James Skinner (soldier)

James Skinner CB (1778 – December 4, 1841) was an Anglo-Indian military adventurer in India.

Skinner was born in India, son of Lieutenant-Colonel Hercules Skinner and a Rajput lady. Because of his Indian heritage, Skinner was unable to serve as an officer in the East India Company army and, at the age of eighteen, he entered the Mahratta army under Benoît de Boigne, where he soon showed military talent. He remained in the same service under Pierre Cuillier-Perron until 1803, when, on the outbreak of the second Anglo-Maratha War, all Anglo-Indians were dismissed from Mahratta service.cite book | last = Dalrymple | first = William | title = City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi | year = 1993 | publisher = HarperCollinsPublishers | isbn = 000215725X]

Skinner joined Lord Lake, and raised a regiment of irregular cavalry called "Skinner's Horse" or the "Yellow Boys," which became the most famous regiment of light cavalry in contemporary India. He was present at the siege of Bharatpur, and in 1818 was granted a "jagir" yielding Rs 20,000 a year, appointed lieutenant-colonel in the British service and made CB.

He had an intimate knowledge of the characters of the people of India, and his advice was highly valued by successive governor-generals and commanders-in-chief. Additionally, Skinner wrote a volume of memoirs of his military expeditions, first translated from the original Persian by James Fraser. Skinner died at Hansi on December 4, 1841, and was buried in a church at Delhi which is named after him. He commissioned paintings in the Company style on a large scale.

References

*J Baillie Fraser, "Military Memoir of Lieut.-Colonel James Skinner" (1851).