1828/30 Born in Uskane, Borrisokane, Tipperary.
1850 Jan 12. Attests for the Indian Army at Newry. Born Uskane, Borrisokane, Tipperary. 5ft 10.5 inches. His Service Record on retirement shows that he had 20 years service in the British Army. He had 4 good conduct badges and had received the Indian Mutiny Medal.
1850 Madras Artillery, 4th battalion Horse Brigade. Served with this battalion from attesting 1850 Jan 13 until 1861 May 18.
Each Presidency Army had a mixture of Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery plus other supports - in the years which your ancestor served the "other" organisations would have been very piecemeal and mostly civilian I suspect. Madras was famous though for its excellent Indian Sappers and Miners armof the services.
Infantry was mostly Indian sepoy, British Officered. There were also
usually three solely European Infantry battalions.
Cavalry - similarly.
Artillery usually only European - for safety sake, in case of mutiny etc.,
but Madras did have Indian Artillery.
Artillery was broken up generally into three groupings:
Horse Artillery - ie offensive Artillery that accompanied Cavalry, a
mixture of 3lb and 6 lb guns initially.
Foot Artillery, that moved more slowly, usually heavier calibre usually six
or twelve pounders, possibly drawn by bullocks, with the men on foot.
Garrison Artillery, that was based inside forts and such works -
usually the heaviest calibre guns.
In 1850s Madras had 4 European and one Indian battalions of Foot Artillery, Madras also had 1 European and 1 Indian Brigade of Horse Artillery.
The Horse Artillery was comprised two Brigades, each of four Troops until 1830 when they were combined into a single Brigade of five Troops.
1857 May 10. Indian Mutiny breaks out
He received the Indian Mutiny Medal (1857-1858). The Madras Artillery was part of the Honourable East India Company and for this reason Piper's name is not included in British Army lists of recipients of the Indian Mutiny Medal. In 1861 the Madras Artillery was amalgamated with the Royal Artillery. During the mutiny, Lieutenant Hadow of the Madras Artillery led an expedition to the rebel strongholds Khinda, Kudopali and Kolabira (about 40 km north of Sambalpur) looking for mutineers, but no trace of the rebels could be found. At Jharghati a little further on, the rebels offered some resistance. The artillery of the British won the day. The rebels suffered some casualty and dispersed.
From the end of 1857, the British had begun to gain ground again. Lucknow was retaken in March 1858. On 8 July 1858, a peace treaty was signed and the war ended. The last rebels were defeated in Gwalior on 20 June 1858
1858 Dec 24. He was promoted Bombardier
1861 May 15 Volunteers for a transfer to British Army. Bombardier in Royal Artillery and continues in India until 1868 Aug 26
1868 Aug 27. Transferred to RHA depot
1869 Feb 9 Retires on pension. He has 2 years service added for good conduct.