RAWAL PINDI 
TO LUCKNOW, 
BY 
MAJOR J. A. COXHEAD, R.H.A. 
Long marches at home being of rare occurrence, the account of a march 
from Rawal Pindi to Lucknow may be of interest. To save space the 
account is given in a series of bald facts, without literary embelish- 
ment or attempt to make an amusing story. 
“ B " Battery, R.H.A., left Rawal Pindi on the 2nd November, 1896, Le ^|^ h 6f 
and, after staying at a practice camp near Umballa from the 5th to the 
23rd December, arrived at Lucknow on the 13th February, 1897. The 
number of actual marching days was 70, the length of the march 805 
miles, and an average day's march therefore 11^ miles; the longest 
march was 16J miles, and the shortest in a ferry train. This 
appears very short to English ideas, but it is necessitated by the large 
number of followers who have to go the whole way on foot. 
On leaving Pindi our numbers were 145 officers, non-commissioned strength, 
officers and men and 200 followers, public and private; 153 troop horses, 
and 15 officers' chargers and ponies. We left our 17 War Establishment 
horses at Pindi for “ K " Battery, who left their's at Lucknow for us, 
our mutual application to march with our own having been refused. 
I cannot say why, unless it was expected that the batteries would starve 
en route and something had better be saved out of the wreck. On 
marching in various casualties had changed these numbers to 156 
officers, non-commissioned officers and men and 195 followers; 151 
troop horses, and 14 officers' chargers and ponies. 
The transport at starting consisted of 85 camels and 14 bullocks, Transport, 
with 7 carts of Grovernment transport and 70 bullocks, with 31 carts of 
private transport, officers' messes and institutions having to provide 
their own transport. This remained about the same, being changed, 
however, several times as far as Ghaziabad, when we met “K" Battery, 
who were marching from Lucknow to Rawal Pindi on the 13th 
January, with whom we exchanged transport, getting for our 85 camels 
38 carts with 82 bullocks and 18 carts with 38 mules. The cart 
transport is the easier to manage, but the camels were very satisfactory 
on the whole. Occasionally trouble was caused , by getting camels 
only partially trained, and once a section was nearly driven over a 
precipice whilst crossing a pass through a wild brute getting loose and 
persistently charging it. The men were soon able to load them very 
quickly and the battery was able to march 45 minutes after the order 
to strike the tents, which were of the large pattern called E.P. 
9« VOL. XXIV. 
63 
