Feb. 21st, 1849, GOOJERAT.
Subsequently, by forced marches, the Battalion joined the army under Lord Gough[[29]] in time to share in the final battle of Goojerat, a victory over a combined force of 60,000 Sikhs and Afghans. The result of this triumph of British arms was the annexation of the Punjaub, and the retreat of the Ameer Dost Mahomed Khan with the Afghan army beyond the Khyber Pass.
Upon the 8th of July, 1850, H.R.H. Adolphus Duke of Cambridge died, and was succeeded as Colonel-in-Chief by Field-Marshal H.R.H. Prince Albert, Consort of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria.
1851–2–3, SOUTH AFRICA.
In 1851 the 2nd Battalion, which had been on home service since 1847, embarked for South Africa, and was employed in the Kaffir War during that and the two following years. It took part under Lieut.-Colonel Nesbitt in many actions with the enemy, including the passage of the Great Kei, the operations for clearing the Water Kloof, and the attack on the Iron Mountain.
Feb. 26th, 1852, WRECK OF THE ‘BIRKENHEAD.’
A detachment of the 2nd Battalion (forty-one all ranks, with seven women and thirteen children) formed a portion of the troops on board the ill-fated troopship Birkenhead, which, on the night of February the 26th, 1852, was wrecked on the South African coast under conditions which evoked from the troops on board a memorable display of steady discipline and serene courage in the face of danger. The men fell in and stood calmly on parade awaiting death while the ship was sinking “without a cry or murmur among them.” The whole ship’s company with few exceptions perished.
On September the 23rd, 1852, General Viscount Beresford became Colonel-in-Chief, vice H.R.H. Prince Albert, and was upon his death on the 28th of January, 1854, succeeded by Field-Marshal Viscount Gough.
In 1855 and 1857 the 3rd and 4th Battalions were raised at Dublin and at Winchester respectively. Thus in 1857 the Regiment again consisted of four Battalions.