The 5th Bengal European Cavalry, also known as the 5th Bengal European Light Cavalry, was a cavalry regiment under the British Indian Army which remained in service from the year 1858 to 1859. The army unit was a part of the Bengal Army, which was the armed forces of Bengal Presidency and was amongst the 3 main Presidency Armies in British India. The British Presidency Armies belonged to the British East India Company until the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. In the year 1903, the 3 separate presidency armies were united to form the combined British Indian Army.
History of 5th Bengal European Cavalry
The regiment of 5th Bengal European Light Cavalry was raised by the British East India Company in Bengal in the year 1858. The regiment served during the Great Revolt of 1857- 1858. The Bengal European Light Cavalry Regiments were recruited in November 1857 in Britain in order to substitute the 8 regiments of Bengal Light Cavalry that revolted against the British in the Indian Rebellion. During the Great Revolt of 1857, Major Charles John Stanley Gough of 5th Bengal European Cavalry was honoured with the Victoria Cross.
The use of the term "European" in the title suggested that the army unit was commanded by British soldiers instead of Indian Sowars, who were the cavalry troops of the Presidency Armies. The 4 regiments of the Bengal European Light Cavalry Regiments were reassigned to the British Indian Army in the year 1861. Theses regiments were transferred as the 19th Hussars, 20th Hussars and 21st Hussars. The Government of India Act 1858, which was authorized after the Sepoy Mutiny in the year 1857, transferred the authority of the 3 Presidency Armies from the British East India Company to the British Empire in India. During the late 19th century, several of the regiments in the Bengal Army were disbanded due to their participation in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Subsequently the British Empire took control over the British East India Company and the three Presidency Armies, namely the Bengal Army, the Madras Army and the Bombay Army.
Dissolution of 5th Bengal European Cavalry
In the year 1859, the 5th Bengal European Cavalry regiment of the British East India Company was dissolved and was not reassigned to the British Indian Army. Later in the year 1903, the 3 Presidency Armies in British India were amalgamated in order to form the unified British Indian Army.
