(Daily Telegraph.) the Int Regiment of Bengal ys and, Among the troops now in camp at Cyprus as a good specimen of our Asiatic Army, we may seasonably reali sine particulars out thes horsemen, Familiar in the military of Iudis as Skinner's Horse, this distinguished corps has yamed as many has geon battlestields, and now all ong list of its scenes Enough, indeed, is not known in this cou about that very interesting arm of the Briti ignoted until 1861 the "Irregular and since styled "The Cavalry," while it is remarkable that so picturesque and gallant a chronicle as the Enuale of these troop would afford has not yet found an adequate historian. In Indian warfare, previous to British rule, light horsemen had always played the most conspicuous art; and when, therefore, the East India form pany set itself to form an army suitable for the defence of its extending frontiers, ject from his service, and, amongst other dis-almost the first demand w: for s proper complement of iereglst In 1796, ther were only two regiments in the Com: colours pany's service, but in that year the umber was increased to four, and subsequently, as the exigencies of the occasion required, it was further raised to nineteen, Of all the troops which served the Company nonativeregiments could carry of the palm for gallantry from those wild riders of the Punjab, North-'West and Central India, who formed the Irregular Cavalry of Bengal. Their annals, it has been rightly said, are interwoven with' all that is most memorable and romantic in the fighting history of the English in the East. Against the English, in the service of native chiefs and of France, they proved always stub-bora foes. For instance, in the disastrous retreat of General Monson, the exploits of the Mabratta horsemen that hovered round the retiring columns spread dismay throughout the armies of our allies, and infected our own native troops with such an epidemic of desertion a8, except in the Mutiny of 1857, has never been experienced. No corps among these troopers gained more signal distinction that the yellow-turbaned followers of James to this day in India the gallant f the regiment are treasured by every native horseman in our service, as a permanent record of what deeds they can perform when led by ofoers in whom they save confidence, Since then many of these cor have won laurels, and ' Cureton's,"
"Hodson's," avd' Probyn's" horsemen, with others not less distinguished, have rivalled the exploits of ' Skinner's." But the opportunities for such varied service as the Ist Regiment has seen have never fallen to the good fortune of a of the younger regiments.
in 1778 of a Scotch father and a Raj pat irl, captive in a Sght near Bijaghar, in the Benares district, Skinner drew from both sources of his parentage good fighting qualities, and* the circumstances of his early life rendered him accustomed from infancy to other having com-her daughters, conrary to Hindoo custom, were taken' from behind the curtain to be educated, the lad was sent to a charity school, and, after many of idling, bound apprentice to a inter. 'Three days of the work sufficed to ust young Skinner into ruauiog ava; six annas in his pockets, he clambered over the wall, and made his' way into the bazaar, where for a week or two he lived assisting native carpenters at their wor But one day a servant of the family recognised him, and he was summoned home to meet, as it happened, the friend who was to give him the very start in life ho hat longed for. was Colonel Baru, his godfatbe the youth of an adv off to General de Boig the Mabratts forces, gt in the service of Sindhia was given him, Skinner entered with extraordinary anth into the study of his profession himself with the spear, the sword, and the bow until he attained dexterity with each weapon that was envied even Ly the expert Mabrattas whom he led. An opportunity soon occurred for the young officer to show his mettle. His squadron had been sent to assist in clearing the territories of a native chief, when treachery in the camp menaced the whole column with destruction, and compelled the rapid retreat of those who remained staunch. In this retreat, Skinner, by his splendid service of a gun which commanded a pass, inflicted so disastrous a check upon the pursuing army that his column escaped in safety. For this he gut promotion and he was thus enabled, in the stormy period of the Mabratta ware, to act sufficiently on his own responsibility to seize very occasion that offered for doing gallant work. Several years passed, and after each engagement, whether siege or open fight, he was singled out by acclamation for special honour, thus winning for himself that reputation which in after life attached to his person, and to the superb horsemen to whom we are referring. In 1803 he received the command of his old regiment; but almost immediately afterwards the French and. British forces India found themselves again opposed in the field, and, some of the English officers in the French army having declined to fight against the Company's troops, General Perro moment of rage, dismissed every British subtinguished officers, threw Skinner into the ranks of his opponents. Still true to the idea which he had fought so splendidly, Skiner for a long time refused to join the English, with whom he never conidered himself to have anything in common but the urgent advice of friends at length persuaded him to offer his sword to Lord Lake.
The victory of Alighar had scattered the mer-canary Mabratias, who formed the cavalry of the French army, and a large body of them rode into the British camp to ask for employ. ment. Their request was, however, coupled with the proviso that Skinner, if alive, should be found out to command them, and, on licate ing that hie was then actually in the camp, they hailed him tumultuously -as their natural Teader, Cord Lake assented to the arranges ment, and Skinner, with the troop of irregu horsemen thus collected, was commissioned to Keep open the country' to the north of the British line of operations. For their signal bravery his forces, known already inthe Britis Army as "the Yellow Boys," soon obtained special recognition from the Commander-in" chief, while their leader, both for his gallant in the field and wise diplomacy in council, received again and again the public thanks of both the military and civil authorities. The corps, increased to one thousand two hundred, Was soon after sent to support General Monson in his disastrous retreat; and here ocearred an dent which is at once a reproach and credit to the regiment. he general uneasiness at the success of the Mabratta arms had infected even Skinner's Horse; and one day on the march three hundred of them deserted, The remainder clamoured to be led against the deserters, and in the engagement that ensued the punishment thus voluntarily inflicted upon their faithless comrades was terrible and complete, A more signal proof, however, of the splendid fidelity of these wild troopers to their wild chief is the fact that out of twenty. thousand native horsemen who of the commencement of the British rever had stood upon the strength of the army, eight hundred alone came out of the orde staunch, and these eight hundred wore "Skinner's Horse." Bor this exceptional loyalty they received the promise of the Commander. in-chief that they should all_be ned, and soon afterwards Skivner, for the dashing exploit of convoying an immense supply 0 food to the British army, then starving for want of it, in the face of vastly superior forces, was presented by Lord Lake with his own sword. Honour after honour attended his horsemen, for whether pursuing Holkar, cutting up his flying cavalry, intercepting reinforcements, keeping open communications, or meeting the enemy in pitched battle, the yellow-turbaned Sowars under Skinner's come mand invariably won frost laurels, The regiment became a byword for daring gal-try throughout the camp, and, whatever its losses in the field, the next day saw it restored to its full complement, for to serve under Skinner tempted the veterans of other corps to his colours, and gave him as recruits the flower of the native cavalry. 'The honour of taking the first British gun across the Sutlej river fell to this troop, and when, after the first Sikh war, the native cavalry was disbanded, Skinner's' Yellow Boys" wer alone retained on the permanent strength of the British army. Subsequent changes in the personnel of the Government and the inauguration of a policy of economy were followed by reductions in the number of the regiment; but as soon as ever danger threatened the order was issued to restore it nal strength, and on nearly every hard-fought field in India the Yellow Corps has since borne its share of the work to be done. Their great leader died in 1836, full of urs, and was buried la the church he had elf built at Delhi, No Emperor of so say the natives, "ever had such a faneral as Secunuer Sahib and, indeed, ni subsequent history no Viceroy or native Prives has been so honoured in his obsequies as was the gallant free lance, His regiment still bears his name, and, bright as are its memories of more recent services, none are more dearly prized by it than those' of the old days when under Skinner's own leadership they made their name a terror from the Sutlej to Mysore.
Yet, picturesque and glorious as are ite annals, the Ist Regiment has not the mono poly of distinction among the Bengal Cavalry, for, if their full stories were only told, each of the corps subsequently raised for service under English officers would be found to possess a history, if not so long, at any rate honourable, Whether hunting the fierce Pindarees, driving back the wild mountaineers of the frontier to their fastnesses, fighting desperately with their owa brave countrymen in the Punjab, or making adventurous aids upon the desperate Afghans,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.