Journey to the Far Side of the World

When William Winder enlisted in September of 1839, part of the 21st regiment was already in India, having arrived there from Tasmania earlier that year.  Additional elements of the regiment followed from Australia during the first half of 1840 (they had been on convict escort duty) while William was settling into the supposedly boring routine of garrison life at Chatham.  At some point that year, William learned that he and others at the depot had been ordered to join the regiment in India.

Although intended to show clipper ship routes, this map gives a sense of the 1840's voyage to India

How did William react to the news?  One British soldier (Donald Featherstone) claimed that Victorian soldiers considered assignment overseas as good news.  Featherstone wrote that all ranks, not just officers anxious for fame and glory, wanted to be on active service, not garrison duty.  This was supposedly because of the boring routine of "home soldiering" with no real "outlet for individual enterprise and responsibility."  Anything William knew about service in India was limited to what he heard from his fellow soldiers.  Human nature being what it is, some of this most likely was intended to impress or scare him with the risks and dangers that lay ahead.  He also probably heard about the less expensive cost of living living as well as the financial opportunities, both legal and otherwise.

Even if William was pleased with the assignment to India, it seems almost certain that as he watched England disappear over the horizon, he wondered if he would ever return.  I had those same doubts when I left for Vietnam in 1971 and, regardless of age or generation, it must be impossible to avoid such feelings.  In William's case, not coming back was more than a possibility since the majority of the British soldiers sent to India never returned to England.  Eventually, however, William needed to turn his attention to adjusting to his temporary new home.

East Indiaman 'Repulse' built about 1820

Although it was temporary, it was a relatively long temporary.  William and his compatriots most likely sailed on a four masted, East Indiaman.  In addition to the slower speed of a wind driven sailing ship, this was prior to the opening of the Suez Canal which made the trip even longer.  Although some travelers to India sailed through the Mediterranean to Egypt and then made a land journey to the next port, most soldiers took the far longer route down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean.

My father, Hank Zinn, traveled to India in World War II by boat crossing the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean.  That trip over a longer distance, but in an much faster ship took about 35 days including about a week in different ports along the way.  William's journey, on the other hand, took between 100-120 days which meant living in the close confines of the ship for almost one-third of a year. My father kept a diary of his time overseas and in describing the voyage to India, he wrote, "I can't believe there could be so much water."  One can only imagine how William, who had probably never even seen the sea before, must have felt.

East Indiaman 'Prince of Wales' built in 1842 specifically as a troop transport ship

My father also described how once on the ship, he and 150 other men crammed themselves into a compartment of three tiered bunks which he compared to a "sweat box," calling it unbearable.  William, most likely, would have found those quarters luxurious compared to sleeping in hammocks as close together as "fingers on our hands."   At least William had been prepared for tight quarters by his experience in the barracks at Chatham.  As William settled into his small space with a low ceiling, two decks below the surface, he must have been glad, he was under 5'6".

While life in the Chatham barracks prepared him for communal living in very limited space, the constant darkness along with the odor of "putrid bilge water" (don't ask) were new features that took some getting used.  The assault on the eyes and nose was accompanied by challenges for the ears, the "grating noise" of the creaking of the ship's timbers.  All of these negatives became worse in the heat of the tropics, especially if the ship was becalmed which could happen for days on end.  Unlike barracks life, the ship board experience did not include smoke filled rooms as smoking was forbidden because of the fire hazard.  Surprisingly the food was better than in garrison, to the point that most men put on weight during the voyage.

Calcutta about 1850

My father killed a lot of time on his voyage by reading, an option, not available to Williams.  Playing cards and singing were the only other two alternatives described as being available to British soldiers.  To fill some of the time and probably to maintain some sort of discipline, "parade," or mandatory formations were held twice a day, once for health checks and once for muster or attendance.  The health checks were no formality as one of the most feared diseases was cholera which could have a devastating effect on a closely confined, captive population.  It's hard to visualize what William's experience was like - seemingly endless days, nothing on the horizon, but water, increasingly hot and uncomfortable temperatures, little, if anything to do.  He probably thought the voyage would never end.  But finally one day, the ship reached Calcutta - William Winder had arrived in India!