Sabretache or pouch ornament, 10th Bengal Lancers, 1874-1901 (silveron and gilt)

Sabretache or pouch ornament, 10th Bengal Lancers, 1874-1901. Silveron and gilt badge in the form of the unit monogram ‘BL’ with an ‘X’ in the centre, surmounted by a crown. Hodson’s Horse was an irregular cavalry unit raised by Brevet Major William Hodson during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). The 10th Bengal Cavalry was one of three regiments formed from Hodson’s Horse. The 10th served in Abyssinia in 1871, and Afghanistan in 1878. In 1878 the unit became the 10th Bengal (The Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Lancers. During World War One the regiment were posted to Mesopotamia, serving there from 1916 until 1920. In 1921 the 10th were amalgamated with the 9th Bengal Lancers, forming the 4th Duke of Cambridge’s Own Hodson’s Horse in the following year. Post-independence, the 4th (Hodson’s) Horse retained it’s founder’s name, as part of India’s armoured force. From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.