Records of No. 3 Mountain Battery, R.A.

The 3rd Mountain Battery began life in 1759 as 'Captain T.Smith's Company, 3rd Battalion Royal Artillery'. The opening pages of the narrative describe the dress, equipment and establishment noting that 'every man had his hair combed back, tied in a club three-quarters of a yard long with a broad black ribbon and well powdered with white.' After a few designation changes, described in the narrative, the unit's title became No 3 Mountain Battery in 1889, the oldest mountain battery in the Royal Artillery by virtue of being the first to be equipped as one. This record goes from 1759 to 1908 and during that time the battery certainly saw plenty of action from the American War of Independence to Corunna to the Crimea and then, for thirty years (1878-1908) in India/Burma, in India mainly on the NW Frontier: Kabul, relief of Kandahar, Zhob Valley Field Force, Burma, Sikkim, Miranzai, Isazai, Chitral, Mohmand, Tirah. The last twenty pages contain the names of all the officers who served with the battery during the 150 years covered in the book, when they served and the expeditions or campaigns they were in with any medals.