Part 68

INDIA, _within the river Ganges_. This division consists of a country, which is situated between the latitudes of 6 and 34 degrees north, and between 53 and 91 degrees of east longitude. A great part of this space is covered with the sea. India within the Ganges is bounded on the north by Usbec Tartary, and part of Thibet, by the Indian ocean on the south; by Great Thibet, India beyond the Ganges, and the bay of Bengal on the east, and by Persia and the Indian ocean on the west. The chief mountains are those of Caucasus, Naugracut, and Balahaut, which run almost the whole length of India from north to south.

INDIA _beyond the Ganges_. This division consists of a country, which is situated between the latitudes of one and 30 degrees north, and between the longitudes of 89 and 109 degrees east. Great part of these limits is covered by the sea. It is bounded on the north by Thibet and China, by China and the Chinese sea on the east; by the same sea and the streights of Malacca on the south, and by the bay of Bengal and part of India on the west.

To enter into the extent of the British possessions in this quarter of the globe, would be to exceed the limits of our undertaking in a considerable degree, without materially aiding its principal object, which is military information. We shall therefore content ourselves with giving, in a brief and succinct manner, a view of those establishments which constitutes the Indian army.

According to the last printed oriental register, the army in India is composed of one corps of engineers, two artillery regiments, eight regiments of cavalry, two regiments of European infantry, and forty regiments of native infantry, divided into brigades of 6 regiments each.

The military board consists of one lieutenant-general, two major-generals, one colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two captains and one lieutenant.

The military offices and departments are superintended by one military auditor-general, one deputy military auditor-general, one first assistant and accomptant, one military pay-master general, one deputy pay-master general, one adjutant-general, one deputy adjutant-general, one secretary to the military board, one first assistant, one quarter-master general, one deputy quarter-master general, one surveyor general, one assistant to ditto, one judge-advocate general, one deputy judge-advocate at Dinapore and Chunar, one ditto at Cawnpore and Futtygur, one superintendant of powder-works, one assistant ditto.

The army stations in India, with their appropriate public staffs are;--

_Fort-William_, under one major-general commanding at the presidency, who has one aid-de-camp, one head surgeon, one chaplain, one pay-master; and we presume, one brigade-major.

_Barrackpore_, under one captain commandant, who has one brigade-major, and one chaplain.

_Berhampore_, under one major-general, who commands the station, and has one aid-de-camp, one brigade-major, one chaplain, and one deputy pay-master.

_Dinapore_, under one major-general, who has one aid-de-camp, one brigade-major, one pay-master, one head surgeon, and one chaplain.

_Chunar_, under one major-general officer, who commands the station, and has one aid-de-camp, one brigade-major, one head surgeon, one deputy pay-master, and one chaplain.

_Cawnpore_, under one major-general who commands the station, and who has one secretary and Persian interpreter in the field, one aid-de-camp, one head surgeon, one brigade-major, one deputy pay-master, and one chaplain.

_Futty Ghur_, under one major-general commanding, who has one aid-de-camp, one brigade-major, one surgeon, one chaplain, and one pay-master.

_Hydrabad detachment_, under the command of one lieutenant-colonel, one major of brigade, one deputy commissary of ordnance, one deputy pay-master, and one Persian interpreter.

_Prince of Wales’s Island_, under one captain commandant, one captain subordinate to him, one lieutenant, who is deputy commissary of ordnance, one pay-master, one engineer, having the rank of lieutenant, one surgeon, and one assistant-surgeon.

The cantonments and garrisons consist of the following:--

_Barrackpore_, where there is one barrack-master.

_Berhampore_, where there is one barrack-master, and one engineer.

_Dinapore_, with one barrack-master, and one engineer.

_Midnapore_, with one adjutant and quarter-master.

_Fort-William_, with one fort-major, one barrack-master, one fort-adjutant, one garrison store-keeper, one surgeon, and one assistant surgeon.

_Monghyr_, under one major-general, who commands; one fort-adjutant, one engineer, and one surgeon.

_Buxar_, under one major-general commandant, one fort-adjutant, and one assistant surgeon.

_Chunar_, with one fort-adjutant, and barrack-master, one engineer, and one garrison store-keeper.

_Allahhabad_, with one lieutenant-colonel commandant, one fort adjutant, and one barrack-master.

There is likewise, an establishment for European invalids at Chunar, consisting at present, of one captain from the first company of artillery, two captains from the third company of infantry, two lieutenants, two ensigns, one adjutant, and one quarter-master.

The medical department of India consists of an hospital board, under one first member and director of the hospitals, one second member of the hospital board, one secretary, one surgeon and apothecary, one assistant surgeon and deputy apothecary, one purveyor and contractor for bedding and clothing, one head surgeon at head quarters, and six hospital mates.

The armed force of the East Indies independent of the troops sent from Europe, consists in a marine battalion which has six companies stationed at Bengal, one company at Fort-Marlborough, and one at the Prince of Wales’s Island. There is likewise a battalion distinguished by the name of the Ramghur battalion, and a corps of hill rangers. To which must be added the Calcutta native militia, the Hindustan cavalry, and three volunteer battalions serving in the Carnatic.--The Calcutta militia, properly so called, is commanded by the right honorable the governor general. This establishment consists of one troop of cavalry; one infantry battalion, one Armenian corps, and one Portuguese corps.

The general staff of India in 1800, consisted of one commander in chief, one military auditor general, one military paymaster general, one adjutant general, one quarter-master general, one judge-advocate general, two deputies at Dinapore and Chunar, and Cawnpore, and Futtyghur, one surveyor general, one military secretary to the governor general, four aids-de-camp to the governor general, two aids-de-camp to the commander in chief, one secretary to the commander in chief, one surgeon to the commander in chief, one Persian translator to the commander in chief.

INDOSTAN. This word properly spelled Hindustan; from _Stan_ a country, and _Hindus_ the people; usually called _India_.

INEXPUGNABLE. See IMPREGNABLE.

INFAMOUS _behaviour_, (_infamie_, _Fr._) a term peculiarly applicable to military life when it is affected by dishonorable conduct. Hence the expression which is used in the Articles of War, relative to _scandalous infamous behaviour_; on conviction of which, an officer is ordered to be cashiered. Infamy may be attached to an officer or soldier in a variety of ways; and some countries are more tenacious than others on this head. Among European nations it has always been deemed infamous and disgraceful to abandon the field of action, or to desert the colors, except in cases of the greatest emergency. In Germany, a mark of infamy was attached to the character of every man that was found guilty of misbehaviour before the enemy. He could not assist at the public sacrifices, nor be present at a court-martial. Many destroyed themselves in consequence of the ignominy they suffered on these occasions. According to the old French salique law, any person who should upbraid another with having fled from the field of battle, and not be able to prove it, was heavily fined.

Among the Romans the punctilious nicety of military fame was carried to a much higher pitch. It was considered as infamous and disgraceful to be taken prisoner, and a Roman soldier was impressed with the idea, that he must either conquer or die in the field. Regulus, the Roman general, was so much influenced by these high sentiments, that when the Carthagenians by whom he had been taken prisoner, sent him to Rome, in order to arrange certain conditions of peace, he deemed himself unworthy to appear in the senate, notwithstanding that his fellow citizens invited him to the sitting. The advice which he gave his countrymen, and the punishment he suffered on his return to Carthage are well known.

Although these notions have considerably degenerated among the moderns, the military character is nevertheless so far elevated above every other profession in life, that the slightest imputation of cowardice or dishonor is sufficient to affect it. Among the French the most punctilious nicety is observed; so much so, that the common soldier considers himself superior to the lower orders of mankind, and will resent a blow or a lie with a pertinacity of honor, that puts him upon a level with the most scrupulous duellist. How far this sense or honor ought to be encouraged in the ranks we will not pretend to determine. But we shall scarcely be found fault with, or run the hazard of contradiction, when we assert, that no officer ought to hold a commission in any service, who can either take or give the lie, or receive a blow without resenting the insult in the most summary manner. For we may pronounce, that man incapable of doing justice to the service, who can be insensible himself. Nor does the term _infamous_ apply in this instance only. There are various cases, in which the conduct of an officer may render him unworthy of the situation he fills: such as cheating at play, taking unfair advantages of youth, imposing upon the credulity or confidence of a tradesman, habitual drunkenness, flagrant breaches of hospitality, &c.

INFANTRY, (_Infanterie_, _Fr._) This term being little understood with respect to its derivation, and having by some writers been either vaguely interpreted, or erroneously traced, we think it our duty to give the best, and we presume, the only correct explanation of the word. In so doing we should be unthankful to one of the most acute observers in life, and one of the closest reasoners, were we to omit acknowleging that we have been favored by the ingenious and learned author of the _Diversions of Purley_, with the following account of its derivation.

Johnson generally states, that infantry _are foot soldiers belonging to the army_; and the compilers of other dictionaries content themselves with assimilating the term infantry to the name of a Spanish princess, who marched at the head of a body of Spaniards on foot, and defeated the Moors. She was called Infanta. Our learned friend, on the contrary, traces it to the source of genuine etymology, and grounds his opinion upon the best authorities. His first root is from the Greek _phe-mi_, Latin, _Fa-ri_, participle _Fans_--_In-fans_; Italian, _Infante_, by abridgment, _Fante_; _Infanteria_, by abridgment, _Fanteria_; French, _Infanterie_; English, _Infantry_.

It is still in French and in English a common expression to soldiers, _allons mes enfans_, _come on my lads_, (_or my boys_). So a servant is called a _lad_ or _a boy_ (and formerly a _knave_ or a _page_), although a full grown _man_.

The military profession is still called _service_; and a soldier is said to _serve_ in the army.

Skinner says well;--“The _infantry_, _Fr._ G. _infanterie_; Italian, _fanteria_, peditatus: _fante_, pedes et famulus; quia scilicet olim pedites equitum famuli, vel pedissequi fuerunt.--_fante_ autem a Lat. _Infans_, manifeste ortum ducit. Et nos _Boy_, non tantum pro puero sed et pro famulo, secundario sensu usurpamus.”

After which he refers us to _Lansquenet_.

_A Lansquenet_, a Fr. G. _Lansquenet_, pedes, miles, gregarius, utr. a Teut. _Lance_, lancea, et _Knecht_, servus: olim enim pedites equitum lanceariorum quasi servi erunt; et quilibet eques quatuor vel quinque pedites, tanquam famulos circumduxit. Exercitus autem numero equitum, non peditum censebantur.

Vide _Comineum_ et alios illorum seculorum Scriptores.

It appears, that Machiavelli, in his Arte della Guerra, sufficiently points out what, and how considered, the infantry were in his time, when he says (libro primo) “Venuta la pace, che i _gentil huomini_ alla loro particolare arte.”

It is plain, the _fanti_ were huomini bassi, e soldati gregarii, _i. e._ hired _servants_, and therefore called _fanti_, and the corps _fanteria_. The term _infantry_ was given to them when they were considered merely as _lads_ attending on the army: and the term has continued, though their condition is altered.

From these sensible observations, it is evident that although the primary sources of infantry are in the Greek and Latin languages, its modern derivation is from the Italian word _fante_, which signifies a follower. In the first stages of modern warfare, battles were chiefly fought by cavalry or horsemen; but in Italy, and afterwards in Spain, the bodies of horse were always attended by a certain number of squires or armed men on foot, who marched in the rear and assisted their leaders.

Boccacio mentions the latter under the term _fanteria_, and other Italian writers, one of whom we have already quoted, call it _infanteria_, both being derived from _fante_. Nothing can be more out of date, out of place, and superficial than to imagine that because the Spaniards have recorded a gallant action, which was performed by an _infanta_ of that nation, the rest of Europe should bury the real etymology of infantry beneath the flimsy texture of court adulation. It is, besides, extremely erroneous to state, that until that period men did not fight on foot. It is well known that the Greeks and Romans frequently placed the greatest confidence in men of that description. The former had their Hoplitai, their Psiloi, and their Peltastai; and the latter their _Celeres_, _Velites_, Hastati, Principes, and Triarii, or Pisarii. The French word _Fantassin_ which signifies a foot soldier, is manifestly derived from _fante_.

Until the reign of Charles the VIIth. the French infantry were extremely defective; so much so, that Brantome says in one part of his works, the infantry could not be considered as essentially useful to the security of the state. For it consisted in those days, of _marauts, belistres mal armés, mal complexionnés; fenéans, pillards et mangeurs du peuple_: which may be thus rendered in plain English: _lads, rascals, and vagabonds, scoundrels ill equipped and ill looking, filchers, plunderers, and devourers of the people_.

Europe however is unquestionably indebted to the Swiss for a total change in the military system particularly so with regard to foot soldiers.

Dr. Robertson in the first volume of his history of Charles V. p. 105, observes that the system of employing the Swiss in the Italian wars, was the occasion of introducing a total innovation in the military custom. The arms and discipline of the Swiss were different from those of other European nations. During their long and violent struggles in defence of their liberties against the house of Austria, whose armies, like those of other considerable princes, consisted chiefly of heavy-armed cavalry, the Swiss found that their poverty, and the small number of gentlemen residing in their country, at that time barren and ill cultivated, put it out of their power to bring into the field any body of horse capable of facing the enemy. Necessity compelled them to place all their confidence in infantry, and in order to render it capable of withstanding the shock of cavalry, they gave the soldiers breast-plates and helmets, as defensive armor, together with long spears, halberts, and heavy swords, as weapons of offence. They formed them into large battalions, ranged in deep and close array, so that they could present on every side a formidable front to the enemy. (See Machiavel’s Art of War, b. ii. chap. ii. p. 451.) The men at arms could make no impression on the solid strength of such a body. It repulsed the Austrians in all their attempts to conquer Swisserland. It broke the Burgundian gendarmerie, which was scarcely inferior to that of France, either in number or reputation; and when first called to act in Italy, it bore down by its irresistable force, every enemy that attempted to oppose it. These repeated proofs of the decisive effect of infantry, exhibited on such conspicuous occasions, restored that service to reputation, and gradually re-established the opinion which had been long exploded, of its superior importance in the operations of war. But the glory the Swiss had acquired, having inspired them with such high ideas of their own prowess and consequence, as frequently rendered them mutinous and insolent, the princes who employed them became weary of depending on the caprice of foreign mercenaries, and began to turn their attention towards the improvement of their national infantry.

The German powers having the command of men, whom nature has endowed with that steady courage and persevering strength which form them to be soldiers, soon modelled their troops in such a manner, that they vied with the Swiss both in discipline and valor.

The French monarch, though more slowly, and with greater difficulty, accustomed the impetuous spirit of their people to subordination and discipline; and were at such pains to render their national infantry respectable, that as early as the reign of Louis XII. several gentlemen of high rank had so far abandoned their ancient ideas, as to condescend to enter into their service.

The Spaniards, whose situation made it difficult to employ any other than their national troops in the southern parts of Italy, which was the chief scene of their operations in that country, not only adopted the Swiss discipline, but improved upon it, by mingling a proper number of soldiers, armed with heavy musquets, in their battalions; and thus formed that famous body of infantry, which, during a century and a half, was the admiration and terror of all Europe. The Italian states gradually diminished the number of their cavalry, and, in imitation of their more powerful neighbors, brought the strength of their armies to consist in foot soldiers. From this period the nations of Europe have carried on war with forces more adapted to every species of service, more capable of acting in every country, and better fitted both for conquests, and for preserving them. See Robertson’s View of the State of Europe, book I., pages 105 and 107.

INFANTERIE _aventuriere_, _Fr._ a species of French infantry, which succeeded to the legions that were established under Francis I. in imitation of the Roman legions. This infantry was kept up as late as during the reign of Henry IV. when the whole of the foot establishment was reduced into regiments.

_Heavy-armed_ INFANTRY, among the ancients, were such as wore a complete suit of armor, and engaged with broad shields and long spears. They were the flower and strength of the Grecian armies, and had the highest rank of military honor.

_Light-armed_ INFANTRY, amongst the ancients, were designed for skirmishes, and for fighting at a distance. Their weapons were arrows, darts, or slings.

_Light_ INFANTRY have only been in use since the year 1656. They have no camp equipage to carry, and their arms and accoutrements are much lighter than the common infantry, or battalion men. Wherever there is light cavalry, there should be light infantry to act in conjunction.

_Foreign_ INFANTRY (_Infanterie étrangere_, _Fr._) Foreign troops were taken into pay, during the old monarchy of France, at a very early period. In the reign of Philip surnamed le Bel or the handsome, treatises and agreements were severally entered into for this purpose, with John Bailleul king of Scotland, Eric king of Norway, Albert duke of Austria, and many other German princes, and with Humbert duke of Viennois.

Philip of Valois likewise made use of foreign troops, and under Louis XI. the Swiss were taken into French pay; since that period and until the revolution, which was accomplished on the 10th of August, 1792, several regiments were maintained under the different denominations of Swiss, German, Italian, Catalonian, Scotch and Irish corps or brigades. During the present war the same system has been more or less adopted by the British government. Independent of foreign subsidies, it has been judged expedient to admit foreigners of rank, and we presume, of military merit, within those native limits, from whence heretofore every stranger was jealously excluded. A reference to the official army list will readily point out the corps that come under this description. With respect to the 60th or loyal American, it is necessary to observe, that the original principles upon which those battalions were established, have been totally altered. One battalion in particular, instead of being called American, should be named German. For the colonel is a German by birth and education, and the majority of the corps are from that country.

In thus adverting to the 60th regiment, we think it right to explain away an absurd and contradictory opinion, which has prevailed of late years to the prejudice of that gallant corps. It has been called the condemned regiment, from an idle, and unfounded notion, that the different battalions, though forming a considerable part of the British infantry, were excluded from home service, on account of some imputed misconduct. Their uniform good behaviour is a sufficient refutation to the latter supposition; and when we state that at the close of the American war, the battalions of the 60th were formed for the express purpose of garrisoning the British possessions in Canada, and as the means of providing for those Americans who had suffered by their attachment to the royal cause, we may leave the subject without further explanation; merely adding, that instead of being exiled from Europe, they have during the present war, done duty in Ireland and at the Isle of Wight. With respect to foreign troops in the pay of and actually serving in Great Britain; there are five Dutch regiments under two Dutch generals, which in every sense of the word, come under the description of foreign infantry. Indeed from the general convulsed state of Europe, and the gradual introduction of coercive measures, the business of arms seems necessarily to have taken an ascendancy over every other calling or profession.

The foreign infantry, in the service of Great Britain, according to the returns delivered in on the 1st of November 1800, consisted of loyal French emigrants, Castries, Mortemart, Roll, and Dillon; Meuron ditto; four ditto Dutch, each having a company of artillery attached, and one Dutch rifle with a company of pioneers; Lowenstien’s corps, which was not completed, and one corps of foreign invalids. Staff to a foreign hospital. There were besides sixteen unattached foreign officers who received full pay, 166 ditto on half pay, 504 aged and wounded ditto, 46 foreign officers widows, 44 children of foreign officers who died in the king’s service. There was also a small corps of estafettes, which were attached to the waggon train, and consisted wholly of foreigners.