Family history story	Main index
by his great-great-nephew Liuet Peter H. W. Brind of the Dorset Regiment, who reports that it is in good condition and well cared for. "Frederic Brind married in 1837 Henrietta Sarah, a daughter of General Sir Robert Sale, the Commander of the 'Illustrious' garrison (Mainly his own regiment the 13th, Somerset, Light Infantry) of Jellalabad, who was subsequently killed at the battle of Moodkee. "James Brind who was born in 1808, was the sixth son and twelfth child of Walter II and Susannah, nee Sowley. He followed the lead of his brother Frederic and joined the Bengal Artillery in July 1827. His promotion was terribly slow, and it was 15 years before he became a Captain and nearly 27 before he was a major. Prior to the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny the only active service in which he took part, was the campaign against the Mohmands on the North West Frontier in 1854, when he commanded the artillery with Sir Sydney Cotton's Force. In June 1857 he was serving at Jullundur with the 1st Troop, 1st Brigade Bengal Horse Artillery (now 'F' Battery R.H.A.) and shortly afterwards he joined the relief Force marching to Delhi and the Punjab. His services during and subsequent to the Mutiny are well described in the following obituary notice which appeared in The Times on the 6th August 1888. "'We record with regret the death of Sir James Brind on the 3rd inst., after a short illness. General Brind entered the Royal (Bengal) Artillery in 1827 and was consequently 61 years in the service. Throughout this long period he evinced an earnestness of purpose, a devotion to duty, with a regard for the interest of all who served under him that gained for him the warm and undeviating respect of the Army. Conspicuously at the memorable siege of Delhi in 1857, where he commanded for a great part of the time the besieging batteries, he animated all under him by a noble example and an almost reckless exposure of himself to danger. It was indeed said of 'Brind of the Batteries' that he never slept. 'We talk of Victoria crosses,' wrote a distinguished officer to one of the historians of the Indian Mutiny, 'but Brind is a man who should be covered with them from head to foot.' 'On all occasions,' wrote another of the foremost of our Delhi heroes, 'the exertions of this noble officer was indefatigable. He was always to be found where his presence was most required; and the example he set to his officers and men was beyond praise. A finer soldier I never met'. It can easily be imagined that under a leader of this character men worked prodigies of valour, unshaken and undismayed by the trials and hardships of a protracted siege. In the earlier part of his career Sir James Brind was employed under Sir Sydney Cotton against the tribes on the North West Frontier and he took a leading part, after the siege of Delhis, in the active operations which took place in Oude and Rohilkund, and in the pursuit of the noted Feroze Shah towards Central India. Here his services again gained for him repeated mentions in despatches and the thanks of Government. The late General served for some years after this as Inspector-General of Artillery in India, and commanded a division of the Army in Bengal from 1873 to 1878, when he retired from active military life. He was created K.C.B. in 1869 and a G.C.B. in 1884. He leaves a widow and several children, some of whom, by a former marriage, are in the Army.' "Reference is made in the above extract to the fact that Sir James Brind held the appointment of Inspector-General of Artillery in India. It is a strange coincidence that some 70 years later his
Previous page	Next page