Captain Impey, (brevet-major,) and Lieutenant White, died, in May, much regretted.
At the end of August the regiment left Vellore, and marched through the Calistry country, a distance of four hundred miles, to the fort of Masulipatam. It was overtaken by the monsoon when on the march, near the Kistna river, and for several days the soldiers had to wade through the cotton-grounds, which occasioned much illness in the regiment, and the loss of several men after arriving in garrison at Masulipatam in October.
1814
In the mean time the war with France was being prosecuted in Europe with the utmost vigour, and the strength of the Eighty-sixth being considerably above the establishment, in consequence of receiving volunteers from the militia, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to order a second battalion to be added to the regiment, in February, 1814, and to bear date from the 25th of December, 1813.
The second battalion was formed at Hythe, under the superintendence of Major Baird; it consisted of four companies of fine soldiers, and in March they proceeded to Colchester, under orders to embark for Holland; but the abdication of Bonaparte, and the restoration of peace, precluded the necessity of their quitting England. The battalion returned to Hythe in October, and afterwards proceeded to Deal, where it was disbanded, two hundred and sixty officers and soldiers embarking for India to join the first battalion.
Previous to this date, a detachment consisting of Captain Michael Creagh, Lieutenants Home and Perry, Ensigns Goold, Bradford, Caddell, Henry, and Moreton, had joined at Masulipatam, bringing the new regimental colours.
1815
In January, 1815, the left wing marched, under the command of Captain Williams, for Hyderabad, to join the force subsidized by His Highness the Nizam, and arrived on the 2nd of February at the cantonment of Secunderabad.
On the 11th of September, Major Baird, Captain Edwards, Lieutenants McLaurin, Webb, Leche, and Hodson, Ensigns Stuart, Law, Russell, Holland and Home, with sixteen serjeants and two hundred and thirty rank and file, (the effectives of the late second battalion,) arrived at Masulipatam.
1816