'XIX 1st Battn 1868'

Photograph, India, 1868.

Group portrait of the 1st Battalion, 19th (1st Yorkshire North Riding) (Princess of Wales's Own) Regiment of Foot, at the time of the Black Mountain Expedition, 1868. Charles Archibald Mercer (1847-1923) is noted as being seated in the foreground to the right of the group.

According to the Hodson Index of Indian Army Officers, Colonel Charles Archibald Mercer (1847-1923) joined the British Army as an ensign, serving with the 19th (The 1st Yorkshire North Riding) Regiment of Foot and the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot. Mercer served on the North West Frontier of India with the 19th in the Black Mountain Expedition (1868). Mercer went on to serve with the 4th Gurkha Regiment, participating in the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880). He became a colonel in 1897.

From an album of photographs compiled by Colonel C A Mercer, 19th Regiment and 4th Regiment of Gurkha Infantry, India, 1868-1878.