In 1857 a 2nd Battalion for the East Kents was authorised as a result of the Indian Mutiny, and recruitment of 1,000 men took place in Limerick.

Martin Downes attested for the 3^rd East Kent Regiment of Foot in Limerick on 1 February 1858. In his discharge papers he is described as 5ft 7inches tall, fair complexion, brown eyes, and light brown hair. His Service Number was 1424. He would have had a moustache, after joining up if not before, because army regulations stated that 'No soldier is allowed to shave his upper lip'. But beards were not permitted. His pay would have been just over one shilling a day. This equated to much the same a an Irish labourer's pay, but was considerably less than that earned by labourers in England and Scotland. And after stoppages for messing, clothing, washing, hair cuts and barrack damages the private soldier would probably have been left with about 3 pence a day in his pocket.

At the time of Martin's enlistment the 1st Battalion The Buffs was stationed in Corfu, and  Martin does not appear to have remained in the 2nd Battalion for long. The 2nd Battalion is recorded as having been stationed in Malta from 1858 until 1862, but Martin's record shows that during that time he served with the 1st Battalion in India for 1 year 2 months, followed by a year in China where he was awarded the China Wars Medal for his presence at the capture of the Taku Forts on 21 August 1860.

Perhaps he travelled with the 2nd Battalion to Malta and was then sent on to Corfu to join the 1st Battalion. On 22 November 1858 852 men and officers of the 1st Battalion boarded HMS Perseverence at Corfu and sailed to Alexandria. Here they transferred by train to Suez to embark in the P & O steamer SS Hindoostan. The ship reached Calcutta on 29 December 1858.

The headquarters and 6 companies went on to Dum Dum while 4 companies remained in Fort William, Calcutta. Later, in September 1859, the whole of the 1st Battalion was gathered at Fort William in preparation for the move to China in order to enforce the Treaty of Tientsin.

The 1st Battalion The Buffs left India in 2 ships, Armenian on 12 October, arriving in Canton on 9 November, and HMS Adventure on 15 November, after an abortive sailing on 4 October, when the Adventure broke down. This second contingent arrived in Canton on 23 December 1859.

There followed several months of drilling, route marching and musketry practice while the combined British and French forces were assembled and while diplomatic efforts were made to resolve the dispute with the Chinese. This failed and on 1st June 1860 around 14,000 men embarked on 120 ships. Fog and rough weather delayed sailing, but they finally left on 8 June, arriving at Talien-wan Bay on 2 July.

The objective of force, the taking of the forts at Taku, was eventually achieved on 21 August, when The Buffs, together with the 8th Punjabis, were ordered in to the main fort, which they entered without opposition. 

After a period in Pekin the regiment was back in Hong Kong by the beginning of December, where they boarded the Tasmania, the Miles Barton and the Athleta, bound for England. The Miles Barton was wrecked without loss of life in the Cape of Good Hope area, while the crew on board the Athleta tried to desert the ship in Cape Town after receiving offers a higher pay from captains of other ships who were short of men. They were swiftly put under guard by The Buffs, who also volunteered to crew the ship in order that their voyage home should not be delayed. The Tasmania and the Athleta arrived in Portsmouth on 16 April 1861, where they were transferred by train to Dover. Those rescued from the Miles Barton arrived soon after in other ships.

In December 1861 the 1st Battalion moved to the Tower of London, some of them being quartered in the Wellington Barracks, by Buckingham Palace. A year later, in early 1863, the regiment moved once again, to North Camp, Aldershot. They remained there until July 1864, when they moved to Sheffield. Martin Downes did not go with them, as he had transferred to the recently formed Army Hospital Corps on 30 June 1864, after 6 years 150 days service with the 3^rd Foot. The reason for this transfer is not known, but he had not long been married and his first child, Mary, was born in Aldershot in 1864.

 During this last period with The Buffs he was granted Good Conduct pay at the rate of 1 penny a day on 1 February 1861, which he forfeited on 20 April 1863. This was reinstated 10 May 1863. His name appears on the regimental defaulters list 3 times in his career.

The conditions in military barracks at this time was not good, with poor ventilation and sanitation. And for married soldiers there were no separate married quarters. Only 6% of soldiers could be given permission to marry, and their wives and children shared the barrack rooms, shielded only by a blanket used as a curtain. These wives were given half rations in return for performing domestic tasks in the barracks. The families of those men who chose to marry without permission were not officially recognised and had to fend for themselves in civilian lodgings. 

 An increase in Martin Downes's Good Conduct pay to the rate of 2 pence per day was awarded 1 February 1866. He remained with the AHC until 3 September 1867, when he re-transferred to and re-engaged in the 3^rd Foot on 3 September 1867, then again transferred to the AHC on 4 September 1867. His third child, Michael was born in 1867 in the Pembroke Registration District.

 Martin was promoted to 2^nd Corporal on 24 June 1868, and another daughter, Catherine, was born in 1869. In the 1871 census Catherine is shown as having been born in Penally, near Tenby, so this is presumably where Martin was stationed at that time and where Michael was also born. 

Martin's Good Conduct pay was increased to 3 pence a day on 2 June 1870, and by the time Margaret was born, in early 1871, the family had moved to the District Barracks, Chichester. The 1871 census describes Martin as an 'Orderly, Army Hospital Corps'.

 Yet another Good Conduct award brought Martin's extra pay to 4 pence a day on 10 May 1875, the year that Helena was born, in Pendennis Castle, Cornwall. John was born a year later, and Martin was awarded the Silver Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, with a gratuity of £1.0.0. in 1877. Alice was born in1878, also at Pendennis Castle.

 Martin's Good Conduct pay was increased to 1 shilling a day on 1 February 1879 and he  was discharged from the army on 15 April 1879, although the family are shown as being back in North Camp, Aldershot in 1881, where Juliana was born in 1882. Martin is described as a pensioner.

 His total service on retirement 15 April 1879 was 21 years and 74 days. His Chelsea Board number was 69043, and he was awarded a pension of 18 pence a day. This pension would have ceased on Martin's death 4 years later as there was at that time no pension provision for the dependents of soldiers unless they were killed in action or of a disease contracted while in the army.

Martin's discharge papers show his intended place of residence to be Truro, Cornwall, but this never happened.

Sources

Historical Record of  The Buffs, Volume 2. C.R.B. Knight. Medici Society 1935

The Victorian Army at Home. Alan Ramsey Skelley. McGill 1977

WO97/2154 Proceedings of a Regimental Board on the Discharge of 1424 2/Corporal Martin Downes

1st Battalion 3rd The Buffs Regt. List of Officers, NCOs and others entitled to a medal for Service in China

WO117/30 Claims to Pension Submitted to Chelsea Board