A Brief History of the King's Royal Rifle Corps

by Unknown

IV.
1825–1856.—Sikh War—South Africa.

1830, 60th THE DUKE OF YORK’S OWN RIFLE CORPS becomes 60th THE KING’S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS.

In 1827 took place the death of Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of York,[^[25]] who had been Colonel-in-Chief for thirty years, and had given his name to the Regiment. He was succeeded by his brother, Field-Marshal H.R.H. Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.[^[26]] In 1830 the title of the Regiment, by order of William IV, was again changed to The King’s Royal Rifle Corps.

A long peace followed the great wars of the Napoleonic period, and from Toulouse in 1814 until the Sikh War in 1848 the Regiment was not engaged on active service. But from 1848 onwards the British Army entered upon a famous series of campaigns, in nearly all of which the Regiment has taken a memorable share. Its success may be said to be largely due to the excellence and the example of the 1st Battalion, which—directly inheriting the Peninsular honours and traditions of the 5th Battalion as Riflemen—had maintained, in spite of the long peace, its reputation for smartness, discipline, and warlike efficiency.

MAP II
SPAIN, PORTUGAL, AND SOUTH-WEST FRANCE.
Illustrating the area of Operations referred to in Part I, Section 3.
Stanford’s Geog^l. Estab^t., London.

Fortunate at this period in many officers of great experience, the Regiment owed much to Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Henry Richard Molyneux,[^[27]] who commanded the 1st Battalion (then quartered in the Mediterranean) from 1836 until his untimely death in 1841. The high efficiency of the Battalion and its strong esprit de corps when it sailed for India in 1845, under his successor Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Henry Dundas,[^[28]] were largely due to his strong personality and to his powers of organisation. Dundas commanded the Battalion from 1845 to 1854 with conspicuous success. In the Sikh War, both as Colonel and as Brigadier-General, he showed the highest qualities of leadership and courage, and throughout the nine years of his command the Battalion held a foremost place in the British Army in India.

1848–49, PUNJAUB.

Jan. 22nd, 1849, MOOLTAN.

It was thus under these favourable circumstances that the Regiment began its career in the East, and under Dundas played a prominent part in the Sikh War. Employed in covering the advance, it rendered conspicuous service at the storming of the city of Mooltan. “Nothing could exceed the gallantry and discipline of the 60th Royal Rifles” are the words of the Gazette, 7th of March, 1849.