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Title: Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853
Author: Cannon, Richard
Language: English
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[Illustration:
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 General’s Office, Horse Guards._ London. _Printed by
Authority._]
GENERAL ORDERS
_HORSE GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836._
His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with the 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.:—
—— The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of the
Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time
employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations in
which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any Achievement
it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies, &c., it may have
captured from the Enemy.
—— The Names of the Officers, and the number of Non-Commissioned
Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the Enemy, specifying
the Place and Date of the Action.
—— The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their
Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the
Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other Marks
of His Majesty’s gracious favour.
—— The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and
Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in Action.
And,
—— The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been
permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges
or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.
By Command of the Right Honorable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
_Commanding-in-Chief_.
JOHN MACDONALD,
_Adjutant General_.
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 honorable 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 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 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 served,
or are serving, in the Army, an _Esprit de Corps_—an attachment
to everything 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.
INTRODUCTION
TO
THE INFANTRY.
The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for
innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority
of the British troops over those of other countries has been
evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains
so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can
be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be
admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is
INTREPIDITY. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England
when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army,
on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to
attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and,
although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their
adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated
the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar’s favourite tenth
legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other
weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of
which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades,
and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted
and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat,
sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry.
These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar’s
legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline
and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being
thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full
development of the national character followed, and it shone forth
in all its native brilliancy.
The military force of the Anglo-Saxons consisted principally of
infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on
horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The
former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords
and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only.
They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and
javelins.
The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted
(as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost
entirely of horse: but when the warlike barons and knights, with
their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion
of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior
degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When
stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a
considerable portion of the military force; and this _arme_ has
since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never
exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.
The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns
succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances,
halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour
was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice
became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel,
that it was almost impossible to slay them.
The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive
purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth
century, produced a change in the arms and equipment of the
infantry-soldier. Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of
fire-arms, but British archers continued formidable adversaries;
and, owing to the inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of
the fire-arms when first introduced, a body of men, well trained
in the use of the bow from their youth, was considered a valuable
acquisition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century.
During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company
of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in
every hundred men forty were “_men-at-arms_,” and sixty “_shot_;”
the “men-at-arms” were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and
thirty pikemen; and the “shot” were twenty archers, twenty
musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides
his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.
Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150
to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of
formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John
Smithe) in 1590 was; the colour in the centre of the company
guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on
each flank of the halberdiers; half the musketeers on each flank
of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers,
and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the
muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the
company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number
of companies into one body, called a REGIMENT, which frequently
amounted to three thousand men; but each company continued to carry
a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the
construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to
make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried
a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier,
armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth
century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry
were reduced to two classes, viz.: _musketeers_, armed with
matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and _pikemen_, armed with
pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.
In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men. He
caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks,
or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be
made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed
each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division
of Pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments
into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to
three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his
infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen
and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of
other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English,
French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice
in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not
adopted until near a century afterwards.
In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled
the Admiral’s regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually
consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light
firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with
hand grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was
designated the “grenadier company.” Daggers were so contrived as to
fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets, similar to those
at present in use, were adopted about twenty years afterwards.
An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James
II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers
(now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did
not carry pikes.
King William III. incorporated the Admiral’s regiment in the second
Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service.
During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting
the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46
musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans;
ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in
1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on
the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]
During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every
infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the
grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand grenades;
and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour:
the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the Army in this
reign.
About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry
ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light
companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of
General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside
their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the Seven
Years’ War. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have
been limited to the musket and bayonet.
The arms and equipment of the British Troops have seldom differed
materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European
states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods,
been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they
have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and
superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many
and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained
over very superior numbers.
Great Britain has produced a rate of lion-like champions who have
dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves
valiant with any arms. At _Crecy_, King Edward III., at the head
of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip
King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000
men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:—the King
of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles were
slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten years
afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the Black
Prince, defeated at _Poictiers_, with 14,000 men, a French army of
60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of France,
and his son, Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October, 1415,
King Henry V., with an army of about 13,000 men, although greatly
exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated, at
_Agincourt_, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower of
the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men, and
gained a complete victory.
During the seventy years’ war between the United Provinces of the
Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and
terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the
States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and
firmness;[3] and in the thirty years’ war between the Protestant
Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British Troops in the
service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of
heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British
army under the great MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world;
and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory
of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons
of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the
qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of
the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in
Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French
army, which had been vainly styled _Invincible_, to evacuate that
country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous
campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal WELLINGTON; and
the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great
Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means
he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to
their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British
Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates, in the
distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy
which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers,
Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons
of the nineteenth century.
The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular
frame,—intrepidity which no danger can appal,—unconquerable
spirit and resolution,—patience in fatigue and privation, and
cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities, united with
an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give
a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of
the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to
command, whose presence inspires confidence,—have been the leading
causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5]
The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the
various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought
and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory;
these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of
time.
The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a
detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the
hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in
the various parts of the world where the calls of their Country
and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed
in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental
operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and
unfavourable climes.
The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set
forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest
commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements
of this _arme_, as at present practised, while they are adapted
to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations
and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the
brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and
scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have
been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements
have from time to time been introduced, to ensure that simplicity
and celerity by which the superiority of the national military
character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain
has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great
measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons
who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the
several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:—
__|
| |
|__|
|
20 20 20 30 2|0 30 20 20 20
|
Harquebuses. Muskets. Halberds. Muskets. Harquebuses.
Archers. Pikes. Pikes. Archers.
The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the
harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.
[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps
in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign
of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under
Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and
in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at
the siege of Barcelona in 1705.
[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed
in 1590, observes:—“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation
would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the
field, let them he chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the
Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe.
For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during
the seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third
Foot, or Buffs.
[4] _Vide_ the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of
Foot.
[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes
the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in
Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but
His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed
on the consideration of every part of the army, that it has been a
strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which
has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and
has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national
military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under
circumstances of peculiar difficulty.”—_General Orders in 1801._
In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope
(afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the
successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January
1809, it is stated:—“On no occasion has the undaunted valour of
British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a
severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority
which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired
the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be
encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the
troops themselves: and the enemy has been taught, that whatever
advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is
inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows
not how to yield,—that no circumstances can appal,—and that will
ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any
human means.”
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS:
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
In 1793,
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
To 1853.
COMPILED BY
RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.,
ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS.
Illustrated with Plates.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY,
FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE.
PUBLISHED BY PARKER, FURNIVALL, AND PARKER,
MILITARY LIBRARY,
30, CHARING CROSS.
1853.
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS,
BEARS ON THE REGIMENTAL COLOUR AND APPOINTMENTS
THE PLUME OF THE PRINCE OF WALES, WITH THE MOTTO,
“ICH DIEN” AND THE “HARP,”
IN CONSEQUENCE OF ITS HAVING BEEN ORIGINALLY DESIGNATED
THE “PRINCE OF WALES’S IRISH REGIMENT;”
ALSO THE WORDS, “MONTE VIDEO,”
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE GALLANTRY DISPLAYED
BY THE FIRST BATTALION AT THE CAPTURE OF THAT PLACE,
ON THE 3RD OF FEBRUARY, 1807;
THE WORD, “TALAVERA,”
IN TESTIMONY OF THE CONDUCT OF THE SECOND BATTALION IN THAT
BATTLE, ON THE 27TH AND 28TH OF JULY, 1809;
AN EAGLE WITH A WREATH OF LAUREL ABOVE THE HARP,
AND THE WORD, “BARROSA,”
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE GALLANTRY OF THE SECOND BATTALION,
AND OF THE TROPHY ACQUIRED IN THAT BATTLE,
ON THE 5TH OF MARCH, 1811;
ALSO THE WORD, “TARIFA,”
FOR THE DISTINGUISHED GALLANTRY OF THE SECOND BATTALION
IN THE DEFENCE OF THAT PLACE,
ON THE 31ST OF DECEMBER, 1811;
AND
THE WORDS, “VITTORIA,” “NIVELLE,” “ORTHES,”
“TOULOUSE,” AND “PENINSULA,”
IN TESTIMONY OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICES OF THE SECOND BATTALION
IN THE SEVERAL ACTIONS FOUGHT DURING THE WAR
IN PORTUGAL, SPAIN, AND THE SOUTH OF FRANCE,
FROM 1809 TO 1814;
AND
THE WORD “AVA,”
TO DENOTE THE MERITORIOUS CONDUCT OF THE REGIMENT DURING
THE BURMESE WAR, IN 1825-26.
THE
EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
CONTENTS
OF THE
HISTORICAL RECORD.
Year. Page
INTRODUCTION 1
1793. Formation of the regiment 2
1794. Names of officers 4
” Embarked for Flanders 5
” Action at Alost _ib._
1795. Proceeded to Bergen-op-Zoom _ib._
” Marched prisoners into France 6
1796. The regiment again recruited _ib._
” Embarked as part of a secret expedition to the
North Sea _ib._
” Return of the troops to England _ib._
” The regiment embarked for the West Indies _ib._
1797. Capture of _Trinidad_ _ib._
” Expedition against _Porto Rico_ 7
” The regiment proceeded to St. Lucia _ib._
1798. Stationed at St. Lucia 8
1799. Proceeded to Martinique _ib._
1800. Removed to Dominica _ib._
1801. Embarked for Barbadoes _ib._
” Proceeded to Curaçoa _ib._
1802. Peace of Amiens _ib._
1803. Renewal of hostilities _ib._
1804. The regiment returned to England 9
” Proceeded to Guernsey _ib._
” War with Spain _ib._
” Formation of the second battalion _ib._
1805. The first battalion removed to Portsmouth 10
1806. Proceeded to Plymouth _ib._
” Embarked for Monte Video _ib._
1807. Capture of that place 11
” Authorised to bear the word “_Monte Video_” on the
regimental colour and appointments _ib._
” The light company engaged at _Colonia_, near
Buenos Ayres _ib._
” Assault of _Buenos Ayres_ 12
” Withdrawal of the British troops 15
” The first battalion embarked for the Cape of
Good Hope _ib._
1808 }
and } Stationed in that colony _ib._
1809 }
1810. Embarked for the Mauritius 16
” Capture of that island _ib._
1811 }
to } Stationed at the Mauritius _ib._
1814 }
1815. Embarked for Bengal _ib._
1816. War with the Rajah of Nepaul 17
” Affair on the heights of _Sierapore_ 18
” Termination of the campaign 19
” Return of the battalion to Bengal _ib._
” Stationed at Cawnpore _ib._
1817. Engaged in the siege of the Fort of _Hattrass_ _ib._
” Returned to Cawnpore 20
” The Pindaree campaign _ib._
” Casualties from cholera _ib._
1818. Conclusion of peace 21
” Return of the regiment to Cawnpore _ib._
1820. Marched to Fort William _ib._
1821. Meritorious conduct of the regiment at the fire in
the East India Company’s Dispensary at Calcutta _ib._
” Presentation of testimonials, in consequence, to
the regiment 22
1822. Similar conduct of the regiment at another alarming
fire in Calcutta 23
” Embarked for the Upper Provinces _ib._
1823. Decease of Lieut.-Colonel Miller _ib._
” The regiment stationed at Ghazeepore _ib._
1824. Removed to Berhampore _ib._
1825. Proceeded to Calcutta 24
” Decease of Lieut.-Colonel Browne _ib._
” Commencement of the Burmese War _ib._
” The regiment embarked for Ava _ib._
” Engaged with the Burmese near _Prome_ _ib._
1826. Capture of _Melloone_ 25
” Operations against _Moulmein_ _ib._
” Termination of the Burmese War _ib._
” Authorised to bear the word “_Ava_” on the regimental
colour and appointments 26
” Decease of Lieut.-Colonel Shawe 27
” The regiment embarked for Calcutta _ib._
” Reviewed at Calcutta by General Lord Combermere,
Commander-in-Chief in India 28
1827. Complimentary order on the embarkation of the
regiment for England _ib._
1827. Stationed in the Isle of Wight 29
” Application from General Sir John Doyle for the
regiment to be constituted a _light infantry_ corps 30
” Styled the “_Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Regiment
of Fusiliers_” 32
” Facings changed from Green to _Blue_ 33
” Styled the “EIGHTY-SEVENTH, _or Royal Irish
Fusiliers_” _ib._
1828. Reviewed by General Lord Hill, Commanding-in-chief 34
” Marched to London _ib._
” Proceeded to Chester 35
” Services of the regiment at a fire _ib._
1829. Three companies employed in aid of the Civil Power
in Wales _ib._
” Marched to Stockport 36
” Stationed at Manchester 37
1830. Embarked for Ireland 38
” Returned to England _ib._
1831. Formed into service and depôt companies _ib._
” Service companies embarked for the Mauritius _ib._
1832 }
and } Remained at the Mauritius _ib._
1833 }
1834. Major-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B.,
appointed Colonel of the regiment _ib._
1835. The depôt companies embarked for Ireland _ib._
1836 }
to } Stationed in Ireland 39
1839.}
1840. Returned to England _ib._
1841. Major-General Sir Hugh (now Viscount) Gough, K.C.B.,
appointed Colonel of the regiment _ib._
1843. The service companies returned to England from
the Mauritius _ib._
” The regiment proceeded to Glasgow _ib._
1844. Marched to Edinburgh _ib._
1846. Proceeded to Monmouthshire 40
1847. Removed to Weedon _ib._
1848. Augmented to the India establishment _ib._
1849. Embarked for Calcutta _ib._
1853. CONCLUSION _ib._
CONTENTS
OF THE
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE SECOND BATTALION
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
Year. Page
INTRODUCTION 41
1804. Formation of the second battalion _ib._
1805. Embarked for Ireland 42
1806. Returned to England _ib._
1807. Proceeded to Guernsey _ib._
1808. Embarked for Portugal 44
1809. Battle of _Talavera_ 45
” Authorised to bear the word “_Talavera_” on the
regimental colour and appointments 47
1810. Embarked for Cadiz _ib._
1811. Battle of _Barrosa_ 48
” Capture of a French _Eagle_ by the battalion _ib._
” Styled “THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH, _or Prince of Wales’s
Own Irish Regiment_,” and authorised to bear on
the regimental colour and appointments the word
“_Barrosa_,” and an _Eagle_ with a _Wreath of
Laurel_, above the _Harp_ 53
” The second battalion embarked for _Tarifa_ 54
” Siege of _Tarifa_ by the French 55
1812. Gallant defence of the place 58
” Authorised to bear the word “_Tarifa_” on the
regimental colour and appointments _ib._
” The battalion returned to Cadiz _ib._
” Action at the bridge and fort of _Puerto Largo_ 59
1813. Battle of _Vittoria_ 60
” Bâton of Marshal Jourdan taken by the battalion 62
” Authorised to bear the word “_Vittoria_” on the
regimental colour and appointments 63
1813. Actions in the _Pyrenees_ 63
” Battle of the _Nivelle_ 64
” Authorised to bear the word “_Nivelle_” on the
regimental colour and appointments _ib._
1814. Action near _Salvatira_ 65
” Battle of _Orthes_ _ib._
” Authorised to bear the word “_Orthes_” on the
regimental colour and appointments _ib._
” Affair at _Vic Bigorre_ 65
” Battle of _Toulouse_ 66
” Authorised to bear the word “_Toulouse_” on the
regimental colour and appointments 67
” Termination of the Peninsular War _ib._
” Authorised to bear the word “_Peninsula_” on the
regimental colour and appointments 68
” Embarkation of the battalion for Cork _ib._
” Removed to Portsmouth 69
” Proceeded to Guernsey _ib._
1815. Stationed in that island _ib._
1816. Removed to Portsmouth, and subsequently to
Colchester _ib._
1817. The second battalion disbanded 74
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
Year. Page
1796. Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B. 75
1834. Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B. 83
1841. Hugh Viscount Gough, G.C.B. 89
APPENDIX.
Page
List of troops in South America in 1806-7 91
Memoir of Lieut.-General Sir Charles William Doyle, C.B.,
and G.C.H. 92
Memoir of Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Shawe, C.B. 95
List of battalions formed from men raised in 1803 and
1804, under the “_Army of Reserve_” and “_Additional
Force Acts_” 97-100
PLATES.
Page
Costume of the regiment in 1793 _to face_ 1
Colours of the regiment 40
The French Eagle captured at the battle of Barrosa on the
5th of March 1811 50
Costume of the regiment in 1853 74
[Illustration: ORIGINAL UNIFORM OF THE 87^{TH} REGIMENT 1793
FOR CANNONS MILITARY RECORDS
_Madeley lith 3, Wellington S^t. Strand._]
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
[Sidenote: 1793.]
The disturbed state of affairs on the continent of Europe in
1793, particularly in France, arising from the principles of the
Revolution in that country, which threatened surrounding nations
with universal anarchy, occasioned preparations to be made
throughout the several countries, in order to oppose the dangerous
doctrines which were then diffused under the specious terms of
“Liberty and Equality.”
On the 1st of February 1793, the National Convention of France,
after the decapitation of King Louis XVI. on the 21st of the
previous month, declared war against Great Britain and Holland.
Augmentations were immediately made to the regular army, the
militia was embodied, and the British people evinced their loyalty
and patriotism by forming volunteer associations, and by making
every exertion for the maintenance of monarchical principles,
and for the defence of those institutions which had raised their
country to a high position among the nations of Europe.
Upwards of fifty regiments of infantry were authorised to be
raised, on this emergency, in the several parts of Great Britain
and Ireland, by officers and gentlemen possessing local influence,
sixteen of which regiments, viz. from the Seventy-eighth to the
Ninety-third, continue at this period on the establishment of the
army.
Of the officers thus honored with the confidence of their Sovereign
and his Government, Lieut.-Colonel John Doyle (afterwards General
Sir John Doyle, Bart., and G.C.B.) was selected, to whom a letter
of service was addressed on the 18th of September 1793, authorising
him to raise a regiment, to consist of ten companies of sixty rank
and file in each company. The corps was speedily completed, and
was designated the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, or THE PRINCE OF WALES’S IRISH
REGIMENT.
The following is a copy of the _Letter of Service_, addressed by
the Secretary-at-War to Major John Doyle, on the half-pay of the
late One hundred and fifth regiment, dated
“_War Office,_
“_18th September 1793._
“SIR,
“I am commanded to acquaint you, that His Majesty approves of your
raising a regiment of foot, without any allowance of levy money, to
be completed within three months, upon the following terms, viz.:
“The corps is to consist of one company of Grenadiers, one of Light
Infantry, and eight battalion companies. The Grenadier company is
to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, three serjeants, three
corporals, two drummers, two fifers, and fifty-seven private men.
The Light Infantry company of one captain, two lieutenants, three
serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and fifty-seven men;
and each battalion company of one captain, one lieutenant, and
one ensign, three serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and
fifty-seven private men, together with the usual staff officers,
and with a serjeant-major and quartermaster-serjeant, exclusive of
the serjeants above specified. The captain-lieutenant is (as usual)
included in the number of lieutenants above mentioned.
“The corps is to have one major with a company, and is to be under
your command as major, with a company.
“The pay of the officers is to commence from the dates of their
commissions, and that of the non-commissioned officers and privates
from the dates of their attestations.
“His Majesty is pleased to leave to you the nomination of the
officers of the regiment; but the lieut.-colonel and major are to
be taken from the list of lieut.-colonels or majors on half-pay,
or the major from a captain on full pay. Six of the captains are
to be taken from the half-pay, and the other captain and the
captain-lieutenant from the list of captains or captain-lieutenants
on full pay. All the lieutenants are to be taken from the half-pay;
and the gentlemen recommended for ensigns are not to be under
sixteen years of age.
“No officer, however, is to be taken from the half-pay who received
the difference on going upon the half-pay, nor is any officer
coming from the half-pay to contribute any money towards the levy,
but he may be required to raise such a quota of men as you may
agree upon with him.
“The person to be recommended for quartermaster must not be
proposed for any other commission.
“In case the corps should be reduced after it has been once
established, the officers will be entitled to half-pay.
“No man is to be enlisted above thirty-five years of age, nor
under five feet five inches high. Well-made, growing lads, between
sixteen and eighteen years of age, may be taken at five feet four
inches.
“The recruits are to be engaged without limitation as to the period
or place of their service.
“The non-commissioned officers and privates are to be inspected
by a general officer, who will reject all such as are unfit for
service, or not enlisted in conformity to the terms of this letter.
“In the execution of this service, I take leave to assure you of
every assistance which my office can afford.
“I have, &c., &c.,
(Signed) “GEORGE YONGE.
“_To Major John Doyle, on the half-pay of the late
One hundred and fifth regiment._”
The following officers were appointed to commissions in the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, viz.:—
[Sidenote: 1794.]
_Lieut.-Colonel Commandant_—John Doyle.
_Lieut.-Colonel_—Edward Viscount Dungarvan
(afterwards Earl of Cork).
_Major_—Walter Hovenden.
_Captains._
Honorable George Napier.
Nathaniel Cookman.
Honorable Robert Mead.
Percy Freke.
Richard Thompson.
Howe Hadfield.
_Captain-Lieutenant_—James Magrath.
_Lieutenants._
John Thompson.
William Aug. Blakeney.
John Wilson.
Thomas Clarke.
James Henry Fitz Simon.
William Warren.
William Magrath.
Barton Lodge.
_Ensigns._
Fleming Kells.
William Murray.
John Carrol.
—— Walker.
Benjamin Johnson.
—— Salmon.
_Adjutant_—John L. Brock.
_Surgeon_— —— Hill.
_Quartermaster_—Wm. Thomson.
_Chaplain_—Edw. Berwick.
The effective numbers were quickly recruited, and the regiment
was so far formed as to be considered fit to be employed on
active continental service. It was consequently embarked in the
summer of 1794, as part of a force under Major-General the Earl
Moira, and was sent to join the British army in Flanders, under
the command of His Royal Highness the Duke of York. While on the
march the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment was attacked on the 15th of
July 1794, at the outpost of _Alost_, by a strong corps of the
enemy’s cavalry, which it repulsed, and for which act of bravery
it received the thanks of the general officer in public orders.
It is a circumstance worthy of being recorded in the regimental
history, that the first individual of the regiment who was wounded,
was the Lieut.-Colonel by whom it was raised. In the general
orders of the Earl of Moira upon this occasion, “he expressed his
admiration of the cool intrepidity with which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
regiment repulsed an attack from the enemy’s cavalry, at the bridge
of Alost, where its commander, Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, received two
severe wounds, but would not quit his regiment, until the enemy had
given up the attack.” The Duke of York, in his public letter, thus
mentioned the affair:—
“_Head-quarters, Cortyke,_
“_15th July 1794._
“Lord Moira speaks highly of the conduct of the officers and men
of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment on this occasion, particularly
of Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, commanding the corps, who was severely
wounded.
(Signed) “FREDERICK.”
[Sidenote: 1795.]
In 1795 the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment was sent into Bergen-op-Zoom
to be drilled; but soon after its arrival, the Dutch garrison
revolted against the government, opened the gates, and joined
the French, who entered with twenty thousand men, and made a
capitulation with the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, the only British corps in the
town, then commanded by Lord Dungarvan (afterwards Earl of Cork),
Lieut.-Colonel Doyle having been sent to England for the recovery
of his wounds. The capitulation was however broken by the French,
and the EIGHTY-SEVENTH were marched prisoners of war into France.
[Sidenote: 1796.]
The regiment was again filled up, and, with the Tenth foot, and
some marines, was sent upon a secret expedition to the North Sea,
under the command of Brigadier-General John Doyle, who had been
promoted Colonel of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, on the 3rd of May 1796, to
co-operate with Admiral (the late Lord) Duncan; but, having been
delayed in England until the end of September, the tempestuous
weather, usual at that season of the year in those seas, dispersed
the ships and small craft by which the troops were to be landed,
and put an end to the object of the expedition. The troops returned
to England in the ships of war, in which they embarked under the
orders of Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton.
On the 14th of October 1796, the regiment embarked for the West
Indies.
Spain having united with France in hostility to Great Britain,
an expedition under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.B.,
proceeded against the Spanish island of _Trinidad_, which
capitulated on the 18th of February 1797. No men were killed or
wounded. Lieutenant R—— Villeneuve, of the Eighth foot, major
of brigade to Brigadier-General Hompesch, was the only officer
wounded, and he died of his wounds.
[Sidenote: 1797.]
After the reduction of Trinidad, the force (of which the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH formed part) destined for the expedition against
_Porto Rico_, being assembled, the fleet sailed from Martinique
on the 8th of April 1797, and on the 10th arrived at St. Kitt’s,
where it remained for a few days. On the 17th the fleet anchored
off Congrejos Point, and a landing was effected on the island of
Porto Rico on the following day. The troops advanced, when it was
perceived that the only point on which the town could be attacked
was on the eastern side, where it was defended by the Castle and
Lines of St. Christopher, to approach which it was necessary to
force a way over the lagoon which formed that side of the island.
This passage was strongly defended by two redoubts and gun-boats,
and the enemy had destroyed the bridge connecting, in the narrowest
channel, the island with the main land. After every effort the
British could never sufficiently silence the fire of the enemy, who
was likewise entrenched in the rear of these redoubts, to hazard
forcing the passage with so small a number of troops. It was next
endeavoured to bombard the town from a point to the southward of
it, near to a large magazine abandoned by the enemy. This was
tried for several days without any great effect, on account of
the distance. Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, seeing that
no act of vigour, or any combined operation between the sea and
land services, could in any manner avail, determined to re-embark
the troops, which was effected during the night of the 30th of
April. Four Spanish field-pieces were brought off, but not a sick
or wounded soldier was left behind, and nothing of any value fell
into the hands of the enemy. Sir Ralph Abercromby in his despatch
alluded to the troops in the following terms: “The behaviour of
the troops has been meritorious; they were patient under labour,
regular and orderly in their conduct, and spirited when an
opportunity to show it occurred.” The EIGHTY-SEVENTH had two rank
and file killed, three wounded, and thirteen missing.
The regiment subsequently proceeded to St. Lucia, which had been
captured from the French in May 1796.
[Sidenote: 1798.]
During the year 1798, the regiment remained at St. Lucia.
[Sidenote: 1799.]
In December 1799, the regiment proceeded from St. Lucia to
Martinique.
[Sidenote: 1800.]
The regiment was removed, in April 1800, from Martinique to
Dominica.
[Sidenote: 1801.]
In April 1801 the regiment embarked from Dominica for Barbadoes,
and in August following proceeded to Curaçoa.
[Sidenote: 1802.]
The preliminaries of peace, which had been agreed upon between
Great Britain and France in the previous year, were ratified on the
27th of March 1802; but the peace which had been thus concluded was
but of short duration. Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been elected
First Consul of the French Republic, showed, on several occasions,
that he continued to entertain strong feelings of hostility against
Great Britain.
During the year 1802, the regiment continued to be stationed at
Curaçoa.
[Sidenote: 1803.]
After a few months, during which further provocations took place
between the two countries, war was declared against France on
the 18th of May 1803. The preparations which had been making in
the French ports, the assembling of large bodies of troops on
the coast, and the forming of numerous flotillas of gun-boats,
justified the British government in adopting the strongest
measures of defence, and in calling upon the people for their aid
and services. Numerous volunteer associations were formed in all
parts of the kingdom in defence of the Sovereign, the laws, and
the institutions of the country. The militia was re-embodied, and
the regular army was considerably augmented, under the “_Army of
Reserve Act_,” as shown in the Appendix, page 97.
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment embarked from the island of Curaçoa
for England on the 12th of January 1803, on board of the ship “De
Ruyter,” which, meeting with tempestuous weather, was obliged to
put into Jamaica, from whence it proceeded to Antigua, where it
arrived in April 1803. The regiment proceeded to St. Kitt’s in June
following.
[Sidenote: 1804.]
On the 28th of July 1804 the regiment embarked from St. Kitt’s, and
on the 28th of September following it landed at Plymouth, after a
service of eight years in the West Indies, having lost during that
period, by the diseases incident to the climate, many officers, and
between seven and eight hundred men.
On the 31st of October the regiment embarked, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, from Plymouth, for Guernsey, of
which island Major-General Doyle had been appointed to the command
and to the Lieutenant-Governorship.
The British Government, having ascertained that the King of
Spain had engaged to furnish powerful aid to France, felt itself
compelled to consider Spain as an enemy, and accordingly issued
orders for intercepting some frigates off Cadiz, which were on
their way to France with cargoes of treasure: a declaration of
war was consequently issued by the Court of Madrid against Great
Britain on the 12th of December 1804.
The establishment of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, which had been
authorised to receive men raised in certain counties of Ireland,
under the Act of Parliament, dated 14th July 1804, termed the
“_Additional Force Act_,” was augmented by a second battalion, of
which a distinct account is commenced at page 41.[6]
[Sidenote: 1805.]
On the 10th of March 1805, a detachment, consisting of twenty-eight
serjeants, fifteen drummers, and five hundred and twenty-eight rank
and file, being drafts from the levy then raising in the county
of Mayo by the Honorable H. E. Browne, embarked from Ireland for
Guernsey, and joined the first battalion on the 15th of April
following, thus considerably augmenting the effective strength of
the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment.
[Sidenote: 1806.]
On the 2nd of November 1805, the first battalion embarked from
Guernsey, and proceeded to Portsmouth.
The first battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment embarked at
Portsmouth on the 23rd of July 1806, and proceeded to Plymouth,
where it disembarked on the 6th of September following. On the 12th
of that month it embarked for South America, under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler; the effective numbers were,
fifty-three serjeants, eighteen drummers, and eight hundred and
five rank and file.[7]
[Sidenote: 1807.]
The first battalion arrived in the Rio de la Plata in January 1807,
and disembarked on the 16th of that month near _Monte Video_,
where it took up a position in advance, protecting the breaching
batteries, it having been arranged between Brigadier-General Sir
Samuel Auchmuty and Rear-Admiral Stirling to lay siege to the
place. The piquets of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, under Major Miller, were
attacked by the Spaniards, who were defeated with great loss. On
the 3rd of February, a practicable breach being made, the troops
proceeded to storm the town, which was carried, and the citadel
soon afterwards surrendered.
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH, under Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, had
three officers and sixty men killed, and three officers and eighty
men wounded: total, one hundred and forty-six; strength in the
field, seven hundred and eighty-eight.
_Killed._
_Captain_—Charles Beaumont.
_Lieutenant_—Hugh Irwine.
_Surgeon_—Wilde.
_Wounded._
_Captain_—John Evans.
” R. McCrea.
_Lieutenant_—W. Boucher.
In the public thanks issued by Brigadier-General Sir Samuel
Auchmuty, the regiment is thus mentioned:—
“The EIGHTY-SEVENTH, under Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, were
equally forward; and to their credit, it must be noticed, that
they were posted under the great gate, to rush into the town when
it should be opened by the troops, who entered at the breach; but
their ardour would not allow them to wait; they scaled the walls,
and _opened themselves a passage_.
(Signed) “T. BRADFORD,
“_Dep. Adjutant-General_.”
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH subsequently received the royal authority
to bear the words “MONTE VIDEO” on the regimental colour and
appointments in commemoration of the gallantry evinced in the
capture of that place on the 3rd of February 1807.
On the 10th of May, Lieut.-General Whitelocke having arrived from
England with reinforcements, proceeded as Commander-in-chief to
prepare for the attack of Buenos Ayres. In a brilliant affair at
Colonia on the 7th of June, the light company of the battalion
was creditably engaged. On the 18th of June the troops embarked at
Monte Video, and on the 28th of the same month landed at _Ensenada
da Barragon_, about twenty-eight miles from Buenos Ayres, without
firing a shot. Major-General John Levison Gower was the second in
command to Lieut.-General Whitelocke, and the EIGHTY-SEVENTH were
posted in the right brigade under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel
Auchmuty.
In the assault of _Buenos Ayres_ on the morning of the 5th of
July 1807, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH were formed by wings, the right
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, and the left by
Major Miller. The orders were to pierce by the two streets to
the right of the Retiro, in performing which (in company with
the Thirty-eighth regiment) they suffered very severely. In the
course of this service, Lieutenant William Hutchinson, in command
of Captain Frederick Desbarres’s company, took two of the enemy’s
guns, turned them on the Plazo del Toro, and, after a few rounds,
the enemy, to the number of fifteen hundred, surrendered to
him. The thanks of Sir Samuel Auchmuty were given to Lieutenant
Hutchinson for his gallant conduct upon this occasion. Serjeant
Byrne also distinguished himself by his bravery. Twenty-nine pieces
of artillery, with a quantity of military stores, were taken. The
light company, which was detached from the regiment, was taken
prisoners in the convent of St. Domingo, and remained for three
days, when it was restored agreeably to the articles of the treaty.
The loss of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH on this occasion was seven officers
and eighty men killed, and ten officers and three hundred and
twenty men wounded: total, four hundred and seventeen; strength in
the field, six hundred and forty-two; remained, two hundred and
twenty-five.
_Killed._
_Capt._—David Considine.
” Noblet Johnston.
” Peter Gordon.
_Lieut._—Robert Hamilton.
” Michael Barry.
_Quarterm^r._—Wm. Buchanan.
_Assist.-Surgeon_—Buxton.
_Wounded._
_Major_—Francis Miller.
_Capt._—Alexander Rose.
” Frederick Desbarres.
” Henry Blake.
_Lieut._—James O’Brien.
” Edward Fitzgerald.
” William Crowe.
” Hen. Taylor Budd.
” Robert John Love.
_Ensign_—Godfrey Green.
The evening before this attack, there was an order that the great
coats and kits of the regiment should be left in the house which
the commanding officer had occupied, under the charge of the
Quartermaster; or, in his absence, of a subaltern officer, with
the sick or lame men who could not march, as a guard for this
baggage. The Quartermaster was employed on the general staff as
an assistant engineer, and the tour of duty fell upon Lieutenant
Michael Barry, of the grenadier company; but this high-spirited
young man earnestly solicited, and obtained permission, to
accompany his regiment, and was the first officer who fell the
next day. No other subaltern being found willing to remain behind,
the charge was entrusted to Quartermaster-Serjeant William Grady.
He was the first man who joined the corps on its formation,
and had been distinguished for his bravery, intelligence, and
trustworthiness; his guard, inefficient as it must be, mustered
somewhat more than twenty men. In front of the house there was
a thick orchard, with a narrow path leading to it; upon this he
placed double sentries during the night, and a piquet of half his
force in the day-time. It appeared that at the further end of this
orchard a mounted body of the enemy was concealed; these men had
been posted in advance of the town, but being unable to return,
in consequence of the British troops having got between it and
their position, they determined to get into the country by this
narrow pass; but when they rushed out of the orchard, they were
fired upon by Serjeant Grady’s sentries, and, their leader falling,
they retreated into their cover, and after several ineffectual
attempts to escape in that direction, the party, consisting of
two officers and seventy men, well mounted and armed, surrendered
to the Quartermaster-Serjeant’s small force. Having secured their
arms and ammunition, he marched the prisoners to head-quarters,
and delivered them up to Major-General Gower. Two hours after he
received written orders from Lieut.-General Whitelocke to return
the arms, &c. to the prisoners, who were released, and not to fire
upon or stop any party, whether armed or not, going into or coming
out of the town. At nine o’clock the next night, upwards of five
hundred mounted men came out of the town and surrounded the house,
the owner of which was an officer of the party, who, in addition
to national hostility, was in a state of great irritation at his
house having been taken from him, and, as he stated, plundered
by the advanced guard of the British army. They surrounded and
made prisoners Serjeant Grady and his party, who had orders not
to fire upon any armed body. They were marched into the town,
and thrust into loathsome dungeons. The Serjeant was a peculiar
object of revenge, because he refused to accept a commission in
their service, and to drill their troops. This brave and excellent
soldier was subsequently rewarded for his exemplary conduct by
being appointed Quartermaster to the second battalion of the
regiment. After the capture of Serjeant Grady and his party, the
stores were plundered, and the baggage carried off or destroyed.
Notwithstanding the intrepidity displayed by the troops, the
enterprise failed. On the morning of the 6th of July the
Governor-General Liniers sent a letter to Lieut.-General
Whitelocke, offering to restore the prisoners taken in the action
of the preceding day, and also those made with Brigadier-General
Beresford, on condition that the whole of the British forces should
be withdrawn from South America, which proposals were accepted. The
Lieutenant-General’s conduct subsequently became the subject of
inquiry by a court-martial, and he was cashiered.
During the attack upon Buenos Ayres, a number of the Spanish and
native soldiers were seen in the uniform of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
regiment; this was accounted for by a ship with the clothing for
that regiment, which had been sent out from England to Monte Video,
having been captured and carried into Buenos Ayres by a Spanish
privateer, and the clothing had thus been distributed to the armed
populace.
Subsequently to the assault on _Buenos Ayres_, the Commander of the
Forces issued the following general order:—
“_Buenos Ayres, 8th July 1807._
“GENERAL ORDER.
“Volunteer Peter Benson Husband, of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, is
appointed Ensign in that corps, in consequence of his very gallant
behaviour on the morning of the 5th instant.
(Signed) “T. BRADFORD,
“_Deputy-Adjutant-General_.”
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH returned to Monte Video, after the cessation of
hostilities, and was completed by volunteers from the different
corps returning to Europe. On the 2nd of August the regiment
embarked for the Cape of Good Hope; and on the 4th of September
following it landed at Simon’s Bay, and marched to Cape Town, where
it formed part of the garrison.
[Sidenote: 1808.]
[Sidenote: 1809.]
During the years 1808 and 1809, the first battalion continued to be
stationed at the Cape of Good Hope.
[Sidenote: 1810.]
On the 23rd of October 1810, the first battalion embarked from
the Cape, having been selected to form part of an expedition
designed to co-operate with troops from India, under the command of
Lieut.-General John Abercromby, in the capture of the Mauritius.
A landing of the troops from India had taken place a few days
before the division from the Cape, under Major-General William
Cockell, had arrived. Its appearance off the island was, however,
particularly opportune, as the French governor had previously
resolved to defend his lines before Port Louis; but when he saw
the force from the Cape approach the island, he relinquished the
hope of being able to make effectual resistance, and surrendered
this valuable colony to the British. The battalion disembarked
at Port Louis on the 1st of December, where it remained on duty,
after the other regiments composing the expedition returned to
their respective quarters. Captain Henry C. Streatfeild with two
officers and one hundred men were embarked on board a ship of war,
in advance of the expedition, and landed before the force from the
Cape.
[Sidenote: 1811 to 1814.]
The first battalion continued to form part of the garrison of the
island during the four following years.
[Sidenote: 1815.]
In May 1815, the first battalion at the Mauritius was directed to
hold itself in readiness for active service in India, and embarked
on board of transports on the 16th of June, and landed at Fort
William, in Bengal, on the 3rd of August.
The light company embarked in an Arab ship, with the flank
companies of the Twelfth and Twenty-second regiments, and
were carried into the Gulf of Manaar; the ship being there
weather-bound, the troops were landed, with the assistance of
country-boats, at Calpenterre, in Ceylon, and having remained
fourteen days at Point de Galle, embarked again in the Arab ship
for Calcutta, where they arrived, and rejoined the regiment on the
25th of September.
On the 1st of October 1815, the first battalion of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment embarked in boats, and sailed for
Berhampore, where it arrived on the 14th, and again embarked and
sailed for Dinapore on the 13th of November, at which place it
disembarked on the 18th of December.
[Sidenote: 1816.]
The Rajah of Nepaul having broken the terms of treaty made by him
with the Honorable East India Company, the battalion marched for
his territories on the 15th of January 1816, and arrived at Bullvee
Camp on the 24th, where it joined the army under the command of
Major-General Sir David Ochterlony, K.C.B., who commanded the
forces assembled on the frontiers of Nepaul; on the 3rd of February
the brigades advanced by their respective routes into Nepaul, Sir
David Ochterlony remaining in company with the third and fourth
brigades (to the former of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH belonged), and
marched through the forest at the foot of the Nepaul Hills on the
9th. The light company of the battalion with those of the native
infantry of the brigade with two guns under the command of Lieut.
John Fenton, formed the advanced guard, and had a very arduous duty
to perform, in carrying the guns through the forest, which was
accomplished by the personal exertions of each individual. On the
10th, the third brigade arrived at Semul Cassa Pass, and at nine
o’clock A. M. the light company of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, commanded by
Lieutenant Fenton, accompanied by Sir David Ochterlony, was drawn
up the pass, a height of thirty feet, by the officers’ sashes, the
brigade then about five miles from the pass; on the 19th it reached
the village of Etoundah on the banks of the Rapti. The advanced
guard again exerted themselves in opening a communication between
the third and fourth brigades through the Cheria Ghanty Pass.
On the 27th of February it arrived at Muckwanpore, and on the 28th
the brigade was ordered to take possession of the heights of
_Sierapore_, and reconnoitre the position of the enemy. Lieutenant
Thomas Lee, with a piquet of forty men of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, and
strong piquets of native infantry, under their own officers, was
directed to take possession of the deserted height of Sierapore.
Captain Pickersgill, acting Quartermaster-General, conducted them
to their ground, where having planted them, Lieutenant Lee and
twenty men of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH proceeded to reconnoitre the
ground in advance: the enemy advanced to recover his position;
the piquet retired, and the reconnoitering party, in danger of
being cut off; had to descend a hill covered with jungle, pursued
by a strong party (nearly four hundred) of the enemy, and would
not have escaped but for the gallantry of two soldiers of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH, Corporal James Orr of No. 5. company, and Private
Patrick Boyle of the Grenadier company, who seeing the danger
of the officers, placed themselves on the pathway, and by their
steadiness and fire, checked the advance of the enemy. On the
officers making good their retreat, these gallant fellows retired
uninjured: the corporal was promoted to the rank of serjeant at
the particular desire of Major-General Sir David Ochterlony;
the unfortunate habit of drinking alone prevented the promotion
of the private. An action afterwards took place, in which the
light company, under the command of Captain Fenton, suffered
considerably. The action commenced about noon, and ceased at six
o’clock P. M., leaving the British in possession of the heights for
a considerable distance from Sierapore, and of one field-piece.
In this affair Lieut.-Colonel Francis Miller commanding the
battalion, and Lieutenant Fenton[8] in the command of the light
company (detached in the advance), particularly distinguished
themselves, and received the public thanks of Major-General Sir
David Ochterlony, and also of the Marquis of Hastings, the
Commander-in-chief and Governor-General of India. The regiment had
ten men killed, and above thirty wounded, many of whom died; the
loss of the enemy was very considerable.
The Rajah, perceiving that resistance was unavailing, sued for
peace, and a treaty was concluded on the 4th of March; on the 9th
of that month the battalion commenced its return to Bengal, and
arrived at Amowah on the 22nd of March, where it was cantoned
until the 30th of June, on which day it commenced its march to
Govingunge on the river Gonduck, and embarked in boats in progress
to Cawnpore; on the 17th of August, the battalion arrived at
Jangemowe, within a few miles of Cawnpore, but did not disembark
at the latter station, until the 10th of September. About this
period the battalion became very sickly from being so long confined
in boats; the hospital list amounted to about four hundred and
eighty, exclusive of numbers who could not be admitted for want
of room. Not less than one hundred and fifty men died in this and
the following month, when the cold weather coming on, in a great
measure, renovated the corps.
[Sidenote: 1817.]
On the 6th of February 1817, the regiment marched from Cawnpore
towards Hattrass, which fortress the Commander-in-chief had given
instructions to Major-General Marshall to besiege: the division
from Cawnpore arrived before Hattrass, and joined the field army,
on the 20th of February.
The pettah of the fort of Hattrass having been breached, it was
resolved to storm on the evening of the 25th of February, and
accordingly his Majesty’s Fourteenth regiment was appointed for
that duty, and the EIGHTY-SEVENTH to cover; however, the breach
being found impracticable, the troops returned to their lines, but
the pettah was evacuated during the night, and taken possession
of on the following morning by the British troops; batteries were
immediately erected against the fort, which was heavily bombarded
with shells and rockets: at length the principal magazine blew
up on the 2nd of March, the explosion of which was said to be
distinctly heard at Meerut, nearly two hundred miles distant.
Dya Ram, Rajah of the fortress, having determined on abandoning
it, most gallantly cut his way through some of the piquets of the
besieging army, and effected his escape. On the morning of the 3rd
of March, the right wing of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH marched into and
took possession of the fortress of Hattrass, which was reduced to
a mass of ruins. On the 8th of March the regiment commenced its
return to Cawnpore.
In July and August the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in Bengal, was
increased by a detachment of thirteen serjeants, three drummers,
and two hundred and sixty-nine rank and file, men who had been
transferred on the second battalion being disbanded on the 1st of
February 1817.
The regiment remained at Cawnpore until the 15th of October, when
it received orders to march to Secundra, where the grand army was
formed under the command of the Marquis of Hastings, against the
Pindaree hordes, and having remained there until a bridge of boats
was completed over the Jumna, it crossed that river on the 27th,
and marched to the banks of the Sind, opposite Gualior; but the
grand army being, about this time, attacked by that fatal disease,
the cholera morbus, compelled the Marquis, with his troops, to
retire to Erich on the Bettwah: the mortality for four or five
days was very great, particularly among the natives, who died in
vast numbers on the road and in the villages through which the
army passed. The EIGHTY-SEVENTH lost one subaltern (Lieutenant
John Coghlan), three serjeants, and forty rank and file; total,
forty-four, in three days. The army having in some measure
recovered, his Lordship returned to the banks of the Sind, and took
up a position at Lonaree, within twenty-one miles of Gualior,
where Scindiah, with a powerful force, was ready to take the field,
to support the Mahratta States, which had revolted.
[Sidenote: 1818.]
On the 14th of February 1818, the different divisions of the army
were broken up, in consequence of peace being concluded, and the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH returned to Cawnpore, at which station it arrived on
the 26th of that month.
[Sidenote: 1820.]
On the 21st of October 1820, the regiment marched from Cawnpore for
Fort William, by the new road, and arrived in that garrison on the
21st of December, a distance of six hundred and sixty miles.
[Sidenote: 1821.]
On the night of the 6th of September 1821, a very alarming fire
broke out in the Honorable Company’s Dispensary, situated in
Calcutta, and surrounded by many valuable houses. As soon as
intelligence reached the fort, two captains and ten subalterns,
with about three hundred men, immediately marched to the spot,
and, by the greatest exertions, prevented the fire from spreading
to the neighbouring houses. The strictness with which the armed
party protected the property of the inhabitants, called forth their
admiration, which was followed by the annexed letter from the
Governor-General, the Marquis of Hastings.
“_Council Chamber, 17th Sept. 1821._
“MY DEAR SIR,
“It was a great satisfaction to me, though no surprise, to learn
the zealous and meritorious conduct of the detachment of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH, employed in the endeavour to stop the fire last
night. As some of the men have suffered in articles of dress, to
repair that damage, as well as to reward the activity of the party,
the Council has directed that five hundred rupees be paid to you,
which you will please to distribute according to your opinion of
claims.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “HASTINGS.
“_Lieut.-Colonel Miller,
Eighty-seventh regiment._”
This mark of approbation from the Governor-General in Council,
towards the party in general, was followed by one to the officers
employed, each being presented with a piece of plate, accompanied
by the following letter:
“_Council Chamber, 18th December 1821._
“SIR,
“The Most Noble the Governor-General in Council, being desirous
to evince the sense which Government entertains of the laudable
exertions of those officers of his Majesty’s EIGHTY-SEVENTH
regiment, who were present with the detachment sent from Fort
William on the occasion of the fire at the Honorable Company’s
dispensary, has commanded me to transmit to you the accompanying
silver cups, with a request that you will, on the part of his
Lordship in Council, present one to each of the several officers
named below, who are understood to have accompanied the troops on
the night of the 6th of September last.”
_Captain_—George Rodney Bell.
” W. G. Cavanagh.
_Lieutenant and Adjutant_—James Bowes.
_Lieutenant_—John G. Baylee.
” Richard Irvine.
” Henry Gough Baylee.
” Alexander Irwin.
” George Tolfrey.
” Edmund Cox.
” John Shipp.
” Henry Spaight.
_Ensign_—Lawrence Halstead.
A very handsome piece of plate, which is now in the mess, was
likewise presented to the above officers by Doctor M^cWhirter,
whose house adjoined the Dispensary, and which was saved by great
exertion.
[Sidenote: 1822.]
In April 1822, another alarming fire occurred in Calcutta, at the
cotton stores of Mr. Laprimaudage, in which a detachment of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH exerted itself in a very laudable manner, and a
letter of thanks was received by Lieut.-Colonel Miller, from that
gentleman, for the service rendered by the officers and men on this
occasion.
In 1822 the arrival of regiments from Europe, caused the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH to embark (by wings) in boats for the Upper
Provinces, and on the 11th of July the right wing sailed for
Dinapore, the left following on the 22nd of that month.
The right wing experienced bad weather and lost a number of boats,
by which one serjeant, two drummers, five women, and four children
were drowned. On the 19th of August the right wing landed at
Dinapore, and the left on the 25th, having made a very prosperous
voyage, not meeting with a single accident in the passage: on the
1st of November, the regiment marched to Ghazeepore.
[Sidenote: 1823.]
On the 17th of May 1823, Lieut.-Colonel Francis M. Miller, C.B.,
died, after having served his Majesty upwards of thirty-four
years, during which he had commanded the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment
at different periods for sixteen years. He was deeply and most
deservedly regretted by every officer and soldier who had served
with him, and had invariably received the marked approbation of
every general officer under whom he had been placed. The command of
the regiment subsequently devolved on Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Shawe,
C.B.
[Sidenote: 1824.]
Serjeant Stephen Carr was appointed quartermaster on the 24th
of June 1824, as a reward for his distinguished gallantry and
honorable trustworthy conduct: he was present in every action in
which the second battalion was employed during the Peninsular war.
In consequence of the Forty-seventh regiment having embarked at
Calcutta for Ava, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH left Ghazeepore in boats oh
the 9th of June 1824, and reached Berhampore on the 29th of the
same month.
[Sidenote: 1825.]
On the 14th of January 1825, the regiment proceeded towards
Calcutta to replace the second battalion of the Royals on its
departure for Ava; the left wing moved by land, the right by water,
and were reunited on the 29th in Fort William, of which garrison
Lieut.-Colonel Shawe became commandant.
On the 6th of June, the regiment performed the melancholy duty of
attending to the grave the remains of its beloved and lamented
commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Henry Browne. He had entered the
regiment in 1800 as an ensign, when sixteen years of age, and had
never belonged to any other: his qualities as a man and a soldier
endeared him to all. In the meantime hostilities had commenced
between the British and the Burmese, and on the 5th of October the
regiment embarked for Ava, to reinforce the army in that country,
in four divisions, which landed at Rangoon between the 3rd and 10th
of November, and immediately proceeded in boats towards Prome,
the head-quarters of the army. During the passage, Major William
Slade Gully’s division was attacked from the bank of the river,
on the 25th of November, by a strong party of Burmese, which
was immediately repulsed on the troops being landed. Lieutenant
and Adjutant James Bowes, in command of the advanced guard, was
wounded, and two privates killed.
Six companies of the regiment, with Major Gully, Captains
Charles Lucas and George Rodney Bell, and John Day; Lieutenants
John Baylee, William Bateman, Robert Joseph Kerr, William Lenox
Stafford, with Assistant Surgeons William Brown, M.D., and William
Peter Birmingham, reached Prome in time to share in the operations
of the 1st and 2nd of December, which terminated in the entire
discomfiture of the enemy. On this occasion the regiment maintained
its unvarying reputation for cool and distinguished gallantry:
Lieutenant Baylee and two men were killed; Major Gully and
twenty-one men were wounded.
[Sidenote: 1826.]
On the 8th of January 1826, Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair joined the
regiment, and was appointed a Brigadier, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH being
in his brigade.
On the 19th of January Brigadier Thomas Hunter Blair,
Lieut.-Colonel of the regiment, commanded the right column of
attack at the capture of _Melloone_, consisting of the Eighty-ninth
regiment and the flank companies of the Forty-seventh and
EIGHTY-SEVENTH with Captain James Moore (major of brigade), Brevet
Captain James Kennelly, Lieutenants Henry Gough Baylee, Edmund Cox,
George Mainwaring, William Lenox Stafford, and Joseph Thomas, and
Assistant Surgeon Birmingham. No loss was sustained.
The day after the fall of _Melloone_, the Bengal division, under
Brigadier Shawe, made a flank movement from the river Irrawaddy,
and entered a well-cultivated country abounding in cattle, eight
hundred head of which were secured, and they proved a most
seasonable supply to the army.
On the 28th of January the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, with the flank companies
of the Twenty-eighth native infantry, and detachments of the
Governor-General’s body-guard and artillery, under Brigadier
Hunter Blair, were sent from Tongwyn, to attack the position of
_Moulmein_, eleven miles distant. The flank companies of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH had one man killed and five wounded in forcing a
piquet half way to Moulmein, which had been in part evacuated
the preceding day. The position, being a great annoyance to the
surrounding country, was destroyed, and the troops returned to camp
the same evening.
On the 21st of February, the Bengal division rejoined head-quarters
at Yandaboo; and on the 24th of February a royal salute announced
the termination of the Burmese war.
The constancy and valour of the British troops had thus forced the
monarch of an Eastern empire, with its myriads of inhabitants, to
sue for peace; and their conduct is thus alluded to in the order
issued by the Governor-General of India.
“While the Governor-General in Council enumerates, with sentiments
of unfeigned admiration, the achievements of the First or
Royals, the Thirteenth, Thirty-eighth, Forty-first, Forty-fifth,
Forty-seventh, EIGHTY-SEVENTH, and Eighty-ninth regiments, the
Honorable Company’s Madras European regiment, and the Bengal and
Madras European artillery, as the European troops which have had
the honor of establishing the renown of the British arms in a new
and distant region, his Lordship in Council feels that higher and
more justly-merited praise cannot be bestowed on those brave troops
than that, amidst the barbarous hosts which they have fought and
conquered, they have eminently displayed the virtues and sustained
the character of the British soldier.”
In commemoration of the meritorious conduct of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
and other corps, the royal authority was subsequently granted
for the word “AVA” to be borne on the regimental colour and
appointments.
Brigadier Shawe, on the 1st of March, was compelled to proceed to
Rangoon, in consequence of ill health.
On the 8th of March, the portion of the army that was ordered
to return by land, marched from Yandaboo, under the command of
Brigadier Hunter Blair. It consisted of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH,
the Governor-General’s body-guard, the Horse artillery, the
Twenty-eighth, Thirty-eighth, and Forty-third Madras native
infantry, and a battalion of the Madras pioneers. The column
reached Prome, a distance of two hundred and ninety miles, on
the 3rd of April, having had only one halting day, which was St.
Patrick’s.
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH remained at Prome, as the rear-guard of the
army, until the arrangements for the final evacuation of the
province was completed; on the 15th of April it embarked in the
flotilla, and reached Rangoon on the 21st of that month.
On the 27th of April was received the melancholy intelligence of
the death of Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Shawe, C.B., which lamented
event took place on board His Majesty’s sloop, “Slany,” Captain
Thornton, on the 10th of that month, within one day’s sail of
Penang, where he was buried with all military honors. He was much
regretted as an excellent man, and an officer of conspicuous
gallantry. His life was sacrificed to his zeal for active service,
for such was the state of his health, on leaving Calcutta, that
his medical advisers used every endeavour to dissuade him from
proceeding to Ava.[9]
Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, became senior Lieut.-Colonel of the
regiment, of which he assumed the command on the 1st of June, on
the reduction of the staff in Ava.
On the 1st of September, Lieutenant Edmund Cox, with twenty-eight
flankers, proceeded to Ava, as escort to the envoy, they being the
first British soldiers who had visited that capital.
An order was received at Rangoon, on the 16th of October,
directing that in consequence of the intended return of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH to England, the men should be permitted to volunteer
for the Forty-fifth regiment, also in garrison: one hundred and
twenty-three men availed themselves of this offer.
On the 22nd of October, the head-quarters embarked for Calcutta,
which they reached on the 16th of November, and were joined by the
rest of the regiment on the 24th of that month.
Besides those already named, the regiment had to regret the death
(in Ava) of two old and much valued officers, Captain Peter Benson
Husband and Surgeon Alexander Leslie; and of Lieutenant Nicholas
Milley Doyle, and Ensign Richard Loveday, two most promising young
men, who were drowned in the Irrawaddy, and of above one hundred
and eighty non-commissioned officers and soldiers, chiefly from
dysentery.
After the return of the regiment from Ava, it had the honor of
being reviewed at Calcutta by General Lord Combermere, G.C.B.,
Commander-in-chief in India, and inspected by Major-General Robert
Alexander Dalzell, afterwards the Earl of Carnwath.
On the 13th of November, the volunteering re-commenced, and
continued, with intervals, to the 27th of December, during which
two hundred and fifty-nine men turned out, for the Sixteenth
lancers, Thirteenth, Thirty-first, Thirty-eighth, and Forty-fourth
regiments and East India Company’s service, reducing the regiment
in India to two hundred and eighty men.
[Sidenote: 1827.]
On the 1st of February the head-quarters, with nine companies,
sailed from Calcutta in the free trader “Lord Lynedoch,” leaving
the remainder of the regiment to follow in the “Cornwall.”
It may be remarked, as a singular circumstance, that the regiment
should return to England in a ship bearing the name of the hero
under whom it gained the decoration of the eagle at Barrosa,
and still more remarkable, that its actual commanding officer,
Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, had proceeded to India in the
“Barrosa.”
The following general order, dated the 29th of January, was
published by his Excellency General Lord Combermere, on the
embarkation of the regiment.
“The Commander-in-Chief having directed the embarkation of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, on its return home, his Lordship cannot
allow the corps to leave India, without expressing his high
approbation of its services. Of the conduct of this corps, during
its services in Ava, his Lordship has had the most favourable
reports; and he has every confidence that, wherever its future
destinies may lead it, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment will always add
to its spirited and distinguished military reputation.”
On the 27th of April the head-quarters reached St. Helena, and
remained there four days.
On the 23rd of June 1827 the EIGHTY-SEVENTH landed in England, and
was placed on the British establishment from that day inclusive,
and marched into Chatham Barracks; from thence, after being
inspected, and the invalids discharged, the regiment was moved by
water on the 7th of July to Albany Barracks, Isle of Wight, the
effective strength at head-quarters being two hundred and eighty
rank and file.
In consequence of the continued career of brilliant services which
has distinguished the regiment from its first taking the field,
to its return to England, a period of thirty-three years, General
Sir John Doyle felt it an imperative duty, as its Colonel, to
bring those services under the notice of its revered and beloved
Sovereign, and humbly to solicit for the corps some mark of His
Majesty’s royal favour.
The gracious manner in which the King had condescended to view
the conduct of his EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, and the encouraging
expressions with which His Majesty has been pleased to convey his
approbation of its services, must be so cheering to the hearts of
every member of the corps, that the circumstance naturally claims a
place in the records of the regiment.
On the 20th of June 1827, the Colonel addressed the following
letter to the Adjutant-General of the Forces, Major-General Sir
Henry Torrens, K.C.B.:
“_4. Somerset Street, Portman Square,
“20th June 1827._
“SIR,
“I have the honor to represent to you that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
regiment, under my command, has arrived in England, after a service
of twenty-one years in tropical climates.
“It has just returned from the Burmese campaign, where it has
obtained additional honors to those it had formerly won.
“To you, Sir, who so well know the character of every corps
in the army, it is unnecessary to detail the services of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH. It is now thirty-three years since I had the honor
to raise it, thirty-one years of which period it has been upon
foreign service; on the continent of Europe, the Peninsula, South
America, and the East and West Indies. In all the well-fought
actions where it bore a part in both hemispheres, it has been
distinguished in general orders. My authority is the Government
Gazette.
“Under these circumstances, may I be permitted to hope that you
will do me the favour to lay at His Majesty’s feet my humble
petition that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment may be appointed a
light infantry corps, which, as being a mark of His Majesty’s
approbation, would be most gratifying to those brave men, who
have so freely bled, and would lay down their lives, to manifest
their devoted attachment to their gracious and beloved Sovereign.
Perhaps, Sir, you will have the less difficulty in complying with
my request, when I mention that, immediately after the action of
Barrosa, I received the following note from Lord Lynedoch, written
from the field of battle:
“MY DEAR DOYLE,
“Your regiment has covered itself with glory. Recommend it and
its commander to the notice of its illustrious patron, the Prince
Regent. Too much cannot be done for the corps.”
“I presented it to his Royal Highness, who graciously said, ‘It is
very true, and I will do any thing you wish for the regiment; will
you have it made _Royal_?’ I respectfully declined the honor, for
reasons his Royal Highness did not disapprove.
“For the correctness of this statement I humbly appeal to His
Majesty, who never forgets any circumstance relating to those who
have faithfully and zealously served him.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “I. DOYLE,
“_Colonel of the_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH,
_or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish
Regiment, and General_.
“_Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., Adjutant-General
of the Forces, Horse Guards._”
To which letter the following answer was returned:
“_Horse Guards,
“6th July 1827._
“SIR,
“I have had the honor to lay before the King your letter of the
20th instant, requesting that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, or Prince of
Wales’s Own Irish regiment, of which you are colonel, may be made a
corps of Light Infantry.
“On this occasion His Majesty has commanded me to express to
you the perfect sense he entertains of the high and meritorious
character of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, and of the long course of
brilliant services which have distinguished its career,—services
which, the King has condescended to observe, have been impressed
upon his memory by the recollection of more than one trophy
captured from the enemy, and by the interest His Majesty must
always take in a regiment which possesses, from its title, an early
and peculiar claim to his protection.
“But with every disposition to accede to your wishes, the King
laments that it is out of his power to grant your request without
inconvenience to the public service, as well as a deviation from
the principle that has guided His Majesty’s refusal on similar
occasions. I am at the same time instructed to accompany this
expression of the King’s regret, with the assurance of the
gracious sense which His Majesty entertains of the services of the
Prince of Wales’s Own Irish regiment, and of the personal interest
he must always take in its welfare and honor.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “H. TORRENS,
“_Adjutant-General_.
“_General Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., Colonel
of the_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH _Regiment_.”
In his reply to the above communication, in a letter dated the 11th
of July 1827, General Sir John Doyle preferred a request, that the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH might be styled the “_Prince of Wales’s Own Irish
Regiment of Fusiliers_,” in the following terms:—
“England, Scotland, and Wales, have each their national fusilier
regiments; Ireland alone is without one. The prayer of my petition
is, that the blank may be filled up by the Prince of Wales’s Own
Irish regiment, to be honored by the title of the _Prince of
Wales’s Own Irish Fusiliers_. Thus _shall we preserve the endearing
title we so highly prize_; _retain the national colours under which
we have so long fought_; and avoid collision with any regiment that
might have been honored with the name of Royal.”
This request was complied with, and the result was communicated
to General Sir John Doyle in the following letter from the
Adjutant-General:
“_Horse Guards,
“16th July, 1827._
“SIR,
“In reply to your letter of the 11th instant, I have the honor to
acquaint you, that the King has been graciously pleased to approve
of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, of which you are Colonel, receiving
the title of the Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Fusiliers, as a mark
of His Majesty’s most gracious favour, and in consideration of the
_extraordinary distinction_ that has marked the career of the corps
on all occasions.
“I have, &c.
(Signed) “H. TORRENS,
“_Adjutant-General_.
“_General Sir John Doyle, Bart. G.C.B.,
Colonel of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, &c. &c._”
It was directed that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH should wear _blue_ facings,
instead of green, in order to render it uniform with the other
fusilier regiments.
A further communication was made by the Adjutant-General to General
Sir John Doyle, of which the following is an extract:—
“_Horse Guards,
“17th November 1827._
“SIR,
“I have the honor to acquaint you, that the King has been pleased
to approve of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment assuming the title
“Royal,” and its being in future styled the EIGHTY-SEVENTH or
Royal Irish Fusiliers, instead of the Prince of Wales’s Own Irish
Fusiliers.
“His Majesty has further been pleased to approve the patterns
of facings and lace proposed by you for the uniform of the
officers, non-commissioned officers, drummers, and privates of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH or Royal Irish Fusiliers, and to command that the
same be adopted from the 25th of December 1829, when the clothing
now in possession of the regiment shall be worn out.
“I have, &c.
(Signed) “H. TORRENS,
“_Adjutant-General_.
“_General Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., Colonel
of the Eighty-seventh, or Royal Irish Fusiliers._”
The regiment was inspected on the 2nd of November by Major-General
Sir James Lyon, K.C.B. and G.C.H., who was pleased to express his
unqualified approbation of the progress made during four months in
the formation of a corps nearly composed of recruits, and which he
declared to have surpassed his most sanguine expectation.
[Sidenote: 1828.]
On the 19th of May 1828 the regiment was reviewed by General Lord
Hill, commanding in chief, who expressed himself highly pleased
with its evolutions and general appearance; and his Lordship also
alluded to the favorable opinion entertained of the corps by the
inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, in consequence of its quiet and
orderly conduct in quarters.
The regiment was inspected on the 5th of June by Major-General Sir
Colin Campbell, K.C.B., and had the gratification of obtaining his
approbation.
The regiment, which, upon its arrival at Albany Barracks eleven
months previously, had only two hundred and eighty rank and file
present, was now within thirty-four of its establishment (seven
hundred and forty), the recruits having been chiefly enlisted in
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Carrick-on-Shannon, and Galway.
The regiment quitted Albany Barracks on the 7th of July, where
it had been stationed one year, and marched by Portsmouth and
Maidstone to Chatham, which it reached on the 15th of that month.
On the 24th July, a route was received directing the regiment to
march immediately for London, thence to proceed by the Paddington
Canal to such destination as might be ordered. It was mustered, and
marched in three hours after the receipt of the route, and arrived
in Lambeth on the third day.
The regiment was reviewed on the 28th of July by General Sir John
Doyle, Bart., attended by Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B.,
Adjutant-General of the forces, and numerous other officers, when
its appearance elicited unqualified approbation.
On the 29th of July the regiment embarked in seventeen boats on the
Paddington Canal, landed at Northwich and Middlewich on the 2nd,
and marched into Chester Castle on the 4th of August.
Towards the end of September two alarming fires broke out in the
city of Chester: the very serious consequences that threatened were
chiefly counteracted by the bold and active intrepidity displayed
by the soldiers of the regiment in extinguishing the conflagration,
and by the exertions of the officers to secure the property of the
inhabitants.
These services were acknowledged in a vote of thanks from the
Commissioners of Police to Lieut.-Colonel Blair, the officers, and
soldiers of the regiment.
Various letters of thanks to the regiment also appeared in the
Chester newspapers, from those inhabitants whose property was
chiefly endangered.
On the 11th of October the regiment was inspected by Major-General
Sir Henry Bouverie, K.C.B., who was pleased to express himself much
pleased with its appearance, movements, and interior economy.
A circular from the Horse Guards, dated the 5th of December, was
received, which directed regiments not to recruit beyond six
hundred and ninety rank and file, being fifty short of the nominal
establishment of seven hundred and forty rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1829.]
On the 19th of April 1829, under instruction from the Secretary of
State, three companies, commanded by Major Gully, marched towards
Abergelly, in Denbighshire, forty miles distant, in order to
prevent a riot, expected on the ejection by the high sheriff, at
the suit of the Bishop of St. Asaph, of a body of miners, from an
extensive lime quarry, of which they refused to give up possession,
in consequence of having enjoyed the privilege of working it
for many years. The miners having submitted, the detachment
rejoined head-quarters in four days, and fortunately without its
interference being required.
On the 14th of May the regiment was again inspected by
Major-General Sir Henry Bouverie, and received his entire
approbation.
The regiment moved from Chester on the 19th of May, where it had
been quartered between nine and ten months. Previously to its
departure, the following letter was received from the mayor of
Chester.
“_Town Clerk’s Office,
“Chester, 16th May 1829._
“SIR,
“Understanding that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH Royal Irish Fusiliers are
about to quit Chester, the mayor and magistrates of this city
cannot allow you to leave without expressing the very high sense
entertained of the general urbanity of yourself and brother
officers; and the prompt exertions of the officers, and good
conduct of the privates upon several trying occasions, when the
safety and property of the city were threatened by fire.
“_For the Magistrates of the City_,
(Signed) “ROBERT MORRIS,
“_Mayor_.
“_Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, &c._”
On the 20th of May the regiment occupied the following stations:
head-quarters and four companies at Stockport; two companies at
Macclesfield; two at Oldham; one company at Hyde, and one at
Ashton-under-Lyne.
The following highly gratifying letter was received on the 14th of
June:—
“_Head Quarters, Rotherham,
“11th June 1829._
“SIR,
“It is with great pleasure that I obey the orders of the General
Commanding in chief, to express to you the satisfaction he
has felt at the favorable report which I was enabled to make
in my half-yearly confidential report upon the state of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment under your command; and it is his
Lordship’s desire that you make this expression of his sentiments
known to the regiment.
(Signed) “H. F. BOUVERIE,
“_Major-General_.
“_Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair,
Commanding Eighty-seventh Regiment._”
On the 7th of July, the regiment left Salford Barracks, Manchester,
and occupied the following stations. Head-quarters and four
companies at Bolton in Lancashire; four companies at Blackburn,
and two companies at Oldham. Prior to quitting Manchester a letter
was received from Robert Sharpe, Esq., constable of Manchester,
expressive of the regret of his colleagues, the inhabitants of
the place, and himself, at the sudden departure of the regiment,
and in which a marked tribute was paid by the authorities to its
“_exemplary conduct_” while stationed in that town.
[Sidenote: 1830.]
On the 25th of December 1830, the regiment commenced wearing
the royal uniform and appointments, in compliance with the
Adjutant-General’s letter of the 15th of October 1827: also
Oxford-mixture pantaloons, which were introduced into the army by
circular, dated 10th of February 1829.
By circular letter from the Adjutant-General, dated the 18th of
March, a red fatigue jacket was substituted for the infantry of the
army, in lieu of the white jacket formerly in wear.
By a circular letter from the Adjutant-General, dated the 22nd
of April, regiments were directed not to recruit beyond six
hundred and sixty rank and file, being eighty under the nominal
establishment of seven hundred and forty.
The regiment was twice inspected at Manchester by Major-General Sir
Henry Bouverie, on the 21st of November 1829, and the 28th of May
1830, on which last occasion the Major-General declared that it had
gained, in all respects, his most unqualified approbation.
The regiment remained at Manchester until July 1830, when it was
removed to Bolton-le-Moors: it embarked for Ireland in September
following, and was stationed at Newry until November, when it
returned to England, and was quartered at Plymouth.
[Sidenote: 1831.]
On the 1st of January 1831, an orderly-room clerk was authorised to
be borne on the establishment.
In the early part of the year 1831, directions were given for
the formation of the regiment into six service and four depôt
companies, and on the 23rd of February the service companies
embarked for the Mauritius, where they arrived in June following:
the depôt companies were left at Devonport.
[Sidenote: 1833.]
[Sidenote: 1834.]
The depôt companies remained at Devonport until October 1833,
when they proceeded to Fort Cumberland; from thence to Gosport in
December following, and to Portsmouth in February 1834.
On the 15th of August 1834, Major-General Sir Thomas Reynell,
Bart., K.C.B., was removed from the colonelcy of the Ninety-ninth
to that of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in succession to General
Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., deceased.
[Sidenote: 1835.]
[Sidenote: 1839.]
The depôt companies remained at Portsmouth until August 1835, when
they were moved to Chatham: they embarked for Ireland in August
1836, and were stationed at Nenagh; proceeded to Birr in September
1837, to Longford in December, and Castlebar in May following,
where they remained until April 1839, when they were removed to
Boyle: they proceeded to Virginia in July, to Drogheda in August,
and to Dublin in September 1839.
On the 12th of August 1839, the establishment of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
Royal Irish Fusiliers was increased to forty-seven serjeants,
fourteen drummers, forty corporals, and seven hundred and sixty
privates.
[Sidenote: 1840.]
[Sidenote: 1841.]
[Sidenote: 1842.]
The depôt companies of the regiment returned to England in June
1840, and were stationed at Carlisle: they were removed to
Tynemouth in May, and to Hull in June 1841: they remained at the
latter station until August 1842, when they proceeded to Airdrie,
and in the following month they marched to Paisley.
On the 15th of March 1841, Major-General Sir Hugh (now Viscount)
Gough, K.C.B., was removed from the colonelcy of the Ninety-ninth
to that of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in succession to
Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B., appointed to the
Seventy-first light infantry.
[Sidenote: 1843.]
The number of drummers on the establishment of the regiment was
increased from fourteen to seventeen, on the 1st of April 1843.
The service companies had continued at the Mauritius from June
1831 to the 20th of June 1843, when they embarked for the United
Kingdom on board Her Majesty’s ship “Thunderer,” and disembarked at
Devonport on the 30th of September 1843.
On the 29th of September 1843, the depôt companies marched from
Paisley _en route_ to Fort George.
The head-quarters of the regiment were embarked for Scotland on
the 2nd, and arrived at Glasgow on the 4th of October 1843; and
on the 29th the depôt companies were taken on the strength, and
amalgamated with the regiment.
[Sidenote: 1844 to 1847.]
The regiment remained at Glasgow until August 1844, when it marched
for Edinburgh, and in July 1845 it moved to Aberdeen: in September
1846 the regiment proceeded to Newport in Monmouthshire, and in
September 1847 it marched for Weedon.
[Sidenote: 1848.]
On the 1st of April 1848, the regiment was augmented to fifty-seven
serjeants, twenty-one drummers, fifty corporals, and nine hundred
and fifty privates, and another serjeant was added in the following
year, to raise it to the India establishment.
[Sidenote: 1849.]
The regiment proceeded to Gravesend in April 1849, and on the 20th
of that month it embarked for the East Indies, and arrived at
Calcutta on the 31st of July 1849, and is at present serving in the
Bengal presidency.
[Sidenote: 1853.]
The depôt company was moved, in March 1849, from Weedon to Chatham,
where it now continues a part of the provisional battalion.
1853.
[Illustration: QUEEN’S COLOR
REGIMENTAL COLOR
THE 87^{TH} REGIMENT
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS
FOR CANNONS MILITARY RECORDS
_Madeley lith 3, Wellington S^t. Strand_]
FOOTNOTES:
[6] A list of the battalions formed from men raised under the
“_Army of Reserve_” and “_Additional Force Acts_” is inserted in
pages 97, &c. of the Appendix.
[7] In June 1806, _Buenos Ayres_ had been captured by the British
under Brigadier-General William Carr Beresford, afterwards General
Viscount Beresford; the place was, however, recovered by the
Spaniards in August following, and the troops became prisoners.
In the autumn of 1806, an armament, consisting of the Ninth and
Seventeenth light dragoons, detachment of the Twenty-first light
dragoons, Royal artillery and engineers, Fortieth, first battalion
of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, and Ninety-fifth (rifle corps) regiments,
proceeded to share in the contest in South America. In October
the Thirty-eighth regiment commanded by Colonel Vassal, and the
Forty-seventh, under Colonel Backhouse, proceeded from the Cape of
Good Hope to the Rio de la Plata, and on finding that Buenos Ayres
had been recaptured by the Spaniards, the troops under the command
of Colonel Backhouse, in conjunction with the naval squadron
under Commodore Sir Home Popham, took possession of the town of
Maldonado, and the island of Gorreti, on the left bank of the river
Plate. In the summer of 1807 an expedition for a second attempt on
Buenos Ayres proceeded to that part of the world, under the command
of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, who assumed the command of the troops
in South America. Other corps had also proceeded to South America,
of which a list is inserted in the Appendix, page 91.
[8] Lieutenant Fenton was promoted to the rank of Captain in the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment on the 22nd of April 1817.
[9] A Memoir of the services of Lieut.-Colonel Shawe, is inserted
in the Appendix, page 95.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SECOND BATTALION
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR THE
ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
[Sidenote: 1804.]
The British Government continued to adopt the most vigorous
measures for the defence of the kingdom, and for the prosecution
of the war. In addition to the acts of Parliament passed in July
1803 for raising “_The Army of Reserve_,” further Acts were passed
in June and July 1804 for levying a larger number of men in the
several counties of Great Britain and Ireland, which were termed
the “_Additional Force Acts_.”
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment was augmented by a second battalion,
which, with seven other regiments, was appointed to receive men
raised in _Ireland_ under the act of the 14th of July 1804; the men
raised in the counties of _Tipperary_, _Galway_, and _Clare_, were
allotted to the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment; the assembling quarter of
the second battalion was appointed at Frome in Somersetshire, and
the battalion was placed on the establishment of the army, from
the 25th of December 1804, at six hundred rank and file, which was
augmented in the following year to eight hundred, and in the year
1807 to one thousand rank and file, and continued at that number
to December 1814, when it was reduced to eight hundred, and from
December 1815 to six hundred rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1805.]
The second battalion marched from Frome to Bristol in March 1805,
and embarked for Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1806.]
On the 27th of October 1806 the battalion, consisting of
twenty-nine serjeants, nine drummers, and five hundred and
sixty-eight rank and file, embarked from Ireland for England.
[Sidenote: 1807.]
On the 27th of April 1807 the battalion embarked at Plymouth, and
proceeded to Guernsey.
The following report was made to Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle,
Bart., commanding the troops at Guernsey, by Brigadier-General
John Fraser, after his inspection of the second battalion of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment.
“_Guernsey, 30th June 1807._
“SIR,
“I have the honor to report, that when I minutely inspected the
second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment two months after
their arrival in this island, I found every thing in a state of
perfection that would have done credit to an old established
regiment, and which could not have been expected in a battalion
so lately formed. The flank companies are uncommonly fine. The
battalion men are in general of good size, young and stout, and
the whole appear healthy and well fed: they march well, are
steady under arms, and perfect in their discipline. The interior
regulations are excellent, barracks and hospital clean, books
regular, women and children decent in their appearance, _and every
thing to be commended_. The appointments are in good order, the
clothing is very good and well fitted, gaiters, shoes, &c. good
without exception. There have been very few courts martial, very
few non-commissioned officers reduced, and _not one punished man in
the battalion_.
“The officers are well dressed and very attentive to their duty.
Since their arrival here, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH have occupied the town
district, where I have had daily opportunities of seeing them, and
I have always found them attentive on duty, well dressed in the
streets, quiet and regular, no complaints, no drunkenness, even at
the monthly settlements.
“I am of opinion that the second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
is fit for any service, and very likely to be distinguished,
especially while commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, who appears
one of the best and most attentive officers I have ever seen, and
who is to be particularly commended for keeping up very strict
discipline without the least appearance of severity.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “JOHN FRASER,
“_Brigadier-General_.
“_To Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, Bart., commanding
His Majesty’s Forces in Guernsey and Alderney._”
The above report of Brigadier-General Fraser was highly gratifying
to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, whose
approbation thereof was signified to Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, and to
the second battalion, through Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, by the
Adjutant-General on the 10th of July 1807.
[Sidenote: 1808.]
Important events had in the meantime occurred on the continent of
Europe. Napoleon having reduced Germany to submission to his will,
and forced Russia to accede to his decrees, next attempted the
subjugation of Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese
rose in arms to assert their national rights, the French emperor
having conferred the crown of Spain on his brother Joseph, who
relinquished the throne of Naples in favour of Marshal Murat.
In the summer of 1808 Portugal was delivered by a British army
under Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, and in the autumn
Lieut.-General Sir John Moore received orders to advance with a
body of British troops from Portugal into the heart of Spain;
several regiments were embarked from the United Kingdom to
co-operate in the enterprise.
On the 4th of June 1808, the battalion embarked from Guernsey,
proceeded to Harwich, and from thence to Ramsgate, having
previously occupied Weely Barracks and Danbury Camp.
Lieut.-Colonel Charles W. Doyle[10] having been appointed a
brigadier-general and employed on a special mission in Spain, the
command of the second battalion devolved upon Major Hugh Gough,
and on the 28th of December following, it embarked at Ramsgate to
join the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, with numerous
supplies of men and stores; but being dispersed by a storm, it
rendezvoused at Cork, from whence it was ordered to proceed to
Portugal.
[Sidenote: 1809.]
The battalion arrived at Lisbon on the 12th of March 1809, and
joined the army under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley. It was employed in the operations against the French at
Oporto, and advanced in April following in pursuit of the French
army, which had retreated from Portugal towards Madrid.
After suffering many privations in common with the rest of the
troops, a junction was effected at Oropesa on the 20th of July
with the Spanish army under General Cuesta. On the 27th of July,
when General Cuesta had retreated from Alcabon under cover of
Lieut.-General Sherbrooke’s divisions, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley, K.B., withdrew to the position of _Talavera_, leaving
Major-General John Randoll McKenzie on the Alberche to protect
the movement. When the French on the 27th of July crossed this
river, Major-General McKenzie’s division was posted near the
Casa des Salinas, his infantry in the forest, and cavalry on the
plain. The attack was somewhat sudden, and the second battalions
of the Thirty-first and EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiments, which were in
the wood on the right of the Alberche, sustained some loss. As
the enemy increased his numbers on the British side of the river,
Major-General McKenzie fell back gradually, and entering the
position by the left of the combined army, took up his ground in a
second line in rear of the foot guards. In the dusk of the evening
the enemy commenced his attack on the British left, but failed. In
the night the attack was repeated, and on the morning of the 28th
of July the French renewed the attack on the height on the British
left, and were again repulsed with considerable loss.
After a pause of some hours the attacks were renewed upon the whole
British front, and the action became general. Brigadier-General
Alexander Campbell’s division, on the British right, sustained the
assault of the enemy’s fourth corps, assisted by Major-General
McKenzie’s brigade. “The English regiments, putting the French
skirmishers aside, met the advancing columns with loud shouts, and
breaking in on their front, and lapping their flanks with fire, and
giving no respite, pushed them back with a terrible carnage. Ten
guns were taken; but as General Campbell prudently forbore pursuit,
the French rallied on their supports, and made a show of attacking
again. Vain attempt! The British artillery and musketry played too
vehemently upon their masses, and a Spanish regiment of cavalry
charging on their flank at the same time, the whole retired in
disorder, and the victory was secured in that quarter.”[11]
In the action on the 28th of July, Major-General McKenzie, who
commanded the division of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH formed part, was
killed.
The news of the victory of _Talavera_ gained over the French army,
commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, excited great joy in
England, and Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the
peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington.
The loss of the British amounted to six thousand in killed,
wounded, and missing; that of the French was much more
considerable. The loss sustained by _the second battalion of the_
EIGHTY-SEVENTH _regiment_ consisted of one officer and one hundred
and ten men killed, and thirteen officers and two hundred and
thirty men wounded: total three hundred and fifty-four; strength
in the field, eight hundred and twenty-six, leaving a remainder of
four hundred and seventy-two.
_Killed._
Ensign—Nicholas la Serre.
_Wounded._
_Major_—Hugh Gough, _severely_ (on 28th July).
_Captain_—Rawdon McCrea, _slightly_ (_since dead_).
” Anthony William Somersall, _slightly_.
_Lieutenant_—W. G. Cavanagh, _severely_.
” Richard Thos. Hingston, _died of his wounds_.
” Ralph Johnson, _severely_.
” John D. Bagenal, _arm amputated_.
” James Carroll, _severely_.
” Adam Rogers, _severely_ (on 28th July).
_Ensign_—Theobald Butler, _severely_.
” Theobald Pepper, _severely_ (on 28th July).
” Wright Knox, _severely_.
” James T. Moore, _slightly_.
Acting Serjeant-Major Paterson was promoted to an ensigncy for
good conduct in this action, and Quartermaster-Serjeant Cowell
was shortly afterwards promoted also to an ensigncy for length of
service and gallant conduct.
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH subsequently received the royal authority
to bear the word “TALAVERA,” on the regimental colour and
appointments, in commemoration of the conduct of the second
battalion on that occasion.
The junction of the divisions of Marshals Soult, Ney, and
Mortier, in the rear of the British, compelled them to fall back
on Badajoz. On the 10th of September, the second battalion of
the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment received orders to repair to Lisbon,
where it arrived on the 24th; and two strong detachments having
arrived from England, and a number of wounded men joining from the
hospitals, the battalion was again reported fit for service.
[Sidenote: 1810.]
On the 5th of February 1810, the battalion embarked at Lisbon for
_Cadiz_, and disembarked there on the 12th, which city was at that
time besieged by a powerful French army, under Marshal Soult.
The whole of this year the battalion was employed in erecting
batteries, and strengthening the defence of the place, during which
the battalion lost several men.
Lieut.-General Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) commanded
the British forces in Cadiz, and an expedition was resolved upon
for the purpose of making a combined attack on the rear of the
blockading army under Marshal Victor, who now commanded at the
siege of Cadiz, in consequence of Marshal Soult having proceeded
with a body of troops into Estremadura.
[Sidenote: 1811.]
On the 18th of February 1811, the battalion embarked at Cadiz, and
sailed for Gibraltar.
The army under the command of Lieut.-General Graham consisted of
about three thousand men[12], and a body of seven thousand troops
commanded by General La Pena. The force of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
formed part, disembarked at Algesiras on the 23rd of February, and
the troops being united at Tarifa, marched from thence on the 28th
of February.
General Zayas pushed a strong body of Spanish troops across the
river Santi Petri near the coast on the 1st of March, threw a
bridge over, and formed a _tête-de-pont_. This post was attacked
by the enemy on the nights of the 3rd and 4th of March, who was
repulsed, though the Spaniards sustained considerable loss.
On the 5th of March 1811, Lieut.-General Graham, and the army under
his command, arrived on the low ridge of _Barrosa_, and gained
a decisive victory over the French army under Marshal Victor,
composed of the two divisions of Generals Rufin and Laval.
The circumstances under which Lieut.-General Graham found himself
placed were such as compelled him to attack the very superior
force, in point of numbers, of his opponents. The allied army,
after a night-march of sixteen hours from the camp near Veger,
arrived on the morning of the 5th at the low ridge of _Barrosa_,
about four miles to the southward of the mouth of the Santi
Petri river. This height extends inland about a mile and a half,
continuing on the north the extensive heathy plain of Chiclana.
A great pine forest skirts the plain, and circles round the
height at some distance, terminating down to Santi Petri, the
intermediate space between the north side of the height and the
forest being uneven and broken. A well-conducted and successful
attack on the rear of the enemy’s lines near Santi Petri by the
vanguard of the Spaniards under Brigadier-General Ladrizabel,
opened the communication with the Isla de Leon, and Lieut.-General
Graham received General La Pena’s directions to move down from the
position of Barrosa to that of the Torre de Bermeja, about half
way to the Santi Petri river, in order to secure the communication
across the river, over which a bridge had been recently
constructed. This latter position occupied a narrow woody ridge,
the right on the sea cliff, the left falling down to the Almanza
creek on the edge of the marsh. An easy communication between the
western points of these two positions was kept up by a hard sandy
beach. Lieut.-General Graham, while on the march through the wood
towards the Bermeja, received intelligence that the enemy had
appeared in force on the plain of Chiclana, about fifty miles from
Tarifa, and was advancing towards the heights of _Barrosa_.
The British general, considering that position as the key to that
of Santi Petri, immediately countermarched in order to support
the troops left for its defence, and the alacrity with which this
manœuvre was executed served as a favourable omen. It was, however,
impossible in such intricate and difficult ground to preserve order
in the columns, and time was never afforded to restore it entirely.
Before the British could get quite disentangled from the wood, the
troops on the _Barrosa_ hill were seen returning from it, while
the enemy’s left wing was rapidly ascending. His right wing at
the same time stood on the plain, on the edge of the wood, within
cannon-shot. A retreat in the face of such an enemy, already
within reach of the easy communication by the sea-beach, must have
involved the whole allied army in all the danger of being attacked
during the unavoidable confusion of the different corps arriving
nearly at the same time on the narrow ridge of the Bermeja.
Lieut.-General Graham relying on the heroism of British troops, and
regardless of the number and position of the enemy, determined on
an immediate attack. Major Duncan soon opened a powerful battery
of ten guns in the centre. The right wing proceeded to the attack
of General Rufin’s division on the hill, while that under General
Laval, notwithstanding the havoc made by Major Duncan’s battery,
continued to advance in very imposing masses, opening his fire of
musketry, and was only checked by that of the left wing.
The left wing now advanced firing; and a most determined charge
by the three companies of Guards and the second battalion of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, supported by the remainder of the wing,
soon decided the defeat of General Laval’s division. In this
charge the Eagle of the eighth French regiment of light infantry
(which suffered immensely) and a howitzer were captured, and
remained in possession of Major Gough, now Lieut.-General Viscount
Gough, G.C.B., and colonel of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment.[13]
These attacks were zealously supported by Colonel Belson with the
Twenty-eighth, and Lieut.-Colonel Prevost with a portion of the
Sixty-seventh regiment.
[Illustration: _Lieu^t Pym 87^{th} Reg^t del._
_Madeley lith 3 Wellington S^t. Strand_
_The French Imperial Eagle_
_Of the 8^{th} Regiment_
_Taken by His MAJESTY’S 2^{nd} Battalion 87^{th} (or Prince of
Wales Irish) Regiment under the command of Major Hugh Gough._
For Cannon’s Military Records.]
A reserve formed beyond the narrow valley, across which the enemy
was closely pursued, next shared the same fate, and was routed by
the same means.
The right wing meanwhile was not less successful, and, after a
sanguinary contest, General Rufin’s division was driven from the
heights in confusion, leaving two pieces of cannon. In less than
an hour and a half from the commencement of the action, the French
were in full retreat. The retiring division met, halted, and
seemed inclined to form; but a new and more advanced position of
the British artillery quickly dispersed the enemy. The exhausted
state of the troops rendered pursuit impossible, and a position was
occupied on the eastern side of the hill. When the conflict had
ceased, Lieut.-General Graham remained on the field of battle; but
the Spanish general, La Pena, who had looked on while this terrible
battle was fought, did not seize the favourable opportunity which
the valour of the British troops had put into his hands, of
striking a severe blow at the remains of the French army retreating
in disorder. The inactivity of the Spaniards continuing, the
British proceeded to Cadiz on the following day.
In this battle the EIGHTY-SEVENTH had one officer and forty-four
men killed; four officers and one hundred and twenty-four men
wounded: the strength of the battalion in the field was seven
hundred and twenty-two.
_Killed._
_Ensign_—Edward E. Kough.
_Wounded._
_Major_—Archibald Maclaine.
_Captain_—Anthony William Somersall.
_Lieutenant_—James Gubbins Fennell.
” James Campbell Barton.
Lieut.-General Graham stated, in his public despatch, “No
expressions of mine could do justice to the conduct of the troops
throughout. Nothing less than the almost unparalleled exertions of
every officer, the invincible bravery of every soldier, and the
most determined devotion to the honor of His Majesty’s arms, in
all, could have achieved this brilliant success, against such a
formidable enemy so posted.”
Among the prisoners were the General of Division Rufin, the General
of Brigade Rousseau; the Chief of the Staff, General Bellegarde; an
Aide-de-camp of Marshal Victor; the Colonel of the Eighth regiment,
and several other officers. The prisoners amounted to two general
officers, one field officer, nine captains, eight subalterns, and
four hundred and twenty rank and file. The enemy lost about three
thousand men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, while that of the
British amounted to one thousand two hundred and forty-three killed
and wounded. Six pieces of cannon were also captured.
Lieut.-General Graham, on this glorious occasion, wrote a short but
comprehensive note from the field of battle, to General Sir John
Doyle, the colonel of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in these words,
congratulating him on the steadiness and gallantry displayed by the
second battalion in an action which redounded so much to the fame
of the British arms.
“_Barrosa, 5th March, 1811._
“MY DEAR DOYLE,
“Your regiment has covered itself with glory. Recommend it and its
commander (Gough) to their illustrious patron, the Prince Regent:
too much cannot be done for it.
“Ever yours,
(Signed) “T. GRAHAM.”
Major Hugh Gough was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel,
in consequence of Lieut.-General Graham’s recommendation, for his
gallantry at _Barrosa_, and also received a medal for that battle.
On the 18th of April 1811, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was
pleased to approve of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH being in future styled
“_The_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH, _or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Regiment_,”
and of its bearing, as a badge of honor, on the regimental
colour and appointments an _Eagle_ with a _Wreath of Laurel_,
above the _Harp_, in addition to the arms of His Royal Highness,
in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the second
battalion on various occasions, and particularly at the battle of
_Barrosa_ on the 5th of March 1811.
Both Houses of Parliament unanimously voted their thanks to
Lieut.-General Graham, and the officers and men under his command,
for this victory, and their valour and ability were highly
applauded by the nation.
The importance of the victory was fully appreciated by
Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington, K.B., who in a letter to
Lieut.-General Graham, of the 25th of March, thus expressed
himself:—
“I beg to congratulate you and the brave troops under your command,
on the signal victory which you gained on the 5th instant. I have
no doubt whatever, that their success would have had the effect
of raising the siege of Cadiz, if the Spanish corps had made
any effort to assist them; and I am equally certain, from your
account of the ground, that if you had not decided with the utmost
promptitude to attack the enemy, and if your attack had not been a
most vigorous one, the whole allied army would have been lost.
“You have to regret that such a victory should not have been
followed by all the consequences which might reasonably be expected
from it; but you may console yourself with the reflection that you
did your utmost, and, at all events, saved the allied army; and
that the failure in the extent of benefit to be derived from your
exertions is to be attributed to those who would have derived most
advantage from them.
“I concur in the propriety of your withdrawing to the Isla on the
6th, as much as I admire the promptitude and determination of your
attack of the 5th; and I most sincerely congratulate you and the
brave troops under your command, on your success.”
And in a letter of the same date to Marshal Sir William Carr
Beresford, K.B., Viscount Wellington stated:—
“General Graham has returned to the Isla, after having fought
the hardest action that has been fought yet. The Spaniards left
him very much to his own exertions. The Spanish General is to be
brought to a court-martial.”
In a letter of the 27th of March to the Earl of Liverpool,
Secretary of State, Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington expressed
similar sentiments to the foregoing, and added:—
“I am convinced that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent will duly
appreciate the promptitude with which Lieut.-General Graham decided
to attack the enemy in the important position of which they had
obtained possession; the vigour with which he carried that decision
into execution, and the gallantry displayed by all the officers and
troops upon that glorious occasion.”
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH having returned to Cadiz, after the battle
of Barrosa, remained there until the 10th of October, when it
embarked with a brigade under the command of Colonel Skerrett, of
the Forty-seventh regiment, and landed at _Tarifa_ on the 15th of
that month. A strong division of the French army, amounting to
ten thousand men, under the immediate orders of General Laval,
invested the town of _Tarifa_ on the 20th of December 1811. The
garrison consisted of a thousand British, and about seven hundred
Spanish troops, and was commanded by Colonel Skerrett. In the night
of the 29th the enemy fired salvos of grape on the breach, and on
the 30th the breaching fire was renewed. A heavy rain filled the
bed of the river during the night, and the torrent bringing down
planks, fascines, gabions and dead bodies from the French camp,
broke the palisades, and bent the portcullis backward. The surge
of the waters also injured the defences behind the breach. After a
heavy cannonading and bombardment, with considerable skirmishing,
a breach in the walls was effected, and preparations were made for
storming on the 31st of December.
The post of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH was at the breach; and about eight
o’clock in the morning of the 31st, the French troops, amounting
to two thousand chosen men, composed of all the grenadiers and
voltigeurs of the army, advanced thereto, where they were received
by the EIGHTY-SEVENTH with three cheers, the battalion at the
same time pouring in a most tremendous and well directed fire,
which, for a moment, checked the enemy, who, as if to escape the
fire, ran with desperation towards the breach, which they found
impracticable; they then hurried along the wall, to endeavour
to force the portcullis, but without effect, on which they fled
precipitately to their own lines.
During the attack, the drums and fifes of the regiment played
the favourite Irish airs of _Patrick’s Day_ and _Garryowen_, and
nothing but the steadiness and discipline of the corps could have
prevented them from pursuing the enemy.
The following eloquent description of this assault is given by
Lieut.-General Sir William Napier, K.C.B., in his History of the
Peninsular War.
“The waters subsided in the night as quickly as they had risen, but
at daylight a living stream of French grenadiers glided swiftly
down the bed of the river, and as if assured of victory, arrived,
without shout or tumult, within a few yards of the walls, when,
instead of quitting the hollow, to reach the breach, they, like the
torrent of the night, continued their rapid course, and dashed
against the portcullis. The British soldiers who had hitherto been
silent and observant, as if at a spectacle which they were expected
to applaud, now arose, and with a crashing volley smote the head of
the French column. The leading officer, covered with wounds, fell
against the portcullis, and gave up his sword through the bars to
Colonel Gough. The French drummer, a gallant boy, who was beating
the charge, dropped lifeless by his officer’s side, and the dead
and wounded filled the hollow. The remainder of the assailants then
breaking out to the right and left, spread along the slopes of
ground under the ramparts, and opened a quick irregular musketry.
At the same time, a number of men coming out of the trenches,
leaped into pits digged in front, and shot fast at the garrison,
but no escalade or diversion at the other points was made, and the
storming column was dreadfully shattered; for the ramparts streamed
forth fire, and from the north-eastern tower a field-piece, held in
reserve expressly for the occasion, sent, at pistol-shot distance,
a tempest of grape whistling through the French masses, which were
swept away in such a dreadful manner, that they could no longer
endure the destruction, but plunging once more into the hollow
returned to their camp, while a shout of victory, mingled with the
sound of musical instruments, passed round the wall of the town.”
This gallant affair cost the regiment but little; Lieutenants M.
Carroll and Waller being the only officers wounded, and a few of
the men.
Volunteer William Ireland was promoted to an ensigncy for his own
good conduct and that of the regiment at the siege of TARIFA; and
Serjeant Irwin very much distinguished himself.
The following is the return of killed and wounded in the action at
_Tarifa_ on the 31st of December:—
_Royal Engineers._—Lieutenant Joseph Longley, killed.
_Forty-seventh Regiment, Second Battalion._—Lieutenant Richard Hall
and one man killed; Lieutenant George Hill and two rank and file
wounded.
_Eighty-seventh Regiment, Second Battalion._—Five rank and file
killed; Lieutenant Morgan Carroll, Ensign Waller, and twenty-one
rank and file wounded.
_Ninety-fifth Regiment, Second Battalion (Rifles.)_—One man killed,
and one wounded.
_Total._—Two officers, and seven rank and file killed: three
officers, and twenty-four rank and file wounded.
Colonel Skerrett, in the evening, issued the following orders:—
“Colonel Skerrett most sincerely congratulates the British garrison
on the glorious result of the affair of to-day. Two thousand of
the enemy’s best troops attacked the breach, and were totally
defeated with immense loss. On our side all behaved nobly; but the
conduct of _Lieut.-Colonel Gough_, and the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment,
surpasses praise.”
The situation of the enemy’s wounded, with which the ground was
covered between his battery and the British fire, where they must
have inevitably perished, induced Colonel Skerrett, from motives
of compassion, to hoist a flag of truce to carry them off. Some
were brought into the place over the breach; but from the extreme
difficulty attending this, the French were allowed to carry the
remainder away. General Laval expressed his acknowledgment of the
conduct of the British and Spanish nations on this occasion in the
most feeling and grateful terms. The enemy’s loss was very severe,
and ten officers were amongst the prisoners.[14]
[Sidenote: 1812.]
From the movements of the enemy on the 4th of January 1812, it was
supposed that another assault was intended, and the garrison waited
in eager expectation to display another proof of British valour. On
the following morning, at daylight, the columns of the enemy were
already at a distance, having taken advantage of a dark and stormy
night to make a precipitate retreat, leaving in the possession of
the British all his artillery, ammunition, and stores. Marshal
Victor was present in the French camp to give orders for the
retreat. Major Richard Broad, with a part of the Forty-seventh
regiment, was immediately ordered to follow the enemy, and he took
possession of the artillery, waggons, and a quantity of stores in
sufficient time to save them from the flames, the French having
set fire to them. Some prisoners were made on this occasion. In an
intercepted despatch from Marshal Soult, three months after the
siege, it was stated,—“The taking of Tarifa will be more hurtful
to the English and to the defenders of Cadiz, than the taking of
Alicant or even Badajoz, where I cannot go without first securing
my left and taking Tarifa.”[15]
The royal authority was afterwards granted for the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
to bear the word “TARIFA” on the regimental colour and
appointments, in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of
the second battalion in successfully defending the breach at that
place against a very superior French force on the 31st of December
1811.
Four companies being left in Tarifa, the six companies returned
to Cadiz, the siege of which place having been raised, the six
companies marched in August 1812 with other corps from Cadiz, and
occupied Seville, where they were shortly joined by the four
companies from Tarifa. The battalion quitted Seville on the 30th
of September, in order to join the army under the Marquis of
Wellington, to which it was transferred on the first of October
1812.
The battalion proceeded to join the fourth division of the
Peninsular army at Aranjuez, near Madrid, on the 25th of October.
On the morning of the 31st, at eight o’clock, the advanced guard
of Marshal Soult, consisting of nine thousand men, attacked the
passage of the bridge and fort of _Puerto Largo_, several times
during the day, but was defeated with considerable loss.
The second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment on this
occasion behaved with great gallantry, and, continuing its march to
Madrid, reached it that night, but, on the following one, commenced
its retreat to Salamanca, during which the rear-guard, being formed
by the third brigade, of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH then composed
a part, was, on the 16th of November, attacked several times by
the enemy’s cavalry. In the end of December, the regiment arrived
at Salamanca, having lost during the retreat to Portugal, two
officers, namely, Ensigns De Courcy Ireland and William Ireland,
eight Serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and eighty-two rank
and file, by disease caused by fatigue and extreme bad weather.
It rained continually for three days and nights, during which the
regiment had no tents to cover them. The men were obliged to sit
down in line each night to receive the enemy.
Serjeants Coppin, M’Mahon, Milligan, O’Hara, and Palmer, were
promoted to be ensigns after the retreat, on account of the good
conduct of the regiment.
A striking instance of intrepidity and presence of mind occurred
on one of those marches in the Peninsula, which so frequently
terminated in a general action. During a short halt, the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH took up its ground upon a hill not far from the
enemy, and the men were sitting down to rest, when a howitzer,
that had been masked, opened upon them; some shells fell short,
but one alighted in the centre of one of the companies. The men
naturally endeavoured to get out of its reach, when James Geraghty,
a private grenadier, called out to the men, “that he would show
them how they played foot-ball at Limerick;” and immediately kicked
the live shell, with its burning fuse, over the edge of the hill:
the moment it touched the ground it exploded without injuring a man
of the regiment. For this gallant act the commanding officer made
the man a handsome present.
[Sidenote: 1813.]
The army took the field in 1813, and arrived in the neighbourhood
of _Vittoria_ on the 18th of June, and on the 21st of that month
the regiment was engaged with the French army until dark, when
the enemy was routed with immense loss; one hundred and fifty-one
pieces of artillery, a stand of colours, with all his baggage,
falling into the hands of the victors.
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH formed part of the third division; the Marquis
of Wellington ordered that an attack should be made on three
separate points; on the right by Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill,
with the second division, upon the French left at Puebla; while
on the left, Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, with the first
and fifth divisions, was to make a wide detour to the left, and
crossing the Zadorra at _Vittoria_ to attack their right, and
cut off their retreat by the great road to Bayonne. The centre,
consisting of the fourth and light divisions (under the Marquis
of Wellington himself) on the right, and the third and seventh
(under Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie) on the left, were to
pass the bridges in front, and attack as soon as the movements on
the flanks should be executed. The difficult nature of the country
prevented the communication between the different columns moving
to the attack from their stations on the river Bayas, at as early
an hour as was expected. The fourth and light divisions, however,
passed the Zadorra immediately after Lieut.-General Sir Rowland
Hill had obtained possession of Subijana de Alava; and almost as
soon as these had crossed, the column under the Earl of Dalhousie
arrived at Mendoza. The third division, under Lieut.-General Sir
Thomas Picton, crossed at the bridge higher up, followed by the
seventh division under the Earl of Dalhousie. The seventh division,
and the centre brigade of the third division, then attacked the
French right centre, in front of the villages of Margarita and
Hermandad; and the Marquis of Wellington, seeing the hill in front
of the village of Arinez weakly occupied by the enemy, ordered
the right brigade of the third division, under Lieut.-General Sir
Thomas Picton, in close columns of battalions, at a run diagonally
across the front of both armies, to that central point. The hill
was carried immediately, and the French withdrew, under cover
of a cannonade from fifty pieces of artillery and a crowd of
skirmishers, to the second range of heights on which their reserve
had been posted; they, however, still held the village of Arinez,
on the great road leading to Vittoria. The brigade then advanced to
the attack of the village of Arinez, and the French were finally
driven back in confusion at the point of the bayonet. These four
divisions, forming the centre of the army, were destined to attack
the height on which the right of the enemy’s centre was placed,
while Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill should move forward from
Subijana de Alava to attack the left. The enemy, however, having
weakened his line to strengthen his detachment on the hills,
abandoned his position in the valley as soon as he saw the British
position to attack it, and ultimately commenced his retreat in good
order towards Vittoria.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of the ground, the allied troops
continued to advance in admirable order. Other movements took
place, the result of which terminated in a complete victory. King
Joseph, whose carriage and court equipage were seized, had barely
time to escape on horseback. The defeat was the most complete that
the French had sustained in the Peninsula.
The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch, stated that
“Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville’s brigade of the
third division was seriously attacked in its advance by a very
superior force well formed, which it drove in, supported by General
Inglis’s brigade of the seventh division, commanded by Colonel
Grant, of the Eighty-second. _These officers and the troops under
their command distinguished themselves._”
In this conflict the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, under Lieut.-Colonel Gough,
had the honor of taking the bâton of Marshal Jourdan. The
circumstance was thus alluded to upon the Marquis of Wellington
being appointed a Field Marshal. In a most flattering letter,
the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty, thus
conferred the honor:—“You have sent me among the trophies of your
unrivalled fame the staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in
return that of England.”
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH had one ensign, four serjeants, and eighty-three
rank and file killed; three captains, four lieutenants, two
ensigns, seven serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and
forty-eight rank and file wounded, making a total of two hundred
and fifty-four. The strength of the battalion in the field was six
hundred and thirty-seven.
_Killed._
_Ensign_—Walter O’Grady.
_Wounded._
_Captain_—Frederick Vandeleur, }
” James O’Brien, } _died of their wounds_.
” James King.
_Lieutenant_—Philip Higginson.
” William Mountgarrett.
” Thomas Dowling.
” Wright Knox.
_Ensign_—John Stafford.
” Hilliard.
The royal authority was subsequently granted for the word
“VITTORIA” to be borne on the regimental colour and appointments of
the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, in commemoration of the gallantry of the second
battalion in this battle.
Volunteer O’Grady, and Serjeant-Major Wallace, were promoted for
their good conduct; and Lieutenant and Adjutant Moore had two
horses shot under him in this battle.
The army pursued the French, who, after throwing in reinforcements
into the fortress of _Pampeluna_, continued their retreat. Being
reinforced, and Marshal Soult, who had been selected by Napoleon
for the command of the French army in Spain, with the rank of
“Lieutenant of the Emperor,” having arrived, they forced the
British to retire on a position in the Spanish range of the
Pyrenees; when the brigade, in which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH was placed,
held the right of the position from the 27th of July to the 1st
of August, during which the enemy twice made demonstrations of
attack. The French being defeated on the 1st of August, retreated
and took up and fortified a position in their own territories; the
British pursued through the famous pass of Roncesvalles, and on the
8th of August 1813, first came in view of France, and entered its
territories on the 10th of November, having during the intermediate
period being engaged in skirmishes, in which a few were killed and
wounded.
On the 10th of November the British troops were engaged at the
_Nivelle_, from five o’clock in the morning until dark, meeting
with a most obstinate resistance in an entrenched camp. The
gallantry of the allies, however, drove the French to Saint Jean
de Luz. The EIGHTY-SEVENTH on this occasion called forth from
Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville, who commanded the
division, and Colonel John Keane (afterwards Lieut.-General Lord
Keane), who commanded the brigade, the most animated praises.
One ensign, six serjeants, one drummer, and sixty-eight rank and
file, were killed; one lieut.-colonel, four lieutenants, eleven
serjeants, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty-three rank and
file, wounded. Total, two hundred and sixteen. The strength of the
battalion in the field was three hundred and eighty-six.
_Killed._
_Ensign_—Hilliard.
_Wounded._
_Brevet Lieut.-Colonel_—Hugh Gough.
_Lieutenant_—John Kelly, _leg amputated_.
” Joseph Leslie.
” James Kenelly.
_Ensign_—Henry Bailey.
The word “NIVELLE,” borne on the regimental colour and
appointments, by royal authority, is commemorative of the gallantry
of the second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH on this occasion.
During the remaining part of the year, the regiment was frequently
engaged with the enemy in skirmishes.
Private Robert Smith, of the Grenadiers, was, at the request of Sir
Charles Colville, promoted to be serjeant for his gallantry.
Volunteers Bourne and Bagenall, who were attached to the light
company, were both severely wounded, and promoted to be ensigns for
their gallant conduct. Serjeant Prideaux, of the light company,
also distinguished himself.
[Sidenote: 1814.]
In 1814 the army, strengthened by recruits and recovered men,
continued its march into France, and on the 24th of February
arrived at Salvatira.
The light company was engaged with those of the brigade, when a
much superior force of the enemy attacked them; the light companies
were in consequence recalled, and the brigade brought down to
cover their retreat. On this occasion two rank and file were
killed; Lieutenants Joseph Barry and William Wolsley Lanphier, with
nine rank and file, wounded; and Lieutenant George Jackson taken
prisoner.
On the 25th of February the regiment crossed the ford, attacked
the French at _Orthes_ on the 27th, and drove them from their
entrenchments with immense loss. In this action the second
battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment drew from the general
officers in command the greatest praises for its bravery. It had
one lieutenant, five serjeants, and eighty-seven rank and file
killed; one major, four lieutenants, eight serjeants, and one
hundred and fifty-eight rank and file wounded: total, two hundred
and sixty-four. The strength in the field was five hundred and
fifty-one.
_Killed._
_Lieutenant_—James Fitz Gerald.
_Wounded._
_Major_—Frederick Desbarres.
_Lieutenant_—William Mountgarrett.
” James Thompson.
” Grady.
” William Maginnis.
In commemoration of this battle, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH received the
royal authority to bear the word “ORTHES” on the regimental colour
and appointments.
In an affair which took place on the 19th of March at Vic Bigorre,
three rank and file were killed, and two lieutenants and twelve
rank and file wounded: total, seventeen. The strength of the
battalion was five hundred and seventy.
_Wounded._
_Lieutenant_—William Dunlevie.
_Lieut. and Adjt._—James T. Moore.
Having continued the pursuit of the enemy and crossed the river
Garonne, four leagues below _Toulouse_, on the 5th of April, and
attacked the French on the 10th of the same month at _Toulouse_ on
the left of the town, the redoubts were taken and retaken several
times during the day. The enemy retreated at night, having suffered
great loss; that of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH was one brevet-major, four
serjeants, one drummer, and twenty-two rank and file killed; one
lieutenant, one ensign, six serjeants, and sixty-four rank and file
wounded: total, one hundred. Its strength in the field was four
hundred and sixty-four.
_Killed._
_Brevet-Major_—Henry Bright.
_Wounded._
_Lieutenant_—William Wolsley Lanphier.
_Ensign_—Abraham F. Royse.
Patrick Connors never went into action without attracting
the notice of his officers. On this occasion he particularly
distinguished himself, and was promoted to the rank of serjeant,
which situation he retained until his death.
Serjeant Carr, who was wounded at Tarifa, and served with credit in
every action with the battalion, distinguished himself; likewise
Serjeants Rideaux and Irwin. Lieutenant and Adjutant Moore had a
horse shot under him. Private Thomas Byrne was also badly wounded,
but recovered, and was promoted.
The royal authority was afterwards granted for the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
to bear the word “TOULOUSE” on the regimental colour and
appointments, in commemoration of the second battalion having
shared in this battle.
During the night of the 11th of April the French troops evacuated
_Toulouse_, and a white flag was hoisted. On the following day the
Marquis of Wellington entered the city amidst the acclamations of
the inhabitants. In the course of the afternoon of the 12th of
April intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon;
and had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French
police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been
prevented.
A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much
unnecessary bloodshed at _Bayonne_, the garrison of which made
a desperate _sortie_ on the 14th of April, and Lieut.-General
Sir John Hope (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun) was taken prisoner,
Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was
wounded. This was the last action of the Peninsular war.
A Treaty of Peace was established between Great Britain and France;
Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of his ancestors, and
Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty
of that island having been conceded to him by the allied powers.
Prior to the breaking up of the Peninsular army, the Duke of
Wellington issued the following general order:
“_Bordeaux, 14th June 1814._
“GENERAL ORDER.
“The Commander of the Forces, being upon the point of returning to
England, again takes this opportunity of congratulating the army
upon the recent events which have restored peace to their country
and to the world.
“The share which the British army have had in producing those
events, and the high character with which the army will quit this
country, must be equally satisfactory to every individual belonging
to it, as they are to the Commander of the Forces, and he trusts
that the troops will continue the same good conduct to the last.
“The Commander of the Forces once more requests the army to accept
his thanks.
“Although circumstances may alter the relations in which he has
stood towards them for some years so much to his satisfaction, he
assures them he will never cease to feel the warmest interest in
their welfare and honor, and that he will be at all times happy
to be of any service to those to whose conduct, discipline, and
gallantry their country is so much indebted.”
In addition to the other distinctions acquired during the war in
the Peninsula and the south of France, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH received
the royal authority to bear the word “PENINSULA” on the regimental
colour and appointments.
The war being ended, the battalion marched from Toulouse to
Blanchfort, and embarked at Pouillac on the 7th of July, and
arrived at Cork on the 20th of that month.
After being inspected, on landing at Cork, by the General
commanding the district, the battalion was marched to Mallow to
relieve the Twentieth regiment. It subsequently marched to the city
of Limerick, and was stationed there for a few days, when orders
were received for it to proceed to Middleton, in the county of
Cork, to await the arrival of transports.
The battalion embarked at the Cove of Cork on the 23rd of August,
and landed at Portsmouth, after a protracted voyage, on the 14th of
September. On the day of disembarkation it proceeded _en route_ to
Horsham, where the depôt of the regiment was stationed. After a
stay of some days at Horsham, it marched to Plymouth for garrison
duty, where it remained until December, having taken its tour of a
month’s duty over the American prisoners of war at Dartmoor.
On the 6th of December 1814 the battalion embarked for Guernsey,
of which island General Sir John Doyle, Bart., the Colonel of the
regiment, was Governor, and where it arrived on the 8th of that
month.
[Sidenote: 1816.]
The battalion continued on duty at Guernsey until the 2nd of April
1816, when it embarked for Portsmouth, from whence it marched to
Colchester in September following.
[Sidenote: 1817.]
On the 25th of January 1817, in pursuance of measures being
taken for the reduction of the army, orders were received for
the disbandment of the second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
regiment, on which occasion Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hugh Gough issued
the following orders:—
“_Colchester Barracks, 24th January, 1817._
“REGIMENTAL ORDERS.
“It is with the most painful feeling of regret Lieut.-Colonel Sir
Hugh Gough is necessitated to announce to the second battalion,
_Prince’s Own Irish_, that their services as a corps are no longer
required, in consequence of the military arrangements it has been
found necessary to adopt.
“In making this distressing though necessary communication, and in
taking leave of those brave officers and men, at whose head it has
been Sir Hugh Gough’s good fortune so long to have been placed,
he feels himself on this occasion called upon to recapitulate the
leading ones of so many brilliant achievements performed by his
gallant comrades now about to separate. The recollection of such
scenes must be a source of gratification to all, whether called on
to serve their country in India, or to retire to their families
and native land. To their Commanding Officer it ever has and
ever will be, a source of heartfelt exultation. By their country
and by their illustrious master, their services have been duly
appreciated, and nobly rewarded by that designation, and by those
badges so peculiar, so honorable, and so gratifying.
“The EIGHTY-SEVENTH had the good fortune to serve under the first
General of the age, throughout the greater part of the Peninsular
war, and longer than most corps in the service. At the battle of
_Talavera_ on the 27th of July, 1809 (when the battalion first
encountered the enemy), they had to sustain unsupported the
repeated attacks of the advance corps, and did not retire until
both flanks were turned, the battalion nearly surrounded by an
infinitely superior force, and two-thirds of the officers and men
either killed or wounded. The movement of the regiment to the
rear, and its formation on the other corps of the division, was a
counterpart of their conduct, in having instantly recovered, on
the first attack of the enemy, a temporary confusion which was
occasioned by the fire of a British regiment into the rear of the
battalion, the thickness of the wood having made it impossible for
that distinguished corps to have perceived the new position which
the EIGHTY-SEVENTH had taken up.
“On this memorable occasion the charge of the two centre companies
did them and their officers the greatest honor. The gallantry of
the whole was conspicuous, and obtained the personal thanks of the
brave officer who commanded the division[16], and who unfortunately
fell on the following day, and also the repeated thanks of the
officer commanding the brigade.
“At the brilliant action of _Barrosa_ the conduct of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH in taking up the first position under a most
destructive fire from the enemy’s artillery, and a column three
times its numbers, when it formed with the precision of parade
movements, gave a happy omen of the issue of the day. The advance
of the battalion in line, its volley into the two battalions of the
eighth, and its charge on that corps, called for and received the
proudest meed of gallantry, the enthusiastic approbation of such an
officer as Sir Thomas Graham.
“This charge was rewarded by the wreathed eagle of the eighth
French regiment, and a howitzer: it led in a great measure to the
total discomfiture of the right column under General Laval, and
nearly annihilated two battalions of one of the finest regiments
in the French army: of one thousand six hundred men, which they
brought into the field, only three hundred and fifty returned to
Chiclana. The ready formation of the right wing from amidst the
ranks of the retreating enemy, and their charge on the fifty-fourth
French regiment, which at this moment attacked the right of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH, was rewarded by the marked approbation of their
esteemed chief. The ultimate advance of the battalion on the
enemy’s guns was equally praiseworthy.
“At _Tarifa_, a species of service new to the British army called
for a renewal of that steady gallantry which marked the conduct of
the EIGHTY-SEVENTH at Barrosa. The immense superiority, in number,
of the enemy, added enthusiasm to discipline: the cool intrepidity,
the strict observance of orders, the exulting cheer when the
enemy’s columns pressed forward to the attack, proved the feelings
which influenced the defenders of the breach of _Tarifa_, and was
as honorable to them as soldiers, as their humane conduct to the
wounded (when the enemy fled) was to their characters as men.
“The persevering attention to their duty on the walls, in
conjunction with their brave comrades, the second battalion of the
Forty-seventh, exposed to the continued fire of an enemy ten times
the number of the garrison, and to the most dreadfully inclement
weather, led to the ultimate abandonment of the siege, and was
rewarded by the approbation of their General, their Prince, and
their Country.
“The battle of _Vittoria_ renewed the claim the EIGHTY-SEVENTH had
to a place in the third division, and under its lamented leader[17]
the battalion acquired fresh laurels. The charge of the Prince’s
Own on the hill crowned with the enemy’s artillery, and covered
with a strong column, called forth the marked approbation of
Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville, as did the pursuit
of that column, though flanked by a corps greatly superior in
numbers. The cool steadiness with which they preserved their second
position, under the fire and within a short range of a large
portion of the enemy’s field artillery, although the battalion at
this time had lost upwards of half the number it took into the
field, showed the steady perseverance in bravery and discipline
which ever marked the glorious career of the corps.
“The attack on the fortified hill at the action of the _Nivelle_,
and the gallantry which rendered the conduct of the battalion so
conspicuous in the subsequent attacks on that day, called for those
animated expressions from Major-General the Honorable Charles
Colville and Colonel John Keane, who commanded the division and
brigade, ‘Gallant EIGHTY-SEVENTH!’ ‘Noble EIGHTY-SEVENTH!’ and
deservedly were those titles bestowed.
“The actions of _Orthes_ and _Toulouse_ were also most glorious to
the character of the corps, and its conduct was rewarded by the
repeated thanks of the Generals commanding.
“Since the return of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH from service, they have
shown, that to gallantry in the field, they add the most essential
requisite in a soldier, _orderly and correct conduct in garrison_,
which has acquired for them the approbation of every general
officer under whom they have served, and the good wishes and esteem
of the inhabitants with whom they have been placed.
“While the foregoing detail will be most gratifying to the gallant
men who have survived, the recital must also be consoling to
the families of those who fell. The _Prince’s Own Irish_ bled
prodigally and nobly; they have sealed their duty to their King and
country by the sacrifice of nearly two thousand of their comrades.
But, while Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hugh Gough feels an honest pride in
recounting these achievements, he wishes to caution his brother
soldiers from assuming any exclusive right to pre-eminence over
their gallant comrades; the Army of the Peninsula nobly did their
duty, and repeatedly received the thanks of their Prince and their
country.
“In parting with the remains of that corps in which Sir Hugh Gough
has served twenty-two years, at the head of which, and by whose
valour and discipline, he has obtained those marks of distinction
with which he has been honored by his Royal Master, he cannot too
emphatically express the most heartfelt acknowledgments and his
deep regret.
“From all classes of his officers he has uniformly experienced
the most cordial and ready support. Their conduct in the field,
while it called for the entire approbation of their Commanding
Officer, acquired for them the best stay to military enterprise
and military renown, _the confidence of their men_, and led to the
accomplishment of their wishes, the Approbation of their Prince,
the Honor of their country, and the Character of their Corps. Every
non-commissioned officer and man is equally entitled to the thanks
of his Commanding Officer. To all he feels greatly indebted, and
he begs to assure all, that their prosperity as individuals, or as
a corps, will ever be the first wish of his heart, and to promote
which he will consider no sacrifice or exertion too great.”
The second battalion was disbanded at Colchester on the 1st of
February 1817, having transferred to the first battalion three
hundred and thirty effective men, most of whom were embarked in the
same month, to join the first battalion in the Bengal Presidency.
1817.
[Illustration: EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t. Strand_
_For Cannon’s Military Records_]
FOOTNOTES:
[10] A memoir of Lieut.-General Sir Charles William Doyle, C.B., is
inserted in the Appendix, page 92.
[11] Lieut.-General Sir William Napier’s History of the Peninsular
War.
[12] The following corps were employed in the battle of _Barrosa_
on the 5th of March 1811, viz.—
2nd Hussars, King’s German Legion.
Royal Artillery.
Royal Engineers.
1st Foot Guards, 2nd batt.
Coldstream Guards, 2nd batt.
3rd Foot Guards, 2nd batt.
9th Foot, 1st batt. (flank companies.)
28th Foot, 1st batt.
47th Foot, 2nd batt. (flank comp.)
67th Foot, 2nd batt.
82nd Foot, 2nd batt. (flank comp.)
87th Foot, 2nd batt.
Rifle Brigade { 2nd batt.
{ 3rd batt.
20th Portuguese Regiment.
Royal Staff Corps, 1 comp.
[13] In the midst of the engagement, Serjeant Patrick Masterson
seized and kept possession of the Eagle of the eighth French
regiment of light infantry (which was the first taken in action
since the commencement of the Peninsular war), and for which
His Royal Highness the Prince Regent promoted the serjeant to
an ensigncy in the Royal York Light Infantry Volunteers; he was
subsequently removed to the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment.
Volunteer de Courcy Ireland, and Serjeant-Major McKeldon, were also
promoted to be ensigns for their conduct in this action.
[14] In a letter, dated the 21st of January 1812, from General
Viscount Wellington, K.B., to the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary
of State, appeared the following tribute from that illustrious
commander to the conduct of the troops at _Tarifa_:—“_I cannot
refrain from expressing my admiration of the conduct of Colonel
Skerrett, and the brave troops under his command, nor from
recommending them to the protection of your Lordship._”
[15] History of the War in the Peninsular and in the South of
France, by Lieut.-General Sir William Napier, K.C.B.
[16] Major-General John Randoll McKenzie, who fell at Talavera on
the 28th of July 1809.
[17] Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, G.C.B., who was killed at
Waterloo on the 18th of June 1815.
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
SIR JOHN DOYLE, BART., G.C.B. AND K.C.
_Appointed 3rd May 1796._
This officer was descended from an ancient Irish family, and was
born at Dublin in the year 1756. He was at first intended for the
law, which, on the death of his father, he relinquished for the
military profession, and was appointed Ensign in the Forty-eighth
regiment on the 21st of March 1771, in which he was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant on the 17th of September 1773, and was
wounded while on duty in Ireland. Lieutenant Doyle exchanged to
the Fortieth regiment on the 1st of March 1775, and embarked
with that corps for North America in the same year. During the
War of Independence in that country he served with his regiment
in the descent on Long Island in August 1776, and was present at
the actions of Brooklyn, White Plains (28th of October), Fort
Washington, Haerlem Creek, Springfield, and Iron Hills. In the
action at Brooklyn, on the 27th of August, Lieutenant Doyle was
brought into notice by conduct which combined the best feelings
with the most animated courage. He was Adjutant of the Fortieth,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Grant, who was regarded as a father
by the younger portion of the corps. The Lieut.-Colonel was
desperately wounded early in the action, which becoming very hot
where he lay, Lieutenant Doyle, fearing he might be trampled to
death, rushed with a few followers into the midst of the enemy,
and dragged away the body of his friend; but it was too late,
for he had expired. This act made a strong impression on all
who witnessed it, and produced a handsome compliment from the
Commander-in-Chief, General the Honorable Sir William Howe.
Lieutenant Doyle was present at the action of Brandywine, fought on
the 11th of September 1777, which was followed by the capture of
Philadelphia. He shared in the surprise of General Wayne’s corps
during the night of the 20th of September, and was again wounded
at the battle of Germantown on the 4th of October. In the latter
the Fortieth regiment highly distinguished itself by the defence
of Chew’s Stone House, which was occupied under the following
circumstances:—About three weeks after the affair of Brandywine,
when the American troops were supposed to be totally dispersed,
General Washington made a movement with the intention of surprising
the British at Germantown. The advanced post of the British army
was occupied by a battalion of light infantry and the Fortieth
regiment, then commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Musgrove. These troops
were attacked about daybreak on the 4th of October by the main body
of the American army, commanded by General Washington in person.
After a very spirited defence they were obliged to give way to
numbers, and to retire towards Germantown. In this retreat Colonel
Musgrove took possession of a large stone house, with such of the
regiment as were nearest to it. This small body, not exceeding five
officers and about one hundred and fifty men, stopped the progress
of the enemy’s whole column, consisting of five thousand men, for
a considerable time, notwithstanding cannon being brought to bear
upon the house. This gallant defence was highly instrumental in
saving the British army. In this affair Lieutenant Doyle and two
officers were wounded. For this service the detachment was honored
with His Majesty’s particular thanks.
In the spring of 1778, General the Honorable Sir William Howe,
K.B., returned to England, and the command of the army in North
America devolved on General Sir Henry Clinton, K.B. The next action
in which Lieutenant Doyle shared was that at Monmouth Court-House
on the 28th of June 1778, and on the 24th of October following
he was promoted to a company in the corps raised by Lord Rawdon
(afterwards Marquis of Hastings), which was at first named the
“_Volunteers of Ireland_,” but which was subsequently numbered
the One hundred and fifth regiment. Shortly after General Sir
Henry Clinton assumed the chief command, it was deemed a measure
of policy to withdraw from the ranks of the enemy the natives of
Scotland and Ireland. Two regiments were raised by distinguished
noblemen of these countries; one was designated the “_Caledonian
Volunteers_,” and the other the “_Volunteers of Ireland_.” The
former was given to Lord Cathcart, and the latter to Lord Rawdon,
then Adjutant-General in America. The officers were chosen from the
line, and Lieutenant Doyle obtained a company as above stated.
In the celebrated retreat through the Jerseys, Captain Doyle acted
as Major of Brigade. During the winter of 1779 his regiment was
ordered to South Carolina, under the command of Lord Rawdon, where
he assisted at the siege of Charleston. After the fall of this
place in May 1780, Captain Doyle accompanied Lieut.-General the
Earl Cornwallis up the country, by whom he was appointed Major of
Brigade, and was honorably mentioned in his Lordship’s despatch
relative to the action at Camden, which was fought on the 16th of
August 1780.
Upon Lord Cornwallis quitting the province of South Carolina,
Captain Doyle served in the same capacity to Colonel Lord Rawdon,
who succeeded to the command of this portion of the troops, and
soon had another opportunity of distinguishing himself. General
Green, having contrived after the battle of Guildford, on the 15th
of March 1781, to turn Lord Cornwallis’s left, by a rapid movement
penetrated the upper parts of South Carolina, and presented
himself before the village of Camden, where Lord Rawdon commanded
a small detachment, not exceeding nine hundred men, while the
enemy’s force consisted of three thousand regulars, a fine corps
of cavalry, and a numerous body of militia, strongly posted on the
heights above the village in which the British were quartered. His
Lordship seeing the difficulty of a retreat, boldly determined to
advance against the enemy. Accordingly on the 25th of April 1781,
he chose the hour of mid-day to make his attempt, when least
expected, his march being concealed by a circuitous route through
thick woods. This sudden and rapid manœuvre enabled his Lordship
to reach Hobkirk Hill before General Green became aware of the
movement, and the British gained a complete victory. The exertions
of Brigade-Major Doyle on this well-fought field were alluded
to in highly honorable terms in his Lordship’s despatch. Having
raised the siege of Ninety-six, Lord Rawdon returned to England
on account of ill health, when the Brigade-Major prepared to join
the Earl Cornwallis in Virginia; but in consequence of the effects
of the action at Ewtaw Springs on the 8th of September 1781, he
was requested, from his knowledge of the country, to remain in the
province to fill a more prominent situation. He subsequently acted
as Adjutant-General and Public Secretary to Colonel Paston Gould;
and on that officer’s decease in the following year, he was honored
with the same confidence by his successors, Major-General James
Stuart and Lieut.-General the Honorable Alexander Leslie.
Captain Doyle was promoted on the 21st of March 1782 to the rank of
Major in the “Volunteers of Ireland,” which corps at this period
was numbered the One hundred and fifth regiment. Major Doyle formed
a corps of light cavalry from amongst the backwoodsmen, with which
he rendered essential service to the army, and was again severely
wounded. In the expedition against General Marion he charged the
State regiment of Carolina dragoons with his advanced corps of
seventy horse, the killed, wounded, and prisoners of the enemy
exceeding his whole force. The American War shortly afterwards
terminated, and the One hundred and fifth regiment was ordered to
Ireland, when Major Doyle was entrusted with public despatches to
the ministers.
Peace having now taken place, Major Doyle entered upon a new
scene of action, and was returned member for Mullingar in the
Irish parliament of 1782, when his exertions were devoted to the
improvement of the establishment in Ireland, similar to Chelsea
Hospital, for the relief of disabled and worn-out soldiers. The One
hundred and fifth regiment was disbanded in 1784, and Major Doyle
remained on half-pay from the 25th of June of that year until the
war of the French Revolution in 1793, when he offered to raise a
regiment of his countrymen for the service of Government; and his
Royal Patron honored the corps with the appellation of “The Prince
of Wales’s Irish Regiment,” and it was numbered the EIGHTY-SEVENTH,
of which Major Doyle was appointed Lieut.-Colonel Commandant on
the 18th of September 1793, and with which he proceeded in the
following year to the Continent, with the force commanded by
Major-General the Earl of Moira, under whom (as Lord Rawdon) he had
served in America.
Lieut.-Colonel Doyle served during the campaign of 1794 under His
Royal Highness the Duke of York, and repulsed an attack of the
enemy at Alost, on the 15th of July of that year, after having
been twice severely wounded, being the first individual of the
regiment who was wounded. His conduct was honorably noticed in His
Royal Highness’s despatch. Lieut.-Colonel Doyle next proceeded to
Antwerp, and ultimately to England for the recovery of his wounds,
when he was afterwards appointed Secretary-at-War in Ireland.
In consequence of the reduction of the Prince of Wales’s household,
Lieut.-Colonel Doyle lost the appointment of Secretary to His
Royal Highness; but, notwithstanding this decrease of income, he
closed his political career by a mark of generosity worthy of being
recorded. His regiment being still prisoners in France, under the
circumstances narrated at page 6., he collected their wives and
families, and distributed five hundred pounds amongst them.
On the 3rd of May 1796, Lieut.-Colonel Doyle was promoted to
be Colonel of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, and proceeded in
the command of a secret expedition to Holland, with the rank
of Brigadier-General; but contrary winds, violent gales, and
unavoidable delays, rendered the expedition fruitless, its object
being to surprise and destroy the Dutch fleet in the Helder.
In 1797 Colonel Doyle was appointed a Brigadier-General upon the
staff, and was ordered to Gibraltar, where he remained until the
expedition was determined on for Malta and Egypt, when, having
volunteered his services, he was placed on the staff under General
Sir Ralph Abercromby, whom he accompanied to Minorca, Malta, and
Cadiz, and was selected as one of his brigadier-generals upon
the expedition to Egypt, when he shared in the actions, near
Alexandria, of the 8th, 13th, and 21st of March 1801, after which
he was selected by Lieut.-General Hutchinson, who succeeded to the
command on the death of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, to accompany
him in the expedition against Grand Cairo. He was also at the
affair of Rhamanie on the 9th of May, subsequently to which the
army halted at the village of Algam. On the morning of the 17th
of May, when the army was encamped upon the borders of the Lybian
Desert, an Arab was conducted to Brigadier-General Doyle’s tent,
who brought intelligence that a body of French troops, which he
computed at two thousand men, was within a few miles of the camp,
with a large convoy of camels. Brigadier-General Doyle immediately
requested permission to pursue the enemy with such of the cavalry
as might be in the camp; and Lieut.-General Hutchinson acceding
to his request, he repaired thither, where he ascertained that
the Turkish cavalry had been detached a day or two before, and
that a squadron of the Twelfth light dragoons had, prior to his
arrival, been sent to water at some distance. As success depended
on promptness and expedition, the Brigadier immediately struck
into the desert in search of the enemy, without waiting for the
absent squadron, which he left to an officer to bring on. After
a long pursuit, the cavalry came up with the French troops, when
they formed a hollow square, and commenced an irregular fire of
musketry. The French commander, after some parley, was obliged to
surrender on the terms offered; twenty-eight officers, five hundred
and sixty-nine rank and file, two hundred horses, four hundred and
sixty camels, one four-pounder, besides a stand of colours, were
taken on this occasion by the detachment under Brigadier-General
Doyle, which consisted of two hundred and fifty dragoons.
After the capitulation of Grand Cairo in June 1801, Lieut.-General
Hutchinson (afterwards the Earl of Donoughmore) in his public
despatches, expressed his obligations to Major-General Cradock and
Brigadier-General Doyle, and recommended them as “officers highly
deserving His Majesty’s favour.” Upon the surrender of Cairo, the
country fever seized many of the troops, and Brigadier-General
Doyle, with several others, was sent ill to Rosetta, where, before
his recovery, he heard a rumour of an intended attack upon the
French at Alexandria. Urged by this intelligence, he left his sick
bed, mounted his horse, and rode forty miles through the desert,
under the intense heat of an Egyptian sun, and arrived the night
before the attack. In that successful enterprise he commanded,
and had the good fortune to defeat the attempts subsequently made
by General Menou upon a part of his position. Lieut.-General
Hutchinson, on the following day, thanked him publicly in the field
in the most animated manner; but in writing his official despatch,
not only omitted to forward the Brigadier-General’s report of the
action of the Green Hills, near Alexandria, on the 17th of August
1801, but unfortunately stated his brigade to have been commanded
by another. This omission was afterwards fully rectified by the
Lieut.-General, and the matter was adverted to by Lord Hobart in
the House of Commons, who particularly alluded to the conduct of
Brigadier-General Doyle, when moving the thanks of Parliament to
the army and navy employed in Egypt.
While at Naples, after the close of the Egyptian campaign, whither
Brigadier-General Doyle had proceeded for the recovery of his
health, he was requested by the British ambassador to become the
bearer of important despatches to the Government. This proved a
service of great danger, as the country through which he passed
was infested with banditti, who robbed and assassinated all who
fell into their hands. His conduct on this occasion was gratefully
acknowledged by His Majesty’s ministers. Upon his arrival in
England, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 29th
of April 1802, and was placed on the staff at Guernsey, and was
soon afterwards appointed Lieut.-Governor of that island, where his
services during the threatened invasion of England by Napoleon were
highly appreciated. Shortly afterwards the island of Alderney was
added to his command. In October 1805, he was created a Baronet
of the United Kingdom, and received His Majesty’s royal license to
wear the Order of the Crescent conferred by the Grand Seignior, and
to bear supporters to his arms, with an additional crest. On the
25th of April 1808, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General.
Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle was selected to organise and command
the Portuguese army, but the despatch ordering him to report
himself for that purpose to the Secretary of State, was prevented
from reaching him by a gale of wind that lasted for twenty-eight
days, and another officer was consequently sent upon that service,
which did not admit of delay. In 1812 he was nominated a Knight of
the Bath, and in 1815 became a Knight Grand Cross of that Order.
Whilst the Sovereign and the Government were thus marking their
approbation of the services of Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle,
the inhabitants of Guernsey, whose government he had so long
administered, were not slow in manifesting their gratitude for
the benefits they derived from his fostering care. The States of
the Island voted him an address of thanks under their great seal,
and presented him with a splendid piece of plate, in the form of
a vase, with suitable inscriptions; their example was followed
by the militia and other public bodies with similar valuable and
elegant testimonials; and when he was recalled in consequence of
the reduction of the staff on the peace of 1815, they unanimously
petitioned the Prince Regent that they might retain their
Lieutenant-Governor, and voted the erection of a pillar, at the
public expense, as a memorial of their gratitude for the services
rendered by him to the island and its inhabitants.
Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, Bart., was appointed Governor of
Charlemont on the 21st of September 1818, and on the 12th of August
of the following year he was advanced to the rank of General. His
decease occurred in London, on the 8th of August 1834, after a
lengthened service of sixty-three years.
SIR THOMAS REYNELL, BART., K.C.B.
_Appointed 15th August 1834._
This distinguished officer commenced his military career as an
Ensign in the Thirty-eighth regiment, his commission being dated
the 30th of September 1793. He joined the regiment in January 1794,
at Belfast, and in April proceeded with it to Flanders, where it
formed part of the army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke
of York. On arrival at the seat of war, the Thirty-eighth regiment
was ordered to join the corps under the Austrian General Count
Clèrfait, who commanded the troops in West Flanders, and it was
attached to the division under Major-General Hammerstein, together
with the Eighth light dragoons and Twelfth foot. Ensign Reynell
was present in the action on the heights of Lincelles on the 18th
of May, and at the battle of Hoglade on the 13th of June 1794. He
afterwards served with the army under the Duke of York, and was
in Nimeguen when that town was besieged. On the 3rd of December
following, when cantoned between the rivers Rhine and the Waal,
he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Thirty-eighth
regiment. Lieutenant Reynell served during the winter campaign of
1795, and the retreat through Westphalia to the Weser, and there
embarked for England. He accompanied the Thirty-eighth regiment
to the West Indies in May 1796, and was present at the capture of
the island of Trinidad in the early part of 1797. On the 22nd of
July 1797 he was promoted to a company in the Second West India
regiment, and joined that corps at Grenada.
Captain Reynell quitted Grenada early in 1798, in consequence of
being appointed Assistant Adjutant-General at St. Domingo, where
he remained until that island was evacuated by the British in
September, when he returned to England. In the beginning of 1799 he
revisited St. Domingo, as one of the suite of Brigadier-General the
Honorable Thomas Maitland, then employed in framing a commercial
treaty with the negro chief Toussaint L’Ouverture, who had risen
to the supreme authority at St. Domingo. When it was concluded,
Captain Reynell returned to England in July of the same year.
On the 8th of August 1799 Captain Reynell was transferred to a
company in the Fortieth regiment, with the first battalion of
which he embarked for the Helder in that month, and joined the
army, which was at first commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph
Abercromby, and afterwards by the Duke of York. Captain Reynell was
present in the action of the 10th of September; also in the battle
of the 19th of September, when he was the only captain of the first
battalion of the Fortieth regiment that was not killed or wounded;
he was also present in the subsequent battles of the 2nd and 6th
of October. Captain Reynell, upon the British army being withdrawn
from Holland, re-embarked with the first battalion of the Fortieth
regiment, and arrived in England in November 1799.
In April 1800 Captain Reynell embarked with his regiment for
the Mediterranean, and went in the first instance to Minorca,
afterwards to Leghorn; returned to Minorca, and proceeded with a
large force under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, for the
attack of Cadiz. Signals for disembarking were made; but although
the boats had actually put off from the ships, a recall was
ordered, in consequence of the plague raging at Cadiz. After this,
he proceeded up the Mediterranean again, and in November landed
at Malta. The flank companies of the Fortieth regiment having
been allowed to volunteer their services in the expedition to
Egypt, Captain Reynell proceeded thither in command of the light
company (one of the four flank companies detached under Colonel
Brent Spencer), and was present in the action at the landing on
the 8th of March 1801. On this occasion the flank companies of
the Fortieth were on the right of the line, and were particularly
noticed for the gallant style in which they mounted the sand-hills
immediately where they landed. Captain Reynell was present in the
battle of the 13th of March, and commanded the right out-piquet of
the army in the morning of the 21st of that month, when the French
attacked the British near Alexandria, on which occasion General Sir
Ralph Abercromby was mortally wounded. Soon after Captain Reynell
proceeded with a small British corps and some Turkish battalions
to Rosetta, of which easy possession was taken. He was present in
the action at Rhamanie, on the 9th of May, and followed the French
to Grand Cairo, where that part of their army capitulated, and
returned as escort in charge of the French troops to Rosetta; and
after they had embarked he joined the force under Major-General Sir
Eyre Coote before Alexandria. The surrender of Alexandria on the
2nd of September 1801 terminated the campaign, for his services in
which he received the gold medal conferred by the Grand Seignior on
the several officers employed.
Captain Reynell was afterwards appointed Aide-de-camp to
Major-General Cradock, who was ordered to proceed from Egypt
with a force of four thousand men to Corfu; but while at sea
counter-orders were received, and he proceeded to Malta, and
subsequently to England. In July 1804 he embarked as Aide-de-camp
to Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock, K.B., who had been appointed
to the command of the troops at Madras; and while on the passage,
namely, the 3rd of August 1804, he was promoted to the rank of
Major in the Fortieth regiment.
On the 10th of March 1805 Major Reynell received the brevet
rank of Lieutenant-Colonel upon being appointed Deputy
Quartermaster-General to the King’s troops in the East Indies.
In July following he was appointed Aide-de-camp to the Marquis
Cornwallis, Governor-General of India, and accompanied his Lordship
from Madras to Bengal, with whom he remained until his Lordship’s
decease at Ghazepore in October 1805. Lieut.-Colonel Reynell
returned to Madras immediately afterwards, and was appointed
Military Secretary to Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock, the
Commander-in-Chief at that presidency. He officiated during several
months of the year 1806 as Deputy Adjutant-General in India, in
which country he remained until October 1807, when he returned with
Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock to Europe, and arrived in England
in April 1808.
Lieut.-Colonel Reynell resigned the appointment of Deputy
Quartermaster-General in India, and was brought on full pay as
Major of the Ninety-sixth regiment on the 5th of May 1808, and
on the 22nd of September following was appointed Major in the
Seventy-first regiment.
In October 1808, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Reynell embarked as
Military Secretary to Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock, who had been
appointed to command the forces in Portugal, and landed in November
at Lisbon. He remained in Portugal until April 1809, when Sir John
Cradock was superseded in the command of the forces in Portugal
by Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. Lieut.-Colonel Reynell
afterwards accompanied Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock to Cadiz,
Seville, and Gibraltar, of which latter place Sir John Cradock was
appointed Governor, and Lieut.-Colonel Reynell remained there as
Military Secretary until September, when he returned to England.
Lieut.-Colonel Reynell joined the Seventy-first regiment at
Brabourne-Lees Barracks in December 1809, immediately after its
return from Walcheren. In September 1810 he embarked at Deal with
six companies of the Seventy-first regiment for Portugal, landed at
Lisbon towards the end of that month, marched soon after to Mafra,
and thence to Sobral, where the six companies joined the army under
Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington. In October Lieut.-Colonel
Reynell had the honor of being particularly mentioned by Viscount
Wellington in his despatch, containing an account of the repulse
of the attack of the French at Sobral on the 14th of that month.
The British army shortly afterwards retired to the lines of Torres
Vedras, and Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Reynell was appointed Assistant
Adjutant-General to the fourth division under Major-General the
Honorable George Lowry Cole.
Early in March 1811, the army of Marshal Massena broke up from its
entrenched position at Santarem, and retreated to the northward.
Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Reynell entered Santarem with the fourth
division the day after Marshal Massena had left it, and continued
in the pursuit of the French army to the Mondego. In the affair of
Redinha he had a horse killed under him. From Espinhal the fourth
division was ordered to retrograde, and recross the Tagus, for
the purpose of reinforcing Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford. In
1811 he joined the Marshal at Portalegre, and being the senior
British assistant adjutant-general, was directed to join Marshal
Beresford’s head-quarters, and proceeded with him to Campo Mayor,
from which the enemy retired; was also present at the capture
of Olivença, and subsequently accompanied the Marshal to Zafra,
between which place and Llerena a smart skirmish occurred with the
enemy’s hussars. In May 1811, Lieut.-Colonel Reynell returned to
England from Lisbon with despatches from Viscount Wellington.
In July 1811, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Reynell embarked as Military
Secretary to Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock, K.B., who had been
appointed Governor and Commander of the forces at the Cape of Good
Hope, where he arrived by the end of September. On the 4th of June
1813, he received the brevet rank of Colonel; and on the 5th of
August 1813, he was promoted Lieut.-Colonel of the Seventy-first
regiment, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Henry
Cadogan, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Vittoria. In
February following, being desirous of joining the corps, Colonel
Reynell resigned his staff situation at the Cape, and proceeded to
England, where he arrived in May 1814. In July of that year he was
appointed Adjutant-General to the force then preparing for service
in America under Lieut.-General Lord Hill; but, other operations
being then in view, that appointment was cancelled.
Colonel Reynell took the command of the first battalion of the
Seventy-first regiment at Limerick in December 1814, and embarked
with it from Cork in January of the following year, as part of an
expedition for North America; but peace having been concluded with
the United States, and contrary winds having prevented the sailing
of the vessels, the destination of the battalion was changed. In
March Colonel Reynell received orders to proceed with his battalion
to the Downs, where, in the middle of April, it was trans-shipped
into small vessels, and sent immediately to Ostend, to join the
army forming in Flanders, in consequence of Napoleon Bonaparte
having returned from Elba to France.
In the memorable battle of Waterloo, fought on the 18th of June
1815, Colonel Reynell commanded the first battalion of the
Seventy-first regiment, and was wounded in the foot on that
occasion. He afterwards succeeded to the command of Major-General
Adam’s brigade, consisting of the first battalions of the
Fifty-second and Seventy-first, with six companies of the second,
and two companies of the third battalion of the Ninety-fifth
regiment, in consequence of that officer being wounded. Colonel
Reynell commanded the light brigade in the several operations that
took place on the route to Paris, and entered that capital at the
head of the brigade on the 7th of July 1815, and encamped with it
in the _Champs Elysées_, being the only British troops quartered
within the barriers. In this year he was appointed a Companion
of the Order of the Bath, and received the Cross of a Knight of
the Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa, also a Cross of the
fourth class of the Russian Military Order of St. George.
Colonel Reynell remained with the “_Army of Occupation_” in France
until October 1818, when, after a grand review of the united
British, Danish, and Russian contingents at Valenciennes, the
Seventy-first marched to Calais, and embarked for England. Colonel
Reynell continued in command of the regiment until the 12th of
August 1819, the date of his promotion to the rank of Major-General.
In April 1820 Major-General Reynell was suddenly ordered to proceed
to Glasgow, having been appointed to the staff of North Britain
as a Major-General, in which country he remained until March
1821, when, in consequence of the tranquillity of Scotland, the
extra general officer was discontinued. Immediately after he was
appointed to the staff of the East Indies, and directed to proceed
to Bombay, for which presidency he embarked in September following,
and where he arrived in March 1822. After remaining there a
month, Major-General Reynell was removed to the staff of the
Bengal Presidency, by order of the Marquis of Hastings. In August
Major-General Reynell proceeded up the Ganges, and took the command
of the Meerut division on the 3rd of December 1822.
The next operation of importance in which Major-General Reynell
was engaged was the siege of _Bhurtpore_. Early in December 1825
a large force had been assembled for this purpose, to the command
of which he had been appointed, when, just as the troops were
about to move into the Bhurtpore states, General Lord Combermere,
the new Commander-in-Chief in India, arrived from England, and
Major-General Reynell was then appointed to command the first
division of infantry. He commanded that division during the
siege, and directed the movements of the column of assault at the
north-east angle on the 18th of January 1826, when the place was
carried, and the citadel surrendered a few hours after. For this
service he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Bath, as well as
honored with the thanks of both Houses of Parliament.
Major-General Sir Thomas Reynell succeeded to the baronetcy upon
the decease of his brother, Sir Richard Littleton Reynell in
September 1829; and on the 30th of January 1832 was appointed by
His Majesty King William IV. to be Colonel of the Ninety-ninth
regiment, from which he was removed to the EIGHTY-SEVENTH Royal
Irish Fusiliers on the 15th of August 1834. On the 10th of January
1837 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General, and on
the 14th of June 1839 was appointed a member of the Consolidated
Board of General Officers, for the inspection and regulation of the
clothing of the army. On the 15th of March 1841 he was appointed
by Her Majesty to the Colonelcy of the Seventy-first regiment.
Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B., died at Avisford,
near Arundel, on the 10th of February 1848.
HUGH VISCOUNT GOUGH, G.C.B.,
_Appointed from the Ninety-ninth regiment on the 15th of March
1841_.
APPENDIX.
_Troops in South America in 1806-7._
+------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| | Nos. embarked. | Place and Date of Embarkation. |
| +---------+------+--------------------------------+
| Royal Artillery } | | |
| and Royal } | 439 | |
| Engineers } | | |
| 47th Foot, 1st batt. | 803 | At Cork, April 9 1806. |
| 71st Foot, 1st batt. | 805 | ” Cape Good Hope, 12 ” |
| 38th Foot, 1st batt. | 737 | ” do. Aug. 1806. |
| 20th Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 4 troops. } | 204 | ” do. do. ” |
| 21st Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 2 troops. } | 125 | ” do. do. ” |
| 87th Foot, 1st batt. | 801 | ” Plymouth, Sep. 12 1806. |
| 95th (Rifles), 2nd } | | |
| batt. 3 comps. } | 230 | ” do. 13 ” |
| 40th Foot, 1st batt. | 1000 | ” Portsmouth, 16 ” |
| 45th Foot, 1st batt. | 888 | ” do. 12 ” |
| 88th Foot, 1st batt. | 798 | ” do. 20 ” |
| 36th Foot, 1st batt. | 825 | ” do. 22 ” |
| 95th (Rifles), 1st } | | |
| batt. 5 comps. } | 401 | ” Falmouth, 13 ” |
| 17th Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 8 troops. } | 628 | ” Portsmouth, 27 ” |
| 5th Foot, 1st batt. | 926 | ” do. Oct. 9 ” |
| 9th Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 8 troops. } | 632 | ” do. 1 ” |
| 6th Dragoon } | | |
| Guards, 4 trps. } | 298 | ” do. 9 ” |
| 89th Foot, 1st batt. | 947 | ” do. Feb. 23 1807. |
| 54th Foot, detach. | 15 | |
| +------+ |
| Total 11,502 | |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------+
+------------+----------------+--------------------------------+
| | Nos. embarked. | Place and Date of Arrival. |
| +---------+------+--------------------------------+
| Royal Artillery } | | |
| and Royal } | 439 | |
| Engineers } | | |
| 47th Foot, 1st batt. | 803 | At Monte Video, Jan. 16 1807. |
| 71st Foot, 1st batt. | 805 | ” Buenos Ayres, June 25 1806. |
| 38th Foot, 1st batt. | 737 | ” do. Jan. 16 1807. |
| 20th Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 4 troops. } | 204 | ” Monte Video, 16 ” |
| 21st Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 2 troops. } | 125 | ” do. 16 ” |
| 87th Foot, 1st batt. | 801 | ” do. 16 ” |
| 95th (Rifles), 2nd } | | |
| batt. 3 comps. } | 230 | ” do. 16 ” |
| 40th Foot, 1st batt. | 1000 | ” do. 16 ” |
| 45th Foot, 1st batt. | 888 | ” Buenos Ayres, June 1807. |
| 88th Foot, 1st batt. | 798 | ” Rio de la Plata, ” |
| 36th Foot, 1st batt. | 825 | ” Buenos Ayres, ” |
| 95th (Rifles), 1st } | | |
| batt. 5 comps. } | 401 | ” Rio de la Plata, ” |
| 17th Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 8 troops. } | 628 | ” Monte Video, Jan. 16 1807. |
| 5th Foot, 1st batt. | 926 | ” Buenos Ayres, June 1807. |
| 9th Lt. Drags., } | | |
| 8 troops. } | 632 | ” Monte Video, March 7 1807. |
| 6th Dragoon } | | |
| Guards, 4 trps. } | 298 | ” Rio de la Plata, June ” |
| 89th Foot, 1st batt. | 947 | ” Monte Video, do. ” |
| 54th Foot, detach. | 15 | |
| +------+ |
| Total 11,502 | |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------+
_Memoir of the Services of Lieut.-General Sir Charles William
Doyle, C.B., G.C.H., and K.C., formerly Lieut.-Colonel of the_
EIGHTY-SEVENTH _regiment_.
This officer entered the army on the 28th of April 1783, as Ensign
in the One hundred and fifth regiment, which was disbanded in the
following year, and on the 12th of February 1793, was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant in the Fifty-ninth regiment, from which he
was removed to the Fourteenth foot on the 7th of March following,
and to the Ninety-first regiment on the 30th of October of the same
year. Lieutenant Doyle served with the Fourteenth regiment until
the beginning of 1794, in Holland and Brabant. In the assault of
the heights of Famars in 1793 he acted as Brigade-Major to the
brigade under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, whose thanks
he received upon the field of battle for his conduct in storming
the redoubts upon the heights over Valenciennes. During the siege
of that city Lieutenant Doyle was employed as orderly officer in
attendance upon the Austrian generals. While on service in the
trenches he received a contusion in the head from the splinter of
a shell. The Fourteenth regiment having suffered considerably,
was left to garrison Courtray. He obtained permission to join the
army, and served the remainder of the campaign as Aide-de-camp to
Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, by whom he was sent to the
Duke of York with the account of the affair at Lannoi, in which he
received a contusion in the hand, and was again thanked upon the
field of battle by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. On the 21st
of June 1794, Lieutenant Doyle was promoted from the Ninety-first,
in which he had acted as Adjutant, to the Captain-Lieutenancy
and Adjutancy of the One hundred and eighth regiment; proceeded
to Gibraltar, where, upon that corps being drafted, he was
appointed Aide-de-camp to the governor of that fortress. On the
3rd of September 1795, he was removed to the EIGHTY-SEVENTH,
as Captain-Lieutenant and Adjutant, and embarked in 1796 as
Brigade-Major to the expedition against the Texel, under his uncle
Brigadier-General John Doyle. In that year Captain Doyle proceeded
to the West Indies in the same capacity, but finding that his
regiment was destined to attack Porto Rico, he resigned his staff
situation, accompanied the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, and received the thanks
of Sir Ralph Abercromby for his conduct in covering the retreat
of the army in April 1797, and was appointed his Aide-de-camp.
In 1798 he received the thanks of the Governor of Barbadoes, for
having driven off the coast a large French privateer. Captain Doyle
proceeded as Brigade-Major under General Sir Ralph Abercromby with
the expedition for the attack of Cadiz in 1800; sailed from Minorca
for the relief of Genoa, and from Malta proceeded to Egypt, where
he served upon the staff of the army during the campaign. While
suffering from illness at Rosetta, in consequence of a wound he had
received in the battle of the 21st of March 1801, near Alexandria,
he obtained precise and important information regarding the
strength of the garrison and the state of the works at Cairo, which
led to the operations that resulted in the surrender of the place
without a shot being fired. For this service he received the warm
thanks of Lieut.-General Hutchinson, who assumed the command upon
the death of General Abercromby, and also the approbation of His
Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief.
In 1803 Captain Doyle returned from the Mediterranean, was
appointed Major of Brigade under Lieut.-General Sir James Henry
Craig, K.B., by whom he was employed, with other staff officers, to
make separate reports of the best mode of defence of Hosely Bay;
his plan was highly approved by Sir James Craig, who recommended
him to the Commander-in-Chief, and he was promoted to the rank
of Major of the second battalion of the Sixty-first regiment, on
the 9th of July 1803. In the following year Major Doyle commanded
a corps composed of light infantry companies, and of regiments
of volunteers, formed for the defence of the northern coasts of
England by Lieut.-General Sir Hew Dalrymple, whose warm thanks he
received. At the close of 1804 he was appointed by General Sir
David Dundas, K.B., to command a corps of light infantry at Barham
Downs, where he received the thanks of the Adjutant-General for
his system of light infantry practice, and about the same time
his Military Catechism was published. He was appointed Assistant
Quartermaster-General at Guernsey, and on the 22nd of August 1805
was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
regiment. He received the thanks of the Governor of Plymouth, of
the Royal Court of Guernsey, and of the Commander-in-Chief, for the
exemplary conduct of both battalions of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, each
having been under his command. In 1808 he was sent into Spain by
His Majesty’s Government as a Military Commissioner.
The rank of Major-General in the Spanish armies was Conferred
upon him, and a regiment was raised and named “Regiment of Doyle”
for his conduct in an affair at Olite. A badge of honor (to be
worn on the left arm) was conferred upon him in 1809 for assuming
the command of, and saving the city of Tortosa, threatened with
insurrection by the inhabitants, whilst the French were at
the gates of the town. The motto, “_The Reward of Enthusiasm,
Efficiency, and Valour_.” The arms of this city were engrafted
upon his family arms, by order of the Government of Spain at that
period, and ratified by King Ferdinand. He was appointed a Knight
of the Order of Charles III., for his services in the years 1808-9,
and his conduct reported by the Spanish to the British Government.
In 1809 he was wounded at the attack of the Col de Balaguer. A
medal was struck by the Spanish Government, specially to mark
its approbation of the conduct of the General, when he took by
assault the tower and battery of Bagur upon the 10th of September
1810, and assisted in the operations against, and the taking the
Castle of Palamos upon the 14th of September. The motto, “_Spanish
Gratitude to British Intrepidity_.” A medal was presented to him
at the close of the campaign. The motto, “_For distinguished
Valour_,” and he was recommended by the Duke of Wellington to be
appointed Colonel of a regiment to be raised in Catalonia, and in
1811 obtained the Cross of Distinction for the defence of Tarragona
in 1811, where he was wounded; likewise received the Cross of
Distinction for the three principal battles in Catalonia, and also
the rank of Lieut.-General in the Spanish armies, for his services
in Catalonia, Arragon, and Valencia, conferred by the Government
at that period, and ratified by King Ferdinand: he was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Reserve, raised and disciplined
at Cadiz during the siege, and was nominated Director of the
Establishment for Military Instruction.
The honor of knighthood was conferred upon him by the Prince
Regent in 1812, and he was appointed a Companion of the Order of
the Bath for the important services rendered by him in Spain. On
the 30th, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Charles Doyle was removed to the
Eighty-fourth regiment, and was placed on the half-pay of that
corps on the 25th of February 1819, and on the 12th of August
following was advanced to the rank of Major-General. On the 1st of
November 1819 he was appointed Colonel of the Tenth Royal Veteran
Battalion (since disbanded). Sir Charles Doyle, in addition to
the honors enumerated, had received the medal of the Order of the
Crescent conferred by the Grand Seignior for services in Egypt,
the Legion of Honor, and had been appointed a Knight Commander
of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, of which order he was
subsequently nominated a Knight Grand Cross. In 1825 Major-General
Sir Charles Doyle was appointed to the command of the South-western
District of Ireland, and in 1829 was appointed President of the
Board assembled at the War Office to investigate the services and
pensions of soldiers. On Jan. 10. 1837 he was promoted to the rank
of Lieut.-General.
Lieut.-General Sir Charles William Doyle died at Paris on the 25th
of October 1842, after a service of nearly sixty years in various
parts of the world.
_Memoir of the Services of Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Shawe, C.B., of
the_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH _regiment_.
Mr. Shawe was appointed an Ensign in the Twelfth foot on the 7th
of May 1799, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the
Seventy-fourth Highlanders on the 15th of November 1801, with which
regiment he served at the storming and capture of the important
fortress and town of Ahmednuggur on the 8th and 12th of August
1803; was wounded severely at the battle of Assaye on the 23rd
of September following, when the troops under Major-General the
Honorable Arthur Wellesley gained a victory over the combined army
of Scindiah and the Rajah of Berar. His next service was at the
battle of Argaum, on the 29th of November; afterwards at the siege
and storming of Gawilghur, on the 15th of December 1803: this was
a very strong fort, situated on a range of mountains between the
sources of the rivers Poorna and Taptee. Lieutenant Shawe served
with the Seventy-fourth at the siege of Chandore, a strong hill
fort in Candeish. This place surrendered on the 12th of October
1804. Lieutenant Shawe was also at the siege of Gaulnah in the
same month; on the 30th of October he was promoted to the rank of
Captain in the Seventy-fourth regiment.
Captain Shawe proceeded with his regiment to the Peninsula in
January 1810; was present at the battle of Busaco on the 27th of
September following; also at the affairs of Redinha on the 12th
of March 1811, Condeixa on the day following, Foz d’Aronce on the
15th of that month, Sabugal on the 3rd of April, and at the battle
of Fuentes d’Onor on the 3rd and 5th of May 1811; in the latter
action Captain Shawe was wounded. He was advanced to the brevet
rank of Major on the 30th of May 1811, and served at the siege and
storming of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812; the siege of Badajoz
and the escalading of Fort Picurina on the 25th of March. This
fort was assaulted and carried by five hundred men of the third
division, two hundred of whom were under Brevet-Major Shawe, who
was dangerously wounded; he however recovered, and received the
brevet of Lieut.-Colonel, which was dated the 27th of April 1812,
for his services on this occasion. He was also thanked in general
orders by Viscount Wellington for his conduct, received a medal,
and was subsequently nominated a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Shawe was appointed Major in the Fifty-ninth
regiment on the 4th of June 1813, and was promoted Lieut.-Colonel
in the Eighty-fourth regiment on the 15th of April 1817, and was
removed to the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment on the 30th of April 1818,
the command of which devolved upon him in May 1823 in consequence
of the decease of Lieut.-Colonel Miller. Lieut.-Colonel Shawe died
on the 10th of April 1826, on board His Majesty’s sloop “_Slany_,”
while within one day’s sail of Penang, where he was buried with
all military honors. His life was sacrificed to his zeal for his
duty, his health being such that, on leaving Calcutta, his medical
advisers tried every argument to dissuade him from proceeding to
join his regiment, then employed in the Burmese territory.
_List of Fifty-six Battalions formed from Men raised under the_
ARMY OF RESERVE _and_ ADDITIONAL FORCE ACTS, _in the Years 1803 and
1804_.
_Under the Army of Reserve Acts in 1803._
The following _Nineteen Regiments_ were appointed to receive men
raised for limited service in Great Britain and Ireland, under the
_Army of Reserve Acts_, passed in the year 1803, and were augmented
by second battalions, viz.:
+-------------------------+--------------------+---------------------+
| IN ENGLAND. | IN SCOTLAND. | IN IRELAND. |
| Under the Act passed on | Under the Act | Under the Act |
| the 6th of July 1803. | passed on the | passed on the |
| | 6th of July 1803. | 11th of July 1803. |
+-------------------------+--------------------+---------------------+
| 3rd Reg. 53rd Reg. | 26th Regiment | 18th Regiment |
| 28th ” 57th ” | 42nd ” | 44th ” |
| 30th ” 61st ” | 92nd ” | 58th ” |
| 39th ” 66th ” | | 67th ” |
| 47th ” 69th ” | | |
| 48th ” 81st ” | | |
+-------------------------+--------------------+---------------------+
In addition to the above corps, _Sixteen Reserve Battalions_ were
also formed from the men raised in the several counties of Great
Britain and Ireland, under the _Army of Reserve Acts_, as under
specified, viz.:
+---------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
| IN ENGLAND. | IN SCOTLAND. |
+---------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
| 1st Reserve Battalion 9th Reserve Battalion| 5th Reserve Battalion|
| 3rd ” 10th ” | 14th ” |
| 4th ” 11th ” +-----------------------+
| 6th ” 12th ” | IN IRELAND. |
| 7th ” 15th ” +-----------------------+
| 8th ” | 2nd Reserve Battalion|
| | 13th ” |
| | 16th ” |
+---------------------------------------------+-----------------------+
_Under the Additional Force Acts in 1804._
In the year 1804, _thirty-seven_ other Regiments (as shown in the
following list) were augmented by second battalions, in consequence
of having been appointed to receive men raised for limited service
in Great Britain and Ireland, under the _Additional Force Acts_
passed on the 29th of June, and 10th and 14th of July, 1804, viz.:
+---------------------------------------------------+
| IN ENGLAND. |
| Under the Act passed on the 29th of June 1804. |
+--------------+--------------+---------------------+
| 5th Foot | 25th Foot | 56th Foot |
| 6th ” | 31st ” | 59th ” |
| 7th ” | 32nd ” | 62nd ” |
| 8th ” | 36th ” | 63rd ” |
| 9th ” | 38th ” | 82nd ” |
| 10th ” | 40th ” | 83rd ” |
| 14th ” | 43rd ” | 90th ” |
| 15th ” | 45th ” | 96th ” late 2nd |
| 23rd ” | 50th ” | Battalion of |
| 24th ” | 52nd ” | 52nd Regiment. |
+--------------+----------+---+---------------------+
| IN SCOTLAND. | IN IRELAND. |
| Under the Act passed on | Under the Act passed on |
| the 10th of July 1804. | the 14th of July 1804. |
+-------------------------+-------------------------+
| 1st Royal Regiment | 27th Regiment |
| 21st ” | 87th ” |
| 71st ” | 88th ” |
| 72nd ” | 89th ” |
| 91st ” | |
+-------------------------+-------------------------+
List of the _Fifty-six_ regiments which were appointed to receive
men, raised for limited service in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
under the _Additional Force Acts_, passed in the year 1804,
including the _Nineteen_ regiments (marked thus *) which had been
augmented by _Second Battalions_ from the men raised under the
_Army of Reserve Acts_ passed in the previous year (1803), and
specifying the counties allotted to the several regiments.
_Adjutant-General’s Office,
Horse Guards, 1804._
+-------------------------------------------------+
| IN ENGLAND. |
| Under the Act passed on the 29th of June 1804. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| Regiments. | Counties. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| *3rd | London City. |
| 5th | Sussex. |
| 6th | Lancaster. |
| 7th | York (West Riding). |
| 8th | York (North Riding). |
| 9th | Dorset and Somerset. |
| 10th | Essex. 43rd Worcester. |
| 14th | Bedford, Buckingham, Northampton. |
| 15th | York (East Riding). |
| 23rd | Anglesey, Carnarvon, Denbigh, |
| | Flint, & Merioneth. |
| 24th | Warwick. |
| 25th | Cumberland, Westmoreland. |
| *28th | Devon. |
| *30th | Huntingdon, Leicester, Cambridge. |
| 31st | Chester. |
| 32nd | Cornwall. |
| 36th | Durham. |
| 38th | Stafford. |
| *39th | Salop. |
| 40th | Dorset & Somerset, late Second |
| | Battalion of 52nd Regiment. |
| 43rd | Worcester. |
| 45th | Nottingham & Rutland. |
| *47th | Norfolk. |
| *48th | Lancaster. |
| 50th | Gloucester. |
| 52nd | Hertford, Oxford, & Bucks. |
| *53rd | York (West Riding). |
| 56th | Surrey. |
| *57th | Kent, & the Cinque Ports. |
| 59th | Derby. |
| *61st | Northumberland. |
| 62nd | Wilts. |
| 63rd | Suffolk. |
| *66th | Hants, & the Isle of Wight. |
| *69th | Lincoln. |
| *81st | Hereford, Montgomery, & Radnor. |
| 82nd | Tower Hamlets. |
| 83rd | Middlesex. |
| 90th | Monmouth, Glamorgan, & Brecknock. |
| 96th | Cardigan, Carmarthen, & Pembroke. |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| FORTY REGIMENTS. |
+-------------------------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------+
| IN SCOTLAND. |
| Under the Act passed on |
| the 10th of July 1804. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| Regiments. | Counties. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| 1st Royal | Lanark, Wigton, Dumfries, |
| | Kirkcudbright, Selkirk, & |
| | Roxburghe. |
| 21st | Renfrew & Ayr. |
| *26th | Edinburgh City & County, |
| | Linlithgow, Peebles, Berwick, |
| | & Haddington. |
| *42nd | Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland, |
| | & Caithness. |
| 71st | Stirling, Dumbarton, Fife, |
| | Kinross, Clackmannan, |
| | Kincardine, & Forfar. |
| 72nd | Aberdeen. |
| 91st | Bute, Argyle, & Perth. |
| *92nd | Nairn, Elgin, Inverness, & Banff. |
+-------------------------------------------------+
| EIGHT REGIMENTS. |
+-------------------------------------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------+
| IN IRELAND. |
| Under the Act passed on |
| the 14th of July 1804. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| Regiments. | Counties. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| *18th | Donegal, Londonderry, |
| | Tyrone, & Antrim. |
| 27th | Fermanagh, Monaghan, |
| | Armagh, & Down. |
| *44th | Kildare, Wicklow, Carlow, |
| | Westmeath, King’s County, |
| | & Queen’s County. |
| *58th | Cork City & County, |
| | & Kerry. |
| *67th | Dublin City & County, Roscommon, |
| | Longford, & Meath. |
| 87th | Tipperary, Galway, & Clare. |
| 88th | Cavan, Louth, Leitrim, Sligo, |
| | & Mayo. |
| 89th | Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford, |
| | & Limerick City & County. |
+------------+------------------------------------+
| EIGHT REGIMENTS. |
+-------------------------------------------------+
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Table of Contents Pg viii: ‘the word “Ava” on’
replaced by ‘the word “_Ava_” on’.
Pg 11: ‘R. Mc. Crea.’ replaced by ‘R. McCrea.’.
Pg 35: ‘unqualified appprobation’ replaced by ‘unqualified
approbation’.
Pg 39: separate sidenotes for 1844, 1845, 1846 and 1847 have been
replaced by one sidenote ‘1844 to 1847’.
Pg 62: ‘Your have sent me’ replaced by ‘You have sent me’.
Pg 78: ‘fith regiment was’ replaced by ‘fifth regiment was’.
Pg 96: ‘in Jauuary 1810’ replaced by ‘in January 1810’.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853" ***
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