26th Madras Native Infantry

The 26th Madras Native Infantry regiment was one of the most prominent infantry units of the erstwhile British Indian Army. The battalion was raised in the year 1794 under the British East India Company and remained in active service until 1922. It was a division of the Madras Native Infantry, which was a part of the Madras Army, before the start of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The armed military forces of Madras Presidency were among of the 3 chief Presidency Armies in British India. The Madras Presidency Army was raised with the objective of protecting the commercial interests of the Honourable British East India Company. The military regiment was also incorporated as a part of the Madras Command. The Army of the British Presidencies functioned under the British East India Company until the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The Government of India Act 1858, authorized after the occurrence of the rebellion in the year 1857, relocated the control of the 3 Presidency Armies to the British Empire in India from the British East India Company.

Finally in the year 1903, the 3 separate British Indian Presidency Armies, namely the Madras Army, the Bengal Army and the Bombay Army, were amalgamated in order to form the United British Indian Army. The 26th Madras Native Infantry was also named as the 86th Carnatic Infantry regiment.

History of 26th Madras Native Infantry
The 26th Madras Native Infantry was formed in the year 1794 as the 34th Madras Battalion by the Honourable British East India Company. The battalion took part in the Battle of Nagpore (Nagpur) during the Fourth Anglo Mysore War. The army unit later fought in the Battle of Kemendine in the First Burmese War. In the year 1885, the 86th Carnatic Infantry was again stationed in Burma during the Second Burmese War. The infantry regiment became a part of the 9th (Secunderabad) Division during the First World War. The unit was posted in British India and performed duties of training internal security.

Dissolution of 26th Madras Native Infantry
Following World War I, the British Government of India finally restructured and regrouped the entire British army in India. The separate single battalion infantry regiments were amalgamated together in order to form regiments of 4 to 6 battalions. Later in the year 1922, the 26th Madras Native Infantry was re-designated as the 10th (Training) Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment. The newly created army unit was finally disbanded in the year 1922 for economic reasons.

Designations of 26th Madras Native Infantry
The 26th Madras Native Infantry Regiment of the British Indian Army held various titles through out its existence during the restructuring of the army, like most of the other military units. These are mentioned as follows -
* 34th Madras Battalion in 1794
* 36th Madras Native Infantry in 1794
* 2nd Battalion, 13th Madras Native Infantry in 1798
* 26th Madras Native Infantry in 1824
* 26th Madras Infantry in 1885
* 86th Carnatic Infantry in 1903
* 10th (Training) Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment