Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of"

the three armies were in all essentials similar. The officers were mainly supplied by the Company's military college at Addiscombe in Surrey (established in 1809), and by direct appointments. The Bengal army was recruited from Hindustan, the infantry being mostly drawn from Oudh and the great Gangetic plains. The soldiers were chiefly high-caste Hindus, a sixth being Mahommedans. The cavalry was composed mainly of Mahommedans, recruited from Rohilkhand and the Gangetic Doab. The only other elements in the army were four Gurkha regiments, enlisted from Nepal, and the local Punjab irregular force. The Madras army was chiefly recruited from that presidency, or the native states connected with it, and consisted of Mahommedans, Brahmans, and of the Mahratta, Tamil and Telugu peoples. The Bombay army was recruited from its own presidency, with some Hindustanis, but chiefly formed of Mahrattas and Mahommedans; the Bombay light cavalry mainly from Hindustan proper. Including the local and irregular troops (about 100,000 strong), the total strength amounted to 38,000 Europeans of all arms, with 276 field guns, and 348,000 native troops, with 248 field guns,--truly a magnificent establishment, and, outwardly, worthy of the great empire which England had created for herself in the East, but inwardly unsound, and on the very verge of the great mutiny of 1857. In 1856 the establishment in the several presidencies was a follows:-- +-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+-------+ | | Bengal. | Madras. | Bombay. | Total.| +-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+-------+ | British Cavalry Regiments | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | | British Infantry Battalions | 15 | 3 | 4 | 22 | | Company's European Battalions | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | | European and Native Artillery | | | | | | Battalions | 12 | 7 | 5 | 24 | | Native Infantry Battalions | 74 | 52 | 29 | 155 | | Native Cavalry Regiments | 28 | 8 | 3 | 39 | +-------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+-------+ An account of the events of 1857-58 will be found under INDIAN MUTINY. After the catastrophe the reorganization of the military forces on different lines was of course unavoidable. Fortunately, the armies of Madras and Bombay had been almost wholly untouched by the spirit of disaffection, and in the darkest days the Sikhs, though formerly enemies of the British, had not only remained faithful to them, but had rendered them powerful assistance.