BY COMMAND OF His late Majesty WILLIAM THE IV^TH.
and under the Patronage of
Her Majesty the Queen.

HISTORICAL RECORDS,
OF THE
British Army
Comprising the
History of every Regiment
IN HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE.
By Richard Cannon Esq^re.
Adjutant Generals Office, Horse Guards.
London
Printed by Authority:

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE FOURTEENTH,

OR,

THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE REGIMENT

OF

FOOT:

CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF

THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1685,

AND OF

ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1845.

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.

LONDON:

PARKER, FURNIVALL, AND PARKER,

MILITARY LIBRARY, WHITEHALL.

M.DCCC.XLV.

London:
Harrison and Co., Printers,
St. Martin's Lane.

THE FOURTEENTH,

OR

THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE

REGIMENT OF FOOT,

BEARS ON ITS REGIMENTAL COLOUR,

"TOURNAY"—"CORUNNA"—"WATERLOO"—
"JAVA"—"BHURTPORE,"

AND

THE ROYAL TIGER SUPERSCRIBED "INDIA,"

IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES ON THE
CONTINENT OF EUROPE, AND IN THE EAST INDIES.

The Regiment also bears on the Caps of the Grenadiers and Drummers,
The White Horse, with the motto Nec aspera terrent.

[Pg v]

CONTENTS.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS.

PLATES.

[Pg i]

HISTORICAL RECORDS

OF

THE BRITISH ARMY.

[ii]
[iii]

GENERAL ORDERS.

HORSE-GUARDS,

1st January, 1836.

His Majesty has been pleased to command, that, with a view of doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army shall be published under the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the following particulars, viz.,

By Command of the Right Honourable

GENERAL LORD HILL,

Commanding-in-Chief.

John Macdonald,

Adjutant-General.

[v]

PREFACE.

The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour, by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.

Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object, than a full display of the noble deeds with which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honourable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication.

The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the "London Gazette," from whence they are transferred into the public prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions, the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under[vi] their orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery, and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign's Approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most highly prizes.

It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies) for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic account of their origin and subsequent services.

This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty having been pleased to command, that every Regiment shall in future keep a full and ample record of its services at home and abroad.

From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth derive information as to the difficulties and privations which chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service, and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose.

In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the[vii] country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,—on their sufferings,—and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.

The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and their character has been established in Continental warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against superior numbers.

In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the Corps employed; but the details of their services, and of acts of individual bravery, can only be fully given in the Annals of the various Regiments.

These Records are now preparing for publication, under His Majesty's special authority, by Mr. Richard Cannon, Principal Clerk of the Adjutant-General's Office; and while the perusal of them cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and information to the general reader, particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.

There exists in the breasts of most of those who have[viii] served, or are serving, in the Army, an Esprit de Corps—an attachment to every thing belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great,—the valiant,—the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood, "firm as the rocks of their native shore;" and when half the World has been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen,—our brothers,—our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public.

Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished Officers, will be introduced in the Records of their respective Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.

As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.

14th Regiment.

[Pg 9]

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE FOURTEENTH,

OR

THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE REGIMENT

OF

FOOT.

In the summer of 1685 England was in a state of tranquillity; the minds of men were not, however, at ease respecting the religion of their king, James II., but they put the best construction on his conduct, and manufactures and commerce were flourishing; when suddenly James Duke of Monmouth invaded the western shores with a few followers, and asserted his claim to the sovereignty of the realm. The din of hostile preparation instantly resounded throughout the kingdom, and thousands of His Majesty's subjects laid aside the pursuits of industry, and arrayed themselves under the royal standard, to oppose the invader and his adherents. At this juncture Sir Edward Hales, Baronet, of Woodchurch, in the county of Kent, stood forward in the support of the Crown, and raised a company of one hundred musketeers and pikemen, for the king's service, at Canterbury and in its vicinity. Companies were also raised by the following loyal gentlemen:— —— Boynton, Esq., Robert Middleton, Henry Vaughan, Richard[10] Brewer[1], William Broom, John Gifford, Thomas Gifford, Mark Talbot, John Chappell, and Rowland Watson, and these companies were constituted a regiment, of which Sir Edward Hales was appointed colonel, —— Boynton lieutenant-colonel, and Robert Middleton major, by commissions dated the 22nd of June, 1685; and the corps thus formed now bears the title of the Fourteenth Regiment of Foot. The general rendezvous of the regiment was at Canterbury; two companies had their rendezvous at Rochester and Chatham, and others at Sittingbourne and Feversham.

While the formation of the regiment was in progress, the rebel army was defeated at Sedgemoor, and the Duke of Monmouth was captured and beheaded. Sir Edward Hales's regiment was, however, one of the corps which the King resolved to retain in his service; the establishment was fixed at ten companies of sixty men each, and in the middle of August the regiment was encamped on Hounslow-heath, where it was reviewed by His Majesty; it afterwards marched to Gravesend and Tilbury, detaching two companies to Jersey, one to Guernsey, and two to Windsor.

On the 1st of January, 1686, the establishment was estimated at the following numbers and rates of pay, viz.:—

The regiment was again encamped on Hounslow-heath in the summer of 1687, and a grenadier company was added to its establishment. At this period the following officers were holding commissions in the regiment, viz.:—

After passing in review before the King and Queen, and other members of the royal family, the regiment[12] struck its tents and marched to Plymouth, where it was stationed during the winter.

From Plymouth the regiment marched to London in June, 1688, and took the duty at the Tower until the middle of August, when it was relieved by the Royal Fusiliers, and marched to Canterbury, and in September to Salisbury.

In the mean time the measures adopted by King James II. to establish Papacy and arbitrary government had filled the country with alarm. Among other proceedings the King claimed the power of dispensing with the oaths, required by law, on appointment to office; the colonel of the Fourteenth Regiment, Sir Edward Hales, had espoused the Roman Catholic religion; he, therefore, could not take the oaths, and was not eligible for his commission; he was prosecuted and convicted at Rochester assizes; but he moved the case into the Court of the King's Bench, and had judgment in his behalf; eleven of the twelve judges taking part with the King against the law. Many of the nobility solicited the Prince of Orange to aid them in opposing the measures of the court, and when the Prince arrived with a Dutch army, the King assembled his forces at Salisbury. The result may be told in a few words:—the English army refused to fight in the cause of Papacy and arbitrary government; the King, accompanied by Colonel Sir Edward Hales, and Quarter-Master Edward Syng, of this regiment, attempted to escape to France in disguise; but they were apprehended on board of a Custom-house vessel at Feversham, and Sir Edward Hales was afterwards confined in the Tower of London. The King made a second attempt, and arrived in France in safety. The Prince of Orange issued orders for the regiment to occupy quarters at Waltham, in Hampshire, and conferred the colonelcy on William Beveridge, an officer of the English brigade in the[13] Dutch service, by commission dated the 31st of December, 1688.

The accession of William Prince of Orange and his consort to the throne was opposed in Scotland, and in the spring of 1689 the regiment was ordered to march towards the north; it was stationed a short time at Berwick, where it was inspected on the 14th of June by the commissioners for re-modelling the army: in August it received orders to march to Edinburgh.

The regiment was employed in various services in Scotland and the north of England until the insurgent clans had lost all hope of success, and in 1691 they tendered their submission to the government of King William III.

In the spring of 1692, the regiment embarked for Flanders, to take part in the war in which the British monarch was engaged, to preserve the liberties of Europe against the ambitious projects of the court of France. Scarcely had it arrived at the seat of war, and taken post in one of the fortified towns of West Flanders, when the French monarch assembled his army near La Hogue, and prepared a fleet to convey the troops to England, for the purpose of replacing King James on the throne. The regiment was immediately ordered to return, and having landed at Greenwich in the early part of May, it was held in readiness to repel the invaders, should they venture to land on the British shores; but while the menace of invasion was producing considerable alarm in England, the French fleet sustained a decisive defeat off La Hogue, and the danger instantly vanished: the hopes of the Jacobites were frustrated, and the ascendancy of Protestant principles insured. The regiment was afterwards encamped near Portsmouth, and it formed part of an expedition under the Duke of Leinster, afterwards Duke Schomberg, against the coast of France; but the French naval force[14] having been nearly annihilated at the sea-fight off La Hogue, Louis XIV. expected a descent, and had drawn so many troops from the interior to the coast, that the Duke of Leinster did not venture to land. After menacing the French shores at several points, to produce a diversion in favour of the confederate army in the Netherlands, the fleet sailed to the Downs, from whence it proceeded to Ostend, where the troops landed: they took possession of and fortified the towns of Furnes and Dixmude, and several regiments afterwards returned to England.

On the 14th of November Colonel William Beveridge was killed in a duel with one of the captains; and King William afterwards conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Lieutenant-Colonel John Tidcomb, from the Thirteenth Foot.

The Fourteenth was one of the regiments which remained in Flanders, and it took the field in May, 1693, to serve the campaign of that year with the confederate army, commanded by King William in person, who took possession of the camp at Parck, near Louvain, to prevent the designs of Louis XIV. on Brabant.

After taking part in several movements, the regiment was in position at Landen, on the morning of the 19th of July, when the French army, of very superior numbers, commanded by Marshal Luxembourg, advanced to attack the forces under King William. On this occasion the Fourteenth Regiment had its first opportunity of proving its prowess in action with the enemy, and it gave presage of that gallantry for which it afterwards became distinguished. The French commenced the action with great spirit, but were repulsed several times; their superior numbers enabled them to bring forward fresh troops, and they eventually carried the village of Neer-Winden. The King ordered a re[15]treat, which was executed with difficulty, and was attended with serious loss.

The Fourteenth Regiment had Captains Van Burgh, Cassin, and Henriosa, and Lieutenant Worley, killed; Lieutenant Nicholson died of his wounds; Captains Devaux and Stanwix, Lieutenants Campbell, Forbes, and Pettitpiere, Ensigns Revison and Perrott, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Graham taken prisoner: the number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the regiment, killed and wounded, has not been ascertained.

In the autumn, when the army separated for winter quarters, the regiment marched into garrison at Bruges; at the same time parties were sent to England to procure recruits, to replace the losses sustained during this campaign.

When the army took the field in the spring of 1694, the regiment was left, with several other corps, under Brigadier-General Sir David Collier, encamped near Ghent, to form a guard for the artillery, which was conveyed by water to Malines. The regiment joined the army at the camp near Louvain, on the 4th of June, and on the 6th it was reviewed by His Majesty, who was pleased to express to Colonel Tidcomb his high approbation of its appearance. The regiment was afterwards employed in several movements, and it formed part of the splendid body of troops encamped at Mont St. André, near the village of Ramilies, where the forces of the confederate states were assembled under King William III., and presented a magnificent spectacle of war.

The Fourteenth was one of the corps which attempted, by a forced march, to pass the enemy's fortified lines, and penetrate French Flanders; but by extraordinary exertions the French gained the pass first, and thus preserved their country from an in[16]vasion. The regiment was subsequently encamped near Rousselaer, forming part of the covering army during the siege of Huy. The vicinity of the camp was infested by detachments of the enemy, and on one occasion the waggons conveying the bread to the army were attacked, when a detachment of the Fourteenth, forming part of the guard, was engaged, and the regiment had Captain Sacheverel mortally wounded, who was the only British officer killed by the enemy during this campaign.

Having to remain in the field during cold and wet weather, the soldiers erected huts of wood and straw, and on the 1st of October the huts of the Fourteenth Regiment were accidentally set on fire, and destroyed: the Second Foot Guards had experienced the same misfortune a few days previously. The fortress of Huy having surrendered, the army separated for winter quarters, and the regiment returned to Bruges in the second week in October.

From Bruges, the regiment marched, in May, 1695, to Dixmude, where it pitched its tents, and remained several days. The Duke of Wirtemberg took the command of the troops assembled at this point, and advancing to the junction of the Loo and Dixmude canals, encamped before the fortress of Kenoque, upon which an attack was made for the purpose of drawing the French army that way, for the protection of their lines in West Flanders. The Fourteenth Regiment took part in this service; its grenadier company was engaged in driving the French from the intrenchments and houses near the Loo canal, and in repulsing the attempts of the enemy to regain possession of them. A redoubt was afterwards taken, and a lodgment effected in the works at the bridge, in which services the regiment had several men killed and wounded. This demonstration having produced the desired effect, the strong fortress[17] of Namur was exposed to an attack from the main army, and it was accordingly invested, and the siege commenced.

The attack on Kenoque was then desisted in; the Fourteenth Regiment was one of the corps withdrawn from West Flanders, and joined the covering army, under the Prince of Vaudemont, at Wouterghem.

From Wouterghem, the regiment marched towards Namur, to take part in the siege of that important fortress, which was deemed nearly impregnable, and was defended by a numerous garrison, under the celebrated Marshal Boufflers. On arriving before Namur the regiment pitched its tents at Templeux, from whence it advanced and took its turn of duty in the trenches.

On the 8th of July, the regiment was on duty before Namur, and it was ordered to support the attacks to be made that evening on the covered-way near the hill of Bouge: the storming party was commanded by Major-General Ramsay. About seven o'clock in the evening, the signal for the attack was given, and the storming party rushed forward with the most distinguished heroism. The Fourteenth moved forward to support the attack, and mingling with the combatants evinced signal intrepidity. The soldiers rushed up to the enemy's palisades, and placing the muzzles of their muskets between the staves, fired a volley, which put the French into some confusion. The palisades were afterwards broken;—the supporting corps joined in the assault,—the second covered-way was carried, and the French overpowered, driven from their works, pursued among the batteries on the brow of the hill, and many of them were killed in the stone pits in which they took refuge. This post having been thus captured, the Fourteenth Regiment retired, and being relieved from duty in the trenches, it returned to its camp at[18] Templeux, a league and a half from Namur. Its loss was severe:—Lieutenant Ravisson was killed; Captain Carew and Ensign Perott died of their wounds; Captains Pope, Jackson, and Forbes, and Ensign Cormach, were wounded, but afterwards recovered.

The regiment quitted its post at Templeux, took its station in the lines of circumvallation, and mounted guard in the trenches, on the 10th of July; it was again on duty in the trenches on the 16th of July, when it had Captain Forbes and several private soldiers killed.

A detachment of the grenadiers of the regiment was engaged, on the 17th of July, in an attack upon the counterscarp; the assault was made about five o'clock in the evening; the French disputed the post with great bravery, defending the glacis for some time; but they could not withstand the prowess of the British grenadiers, who effected a lodgment, and obliged the enemy to abandon the counterscarp. Lieutenant Williams of the grenadier company of the regiment was killed, and Captain Devaux was wounded with the working party.

The regiment was again on duty in the trenches on the 19th and 24th of July. On the following day the town surrendered, the garrison retiring to the castle.

After the surrender of the town of Namur, the regiment quitted the lines of circumvallation, and joined the covering army under the Prince of Vaudemont, which encamped, on the 8th of August, near the village of Waterloo, and afterwards took up a position near Namur. A numerous French army commanded by Marshal Villeroy advanced to raise the siege of the castle, but the covering army occupied a position which was deemed too formidable to be attacked, and the French Marshal withdrew without hazarding an engagement.

A detachment from the grenadier company of the regiment quitted the covering army, and was engaged,[19] on the 20th of August, in assaulting the breaches of the Terra Nova and Coharne, under the command of Lord Cutts. This proved a desperate service, particularly the assault of the Terra Nova, where the British grenadiers were engaged, and a serious loss was sustained in consequence of the regiments ordered to support the attack not advancing in time. The Fourteenth Foot had several men killed and wounded, and Lieutenant Sewell, who commanded the detachment from the grenadier company, was also wounded.

Preparations were made for a second assault, when Marshal Boufflers agreed to surrender on honorable terms, which were granted. Thus was captured this important fortress, which the French had boasted might be restored, but could not be taken; and the achievement reflected great credit on the confederate arms; it was the most important event of the war.

After the surrender of the castle of Namur, the regiment remained a short time in the field, and subsequently marched into cantonments in the villages near the Bruges canal.

The French monarch not only found his career of conquest arrested, by the efforts of the sovereign of Great Britain, but the towns he had captured were also being re-taken, and it became a point of great importance to him to detach England from the confederacy, which could only be accomplished by re-placing King James on the throne. For this purpose measures were privately concerted for exciting a rebellion in England; the Duke of Berwick, and several other English officers in the French service, were sent across the Channel in disguise, and through their persuasions a number of men were prepared to rise at a moment's notice; at the same time a conspiracy was formed in London to assassinate King William, and fifty men were engaged and prepared with arms to commit the diabolical act: a[20] French naval and land force was also held in readiness for a descent on the English coast, and King James was at Calais prepared to embark. At this juncture, the Fourteenth, and a number of other regiments, received orders to return to England, and they arrived at Gravesend in March, 1696. The conspiracy was, however, discovered; a British fleet was sent to blockade the French ports, and the designs of the King of France being thus defeated, King William was left at liberty to prosecute the war for the security of the civil and religious liberties of the nations of Europe. Several of the corps which had arrived from Flanders returned to the seat of war immediately; but the Fourteenth was one of the regiments selected to remain on home service; it landed at Gravesend on the 22nd of March, and proceeded to Canterbury and Feversham, from whence it was removed to London in November, and took the duty at the Tower.

In 1697, King William saw his efforts for the preservation of national independence attended with success; the French monarch was humbled, and the treaty of Ryswick fixed the balance of power in Europe.

Soon after the restoration of peace, the regiment received orders to proceed to Ireland, and it landed at Belfast and Cork in March, 1698; at the same time it was placed upon a peace establishment.

King James died in France in 1701, when Louis XIV. proclaimed the Pretender King of Great Britain by the title of James III.; this event, with the elevation of the Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., to the throne of Spain, in violation of solemn engagements, was followed by a sanguinary war with France and Spain, during which the continent of Europe, and the peninsula of Portugal and Spain, became theatres for the display of British valour, but the Fourteenth Regiment was selected to remain in Ireland. The[21] proclamation of the Pretender, and the death of King William III., in March, 1702, revived the hopes of the partisans of the Stuart family, who were conspiring to elevate the Pretender to the throne, and Queen Anne deemed it expedient to detain a few trusty corps, of approved devotion to the Protestant interest, in Ireland.

Although the honorable distinction of being selected to remain in Ireland, prevented the regiment acquiring laurels in the field, yet it sent several drafts of men on foreign service, who had opportunities of distinguishing themselves. In the autumn of 1703 it furnished a draft of fifty men to complete Lord Montjoy's, and another draft of the same strength for Colonel Brudenel's regiments, (afterwards disbanded,) on their embarkation to accompany the Archduke Charles of Austria to Portugal. The regiment was in garrison at Dublin from the 7th of August to the 31st of December, 1703.

In the autumn of 1704, and the spring of 1705, additional detachments were sent to Portugal, to serve under General the Earl of Galway; they were conducted thither by Captain Laffit, Ensigns Schackford and Blount, and three serjeants, whose expenses, amounting to 70l. 19s. 4½d., were directed to be paid by a warrant dated the 5th of July, 1705. In August of the same year the regiment furnished a captain, lieutenant, ensign, two serjeants, and fifty rank and file towards completing the regiments of Charlemont, George, and Caulfield, (afterwards disbanded,) on their embarkation with the expedition under General the Earl of Peterborough, who captured Barcelona, and had astonishing success in Catalonia and Valentia.

The regiment was quartered at Dublin from March to November, 1706, and the private soldiers received a penny a day in addition to their pay, granted by King William III. in 1699, to all regiments employed on[22] duty at Dublin. The Fourteenth had, however performed the duty of two regiments for some time, and the allowance was extended to all detachments, in consideration of the good conduct of the corps.

The Fourteenth Regiment remained in Ireland during the whole of the war, continuing to send detachments abroad from time to time, particularly to Portugal and Spain, and its excellent conduct on home service occasioned it to be held in high estimation by the Government.

On the 14th of June, 1713, Lieutenant-General Tidcomb died at Bath; and Queen Anne conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Colonel Jasper Clayton, from the half-pay of a newly-raised corps which was disbanded a short time previously.

The decease of Queen Anne, and the accession of King George I., in 1714, was followed by renewed efforts on the part of the partisans of the Pretender to procure his elevation to the throne; these exertions began to assume an alarming appearance in the summer of 1715, when the well-known attachment of the Fourteenth Regiment to the Protestant succession, occasioned it to be recalled from Ireland, and ordered to Scotland, where the Jacobites were numerous, and it landed at Saltcoats in Ayrshire early in the summer.

In the autumn the Earl of Mar assembled his vassals, erected the standard of the Pretender in the Highlands, and summoned the clans to take arms. The royal forces in Scotland were encamped at Stirling under Major-General Wightman; the Fourteenth Regiment joined the camp in October, and the Duke of Argyle assumed the command; but his Grace had not four thousand men to confront ten thousand under the Earl of Mar.

When the rebel army advanced towards the Firth, the King's troops quitted the camp at Stirling and pro[23]ceeded towards Dumblain; and on the morning of the 13th of November the hostile forces confronted each other on Sheriffmuir: the Fourteenth foot were posted in the left wing of the royal army. The rebels advanced to commence the engagement, and at that moment it was deemed necessary to make some alteration in the position of the royal forces; as the left wing was taking up the new alignment, it was attacked by a body of the clans of very superior numbers, and put into some confusion: at the same time the right wing of the royal army overpowered the left wing of the rebel host, and drove it from the field; each commander having one wing triumphant and one wing defeated. The Fourteenth, and several other corps on the left, resisted the charge of the clans a short time, but being attacked in the act of forming, and engaged by very superior numbers, they fell back a short distance; they thus became separated from the remainder of the army, and retiring beyond Dumblain, took possession of the passes to prevent the clans penetrating towards Stirling. Both armies retained their position during the day, and the rebels, being defeated in their design of penetrating southward, afterwards retired; when the King's troops returned to their camp at Stirling.

The Fourteenth Foot had one lieutenant and six rank and file killed; fourteen rank and file wounded; Captain Barlow, Lieutenant Griffin, and several private soldiers were made prisoners.

The Pretender arrived in Scotland soon afterwards, and his presence appeared to give new life to his adherents.

Additional forces joined the army under the Duke of Argyle: the Fourteenth was formed in brigade with the Third, Twenty-first, and Thirty-sixth regiments, under Brigadier-General Morrison; and in January, 1716, the royal troops advanced, marching[24] through snow, over ice, and exposed to severe weather, when the Pretender retreated, and losing all hope of success he escaped, with the leaders of the rebellion, to France: the Highlanders, finding themselves deserted by their commanders, dispersed. After pursuing the insurgents some distance, the Fourteenth was quartered a short time at Dunkeld.

The rebellion being suppressed, the regiment was stationed in garrison at Fort William, which was built in the reign of King William III., in a plain, on a navigable arm of the sea called Loch Eil, near the influx of the Lochy and Nevis, in the shire of Inverness. At this place the regiment was stationed during the year 1717, and in 1718 it marched from thence to Perth, and afterwards to Inverness, where it remained until June of the following year.

In the mean time Scotland had not enjoyed a state of tranquillity; but the minds of the people had been constantly agitated by the projects of the friends of the Pretender. When the Earl of Mar's rebellion was suppressed, the King of Sweden made preparations for a descent in favour of the Pretender; and when that project failed, the King of Spain fitted out an armament to place the Pretender on the throne. The Spanish fleet was dispersed by a storm; but two ships arrived on the coast of Scotland, in April, 1719, and four hundred Spaniards, with about a hundred Scots and English gentlemen, landed at Kintail, on the main within Skye, and encamped opposite the castle of Donan, where they were joined by about fifteen hundred men of the clans. To oppose this force the Fourteenth left Inverness on the 5th of June, and being united with three troops of the Scots Greys, the Eleventh and Fifteenth Regiments, under Major-General Wightman, arrived about four o'clock on the afternoon of the 10th of June at Glenshiel, when the Spaniards and Highlanders retreated[25] and formed for battle on the romantic mountain scenery of the pass of Straichell. The King's troops advanced, and at five o'clock the signal for battle was given, when the infantry climbed the rocky crags and opened a sharp fire of musketry, which was re-echoed in the hollows beneath; at the same time the Greys charged along the road to force the pass. The enemy returned the fire, but soon gave way, and were chased from rock to rock for some time; on gaining the top of the hill they made a momentary stand, but the King's infantry sent forward a shower of bullets and advanced at a running pace to charge with bayonets, when the Spaniards and Highlanders fled in every direction. The soldiers passed the night in the hills; the Spaniards surrendered on the following day; the Highlanders dispersed; and the Marquis of Tullibardine, the Earl of Seaforth, and other rebel leaders, fled to the continent.

After this service the regiment marched to the castle of Bran, near Kainloch-Benchven, Inverness-shire; and in 1721 it proceeded to Edinburgh.

The regiment quitted Scotland in May, 1722, and marched to Hungerford: in the summer it was encamped, with several other corps, on Salisbury-plain, where it was reviewed by King George I. on the 30th of August, and afterwards returned to Hungerford.

Early in 1723 the regiment marched to Reading and Windsor; it was subsequently encamped in Hyde-park, and in the autumn marched to Bristol.

In May, 1725, the regiment commenced its march for Berwick; in July, 1726, it was removed to Lancashire; and in January, 1727, it marched to Canterbury, from whence four companies were detached to Dover, Ashford, Sandwich, and Feversham.

At this period the Spaniards had commenced the siege of Gibraltar, which fortress had been captured by a British and Dutch armament in 1704, and had been[26] ceded to Great Britain at the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713. The colonel of the Fourteenth, Jasper Clayton, was Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar; he proceeded thither in January, 1727, and took the command of the garrison, which opened its fire on the Spanish troops on the 21st of February; and in March the regiment embarked to take part in the defence of that important fortress, where it arrived on the 21st of April, together with a battalion of Foot Guards, and the Governor, General the Earl of Portmore. The regiment landed immediately, and it had the honor to take an active share in the successful defence of this valuable entrepôt to the Mediterranean. The Spaniards continued the siege until many men had perished in the attempt, and the tremendous fire of their artillery had produced little effect besides the bursting and damaging of their own cannon. In the early part of June the fire slackened, and on the 18th of that month hostilities ceased.

The regiment was afterwards selected to form part of the garrison of Gibraltar, where it was stationed during the following fifteen years. Previously to quitting England, two companies were added to its establishment; these companies remained on home service; they were stationed in the south of England until 1729, when they were disbanded.

War between Great Britain and Spain was resumed in 1739; and the claims of the Elector of Bavaria on the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, which were attempted to be enforced after the death of the Emperor, Charles VI., in 1740, involved Great Britain in hostilities with France and Bavaria. King George II. resolved to support the House of Austria; the garrison of Gibraltar was reinforced, and the Fourteenth Regiment, having been relieved from duty at that fortress, arrived at Portsmouth in September, 1742. After reposing a few days in barracks at Portsmouth, the regiment[27] marched into quarters in Yorkshire, the head-quarters being at York.

In the summer of this year, His Majesty sent an army to Flanders to support the House of Austria, and on the 16th of June, 1743, the colonel of the Fourteenth Foot, Lieutenant-General Jasper Clayton, who was employed on the staff of the British army in Flanders, was killed at the battle of Dettingen; he was an officer of distinguished merit; his fall was regretted by the King and the whole army, and his remains were interred, with great solemnity, in the Chapel of Prince George of Hesse. The King conferred the command of the regiment on Colonel Joseph Price, from the Fifty-seventh, now Forty-sixth Foot, by commission dated the 22nd of June, 1743.

From Yorkshire the regiment marched into Northumberland, and was stationed at Berwick; in 1744, it marched to Dunstable and afterwards to Colchester.

Immediately on the receipt of the news of the loss of the battle of Fontenoy, on the 30th of April, 1745, the regiment received orders to proceed to Flanders, to join the allied army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland; it embarked at Tilbury, on the 15th of May, landed in West Flanders, and joined the camp on the plain of Lessines, before the end of the month. The regiment took part in several operations; it was encamped at Grammont, and afterwards on the Brussels' canal, in order to cover Dutch Brabant; but the French had so great a superiority of numbers, that it was found impossible to prevent their capturing several fortified towns.

In the mean time, Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, had arrived in Scotland, and being guided by desperate and designing men, and joined by a number of the clans, he resolved on the romantic enterprise of attempting to dethrone a beloved mo[28]narch, to overturn the constitution of a brave and free people, and to establish the authority of a dynasty which had been removed for arbitrary attacks on the established religion and laws. The Fourteenth was one of the regiments ordered home on this occasion; it arrived in the north of England, and formed part of the army assembled by Field-Marshal Wade, at Newcastle, to prevent the rebels penetrating into South Britain; and, in the second week of November, it was detached to Berwick, where it arrived in time to prevent the rebels capturing that town. The regiment afterwards marched to Scotland, and when the clans made a precipitate retreat from Derby, back to Scotland, it took up its quarters in the city of Edinburgh.

The young Pretender was joined by some new levies, and he procured a supply of artillery and ammunition, which enabled him to commence the siege of Stirling Castle: and Lieutenant-General Hawley, who commanded the King's troops at Edinburgh, resolved to attempt to raise the siege. For this purpose, the Fourteenth, and several other corps, advanced from Edinburgh on the 13th of January, 1746, under Major-General Huske, and drove a body of the rebels out of Linlithgow; on the following day another division marched to Borrowstounness; and on the 16th of January, the army encamped near Falkirk.

About mid-day on the 17th of January, the rebel army was seen moving towards some high ground on Falkirk-moor, and the King's troops quitted their camp-ground to engage the clans. Passing some rugged grounds, the soldiers diverged on the moor, and formed two lines; the Fourth and Fourteenth Regiments constituted Brigadier-General Cholmondeley's brigade, and were posted in the first line. As the King's troops advanced to battle a tremendous hurricane, with a heavy shower of rain, beat violently in their faces, and nearly blinded them; at the same time[29] it beat on the backs of the clans, and caused them little annoyance; the soldiers could not see to take aim, very few muskets would give fire, and, under these circumstances, some confusion took place, and several regiments quitted the field; but the Fourth and Fourteenth Regiments under Brigadier-General Cholmondeley made a determined stand, and they withstood the fury of the charging Highland host with astonishing firmness, evincing the most heroic valour under circumstances of peculiar danger and difficulty. They were joined by the second battalion of the Royals, the Third and Forty-eighth Regiments; Major-General Huske assumed the command; and these five corps repulsed one wing of the rebel army, and maintained their post, on the field of battle, until night, when no enemy could be seen, and the soldiers being wet, and the night cold and stormy, they retired.

The King's troops retreated to Edinburgh, where His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland arrived, and assumed the command, and on the 31st of January the army again advanced, when the rebels raised the siege of Stirling Castle, and made a precipitate retreat towards Inverness. The royal army pursued the rebels as far as Perth, where it halted in consequence of severe weather; the march was resumed on the 20th of February; but heavy rains occasioned the army to make another halt at Aberdeen. The troops were again in motion in the early part of April, and on the 16th of that month, as they advanced in three columns towards Inverness, the rebel army was discovered in order of battle on Culloden-moor, when the royal forces formed three lines, the Fourteenth Foot taking post in the centre of the first line, under Lieut.-General the Earl of Albemarle. After a sharp cannonade, several clans rushed forward, with loud shouts, to attack the King's troops sword in hand; but they[30] were assailed by a destructive fire of musketry, received on the point of the bayonet, and driven back with severe loss. The royal cavalry galloped forward, completed the rout and discomfiture of the clans, and pursued them with great slaughter several miles. This victory transformed the young Pretender from an imaginary monarch to an humble fugitive, and after wandering for some time in disguise in the isles, and among the mountains, he escaped to the continent.

The loss of the regiment at the battle of Culloden was limited to Captain Grosette, and one private soldier killed; Captain Simpson and nine rank and file wounded[2].

After returning from the pursuit of the rebels, the troops encamped near Inverness, from whence they advanced in May, and pitched their tents in a valley, surrounded by lofty mountains, near Fort Augustus. The Fourteenth Regiment was employed in guarding prisoners taken after the battle, and was afterwards stationed at Stirling, from whence it was removed to Glasgow.

In June, 1747 the regiment marched from Glasgow to Perth, and in September to Inverness.

The colonel of the regiment, Brigadier-General Price, commanded a brigade in the Netherlands, and highly distinguished himself at the battle of Val, on the 2nd of July, 1747; he died at Breda in November of the same year; when King George II. conferred the colonelcy on the Honourable William Herbert, fifth son of Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, from captain and lieutenant-colonel in the Second Foot Guards.

The regiment remained in Scotland; in 1749 it was[31] stationed at Fort William; and in 1750 at Glasgow, from whence it marched to Carlisle and Newcastle.

In 1751 a royal warrant was issued regulating the clothing, colours, and standards of the several regiments of the army. In this warrant the first, or King's colour, of the Fourteenth Regiment, is directed to be the great union: the second, or regimental colour, to be of buff silk, with the union in the upper canton; in the centre of the colours XIV. in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.

The uniform of the regiment at this period, was black three-cornered cocked hats, bound with white lace; scarlet coats faced with yellow, yellow cuffs and white lace; scarlet waistcoats and breeches; white gaiters, and white cravats; buff belts, and buff pouches. The drummers wore buff coats faced with scarlet. The grenadiers wore cloth caps with the king's cipher and crown in front; the "white horse," with the motto "Nec aspera terrent," on the flap; and the number of the regiment behind.

In August of this year orders were issued for the regiment to march to the south of England, and to furnish detachments on the coast of Sussex, to assist the officers of the revenue in the prevention of smuggling.

The regiment called in its detachments in the beginning of April, 1752, and marching to Portsmouth, embarked for Gibraltar, where it was stationed during the following seven years.

Colonel the Honorable William Herbert was removed to the Second Dragoon Guards in 1753, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Regiment by Colonel Edward Braddock, from lieutenant-colonel in the Second Foot Guards.

In 1755, some disputes occurred between England and France, respecting the extent of the British dominions in America, and Major-General Braddock was[32] mortally wounded at Fort du Quesne: he was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Fowke, governor of Gibraltar, from the Second Foot, by commission dated the 12th of November, 1755.

War commenced between Great Britain and France in 1756, when a French armament attacked the island of Minorca, which was captured in 1708, and ceded to the British crown at the peace of Utrecht in 1713. Lieutenant-General Fowke received orders to send a detachment from Gibraltar, to reinforce the garrison of Port Mahon; but he called a council of war, which passed a resolution against sending the detachment. He was sentenced to be suspended for nine months, for disobeying the order, and King George II. dismissed him from the service. His Majesty afterwards conferred the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Regiment on Colonel Charles Jefferies, from colonel-commandant of the third battalion of the Sixtieth Regiment, who had distinguished himself in the defence of Port Mahon.

In December, 1759, the regiment was relieved from garrison duty at Gibraltar, and embarking for England, arrived, in January, 1760, at Plymouth, from whence it marched to Canterbury, and in the summer it was encamped, with the Nineteenth and Twenty-first Regiments, on Barham Downs under Lieutenant-General Campbell. In October the Fourteenth struck their tents, and marched to Dover Castle, where they remained during the following year.

The regiment marched to Maidstone, and furnished a guard over French prisoners of war at Sissinghurst in October, 1762; in December it proceeded to Exeter; from whence it was removed in March, 1763, to Plymouth.

Leaving Plymouth in March, 1764, the regiment proceeded to the vicinity of London, and was reviewed on Wimbledon Common: on the 7th of May it was[33] reviewed in Hyde Park by King George III., who was pleased to express his high approbation of its appearance and discipline; after the review it marched to Chatham and Dover.

Major-General Jefferies died in May, 1765, and the King conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Major-General the Honorable William Keppel, fourth son of William Anne, second Earl of Albemarle, from the Fifty-sixth Foot.

At this period, three companies of the regiment were employed on duty at Windsor and Hampton Court, and their good conduct attracted the attention of the King, George III., who was always ready to confer marks of his royal approbation on corps and individuals. His Majesty made some alterations in the clothing, and directed the "white horse," with the motto "Nec aspera terrent," to be placed on the black bear-skin caps to be worn by the grenadiers, and on the white caps to be worn by the drummers[3].

Towards the end of May, 1766, the regiment marched into village quarters near Hounslow Heath, where it was reviewed on the 4th of June by the King, who was graciously pleased to express his royal approbation of its appearance and movements in the field. After the[34] review the regiment marched to Salisbury and adjacents.

In June the regiment embarked at Portsmouth for North America, and was stationed in Nova Scotia and Canada until 1771, when it embarked from Halifax for the West Indies, to take part in reducing to submission to the British government, the refractory Caribbees in St. Vincent's.

The island of St. Vincent's was captured from the French in 1762, and was ceded to Great Britain at the peace in 1763; it was found to contain two tribes of natives called the red and black Caribs, the former being the Aborigines, and the latter having sprung from a cargo of African slaves, who escaped from a vessel which was wrecked on the island. The Caribbees were devoted to the French interest; they were dangerous and troublesome neighbours to the English planters, and it was found necessary to restrain their conduct, and enforce obedience to a few salutary regulations. They were, however, of a determined spirit, possessed many thickly-wooded fastnesses, and so resolutely resisted all attempts to restrain their roving propensities and mode of life, that it was found necessary to augment the military force on the island. The Fourteenth Foot were employed against the refractory Caribbees in 1772 and 1773; numerous skirmishes occurred among the thickly-wooded parts of the country, and several soldiers were killed and wounded, in the bush fighting, which took place daily for some time. At length the Caribbees were reduced to submission: and the regiment returned to North America, leaving a number of sick men and others in the West Indies.

The regiment was stationed at Virginia in North America, when the misunderstanding between Great Britain and these prosperous and wealthy colonies, produced open hostilities. The spirit which the colonists[35] evinced in resisting the acts of the British parliament, for raising a revenue in their country, assumed a serious aspect in the years 1773 and 1774, and in 1775 hostilities commenced in the state of Massachusetts. The Fourteenth Regiment remained in the state of Virginia for some time afterwards; it was, consequently, not at Bunker's Hill; but it lost two promising officers at that battle, on the 17th of June, 1775, who were attending Major-General Howe during the engagement: viz., Lieutenant and Adjutant Bruce, who was killed, and Ensign Hesketh mortally wounded.

On the 18th of October, 1775, the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on Major-General Robert Cunninghame, from the Fifty-eighth Foot, in succession to Lieutenant-General the Honorable William Keppel, removed to the Twelfth Dragoons.

The regiment was stationed at Norfolk, in Virginia, from whence a detachment of one hundred and twenty men, under Captain Fordyce, advanced at midnight on the 8th of December, against the American entrenchments at Great Bridge. At day-break the detachment crossed the bridge, and the grenadiers moved forward with great gallantry to storm the works, Lieutenant Batut being at the head of the leading section; but as they approached the entrenchments, a body of Americans, of very superior numbers, assailed them with a destructive fire of musketry: Captain Fordyce and twelve men were killed within a few yards of the breast-work; Lieutenant Batut and sixteen soldiers were wounded and taken prisoners, and the remainder of the detachment retreated across the bridge to a British fort, garrisoned by a detachment under Captain Leslie. The Americans buried Captain Fordyce with military honors.

The American troops afterwards increased in numbers so fast, that the royal forces were withdrawn from[36] Virginia, and the Fourteenth Foot proceeded to the army under General Sir William Howe, at New York, where they were joined by a detachment which had been left at Nova Scotia on the embarkation of the regiment for the West Indies. After arriving at New York, part of the regiment was stationed on Staten Island, and the remainder was employed in the general operations of the army.

The regiment had sustained a serious loss at St. Vincent's, and being weak in numbers, it was directed to draft the private soldiers fit for duty to other corps, and return to England, where it arrived in the summer of 1777, and active measures were adopted to recruit its ranks.

During the year 1778 the regiment was stationed in the south of England; and in the summer of 1779 it pitched its tents on Coxheath, where a camp was formed of the Sixth, Fourteenth, Fiftieth, Sixty-fifth, and Sixty-ninth Regiments, with sixteen battalions of militia, under Lieutenant-General Pierson.

The regiment marched to Gosport in 1780, and pitched its tents at Stokes-bay, furnishing working parties at Fort Monkton, and a guard over the French, Spanish, and American prisoners of war, at Forton prison. In July the regiment embarked as marines on board the Channel fleet commanded by Admiral Darby, who, in 1781, relieved Gibraltar, which fortress was besieged by a combined French and Spanish force.

Having completed its recruiting, and attained a state of efficiency, the regiment embarked from Portsmouth, in January, 1782, for Jamaica; it was on board of transports in the harbour of St. Lucia, during Admiral Rodney's engagement with the French fleet under Count de Grasse, on the 12th of April, and afterwards mounted guard over the Count, when a prisoner on that island.

[37]

The regiment proceeded to Jamaica, and was formed to receive Prince William Henry, (afterwards King William IV.,) then a midshipman, on his landing at Spanish Town, and mounted guard at his quarters during his stay on the island.

Soon after its arrival at Jamaica, the regiment received orders, dated the 31st of August, 1782, to assume the title of the "Fourteenth, or Bedfordshire Regiment of Foot," and to cultivate a connection with that county, so as to create a mutual attachment between the inhabitants of Bedfordshire and the regiment, which might, at all times, be useful towards recruiting the corps.

On the 4th of April, 1787, Lieutenant-General Robert Cunninghame was removed to the Fifth Royal Irish Dragoons, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot, by Lieutenant-General John Douglas, who had commanded the Twenty-first Light Dragoons, which corps was disbanded in 1783.

The Fourteenth Regiment attended the funeral of the Honorable Captain Chetwynd, of His Majesty's ship "Europa," in November, 1788, at which the Governor of Jamaica,—His Royal Highness Prince William Henry (then a captain of the Royal Navy),—the officers of the squadron, and a number of gentlemen in carriages, were present. The regiment marched at the head of the procession in funeral order, the band playing the Dead March; and the remains of this distinguished officer were interred in the chancel of the church at Spanish Town.

Lieutenant-General Douglas having been removed to the Fifth Dragoon Guards, His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot on Colonel George Earl Waldegrave, by commission, dated the 27th of August, 1789. Earl Waldegrave died about six weeks after his appointment, and was succeeded by[38] Colonel George Hotham, from captain and lieutenant-colonel of the First Foot Guards.

Having been relieved from duty at Jamaica, the regiment embarked on board of His Majesty's ship Dover, of forty-four guns, on the 9th of April, 1791, and landed at Portsmouth on the 10th of June. In the autumn it marched to Chatham, and afterwards to Canterbury; and on Friday, the 21st of November, it received their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York, at Dover, on their arrival from the Continent; the Duke of York having married, a few weeks previously, Frederica Charlotte Ulrica, Princess Royal of Prussia.

Early in 1792 the regiment returned to Chatham, and was brigaded with the Third Foot (the Buffs) under the command of Colonel Fox; in June the two regiments encamped on Bagshot-heath, with several other corps, under the command of the Duke of Richmond: at this camp the regiment remained three weeks; it was reviewed several times by His Majesty, and afterwards returned to Chatham, where it remained several months.

In the meantime a revolution had taken place in France, where a republican party had seized the reins of government, beheaded their sovereign, and involved the country in anarchy and bloodshed. Not content with carrying the horrors of democracy into every part of France, the republicans endeavoured to propagate their doctrines in all countries, and to overturn the constitution of every monarchy in Europe. Under these circumstances, the British people became involved in war for the defence of the fixed rights of their sovereign, the preservation of their own civil and religious liberties, and of their honor as a nation.

The Fourteenth Regiment was one of the first[39] corps completed to a war establishment, under the zealous and judicious arrangements of its excellent commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Welbore Ellis Doyle, who assumed the command on the arrival of the regiment from Jamaica in 1791; it was also one of the corps selected for foreign service at the commencement of the war; and embarking at Dover, on the 19th March, 1793, for Holland, to aid the Dutch in repelling an attack of the French, it landed at Helvoetsluys, in the island of Voorn, on the 25th of March, being the first regiment of the line which arrived at the scene of war. The success of the allied arms had removed the theatre of war from Holland to the confines of French Flanders; and the Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Doyle, proceeded to Briel, where it embarked for Antwerp, whence it marched to Ghent, and was removed in canal boats to Bruges, where it halted a few days. From Bruges it marched to Tournay, where it arrived towards the end of April; and the flank companies, with those of the Thirty-seventh and Fifty-third Regiments, were placed under the orders of Major Mathews, of the Fifty-third, and detached to Marquain, to watch the motions of the enemy, in which service they were employed until the 20th of May.

The Duke of York assumed the command of the British and Hanoverian troops in Flanders, and co-operated with the Austrians under the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg. On the 23rd of May the Fourteenth Regiment was engaged in the attack of the enemy's fortified camp at Famars, and evinced great gallantry. Being composed principally of young soldiers, they rushed up the heights with great impetuosity to attack the enemy, but did not preserve sufficient order; Lieut.-Colonel Doyle galloped to the front, halted, and reformed the ranks, then bid the band play the tune[40] "ça ira," and using a few encouraging expressions to the men, led them to the attack, when they rushed in compact order upon their opponents, and overpowered all opposition[4]. The French retreated across the Scheldt, and the allied army invested the fortress of Valenciennes. Lieutenant Charles W. Doyle, who performed the duty of brigade-major, was thanked for his conduct.

The loss of the regiment was limited to two serjeants and seven rank and file wounded; the Duke of York expressed his approbation of its conduct in orders.

The Fourteenth Regiment was employed at the siege of Valenciennes, under the Duke of York, and on the 25th of July, it furnished a detachment to take part in storming the horn-work. Lieut.-Colonel Doyle being appointed to the command of one of the attacking columns, obtained permission to place at the head of his party, one hundred volunteers of the Fourteenth Regiment, and having assembled the corps, he said, "Soldiers, one hundred volunteers from among you are to lead the column that I am to command upon a service of the greatest danger; I have thought it right to state this before I call upon you; such of you as volunteer this dangerous enterprise, recover arms:" when every man brought his musket to the "recover." The colonel was much affected by this display of devotion, and said, "Soldiers, I thank you from my heart; where all are equally desirous of facing the greatest danger, I cannot look, or wish, for volunteers.[41] Officers, call out the first ten men for duty in each company."

On the 26th of July the following general order was issued.—

"His Royal Highness the Commander-in-chief returns his thanks to Major-General Abercrombie, Colonel Leigh, and Lieutenant-Colonel Doyle, for the gallantry they showed on the attack last night."

Haying been constantly exposed to the cannon of the town for seven weeks, the men had acquired great steadiness under fire, the attack was made with signal intrepidity and resolution, and the out-works were carried in gallant style.

The regiment had one serjeant and three rank and file killed; one officer, one serjeant, and fourteen rank and file wounded; the flank companies also lost seven men.

Three days afterwards the garrison capitulated, and this important fortress was delivered up to the Duke of York.

After the surrender of Valenciennes the British troops marched towards Cambray, and they subsequently separated from the Austrians, taking with them a few Imperial regiments, for the purpose of undertaking the siege of Dunkirk. On arriving at Menin, it was ascertained that the French had driven the Dutch from Lincelles; that post was recaptured by the British Foot Guards under Major-General Lake, on the 18th of August. The Fourteenth Regiment was one of the corps ordered to support the Foot Guards, and was left in possession of the village, after its capture, until that post was restored to the Dutch.

The army resumed its march towards Dunkirk on the following day, and on the 24th of August, the Fourteenth Foot took part in driving the French out-posts, between the canal of Furnes and the sea, into[42] the town, on which occasion the soldiers had to force their way through strong double hedges, and across deep ditches full of water. A deep ditch, surrounding the garden of a chateau, obstructed the progress of the grenadier company of the Fourteenth, when Lieutenant Thomas Green Clapham leaped into the ditch, where he stood up to his breast in water, that the grenadiers might pass swiftly over it, by stepping upon his shoulders, and pursue the French, which they did with great alacrity. The light infantry company also displayed distinguished ardour, and captured three pieces of artillery. Finally the French were driven into the town, and the siege was commenced. The loss of the regiment was limited to a few private soldiers killed and wounded.

On the 6th of September, the French made a sortie from Dunkirk, in great strength, directing their attack principally against the right of the besieging army, when the Fourteenth Foot, commanded by Major Alexander Ross, (Lieutenant-Colonel Doyle being ill) was ordered forward to support that part of the position. As they passed the flank of the regiment of Esterhazy, the Germans cheered the Fourteenth, and the gallant soldiers rushed into the fight with great energy, overthrowing all opposition, and chasing the French up the covered way. The regiment had one serjeant, one corporal, and eight private soldiers killed; Captains Cochrane and Garnier, Lieutenants Mackenzie, Powell, and Elrington[5], Ensigns Smith and Williams, Volunteer[43] McGrath, one serjeant, one corporal, and thirty-six private soldiers, wounded.

The arrival of the heavy artillery for the siege, and the naval force intended to co-operate with the army, in the reduction of Dunkirk, was so long delayed, that the French had time to convey from every part of France, by coaches, waggons, and other vehicles, such an immense body of troops, to the vicinity of Dunkirk, that the Duke of York had little chance of success.

Another sortie was made by the garrison on the 8th of September, when the Fourteenth and Thirty-seventh Regiments advanced to attack the French; as the two corps passed the regiment of Joseph Colloredo, they were cheered by the Austrians, and they succeeded in repulsing the enemy: but no chance of final success remained, and the siege was raised, the Fourteenth Regiment marching by Furnes and Ypres, to Menin.

The regiment marched, in October, to Oudenarde, where it furnished a guard over two thousand French prisoners; it was sent forward, several times, to take the out-post duty, and upon a movement in advance, by the enemy, upon Menin and Wevelghem, it repulsed an attack upon the out-post at Vervicke.

Early in 1794 the regiment left Oudenarde for Wevelghem, and remained on outpost duty until April, when the army assembled, and was reviewed by the Emperor of Germany, on the heights of Cateau, where His Royal Highness William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, was nominated to the command of the brigade composed of the Fourteenth, Thirty-seventh, and Fifty-third Regiments.

In the general attack on the enemy's positions, on the 17th of April, the regiment formed part of the[44] column under Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, and took part in the attack on the village of Prêmont, and the wood on its left.

The French having been driven from their positions, the siege of Landrécies was commenced, and the Fourteenth Regiment formed part of the covering army encamped on the heights of Cateau; this post was attacked on the 26th of April, by the French under General Chapuy, who were repulsed, with great slaughter, by the British cavalry, with the loss of many guns. On this occasion the light company of the regiment behaved with much gallantry, and, having advanced to a wood on the left, kept in check a considerable body of the enemy, who meditated an attack on the batteries.

On the fall of Landrécies, the British troops moved to the vicinity of Tournay, where they were attacked on the 10th of May by a numerous body of French, who were defeated with severe loss. The Fourteenth Foot lost only one man on this occasion.

At length a combined attack was made on the French positions, with the view of forcing them to evacuate Flanders, in which the Fourteenth Regiment had another opportunity of distinguishing itself; it left Tournay on the evening of the 16th of May,—took part in forcing the points of the French position it was destined to attack in the direction of Lisle, on the 17th of May, and was successful; but several Austrian columns failed to accomplish their part in the combined movements. The British troops, having penetrated the French position, and being left unsupported, became exposed to the attack of the enemy's very superior numbers. Early on the 18th of May the Fourteenth Regiment was environed and attacked by an overwhelming force, but it stood its ground, and by firing by wings and platoons with as much steadiness and regularity as on parade, held its[45] assailants in check. Its veteran commanding officer, Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Browne, became quite exhausted, and sat for some time on a chair behind the colours. At length an aide-de-camp arrived from Major-General Fox, commanding the brigade, with orders for the Fourteenth to retreat; and while performing this retrograde movement, they preserved an unbroken formation. Surrounded by enemies, fired upon by infantry and artillery, and menaced by cavalry, the regiment preserved its order with astonishing firmness, forming divisions in the rear against cavalry, and marching over ground covered with dead bodies. The road to Lannoy, by which the regiment had advanced on the preceding day, was found in possession of the enemy, with an abbatis and cannon formed across it, and the first discharge killed several grenadiers, when Major-General Fox said to Captain Clapham, "I fear we must lay down our arms." "No, sir," replied the captain, "the Fourteenth can cut through them." At this moment Corporal Gilbert Cimitiere[6], of the grenadiers, a French emigrant, well acquainted with the country, stepped forward, and undertook to conduct the brigade through the inclosures, and the troops quitted the main road under his guidance, being followed and assailed by the French. Lieutenant-Colonel Browne was shot through the body, and was carried in a blanket by four grenadiers, but he suffered so much pain that he requested them to stop, and he and they were made prisoners. The command of the regiment devolved on Captain Perry, of the light company, which was afterwards commanded by Lieutenant[46] Graves. This officer, and Lieutenant Elrington, commanded the two rear companies of the column, and formed alternately to repulse the French cavalry. Although every road was fortified, and the hedges lined with troops, the brigade fought its way through the inclosures with astonishing gallantry and resolution, and gained the position at Templeuve, having, however, lost every piece of artillery with the column, excepting one of the battalion guns of the Fourteenth Regiment, under Lieutenant Phillott. The guide of the column, Corporal Gilbert Cimitiere, was rewarded with a commission.

The loss of the regiment, on this trying occasion, was one serjeant and thirteen rank and file, killed; twenty-two rank and file wounded: Lieutenant-Colonel Browne wounded and taken prisoner; three serjeants, two drummers, and sixty-eight rank and file, prisoners of war and missing, many of whom were taken in consequence of being wounded and unable to continue the retreat. Lieutenant-Colonel Browne died at Lisle on the following day, and was much regretted by the officers and soldiers he had commanded with distinguished bravery on many trying occasions. The conduct of the brigade was commended by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, and its gallantry is recorded in the histories of the war[7].

[47]

The regiment resumed its post in front of Tournay, and was in position on the 22nd of May, when General Pichegru attacked the allied army with an immense body of troops, first assailing the right and afterwards the centre of the line. The Fourteenth being on the left, were not engaged during the early part of the day; but in the afternoon, the enemy carried the post of Pontechin, on the high road from Courtray to Tournay, and the fortune of the day was evidently flowing in favour of the French, when the brigade, formed of the Fourteenth, Thirty-seventh, and Fifty-third Regiments, was ordered to the post of honor and danger.

As the Fourteenth quitted their post on the left, under Lieutenant-Colonel Ramsay, the Duke of York addressed them in the most flattering manner, declaring his perfect reliance on their gallantry. The three regiments moved at a running pace; though weak in numbers, they were strong in valour and resolution, and being conscious of their own prowess, they rushed upon their numerous opponents fully determined to conquer or perish in the attempt. The Fourteenth charged along the chaussée,—overpowered all resistance,—carried the village,—re-formed beyond the houses under a heavy fire[8],—raised a loud shout, and rushed forward to storm a battery on a rising ground near a[48] windmill, which the French defended a short time, but afterwards abandoned it, leaving the regiment in possession of several pieces of cannon. This sudden burst of British valour, coming like an explosion of thunder, amazed and confounded the French, who gave way before the superior prowess of the British soldiers, and the current of the battle flowed in favour of the allies. There was, however, a protracted resistance in an orchard, where the grenadiers and light infantry of the Fourteenth Foot were engaged, and several instances of individual contempt of danger occurred. A grenadier named Ryan refused to avail himself of the advantage of standing behind a tree, saying "They cannot touch me;" but the next moment he fell forward apparently dead, when Captain Clapham turned him over, and said, "Ryan, you are only shot through the face, you will do well yet;" "Is that all?" replied the grenadier, and jumping up and commencing loading his firelock, he added, "Then I will have another rap at them," and he was with difficulty prevailed upon to go to the rear[9]. The French were eventually driven out of the orchard; the British pressed upon their opponents, and a victory was gained over the Republican troops, who were forced to quit the field of battle with severe loss.

The Fourteenth Regiment gained great honor on this occasion; its loss was one serjeant and four rank and file killed; Captain Cochrane, Major of brigade, died of his wounds; one serjeant and twenty-eight rank and file wounded; five men missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Ramsay's horse was killed, and the Lieutenant-Colonel received four musket balls through his hat.

The following general order, dated Tournay, 23rd of May, 1794, was published.—

"His Royal Highness the Commander-in-chief[49] desires to express his most particular thanks to Major-General Fox; to the Fourteenth Regiment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Ramsay; to the Thirty-seventh Regiment commanded by Captain Lightburne; to the Fifty-third Regiment commanded by Major Wiseman, and to the detachment of artillery attached to them under the command of Captain Trotter, for that display of intrepidity and good conduct, which reflects the greatest honor upon themselves, at the same time that it was highly instrumental in deciding the important victory of the 22nd instant.

"His Royal Highness much laments the loss they have sustained; but flatters himself they feel it, in some measure, compensated by the credit they have gained."

In his public despatch the Duke of York, speaking of the Fourteenth, Thirty-seventh, and Fifty-third Regiments, stated,—"Nothing could exceed the spirit and gallantry with which they conducted themselves, particularly in the storm of the village of Pontechin, which they forced with the bayonet." Historians have recorded the gallant conduct of the regiment[10]; and the royal authority was afterwards[50] given for it to bear the word "Tournay" on its colours, to commemorate its distinguished conduct on this memorable occasion.

Notwithstanding these displays of valour, the enemy brought forward so great a superiority of numbers that it was found necessary to retreat, and a series of retrograde movements followed, during which little fighting occurred, and few corps had opportunities of distinguishing themselves. Various positions were occupied for short periods, and after quitting the Austrian Netherlands, attempts were made to defend Holland; but the people of that country had imbibed the doctrines of republicanism, and they made little effort to preserve the United Provinces from the French. In August the Fourteenth regiment was encamped near Antwerp; it was afterwards in position in the vicinity of Breda, from whence it retired to a post beyond Bois-le-duc, and, subsequently, to Nimeguen: it formed part of the garrison of Nimeguen for a short period, and when that town was evacuated, the regiment proceeded to Linden Castle; the army occupying a position beyond the Waal, for the defence of the passage of that river. Towards the end of December the river became frozen, and a body of the enemy crossed on the ice; but was driven back on the 30th of that month.

The frost afterwards became more severe, and on the 4th of January, 1795, another body of French troops passed the river on the ice. At this period, the Fourteenth[51] Regiment was at Linden Castle, from whence it advanced to take part in a combined attack on the enemy, under Major-General David Dundas. On the 7th of January it traversed the Rhine on the ice at Rhenen, and proceeded to Bueren Castle. On the following morning Major-General Lord Cathcart advanced with the light companies, thirty hulans, and a detachment of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, to reconnoitre; and the Fourteenth and Twenty-seventh regiments were afterwards brought up to attack the enemy at Gueldermalsen. The Fourteenth formed on the ice, on the left of the dyke, and the Twenty-seventh across the inclosure on the right, supported by the piquets, hulans, and afterwards by a squadron of light dragoons; and the field pieces were protected by the grenadiers of the Fourteenth under Lieutenant Elrington, who marched before the guns. Advancing in this order, the troops drove the French before them, until they arrived at Gueldermalsen, where a protracted resistance was made. Lieutenant Elrington, with the grenadiers of the Fourteenth, charged the French artillery at the bridge, and bayonetted the enemy at the gun, carrying the post with great gallantry. The British battalion guns cleared the street; the soldiers rushed forward, and were engaged from house to house, until they had passed the village, when they were assailed by the enemy in force. The Fourteenth defended the streets; the Twenty-seventh, the church-yard; and the Twenty-eighth coming up most opportunely on the right, threw in a flanking fire, which compelled the enemy to retire[11]. The brigade remained[52] in the village during the night; it was ordered to retire on the following morning, and the three regiments were thanked in orders for their distinguished conduct: Lieutenant Elrington, of the Fourteenth, was thanked by name for his gallantry at the attack of the bridge defended by a gun. The regiment had twelve rank and file killed; Lieutenant-Colonel Hope (afterwards General Sir Alexander Hope, G.C.B.), Captain Perry, one serjeant, and twenty rank and file, wounded: Lieutenant-Colonel Hope lost the use of his right arm from a wound in the shoulder[12]. Captain Perry died of his wounds.

After this action the regiment marched to Cullenburg, and was on duty about a week, on the banks of the Leek, without house, tent, or any other cover from the weather, which was particularly severe.

Numerical superiority gave the enemy so decided an advantage, that a retreat through Holland to Germany became necessary, which took place in the depth of winter, and was attended with severe privation and suffering. On one occasion, after a long march, the Fourteenth Foot found themselves on a dreary heath, on a dark night, exposed to severe frost, and a snowstorm; the men's limbs were so benumbed with cold, that the most fatal results were apprehended; but the discovery of a large farm-house, and a barn upon the heath, proved particularly fortunate to the soldiers. These hardships were aggravated by the mortifying reflection, that the regiment was retiring before an enemy, whom it had never encountered without proving victorious.[53] At length the regiment arrived in Germany, where it obtained repose in comfortable quarters; it embarked at Bremen-lee on the 9th of April, and landed at Harwich on the 7th of May.

From Harwich the regiment marched to Hitchin and its neighbourhood; and when passing through the several towns on its route it was hailed with acclamations by the inhabitants; almost every officer and soldier bore marks of bullets having passed through his accoutrements or clothing; the colours were perforated in many places, and were borne by Lieutenants Stuart and Graves, the two senior subalterns,—so many casualties had occurred among the officers. The achievements of the regiment had been made known, and it was everywhere congratulated on its gallant exploits.

In June the regiment pitched its tents at Warley, in Essex, and in July received orders to march to Nusthaling, near Southampton. On passing through Dartford, the band played the republican tune ça ira (which it played when the regiment charged the position at Famars, in 1793), when the inhabitants evinced their aversion to democracy by throwing stones at the musicians for playing so offensive a tune; but upon an explanation being given, the people responded with three cheers to the honour of the brave soldiers of the Fourteenth who fought at Famars.

The regiment afterwards embarked for Quiberon-bay, to support the French emigrants under M. Sombreuil, but being detained by contrary winds, it was directed to disembark and return to Southampton.

At this period an armament was fitting out to complete the deliverance of the French West India islands from the power of republicanism, and to reduce to obedience the insurgents of St. Vincent and Grenada. The Fourteenth Regiment joined the expedition, and sailed with the immense fleet of Indiamen, transports,[54] and merchant-vessels, under the convoy of a squadron of the royal navy commanded by Admiral Christian, which, on quitting the British shores, presented a magnificent spectacle calculated to impress the mind with a just idea of British power; but the voyage had been delayed until a very late period of the year, and the fleet encountered so severe a storm that several ships foundered at sea, others were wrecked on the western coast of England, and the greater part returned to port. The fleet was re-fitted and again put to sea, but, after encountering severe gales, it returned to Portsmouth a second time. The "Calypso" transport, having part of the Fourteenth Regiment on board, was nearly run down during a heavy gale, by the "Charon" of forty-four guns, and lost the main yard; but this transport continued the voyage and arrived at Barbadoes in eleven weeks.

Several of the regiments, which returned to port, had their destination changed; but the portion of the Fourteenth, which had put back, re-embarked in February, 1796, and arrived in April at Barbadoes, where four companies of the Twenty-eighth Foot were attached to the regiment.

The Fourteenth Foot constituted part of the expedition against St. Lucia, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby; and sailed from Carlisle-bay, Barbadoes, on the 22nd of April, for the rendezvous of the troops to be employed in the enterprise, at Martinique, from whence the expedition sailed, on the morning of the 26th of April, for St. Lucia, where the head quarters landed on the 27th, near Pigeon Island, and marched to Choque Bay, to cover the landing of the remainder of the troops. They continued in position there a short time, till the batteries against Morne Fortuné were completed, when they were ordered up to take part in the ulterior operations. Prior[55] to landing, three companies were detached, with a force under Brigadier-General Perryn, on the side of the Grand Cul de Sac, to facilitate the investment of Morne Fortuné, and an attempt was made to drive the enemy from the batteries on the base of the mountain, on that side; and Major Donkin's battalion, consisting of three companies of the Fourteenth and four of the Twenty-eighth, formed part of the force employed on this service. This battalion supported the Forty-fourth Regiment, in the column commanded by Colonel Riddell. On advancing to the attack, the battalion was checked, at a sudden turn in a winding road cut on the side of a steep hill, by an abattis occupied by French troops, when Captain James Graves sprang up the bank by the aid of a branch, and being assisted by Captain Henry Cox, and Lieutenant George Morris, he helped a few soldiers to climb up the side of the hill, who fired down upon the flank of the troops in the abattis, who instantly abandoned it, and the Fourteenth continued their advance. On arriving on more open ground, the fire of the enemy's batteries was heavy; when Captain James Graves, of the Fourteenth, and Captain John Frederic Brown, of the Twenty-eighth, stormed the lower battery, called Chapuis, with a few men of the two regiments. Captain Brown, Lieutenants William F. Dalton and John Grady, with several private soldiers, fell wounded in the advance, but the battery was captured, and was held by Captain Graves, Lieutenant John Hutchinson, and about forty rank and file. The soldiers being fired upon from a house, it was forced by a few men under Lieutenant Owen, and all the defenders bayonetted. The firing on the right indicating a retrograde movement on the part of the British troops at that point, Serjeant Shaw of the Fourteenth was detached to reconnoitre; he returned wounded, and reported the retreat of the British, and the advance of a fresh column[56] of the enemy. Under these circumstances the guns in the battery were spiked, and the soldiers retired, fighting their way through a woody country, until they joined the column under Brigadier-General Perryn. From the failure of part of the attacking force the operations were not successful.

The loss of the Fourteenth was limited to five men killed; Captain Cox, and one serjeant wounded. On sending a flag of truce, on the following day, to inquire for prisoners, the answer received was, "The republicans have made no prisoners."

An attack was afterwards made on the north side of Morne Fortuné; a battery opened its fire against the enemy's works on the 16th of May, and on the 24th the French desired a suspension of arms, which was followed by the surrender of the island.

After the surrender of St. Lucia, the Fourteenth formed part of the expedition against the island of St. Vincent, and a landing was effected on the 8th of June: the Caribs having surrendered, the French troops retired, in a body, to the strong fort of La Vigie. It having been ascertained that the fort was badly provisioned, and worse provided with water, it was clear that the garrison could not hold out many days; and the Commander-in-Chief shortly received information that they intended to effect an escape, by night, by descending along the course of a deep ravine, which led from the town through high and inaccessible rocks. A party of the Fourteenth, consisting of three officers, and one hundred men, was ordered out to occupy the pass:—they took up a position in the bed of the river, behind some large stones, over which the men rested their bayonets. The darkness of the night, and the position between the woods, precluded the possibility of seeing anything, and the rushing of the water prevented anything from being heard. The first intima[57]tion that the party in ambuscade received of the enemy's approach, was the fact of their actually pressing upon their bayonets. Immediately a desultory firing took place, which ceased only when the enemy were supposed to have retreated. When daylight broke, a horrid spectacle of killed and wounded presented itself. Such of the garrison as succeeded in returning to La Vigie surrendered the next day. Captain Powell, who commanded, Lieutenants Gibson and Beavan, and the whole party, received the thanks of Sir Ralph Abercromby.

These captures having been accomplished, the Fourteenth Regiment returned to Barbadoes, where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.

Spain having united with France in the war against Great Britain, orders were issued to attack the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, and in the early part of February, 1797, the Fourteenth Regiment proceeded to Cariacou, where an expedition was assembled to attack the island of Trinidad. On the morning of the 15th of February the fleet sailed on the enterprise, and as it anchored near the shores of Trinidad, the Spaniards became conscious of their inability to resist, and set fire to their naval force in the harbour. The troops landed on the 17th of February, and the Spaniards immediately surrendered, delivering up the island.

From Trinidad the regiment proceed to Martinique, where it was stationed several weeks.

Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby assembled a small force, in the beginning of April, for the attack of the Spanish island of Porto Rico, and the Fourteenth were withdrawn from Martinique to take part in the enterprise. The fleet entered a narrow channel three leagues eastward of the town, and the troops landed on the 18th of April; but met with great opposition by a heavy fire of musketry from the[58] Spaniards, who were lodged behind a breastwork on the beach. The Fourteenth were in flat-bottomed boats, pulled by the Lascars of the Indiamen in which they had been conveyed. The impetuosity of the men could not bear delay; but, leaping out of the boats, and wading ashore, they soon drove the enemy from their position, at the point of the bayonet. Lieutenant-Colonel Burnett was ordered to pursue, with all possible speed, to endeavour to get possession of the bridge which led over the river between the town and the beach. So closely were the enemy pursued by the Fourteenth, and particularly by the Light Company, that many threw away their arms and accoutrements, and fairly ran for it: they succeeded in gaining the bridge; and, as soon as the men of the Fourteenth approached the tête-de-pont, the Spaniards blew up the bridge at the moment when many of their own people were crossing it. The destruction of the bridge obliged the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Ralph Abercromby, to change his plan, which had, originally, been to take the town by a coup-de-main. The next day, therefore, the army began to erect batteries. The second day after their completion, the enemy kept up such an incessant fire, that they succeeded in dismounting two of the guns of one of the batteries, and otherwise seriously injuring the works. A strong party was, therefore, ordered out at night to repair the damage: this party consisted of three hundred and fifty men, under the command of Captain Powell, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel and Major of the regiment, of which number one hundred and fifty were to be employed in the trenches, and two hundred were placed at some distance from the battery to act as a covering party. The same night Major Ronald Hamilton, of the Fourteenth, made an attempt to ford the river, with a view of ascertaining if it were fordable for infantry; but, being dis[59]covered, he was fired upon by an advanced sentry. This creating some alarm, caused an irregular fire of musketry to be carried on all night. Under cover of this, and of the darkness, a party of five hundred Spaniards contrived to cross the river higher up, and then descending along its edge, secreted themselves among the brushwood between the river and the battery. At dawn of day a serjeant and twelve men of the Fourteenth, who had been on piquet in the bushes, were called in, and, at the very same moment, as if by magic, the whole party of Spaniards rushed, in one dense mass, into the battery.

Sir Ralph Abercromby, Colonel Hope, the Adjutant-General, (afterwards Lord Niddry) Colonel Maitland, with the whole staff of the Commander-in-Chief, had arrived, about an hour before, to inspect the work, and were at the moment in the battery. The sudden inrush of the Spaniards created surprise; and the increased number of persons thus in the battery produced great confusion. The only British who had arms were the twelve men from the piquet; but all the Spaniards were provided with bayonets, or short swords, evidently intended for the butchery of the whole working party. For a short time it seemed as if they were to be utterly at the mercy of the enemy; but, soon recovering themselves, they fell to work with good will with shovels, pickaxes, and other implements of labour, and that with such terrible effect, that every Spaniard was either killed, or taken prisoner, before the covering party could arrive to assist their comrades. The working party had five men killed, and seventeen wounded. Captain Powell, and Lieutenants Gibson and Wren, received thanks in general orders[13].

[60]

From Porto Rico the regiment again proceeded to Martinique, where it was stationed upwards of three years.

Towards the end of the year 1800, the regiment relieved the Seventieth Foot at Trinidad.

On the conclusion of the treaty of Amiens in 1802, Great Britain gave up the captured possessions of France, Spain, and Holland. The Fourteenth were relieved from duty in the West Indies in April, 1803, and returning to England, landed at Gosport, from whence they marched to Winchester, under Captain Graves, who had performed the duty of commanding officer nearly twelve months.

Previously to the arrival of the regiment in England, the short respite from the horrors of war, granted by the treaty of Amiens, had terminated; the ambitious designs of Bonaparte, First Consul of France, had involved Great Britain in another contest, and orders had been issued for augmenting the regular army. Every effort was made to complete the establishment of the Fourteenth Foot, which was attended with great success, and when Bonaparte assembled an army for the invasion of England, the regiment marched to Silver Hill Barracks, and afterwards to Winchelsea, where it was held in readiness to repel the legions of France, had they ventured to land on the British coast. At this momentous period the measures of the government were nobly seconded by the people; a patriotic enthusiasm pervaded[61] the country; and the attitude the nation assumed, with the strength and energy it evinced, while breathing defiance to the gigantic military power by which it was menaced, left no room for doubt respecting the result of the contest had the French army attempted to carry into effect the threats of its leader.

In 1804 the French army remained inactive at Boulogne, and Great Britain preserved an attitude of defence. In the autumn of this year a second battalion was added to the Fourteenth Regiment.

The first battalion remained on the Sussex coast in readiness for active service whenever it might be required. In the mean time the French nation had conferred on its First Consul, Bonaparte, the dignity of Emperor, and he was also crowned King of Italy. In the autumn Napoleon reviewed his army at Boulogne, and afterwards marched against the forces of Russia and Austria, to crush the coalition forming against his interests in Germany. At this period the French troops were withdrawn from Hanover, which country they seized on resuming hostilities in 1803. Towards the end of October, the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment embarked for Hanover, where a body of British troops was assembled under Lieutenant-General Lord Cathcart. The defeat of the Austrians and Russians at Austerlitz, established the preponderance of the French power on the continent for a short period, and in the treaty concluded at Vienna soon afterwards, it was stipulated that Hanover should be occupied by the Prussians. Under these circumstances the troops under Lord Cathcart returned to England.

The first battalion landed from Hanover in February, 1806, and was quartered in Kent.

On the decease of General Hotham, King George III. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Major-General Sir Harry Calvert, from the Fifth West India[62] Regiment, by commission dated the 8th of February, 1806.

In this year the second battalion proceeded to Ireland.

The first battalion was encamped at Shorncliffe, where it was formed in brigade with the Ninth and Ninety-first Foot, under Major-General Rowland Hill, (afterwards General Lord Hill); this brigade was reviewed with the Forty-third Regiment by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, who expressed his high approbation of the appearance and discipline of the several corps. In December the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment proceeded to Ireland.

After remaining in Ireland five months the first battalion returned to England, and in June, 1807, it embarked under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Watson, for the East Indies, where it arrived in November of the same year, and landed at Fort St. George, Madras.

The influence of French councils at the court of Denmark, had involved that country in hostilities with Great Britain, and in the beginning of 1808 the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment sailed from Madras with the expedition against the Danish settlement of Tranquebar, situate at one of the mouths of the Caveri river, in the Carnatic, which surrendered to the British arms on the 8th of February, when Lieutenant Colonel Watson, with the head quarters, returned to Madras, and shortly afterwards to Bengal.

In the mean time important events had occurred in Europe, which called the second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment into active service. After reducing Germany to submission to his will, and forcing Russia to accede to his decrees, Napoleon was prompted by his restless ambition to attempt the subjugation of Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese[63] rose in arms to assert their national rights, and in the summer of 1808 Portugal was delivered by a British army under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. In the autumn Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore received orders to advance with a body of British troops from Portugal, into the heart of Spain, at the same time several regiments were sent from the United Kingdom to co-operate in this enterprise. The second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Jasper Nicolls, embarked from Cork for Spain, and landed at Corunna, forming part of the force under Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird. Advancing up the country, the British troops encountered many difficulties and privations, and the Spanish armies, with which they were directed to co-operate, were defeated and dispersed by the legions of Napoleon, who had three hundred thousand men in Spain. To confront this host of veterans, the British general had not twenty-five thousand men; yet, with that intrepidity for which he was always distinguished, he advanced and menaced the enemy's lines. Sir David Baird's division joined the troops under Sir John Moore on the 20th of December, at Majorga, from whence the army advanced to Sahagun, and preparations were made for attacking the French troops under Marshal Soult; but information being received that Napoleon was advancing at the head of an overwhelming force, the army retreated towards the coast. In this retrograde movement of two hundred and fifty miles, along roads covered with snow, over rivers and mountains, and along narrow defiles, the troops endured privation and suffering of various kinds; but the ability of their commander was conspicuous, and the army arrived, unbroken, at Corunna, in January, 1809. The soldiers obtained shelter, food, and repose in the town and neighbouring villages, and their wasted strength[64] was recruited while they waited the arrival of shipping to transport them to England.

The French army under Marshal Soult approaching, the British troops formed for battle on a range of heights in front of Corunna; the Fourteenth were formed in brigade with the Second, Fifth, and Thirty-second Regiments, under Major-General (afterwards Lord) Hill, and were posted towards the left of the position. On the 16th of January the French troops descended the mountains and attacked the British position in three columns; the first column carried the village of Elvina; then dividing, attempted to turn the right of Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird's division by the valley, and to break its front; the second column advanced against the British centre, and the third attacked the left at the village of Palavia Abaxo. The furious onsets of the enemy were met and repulsed with a firmness and determination which proved the unconquerable spirit and excellent discipline of the British troops. The enemy finding his efforts unavailing on the right and centre, determined to render the attack on the left more serious, and succeeded in obtaining possession of Palavia Abaxo, the village through which the great road to Madrid passes, and which was situate in front of that part of the line; from this post the French were, however, soon expelled, by a very gallant attack of some companies of the second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls[14]. The enemy was repulsed at all points, and the lustre of the British arms shone with peculiar[65] brilliance amidst the most disadvantageous circumstances; but the army sustained the loss of its gallant commander, Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, who was mortally wounded during the engagement.

Having defeated a French army of superior numbers, the British troops withdrew on board the fleet. Major-General Hill's brigade took up a position near the ramparts, leaving the piquets to keep up the bivouac fires, to cover the embarkation, which was completed with little loss, and the army returned to England.

The distinguished conduct of the Fourteenth Foot was afterwards rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word "Corunna" on the colours of the regiment.

The second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment landed at Portsmouth and Plymouth, from whence it proceeded to Buckingham; and while stationed at that place, the county title of the regiment was changed from "Bedfordshire" to "Buckinghamshire."

In the summer of this year a very powerful armament was fitted out and placed under the orders of General the Earl of Chatham, for an attack on Holland, and the second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment marched from Buckingham to Portsmouth, where it embarked on this enterprise under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls. In the beginning of August it landed on the island of Walcheren, situate in the German Ocean, near the mouth of the Scheldt, and was employed in the siege of Flushing, the principal port on the island. During the progress of the siege, the Fourteenth evinced the same ardour and contempt of danger for which they were distinguished at the battle of Corunna. On the evening of the 12th of August they were directed to storm one of the Dutch entrenchments in front of the position occupied by the troops under Major-General Graham, and a detachment of the King's German Legion co-operated in the attack.[66] Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls led the Fourteenth to the assault with great gallantry, and the soldiers rushed forward with so much spirit and resolution that they carried the entrenchments in a few minutes, capturing one gun and thirteen prisoners, and establishing a lodgment within musket-shot of the walls of the town. This was accomplished with the loss of Ensign C. Harold, and one private soldier, killed; four rank and file wounded.

On the following day the line of battle ships cannonaded the town, which was soon in flames, presenting an awful scene of destruction; in the evening one of the batteries was stormed by the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-first, and light battalion of the King's German Legion, and on the morning of the 15th of August the garrison surrendered.

The Fourteenth were thanked in general orders for their distinguished conduct.

Embarking from Flushing, the battalion was prepared to sail up the river Scheldt for an attack on Antwerp; but the delays which took place, gave the enemy time to prepare additional means of defence, and an epidemic disease of a fatal character breaking out among the troops, the enterprise was abandoned, and the Fourteenth returned to England, and were quartered at Steyning.

The unhealthy climate of Walcheren produced a serious loss of life among the troops left on that island, and the soldiers of the Fourteenth having recovered from the effects of the epidemic, embarked a second time for that station; they formed part of the covering brigade when the stores, sick soldiers, &c., were removed, on the final evacuation of that island.

In March, 1810, the second battalion embarked for Malta, but on arriving at Gibraltar, it was ordered to land at that fortress, and two companies, under Captain Everard and Captain Ramsay, were detached to Tariffa,[67] for the defence of that town against the French: the two companies returned to Gibraltar in June, and the battalion continued its voyage to Malta, where it arrived on the 23rd of that month.

In the autumn of this year the first battalion was withdrawn from Bengal, to take part in the reduction of the Isle of France, or the Mauritius, an important island belonging to France, and situate in the Indian sea. The battalion sailed to Rodriguez, which was the appointed rendezvous of the expedition, and on the 28th of November the fleet came in sight of the Isle of France. The troops landed in the bay of Mapou, and advanced through a thick wood, skirmishing occasionally with the French. On diverging into the open country, the British marched direct upon Port Louis, but the soldiers suffering much from the want of water, the army halted at the streams at the powder mills, five miles from the town. Resuming the march on the following day, the troops were opposed by the enemy in force, when some sharp fighting occurred, in which the British soldiers were triumphant. The Fourteenth had one man killed, and two wounded, on this occasion.

Having overcome all opposition, the British continued their march, and took post in front of the enemy's lines before the town. On the following morning the governor, General de Caen, agreed to surrender the place to the British troops, under Major-General John Abercromby. This valuable island was thus added to the possessions of the British crown, and the Fourteenth were thanked in orders for their conduct on this service.

After the capture of the Isle of France, the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment proceeded to Madras, where it was stationed several weeks.

In January, 1811, the flank companies of the second[68] battalion proceeded from Malta, to the island of Sicily, under the orders of Captain Ramsay and Captain Light, to serve under Major-General Lord William Bentinck.

After the capture of the Isle of France, the British government resolved to complete its dominion in the East, by the conquest of the island of Java, of which the Dutch had held undisturbed possession for more than one hundred years. The extent of the island,—six hundred and forty miles long, and about a hundred broad; the luxuriant and fertile character of the soil, the mountain districts yielding the vegetables and grain of Europe, and the plains the delicious fruits and other valuable productions of the East in abundance, without the necessity of laborious tillage, and to so great an extent as to occasion it to be sometimes called the granary of the East; rendered the island of Java a valuable acquisition to the United Provinces, and its principal city, Batavia, was the capital of the Dutch settlements in the East Indies. Holland having become a part of that empire which Napoleon was forming to prepare the way for universal dominion, it became necessary to deprive the Dutch of the large and fertile island of Java, and a body of troops was placed under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty for that purpose. In this enterprise the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment was employed, and the greater part of the officers and men were re-embarked in March on board of the men-of-war ordered to cruise off the island, in which service they had various opportunities of distinguishing themselves, in destroying gun-boats, and in other enterprises on the coast. On one occasion Lieutenant Gillman, who commanded a party on board the boats of His Majesty's ship "Sir Francis Drake," was killed. The conduct of a detachment under Lieutenant J. H. Heyland, em[69]barked in the sloop "Procris," engaged in the boarding of some of the enemy's gun-boats, was highly commended in the public despatch of Captain Maunsell, R.N.

Detachments consisting of the Fourteenth and Eighty-ninth Regiments, Royal Marines, and seamen, were landed from His Majesty's ship "Minden," near Bantam, on the coast of Java, and, in two contests, defeated five hundred of the enemy's chosen troops, which had been sent to Batavia to attack them. Captain Watson, Lieutenants Rochfort, McLean, and L'Estrange, and Ensign Jennings, of the Fourteenth, and Lieutenant Dunscombe of the Eighty-ninth, particularly distinguished themselves on these occasions.

The head-quarters sailed from Madras on the 18th of April, 1811, and landed on the 4th of August, at the village of Chillingching, about twelve miles east of Batavia, towards which city the army directed its march. The French and Dutch troops set fire to the magazines in Batavia, and abandoned the city, which was taken possession of by the British.

On the 10th of August the British advanced from Batavia, and found three thousand select men of the Gallo-Batavian troops in a strong position, defended by abattis behind Weltefreden; and this post was stormed and carried at the point of the bayonet, many of the enemy being killed, and the remainder retreating to the entrenched position at Cornelis, between the great river Jacatra, and the deep aqueduct of Slaken. The conduct of Captain Stannus commanding the light infantry company of the Fourteenth, and of Lieutenant Coghlan, commanding the rifle company, was highly commended in Colonel Gillespie's report of this action. The regiment had Ensign Nickisson and three rank and file wounded.

In the strong position of Cornelis more than ten thousand Gallo-Batavian troops were assembled, and they were greatly superior in numbers to the British[70] force. This formidable position was, however, stormed on the 26th of August, and the invincible prowess of the assailants overcame all opposition; the British were triumphant at every point; nearly two thousand of the enemy were killed, and about five thousand prisoners were taken, including three general officers. The remainder of the enemy dispersed, excepting a few men, who accompanied the Gallo-Batavian commander, General Jansens, in his flight. The Fourteenth distinguished themselves on this occasion, and the conduct of their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, was commended in the official account of the action given by Colonel Gillespie.

The victory of Cornelis terminated the Dutch sovereignty of Java; General Jansens was pursued up the country; and on the 16th of September, the Fourteenth were engaged in storming the fortified position at Jattoo, when the remainder of the Gallo-Batavian force was routed; General Jansens was afterwards forced to surrender, and this valuable island was annexed to the dominions of the British Crown. It was restored to Holland, at the termination of the war, by the Treaty of Vienna in 1814.

The loss of the Fourteenth Foot at the storming of Fort Cornelis was Captain Marinus Kennedy, two serjeants, and nine rank and file, killed; Major George Miller, Captain Trevor Stannus, Lieutenants W. H. Coghlan and Kenneth McKenzie, seven serjeants, and eighty-three rank and file, wounded; one rank and file missing.

Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty stated in his public despatch, "The superior discipline and invincible courage which have so highly distinguished the British army, were never more fully displayed, and I have the heartfelt pleasure to add, that they have not been clouded by any acts of insubordination."

The commanding officer of the Fourteenth, Lieu[71]tenant-Colonel Watson, (now Lieutenant-General Sir James Watson, K.C.B., colonel of the regiment,) was rewarded with a gold medal; and the word "Java" was placed, by royal authority, on the colours of the regiment to commemorate its distinguished services at the capture of that island, which was the most splendid acquisition made by the British arms in 1811. The strength of the first battalion at the capture of Java was forty-eight officers, and one thousand one hundred and forty-five non-commissioned officers and soldiers.

After the capture of Java the Fourteenth remained on the island for some time. The Sultan of Mataram, who governed a portion of the interior, trusting to his power, and the strength of his fortified palace, at Djoojocarta, meditated the expulsion of all Europeans from the island, and committed aggressions of which it became necessary to stop the progress. To effect this, his palace was captured by storm on the morning of the 20th of June, 1812; on which occasion the Fourteenth had another occasion of distinguishing themselves. Lieutenant-Colonel Watson commanded the main attack, and the grenadiers of the regiment headed the assault in their usual gallant style[15]. Colonel Gillespie, commanding the forces in Java, stated in orders,

"To Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, who commanded the leading column, the commander of the forces cannot convey the sense he entertains of his distinguished bravery, and of the quickness and celerity with which he conceived and executed the attack.

"The animated style in which Captain Johnstone and Lieutenant Hunter crossed the ditch, at the head of the Fourteenth grenadiers, and escaladed the[72] ramparts, under the fire of the east bastion, could only be equalled by the order and zeal of their followers."

The conduct of Lieutenant Hill, and of Lieutenant McLean, of the regiment was also commended.

Eight rank and file of the regiment were killed. Lieutenant McLean died of his wounds, and thirty rank and file were wounded.

An expedition was fitted out, in 1813, consisting of a detachment of the Fourteenth Regiment, and of the troops in the service of the Honourable the East India Company; and placed under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Watson of the Fourteenth, for the attack of the piratical state of Sambas, on the western coast of the island of Borneo, which terminated in the surrender of the town, after a sharp conflict in which Captain Watson and Lieutenant Jennings were wounded; the capture of all the batteries, fortified posts, and defences of the Sultan, and the complete discomfiture of Pangerang Anom and his adherents. The first battalion proceeded to Bengal in October, 1813.

In the mean time the war in Europe was prosecuted with great vigour; the British troops were victorious in the Peninsula, and every effort was made to bring a powerful army into the field. At this period a third battalion was added to the Fourteenth Regiment of Foot; it was raised by volunteers from the Militia and assembled at Weedon under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel the Honorable James Stewart, and was soon in a condition fit for active service.

After a contest of twenty years, the period of the downfall of that gigantic power, which had sprung out of the French revolution, arrived; the snow storms of the winter of 1812–13, had annihilated the French army in Russia; the British army, which had delivered Portugal and Spain from the tyrannical rule of Napoleon, was following up its career of victory in the heart of France; at the same time the forces of Russia,[73] Prussia, Austria, and other continental states, were invading France. Thus a favourable opportunity presented itself; one powerful effort appeared likely to overthrow Napoleon and his adherents, and at this important juncture, (the spring of 1814,) the third battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment received orders to hold itself in readiness for foreign service, and commenced its march for the coast; at the same time the second battalion was withdrawn from the island of Malta, to join the expedition, under Lieutenant-General Lord William Bentinck, against the north-west coast of Italy. This expedition captured several places, including the maritime city of Genoa, once a celebrated republic, now the capital of a province in the Sardinian States. The progress of the British arms in Italy was suddenly arrested by the termination of the war: Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated; Louis XVIII. ascended the throne of France; and the nations of Europe hailed the event as the great jubilee of Christendom. The embarkation of the third battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment was countermanded, and after some delay, the second battalion was placed in quarters at the city of Genoa, where it remained twelve months.

Towards the end of the year the third battalion was held in readiness to embark for North America; circumstances connected with the trade of neutral nations, during the war with France, having involved Great Britain in hostilities with the United States. Before the battalion quitted England, peace was concluded with the United States, when the order for its proceeding abroad was countermanded, and directions were given for its being disbanded on the 24th of March, 1815.

In the spring of 1815, while the Congress at Vienna was deciding on the boundaries of kingdoms, and the people of all countries were looking forward to a period of peace, Bonaparte suddenly violated his engage[74]ments, re-appeared in France, and the French army declaring in his favour, he reascended the throne he had abdicated. War was immediately declared against the usurper; the order for disbanding the third battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment was consequently rescinded, and on the 21st of March, (three days before the date fixed upon for its being disbanded,) the battalion received directions to embark for Flanders: it landed at Ostend on the 31st of March, and formed part of the army commanded by His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange.

Additional forces were sent to Flanders, Field Marshal his Grace the Duke of Wellington assumed the command, and the third battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Francis S. Tidy, (Major of the regiment,) was formed in brigade with the Twenty-third Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and Fifty-first Light Infantry under Colonel Mitchel, and constituted part of the fourth division, commanded by Lieutenant-General the Honorable Sir Charles Colville, K.C.B.

Bonaparte attempted, by one of those rapid advances for which he had always been celebrated, to interpose between the British and Prussian armies, and on the 16th of June the battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras were fought: the British were victorious; but the Prussians were defeated; and the Duke of Wellington retreated, on the 17th of June, to the position in front of the village of Waterloo, to preserve his communication with Prince Blucher.

On the 18th of June the third battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment had the honour to take part in the memorable battle of Waterloo, the character and importance of which engagement, distinguish it as the greatest event of the age, and mark it as the brightest era in the history of the British army. The battalion was composed of young soldiers, who had never before been under fire, but their bearing reflected honour on the corps to which[75] they belonged. During the heat of the conflict, when the thunder of cannon and musketry, the occasional explosion of caissons, the hissing of balls, shells, and grape shot, the clash of arms, the impetuous noise and shouts of the soldiery, produced a scene of carnage and confusion impossible to describe, a staff officer rode up to Lieutenant-Colonel Tidy, and directed him to form square; this was scarcely completed when the glittering arms of a regiment of cuirassiers were seen issuing from the smoke. The French horsemen paused for a moment at the sight of the scarlet uniforms of the Fourteenth, and then turned to the right to attack a regiment of Brunswickers; but a volley from the Brunswick square repulsed the enemy, and Lieutenant-Colonel Tidy, with the view of giving confidence to the young soldiers of the Fourteenth, drew their attention to the facility with which infantry could repulse cavalry. The French cuirassiers rallied, and appeared inclined to charge the Fourteenth, but were intimidated by the steady and determined bearing of the battalion.

The cavalry attacks on the British line were particularly severe, and were supported by large bodies of troops of all arms; the infantry pressing forward, while dragoons, lancers, carabineers, and cuirassiers advanced in overwhelming numbers, threatening to bear down all opposition; masking at times the advance of infantry; charging the British squares, and when repulsed, quickly re-forming; while individuals, spurred on by an ardent but unavailing intrepidity, were observed searching for an opening in the British battalions by which to penetrate, and usually perishing in the vain attempt. Repulsed at all points, Bonaparte resolved to make a last desperate effort, and brought forward his reserve, consisting of the old imperial guards; but these chosen bands were overthrown and annihilated; and the whole British army rushing forward upon the enemy, com[76]pleted the overthrow of the legions of Bonaparte, which were driven from the field of battle with the loss of all their cannon, baggage, and the materiel of their army.

Thus was a victory, the most complete and decisive, achieved by the army under the Duke of Wellington: the British soldiers halted on the field of battle surrounded by their ensanguined trophies: they had decided the political destiny of the world, and ensured national independence to the kingdoms of Europe!

In congratulating the regiments of the fourth brigade, in the share they had in achieving the glorious victory at Waterloo, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Colville observed,—"the Twenty-third and Fifty-first Regiments fully maintained their former high character, whilst the very young third battalion of the Fourteenth, in this its first trial, displayed a steadiness and gallantry becoming of veteran troops." The loss of the battalion was seven rank and file killed; Ensign Alfred Cooper, four serjeants, and sixteen rank and file, wounded.

The royal authority was afterwards given for the regiment to bear the word "Waterloo" on its colors, to commemorate the share it had in gaining this splendid victory. Lieutenant-Colonel Tidy was rewarded with the dignity of Companion of the Bath; and every officer and soldier received a silver medal, with the privilege of reckoning two years' service for that day.

The names of the officers of the Fourteenth Regiment of Foot, who received medals, for the battle of Waterloo, on the 18th of June, 1815, are contained in the following list:

On the morning of the 19th of June, the British troops advanced in pursuit of the wreck of the French army; and on entering France, the Duke of Wellington invited Louis XVIII. to repair to Cateau Cambresis. Being desirous of not exposing the King's person, the British commander directed Cambray to be summoned; but this fortress refused to surrender, and repulsed the troops which approached the town on the 23rd of June. On the following day orders for attacking the place by escalade were issued, and the third battalion of the Fourteenth, with the Twenty-third and Fifty-first Regiments, were directed to make a feint attack on the Paris gate; but the gallantry of the officers and soldiers turned the feint into a real attack, and they were in possession of the town before the other brigades of the fourth division could force an entrance. The citadel of Cambray surrendered on the 25th of June.

The army continued its advance upon Paris, which city surrendered in the early part of July, and the war was terminated with the restoration of Louis XVIII. to the throne of France.

During this period, the second battalion had remained at the city of Genoa, on the north-west coast of Italy, from whence it was ordered to Marseilles, in France, under the command of Major-General Lowe,[78] and it landed at that port on the 12th of July. At this period Bonaparte was at Rochefort, endeavouring to effect his escape to North America; but being prevented by the British cruizers, he surrendered to Captain Maitland, commanding the "Bellerophon" man of war, thus closing his political career. On the conclusion of the treaties of peace which followed these events, the battalion embarked from Marseilles for the island of Malta, where it arrived in January, 1816.

The third battalion remained in the vicinity of Paris several months; it was present at the reviews of the army, in the plain of St. Denis and Champs Elysees, by the Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the Kings of Prussia and France, and on the formation of the army of occupation, it returned to England: it was disbanded at Deal, on the 17th of February, 1816; the non-commissioned officers and soldiers fit for duty being transferred to the first and second battalions.

The first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment was stationed at the military cantonment of Berhampore, from whence it marched, in the beginning of 1815, and joined the army assembled under Major-General George Wood, in consequence of the war with the kingdom of Nepaul. The Nepaulese were soon reduced to submission, and in April, the Fourteenth proceeded to the military cantonment of Dinapore, situated on the south bank of the river Ganges, in the province of Bahar, where they remained until October, when they embarked in boats, and proceeded to the cantonments near the ancient Hindoo town of Cawnpore, on the west bank of the Ganges, in the province of Allahabad.

On the 26th of April, 1816, the second battalion embarked from Malta, for the Ionian Islands, where it was stationed during the following seventeen months.

The first battalion remained at Cawnpore during the whole of this year.

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In the mean time the resistance made by a powerful Hindoo Zemindar, or landholder, who possessed the town and fort of Hatrass, in the province of Agra, occasioned the regiment once more to take the field in India, in the beginning of 1817. This Zemindar was named Dyaram; during the troubles in the province of Agra, he only paid his rents when threatened with a large military force, and in the year 1803, when the country between the rivers Jumna and Ganges, called the Dooab, was taken possession of by the British, he expressed himself willing to pay his assessment, but objected to any interference in what he called his territory. This was not agreed to, but he was not then molested. His refusing to acknowledge the authority of the civil law, afterwards rendered it necessary to bring him to obedience by force of arms, and he had the presumption to defy the British power. To reduce this refractory Zemindar, a body of troops was placed under Major-General Sir Dyson Marshall, and the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment took part in the enterprise. The fortified town of Hatrass was reputed of great strength, and when the troops arrived before it, in February, 1817, some inquiry was made respecting the depth of the ditch, which a soldier of the Fourteenth, volunteered to ascertain, and fastening a large stone to the end of a cord, he proceeded alone after dark, and gained the necessary information, with a cool intrepidity, exposed to such great danger, as created great surprise. The fire of the batteries soon forced the town to submit, when it was taken possession of by Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, and the Fourteenth; but the castle held out several days; at length the principal magazine exploded, and during the following night the refractory Dyaram escaped at the head of a hundred horsemen all in complete armour. The castle was afterwards taken possession of without oppo[80]sition; and this was followed by the submission of all the zemindars of the Dooab. After the performance of this service the Fourteenth returned to Cawnpore, where they remained several months.

The second battalion embarked from Cephalonia in the autumn of this year, and proceeded to Malta, where it remained a few days. The peace of Europe appearing to be established upon a firm basis, a reduction in the army took place, which occasioned the second battalion to receive orders to return to England for the purpose of being disbanded; it landed at Portsmouth on the 24th and 25th of November, and was reduced at Chichester on the 23rd of December, transferring four hundred and twenty rank and file to the first battalion.

The aggressions of the bands of Pindarees, who made incursions into the territory subject to Great Britain, and committed great depredations, occasioned the regiment to be again called into the field in October of this year. Colonel Watson having received the appointment of Brigadier-General, and been nominated to a command under Major-General Sir Dyson Marshall, the command of the regiment devolved on Major Johnstone. The Pindarees were a community of professed marauders, and they were encouraged to make ravages in the British dominions in India, by the Mahratta states. Being all horsemen subsisting by plunder, the services of the corps employed against them were of an arduous and trying character:—traversing extensive districts by forced marches, passing rivers and thickets, and attempting to surprise these bands of plunderers, were duties calculated to exhaust the strength of European soldiers, when performed under an Indian sun. The regiment continued actively employed on these services until April, 1818, when it proceeded to the military cantonment of Meerut.

At the pleasant quarters of Meerut, situated on an[81] extensive grass plain, the regiment was stationed during the seven following years, and it preserved a high reputation for good conduct in quarters, while employed in this part of India. Events, however, occurred in 1825, which occasioned it to take the field, when it had another opportunity of gaining laurels in combat with the enemies of Great Britain, under the following circumstances:

The Rajah of Bhurtpore, Baldeo Singh, had become attached to the English government, with which he formed an alliance, offensive and defensive, and procured a guarantee for the succession of his youthful son, Bhulwunt Singh, to the throne; but amongst many of the rajah's subjects, a strong feeling of hostility to the British existed, particularly in the army, and his nephew, Doorjun Sal, was at the head of the party opposed to the British alliance. After the rajah's decease his nephew excited a rebellion, gained possession of the capital, and assumed the sovereign power. To fulfil the engagements made with the deceased rajah, by removing the usurper, and placing the youthful prince on the throne, a British army was assembled under General Viscount Combermere, and in November, 1825, the Fourteenth Foot, mustering upwards of nine hundred officers and soldiers, were withdrawn from Meerut, to join the division assembling at Muttra, for the purpose of engaging in this enterprise. The most important part of this war, it was well known, would consist in the siege of the capital, the fortified city of Bhurtpore; and great confidence being placed by the natives in the strength of this place, from which a British army under Lord Lake had been forced to retire in 1805, after a short siege, a body of troops was assembled, and a train of artillery brought forward, such as have seldom taken the field in Indian warfare. The Fourteenth, commanded by Major Matthias Everard,[82] were formed in brigade with the Twenty-third and Sixty-third Regiments of Native Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel John M'Combe, of the Fourteenth, who had the rank of brigadier-general; Lieutenant-Colonel W. T. Edwards, of the Fourteenth Regiment, also commanded a brigade, with the rank of brigadier-general.

On the 10th and 11th of December the British army appeared before the celebrated city and fortress of Bhurtpore, which contained a garrison nearly equal in numbers to the besieging force. The Bhurtporees had cut a sluice into the embankment of a lake near the town, to fill the ditch round the works with water, but they were speedily driven from the spot; the sluice was stopped, the embankment was turned into a military post, which was intrusted to a company of the Fourteenth Foot, and some Sepoys: about eighteen inches of water, only, had flowed into the ditch, and this sudden seizure of the embankment facilitated the progress of the siege by keeping the ditch nearly empty. The several corps took up their ground; the investment became complete, several reconnoisances were made, and working parties cut down orange and date trees from the groves, and converted them into fascines and gabions. At an early hour on the morning of the 24th of December the fires of two batteries were opened on the town; additional works were constructed, the batteries became more numerous, and the siege was prosecuted with vigour; each successive day giving birth to fresh undertakings, and the progress, though tardy, becoming hourly more and more perceptible. It was, however, found particularly difficult to effect practicable breaches in the singularly constructed walls of Bhurtpore, which were thickly studded, in many places, with large trees of a peculiarly tough description of timber, which resisted shot with remarkable pertinacity. The[83] process of mining was adopted, several explosions took place, and the result soon rendered it evident to every one present that the horrors of an assault were drawing near. The Bhurtporees, however, evinced great bravery and perseverance, exposing themselves to the fire of the besieging force with singular resolution; they built up in the night the works which were knocked down during the day, labouring under a ceaseless fire, and evincing a firm determination to persevere in the defence. The roar of cannon and musketry continued day and night like a ceaseless peal of thunder; and the explosions of the mines deafened, for an instant, all who were near the place.

Considerable progress having been made towards effecting practicable breaches, the Fourteenth Regiment received orders to prepare to lead one of the attacks at the storming of this celebrated fortress, and at two o'clock on the morning of the 18th of January, 1826, it marched to the front opposite the left bastion, to await the explosion of a mine. The Fourteenth and Fifty-ninth Regiments had the honour of being selected to head the two attacks, and they were directed to wheel as soon as they had entered the breaches, one to the right and the other to the left, and, continuing their career round the ramparts, to drive the enemy before them till they met. Some delay occurred in the mine, and the soldiers stood seven hours anxiously waiting for the moment to commence the assault, during which time the thunder of the artillery was tremendous. General Lord Combermere arrived at the spot where the Fourteenth were formed, and seeing the mouth of the mine near, he anxiously enquired if all was safe, to which the engineer replied in the affirmative. His lordship returned soon afterwards, and repeated the question, when he was again assured that all was safe. In a few minutes afterwards the[84] bastion, beneath which the mine had been formed, heaved, as if by the power of an earthquake; the ponderous wall rocked to and fro, and then sunk down again, when, with a sound far exceeding the loudest thunder, the exploding mine rent the massive bastion into fragments, forcing stones, logs of wood, guns, men, and earth, into the air, with a violence which it is impossible to describe, and filling the atmosphere for a considerable distance with so dense a cloud of smoke, dust, and fragments of the ruined bastion, that it was difficult to breathe. Brigadier M'Combe was stunned, and several soldiers of the Fourteenth were injured by the falling fragments and bursting mine. As soon as the tremendous crash was over, the soldiers rushed through the cloud of smoke and dust, and began to ascend the breach, led by Majors Everard and Bisshopp; they encountered some opposition, but nothing could withstand the bayonets of the Grenadiers of the Fourteenth,—their valour soon overpowered all resistance, and the regiment gained the summit with little loss. The native corps appointed to support the regiment not being near, a short pause ensued, when the enemy opened a heavy fire from the buildings near the breach. Undaunted by this, the Fourteenth dashed forward, cleared the walls as they went, and, turning to the right, they drove the enemy from bastion to bastion, and from tower to tower, with astonishing intrepidity and success, capturing a colour which was on one of the bastions. The enemy sprang a mine, which killed several soldiers of the regiment; the Bhurtpore artillerymen fought with great desperation, and the defenders of the walls evinced much personal bravery, but they could not withstand the superior prowess and discipline of the British troops.

As the Fourteenth were scouring the ramparts, and overcoming all opposition in gallant style, they[85] arrived at the Anah gate, where they met the soldiers of the Fifty-ninth, who had turned to the left at the breach, and proved victorious over every opponent; it was a moment of intense interest, and a scene of glorious emotions: Bhurtpore was won! the stain of a former repulse was wiped from the British arms, and they hailed each other with a hearty and cordial cheer.

The light company of the Fourteenth, which mounted the breach with the grenadiers, pursued, with other troops, a body of the enemy towards the citadel, which they nearly entered with the fugitives; four hundred Bhurtporees were shut out, and bayonetted at the gate. The citadel surrendered a few hours afterwards; the commander-in-chief entered it at the head of the Fourteenth Regiment, which he placed in garrison, as a compliment to the corps for its extraordinary gallantry: thus was accomplished the capture of this celebrated city, which was regarded throughout the East as impregnable, the natives being accustomed to remark that India was not subdued, because Bhurtpore had not fallen. That boast was rendered futile, and every native prince had a clear evidence that neither the number of his troops, nor the strength of his fortresses, would avail against the superior valour and discipline of the British forces.

The usurper, Doorjun Sal, was captured while attempting to escape, and was sent prisoner to Allahabad; the young Rajah, Bhulwunt Singh, was taken to the palace of his ancestors, and seated on the throne, in the presence of the Fourteenth Regiment; and the other towns of his dominions submitted. Thus was the cloud which darkened the horizon of British India dispersed, and the splendour of the British arms received additional lustre in the East. Lord Combermere stated in his public despatch,—"I have the plea[86]sure to acquaint your lordship, that the conduct of every one engaged was marked by a degree of zeal which calls for my unqualified approbation; but I must particularly remark the behaviour of His Majesty's Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Major Everard, and Fifty-ninth, commanded by Major Fuller; these corps having led the columns of assault, by their steadiness and determination decided the fate of the day."

In division orders it was stated,—"Major-General Reynell congratulates the troops of his division, European and Native, engaged in the storming of Bhurtpore this morning, upon the brilliant success which attended their gallant exertions. It is impossible for him to convey half what he feels in appreciating the conduct of His Majesty's Fourteenth Regiment, that led the principal storming column. It has impressed his mind with stronger notions of what a British Regiment is capable of, when led by such officers as Major Everard, Major Bisshopp, and Captain Mackenzie, than he ever before possessed. The Major-General requests that Major Everard will assure the officers and soldiers of the Fourteenth Regiment, that they more than realized his expectations."

Lieutenant-Colonel W. T. Edwards, of the Fourteenth, an officer of high character and lofty promise, fell at the head of the second brigade, pierced by many wounds; Captain Henry B. Armstrong was also mortally wounded while leading his men to victory on the ramparts. The regiment had likewise two serjeants, twenty-nine rank and file, and three Lascars, killed; Lieutenant-Colonel John M'Combe, Lieutenants Richard Stack, Robert Daly, and Edward C. Lynch, Volunteer W. Tulloh, two serjeants, ninety-eight rank and file, and three Lascars, wounded.

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Colonel John M'Combe[16], who commanded the first brigade, and Major Matthias Everard, who commanded the regiment, were rewarded with the dignity of Companion of the Bath; and the Royal authority was afterwards given for the word "Bhurtpore" to be borne on the regimental colour, to commemorate its gallantry on this occasion.

The war having terminated, the regiment returned to the cantonment of Meerut, where it was stationed upwards of six months.

General Sir Harry Calvert, Baronet, G.C.B., died in September, 1826, when King George IV. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on General Thomas Lord Lynedoch, G.C.B.

The regiment left Meerut in October; it subsequently embarked in boats, and, after a tedious passage down the river Ganges, arrived at Fort William in the beginning of 1827; and was stationed at that fortress twelve months.

Early in 1828 the regiment quitted Fort William, and proceeded to the cantonment at Berhampore, where it was stationed during the year 1829.

After performing the important duty of guarding the colonial possessions of Great Britain in India twenty-three years, the Fourteenth Regiment received orders to prepare to return to England; it left Berhampore in November, and proceeded to Fort William; the men who volunteered to remain in India were transferred to other corps; and in December, 1830, and January, 1831, it embarked from Calcutta for England. It landed at Gravesend in May and July,—was stationed at Chatham until September,—and at Albany Barracks during the remainder of the year.

[88]

In the early part of 1832, the regiment was stationed at Haslar Barracks, from whence it proceeded to Portsmouth, where it remained five months. In the middle of July it embarked for Ireland, and after landing at Cork, marched from thence to Buttevant.

In 1833 the head-quarters were removed to Athlone; in 1834 to Dublin, and afterwards to Mullingar.

General Lord Lynedoch having been removed to the First, the Royal, Regiment of Foot, King William IV. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Lieutenant-General the Honorable Sir Charles Colville, G.C.B., G.C.H., by commission, dated the 12th of December, 1834. This officer was removed to the Fifth Fusiliers in March, 1835, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Regiment by Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hope, G.C.B., who, as lieutenant-colonel, commanded the regiment in 1795.

The head-quarters were removed to Dundalk in the summer of 1835.

Five years had not elapsed from the period of the return of the regiment from India, when it received orders to prepare for embarkation for the West Indies. It was divided into six service and four depôt companies; the service companies embarked from Cork in February, 1836, arrived, in March, at Barbadoes, and were removed, in April, to the island of St Kitt's.

In February, 1837, the service companies were removed to Antigua.

On the 19th of May, General the Honorable Sir Alexander Hope, G.C.B., Lieutenant Governor of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, died, and was succeeded in the colonelcy by Lieutenant-General Sir James Watson, K.C.B., who had commanded the regiment in India, as lieutenant-colonel, from the year 1807 to 1821, when he was promoted to the rank of major-general.

In June the depôt companies embarked from Water[89]ford for England, and, landing at Bristol, proceeded from thence to Brecon.

During the year 1838, the service companies remained at Antigua.

The distinguished services of the Fourteenth Regiment in India, from 1807 to 1831, having been, at the special request of Lieutenant-General Sir James Watson, brought before Her Majesty by the Commander-in-Chief, the Royal authority was given for the badge of the "Royal Tiger," superscribed "India," to be borne upon the regimental colour and appointments, to commemorate its services in that part of Her Majesty's dominions.

In December[17] orders were received for the removal of the service companies from Antigua to St. Lucia, where they arrived in the beginning of January, 1839: in April, 1840, they proceeded to Barbadoes, and in June to Trinidad. They suffered severely on these stations from yellow fever and other effects of a tropical climate.

The depôt companies proceeded from England to Ireland in June, 1840.

The regiment remained at Trinidad until the early part of 1841, when it was removed to Barbadoes. On the 27th of April it embarked from Barbadoes for Lower Canada, and landed at Quebec on the 2nd of June following.

The depôt companies were removed from Ireland to England, in December, 1844; and the service companies have remained in Canada until the year 1845, the period of the completion of this Record.

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Among the splendid achievements of valour with which the annals of the British army abound, the gallant behaviour of the Fourteenth Foot, on several occasions, appears conspicuous for those bright qualities of intrepidity and heroism which distinguish the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland when arrayed under the standard of their Sovereign; and the conduct of this corps in quarters has been marked by those excellent features of order, subordination, and discipline, which adorn the character of the British soldier, procuring for him the admiration of the inhabitants of all countries. The inscriptions on the colour of the regiment bear testimony of the estimation in which its services have been held by its Sovereign; and the reports of the general officers, under whom it has served, have procured for it the confidence of the Government and the Country.

14th Regiment of Foot.

[91]

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE FOURTEENTH,

OR

BUCKINGHAM REGIMENT

OF

FOOT.

Sir Edward Hales, Baronet.

Appointed 22nd June, 1685.

This officer was the son of Sir Edward Hales, of Woodchurch, in the county of Kent, who was a distinguished loyalist in the reigns of Charles I. and Charles II., and being forced to flee from England for his loyal attempts during the rebellion, he died in France a few years after the restoration in 1660.

Edward Hales succeeded, on the decease of his father, to the family estate at Woodchurch, and to the dignity of a Baronet; and when the Court began to evince a disposition to favour Papacy, he changed his religion from Protestant to Roman Catholic. He was in great favour with King James II., and having raised a company of foot for the service of that monarch, in June, 1685, he was appointed colonel of a regiment, which is now the Fourteenth Foot. He was also constituted a member of the privy council, one of the lords of the Admiralty, deputy governor of the cinque ports, and lieutenant-governor of the Tower of London. Being unable, from his religion, to take the required oaths on appointment to the colonelcy of his regiment, he was prose[92]cuted and convicted at Rochester assizes; but he moved the case to the Court of King's Bench, pleaded the King's dispensation and had judgment in his behalf:—eleven out of the twelve judges being of opinion that the King might dispense in that case.

Sir Edward Hales was in the King's confidence; and at the Revolution, in 1688, he was employed to make arrangements for His Majesty's flight to France. On the night of the 10th of December, Sir Edward, with the quarter-master of his regiment, Edward Syng[18], quitted Whitehall Palace with the King—proceeded in a hackney coach to Horse-ferry, crossed the Thames in a boat, and continued their flight in disguise to Feversham, where they went on board of the Custom-House hoy, designing to cross the channel to France; but they were suspected of being Popish priests, and were apprehended on board the vessel by the country people. The King being afterwards recognised, he was induced to return to London; but he subsequently escaped from Rochester and proceeded to France. Sir Edward Hales attempted to conceal himself, to escape the fury of the populace, who were enraged against him for changing his religion, and at the time he was apprehended at Feversham the country people were plundering his house, killing his deer, and wantonly destroying his property in Kent.

He was detained in custody, and afterwards confined in the Tower of London for eighteen months; on his release he proceeded to France, and he was at La Hogue ready to embark for England when Admiral Russel defeated the French fleet. His eldest son served in King James's army in Ireland, and was killed at the battle of the Boyne.

While in France, Sir Edward Hales was created by King James, Earl of Tenterden, in Kent. He died in France in 1695, and was buried in the church of St. Sulpice in Paris.

[93]

William Beveridge.

Appointed 31st December, 1688.

William Beveridge served under the Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, in one of the British regiments in the service of the States-General of Holland; and at the Revolution, in 1688, His Highness promoted him to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Regiment of Foot. He commanded the regiment nearly four years; and was killed in a duel with one of his captains, on the 14th of November, 1692.

John Tidcomb.

Appointed 14th November, 1692.

This officer entered the army in the reign of King James II., and was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Thirteenth Foot, on the 31st of December, 1688. He served under Major-General Mackay in Scotland, and displayed great gallantry at the battle of Killicrankie: he also served under King William III., in Ireland, and was at the battle of the Boyne. He returned to England soon afterwards; but accompanied the expedition to Ireland, under Lieutenant-General the Earl of Marlborough, (afterwards the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough,) and was at the capture of Cork and Kinsale, and also in several skirmishes. His excellent conduct on all occasions was rewarded with the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot, in 1692: he afterwards served in the Netherlands, was at the battle of Landen, and was engaged in the siege of Namur. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, in 1703; to that of major-general, on the 1st of January, 1704; and to lieutenant-general, on the 1st of January, 1707. He died at Bath, in June, 1713.

Jasper Clayton.

Appointed 15th June, 1713.

Jasper Clayton obtained a commission in the army on the 24th of June, 1695, and afterwards acquired great cele[94]brity as a gallant and meritorious officer. He served under King William until the peace of Ryswick, in 1697. He also served under the great Duke of Marlborough, in the reign of Queen Anne; and was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Eleventh Foot, with which he served in Spain. His regiment suffered severely at the battle of Almanza, in 1707, and he returned with it to England in 1708, to recruit. In 1709, he served in Flanders, and distinguished himself at the siege of Mons, where he was wounded[19]. He also served at the forcing of the French lines, in 1710, and was rewarded with the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, on the 8th of December of that year. In 1711 he served in the disastrous expedition against Quebec, and his regiment had three officers and seventy-one soldiers drowned in the river St. Lawrence, then called the river of Canada.

At the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, his regiment was disbanded; and in June of the same year, he was appointed colonel of the Fourteenth Foot. He served in Scotland under the Duke of Argyle, during the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, and commanded a brigade at the battle of Dumblain, on the 13th of November, 1715. He was subsequently appointed lieutenant-governor of Gibraltar; he commanded the troops in that fortress when it was besieged by the Spaniards, in 1727, and his conduct in the successful defence of that important place, called forth the approbation of his sovereign and country. The rank of major-general was conferred on this excellent officer, on the 2nd of November, 1735; and that of lieutenant-general, on the 2nd of July, 1739. In 1743, he served under King George II. in Germany; and highly distinguished himself at the battle of Dettingen, on the 16th of June in that year. He was killed as he was giving orders for the artillery to play upon the bridge as the French retreated, and his fall was equally regretted by his sovereign, the officers, and soldiers of the army. He was interred with military honors in the chapel of Prince George of Hesse, at Hanau.

[95]

Joseph Price.

Appointed 22nd June, 1743.

Joseph Price obtained a commission of ensign in a regiment of foot in 1706; and subsequently rose to the rank of captain and lieutenant-colonel in the First Foot Guards. In January, 1741, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Fifty-seventh (now Forty-sixth) regiment, which was then first raised; and in 1743 he was removed to the Fourteenth Foot. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general on the 6th of June, 1745. During the campaign of 1747, he commanded a brigade of infantry in the Netherlands, under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland. At the battle of Val, on the 2nd of July of that year, he highly distinguished himself. His brigade was posted in the village of Val, and his gallantry during the action was commended by the Duke of Cumberland in his public despatch. He died in November of the same year, at Breda, in Holland.

The Honorable William Herbert.

Appointed 1st December, 1747.

The Honorable William Herbert, fifth son of Thomas, eighth Earl of Pembroke, and father of Henry, first Earl of Caernarvon, was appointed to a commission in the army on the 1st of May, 1722. He was promoted on the 15th December, 1738, to the commission of captain and lieutenant-colonel in the First Foot Guards; and in December, 1747, to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot. In January, 1753, he was removed to the Second Dragoon Guards. He was subsequently advanced to the rank of major-general: he was groom of the bedchamber to King George II., and a member of parliament for Wilton, in Wiltshire. He died on the 31st of March, 1757.

[96]

Edward Braddock.

Appointed 17th February, 1753.

Edward Braddock was appointed ensign in the Second Foot Guards on the 11th October, 1710; lieutenant of the grenadier company in 1716[20]; captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1736; major in 1743; and was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the same regiment on the 21st of November, 1745. In 1753 he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot; in the following year he was promoted major-general, and sent with a body of troops to North America; and in 1755 he was commander-in-chief in that country. Having completed arrangements for opening the campaign against the French, who had made aggressions on the British territory, he took the field with a body of regular troops, provincials, and Indians; and on the 9th of July, while marching with twelve hundred men through the woods towards Fort du Quesne, he was suddenly attacked by a body of French and Indians, who had concealed themselves behind the trees and bushes, and his men were put into some confusion. "He exerted himself to remedy this disaster as much as man could do, and, after having had five horses killed under him, he was shot through the arm and through the lungs, of which he died four days afterwards[21]."

Thomas Fowke.

Appointed 12th November, 1755.

This officer had been upwards of fifty years in the army when he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot, his first commission being dated the 25th of May, 1705. After serving the Crown fifteen years, he was promoted to [97]the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Seventh Dragoons, by commission dated the 25th of June, 1720. In January, 1741, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Fifty-fourth (now Forty-third) regiment, which was then first raised; and in August of the same year he was removed to the Second, or Queen's Royal regiment. His commissions of general officer were dated,—brigadier-general, 1st June, 1745; major-general, 18th of September, 1747; and lieutenant-general, 30th of April, 1754. He was governor of Gibraltar in 1756, when the island of Minorca, which was then subject to the British Crown, was attacked by the French; and having disobeyed the directions, which he received from the Secretary at War, to send a reinforcement to that island, he was tried by a general court-martial, and sentenced to be suspended for nine months; but the King, George II., directed that he should be dismissed from the service.

Charles Jefferies.

Appointed 7th September, 1756.

After a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, this officer was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Fourteenth Foot on the 12th of September, 1745, and in February following he was removed to the Thirty-fourth regiment. In January, 1756, he was promoted to colonel-commandant of a battalion of the Sixty-second Royal American regiment, now the Sixtieth, or King's Royal Rifle Corps. At this period he was with the Thirty-fourth regiment at the island of Minorca, which was soon afterwards attacked by the French, and he signalized himself in the defence of Port Mahon, particularly in repulsing an attack on the place by storm, on which occasion he was taken prisoner. His gallantry was shortly afterwards rewarded with the colonelcy of the Fourteenth regiment. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on the 27th of June, 1759. He died in 1765.

[98]

The Honorable William Keppel.

Appointed 31st May, 1765.

The Honorable William Keppel, fourth son of William-Anne, second Earl of Albemarle, was appointed captain and lieutenant-colonel in the First Foot Guards on the 28th of April, 1750; and gentleman of the horse to His Majesty King George II. in December, 1752. On the 21st of July, 1760, he was promoted to second major, with the rank of colonel, in the First Foot Guards; and in December of the following year, to the colonelcy of the Fifty-sixth Foot. In the succeeding spring he proceeded with his regiment on an expedition against the Havannah, with the local rank of major-general. In August the Havannah capitulated, when he took possession of the fort La Punta; and being afterwards left commander-in-chief at that station, he re-delivered the city to the Spaniards according to the conditions of the Treaty of Peace in 1763. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on the 10th of July, 1762; was removed from the colonelcy of the Fifty-sixth to the Fourteenth Foot in 1765; and was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-general in May, 1772. In 1773 he was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland. In 1775 he was removed to the colonelcy of the Twelfth Dragoons. He was several years a representative in parliament for the borough of Windsor. His decease occurred on the 1st of March, 1782.

Robert Cunninghame.

Appointed 18th October, 1775.

This officer served several years in the Thirty-fifth Foot, in which regiment he rose to the rank of captain in December, 1752. He was soon afterwards appointed adjutant-general in Ireland, which office he held for many years. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1757;—to that of colonel in 1762;—and to the colonelcy of the Fifty-eighth Regiment in 1767. In 1772 he was advanced to the rank of[99] major-general; three years afterwards he was removed to the command of the Fourteenth Foot; and in August, 1777, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. On the 4th of April, 1787, he was removed to the colonelcy of the Fifth, Royal Irish, Dragoons, and he was advanced to the rank of general in 1793. He died in 1797.

John Douglas.

Appointed April 4th, 1787.

John Douglas was many years an officer in the Scots' Greys, with which corps he served several campaigns in the Netherlands previously to the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748–9. He also served with his regiment in Germany, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, from 1759 to 1762, distinguishing himself on several occasions; and on the 14th of November, 1770, he was promoted to the lieutenant colonelcy of the regiment (the Greys). In 1775 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King, with the rank of colonel in the army;—in February, 1779, he was promoted to the rank of major-general; and in April of the same year he obtained the colonelcy of the Twenty-first Light Dragoons, which corps was then first embodied. His regiment was disbanded at the conclusion of the American war in 1783; and in 1787 he obtained the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot; he was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the same year. In 1789 he was removed to the colonelcy of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, which he retained until his decease in 1790.

George Earl Waldegrave.

Appointed 27th August, 1789.

Viscount Chewton was appointed ensign in the Third Foot Guards on the 10th of May, 1768; lieutenant and captain on the 12th of August, 1773; and captain-lieutenant and lieutenant-colonel in the Second Foot Guards in 1778. In the following year he was appointed lieutenant-colonel command[100]ing the Eighty-seventh Foot, then first raised; and in 1782 he was promoted to the rank of colonel. He succeeded, on the decease of his father, in 1784, to the dignity of Earl Waldegrave; and was also appointed master of the horse to the Queen, and aide-de-camp to the King. In August, 1789, he was appointed colonel of the Fourteenth Foot. He died about six weeks afterwards.

George Hotham.

Appointed 18th November, 1789.

George Hotham procured the appointment of ensign in the First Foot Guards on the 14th of May, 1759; he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and captain in 1765; and to that of captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1775. In 1781 he was appointed aide-de-camp to the King, with the rank of colonel in the army; and in 1789 he obtained the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot. His commissions of general officer were dated,—major-general, 28th of April, 1790, lieutenant-general, 26th of January, 1797, and general, 29th of April, 1802. He died in 1806.

Sir Harry Calvert, Baronet, G.C.B.

Appointed 8th February, 1806.

Sir Harry Calvert, Baronet, was appointed second lieutenant in the Twenty-third, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in April, 1778; he was several months at the Royal Military College at Woolwich, and proceeding to North America in the following year, he joined his regiment, which was then employed on the outpost duty of the army. In December, 1779, he served with his regiment in the expedition, under Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, to South Carolina, and was at the siege and capture of Charlestown. He afterwards served under the Marquis Cornwallis, and shared in all the difficulties, dangers, and privations, in the campaigns of the southern provinces, until the siege of York Town, when the[101] Marquis Cornwallis was forced to surrender, with the troops under his command, to General Washington. He remained a prisoner of war from October, 1781, until the peace in 1783, when he proceeded with his regiment to New York. In the early part of 1784 he returned to England, when he procured permission to pass the remainder of the year on the Continent. In October, 1786, he purchased the command of a company in his regiment, with which he did duty until the spring of 1790, when he exchanged into the Coldstream Guards. On the breaking out of the war of the French revolution, in 1793, he proceeded with the brigade of Foot Guards, commanded by Major-General (afterwards Lord) Lake, to Holland, and when the Duke of York assumed the command of the British and Hanoverian troops in Flanders, Captain Calvert was nominated one of His Royal Highness's aides-de-camp. After serving in this capacity until the surrender of Valenciennes, he was sent to England with the account of that event, on which occasion King George III. was pleased to confer on him the rank of major. He obtained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in December, 1793, by the purchase of a company in the Coldstream Guards. He served with the allied army during the year 1794, and returned to England on the recall of the British troops early in 1795. In May of that year he was employed on a confidential mission to the court of Berlin; and in 1796 he was appointed Deputy Adjutant-General to the Forces: he obtained the rank of colonel in June 1797, and in 1799 he was appointed to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Sixty-third Regiment.

On the 9th of January, 1799, His Majesty was pleased to appoint Colonel Calvert to the important situation of Adjutant-General to the Forces, in which capacity he was enabled to perform important and valuable services to the crown and to the country, during one of the most eventful periods in the history of Great Britain. In August, 1800 he was nominated to the colonelcy of the Fifth West India regiment; in 1803 he was promoted to the rank of major-general; in 1806 he was removed to the Fourteenth Foot, and in 1810 he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-general.

[102]

At the period of his appointment to the high and important station of Adjutant-General of the Forces, the want of efficient regulations, and of an adherence to a system founded on principles calculated to promote the advantage of every branch of service, was felt by all persons called upon to take a part in the concerns of the army, and serious inconvenience was experienced from the absence of such a system by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, who, at two different periods, had to contend against powerful continental armies, with troops, though eminently brave, and endued with the true spirit of their profession, yet not formed upon sound general principles of discipline. His Royal Highness, being appointed Commander-in-Chief, applied himself with great diligence to the correction of abuses, and to the improvement of the condition of the army in every particular: and his efforts, which were honoured with the encouragement and approbation of His Majesty, were ably seconded by his staff officers, who were judiciously selected to carry his views into effect; the ultimate accomplishment of these objects reflected the highest credit on those who planned, and on those who executed measures which have conduced to the safety and glory of the United Kingdom and of its numerous colonial possessions. Among these officers, Sir Harry Calvert held a distinguished station. As Adjutant-General, the discipline, equipment, and efficiency of the army came under his superintendence, and to improve and perfect these, he devoted his best energies and unwearied attention. The general orders of the army, in the successive editions which were brought forward from the year 1799, afford abundant proofs of the value of his labours, in the numerous and excellent regulations made from time to time for the better government of the army. In the clothing, messing, equipment, and every other branch of the interior economy, improvements were introduced to promote the health and comfort of the soldier, and the efficiency of corps; and the establishment of confidential inspection reports facilitated the accomplishment of these objects, by furnishing the Commander-in-Chief, and the authorities under him, with the means of forming a correct judgment of the state of each corps in all its details,—of[103] correcting what was wrong,—of supplying what was deficient, and of ascertaining the merits and capabilities of the officers. The energies of his mind were also directed to the improvement of the morale, as well as to ameliorate the materiel of the army. Being a man of high and sensitive honor himself, he wished to inspire all his brother officers with the same sentiments, by impressing them with a just idea of what they owed to themselves, both as individuals, and as members of the profession of arms. Conscious that no man can be truly respectable who does not respect himself, he was always anxious to uphold and encourage this principle; in accordance with which, he was particularly careful to afford every officer charged with misconduct the fullest opportunity of explanation, and, in conveying disapprobation or censure, he avoided the use of terms calculated to affect the officer's personal feelings, or to degrade him in his own estimation: his verbal intercourse was conducted on the same principle. Such was the kindness of his look and demeanour, and the courtesy of his language, that it was impossible to offer him any personal disrespect; and with whatever sentiments a gentleman might have approached him in his official capacity, he could retire with those only of respect and esteem. To the officers of his own department, who were in daily intercourse with him, his orders were conveyed in the form of requests; and the urbanity of his manners, tempered with self-respect, ensured prompt and cheerful co-operation. In so extensive a branch of the service, the preparation of many documents was necessarily confided to assistants, and the alterations which suggested themselves to his refined discrimination, were proposed with delicacy,—a trait of character grateful to the feelings of his subordinates, and remembered with emotions of respect constantly increased by continued intercourse. In 1807, when the recruiting of the army was placed under his superintendence, he applied himself successfully to the improvement of that branch of the service. He interested himself in the Royal Military Asylum, and in the establishment of regimental schools; the condition of general hospitals also engaged his attention,—he visited them all in 1814, and suggested many improvements[104] in their conduct and management. The invalid and the pensioner found a friend and protector in him, and the representations of a discharged private soldier were received and considered with the same care as those of the higher grades of the service. In this, and in every other respect, he acted in accordance with the desires of the Duke of York, whose innate goodness of heart, and natural generosity and condescension, led him to promote and encourage every species of kindness to the humblest members of the profession to which he was so devotedly attached; and Sir Harry Calvert was the faithful organ of His Royal Highness's benevolent intentions, delighting in the good he was thus enabled to effect.

Having conducted, in conjunction with the able officers associated with him in the other military departments, the details of the British army, when it was on a scale of magnitude surpassing anything previously known, and through the whole course of the most tremendous contest in which the nation ever was engaged, and having witnessed victory achieved, by the valour and discipline of the troops under their matchless chief, with the glorious termination of the war, he was rewarded with the dignity of Baronet, in October, 1818; and in the beginning of the year 1820, he retired from that high situation which he had so long and so ably filled, carrying with him the cordial good wishes of every rank. He had previously been appointed lieutenant-governor of Chelsea Hospital; honored with the dignity of Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, and Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order; and in 1826, he was promoted to the rank of general. He died suddenly of a fit of apoplexy, while on a visit with his family at Claydon Hall, in Buckinghamshire, on the 3rd of September, 1826.

[105]

Thomas Lord Lynedoch.

Appointed 6th September, 1826.

This nobleman, whose services, when General Graham, were of a most distinguished character, was removed to the First, or Royal, Regiment of Foot, on the 12th of December, 1834, the colonelcy of which corps he retained to the period of his decease, which took place on the 18th December, 1843.

The Honorable Sir Charles Colville, G.C.B. and G.C.H.

Appointed 12th December, 1834.

Sir Charles Colville, whose distinguished services during the late war are recorded in the history of Europe, was removed to the colonelcy of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, or Northumberland Fusiliers, on the 25th of March, 1835, in succession to General Sir Henry Johnson, deceased. He died on the 27th March, 1843.

The Honorable Sir Alexander Hope, G.C.B.

Appointed 25th March, 1835.

The Honorable Alexander Hope entered the army as ensign in the Sixty-third Regiment, on the 6th of March, 1786, and after a service of upwards of thirteen years he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Fourteenth Foot, on the 27th of August, 1794. He commanded the regiment during its retreat through Holland, and in the attack of the French post at Gueldermalsen, on the 8th of January, 1795, he received a wound in the shoulder which deprived him of the use of his right arm. He was appointed governor of Tynemouth and Clifford's fort, in 1797; lieutenant-governor of Edinburgh Castle, in 1798; and deputy adjutant-general to the expedition to Holland, in 1799. He was pro[106]moted to the rank of colonel in the army, on the 1st of January, 1800; and to the colonelcy of the Fifth West India Regiment, on the 30th of October, 1806. In April, 1808, he was further promoted to the rank of major-general. In April, 1813, he was removed to the colonelcy of the Forty-seventh Regiment; and in June of the same year, he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-general. He obtained the rank of general, on the 22nd of July, 1830; and the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Regiment, in 1835. He was constituted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath: he was lieutenant-governor of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea: he died on the 19th of May, 1837.

Sir James Watson, K.C.B.

Appointed 24th May, 1837.

London: Harrison and Co., Printers, St. Martin's Lane.

By Royal Authority.

Historical Records of the
British Army;

A SERIES OF

Narratives of the Services of Regiments from their Formation to the present Time.

PREPARED BY

Richard Cannon, Esq.,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE.

Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes, who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood "firm as the rocks of their native shore;" and when half the world has been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public.—Extract from the General Preface.

The Histories of the following Regiments are already published:

*_** The Records of other Regiments are in course of preparation.

PUBLISHED AT THE MILITARY LIBRARY, WHITEHALL.