5th_Bengal_European_Cavalry
5th Bengal European Cavalry
Military unit
The 5th Bengal European Cavalry was a cavalry regiment of the East India Company, created in 1858 and disbanded in 1859.[1]
The regiment was raised in Bengal by the East India Company in 1858 as the 5th Bengal European Light Cavalry, for service in the Indian rebellion of 1857; the "European" in the name indicated that it was manned by white soldiers, not Indian sowars. During the Mutiny, a Major of the regiment, Charles John Stanley Gough, received the Victoria Cross.[2]