Page:The Earl of Mayo.djvu/170

162 the Commander-in-Chief were most anxious to avoid wounding the armour propre of any one of the three gallant bodies of men who make up the Native army in India; but their paramount duty — a duty which ranked above all local considerations — was so to shape their reductions as not to impair the defences of British India.

After long and earnest discussion with his military advisers and the Local Governments, Lord Mayo submitted the following proposals to the Secretary of State.

As regards Native artillery, Lord Mayo's Government followed out the accepted policy of dispensing with Native gunners, and his proposals were readily sanctioned by the Secretary of State. He abolished two Bengal batteries (namely the Eurasian Battery in Assam, and one light field battery of the Punjab Frontier Force); the Native Company of Artillery in Madras; and one Native company of artillery in Bombay. Total reductions of Native artillery, four batteries or companies; annual saving, £17,003.

Regarding the cavalry and infantry in the Bengal Native army, the Viceroy came to the conclusion (as demonstrated by his military advisers) that not a man could be spared. But with their consent he found that a considerable saving could be effected by reducing the number of separate regiments, and bringing up the strength of the remainder to a more efficient standard. He proposed, therefore, a reduction of one regiment of Bengal Native cavalry, and