[Section I.
62
STATISTICS OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA FROM 1871 TO 1876.
Loss in the First Five Years by D eath and Invaliding of Thirteen Regiments which came to India
from 1869 to 1872.
Regiment.
Stations.
Strength. Deaths. Invalids. Death and
Invaliding.
1 —
1 4 t h
Cawnpore and Fort William
827
70
250
320
62nd Lucknow and Dum-Dum
828
144
161
305
70th Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Nowshera
881
97
208
305
1 — 1
7 t hLucknow and Peshawar
878
103
181
284
89th Cannanore, Bangalore and Madras
914
57
210
267
72nd Umballa, Peshawar, and Nowshera
884
49
216
265
54th J ullundur and Morar
901
85
162
247
68th Poona, Mhow, and Nusseerabad
897
49
173
222
6
3 r dHazaribagh and Jhansi
909
64
148
212
44th Kamptee and Secunderabad
836
53
158
211
65th Agra and Lucknow
928
87
99
186
39th Ferozepore, Peshawar, and Nowshera
910
62
69
131
56th Poona and Kurrachee
914
43
88
131
TOTAL
11,507
963 2,123 3,086
LOSS OF REGIMENTS THBOUGHOUT THEIR TOUR OF INDIAN SERVICE.
Loss of Regiments in the course
of their tour of service.
Illustration of excessive loss—Her
Majesty ' s 36th Regiment.
I have chosen the statistics of six regiments which went
Home between 1873 and 1876, to depict the vicissitudes inci
- d e n t
u p o n a t o u r o f s e r v i c e i n I n d i a e x t e n d i n g o v e r a p e r i o d o f
from 9 to 13 years.
Of these some have been fortunate, others unfortunate. In 12 years, the 36th Regiment
required, to keep up its efficiency, recruits equal to the entire strength, 852 men having dis
-appeared, 330 by death, and 522 by invaliding. Four outbreaks of cholera lost to this regiment
167 lives, one-half of the total mortality of the period. In its first year, it lost by death
64 men; in the second 6. In its fourth year it was a second time attacked by cholera and
24 men died; but leaving out this casualty, in the second, third, fourth and fifth years its
loss by death averaged 8 annually, 31 men only having died in the course of the four years.
In the succeeding seven years, the average loss was 14, after deducting 116 cholera deaths.
Great sickness in five seasons led to heavy invaliding. In the first year, at Lucknow, the
admission-rate per 1,000 was 2,361, and 50 men were invalided; in the sixth year, the regi
- m e n t
w a s c o n s i d e r e d s u f f i c i e n t l y h e a l t h y t o w a r r a n t i t s b e i n g s t a t i o n e d a t P e s h a w a r , w h e r e t h e
admission-rate rose to 3,034; and even after removal in the following year to Rawalpindi,
2,285 per 1,000 of the strength went through the hospital, and 107 invalids were sent to Eng
- l a n d
. A t h i r d s e a s o n a t R a w a l p i n d i b r o u g h t d o w n t h e a d m i s s i o n - r a t e t o 7 7 2 , o n e - t h i r d o f
what it was in the year subsequent to removal from Peshawar, and the general healthiness of
the regiment seems to have occasioned its relief to Meean Meer. Great sickness followed.
The admission-rate rose from 772 to 2,725, and 122 invalids were compelled to leave India. The
regiment spent its last year in the hills, when its admission-rate sank to 870.
Such a history is of little use towards fixing what is a normal average of loss in the
course of an Indian career. I take, therefore, the statistics of
the second regiment, which passed the same period of 12 years,
which I regard as having run a fair risk throughout, and to
have been in no way exceptionally dealt with.
The 1-11th Regiment lost 39 men in five outbreaks of cholera, 128 men less than the
36th, from this special cause of mortality. Otherwise the mortality of both regiments was
almost identical, 158 deaths having occurred in the 1-11 th, and 163 in the 36th. Besides 11
cholera deaths, 63 men died in the first and second seasons; in the third and fourth, excluding
cholera, 13 deaths only occurred. In three years subsequent to removal from Fyzabad, and
while stationed at Morar, the total loss was 48, including 7 cholera deaths. The last four
years were spent two at Subathoo and two at Jubbulpore, and in these four seasons only 25 men
were lost by death, an annual average of 6.
The average number invalided annually was 31. This was the exact average for the five
years spent at Fyzabad . Three years' residence at Morar cost the regiment an average loss of
43 annually ; but this was reduced to 21 in the last four years of service at Subathoo and
Jubbulpore .
The sickness was excessive in one year only. In the last three years at Fyzabad the
maximum admission-rate per 1,000 was 956; in the first year at Morar it rose to 1,785, and in
the second to 2,453 ; and 102 men were invalided as a consequence. At Subathoo it declined to
862 in the first year and to 661 in the second, and at Jubbulpore it averaged 1,060.
This example may be taken as typical. Any regiment may have a similar experience, and
the results will not be very different from those here shown.
Illustration of average loss—Her
Majesty's 1-11th Regiment.