Army in Java early 19th century

[runmerry]

Anybody any ideas where I could find out what the British Army, specifically the 78th & 59th Regiments of Foot, were doing in India & Java at the end of 18th beginning of the 19th centuries.

Regards

Jen

[StewL]

Hello Jen
I did a bit of research on both regiments.
The 78th Regiment of Foot was indeed in Java. They took part in the 1811 invasion.
59th Regiment of foot (Nottingham) also served in Java from 1811 to 1815
A google search will give you more details of both regiments.
They were there as part of the Napoleonic Campaign.

[Currie]

Hello Jen,

I couldn’t find a history for the 59th Regiment of Foot. There doesn’t appear to have been one published until 1906 but unfortunately not online.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=hP0 ... CDUQ6AEwAQ

There’s a 59th Regiment Wiki. There may also be newspaper references to the regiment to be found if you have a more specific period of interest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/59th_%282n ... nt_of_Foot

This is what regiments.org has to say about the 59th.
1803 England
1805 at sea
1806.01 Cape of Good Hope
1806 India
1810 Mauritius
1811 Java
1812 Java
1815 India
1817 Ceylon
1818 India
1818 Pindari war
1819 India
1826 Jat war
1826 India
1829 England


There’s nothing for the 78th in Google Books or Internet Archive but ElectricScotland has a transcription of a history. Click on 1796 – 1817 link for 1st Bn. Maybe there are clues about 59th regiment activities in this history. http://www.electricscotland.com/history ... /index.htm

(It’s probably from this book published 1887 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=iXr ... CDEQ6AEwAA )

This is what regiments.org has to say about the 78th.
1795.12 England
1796 Cape of Good Hope
1797.02 India: Calcutta
1803.02 Bombay
1803 Mahratta War
1803.05 India
1807.02 Goa
1811 Madras
1811.08 Java
1816.11 at sea (4 coys wrecked on Peparis Island for one month)
1816.11 India: Calcutta
1817.07 England

Both regiments had 2nd battalions for a few years about then but they didn’t go to that part of the world.

Hope that helps,
Alan

[runmerry]

Thank you very much Stewie & Alan I found both suggestions very helpful (wikipedia has a whole section on the invasion of Java)
The time line of the regiments was even more helpful as I managed to work out aproximately how much time QMS John Rose spent & where.

Unfortunately he is my dead end, brickwall,so I was trying to come at him from a new direction.

The puzzle is why did he change regiments in Java so that he stayed overseas for almost another six years. I have a copy of his Chelsea Pension document and all the information I have about his military service is gleaned from it.

Regards
Jen

[Currie]

Hello Jen,

I doubt this will be of any help but I’ll post it anyway.

“General Regulations and Orders for the Army”, 1811, p204.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=UoF ... C&pg=PA204

All the best,
Alan