Military career in India, 1819–1825
On 19 April 1819 Cautley was commissioned as a second lieutenant. His passage to India was assigned on Marquis of Wellington, an East India Company vessel laid down in 1811. Very likely, it is what Cautley boarded at the Downs on 23 May 1819. An older ship with the same name was wrecked in 1818. The ship's fare amounted to between £55 and £95, depending on whether the newly-commissioned cadets ate with third mates in their mess or at the officers' dining table. An additional £15 had to be paid to the ship's owners.
A £95 payment guaranteed only accommodations in steerage. Sharing a cabin with another cadet, considered the best choice for an ensign like Cautley, cost more. As a cadet's salary and allowances did not commence until he arrived in India, he required a £100 letter of credit for purchasing the regimental uniform in India. Travelling with a uniform purchased in England was discouraged as the sea air often tarnished the gold or silver trimmings.
In 1819 the journey to India proceeded around the Cape of Good Hope and took four to six months. It was several decades before a feasible route over land via Cairo became available, and several decades more before the Suez Canal was opened in 1869. Once a ship docked in Diamond Harbour, 90 miles below Calcutta at the mouth of the Hooghly River, the cadets had to hire boats to take them and their luggage upriver to Fort William.
A newly-arrived cadet was advised to present his credentials without delay to the fort-major, the officer next in rank to the commandant, to set the start date for his salary. He was given living accommodations in Fort William, and the head-servant of the barracks supplied furniture and advice on acquiring personal servants. Three or four weeks could be approved for acquiring uniforms and making arrangements to proceed to one's army unit in the interior of the country. Cautley reached Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 11 September 1819, and was inducted into military service.
The journey up country was often made in a budgerow, a single- or double-masted decked boat, fitted with ten or 12 oars, and room for two passengers and their luggage. The transit up the Ganges could take two to six months, the latter duration once recorded for a fleet of boats in 1833. The mortality rate among newly-commissioned cadets from departure from England to arrival at the army unit in India was 8%. The causes were deaths at sea, tropical diseases, or sudden squalls during the river journey.
Upon arrival at his regiment, the cadet was encouraged to hire household staff, whose combined monthly salaries, together with expenses in the regimental mess, could amount to Rupees 60 (a rupee being 2s 6d at par in 1820). However, two ensigns sharing a bungalow and household staff could manage each on Rupees 40. The requisite horse and groom cost an additional 16 rupees monthly per person. As an ensign's monthly salary and allowances totalled 200 rupees, he could live comfortably on half that amount. Still, money needed to be set aside strategically. If the need for sick leave arose, the Company paid for the journey home but not the return. Three-year furloughs were not granted until after the tenth year, and officers received only two and a half years' salary. The custom of purchasing "steps" among junior officers also made savings essential. To facilitate their collective advancement up the seniority ladder, they raised money for senior officers to induce them to retire.
During his first two years in India, Cautley was stationed in the Presidency of Fort William, or the Bengal presidency. He moved successively—according to army records—to Rajputana in 1821, Cawnpore in 1822, and Agra in 1823–1824. He spent his time in artillery duties, such as the reducing forts in the Oudh State.
Early in 1825, Cautley was sent to the Himalayan foothills to assist in the comprehensive overhaul of the Doab Canal, also known as the Eastern Jumna (now Yamuna) Canal. Except for a single reassignment to military duty later that year, he was to work in hydraulic engineering for the rest of his years in India.
The recall to his artillery regiment involved the Siege of Bharatpur in 1825–1826. This was the second time the Company's army had laid siege there. After taking the fort in 1808, it had placed the kingdom in the hands of a friendly Indian prince. His infant successor, however, was overthrown in March 1825 in apparent disregard of British authority. To remedy the state of affairs, Lord Combermere, Commander-in-Chief of the Army in India, marched to Bharatpur with 30,500 men. They laid siege to the fort between 9 December 1825 and 18 January 1826. Cautley's regiment suffered light casualties but took in substantial spoils. Cautley and other canal officers participated. Years later, he recounted how, after he had dozed off at his post—burdened by the long watch—a sudden silence, brought on by the ending of the cannonade, awakened him to the British victory.
