4th Horse (Hodson's Horse): Difference between revisions

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'''4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)''' is a part of the [[ Indian Army Armoured Corps|Armoured Corps]] of the [[Indian Army]], which had its beginnings as an irregular [[cavalry]] regiment during the time of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].

The regiment was raised during the turbulent times of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. During the siege of Delhi, on 19 May 1857, an order was issued by the [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief]], Major General [[George Anson (British Army officer, born 1797)|George Anson]] to appoint Lieutenant (later [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] Major) [[William Stephen Raikes Hodson]] as the Commandant of a corps of Irregular Horse, which he was directed to raise, while at [[Karnal|Kurnaul]].  

The rissalahs sent to Delhi saw their first action was on 14 and 18 July 1857 in the Delhi suburb of Sabzi Mandi. The regiment then fought against the rebels on 17 and 18 August at [[Kharkhoda, Haryana|Khurkowdeh]] and [[Rohtak]].<ref name="Britishempire"/>

[[File:"Capture of the King of Delhi by Captain Hodson".jpg|thumb|right|305x305px|Capture of the Mughal Emperor of Delhi by Captain Hodson ''(Hand coloured steel engraving from Charles Ball's - The History of the Indian Mutiny)'']]

Following the [[siege of Delhi]], on 20 September 1857, Hodson took 50 men from the regiment and rode to the [[Humayun's Tomb|tomb of Humayun]] and captured the Mughal emperor [[Bahadur Shah Zafar]]. Hodson returned there the next day to bring in the princes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://livewire.thewire.in/politics/a-forgotten-past-william-hodsons-mughalprinces/|title=A Forgotten Past: On Stumbling Upon William Hodson's Grave at a School|date=2020-10-20|access-date=2021-04-28}}</ref> While escorting them, he found them being threatened by a large crowd. Hodson shot Bahadur Shah Zafar’s sons [[Mirza Mughal]] and [[Mirza Khizr Sultan]], and grandson [[Mirza Abu Bakht]] at the [[Khooni Darwaza]], near the [[Delhi Gate (Delhi)|Delhi Gate]].<ref name="Britishempire"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/strategic-insights/two-battalions-of-hodsons-horse/|title=Two battalions of Hodson's Horse|date=2018-09-10|access-date=2021-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.tornosindia.com/william-hodson-indian-perspective/#.YIkGfLUzZPY|title=William Hodson, Indian perspective|date=2017-08-08|access-date=2021-04-28}}</ref>

A detachment from Hodson's Horse was sent out on 27th Sept 1857 to pursue rebels heading for [[Rohilkhand]]. The regiment also saw action against the rebels near [[Agra]] on 10 October 1857, in [[Kanpur|Cawnpore]], at [[Alambagh]] on 12 November 1857, the [[Siege of Lucknow]], against the Gwalior rebels under [[Tantia Tope]], at Gangiri in [[Aligarh district]] on 7 December 1857, at the battle at [[Patiyali]] and at [[Mainpuri]]. On 25 January 1858, Hodson with 200 of his men and three other British officers were part of a column commanded by Brigadier Adrian Hope against an army of 5,000 rebels encamped at [[Shamsabad, Farrukhabad|Shamshabad]]. In the fierce battle, Lieutenant CTM McDowell was killed and Hodson and Lieutenant [[Charles John Stanley Gough|Charles Gough]] were badly wounded.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dodd|first=George|title= History Indian Revolt Expeditions Persia, China, Japan, 1856-7-8 |date=2003|publisher= Adamant Media Corporation|page=394| isbn=978-1402187421}}</ref>  

Lieutenant [[Hugh Henry Gough]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for his bravery at Alambagh on 12 November 1857 and at Jellalabad, Lucknow on 25 February 1858. A detachment of the regiment was sent as Colonel [[Hope Grant]]’s column from [[Cawnpore|Kanpur]] to protect the road to Lucknow. They laid siege to a town called Mianganj and cleared the enemy, but lost an Indian officer, Naib-Risaldar Hukm Singh. On 25 February 1858, 374 men of Hodson's Horse were part of a cavalry force at Alambagh led by Colonel Campbell of the [[2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)|Queen's Bays]]. They were under the command of Lieutenant General Sir [[James Outram, 1st Baronet|James Outram]] against [[Begum Hazrat Mahal]], the Begum of Oudh (Awadh). This was one of the first occasions where the Hodson’s Horse saw fierce action as a complete regiment.<ref name="Britishempire"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Gough|first=Hugh|title=Old Memories|date=1897|publisher=William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London|page=209}}</ref>

While the regiment remained at Alamagh, Hodson went alone to Lucknow for a meeting with Sir [[Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde|Colin Campbell]]. Following lunch with him, he joined Brigadier-General [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Robert Napier]] who was inspecting a breach in the wall. They became separated and he went to look around the palace with a Captain Taylor. The enemy had been cleared from most parts of the city, but areas remained where rebels were hidden. The two men had a look inside one dark room. which turned out to contain sepoys. One of them shot at Hodson and he was hit in the chest. He was conscious, but became weaker and died around 1.30 am that night. He was buried on the evening of 12 March 1858 in the grounds of [[La Martinière College, Lucknow|La Martiniere School]] in Lucknow.<ref name="Britishempire"/><ref>''The Spectator'' (Literary Supplement), 2 November 1911{{snd}}article: 'Hodson of Hodson's Horse, pp.631-632.</ref>

Following Hodson’s death, the position of the Commandant of the regiment was given to [[Henry Daly]] of the [[Guides Cavalry]]. Daly played a major role in reorganising the regiment – more troops, including [[Pashtuns|Pathans]] were recruited, muster rolls were created, accounts were organised and three regiments were created - 1st and 2nd Regiment of Hodson's Horse on 26 August 1858. The 3rd Regiment was officially formed on 9 September 1858 and disbanded following an order issued on 5 January 1860. On 13 June 1858, the regiment was involved in a fierce battle at [[Nawabganj, Unnao|Nawabganj]] under Hope Grant. The regiment lost 3 men and 24 were wounded.<ref name="Britishempire"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Gough|first=Hugh|title=Old Memories|date=1897|publisher=William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London|page=224}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Daly|first=Hugh|title=Memories of General Sir Henry Dermot Daly|date=1905|publisher=John Murray, London|page=192-200}}</ref>

The two regiments of the Hodson’s horse went through various changes in their designation before amalgamating into a single unit.<ref name="9HWW1"/><ref name="10HWW1"/><ref>{{cite web|url= https://hcvv.home.xs4all.nl/milweb/British-India/Cavalry/cav04.html|title=Hodson's Horse|date=|access-date=2021-05-01}}</ref>

*1921 Amalgamated with the 10th Hodson’s Horse to form 9th/10th Hodson’s Horse

*1922 4th Duke of Cambridge’s Own Hodson’s Horse

*1927 Hodson’s Horse (4th Duke of Cambridge’s Own)

*1947 Post-Partition (To India) - Hodson’s Horse

*1921 Amalgamated with the 9th Hodson’s Horse to form 9th/10th Hodson’s Horse

In February 1885, the 9th was ordered to convert to [[Lancer|lancers]] and move off to join the British Army in [[Mahdist State|Sudan]]. The regiment moved from [[Wazirabad, Delhi|Wazirabad]] to Kanpur, where they received lances and related equipment and reached [[Suakin]] in March 1885 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel [[Arthur Power Palmer|AP Palmer]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.britishbattles.com/war-in-egypt-and-sudan/battle-of-abu-klea/|title= Battle of Abu Klea|date=|access-date=2021-05-01}}</ref> It saw action in [[Battle of Tofrek|Hashin]],  [[Battle of Tofrek|Tofrek]], Tamai and T'Hakul. The regiment less one squadron left Sudan in June 1885 for Bombay, from where they travelled to [[Ambala Cantonment|Ambala]]. The 3rd squadron was required to stay in Suakin until 20 November 1885. The 9th stayed at Ambala until 1888, moved to [[Nowshera, Jammu and Kashmir|Nowshera]] until 1891 – where it was part of the ''Buner Field Force'' to ensure the pacification of the [[Buner District|Bunerwals]]. The regiment moved to [[Peshawar]] and took part in the durbar and review at [[Lahore]] for the Viceroy, [[Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin|Lord Elgin]] in November 1894. Following this, at [[Muridke|Muridki]], on the night of 20 December 1894, Daffadar Kartar Singh, bearing a grudge through loss of promotion, shot two officers, Risaldar Kesar Singh and the Commanding Officer, Colonel Ernle Money. He was overpowered, court martialled and publicly hanged on 31 January 1895. Two Sikh officers, who had encouraged the Daffadar were tried in a civil court and sentenced to life.<ref name="9BL"/>

[[File:A troop of Hodsons Horse, Bestanddeelnr 158-2441.jpg|thumb|right|305x305px|A troop of Hodson’s Horse during the First World War]]

On 31 August 1914, 9th Hodson’s Horse, located at [[Ambala Cantonment|Ambala]], got the orders to prepare to move as part of the [[3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade]] for war in France. Its convoy reached [[Marseille]] on 7 November, moved to [[Orléans]], where it was trained with British soldiers for trench warfare for 10 days.<ref name="9HWW1">{{cite web|url=https://www.researchingww1.co.uk/9th-hodsons-horse|title=9th Hodson's Horse in the First World War|date=|access-date=2021-04-28}}</ref> It became part of the [[1st Indian Cavalry Division]] (till it joined the [[2nd Indian Cavalry Division]] on 15 September 1915).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-349-27283-9%2F1.pdf|title= Appendix I: Order of Battle of The Indian Army Corps in France, 1914-15|date=|access-date=2021-04-27}}</ref> On 21 December, Hodson’s Horse was inducted to [[La Bassée]], where it fought in the trenches full of water and dirt. Thereafter, it moved near [[Norrent-Fontes]] for training with the division followed by another phase of trench battle in very adverse weather for which it was awarded the battle honour "[[Winter operations 1914–1915|Givenchy]]". In June 1916, it fought protracted actions earning more battle honours – [[Battle of the Somme|Somme]], [[Battle of Bazentin Ridge|Bazentin]] and [[Battle of Flers–Courcelette|Flers – Courcelette]].<ref name="Salute">{{cite web|url= https://salute.co.in/the-legend-of-hodsons-horse/#:~:text=In%20March%201917%2C%209th%20Hodson's,through%20a%20minefield%20for%20infantry.|title=The legend of Hodson's Horse|date=2014-08-29|access-date=2021-04-27}}</ref>

In March 1918, the [[2nd Indian Cavalry Division]] was broken up in France.  The Canadian and British units remained in France and the Indian elements were sent to [[Egypt]]. The regiment briefly served as part of the [[5th Light Horse Brigade|5th Mounted Brigade]], [[Australian Mounted Division]] before it became part of the [[13th Cavalry Brigade (British Indian Army)| 13th Cavalry Brigade]] of the [[5th Cavalry Division (India)|5th Cavalry Division]], where they saw service in [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|General Edmund Allenby’s]] final campaign against the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] and [[German Empire|Germans]]. They marched from [[Battle of Nazareth|Nazareth]] to [[Capture of Damascus|Damascus]], where Risaldar Nur Ahmed of Hodson’s Horse made hundreds of Turks surrender to him.<ref name="Salute"/><ref name="9HWW1"/> On 18 September the Division moved to El Jelil and next day early morning attacked the front line and right flank and captured lt. Thus, Infantry got its safe lane for further advance. At 0600 hours, 9th Hodson’s Horse reached Nahr El Falik. ‘C’ and ‘D’ Squadrons of the Regiment captured 70 prisoners, guns and other war material while crossing Nahr El Falik and Murkhalid.<ref name="Salute"/>

On 30 September, in an action where 9th Hodson’s Horse was leading, Major MD Vigors commanding ‘D’ Squadron got an input of 70 Turkish soldiers advancing to [[Charge at Kiswe|Kiswe]]. In a number of more actions that ensued, not only those 70 but a total of 900 Turkish soldiers with a lot of arms and equipment were captured. Turkish Army had lost most of its soldiers, but Gen Allenby decided to finish the rest of the Turkish Army. Around [[Aleppo]], there were about 20,000 Germans and Turkish soldiers, of which 8000 had already lost hope. On 20 March the Division advanced towards Aleppo. On 26 October, 9 Hodson’s Horse was inducted into Aleppo and by 31 October the Turkish Army surrendered. In these 38 days, the Regiment covered a total of 567 miles and made a major contribution to the Division’s tally of 1100 prisoners of war and 58 canons. The battle honours awarded to 9th Hodson’s Horse in the Middle Eastern theatre were [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Megiddo]], [[Sinai and Palestine campaign|Palestine]], Sharon, [[Capture of Damascus|Damascus]], [[Action of Khan Baghdadi|Khan-Baghdadi]] and [[Mesopotamian campaign|Mesopotamia]].<ref name="Salute"/> The regiment continued to stay in the Middle East after the war and returned to India in December 1920.<ref name="9HWW1"/> The regiment’s overseas tenure of five years was the longest for a cavalry regiment in the British Indian Army.{{fact|date=May 2021}}

The 10th Duke of Cambridge’s Own Lancers (Hodson’s Horse) was stationed at [[Loralai]] in Balochistan under the [[4th (Quetta) Division]], when the First World War broke out in August 1914. It had arrived from [[Jalandhar|Jullundur]] on 18 November 1912 and had detachments at Gumbaz, Maratangi, Murgha and [[Musakhel District, Pakistan|Musa Khel]]. While the regiment did not proceed overseas until 1916, the Regiment supplied drafts of officers and men to other cavalry regiments. Over 350 officers and men of the Regiment were sent abroad, before the 10th Lancers received orders to mobilize for service in [[Iraq|Mesopotamia]] in August 1916, the first two squadrons arriving in September and the other two squadrons and headquarters in October 1916. The 10th Lancers initially served as part of the Tigris Defences, guarding the lines of communication between [[Amarah|Amara]] and [[Al-Shaykh Saad|Sheikh Sa’ad]]. The Regiment spent the next four years serving in Mesopotamia, but it would be during the [[Iraqi revolt of 1920]], that the 10th Lancers suffered its heaviest casualties. On 3 September 1920, an armoured train at [[Samawah|Samawa]] which was guarded by ‘D’ Squadron was overwhelmed and the 10th Lancers lost 28 men. The Regiment left Mesopotamia on 30 October 1920 and returned to India.<ref name="10HWW1">{{cite web|url=https://www.researchingww1.co.uk/10th-duke-of-cambridges-own-lancers-hodsons-horse|title=10th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers (Hodson's Horse)|date=|access-date=2021-04-28}}</ref><ref name="Jackson"/>

*[[Order of British India]] : Risaldar Major Malik Khan, Risaldar Muhammad Akram Khan, Risaldar Jai Ram, Risaldar Ram Singh (9th Hodson Horse), Risaldar Nur Khan (10th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers (Hodson's Horse))

In the 1965 war, Hodson’s Horse was equipped with the [[Centurion (tank)|Centurion tanks]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.thefridaytimes.com/tank-battle-at-chawinda-iii/|title= Tank Battle at Chawinda – III|date=2020-09-08|access-date=2021-04-28}}</ref> It was part of the divisional reserve of the [[1st Armoured Division (India)|1st Armoured Division]], tasked for the massive attack at the [[Battle of Phillora|Phillora sector]] against the Pakistani [[6th Armoured Division (Pakistan)|6th Armoured Division]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Harbaksh |title=War Despatches: Indo-Pak Conflict 1965|date=2012|publisher= Lancer Publishers LLC|isbn=978-8170621171|page=}}</ref> From Rurki Kalan, two regiments (4 Horse and [[Poona Horse|17 Horse]]) were to open out and encircle Phillora by a pincer movement from both flanks, while [[16th Light Cavalry]] was to provide flank protection from the right.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://sainiksamachar.nic.in/englisharchives/2015/sep16-15/h2.htm|title= Golden Jubilee of 1965 War Operations of 1 Corps|date=2015-09-15|access-date=2021-05-02}}</ref> 43rd Lorried Brigade was tasked to capture Phillora. This armada of tanks destroyed the maximum number of enemy tanks (most of which were newly acquired and technologically superior [[M48 Patton|Patton tanks]]) and recoilless guns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.millenniumpost.in/hodsons-horse-fight-to-the-very-end-105367?infinitescroll=1|title=Hodson's Horse: Fight to the very end|date=2015-09-20|access-date=2021-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.indiandefencereview.com/spotlights/battle-of-phillora-1965-war/|title= Battle of Phillora 1965 War|date=2020-10-20|access-date=2021-05-02}}</ref>

*[[Maha Vir Chakra]] : Lieutenant Colonel MMS Bakshi,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1966/O-1662-1966-0007-75752.pdf|title=Gazette of Inida, No 7|date=1966-02-12|access-date=2021-05-01}}</ref> Major Bhupinder Singh<ref>{{cite web|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1966/O-1662-1966-0001-75746.pdf|title=Gazette of India, No 1|date=1966-01-01|access-date=2021-05-01}}</ref>

*'''General Sir [[Hugh Henry Gough]] {{small|VC, GCB}}''' – Was a Lieutenant in the Bengal European Light Cavalry, and serving in the Guides Cavalry - received the Victoria Cross for his acts of bravery during the mutiny, while serving in the Hodson’s Horse.

*'''General Sir [[Charles John Stanley Gough]], {{small|VC, GCB}}''' – Brother of Hugh Gough, joined the 8th Bengal Cavalry, and served in the Guides Cavalry - received the Victoria Cross for his acts of bravery during the mutiny, while serving in the Hodson’s Horse.

*'''Lieutenant General [[Raj Mohan Vohra]], {{small|PVSM, MVC}}''' - GOC-in-C of [[Eastern Command (India)| Eastern Command]] from May 1988 to May 1990

*'''Major [[Bikramjeet Kanwarpal]] ''' - Indian film and television actor<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.republicworld.com/entertainment-news/television-news/actor-major-bikramjeet-kanwarpal-passes-away-of-covid-19-at-52-tributes-pour-in.html|title= Actor Major Bikramjeet Kanwarpal Passes Away Of COVID-19 At 52; Tributes Pour In |date=2021-05-01|access-date=2021-05-01}}</ref>

{{Use British English|date=November 2010}}