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The Life of a Lancer in the Wars of the Punjab, or, Seven Years in India, 1843-50 (Hardcover, Annotated Ed)
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The Life of a Lancer in the Wars of the Punjab, or, Seven Years in India, 1843-50 (Hardcover, Annotated Ed)
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This book comprises a new edition of the memoirs of a private
soldier, James Gilling, originally published in 1855. Gilling
served in the Ninth Lancers of the British army, and he gives a
well-written, frank, and lively account of his time in India from
1843 to 1850, during which time he took part in both Anglo-Sikh
Wars. It is the only published memoir written from the ranks of a
lancer regiment at this period, and includes many outspoken
opinions about army life, the conduct of war in India, and his
fellow soldiers of all ranks. Original copies of this book are
extremely rare; none have been traced in the major British and US
libraries. The text has been transcribed from a photocopy in the
National Army Museum London, UK. The memoir is an unusually frank
and detailed account of the life of a cavalry soldier in India,
with stories of incidents and individuals, alternating with the
author's experiences in the fierce struggle against the
well-trained armies of the Sikh nation. Gilling by his own
admission was no hero, but just an ordinary soldier who got into
scrapes and didn't enjoy soldiering very much, but did his duty
when required. In 1850 he purchased his discharge from the army,
and emigrated to the United States of America, where he settled in
Lyons City, Iowa, and took up his old trade as a hair-dresser. He
died in 1861. However, this is not merely a reprint of a rare
nineteenth century memoir. The author, a specialist on the British
cavalry of the early nineteenth century, has written a full
introduction on the life in the cavalry at this period, including
the careers of the many officers and comrades mentioned by Gilling.
This introduction is drawn from extensive research in primary
archives at the British Library, National Archives, and regimental
archives, as well as contemporary published and unpublished
journals. The work is fully annotated, and includes an extensive
list of sources. It therefore provides new depth and perspective on
the life of those who formed the ranks of the mounted arm of the
British army. This book will appeal to the many people with an
amateur but often very knowledgeable interest in the history of the
British army, as well as to all those with a more specialist
interest in the history of the British army, including university
staff and students and special-interest groups and societies. The
book will have a particular appeal for those Sikhs world-wide who
have an interest in the military heritage of their community, as
well as to family historians with ancestors who served in the
British army in India.
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