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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at|http : //books . google . com/| i'- HISTORICAL RECORDS OK THK 32nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry, printed at the "bremner" printin(; works, devon port ■ I • * 1 ' l^uCi t .' r ■■"■■■* ***■ Historical Eecoeds OF THE 32nd (CORNWALL) LIGHT INFANTRY, NOW THE DUKE OF CORNWALL'S LL, FROM THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT IN 1702 DOWN TO 1892. domfiitb anb (Bbiitb b^ O O Xi O XT 22 X< Gh. O. S -^^ I IT BJ -Sr , J^roM the Orderly Room Records aiid other sources. SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & Co., Limited, 32 Paternoster Row. A. H. SVVLSS, 111 & 112 Fore Street. 1893. .'bu tURING the time that I was connected with the 3;3nd Regiment I frequently heard it deplored that there were no printed Historical Records of the Regiment. As the generation of those who wore the old number. 32, is rapidly passing away, I felt that it could not longer be delayed, and undertook to do what I could to supply the deficiency. 1 feel sure the kindly indulgence which I have experienced so often in the past from my old brother officers will be extended to me on the present occasion, and that they will over- look any shortcomings and help to supply the omis- sions in some future edition. The idea has been to give an account of the regiment from the time it was raised in 1702 as Marines, and continue it year by year up to the time when it became the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and then, under its present title, up to the present time. The fact of the Records having been lost on three occasions has added much to the difficulty. 1 tender my very best thanks to my friend. Captain F. M. Lowe, Royal Artillery, for his kindness in making numerous researches to {ill up gaps in the Records. Captain Lowe has throughout taken a great interest in this history, from the fact of his grandfather, Major Ross- Lewi n, having served for so many years in the regiment, during perhaps almost the most interesting period of its existence, viz., the Peninsular war. To Mr. Milne, of Calverley House, near Leeds, I am also very much obliged for his interesting account of the various uniforms worn by the regiment, and for his kind assistance in the preparation of the difTerenl coloured plates, and for many useful hints which his long experience has suggested. To Mrs. Martin-Atkins, daughter of General John- son, I am much indebted for the loan of her father's portrait and his interesting diary. To Mr. T. Hyde- Drake I am specially grateful tor his efforts on my behalf, and many others, who, I hope, will allow me here to thank them for their assistance rendered. In conclusion, I need hardly say that the self- imposed task has been a labour of love. Twenty-one of the happiest years of my life were spent In the regiment, and although many of those who served with me are no longer here, yet it is pleasant to think that the sad duty of recording their names on the rolls of honour have fallen on an old comrade and friend. G. C. SWINEY. ind January, iSgj. { vii ) CONTENTS. VBAR PACB 1701 Introduction — First period 1 1702 Raising of the regiment 4 First roll of officers 32nd Regiment - - . . 5 Expedition against Cadiz 8 1703 As Marines, under Sir Cloudesley Shovel - - - 13 1704 Surprise of Gibraltar and its capture - - - - 16 Defence of Gibraltar 17 Death of Brigadier General Fox - . . . 18 1706 Attempt to storm the Round Tower - . . . 19 1706 Action near Balbastro 22 Operations against the West coast of France - - 22 1708 Siege of Denia 24 1710 Expedition against Isle of Cette 25 1713 32nd Regiment disbanded 26 1715 32nd Regiment reinstated 26 1716 32nd Regiment on the Irish Establishment - - 27 1734 Landed at Bristol 27 1738 Colonel T. Paget transferred to 22nd Foot - - 29 1743 Action near Dettingen 31 1744 Attempted invasion of England 32 1746 Campaign commenced — Fontenoy - . . . 33 1746 French repulsed on the Jaar 38 1747 Battle of Maestricht Plain 41 1756 War with France 46 1773 Death of General Francis Leighton - . - . 46 Extract from General Johnson's diary . - . 49 1796 St. Domingo — Siege of Burgos 51 1807 Copenhagen — Danish Fleet 56 1808 Spanish revolution 60 Battle of Roleia 61 Battle of Vimiera 63 1809 Battle of Corunna 68 Extracts from Captain Evclegh's diary - - - - 70 1810 Walcheren Expedition 77 Vlll iCONTtNTS. 1611 Peninsula — efTecCs on Regiment 1812 Siege of Rodrigo Battle of Salamanca .... Account of Thomas Palmer 1812 Siege of Burgos 1813 Death of General James Ogilvie Battle of the Pyrenees ... - Battle of Nivelle Battle of the Nive 1814 Battle of Orthes 1804 Formation of 2nd Battalion ■ Battle of Quatre Bras . . . . 1815 Battle of Waterloo .... 1816 Return of the Rcgimcm . . - - 1819 The Citadel Barracks at Corfu 1820 Garrison orders Extract from general order Major Sir J. F. Dillon . . . . 1829 Regiment inspected .... 1831 Celebration of the King's birthday 1838 Repmeni frozen in .... 1839 Regiment in New London . . . . 1847 Retirement of Major George Browne 1848 The Regiment in India . . . . Siege of Mooltan Battle of Goojerat 1852 Regiment at Peshawar - - - . The Indian Mutiny Horse Guards leiiers .... General Edmondstounc . . . . 1858 The Regiment at Cawiiporc - 1877 The Regiment at the Cape of Good Hope ■ 1881 Formation of Territorial Regiments 1882 Death of Major-General lla^sano 1883 Brevet Major Cochrane at Hong-Kong - 1885 Death of Lieutenant Homfray - Presentation uf New Colours Embarkation of battalion for Malta 1886 Colonel G. C. Swiney assumed command CONTKXTS IX YKAR PAGE 1887 Death of Lieutenant J. T. Bowles .... 235 Death of Lieutenant A. E. Bassano . . . - 236 Embarkation of battalion for India - - - . 236 1890 Memorial windows in Bodmin church ... - 237 1889 H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor, K.G. at Madras - - 240 1890 The Regiment ordered to Burmah - - - - 240 1891 The Wuncho expedition 241 The Manipur disaster 241 Major Disney-Roebuck gazetted as successor to Colonel J. G. B. Stopford 241 1892 Death of Lieutenants V'yvyan and Hill - - - 242 Death of Lieutenant H. J. G. Lambe - - - - 242 1882 Services 2nd Battalion Duke of Corn wall's L.I. - - 244 Engagements of El Magfar, Tel-el- Mahuta, and Massamch 244 Actions at Kassassin 244 1702-1881. Notes on the costume and equipments 245 APPENDIX. Battle of Chinhut 2«7 The Burmese bell at Bodmin 270 Roll of officers and men present at the engagement of Waterloo 276 Casualty return — battle of Salamanca 289 Notes on services of 32ndjn defence of Lucknow - - 290 Expenses of a Marine regiment in 1702 295 Establishment and rates of pay, 32nd Regiment, in 1762 - 295 Rolls of officers from Army Lists, etc. 299 Regimental march and Cornish motto 314 Victoria Cross roll 314 Biographies of colonels 315 Memoirs of officers 3,37 Services of the officers 343 List of warrant officers, D.C.L.I. 386 List of original subscribers (O ILLUSTRATIONS. The Photogravures are by the Typographic Etching Company. The Coloured Plates of Costumes are all from reliable sources, and every care has been taken to copy faithfully the work of the original artists. FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS. Artist. From Monument in Exeter Cathedral- - Private, 1742 Grenadier, 1751 Grenadier, 1768 Earl Ross, 1781 Officer, 1792- Officer, 1808 Private, 18U Photogra From an iph. ] Frontispiece. - Original in ^To face p. 30 \ British Museum, ^ David Morier. ' Copied from a MS.^ Work in the Prince Consort^s Library at Alders hot. After an Oil Painting. E. Dayes. From Contemporary Evidences. From Contemporary Evidences. I Captain Cassan, 1815. (Uniform i From an fully described on page 254.) y Oil Painting. \ Officer (Levde Dress), 1828 f 1 From Contemporary Evidefices. » fi i> }) }) »> )i » 44 4G 50 48 58 102 118 142 ILLUSTRATIONS. XI Captain Thomas Impctt Officer, 1840 Private, 1851 (Light Company) General Sir J. Inglis, K.C.B. Artist. J From an \ Engra^nng, From Contemporary Evidences. f From 1 -| Contemporary Y I Evidences. J I From a I Photograph by I Mayall. { From a Picture^ \ Colour-Sergeant, 1859 (Light J drawn for Infantry) . . . . | Her Majesty, by V Thomas, Memorial Windows in Bodmin \ From a \ Church ( Photograph, J To face p. 144 »> n >» ») M 148 156 174 214 238 ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT. Plan of Cadiz and Neighbourhood (ieneral Johnson Major Henry Ross-I^win Private Thomas Palmer - Major Wallett .... Major Sir J. F. Dillon Ceneral Edmondstoune Private Soldier's Button, 1795 . Officer's Gilt Button, 1815 - Officer's Breastplate, 1815 Officer's Shako-plate, 1816-24 Officer's Breastplate, 1817-28 - Officer's Breastplate, 1824-54 Officer's Shako-plate, 1830-45 - Officer's Shako-plate, 1845-55 page y i» 49 n 56 i> 88 >> 115 n 140 >i 206 n 250 >> 253 >> 254 »> 257 )i 257 >> 259 »j 259 i> 263 ( -^ii ) SUCCESSION OF COLONELS OF THE 32Nr) REGIMENT. Name. Date of Appoin tment Edward Fox . - - - 12th Feb., 1702 Jacob Borr - - - . 6th Dec, 1704 Charles Dubourgay - 28th June, 1723 Thomas Paget 28th July, 1732 Simon Descury 16th Dec, 1738 John Huske 25th Dec, 1740 Henry Skelton 27th Aug., 1743 William Douglas 29th May, 1746 Francis Leighton 1st Dec, 1747 Robert Robinson 11th June, 1773 William Amherst 18th Oct., 1775 Lord Ross - - - - 17th May, 1781 James Ogilvie - - - - 4th Sept, 1802 Alexander Campbell - 15th Feb., 1813 Sir S. V. Hinde, K.C.B. - 28th Feb., 1832 Sir R. Macfarlane, K.C.B - 26th Sept., 1837 Sir J. Buchan, K.C.B. - 12th June, 1843 Sir R. Armstrong, K.C.B. - 26th June, 1860 Sir W. Cotton, G.C.B., K.C.H. 17th April, 1854 Sir John Inglis, K.C.B. 5th May, 1860 Lord Melville, K.C.B. - 17th Oct., 1862 Sir G. Brown, G.C.B. - 1st April, 1863 William George Gold 28th Aug., 1865 Sir G. Bell, K.C.B. - - 2nd Feb., 1867 Lord F. Paulet, C.B. 3rd Aug., 1868 Sir W. Jones, K.C.B. - 2nd Jan., 1871 For Biography^ see page - 315 316 - 316 317 - 318 318 - 319 320 - 320 321 - 321 322 - 322 323 - 324 326 - 326 327 - 328 329 - 330 331 - 332 332 - 334 335 TH?: DUKE OK CORNWALL'S LIGHT INFANTRY. First Battalion, John Thomas Hill - - - 8th April, 1890 - Second Baitaliott. Charies Stuart - - - - August, 1881 (Colonel 46th Foot, 20th June, 1870.) 336 336 ( xiii ) SUCCESSION LIST OF LIEUTENANT-COLONELS COMMANDING THE 32nd REGIMENT, 1842 TO 188(), AND SINCE ITS FORMATION INTO TWO BATTALIONS IN 188L 1842-92. Name. FIRST H A T T A 1. 1 O N . Became Senior in BatiahoH. Frederick Markham 22nd July, 1842 Richard Tyrrell Robert Pattoun - - 5th Dec, 1843 Henry Vaughan Brooke 13th Sept., 1848 Sir John Eardley Wihnot Inglis ... 7th June, 1849 Charles Assheton Fitz-Hardinge Berkeley - - 13th Dec, 1850 James Dodington Carmichael ... - 26th Nov., 1857 Edward W. D. Lowe 20th Sept., 1858 Granville George Chetwynd Stapylton - - 25th Sept., 1860 Patrick Johnston 1st April, 1866 Hon. Bernard M. Ward 12th June, 1869 Hon. Ra>Tnond Harvey dc Montmorency - - 14th June, 1876 THK nUKK OK CORNWALL'S LIGHT INFANTRY. First Battalion. Hcnr>' Sparke Stabb 29th June, 1881 (ieorgc Clayton Swincy 29th June, 1886 John G. B. Stopford 1st July, 1887 Francis H. .\. Disney-Roebuck ... - 1st July, 1891 Second fnUtalion. William S. Richardson, C B. 1st July, 1881 Frank Grieve 26th July, 1885 William E. Roberts 31st July, 1889 SrccKssioN or Likptknant-Colonkls Commanding Third I Battalion sinck thk formation of the Rf.(;imi:nt IN Thrkk Battalions in 1881. Lord St. Levan 1st May, 1882 Edward St. Aulnn 16th Feb., 1884 Hon. G. C. Eliot • - ... 29th June, 1889 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE 32nd Eegiment, FIRST PERIOD. From date of Raising to Peace of Utrecht. INTRODUCTORY. »T will be necessary before proceeding with the History of the Thirty-Second Regiment, to give a short sketch of the state of Europe and the events which gradually led to the increase of our standing army ; for, up to the period when this history commences, viz. : — 1702, there was only a very small regular Army,* our standing force being the Navy, and all, or nearly all, the troops were raised as adjuncts of that service, and trained on board ship, to be landed as occasion demanded. Up to this period England can hardly be said to have had any position as a mercantile nation, and it was to push our trade that most of our wars from this period are to be traced. There was little sentiment/ but shrewd common sense was the guiding star of the nation, and led to most important results. The Continental warsf in which England was engaged after the deposition of James II. were rendered necessary to some extent by the tremendous power of France under Louis XIV. William III. * It was not until 1689 that it became necessary to pass a measure for the regulation of the army, i.e.y the first Mutiny Act. t Gibbon, Imius.'rial History of England, 6 3 HISTORtCAt. RECORns OF THK saw it was inevitabie for the interests of England that Louis XIV. (1643-1713) should be checked, and the war of the Spanish succes- sion, "fruitful in great actions and important results,"* 1702-13, was carried on with the object of preventing that king from joining the resources of Spain to those of his own kingdom. For, had he done so, two disaslrous results would have happened : the Sluarls would by his help have been restored lo the English throne, and the struggle against absolute monarchy and religious tyranny would have had to have been fought over again. Secondly, the growth of English commerce would have been cheeked, if not uiierly annihilated. On the death of William III,, his policy was adopted by his suc- cessor. Queen Anne, who entered into treaties of alliance with the Emperor of Germany, the Slates General of the United Provinces, and other princes and potentates, for preserving the liberty and balance of power in Europe, and for defeating the ambitious views of France. The naval and military forces of the country were not sufficiently strong lo stand the strain of a prolonged campaign, or indeed any campaign at all ; it therefore became necessary to raise men to meet any danger that might threaten the country. A regiment which had been originally raised for sea service during the reign of Charles II., under the title of the Admiral's Regiment, had been incorporaled in the 2nd Foot Guards (now Coldstream) by William III. Two Marine regiments which hnii 1 een raised for sea service about the same time, and had been disbanded in 1698, were again raised in 1703. On the commencement of hostilities in 1703 with France and Spain, both of which nations possessed powerful fleets, as well as numerous armies, the British parliament felt ihe expediency of enabling the Queen to increase the efficiency of her navy by forming corps of Marines, which could act at sea as well as on land.t Six regiments were accordingly added in the year 1702 to the regular army as marine corps, and six other of the regular regiments of * C«nnon, Historital Rieerds 0/311! KegimtHl. f Cannon, llisloriml Rtcttdt of Marine Corfs. 32nd regiment. 3 infantry were appointed for sea service. The six regiments of irines were* : — Colonel Thomas Saunderson's ■ • • afterwards 30th. „ George Villiers' • • • „ 31st. „ Edward Fox's • • • „ 32nd. „ Harry Mordaunt's ... • • • disbanded 1713. „ Henry Holt's • • • 1713. „ Viscount Shannon's ... • • • 1713. The six regiments of foot for sea service were :— Colonel Ventris Columbine's • • • afterwards 6th Foot. ,, Thomas Erie's .. ■ • • ,. 19th „ ,, Gustavus Hamilton's ... • • • „ 29th „ ,, Lord Lucas' • • • ,. 34th „ ,, . Earl of Donegal's • • • „ 35th „ ,, Lord Charlemont's • • 1 „ 36th „ Her Majesty's order for levying this body of men was contained in the following Royal Warrant, dated 1st June, 1702 : — "Our pleasure is, that this establishment of six regiments of " marines, and six other regiments for sea service, do commence and ** take place from the respective times of raising. " And our further pleasure is, that the order given by our dearest " brother the late king, deceased, and such orders as are, or shall be, ** given by us, touching the payt or entertainment of our said forces, " or any of them, or any charges thereunto belonging, shall be duly " complied with, and that no new charge be added to this establish- " ment without being communicated to our High Treasurer, or ** Commissioners of our Treasury for the time being, " Given at our court at S. James's, on the first day of June, in the " first year of our reign. " By Her Majesty's command. " GODOLPHIN." * At this period regiments were called after the names of their respective colonels. On the let July, 1751, a Royal Warrant was issued, on the recommend- ation of Boards of General Officers, numbering the infantry regiments of the British army in order of seniority, as it was found that calling them by the names of their colonels led to confusion. It will, however, make it clearer if the number to which each regiment mentioned succeeded is placed after the colonel's name. t For rale of pay see Appendix, HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE Rules and intitructions fur the better government of the Marine regiments were issued by authority of Her Majesty Queen Anne on 1st July, 1702. in which it was directed — "thai when on shote. " they were to be quartered in the vicinity of the dock-yards, in order •' to guard them from embezzlement, or from any attempt that might " be made on them by an enemy." Full instructions were also given as to their pay, subsistence, and clothing, which directed that the same deductions should be made for clothing as was usual in the land forces. Also ihjt one day's pay in every yeai be deducted from officers and soldiers for the hospital. When on board ship they were to have an equal proportion of provisions with the seamen, without any deductions from iheir pay, the soldiers receiving short allowance money like seamen. The Marine forces having been placed under the control of the Lord High Admiral by Her Majesty Queen Anne, His Royal Highness was pleased, in 1702, to nominate Colonel William Seymour, of the 4th Foot, to superintend the whole, with the rank of brigadiet-general, whose peculiar duties were to observe that the men were comfortably quartered, that the officers were attentive in their respective departments, and that the marine soldiers — when embarked on board of ship, weresupplied with proper sea-clothes etc. When actually afloat, the marines were under the command of the naval officers of the ship. 1702. EalBlng of tbe Begiment. On 13th March, 1702, a Royal Warrant was issued, authorising Colonel Edward Fox to raise a regiment of Marines, to consist of twelve companies, with two sergeants, three corporals, two drummers, and fifty-nine privates each ; one sergeant extra for grenadier company, besides officers. I venture to think that I am justified in recording the names as they appear in the- official list, although they appear again in the Appendix, from the fact that they are the founders of the regiment which has added so much to the lustre of the British army. 32nd regiment. LIST OF THE OFFICERS IN COLONEL EDWARD FOX'S REGIMENT OF MARINES,* dated loth March^ 1702 ; except the field officers' commissions that were signed by the late King the 12th of February before. Oaptaini: Col. Edwd. Fox Lt.-Col. p. Howard Major Jacob Borr Humph. Corey Fra. FoulA ROBT. Kempe Cha. Monger JNO. WiLDBORE RiCHD. OXENDEN jNO. GiGNOUX RiCHD. COBHAM Wm. Helmsley (Grenadiers) iBtLlentenanti: Capt.-Lt. Wm. Lee Jas. Stewart Cha. Bourgh Daniel Sinault Hen. Harris Tho. Browne J no. Bourgh RiCHD. MULLINS RicHD. Allison Barnaby Bowtell Adrian Van Alphen Rixton Darby SndLlentenanti: Tho. Skinner Hen. Brooks Peter Colbourne Tho. Pretty Isaac Duplex Isaac Drouart r. collingwood Edwd. Atkinson Fra. Gincks J no. Dowier Jas. Collyar Tho. Porter. staff Offlcen: Hen. Harris, Adjutant. Richd. Mullins, Quarter- Master. Tho. Heskith, Chaplain. Their arms were the same as those of other foot regiments. t ("olonel Fox appears to have obtained his recruits in Sussex and the adjacent counties ; the War Office Marching Books of 1702 direct the Corps to assemble at their respective quarters, preparatory to moving to Portsmouth, not later than the 11th April, 1702. From the same source, it appears that Fox's marines were at Arundel, Midhurst, Liphook, Halleck, Steyning, Terring, Godalming, and Guildford. * From the Home Office Series Military Entry Book^ vol. iv., p. 386, at the Public Record Office. t Cftnnon, Historical Records of Marine Corps y see 31st Foot. 6 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE On 13th May, 1703, the follgwing order was addressed to Colonel Edward Fox : " Anne R. "Oar will and pleasure is that, so soon as you shall have ■' received terns out of the stores of our ordnance, you shall cause our " said regiment to march from its present quarters, according to the " route hereunto annexed, to Portsmouth, whence they will pass over " to the Isle of Wight, and there encamp at such places as shall be " appointed by our trusty and well-beloved Anthony Morgan, Esq., " Lieutenant-Governor of our said Island. And that you follow all "such orders, in respect of your embarkation with the said regiment, "as you shall receive from our Right trusty and Right entirely well " beloved Couain and Counsellor, James, Dukcof Ormoud. And thai " the otScers take care that the soldiers behave civilly, and pay their " I,andlords. And all Magestrales, Justices of the Peace, Head- " boroughs, constables, and others— our officers— to be assisting to " this same by imprissing carriages, or in other ways as there may be "occasion, "Given under our hand, etc., etc., " By her Majesty's Command." The movement was preparatory to the despatch of the expedition against Cadiz, war having been declared against France and Sjiain on 4ih May, 1702, (old style) and had been originally planned by the late King William. The command had been entrusted to the Duke of Ormond, " a man of high character and considerable attainments, " but nature had by no means marked him out for a statesman or a " soldier,"* Extract from BovtR's Annals of Queen Aiuu, vol. i., p. 41). " 1703.— On the 2nd June, at night. Prince George of Denmark arriv'd "at Portsmouth, where he was receiv'd both by the Magesiratcs and the " Gnvemour of that Place, with all the Honour and Respect due lo his " Royal Birth, his Station, and the dear Conaort of her Majesty. The 32nd regiment. 7 "next day his Royal Highness went to the Isle of Wight, re view'd the " Forces encamp'd there, which he found in very good order, particularly " the new raised Regiments of the Lord Shannon and Colonel Fox, who " perform'd their exercises uncomparably well." The armament consisted of a powerful fleet of English and Dutch men-of war under Sir Admiral George Rooke, with seventeen thousand troops on board under Sir H. Bellasis and the Dutch General Sparre, and was composed as follows : — MEN. 275 766 834 834 834 Lloyd's Dragoons (now 3rd Hussars) Detachments 1st and 2nd Foot Guards Bellasis' Foot (afterwards 2nd Queen's) Churchill's Foot (afterwards 3rd Buffs) Seymour's Foot (afterwards 4th King's) Columbine's Sea Service Foot (afterwards 6th Royal Regt.) 724 O'Hara's Foot (afterwards 7th Fusiliers) three companies ... 313 Erie's Sea Service Foot (afterwards 19th Foot) 724 G. Hamilton's Sea Service Foot (afterwards 20th Foot) ... 724 Villiers Marines (afterwards 31st Foot) five companies ... 620 Fox's Marines (afterwards 32nd Foot) 834 Lord Donegal's Sea Service Foot (afterwards 36th Foot) ... 724 Lord Charleville's Sea Service Foot (afterwards 36th Foot) 724 Lord Shannon's Marines 834 Total 9663 Dutch Troops ... 3924 Grand Total ... 13677 The expeditionary fleet consisted of fifty sail of the line (thirty English, twenty Dutch) under Sir George Rooke. English fleet : Vice-Admiral Thomas Hopson and Rear-Admirals Fairborne and Graydon. Dutch fleet : Lieutenant-Admiral Van Allemond ; Vice- .\dmirals Callenburg, Vandei^os, and Pieterson, and Rear-Admiral Wassenaer. English land forces, about ten thousand men, commanded by the Duke of Ormond. Under him were Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Bellasis; Major Generals Sir Charles O'Hara and Lord Portmore; and Brigadier-Generals Seymour (commanding marines), Matthews (commanding the guards), and Gustavus Hamihon. Staff Officers : Adjutant-General, Major Joslin ; Quarter- Master, Colonel Sir Thomas HISTOHICAL RECORDS OK THE Smith ; Chief Engineer and Commandant of 'I'rain, Colonel Carles. Dutch: about four thousand men, under Major-General Baron Sparre and Brigadier-Genera! Pallant. The fleet and transports, numbering one hundred and sixty ships, sailed from Spilhead 12th July, 1702, (new slyle). From an extract of the orders given to Sir G. Rooke and the Duke of Ormond, they were told "to reduce and take ihe town and island of Cadiz, or if " this appeared for any reason impossible, Vigo, Ponte Vedra, " Corunna, or aily place belonging to Spain or France, as shall be "judged proper." The garrison of Cadiz at this time consisted of nine regiments of infantry, wiih about one thousand cavalry, besides militia for coast defence. The fortifications were fairly strong, and between the puntals w.is a chain boom, behind which were drawn up seven French men-of-war and eight galleys. On the Matagorda puntal was a fort of twelve guns, and on the opposite point a castle with thrice that aripainent. Along the shores were several batteries. The fortress was in good order and well supplied. The Governor of Cadiz was the Due dc Brancacio ; the Viceroy of Andalusia and " General of the Coasts " was the Marquis de Villadarias. On a^rd July, 1702, (new style) the fleet anchored in the Bay of Bulls Ormond strongly advocated an immediate landing in one of these bays, but he was resolutely opposed by Rooke, who was alarmed for the safety of his ships, and feared that if it came on to blow he would have had to leave the army without supplies. By some the delay was thought to be on account of the generals not agreeing as to the best place for landing ; every hour was of consequence, as it gave time to the Sp.iniards to strengthen their works, which they were not unwilling to avail themselves of. A decision was arrived at, however, by the 26th, and the troops com- menced 10 disembark between the promontory of Rota and Fort Santa Catalina. Two days' rations of bread, cheese, and beer were issued to every man. In rear of each regiment was an officer of artillery with twenty " chtvaux-de-frise" No drum was to be beaten and no colour uncased, save in the boat of the general commanding. I J 32nd regiment. 9 When a drum beat, then the lines of boats were to row ; when it ceased the men were to lie upon their oars. No soldier was to fire, ** under pain of death while in the boat, or to unshoulder his musket " when landed."* 26th July, 1702 (new style). Little resistance was offered to the troops landing, although some twenty men were drowned in the surf. The marines landed with the first troops, and on 27th July Rota surrendered without resistance, and the disembarkation continued. an/ i-u/ofli/ Rot t' of Mmru CADIZ 31st July (new style). The whole army had landed by this date and advanced on the town of Port St. Mary. It was found deserted by its inhabitants and was looted by the army and navy, in which plunder General Sir Henry Bellasis and other officers were not above participating, t The eventual failure of this expedition may be traced to this act, which gave great offence to the Spaniards of influence and brought ruin on Bellasis himself. Fort Santa Catalina surrendered on being summoned to do so on 2nd August. On the following day the troops encamped at Santa Vittoria on their march to Matagorda * Smyth, Historical Records of aoth Regiment, t Special instructions against marauding had been issued by Ormond previoua to the setting out of this expedition.— Pamell, Spanish War of Succession, 10 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE Fort, before which trenches were opened. The enemy sunk three merchant ships in the entrance of the harbour on 8th AugusL On the t3th the newly-constructed batteries and fleet opened fire on the Matargorda Fort, but after four days the siege had to be abandoned, owiny, it is said, to the marshy nature of the soil, and the troops retvirned to camp at Santa Vittoria, having lost sixty- five men killed or wounded. At a council of generals it was proposed to bombard Cadiz ot accept a r.insom of one hundred thousand pistoles, against which Prince George of Hesse- Darmstadt strongly protested. Although at first in favour of the bombardment, Rooke, with his admirals, now considered "in regard, the swell of the sea continues so as to retider " the bombardment of Cadiz ineffectual," they therefore abandoned ihe idea, and instead made preparations to re-embark the troops, and on the 33rd Ormond commenced the retreat to Rota, pursued by Villadarias. Colonel Fox commanded the rear guard and succeeded in repulsing the Spanish attack;* next day Fort Santa Catalina was, blown up; and the small army reached Rota in safety. From the 25th to 28th August was taken up in re-embarking the force ; Colonel Fox again, with his rear guard, protecting the embarkation, and eventually gained the boats with little or no loss. The following day the fleet sailed for England.f After having been some days at sea, a change was accidentally brought about, with fortunate results. Some of the ships having put into Lagos for water, learned by chance that Chateau-Renaud, the * The London Gatilte, Aid NovemUir, 1702, after desciibing ihe rear guard action in ihc rclrcal from Rola, goes on lo say t "By the cxiraoidinary good " cnndiicl of Gilonel Fox (32nd), who had the management of the whole disposition " made by Mis Grace, a better could nevei have been, coniiideriDg the "advantage the Spaniards had over him." + On Oclnber 5lh, 1703, in accordance with previous instructions, a st^uadron, un<Icr Commodore Walker, with four regiments on lioard, was despatched lo the West Indies, and it appears from a warrant to the Ordnance to issue stores, that each of the Marine regiments sent a company with this squadron. The warrant was dated find January, 170|. and, as Ear as Foi's regiment (33nd) was concerned, directed the issue of lifty stand of arms to replace those sent to the West Indies, and one hundred and forty tents, lost cither at the Bay of Bulls or 32nd regiment. 11 French admiral, with fifteen sail of the line and seventeen galleons loaded with treasure from the West Indies had reached Vigo. Captain Wishart, who was the senior officer present, immediately sailed, in the hopes of overtaking Rooke and his fleet, and on 17th October came up with them, with the result that the course of the fleet was at once changed, and steered for Vigo, and on 22nd October came to an anchor off the bay. Arrangements were made at once for landing a force under Ormond, with a view of taking the land batteries in flank ; the fleet was to advance up the harbour. The French admiral had defended it with a strong boom formed of chains, ships* yards, and topmasts bound together. On Ormond signalling that he had captured the battery, the leading ship, the Torhay^ Captain Andrew Leake, bearing Vice-Admiral Hopson's flag, steered straight for the boom and broke it, and cast anchor on the other side between the French vessels, followed by the remaining ships. After a short struggle, most of the galleons and booty to the value of one million pounds sterling fell into our hands. Ormond was desirous of attacking Vigo itself, but Admiral Rooke again put a veto on it, as " he could only spare five or six frigates and six weeks' or " two months* provisions, and that the frigates would scarcely be safe " except whilst cruising at sea." Ormond was therefore obliged to relinquish the idea and to re-embark. The news was received in England with extravagant joy, and Queen Anne, attended by the lords and commons, went in state to S. Paul's Cathedral, to return thanks for this success, and each of the regiments of infantry received the sum of ;^561 10s. prize money out of the two millions sterling, the reputed value of the booty.* Fox's marines, we have seen, took an important part during the late expedition, and from The Diary of an Officer of the Navy^ in the Radstock collection, United Service Institute, the following interesting extract occurs : — " On the 17th July, in the morning, a court-martial **was held on board us, on the account of one Lieutenant Harris— of " CoUonel Fox's regiment — for mutiny, &c., of which he was " found guilty, and received sentence accordingly." What the offence * Cannon, Historical Retords of ^tst RegimetU, 11 HI-TORICAL RECORDS OF THE was we are not told, but the trial apparently took place before the arrival of the expedition at Cadiz. We read further on that the Duke was magnanimous, as on '^ Thursday, I3ch August, 1702, His Grace's ** pardon was sent for Lieutenant Harris, who lay under sentence of *• death/' From the same authority, under date 16th September, 1702, orders were given overnight that the boats trom the deet should rendezvous a: Rota by break of day to take on board the remainder of the army, and that the youngest regiment should march drst, and the rearguard should be rommanded by Colonel Fox (32nd.) The retreat was effected with a loss of only five soldiers killed and as many wounded, and by the good conduct of Colonel Fox, who had the whole manage- ment of the dispositions made by His Grace the Duke of Ormond. Colonel Fox's regiment (32nd) was, on starting on the expedition, six hundred and fifty-eight strong, in the attack upon Vigo,* (?) 12ih October, 1702, and attached to first brigade. The troops under the Duke of Ormond subsequently returned to England, and on their arrival, in November, 1702, Fox's marines (32nd) were landed at Portsmouth, to march to Arundel, Horsham, Crickfield, &c., to remain, under a War Office order, dated 2nd November, 1702. A letter, some days later date, addressed to the Commissioners for the Sick and Wounded states that the detachments of Fox's marines at Midhurst and Chichester have been ordered to " be present and " assist in the removal and exchange of prisoners of war." The following su^)sequcnt orders, addressed to Colonel Fox, also appear under the dates sfjccified : — "3rd January', 1703. Her Majesty having ordered Colonel Holt's " and Sanderson's regiments, now at Portsmouth, to embark on board ** the fleet Ijound for Portugal, Colonel Gibson has thereupon been ** directed to send for the regiment under your command to march " into Portsmouth to do duty there. " 26th January, 1703. The companies of the regiment under your • It is prcsumr^l that thi* refers to the Ixilier)' which flanked the harlx>ur, as \igf) itself was not att<icked. 32nd regiment. 13 " orders at Chichester to march to Shoreham and Brighthelmstone. "30th January, 1703. His Royal Highness finding occasion to " send six companies of the regiment under your command, to be " put on board the fleet for Her Majesty's service at sea, which are " to march and embark at Portsmouth, according to such orders as **yuuwill receive on such behalf. The officers to provide proper ** bedding for their men to take on board." The number of companies was increased to seven. The remainder of the regiment removed, under command of Colonel Fox, from Horsham and the neighbourhood to Winchester. These were sub- sequently embarked on board the fleet. The regiment served on board the fleet in the Mediterranean, under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel, who was instructed to make every possible arrangement, by conciliation or conquest, among the dependencies of the French and Spanish monarchies, in order to ensure a cordial reception of the Archduke Charles of Austria, in opposition to Philip, Duke of Anjou,* of France, to the throne of Spain. 1704. Nothing very decisive having taken place up to the end of 1703, it was determined lo attack Spain at home, with the aid of the Portuguese, and an expedition was despatched from the Tagus, consisting of five thousand men, under Prince George,t with thirty- one English and nineteen Dutch men-of-war, besides numerous frigates and smaller vessels. Admiral Rooke was the naval chief, under him were Vice-Admiral Sir John Leake and Rear-Admirals Dilkes and Wishart, whilst Lieutenant-Admiral Callenberg, with two vice-admirals, commanded the Dutch fleet. The land force actually embarked only comprised one thousand nine hundred * Second son of Leopold I. of Germany, who claimed the throne of Spain in the right of his mother, Margaret Theresa, daughter of Philip IV. of Spain. t Prince George of Hesse Darmstadt was born at Darmstadt on 25th April, 1662. Second son of the seventeen children of Ludwig VI., Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, and of Klizaheth Dorothea, his wife, daughter of Krncst, Duke of Saxe-Goiha, u HISrOKlCAL RECORDS ( English and four hundred Dutch marines, with seventy Spanish foot soldiers. Brigadier- General Edward Fox, who had been in charge of the rear-guard during Ormond's retreat from the Mort.igorda commanded the marines. The English marines were drafted from the seven Marine regi- ments of the army, viz. : — Seymour's, or the Queen's (afterwards the 4th Foot), Sanderson's (afterwards the 30th), Luitrell's (lale Villier's, and afterwards the 3lsi), Fox's (afterwards the 32nd), Shannon's, Holt's, and Henry Mordaunl's. The three last corps were disbanded on the conclusion of the war.* On 21si May the fleet put into Alten Bay, on the coast of Valencia. Prince Henry of Hesse Darmstadt (a younger brother of Prince George) proposed that an attempt should be made on Barcelona, and on the 29th the fleet arrived there. One thousand six hundred marines were landed on the 30th, in the forenoon, without opposition, to the east of the fortress, and encamped. The commander, Velasio, was summoned to surrender ; he, however, rejected the summons, having learned from a deserter that the visit of identa! episodeof its voyage to Nizza.f the town, and early on itie morning to sail, Darmstadt re-embarked the any way by Velasio, and continued the fleet was no more than ar A few shells were thrown of 1st June, Rooke being a troops without being molested i his course to Nizza. Information was brought to the fieet when at Hiferes, that the French fleet, from Brest, was endeavouring to make Toulon, but Rooke deemed it wiser to await reinforcements from England, which were expected shortly, under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and in spite of instructions having been sent from home, urging him to attack Cadiz, in the absence of most of the Spanish soldiers who were fighting the Portuguese, he refused " unless a large force were despatched from " l-isbon to co-operate with him" — and ill spite of other despatches urging him to take action, he persistently refused, and let the French fleet slip. • Psnwll. SfianisA IVar of Stmettien, p. 46. t Vxnt^, Spanish War b/ fiutimiBn, 32nd regiment, 15 The Surprise of Gibraltar. Rooke received a fourth despatch, 28th July, urging him to attack Cadiz, but he was unmovable. Prince George then suggested that in place of Cadiz, Gibraltar should be attacked ; and, knowing that sooner or later he (Rooke) would be called to account for his want of enter- prise, agreed to cannonade the sea-front of that fortress. On 31st July the Allies, numbering fifty-nine sail of the line, anchored before Gibraltar. Five thousand men were landed* before the north front of the Rock for the purpose of cutting off supplies to the garrison. The garrison was completely surprised; it is said to have only consisted of one hundred and fifty regulars, and citizen soldiers and militia, numbering in all, according to the Spanish authorities, not more than five hundred men ; the arms were one hundred pieces of cannon, of heavy make for that day. The Old Mole and the New Mole were garrisoned by citizens and militia; the Landport Gate was guarded by a weak force of sixty invalids ; in the Castle, sixty-two soldiers of divers arms.f The first offensive step was taken by the Captain of the Dorsetshire^ of eighty guns, Captain Whittaker, who (says Sayer) was sent with boats to burn a French privateer of twelve guns which lay at the Old Mole. More serious demonstrations followed on the morning of 3rd August ; the fleet, after throwing a few shots into the fortress and receiving prompt replies, poured out its missiles with unflagging fierceness, and maintained the fire until long after noon. Six Dutch ships and sixteen English vessels fronted the line wall between the heads of the moles, three other ships took up positions on the rest of the others and the New Mole. The efforts of this great force soon told on the walls; the guns on the New Mole were rapidly silenced, and its garrison fled. Sir George Rooke's despatches state * The marines had no artillery, but took with them crowbars and hatchets to assault the Land|x)rt Gate, should the attack from the sea fail, t Ayala : Monte, Hist, d$ Gibraltar^ 16 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE that he ordered Captain Whiitaker to make an attack on thte mole in boats, but Captain Hicks intercepted ihe signal, and anticipated the orders it conveyed; with Captain Jumper of the Lennox, seventy guns, he pushed to the shore, losing forty men and two officers, owing to a mine having been sprung under them as they landed. Captain Whittaker was more fortunate, and succeeded in taking the , New Mole, repulsed the enemy, and assailed Jumper's bastion. The I effect of this attack was extended to the Line Wall ; this part, the fort 1 on the point of the Old Mole and that defence itself, was succes- f sively captured by Whittaker's party and the marines {33nd), who had j landed soon after the arrival of the fleet. It was difficult to say who fought the harder, but the odds were 1 against the brave defenders, and after a struggle of Ihree days they j capitulated,* and finally surrendered with the honours of war. Thus this famous fortress once more underwent a change of masters ; the Prince of Hesse- Darmstadt took possession in the name of Charles III. A garrison of eighteen' hundred English seamen and marines, amongst which was Fox's regiment {32nd), was placed in the fortress. The total loss of the Allies was three officers and fifty-eight men killed, eight officers and two hundred and fifty-two men wounded. There is not the slightest foundation for the story given out by nineteenth century writers — Lord Stanhope, Captain Sayer, &c.^of Rooke taking down the Spanish colours and hoisting the English standard, t On 21st August half the marines were taken on board the fleet— the French fleet having been sighted— and took pan in the un- decisive batlie of Malaga on the 23rd; total toss of Allies, killed or wounded, two thousand seven hundred and eighteen. On 30th August Rooke landed all his available marines at Gibraltar, sixty heavy guns, and three months' provisions for two thousand men and sailed for England. • aid Aueusl, 1704. f VMt\tL\\, Spaniih War ef Smitumi- 32nd regiment. 17 Prince George now commenced to repair the fortifications and erect fresh batteries. His garrison consisted of : — English Marines 1900 X^UL\»U ••• ••• ••• ■•• ••• ••• ••• 4a/\/ English Seamen ... ... ... ... ... ... 72 V^bvaIcUIS ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ivr Total 2442 The governor was Colonel Henry Nugent. The marines were commanded by Brigadier-General Fox (32nd) ; second in command, Lieutenant-Colonel Jacob Borr, of Fox's marines; Catalans and Volunteers under Prince Henry. "Gibraltar was taken from the Spaniards on 24th July, 1704, ** (old style). Sir G. Rooke was returning from an untoward cruise " in the Mediterranean when it accidentally occurred to him to attack "the town, which, with the usual improvidence of Spaniards, was " only garrisoned by one hundred and fifty men. George I. was pre- " vented from restoring it at the Peace of Utrecht, by the expression "of public feeling in England." So says Captain C. R. Scott, in his Sketches of the inhahiiants of the South of Spain, The old fortress was not long in the hands of its captors before a supreme attempt was made by the Spaniards to retake their beloved Rock. Eight thousand men, under the Marquis de Villadarias, were immediately detached from the Spanish army to retake the fortress. On 4th October the French admiral received orders to engage the British and Dutch fleets, and to co-operate in the operations. Sir John Leake and Admiral Vanderdussen were left at Lisbon to protect the coast of Portugal and relieve Gibraltar if it should be besieged, as was anticipated. The Marquis de Villadarias commenced the siege of Gibraltar on 22nd October, 1704, and the garrison — composed of marines — under the command of the Prince of Hesse, sustained a siege by twelve thousand men. The purpose of the enemy was to have stormed from the South Mole, united with the desperate attempt of a Spanish forlorn hope climbing the rock, and a general attack from the mainland. The C 18 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE fortress was maintained against very superior numbers^ and the fire of the enemy's batteries having damaged the works, a body of men were landed from the fleet to assist in the defence. Fire opened 27th October, and on 9th November, Colonel N'u;^ent, the governor, was mortally wounded^ and Brigadier-General Fox (32nd) was killed by a round shot.* On the 10th, Villadarias had intended to have delivered a grand night assault from different quarters and to scale the Rock on the precipitous %ide, where it was expected that the garrison would be more off their guard. Admiral Leake's arrival, however, prevented the I'Oat and beach assaults, but the plan of scaling the eastern side was nevertheless undertaken, and in the night an advance party of five hundred Spaniards, under Colonel de Figueroa, started for their destination. Ixd by a Gibraltar goat-herd, they proceeded along the dangerous eastern side of the Rock by an almost unknown track, and, gradually ascending its steep and rugged slope, reached the summit at a place called the Silleta. A little below the Silleta, on the western side, is a cave known as St. Mich«ners, and here — concealed from the view of the guard, Figueroa waited to be joined by the main body of the assaulters. But, through some misunderstanding, these never arrived, and at day- break the adventurous party were discovered by the garrison. The f*rince at once sent a detachment of five hundred marines, under Borr (32nd) to dislodge them. The grenadiers were led by Prince Hf-nry, who, whilst bravely ascending the hill under the fire of the Sjmniards, was wounded in the shoulder. Borr (32nd) charged them briskly, killed two hundred and took one hundred and ninety j^risoncrs, amongst whom was Figueroa and thirty-three other officers, the remainder escaping by the way they came. The garrison had only one thousand men fit for duty on 2nd December, and a great deal of discontent prevailed among them. Fortunately, reinforcements arrived on the 14th, just in time to prevent the outbreak of a mutiny, for everyone was getting disheartened ot the * Loftdofi Gazette t 4lh to 7lh Deccml)er, 1704. 32nd regiment. 19 heavy losses, and many of the officers had actually formed a mutinous conspiracy against the Prince, to oblige him to yield the fortress. The relieving troops numbered about one thousand nine hundred and seventy men. On the death of Nugent and Fox, Borr (32nd) succeeded to the command of the English troops. On 23rd December the Prince made a sortie on the enemy's advanced works, and destroyed them, and again on 1st January, 1705, he made a second sally, and managed to keep down the fire of the enemy. 1706. On 2nd February, 1705, the Spanish commander attempted to storm the Round Tower, but was unsuccessful ; nothing daunted, he again made the attempt. The Round Tower was defended by Colonel Borr* (32nd), who had succeeded to the command of Fox*s marines, with his battalion. The assailants, by throwing from above great stones and grenades on his men, at last obliged him to retire into that part of the works where the foot guards were posted. Flushed with success, they advanced too far, and were met by Colonel Moncallt and his battalion, who soon reinstated the former holders, and, uniting with the remainder of the garrison, drove the enemy out of the works. They made a precipitate retreat, losing seventy killed and over two hundred wounded ; one captain, four lieutenants, and forty men taken. The garrison casualties were twenty-seven killed and one hundred and twenty wounded. In a work entitled The Triumphs of Her Majestfs Army^ published in 1707, appears the following remark, anent the defence of Gibraltar : " Encouraged by the example of the Prince of Hesse, the garrison * With regard to Colonel Borr (32nd), it may l>e interesting to add an extract from Boyer, vol. III., p. 163 : — " Neither must we pass over in silence the extra- ** ordinary zeal of Colonel Borr, who on all occasions shewed himself ready to ** ease the Prince as much as possible, and to execute his orders with the utmost " activity and distinguished courage, to reward which Her Majesty l)estowed on * * him the re;;iment vacant by the death of Colonel Fox, of which Mr. Borr was ** before but Lieutenant- Colonel of Barr>'more's, after\*'ards 13th Foot.." t Hamilton's^ vol. I., p. 377i vol. II., p. 2, Is^'i :<t^r.'j9L-yjii. ^^jtsa^a .:?« rn: ■*■ ■'t.ri rtu>r* -Jt.'iii 'V^lit uttsiani-j 3e rtcegral. y^i? lie Ecipaft -rrarTitf^ ftskr-l it »a;i the eKrt&srucit ct ±e Fr::!:"-^?:,. iiusr cc ±e tfrafrrr vk «rj«n limine, aad che:r vcfarjiffl siiat zaT* beei irxerrw- crscc^ ±jie ^eruvirjtrt ^.I:r^ w^ch, ipa:4tr- :rie c-^.^g cc cc scypjoes by r-^iyrtif ar.<i we h<»5*»» (c/ dhe iiieije^en zsn'.rtd »i±. die reiniicoeaesia wtixh, 6>ft ^ a^«a£ v.ale, he coc^thc^ed zo ±esi. 4r/>>;^ t/j> varrant v^xesd^ aiud ended :n ±e ei^eles^'g szcrtfice of cskore f>af* iiro YiUzAztd lirt^ Aaxher aiuck, du5 rime b>]r the cocnbined M^uuA zrA TAuiiiA^ V3.I fr^inraied, so ur as tbe laner were cocscenied, ^j7 tfce v;r»d xhiftir.^ to the y>u:h, convertiGg :hi: pan of the Rock that la^ be^n aLp^Afinttd (or the naval assault into a See shore. Mc^knwhile Sir John I.eake surprised the French fleet under liau/n dt Point!, and captured three of their ships. Two were driven a%hore and burnt by the defenders. The French commander-in-chief raised the siege on ISth April, %ix month^i after the task was begun, under hopeful declarations, having Um ten thousand men. f^n 12th Jfuiy a grand conference was held at Lisbon, King (^Uarlcs and most of the leaders — who had been summoned to attend from fiibraltar — were present, when it was decided, on the rtr,ommcndation of JJarmstadt, that the conterence should formally cfjurnr in the ]}ro\)fj*icd exf^edition to Catalonia. The Earls of fialway* and Pttcrborought concurred, and it was formally agreed that I he fleet should ijUKccd to Barcelona. AIthou;^h denuding his own force, Galway now strengthened the expedition with his two regiments of Dragoons, and, in exchange for the recruit corps of Klliott and John Caulfield, he authorised the fleet to take on hoard at Gibraltar the whole of the seasoned English • (l\u>%f.t\ \ty Marl)K>rou(;h to succccfl the Duke of Schombcrg, to command Ihr VnrWiyuvsv \rtHi\f\. t ScWxirti, through |K>litical innucncc, to command the Catalonian expedition. 32nd regiment. 21 battalions at that garrison. Owing, however, to unavoidable delays, six weeks elapsed before the troops could leave Lisbon. On 24th July, King Charles and his court embarked on board the fleet — having joined the remainder of the fleet, under Sir Cloudesley Shovel — and arrived at Gibraltar on 3rd August. Next day King Charles landed in state, and was received by the inhabitants as their lawful sovereign. The recruits disembarked, whilst the guards, Barrymore's, Donegal's, Mountjoy's, and the English marines — eight battalions in all, numbering about three thousand two hundred men — joined the allied troops. The marines were commanded by Colonel Jacob Borr (32nd), who, it will be remembered, had been awarded the full colonelcy of Fox's regiment (32nd.) The expedition embarked again, and sailed on 5th August, arriving on the 22nd off" Barcelona. Two hundred grenadiers were landed at once, and the remainder followed ; there was no opposition made to their disembarkation. To assist the expeditionary force. Sir Cloudesley sent ashore from his ships' complements a force of one thousand one hundred and flfty marines, and next day the drasoons landed. Peterborough, who appears to have been very half-hearted on the advisability of attacking Barcelona, seems to have thrown every obstacle in the way of its being carried out ; but King Charles, who had accompanied the expedition at the express invitation of John Methuen,* (instructed by Godolphin) was determined that he would remain and aid his friends, the Catalans, who had risked so much for his sake. At a council of war it was eventually agreed that the attack should be made, and on 5th September Sir Cloudesley Shovel engaged to send ashore four thousand one hundred seamen, six hundred gunners, and flfty carpenters, in addition to one thousand one hundred and fifty marines already landed. But Peterborough again objected, and not until the 9th or 10th did he agree, and it was arranged that one of the outlying fortresses should be attacked first. Montjuic was agreed upon, and some severe fighting took place * British Minister in Spain. 22 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE when, on the 13th, ihe Allies were driven back, losing [heir gallant leader Darmstadt, who met his death as he was endeavouring to rally the troops. It was not until the 17ih, after having made a breach in the wall, that Fort Montjuic capitulated, which enabled the attack on Barcelona to be proceeded with ; and, partly owing to an insurrection within the fortress itself and a breach having been made of sufficient dimensions to justify an assault, on 4th October, Valasio agreed to negotiate, and it was arranged that on the lith the garrison should march out with the honours of war. Although Colonel Borr's regiment {33nd) took part in the above siege operations, he had, through some misunderstanding with a brother oflicer, with whom he had fought a duet, not himself been present. 1706-7. In the following December, some of Borr's marines (32nd) were sent to garrison the fortress of Lerida, and they were present at the decisive action near Balbastro, January, 1706, in which, after seven hours' hard fightiny, D'Asfeld, the French commander, was forced lo retire. This action is remarkable as being the only one of the campaign in which no Spaniards were engaged on either side. The Allies lost some one hundred and fifty killed and wounded ; the French, four hundred. About May, the marines returned to Barcelona, In June, Santa Crui submitted to Admiral Leake, and was garrisoned by six hundred marines under Major Hedges.* On 28lh September, Majorca surrendered, and Captain Lander, with one hundred marines, occupied the castle. During 1706, Marlborough and the English ministers had directed their attention to the idea of operating, by joint expedition, against ihe West Coast of France. A scheme in which the French Huguenots took part was approved, and an expedition was fitted out, the fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel, and the army commanded by Earl Rivers. The adjutani-general was Colonel Kempenfeldt, and the quartern! as ler-genefal Colonel Jacob Borr, of the marines * or \*illicr's Marines. 32nd regiment. 23 (32nd) Colonel Richards, chief engineer. The land force consisted of eleven squadrons of dragoons, sixteen battalions of foot, with a train of thirty-four heavy guns, six mortars, sixty cohorns, and six field-pieces. In all, eight thousand two hundred troops, besides artillery. The following was the composition of the troops : — Dragoons— Two squadrons of Carpenter's, afterwards 3rd Hussars. Two „ Essex, „ 4th Hussars. Four „ Guiscard's Huguenots. Three „ Slippenback's Dutch. Foot— Hill's (late Stanhope's.) Mordaunt's, afterwards 28th Foot. Farringdon's „ 29th Foot. Watkins'. Hotham's. Mark Kerr's. Macartney's. Two battalions Marines.* Nassau's German. Six Huguenot regiments. The expedition left England 12th October, 1706, and, after en- countering severe weather, finally reached Lisbon, remaining there two months, and then went on to Alicante, where it landed 8th February, 1707. From this time until 24th April the force was marching and counter-marching without having gained any very decisive victory, but on 24th April the Allies advanced from Villeria, encamping at Candete. At daybreak on the morning of the 25th, Galway began his march, in four columns, towards Almanza, eight miles off. Berwick had his powerful army awaiting the attack, and after fighting for two hours, owing to the Portuguese commander falling back at a critical moment, what might have been a great victory was turned into a crushing defeat. The regiments which principally suffered were the guards, the marines (32nd), Mordaunt's, Bowies', Nassau's Germans, Huguenot and Dutch. In this battle the Allies lost four thousand, killed or wounded ; the Dorr's (32Qd) believed to be one ; another, name not known. 21 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE English, however, lost none of their guns, and Berwick was una^ lo move for five days, owing to his losses. It is impossible to ascer- tain the losses in Borr's marines (32nd), but they must have been very heavy, if they in any way corresponded with those of other corps. The English officers slain comprised one brigadier-general, five colonels, seven lieutenant-colonels, two majors, thirty captains, torty- three subalterns ; or, eighty-eight in all. Two hundred and eighty-six officers were taken prisoners, of whom ninety-two were wounded There is a monument in Westminster Abbey to the memory of the officers. The victory, though a great one for the Bourbons, was by no means fatal to the Austrian cause, for, broadly speaking, its chief effect was merely to retreive the defeat received by Tess6 before Barcelona.* Major Humphrey Corey, of Borr's (32nd) marines, was taken prisoner at Almanza. In less than five months after the defeat of Almanza, with wonderful energy, and without assistance either from home or from Charles, Galway had raised another array of fourteen thousand six hundred fighting men, who were well equipped, supported hy a good train, provided with transport and ready to take the field ; and by the 29th October were ready to move, to endeavour to relieve Lerida, which was situated on the right bank of the Segre, and was a fortress of considerable importance. The governor was Prince Henry, the garrison only consisting of one thousand eight hundred regulars and eight hundred miguelets. There were three Enghsh regiments, con- sisting of the Royal Fusiliers, Well's regiment, and one battalion of marines, Borr's (3*Jnd), The Earl was too late, and the fortress, after making a brave defence, was compelled to capitulate, as all the pro- visions were expended, excepting bread and water. In November, 1703, the French Commander, D'Esfeld, determined to raise the siege of Denia. The garrison was composed of two hundred and twenty seven officers and men, fifteen gunners under a lieutenant, and two hundred marines from Borr's (32nd) and Other battalions, commanded by three captains and six subalterns. 32nd regiment. 25 After a good defence of seventeen days, the place was taken and the garrison made prisoners of war. About this period two of the marine regiments were drafted, and the officers and men were incorporated into the other four now em- ployed in Spain. This measure had become necessary in order to supply the casualties which had occurred, and to render these corps effective. For this purpose all the marines capable of duty were drawn from the fleet about to return home, in order to assist in the reduction of Minorca, which it was expected would make a spirited and tedious defence. The island, however, fell after a few days, and capitulated to a force consisting of only two thousand four hundred men. 1709-14. In the following year, 1709, the fleet having failed to relieve Alicante, it fell into the hands of the Bourbons. There were no marines there at the time, and the next year, 1710, an expedition was planned against the Isle of Cette, in the province of Languedoc. The troops and marines were landed on 13th July. The fort surren- dered and the town was delivered up without resistance. From this time until the close of the war and the signing of the Treaty of Peace of Utrecht, little is known of the marine corps. Among the reductions, 1713, they were included in the list of regi- ments to be disbanded, and there is little doubt that Colonel Borr's (32nd) regiment was disbanded in that year.* It was, however, rein- stated, in recognition of its good services, with two others (30th and 31st), on 25th March, 1715, the New Year's Day of the old style, and became the 32nd Regiment, incorporated with the regiments of infantry of the line, and authorized to take rank according to the date of their original formation in 1702. Under these * On the 9th November, 1713, instructions were issued for the disbanding of the Marine Regiments, and commissioners were appointed for making up their accounts and paying off the men. The instructions are lengthy, and will be found in vol. viii., p. 327, Military Entry Book^ Home Office Series, Public Record Office. However, from them it appears that each soldier was allowed to carry away his clothes, belt, and knapsack, and passes were granted to each man's home; but men were warned "not to "proceed thither in greater numbers than three together." H1ST0K1CAL RECORDS. circumstances, il may belhoughl the regiment is entitled to Gibraltar on their colours, as they look such an important part in the taking of it, and also in the first defence. There were additional reasons why the marines who had been disbanded should be again re-formed, and probably the real cause of their being re-formed so soon. The decease of Queen Anne look place on 1st August, 1714, anJ King George I , who was then at Hanover, was immediately pro- claimed as the Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland. The paniians of the Pretender, James Edward Stuart, son of the late king Janes 11., renewed their exertions on his behalf, and Jacobite principles had become so prevalent in certain parts of the kingdom, that it was necessary that the army, which had been con- siderably reduced after the Peace of Utrecht, should be again I augmented, and naturally the marines, who had so distinguished I themselves in the last war, were the first to be called up. B The 32nd was sent to Ireland, where it remained for some ■ years, and did not lake any part in the next war. The period was I by no means an idle one for the services, more especially for the I navy. There was another war with Spain, lasting four years, in the H course of which Gibraltar underwent another siege, being gallantly H defended by a small English garrison, and the Spanish fleet ex- I perienced a crushing defeat ofl" the coast of Sicily by a British fleet I under Admiral Matthews. I There were troubles in Scotland and Ireland, which gave employ- I ment to the troops on shore. I This closes the first period of the Records. We have followed H them now from the date of raising until the Peace of Utrecht. ^ [ 27 1 SECOND PERIOD. From Peace of Utrecht to Irish Rebellion. 1716-96. [&N 1716 Borr's regiment (32nd) was on the Irish establishment The regiment was employed on board ship, according to the original idea for which it was raised, but little seems to be known of its career. A weekly journal in 1723 briefly alludes to the death of Brigadier Burr (Borr) " colonel of a regiment on the Irish "establishment," and — later — "Brigadier Dubourgey,* colonel of a late "regiment broke in Ireland some years since, as the regiment of the " Brigadier Borr." Brigadier Dubourgey appears to have been made colonel of a regiment as a reward for his services in Spain, where he commanded the regiment, succeeding Borr; and afterwards on special service at the Court of Berlin, and in Hanover. Having died in 1732, he was succeeded by Colonel Thomas Paget, one of Marl- borough's soldiers. This officer was great-grandfather of the late Field Marshal the Marquis of Anglesey. In 1734, the regiment was brought over from Ireland. Landing at Bristol, it marched to Hertford, Hatfield, Ware, and Hoddesden. A War Office order of 30th April, 1734, for the regiment to march to the above-mentioned places, concludes as follows : — " But as writs " are issued for the electing of members of a new parliament, it is " His Majesty's further pleasure that you direct the adjutant and "quartermaster of your regiment to march along two days before " the first division thereof, to the end that if he finds that by the " route assigned they are to pass through a city or borough where " such an election for a member of parliament may happen, he may " in such cases return at once to the first division and halt the same " until two days after the election is over, and give notice to the 2nd " division not to join the 1st division, lest they be too crowded in their * Brigadier Dubourgey is described by Carlyle, in his History of Frederick the Greats as an old military gentleman of diplomatic merit, who spells rather ill ; was minister to the court of P'rederick the Great in 1727*30. He conducted several delicate treaties, and nipped in the bud the marriage of Frederic, Duke of Edinburgh, with Wilhelmina, daughter of Queen Sophi«. 29 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " quarters, and so be inconvenient to the inliabitanls where they halt." This was evidently done to avoid giving offence in parliament. Many of the members of thai body viewed the standing army, then in its comparative infancy, with great jealousy, and as a sort of menace lo Ihe liberties of the people. The regimental head-quarters was at Hertford, and afterwards at St Albans, during the summer of 1734 ; detachments ^t Ware and Barnet, moving afterwards to Chelmsford, with detachments at Dunmow. Brentwood and Grays. In 1735, the regiment moved to Canterbury, with detachments at Ashford, Faversham, Maidstone, Rochester, and Sittingbourne. In June of this year the company at Sittingbourne was sent, j'/a London, to Hadleigh, Suffolk, "there to "be aiding and assisting the civil magistrates and officers of the " revenue in apprehending the offenders concerned in the murder of " William Cam, a dragoon, who was murdered by smugglers." This company subsequently returned lo Sittingbourne. In 1733, a secret treaty between France and Spain was made, the object of which was lo prevent England trading with their American colonies, and, as far aa possible, ruin her power on the sea, II had also another object, which was to recover, if possible, the whole of Ihe old Spanish monarchy in Europe, especially in Italy, for the house of Bourbon. By the treaty of Utrecht the English had the right of sending one ship a year with a cargo of negroes to the Spanish colonies. This gave an opening for a vast system of smuggling, which was carried on by the English merchant ships. After the secret treaty, Philip V. vainly tried to restrict the English to their one vessel a year, which led to constant collisions, a great deal of ill-feeling, and, it is said, much cruelty shown by the Spaniards to the English sailors. This treaty was partly suspended during the seven years' war, and again renewed in 1761. The state of irritation of the English merchants, and (he illusage of their sailors by Ihe Spaniards before mentioned, on account of the efforts of the Spanish authorities to put an end to the smuggling trade with their American colonies, were, however, the chief causes of the Spanish war in 1739. The war of the Austrian succession, which England was eventually drawn into, had arisen on the death of 32nd regiment. 29 Charles VI. The surrounding countries, wishing to divide his dominions, refused to acknowledge his daughter, Maria Theresa, as Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary. England was bound by treaty to protect her rights, which she did, at first by advice and money, but being already at war with Spain, was by degrees drawn into the general conflict. The final cause of our joining in the latter war was our Hanoverian interests. In January, 1735-36, the regiment was ordered to Ireland, and placed on the Irish establishment, marching from Canterbury to Bristol, the port of embarkation. Orders about the same date direct that certain non-commissioned officers and men of the regiment be sent to Chelsea and quartered there until passed by the Lords and other Commissioners of the Hospital. It has been suggested that these men were probable survivors of Fox*s marines, who had claims on Chelsea through subsequent services in the land forces. In 1738 Colonel Thomas Paget was transferred to the 22nd Foot, and was succeeded by Colonel Simon Descury, and on his death by Colonel Huske, afterwards General Sir John Huske, K.B. He had distinguished himself in the command of a brigade at the battle of Dettingen, afterwards in Scotland, where he covered the retreat of the royal forces with his brigade, after the defeat of Falkirk. He died 18th January, 1761. The following occurs among the Irish Records : — * • " Hugh Armagh Wyndham, (Chancellor.) " In pursuance of His Majesty's commands, signified unto us by His " Grace the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Lieutenant of this Kingdom, in " his letter bearing date the 7th day of June instant. These are to direct "and require you to cause the regiment of foot under your command "forthwith to hold themselves in a readiness to embark, under the " directions of Lieutenant-General Napier, on board such ships as shall "be provided to receive and transport them Dublin to Greenock or " Glasgow, on the river Clyde. " To Colonel Descurry, or the oflficer-in-chief commanding his regiment " of foot. " Given &c., the 13th day of June, 1739. "Thos. Tickelu" * Sent to editor by Colonel Talbot-Coke. 30 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE These instructions were given lo ten other regiments:— " The eleven battalions ordered from Ireland to Great Britain are lo "be augmented by the addition of one sergeant, one corporal, one " drummer, nnd thirty-six private men to each company. "We hereby pray and require you forthwith to order the commanding "officers of the said regiments to send over proper officers into Great '' Britain to raise the said additional men and to return with them to " Dublin or Cork ; and His Majesty being informed that notwithstanding "(orders) against Inlisting Irishmen into his foot regiments, many are still " received, it is his royal pleasure that you cause it to be noticed to the "officers who are to raise the additional men that His Majesty will " shew his utmost displeasure at any disobedience to or neglect of these "Given on the 3nd day of July, 173a "Thos. Tickell." Further on, " 13th August, 1739, His Majesty orders a general " officer should be ordered to Cork for the reviewing the recruits to be " brought from Great Britain for augmenting His Majesty's regiments " of fool." And, again, "26th November, 1739. The adjutant-general to " review the recruits which shall be brought from Great Britain for " augmenting His Majesty's regiments of foot, on arriving at Dublin." The regiment was at Fort Augustus, North Britain, in 1741 and 1761. + A contingent of British troops was despatched to the continent in the summer of 1742 to co-operate with the Austrians and Dutch, but war was not formally declared between Great Britain and France tintil the spring of 1744.1 This force was commanded by the Ear! of Stair, and composed of some troops of horse and horse grenadiers, eight other regiments of horse and dragoons, three battalions of foot guards, and thirteen other foot regiments, viz. : — * With r^ard to the order in 1739 prohibiting the enlialmeni of Irishmen, it is well known that the charge of the Irish Brigade gained the bnltle of Fonlenoy. "Accursed," exclaimed King Geoi^e, on hearing of this Imtlle, "Ik ihc laws " that deprive me of such soldiers ! " — Aubrey de Verk, + Some idea of soldiering in Scotland in the middle of the eighteenth century can be obtained from Boswell's Life b/ JoknsoH, chap. xxxv. , dale 1773. X A war with France was the favourite measure of the king at this time, on account of his German dominions,— W»fCiii/« atid Sfttckts o/ihe Earl of Chaiham. 32nd RbGIMENT 31 3rd, lllh, 12th, 13th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 28th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 37th, and 39th, with a train of artillery ; altogether about sixteen thousand men.* The British were quartered for the winter at Ghent, Bruges, and Courtray ; the head-quarters, with the guards, being at Ghent, and most of the foot regiments at Bruges. 1743. In the spring of 1743, Stair, tired of Dutch inaction, began to move his troops towards the Rhine, ai)d after rendezvousing at Aix-la-Chapelle, reached the Rhine by toilsome marches in the mid- dle of May ; the snow falling nearly the whole time. Ascending the left bank, the British crossed that river a few miles below Coblentz, and pursuing their march by Ehrenbreitstein and Ems, and up the right bank until opposite Mayence, turned up the course of the Maine and reached Hoetch about the middle of June, where a junction was effected with the Austrians and a corps of Hanoverians. From Hoetch, the army proceeded through Frankfort-on-the- Maine up the right bank of that stream to Hanan and Aschaffenburg, where it took up a position watching the French, who had crossed the Rhine at Worms and Spires. Here King George II. t joined, and assumed command of the army in person. Finding the army was in a perilous position, he commenced it§ withdrawal at once. The French had sixty thousand men, under the Duke de Noailles, encamped on the opposite side of the river, who watched every movement of the Allies, and cut off all their supplies The king, who appears to have grasped the situation at once, not only saved the army from a defeat, but by retreating drew the French from their strong position. When approaching the village of Dettingen, on 27th June, it was observed that the enemy had crossed the river with part of their army, and were prepared to oppose the further advance of the English on their line of retreat. The army was confined in a * Notes on " History and Services of the 32nd Regiment." — United Service Maj^azine^ September^ 'Syg. f The king was accompanied by the Duke of Cumberland, his son. L 33 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE narrow plain, hounded on the right by hills and woods and on the left by the river, on the opposite hank of which the French had erected batteries. It would have been as hazardous to retreat as to advance ; fortunately there lay a narrow pass, with a morass in the middle, between the English and French armies, and the latter, rushing impetuously down this defile, were repulsed with so much firmness that, after a short but fierce conflict, Ihey were obliged to recross the river with the loss of five thousand men. The victors lost two thousand men in this action, and the Duke of Cumberland was wounded in the leg. The 32nd (Huske's) was in reserve on this occasion. Colonel Huske, who commanded the brigade, was severely wounded in the hee!; three rank and file wounded. Want of supplies prevented the Allies from following up their victory, and by the end of August they had recrossed the Rhine, In November they returned to their winter quarters in Flanders, leaving three thousand sick men behind them in Germany. On 27ih August, Major-General Huske was transferred to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and Brigadier Henry Skchon was appointed colonel in his stead. 1744-45. Preparations for the next campaign were commenced in the spring of 1744. The English troops, now commanded by Field Marshal Wade, concentrated at Aschel in May, but nothing was done, and in October the troops went back again to winter quarters at Ghent, Bruges, and Ostend. In the beginning of 1744 an invasion of England was attempted by a French force of fifteen thousand men, under a convoy of twenty ships of the line, but was unsuccessful It had been represented to the French that England was ripe for revolt, and it only required the Pretender to raise his flag to have a large following ; it was therefore thought to be a favourable opportunity ; moreover. King George was away in Hanover and the Duke of Cumberland, with the most serviceable part of the army, in Flanders. It was not, however, until the following year, 174i5. that James deputed Prince Charles Edward, his son, to make another attempt, which is only referred to here as showing a concurrent event, and one in which the 33nd took a minor 32nd regiment. 33 part. In the meantime the campaign of 1745 commenced. The circumstances which led to it were as follows : on the death of the Elector of Bavaria, the Grand Duke of Louraine, husband of Maria Theresa, was, in the imperial diet, chosen emperor, As the French king could not prevent the succession of the grand duke to the imperial throne he resolved to humble the house of Austria by making a conquest of the Austrian Flemish provinces. For that purpose an army, consisting of eighty thousand men, was assembled under Marshal Saxe, in Flanders, who suddenly invested Tournay in the beginning of May, 1745. To resist the design of the French the Dulce of Cumberland, who had been appointed to the chief command of the allied army, assembled at Soignies, marched to the relief of Tournay, and, on 28th April, took post at Maulbre, in sight of the French army, which was encamped on the heights that rise from the right bank of the Scheldt, with that river and the village of Antoine on the right, the village of Fonlenoy in their front, and the wood Vezon on their left. Battle of Fontenoy. Fontenoy and Antoine were strongly fortified and garrisoned, and redoubts were thrown up between these two villages. On 30th April the Duke of Cumberland, having made the requisite dispositions, began his march against the enemy's position about 4 o'clock in the morning. A brisk cannonade was opened on both sides, which soon developed into a general action, and by 9 o'clock both armies were closely engaged. Little advantage seemed up to this period to have been gained by either side. A supreme effort was now made by Cumberland against the left of the French line, and for this purpose the British and Hanoverian infantry were burled at them, supported by the Dutch on their left. The contest became a hand- to-hand struggle, and assumed terrific proportions ; the turning movement was successiul, and the French were driven back beyond their own tines, and that part of the position carried. But when the conquerors looked to their left for the Dutch, who were to have attacked simultaneously the right of the French position, it was found they had retired in place of advancing, as they got disheartened at 34 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE the galling effects of the French batteries ; one regiment of cavalry — the regiment of Hesse- Homburg, seized with panic, galloped without drawing tein as far as Alby, from which town its colonel wrote a letter to the Dutch gOTcmtnent informing them that the allied army had been cut to pieces. Undiscou raged, however, by the cowardice of their Allies, the heroic British and Hanoverian infantry advanced to the charge of the enemy on the right with redoubled ardour ; but, alas, the odds were against them. Being exposed on both (lanks to a destructive fire, the Duke of Cumberland judged it most judicious to retreat, which was effected in tolerable order about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The British cavalry coming up prevented further pursuit, and the infantry again presented a formidable front to the enemy. A military writer says ; " There is no other example on record of a " body of unsupported infantry penetrating a position in the face of a "force five times more numerous than itself, under the cross-fire of " redoubts full of heavy artillery, and overthrowing successive charges " of cavalry and infantry. Though, by the contraction of the ground, " it was compressed into a dense and elongated mass of narrow front, "it still preserved its stern, undaunted aspect; and pursuing its "daring and deliberate advance, the bravest efforts of tbe chivalric "nobility of the French household troops, as well as those of the "Irish brigades, in succession, were in vain employed lo arrest its "progress; and it was only when it had reached the heart of the "enemy's position, and its ranks were mowed down by arlillery, and "overwhelmed in front and on both flanks by a simultaneous onset " of all the cavalry and infantry whom it had repeatedly repelled, that " the gallant band was at last cut down and swept off the field, " without a symptom of dismay or an effort lo disperse." In this battle the loss of the English in killed and wounded was about four thousand men ; and that of the Hanoverians, two thou- sand. The French acknowledged to the loss of seven thousand. The Allies left behind them but few pieces of artillery, and lost no standards or prisoners. The 32nd lost two sergeants and fourteen rank and file, killed ; Lieutenants Lindsay, Meslin, Banks, 3nd Lieutenant How, Ensign 32nd regiment. 35 Prescot, five sergeants, and ninety-five rank and file, wounded ; and Captain Farquhar and seventeen rank and file missing. The following is an extract from the Duke of Cumberland's General Orders, issued shortly before what was in them termed the expected " day of action " : — " Date 29th April, 1745. " Gen^ and Staff Officers to attend the British Forces in Flanders : — " His Royal Highness the Duke. " Brig' Churchill to the Brigade of Royals* (1st). " Brig' Skelton to the Brigade of Howard's (3rd)." Orders for the march towards the French position : " Hall Camp, 1st May, ** Parole St. Marie et Cassel. " The Q'-Masters and Camp Collourmen, & the new grand guard shall "assemble to-morrow morning at 2 o'Clock at the head of the Dutch "guard Drag* on y« left of y« army. The Highland Regim' to march "along w*» the Q'-Masters, and to detach 1 Capt"» 2 officers, and 60 men " to secure the Gen'- Officers' Qua«. till y« Gen>- Officers' guards come up. " The Gen'- beats at 5, the Assembly at 6, & march be half an hour " after. The 1*' Line by the right of the Causeway & y« 2"^ on the left. " English and Dutch Train of Artillery are to march abreast on the " Causeway, the English on the right, and the Dutch on the left. " The Baggage to follow their respective Artillerys, as they are incamp'd. " The Hanoverian Artillery and Baggage to follow the English. " For the future S' John Ligonier to march at the head of the Foot "Guards, & Maj'--Gen'- Ponsonby at the head of the Infantry of y« 1st " Line. "The Comd»nK officers of the Roy'» (1st Royal Scots), Lord Rothes' " (25th), & Skelton's (32nd), to attend S' John Ligonier to-morrow upon " the march." The retreat of the beaten army was covered by General Ligonier and Lord Crawford with bravery and coolness, and Marshall Saxe was blamed for not turning the defeat into a rout. He defended himself * Brigades were not numbered at this time ; the senior regiment gave its name as a distinction to the brigade to which it belonged. 36 on (he pounds that •' We had enough of it ; I thought only of "restoring order amongst the troops."* "Everybody knows," says a writer of the day, "that, after the " battle of Fontenoy, our army lay encamped at Lessines. Our " situation there was such as must have either kept the French behind " the Scheld, or have obliged Ihem to fight us on ground of our own " choosing, and in a plain where our cavalry could have acted. This " was evident to the meanest soldier in the English troops ; and our "generals to a man were sensible of what importance, for the pre- " serving Flanders, their preserving that situation was. But, to the "amazement of all Europe, an ignominous precipitate retreat was "resolved on, and urged in such manner by the generals of our " allies, as demonstrated it to be agreeable to the inclinations, if not " in consequence of the orders, of their masters. The French could " scarcely believe their own good fortune ; and even the people of ' Brussels hooted and hissed at our troops as they passed along." The head-quarters remained at Vilvorden from 3rd August to 19th October. This is a small town situated about the centre of the canal between Brussels and Antwerp, the vrhole length of which was en- tT<!nched and fortified. The following extracts from General Orders are of interest : " Camp of Ath, May ISii^, " Parole St. Jean et Prague. "100 Foot.'100 Horses, and 50 Hussars, w* a LieuL-Col. and Major of " the Right Wing, must be ready to march, and take their lenis along w^ "them. They are to be commanded by Brig' Skelton, and lo parade at "the head of M ; G ; How''" (19th Foot). LL-CoI. Ear! Panmure and " Maj' Comwallis for this Com'''" "Aug' 8i>. "Maj' Gen' Zastrow & Brigf Duglass to have the direction of the " Intrench" which are making on y canal." On 19th July, 1745, liitie more than two months after Fontenoy had been fought, the young Chevalier landed in the Highlands, and the Scottish clans began to rally round him, It was not until ihe 32nd regiment. 37 beginning of September that the king and his ministers began to realize the importance of the crisis ; nay, had become fully aware that the young Chevalier was actually at that moment upon British soil. A message was then despatched to the Duke of Cumberland with directions that a part of the Flanders army should at once return home. The first general order which intimated such a movement occurs under date of September 24th, when as after orders "all "the posts of Sowles' (11th), Pultney's (13th), M. G. Howard's "(19th), Bragg's (28th), Douglas' (32nd), Johnson's (33rd), and " Cholmondeley's (34th) regiments to be relieved immediately. ** These seven regiments to be ready to march at an hour's warning."* These regiments, with the exception of the 19th, and with the addition of the brigade of Guards and the Buffs, embarked at Wilhelmstadt in October, under the command of Sir John Ligonier, and ten days later arrived off Gravesend. The steadiness and good order of these troops on embarkation elicited the highest praise from Ligonier. After its arrival in England, the 32nd Regiment (now commanded by Colonel William Douglas,) in the army of the Duke of Cumber- land, moved northwards. On 4th December the duke's head-quarters were at Stafford, the young Pretender and the Highland army being at Derby and in its neighbourhood. The Duke of Cumberland's army was brigaded as the following extract from General Orders shows : — EXTRACT FROM GENERAL ORDERS. « L : G : Anstruther & Brigr Bligh— Sempill's (26th), Scotch Fuzileers, " (21st), Johnson's (33rd), Douglas' (32nd). " M : G : Skelton & Brigr Price— Howd* (3rd Buffs), Skelton's (12th). " Brig' Douglas— Bowie's (IXth), Handyside's (31st), The Train." The regiment subsequently did good service in Lancashire,t but does not appear to have taken part in the battles of Falkirk Moor or CuUoden. * William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, by Campbell Maclachlan. t In Henderson's History of the Rebellion y Douglas' regiment (32nd) is men- tioned with others ** who had served so well under the eye of His Royal Highness " in Lancashire and Cheshire." HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE ■ 1746. The regiment pruceeded to Scotland on the dispersal of tlie clans, remaining there but a short lime, as they could ill be spared from Flanders, where their services were urgently needed. In the autumn of 1746 they were back again in that country, under their old chief, Sir John Li^oniei. On 7th October a sharp affair occurred on the Jaar, in which the French were repulsed ; but Saxe, reinforced by Clermont, re-crossed that stream a few days later, and the Allies — instead oi opposing the passage — sent off their heavy baggage to Maesiricht and chose a new position in rear of the villages of Endist, Slinge, and FixhiJ, where they awaited the French altaclc. Between Fixhe and Liers was a plain, in front of the Hanoverians ; the Brili)^h and Hessians wi^re posted in rear of Liers; the Hanoverian genera!, Zastrow, and Brigadier Douglas, 32nd regiment, held Warem and Roucoux, and the Prince of Waldeck occupied the suburbs of Liege. In this position the Allies were vigorously assailed by the French, who advanced in three columns, covered by a powerful artillery, and, though at first repulsed on the left, gradually extended their attacks along the whole front, driving Zastrow out of the villages of Warem and Roucoux and compelling the Allies to fall back upon the Meuse, leaving five thousand of their dead, chiefly Hessians, on the field. The French, too, had been roughly handled, and the retreat was effected without interruption. This affair ended the year's operations, and on 26th October the British and Hessians marched to Venloo, whence they proceeded to their winter quarters in the duchies of Limburg and Luxembourg. 1747-56, The Allies were in the field again in April, 1747, the Duke of Cumberland having made great prejiarations during the winter ; but ill luck seemed to hover around them, and they were outnumbered and outmancEuvred by the French. Extract from the diary of an officer of the Artillery with the army in Flanders, 1747-48 : 32nd regiment. 39 " On 22nd May a review of part of our Artillery, with 8 pieces of our " short 6-pounders, and 4 regiments of Foot — Conwa/s (48th), Duglesses' " (32nd), Crawford's (25th), and Degon's (37th). The Duke came about 10 " o'clock to review us. Fired about 60 rounds from our guns, and was Done " about 1 o'clock. Further, on May y« 24th news came to the Duke that " Admir'l Anson had taken six men of war from the French, on y* account " our train was ordered to fire, which we performed after sunset. The " Austrians Fir'd 30 pieces of cannon at the right of y« camp, the Hano- " verians 30, and y« English 21, and a running tire with small arms by the " whole allied army — the running fire between every round of cannon three " times." This wa^ probably the action off Cape Finistere, 3rd May, 1747. It must be remembered that the dates in this diary are old style, and therefore ample time would have elapsed for the news of this victory to have reached Flanders. It will be observed that the Orders were dated new style, following the Continental usage, which did not become general in England until September, 1752. The day following the 2nd of that month was styled the 14th. — (See Lord Stanhope's History of England^ vol. iv., ch. 31.) The Order runs thus : ** Camp of Bauwell, Sunday, June 4th, " Parole St. Joseph & Berlin. " The Army to fire ^feu de joye this evening for the Victory gained by Admir'l Anson over the French fleet which he took off Cape Finister." On April 20th the British Army was brigaded. EXTRACT FROM GENERAL ORDERS. " Parole St. Paul & CasselL " Duglas, Brir— N : B : Fuzil" (21st), Johnson's (33rd), L : G : How<»'« " (3rd Buffs). " Mordaunt,* Bri^ —Duglas (32nd), Conway (48th), M : G : Howd "(19th), Wolfe,t B.M." * John Mordaunt, nephew of the celebrated Earl of Peterboroagh. t Afterwards the hero of Quebec. 40 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE In the meantime the Duke of Cumberland posted his whole armj) ^ between the two Nethes, to cover Bergen-op-Zoom and Maestticht ; Marshall Saxe called in his detachments, with a view lo hazard a general engagement. On 2nd July the Allies were posted with their right on Bilsen and their left on Wirle, within a mile of Mae- stricht and the village of Laffeldt, which Say on their left front, and was held by several British regiments. The French occupied the heights of Herdeeven, and proceeded to attack on the following morning the village of Laffeldt and met with a stubborn resistance, and, although repeatedly driven back, their places were taken by fresh troops with astonishing perseverance ; and — after the village bad been three times lost and carried— they maintained their position in it. On this the Duke of Cumberland made a supreme effort and advanced with the whole of his left wing. When victory seemed within his grasp, the Dutch cavalry in the centre gave way, and in their flight upset a brigade of infantry, who also began to retire, whereupon the French cavalry charged and completed the victory for the French. The Allies were only saved from the defeat becoming a disaster by the brave Sir John Ligonier charging at the head of his cavalry, resolving to sacrifice himself and a part of his troops to the safety of the army — enabling the Duke of Cumberland to effect an orderly retreat to Maestricht. He himself was taken prisoner, having had his horse killed under him. The 3iind lost Major Roper and tour rank and file, killed ; Lieutenants Stephens and Gore, and sixty-four rank and lile, wounded ; and twenty-six rank and tile missing. Extracts. " June the 20, 1747. " March'd by 3 o'clock in the morning and Left Masirick 1 mile to y= " Left about 12 o'clock y French Hussars attack'd our Hussars on a Hill "whereof Proceeded a Smart Engage' In a Liiile time made y" Re treat "into a village where they had a Battery of 5 or 6 Guns, but the English " Immediately brought up to the top of the Hill six six pounders a great " Many Shots fir'd on both Sides, we blew up one of their Balterys with " a shell and kill'd a Great Many of them tho' there was scarce any such " thing as Seeing of them by reason the Village was so thick of Trees, they " Killed but two of our men that evening 1 Bombardier and 1 Maltross, it 32nd regiment. 411 " min'd so prodigious hard that at Last both Parties Left of Fireing, in the " mean time we Detach'd two Pieces of Cannon to ever>- Reg' as far as "they would allow of Number they was Short Sixes and Long three " Pounders. Draw'd the rest of the heavy Cannon into the Park and in " the night Erected Batterys for our 12 and 9 Pounders faceing the Village "and Prepar'd ourselves in readiness for an Engagement the Next Day. "Lay on our Arms all that night in the Open Field Continued Rayning all i "night nothing to be Got to Eat." " Baltic of Mas-i: Plain. "Sunday J uney" 211747. ' "The English begun Cannonading from our Battery, that was erected "in the night we begun about 5 o'clock morning the French begun about "0 o'clock and Continued Cannonading until half an hom after 8 o'clock, "then the French Advanc'd Accordingly the English, Hanoverians, and " Hersoins advanc'd with two pieces of Cannon with every Reg'- advanc'd 1 " and Fir'd at one another for three hours and a half as fast as we cc " load at half an hour after II o'clock they at last retreated we following "with Loud Huzzas, the Dutch Horse gave way and the Ausierians " never comeing to liack us, and a large baddy of both horse and Foot " Comeing from the right to the Assistance of the French and as they say "the French King Comeing up Inspir'd them with new Life and Courage 1 "which Caused them Immediately to turn and Advance on us, n " Furiously and they really behav'd Very Well. Tho' we Cut them Down wii" " Grape Shot from our Batterys of 12 Pounders yy Did not Seem to mind "it, but lil'd up their Intervals that we made as they Advanc'd, " Being over Power'd we was at Last Oblig't! to retreat Something "faster than we Advanc'd, and In our retreat we left 9 three Pounders "H Short Six pounders 1 Long Six pounder with three Colours and a " Kittle Drum the Hanoverians Lost Six pieces of Cannon as to the Loss " of Men on both Sides I Cannot tell as yet. S' Jo" Ligonier was Taken " Prisoner and several oflicers of Distinction we Lost More of the Artillery " People that Day than Ever was known at any Battle before, hut if the " Dutch had done their Duly and Austerians had come to back us we *' should have woon the Day, but was Oblig'd to Retreat as far as Mostrick, " and Lay on our Arms that night, and if it had not been for the Town "that Cover'd our retreat we should certainly been all taken prisoners. "This battle was on the plains of Mastrick Near Elke was call'd y BalUe "ofValorLaffclL" 4L' HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE The Duke of Cumberland, in his despatch, acquitted the Austrians of the charge of bad behaviour on this occasion. Saxe next determined to attack Bergen-op-Zoom, the strongest forti- ficatton of Dutch Brabenl, tlie famous work of the engineer Coehorn, and looked upon as invincible. No attempt appears to have been made to relieve it by the Allies after the siege bad actually commenced, probably on account of the obstinacy of the governor, Baron Cron- Strom, who considered that the fortress was impregnable. Afier great loss of life and innumerable unsuccessful attempts, Count Lowendahl ileiermined to storm the place and was successful — not, however, without meeting with greai resistance, after he had obtained possession of the ramparts from some Scotch regiments, who disputed every inch of ground as the French troops penetrated into the town. On the conclusion of this siege an armistice followed ; the British moving to cover Maestricht and Breda. 13th September, 1747. To q\xo\c from the before-mentioned diary : "We have an Epidemical Disorder Throughout all our allied army "which is the Uloody Flux* carries several off in a Day, tbcy say the " French has the same distemper but more violent. At the end of October " the Army went into winter Quarters, many officers proceeded on leave to " England." Il appears from the same source (although not absolutely stated) thai Douglas' regiment (32nd) occupied winter quarters in Breda, 1747-48, Early in March, 17*8, troops were moved towards Maes- tricht "for it IS thought that the French are going to lay siege to it." There marrheil In defend that town, fifteen regiments of foot and five of horse, two guns being sent to every foot regiment, following the unaccountable fashion of the time; Douglas' (32nd) was apparently not with this force. Whilst at Breda a curious oath was administered to the army which is best described by the writer of the before-mentioned diary — • Dysentciy. 32nd regiment. 43 " 1747, Breda Town, November y« 7th. "At 11 o'clock all the English Soldiers Likewise the Artillery People " was under arms on the parade and took an oath, at the same time held " up the two first fingers of their Right hand while the oath was reading, which " was, that we was to aid and to assist the inhabitants and not to wrong or ** Defraud them, the oath was taken before my Lord Albemarle and y« " Governor of y« Town. " On April 29, 1748, a cessation of arms was wrote in orders, the Duke " at the same gave orders that the Troops should render the same discipline " as usual notwithstanding the cessation. Under date May 11th the diary continues : " Encamped on an open moor 10 miles from the Bush of Brabent where " we joined all the English army and four more Reg'** that Lay at Breda " with 3 more that came from England — Nesselroy Camp. "June llth all y« Regiments was under arms by 4 evening for a Feu-de- ^^Joy it being the King's Succession to the Crown, there was 22 Regts. of " English Infantry and 5 Reg^*- of Cavalry and the Heavy Train which was "6 Twelve poundei-s 6 Nine pounders and 14 Long Sixes y* Hanoverians "y' was under arms was 21 Regt^- of Infantry and 10 of Horse they was "drawn up in two lines. The English and Hanoverians Horse at y« " First and second line and y« Hanoverians Infantry at y« left of y« first " and second, the front line reached about 3 miles and half as Likewise " Did ye second. The English Train was drawn up in the center of y« "rear Line. Y« Duke took his post between the Hanoverians and y« " English, at Sun Set y* train Fir'd 60 and then they begun at y* Right of " y« front line with a running fire and came down to y« Left and so went " back in the Rear to y* Right, then the Artillery Fir'd 50 Rounds more " and the foot look it up as before with a Running Fire which was per- " formed three times with 3 Huzzas up and Down the Lines in y« manner " of y« running Fire, and then ordered to march to our Camp where we " arrived by 9 o'clock." At the end of June, 1748, the camp was broken up and the troops went into Cantonments, Colonel Leighton's (32nd) regiment being at Boxtel together with Colonel Woolf 's. " August ye 4th 1748. "General Sickness thro' all y* English Regiments, Taken with a Pain in " the head. Fever & Eague, above three fourths of y* Regiments had it "and a Great Number Died, Especially those which Lay on y« Low " Ground, the only remedy was Setons in y« neck and drinking ye water " after it was boil'd." HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE In [he closing months of 1 748 a general peace was negotiated, bring- ing to a conclusion a war which was prosecuted on the side of the Allies without conduct, spirit, or unanimity. In the Netherlands they were outnumbered and outwitted by the enemy. They never hazarded a battle without sustaining a defeat, Their vast armies, paid by Great Britain, lay inactive and beheld one fortress reduced after another, until the whole country was subdued; and as their generals fought, their plenipotentiaries negotiated. What, then, were the fruits which Britain reaped from this long and desperate war ? A dreadful expense of blood and treasure, disgrace upon disgrace, an additional load of grie^'ous impositions, and the National Debt accumulated to the enormous sum of eighty millions sterling.* Such is the historian Smollett's opinion, but had he lived in our time, he would probably have considerably modified his opinions. It must be remembered that his criticisms were written at a time when many believed that Kngland had been worsted, had given up the important isle of Cape Breton for a petty factory in the East Indies btionging to a private Ct'mfany,^ and relinquished her conquests in North America. Brigadier Douglas having died the year previous, viz., 1st December, 1747, was succeeded by Colonel Francis I-eighton, as colonel of the regiment. On the conclusion of peace, before narrated, the whole of the British troops were wididrawn from the Low Countries. In December, 1748, the 32nd Regiment was at Chelmsford, and was reduced by two companies. In 1749 it was sent to Gibraltar, the scene of its earliest experiences The original idea for which the regiment was raised appears to have been carried out from this station, and detachments were sent from time to time to serve on board the ships of war as occasion required. The regiment remained in Gibraltar from 1749 to 1753, when the)- were relieved by the 6th r^ment, sent to England, and stationed in North Britain for ten years. Id 1755 it was ia Edinburgh: Francis Letghton, colonel; Richmond Webb, lieulerunt- colonel ; William Taylor, major. 32nd regiment, 45 1766-72. War was again declared with P>ance 10th February, 1756, in con- sequence of the French menaces against the Island of Minorca, when Admiral Byng's fleet failed to relieve it ; but the 32nd took no part in it, and therefore only indirectly concerns us here. The army had been considerably reduced on the conclusion of the Peace of 1753, so now it had to be suddenly augmented at a vast expense, and fifteen new second battalions were raised ; the 2nd battalion 32nd being raised in Scotland, where a considerable addition to the Government bounty was made by the several counties. The following officers of the 1st battalion 32nd Regiment were appointed to the 2nd battalion : Captain William McDowall Major. Captain-Lieutenant Robert Rogers - - - - Captain. Lieutenant Patrick Blake Captain. Lieutenant James Stuart Captain. In less than two years the 2nd battalion was formed into a separate regiment, became the 71st, and was disbanded in 1763, having only existed for seven years. It does not appear to have been employed abroad during its short career as 2nd battalion 32nd Regiment. In 1762, the 32nd was at Glasgow, the strength of the regiment being forty-two officers, fifty-six non-commissioned officers, and eight hundred and fifty-six privates ; total, nine hundred and fifty-four. The establishment was at that time one thousand and thirty-four of all ranks. After the peace the followmg reductions were made, viz., one surgeon's mate; one lieutenant, one sergeant, and fifty-three privates per company. In February, 1763, a General Peace was signed at Fontainebleau, and the usual reliefs and reductions followed. The 32nd was sent abroad to the Island of St. Vincent, Christmas, 1764, and, from an old manuscript which was sent to the compiler of this history by Colonel O. H. A. Nicholls, R.A. (now major-general), it appears the regiment suffered considerably from sickness in that island. 4(l HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE The morlality was excessive,* the Official Army List shows the regiment during this period as in "the Charibbee Islands," viz., from 1764 to 1774. 1773-75. In 1773 the colonel of the regiment {General Francis Leighton^ died, and was succeeded by Lieu tenant-General Robert Robinson, who resigned it for the governorship of Pendennis Castle, and was in turn succeeded by Lieutenant-General William Amherst, 18th October, 1775, adjutant-general ai head-quarters. The regiment returned home in 1773, and was stationed at Wells; from thence they proceeded to Bath,+ and in 1774 we find them in Salisbury, probably having been moved about in the hopes of raising more men after their losses in the Carribbee Islands. In October of that year they look part in a grand review at Richmond On December 17th, 1775,1 ^^^y were moved to Ireland ; the head-quariers and three companies, together with women and children, and all the records of the regiment, embarked in the Rockingham Castle, transport, which was wrecked outside the Cove of Cork.| An interesting account of the sad event appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xlvi., p. 43, December 'J3rd : — " The Rockingham, transport, was "unfortunately lost by mistaking Robert's Cove for Cork Harbour "in the nighL She had three companies of the 32nd Regiment of " Foot on board ; Lieutenant Marsh and his wife. Ensign Sandiman, "Lieutenant Barker's wife, and upwards of ninety soldiers, with "the captain and crew, perished. The officers saved were Captain * According lo the report of ihc Secretory al Wnr, of Ihc troops sent to (he West Indies from 17M 10 177* only nine hundred and Ihiny-five had died out of over four thousand. Soulhcy, Hislery of Ike Wtst Indies. \ On the 24th May, the 32nd Regiment of Foot, which had been :ilationed at St. Vincent upvfaids of cieht yean, marched into Bath from Wells. The private soldiers were only eighty-five in number^ — GenllemaH'i Ufagaiiiu, 1773. X This year ihe !12nd, while al Chatham, was augmented by one sergeant, one corporal, and ciebteen privates per company. § The day previous to Ihe loss of Ihe /tetHnghain CaslU, Lieu teoftut -Colonel Campbell and Captain Parker went on boord a pilot boat, and thiu escaped ihc fate of the others. 32nd regiment. 47 "Glover, Lieutenants Booth and Cator, and the doctor's mate. "*It is impossible/ says the writer of the account, *to paint the " distress of the officers and soldiers who were saved ; the greater " part of whom, being cast on the rocks, had their flesh torn in a ** most shocking manner, and, instead of receiving the least assistance " from the inhabitants, were attacked by some thousands of the "Common people, who carried away every article that could be " saved from the wreck.' " Captain Glover, probably John Flower, Captain, 15th July, 1768. Lieut. Marsh „ Robert March, Lieutenant, 13th April, 1774. „ Barker „ Edward Parker, Lieutenant, 26th December, 1770. „ Booth „ Leeds Booth, Lieutenant, 7th June, 1773. „ Cator „ J. Chilton L. Carter, Lieutenant, 8th June, 1774. Ensign Sandiman does not appear in the Annual Army Lists of this time, probably he had lately joined. Another account from the Annual Register^ vol. xviii., p. 187, states that " five officers and twenty soldiers saved themselves in the flat- " bottomed boat." 1774-82. The remainder of the regiment reached its destination safely and were quartered in Ireland during the next few years — years of trouble and anxiety. The rupture with the American colonies took place about this time, and was followed by a declaration of war against France and Spain. The 32nd Regiment, as before stated, took no part in these wars beyond furnishing volunteers for different regi- ments as occasion required. Its first station was Cork, where it remained until February, 1776 ; and during its stay there some men were drafted into the 15th and 16th regiments, about to embark for America. The regiment then went to Clonmel and Waterford, furnishing a draft of one hundred men to the 9th Regiment In June, 1777, it was ordered to Dublin, having been completed to six hundred rank and file ; and, as far as can be ascertained, remained there until 48 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE October, 1783. It was during this time that an unfortunate affair took place, in which one officer lost his life, but as it appears to have been only a persona! matter, and — more or less — the result of an accident, it has not been thought necessary to place il on record here. At this period of the existence of the regiment, county titles were assigned to the regiments of infantry of the line, and a letter, dated 31st August, 1782, conveyed to the regiment His Majesty's pleasure that county titles should be given to regiments of infantry, and the 32nd was directed to assume ihe name of the " Cornwall Regiment," in order that a connexion between the corps and that county should be cultivated which might be useful in furthering the success of (he recruiting service. 178 3-94. The preliminaries of the treaties between England, France and Spain, were signed at Versailles on 20th January, 1783. St. Lucia was returned to France, also the settlements on the river Senegal and the city of Pondicherry, in the East Indies. France relinquished all her West India conquests, with the exception of Tobago ; Spain retained Minorca (which she had captured in the previous year) and West Florida ; East Florida was ceded in exchange for the restitution of the Bahamas lo Great Britain. The preliminaries of peace with the Dutch were not signed until 2nd September, 1783.* In October, 1783, the regiment was ordered (o embark, under ihe command of Major Strachan, for Gibraltar,! where it was stationed until the winter of 1792, when it proceeded to the West Indies, under the command of Major Edwards. It reached Barbadoes, and, with the e."Cception of the companies detached lo Tobago, remained there until 1793, when those men who were deemed fit for service were drafted to other regiments. • Cannon, Hislariial Records ef Jlst fttgimeni. t ll is recorded of a distinguished uldicr, Gunenl Lord Blayney, who joined ihc 32nd Regimen) at Uibiallar, in 1789, as an cnagn, thai he bad ihe apporlunity of fomuog his principles and fulBie conduct from the regiment lieing at Ihal period remarkable for ilt cxccllcnl order, and most pcrfea stale of eicmplaty good discipline,— X. M. Calendar, iil, 3. ■'■-*< 32nd regiment. 49 tl GENERAL JOHNSON. The officers, non-commissioned officers, and remaining privates re- turned to England, and were subse- Hiently stationed in the island of Icrsey, where, in the year 1794, the regiment was rendered fit for service by drafts from Duncannon Fort, and again ordered to the West Indies, proceeding — for the purpose of em- barkingfnrthatstation — to Plymouth, where transports were in readiness. A delay in the sailing of those vessels occurred, and the men became sickly. The following interesting extract is from the journal of a very young officer. Captain (afterwards General) Johnson,' who was transferred to the .land from the 2nd Queen's when little more than sixteen years of age. He relates how the 32nd were very nearly wrecked a second time, and what a narrow escape they had : " However, we was not long with out orders to sail imediatly. I then " went on Board oui Transport {which was called the Tkomits), where [ " waled some time for a wind, and one day the wind came a little fare the " Signal was made & our anchor was up, when the wind came about again, "so we was obliged to wate some lime longer. Duretng this time our " men, from being so much crowded, got very sickly. This at first was " noi Paid much attention lo. We was still waiting for a wind, & lying in " the Sound, when one day it blew reaiher fresh, and at Night a very great " storm. About eight o'clock our cable Broak, & as we was one of the "nearest to the Shore, our Ship drifted till we was dashed against the Rocks, " the sailors then got up & Backed the main & niisen Top Sails & by great "good luck we did nol stick fast (but we got three or four thumps, that I " thought would have nocked the ships bottom out) so went stummost into "Catwatei, where we put out our other ancor and there Road in safety till "morning, when our ship was ordered to be looked at and we found some "of the Peaces of rock sticking to the bottum, which had prevented the * For Mrvices of this distinguished officer, see Appendix E. " ship from sinking. Everybody on board, even the Master of the Ship, " said he never heard of such an escape in his life. Our Transport was so " much disabled that ivc was ordred on Board the Aulumii Transport, " soon after this there came an order down that all the Regts. should be "disembarked thai was not five hundred strong and fit for service. We at " that lime had more Ihan two hundred men sick, & by that means we had " not more than three hundred men fit for service, so our Regt., with 17lh, "31st, 48th, & 67lh, was ordered to disembark and go in Temporare " barracks. Our Regl. was at Mill Prison, the others in the New Barracks " in Plymouth. The OtJicers had lodgings in the Town of Plymoulh." 1795. After waiting some time, expecting fresh transports, the regiment was ordered to Cork, and thence to Spike Island into camp — as the writer of the foregoing extract says, " a nasty, boggy place "—and was there when the 105th and U3th regiments mutinied,* "which was " near being a very serious business, but by Genl. Massey's exertion " they all laid down there armes. There were near 2,000 men that " mutinied." • Both these r^menls were afterwards ilxsbanded. [61 THIRD PERIOD. 1706-1812. St. Domingo.— Siege of Burgos. N extensive rising of slaves on the French plantations in St. Domingo (Hayti) having occurred in 1791 — in a few days the insurgents mustered one hundred thousand men, and it would be impossible to depict the horrors which had been perpetrated by these desperate men, who had been driven into revolt by the barbarous cruelties practised by their former masters — the most fertile portions of the island became a desolate waste ; the French settlers managed to hold out in a few isolated positions, and it was at this time that the British government resolved to interfere. Jeremie was taken by Commodore Ford, September 1793; Cape St. Nicholas Mole followed; then, in 1794, Cape Tiburon and Port au Prince. Although some of these places were retaken by the French republic, others remained in the hands of the British ; amongst them St. Nicholas Mole and another place were retained and occupied by small British garrisons. It was at this juncture of affairs, in 1795, that the British government despatched a relieving force to succour their own garrisons, and, at the same time, to endeavour to bring to an end the state of anarchy which was becoming chronic in St. Domingo. 1706-1806. Sir Ralph Abercromby was appointed to command the expedition, Major-General White going out with him in command of one of the divisions. The 32nd was one of the regiments ordered out with the expedition, and formed part of the force under the latter general. This portion of the force reached St. Nicholas Mole in May, 1796. A curious incident occurred as the transport, with the 32nd Regiment on board, was entering the harbour : a fine horse was observed 63 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE swimming across the bows of the ship ; the animal was secured, and was afterwards used by Colonel Mason, as his charger, up to the time of his death. One of the transports bringing the force had been captured by a French cruiser. Amongst the troops there were some 32nd men, and an assistant- surge on of the same regiment ; they were taken into Guadeloupe ; Victor Hugues was the governor at the time. He released the assistant surgeon at once, with the laconic remark thai, " wherever he went he would do far more harm than good with his "medicines and flannel shirts," Another very interesting incident may be related here, as it occurred about the same time, and refers to the captured transport before mentioned. Lieut en ant-General Wetherall* was also a passenger on board, having been sent out with despatches for Sir Ralph Abercromby. He was kept a prisoner for upwards of nine months, closely confined in a dungeon, in irons, without any other clothing than a shirt and a pair o( trousers, and on a daily allowance of three biscuits and a quart of water. The detachment of 32nd that were taken prisoners at the same lime, but who had been given their liberty to roam about the town, hearing of the inhuman treatment of General Wetherall, raised a subscription of eleven guineas amongst them, which they forwarded to him, concealed .in a small loaf of bread, through the medium of a negro employed in the deUvery of provisions to the English prisoners, with a note from the sergeant, requesting — in the name of the men— his acceptance of the money as a small token of iheir esteem, and in the hope of its affording some relief and comfort to him under his sufferings. For this noble act a commission was subsequently conferred on the sergeant, t One more incident, which reflects great credit on the discipline of the regiment, may here be narrated, as told by Major Ross-Lewin, who, during the stay of the regiment at St. Nicholas Mole, was a youthful subaltern of the grenadier company, and, during the latter part of the time, one of the two effective officers present ' For services of General Wcihcrall, see *,^/. Calendar, vol. ii., p- 351, t Sergeant Henry Boone, promoted Ensign in 2ii[] West India Regiment, S4th October, 179B. 32nd regiment. fiS irith the Ti e regiment. " When I fell sick," he says, " I had payment of "the grenadier company, and during my illness the money for ihat " purpose was kept in a trunk in the hospital, as my pay-sergeant, like " myself, was confined to his bed. The soldiers paid themselves, "taking what dollars they required when they pleased, yet, when I " was afterwards called upon lo make up my accounts, these men "came forward, much to their honour, and acknowledged every " dollar they had taken." To return to the disembarkation; the troops were landed as early as possible. Brigadier- General Forbes, with pan of the 13th Light Dragoons, and the 32nd, 56th, 67th, and 81sl regiments, proceeded to attack the fort of Bouiparde, sixteen miles off, The column paraded very early in the morning, receiving their rations, biscuits, salt pork, and grog. They were kepi under arms until !) a.m., by which time most of the men had emptied their canteens. Two paths led to the fort, one of which it was said was intercepted, and the other ran through a deep close ravine, the sand from which rose in fine dust as the troops advanced. The route was devoid of water, and, apparently, none was taken ; the consequence being that many of the men fell out, and fourteen died of heat apoplexy before having advanced two miles ; and those who had imprudently drunk up their grog were to be seen sucking the perspiration out of their shirt sleeves, the tongues of many of them hanging out of their mouths dry and swollen and black with flies ; some even had recourse to the last extremity to quench their thirst. After frightful sufferings and considerable loss of life, Bomparde was reached : a strong quadrang- ular fori, with cannon mounted at the angles, and a formidable ditch, with a sort of town beyond. Water was here obtained, and the survivors refreshed. Opening a fire on the fort, which was quickly responded lo, Lieutenant Ncsbitt and Adjulani Ross, o( the 3'2nd, were wounded. The enemy, however, evacuated the fort before very long, and the brigade marched in and took possession. The duties were heavy and arduous, and the losses considerable, not only from the enemy, but on account of the deadliness of the climate. Major Ross-Lewin relates as follows, "one of the worst " checks we received was owing to being surprised by the enemy one < 54 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " morning before daybreak at tbe advanced post of Pa!iss&, about "two miles distant from the fort and on the road to the mole. A " captain, with three subalterns and fifty men of the regiment, were on "outpost duty: they were surprised and cut to pieces, only the "captain and one soldier escaped into a wood adjoining. Lieutenants " Williams, White, aud Power, together with forty-nine non- "commissioned officers and men, were overpowered. The post was " retaken during the following day by the S^nd and 8Isl regiments and " a few men of the 13th Light Dragoons. Fort Bomparde was eventually "evacuated. Lieutenant R 1, uf the regiment, died very " suddenly, and the force suffered much from tbe swampy nature of the " soil." Defences had been erected at the mole, close to the place of embarkation ; and the force having been ordered to withdraw, owing to the difficulty of keeping up communication with St. Nicholas, the 3'2nd embarked with nothing but the mere skeleton of the regiment, after a twelve months stay in Si. Domingo, where it lost thirty-two officers. It was then sent to Nassau, where it remained some lime, having been filled up with convalescents from other corps. The following incident in connexion with this movement is related by the same officer : — " At the nearest part of the seashore, about seven miles from us, a " platform for guns was laid, in order to cover the embarkation of the "guns and sick, and a ship of war and some transports were sent " round to receive ihem. As there was only one pathway leading from " Bomparde to this point, the transport of the sick was very tedious. " They were conveyed on hospital stretchers fitted with long poles, "and borne on men's shoulders; but all hopeless cases, not expected " to last many hours, were ordered to be left behind. Among the sick "so condemned was a brother officer ol mine, and him I was deter- " mined not to abandon before every effort in my power had been " made for his removal ; but il was with regret that I saw the last "fatigue party move off after having applied in vain lo the "commanding officer^an officer who declared thai no man could be " spared. My only resource then was to go to a few black prisoners, J 32nd regiment. 55 " who were digging graves near to the hospital huts, and I brought " two of them, without orders, to the sick man's room. He was lying " on a stretcher, quite insensible, and swollen to an enormous size, •' being naturally very tall and robust, and I am very confident that " four of our men would have found it a severe task to carry him to " the shore. The blacks could not lift the stretcher, but gave me to '* understand that they could carry it if once placed on their heads. I " had this done, and they moved off apparently with ease. They had no '* escort, not even a single person to watch them, and might easily have " got rid of their burden and made off into the woods. Nevertheless, " they conveyed it faithfully to the platform. He was then taken on " board on a stretcher, and shortly afterwards his honest heart, poor " fellow, had ceased to beat for ever." The regiment was sent to New Providence, and, remaining there only a short time, returned to Portsmouth in a very weak state, prob- ably owing to having given drafts to other regiments ; it was then sent on to Guildford to be completed by Irish drafts from Chatham. From Guildford it was ordered to the West of England, and stationed at Tavistock and launceston. From Launceston the regiment removed to Bridgewater, where there had been serious riots, owing to the high price of bread. The officers took the initiative in getting up a subscription for the relief of the starving people. While at Bridgewater, the whole of the Irish lads in the regiment were drafted to corps in India, and the regiment removed to Bristol, en route to Waterford, leaving recruiting parties at Launceston, Bodmin, Truro, Exeter, Tiverton, Barnstaple, and Minehead. From Waterford the regiment moved to Dundalk, and, after a sojourn there, to Kilkenny, and thence to Dublin, where it was employed with the force in quelling the rising of July 23rd and 24th, 1803. The insurrection broke out with the murders of Colonel Browne, 21st Fusiliers, and Lord Kilwarden, whose nephew met a similar fate. Lord Kilwarden was dragged out of his carriage and mortally wounded by the mob, and died in the arms of Assistant-Surgeon Emery of the regiment. RECORDS OF 1 A second battalion was added lo each regiment of the line, and officers were sent into Cornwall Co r& 1807. The Ut battalion 32nd was ordered to Kinsale, Charlesfon, and Bandon uniii July, 1807, when they embarked Tor Porlsmouth to join the expeditionary force proceeding to Copen- hagen, which was kept a profound secret ai the time. Captain Ross-Levrin says:— ■' My cor|)s (32nd) was at "this time a beautiful one, "mustering one thousand strong, and did not leave a man behind, " a very unusual circumstance with raiments." Copenhagen. Portsmouth was reached on the 16th July, after an eight days' passage, and on the 17th all the transports, with troops on boanl, having arrived, the whole fleet weighed, and sailed for the Downs. The 32nd was disembarked at Ramsgate and marched to Deal, re- maining there ihree or four days, and then returned to Ramsgaie, where it was again embarked, and sailed with the rest of the fleet which had rendezvoused in the Downs.* Here the destination of the fleet was first learned — namely, to Copenhagen — there lo seize the Danish fleet, though this act of hostility had not been preceded by a formal declaration of war. " Five days after, we landed and proceeded " to invest the town. Our first work was the erection of batteries. * The 32nd Regiment enilarked July 26ih and 27lh, 1S07, ai Rami^ic, on board ihe P^sgr- Succai, Prinien a/ WaUi, and Relrcai, wiib ihc Expedition to Copcnhftgen.— Extract from MSS. at Royal United Service iMtitulion. 32nd regiment. »7 1 "The troops bivouacked in the lidds, building wigwams of branches of " trees and thatching them with sheaf corn. '1 he Danish gunboats and " praams threw heavy shot amongst us occasionally, but they did httlc " damage. The Royal Family retired into Holstein ; and the greater "part of the country people in the vicinity fled into Copenhagen at "our approach. " About the 25ih, mortar batteries were erected within a quarter of " a mile of the city. The weather became very sultry and the dews at " night heavy. The Danes did net seem lo be inclined to venture out, " and the few that showed themselves were picked off by our riflemen. " At length ihey made two sorties ; the first along the lower road near " the beach, on the extreme left ol our line, where a heavy battery had " been lately erected and two field-pieces placed behind a traverse by " the British. Sir George Smith,* a zealous and indefatigable soldier, " had been stationed since the investment at this post, and soon re- " pelled the attack. It was a point of much im;K(rtance, as the battery "covered the landing of our stores. The second sortie was made not " quite so much to the left as the former one. The Danish force con- " sisied of detachments of the Danish guards, Norwegian hfe regiment, " and Volunteer rifle corps. The advanced picquels of the left wing "of our army alone were engaged with them, and succeeded in re- " pulsing them. The front of the picquets was protected by a sunk " fence, which was calculateil to afford them tolerable cover. "Sir Arthur Weliesley proceeded with the light brigade into the "interior of the island to prevent the militia from assemb.ing. On " 39th July, 1807, he defeated the Danes near Kioge, and took about "eleven hundred prisoners. " On 1st September the City was summoned in vain,and the following " night we commenced shelling it, and not until eleven hundred of the " inhabitants were killed and one-lhird of the town in ashes was there " any sign of surrender. On 6th September a fls^ of truce was sent " out, and on the following day it was stipulated that all vessels and * Lie uteiuuit- Colonel Smilh, with the 83nd R^ment undei his command, held the post at the windmill on ihe left, which for the greater pail of Ihc lime was ihe moll exposed li> ihc yuQ)>oais and sorties uf the enemy.— E,\iract from Lutd Calbcart's detipatcb. 1 I L 58 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE "naval stores belonging to the King of Denmark should be yielded "and immediate possession of the citadel and arsenal given to the " British, on condition that the island of Zealand be evacuated by them " within the space of six weeks. After the fall of Copenhagen the 1st " battalion 32nd Regimen did duty in the dockyard, and whilst there "received a draft of two hundred and forty-one men, under Captain "Gibson, from the 2nd battalion." It was also agreed that a mutual restitution of prisoners should take place, and that all public and private property, with the exception of the royal shipping and naval stores, should be respected Thanks to the exertions of the seamen and soldiers, the prizes were ready for sea before the stipulated lime, and on 21st October the Expedition, with prizes in company, sailed out of the Sound on the way home. The value of the ships thus brought away, each ship equipped with stores for three years, was estimated at four and a half millions sterling ; but, as no formal declaration of war had been made, it was held that the captors were ineligible for prize money. A grant of ;^900,000 was, however, given by way of compensation. The regiment returned to England in His Majesty's ship Ganges and her prize, the Princess Sop/iU Fnderica^ and landed at Deal, remaining a fuw days at Margate and Ramsgale, and then were ordered to Gosport, where a draft of ninety-nine men, under Captain Crowe, joined from the 2nd battalion. The commanding officer. Lieutenant -Colon el Hinde, received the following communication from Lieutenant-General Lord Cathcart : " Gloucester Place, " 1st February, 1808. " Sir, " I take the earliest opportunity of transmitting to you a copy of the " resolutions of the House of Lords, and of those of the House of • The Princi Sophia Fnderica was buill in 177S ; lenEth on gun deck, 175 feet : extreme br& dth, 4H feci ; depth in hold, 19 feel S inches : numlier of gun ports, 56. — Nava, Mpers respecling CopenKagin, &'e., presented lo Parlinment in 1S08. he time, so the discomrort for (hoieoii board 32nd regiment. 59 " Commons, dated 28th January, 1808, which contains the thanks of both " Houses of Parliament to the army employed in Zealand. In communi- *' eating to you this most signal mark of the approbation of Parliament '*of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, allow me to add '^ my warmest congratulations upon a distinction which the battalion under "your command had so great a share in obtaining for His Majesty's " service, together with the assurances of the regard with which Lt-Colonel " Hinde, Commanding 1st Batt. 32nd Regt, upon the expedition to the " Baltic, was held. " I have, &c., " (Signed) Cathcart, Lt-GeneraL** In November, 1807, the 2nd battalion of the regiment proceeded from Weely Barracks, near Colchester, to Guernsey. Extract from the sixth report of the Patriotic Fund : « 8th March, 1808. " Read : " An application, certified by Colonel Burnet, of the Royal College of " Chelsea, from John Lees, private in the 32nd Regiment of Foot, having '* lost his left leg, and who was otherwise severely burnt in action with the " enemy at the Siege of Copenhagen. " Resolved : " * That the sum of £25 be given to John Lees.' " 1808. In December, 1807, the 32nd, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hinde, embarked, with other troops, upon a secret expedition under Major- General Spencer, and, after having experienced a succession of gales for seventeen days, put back to Portsmouth, where the regiment remained a few days, and then proceeded to Falmouth to join some of the other ships of the fleet that had been caught in the same storm. Adverse winds kept the regiment at Falmouth until 1st March, 1808, when another start was made, and Gibraltar was reached 9th June. Major Johnson, commanding a part of the regiment which had sailed in another transport, had arrived before the head-quarters, and been sent on to Sicily. An officer writes : *• We were informed that, on our 60 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " departure from England it was settled that General Spencer should " attack Ceuta ; but that Sir Hew Dalrymple, Lieutenant-Governor " of Gibraltar, having received intelligence of the growing disatfection " in Spain, which threatened to manifest itself in a general rising, had " sent the troops to Sicily as fast as they arrived, with the view of " protecting that island from an invasion by the French, who had " assembled a strong force in Calabria, and that a portion of these "troops had since received counter-orders and were to return to " Gibraltar, being replaced by the Germans, under General " McFarlane." On l!)ih May that part of the regiment which had not proceeded to Sicily embarked with Major-General Spencer and steered for Cadiz. On arriving there, they found Lord Colhngwood's fleet at anchor in the harbour, from whence they had been watching the French Admiral Kossilly's squadron of five sail of the line and one frigate which lay in the inner harbour. On 12th June the fleet of transports got under weigh, and sailed for the mouth of the river Guadiana, which divides Spain from Portugal In the meantime the remainder of the regiment rejoined head-quarters. The 32nd Regiment was present at the opening of the Spanish batteries on the French ships of war, in the harbour of Cadiz, on the day the Spanish Revolution broke out, in 1808, and immediately after disembarked at Fort St. Mary, and was stationed there about six weeks. It was subsequently ordered to Mondego Bay, in Portugal, there forming part of Sir Brent Spencer's division of the army, with orders to co-operate with the troops under the command of Major-General Sir Arthur WeUesley, which were daily expected from Cork. On their arrival the army disembarked, in the beginning of August, and advanced towards Lisbon. The disembarkation of the small army took some time, owing to the heavy surf. The following appeared in General Orders, dated 7th .\ugusl, 1808 : Major-General Spencer having joined the army, the regiments were brigaded as follows i — 32nd regiment. 61 {5th Regiment \ 9th „ J- Major-General Rowland Hill 38th „ J {2nd Regiment ^ 29th „ y Major-General Nightingale 82nd „ J {36th Regiment ^ 40th „ } Major-General Ferguson 71st „ J 4th Brigade | gg^^^ Regiment | Major-General Bowes ( 46th Regiment "j 6th Brigade { ^/J^J ^^^^^^^^^ | Brigadier General Fane 5th Brigade \ 50th „ !- Colonel Catlin Craufurd 91st „ j The Battle of Boleift. The battalion, having landed, marched to Leira on 11th August, and on the 15th a skirmish with the enemy took place at Obidos, with trifling loss. The battle of Roleia was fought on 17th August; Captain Ross-Lewin relates : — "The villages of Celdos * and Roleia are built opposite to each other at the extremities of 'a large valley, and nearly equidistant from the small town of 'Obidos, which is remarkable for its fine aqueduct and ancient * castle. " The French were posted on an elevated but level space in front * of Roleia ; this rear was covered with low trees and close underwood, ' and several paths led from it to the neighbouring mountains, of which ' a remarkably strong ridge offered an excellent second position at an *easy distance. The advantages presented by the nature of the * ground in a great measure comfKinsated for the disparity of numbers, *and, circumstanced as Junot and Ix)rrion were, it was of consider- *able importance to the French that Laborde should resist our * progress. "On the morning of the 17th, at daybreak, we broke up from * our bivouac. Flank movements were made to threaten the enemy's *rear with a portion of the British and Portuguese; but it ap ' peared to some officers that sufficient time was not allowed to give 'these movements the desired effect, a circumstance tending to 62 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE "occasion a great and unnecessary loss of lives. We continued to "advance in three columns; as we approached the enemy the " utmost order was preserved, and the columns were increased and "diminished with as much regularity as if we were at a review. The " enemy appeared at the foot of the position outside the wood, but " retired under cover as we advanced. "The columns pushed on and drove the enemy before them to the " second position ; here the mountain passes were defended with " great pertinacity. The 29th Regiment, who had to advance up a " steep grass path in the centre of ihe position, sulTered severely, and, "after losing their colonel, the gallant Lake, and all hut fifteen of " their grenadier company, succeeded in obtaining a lodgment on the "summit and dislodging their opponents. The French General, " Laborde, was wounded and about six hundred of his division killed " and wounded, while the British loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners " was five hundred ; two hundred and twenty* of whom belonged "to the 29ih Regiment. " The fighting was over by 4 p.m. Sir A. Wellesley followed as far " as Villa Verde, but hearing that General Anstruther was off the coast " with reinforcements, he altered his route. The heat during this day "was excessive. A while precipitate was found in some of the " French soldiers' packs, and a report got about that the wells were " poisoned ; the precipitate was afterwards discovered to be used " to destroy vermin. "The array rested for the night some distance beyond the field of "battle. The next day we marched to Lourinha; on the morning "of the 19th Sir Arthur Wellesley took up his position at Vimiera, a " pleasant village in a fine valley, watered by a small river called the " Maceira, which empties itself into the sea about three miles away. " Here Major-General Anstruther's reinforcements were landed, "which brought up the strength of the army to sixteen thousand " men. * Losses of the Army, 17th August, 1808 :— 4th Brigvle, Brigndier- General Bowes, 32nrl Foot ;— One rank anil tile killed, and three rank and lile wounded.— Londan Gaielie, 3rd Sepiember, 1808, 32nd regiment. 63 " The short queues worn by both officers and men were cropped " on the field this day, in obedience to orders that had arrived from " England, much to everyone's delight. " On the 20th, Sir Harry Burrard arrived in the offing, and before " night he came into the Maceira roads. "Marshal Junot now made all preparations to advance towards " Vimiera. " The greater part of our infantry were posted on the highland on **the left of the river. The village of Vimiera was occupied by " cavalry, artillery, and commissariat. Major-General Bowes' brigade " — 6th and 32nd regiments — were posted in the rear of the village, " on a sugar-loaf hill. The riflemen and the 50th Regiment, under " General Fane, occupied the right of a table-land before Vimiera ; "General Anstruther's brigade the left, on the extremity of which "there was a church." Battle of Vimiera. On the morning of 21st August, about 8 o'clock, Junot's army was first observed advancing along the road from Torres Vedras to Lourinha. The action commenced shortly afterwards. The French had fourteen thousand men and twenty-three field pieces ; the British were stronger in infantry, but had fewer guns. The French made simultaneous attacks on several points, but were held in check and then driven back at all points. Junot, however, managed to draw oft the remnant of his force in fair order, owing to the British being very weak in cavalry. General Breunier was among the prisoners ; thirteen guns and twenty ammunition waggons were taken. Sir Harry Burrard, who had landed, was in the field, but honourably refused to take the command. Upon the final defeat of the French, Sir Arthur Wellesley urged the necessity of following up the advantage and moving with the utmost celerity on Torres Vedras ; but in vain. The officer quoted before also relates that "during the attack "on our left, the 71st were ordered to oppose the enemy with the " i>oint of the bayonet. The pipers of the regiment in the advance to " the charge struck up a national Scottish air, as is generally their " custom, and in the middle of it one of them, a highlander, named 64 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE "George Clerk, received a severe wound in the groin, which brought "him to the ground; but he supported himself in a sitting posture, "exclaiming with apparent indifference, 'The deil take ye, if ye hae "'disabled me frae following, ye winna keep me frae blawing for 'em,' "and he continued to play and encourage his comrades untill the "enetny fled. This gallant soldier recovered from his wound, and "was promoted to the rank of sergeant and pipe-major by Colonel " Pack." Sir Harry Burrard, who opposed Wellesley's suggestion of following the French up, then retired unmolested, and the army wailed at Vimiera. On the 22nd, Sir Hew Dalrymple arrived from Gibraltar, and look command of the army, making the third change within a few days. On the evening of this day, General Kellerman was sent in by Junot with a flag of truce, which ended in the British general agreeing to an armistice, as Junot was disposed to evacuate the kingdom of Portugal on honourable conditions ; and now, (o use the expression of Sir Arthur Wellesley, it seemed that "all we had to do was to prepare "to shoot red-legged partridges." The Convention of Cintra, as it was called, received scant consideration in England, and the generals who were concerned in it were ordered home. In the meantime the French at Lisbon embarked in three divisions, mutually protecting one another; the British protecting the rear one. Considerable difficulty was experienced, as any stragglers were immediately siilettoed by the enraged mob, and English officers were compelled to take any Frenchmen who were alone under their protection, and so saved the lives of several. An officer states as follows ; " The inhabitants of Devonshire were "so incensed by the Convention of Cinlra thai they seem to have " forgotten Roleia and Vimiera, and consequently received Sir Arthur " Wellesley with every mark of disapprobation ; indeed, hissings and " hootings greeted him at every town and village of that county ; but " the people of England should have considered that, had he been "left Co follow up his victories, there would have been no necessity, " in the opinion of any person, for such a convention, nor for any- " thing more, very probably, than the fixing of the hour on which ihe " troops of Junot should lay down their arms," ) REGIMENT. On being appointed to the supreme command of the British army ] in Spain, Sir John Moore set to work to make preparations for a general advance on Madrid, but, finding that there were no magazines or stores ready, he had to considerably modify his plans and send the army up by different routes, with orders to concentrate near Salamanca. He himself left Lisbon soon afterwards, and joined them in November, 1808. A considerable reinforcement had arrived from England, consisting of ten thousand men, under Sir David Baird, and these, together with the army distributed about in the North of Spain, brought his forces up to nearly thirty thousand. In the meantime Mr. Stuart, the British charge d'affaires at Madrid, had been superseded, as he was not sufficiently pliable in the hands of the Home Government, and Mr. Frere was appointed his successor. He was given the superior rank of Minister Plenipotentiary. To his want of judgment and blindness to the character of the Spanish ministers m.iy be traced most of the disasters which followed in quick succession. Fortunately, Sir John Moore was not a man to be in- fluenced by those who were not qualified to give advice, and by a man who had unwittingly become the tool of the Spanish Junior, who were prepared to sell their country to the highest bidder. In spite of all their promises and oaths, expressed both verbally and in public documents, backed up by the assurances of Mr. Frere, Sir John found, after he had pushed one division of his army, under Hope, with the object of drawing off the French from the Spanish armies as far as Madrid, that the feelingwas far more in favour of the French, to whom these patriots were prepared to open the gates of Madrid and welcome them with open arms ; and moreover that there was very strong evidence of a compact having been made with the French whereby the English army was to have been sacrificed. Buonaparte's one object was lo humiliate the British force, and with an eagle swoop he entered Spain at the head of fifty thousand trained soldiers, with the object of catching the British army in a ad-de-sa( and cutting off their retreat, either back into Portugal or to the north coast of Spain. For- tunately, Sir John had penetrated the designs of the French Emperor, and, in spite of further assurances from the Spanish, again backed up by the British Minister, who ignored the fact that Madrid had fa 66 HISTORICAL BCCORnS OF THE into the hands of the French, he made a retrograde movement towards his base. Unfortunately, in the retreat disciphne got slack, and many scenes of disorder occurred, which called forth the bitterest censure from the gallant old chief, and not until he had determined to nialce a stand and drive back his relentless enemies was he able lo recall men to their sense of duly. But the effect was magical ; discipline was restored at once, and the army made a galbnt fight, covering the embarkation and preventing their enemies from disturbing them, except with cannon at long range. But we must not anticipate. Sir John Moore having assumed command of the troops, prepara- tions were commenced for an advance into Spain. The troops were divided into the following divisions and brigades by a General Order, , dated Lisbon, 8th October, 1808: ! Major- General LordW. Beniick — 4th, 28ih, 42nd, and 60th (live companies) regiments. Major-General W. C. Beresford— 9th, 2nd battalion 43rd, and 53nd regi- Brigadier-General Catlin Crauford— 3flth, 'Isl, 92nd, and 2nd battalion 60th (five companies) regiments. Brigadier-General W. P. Acland— 2nd and 6th regiments. Major-General R. Hill— 6i!i, 32nd, and 91 St regiments. Brigadier- General H. Fraser — 38tb, 79lh, and 2nd battalion 95th (four companies) regiments. I Brigadier- General Anstruiher^20th, 1st battalion 52nd, and 1st battalion 95th regiments. Major-General C. Baron Alten — 1st and 2nd Light Infantry (King's Ger- Cavai.rv. Major-General the Hon. ard's division. f3rd and 18th Hu; '■\ Legion). 32nd regiment. 67 Sir John Moore commenced his march from Lisbon towards the Spanish frontier on 26th October. Passing through Portugal by rapid marches, the troops accomplished a distance of two hundred English miles in a very short time, and were speedily engaged in operations in Spain. On 1st December, 1808, a redistribution was made, and Major- General Rowland HilPs brigade consisted of the 2nd Queen's, and the 5th and 32nd regiments. The Spaniards, under Cuesta, Blake, and Palafox, had been routed at all points, and as the French, in overwhelming numbers, were moving on Madrid, Sir John Moore made preparations for a retreat into Portugal, by way of Ciudad Rodrigo. It was reported to him, however, that Madrid was disposed to hold out, and he therefore determined to effect a junction with Sir David Baird, who had landed at Vigo with reinforcements, so as to make a diversion in favour of Madrid by attacking Soult on the Carrion. This junction was effected at Mayorga on 20th December. A redistribution of brigades then took place, in which the 32nd, with the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 14th regiments were brigaded under Major- General Rowland Hill, in Lieutenant-General Hope's division. On 21st December the British forces — twenty-nine thousand strong — had their head-quarters at Toro ; and on the 23rd, Moore advanced with his whole army. The cavalry had already met that of the enemy, and the infantry were within two hours' march of their opponents when an intercepted letter communicated the intelligence that Napoleon had entered Madrid — in person — three weeks before, and was then in full march towards Salamanca and Benevente. This rendered a retreat through Portugal impracticable, and it was decided to retire through Galicia to Vigo or Corunna. The several divisions were accordingly put in motion towards the Esia, the greater portion crossing by the bridge of Benevente on 26th December. Here the British cavalry, under Lord Paget (afterwards Marquis of Anglesey), after a brief halt, had an affair with some of the imperial guard which had forded the Esla under General Le P'evre, who was taken prisoner with several of his men. In the depth of winter, in the heart of a bare and desolate country, buried in snow or deluged with heavy 6« HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE rains, without shelter, uncertain of their supplies and destitute of fuel, the troops hurried on, by long and toilsome marches ; baggage, ammuniiion, stores, and even money (;^25,000 was thrown over the side of a mountain) being destroyed to prevent it falling into the enemy's hands. 1809. Battle of Oonuma. On 5th January, 1809, the army reached Lugo, and bivouacked in order of battle, resuming Its march on the night of the Hth, and reached Corunna — via Bentanzos*— on the 11th, after having traversed a distance of two hundred and fifty miles under difficulties and privations rarely exceeded. At Corunna a delay ensued, owing to the transports not being ready, but by the 16th the sick and what remained of the baggage had already been embarked, when the French began to move down from the heights, about 2 p.m., and a sanguinary battle ensued, the brunt of which fell on Lord W. Bentick's brigade. In the end the French were repulsed, and the British were allowed to commence embarking next day without molestation, although, later, some guns on the heights o( St. Lucia — in the words of an eye-witness — " began to knock the dust out of the " sides of the old transports, so that they were glad to cut and run ; " and the business ended in hurry and some confusion. The 32nd, with General Hill's brigade, were this day on the British left, and lost two hundred and fifty non-commissioned officers and men.t Sir John Hope, who succeeded to the command on the death of the gallant Sir John Moore, writes, in his despatch announcing the victory :J " The enemy not having rendered the attack on the left a serious " one, did not afford the troops stationed in that quarter an opportu- • In the match from Lugo to Bentanzos the loss of the »rmy wm groier than in the whole of the pieviou* part of the eipcdilioii. — Clititon, Tie War m the Peninsula, p. 70. t Strange lo say, the returns of killed and wounded were never, 1 believe. % Landett Gaulti. 33nd regiment. " nity of displaying that gallantry which must have made him repent "the attempt. " The principal and advanced parts of the line, under Major- " Generals Hill, Leith, and Catlin Crauford, conducted themselves " with great resolution, and were ably supported by the officers "commanding these brigades and by the troops of which they were " composed, " It IS particularly incumbent on the lieutenant-general to notice "the vigorous attack made by the 2nd battalion of the Hth Uegiment, " under Colonel Nicolls, which drove the enemy out of the village on " the left, of which he bad possessed himself." The 32nd Regiment was principally employed during the retreat in the arduous duly of escorting the ammunition and stores of the army, suffering great loss and misery by the unavoidable circumstances attending that retreat. After the final action at Corunna, the 32nd embarked, and in a very sickly stale returned to England with the rest of the army, where it arrived about the 24th June, 1809. Corunna is a weakly fortified town on the south-east of an irregularly shaped peninsula The town is commanded by heights, which approach close to the walls on the south, extending from Mero, at El Burgo, and would have been the best position to occupy : but such an extended line was more than Moore would attempt with his diminished army. The position was occupied by the French, under Soult, and commanded the whole front. Some of .Moore's generals advocated negotiations, to admit of (he troops embarking, but Moore would not hear of it, as no defeat had been sustained. Moore hoped to be able to embark his army without molestation, but on the afternoon of the 16lh January the French were observed to be in motion, and the British infantry — fourteen thousand five hundred strong, with forty of the ISth Hussars — proceeded to take up their allotted positions. Moore's line extended along the range between the villages of Elvina and Airis. Nine six- pounders — the only guns which had not been embarked — were posted on advantageous points, under Colonel Hardinge. The centre > agroaicu. secoros of the of attack was the village of Elvina, and it ms dnnng tbe i the ^2nd to take it, that Sir John Moore received his death woand from a cannon halL The following extracts fnKn the diary of Captain Evd^h, Royal Horse Artillery, quoted at length in " Civimmi to StvaOopei^' by Colonel Whinyaies, wiil be read with interest : — -Wednesday. 4th Jan., 1309.- mamfaed for NogaJes. Xhxs was a L, aith nits cut into tbe snow ice " two feet deep, and large boles so that ihe horses could scarce move; The '"road strewed and blocked up with ordnance camaiics and others of every " description : numbers of dead horses, men, women, and ciiildren frozen " 10 death. " Monday, 16th Jan.^B^3n m embark. About A p.m. tbe enemy }xm% " reinforced made an attack u{)an our ootposts wbtcb soon became geneial "with all the troops on shore. Tlie tire &wn the ArCiHery on both sides "and musketry was very heavy and incessant ondl dark, wben the enemy "retired ro his original position. The -Ub, 5ih, litb, :i2nd, 43rd, oOch, " Slat, and 95th Regts were engaged (togedter; with Truscotf s and W'alTs " Brigades R.A. The picket was commanded by Colonel Napier, who was " killed. Sir David E^rd wounded. Sir fohn Moore shot in the shoulder, "and died on the road to Comnna. " Tuesday, 17th January.— A strong picket was left out during the night, " and all the remaining troops retired into the town after dark, and aboni "12 o'clock began embarking, which continued going on ihroagh the " night, with some confusion, as it was very dark, and the boats were " running foul, and very few found the intended ships. .... This morning, " at day-break, the piicket came in, and were soon followed ver\' near to " the [own by the French, who were popping at them great pan of the ii-ay. " About half-past 12 they opened several guns upon us, and kept up a " smart fite of shot and shell, to tbe great annoyance of the inner pan of "the Fleet, about eighty or ninety sail crowded together as thick as " possibly and full of troops. Every ship now w«nt to work getting up "anchor, or cutting cable and setting sail, to make an attempt at least to " gel away. Numbers of boats were away from their ships fetching more " of the army off. and rowing about between die ships. The shot and shell " now fell very thick among them, the ships all in motion and the confusion "great. Many ran foul, and many upon rocks. The wind, however, " became more moderate, and Providence made it change two points in 32nd regiment. 71 " our favour, which enabled us and many others to weather Castle Point, " and we were happy in getting soon out of their reach, with only our " rigging damaged and the loss of two anchors. " Wednesday, 18th Jan. — Off and on all the morning waiting to collect " the Fleet .... many of the transport got out during the night, and the " Men-of-War got hold of the rest of the Army About 4 o'clock the " whole fleet made sail for Old England, going right before the wind. " Monday, 23rd Januaiy. — At 12 a frigate signalled us into Plymouth. "Anchored about 6 o'clock p.m." The thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to the Army "for its distinguished discipline, firmness, and valour in the battle " of Corunna." For the services of the regiment in this campaign, Lieutenant- Colonel Hinde received two gold medals — one for Roleia and Vimiera, and one for Corunna. The regiment was assembled at Horsham, where it was, by the exertion of Lieutenant-Colonel Hinde, soon re-equipped — having re- ceived no supply of equipment since 1807 — and rendered fit for service, its strength being six hundred and eighty rank and file.* Extract from MSS. in the Royal United Service Institution : — Establishment 1st April, 1809, previous to militia volun- L6C riTl^ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... vXw Volunteered from English militia 26 Volunteered from Irish militia 1 In Portugal ... ... ... *•• ... ..« ... 90 Total, 10th May, 1809 ... 734 Left in Spain 132 Grand Total ... 866 Captain Ross-Lewin relates: — "In July, 1809, a most extensive "armament was collected in the Downs. The army consisted of • In the returns of troops under orders for active service in the VValcheren Expedition, rendered to Parliament by the adjutant-general, the strength of the Ist battalion 32nd Regiment is given at five hundred and seventy-nine ofHcers and men. — Walter Grey, H^alcheren Expedition, (2 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE "upwards of forly thousand men, and the fleet of ihirty-nine sail of "the line and ihirlj-six frigates, besides numerous gunboats, bomb "vessels, and other small craft. The latter was commanded by Lord " Gardner, and the former by the Earl of Chatham, but no more like "his father than I lo Hercules. My regiment (32nd) formed a "portion of the land force. The destination of the expedition was at "first kept a profound secret, and an embargo was laid on the " shipping in all the ports of Great Britain and Ireland, to continue "until we should sail. I'he troops were embarked on board the " ships of war as well as the transports, . . . each seventy-four took " a regiment. The object of this expedition was two-fold ; it was only " at the moment of sailing that it was said that a diversion in favour of "our Allies and an attack on the French fleet, near Antwerp, was " meditated. We sailed from the Downs on the 28th July, and were "off the Dutch coast in the morning, nearmg the island of Walcheren, " The fleet soon came to anchor, and immediately preparations were " made for our landing, which was effected without opposition at a "point about ten miles distant from Flushing. That place was "strongly fortified and garrisoned by French troops. "A battery which had commenced firing on the shipping quickly " fell into our hands, followed the next day by the town of Ter Veere, " which lies on the north-eastern part of the island. All the enemy's "posts outside Flushing were also driven in, and we entered Middle- " bury — the capital of Walcheren, and an open town— without opposi- " sition, having first promised lo respect property. " A strong division of sailors was landed when we appeared before " Flushing, to assist in the erection of batteries. Their station was " on the extreme right. They threw up a considerable work, armed "with twenty-four pounders, and their fire from it soon became so " incessant as to excite general astonishment. . . " The picquets continued to skirmish with little intermission. The " 32nd Regiment was much engaged, and behaved with distinguished "spirit. Sir Eyre Coote expressed his high approbation of ihe con- " duct of the corps, and said that ' when the 32nd was oh the advanced "posts, he could sleep sound.' At this time the French understood " irregular firing much better than our men ; the file did not separate ; 32nd regiment. one fired at random, knowing thai a British soldier would pop up his head to see from what point the shot proceeded, and the other, being at the ' present,' was ready to fire on the Rrsi pierson that should show himself. We lost several men by this stratagem. On one occasion I dined with Major Johnson, 32nd regiment, and one or two other officers, behind some hurdles on the advanced posts. His servant, who had prepared the dinner, said he would take a peep at the French, who were within a few yards, and have a crack at them, He must have exposed himself, for in a few minutes we discovered he had been shot through the heart ; and, as so many shots came about our heads when we tried to bury the poor fellow near where he had been slain, we brought him behind our shelter and there buried him. One morning, before a part of the line of advanced [josts had been relieved, the old picquets belonging to it, by some mistake, moved off, and our vigilant and active enemy had nearly profiled by this occurrence, to our annoyance. The 33nd Regiment was to lake the outpost duly there on that day, under the command of Major Johnson, This officer was proceeding to the place of his destination by the usual, but circuitous, route, when he observed that the picquets had quitted their ground and that the enemy might make a sudden attempt to occupy it. Accord- ingly, seeing that there was no time to he lost, he procured some planks in an adjoining house, passed his men by means of them over a deep ditch, and thus was enabled to take a shorter way and reach the important point before the French. They were, however, in motion and creeping on, when they were checked by a sharp fire, which they returned, though finally compelled to fall back to their original station. " On 7th August the garrison made a sortie. The greater part of them were drunk, and they were easily driven back. A laughable occurrence took place, in which our fat brevet major was concerned. He happened to be posted in an advanced position, and, having a quiet moment, took advantage of it to perform the operation of shaving behind a haystack. His wig was off, and only half his task accomplished, when a party of French sallied out and attacked his post. The alarm was given, and he rushed instantaneously from 74 HISTORICAL RF.COKDS OF THE " his toilet, just as he was, and razor in hand, to head his men. He " soon repulsed his assailants, but, had the fortune of the fight gone "against him and he been taken prisoner, his extraordinary figure, "without coat, hat, or H-ig, his face half-covered with soap, and his " hand armed with a razor instead of a sword, would, no doubt, have "excited much merriment at his expense among his lively and "sarcastic caplors. "On lOth August, General Monnet, who commanded in Hushing ] " ordered the banks to be cut and [he sluices opened, inundating the J " surrounding country, A violent thunderstorm broke out at the same] "time, causing great damage. On the 13th the bombardment c "menced, and the town was set on fire in several places. Lordfl " Gardner, in the Blaki, sailed up the river, followed by the other line- ' "of-battle ships. Each as they passed, in succession, fired a broad- ■'side. The facing of the parapet being of cut stone, the splinters "flew about to such a degree that the French ariiller)'men deserted " their guns. The place eventually capitulated. The yarriion defiled " out before Lord Chatham the following day, the unfortunate French " troops being kept seven hours under arms in very hot weather. They " were five thousand strong, and a large proportion of Irishmen among " them." After the fall of Flushing, part of the army proceeded to South Beveland, and some regiments embarked and sailed up the Scheldt towards Antwerp, the 3iJnd Regiment being amongst the number. They anchored within ten miles of Antwerp, in sight of the French fleet. The French had in the meanwhile thrown forty thousand men of the National Guard into the Netherlands, under Bernadotte, and put Antwerp in a state of defence. Fort Lillo providing them with a strong garrison. Heavy chains were thrown across the river, and the French ships of war were so moored that ihey could concentrate their fire on certain points and sweep the entire channel. Strong batteries were erected on the banks of the river, and the surrounding country was laid under water. Under these circumstances, Lords Chatham and Gardner thought 32nd regiment. 75 that any attempt on Antwerp would be unsuccessful, and retired ; at the same time, it was a bitter pill for the fleet and army to be within reach of such a noble prize and to have lost it through what was be- lieved at the time, the supineness and incapacity of the commanders. During the whole of the operations against Flushing, the regiment was actively employed, and on the surrender of that fortress was transferred to Brigadier-Greneral Ackland's brigade, and proceeded up Scheldt, where it remained on board the transports, opposite Fort Batz, in South Beveland, until further operations were discontinued. The losses the regiment sustained during the Walcheren expedition, from the landing, 30th July to 1st August, were : one sergeant and one rank and file killed, and two sergeants and five rank and file wounded ; and from the 2nd to 6th August, two rank and file killed and fifteen rank and file wounded. It was decided by the authorities to leave a force of twenty-one regiments in Walcheren, under command of General Don. The 32nd was one of the regiments, and formed part of the garrison of Middleburg until the final evacuation on 9th December following. The excessive mortality made the expedition a by-word. A military writer says : " The mortality was truly dreadful. The 23rd, 81st, and " 91st Regiments were struck off duty on the 1st October, not having " a single man on that day out of hospital. An order to bury the dead " at night was given, with a view of concealing the frightful extent of " the daily ravages of the fever in our ranks. All the carpenters in " Middleburg were busily employed in making coffins for the British " troops. In a few weeks there were barely three thousand fit for ** duty in the entire force. The Dutch physicians did not approve of ** the treatment employed by our own medical men, and offered to *' take charge of a hundred soldiers in hospital, and to allow any of '* our medical men to select an equal number, in order to see which " treatment was the most successful, but the offer was rejected." It now became evident that unless reinforcements were received the remnant of the force would be shut up in Flushing, as the French continued to move troops into Beveland. Orders were accordingly given for their return, whicli was effected — after blowing up the defences— by 20th December, 1809. 70 HISTORICAL RFCORDS OF THE The disastrous consequences of ihis ill-conducted ex[>edition created considerable discontent at home, and certainly with perfect justice; for, in addition to our failure before Antwerii, the niorlality that thinned our ranks could not have been equalled in the most sanguinary campaign, and the services of nearly half the men of whorn the army in Walcheren consisted were lost for ever to the country. Lord Casllereagh and Mr. Canning themselves quarrelled on this unpleasant subject, and finally fought a duel, in which the latter was wounded. The Depot which had been formed at home was augmented con- siderably, with a view of supplying (he great losses the regiment had sustained in Walcheren. The following is from a newspaper account of the period : "1809. '■ The jubilee of George III. was kept on (he 25lh October, 1800, and "at Horsham was celebrated 'in the most joyous, loyal, anii benevolent "manner.' The day was ushered in by ihc ringing of bells, which con- " (inued till noon, when the garrison, consisting of the 51st Regiment, with " part of the lJ3rd and 32nd, fired a feu de joi't on Den hill, which was " returned by the Volunteers in the town ; after which the regiments of the "garrison marched to the Market- square, and gave three hearty cheers, in " which they were joined by the inhabitants with the greatest enthusiasm. " (Jubilee Year of George III., 1809)." Return of corps at Walcheren, 7ih September, 1809 (32nd Regiment) : Field Officers 3 Subalterns 21 Staff 4 — 35 34 The 32nd Regiment was brigaded with the 2nd Queen's and 76th, tjnder Brigadier-General Ackland. 32f(D REGIMENT. 1810. The 32nd Regiment mustered little more ihan two hundred men on embarking. The fact of its having landed one of the weakest and returned one of the strongest is, perhaps, worthy of remark. The regiment landed at Portsmouth and marched to Hailsham, where it arrived in the middle of January, 1810, and received a draft from the 2nd battalion at Cork. The effects of the unhealthy climate of Walcheren, however, rendered a change of air necessary for the re -establishment of the health of the regiment, and it was ordered, in July, to Bexhill, and on the 12th August took part in a grand review of thirteen thousand men on Brighton Down, before the Prince of Wales, all the royal dukes, and a brilliant staff. There appears to have been some misunderstanding, in consequence of the numerous nobles present who wore stars, and foreign officers in uniform at this review ; and several officers in marching past saluted different persons before they had come near the prince. The staff galloped about, exclaiming to the blunderers — " Gentlemen, you are saluting the wrong person, the prince is farther " on, dressed in the uniform of the 10th Dragoons." The 32nd Regiment was moved to Bexhill, into Nut barracks, brigaded with the 1st and 2nd light battalions King's German Legion, from whom most valuable instruclion was obtained in outpost duties, in which the English troops were then proverbially deficient. Lieutenant-Colone! Hinde, who commanded the tirst battalion at this time, paid much attention to light infantry duties — and had commanded the Provisional Light Infantry battalion in Dublin in 1803, The air of Bexhill not producing the desired effect, the regiment was ordered to Guernsey, arriving there 3rd September, and remaining in that island until June the following year, (ISU) during which period the health of the men was re-established, the equipment completed, and discipline improved. Recruiting parties were sent out, and some volunteers from the Militia joined, raising the strength up to six hundred men, notwithstanding the number invalided from the effects of the Walcheren fever. HISTORICAL RF.CORDS OF THE 1811. The regiment had been for some lime under orders to proceed to the Peninsula a second time, and at length embarked on iHh June. On its arrival it disembarked, and occupied quarters in the cistle of Lisbon ; while there a draft from the 2nd battalion, consisting of three hundred men, joined under the command of Captain Portley. " On 19th July the regiment, being provided with field equipment, embarked on board boats in the Tagus, and proceeded to ViUada, about two leagues from Santarem ; landed, and marched to join Brigadier-General Burns' brigade, in the 6th division, at Nave-d'-Aver in the August following. " Lord Wellington's head-quarters were at Fuente Guinaldo on 10th August. On 17th August we reached the miserable village of Barquilla, in Spain, distant four leagues from Ciudad Rodrigo, and thence moved to Villa de Porco. "The British and Portuguese army, with the exception of Sir Rowland Hill's corps of fourteen thousand men, then in the Alentejo, went into cantonments on the line of the Agueda. The infantry were about thirty-eight thousand strong, and cavalry only four thousand. "The food served out here was of the coarsest, consisting of over-driven beasts and ship's biscuit. One officer died from absolute want of nourishment, and many others suffered terribly, more especially as the want of money began to be felt. " The next move of the 6th division was to Gallegos and its vicinity, moving subsequently more to the right. " While we were thinking of laying siege to Ciudad Rodrigo, the force in Spain was considerably augmented by the arrival of reinforcements from France, a great part of which consisted of troops long inured to war."* An action took place near Guinaldo on 24th September, but the " Ross-Lewin, Life af a SehUtr. 32nd regiment. 79 regiment, with the 6th division, were not engaged. On 29th August the drd division crossed the Coa and went into cantonments, leaving three divisions to watch Ciudad Rodrigo ; the 32nd Regiment occu- pied Chiras. On 24th October the army advanced ; the 32nd Regi- ment marched to Galligos, but when it reached Fuentes d'Onor Captain Ross-Lewin was sent back to Almeida with a working party, who remained there fivQ days, returning to Chiras. The 5th and 6th divisions moved towards the Douro and Mondego, leaving Chiras on 2nd December. The transport of the army was considerably improved here by Lord Wellington, who had ordered six hundred waggons to be made. After three long marches the recjiment reached Musquetilla, a very small village, which scarcely afforded room for it. 1812. The army was now paid up to 24th October, 1811, and the messing considerably improved throughout. The sick list rapidly decreased in consequence; all the troops, including the 32nd Regiment, were employed in making fascines and gabions, with a view to the siege of Rodrigo, which commenced on 14th January, 1812; different detached points having been seized during the night of the 8th ; and on the 19th, Ciudad Rodrigo fell. Marmont, who was advancing with a force of sixty thousand men for the relief of Rodrigo, believing he had ample time, was incredible, and had to remain in- active in the neighbourhood of Salamanca. The 6th division re- mained in their cantonments until 1st February, when they fell back ; the 32nd Regiment marched to Nave d'Aver, reaching Marialva, which stands on the summit of a high craggy mountain, on 21st January ; marched to Alentigo, Guarda, and Alpedrinja, and, on the 29th, to Castello Branco, thence to Villa Velha, crossing the Tagus, ascending the river on the right bank, and, after a fourteen days' march in a lovely country, entered Estremos, a large and handsome town, and remained there a week to recruit their strength, as men and horses were very jaded by the length of the march. 80 HISTORICAL RECOEDS OF THE On I5th March ihe 32nd Regiment camped at Elvas, where every preparation for the siege of Badajoz had been made. On the morning of ISth March, General Graham,* with the 1st, 6th, and 7th divisions and the cavalry brigade, crossed the bridge of pontoons two miles below Badajoz, and reached Santa Martha under incessant rain, the men having to pass the inclement night without cover. Next day the divisions passed through Albuera and the position occupied by the allied armies two years previously (16th May, 1810); the bones of men and horses testifying to the struggle which took place there. The day that the troops marched from Elvas, Marshal Beresford also crossed the Guadiana, with the light, 3rd and 4th divisions, about twelve thousand men, and immediately invested Badajoz. The 32nd Regiment moved with the 6th and Tth divisions to cover this force and to watch Soult's army. On 25th March the 6th division marched to Llerena, distant some forty-lwo miles, with the object of surprising about two thousand of the enemy ; but after a long and tedious march found the enemy had gone. Pursuing for two days as far as Usagre, but not overtaking them, the division fell back on Almandralejo, which was reached 4th April. In the meantime Badajoz had fallen amid much bloodshed. On 16lh April the 6th division went to Portalegre, thence to Casiello Branco, returning to Escaldos de Cima, two leagues to the north- wards. The 32nd Regiment was very sickly here and did not muster half its number on |)arade. From Escaldos de Cima the regiment rccrossed the Tagus to Alentejo, occupying Castello de Vido for a week, thence to Azume, where the regiment was inspected by General Clinton, and received a draft of one hundred and forty men from the 2nd battalion. On 12th May marched to Aronches, halting for a week, and then to La Palla, Casiel de Vido, and Povo, reaching Castello Branco o 3rd June. * AAnwaids Lord Lyndock. J 32nd regiment. Battle of Salamanca. The neighbourhood of Salamancn was reached on 17th June, 1812, At 8 o'clock that evening the 33nd Regiment sent the first working parly, under Captain Ross-Lewin, to break ground before the convent of San Vincente, and they managed to obtain cover without much loss allhougb the French had destroyed several fine Spanish buildings to give a more extensive range to their fire. It was soon found that the newly-constructed earthworks were ill- placed, the ground being too low and the men insufficiently covered. Several valuable lives were lost in consequence. On the 23rd a battery on higher ground was completed and armed, but the fire from it appears to have been ineffective. Lord Wellington visited this work, and while viewing the enemy's position from it was warned of the danger of remaining where he was, as several four-pounder round shot had previously dropped there. He had only moved off a few minutes when a shot fell which would, but for this timely warning, have certainly deprived the army of its able commander. On the evening of that day a flag of truce was sent out by the besieged, but the proposals made were rejected, and at 8 o'clock the firing recommenced. It was then determined to storm the enemy's works. The storming parties consisted of the light companies of the 3nd, 32nd, and 36th regiments, under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Hinde,* and those of the other brigade under Lieutenant- Colonel Bingham, 53rd regiment. Preceded by twenty men carrying ladders, the assaulting parly, led on by Major-General Bowes, who had the chief command, commenced their advance. The instant they showed themselves they were received wiih a withering fire. In a few minutes more than half of the assailants were placed hors it (ombat, and the remainder had to retire. Major-General Bowes was also killed. " At the siege of the forts of St. Vincente, "St. Cajetano, and I-a Mercet, from 18th to 24lh June, 1812, the " 32nd lost ten rank and file killed, and two sergeants and twenty-six * 32nd Regiment, W2 ll'CIORrCAL BECOKnS ' " rank and file wounded. For their conduct on these occasions the " 6th division received the ihanks of the commander of the forces, in "General Orders, dated Salamanca, 28th June, 1812." An attempt to sec fire to one of the fortified convents was success- fully carried out on the 26th. At the same time the fire from the recently completed battery on the right broke down some of the enemy's paHsades. Ensign Fitzgerald, of the 32nd, was killed by a fragment of a shell. On the morning of the 27th, the fire from our batteries having proved very destructive, the French commandant requested a cessation of firing for three hours, in order to make terms, but his request was refused, and directions given for storming. Ensign Newton (32nd) led the forlorn hope. The assault was completely successful. The fort, in which a breach had been made, was quickly carried, and the whole French garrison surrendered at discretion, after having kept an entire division at bay for ten days. The forts were now blown up by victorious troops ; all the guns and a considerable supply of clothing fell into the hands of the English. The 6th division, which had lost nearly five hundred, killed and wounded, then marched to join the remainder of the army. On the 29lh, Lord Wellington moved from Salamanca towards the Douro, which is about eleven leagues distant. The enemy fell back as Wellington advanced. On 15th July the allied army moved to the left. The main body moved to Villa Pena, six leagues from Salamanca. On the 17th the whole French army crossed the Douro, and by a forced march nearly succeeded in cutting off the 4th and light divisions. There was a good deal of skirmishing in the front of Villa Pena, which was much to our advantage. On the 20th, Marshal Marmont fell back, after having failed to relieve Salamanca, behind the Douro, while the Allies took up a position on the opposite bank and enjoyed a fortnight's rest, A series of manoeuvres followed, which ended by the contending armies finding themselves face to face on the Tormes, on 23rd July, when the 6lh division crossed and bivouacked on its banks. "When night came on a terrific thunderstorm, accompanied with 32.\0 RliOIMENT. 83 "heavy rain, broke over us," writes an officer;* "peal upon peal "succeeded in increasing vehemence; the electric fluid literally " hissed through the air, and such was the vividness of the lightning " that I was deprived of sight for some moments. The horses of the " 5ih Dragoon Guards became dreadfully frightened, broke from their " picquets, and ran over the men who were stretched on the ground, " inflicting severe injuries on si:veral of them. It was, indeed, as wild "and fearful a night as ever preceded a memorable day of strife "and slaughter; no sound was heard but the heavy splash of the " incessant rain, the trampling of the terrified horses, and the shouts "and groans of the men, save when they were all confounded in the " stunning reverberations of the aerial artillery, which at brief intervals " poured forth an awful note of warning for the bloody work of the " morrow. " At daybreak on Wednesday, 22nd July, the troops began to " move into their positions, the British left resting on the Tormes, "their right on the lesser of two rocky eminences known as the " Arapiles, Marmont occupied a mountainous ridge in front, his right " resting on the greater Arapiles. The chief part of the day was " spent in nianceuvring ; Marmont, whose chief object seemed lo be " to turn our position and cut ofl" our retreat, endeavouring to deceive "the British commander; but he did not know his man. In this "manceuvre the French general incautiously weakened his own line, "and his antagonist was too much on the alert not to profit by the "blunder. The enemy began what was destined to be the serious "business of the day by a heavy cannonade. At this lime the 6th " division was halted in columns of companies. A light battalion of " the King's German Legion marched by, and as the last section of " this corps was passing an opening in the heights on their flank, the "first shot that I saw take effect came through and killed five of " them. The enemy next threw out a thick swarm of tirailleurs along " his front and flank, and simultaneously extended his left, apparently " with the view of cutting off our communication with'Rodrigo. Our " 1st and light divisions were then on the extreme left, the 4ih and 81 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " 5ih in rear of the Arapiles, and the 6lh and 7th in reserve ; the " 3rd division and cavalry occupied ihe right. The enemy began an " attack upon ihc village of Arapiles, but they could not dislodge the " Guards, who held it. It was now that Lord Wellington saw that the "favourable moment had arrived, and he rapidly made dispositions "for the onset. General Paltenham was directed to turn the " enemy's left with the 3rd division, supported by artillery and " Portuguese horse. " Upon their ascending the heights a large body of cavalry came '' on to charge them, but the 5lh Foot being ihrown into a good "position, poured in such a well-directed volley ihal the dragoons " retired in confusion. The division then pressed on, and everywhere " outflanking the enemy drove them from point to point, making a " great number of prisoners. Sir Stapleton Cotton advanced with our " heavy cavalry, and in a brilliant charge cut to pieces a brigade of "infantry, but the arm to which he belonged suffered a severe loss " here by the death of General Le Marchant, who was killed by a " musket ball. The 4th and 5th divisions, supported by the 6th and " 7th, moved against the enemy in front nearly at the same time, and " General Pack, with a Portuguese brigade, against the greater " Arapiles. The latter officer failed in all his attempts to dislodge his " opponents from this steep and rugged hill, and his men suflfered " severely. On Ihe retreat of this brigade, the enemy pushed forward "a large body of infantry — attacking the 4th division, who then were "gaining ground, with great spirit — and caused some confusion. " General Cole was wounded in the conflict, But the 5th division came "up, and, by a judicious movement under the direction of Marshal " Beresford, retrieved the fortune of the fight at this point, and the " enemy, taken in flank, were compelled to retreat. Our success on " the left and centre of the French nas completed by the Gth division, " who succeeded in carrying the greater Arapiles, As we advanced, " we marched over a brigade that was lying on the ground.* * Lieutenant Smith, i>! the lllh Regiment which, with the 53r(] and 6ht, formed Ihe other leading brigade of the flih division, records ; " The advance was " so rapid, thai very many of a body of riflemen, more numerous than the Btiiish, 32nd regiment. 85 " By this time the loss sustained by the enemy was considerable. " One of their colonels lay immediately in front of the colours of the " 32nd Regiment ; he was badly wounded, and begged hard to be " removed from the tield, and Colonel Wood humanely directed the " drummers to take care of him. " Our work was not finished yet. Notwithstanding his discomfort "at all other points the enemy's right was still unbroken, and was "quickly reinforced by the beaten battalions. Marraont was " wounded and obliged to quit the field, but the command devolved "upon General Clausel, who with equal firmness and ability rallied " the fugitives, and, with the approach of evening in his favour, exerted " himself to prevent our further success. His new position was well '■ selected ; both his flanks were protected by a numerous cavalry, "and the face of the heights offered an unobstructed range for the "formidable artillery that he had disposed along his front " Wellington was not long in preparing for the attack, but the hour, " unfortunately for him, was very late, It was half past seven when "the 6th division, under General Clinton, was ordered to advance a " second time and attack the enemy's line in front, supported by the *• 3rd and 5th divisions. "The ground over which we had to pass was a remarkably clear ■' slope, like the glacis of a fortification, most favourable for the " defensive fire of the enemy and disadvantageous to the assailants, " but the division advanced towards the position with perfect steadi- " ness and confidence. A craggy ridge, on which the French infantry " was drawn up, rose so abruptly that they could fire four or five "deep, but we had approached within two hundred yards of them " before the fire of musketry began, which was by far the heaviest " that I have ever witnessed, and was accompanied by conslaul dis- " covering ihe relrcol o( [he main body of the defeated army, not having time to " get oul of ihe way, thiew themselves on the Eround— as if dead — and wcie run " over. It was not generally known that many of them fired at the baeks of the " advancing line ; one, it is certain, drove his bayonet into the back of a grenadier "of the 11th, atid l>efore he could withdraw il, was cut down by Brigade-Major " Cotton, who was following the brigade on fool, his horse hiving been killed." — Cannon, /fecerds oftAt nth. North Dtvmt Rt^nttiU, sc, HISTORICAL RECORDS OF 1 "charges of grape. An uninterrupted blaze was then maintained, so " that the crest of the hill seemed to be one long streak of flame. "Our men came down to the charging position and commenced " firing from that level, at the same lime keeping their touch to the "right, so that the gaps opened by the enemy's fire were instantly " filled up. At the very first volley that we received, about eighty " men of the right wing of the 32nd fell to the rear in one group ; " the colonel immediately rode up to know the cause, and found they " were all wounded. Previously to the advance of the 6th division, " the light companies of the right brigade were formed on the right " of the h*ne, and as we moved on one of the enemy's Howitzers was " captured by the light company of the 32nd Regiment It had " been discharged once, but, before the gunners could reload it, it " was taken hy a rush. The success of the attack was complete, for "as soon as the 6th division got near enough they dashed forward " with the bayonet, and, another portion of our troops acting on "Clausel's right flank, his army was quickly driven from the position " into the wood in their rear ; but before this, night had come on, and " to the convenient cover and darkness alone were the French, who " fled in great disorder, indebted for the safety of their whole force. " They retreated next morning through Alba de Tormes, followed " by our cavalry, who came up with the rear guard and threw it into "confusion. Three battalions of their infantry, being deserted by " their cavalry, threw themselves into square near the village of la " Serna. They were at once charged with great spirit and prompli- " tude hy the 1st and 2nd Regiments of heavy German horse, led on " by Baron Bock, and broken. Many of their men were cut down, and "about nine hundred prisoners taken. Three French generals were "killed in the battle, and three more wounded, besides Marmont, " who had to undergo amputation of one arm. Eleven pieces of "cannon were taken, and brought into Salamanca the following day. "It was a curious circumstance that the 3Snd in this engagement " recovered their big drum, which had been lost in the retreat to " Corunna." Extract from Lord Wellington's despatch to the Earl of Liverpool, dated 30th June, 1312: 32nd regiment. 87 " Major-General Clinton mentions, in strong terms of commendation, " the conduct of the General officers, officers, and troops . . . particularly " Colonel Hinde, of the 32nd Regiment . . . and Ensign Newton, of the '* 32nd Regiment, who distinguished himself in the attack on the night of " the 23rd instant, and volunteered to lead the advanced party in the attack " of the 27th." Wellington Despatches, vol. ix., p. 200. Heavy losses among the British were the price of the victory, of which the historian, Napier, has said that, *' Remarkable as it was ** in many points of view, it was not least so in this, that it was the " first decided Victor}' gained by the Allies in the Peninsula. In ** former actions the French had been repulsed ; here they were "driven headlong, as it were, before a mighty wind, without help " or stay, and the results were fearful." The official returns show the loss in the 32nd Regiment to have been : — one lieutenant (Seymour), one ensign (Newton), one sergeant, and fourteen men, killed ; and two captains, five lieutenants, two ensigns, eight sergeants, and one hundred and three men, wounded. It may be interesting here to give an extract from a contemporary newspaper : " Ensign Newton, of the 32nd Regiment of Foot, who so eminently " distinguished himself on the night of the 23rd June, 1812, in the attack '* of the forts of Salamanca, and who so gallantly volunteered his services " to lead on the storming party on the 27th of the same month, is a " Canadian by birth, son of an Irish gentleman, originally from the county " of Wexford, who for many years held an important situation under the " British Government in North America. Ensign Newton has from his " youth been bred to arms. At the age of fifteen he obtained a commission " in the Nova Scotia Fencibles, in which he served for upwards of eight " years, and was a captain in said regiment some time before its reduction, "which took place during the last short peace. About three years ago " Mr. Newton came over to England, and, feeling an ardent desire again " to enter the British Service, was, at the particular request of his Royal " Highness the Duke of Kent, appointed to an ensigncy in the 32nd " Regiment" HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE An extract from the bulletin contained in the London Gazette Extraordinary, of 16th August, 1812, gives the following interesting paiticulars : " Despatch, dated 21st July, 1812. " Names of officers killed, wounded, and missing, of the Allied Army, " under the command of His Excellency General the Earl of Wellington, " in the battle near Salamanca on (he 22nd July, 1812.— 32nd Regiment ; " Killed— Licui. Seymour, Ensign Newton, 1 sergeant, 14 rank and tile. " Wounded —Captains Ross-Lewin, Toole (slightly) ; Lieuts. Greaves, " Eason (severely) ; Lieut. R. Robinson (slightly) ; Lieuts. Bowes, " Duiterworth ; Ensign Newton (2nd) (severely) ; Ensign (Volun- " teer) Ulood* (slightly) ; 8 sergeants, and 103 rank and file. " Miwing— None." on comparison that the speUing of names diners Gazelle and Army List (1812), and it is curious 0 ensigns in the regiment of the same Christian NoTit,— It will be 9< In one or two caies in 10 note thiit there wen And lurname. An old veteran of the 32nd Regi- ment, Thomas Palmer, was born on the ■'iOlh November, 1789. In January, 1807, he enlisted into the 32nd Regi- ment, and in September of that year was present with his corps at the attack on Co[ienhagen. In 1808 and 1809 he served in Sir John Moore's army, and was present at Corunna. Then he served in the Walcheren expedition, and in August, 1809, was severely wounded at the siege of Flushing. He served again in the Peninsula during the years 1811 to 1814, inclu- sive ; was present at the siege and storming of Badajos, the battle of Snlamanca, and the capture of Madrid. He was discharged from the army in 1814, at Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin, when he was twenty- THOMAS PALMER. * Officers of militia were peimilted to volunteer for service in tine regiments, provided they would bring a certaiu nomber of militiamen with them. 32nd regiment. 89 five years old, on a pension of nine-pence a day, and his papers show that throughout his service he was "a steady, good soldUr." After leaving the army he learnt the trades of shoeinaking and farming, and he practised these callings for many years, but on reaching the age of seventy he was obliged to give up all work. Although his service with the colours was less than eight years, he (in common with his comrades) experienced at times the most dreadful hardships and suffering, and had very many narrow escapes and some marvellous personal adventures. It has been calculated that since his enlistment in 1807, Palmer must have received in pay, pensions, granis, &c., the sura of ^1,400 of public money ; besides which, during the last three years Major Shanks, R.M.L.I., (who has taken the deepest interest in the old man's welfare, and through whose generous efforts the funeral was made a military one) has most kindly raised no less than j£,\OQ for his benefil, of which upwards of ^14 was contributed by Palmer's old regiment and the depot. He died at Weston-super- Mare, on 10th April, 1889. One officer (Lieutenant Chapman), one warrant officer, and two colour-sergeants, from Bodmin, attended his funeral. A portion of the troops — including the 6lh division^ — was left on the Douro, and Wellington, with the main body, then proceeded to Madrid. Major Ross Lewi n says: "Our wounded officers and men re- " covered very slowly, a circumstance attributable either to the " influence of the climate or the state of the blood, impoverished by " bad living," The result of Wellington's advance to Madrid was not so advanta- geous as he had reason to expect, and nothing seemed to rouse the Spaniards to action. On 1st September he quilted .Madrid with four divisions, and marched through Valladolid, in the direction of Burgos, a fortress of great strength and well garrisoned, and was joined by the Spanish Gallician army. Although unprovided with heavy artillery, WeUington determined to lay siege to that place. It was invested on the 20th by the 1st and 6th divisions and two Portuguese brigades, the rest of the army taking up an advanced position to cover the bcseiged force. HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE I-OURTH PERIOD. Siege of BnrgoB-Indla, 1^. 1812-51. jiA^ FTER the bat[]e of Salamanca the Briiish followed ihe broken »^K fragmenis of ihe French army. The 6th division was however left on the Douro with some other troops, and Wellington, with the main body, proceeded to Madrid, making a triumphal entry into that city on 12lh August, 1812. Kelurning from Madrid, he drove the French out of Valladolid, which had been evacuated by the BriDsh and occupied by the enemy, down the fertile valleys of the Pisuerga and Ailanjen, taking up a position covering Burgos, which was still held by a French garrison. The Caslle of Burgos, with its formidable outworks, enclosed a rugged hill commanding the city, which lay between (hat defence and the river, and contained a garrison of fourteen hundred French, with a numerous artillery, under General Dubretor, a bold and skilful soldier. The place was invested by the Isl and 6th British divisions, with two brigades of Portuguese, on I9lh September, and Lord Wellington found it to be. in his own words, " the toughest job yet undertaken." A detached work, in a commanding situation, was carried by assault. Here batteries were erecled, but Weihngton had only three eightc en-pounders and five Howitzers. On the night of 22nd September an aliempl to scale the outer wall (ailed, and two of the three eighteen -pounders were dismounted by the su[jerior fire from the castle. The besiegers next tried the sap and the mine, but with a considerable loss of life on their part, and when a breach was effected in the first wall on the 29lh, by the explosion of a mine, ihe troops directed to storm lost their way, and the garrison, in the space of a few hours, repaired the damage done. On 4th October another breach was made, and a lodgment was effected by the assailants ; but a sortie of the garrison on the (ollowing day caused considerable mischief, though they obtained only lem- 32SD REGIMENT. 61 porary possession of the post, A parallel was then commenced Coward the second line of defences. Throughout the siege the workmen had to contend with many difficulties and great dangers ; it was nearly impossible for them to cover themselves, as ihey had to work on rock, barely concealed by the surface clay, and so hard that it required extraordinary labour to make the slightest impression on it. When our troops had established themselves within the outer wall, the enemy placed shells in long scoops, and, lighting the fuses, rolled them over the glacis, where ihey exploded, carrying death and destruction amongst the working parties. This, combined with a galling musketry fire, rendered the works almost untenable. On the night of the 8th another desperate sortie on the part of ihe garrison was attended with much loss on the part of the besiegers ; and ten days later another unsuccessful assault was made on the works. The ciiy o( Burgos, once the capital of Castile, lies close under the castle ; and, although in our possession, it was commanded by the castle. The 33nd Regiment was quartered in an old convent in the town. Owing to the absence of heavy artillery, the siege made little progress, and the delay became a serious matter, as Soult had formed a junction wiih King Joseph, and together mustered nearly sixty thousand men. Strong reinforcements had been pushed into the castle by the French, who succeeded in driving in the outposts, but eventually occupied their old position,* On the Slst Wellington decided to fall back and relinquish the siege. "Our retreat commenced after nightfall. We passed over the "bridge of Burgos, which was commanded by the Casile, on a still, "dark night, with the utmost caution. Not a word was spoken, and "not a sound was heard, save the tread of the numerous troops " marching past, while the garrison threw blue lights at short intervals " over the ramparts, that no enemy might approach unobserved. " There was something peculiarly awful in this night march of so " great a body of men — the cautious silence, the dead hour, and the " consideration that in an instant the guns of the Castle might send II * During ibc operalionii heCort Burgos the 32iid lost c Quick, two $erg«nnts, and one inon, wounded. 93 HISTORICAL RECORDS Or THE " death amongst us. Some of the last troops had a few shots fired at " them, but, ahogether, this clever movement was so well conducted " that the garrison was ignorant of it until it was too late for them to " cause us any serious annoyance. "The army was much reduced by sickness; the 32nd did not " muster more than one hundred and fifty men, although there were " seven hundred and fifty in the country. " The French army followed us, and on the 23rd some skirmishing " took place between the enemy's van and our rear-guard ; the French " were superior to us in cavalry. We marched for the Douro under " circumstances ot severe privation ; only one pound of biscuit was " served out to each man for his six days' provisions. All the bridges " were blown up as soon as the last of our men had passed over, " which checked the pursuit ; but we were generally overtaken in the "evenings, when a show of resistance would be made on our part. " In the mornings we continued our retreat some hours before day- " break. We had to ford a number of small rivers, which, having " become much swollen by the late heavy rains, contributed to render " our march siill more uncomfortable. . . . Having crossed the " Carrion, we look up a very strong position at Duenas, on rising " ground, with the stream in our front. Some of our troops occupied "a large convent before the town, with some guns masked there. " Unfortunately, they fired on the first few dragoons that came within " range, thus uselessly exposing their position with no adequate result. "A village in front of our left was seized by the French; some " Spaniards and Brunswickers were sent to re-take it, but did not sue- "ceed until after a rather long and hot contest. . . . After hailing " here for one day, the retrogade movement was continued. Upon " our crossing the Douro, the bridges were blown up, and, as the river " was not fordahie, and the French were endeavouring to repair the "bridge of Tordesillas, we rested for two days in front of this place. " Here we ascertained that several men had deserted, and that some "sick, who were unable to keep up, had been made prisoners. "The retreat was still conducted under very disastrous circum- " stances. Our light cavalry were done up, and the artillery horses " nearly so. Men, spent with fatigue, fell into the enemy's hands, I RF.OIME.NT, " and desertions continued. The roads were in dreadful condition ; " the streams to be forded, many and swollen ; the bivouacs wet, and " almost without fites ; and food was as scarce as fuel. Many of the " troops had neither bread nor biscuit, and only rations of carrion-like " beef. The excessive dread Ihat seemed to be felt, lest any part of "our commissariat should fall into the enemy's hands, proved very "injurious to our troops, whose physical strength was exhausted "through want of the necessary supplies. We reached our old " position in front of Salamanca on 8ih November, hailing there for " four days. Sir Rowland Hill effected his junction with Wellington "three days before, Ballasteros, the commander of the Spanish "army, was subsequently banished to Ceuta for his disgraceful in- " activity and obstinacy in not entering into the views of the British "leader. The light division had been a good deal engaged during "the retreat. The loss occasioned to us by fatigue and desertion " was considerable, and some baggage fell into the hands of the " enemy. " Soult at this time assumed command of the united French army, " mustering ninety thousand men and a formidable artillery. The " British only mustered fifty-iwo thousand strong, of all nations. The " French, as usual, were strong in cavalry — nearly three to one as "compared to the British, whose generals were always crippled by " weakness in this arm. We could make no stand in out position at " San Christoval against the pursuing armies. We crossed the Tormes " by the bridge of Salamanca, marching through the town ; but how " different were our sensations at this time from those that we ex- " perienced on our first entry ! We passed one night on the ground " where the battle was fought. The enemy did not seem to be " desirous to force us into action, but, by threatening our communi- "cations with Ciudad Rodrigo, Wellington was compelled to set his "army in motion without loss of time and lake the roads leading to " Portugal. " So much rain had fallen latterly that the roads were in a most " wretched condition, and in many places knee-deep, and we had, as "usual, various deep streams to ford. All this was dreadfully dis- " tressing to men who were already nearly worn out by long marches, 94 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " want of rest, bad living, and the weight of iheit arms and accoutre- " menCs ; and several, sinking through weakness, were smothered in " the mud. " Such tents as we had began now to be left standing on the ground " that we had occupied for the night, as we no longer possessed the " means for carrying ihem. "On the 17th November Sir Edward Paget was taken prisoner. " The French pursuit was somewhat relaxed as the Allies neared " Ciudad Rodrigo, but, had it not been for thai active partizan, Don " Julian Sanchez, who mounted about eight hundred helpless men of " ours behind his guerillas, and conveyed them in that manner to the "before-mentioned fortress, we must have lost them, in addiiion to " the many others who perished in ihis disastrous retreat. " The 32nd lost fifty men ; the 82nd, two hundred men ; and every " corps in the army had their casualties lo a greater or less extent. " On the thirty-first day from the date of our departure from the " position in front of Burgos we arrived under the walls of Ciudad " Rodrigo. " From Ciudad Rodrigo we marched to Barquilla, where we made " a halt of three days before crossing the border. We entered " Portugal drenched with rain, and took up our ground in a ploughed " field. The green wood was so wet that it would not burn, and " those who had provisions could not cook them ; consequently it "was hardly possible to conceive anything much more wretched in " its way than our situation. Much amusement was, however, caused " by the General sending his aide-de-camp to us to say ' he had no " objection to our making ourselves as comfortable as circumstances " would permit ! ' " The army, with the exception of Sir Rowland Hill's corps, which returned lo Estremadura, now went into cantonments in the province of Beira. We took up our winter quarters on 3rd December, at St. Jago. The battalion here received their new equipment. During this year a draft from the 2nd batlalion, consisting of six sergeants and one hundred and fifty rank and file, under the command of Captain Purcell, joined the regiment. The regiment was brigaded with the 36th, 1st battalion llih, J 32Nrj rhc:jmkni. and Gist regitnenls, under the command of Colonel Hinde, 32nd regiment, as the 2nd brigade of the 6th, or Lieutenant-General Sir H. Clinton's, division. The following extract from a MSS. journal, lent to the editor by Colonel Bingham, R,A., of Shoeburyness, will be read with interest, as it serves to throw fresh light on this memorable retreat, which has received but scant notice by the historians : " October 31, 1812, " Camp in front of TordesJllas. " General Souham having taken the conimand of the t'rench army and "great reinforcements having arrived from France, particularly cavalry, it " was necessary to give up the ill-fated siege of the Casile of Burgos, and " retire ; which determination was carried into effect on the night of the "21sti our battery guns, three in number, thai were in fact not worth "bringing away, were dcstroy'd, and part of the covering army, passing " through the city of Burgos over the bridges, which were previously " prepared with dung to prevent the noise of the guns and horses being "heard in the Castle, which commanded them within musquet shoL " Favor'd by the darkness of the night the whole of the baggage, artillery, " cavalry, and a part of the infantry made the passage without being " discovered, having only a random shot from a sentry now and then ; the " remainder (our division forming a part) left the town on our left, and "being much detained by dreadful roads we arrived at Cclada del " Caminha by noon of the 22nd. I should have told you, that we had " been moved up to the covering army on the night of the 20th, through " the town ; so that the 21st, the first night of the retreat, was the second " we have been on the march. We moved again at 7 o'clock, on the " morning of the 23rd, and arrived after dark at our ground near " Torquemada, marching, as we computed it, a distance of nearly 60 miles " in the two days, fortunately, fine weather ; and after we had got into the "great Madrid line, the road was broad and good; the retreat was " unmolested on the 22ad. On the 23rd, the enemy's cavalry followed " very closely ; the brigade of heavy German cavalry having failed in a " chaige, the enemy's cavalry broke in on ours, and there was a complete " race and mell^e for three or four miles. Lord Wellington and his staff " were in the crowd, and it was who could get off the fastest ; the enemy's "cavalry were brought up by two squares of Light Infantry who stood 96 HISTORlCAt KECORDS OF THE "veiy steadily, and behind them our cavaJry rallied and formed. After all, " the loss was not great. Colonel Paly of the I6th Dragoons was taken ; " the French who came up in no state to make an impression on our " squares of infantry suffered from their fire. On the mominy of the 24lh "our brigade was moved at daylight into the town of Torquemada ; a " raasqued battery of 18 guns was established opposite the bridges (the " great road crosses the Pinaga, which — though not a very wide— is always " a deep river) and we were placed in the houses, which we loopholed to " protect the battery, the remainder of the army who moved off at the '■ time we went into the town was in a sad stale. On the outside of " Torquemada, on the side where the army bivouac'd, there was a small " hill, which had been hollowed into wine vaults, and where the inhabitants " kept their wine. As the troops took up their ground after dark this was " not known and no safegtiards were posted ; these vaults were soon "discovered, and as soon* as discovered entered. The consequence was, " the whole army was drunk ; the brigade 1 commanded was fortunately " farthest from the scene of disorder, and it was not until the morning " that our people made the discovery. I heard a noise, and got up, and "found some men of the 61sl drinking wine out of a camp kettle, which I " immediately overset. I immediately awakened all the officers, and as we "had the officers of three regiments to somewhat about^ 1000 men, we " contrived to keep the people sober, and so were able to undertake the " post of rear guard. About 11 the advanced guard of cavalry made " their appearance, and were allowed nearly to pass over the bridge when " the masked battery opened on them— this rendered them cautious " throughout the day ; and we retired 12 miles, to the position of Duiinas, "without molestation or interruption, and fortunate that it was so; the " army, from drunkenness, being in a complete state of disorganiiation. " On the 25th we remained in position ; the enemy made a smart attack "on the left, where the 5th Division was posted, and heavy columns were " directed toward Pulintin ; at first Ihey appeared to carry all before them, " but, in the afternoon they were driven out of Villa Muriel, which they "had possessed, and across the river, with the loss of about 100 Prisoners. "At another point on our right they were successful; their cavalry " chained at the Bridge of Teriego, which was preparing for explosion, " and dispersed a party of the 1st Division ; our cavalry retired and left " the point in their hands, as well as a party of about 60 infantry, the "immediate guard at the Bridge, who were made Prisoners. On this day "the 1st Guards joined We were moved in a hurry to " Uriana, to cover a ford and support the cavalry ; here we remained the J 32nd RElirMENT. 0" "whole of the 27tli. On Ihe28lh (the enemy having extended themselves "along the right bank both of the Premerja and Duero, and pushed on as "far as opposite this place) we retired also, havmg blown up the Bridges "of Cabeton, Valladolid, and the Puente de Duero, after the aimy had "passed; we baited for the night on the banks of the Duero, and "yesterday morning we came to this place, a report ha\'ing been sent that " the enemy had repaired the Bridge and crossed ; and our baggage " having been sent away, we prepared to give Battle, On our arrival we "found the report not correct, a small picqiiet only having crossed. Our " baggage did not join us until 9 o'clock at night, and our situation in the "middle of a dreary plain, raining hard, with nothing to eat and nothing "to make a fire with except thistles, was not very pleasant. The enemy " have moved again in the direction of Toro ; what L^ Wellington's plans " are, no one can tell ; for we seem inclined to make a corresponding "movement, ll is said, our army is to be remforced by two Divisions " from the centre army, in which case, General Souham may find himself " in the wrong box in having pushed so far down the Duero as Toro ; he "will have lo fight with the river in his rear, and we could always be at " Valladohd before him, and then his line of operations being cut off, he ' would be obliged to escape in some manner very difficult if not " impossible ; in the meantime Soult may and will advance, and occupy "Madrid, but will not be able to penetrate the passes of the Guadarama ; "so that if we could gain a decisive advantage over Souham, he might " find his retreat diflicult to accomphsh We lost " 9 men on the night of the 22nd. I dont exactly know where, but I "believe that as we were passing a camp where brandy was desiroyed for " want of means lo carry it off, they rendered themselves incapable of " marching. I am afraid the losses of the army in that manner amounts " to something considerable ; our men are so greedy of drink, and so " utterly careless of consequences, that a night march, a retreat, or " enforced march of any kind, costs us as man/ men as a smart skirmish. " The army is not a little out of humour with his Lordship (Wellington) at " present, who — in a circular letter he has addressed lo the Generals " commanding Divisions — has laid the blame of the losses in Ihe last "retreat to the want of energy and activity of the officers comms " Brigades, Regiments, and companies ; he affirms the army suffered no " privations except such as they were exposed to from the severity of the " weather ; but the wearied, famished wretches who perished by hundreds " on the roads, and were left unburied and half devoured by dogs and " wolves, as an encouragement I suppose to others, is a refutation of this 98 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE "accusation. The army were (for ilbout bread, and the whnle were the greatest part) tnnce, three days six months in arrear of pay ! having money to buy sail or vegetables after marching all day ; the time the a ought to hate rested was employed in working ; in fact the men re worn out with ronslanl marching, having travelled over 2,000 miles "of country in the last II months, each man loaded with 60 rounds of "ammunition, a great coat, and a blanket. Are these no privations?" 1813. General James Ogilvie, who had been colonel of the regiment for nine years, died on the 12th February, 1813, and was succeeded by General Alexander Campbell,* of Monrie, North Britain, from the 13ih Fool In May, 1813, Wellington entered Spain once more, driving the French out of Salamanca, quickly turning Iheir positions on the Douro, and forcing them back upon Burgos, whence they retreated to the Ebro, after blowing up the castle. The 6th division crossed the Douro on 19th May, hailed on the 20th at Toro de Monte Corvo, reached Malados on the 2Gth, and — after resting tor one day— resumed its march and entered Spain on the 29th by crossing the river Corsa at Murza, where Hindc's brigade halted till the 3Ist. On Ist June the division crossed the Esla, by a pontoon bridge, and continued its march until the 19th, when a halt was made near Vittoria to observe the movements of a corps of French, under General Clausel, who was advancing from Bilboa. • This gallant veteran entered the Black Watch, then slfllioned in Ireland, in 170S- lie lubsequenlly joined the 1st Royals in Minorca, and was afterwards promoted in the 50(h. with which regiment and the 6Snd he served in the earlier campaigns of the American war, including the txitllc of Saratoga. During the later campaigns he was employed as major in one of the Light Infanliy battalions. He served with the 3rd Guards, under the Duke of York, on the Conliiienl ; and as a major-general on the staff with 5ir Ralph Aberciotnby in the West Indies, and afterwards in Ireland and Scotland. He raised the Ilfllh Perthshire High- landers, a corps which had a brief existence in 1TS4-0G, and was subsequently eobneliniucccssionoflhcTlh West India Regimenl, Ihc lllh Fool, and the 32nd Foot, which latter appointment he held for twenty years, up to the time of hU death, in IS32. 3-2sit RKirMRM. !»9 Meanwhile, Wellington had turned the Frencli on the Ebro by a flank march, and driven them back to Villoria, where, in a general engagement, on 2!st June, they were put lo utter rout. Hinde's brigade did not reach Viiiotia until (he following day, when it was successful in intercepting a movement of Clausel's corps lo recapture the town and booty, when llie main body of the Allies had advanced in pursuit. From Vittorin (he 6ih and 7ih divisions were despatched to blockade Pamplona, and subsequently, when relieved in this duly by a Spanish corps, proceeded to join Wellington, who— having marched six hundred miles, gained one great battle and invested two positions, San Sebastian and Pamplona, within the space of seven weeks — now stood triumphant on the Pyrenees, behind which Soult had withdrawn. Battle of tlie PrreneeB. Soult once more made a desperate effort in advance; forced the passes of Maya and Ronsesvalles, and marched upon Pamplona, In front of which Wellington concentrated most of the British troops. The 6th division was moving up from St. Estevan on 27th July to support ihe troops attacked in front, but were halted- — by Welling- ton's order — for the night. On Ihe following morning it marched to join the army which was formed up for battle among the mountains, forming across a valley on the left rear of the 4ih division. Immediately after the advance of the French columns of attack commenced the confiicl since known as the battle of the Pyrenees. A body of French moving along the valley of Lanz towards the mountain at its extremity, Hinde's brigade was ordered forward at a run to seize the mountain. The British mounted one side of the hill as the French climbed the other, but the Drilish gained the summit first, and opened fire with deadly effect. Taken in either flnnk as well as in front, the French were driven back, with terrible carnage, beyond ihe village of Sauroren, whither they were followed by Hinde's brigade. The firing was maintained on both sides until after dark. During the day the Oih division, commanded by General P.ikenham, bore a most distinguished part. The 32nd was warmly engaged, and ihe loss of the battalion was very severe. Lieutenant- Colonel \Vood fell in front of the colours, Lieutenant-Colonel g 100 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE Hicks then assumed [he command, and during the succeeding operations of the day led the left wing to the charge against the 32nd French regiment, which it dispersed, and carried off ten brass drums marked with the number of the regiment. On the 29th the armies remained quiet in their respective positions ; but, on the 30lh, the light companies of the 6th division and 32nd Regiment were ordered to dislodge a portion of the enemy posted between Sauroren and Ostir, which service ihey most gallantly performed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hinde. The regiment was actively employed during the remainder of the operations in the Pyrenees. During the operations, between the 28th and 30th July, the 33nd lost one lieutenant-colonel (Lieutenant-Colonel Wood), killed ; Captain Toole and one volunteer — Lloyd — severely wounded; one sergeant and fifty rank and file, killed and wounded,* Lieutenant Colonels Hinde and Hicks, and the representatives of Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, received gold medals. On 2nd August the 6th division was within sight of the fair fields of France. Moving down the French slope of the Pyrenees, it advanced a short distance into France, and, subsequently falling back, relieved the 2nd division in position on the Heights of Maya, watching the pass of that name. Major-General {afterwards Sir John) Lambert here succeeded to the command of the brigade. Colonel Hinde reverting to the command of his regiment, the 32nd. On 1st September, 1813, the 32nd, with the rest of the division, was employed in driving the enemy from the heights in its front, and again, on 7lh October, in creating a diversion in favour of the troops engaged in the passage of Bidassoa. During the operations Colonel Hinde received a severe wound in the leg, which necessitated his return home; this unfortunate occurrence deprived the regiment of the services of that officer, and the command again devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonei Hicks. Major-General Sir A. Colville was pleased to express himself in the following manner, in Division Orders, on I * l^tnden Giaettt Extnardiaaty, August 16lh, IS13. 32nd*kegiment. 101 "Major-General Colville cannot conclude these observations, " occasioned by the demonstrations ordered to be made by the " Division on the 7th insl., without expressing the sense of the loss it "must feel in the valuable services of Colonel Hinde, from the " unlucky wound he received that day." From 7ih October until 9th November the regiment continued in the Pyrenees, and suffered considerably from the extreme inclemency of ihe weather, which retarded any forward movement of the army until 10th November, when the whole advanced to dislodge the enemy from a formidable line of works on the Nivelle, which they had been preparing with great labour since the failure of their efforts on Ihe Pyrenees. Battle of NiveUe. "At daybreak on 10th November ninety thousand troops, British, " Portuguese, and Spanish, with ninety-five pieces of artillery, made "a concerted attack upon the French position, in columns of "division, each division led by its own general and forming its own " reserves. The French were driven from their advanced post, back " upon iheir main position in rear of the village of Nivelle, which was " ultimately carried, fifty-one guns and fifteen hundred prisoners " falling into the captors' hands." In his description of the progress of the attack, Wellington has left on record, "that he had the "pleasure of seeing the 6th division, under Lieu tenant- Genera I Sir " Henry Clinton— after having crossed the Nivelle, and having " driven in the enemy's picquets on both flanks, and havmg covered " the passage of the Portuguese division, under Lieutenanl-General " Sir James Hamilton, on its right — make a most handsome attack on " the right of the enemy's position behind d'Arrhune, and on the " right of (he Nivelle, carrying all ihe entrenchments and redoubts on "that flank."* In this action the left brigade of the 6th division, composed of ihe 11th, 32nd, 36th, and 61st regiments, under the command of Major- General Lambert, particularly distinguished itself in carrying the lOJ ISTOKILAL RKCOKDS C heights of d'Arrhune. The 32nd lost on this occasion Ensign 0. B, Butler, one sergeant, six rank and file, killed ; Lieutenant Boaz, four sergeants, one drummer, and foriy-nine rank and file, wounded. The army was thanked in General Orders, and the word "Nivelle" was perinitied to be worn on the colours and appointments of the regiment. The commanding officer. Lieu tenant- Colonel Hicks, re- ceived a gold medal. After the battle of Nivelle the 6th division went mto cantonments, the 32nd Regiment occupying Ustariiz, a small town on the river, about ten miles above Bayonne. On. 8ih December the regiment moved from its cantonments, crossing the Nive by a bridge of boats, and during that and the following day v,as warmly engaged with the enemy ; recrossed the Nive on the evening of 9th December, and returned into old quarleis at Ustarilz. The returns show a loss in the 32nd of two men, killed j five wounded ; and one missing. In the memorial porch, erected lo the English church, at Biarritz, in 1&S3, are marble tablets in Gothic frame work, bearing inscriptions in lead lettering, to the memory of the British officers and men killed in the actions which took place between October 7ih, 1H13, and April 14lh, 1814. Amongst them is the following, under 32nd i " Thirty-Second Foot. " Ens. J. 0. Br^on Butler, Nivelle, Nov. lOih. " N.C.O., i., Nov. 10th. " R.F., iv., Nov. lOih ; ii., Dec. 9th." Battle of the Nive. On 12th December the Gth division was ordered to cross the Nive in support of a series of operations in course of cxecuiion on that river by the corps under the command of Lieut en ant-General Sir Rowland Hill. In these operations ihe 32nd Regiment shared the duties of the left brigade, and only sustained a trifling loss. For its services on this occasion the regiment was |)ermitted to bear on its 33nd regiment. 103 colours and appointments the word "NivE,"and Lieulenant-Cobnel Hicks received a gold medal.* The enemy now retired beyond the Adour, and the 6iii division went into cantonments near Villefrancha, on (he Nive, above Bayonne, where the 32nd remained until 21st February, 18H. During the year 1S13 the 32nd Regiment received the following reinforcements from the 2nd baltahon, viz. : Captain Jones, with five sergeants and one hundred and one rank and file ; Ensign Sayer, with one sergeant and fifty rank and file ; and Ensign Small, with three sergeants and forty-two rank and file. 1814. On 21st January, the 6th division removed from its cantonments near Villefrancha, and marched in the direction of Orthes, In the middle of February, Wellington made a general advance, in order to drive Soult out of his line of defence on the Adour. Sir Rowland Hill had forced the enemy back behind the Gave de Fau ; the centre of the allied army was put in motion, and Bayonne was invested. On the 36ih, the 3rd division and the cavalry forded the Gave de Pau below Orthes, and the 4th and 7lh divisions ai a point still further down the river. It was intended that Sir Rowland Hill's corps and the 6th and light divisions should force the bridge of Orthes, but it was afterwards thought advisable not to make the attempt. Battle of Orthes. On the morning of the 27ih, the 6th and light divisions had already moved down to the point where the 3rd division had forded the day before, and crossed by a pontoon bridge that had been laid down for the guns. Soull occupied a range of hills, his left resting on the village of Orthes and his right on a steep declivity behind the village of St, Boes, with a strong reser\'e behind. The 4th and 6th divisions, under Marshal Beresford, attacked the position, but failed ; en this the 7th division, with one brigade of the light division, were led 104 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE against the enemy's right ; the 3rd and 6th divisions, with the 32nd Regiment, advanced at the same time, under Sir T. Picton and Sir Henrj- Clinton respectively. In the meantime Sir Rowland Hill, with his division, endeavoured to cut off the French line of retreat. The French were beheved to have lost six thousand — killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. The 32nd Regiment did not advance beyond Orthes with the 6th division. The next day the 32nd crossed the Adour, which was nearly five feet deep, and very great difficulty was experienced, as the wooden bridge had been broken down the day before. For the services here the commanding officer — Lieutenant- Colonel Hicks — received a gold clasp to his medal. The regiment having been a long time in the field without receiving any supplies, it was found necessary to send it hack to St. Jean-de-Luz — about eight days' march— where it arrived on 14th March ; and, having received clothing for the men, proceeded to join the army, but was halted at Tarbes, by order of Wellington, in consequence, it was believed, of the enemy being in possession of the Castle of Lourdes. During the halt at Tarbes the regiment was Joined by a detachment of sergeants and one hundred and nine rank and file, under the command of Captain Whiity, from the 2nd battalion. " On 10th April we were directed to proceed from Tarbes to "Toulouse with the battering train, pontoons, and boats. After a "march of ten days we joined the 6th division about six leagues "beyond Toulouse. The battle had been fought. After the " battle of Toulouse, hostilities having ceased, the 6th division " occupied Auch as its head-quarters, and the 32nd Regiment, " having joined, was cantoned at Pavie, a small village in its " vicinity." * Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, being called on another service, relinquished the command of the 6ih division, which he had held during the most brilliant services of the army in the Peninsula. He was succeeded by Major- General Lambert ; Colonel Douglas, 79th regiment, being appointed to command (he right, and Lieutenant- Colonel Hicks, 32nd regiment, the left, brigades.. 32nd !05 I pub- On taking leave of the division, Lieu tenant-General Clin lished the following Divisional Order : "Auch, " 19ih May, 1814. " Being called or another service, Lt.-GcnI. Sir H. Clinton takes leave " of the 6th Division. He docs not without regret give up the Command " of Troops, who, in ever meeting with the enemy, have not failed "honourably to distinguish themselves, while the orderly and generally "soldierlike conduct has often attracted the notice and approbation of the "great Commander of the Army. " The Lieut. -General is desirous of acknowledging how highly he feels " indebted lo the brave 6th Division. He cannot better mark the interest " he (eels lor the future reputation of those Kegts., than by reminding the "Commanding Officers how entirely their good order depended upon a " prompt obedience to orders and a Meady and continued observance of " the Regulations named lor the government of the anny^thal no " Regiment can continue essentially in order unless the quatilicatJons of " its officers for the perlormance of its sevetal duties be provided for and " regularly required, and that for the instruction of the Soldiers ranks " foremost in the quahfications of the Regimental Officers. "(Sd.) J. GUBWOOI), A.A.G." In the beginning of June, the 6th division received orders to march to Bordeaux, and arrived at Blaye fort on the Uth. Here the greater part of the British army had been previousls' assembled and encamped, awaiting orders for embarkation. They were received on ihe 13ih by His Grace the Duke of Wellington, who was pleased to publish the following in General Orders, dated Bordeaux, 14th June, 1814; " Adjutant General's Office, "Bordeaux, 14lh June, 1814. "The Commander of the Forces being on the point of reluming to " England, again takes the opportunity of congratulating the Army upon " the recent events which have restored peace to their Country and lo the " World. The share which the Hritish Army had in producing those " Events, and the high character with which the Army will quit this " Country must be equally satisfactory to every individual belonging to it " as they are to the Commander of the Forces, and he trusts that the "Troops will maintain the same good character to the last. " The Commander of the Forces once more requests the Army to "accept his thanks. Although circutnstances may alter the relations to " which he has stood towards them for some years so much to bis satlsfac- 06 HISTORICAL KECOUDS OK THE 1 lion, he assures ihem he will never cease to feel the « their welfare and honour, and that he will be at all tir anj' service lo those to whose conduct, discipline, country is so much indebted nes happy to be of and gallantry the "(S(i.) E. M. Pakenham, a. General." On the morning of 21st June the 6ih division marched for Pauillac, on the Garonne, where it arrived and embarked the same evening. It sailed on the 26th, and proceeded lo its several destina- tions in England and Ireland; and the 32nd Regiment arrived and disembarked at the Cove of Cork on 12th July, and marched the same day to Middleton. For the services of the 32rd Regiment during the Peninsular War, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was graciously pleased to authorise its bearing the following distinguished badges on its colours and appointments; " Roleia," "Vimeera," "Salamanca," " Pyrenees," " Nivelle." " Nive," " Orthes," " Peninsula ; " and the following officers of the regiment were also honoured with the undermentioned individual marks of distinction : Colonel Hinde, for his services at the battle of Roleia, Vimiera, Corunna, Salamanca, and the Pyrenees, the gold cross* established by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent as a mark of distinction to officers who had com- manded in four general actions ; to the representatives of the late Lieutcnant-Colone! Wood, for his services in the battles of Salamanca and Pyrenees, a gold medal and one clasp ; and lo Lieutenant-Colonel Hicks, for his services in the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, and Orthes, the gold cross, he also having commanded in four general actions. Shortly after the arrival of the regiment at Middleton, it received orders to proceed to Cloncorry barracks, where it was Stationed for one month, and then marched for Fermoy, at which place one hundred men, who had enlisted for limited seirice, were discharged. A reinforcement, however, from the 2nd battalion, of seven sergeants and one hundred and thirty-one rank and file, made up for this diminution of its number, and it still mustered eight hundred rank and file. 32nd regiment. RECORD OF THE SECOND BATTALION OF THE aSND REGIMENT OF FOOT. The Second Battalion of the 32nd (or Cornwall) Regiment of Foot was, with a number of other second battalions, ordered lo be formed on 1st August, 1804. The head-quarters of the regiment was iit Launceslon, in Cornwall. The field officers, with the exception of Major Pye from the 3rd battalion reserve, were appointed frora the 1st battalion, with a proportion of non-commissioned officers. The quaiter [jart of the company officers were selected from other corps. On 4th June, 1807, the battalion — consisting of twenty-eight sergeants, twenly-two drummers, and four hundred and eighty-three rank and file— received its colours; on which occasion Lieutenant- Colonel M. Power (who commanded) made an animated speech to the officers and men, On 4th August the battalion marched from Harwich for Weely barracks, where it arrived on the same day. On Dih May, 1*^08, ihe battalion marched from Weely barracks, on its route to Guernsey, and arrived at Tilbury Fort. It embarked on the 12lb, sailed on the !9th, and arrived at Tilbury, in Guernsey, on 31st December. On 1st June, 1808, it marched to Delaney barracks- 1809-15. On 5th March, 180y, the battalion embarked for Ireland, and arrived in the Cove of Cork on the 13lh, disembarked at Monkstown on the 15th, and marched for Fermoy, where it arrived on the IGlh. On 25th May, 1809, a second assistant surgeon was added to the battalion. It was quartered in many parts of Ireland from the date of its arrival lo the time of its reduction, and nothing very important occurred, with the exception of its sending drafts to the 1st battalion on the following dates : On 2Sth June, 1811, a draft, consisting of three hundred and nine privates, under the command of Captain G. W. Patlej!, was sent from Cork to Portugal ; on 9th March, 1812, a draft of six sergeants, six corporals, and one hundred and fifty-one privates, under the com- L mand of Captain G. Pureed, from Omagh to Portugal ; on 6th October, a draft of five sergeants, four corporals, and ninety-seven privates, under the command of Captain J. Jones, from Omagh to Spain ; on 6th January, 1813, a draft of one sergeant, two corporals, and forty-eight privates, under the command of Ensign Sajer, from the depot at Winchester to Spain ; on 17th February, 1814, a draft of five sergeants, five corporals, and one hundred and four privates, under the command of Captain E. Whitty, from Cavan to France; and on ITlh August, 1814, a draft of seven sergeants, four corporals, and one hundred and twenly-seven privates, under the command of Captain R. Dillon, from Omagh to Fermoy ; the 2nd battalion being disbanded on 23rd October, 1814, the whole of the serviceable non- commissioned officers and men, consisting of eighteen sergeants, thirteen corporals, and one hundred and forty-two privates, marched from Omagh and joined the 1st battalion in Cork. The regiment marched to Cork early in December, 1814, and in January, 1815, received orders to hold itself in readiness to proceed to America; but ils departure being delayed till March, and Buonaparte having escaped from Elba, the destination of the regiment was changed, and on 28th April. 1815, it embarked from Monkstown for the Netherlands, It arrived at Ostcnd on lOih May, and was conveyed in boats up the canal lo Ghent, where it halted for a few days for the purpose of being equipped for the field, after which it marched to Brussels and was attached to Major-General Sir James Kempt's brigade, 6th division, which was shortly after reviewed by the Duke of Wellington, who was pleased to express his approbation. Battle of Qnatre Bras. The whole force at the disposal of the Duke was about sixty-eight- thousand, and was composed largely of foreigners, a great number of whom were militiamen. The native British troops, among whom there were also many young and untried soldiers, consisted of about twenty-four thousand, while of the remainder a large proportion were Hanoverians, recently raised and im(>erfecily tramed ; while others, like the Belgians, were troops of very inferior quality and hardly to be trusted at a pinch. 32nd REGI^*iENT. 109 The British artillery consisted of thirty brigades,* with six guns to each brigade ; they were in admirable order. This army was divided into two corps ; the first commanded by the Prince of Orange, the second by Lord Hill. The cavalry were placed under the orders of the Earl of Uxbridge. The army in Belgian territory was kept for strategical purposes, and also with an object of furnishing supplies, which were scattered over different parts of the country. The 32nd Regiment, with the 5th division, was in Brussels. Ross-Lewin, in his IJfe of a Soldier^ says : " During our stay, " Brussels was the scene of much gaiety ; war seemed to be totally " forgotten. The Duke of Wellington gave a grand rout on the 8th ** June, at which the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Brunswick, and "all the British and foreign nobility then resident in Brussels ** attended. Four cards of invitation were received by each regiment, '* and one of those sent to mine fell to my lot. The company passed " through an illuminated garden to the reception rooms ; the Duke " of Wellington stood, distinct from all present, near the entrance to " receive his guests, and looked very well. Dancing was kept up to "a late hour. The Prince of Orange led the Duchess of Richmond " to the supper rooms, which were in the apartments of the middle "story. The rooms were excessively crowded, considering the time " of the year, and not one half of the guests could find places at the " supper tables. " The Duchess of Richmond gave a grand ball on the 15th. That " day I dined with Sir James Kempt. Coffee and a young aide-de- " camp from the Duke of Wellington came in together. This officer " was the bearer of a note from the Duke, and while Sir James was " reading it said : * Old Blucher has been hard at it — a Prussian " officer has just come to the Beau, all covered with sweat and dirt, " and says they have had much fighting.' Our host then rose, and. * Extracts from General Order: "Brussels, 21st May, 1815 — The 1st ** Batt. 28th, 1st Batt. 32n(l, 1st Batt. 79th, and 1st Batt. 95th are to form the ** 8th British Brigade under M.G. Sir James Kempt. The 8th and 9th British ** Brigades and 5th Hanoverians are to form the 5th Division of Infantr)'." 110 HrSTOHiC^L KECOHDS OF THK "addressing the regimental officers at the table, said : 'Gentlemen, "you will proceed without delay to your respective regiments; and "let thera get under arms immediately.' "On my way, I found several of our officers sitting at a coffee- " house door, and told them Sir James Kempt's orders. They "seemed at first to think that I was jesting, being hardly able to " credit the tidings of so near and so unexpected an approach of the " French ; but they soon perceived that I spoke seriously, and dis- "persed each to his own quarters. In a few minutes, however, the " most incredulous would have been thoroughly undeceived ; for the " drums began to beat, bugles to sound, and Highland pipes to squeal, " in ail quarters of the city. The scene that ensued was of the most "animated kind — such was the excitement of the inhabitants, the " buzz of tongues, the repeated words of command, the hurrying of "the soldiers through the streets, the clattering of horses' hoofs, the "clash of arras, the rattlintj of the wheels of waggons and gun "carriages, and the sounds of warlike music. The different regi- " ments of infantry closed up in Place Royale ; and at daylight the " whole were in motion towards Waterloo, the Duke and the generals " riding on before us. " We — the 32nd Regiment and 5th division— halted for some time " near the village in the forest of Soigines, which some suppose to be " a part of the immense one of Ardennes, so celebrated for its extent, "and the deeds and adventures of which it was the scene, as well in "the classical as in the middle a^es. It now answers the useful "purpose of supplying Brussels with firewood. When the bugle "sounded to fall in again, one of our captains exclaimed, 'That is " my death warrant ! ' The poor fellow's prediction was soon verified. " for he was killed a few hours afterwards. "From Waterloo we marched to Genappe, a league and a half " further on. Genappe is riearly five leagues from Brussels; it has "only one street, but the houses are large and comfortahle. The "country about it is quite open, and continues so for the whole "distance between it and Quatre Rras, a small inn so called because " the road from Brussels to Charleroi, by which we advanced, is there intersected by that from Nivelles to Namur, passing by St. Amaud. J 32nd REGIMEMT, 111 ""nie Prussian right rested on the latter place, and it was an essential " object wilh the Allies to keep open both these communications ; "we therefore hailed at Quatre Bras, a little ader iwo p.m., there to " dispute this imporiant point with the advancing enemy. " Between [he 10th and Hth of June, Napoleon had assembled " the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth corps of his army, close to " the frontier between the rivers Sambre and Maese On the ISth, "at daybreak, he attacked the Prussian posts at Thvinand Lobei, on "the Sambre. His attacks were successful; and Genera! Zieihen, " whose corps had been at Charleroi, retired to Fleurus. Upon this " Blucher concentrated his forces upon Sombief, occupying also the " villages of St. Arnaud and Ligny in front of his position. " On the evening of this day the enemy, advancing from Charleroi "along the high road to Brussels, drove a brigade of Net her landers, " under the Prince of Wiemar, from Frasne, and compelled it to " retire to Quatre Bras. The Prince of Orange immediately sent to " its aid another brigade of the same division; and early in the morning " of the 16th some of the lost ground was recovered, so as to secure " the command of the communications with the Prussian position. " The 33nd Regiment and 5th division was followed by the Duke "of Brunswick's corps, and these again by ihe contingent of Nassau. "The whole force in the field, after the arrival of the last- mentioned " troops, did not exceed nineteen thousand men ; we were without "artillery;* not a single British dragoon appeared, and the Duke of " Brunswick's cavalry, though very fine men, were badly mounted. "Our position was of no strength; and all that, under Providence, "we had to depend upon in the endeavour to maintain it against a " very superior force, well provided with cavalry and artillery, was the " skill and presence of mind of our generals, and the courage and " discipline of the troops, and the God of Battles ordained that none " of these should fail us. • This no doubt means that there were no arlillery up at the commencemem of the engagement. There were in all Ave brigades nf artillery at Quatre Bras, of which Major Lloyd's and Major Rogers' were warmly engaged. Two guns belonging in the former were lost, but were afterwitrdi recovered, ftdi Duncsn, vol. ii., p. 422. 4 I 112 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " The ground we occupied for the most part swelled into gentle " slopes, and extended from the Namur road on the left lo a thick " wood on Ihe right, called the Bois de Bossu. The Charleroi road "ran through the position, and in front there were some fields of "amaisingly tall rye. " When we came up the firing had almost ceased, but it soon " increased again ; and shortly after we were holly engaged with the *' second corps of the French army, led by Marshal Ney. " A heavy column advanced against the fifth division, the officers "marching in front, flourishing their swords and encouraging their "men; but they were quickly driven back, and forced through the "hedge at the bottom of the slope on which we had been drawn "up. They had lo cross a long narrow field and a second hedge " before they could get under cover from our fire, and an admirable "opportunity of taking a number of prisoners was lost here, while "they were making their way through a small opening. Indeed, " numbers of ihem had ordered their arms in the expeclalion of being " pursued and taken, but they escaped with inconsiderable loss, as "ourtroops were balled at the first hedge. The French, when they "had all passed to the other side of the fence, lined it, instead of "retiring, and commenced from behind it a most destructive fire o "our division, which was so much exposed on the side of the hill " m consequence, the regiments were ordered to fall back, and lie "down on the reverse slope. The 32nd, while retiring thither, " suffered severely from the fire of the troops that lined the fence. "Such attacks were continued with litde intermission, but we main- "tainedour ground, invariably repulsing ali the enemy's efforts to * Kempi'a BriE»de, in consequence of the Ereaicr proiimiiy of iis originrf I posilion lo ihat of the enemy, was Ihe lirsl lu overlhrow ihe French infantiy. The 79lh. on Ihe lefl of the line, mndc n gallanl chnrge down ihc hill, da-shed through the lint fence, and pursued Iheir opponents, who had advanced in two liallalion .columns, not only across the valley, but through the second fence j and, carried on by their ardour, even ventured lo ascend the enemy's position. By this lime, however, their ranks were much broken : they were speedily recalled, and as ihey rclraccd their steps across Ihe valley Ihey derived con- siderable support from the adjoining battaJion in ihe line, the 32Dd Kt^ment 32nd regiment. 113 ** As we had no British cavalry up, owing to the shortness of the " notice that the Duke of Wellington had received when Napoleon " advanced, and as the Brunswick dragoons were unable to make " head alone against those of the enemy, it, of course, became " necessary to throw two regiments on the left into square to resist " the charges of the French lancers and cuirassiers, and to re-form " line to meet the attacks of the infantry. When the hostile cavalry " were seen moving up to Quatre Bras, the 32nd formed a square " on the Namur road, as did the 28th, who were on our right and " a little in advance ; and the 42nd, who were still more on our " right, were forming square when they were suddenly charged by " lancers, whose approach was concealed by a fence and some tall " rye, before they could complete their formation. Two companies " were nearly cut to pieces. Colonel Macara was killed, and Colonel ** Dicks, who succeeded him in the command, was badly wounded. " About the same time the enemy's cuirassiers galloped up the high " road to Brussels ; the Brunswick hussars attempted to check their " advance, but were overwhelmed by superior numbers and weight '* of men and horses, and retired in confusion, pursued by the enemy, " toward Quatre Bras. The cuirassiers had gained the cre^t of the *' slope, on which the house stands, when the 92nd, who had been " placed there in reserve behind a ditch, rose, and threw in a volley, " so sudden, so well-directed, and so deadly in its effect, that the " cavalry wheeled round and fled with precipitation, leaving many of " their number, killed or wounded, on the spot ; and, as they returned, " suff*ering from the fire of one or two British regiments that they had " passed in the charge, the 28th distinguished themselves highly by *' the intrepid and successful manner in which they resisted repeated " charges of cavalry. " Daring the action the Duke of Wellington was reinforced by the '* 3rd division, under General Alter, and the Guards, under General " Cook. The 69th Regiment had hardly taken up its ground, when (commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland), which was keeping up from the first hedge a vigorous fire against the French, who now lined the second fence. — Siborne, vol. i., p. 113. I 114 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " the French cavalry got in among them, and caused considerable " loss in killed and wounded, but made no piisoners. " The Belgians held the wood for some time, but al length gave "way, and the French were in possession of it when the Ouards "arrived. General Maitland's brigade was immediately directed to "dislodge them. The possession of the wood was of much conse- "quence to the French, as they could debouch from it on the " Brussels road, part of which it skirted, and if ihey had a chance " of beating our troops anywhere, it ought to have been when General " Mailfand endeavoured to recover the wood. The Guards, on their " advance, were exposed to a deadly fire from an enemy that was hid " behind trees, bushes, and banks, and knew well how to take advan- "tage of such means of defence ; still they dashed on boldly, and "finally remained undisputed masters of this important point, after " three hours' hard fighting. " Marsha! Ney, alarmed by the failure of all his efforts to overcome " the obstinacy of our iroops, sent off in haste for the first corps, "and found that Napoleon had employed it to support the aliack on "the Prussians at Sombref. He had then only to bring the reserve "of the second corps into action, which he did with continued ill "success. The first corps, having been despatched to Frasne by " Napoleon, arrived too laic to be of any use to Ney. "The firing ceased as the evening closed, and at that time the " British occupied a more advanced position than that which they "had taken up in the morning. We slept on the ground that night, " In ihe course of it the cavalry came up from Niouve. " The loss of the Allies in killed, wounded, and prisoners was esti- " mated at four thousand, A captain of my regiment (32ndl, towards " the close of ihe day, was remarking what a number of escapes he "had had, and shewing how his clothes had been shot through in "several places, when a musket ball entered his mouth, and killed " him on the spot, Two more of our captains died of their wounds "the next morning. It was thought rather singular that the only " officers of my regiment who lost their lives at Quatre Bra's— viz, : "Jacques Boyse, Thomas C:issan, and Edward Whitiy— should "have been three captains successive in seniority, a leash of 33nd regiment. 116 " Irishmen, and the greatest of friends, generally messing together." The losses the 32nd Regiment sustained on the 15th June were very severe in killed and wounded. Captain Edward Whitty and twenty rank and file, viz., Corporal John Somniers, John Annear, Thomas Caullicid, Thomas Chappell, Charles Cootes, Patrick Delaney, Phillip Darnven, Joseph Higgins, William Jenkins, William Lobb, James Lewis, John McCool, Hugh McGuire, Luke Mc- Kieman, Thomas Moore, Thomas Polters. Patrick Quigley, John Rafter, W. Shackleton, and John Sim monds, Killed ; and Captains Thomas Cassan, Jacquc:- Boyse, John Crowe, and Charles Wallelt ; Lieuten- ants H. W. Brooks, George Barr, M. W. Meighan, S. H. I^^wrence, J. Boaz, James Robinson, James Fitzgerald, EdwardSlephensandHenry Quill ; Ensigns Alexander Stewart and Charles Dallas ; with six sergeants, one drumni and file, wounded. Of the foun Jacques Boyse died of their noi day.* Extract of a letter from an officer of the 32nd Regiment, dated Antwerp, June 35th, 1815: "On the 15th an account of the French having attacked the Prussians " was brought lo Lord Wellington. It was kept a profound secret from " the troops till night, when, just as 1 was stepping into bed, I heard the capiair wo hundred ind eif,hteen rank i wounded T horais Cissanand md were inttrrtd ihe following * The i-cry inlcresting loU of Wntctloo officers and r isindeljied lo Mr. W. C. Mutphy—wliose grandfather wi regiment— will be found in the Appendix. n, for which the Author a colour-sergeant ir 11< HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " bugle soonding in every quarter of the town (Brassels). I put on my " clothes and found it was an order for the army lo adianee. We marched " about 2 o'clock, and at 3 in the day ne came up with the enemy. There " ivas only the 6th division, a brigade of Brunswick cavalry and some " Belgic and Hanoverian troops, opposed to Buonaparte with 70,000 men. " As the British troops were first up, the left brigade of the 5ih division, " under Sir James Kempt, was sent out ; our regiment now in the centre, "supported on either side by the Royals and 7%h. Buonaparte took up " his position on a large plain, rather rising ground, in front of a wood ; " we took up ours about 500 yards in front ol him, in 3 large field of com ; "between us was a little valley or hollow, through which ran a deep ditch. " A little before four the action commenced, on the side of the French. " We lay down in the cornfield till they came within forty yards of us, " when a shout from our right caused us to rise. We fired a \oIley and " charged ibem down to the ditch, in getting over which they lost " numbers. When we got down the bugle sounded for us to return and " form in line upon the colours, which we did, and were pursued by them " again ; we chatted them a second time, and actually the ground was "covered with dead and'wounded bodies. As our company was next on "the left of the colours, we wei-e in the very thick of the fire all the time "that the enemy were manoiuvring, exchanging, and retreating — the " heavy.'guns from either side continually playing. In the second charge, "a shell burst right on the colours, look away the silk of the regimental " colour and the whole of the right section of the fifth company, amongst "whom was my lamented friend, Captain W * ; his head was literally " blown to atoms. Mc 1, who held the colour that suffered, was only "slightly wounded. This was not a moment for grief oi much reflection, "as the commandjof the company devolved on me. We fought from 4 "o'clock until half past 0, when we were relieved by the right brigade, " consisting of the 28lh, 42nd, and 92nd. We retired to the road in the " rear, and our regiment, which mustered 600 men going into the field, c away with only IflO ; we had between 50 and 60 killed, and the " remainder wounded, also I officer killed and 17 wounded. At !> o'clock e again called up to assist the 28th in taking a village on the edge " of the wood. Wc were advancing in open column of division (as out of " the ten companies we had in the morning we could only then count (bur " divisions), when 1 was hit by a musket ball in the cap of the knee j in 32nd regiment. 117 " falling to the ground I had a very narrow escape that I did not lose my " eye, as a poor fellow who was standing by me received a mortal wound, " and in falling back— we both fell together— the point of his bayonet " stuck under my right eye ; it was very bad for some days, but from the " quantity of blood that 1 lost, and the blood which was taken from above " the eye, 1 began to feel better, but 1 fear that it will injure my sight very " much. After being hit, I was brought off the field, and taken to the " hospital ; the next morning 1 was brought into Brussels, when my leg "was so swelled for want of proper dressing that they could not tell " whether the ball was in or not, although they probed it several times. I " was just settled in bed after taking 30 drops of laudanum, when a report " was spread of our army having been beaten, and were retreating fast, and " we expected the French would be in Brussels the next day. " I was so stupid from laudanum I knew not what I was doing, till next " morning I found myself, with my servant and some wounded men, in a "boat, proceeding for this place. The great road from Brussels to " Antwerp is by the canal, and never did I witness so much confusion as " was to be seen among the people on that day — the road covered with " carriages, principally English, and the baggage of the army. You will " see by the papers that on Saturday evening, when Lord Wellington " despaired of victory, he tried to bring the French out of the wood, as the " British Cavalry were then coming up ; to effect this the better, he " retreated to a wood in his rear, but finding that did not succeed, he " advanced again, and threw some Congreve Rockets into Buonaparte's " wood, which soon set fire to it, upon which they were obliged to quit. " On the next day (Sunday) they had another dreadful battle, and at 6 "o'clock in the evening Wellington was in doubt, when the Prussian " General (Bluchcr) appeared, with an immense force, and enabled Lord " Wellington to decide the fate of the day. " I am going back to Brussels to-morrow, the Count de Cambray (son of " the lady with whom I was billeted before the battle) has come down, and " brought his carriage for me. Nothing can equal the attention of the " people ; ladies of the first distinction attend the hospitals, and assist in " giving comfort to the wounded. Wellington had several * hair-breadth " * 'scapes ' ; he exposed himself too much ; I saw him different times on " foot, along the lines, dressed in his Field-Marshall's uniform. The young " Prince of Orange was taken by the French, and retaken by the National " Guard of Brussels, chiefly composed of young men of rank and fortune, " who formed themselves into his guard ; when they had retaken him, he "tore the Star from his breast, and said, * My Brave Belgians, take it, you 118 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " have won it fairly.' He is adored by the people. I have just heard " that Captains B and C * are dead of their wounds." During the time the action had been going on at Quatre Bras the Prussians had been hotly engaged and worsted. Napoleon detaching the 3rd corps, under Grouchy, to follow them on their supposed line of retreat, towards Liege and Namur. The gallant old Blucher had, by a masterly stroke, ignored his own line of retreat, and fell back on the British line, which enabled him to unite his forces. Wellington, who was expecting assistance from the Prussians enabling him to hold the position at Quatre Bras, on hearing of their defeat, fell back leisurably towards Waterloo at 10 a.m. on 17th June. " We were followed by a large body of cavalry, and not until they '* had been dispersed by a gallant charge of the 1st Life Guards did " they desist from annoying us. All that we suffered from was the " weather, as the rain fell in torrents ; we halted near Genappe and ** Waterloo, it being the Duke's intention to make a stand about half ** a league in front of the latter place. Each regiment took up its " ground without the least confusion ; and the fifth division, with 32nd, " passed rather an uncomfortable night lying among high grass and " corn, in thunder, lightning, and in rain. " As morning dawned, on Sunday, 18th June, the men procured " some wood and made large fires ; biscuits and spirits were served " out, and our clothes were nearly dry, when the enemy appeared on " the heights opposite to us, standing to their arms. Our men ** immediately be^an to rub and dry their firelocks, put in new flints, ** and make all necessary preparations for the day's work.'* Battle of Waterloo. Wellington's army, mustering about sixty-eight thousand of mixed nationalities, with only twenty-three thousand British, was drawn up in position and occupied about one and a half miles. The right, under Ix>rd Hill, was thrown back on a deep ravine toward Merke • Captain Jacques Boyse died of wounds on the 17th June, and Captain Cassan on the 16th. — Extract from Casualty Return. 32nd regiment. 119 m Braine ; and the village of Braine la Lende, beyond this hamlet, was also occupied. The centre was composed of the corps of the Prince of Orange. In front of the right centre, and near the Nivelles road, was the chateau of Hougoument, which was surrounded by a grove of tall trees, an orchard, and walled gardens ; this post, which was at the angle where the right wing was thrown back en potence^ was of the greatest importance, and held by three companies of the Guards, the remainder of General Cooke's division being drawn up on the slope behind it. The left wing consisted of the 5th division and 32nd Regiment, commanded by Sir Thomas Picton. Its right was on the main road from Charleroi to Brussels, and its left on a height above the hamlet of Ser-la-Haye, where the ground became woody and broken. On the right side of the road, and at the bottom of the hill, stood the farmhouse of La Haye Sainie ; the ground from above this farm, nearly to the extreme right of the position, sloped gently down, and was quite clear of all impediments. A long lane, with a quickset hedge on either side, ran by the entire front of the left wing, and here also the ground lay in an easy slope. " Our front formed an irregular curve, convex towards the enemy. " The extensive wood of Soignies was in our rear, and would have '* been of great importance to us, had we failed to maintain our " position at Waterloo." A few minutes past eleven in the morning of the 18th the enemy sent forward a swarm of Tirailleurs to the attack of Hougoument ; they spread over all the ground in front of the house and its planta- tions, and advanced firing without any seeming system, but were unable to dislodge its brave defenders, chiefly guardsmen, who resisted all attempts to capture it ; and, though the building itself was set on fire by the French shells, and the surrounding orchards and enclo- sures carried at first by the vehemence of their onset, the assailants were soon driven out again, and the post was successfully held up to the close of the day. While this attack was gomg on a heavy cannonade was kept up by the enemy upon the whole line, to cover the advance of cavalry and 120 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE infantry* The 5th division and 32nd Regiment columns of regiments, and a body of Belgians, with some of their field pieces, occupied part of the lane, while the 95th and light companies were extended more in advance, with their right on a sand-pit that lay opposite the gale of La Haye Sainte. The French, who had brought several batteries of artillery into position down the slopes of the hills fronting the left wing, now commenced to open a falling fire on ihera, and under cover of this the enemy made a general advance, driving in the light troops and pressing their cavalry against the British infantry ; tlie 32nd Regiment here formed square, and resisted the onset with the utmost intrepidity. The enemy had advanced its artillery on the right side of the Brussels road to witlnn one hundred and tivenly paces of the crest of the hill, and every discharge made sad gaps in the infantry squares. After making the most desperate efforts in other parts of the field, and especially at Hoitgoumenl, the enemy turned their attention principally to the left and left centre, A strong body of French infantry advanced against the left wing, and pressed on to the lane. Sir Thomas Picion instantly placed himself at the head of his division to meet the attack, crossed the lane, and charged the French, who — firing a volley--retired. " The attack cost us a gallant leader. " Sir Thomas Picton received a ball through his right temple and fell " dead from his horse. His body was borne off the ground by two "grenadiers of the 32nd regiment, and not — as painters incorrectly " have it in their representations of this sad scene— by Highlanders.f " During the charge a French officer seized a stand of colours " belonging to the 32nd Regiment ; but he was instantly run through " the body by a sergeant's pike (iSergeant Switzer), as weil as by the " sword of Ensign John Birtwhistle, who carried the regimental colour " until severely wounded." " After the attack was repulsed, two French women were found " dead on the field — one with a bullet wound through her head. Our * Nearly all the fegimcnis in Kcmpt's and Pack's lirigailes had lost half thor i liiml>ers in Ihc lialtlc al the 16lh— " Lcs Qualre Bens,"— Sibornr. vol. ii., p. 7. f Ho6s-Lcwin, viil. ii.; Siborne. vol. ii., (>. 11 32nd regiment. 121 " troops pursued the retiring column down the slope, and would have " closed with them had they not rallied and opened fire. Ponsonby's " cavalry brigade, however, appeared just in time, and swooped down ** upon them, capturing two thousand prisoners and two eagles. The " prisoners were immediately sent off to Brussels, and it was their "arrival which convinced the timid that the British were not "getting the worst of it, as had been reported by the runaway " Belgians. " After the repulse of our assailants we resumed our former "position, and Sir James Kempt* took the command of the " division. " About this time (6 p.m.) the captain who commanded at La Haye " Sainte ran across the road to the 32nd, and requested that we would " direct him where to procure ammunition, as his was nearly all " expended, and he feared that he should not be able to defend his " post much longer. He was, however, unsuccessful, and the French " were enobled to carry the position. A dangerous gap was thus made " in the British centre, and the result undoubtedly might have been "serious if the attack had been at once promptly supported." After the enemy's success at La Haye Sainte their fire from it was very annoying, and the 32nd Regiment suffered a good deal. At length the 28th Regiment, which had not been previously engaged, was led up by General Lambert and occupied the ground on which the 32nd Regiment had hitherto stood. The 32nd retired a few yards, formed square, and lay down ; but even in this position some of the officers were wounded and many lives lost. Wellington, who at once perceived the danger, immediately sent up two of Lord HilFs brigades, and after an hour's time all danger was over. Napoleon now tried to make a general advance, as the Prussian columns had been already observed making their way on the VVavre road, and on the right flank of them, and must have seen now that a complete victory was no longer within his grasp, and that all he could hope for was such a success as might enable him to avert the calamity of a total defeat. With this object he placed himself at the head of his * Kempt's brigade consisted of the 28th, 32nd, and 79th Regiments. 122 m5TORlCAL RECORDS OF THE array and directed the attack, supported by cavalry and artillery, against the centre of the Urilish army ; hut he himself did not proceed beyond a pit at the foot of the slope, where he look his station, sheltered from ihe fire by a small mound. The enemy advanced with great gallantry, and were held in check by the 52nd, 7th. and 2nd battalion 95th Regiments, together with Sir Colin Halkett'9 brigade. The French now attempted to deploy, but tell into inextricable confusion, which ended in their retiring precipitately in broken masses, followed by the British infantry and cavalry. During this part of the day, Sir James Kempt was on Ihe right of Ihe division, watching with perfect coolness the progress of the attack, and soon, taking olf his hat, he cheered the troops on towards the enemy. "The British commander, now seeing that Bulow was again " engaged on the enemy's right flank, and that Ziethen's corps was "issuing from the woods on the left, ordered his whole line to " advance. This inspiriting order was received with a general shout, " and the movement was made with all the alacrity of which troops " so long and so harassingly engaged were capable. The Duke then "crossed the main road, with his glass in his hand, and galiojied " down the slope in front of our left, to ihe spot where the remnant of "the 28th Regiment had halted. This handful of brave men gave " him three hearty cheers, and I am confident that there was not a "man in the army who did not feel elated at the sight of their '■ victorious chief, safe and unhurt after this perilous and bloody " day." The French army, after their last reserves had been repulsed, abandoned all their ground, and a total rout ensued. Wellington found the English too exhausted to take part in it, but the Prussians took it up with such indefatigable energy that by daylight next morning (19th June), some of iheir cavalry had reached Gosselies, twenty miles from the scene of the fight. The 5th division remained on (he ground where the battle had been fought during the night, " When the excitement of the fight was over, our people felt much " oppressed by fatigue and want of refreshment ; still, we contrived " to make large fires, and to sleep soundly for the remainder of the " night round the hoi embers. J 32nd regiment. 123 ''The 32nd was reduced to one hundred and thirty, and my •* company to eleven men."* The regiment had not a single absentee. The following interesting statistics are taken from the United Sennce Magazine^ March, 1880 : — *• Of eighty corporals who went into action, eight reckoned fourteen " years' service or over ; eighteen had from seven to fourteen years' " service ; and fifteen were under seven years' service. The oldest "corporal, Davey, had enlisted originally in the Devon and Corn- "wall Fencible Infantry in 1799. Of five hundred and sixty-eight " privates who went into action (for Roll of Names see Appendix) ** eighty-one had fourteen years' service or over ; one hundred and ** eighty had from seven to fourteen years' service, and the rest — one " boy included — had under seven years' service. The old soldiers, "/.^., the corporals and privates of fourteen years' service and over, ** therefore constituted about fifteen per cent, of the strength. Of " these two had enlisted in 1793, one in the 4th Dragoons and one " as a boy in the 32nd ; one had originally enlisted in the Devon " Fencible Infantry in the West Indies ; thirty-three more enlisted on " its return home in 1799. The young soldiers, i.^., the men with *Mess than seven years' service, formed about fifty-two per cent., **and most of them had only two or three years' service, being ** transfers from the disbanded 2nd battalion." The following account, which was written by a young officer to his friend a few days after the battle, is full of interest : " Camp of Clichy. " All the sharers of my tent having gone to Paris, and my servant " having manufactured a window-shutter into a table, and a pack-saddle " into a seat, I will no longer delay answering your two affectionate letters, " and endeavour to comply with your demand of an account of the battle, " such as it offered to my own eyes. " On the 15th of June, everything appeared so perfectly quiet, that the " Duchess of Richmond gave a ball and supper, to which all the world " was invited, and it was not till ten o'clock at night that rumours of an ^ Captain Ross-Lcwin. 134 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE "action having taken place between Ihe Frencb and Prussians " circulated through the room in whispers ; no credit was given lo them. " however, for some lime ; but when the general officers, whose corps " were in advance, began to move, and when orders were given (or persons ''to repair to their regiments, matters then began to be coiuideied in a " ditferenl light At eleven o'clock the drums beat to arms, and the oth '■ division, which garrisoned Brussels, after having bivouacked in the I'ark " until daylight, set forward towards the frontiers. On the road we met " baggage and sick coming to the rear, but could only learn that the " French and Prussians had been lighting the day before, and that another "battle was expected when ihey left the advanced posts. At two o'clock " we arrived at Genappe, from whence we beard firing very distinctly, " Half-an-hour afterwards we sa* ihc French columns advancing, and we " had scarcely taken our position when they attacked us. Our front con- " sisied of Ihe 3rd and 5ih divisions, with some Nassau people, and a "brigade of cavalry, in all about thirteen thousand men ; while the " French forces, according to Ne/s account, must have been immense, as " his reserve alone consisted of thirty thousand, which, however, be says, '■ Buonaparte disposed of without having, advertised him. The business " was begun by the 1st battalion of ibe 96ih, which was seoi to diive the " enemy out of some cornfields and a ih-ck wood, of which they had " possession. After sustaining some loss wc succeeded completely, and " three companies of Brunswickers were left to keep it, while we acted on " another piart of the line. They, however, were driven out immediately, " and the French also got possession of a village which turned our flanks. " We were then obliged to return, and it took us the whole day to retake '■ what had been lost. While we were employed here, the remainder of " the army were in a much more disagreeable situation, for, in conse([uence " of our inferiority of cavalry, each regiment was obliged to form a square, " in which manner the most desperate aiLicks of infantry and chaises of " cavalry were resisted and repelled ; and when nighl put an end to the " slaughter, the French not only gave up every attempt on our position, " but retired from ihcir own, on which we bivouacked. I will not attempt " to describe the sort of night wc passed — I will leave you to conceive iL " The groans of the wounded and dying, to whom no relief could be " atforded, must not be spoken of here, because on the 18ih it was fifty " thousand times worse. But a handful of men lying in the face of such " superior numlwrs, and being obliged to sleep in squares for fear of " the enemy's dragoons— knowing that we were weak in that arm — might " make a dash into the camp, was no very pleasant reverie to soothe one M 32nd regiment. 125 " to rest. Exclusive of this, I was annoyed by a wound I had received in ** the thigh, and which was becoming excessively painful. I had nogreat- " coat, and small rain continued falling until late the next day, when it " was succeeded by torrents. Boney, however, was determined not to give " us much respite, for he attacked our picquets at two in the morning. " Some companies of the 95th were sent to their support, and we con- "tinued skirmishing until eleven o'clock, when the Duke commenced " his retreat, which was covered by Lord Uxbridge. The Blues and Life " Guards behaved extremely well. ** The whole of the 17th — and, indeed, until late the next morning — the " weather continued dreadful ; and we were starving with hunger, no "provisions having been served out since the march from Brussels. " While five officers, who composed our mess, were looking at each other " with the most deplorable faces imaginable, one of the men brought us " a fowl he had plundered, and a handful of biscuits, which, though but " little, added to some tea we boiled in a camp kettle, made us rather more " comfortable ; and we huddled up together, covered ourselves with " straw, and were soon as soundly asleep as though reposing on beds of " down. I awoke long before daylight, and found myself in a very bad " state altogether, being completely wet through in addition to all other " ills. Fortunately I soon after this found my way to a shed, of which " Sir Andrew Barnard (our commandant) had taken possession, where " there was a fire, and in which, with three or four others, I remained till " the rain abated. About ten o'clock the sun made his appearance to view " the mighty struggle which was to determine the fate of Europe, and " about an hour afterwards the French made their dispositions for the " attack, which commenced on the right. The Duke's despatch will give " you a more accurate idea of the ground, and of the grand scale of " operations, than I can do ; and I shall therefore confine myself to details " of less importance which he has passed over. " After having tried the right, and found it strong, Buonaparte man- " oeuvred until he got forty pieces of artillery to play on the left, where " the 5th division, a brigade of heavy dragoons, and two companies of "artillery were posted. Our lines were formed behind a hedge, with two " companies of the 95th extended in front, to annoy the enemy's approach. " For some time wc saw that Buonaparte intended to attack us ; yet, as " nothing but cavalry were visible, no one could imagine what were his "plans. It was generally supposed that he would endeavour to turn our " flank. But, all on a sudden, his cavalr>' turned to the right and left, " and showed large masses of infantry, who advanced up in the most 126 " gallant style, to the cries of ' Vive VEutpermr ! ' while a most tremeo- " dous cannonade was opened to cover their approach. They had arrived "at the very hedge behind which ae were, the mnskets were almost "muzzle to muate, and a French mounted officer had seized the colors of " ihe 32nd Regiment, when poor Pieton ordered the charge of our brigade, " commanded by Sir James Kempt. When the French saw us rushing " through the hedge, and heard the tremendous huzza which we gave, "they turned ; but, instead of running, they walked off in close colunins " with the greatest steadiness, and allowed thcmseh-es lo be butchered " without any material resistance. Ac this moment, part of Genera! " Ponsonby's brigade of heavy cavalry took them in flank, and, besides "killed and wounded, nearly two thousand were made prisoners. Now " Buonaparte again changed his plan of attack. He sent a great force "both on the right and left ; but his chief aim was the centre, through " which lay the road to Brussels, and to gain this he appeared determined. " What we had hilheno seen was mere ' boys' play ' in comparison with "the 'lug of war' which took place from this time (three o'clock) until " the day was decided. All our army was formed in solid squares. The *' French cuirassiers advanced to the mouth of our cannon ; rushed on " our bayonets ; sometimes walked their horses on all sides of a square to " look for an opening through which they might penetrate ; or dashed " madly on, thinking to carry everything by desperation. But not a British " soldier moved ; all personal feeling was forgotten in the enthusiasm of " such a momenL Each person seemed to think the day depended on his "individual exertions,* and both sides vied with each other in acts of " gallantry. Buonaparte charged with his Imperial Guards. The Duke " of Wellington led on a brigade consisting of the 52nd and 95th Regi- "menis. Lord Uxhridge was with every squ.idron of cavalry which was " ordered forward. Poor Pieton was killed at the head of our dii-ision " while advancing. But, in short, look through the list engaged on that " day, and it would be difficult to point out one who had not distinguished "himself as much as another. Until eight o'clock the contest raged " without intermission, and a feather seemed only wanting in either scale " lo turn the balance. At this hour our situation on the left centre was " desperate. The 5th division, having borne the brunt of the battle, was " reduced from six thousand to eighteen hundred. The lith division — at " least the British part of it, consisting of four regiments— formed in our " rear as a reseri'C was almost destroyed, without having fired a shot, by " the terrible play of artillery and the fire of the light troops. The 27th " had four hundred men and every officer but one subaltern knocked 32nd regiment. 127 " down in square, without moving an inch or discharging one musket, " and at that time I mention both divisions could not oppose a sufficient " front to the enemy, who was rapidly advancing with crowds of fresh " troops. We had not a single company for support, and the men were so " completely worn out that it required the greatest exertion on the part of " the officers to keep up their spirits. Not a soldier thought of giving " ground ; but victory seemed hopeless, and they gave themselves up to * * death with perfect indifference. A last effort was our only chance. The " remains of the regiments were formed as well as the circumstances " allowed, and when the French came within about forty paces, we set up "a death-howl and rushed at them. They fled immediately, not in a " regular manner as before, but in the greatest confusion. " Their animal spirits were exhausted, the panic spread, and in five " minutes the army was in complete disorder. At this critical moment firing " was heard on our left. The Prussians were now coming down on the right " flank of the French, which increased their flight to such a degree that no " mob was ever a greater scene of confusion ; the road was blocked up by " artillery ; the dragoons rode over the infantry ; arms, knapsacks, ever>'- " thing, was thrown away ; and sauve qui peur seemed indeed to be the "universal feeling. At eleven o'clock, when we halted, and gave the " pursuit to BluchePs fresh troops, one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon " and numbers of prisoners had fallen into our hands. I will not attempt ** to describe the scene of slaughter which the fields presented, or what " any person possessed of the least spark of humanity must have felt, " while we viewed the dreadful situation of some thousands of wounded " who remained, without assistance, through a bitter cold night, succeeded " by a day of scorching heat ; English and French were dying by the side " of each other ; and I have no doubt, hundreds who were not discovered "when the dead were buried, and who were unable to crawl to any " habitation, must have perished by famine. For my own part, when we " halted for the night, 1 sank down almost insensible from fatigue ; my " spirits and strength were completely exhausted. 1 was so weak, and "the wound in my thigh so painful, from want of attention and in "consequence of severe exercise, that after 1 got to Nivelles, and " secured quarters, I did not awake regularly for 36 hours." The loss of the regiment on this day was very severe, viz., twenty- eight rank and file killed ; Captain Harrison, Lieutenants Colthurst, Horan, and Jago, Ensigns McCouchy, Birtwhistle, Bennett, and Lieutenant and Adjutant Davis, twenty sergeants, one drummer, and 138 HISTORICAL RF.C0BD5 OF THE three hundred and sixty-six rank and file wounded. Several of the latter died of their wounds. Lieu tenant- General Sir Thomas Picton fell niorially wounded in the rear of the 33nd Regiment, while giving his orders to advance to the first charge, Major-General Kempt then took command of the division, and Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Benson that of the brigade, which was vacated. In consequence of Major-General Sir Manley Power's appointment to the command of a British brii^ade, the 32nd Regiment, of which he had been lieutenant- colonel, was removed from the 5th lo the 6th division, and into his brigade. On this change the following order from Major- (Jeneral Sir James Kempt was issued : "extract from niVlSION ORDERS." "AmeviUe, 6ih July, 1815. "The 32nd Regiment will join the flth Division this day according to " General Order of 3rd instant. " Major-Generai Sir James Kempt feels he cannot part with this Regi- " ment without again expressing the verj' high sense he entertains of its " very distinguished conduct in the Battles of the 16ih and 18ih June. It " was quite impossible for Troops to behave more nobly or better than the ''32nd Regiment did on these occasions, and he begs Lieulenani-Colonel " Hicks, the Officers and men will accept of his best thanks for their " distinguished Services while under his Command. " (Sd.) Ja.mes Kempt, Major-Cicneral." ■' War Office, 25lh July, 1815, " H.R.H. the Prince Regent has been pleased in the name and on "behalf of His Majesty to approve of all the British Reyiments of Cavalry "and Infantry which were engaged in the Bailie of Waterloo being " permitted to bear on their Colours and Appointments in addition to any " other Badges or devices ihal ma>- have heretofore been granted to those " Regiments the word " Waterloo " in commemoration of their dislinguish- n the 18lh |une ISlfi." On the march from Waterloo to Paris, a considerable number of men who had been slightly wounded, and others who had been employed in conducting the wounded lo the rear, rejoined, so that i 32nd regiment. 129 on encamping at Neuilly, near Paris, the regiment mustered three hundred rank and file. Shortly after their arrival at Neuilly, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Hicks was appointed one of the commandants of Paris, and Major Calvert, who was promoted to lieutenant-colonel by brevet, took command of the regiment. They remained here until 28th October, when the camp was broken up and the troops got into winter quarters. The 32nd Regiment went into a small village called Cariieres, on the banks of the Seine, near Poisoy, which was the head-quarters of the brigade ; St. Germains being that of the division. On 16th October, 1815, Lieutenant Colonel James Mailland took command of the regiment, previous to its leaving Neuilly, and Major Calvert went to England on leave of absence. " War Office, July 26th, 1816. " The Prince Regent has been pleased to approve the regiments under- " mentioned, in consideration of their services, wearing the words as under " specified against their names. . . 32 nd Foot — 'Salamanca;' 'Nivelle.'" "3rd July, Gonesse (bead-quarters from 2nd July, 1815). 'The Fuziliers, 29th, and 32nd are to be the Ilth Brigade, and in the " 6th Division." " Paris, 31st August, " The undermentioned officers to be Commandants of the several " Arrondissements : . . 4th Arrondissement — Lt-Col. Hicks, 32nd Regt." " Paris, 30th November, 1815. " The British Troops to return to England are to be brigaded as follows "for their March: 3rd B., 37lh, 32nd; Staff Corps, under Col. Sir J. " McLean ; 27th Regt." " Upon breaking up the Army which the Field Marshall has had " the honour to command, he begs leave again to return thanks to the " General Officers and the Officers and Troops for their uniform good " conduct in the late short but memorable campaign ; they have given " proofs to the World that they possess in an eminent degree all the " good ciualilies of Soldiers, and the Field Marshall is happy to be "able to applaud their regular good conduct in their Camps and " Cantonments, not less than when engaged with the Enemy in the " Field. 130 HISTORICAL record; " Whalever may be the future destination of those brave troops of "which the P'leld Marshall now takes his leave, he trusts that every " individual will believe that he will ever feet the deepest interest in "their honour and welfare, and will alwa)-s be happy to promote " cither." of place lo append the following, which will be It may not be ot read with interest : — \Vhen the celebrated model of the field of Waterloo — now in the mtiseum of the United Service Institution — was being constructed. Captain Sibome addressed a circular letter to the then surviving officers who were present in the campaign of June 1815. Of this letter the most important queries were : " I. — What was the particular formation of your r^ment at about "7 p.m., when the Frencfa Imperial Guards reached the crest of " our position ? " 2. — Wbai was the formation of that part of the enemy's forces " immediatdy to your front i " The replies reoenrcd from officers of the S2Dd R^ment are extracted from WateriM LtiUn, by Major-Genetal Sibome. From Lieuteoant-Cokmel F. Calvert : " Hemsdon House, Ware, - .April lUih, ie3& * I must proceed as well as 1 can in answering year Queries, which I " ha^'c numbered in the order tbey afifKar in jvat letter. " 1st.— The 32i>d Regimeat was in line on ihe crest of the hill behind Ibe " hedge which was at rigbt angles from (he road leading from BrusMls to ~ Charierat, ne^jr opposite to the Eum-boosc of La Hare Sainte. "Snd. — The enemv descended frxtm their position in cohnnns akng the 'aforesaid lOad, and on each side of it. "The 32nd Raiment was in Sir James Kempt's brigade, and in tbe " di*isi<Mi of Sir Thomas Picion. It sodTerad sererclf in tbe action of the " 16lh at Les Quane Bns, and on tbe morning of Waicrloaj was posted ** with hs right on ihe road froin Bntsseb to Chaiferoi. extending akmg the ** bed^ mentiotied in ny reply to ibc fint (tocry. Tbe remaiDder of the 32nd REKIMENT. 131 " brigade was to its left, with the exception of the Rifle Corps, which, with "a Belgian battalion, covered the front as skirmishers. " From about half-past twelve p.m., the brigade had to sustain repeated "attacks (in one of which Sir T. Picton was killed) from, 1 believe, the " entire First Corps of the French army. At about three o'clock Sir John " Lambert's brigade (27th, 4th, and 40th) arrived. The 32nd then fonned " in support, still keeping the 'ridge, from which it never was allowed to " Shortly afterwards in was formed in square, though not menaced by " cavalry, following the example of the rest of the army to the right and " left of the road. At about five o'clock the Duke of Wellington rode up " and ordered the regiment to deploy. Later in the evening (the 27th 'having nearly lost all its men) it advanced again towards the hedge until " it joined the rest of the army in its final charge. " I have, &c., "F. Calvert, Lieut.-Col., H.P." From the same : " United Service Club, March Uth, 1837. " The regiment marched from Brussels early on the morning of the 16lh "of June, and hailed for a couple of hours near the village of Waterloo. " It then resumed its march, and arrived at Quatre Bras about two o'clock. " It was moved immediately along the Namur Chauss^e until it came to " the point which I have marked on the map, where it formed line, awaiting " the approach of the enemy, who were descending in column from the " opposite hill. " When this attacking force had crossed both hedges lining the meadow " in the boiiom, and had commenced ascending our position, the 32nd " Regiment poured upon il a heavy fire, succeeded by a charge. This the " enemy did not wait to receive, but retired with precipitation, and, getting "entangled in the hedges on returning to their position, must have sutfered " considerable loss. We halted and re-formed at the first hedge, when "Sir Thomas Picton desired the regiment to retire to its original " position. " The 78th Regiment on our left, carried on by its ardour, went on much "further, crossed the meadow, and even ventured to assail the enemy's " position. They were, however, soon recalled. "Attacks similar to the above were renewed several times during the " evening, and always with similar results. After the action was concluded "our ground was occupied by some German troops, when we moved to L 132 HISTORICAL " our right and look up our ground for the night near the high road between " Quatre Bras and Charkroj. " On the following day we were the last infantry that left the ground, "and retired about eleven o'clock a.m., followed by the cavalry, which had " arrived during the night " I have, &c., " F. Calvert, Colonel Unattached, " Late of 3Zad Regknent* " From Captain R. T. Belcher, half-pay. Lieutenant, 32nd Regiment. " Bandon, February 27th, 1843. " Memorandum : "The 32nd Regiment formed the right of Sir James Kempt's Brigade, "the 96ih, which on the line of march usually formed the right, being " detached skirmishing. The Regiment was formed into six divisions in "consequence of its reduced numbers, having suffered severely at Quatre " Bras, I commanded the left centre division. " In the second attack of the French Infantry on the left centre of the " line, the Brigade advanced in line to charge. Immediately on passing " Ihe narrow road which ran along our front, the Ensign carrying the " Regimental Colour was severely wounded {Ensign Birtwhisile). I took "the Colour From him until another Ensign could be called. " Almost instantly after, ibe Brigade still advancing and the French "Infantry getting into disorder and beginning to retreat, a mounted "(French) officer had his horse shot under him. When he extricated " himself we were close on him. I had the Colour on my left arm and was " slightly in advance of the division. " He suddenly fronted me, and seized the staff, I slill retaining a grasp " of Ihe silk (the Colours were neariy new). " At the same moment he aiiempied to draw his sabre, but had not "accomplished il when the Covering Colour-Sergeant, named Switzer, " thrust his pike into his breast, and (he right rank and file of the division, " named Lacy, fired into him. He fell dead at my feet. "Brevet-Major Toole, commanding the right centre division at the " moment, called out, ' Save the brave fellow ; ' but it was too late, " Robert T. Belcher." Extract from letter of Lieutenant Colonel Leach, cb., captain and brevet major, 95ih Rifles : 32nd regiment. 133 "TTie fierce onset of the French, with overwhelming numbers, forced " back my two companies on the main body of the 95th Regiment, which "... was also instantly assailed in such a manner as to render it " impossible for one weak battalion, consisting of only six companies, to " stem the torrent for any length of time. We were consequently con- " strained to fall back on the 3iJnd Regiment, which was in line near the " thorn hedge which runs Irom the Genappe road to the left, and along the "front of Picton's division. " We were closely pressed and hotly engaged during the retrograde " movement, and very soon after reaching the spot where the 32nd was in "position, a volley and a charge of bayonets caused ihe French to recoil " in disorder and with a heavy loss ; and it was at this moment of fire, " smoke, and excitement that the heavy cavalry appeared among us, and "instantly charged that infantry which the fire and charge of bayonets " from Picton's division had previously shattered and broken." 1816-17. Arrangements having been made for the formation of the army of occQpaiion, all the weak regiments were sent to England, and the 32nd embarked at Calais, landing at Dover, and marched to Sheer- ness, where it was quartered. Some time_aftet the regiment marched to Colchester, where it hailed for twelve days, and then proceeded to Portsmouth and embarked for Guernsey and Alderney, remaining there until December 1816, and returned to Portsmouth, being quartered in Hilsea barracks until June, 1817. Apropos of the returning of the regiments after the Waterloo campaign, a very interesting account is given In the Earl of Albemarle's Fifty years of my life, his battalion — 3rd battalion 14th Regiment — having landed at Dover within a few days of the 32nd Regiment : " Public feeling had undergone a great revulsion in regard to us " soldiers. The country was saturated with glory, and was brooding " over the bill that it had to pay for the article. ^Vaterloo, and Waterloo " men, were at a discount. We were made painfully sensible of the "change. If we had been convicts disembarking from a hulk, we " could not have been met with less consideration. ' It's us pays ihey " chaps,' was the remark of a country bumpkin, as we came on shore. 13-i BlSTOklCAL RECORDS OF THE " It was a bitter cold day when we landed ; no cheers, like those " which greeted the Crimean army, welcomed us home. The only " persons who took any notice of us were the custom-house officers, "and they kept us under arms for hours, in the cold, while ihey " subjected us to a rigid search. These functionaries were unusually " on the alert, because a day or two before a brigade of artillery, with " guns loaded to the muzzles with French lace, had slipped through " their fingers. Our treatment was all of a piece. Towards dark we " were ordered to Dover Castle, part of which building served as a " prison. Our barracks were strictly in keeping with such a locality, "cold, dark, gloomy, and dungeon -I ike. No food was lo be got but " our rations, no furniture but what the barrack stores afforded." 1818-19. The regiment continued the whole of the year 1818 in the Citadel barracks, and did duty with the lOlh and 2Bth regiments m the course of the year. The commanding olficer, Lieutenant-Colonel James Maitland, exchanged with Lieutenanl-Colone! the Honble. John Maitland, inspecting field officer, Ionian Militia, who joined and took command on the 24th July, 18IS. The regiment remamed the greater part of the year 1819 in the Citadel barracks at Corfu. In the month of February the regiment was reduced to the peace establishment. In March the grenadier company embarked on board H.M.S. Glasgow, Captain the Honble. Anthony Maitland, for the purpose of cruising for six weeks off the fortress of Parga, on the coast of Albania, to throw this force into that garrison, then occupied by four companies of the 75th Regiment, in case of its being attacked by the Turks, which at this time was apprehended. Again, in the month of October, in this year, two captains, one lieutenant, three ensigns, and two hundred privates, with non-commissioned officers in proportion, were sent to the island of Santa Maria. Some fifteen hundred well- armed peasants made an attack upon the town, which was held by a party of the 28th Regiment and some Royal Artillery, under command of Colonel, (afterwards Sir Frederick) Slovin. A request for reinforce- ments was sent to Corfu, and on the arrival thence of the light J ND REGIMENT. companies of the 28th and 32nd regiments, the insurgents, who had got possession of ihe town, were driven out, and took up a position in the village of Spakiotes.* This position was subsequently stormed, and ihe insurgents dispersed, in which service a few men of the 32nd Regiment were wounded. Several of the Greek priests, who had acted as ringleaders, were hanged. At the end of June, 1817, the regiment was ordered lo embark for the Mediterranean, touching at Gibraltar and Malta on its way to Corfu. It landed there on 30th August and was quartered in the Citadel fiarracks, continuing to do duty in that garrison for the remainder of the year. The Ionian islands, then governed by Sir Thomas Maitland, appears to have been by no means the agreeable quarters they became in after times. Their sanitary repute was indifferent, the political situation critical. AU Pacha still held sway in Janina, and the Greek struggle for independence was just commencing. Maitland, whom Sir C. Napier pithily described as "a rough old despot, " surrounded by sycophants, who worshipped him because he had a "little more brains than they," was very high handed in his dealings ; the duties of the garrison were very severe, and — unless strangely misrepresented — disciphne was occasionally enforced in a fashion which travested justice and common sense alike. Order having been restored in the island, the detachment rejoined the head-quarters at Corfu on 3rd November. L 1820-21. The 32nd Regiment remained the greater part of the year 1820 in the Citadel barracks at Corfu, doing duty with the 8th and 38lh regiments. On 0th and lOih June, Major-General Sir Frederick Adam made a minute inspection of the regiment, both in its field :nis and interior economy, and expressed himself in a Brigade Order as follows : ' Subsequently destroyed by an earthquake, on which occasion the stnaller delacluneQt ibeie stationed escaped through being absent on laligue duty. HISTORICAL EECOBDS OP THS " CASUSCHI ORDERS. " Brigade Major's Office, " Corftj, 21st Jme, 182a " The Major-Goieral has completed his inspection of Ihe 3Snd " Regiment, and has great pleasure in expressing his approbation of the " improvement which has taken place in that Corps, of the good order in " which he has found it in all respects, both of its interior economy and " discipline. Hiere is a marked improvemenl too in the accuracy of its " movements in the Field since the Major-Geneial had last an opportunity " of observing them previous to his going to England The Major-General " does not form his opinion of ifae condition of a Corps merely from what " comes under his notice at a single Inspection, but it is the result of his "general and continued observation, and he is not inclined to express any "opinion on casual or temporary acquaintance with the Regiment. " In a word, the improvemenl of the 32nd Regiment is ' Great,' and its " present state highly creditable to the exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel The " Honble. John Maiiland and the Officers who have seconded him in " bringing it about. " The great aiieniion of the Non-commissioned Officers and the " improved behaviour of the men is best evinced by the state of the " Regiment and by the fact of the diminution in the * Severe Punishment ' ** since Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland took the Command. "(Sd.) J. RUUSDAIL, Major Brigade." In answer to the Half-Yearly Report, the following letters were received by the commanding officer : •■ Horse Guards, 10th Febr>., I82L "Sir, " I have not failed to lay before the Commander-in-Chief your " Despatch of the 18th December last with its enclosure, and am directed "to acquaint you that His Royal Highness has received, with great " satisfaciioD, the favourable report of the 8th and 3'2nd Regiments so " creditable to their Commanding Officers (Lieutenant-Colonel Uuffy and " Honble. John Maitland) and he will not fail to recommend to His "Majesty thai the suspension of all promotion in the former Corps shall " now in consequence of this Report be taken off. " (Sd.) H. Taylor. " Lieutenant-Genera! " Rt Hon. Sir Thos. Maitland, c.CB." J 32nd regiment. 137 " Corfu, 8th April, 182L " Sir, " I have the honor, by direction of the Major-General Commanding, " to transmit for your information the enclosed copy of Letter from Major- " General Sir Herbert Taylor, together with an extract from one from the "Adjutant General of the Forces, conveying His Royal Highness The "General Commanding-in-Chiefs pleasure on the Half- Yearly Report " made of the 32nd Regiment for the second period of the last year. " I have, etc., etc., ''(Sd,) J. RUDSDAIL, " Actg. Milty. Secretary. " The Honble. "J. Maitland, " Commdg. 32nd Regt" In the latter end of July a detachment of the regiment, under Major Dillon, proceeded to the island of Zante, for the purpose of quelling an insurrection of the inhabitants. They remained there until the end of the year. In January, 1821, the head-quarters of the regiment were removed from Corfu to Caphalonia, for the purpose of relieving the 75th Regiment. That part of the regiment which had remained at Zante till the end of 1820 proceeded to Santa Maura and Ithaca. In the month of July the head-quarters were removed from Caphalonia to Corfu, having been relieved by the 36th Regiment, from Malta. In August, a company was sent from Corfu to the island of Cerigo, leaving only the two flank companies at head-quarters, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland. The regiment now garrisoned the islands of Santa Maura, Ithaca, Paxo, and Cerigo, having its head-quarters at Corfu. In October of this year, the regiment was again reduced from ten to eight companies. 1822-26. In the month of May, 1822, the regimental detachments were relieved by the 61st (or King's Own) Light Infantry, and the regiment being assembled at Corfu was quartered at Fort Neuf and the Citadel barracks. The regiment continued doing duty in the Ionian islands for the next three years. On 30th June, 1825, the commanding officer received the following notification relative to the return of the 32nd Regiment to England. '■ London, 20ih May, 1825. "Sir, " I have the honour to annex for your information, acopy of a Letter " from the Horse Guards relative to the return of the 32nd Regiment to " this country. " We have, etc., etc., " (Sd.) C. & E. HOPKINSON. " Lieut-Colonel The Honble. J. Maitland, Com. 32nd Regiment." " Horse Guards, " 14ih May, 1826, " Sir, " I have the honor to notify to you, by the Commander-m Chiefs " Command, that His Majesty is pleased to direct that the 32nd Regiment "shall return to this country from the Mediterranean on being replaced by " a Regiment which will be sent out for that purpose. "(Sd.) H. TORRENS. " To Gen. Campbell, " Col., 32nd Regiment" On 22nd and 23rd July the Princess Royal and Diadem, transports, arrived at Corfu, having on board the head-quarters and part of the 7th Royal Fusiliers for the purpose of relieving the 32nd Regiment On the 28th the head-quarters and three companies embarked on board the Priruess Royal, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel the Honble. John Maitland, and three companies were embarked in the Diadem, under the command of Major Dillon. Having received orders to proceed to Portsmouth, they sailed the following morning. The 32nd Regiment having been paraded for embarkation, the following General Order, from Lieutenant-General Sir Frederic Adam, commanding the forces in the Ionian islands, was read at the head of the regiment by Lieutenant-Colonel Knitt, deputy -adjutant-general, previous to marching off ; and it was peculiarly gratifying to the corps to witness the feeling of regret evinced by the garrison and inhabit- ants in general, and the Stith Regiment in particular, at their departure, A 4 J 32nd regiment. "General Order, No. 1. "Adjutant-General's Office, " Ionian Islands, Head-Qrs., "Corfu, 28th July, 1825. it-General cannot allow the 32nd Regiment lo quit it has been for eight years, under his immediate .0 the Honble. Lieutenant- ssioned Officers and DSC be entertains of their e approbation founded on ail its pans and all its " The Ueutena " the Station in whict " Command and observation, without expressing t( "Colonel Maitland, to the Officers, Non-com "soldieis ot this excellent Corps, the strong s " exemplary and Military Conduct, and his em " a thorough knowled^je of the Regiraeni i " details. " If some instances of individual crime occurred in the Regiment during "the earlier part of its station, and if these from their nature have been " subject to Public investigation and Public punishment, still there is " nothing in them that could in any way reHect on the character and " reputation of the Corps, but they have been of a description which it " were absurd not to expect should occasionally occur in any large collected " body of men. " Approving as the Lieu tenant- General does of the whole deportment " and conduct of the Regiment, he must yet select one particular by which " it has been particularly distinguished. The orderly, tranquil, and " creditable conduct of the Officers and men in their quarters, and their " kind and friendly behaviour towards all the inhabitants in all the Islands " In which they have been stationed, a deportment this, which he wishes " to hold out as an exan^pte, because nothing can tend to raise the British " name or to conciliate the affections and respect of a population who axe " protected by the British Crown. " The Deportment of the Officers in general in all its bearings, whether " Military or social, reflects upon them the highest credit. It is due to the " Honble. Lieutenant-Colonel Maltland to slate that the Regiment, since '* he assumed the Command of it, has greatly improved in every particular, " and the Lieutenant- General has only to express his deep regret that he " has no longer the satisfaction of retaining under his Command a Corps " which has sucli strong claims on his approbation, and which he shall feel " a pride in seeing again under his command under any circumstances "either in Peace or War. "(Sii.) D. Knitt, Dy.-Adjt. General" UO HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE ^^ The two remaining companies of ihe 32nd tegiment waited at H Corfu until the arrival of the Borodino, transport, with the remainder i of ihe 7th Royal Fusiliers, and they embarked in that transport on | 24th August, and sailed the following morning. The head-quar- ters, on board the Printtss Royal, r- ^^M^^. arrived in Ply- | mouth Sound on ,' 19th September \ and remained in | quarantine until ..H^^^V', ^^. the 28th, when theydiserabarked 1 and relieved the \ l^* 24th Regiment, ' in barracks, at | Devonport, which ] then embarked for Ireland The Diadtm, trans- port, arrived with the detachment under the com- MAJOR 6IR J. F. DILLON. mand of Major Dillon,* who had previously occupied the barracks, and the Borodino, ^^J transport, also arrived, with the two companies under Captain Reid, ^^^| and disembarked on 17lh November following. ^m That part of the regiment which had arriv ed in England was ^^^ inspected by Major-General Sir John Camero n, K.C.B., on 22nd October, 1825, and the following is the extract fr m a letter from the adjutant-general to Lieu ten ant- Co! one) the Hon le. John Maitland, alluding to Sir Frederick Adam's order and Sir J. Cameron's eport. ■ • Afterwudi Sit J. Dillon, Bait J i 32nd regiment. Ul " Horse Guards, " 16th November, 1825. " Sir, " According to yonr dciire [ return you a copy of the General " Order given out by Sir Frederick Adani on the departure of the 32nd " Regiment from the Ionian Islands. " I have laid it before the Commander-in-Chief, and have to assure you " that His Royat Highness has expressed the greatest satisfaction at the "perusal of a Document so highly creditable to the old Corps you " Commanded and so very honourable to yourself. " I have also brought to His Royal Highness'notJce the very handsome " report of the Regiment transmitted from Plymouth by Major-General "Sir J. Cameron. "(Sd.) Henev Torrens." 1826-28. On 16th March, 1826, the regiment removed from Devonport and occupied the Citadel barracks at Plymouth, relieving the Sth Regiment, which embarked for Scotland, and on 26th Hay, Major-General Sir John Cameron made his half-yearly inspection of the regiment, and he again expressed himself in the highest possible terms on every part of its equipment and discipline. On 1 9th J une the loute was received for the march of the regiment to the northern district. The 1st division marched the following day. The head-quarters left Plymouth on Sth July and arrived at Halifax, in Yorkshire, on 4th August. The 32nd Regiment was now detached to Bradford, Stockport, Bury, Rochdale, Wakefield, and Oldham. The head-quarters and different detachments were inspected by Major-General the Honble. W. G. Harris, in October, 1826. In December of the same year the headquarters was removed to Manchester, and on lOlh January, 1827, the whole of the regiment was assembled at Liverpool for the purpose of embarking for Ireland, which it did on the 12th of the same month, and landed the following day in Dublin ; three days afterwards it marched in four divisions for Paisonstown barracks, in Kings county, where it arrived on the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 22nd of that month. On 28th April the regiment received orders to proceed to LJmericlc, U2 I and marched on 30th April and 1st and 7th May. The head-qu altera was stationed in the Castle barracks. The 37th Regiment, which had lately returned from America, also occupied the Castle barracks and relieved the different detachments. The regiment continued the whole of 1837 and the greater part of 1828 in Limerick, relieving (he different detachments every three months, and sending out at these times between four hundred and five hundred men. On ITth May and 28th September, 1827, and Uth May, 1828, the regiment was inspected by Major-General Sir Charles Boyle, K.C.B., commanding the south western district, who, on all these occasions, was pleased to express his approbation in every respect. On 28th September, 1828, the regiment received a route to march I from Limerick to Kilkenny; two companies from the head-quarlera ' on the 29th and the head-quarters on the 30th, and arrived at its destination on 3rd and 4th October. The different detachments in the counties of Clare and Limerick joined the head-quarters at different periods ; the last outpost arrived on 23rd October. On _ 11th October routes were received to detach three companies, ^ Carlow, Athy, and Maryborough. k 1829. On Sunday, 10th May. routes were received for the head-quarters and four companies to march from Kilkenny to Dublin. They marched on Monday, the 11th, and on the 18th the whole of the regiment was quartered in Richmond barr.icks. A few days after its arrival the regiment was inspected by Lieutenant-General the Rt. Honble. Sir John Byng, k.C.d., commander of the forces in Ireland. 1830. On 11th May, 1830, the regiment received an order to hold itself in readiness to embark for Canada, and on (he 15th a notification of J the establishment of the service and reserve companies was also received. On the 29ih, the 1st division, under the command of Captain Reocb, (consisting of one captain, four subalterns, one A 39nd hegement. assistanl surgeon, six sergeants, four corporals, two drummers, and one hundred and thirteen privates,) marched from Richmond barracks, Dublin, and embarked at Kingstown on board the Britomart, transport, and sailed Irom thence on 2nd June. The 2nd division, under the command of Major Palk, (consisting of one major, two captains, three lieutenants, one ensign, one paymaster, eight sergeants, nine corporals, two drummers, and one hundred and fifty-seven privates) embarked on board the Perseus, freight ship, on -tth of June, and sailed on the 7th of the same month. On 7th June the reserve companies, (consisting of one field officer, four captains, eight subalterns, twelve sergeants, twelve corporals, four drummers, and one hundred and thirty-three privates) marched to Boyle, under the command of Major Wingfield. The head-quarters, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel the Honble. John Mailland (consisting of one lieutenant-colonel, two captains, three ensigns, one adjutant, one quarter-master, one surgeon, fifteen sergeants, nine corporals, five drummers, and one hundred and eighty-eight privates), vacated Richmond barracks, being replaced by the 76th Regiment, and embarked at Kingston on board the Hebe, freight ship, on 8th June, and sailed on the ICth. The Britomart arrived in Quebec harbour on 24th July, the Hebe on 6ih August, and the Perseus on the 8ih. The 32nd Regiment now composed part of ihe garrison of Quebec, consisting of the 15th, 24ih, and 32nd regiments. Shortly after the arrival of the regiment it was reviewed by Lieu tenant-General Sir James Kempt, G.c.b., who, previous to his departure for England, in October, made his half-yearly inspection of the regiment. 1831-37. From an account of the celebration of the king's birthday, on 28th May, 1831, it appears that the 24th, 32nd, and 71st Light Infantry then formed the garrison of Quebec. There is not much to be learned of the regiment during this period, but an interesting account of a boat race — which appeared in the Quebec Mercury of 26th May, 1832 — in which Captains Markham and Hodges, wiih J 144 Lieutenants Brooke and Baines, of the 32nd regiment, formed one of the crews, recalls incidentally the good services which have been done by British officers in all parts of the world in promoting a taste for manly s[>oiiS and pastimes. This year General Alexander Campbell, of Munrie, N.B., died, and the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on Lieu ten ant-General Sir Samuel Venables Hinde,* k.cb., who had commanded the 1st battalion 32nd Regiment throughout the Peninsular war. The Regimental Records are absolutely silent as to the next live years, and one can only infer from this tiiat the ordinary routine work, with little variation, took place. However, there were some hard days before the regiment, for in 1837 it had been removed to Montreal, where the Canadian rebellion — styled " the Papinean rebellion," by a body called " Fils de la Libnii " — broke out. The chief cause of this outbreak — which, however, seems to have been smouldering for some time— was brought about by the Canadian House of Assembly refusing to vote supplies. The 32nd Regiment was employed against the rebels in Lower Canada, who, under the influence of certain party leaders, had broken out into acts of open rebellion. In the following November the rebel leaders were supposed to have taken up iheir quarters in the villages of St. Charles and St. Denis, on the right bank of the Richel, and their immediate capture being considered desirable, Colonel Gore, deputy quarter-master-general, was sent with a parly of troops from Sorel, the advance of which was formed by the light company o2nd Regiment, under Captain F. Markham, to St. Denis, while Colonel VVeatherall, of the Royals, with another party, proceeded to St. Charles. After a toilsome night march of twelve hours through heavy rain, St. Denis, which was but eighteen miles from Sorel, was reached at 10 a.m., and a party of fifteen hundred rebels was found posted in a fortified stone house, with a weli flanked barricade blocking the road. Some sharp fighting ensued, but as the field piece which had accompanied the party could make no impression on the defences, / captain Thus. Impett, 33nd regiment. 146 and the men were much exhausted, their wet clothes frozen stiffupon their backs, Colonel Gore, after spending nearly all his ammunition, was compelled to retire, with a loss of six killed and ten wounded ; of this number, the 32rd light company had two men killed, five men wounded, and four missing, including one wounded man. Captain Matkham himself was severely wounded, having had two bullets through his neck, and whilst being carried away — on Colonel Gore retiring — by Sergeant Allcock and a private, was wounded by a third bullet through the calf of his leg, and several bullets grazed his knee. Lieutenant Weir, 32nd regiment, in trying to overtake the detachment which left Sorel on the ni^bt of the 22nd (he having been despatched from Montreal that morning by land, to order the detachment at Sorel to be in readiness to join Colonel Gore's party) on landing that evening at Sorel, and arriving after the detachment had marched, (viz., 10 p.m., 22nd November) he having taken the front road, and the detachment marching by the back road, fell into the hands of the rebels at St. Ours, and was murdered by them. His body was found on 2nd December in the river Richelieu, at St. Denis, in about two feet of water, covered with large stones. Colonel Wetherall, with better fortune, reached Si. Charles after some delay, and drove the rebels out at the point of the bayonet. On 30th November, Colonel Goie. with four companies 32nd, mpanies 66th, one company 24lh, and one company 83rd, with a twelve-pounder Howitzer, marched from Sorel, and on the following day attempted to break through the ice of the Richelieu with a steamboat, but, failing in this, crossed the ice and proceeded to St, Ours, and thence to SL Denis, which— having been abandoned the night before— was occupied without opposition. Three companies of the 32nd Regiment and a field gun, under Major Reed, 32nd regiment, were left at St. Denis, and the rest moved on to St. Charles and afterwards to St. Hyacinthe. The rebel leaders had, meanwhile, escaped to the United States, and the four companies 3'2nd, with the rest of Colonel Gore's force, returned to Sorel. The rebels under arms between the Yanaska and the Richelieu being dispersed, arrangements were made for sending a body of 146 ^ HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE troops into [he country of the take of two mountains, their stronghold at Grand Bruli and Riviere de Chfine, The force consisted of the 32nd and 83rd regiments, brigaded under Colonel Maitland, and the Royals and some other troops, brigaded under Colonel Welherall. The principal post, St. Eustache, was captured by Maitland's brigade, with a loss of one killed and eight wounded ; the 32nd had one man wounded only. Afterwards the villages of St. Scholasiique, St. Therfese, &c., were occupied by the 32nd, the arms and ammunition of the inhabitants being given up without opposition. In his report. Colonel Maitland speaks highly of the steadiness and good conduct of the troops, and the forbearance shown by them towards the rebels.* The foregoing movements were under the direction of General Sir J. Colbourne. 1838. Early in January, 1838, the head-quarlers of the regiment pro- ceeded by water to the Upper Province, and while en route were frozen in among the Thousand Isles. After remaining some days in this position, they crossed on the ice, it being sufficiently strong to bear them, to the mainland, and thence proceeded to Kingston, Toronto, and New London. The remainder of the regiment had been previ- ously stationed for some time in the latter place. The greater part of the regiment was now sent on to Amherstburg, where the 34th regiment was also quartered, and Colonel Maitland took command of the District. A large number of American sympathisers having taken possession of the island of Point-au-Rils, an English force, consisting of two guns, a detachment of the 32nd Regiment, and a parly of Volunteer cavalry, was organised against them. They proceeded up the lake to Chichester, about eighteen miles, arriving there on the evening of 2nd March, 1838. Early the following morning the party crossed in sleighs from the mainland, a distance of about sixteen miles, arriving at the island about sunrise. * len<ien GaulU, 183S. J 33ND 147 Note. — The laie Dr. Henry, who was serving there (Canada) at the time as surgeon to the 66ih Regiment, gives Che following account of this affair in his Events of a MUUary Life, vol. iii. : " A more serious attempt than any of these predatory irruptions was " made at a large British island, near the head of Lake Erie, called Point " Peled island, «hich is inhabited, and about twenty miles distant from the " Canadian shore. Here a body of American brigands, armed to the teeth "with lilies, pistols, bayonets, and large carvers as sharp as razors, called " bowie knives, landed on 28th February, 1S38, seized the inhabitants and "plundered them, and made preparations for crossing to the vicinity of " Amherstbei^. But there was a vigilant officer there who anticipated " their attack. "Colonel the Honble. John Maitland, commanding 32nd Regiment, " having previously sent Captain Glasgow, R.A. (an active officer through- " out this winter) to see if the ice was still passable, moved with a strong " detachment from Amherstberg, and after travelling all night in sleighs a " distance of forty miles, at a temperature below lero, arrived at the island " about daybreak Here the Colonel detached Captain Browne, 32nd " Regiment, with two weak companies to the south shore, with the intention " of cutting ofT the retreat of the invaders to the American side ; whilst he " himself, with the main body, slowly penetrated through the deep snow, " at the northern end, in quest of them. The band of marauders, suddenly "finding themselves surrounded, boldly determined to concentrate their "force and attack Browne's detachment, not one hundred strong, thus " opening their way back to Sandusky. They accordingly advanced in " regular military order, throwing out skirmishers, who covered themselves "by large blocks of ice along the shore, and opened a hot (ire on the " 32nd. Browne was not slow in returning their fire ; but, finding himself "outflanked and his men faUing fast, he formed his small force in line at o charged his assailants with the bayonet, who, n number, immediately broke and took to the wood. " Soon after they escaped in their sleighs to the American shore, with the " loss of (our of their chiefs killed and over seventy killed and wounded. " Now this was a very brilliant little affair, and did honour to the steadiness "of the 32nd and their intrepid leader, Browne, who proved himself the " man of resources, his power of mind and firmness giving promise of " future fame, and demonstrating that the lesson he received in early life at " Waterloo had not been foi^otten." The cavalry and two companies of the 32nd Regiment, under the "extended order, and s "although four li 148 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE command of Captain Browne, of the latter corps, were sent round to the end of the island to intercept the retreat of the enemy. The main body, under Captain Birtwhistle, 32nd regiment, with two guns, advanced through the island and compelled the enemy to retire. The Americans, while retiring, came upon a party sent to intercept ihem, when a smart action ensued, in which more than thirty of the small number of the 32nd regiment engaged were wounded, two of whom subsequently died of their wounds. Captain Browne, perceiving the loss he was sustaining, extended his small hne by opening the files, and in this order charged down on (he rebels, putting them to flight and making several of them prisoners. For his gallant conduct on this occasion he received a brevet majority. 1839-43. In April, 1839, the regiment returned to New London, where Colonel Maiiland died the following winter. The regiment was subsequently stationed for twelve months at Toronto, and proceeded to Montreal, and thence to St Helens, where it was quartered about two months. The regiment continued in Upper Canada, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Wingfield, until July, 1841, when it was brought down from Toronto to Quebec, and embarked for home in the Apollo, transport, which had brought the 68th Light Infantry from Jamaica to Canada. The service companies landed at Portsmouth on ITih September, 1841, and marched into quarters at Fort Cumberland, where the four- company depot which had been brought round from Plymouth awaited them. Shortly after the arrival of the regiment at Portsmouth, Lieutenant Rasbbrook, a very young officer, was drowned in the Dockyard while going visiting rounds at night. He was interred with military honours, "the grenadier company, to which he belonged, wearing " white favours in their bearskins." From Portsmouth the regiment moved to Leeds, owing to disturbances having occurred there, where it was stationed in 1843. J 32nd regiment. 149 General Sir Robert McFarlane, who had succeeded to the regiment on the death of Sir S. V. Hinde in 1S37, died this year, and was succeeded by Lieu tenant-General Sir John Buchan, k.c.b., k.c.t.s. 1844-47. In 1844, ihe regiment moved from Leeds to Manchester, and in 1845 W.1S transferred to Dublin, subsequently moving to Muilingar and Athlone. On 19th March, 1846, the regiment moved to Fermoy, orders being received for it to proceed to India. On 29th May, 1846, the regiment, in five detachments, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Markham, embarked on board the transports British Sovereign, Duchess of Northumberland, Edin- burgh, General Palmer, and Abourkir, for its first tour of duty in India. Ths transports reached Calcutta within a short time of one another— the first fortnight in September ; and the troops proceeded by water to Chinsurat, en route to Agra, The destination of the regiment was changed to Meerut. It encamped at Benares on Ist January, 1847, while still tn route to Meerut, The regiment arrived at Meerut on 19th February, 1847, and was stationed there until 14th February the following year. While here, two officers— Lieutenant Sullivan and Lieutenant Money-Kyrle — died. The regiment also lost their last Waterloo veteran, by the retire- ment, on lialf-pay, of Major George Browne, a brave old officer who had entered the regiment in I8I3, fought with it at Quatre Bras and Waterloo, and subsequently much distinguished himself in the aflair at Point Pele^ island, during the Canadian rebellion. 1848-61. The first Sikh war was over, and there appeared to be a general calm throughout the land for the first two years after the regiment reached India. In the beginning of 1846, a strong British and native garrison, under Sir John Littler, held I.,ahore, to protect the chief sirdars from their turbulent fellow-countrymen; and the reconstruction of the government in the Punjaub was progressing, to all appearances, satisfactorily. But mischief was brewing at Mooltan. Negotiations 160 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE had beea goin^ on for some time between the British durbar al Lahore and Moolraj, the dewan or governor ot' Muoltan, to induce or compel the latter to resign, in favour of Sirdar Khan Singh. At the request of the Moolraj, two British commissioners — Mr. Vans Agnew, assistant-resident at Lahore, and Lieutenant Anderson, Bombay Fusiliers, had been sent to effect the transfer. They arrived in Mooltan, with a very small escort, on 17th .April, 1848 ; the transfer o( the Government was formally completed, the work of the mission done, when the two Englishmen were attacked and desperately wounded. Three days afterwards they were foully murdered, in their place of refuge, without the walls. A revolt at Lahore, and the preaching of a jehad, or holy war followed, Moolraj took the field with five thousand men, but was checkmated by the foresight and indomitable energj- of Herbert Edwardes, then a young subaltern employed on revenue duly in the neighbourhood of Mooltan. At the head of a heterogeneous collection of hastily formed levies, in whom he managed to infuse some of his own spirit, he effected a junction with Colonel Van Cortland, commanding at Dhera Isma Khan, and inflicted some severe defeats on the Mooltanese, driving ihem back under their own walls, where they were kept at bay until the arrival of the British troops, under General Whish, in the following AugusL The 32nd Regiment had, on the first intelligence of the assassination, been moved from Umballa to Ferozepore, arriving there on 27th May, having suffered severely from the hot weather on the march. Captain Gardiner died from heat apoplexy, and there were a great many casualties amongst the non-commissioned officers and men. While here the 32nd received orders to join the Mooltan field forces, and marched on lOth August. The excessive heat, both day and night, caused a great number of deaths on this march. Water was scarce and bad. The regiment joined the force under General Whish on 25lh August, and formed part of the left column ; descended the Sutlej, partly in steamers, partly m native boats, reaching the place of landing the day after the right column which had moved from Ijhore. Thence four marches brought them in front of the city of Mooltan. 32nd regiment. " The heat during this march," writes an officer of the regiment who was present, " was terrific. The thermometer registered one " hundred and thirty degrees in the men's tents, one hundred and " twenly-seven degrees in the hospital, and one hundred and " eighteen degrees in the officers' tents ; and of a detachment of four "and a half companies which reached its hailing place before " sunrise one day, there were fourteen men to be buried at sunset" General Whish, with the right columns, encamped at Seelul-Ke- Maree, six miles distant from Mooltan, on IPth August The Ferozepore columns marched next day, as before stated. The siege-train did not arrive until 1th September, when Whish had under his orders a force of eight thousand troops, with ihiriy-iwo pieces of siege ordnance and twelve field guns. A motley collection of regular and irregular levies, under Van Cortlandt, Herbert E^wardes, and Lake ; and a body of Sikh troops, under Shere Singh, brought up the strength of the besiegers to eight thousand four hundred and seven- teen cavalry, and fourteen thousand three hundred and twenty-seven infantry, with forty-five guns of all calibres, and four mortars.* Opposed to these, Moolraj had under his orders in Mooltan a force of ten thousand men, ol whom one thousand two hundred were cavalry. The city was surrounded by a wall of burned brick, forty feel high, surmounted by thirty towers, and covered by a ditch, with masonry scarp and counterscarp. The citadel stood upon a mound, and was a formidable work naturally as well as artificially. It was afterwards swept away by the floods consequent on the great slorm of 1849, but at the time of the siege was reputed the most regular in design of any fortress in India planned by native engineers. The village of Ramaneet was occupied on 7th September, and the same night strong working parties of British and Sikhs broke ground against the city of Mooltan. On the day following the enemy was dislodged from some advanced posts without much dilficully, On the 10th a similar attempt was made by detachments of the iOth Regiment and Bengal Native Infantry (chiefly furnished by the relieved picquets), under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pattoun, 32nd raiment, ' Herbert Edwaides, A ytar in tht Pimjaui. RCOMDS OP THE ibe field-officer of Ibe ireocbes. The attempt was nude with great gallantry, but the poiiitoQ proved more formidable than was expected, and (he aitackiog fortj was driven back with a loss of foartecD killed and sercntjr-one wounded. On the lOlh, Brigadier ^[arkham, of the 32nd regiment, was wounded while on duty in the trenches, and some desultory fighting took place on thai and the succeeding day. On the 12th the enemy's advanced position was attacked by Brigadier Harvey, wilha force consisting of six companies of the 10th Regiment and a like number of the 32nd Regiment, with three regiments of Native Infantry, supported by three squadrons of irregular cavaliy and a troop of horse artillery. The iroops paraded at 9 a.m., in tiro columns ; the right, composed of the 32nd Regiment and the Sth Native Infontry, under Colonel Pattoun, 32nd regiment ; the left, consisting of the lOih Regiment I and 49th Native Infantry, under Colonel Franks, 10th regiment. The position was a strong one, and stoutly defended ; and a sanguinary 1 fight ensued, ending in the defeat of the enemy and the capture of j all the defensive points on that side of the city, but at a heavy cost, flolonel Pattoun and Quarter- Master Taylor, 32nd regiment, were ] killed, and three officers wounded, in the contest ; the command of I the right column devolving on Major Inglis, and that of the 32nd I companies on Captain K. D. Lowe — names honourably remembered J in connexion with the defence of Lucknow in after years. Two days afterwards Sirdar Shere Singh went over to the enemy wiih his five thousand Sikhs ; and the commanding engineer — the late Lord Napier of Magdala — being of opinion that the successful conduct of the operations was no longer practicable, General Whish raised the siege and withdrew to a position a few miles distant to await the arrival of fresh troops from Bombay. On 7th November the enemy's strongly entrenched position o eastern side of the grand canal, near the village of Soorajkhoond, I was carried in a very gallant manner by Brigadier Markham, 32nd I regiment, with detachments of 10th and 32nd regiments and some 4 Native Infantry. Four of the enemy's guns were captured. Thcl British loss on this occasion was very small ; that of the 32nc[J being only two men wounded. 32nd regiment. 153 On 24th December, a strong body of troops arrived from Bombay, under Brigadier-General the Honble. H. Dundas (afterwards Lord Melville) and Whish, who had now an army of thirty-two thousand men, including Native auxiliaries, and one hundred and fifty guns, and at once resumed the siege of Mooltan. Siege of Mooltan. On 27th December the British made a general advance in four columns, the enemy abandoning the suburbs and retiring before them into the city, thereby allowing a position to be taken up within — at some points — a hundred yards of the walls. Three companies of the 32nd Regiment on this occasion formed part of the right centre column, under Colonel Nash, 72nd Native infantry. Three others were subsequently sent down to the support of the column. Major Case,* commanding the 32nd companies, was severely wounded. Numerous batteries were thrown up during the night, and on the 28th a general bombardment commenced. By the 29th the approaches had been pushed so far that the heaviest guns were firing in breach at eighty yards. Much damage was done by the British shells, and a granary in the citadel and several small magazines were burned. The bombardment continued, and at 10 a.m. on 30th December a shell from a mortar pierced the supposed bomb-proof dome of the Jumna mosque, in the citadel, which formed the enemy's principal magazine, containing four hundred thousand pounds of p>owder, and in an instant the sacred edifice and five hundred souls were blown into a thousand fragments. A serious conflagration in the city followed.t 1849-51. On the morning of 2nd January, 1849, the engineers reix)rted that the breach at the Khonee Bhoorj (bloody bastion) was " practicable, though steep," and that of the Delhi gate was '* sufficiently good to allow ** of an attempt being made on it for a diversion." J Two columns • Afterwards killed at Chinhutt, in 1867. t Herbert Edwardes, A Year in the Punjaub, X Corps Papers^ Royal En^men^ p. 419, et seg. 154 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THK were accordingly ordered to assault without delay. What followed is thus related by Brigadier Markham.* "At one o'clock (p.m.) on the 3nd insi. 1 proceeded with the "brigade under my orders (Her Majesty's 32nd, 49th, and 72nd " Bengal Native Infantry) to the Mundee Awa, the point of rendezvous " of the left column. At two p.m. we received orders to move on the " Delhi gate, from whence the assault was to be made. At a quarter- " past three, p.m., a salvo being fired from the Delhi gate battery (the " signal agreed on for the assault) , the leading companies of the 32nd, "under Captain Smyth, commanding the grenadier company, moved "on to storm the breach. Upon passing the broken ground and " ruined outworks of the gate under a heavy fire of matchlock, they "descended a deep hollow, and found to their surprise the city wall " in front of them unbreached and totally impracticable, being fairly " concealed from view by the nature of the ground until directly upon "it. Captain Smyth immediately, and with great judgment and "promptitude, decided upon retiring, and rejoined the column with " the loss of several men, which loss, however, would have been very " severely increased, both to the leading companies and to the column, "had there been any hesitation on his pari. "I proceeded at once to the breach at Khonee Bhoorj, *hich I " found had already been entered by the left column, and we made "our way down the ramparts and streets on our right to the Delhi "gate, and thence to that part of the city close to the Dowluit gate, "and directly in front of the fort. The enemy offered considerable "opposition in the narrow streets and on the ramparts, which were " strongly barricaded, but before dark that portion of the city was " in our possession, and we connected our post with those thrown "out by the left column, " Moolraj had, in fact, retired into the Ciudel with three thousand " picked men, closing its gates against the rest of his troops. " General Whish now resolved to attack the Citadel on two sides at "once; and on the 4lh January a brigade of the Bombay Division " moved round to the north side of the Citadel, throwing out picqueta * Brigftdia Mulduun's dcspnlch, Ltttdan Gaulti, Much 33rd, 1849. 32nd regiment. 156 " to communicate with the Bengal Division on the east, and Edwardes' "Irregulars on the west. Moolraj, seeing the coils closing round " him, tried to negotiate for terms ; but he was given to understand "thai only an uncondilional surrender would be received. The "approaches were pushed on, and on the 21st, two breaches being "reported ready, arrangements were made for the assault next "morning. The storming parties were ready at their posts, when, "at seven a.tn,, Moolraj intimated his wish to surrender, and the "firing ceased. Two hours later he surrendered himself and his "garrison unconditionally into the hands of the British general."' Thus fell the city of Mooltan, at a cost to the British troops of some twelve thousand men, killed and wounded. The loss in the 32nd Regiment from the first commencement of the operations was two officers— Colonel Pattoun and Lieutenant and Quarter- master Taylor — one sergeant, and sixteen men, killed ; and eleven officers, three sergeants, one drummer, and one hundred and two men, wounded. The casualties at Mooltan were as follows : — Lieut -Colon el Palloun - Brigadier F. Markham Captain Balfour King Lieutenant Birtwhisde Ensign Swinbum Major Case Lieutenant Sirawbensiee Captain King (2nd time) Lieutenant Maunsell . killed, 12th September, 1848 wounded, 10th September, 1848 12th September, 1848 12th September, 1848 12th September, 1848 12th September, 1848 27th December, 1848 27th December, 1848 2nd January, 1849 2nd Januarj', 1849 16th January, 1849 21st January, 1849 Immediately after the fall of Mooltan, General Whish's troops, carrying Moolraj with them a prisoner, pushed on to join Lord Gough, who, in his entrenched camp at Chillianwallah, had been awaiting the arrival of reinforcements since the battle of 13th January, L n GtuUt, April 3id, 1S49. 156 HISTORICAL RECORDS Of THE i 1849, The fort and garrison of Cheniote was surrendered to the force tn routr. The troops reached the head-quarter's camp on the 19lh and 20ih February, and the same night Lord Gough advanced as far as the village of Shadiwjl. The main body of the Sikh army, consisting of sixty thousand Sikh troops, under Sirdar Chutiar Singh and Rajah Shere Singh, with iweve hundred Afghan auxiliaries under a son of Dost Mahomed, and fifty-three guns, had fallen back on Goojerat, a famous place of victory in Sikh annals, and was in position between the walls of that cily and the dry beds of the River Dwara, which, in a fashion, covers two of its sides.* Battle of OoQJerat. At daybreak on 21st February the British tine formed for the attack. Dundas' Brigade on the left, Colm Campbell's to the right of it; Gilberl'st division, with the heavy guns, forming the right centre; Harvey's brigade further to the right, with Markham's in support. ■' At 7.30 a,m.," wrote the veteran Commander-in-Chief, " the army "advanced in the order described, wiih the precision of a parade " movement. The enemy opened their fire at a very long distance, "which exposed to my artillery both the position and range of their "guns. Halted the infantry just out of fire, and advanced the whole "of my artillery, covered by skirmishers. The cannonade now "opened upon the eneray was the most magnificeni I ever witnessed, "and as terrible in its effects. The Sikh guns were served with "their accustomed rapidity, and the enemy well and resolutely "tained liis position; but the terrible force of our fire obliged them, "after an obstinate resistance, to fall back. I then deployed the " infantry and directed a general advance, covered by the artillery, as "before. The village of Burrakolra, the left one of those of that "name, in which the enemy had concealed a large body of infantry, "and which was apparently the key to his position, lay in the line lo "Sir Walter Gilbert's advance, and was carried in most brilliant style " by a spirited attack by the 3rd brigade, under Brigadier Penny, which * Curfi Papers, Royal and EasI India frontier engi^nn t A cnlumn to ihe memory of this officer was eiecled near Bodmin, Gtrnw^L * L 32nd regiment. 1571 "drove the enemy from iheir cover with great slaughter. A very "spirited and successful movement was also made about the same "time against a heavy body of the enemy's troops in and about the "second, or Chotakolra, by part of Brigadier Harvey's brigade, "gallantly led by Colonel Franks, Her Majesty's 10th Foot. The "heavy artillery continued to advance with extraordinary activity, "taking up successive forward positions, and driving the enemy from " where they had retired to, while the rapid advance and beautiful fire "of the Horse Artillery broke the ranks of the enemy at all points. "The whole line now rapidly advanced and drove the enemy before "it. The Nullah was cleared, several villages stormed, the guns in "position carried, the camp captured, the enemy routed in every " direction ; the right wing and Brigadier Campbell's brigade going in "pursuit to the eastward, and the Bombay column to the westward " of the city. The retreat of the Sikh army, thus hotly pressed, soon "became a perfect flight, all arms dispersing all over the country, " rapidly pursued by out troops for a distance of twelve miles, and " the track strewed with their wounded, and the arms and accoutre- "ments they flung away." Markham's brigade, consisting of the 32nd Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Brooke, and 31st and 72nd Native Infantry had been brought up into the front line during the advance, and on reaching Goojerat was, by Lord Cough's orders, employed collecting the enemy's guns, nineteen of which were at once sent into the head- quarter camp. Major Case, 33nd regiment, with three companies of the 32nd and two companies of the 51st Native Infantry, took possession of the eight gales of the city, in which service they captured a Khalsa standard, four guns, and some horses, with the loss of one man killed and one olScer wounded. Afterwards, reinforced by the 36th Native Infantry, they occupied the city, various detached portions of the enemy laying down their arms lo thim, for the most part without resistance. The regimental loss during the day was one man killed, and one ofiScer and four men wounded. The power of the Sikhs was now compteiely broken. Shere Singh and the other chieftains submitted, and over sixteen thousand Sikh troops laid down their arms. The Afghans, however, retired towards M ■Wavp 158 HISTORICAL RECORDS. their own fastnesses, closely pursued by Gilbert and Colin Campbell. The 32nd Regiment took no part in the pursuit to the Khyber Pass, and, after the conclusion of hostilities was sent to Jellundur. From Jellunder the regiment moved, at the end of 1851, to Peshawar. Colonel Markham, at this time, left the regiment to proceed home on leave. [ 159 ] FIFTH PERIOD. Indian Mutiny— Return Home. 1852-79. HE regiment arrived at Peshawar on 8th January, 1852. The head-quarters and service companies formed part of the force employed on field service in the Rannazge valley, with Brigadier-General C. Campbell, from 11th to 27th March. They also formed part of the force employed in the destruction of the villages of Mourdham, Pohangur, and those in the Rannazge valley, from 7th May to 2nd June. The regiment remained at Peshawar the rest of the year. 1853. The regiment remained quartered at Peshawar until 16th December, 1853, on which date three companies and the women, children, and heavy luggage marched out, en route for Kussowlie. 1854. The head-quarters and six companies marched from Peshawar, en route to Kussowlie, on 4th January, 1854. The three companies which preceded the head-quarters, and an additional one for the left wing, marched to Subathu on 4th March, 1854. The left wing at Subathu, having been relieved by the 52nd Light Infantry, rejoined head-quarters at Kussowlie, part on 28th July and part on 11th August. The head-quarters and nine companies marched from Kussowlie on 12th December, from Umballa, and arrived there on 16th December, to form part of the camp of exercise. 1855-68. On the breaking up of the camp, the regiment returned to Kussowlie, 160 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE and remained there until the roUoning auiumn. Although Kussowlie and Subathu are sanitary stations, the regiment suffered severely from fever and ague. Amongst the casualties were those of Pay- master Garforth and Captain Birtwhislle. In March of this year Colonel Markham* vacated the command of the regiment, on promotion to major-general He was succeeded by Colonel Brooke. The regiment was ordered to Lucknow to relieve the 52nd Light Infantry, and on the march suffered severely from cholera, losing upwards of forty men. One company, whose melancholy fate the following year is fully recorded on the monument that now covers the celebrated well of that world-renowned city, was left at Cawnpore to form a depot. In February of this ye.irColonel Brooke exchanged to the Grenadier Guards with Colonel Berkeley, and the command of the regiment accordingly devolved on Colonel Inglis. The Indian Hntin;. Afterthe Sikh campaigns everything appeared to settle down in India to its usual dulness and monotony. Not that signs were absent of a deep feeling of discontent, but no one desired to heed them ; those who offered any suggestion or gave any warning of impending danger were quietly shelved. The gallant old soldier — Sir Charles Napier — was rebuked by the Govtrnor-General for Ihe vigorous manner in which he had suppressed the mutinous spirit which had made itself manifest in the ranks of the Bengal army, and he retired to avoid witnessing with his hands tied the catastrophe which he foresaw. In the face of all these warnings, Lord Daihousie, on quitting the Government, in 1852, left upon record, in an official despatch, his opinion " that the Indian army was in a condition which could not be improved." Another authorilyf should be mentioned, who^even before Sir Charles Napier's warning— wrote a pamphlet, proving that the admission of the priestly caste of Brahmins into the ranks of our Indian army, in spile of the positive prohibitions limiting * For Colonel Markbam's ' » ace AppmJii. \ Colonel Hodgson. ■■i2m RE( their employnient, was the occiision of engendering and fomenting discord and sedilioti among the native troops. Another source of danger, was ihe way which native officers were promoted who never evinced the slightest consciousness of the duty ihey owed to their own rank or to the Government, but to all intents and purposes remained in all their feelmgs and sentiments as ordinary soldiers. The denuding of the native regiments of their European officers was believed to be another cause— whatever it was, or who was to blame, it is difficult to say — -the opportunity was taken of the with- drawal of more troops for China than could be spared, the disaffection so long suppressed, but so ominously sending forth muttered warnings, at length broke forth in terrible reality. It was in the month of January, 1857, that the earliest symptoms of revoh manifested them- selves. There had been awkward and mysterious movements at work from an earlier period; which, had they been investigated at the time, might have revealed the plot and averted the calamity. The story of the cakes and the lotus flowers* which was forwarded from regiment to regiment of the Bengal army, was at first laughed at as a practical joke, or an act of unmeaning absurdity. It was too palpable, judging from subsequent events, that it was no joke, but the machinery for setting in operation a deeply organized conspiracy. With respect to the cakes, it was said that after the Sepoys had partaken of them, they were informed that the said cakes contained powdered bones of cows and pigs, and that thus they had lost caste. But another cause of alarm and jealousy was the cartridges served out for the new Enfield rifles, and which, as was industriously rumoured, were greased with pig's fat. There is no question now that all these reports were set in motion by the Mussulman portion of the population, whose object was to destroy the power of the Christians and to resume their long-lost ascendancy. The first discontents, originating with these unhappy greased cartridges, were in vain met by explanation and assurances of the groundlessness of the offensive suspicions they had given rise to, Aa no amount of explanation would satisfy the remonstrants, they were • lllttstreUed Undon Navi, Novembet, 1857. 162. HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE permitled lo make up their own cartridges; they then transferred Iheir objections lo the paper supplied them ; and what was at first respectful remonstrance became permanent and growing disaffection. In February, the 19th Native Regiment broke into open mutiny at Berhampore, and was shortly afterwards disbanded. The 34th Native Regiment afterwards displayed '.he grossest form of mutiny, and shared the fate of the 19th Native Regiment. From this period the Mutiny rapidly extended, and— starting from the neighbourhood of Calculta^tbe poison of disloyalty swept like u strong wind up the Ganges and the Jumna ; its presence being marked by incendiary fires in many stations and a steady opposition lo the use of any cartridges served out by the Government. In May, ihe whole army was ripe for revolt ; yet, in spite of the symptoms which had shown themselves far and wide, the officers of the native regiments continued to repose complete confidence in their men, and to lake no precau- tions against the hideous calamities that already dawned above the horizon of the future. On 6th May the first overt act of organised rebellion occurred. The 3rd Light Cavalry, stationed at Meerut, were called out on parade and ordered to take these hateful cartridges. Eighty-five of them refused ; and, three days afterwards, at a court-martial, were sentenced— some lo six years' and others lo ten years' hard labour, in pursuance of which they were removed to the neighbouring gaol, shackled and ironed. Had plenty of firmness and decision been displayi.-d here, instead of weakness, the Mutiny might have been nipped in the bud. The following day was Sunday, and the cavalry joined hands with ihe infantry, and endeavoured to persuade ihem lo massacre the Europeans whilst they were in church. Colonel Finnis was shot whilst trying to recall his men to their duty ; and, in about an hour, scores of Europeans — men, women, and children — were murdered by the rebels, and the lines of the canton- ment were in a blaze. With a fairly large force of Europeans, the general failed to realize the gravity of the position until it was too late; in the meantime the mutineers made off in the direction of Delhi, which was reached on 11th May. They were quickly joined 32nd KLCIIMKNT, 163 by the men of the three native regiments which were protecting ihe magazines there; the city became the centre of rebellion, and the puppet king, who years before had been set up in pensioned stale, was proclaimed Emperor of India. It will hardly be believed, but — by some strange infatuation— in spile of repeated warnings the bigijest arsenal in India was left entirely under the protection of native regiments, with its hundreds of heavy guns, tens of thousands of stands of arms, millions of cart- ridges, and piles of munitions of war of all kinds; and the only resistance offered to the frenzied mutineers w.is at one of the magazines, which Lieutenants Willoughby and Forrest and four subordinates first defended and then blew up. All honour to their gallantry and devotion. The surprise of the British in Ihe north-west provinces and in centra! India was complete. For one entire month the rebel flag flaunted unchallenged at Delhi. During that month, and long after, a series of bloody events occurred which defy the imagination in its attempts to realize their horrors, and which fill the heart with horror, pity, and abiding indignation ; for, in every direction, during that fearful May, June, and July, lust, murder, and every abomination reigned almost unchecked. Officers were murdered at mess, congregations were butchered in churches, fugitives were caught in their vain attempt at flight and destroyed by hellish torments ; some died by the bullet, some by the sword, some in the flames. The revolt soon became universal ; the Bengal array had ceased to exist. By the end of June the British held not a single place in Oudh except Lucknow, gallantly kept by Sir Henry Lawrence and the 32nd Regiment ; and no place between Allahabad and Delhi, except Agra ; and not one post between the Juinna and the Himalaya mountains. Although we are not concerned here with the Punjaub, it may not be out of |)lace to say that it was saved by the judgment and decision of Sir John Lawrence, who immediately had every native regiment disarmed — where there was a force of Europeans sufficient to accomplish that object — and converted the Punjaub into a base of operations to act against Delhi ; and having brought his powerful personal influence to bear on Ihe Sikh nation, who threw in their lot 4 164 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE with the British with the same zeal with which they had opposed them only a few years before. But we must not anticipate further, but let the story unfold itself as we proceed. The head-quarters of the regiment marched from Kussowlie on 30th October, 1856, to relieve the 52nd Regiment, and arrived at ] Lucknow, the capital of the newly annexed province of Oudh, under | the command of Colonel (afterwards major-general) Sir John Inglis, I on 27th December of that year. About Christmas, 1856, cholera.' broke out, and the regiment lost some fifty men on the march , down, I Towards the end of March, 1857, Sir Henry Lawrence arrived at i Lucknow to take up the appointment of chief commissioner in Oudh, | and noted among the difficulties he encountered : 1. — A general agitation of the empire, from the discontent of the , native soldiery. 2 — A weak European force in Oudh, and all its military ' arrangements defective. ' 3. — Grievous discontent among various classes of the Oudh population. The troops in and about Lucknow, at this time, consisted of the . 7lh Light Cavalry, the 13th, 48th, and 71st Bengal Native Infantry, i two regiments of Oudh Local Infantry, and large bodies of irregular* I and police ; making altogether a force of over seven thousand native troops of all arms, in whose hands were most of the guns and all the transport. To leaven this mass were the 32nd Regiment (one of only two European regiments then to be found between Meerut and Dinapur) and a weak company of Bengal European Artillery — about seven hundred Europeans in all. It had been part of the Government policy to show that the Dalhousie annexations required no display of (European) armed force. Lawrence, at his own request, was appointed brigadier-general, | which gave him command of all the troops in Oudh. In April, the i menacing appearance of the Nana Sahib in the streets of Lucknow ' announced to those in the secret the impending catastrophe. But all 32nd regiment. 165 through the month Lawrence, although the attitude of (he native troops gave him great anxiety, was striving indefatigably "to pacify " the classes on whom some reliance might be placed, or to redress or "mitigate whatever grievances might admit of remedy or palliation." With the month of May came more anxious and discouraging duties. On the 3rd of that month it was found necessary to disarm the 7lh Oudh Infantry, whose lines were about seven miles distant from Lucknow, and who had flatly refused to use the new cartridges. The service was performed by the 32nd Regiment and some native troops from Lucknow the same night. " It was ticklish work," wrote Lawrence, " taking the 48th Native " Infantry down on Sunday night, but I thought they were safer in '• our company than behind us in cantonments. We had to pass for " two miles through the city ; indeed, H.M.'s 32nd had four miles of " it. I, therefore, hesitated in moving after dark ; but the moon was " in its third quarter, and the first blow is everything. So off we " started, and concentrated from four points, having done the seven " miles in about three hours." The moon rose in a cloudless sky as the brigade debouched on the 7ih's lines, and the mutineers saw their game was up. The word of command was promptly obeyed ; many of the Sepoys had expressed their contrition, when a false alarm that the guns were about to open upon them caused a general stampede of ihe mutineers, of whom only a handful stayed by their European officers. The brigade then collected the arms and accoutrements, and returned to Lucknow shortly after midnight " The coup, it is said, had a great effect," Lawrence wrote lo Lord Canning. But events were hastening. On 7th May the lines of the 48th Native Infantry outside Lucknow were burnt, evidently by an incendiary, and in retaliation for the share borne by the battalion in the business of Sunday night. Within a week the news of the outbreaks at Mecrut and Delhi was known far and wide throughout the city. Sir Henry Lawrence lost no time in concentrating supplies at certain points, those selected for the purpose being ihe Muchee Bowun, a deserted fort occupying rather a com- mandiDg position, and the Residency, about three-quarters of a mile from it. J HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE t given major- ] The history of the regiment during the period ensuing is best in the words of ihe Report drawn up by Major (afterwards general) Lowe, c.B., who commanded the 32nd Regiment at the famous defence of the Residency. Writing from Cawnpore, on 13th December, 1857, that distinguished officer reports ; "On 16lh May last, the regiment being in barracks at Lucknow, " with a depot composed of weakly and married men and their " families al Cawnpore,* orders were received for two companies lo " proceed lo the City Residency, under my command, with four guns '■ for its protection, and whither the sick and those women (with the "regiment) were also conveyed. The remainder of the regiment " marched, early on the 17th, three miles from the city, in which were "cantoned the Native Infantry regiments, lo overawe whom their " presence was necessary. These moves occurred at ihe very height "of the hot season, and from that day the 32nd has, I may say, been "constantly on duty (until relieved on the 22nd November), sleeping " in their clothes, their arms by their side, ready for any emergency, "amidst the most trying weather, the hot winds of May and June, "and the subsequent heavy rains of the wet season, and from the " 30th June to 32nd November constantly exposed to the shot and " shell of the enemy. " On the 19th May a fort in the city, called Muchee Bowun, was " occupied by some detachments of Native Infantry and a company " (subsequently strengthened by another) of the 32nd Regiment from "cantonments. The morning of the 20ih, at three hours' notice, I "was ordered to Cawnpore, with a party of one subaltern (Lieutenant " Harmar) and fifty men, an outbreak being expected there. The " party was conveyed in dak carriages, and, travelling all day (except "a hall for cooking), reached Cawnpore at 9 p.m. We were accom- " panied by two squadrons of Irregular Cavalry, who concealed their " mutinous intentions on this march ; but subsequenli)', when detached "separately towards Delhi, mutinied and killed three officers with 33nD REGlMtNV. " them. No outbreak occurred, but we were kept constantly on the " alert in daily and hourly expectation of one, the whole of the men "sleeping by the guns every night until 30th May, when, reinforce- " nienls (rom Calcutta having arrived, and more being daily expected, " my party was permitted to return to Lucknow that night, and " thereby escaped the melancholy fate of the depot of the regiment, " the details of which will long ere this have reached you. The exact " number of killed at Cawnpore I, however, enclose herewith. "The company under my command reached Lucknow on the " morning of the 31st, in carriages as before. The previous night "the Sepoys rose in cantonments, burning and plundering whatever " they could. The 32nd were kept under arms protecting the guns "and lo prevent the mutineers reaching the city and spreading the " confusion. The garrison of the Residency and fort were on the " alert all night, and under arms. The guns and head-quarters, of the "32nd, with a few cavalry, were sent out seven or eight miles in pursuit "of the mutineers, when several were captured. That evening the "garrisons of both Residency and' fort were strengthened by a "company from cantonments and more guns. "Colonel Inglis having been appointed lo the command of the " troops in both these places, Lieutenant-Colonel Case assumed the '■ command of the regiment, the head-quarters being still in canton- " The regiment remained now for a month in three detachments, as " before staled, the duties devolving on them being very harassing, "whilst towards the close of it cholera made its appearance in the fort, ■' fortunately not with much virulence, but tending greatly to dispirit " the min there. Those in the Residency had a great deal of duty in " the heat of the day, and barely a relief from the guns at night. " Those in cantonments slept accoutred every night near the guna "On 11th June a party went out from the Residency under Captain " Bassano {32nd), with two guns and some cavalry, the whole under "command of Colonel Inglis, in pursuit of some police who had " deserted, after plundering some houses. They were overtaken, and " some killed and taken prisoners. The heal during the expedition 168 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " was most overpowering, and one roan of the regiment died i "apoplexy inconsequence. "Towards ihe end of the monih (June, 1857), the Native troopsT " having mutinied all over Oudh and the stations, their approach to " Lucknow was reported in large numbers (the greater portion of the "Sepoys, who had remained faithful to their colours had been sent " to their homes on furlough). The head-quarters, 32nd, were sent " into the fort, detaching another company to join the four already in " the Residency. " Such was the position of affairs in Lucknow on 29th June, 1857." General Lowe further reports : — " Having been left in command of the remainder of the 32nd in the "Residency, I am unable to give any details of the action which " occurred at the village of Chinhut, about eight miles off, but the 33nd "suffered a very heavy loss for the numbers engaged, the principal "one being the irreparable and deeply-io-be-lamensed loss of " Lieutenant-Colonel Case. "The force having relumed into Lucknow, were closely followed " by overpowering numbers of the rebels, who soon commenced "a heavy (ire upon both Residency and fort. We thus found " ourselves besieged in both places at once, much sooner than " was anticipated, before the completion of our defences, and " unfortunately with diminished garrisons, the greater portion of the " native artillerymen having deserted, in addition to the heavy losses " of the regiment. It was therefore decided that the fort should be " blown up, and the garrison make the best of their way to the " Residency. " At 12 o'clock on the night of 1st July, the garrison evacuated the " fort, and reached the Residency, three-quarters of a mile off, with " their guns all safe, without a shot having been fired at them, or "their departure being apparently noticed. They had just got "within the gales when the train they had left reached the magazine " of the fort, and the ford itself was blown up into the air with a most "terrific explosion. The accomplishment of this without any " molestation from the enemy must have arisen either from the rebels L J REGIMENT. "resting after their two days' previous exertions, or being engaged "plundering other parts of the city, which is of immense size, "Though the ahove was attended with such signal success, it "unavoidably occasioned most severe losses to the 32nd Regiment, "whose head-quarters were there. Nearly the whole of the "regimental records, from 18i6 to the present time, the whole of our "band instruments, a collection of valuable music, and the greater " part of the paymaster's and quartermaster's books had to be " abandoned. " The safe arrival of the garrison at the Residency thus so " successfully accomplished, raised the spirits of all, and the defences " now being adequately manned, we prepared for the defence with " renewed energy. " The late lamented Sir Henry Lawrence being mortally wounded "on 2nd July, the command of the garrison devolved upon Colonel " Inglis, and I had the honour ot succeeding to the command of the "regiment at a most trying time — it having been deprived of its " former commanding officer, its adjutant, and a great number of the "oldest and best non-commissioned officers (including three colour- " sergeants) and soldiers How nobly the others have followed their " example during the long siege they have gone through, it will be my "duly to show. " The enemy proceeded vigorously with the siege, and the " regiment was soon deprived of more of its officers and men. On " 6th July a sortie was most gallantly made, led by the late Captain " MansJield and Lieutenant Lawrence, to drive the enemy out of a "house adjoining part of our defences. Great bravery and zeal was " shown, and the objects in view were accomplished. " A mine havinj; been sprung on 20th July, with no damage, "however, resulting, a most determined attack was made by the "enemy, who, however, were repulsed everywhere, owing to ihe " bravery shown by the garrison, who repulsed them with heavy " loss. "The enemy kept up for some hours the most tremendous and " incessant fire of musketry and round shot in every direction. Their " attention was directed to try and undermine our defences, and the 170 inSTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " sen'ices of some Cornish and Derbyshire miners among the men " were availed of lo countermine and throw out listening galleries " several places, to fiustrate the enemy's intentions. With the "assistance of the Native Infantry officers and working parties from " these, the most fortunate results were obtained, as only three mines " out of twenty were exploded by the enemy with any success, the "rest having failed, or been destroyed by us under the direction, of " course, of the engineer officers. " The enemy's guns were in the meantime doing great damage to " our defences and outposts, several of which were hardly lenahle. "The Residency itself was reduced to a most ruinous and unsafe " condition; part of it fell down and buried six men o( the 32nd, "two only of which were extricated alive, and recovered. Men were "killed and wounded even in the hospital itself. " A second general aiiiack was made by the enemy on 10th "August, which was repulsed as before. On 2 1st August a house " from which the enemy annoyed us very much, having been under- " mined by us, was blown up, and jmrties of the 32nd and 84lh "detachment, under Captain McCabe and Lieutenant Browne, were " sent out to spike two guns and destroy a mine of the enemy's, "This was accomplished in ihe most gallant manner. Lieutenant " Browne was the first man up al one of the guns. "Cholera had made its appearance again during the siege, and " Captain Mansfield and several men and one woman of the regiment "fell victims to it. " Towards the end of September the expectations of relief, so often "doomed to disappointment, began to be raised again, and on the " 25th of that month the force under Sir H. Havelock arrived at the " Residency, having cut iheir way through the city with great loss. "Thus was concluded the first period of the defence. For "eighty-seven days, ofifirers and men had been on duty night and " day ; as their numbers were insufficient lo admit of regular reliefs, " it was necessary lo change the men daily al some of the more " exposed posts ; besides which, there had been fatigue duties of the " most incessant and laborious kind, in which officers, soldiers, and "civilians shared alike. 1 men j s in I 32nd begiment. 171 '' After the arrival of the reinforcements, Sir James Outram took up " the command, which he had waived in favour of Havelock, and the "forces being divided between the Residency and an entrenched "position at the Alumbagh, four miles out of the city, the defence "proceeded." Refening to the morning after the arrival of the reinforcements, General Lowe's report proceeds : — " A parly of one hundred and fifty of the 32nd under my command "was sent to drive the enemy from the posts they occupied on "the river side of the Residency. This was not effected without "some loss, and I had to deplore the loss of Captain Hughes, 57th " Native Infantry, who had been attached to, and done duty with, the "regiment during the siege, and had shown great zeal and attention "to his duties. He was mortally wounded in forcmg the door of a '' house occupied by the enemy. The objects he had in view were "obtained, and one eighteen -pounder, one nine-pounder, one six- " pounder, and three smaller guns were brought in, besides mortars " being spiked, and a great number of the enemy shot and drowned " in crossing the river. The nine-pounder gun was captured in the " most gallant manner by Lieutenant Lawrence and a party of the "Light Company, just as the second round was about to be tired at "them. " The same day one htmdred men of the regiment under my com- " mand, were sent out with Sir H. Havelock's force to reinforce the guard "over the heavy guns, ammunition, and baggage which had not been " extricated from a dangerous position they had got into the evening "before. The enemy commanded their road to the Residency with " a heavy fire of musketry and round shot. "Towards dusk the party of the 3i!nd was moved to the furtherest "end of the position, with orders lo remain until the heavy guns and " the 90th, who formed the rear guard, had retired, whom we were " to follow. This was done towards morning, and, withdrawing my "look-out sentries, the .t2nd slowly retired, protectmg the rear of the " whole, without our departure being perceived. The baggage and "guns reached the Residency through a palace, which had fallen into 175 HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE " our hands the day before, and we had not entered the latter long "before the enemy made a most determined attack upon it. Mount- "ing the wall of a garden they had occupied unknown to us, they " began firing down upon the troops below. But the !ale Captain "McCabe, with the most dislinguised bravery, led a party of volun- " leers of the 5th, 32nd, and 90th into the garden, and the enemy " who were inside, very soon paid the penalty of their temerity, very "few escaping. I, unfortunatelj", received a wound in the foot veiy " soon after, which com[>elled me to hand over the command of the "regiment to Captain Bassano, and I could not resume it until after "our relief by H.E. Sir Cohn Campbell's force. "Several sorties were made from this time to 1st October, in all of " which the 32nd were engaged and bore a distinguished pari. " On 27th September, the loss of our small parly was three killed " and five wounded. On 39th September three sorties were made "simultaneously. Captain McCabe, I deeply regret to slate, was "mortally wounded, conducting one— hit in four places, he survived " but two days. Lieutenant Cook commanded another and was first "in at an embrasure of the enemy's, whose gun was captured. Lieu- " tenant ICdmondstoune was engaged at another point. His party of " 32nd, joined to 64th and 81ih detachments, were most successful "in spiking six guns, and one, a iwenty-four pounder, they were " enabled lo destroy. Lieutenant Edmondsloune was slightly wounded. "On Isl Oclober, Lieutenant Cook was again out with a parly of " 32nd, covering a party employed destroying houses occupied by the "enemy. The same day a party of 33nd, attached to the Madras " Fusdiers, went out and remained for iwo days in possession of " houses outside, but were eventually withdrawn. " No more sorlies were made after, as the ground by the river was " no longer occupied by the enemy. Fewer casualties occurred, bul "[he long siege had had its effect upon a great number of men, who " began lo show symptoms of scurvy. "On 18th November [he forces under HE. the Commander-in- "Chief having cleared the nutskir[s of the city, a junction was " effected with the garrison ; the sick and wounded and women and "children were conveyed nexlday lolhe camp in the Dilkooshah Park, 32nd regiment. 173 " and on the night of 22nd November the Residency and its defences '* were evacuated finally, the regiment coming out under the command "of Captain Bassano, the enemy offering no molestation, nor being "apparently aware of our departure. The 32nd Regiment was thus " relieved of the anxious charge which had devolved principally upon " them for so many months." General Lowe then refers to the conduct of the "whole of the " officers, who nobly sustained the honour of the regiment and their " character as soldiers/' and acknowledges the most unremitting zeal they evinced and the cheerful support they afforded him on all occasions. Of the non-commissioned officers and men, he says : — "Their conduct throughout was most praiseworthy; their duties " for this long time have been most harassing ; their want of the usual " comforts has been borne with the utmost cheerfulness." The following were the regimental casualties between the 31st of May and the 22nd of November, 1857 : Killed. Officers Sergts. Drs. Rk. & File Total. Murdered, 31st May - - • • • • • • 1 • • • 1 Killed at Chinhut, 30th June 4 8 2 101 115 Killed during defence - - 1 3 2 37 43 Died of wounds - - - 6 5 2 59 72 Died of disease - - - - 1 8 • • • 54 63 Killed at Cawnpore - - 3 7 1 74 85 15 31 8 325 379 Wounded. Officers Sergts. Drs. Rk. & File Total. At Chinhut, 30th June - - 1 2 • • • 33 36 During defence - - - - 10 9 7 147 173 11 11 7 180 209 Brigadier Inglis was given the rank of major-general from 26th September, 1857, and made K.C.B. ; Major Lowe was made brevet lieutenant-colonel and C.B. ; Captains Bassano, Lawrence, Edmond- stoune, and Foster were made brevet majors ; Lieutenants Cook, r . RKCORDs nr ■ i Browne, and Cleiy were gazetted captains in the tlien newly raised 100th Royal Canadians; Major Bassano was subsequently made brevet lieutenant-coMnel and C.B. The following letters relate to the before quoted report : — "Horse Guards, S.W., " ilth Februan'. 1868. "Sir, — 1 have had ihe honour to lay before the General Commanding' " in Chief the very dear and interesting report which you forwarded lo " me detailing the services of the 32nd Regiment in Ihe defence of the " Residency of Lucknow, and I am commanded by His Royal Highness " to express lo you the high sense which he entertains of the noble " conduct of all the officers and men of the corps during this trying period. " His Royal Highness had great satisfaction in bringing the conduct of "the troops to the special notice of Her Majest/s Government, and is " greatly gratified lo be enabled to inform you that Her Majesty's Govem- " ment have acceded to his recommendations, as announced in Parliament " yesterday evening, that the officers and men shall be allowed to count " one year's service towards their retirement and pension, in acknowledg- " meni of the bravery and endurance which they displayed. " I have &c. "(Signed) C. YORKE. " To Major Lowe, 32nd Regiment" ^ " Horse Guards, S.W., I " 17th Februar)-, 1868. " Sir,— With reference to my letter of ihe fllh Instant, I have the honour " by direction of the (General Commanding in Chief to transmit for your " information the accompanying copy of a leiier from Lord Panmure, " conveying the expression of the very high sense entertained by Hei " Majesty's Government of ihe heroic conduct of the regiment under your " command at Lucknow, and concurring in His Royal Highness' proposal " ihat the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of ihe regiment " who served during the siege should be allowed to reckon a year's sen'ice "as a special mark of approbation on the part of their Sovereign and " country. " I have &c "(Signed J C. YoRKE. " To Major Lowe or Officer Commanding 32nd Regiment," Li "I I REGIMKNT, 178 [copy of