Sir Patrick Playfair supplemented his telegram by a characteristically cordial letter which Colonel Lumsden found also awaiting him when the ‘Atlantian’ reached Bombay two days later:
Calcutta: December 24, 1900.
My dear Lumsden,—Welcome back to India! You and your gallant men have done splendid service, of which your countrymen in India, and your native friends here, are justly proud, and you will have a great reception. Owing to the numbers that wish to give you and the members of your corps a hearty welcome, it may not be possible to inaugurate a public banquet, and the alternative may be a reception in the Town Hall on the evening of the 1st if His Excellency the Viceroy can be present after the State dinner at Government House.
The Viceroy is taking the keenest interest in the return of the corps, and is considering what had best be done. He has expressed his wish to give the corps a luncheon at Government House.
It is suggested that you should arrive here on the evening of the 31st or at dawn of the 1st, and be accommodated in camp on the Maidan and take part in the Proclamation Parade on the morning of the 1st, attend a short service in the Cathedral, and have a reception in the Town Hall in the evening.
A meeting has been called, to be held in the rooms of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, the 26th, to form a Reception Committee.
You will be brought across at Government expense, and when in camp the corps will draw ration pay, and the Executive Committee of Lumsden’s Horse will arrange as formerly for your food while in camp.
It is to be hoped that all the members of your corps will come across; and the Viceroy is further desirous that members of the corps who have already returned to India and taken their discharge should be invited to come to Calcutta and take part in the parade and public demonstration. I am, therefore, communicating with those members who have already returned to India, so far as I am aware of their names and addresses.
The corps will be disbanded here, and the members will receive warrants for railway fare to their homes.
Expenses connected with the public reception of the corps will be met independently of the Lumsden’s Horse Fund. There is a balance here of about Rs. 14,000 at credit of the fund. From your telegram received from Durban—for which I thank you—we infer that you are returning with about Rs. 40,000. The settlement of account for horses originally contributed by troopers to the corps has yet to be made. This is rather a large item. If the above balances be left, there should be a fair sum at the disposal of the corps after liabilities are met.