This will be a brief evaluation of the military features of some of the foes faced by the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria. Her reign was, militarily speaking, a colorful era full of many 'small wars' in the colonies of Africa, India, southeast Asia, New Zealand, and elsewhere; some rather bizarre forms of violence also plagued Canada and Australia.



I've given two examples, the Indian Mutiny and the Fenian Raids - I would be curious to see what my fellow Historumites may contribute.





The Indian Mutiny, 1857 - 1858



Shortly after the conquest of Oudh, many of the 'native' regiments in the army of the East India Trading Company mutinied. The revolt was caused by several factors, including resentment of arrogant British officers, the missionary evangelicalism of the British, and (according to legend) the use of pig and cow grease in the newly-issued Enfield rifles. Despite its scale and at times its horror and carnage, the Mutiny was predominately limited to northern India, and it gained little support from the mainstream Indian population. It was largely surpressed within a year.



The mutineers came from both sepoy (infantry) and siwar (cavalry) regiments, as well as irregular units in British service. They included both Hindus and Muslims, but the latter were blamed for the worst atrocities of the Mutiny (for instance, the butchery of women and children at Kanpur). Initially they still wore their uniforms and used the same weapons and tactics as white soldiers, thus making early encounters resemble something of a civil war. Later in the Mutiny regimental cohesion broke down, the rebel groups looking more like robber gangs and adopting native dress and a mixture of Western and Indian weaponry.





The Fenian Raids, 1866-1870



Several raids by the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish nationalist group orginating in the United States in 1858, targeted western Canada. The result were several small-scale encounters between British regulars and Canadian militias, and the Fenians; most famously the 'Battle' of Eccles Hill in 1870 which did not result in a single Anglo-Canadian casuality. Apparently the Fenians were acting on a scheme to free Ireland by forcing Britain to the bargaining table.



Most of the participants in the Fenian raids were Irish-American veterans of the American Civil War (1861-1865), particularly of the Union Army. Some wore blue Northern uniforms while others wore civilian garb; most were armed with Enfield rifles and bayonets. They never fielded any cavalry, but did have one unspecified gun at Eccle' Hill, that was disabled by a double agent in their ranks.