ARTILLERY SERVICE UNEER “JOHN COME ANYA 
9 
1788 . 
company was limited, and the order remained so nominally for many 
years, although as a matter of fact none wishing for instruction were 
ever refused. 
On the 4 th of September 1788 , a G.O. was issued which 
directed that the companies of Artillery were to receive 
permanent numbers. Colonel Pearse therefore examined all the re¬ 
cords of the Corps as far back as 1770 , and ascertained the exact 
seniority of each. Hitherto the companies had been numbered ac¬ 
cording to the seniority of their Captains, or the order for field duty, 
which led to frequent and inconvenient changes, for instance, on the 
promotion of a captain to a majority, his company would be given to 
the captain just promoted, and the company would be moved from 
the first to the last in the battalion. 
1789 This y ear regiment sustained a loss which was well 
nigh irreparable. On the night of the 9 th of March 1789 , 
a fire broke out in the arsenal at Fort William, and the workshops 
with a quantity of stores were consumed. Colonel Pearse was present, 
but his health was not good (it appears he was undergoing a course 
of mercury, in those days considered a specific for many diseases), 
and the exposure to the night air, and the exertions he underwent, 
probably accelerated his end. More than twenty years of unceasing 
exertion and much anxiety, had done their work on his constitution, and 
he died on 15 th June, at the early age of 47 , leaving a name which 
will always be loved and respected as long as the Regiment of which 
he was so justly proud, shall be remembered. He was buried in South 
Park Street Cemetery, Calcutta, and a handsome monument was 
raised to his memory at Dura Dum, by his brother officers. 
The command of the Artillery Brigade, now devolved on Lieutenant- 
Colonel George Deare, who had been hitherto commanding the 1 st 
battalion at Cawnpore. 
1790 1 ^ 90 , whilst some companies of Bengal Artillery were 
serving in Madras, a dispute arose as to the precedence of 
the Bengal Artillery when parading with the King’s Infantry. The 
matter was referred to Head-quarters for a decision and Major- 
General Meadows, Commander-in-Chief of Madras, ruled that “ His 
Majesty’s” cavalry takes precedence of the company’s cavalry, and 
(< His Majesty’s ” infantry of the company’s infantry, and “ His 
Majesty’s ” artillery of the company’s artillery, but the artillery takes 
precedence of the infantry, without considering the service to which 
they belong. “ This was followed up by a G.O. from Lord Cornwallis, 
dated, 1 st June 1790 , directing that Bengal troops were always to take 
the right of those belonging to either of the other Presidencies, but the 
latter were to have precedence each in their own Presidency, drawing 
lots on neutral ground.” 
In June 1793 , hostilities with France induced us to fit out 
an expedition against the French Settlement Pondichery, 
on the coast of Coromandel. The force consisted of the 
72 nd, 73 rd, 74 th, and the 3 rd European regiments of 
infantry, and five companies of Artillery. 
1793 . 
Siege of 
Pondich- 
ery. 
