The Military History of the Madras Engineers and Pioneers, From 1743 Up to the Present Time, Vol. 2 of 2 (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Military History of the Madras Engineers and Pioneers, From 1743 Up to the Present Time, Vol. 2 of 2 The portrait of General Sir James L. Caldwell, G.C.B., will, it is hoped, he considered a suitable frontispiece for this volume. Previous to giving a record of his services, it will prove of interest to state that, before Major-General Patrick Ross (who was the first Chief Engineer after the Corps had been formed on a purely military footing in 1770) was placed on the retired list, Caldwell had attained the rank of captain; and, further, that he lived for more than two years after the amalgamation of the Royal and Indian armies, having only died on the 28th June 1863, in his 94th year. He thus not only served under the founder of the Military Corps of Madras Engineers, but was its senior Colonel Commandant when it became a portion of the Royal Engineers, and its extinction as a separate body became a certainty and a mere question of time. The picture has been reproduced by the Direct-Photo Engraving process from an excellent crayon likeness of the General in the possession of Major General Sir Thomas Pears, K.C.B., who very kindly consented to lend it for that purpose. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.