army. Its normal strength was four infantry battalions and two regiments of cavalry, and although the Mahárájá at one time raised it to five battalions of infantry and three cavalry regiments, it was afterwards reduced, at Ventura's request, to its former numbers. In command of this force the general served in many campaigns with distinction, chiefly in the hills and around Pesháwar. The Mahárájá always treated him with confidence and respect, and further appointed him Kázi and governor of Lahore, which gave him the third position in Darbár. Colonel Court, a Frenchman, educated at the École Polytechnique of Paris, commanded two battalions of Gúrkhas. Colonel Gardner was an Irishman, of less education and character, but of considerable ability, employed in the artillery[1]. Colonel Van Cortlandt was another officer, of mixed parentage, who on the downfall of the Sikh monarchy entered the service of the British Government in a civil capacity, and also performed excellent military service during the Mutiny. General Avitabile was a Neapolitan by birth, who came to Lahore some years later than Ventura, after service in Persia. He was generally employed in administrative work, first in charge of the Rechna
- ↑ Colonel Gardner has been dead for many years. When I knew him he was a pensioner, very rarely sober, of the late Mahárájá of Kashmír. He allowed me to read his manuscript narrative of the later years of the Mahárájá, and the events which succeeded his death. These most interesting and valuable papers, which were entrusted to the late Mr. Frederick Cooper, C.B., have disappeared, and the loss from a historical point of view is considerable.
