12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)
abbreviation=


caption=
dates= 1849 - 1947
country=British India
allegiance=British Crown
branch= British Indian Army
type= Cavalry
role=
size=
command_structure=Indian Cavalry Corps
equipment=
Past Commanders=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
notable_commanders=General Sir Samuel James Browne VC GCB KCSI
General Sir Dighton MacNaghton Probyn VC, GCB, GCSI, GCVO, ISO
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_2=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
march=
mascot=
battles=Mutiny of 1857
Second Afghan War
Great War
Third Afghan War
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=Delhi-1857
Lucknow
Charasiah
Kabul-1879
Ahmad Khal
Afghanistan-1878-80
Kut-al-Amara-1917
Baghdad
Mesopotamia-1916-18
North West Frontier
India-1914-1915
East Africa-1917
Afghanistan-1919

The 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) can trace its origins to two regiments of the old Punjab Irregular Force, the 2nd and the 5th which, in 1903, had become the 22nd Cavalry (Frontier Force) and the 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force).cite web|title=defence journal|url=http://www.defencejournal.com/nov99/sam-browne.htm]

Formation

The orders for the formation of both regiments was given in 1849. Lieutenant Samuel J. Browne of the 36th Bengal Native Infantry was ordered to raise a regiment of Punjab cavalry in Lahore which would be titled the 2nd Punjab Irregular Cavalry.The 5th Punjab Irregular Cavalry was raised at Mooltan by Captain Robert Fitzpatrick of the 12th Bombay Native Infantry.

Mutiny of 1857

Both the 2nd and 5th were in action during the Indian Mutiny in 1857 and Captain Dighton Probyn was awarded the Victoria Cross the citation read;

"On many occasions during the period 1857-1858 in India, Captain Probyn performed gallant and daring acts. On one occasion, at the Battle of Agra, when his squadron charged the rebel infantry, he was sometimes separated from his men and surrounded by five or six Sepoys. He defended himself and, before his own men had joined him, had cut down two of his assailants."

Samual Browne,was now a major was also awarded a Victoria Cross his citation read;

"In an engagement with the rebels, Captain Browne, whilst advancing upon the enemy's position, pushed on with one orderly sowar upon a 9-pounder gun and attacked the gunners, preventing them from re-loading and attacking the infantry who were advancing to the attack. In the conflict which ensued, Captain Browne received two sword cuts, one on the left knee and one which severed his left arm at the shoulder, but not before he had cut down one of his assailants. The gun was eventually captured and the gunner killed."

It was the loss of his arm that caused Browne to invent the Sam Browne belt that is still being used in todays armies.The original belt is on display in the India Room at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

econd Afghan War

The Second Afghan War in 1878-80 the 2nd Punjab Cavalry was in the Kandahar Field Force, and was involved in the cavalry action at Ahmad Khel in April 1880.

The 5th Punjab Cavalry, was involved in a number of small actions notable were; In March 1860, 150 men under an Indian officer attacked a 3,000 strong lashkar of Mahsud Waziris at Tank, killing 300 and dispersing the others. In January 1867, an Indian officer with 27 sowars charged a body of 1,000 tribesmen, killed 150 and captured most of the rest.

In Afghanistan, the 5th Punjab Cavalry were present at the capture of Charasiah and Frederick Roberts the Commanding General ordered that they and the 9th Lancers should have the honour of escorting him into Kabul.At the attack on the Asmai Heights in December 1879, near Kabul, Captain William John Vousden made repeated charges with a small body of men of the 5th Punjab Cavalry, passing through the ranks of an overwhelming force again and again until the enemy fled. Vousden received a Victoria Cross and his ten surviving men the Indian Order of Merit.

20th Century

The Kitchener reorginisation of the Indian Army in 1903 saw the 5th become the 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) and the 2nd became the 22nd Cavalry (Frontier Force), which was changed a year later to the 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force).

World War I

It was 1916 before the 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) were sent overseas and attached to the Cavalry Division for operations in the Mesopotamia Campaign but they remained abroad for four years, returning to India only in 1920.

The 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) were sent to German East Africa in 1915 and joined in the pursuit of Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck to the Mozambique border before being withdrawn in the face of the depredations of the tsetse fly on cavalry operations.

They returned to India and were involved in the Third Afghan War.

Amalgamation

The post war amalgamations of the Indian Cavalry Corps resulted in the amalgamation of the 22nd and 25th saw the disappearance of Sam Browne's name: there first tile was to be, the 22/25th Cavalry but this was changed in 1922 to the 12th Cavalry (Frontier Force) and in 1927, they became Sam Browne's Cavalry (12th Frontier Force).The new regiment was destined not to fire a shot in anger.In line with a new training policy, Sam Browne's dropped out of the order-of-battle in 1937 when they were made the permanent training regiment of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Group stationed at Ferozepore.

Changes in Title

:Pre-1903 2nd Punjab Cavalry 5th Punjab Cavalry :1903 22nd Cavalry (Frontier Force) 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) :1904 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force):1921 22/25th Cavalry :1927 Sam Browne's Cavalry (12th Frontier Force)

Further Reading

:'Journal of the late General Sir Sam Browne VC, GCB, KCSI 1849-98':(Pub. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh, 1937)

References