A Forgotten Hero: James Skinner - The Father of Modern Indian Cavalry 

@@virago41 Good afternoon, Sir. Many thanks for your message. I would have loved to contact the regiment but I couldn’t find any details online regarding the modern regiment - maybe we can keep in touch and next time we can meet. My email is redcoathistory at gmail dot com

James Skinner was no legend he betrayed Marathas at the seige of ramgarh and ran away read anarchy by William dalrymple

@@gautamsood22 William Dalrymple is not someone who can be relied on for an honest assessment.

@@douglasherron7534 he has given reference in his book you can check it out Fraser, Military Memoirs of Lt. Col. James Skinner C.B., vol. 1, p. 251.

​@@redcoathistory1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) is a regiment of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army , I believe the regiment you are looking for is 1 horse and coincidentally the colonel commandant of the regiment is Lt.Gen Dhiraj Seth the current general officer commanding southern command Indian Army

..and whats your source of this concocted history? godi media?

​@@kornalbabua2000 every fool these days start chanting godi media? What does this had anything to do with Modi? Read about the Army composing of Gupta Empire, Mauryan Empire, Wester Khatrapas, Eastern Shatrapas, Maghadi Army formations. They went from massive chariots use since vedic era to later on replacing chariots with Cavalries after the invasion of Huns.

@@greatkaafir7478 The difference was these units weren’t effective on the modern battlefield. Men like Skinner were able to combine the best from the west and India.

​@@kornalbabua2000:if you hate india so much your searching reason for your hate, and you have modi to why you hate india

​@@PK-se2jh none of the Indian armies were ever a match for the British, so learning about them is a waste of time.

Thanks a lot - Glad you enjoyed it. Next week is the history of the British-Portuguese alliance!

Glad you enjoyed it, Martin. It was great to learn about him for this video. If you liked this you will certainly enjoy my videos on Alexander Gardner and Alexander Burnes…Please have a butchers through the older videos.

@@pushpendranegi4931 Thanks so much. I bet the bicentenary was amazing.

@@redcoathistory yes indeed , the chief of army staff is the guest for the occassion .

Thankyou very much, Sir. That feedback means a lot to me.

@@jcsdavidson That’s fantastic - thanks so much for sharing. He was a wonderful and inpsiring character. Would love to keep in touch. My email is redcoathistory at gmail dot com.

Wakefield.... I am related to this surname...

You can contact Army Cantonment (Cantt )Kamptee

@@satyasidhu1 Fantastic, thanks for sharing - are there any good sources on Skinners horse after partition?

@@redcoathistory My Dad is in Canada and he does visit the regiment atleast once a year. He was with the regiment a couple of months ago. You could speak to him and he could put you across to others as well.

@@redcoathistory ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dlkp5nurlAY.htmlsi=HYd1lUQgbmTZ4z7F

@@redcoathistory See the above video at 51:00 Skinners in 1985 Republic Day Parade led by Major HS Sidhu - My Dad.

Wow that is fantastic, many thnaks for sharing.

That's a great idea actually...thanks a lot. Any good sources you know of?

Many thanks. Im glad to speak with a fellow lover of history.

Thanks, will do! - appreciate you watching. Which other characters would you like me to look at?

I’ve just read it also! Great book.

BS

First statement- not really, it is mixed. Second statement- Yes indeed. Especially after the dismissal of Warren Hastings, there was a gradual change. Especially with the arrival of the defeated Cornwallis as the Viceroy and the trickling in of missionaries like Alexander Duff and others hardened attitude. Suddenly instead of mixing with Indians, attitude completely swung 180 degrees. Mixed families were frowned upon and Anglo Indians were isolated. However, as a compromise when the crown came to power, Anglo Indians got preference in the army and in the railways but their attitude and the attitude of English civil servants hardened towards India and Indians. The first war of Independence (or as you call mutiny) put an end to all fraternization. But the trend already started way earlier in fact actually may have exacerbated the outbreak of the initial mutiny. But we still had some great figures from British Society who cared for India and even contributed our independence movement and upliftment of the people in general. In Kolkata (then Calcutta), there was Sir David Hare, who founded the Hare school where he taught, fed and basically took care of the local children as his own children. He was mockingly called by the English as Mother Hare. But he remains the only one of two British individuals for whom the entire city came out to honour him during his funeral march. And the beauty was that his doctor was a student of his school, all the people who kept him company until his death were all his students. Including all his pallbearers. Today his school stills stands bearing his name and his statue. Sir William Jones, James Prinsep and Max Mueller did a lot to retrieve and revive historical texts with classical Sanskrit using Brahmi script and other notable contribution. Prinsep still has a monument in Kolkata dedicated to him. And then there are Annie Besant and Friar Andrews who contributed to the independence movement. Friar Andrew was beloved during his tenure as a professor in St Stephen's College. From the Army, the Duke of Wellington was well known for being one of the first serious individual to build up a sort of army from the ragtag militia that was East Indian Company army. The Madras Regimental Centre is located in a hill station still named after him. It is called Wellington. And it also houses Indian Army's premier staff officer college. And the father of modern day Indian Army was Field Marshal Philip Chetwode whose name is still borne by the Indian Military Academy which was established by him. His speech shortened became the famous Chetwode motto of the IMA. But they were still in minority. As the very initially empire loving Kipling found out that the English were hypocrites , more closed off, exploitative and more regressive than the English back home. The Anglo Indians, for most at least, were also trapped in a similar bubble.

Yeah, perhaps with the Indian origin British citizens. Doesn’t seem wrong to me, they are after all your citizens. Just hope you guys don’t have a beef with us Indians in India though 😂

Thanks Adam, it’s not something I know much about - any sources or websites you recommend I look up to learn more?

Thanks so much. Yes I will certainly consider both of those videos. Any good sources you recommend?.

@@redcoathistory ahh, that's where I fall down, I'm afraid. I first read about "Rake" Hodson and his unit in the Flashman novels, and the Guides were pretty legendary in the late 19th/ early 20th century, being written about, for example, in "Barclay Of The Guides" by Herbert Strang, typical of the sort of "Boys Own" literature I grew up on. Other than that, all I know is what you can find out by googling. You're way better at this sort of research than I am, which is one reason why I love your channel. I do know that he led a somewhat controversial life, including being court-martialed for misappropriating regimental funds! He's exactly the sort of nineteenth century adventurer I'd love to see you cover, though: I think you could probably get two or three videos out of him, and the Guides and their history. I'm very sorry I can't be more helpful.

Wow, you are very close to such a wonderful and historic area of Delhi. Thanks for your kind message…I would love to do more videos like this but sadly I am no longer in India. Maybe I will return one day. I do have some earlier videos though on my page where I visit the old Delhi magazine and talk about the fighting of 1857. You may find that interesting also.

I want to write an article on this topic Can you tell me from which book you got to know about the destruction of the church done by the east Indian Bengal regiment?​@@redcoathistory

Hi Jim, glad you liked it. I live in Joburg. Did you visit?

Yes, that is defintely a conflict I'd like to research more.

Definitely

@@satan15151515 Thanks. Sadly It can’t be changed on YouTUbe without deleting the video but at least I’ll know for next time. Appreciate you taking the time to tell me.

Thank you very much Keith. Hope all is well with you mate.

@@redcoathistory yes, everything is great. I hope it's the same with you!

Thanks for listening

@@redcoathistory---Your welcome

@@catholicmilitantUSA Thanks mate - two great regiments to research. Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks a lot - any other characters you think I should cover?

Yes, Sir.

YES even Marathas were famous for their Light Cavalry so that they can travel far distant in less time because empires like Rajputs and Mughals then were more into Heavy Cavalry. Intrustingly Mughals too when started their campaign in india used Light Cavalry which was advantageous for them and during initial invasions of Islamic empire into India they used horse and we were using Elephant that have their own disadvantages too which they tapped and used to defeat Indian kings. And Skinner is just little part of our history and had actually not been used much like other were Cavalry were used at their time but it's just we to be more specific of defense forces are one carrying their legacies. All these labels are given by modern historians, but this doesn't make sense to me specially if it's something that is going on for centuries and is not the one who invented or discovered it.

​@@redcoathistory when we had cavalry for such long time why is this brit father of it ? Makes no sense.

Ancient indians had cavalry since the great ancestors the Aryans came here. At that time probably the indo Aryans were the strongest warriors. And I am talking about probably the end 15th century bce

Arya means noble not race aryan theory is false​@@ArnavSharma-bj4ct

Thanks for your nice comment. I am not aware of James Skinner visiting England, I will try and check the sources again and see if I can find a reference. With regard Skinners Horse, I think they were later renamed a few times including 1st Bengal Lancers (I think) and 1st Horse.

@@redcoathistory Thank you for the reply and the information

No, as far as I am aware, and I must admit my reading on this topic is not extensive, it was his younger brother who went to Scotland. His father felt that his sons should know and be familiar with Scotland. I do not think he ever saw his sons moving back and resetting in Scotland. But Robert found Scotland cold and a difficult country to settle down in and did return to India in the end. I think he did marry a Scottish girl but the marriage failed. He also found the place cold and unwelcoming.

@@nandamenon3518 Thank you sir, for the information

Thanks Richard - any other stories you’d like to see me share?

Wow that is interesting - I wander what the original link was. Thanks for sharing

Michael Skinner was also known as the Ramrod Skinner he was a cycle polo player and too good at writing and a lot of other things that were so common among the Anglo Indian community. Excellent at shooting and being a cavalier man good at riding horses.

Skinner used to have very big estate in Hansi. Which is granted to him for the successful siege of Bhartpur fort. Until Few years back some of relatives used to visit Hansi. Locals fondly Remember this place as Meam ka bagh .(orchid of foreign descendants )

@@vishalsarin2483 yes I to kn that and it was a zaghir of 995 villages. They are my dad's uncle's.

Thanks mate - yep, lots of people to look into. If you check my page though I've already done two studs - Alexander Garnder and also Alexander Burns. Fascianting characters.

Thanks mate - one of my favourite films to make.

@@redcoathistory I bet it was. Some of these characters sadly are being lost to history.. thanks for keeping them with us

Thanks Cam, Glad you enjoyed it mate

@@dipakgurung8602 Thankyou Bhai.

Nice - can it be visited?

@@redcoathistory yes, certainly cooridnates: 30.44422102439848, 78.08340041837731

Thanks a lot.

Thanks a lot. Lots of regimental films in the pipeline - coming soon is one on the last county regiment in the British army...

@@redcoathistory I will be looking forward to that! Keep up the amazing work! Huzzah!

Thankyou, Sir. Any other great characters or subjects you'd like me to cover?

@redcoathistory Ah, I don't have any suggestions at the moment. I stumbled across your channel, and found the video to be quite incredible. It was my first video on your channel. Additionally, your Hindi and pronunciation were fine. Thank you for your reply.

Ha ha - great idea!

@@nicolasberesford4933 Hi. Marcus De la Poer Beresford has been on the show a number of times. Are you also related?

Many thanks. I think you have said it very well and I appreciate the understanding of my perspective. I have nothing but respect for India and its ancient history. I hope we keep in touch.

I have a problem with the term father of Indian cavalry, not with the achievements of an individual. it's like your father being your neighbour just because he raped your mom and had a second son who got his genetics . You can defend that but stop shitting on the internet and calling everyone else oversensitive.

Calm down gora sepoy dont get trigger on your angrezi shahibs behalf and dont gargle on gora shahib's piss. Holkar Calvary was also extremely effective against British.

@murali1974 First of all, I would ask you respectfully to tone down your disrespectful and sarcastic tone down a notch, that would be very appreciated. To the channel owner, I would humbly suggest you to work on your title, maybe saying "Father of Modern Indian Cavalry" would be more apt, since the title here suggests you lack the knowledge of already existing cavalry culture in India, and attracts unnecessary attention

@@MohitPJoshi while my comment is sarcastic there is nothing disrespectful. Skinner being the father of Indian Cavalry is not something Redcoat made up. Skinner is called that by most military historians including Indians. Any army that uses fast mounted animals has obviously always had a cavalry going back thousands of years. Redcoat clearly talks about how Skinner successfully fused modern European cavalry with Indian cavalry to forge a very effective fighting force. He is the only person with regiments from two different army’s named after him which speaks a lot to what he accomplished. During the First war of Independence in 1857 the sepoys did not touch his grave and made sure his wife was not harmed because of the tremendous respect they had for him . The video is about Skinner and his accomplishments there is no need for Redcoat to talk about ancient Indian battle tactics. My comment is directed at the attacks on Redcoat and on anyone complimenting the video. If you read the comments there are several attacking veterans of the Indian army for complimenting Skinner, as traitors and unworthy of being Indian. Amazing how some keyboard warriors feel entitled attack the patriotism of those who have truly served this country. Maybe you should humbly direct your moral outrage to these individuals instead of at me for pointing it out.

Thank you, SIr. I love to try and learn a little of the local language when I travel.

@@papapedro6980 Hi, many thanks for the comment. Yes, there are lots of early Imperial content…best thing to do is just to open my videos and scroll through to see what you like. Thanks and enjoy!

@@redcoathistory I see that now, haven’t had the time to do a deep dive into the channel just yet. Just been watching with the “popular” filter and noticed it was heavily focused on the Napoleonic and Victorian eras respectively. Love what you are doing here, you’ve got yourself another fan. Keep up the great work👍🏼

That’s brilliant- thanks a lot and welcome!

Hi. Many thanks. Yes, obviously he was a very complicated character but I'd like to do something for sure. Anyone else?

@redcoathistory In my opinion, Hodson was the man who actually or finally put the "jewel in the crown." Our area at that time was Hodson Horse. Yes, many legends and big names like John Nicholson, Henry Lawrence ( Lawrence Pur City named after him) , James Abbot (Abbottabad City named after him the city now famous for Osama Bin Ladin), Neville Chamberlain (the Chambelpur City named after him now Attock) list is long including Winston Churchilland in Malakand wars, these all were amazing British soldiers. After 1857, the British were at without ending war in the North Western Frontier Provenance region, while all the other parts of India remained relatively peaceful for British Raj .

You may also enjoy my siege of Delhi videos that talk about John Nicholson

@@stuarthastie6374 Hi - thanks for that. I think that was the Guides actually, though I may be wrong.

@@scottp9048 Thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed it. This was great to make. Any other units/people you’d like me to research?

⁠@@redcoathistoryhow about Harry “ breaker” Morant , always been fascinated by him since I saw the film as a lad !

Yes, it's a good story and one I'm keen to do evenually. Thanks

@@bhatiavinod294 He was also from India.

@@siddharthdarji5206 Thankyou Sir.

Thanks mate. Tried my best. Luckily I love India and trying to learn a bit of the language so that really helped.

@@redcoathistory sorry, even the english was strange, the local names only moderately butchered

Yes, a very interesting man. And his son was killed in the Peninsular war in Portugal.

Thanks - I don’t know much about them…any sources you recommend?

@@redcoathistory unfortunately, I’ve just read bits and pieces over the years and can’t think of a good source at the moment. I’ll keep thinking.

I know they appeared in several works of George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman stories, and he also made several references to serving alongside their armored descendants in Burma in "Quartered Safe Out Here". He also mentions Hobson's Horse in the Flashmans.

Thankyou, Sir.

Please share your sources for this statement.

Thanks a lot

Many thanks. I do try and be fair so I appreciate your comment. I think most people are reasonable - just a few people will always be mad at anything I say

@@Sabiqoon-w8y Thanks brother appreciate that. I’ve tried to pick up a few words.

Thank you!

That's a good idea...thanks a lot.

Nobody said they didn't.

Yes, it was certainly a fascinating time. Any other stories you'd like me to look into?

@@redcoathistory how about Alexander Gardner (“The Tartan Turban” is the book). An absolutely amazing character.

@@jon9021You are in luck! Please go through my videos and you will find a long video on Gardner and also one on Burns. Enjoy!

Don't be coy...lol...who are you thinking of?

@@redcoathistory Sir Thomas Picton

Thankyou very much. Any other subjects you'd like me to cover?

Ha ha any excuse for me to shove a bit of a Sharpe into a story!

@@imankhandaker6103 I don’t understand that comment.

​@@redcoathistoryYou do not know how men perished in the trenches of WW1? How bravery was punished in those with the courage to climb out of the trenches - & how cowardice was rewarded in those who sent them over? If you have managed to reach adulthood without learning this - then there is nothing to be done for you. Except prescribe compulsory viewing of season 4 of Blackadder - which might penetrate attention deficit disorder.

Erm, it still makes no sense. All the best, Sir.

@@redcoathistory Perhaps not to you. All the best.

Thanks for watching!

Thanks a lot. Yes, I would love to do more on the Sikh Empire. Hopefully one day. Any angles you think I should focus on?