The 1st Corps was known as Captain Skinner's Corps of Irregular Horse. Initially, the Pass could not be captured due to heavy artillery fire by the enemy.

James Skinner, being half Rajput, selected this colour keeping the Rajput traditions in mind. Lord Lake was so impressed by James gallantry & SH’s service to British against the Raja of Hathras that he presented his own sword to James & Rs.20000/- for sowars. The regiment performed so well while guarding the construction of the Ganges canal that Irrigation Department of United Province adopted yellow as the colour of their uniform as a mark of their respect. In Jan, 1800 in a battle of Unaira, Skinner was shot in the groin & considered dead was left in the battlefield where without food or water, he fought for his life for almost 24 hours, from early afternoon until the dawn next day. That’s how the finest cavalry regiment of the Indian Army born on 23rd Feb, 1803 at Hansi. document.cookie = "__adblocker=; expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT; path=/"; All the shots fired by the mutineers had hit James horse & he himself had a narrow escape. A commemorative postage stamp on the 175 th Anniversary of the 1 st Horse (Skinner’s Horse), an Indian Army cavalry regiment : Issued by India Issued on Nov 25, 1978 (function(src){var a=document.createElement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.async=true;a.src=src;var b=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];b.parentNode.insertBefore(a,b)})("//experience.tinypass.com/xbuilder/experience/load?aid=bYdYZQml5V"); From an apprentice to a carpenter to the founder of a cavalry regiment was what Col James Skinner to be when he was born to Scottish father and Rajput princess in 1778. But this income was later reduced to Rs. During the second Afghan War of 1879-1880, a sowar from 1st Regiment, Mazhir Ali Khan, saved life of Lord Roberts in the battle of KilaKazi. } He was allowed to keep a nucleus of the regiment & was given a grant of land & an income of Rs. The 1st Corps was known as Captain Skinner's Corps of Irregular Horse. Hercules wanted to educate her daughters but his wife, who had strong belief in Rajput traditions & culture, was against it. After the Hyderabad Police Action, the Stuart tanks were dropped and the Churchills were taken over once again. In 1823, the regiment was re-named 1st (Skinner’s) Local Horse. Skinner's Horse fought its next battle at Keren where it launched a series of attacks to clear the enemy from the area. On February 23, 1803 the first Indian cavalry regiment was raised at Hansi, Haryana and was called Skinner’s Horse. The defence of Gumboz post has been considered worthy of inclusion in the official list of battles and citations received during the war. The brigade received orders to mobilise on October 24, 1914. The Churchill tanks remained with the regiment till 1957. Lt Col AM Bradfoot, the then Commandant, put his men on a rigorous training schedule. The tank is a potent weapon platform. A great insight – “silladars” had heard of it but never knew the details.  The intervening time had been spent drawing mobilisation stores and collecting winter clothing from all over India. The views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Indian Defence Review. It was here, in October 1939, that the regiment bid farewell to its horses and embarked on its journey towards mechanisation. It was only the skill and devotion of the regiment fitters that kept these vehicles going. Known pre-1859 as 1st Irregular Cavalry and post-1859 as 1st (Duke of York's Own) Bengal Lancers, SKINNER, JAMES (1778-1841) Strength of the regiment kept on changing till 1825 when James had 3000 men under his command & surprisingly he was holding rank of a Major. In May 1940, the regiment was given 30 new Chevrolet trucks. SKINNER, THOMAS (1800?-1843) At present, T-72 M, T-72 M I and T-72 Ajay tanks constitute the armament of Skinner's Horse. Two oil paintings titled Skinner's Horse at Exercise, c 1840: This page was last edited on 9 October 2018, at 13:08. On December 3, the convoy reached Suez Canal and the next day was spent sailing up the Canal which was held by Indian troops. He did not like that job either because he wanted to become a soldier in HEIC’s army but he was denied commission as he was a country born. The regiment took part in the Hyderabad Police Action in 1948. After de Boigne’s retirement, Perron became commander of Scindia’s forces & had a body of 5000 native horsemen, called Perron’s Horse¹. The successes of Skinner's Horse in various campaigns motivated a large number of native horsemen to don the regimental colours. These had to be collected from Bombay. Now James was a Lt. Col. & had reached limit of his promotion prospects. Excellent peep into the History. The regiment was famous as ‘Yellow Boys’ because of the colour of their uniform.