Joining the 29th

William's first challenge as a new member of the 29th Regiment of Foot was simply getting to his unit. No record survives as to whether he and his 64 fellow volunteers had to travel from Cawnpore, Calcutta or some other point to join the 29th at Kasauli.  From Cawnpore it was about a 450 mile journey or almost 1100 miles if they were going from Calcutta.  To the extent possible, they probably traveled by boat, but there was most likely some marching as well.  At least they were headed for a desirable location.  Kasauli was established in 1842 as an cantonment town at 1800 meters elevation, surrounded by forests and known for "salubrious weather."

Modern view of Kasauli

In joining the 29th, William was joining a more junior regiment than the 21st, but one which also had a long and distinguished history.  Founded in 1694 as Colonel Farrington's regiment, the unit had become the 29th in 1751 when numbers were assigned in place of names based upon date of creation.  Subsequently in 1782, regiments became associated with English counties and the 29th was assigned to Worcestershire.

Another view of Kasauli 

At the time of its designation as the 29th, the regiment was beginning a 60 plus year tour of duty in North America.  In 1770, the 29th was on duty in Boston when some of its men fired on a mob of protesting colonists, killing three and wounding others.  Known to history as the Boston Massacre, the men were defended in court by none other than John Adams and were acquitted.  Back in Europe for the Napoleonic Wars, the 29th served in Spain during the Peninsula Campaign under Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington.  The regiment so distinguished itself at the battle of Talavera that Wellesley called it "the best regiment in the army."  Ordered to Belgium in June of 1815, the 29th arrived too late to see action at Waterloo.

Uniforms of the 29th in India, note the white cloth covering the back of the neck

By 1847, the Worcestershire Regiment had been in India for five years and had just seen action in the First Sikh War.  Whatever William Winder did or didn't know about his new regiment, he was most likely well aware his chances of seeing combat had increased significantly.  The 29th's theater of operations was the India's northwest frontier and the specific area of concern was the Punjab (land of five rivers) which borders on Afghanistan by way of the Himalayas.  The Punjab was home to the Sikhs, originally a religious grouping, but subsequently organized into a state by Ranjit Singh.  In addition to establishing a state, Singh created an army of 60,000 men, called the Khalsa which was renown as the "most powerful native force in India."

The strength of the Khalsa rested first on the men who served in it.  Sikhs were reportedly naturally brave and respected as tough fighters who were considered to be "almost British" (high praise indeed!).  Building on that foundation, Singh brought in Europeans to train his army in European tactics and methods while investing lavishly on artillery.  Sikh artillery was considered to be accurate and unrelenting with soldiers also armed with matchlock muskets and more importantly deadly short curved swords called tulwars.  By 1844, the Sikhs were considered the only real military rivals of the East India Company.

Some of the 29th's Regimental Songs

Ranjit Singh's death in 1839 resulted in dynastic struggles that went on for many years.  At the same time, the Khalsa had grown so powerful it was feared by those conspiring for the throne.  To make matters worse British military defeats in Afghanistan had created cracks in the myth of British military invincibility, encouraging those leaning towards military action.  A number of historians believe that Ranjit Singh's successors may have provoked war with the British in hopes that a British defeat would make the army less of a threat to its supposed domestic rulers.  In any event, the Khalsa invaded British territory in 1844 and were defeated in 60 days as the British won four bloody battles.

 Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the British chose not to take direct rule of the Punjab and, instead, tried to work out terms which would reduce the strength of the Khalsa and prevent or limit the chances of future conflicts.  Some of the British leadership, however, believed a second war was inevitable and they were correct.