Dinapore, India
Dinapore was a British garrison town, not far from both Patna, one of India's largest cities, and the Himalaya mountains. Interestingly Hank Zinn passed through Patna on his way to Sookerting airbase even further to the east so this is at least one place where their paths more or less crossed, separated by about a century.
Map of India showing a number of the places where William Winder was stationed
Almost all of William's seven years with the 21st were spent in similar garrisons or permanent military stations called cantonments. Life in a cantonment was fairly easy duty and certainly better than similar assignments in England. Upon arrival at Dinapore, William was assigned to a company which shared a "long, wide and spacious" room, a far cry from the crowded, cramped barracks in England. Meals were still eaten in the room, but at least the food was cooked elsewhere and brought to the barracks by servants. The meal schedule was the same as in England, but the cost was less and, hopefully, the quality somewhat better.
British soldiers quarters in Kamptee, much more comfortable than in England
Unfortunately there was another part of the cantonment where Williams spent a fair amount of time, the hospital. The 21st was stationed at Dinapore for 1841 and most of 1842 and William spent parts of the second and fourth quarters of 1841 in the hospital. No information survives, but illness was a chronic threat and common experience for British soldiers in India. Fortunately William recovered and was back on duty by November of 1842 when the regiment received orders to move to Agra (west and slightly north), but the orders were changed en route, redirecting the 21st to Kamptee, just over 400 miles to the southwest. Since there were no railroads in India at the time, the only alternatives for moving large units were boat or foot. While the army probably used water travel as much as possible, on this move, William got his first, but far from final experience of marching through India.
The fort at Agra
Moving a regiment in India involved far more than the troops themselves. Reportedly for every soldier like William, there were five servants or non-combatants making for an "enormous cortege" of over 5000 people. William probably had done some marching in England, but nothing compared to this. Besides the massive numbers, the array of animals was far more exotic as elephants carried the tents for the men while camels carried everything from ammunition to hay for the horses.
Unlike their inflexible attitude on uniforms, army leadership took the local climate into consideration in planning marches. Except in the case of military necessity, there was no marching during the heat of the day. Instead marches began as early as midnight, usually reaching the day's destination before the sun got too high in the sky. In spite of these and other precautions, death on the march was not unknown. It took the 21st until February 6, 1843 to reach Kamptee which meant almost two months of living in tents, 25 men to a tent. Whether it was because of conditions on the march or other issues, William was back in the hospital around the time the 21st reached Kamptee.
Kamptee, India
Founded in 1821 as a British garrison town, Kamptee was to be the 21st's home for the next three years. In addition to his hospital stay on arrival, William logged additional hospital time on two other occasions in 1844. Illness serious enough to merit hospitalization is a recurring theme throughout William's time in India. After their sojourn in Kamptee, the 21st was ordered to Agra, it's original destination three years earlier. This time there must have been some urgency to the move as the regiment and its entourage reportedly covered the almost 500 miles in 34 days, a rate of 14.6 miles a day without a day of rest. This time William must have done well on the march since his first and only hospital stay in Agra occurred six months after the regiment's arrival in January of 1846.
Main Street in Agra about 1858
As noted in the last post, Agra, or more appropriately, Fort Agra will sound familiar to Sherlock Holmes fans from The Sign of Four, which features the great Agra treasure. Dating back to the 11th century, the fort is really a 94 acre walled city within sight of the Taj Mahal. Ironically on November 23, 1845 almost 100 years after William's arrival in Agra, Hank Zinn flew over the fort and the Taj Mahal en route to Karachi, the first stop on his way home. After only about a year, the regiment was on the move again, this time a relatively shorter journey to Cawnpore 173 miles east and slightly to the south. Cawnpore was a major British army installation with barracks which could accommodate 7000 men. About ten years later, during the Sepoy Mutiny, Cawnpore would be scene of major fighting.
Photograph of the Taj Mahal taken by Hank Zinn on 11/23/1945 from the co-pilot's seat
The regiment's stay in Cawnpore was even shorter as after only about 9-10 months, they began the over 600 mile journey southeast to Calcutta for the long return voyage to England. All told almost 400 members of the 21st including William, opted not to board the troopship, but to instead join another regiment. This was reportedly a common practice, one encouraged by the authorities. William and 64 of his comrades joined the 29th regiment which meant a journey to Kasauli, the 29th's base in northwestern India.
Cawnpore in 1810
Why did William choose to stay in India? All answers are speculative, but it may simply be a matter of military life in India being better, or at least not worse, than life in England in any form. Although William had done a lot of marching and spent time in the hospital, his life as far as we can tell, hadn't been too difficult or dangerous. We also don't know how William chose the 29th or if he even had a choice. But during his time with his new regiment, William would see danger face-to-face as part of the final act in England's conquest of India.
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