person, in each of the Presidencies. In order to prevent a recurrence of the dispute in General Sloper’s case, it was ordered, at the time of his appointment, that in the event of the Company ceasing to employ him, his right to command the King’s troops should also cease. A project for amalgamating the King’s and Company’s forces in India, in order to put an end to the rivalry between the two services, was seriously considered two years later, but the only change made was to put an end to the supersession of the Company’s by the King’s officers.
In studying the details of this unhappy quarrel, the conviction forces itself upon one that there were persons in the background, who, for their own purposes, fomented the dispute, and aggravated the differences between the principal parties, by filling their minds with suspicions and ideas that were equally groundless and mischievous. This is plainly stated to have been the case by an officer of the 73rd Highlanders who published a Narrative of the war with Hyder. “Had it not been for the cordiality and good fellowship which universally subsisted betwixt the King’s and Company’s officers, who had shared the fatigues of war together, notwithstanding the artful steps that had been taken to sow the seeds of dissension amongst them, these broils might have terminated in a manner very fatal to the settlement.”[18] Long afterwards, Lord Macartney acknowledged his mistake. In December 1797, speaking to Sir David Baird, he said, “Had I known as much of you military gentlemen, when I was in India, as I have learned since, we never should have had any difference.” Sir John Burgoyne’s justification was complete.
CHAPTER III
CHANGE OF NUMBER
1786–1789
Regiment moved to Shevtamodoo—John Floyd—Number of regiment changed to 19th—Uniform—Sir William Howe appointed Colonel—Foundation of Indian native cavalry system laid by Floyd and the 19th Light Dragoons.
One of the first acts of Sir John Dalling, after composing the quarrels between the Civil Government and the King’s troops in Madras, was to draw up a scheme for brigading the troops in Cantonments. The scheme never took shape, beyond the formation of a large Cantonment, in February 1786, at Wallajabad, near Conjeveram, about fifty miles from Madras. Among the troops detailed for the new Cantonment were the 23rd Light Dragoons. Before leaving their quarters at San Thomé, they were reviewed by the Commander-in-Chief. Being the only English Cavalry regiment in the country, the review attracted some attention, and the following account was published in the Madras Courier for 29th March 1786.
