Talk:Charles Reid (Indian Army officer)

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A fact from Charles Reid (Indian Army officer) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 17 July 2021 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that General Sir Charles Reid shot the celebrated, but probably not man-eating, Leeds Tiger?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2021/July. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Charles Reid (Indian Army officer).

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Article name

Looking at other examples of East India Company officers such as William Babington (East India Company officer), James Hartley (East India Company officer), and John Jacob (East India Company officer), I believe this article would be more appropriate if named Charles Reid (East India Company officer). I'm unwilling to make the change without at least consulting here first, however. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 20:17, 17 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Can you confirm that Reid's regiments and service record were all under the East India Company? Reid worked for the East India Company when very young - but do we have evidence that he remained with the company as an adult? I have looked at his regiments but I don't know enough to be able to work out which owed duty directly to Queen Victoria and which to the the EIC. Storye book (talk) 20:28, 17 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't gone in to considerable detail, but it does seem that his was a career of service in the EIC. Per his Extracts from Letters and Notes Written During the Siege of Delhi he was commanding the Sirmoor Battalion, according to its Wikipedia page "the first Gurkha unit in the service of the East India Company to see action", in 1857 and he describes his initial actions during the mutiny as going "to aid the Europeans at that station in suppressing the mutiny of the native troops". He describes his men as "my Goorkahs" in the same piece, further suggesting his close association to them. Unless anything else comes up I think it safe to say that Reid served throughout his career in the armies of the East India Company/Indian Army, with it being reported in 1873 that he was to take command of the Bengal Army. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 20:59, 17 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

That make sense, and I would agree with the name change myself. However, PamD is the main editor of the article at the moment. Pam? Storye book (talk) 08:34, 18 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Pickersgill-Cunliffe and Storye book: Thanks, that's the sort of help I was after when I posted at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Military_history#Charles_Reid_(general), as Military History is not my usual stamping ground! (Out of curiosity, P-C, was it that post which brought him to your attention?) I'll move him now. PamD 11:10, 18 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Indeed it was; always happy to help out with such things where I can! Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 12:16, 18 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

His high-ranking service was in the Indian Army, so it makes sense to use this as the disambiguator rather than the EIC. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:25, 22 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have updated all the mainspace links to the article that I could find. Storye book (talk) 15:57, 22 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]