Bengal Lancers

The Bengal Lancers are the British cavalry in India in which Scott Foster Lancer served. The novel names them through Scott’s military past: he rode with the regiment before returning from Calcutta with two medals for bravery and a limp in his right leg.

Identity and Reference

The text identifies the Bengal Lancers as the cavalry unit Scott joined while serving in India. It offers no account of the regiment’s organization or campaigns beyond this connection, so its place in the narrative is established through Scott’s service rather than through a separate history of the unit.

Scott Foster Lancer’s Service

Scott was raised by his mother’s wealthy Boston family, graduated from Harvard, and became an ex-military man. His service with the Bengal Lancers is presented as a distinguished part of his background. On leaving Calcutta and setting sail for home, he carried two medals awarded for bravery in the face of the enemy; he also returned with a limp in his right leg.

Narrative Significance

The Bengal Lancers connect Scott’s cultivated Boston upbringing to a life of military service abroad. The medals and lasting limp make that service legible through both distinction and physical consequence, while placing his return from India among the events that precede his reunion with his Lancer family.