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Title: Historical record of the Eighty-eighth Regiment of Foot, or Connaught Rangers. : containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1837.
Author: Cannon, Richard
Language: English
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HISTORICAL RECORDS
OF THE
BRITISH ARMY.
PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE
ADJUTANT-GENERAL.
THE
EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT OF FOOT;
CONNAUGHT RANGERS.
LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
14, Charing Cross.
GENERAL ORDERS.
_HORSE-GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836._
His Majesty has been pleased to command, that, with a view of doing
the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who have
distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy,
an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army
shall be published under the superintendence and direction of the
Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the following
particulars, _viz._,
—— 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 Honourable
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 honourable career, are among the motives that have given
rise to the present publication.
The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the
‘London Gazette,’ from whence they are transferred into the public
prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the
time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and
admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions,
the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on the
Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under 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 du Corps_—an attachment to every
thing belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a narrative of
the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting.
Authentic accounts of the actions of the great,—the valiant,—the
loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and
civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who,
in moments of danger and terror, have stood, “firm as the rocks
of their native shore;” and when half the World has been arrayed
against them, they have fought the battles of their Country with
unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements
in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our
countrymen,—our brothers—our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record
which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds
before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public.
Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished
Officers, will be introduced in the Records of their respective
Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to
time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value and
importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.
As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment will
be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall be
completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT
OF FOOT,
OR,
_CONNAUGHT RANGERS_;
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF
THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1793,
AND OF
SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1837.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
14, CHARING CROSS.
1838.
THE
EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT
OF FOOT,
OR
CONNAUGHT RANGERS,
BEARS ON ITS COLOURS
THE HARP AND CROWN,
WITH THE MOTTO
“_QUIS SEPARABIT?_”
AND THE FOLLOWING INSCRIPTIONS:—
“Egypt”——“Talavera”——“Busaco”——“Fuentes d’Onor”——
“Ciudad Rodrigo”——“Badajoz”——“Salamanca”——
“Vittoria”——“Nivelle”——“Orthes”——
“Toulouse”——and——“Peninsula.”
CONTENTS.
Anno Page
1793 The Regiment raised in Ireland and designated
“THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS” 1
1794 Embarks for Flanders —
———— Skirmish at Alost 2
———— Retreat through Holland —
1795 Embarks for England 3
———— Expedition to the West Indies —
1796 Returns to England 4
1799 Proceeds to the East Indies —
1800 Expedition to Egypt —
1801 Traverses the Desert 5
1803 Returns to England —
1804 A Second Battalion formed 6
1806 Proceeds to the Cape of Good Hope 7
1807 Embarks for South America 8
———— Attack on Buenos Ayres —
———— Returns to England 15
1808 Embarks for Cadiz 17
1809 Proceeds to Portugal ——
———— Operations in the Tras os Montes ——
———— Battle of Talavera de la Reyna ——
1810 Battle of Busaco 23
———— Lines of Torres Vedras 31
1811 Skirmish at Foz-d’Aronce 32
———— Battle of Sabugal ——
———— ———— Fuentes d’Onor ——
———— Siege of Badajoz 37
———— Blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo 38
1812 Siege of Ditto 39
———— ———— Badajoz 43
———— Battle of Salamanca 46
———— Advances to Madrid 48
———— Retreats to Portugal ——
1813 Advances into Spain 49
———— Battle of Vittoria 50
———— ———— the Pyrenees 51
———— ———— Nivelle 54
———— ———— Nive ——
1814 ———— Orthes ——
———— ———— Toulouse ——
———— Proceeds to Lower Canada 56
———— Attack on Plattsburg ——
1815 Returns to England 58
———— Proceeds to Flanders and advances to Paris ——
1816 In Garrison at Valenciennes 59
1817 Proceeds to Scotland ——
1818 Order of Merit established ——
1819 Marches to England 61
1821 Embarks for Ireland 62
1825 Proceeds to Corfu 63
1828 ———— to Cephalonia ——
1830 Returns to Corfu 64
1831 Proceeds to Vido 64
———— Returns to Corfu ——
———— The Badge——_Harp_ and _Crown_——with the Motto
“_Quis Separabit?_” authorized to be borne
on the Colours, &c. 65
1834 New Colours presented to the Regiment 71
1836 Proceeds to England 77
———— Does duty at Portsmouth 78
1837 Marches to Weedon ——
Service of the Depôt Companies from 1830 to 1836 77-87
Recapitulation 88
Services of the Second Battalion 90
APPENDIX.
Succession of Field Officers 94
Return of Officers Killed and Wounded 96
———— ———— ———— Died of Wounds, Fatigues, &c. 97
———— ———— ———— distinguished with Titles, Medals, &c. 98
Return of Non-Commissioned Officers, Drummers,
and Privates, who have received Medals 100
[Illustration: EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT OF FOOT (CONNAUGHT RANGERS.)]
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT OF FOOT,
OR
CONNAUGHT RANGERS.
[Sidenote: 1793]
When the breaking out of the war with France in 1793 occasioned
considerable additions to be made to the British army, this regiment
was raised in Ireland, under commission bearing date 25th September,
1793, by Colonel the Honourable Thomas de Burgh (afterwards Earl of
Clanricarde). Being recruited chiefly from the province of Connaught,
it assumed, as its distinctive appellation, the name of “CONNAUGHT
RANGERS;” and when the new-levied regiments were numbered from
Seventy-Eight upwards, received for its number EIGHTY-EIGHT. Its
facings were yellow, and it bore on its colours and appointments a
harp and crown, with the motto “Quis separabit?”
[Sidenote: 1794]
It was not long before the active services of the new regiment were
called for in the field: in the summer of 1794 a reinforcement of
seven thousand men, under the command of Major-General the Earl of
Moira, was sent to join the army of the Duke of York in Flanders; and
of this force the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment, one thousand strong, and
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Keppel, formed part. The expedition
landed at Ostend on the 26th of June, at which time the Duke of
York, pressed by superior numbers, was retiring upon Antwerp; and
the Earl of Moira resolved not to attempt the defence of Ostend,
but to endeavour to join his Royal Highness. After a tedious and
difficult march, in the face of a superior and victorious enemy,
whose troops were already overrunning the country in all directions,
his Lordship arrived at ALOST, where he was attacked by the French,
on the 6th of July, with great fury; the enemy was, however,
repulsed; the steadiness and valour of the troops, with the skill of
their leader, overcame all difficulties, and the junction between
Lord Moira’s corps and the army under his Royal Highness the Duke
of York was accomplished at Malines, on the 9th of July, when the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH was formed in brigade with the Fifteenth, Fifty-third,
and Fifty-Fourth Regiments.
In the harassing operations of the autumn of 1794, and in the
disastrous winter campaign and retreat which followed, the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH had a full share. For some time it formed part of the
garrison of Bergen-op-Zoom, where it was reviewed by the Prince of
Orange and some Hessian officers of high rank, and received much
commendation for its appearance and efficiency. When Bergen-op-Zoom
was considered no longer tenable, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was withdrawn
in the night by boats, under the command of Lieutenant (afterwards
Admiral Sir Home) Popham, and proceeded to join the army near
Nimeguen; in which fortress it was also subsequently placed in
garrison, but was withdrawn a few nights before the surrender. It was
then formed in brigade with the Eighth, Thirty-Seventh, Forty-Fourth,
and Fifty-Seventh Regiments, under the command of Major-General de
Burgh, and stationed near the Waal, to defend the passage of that
river.
On the 27th of November, 1794, General John Reid was appointed
Colonel of the Regiment, in succession to Major-General de Burgh,
who was removed to the Sixty-Sixth Regiment.
[Sidenote: 1795]
The Waal having become frozen so as to bear an army with its
_matériel_, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH retired across the Leek, and the
men, being exposed to the storms of a severe winter, endured great
hardships. Robert Brown states in his Journal (7th January, 1795),
“Nearly half the army are sick, and the other half much fatigued with
hard duty; this is now the tenth night since any of us had a night’s
rest.” The enemy continuing to advance in overwhelming numbers, the
army retreated during the night of the 14th of January, through a
country covered with ice and snow. On the subsequent days, numbers
of the men, exhausted with fatigue and want of food, were unable
to proceed, and many were frozen to death by the road-side. The
EIGHTY-EIGHTH proceeded to Deventer, the capital of a district in
the province of Overyssel; from whence the Regiment marched on the
27th of January, and, continuing its route for several days across a
region of ice and snow, arrived in the Duchy of Bremen.
In April the Regiment embarked for England; after its arrival it went
into quarters at Norwich, and proceeded to fill up its thinned ranks
with recruits from Ireland.
In the autumn of 1795, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was ordered to form a
part of the expedition under Major-General Sir Ralph Abercrombie,
destined for the reduction of the French West India Islands, and
accordingly embarked under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel (now
Viscount) Beresford. The disasters which attended the sailing of
this expedition form a sad page in the naval history of England,
and were not easily obliterated from the memory of the survivors.
Various circumstances co-operated to delay the fleet, under Admiral
Christian, till a very late period of the year, and it had
scarcely quitted port when it encountered a hurricane by which it
was completely dispersed. Many of the ships foundered at sea; some
returned disabled into English ports; some were taken by the enemy,
and a small part only were able to weather the storm and proceed
to their original destination. The dispersion of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
Regiment was as complete as that of the fleet; two companies,
commanded by Captain Trotter, were all that reached the West Indies;
of the others, some were in the captured ships, some in those which
put back to England, and a crazy transport, in which one division
under Captain Vandeleur was embarked, was actually blown through the
Straits of Gibraltar as far into the Mediterranean as Carthagena.
Here the vessel was frapped together, and with great difficulty
navigated back to Gibraltar, where the men were removed out of her,
and on loosening the frapping the transport fell to pieces.
[Sidenote: 1796]
The two companies which reached the West Indies, after being employed
in the reduction of Grenada and the siege of St. Lucie, returned to
England in the autumn of 1796, when the whole battalion was again
assembled, and embarked under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Beresford for Jersey, where its numbers were once more completed to a
full establishment, by recruits from Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1799]
On the 1st of January, 1799, it sailed from Portsmouth for the East
Indies, still commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Beresford, and arrived
at Bombay 10th June, 1800.
[Sidenote: 1800]
The next active service of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was with the expedition
which the government of India fitted out, under the command of
Major-General Sir David Baird, in 1800, to co-operate with the army
under Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, in the expulsion of
the French from Egypt.
[Sidenote: 1801]
The troops sailed from India in December, and arrived at Cosseir on
the Red Sea in June, 1801. On this occasion, in the fourteen days’
march across what is called the “Long Desert” from Cosseir on the Red
Sea to Kenna on the Nile, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH formed the van of Sir
David Baird’s army, preceding the rest of the troops a day’s march,
and it was thus the first British regiment to tread this dangerous
route.
From Kenna it sailed in boats down the Nile, and reached Grand Cairo
on the day on which that fortress surrendered to the British troops
under Major-General (afterwards Lord) Hutchinson.
[Sidenote: 1803]
On the final evacuation of Egypt by the English, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
instead of returning to India, as had been originally intended,
proceeded to England in order to be reduced, but arrived at
Portsmouth on the very day that the war with France was renewed,
the 5th of May, 1803, and was consequently saved from that fate.
Its numbers being then much weakened by time and casualties, and
its effective strength still more so by the ophthalmia, which the
soldiers had contracted in Egypt, the corps was ordered into quarters
in Kent and Sussex, where it remained three years.
Amongst the measures of defence taken at this time by the government
to secure the country against the invasion with which it was
threatened by Buonaparte, a general order was issued from the
Horse-Guards on the 2nd of December, 1803, commanding that (in
case of the enemy’s effecting a landing in any part of the United
Kingdom) all officers below the rank of general officers, and not
attached to any particular regiment, should report themselves in
person to the general officer commanding the district in which they
might happen to reside; and requesting all general officers not
employed on the staff to transmit immediately their addresses to
the Adjutant-General. The Colonel of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, the Veteran
GENERAL REID, was then in his 82nd year; yet he immediately obeyed
the summons, and transmitted his address in a letter so spirited as
to deserve a place in the memoirs of the regiment which he commanded,
and upon which his gallantry reflected honour.
“_London, 6th December, 1803._
“SIR,—In obedience to the orders of His Royal Highness the
Commander in Chief, expressed in the London Gazette of Saturday
last, for all General Officers not employed on the Staff to report
to you their address, I have the honour to inform you, that I am to
be found at No. 7, Woodstock Street, near Oxford Street; that I am
an old man, in the 82nd year of my age, and have become very deaf
and infirm, but I am still ready, if my services be accepted, to
use my feeble arm in defence of my King and Country, having had the
good fortune on former occasions to have been repeatedly successful
in action against our perfidious enemies, on whom, I thank God, I
never turned my back.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “JOHN REID, General,
“Colonel of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment.
“_To the Adjutant-General._”
[Sidenote: 1804]
A second battalion was formed in 1804, and a statement of its
services is given at the end of this record.
[Sidenote: 1805]
In 1805, the regiment being then quartered in East Bourne barracks,
together with the Derby Militia and a detachment of the Tenth
Hussars, the whole under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable
Alexander Duff, of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, a quarrel unfortunately
occurred between the soldiers of the two corps, which might have led
to very serious results; but which that officer, with a degree of
tact and knowledge of the nature and feelings of a British soldier
that were highly creditable to him, not only rendered innoxious, but
converted into a source of eventual benefit to the regiment.
The result of this conduct on the part of the commanding officer was
the making of the two regiments such attached friends, that when, a
short time after, the Derby Militia was permitted to furnish three
hundred and fifty men to regiments of the line, more than two hundred
of the number volunteered for the “CONNAUGHT RANGERS,” although they
were beset by the officers and recruiting-parties of many English
regiments, who naturally, but vainly, hoped to gain the preference
over a corps then exclusively Irish. The volunteers from the Derby
Militia proved as good and gallant soldiers as any in the army, and
a very large portion of them were killed in the various actions in
which the regiment was afterwards engaged.
[Sidenote: 1806]
It was about this period that His Royal Highness the Commander
in Chief ordered Sir John Moore’s improved system of drill to be
adopted throughout the army: under the active superintendence of
Lieutenant-Colonel Duff, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was quickly perfected
in the new system, and was, in all respects, in the highest state
of discipline. The commander of the district, Major-General Sir
Arthur Wellesley, was reviewing Major-General Sir Brent Spencer’s
brigade, to which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH belonged, in Crowhurst Park,
near Hastings, when he received an express for the regiment to march
on the following day to Portsmouth, and join the expedition under
Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd. When the review was over, Sir
Arthur made known the orders he had received, and addressed the
regiment in very flattering terms, concluding a short and animated
speech with these words:—“I wish to God I was going with you!—I am
sure you will do your duty—ay—and distinguish yourselves too.” He
then took leave amidst the loud cheers of the corps.
[Sidenote: 1807]
The expedition[1] sailed from Falmouth on the 12th of November, 1806,
and, after remaining at St. Jago, in the Cape de Verde Islands, from
the 14th of December, 1806, to the 11th of January, 1807, arrived
in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, on the 22nd of March following.
Here the EIGHTY-EIGHTH landed in marching order, and was for the
first time inspected by Brigadier-General Craufurd, who expressed
himself in terms of approbation of its general appearance. From
the Cape the expedition sailed again on the 6th of April; called
at St. Helena on the 21st, to complete its stock of water and
provisions; and, quitting that island on the 26th, arrived on the
14th of June at _Monte Video_, then occupied by the British troops
under Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, who had arrived there in May,
preceding, and now assumed the command of the whole British force in
South America.
On the 26th of June the army arrived off Ensenada da Baragon, a
port on the river Plata, about thirty-two miles distant from Buenos
Ayres, and landed on the 28th without firing a shot. The Thirty-Sixth
and EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiments were brigaded together under the orders
of Brigadier-General the Honourable W. Lumley. On the 29th the
troops moved forward; the light brigade, composed of the rifle
corps and nine light infantry companies, formed the advance, which
was supported by Brigadier-General Lumley’s brigade, and followed
by the other corps in succession. On the 1st of July the army was
concentrated near the village of Reduction, about seven miles from
Buenos Ayres, from whence it again advanced on the following day,
crossed the Chuelo, a rivulet, by a ford called the Chico, and
traversed the low ground on the opposite bank, at the extremity of
which stands the city of _Buenos Ayres_.
Hitherto the enemy had offered only a very feeble resistance, which
the discharge of a few round shot was sufficient to overcome; but
when the right column, commanded by Major-General Leveson Gower,
arrived near the Coral de Miserere, the Spaniards displayed a
formidable body of infantry and cavalry, supported by a brigade of
guns, with others in reserve. Brigadier-General Craufurd, placing
himself at the head of his brigade, consisting of the Ninety-Fifth
Rifles and light battalion, immediately made a vigorous charge; drove
the enemy back in confusion; captured nine guns and a howitzer;
and, profiting by the panic which had seized his opponents, pursued
them into the very suburbs of the city, where his career of victory
terminated, and Major-General Leveson Gower ordered the troops, first
to halt, and then to take up a position for the night about a mile in
the rear, near the principal slaughtering-place of the town. During
the advance into the town, Captain William Parker Carroll, with his
company, took a tilted waggon loaded with bread, and an eight-pounder
brass gun, on which EIGHTY-EIGHTH was immediately scored with the
point of a soldier’s bayonet, to mark it as a regimental prize.
The troops remained under arms during the night, exposed to heavy
and incessant torrents of rain. In the morning Lieutenant-General
Whitelocke summoned the governor to surrender; the Spaniards,
however, made an attack upon the piquets, in which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
which had relieved the rifle corps, lost about twenty men killed and
wounded. The assault of the town was now determined upon, and the
morning of the 5th fixed for carrying it into execution. For this
service the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment was divided into wings, the right
being commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Duff, and the left by Major
Vandeleur, who were directed to enter the town separately by two
different streets, and, having gained the banks of the river on the
opposite side of the city, to possess themselves of the houses and
form on the flat roofs; but what further steps they were to take, or
what they were to do after so forming, was not stated.
At half-past six o’clock on the morning of the 5th of July the attack
commenced: the right wing of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, formed in sections,
advanced at a rapid pace through several streets unmolested, and
indeed without encountering, or even seeing, a single human being. A
death-like silence reigned throughout the town, or was interrupted
only by the measured tread of those who were most at a loss to
comprehend the meaning of the apparent solitude and desertion that
surrounded them. At length a few detached shots seemed to give a
prearranged signal, at which the entire population of a vast town was
to burst from its concealment, and in an instant the flat roofs of
the houses swarmed with a mass of musqueteers, who poured a deadly,
and almost unerring, fire upon the British soldiers. Under any
circumstances the combat between men exposed in an open street, and
adversaries ensconced behind the parapets of the houses on each side,
must have been an unequal one; but the British troops were for some
time absolutely defenceless in the midst of their enemies, having
been positively ordered to advance with unloaded arms.[2]
Lieutenant-Colonel Duff, however, penetrated as far as a church
on the right-hand side of the street in which his column had been
directed to establish itself; but the strength of the barricadoed
doors defied all attempts to force an entrance. His situation now
became desperate; to remain stationary was to expose himself and his
little band to certain massacre, unmitigated even by the being able
to sell their lives dearly; to advance was nearly as pregnant with
destruction; and even returning, independent of the repugnance every
British officer feels to the very idea of retreat, was “as bad as to
go on.” Lieutenant-Colonel Duff’s resolution was as prompt as the
necessity was urgent; he made up his mind, on the instant, to hazard
every thing while there was the most distant chance of success,
and determined to push on; a determination which was received by
his men with shouts, and seconded by them as if every individual
soldier had felt himself personally responsible for the issue of the
contest. With the few brave companions that survived, he succeeded
in making his way into a cross street, and forcing open two houses,
the doors of which were not so ponderous, or so well secured as
those of the church: the houses, however, were not carried till
after a severe struggle, in which all the men that defended them
were put to death: and even when taken they afforded the captors but
little shelter, being lower than the surrounding buildings, and,
consequently, commanded on every side. At length, after a vain and
murderous contest of four hours’ duration, but not until the last
round of ammunition was expended, Lieutenant-Colonel Duff and his few
remaining men were reduced to the necessity of surrendering prisoners
of war.
The left wing of the regiment, under Major Vandeleur, had been,
in the mean time, engaged in a contest equally murderous, equally
hopeless, and equally unfortunate. It had penetrated a considerable
way into one of the main streets of the town before a single enemy
appeared: two mounted videttes were at length observed retiring
slowly, and, as they retired, constantly looking up to the tops of
the houses, evidently giving directions to the armed men, who were
as yet concealed behind the parapets. Major Vandeleur ordered his
men to advance in double-quick time; a terrific shout now burst from
behind the parapets, and, in an instant, a dreadful fire of musketry,
accompanied by hand-grenades and other missiles, carried death
through the British ranks. Revenge or even resistance was out of the
question; nevertheless the men remained undismayed, and continued to
press on. A deep trench with a parapet cut across the street stopped
them but for a moment; they carried it at the point of the bayonet,
though with immense loss, and, finally, surmounting every obstacle,
succeeded in reaching the river, where they found themselves exposed
to an enfilading fire from the guns of the citadel, at about three
hundred yards’ distance: they broke open a house, but it afforded
no protection, the yard being surrounded by other parapeted houses,
from whence an incessant and destructive fire was poured upon them;
artillery was brought against them, and a large body of troops
surrounded them in a _cul-de-sac_, from which either advance or
retreat was impracticable. For three hours and a half did this
devoted little band protract the hopeless struggle, and not until
they were nearly annihilated, and until the firing had ceased on
every other point, and until, like their comrades under Colonel Duff,
they had expended the last ball cartridge that could be found even in
the pouches of their dead or dying companions, did they adopt the sad
alternative of surrender.
Thus ended the fatal 5th of July, 1807, the first and only occasion
on which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH sustained a defeat. They had the
consolation, however, of knowing, that all that men _could_ do they
_had_ done, and of reflecting on many individual acts of devoted
bravery highly honourable to the corps. Lieutenant Robert Nickle
(late Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty-Sixth) led the advance of
Brigadier-General Craufurd’s division column into the town, and fell,
dangerously wounded, after having given repeated proofs of cool
intrepidity united with the most daring courage. Lieutenant William
Mackie (now Major, and late Captain, in the Ninety-Fourth Regiment)
was severely wounded in the thigh, but, although fainting from loss
of blood, continued at the head of his men, until a second bullet
struck him across the spine, and stretched him, to all appearance,
dead upon the ground; contrary to every expectation, however, though
to the unfeigned delight of his comrades in arms, he survived, to
gather fresh laurels in the Peninsula. Lieutenant George Bury also
distinguished himself by vanquishing, in single combat, a Spanish
officer of grenadiers. Serjeant-Major William Bone, for his gallant
conduct on the same occasion, was recommended by Lieutenant-Colonel
Duff for an ensigncy, to which he was promoted, and died a Captain in
the Royal African regiment.
When the regiment was ordered for embarkation, Captain Oates, who
was doing duty with the first, though in fact belonging to the
second battalion, volunteered and received the permission of his
Royal Highness the Duke of York to accompany the regiment; being a
supernumerary he was attached to the Thirty-Eighth, a company of
which he commanded in the attack on the Plaza de Toros.
Some of the other divisions of the army had met with less opposition
than this regiment; the _Plaza de Toros_, a strong post on the
enemy’s right, and the _Residencia_, a good post on their left, were
taken; at the same time part of the army had gained an advanced
position opposite the enemy’s centre; but these advantages had cost
two thousand five hundred men in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
The loss of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH on this occasion amounted to twenty
officers, and two hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers and
privates killed and wounded.
_Officers killed._
Lieutenant Thompson
” Hale
Ensign M‘Gregor
Assist. Surgeon Ferguson
_Wounded._
Major Iremonger
Captain M‘Pherson
” Dunne
” Chisholme
” Seton
” Peshall
Lieut. Adair
” R. Nickle
” Graydon
” Whittle
” Stewart
” Buller
” Bury
” Mackie
” Gregg
Adj. Robertson
On the following morning Lieutenant-General Whitelocke consented,
at the instance of the Spanish commander, to desist from further
hostilities, and to evacuate the place, on condition of having the
captured regiments released.
The conduct of the Spanish towards the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, after its
surrender, was marked by much kindness, and few instances occurred
of officers being plundered. Captain M‘Gregor was robbed of his
gold watch by a black soldier, but recovered it again three days
afterwards, upon pointing out the man to a Spanish officer. The same
officer was afterwards introduced by Captain Parker Carroll, who
remained in the country as one of the British hostages, to General
Liniers, and invited by the General to breakfast. The room in which
he was received was decorated with coloured drawings of the different
corps of militia and volunteers which had been raised within the
last few months, and whose officers appeared to be of all hues and
colours, from the real jet black to the mulatto, tawny, and even
the pale mestee. The General, who entered freely into conversation
with his guest, asked Captain M‘Gregor what he thought of the troops
by whose portraitures he was surrounded?—receiving, of course, a
complimentary answer, he replied, “Ay, it is _I_ who have done all
this for them. Those Spaniards knew nothing of military tactics
until I arrived amongst them.” He spoke in terms of high praise of
Brigadier-General Beresford, and said they were indebted to that
officer for teaching them how to defend the town.
On the 10th of July the EIGHTY-EIGHTH re-embarked at Buenos Ayres,
and descended the River Plate to Monte Video, at which place it
arrived on the 18th; on the 8th of August it sailed with the
first division of the army for England, and, after a tedious
and boisterous passage, made Spithead on the 5th, and landed at
Portsmouth on the 8th of November, 1807. During the voyage it lost
two officers by death, Lieutenant Lawson and Ensign Jackson.
In February, 1807, while the regiment was abroad engaged in the
arduous services just detailed, its Colonel, General John Reid,[3]
died, and was succeeded in the command by W. Carr Beresford, at that
time Senior Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment, with the rank of
Colonel in the army. Such an instance of promotion is unusual in the
service at the present period, and must be considered, therefore, as
highly complimentary, not only to Colonel Beresford, but also to the
regiment of which he had been for so many years the acting commander.
[Sidenote: 1808.]
Soon after its arrival in England the battalion was marched into
Sussex, and from thence to Ashford in Kent. From Ashford it was moved
in the spring of 1808 to Maldon, in Essex, where it received a draft
of four hundred men from the second battalion; this detachment had
unfortunately contracted the ophthalmia in Hilsea barracks, and,
notwithstanding all the precautions that were taken to prevent the
contagion spreading, upwards of two hundred men were in a short time
afflicted with the disease; nor was it until towards October that the
battalion again became quite effective.
On the 28th of December the EIGHTY-EIGHTH sailed from Falmouth for
the Peninsula, but encountered, in the Bay of Biscay, a gale of
three weeks’ duration, by which the transports on board which it was
embarked, were at length forced into Cork, and detained there until
the 21st of February following. While at Cork, Colonel Duff, to the
great regret both of officers and soldiers, quitted the regiment, in
consequence of the recent death of his uncle the Earl of Fife, and
the command devolved on Major Vandeleur.
[Sidenote: 1809]
The original destination of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was Cadiz, off which
city it arrived on the 6th of March, 1809; but the Spanish Government
refusing to receive any British troops into the fortress, it was
ordered to Lisbon, where it landed on the 13th, and being brigaded
with the Eighty-Seventh, was marched, early in April, to Coimbra.
About this time, two of its non-commissioned officers, Serjeant-Major
Nicholas Torrence, and Quarter-Master Serjeant William Hill, were
promoted to commissions in the Portuguese army, of which the
Colonel of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH (Lieutenant-General Beresford) was
Commander-in-Chief, with the rank of Field Marshal.
When the combined British and Portuguese army moved from Lisbon
to the north of Portugal to expel Marshal Soult from Oporto, the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH was one of the regiments attached to the Portuguese
army under Marshal Beresford, destined to act upon the Upper Douro
and in the province of Tras os Montes, and intercept the retreat
of the French. The march upon Amarante, the passage of the Douro,
and the occupation of Oporto, are justly ranked high among the many
brilliant achievements of the Duke of Wellington: nevertheless, the
very nature of the service in which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was engaged
unquestionably tended to put to severe trial the discipline of every
corps employed in it. The rapidity and length of the marches; the
very unfavourable state of the weather; the obstacles presented by
the nature of the country in the Tras os Montes, where the men were
frequently obliged to use torch-light to avoid the risk of being
dashed to pieces in the craggy paths they were obliged to traverse;
the hospitality of the peasantry, who, totally ignorant of the
imperious demands of military duty, were loud in commiserating and
anxious to alleviate the hard fate of their deliverers thus compelled
to march through their country in such inclement weather, and at such
unseasonable hours; all offered temptations to straggling, which
it is not at all wonderful that the men in many instances yielded
to. The best-regulated army during a campaign, even if carried on
under the most favourable circumstances, always becomes more or less
relaxed in its discipline; and when it is considered that the wreck
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment, after its capture at Buenos Ayres, was
made up by drafts from the second battalion, that a few short months,
only, were allowed it to recruit and re-organize before it was again
employed in Portugal, it may be matter of regret, but certainly not
of surprise, that it did not form an exception to the general rule.
In fact many men were left behind, and some period of repose was
necessary to remedy these irregularities, but that repose could not
be obtained; for towards the end of June the whole disposable British
force was marched into Spain, and on the 27th and 28th of July was
fought the battle of TALAVERA DE LA REYNA.
The post of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, on the first day, was in the wood
on the river Alberche, and its conduct was much praised by Colonel
Donkin, who commanded the brigade. It retired in line under a heavy
fire, protecting by its steady front the advanced troops, who were
greatly out-numbered by the enemy. During the retreat the soldiers
were forbidden to fire unless they could _cover their man_. Corporal
Thomas Kelly, of the fourth company, was the first who pulled a
trigger; going up to the Adjutant, Lieutenant Stewart, and pointing
out a French officer, he said, “Do you see that officer standing by
the olive-tree in front of me? He is a dangerous man, and has been
giving directions to his soldiers that _won’t sarve us_; four of the
company have been hit already, but if you will allow me I think I
could _do for him_.” “Try, then, Kelly,” was the reply;—he fired;
the French officer fell, and the men, disconcerted by the loss of
their leader, ceased to harass the regiment, which continued its
retreat through the wood, and took post upon a hill on the left of
the allied army, which was the key of the position. The hill was
steep and rugged towards the enemy, but on the other side it was of
smoother ascent; the French, however, resolved to attack this post.
The sun was set, and the shades of night had gathered over the
hostile armies, when suddenly a body of French troops was seen
advancing boldly to the attack, and in an instant the regiments
were engaged in a sharp conflict. Colonel Donkin’s brigade beat the
enemy in front, and the Twenty-Ninth Regiment, by a gallant charge,
drove back part of the Ninth French Regiment. The enemy returned
to the attack; the fighting became vehement; “and in the darkness
the opposing flashes of the musketry showed with what a spirit the
struggle was maintained: the combatants were scarcely twenty yards
asunder, and for a time the event seemed doubtful; but soon the
well-known shout of the British soldier was heard, rising above the
din of arms, and the enemy’s broken troops were driven once more into
the ravine below.”[4] The fighting now ceased; and the bivouac fires
blazed up on both sides.
At day-break on the 28th the combat was renewed; a burst of artillery
rattled round the height and swept away the English by whole
sections; the roar of musketry succeeded, and the hill sparkled
with fire. At length, unable to sustain the increasing fury of the
British, and having lost above fifteen hundred men in the space of
forty minutes, the French retired in disorder to their own lines.
About two o’clock the enemy again advanced; their commander “gave the
signal for battle, and eighty pieces of artillery immediately sent a
tempest of bullets before the light troops, who, coming on with the
swiftness and violence of a hail-storm, were closely followed by the
broad black columns in all the majesty of war. 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 them no respite, pushed them back with a
terrible carnage.”[5] The attack was, however, soon renewed; a fierce
conflict raged along the whole front, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH nobly
maintained its post on the hill on the left; it had no opportunity of
gaining distinction in close fight, but displayed great steadiness in
sustaining a heavy fire of artillery. The French at length relaxed
their efforts, the fire of the British grew hotter, and their loud
and confident shouts—sure augury of success—were heard along the
whole line; finally the French retreated without venturing another
attack.
The loss of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH in killed and wounded amounted to six
officers and one hundred and thirty non-commissioned officers and
privates. The officers were Captains Blake, Graydon, and Whittle,
and Lieutenant M‘Carthy killed; and Captain Browne and Lieutenant
Whitelaw wounded.
In the movement upon Almaraz the EIGHTY-EIGHTH joined
Brigadier-General Craufurd’s brigade. In this position, very
appropriately named by the soldiers “Hungry Hill,” it suffered much
from the tardy and defective supply of rations; a situation the more
trying to the men from its contrast to the exuberant plenty they
had recently enjoyed in the north of Portugal. Subsequently, the
regiment occupied, for some time, the town of Campo Mayor, where
Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Wallace joined and took the command of
the battalion, which received, also, a detachment of three hundred
men from the second battalion. Advantage was immediately taken of the
regiments becoming, even for a short time stationary, to commence
a system of drilling necessary for the re-establishment of that
discipline which, during the incessant activity of the preceding
months, had unavoidably been somewhat neglected. The task required
great zeal and firmness, activity and energy; but Lieutenant-Colonel
Wallace showed himself fully competent to it, and had the
satisfaction and honour of rendering his corps, what it afterwards
was acknowledged to be, one of the finest service regiments in the
Peninsular army. At Campo Mayor, also, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH set the
example, which was speedily followed by other regiments, of forming a
regimental mess; indeed, a marked friendliness and cordiality reigned
throughout the corps.
About this time Major Vandeleur died,[6] and Colonel Donkin, who
commanded the brigade, quitted the army, addressing previous to his
departure a letter to Colonel Wallace, from which the following are
extracts:—
“The distinguished bravery of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment at
Talavera, I shall ever reflect upon with admiration; and this
splendid quality has been set off, first, by the utmost patience
under the greatest fatigues and privations, and latterly, by the
most exemplary behaviour while in a state of repose.
“I request you will be pleased to accept for yourself and your
gallant corps, my warmest acknowledgments and best wishes, and
convey to it my sincere assurance that should the chance of service
ever place it again under my command, it will be one of the highest
gratifications that I can receive.”
Towards the end of the year (1809), the EIGHTY-EIGHTH removed from
Campo Mayor, and occupied the town of Pinhel in the province of
Beira: it was brigaded with the Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth, under
Colonel Henry Mackinnon, and formed part of the third (or what was
afterwards known by the appellation of the “fighting”) division of
the army commanded by Lieutenant-General Picton.
[Sidenote: 1810]
The advance of Marshal Massena in the summer of 1810, preceded by the
proud but vain boast, that in pursuance of the Imperial orders he
would drive the English leopards into the sea, and plant the eagles
of France on the towers of Lisbon; the successes with which his first
operations were attended; the reduction one after another of Ciudad
Rodrigo and Almeida, belong to the general history of the Peninsular
war, into which the particular memoirs of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment
must glide on to the night of the 26th of September, the eve of the
battle of BUSACO.
On that night the combined British and Portuguese armies were
assembled in line, on the ridge of a lofty and precipitous range
of hills, taking its denomination from the village and convent of
Busaco. The Second division, under Lieutenant-General Hill, formed
the right; the Light division, commanded by Brigadier-General
Craufurd, was posted on the left near the convent; the Third division
was in the centre, while the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth occupied the
intermediate spaces, and the First, together with the cavalry, were
in reserve in the rear of the left. In their front, within little
more than half a cannon shot distance, lay the army of Massena. The
weather was calm and fine, and the dark mountains rising on either
side were crowned with innumerable fires. The French were apparently
all bustle and gaiety, and following their usual avocations with
as much sang froid as if employed in preparing for a review, not a
battle. Along the whole British line not a fire was to be seen; the
soldiers in stern silence, examined their flints, cleaned their locks
and barrels, and then stretched themselves on the ground to rest,
each with his firelock within his grasp. In their rear, unsheltered
by any covering but his cloak, lay their distinguished leader. During
the night the French light troops, dropping by twos and threes into
the lowest part of the valley, endeavoured to ascend the woody dells
and hollows, and establish themselves near the British piquets.
An hour before day on the 27th of September, Lord Wellington passed
through the ranks on foot. He passed in comparative silence, for the
English soldiers seldom indulge in those boisterous demonstrations of
joy so common with the troops of other nations, and indeed rarely are
known to huzza, except when closing with the enemy; but wherever he
was recognised, his presence was felt as the sure presage of another
victory, to be gained by the men whom he had already led in so many
fields of triumph. To be beaten when _He_ commanded, seemed, in the
opinion of his soldiers, next to impossible. As the light appeared,
the fire of musketry commenced in the deep hollows which separated
the two armies. Shortly afterwards two French columns, throwing
forward a cloud of skirmishers, emerged from the hollow beneath.
On the left, Marshal Ney advanced against the Light division under
Brigadier-General Craufurd, and, in spite of the fire of the
riflemen, broke through all opposition, and mounted the crest of
the ridge, to remain there, however, only for a moment, before the
bayonets of the Forty-Third, Fifty-Second, and Ninety-Fifth drove him
down again in confusion, leaving the ground covered with dead and
wounded, and the French General Simon, who led the attack, together
with many other officers and soldiers, prisoners.
In the mean time the left centre of the British army was assailed
with equal impetuosity by the second corps of Massena’s army
under General Reynier. The disposition of the Third division was
as follows:—four companies of the Forty-Fifth and EIGHTY-EIGHTH
occupied the crest of the hill to the left; the Seventy-Fourth
was considerably to the right of these two battalions, the Eighth
Portuguese a little to the right and rear, the Fifth and Eighty-Third
British were to the left of all, and the Ninth and Twenty-First
Portuguese on a rising ground to the right of the division.
Major-General Lightburne and Colonel Mackinnon commanded the two
British Brigades, and Colonel Champelmond the Portuguese, the whole
division being under the orders of Major-General Picton. Lord
Wellington, stationed on a rising ground near the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, had
a full view of these dispositions.
The advance of Reynier’s corps was made with the impetuous rush
on which the French troops so much depend, and a crowd of
sharp-shooters pressed forward in front of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH;
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace saw he was about to be attacked by a
column; a misty cloud had settled on the mountain, and he sent
Captain Dunne to observe the movements of the enemy on his right,
which was a little exposed.
The light troops, after a severe struggle, succeeded in driving back
the enemy, but were repulsed themselves in turn. Lieutenant-Colonel
Wallace with the utmost coolness, took two men from each of his
battalion companies, and placing them under the command of Lieutenant
Mackie, reinforced the advance, and thus for some time again kept
the French in check; at length, however, they were compelled to
retire before the overwhelming force that pressed upon them. The
situation was in the highest degree critical, and demanded decision
and coolness; the French light troops were rushing on with loud
shouts, closely followed by a column of infantry; General Picton was
not within reach at the instant, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was without
orders. At this moment Colonel Wallace addressed his men.
“The time so long wished for by you and by me is at length arrived;
you have now an opportunity of distinguishing yourselves. Be cool,
be steady, but above all, pay attention to my word of command—you
know it well. You see how these Frenchmen press on; let them do so;
when they reach a little nearer us I will order you to advance to
that mount—look at it lest you might mistake what I say. Now, mind
what I tell you; when you arrive at that spot, I will charge, and I
have now only to add, _the rest_ must be done by yourselves—press
on them to the muzzle—I say, CONNAUGHT RANGERS! press on the
rascals!”
This animating address was received by the men, not with shouts
and hurrahs, but still better, with a deep and silent attention,
indicating firmness of decision and earnestness of purpose.
The regiment was drawn up in line, and many men had already fallen;
the colours carried by Ensigns Joseph Owgan and William Grattan,
were pierced by numerous bullets, and three of the colour-serjeants
were wounded, when Captain Dunne returned, and reported to Colonel
Wallace, that besides the mass in his front, which was only the
advance of a column about to assail him, a body of riflemen had
occupied a cluster of rocks on the right of the regiment, and the
main body of the enemy was moving towards an open space which
separated the EIGHTY-EIGHTH from the Forty-Fifth regiment. Cool and
unruffled amongst the dangers that surrounded him, Lieutenant-Colonel
Wallace asked Captain Dunne if he thought half the battalion would be
sufficient to do the business. “No,” was the reply, “you will want
every man you can bring forward.” “Very well,” said Colonel Wallace,
“I am ready—Soldiers; mind what I have said to you—I have nothing
more to add—it now rests with yourselves.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace then threw the battalion into column
right in front, but had scarcely reached the rocks, when a murderous
fire was opened upon him; without losing his presence of mind for a
moment, he filed the grenadiers and two battalion companies out of
the column, ordering them to carry the rocks at all hazards, while
with the remainder of the battalion he pressed on against the main
body of the enemy.
The Eighth Portuguese regiment had not yet opened its fire; it was
too distant: four companies of the Forty-Fifth were engaged in an
unequal combat, bravely but ineffectually disputing every inch
of ground with a far superior force by which they were assailed:
their brave commander, Major Gwynne, had already fallen, and
these companies were on the very brink of being annihilated,
when the EIGHTY-EIGHTH rushed to their assistance, and the two
corps precipitated themselves into the midst of the French column,
consisting of their Second, Fourth, and Thirty-Sixth regiments, and
Irish brigade, and forming the advance of Reynier’s division; they
received one dreadful discharge of musketry, but only one; before a
second could be thrown in, they had passed through the French column,
and completely overthrowing it, drove it down the mountain side with
a mighty clamour and confusion, covering the ground with the dead and
dying, even to the bottom of the valley.
In the mean time, the three companies of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH which
had been detached to drive the French riflemen from the rocks on
the right, had been engaged in a severe and desperate struggle. In
the advance they were exposed to the deliberate aim of practised
marksmen ranged amphitheatrically rank above rank, and protected
by the rocks of which they had just taken possession; arrived at
the point of contest, both officers and men were soon engaged in a
hand-to-hand fight. The French defended themselves with more than
usual desperation, for they were aware that escape was out of the
question, and that they had no alternative between repelling their
assailants and being slain on the spot, or hurled headlong down the
precipitous rocks on which they had established themselves. Twenty
minutes, however, sufficed to decide the question, and to teach the
heroes of Marengo and Austerlitz[7] that, with every advantage of
position on their side, they must yield to the _Rangers of Connaught_.
During this short but arduous conflict Captain Dansey was severely
wounded, and Captain Dunne had a hair-breadth escape of swelling
the return of killed. He had made a cut with his sabre at one of the
French riflemen, but struck short, the man being above the reach of
his weapon; the Frenchman’s bayonet, on the other hand, was within a
few inches of Captain Dunne’s breast, and his finger on the trigger;
one word was shouted by Captain Dunne—it was the name of a serjeant
in the regiment, “BRAZEL!” He heard the call through all the din
of battle, and rushing forwards, although he fell upon his face in
making the lunge, buried his halberd in the Frenchman’s body, and
rescued his officer from certain death.
Lord Wellington, who had been a near spectator of the achievements of
the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, bestowed the warmest encomiums on the regiment. He
galloped up to it, and taking Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace by the hand,
said, “Wallace, I never saw a more gallant charge than that just now
made by your regiment.” In his public despatches he repeated the
expressions of approbation which he had used during the heat of the
combat, as the following extracts will show:—
“One division of French infantry arrived at the top of the
ridge, when it was attacked in the most gallant manner by the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Wallace.”... “In these attacks Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, &c.
&c., distinguished themselves.”... “I have also to mention
in a particular manner, the conduct of Captain Dansey of the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment.”... “And I beg to assure your Lordship,
that I never witnessed a more gallant attack than that made by the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH, Forty-Fifth, and Eighth Portuguese regiments, on the
enemy’s division which reached the ridge of the Sierra.”
The Colonel of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, Marshal Beresford, joined in the
praises bestowed upon his regiment, and recognised the faces of
some of the veteran soldiers who had served in India, Egypt, and
South America: these men crowded around him with that affectionate
familiarity which the high-wrought feelings of such a moment,
the sense of a community in past dangers, from which rank gave
no protection, and a companionship in present safety, sometimes
permitted even from the private soldier to the general.
The cluster of rocks, so lately the scene of deadly conflict,
presented a singular spectacle even to those whom use had
familiarized with such sights. At their foot many of the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH were stretched on the field, while in the chasms were
to be seen numerous Frenchmen still in the very attitude in which
death had overtaken them; some reclining backwards against a crag
as if asleep, others leaning forwards over a projecting stone, as
in the act of firing; while at the foot of the precipice, on the
further side, were many who had been dashed to pieces in their vain
endeavours to escape.
The instances of individual bravery displayed by the officers and
men of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH at _Busaco_ were numerous. Colonel Wallace,
finding the charger on which he was mounted at the commencement of
the day, was terrified by the firing, and reared frequently, at once
abandoned his horse, and fought for some time on foot at the head
of his men. Captain Dansey, who commanded one of the companies that
attacked the rocks, and who was severely wounded, distinguished
himself so as not only to obtain the immediate commendation of his
Colonel and the admiration of his comrades, but was also particularly
noticed in the despatches of the Commander-in-Chief. Lieutenant
William Mackie, to whom Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace confided the
command of the battalion-men sent early in the day to support the
light infantry, displayed all the courage and coolness necessary
in so critical a moment; he was frequently nearly surrounded by
the enemy, but escaped unhurt, and, on rejoining the regiment,
was loudly cheered by the men. Lieutenant Heppenstall, a young
officer, whose first appearance under fire was on this occasion, was
frequently mixed with the enemy’s riflemen, and shot two of them,
one an officer. Lieutenant William Nickle, serving with the light
company, was deliberately singled out by a Frenchman whose third
shot passed through his body, but without killing him; as he was
proceeding to the rear the same Frenchman sent a fourth shot after
him, which knocked off his cap, cheering at the same time. “Get on,
Nickle,” said Heppenstall, “I’ll stop that fellow’s crowing.” He
waited quietly till the man approached within sure distance, and then
revenged his wounded comrade by shooting the Frenchman dead. Corporal
Thomas Kelly, of the fourth company, (the same man who shot the
French officer in the retreat through the wood near the Alberche at
Talavera,) was severely wounded in the thigh at the commencement of
the charge against the French column, but continued to run with his
company down the hill, until he fell through exhaustion and loss of
blood.
The loss of the regiment at Busaco amounted to nine officers and one
hundred and twenty-four non-commissioned officers and privates killed
and wounded. The officers killed were Major Silver, Lieutenant H.
Johnston, and Ensign Leonard; the wounded, Major Macgregor, Captains
Dansey, M‘Dermot, and Bury; and Lieutenants Fitzpatrick and Nickle.
Unable to overcome the allied army in combat, the French commander
turned its flank; when Lord Wellington retired to the celebrated
lines of TORRES VEDRAS, where he opposed a resistance which compelled
the French Marshal, notwithstanding his superior numbers, to
relinquish his design upon Lisbon. The EIGHTY-EIGHTH formed part
of the troops which occupied the town and lines of Torres Vedras.
The weather was unusually wet, and the army being but indifferently
supplied with the materials necessary for the construction of
good huts, suffered much from the inclemency of the season; yet,
notwithstanding the fatigues of the severe campaign it had gone
through, the unfavourableness of the weather to health, and the
living principally on salted provisions, of which the rations served
out to the army chiefly consisted, the regiment continued in the
most effective state. The French, however, suffered much greater
privations, and eventually they were forced to retire.
On the 14th of November, Marshal Massena (Prince of Esling) left
his position during the night, and took the road to Santarem. This
operation was performed under cover of a dark and stormy night, and
the enemy effectually succeeded in deceiving the British piquets by
substituting _straw figures_, in place of his veteran tirailleurs,
admirably appointed with caps and accoutrements, and by this ruse
succeeded in effecting his movement without loss; verifying an old
remark, that “_men of straw_,” by putting on a good appearance, often
deceive their neighbours.
The allied army moved forward; the head-quarters were established at
Cartago, and the third division occupied the village of Togarro. The
French commander was subsequently forced to retire from his position.
[Sidenote: 1811]
In the pursuit of Massena towards the frontiers of Portugal, the
Third division was not much engaged with the enemy, but the
continual marches to turn the flanks of the French army subjected
it to great fatigue. In the course of these marches and constant
skirmishes, the regiment lost a most intelligent and enterprising
officer, Lieutenant Heppenstall, already mentioned; he fell in the
action of FOZ-D’ARONCE, on the 15th of March, 1811. He was buried at
the foot of a pine, near the spot where he fell, under the direction
of Dr. Arthur Stewart.
In the action at _Sabugal_, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, though present, was
not actually engaged, a severe storm of snow and hail, which fell
just at the moment the Third division, having issued from the woods
on the enemy’s right, was about to charge, completely hiding the
French corps (General Reynier’s) from view, and giving its commander
an opportunity of retiring unattacked.
On the first two days of _Fuentes d’Onor_, it was in position, but on
the third and decisive day of that glorious battle it had a brilliant
opportunity of distinguishing itself, and earning another honorary
inscription for its colours.
The village of _Fuentes d’Onor_, which is situated on some low
ground, with an old chapel and a few buildings on a craggy eminence
at one end, had been the scene of a long, protracted, and sanguinary
contest on the 3rd of May; the lower part of the village had
been several times taken and retaken, and during the night each
army occupied that part of the village which had remained in its
possession when darkness and mutual exhaustion put a temporary stop
to the battle. The following day was wholly passed in reconnoitering
and manœuvres; the British force in Fuentes d’Onor was considerably
reinforced from the First division, and amongst other regiments sent
to aid in its defence were the Seventy-First and Seventy-Ninth.
Soon after day-break on the 5th, the attack was recommenced by the
French with increased numbers and renewed fury. Lord Wellington
observing the serious efforts of Massena upon this point, and fully
appreciating its importance, ordered the Twenty-Fourth, Forty-Fifth,
Seventy-Fourth, and EIGHTY-EIGHTH British, together with the Ninth
and Twenty-First Portuguese regiments, to its support.
It was now about half-past twelve o’clock; the combat in the
village had lasted without intermission for eight hours during a
day of oppressive heat, and our ammunition was nearly expended.
The Highlanders were driven to the church-yard at the top of the
town, where they were fighting with the French grenadiers over the
tomb-stones and graves, while the Ninth French light infantry had
penetrated as far as the chapel, only a short distance from our line,
and were preparing to débouche upon our centre. Lord Wellington
was on the spot, and surveyed what was passing with the immovable
coolness which always characterized him; the troops in the town
were nearly worn out in the contest and about to retire, when the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH was ordered to their support, and changed the face
of affairs. Colonel the Honourable Edward Pakenham, who was in the
hottest of the fire, had inquired what regiments were in reserve; and
when the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was named amongst others, asked, “Is Wallace
with the EIGHTY-EIGHTH?” and on being replied to in the affirmative,
said, “Tell him to come down then, and drive these fellows back; he
will do the thing properly.”
The battalion was ordered to advance in column of sections, left in
front, in double-quick time. As it passed down the road leading to
the chapel it was warmly cheered by the troops lying at each side the
wall, but the soldiers gave no cheer, no reply; they were placed, and
they felt it, in a situation of great distinction; they were about
to fight not only under the eye of their own general and his army,
but in full view, also, of the French army; their feelings were wound
up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, but there was no huzzaing,
no noise, or talking in the ranks; the men, headed by their brave
Colonel, stepped together at a smart pace under a very heavy fire
of artillery and musketry, as steady and as silent as if on parade.
The company which led this attack was commanded by Ensign William
Grattan. When they came within sight of the French Ninth regiment,
which was drawn up at the corner of the chapel ready to receive
them, he turned round to observe the state of his men; the soldiers
understood his look and action, and replied to it by a cheer, the
first they had given, and which, so given, showed plainly that their
hearts were in a right state.
The enemy had not remained idle spectators of this movement; a
battery of eight pounders advanced at a gallop on the opposite side
of the river, and opened a heavy fire on the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, hoping
to annihilate it, or at least to check its progress and cripple
its efforts, but the battalion, regardless of the grape which was
showered upon it, continued to press on, and, in fact, suffered but
slightly from the cannonade to which it was exposed. Arrived within a
few yards of the chapel they were met by the Ninth French regiment,
supported by some hundreds of the Imperial Guard, who rushed on
with their usual impetuosity and bravery, uttering loud shouts and
throwing in their fire as they advanced; the EIGHTY-EIGHTH replied
with the bayonet, and rapidly closing with their enemies, so totally
overthrew them, that they were not able to rally afterwards. The
exhausted but brave troops that had been so seriously engaged all the
morning, now joined in the pursuit, and in less than fifteen minutes
from the time the EIGHTY-EIGHTH commenced its attack there was not a
French combatant in the village: their whole force was driven across
the rivulet, and many of the British in their pursuit fell on the
French side of the stream.
About one hundred and fifty of the Old French Guard in their flight
ran down a street which was one of the few that had escaped the fury
of the morning attack, and the further end of which, unknown to them,
had been barricaded by our troops the night before. Shut up thus in
a complete _cul-de-sac_, the result may be easily imagined;—it was
a frightful slaughter, but it was unavoidable. Troops advancing to
assault a town, flushed, indeed, with victory, but uncertain whether
that victory may not be wrenched the next minute from their grasp,
have no time to deliberate. Some of the French Guard sought a vain
refuge in bursting open the houses and ascending the chimneys, but
their enemies were too close at their heels for them to succeed. This
attack was headed by Lieutenant George Johnston, who, not satisfied
with clearing one street, immediately proceeded to the next, where
the enemy still made a show of resistance, and at length carried
away by feelings very natural at such a moment, he climbed up to
the top of a stone cross, erected in a square at the river’s edge,
and taking off his hat waved it in defiance towards the enemy. The
French, however, made no further effort to recover the place, but
confined themselves to a heavy cannonade which they continued to pour
into the streets, utterly regardless of its murderous effects upon
their own wounded. From this cannonade the men of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
were ordered by Colonel the Honourable Edward Pakenham to shelter
themselves, when they took a position behind a wall in the rear
of the chapel, and soon afterwards evacuated the town, which was
occupied by the light division under Brigadier-General Robert
Craufurd.
When the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was ordered by Colonel Mackinnon to resume
its place in brigade, the enemy’s fire had ceased, but as soon as
they were seen in motion, it recommenced with double fury; the
wall was knocked down in several places, and one round shot passed
between Colonel Pakenham and Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, who were on
horseback close to each other. It carried away the top of the wall,
one of the stones striking Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace on the head
and knocking his hat off, but doing him no further injury, though,
for the moment, his men believed he had been killed. The regiment
then quitted the place by companies in file as the safest way to
avoid the effects of the cannonade: the companies returned, left in
front. Colonel Pakenham, with his hat shot through the leaf, and
his hand wrapped up in a pocket handkerchief, called out to Ensign
Grattan as he passed at the head of the foremost company, to know
where he was going, and why he left the village. Being told that it
was in consequence of orders from Colonel Mackinnon, Colonel Pakenham
replied, “I did not observe your _number_. Do as you are directed;
your regiment has done enough for this day; but you may tell whatever
troops you meet, that each man may as well bring a keg of ammunition
under his arm, for those rascals shall never get possession of the
town as long as I have life.” By four o’clock in the afternoon the
regiment had joined its brigade.
The conduct of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH at Fuentes d’Onor (as at Busaco)
obtained the particular notice of Lord Wellington, who, in his
despatch containing the account of that battle, says, “On one of
these occasions, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, with the Seventy-First and
Seventy-Ninth, under the command of Colonel Mackinnon, charged the
enemy, and drove them through the village. Colonel Mackinnon has
reported particularly the conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace and
Lieutenant and Adjutant Stewart of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment.”
The loss of the regiment was not so great as might have been expected
from the brilliancy and seriousness of the affair in which it had
been engaged. This comparatively small loss is to be attributed to
the great steadiness and regularity of the men in their different
attacks, and to the rapidity with which, on all occasions, they
closed with their adversaries. Only one officer, Captain Irwin, was
killed, and four wounded, _viz._ Lieutenants Stewart, Macalpin, and
Halket, and Ensign Owgan. Of non-commissioned officers and privates,
seven were killed and fifty-three wounded.
For a few days after the battle of Fuentes d’Onor, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
occupied the village of Navez de Aver, and was then ordered to
the south to join the forces engaged in the siege of Badajoz.
No opportunity occurred during this siege for the regiment to
distinguish itself as a body, but many detached instances of
intrepidity were displayed by the men as circumstances gave them an
opportunity. Amongst others, on the day before the first assault
on St. Christoval (the 5th of June), Private Edmund Man, of the
grenadier company, was employed in repairing a damaged embrasure
in one of the batteries against the castle. He was sitting outside
the embrasure, pegging in a fascine, when Colonel Fletcher, the
commanding engineer, who, though fearless of any danger as far as
regarded himself, was particularly tenacious of allowing the soldiers
to expose themselves unnecessarily, called to him, “Come in, my
fine fellow, and you will do your work as well, or nearly so at
all events.” “It’s hardly worth while, Colonel,” replied Man, “I am
just finished, and they cannot hit me, for they have been trying it
hard this quarter of an hour.” The words were scarcely out of the
brave fellow’s mouth, when a round shot cut him in two, the French
cannoniers cheering loudly at the same time at the accuracy of their
practice.
When the siege of Badajoz was raised in the month of June, the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH proceeded to quarters in Campo Mayor, where the second
battalion, which had joined the army on the advance from the lines of
Torres Vedras, was drafted into the first, making it a fine effective
corps, numbering upwards of one thousand bayonets. The staff of the
second battalion then returned to England to recruit.
In the autumn of this year the regiment was selected to support the
outposts of the army against the attacks of the French garrison of
Ciudad Rodrigo, and was cantoned in the villages of El Bodon, La
Encina, and Pastores. The French had been in the habit of plundering
the country around, and successful in several of their excursions
previous to the arrival of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH. A few nights after the
regiment occupied Pastores, its outposts were attempted by a party
from the garrison, which was immediately repulsed with loss, and its
commander killed on the spot by Corporal John Walsh of the light
infantry company. It was the first and also the last attempt the
enemy made on the EIGHTY-EIGHTH during its stay in the neighbourhood.
The blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo was completed on the 5th of September,
and preparations for the siege commenced, when the junction of
Marshal Marmont and Count Dorsenne obliged Lord Wellington to
abandon the design for a time. On the 25th of the same month,
the third division was attacked at El Bodon by General Montbrun,
and fell back upon Fuente Guinaldo, in good order and with little
loss, although the distance was eight miles, and the retreat was
made in the face of a powerful artillery and cavalry force. The
EIGHTY-EIGHTH suffered but slightly in this affair, and occupied for
its winter-quarters, or rather quarters of repose, the village of
Aldea da Ponte.
[Sidenote: 1812]
In the depth of the ensuing winter the army was suddenly called from
its cantonments to the siege of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, the investment of
which fortress was effected on the 8th of January, 1812. The service
of the trenches was carried on by the first, third, fourth, and light
divisions alternately, each taking the duty for four-and-twenty
hours. The weather was severe, and the troops without covering, but
the men were in high health and spirits, and the siege was prosecuted
with so much vigour, that on the 19th of the same month, two
practicable breaches having been made in the body of the place, Lord
Wellington determined to carry it by storm.
The third and light divisions had the honour to be selected for
this service; the latter was directed to attack the left or smaller
breach, while the assault of the grand breach was confided to the
former. The fourth division was in reserve. It was half-past six in
the evening when the orders for storming the town arrived; Colonel
Wallace was absent from the army on account of ill-health, and the
command of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH devolved upon Major Thompson. A few
minutes before the brigade was formed for the attack, Major-General
Mackinnon sent for Major Thompson, and told him, he wished the
forlorn hope to be led by a subaltern officer of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH;
adding, that in the event of such officer surviving, he should be
recommended for, and as a matter of course would obtain, a company.
Major Thompson felt the distinguished compliment to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
which this intimation of the General’s wish conveyed, and calling his
officers together, informed them of it. Lieutenant William Mackie,
then _senior-lieutenant_, instantly stepped forward, and dropping
his sword, said, “Major, I am ready for that service.” “Go then,”
replied the Major, taking him by the hand, “Go, and God bless you!”
The soldiers, who were close at hand, heard what passed, and some
difficulty arose in selecting, out of the numbers who pressed forward
claiming on some pretence or other the preference in danger, the
twenty to which the Forlorn Hope was limited. The selection, however,
was quickly made from the company which Lieutenant Mackie commanded.
The regiment was formed in sections, right in front, and everything
in readiness to obey the signal gun for the advance, when
Lieutenant-General Picton and Major-General Mackinnon appeared
accompanied by their staff. Long harangues are seldom made to
British soldiers, and in the present instance Lieutenant-General
Picton’s words were few, but at the same time too animating, and too
characteristic of himself, not to be recorded verbatim. They were,
“RANGERS OF CONNAUGHT! It is not my intention to expend any powder
this evening: we will do this business with the cold iron.”
The troops then entered the trenches with Major-General Mackinnon at
their head; on leaving the approaches they advanced rapidly over the
rugged ground leading to the breach, many of the men carrying bags
filled with grass to throw into the ditch and break the descent.
Arrived at the foot of the breach they speedily mounted, but met with
a very gallant resistance, and many men and officers fell: amongst
the latter was the commander of the Brigade, Major-General Mackinnon,
who was killed with many others by an explosion of gunpowder in
the moment of victory. On each side the breach was a twenty-four
pounder, every discharge from which swept it with a raking fire.
Major Thompson of the Seventy-Fourth (acting engineer), observing the
destruction occasioned by these guns, ordered the few men who were
next at hand to storm the one on the left; the nearest men happened
to be three of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, Brazel, who saved Captain Dunne’s
life at Busaco, Kelly and Swan. Beneath them and the gun was a deep
retrenchment, which would have rendered it impossible for them to
reach it in time to anticipate its next fatal discharge, if they were
encumbered with their firelocks. Without a moment’s hesitation they
threw aside the heavier weapon, and armed only with their bayonets,
leaped the interposing barrier, rushed up to the muzzle of the piece,
and after a short but terrific combat (in which Swan lost his arm
by the stroke of a sabre) put all the French cannoniers to death
and silenced the gun. The troops on the breach were now safe from
the havock which had a few minutes before been so fatal to their
comrades, and in half an hour the town was carried.
Lieutenant Mackie, guided by the fugitives of the garrison, was the
first to arrive with his party at the gates of the citadel, where
the enemy inquired for a General Officer to receive their surrender.
The Lieutenant being a Grenadier officer, pointed to his epaulettes
as a guarantee of their safety in surrendering to him, and the gate
was immediately opened. The officer commanding the advance of the
light division coming up at the moment, the governor and his staff
were conducted to Lord Wellington, who had by this time reached the
ramparts.
Lieutenant Faris was engaged during the assault in a desperate
hand-to-hand conflict. Two French grenadiers, observing him far in
advance of his men, attacked him. One fired and immediately ran away,
his bullet passing through the Lieutenant’s coat; the other then
fired, wounded him slightly in the thigh, and immediately closed upon
him with the bayonet, making a thrust at the body, which Lieutenant
Faris parried with his sabre, but received a severe wound in the leg;
a personal struggle then took place, from which Lieutenant F. at
length succeeded in disengaging himself, and killed his adversary by
a sabre cut on the head. By this time he was completely exhausted,
and was obliged to be carried into the next house. His wounds,
however, though severe, were neither of them dangerous, and he soon
recovered.
The loss of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH before _Ciudad Rodrigo_ was one
officer, Lieutenant Beresford, and twenty rank and file killed;
four Lieutenants, Flack, Armstrong, Johnston, and W. Kingsmill, two
serjeants, and fifty-four rank and file wounded. Lord Wellington in
his despatches notices the third division and this regiment in the
following words,—
“The conduct of all parts of the Third Division in these
operations, which they performed with so much gallantry and
exactness on the evening of the 19th in the dark, affords the
strongest proofs of the abilities of Lieutenant-General Picton
and Major-General Mackinnon, &c.” And again: “It is but justice
to the third division, to report that the men who performed the
sap belonged to the Forty-Fifth, Seventy-Fourth, and EIGHTY-EIGHTH
Regiments.”
After the reduction of Ciudad Rodrigo, the regiment occupied the
village of Albergeria until the middle of February, when it marched
towards the South to join the forces in Alentejo, and act against the
fortress of _Badajoz_. In this siege the duty of the trenches was
performed by the third, fourth, and sixth divisions, about sixteen
thousand strong, while the French garrison amounted to six thousand.
The place was invested on the 16th of March, and the trenches
opened the same night. On the night of the 19th the garrison made
a sortie with two thousand men against the right of the trenches
with great gallantry, and at first with considerable success, but
were finally driven back to the town with loss. In that part of
the British line which faced the advanced fort called La Picurina,
were two batteries in a forward state, occupied by a party of the
Forty-Fifth and EIGHTY-EIGHTH, under the command of Captain Hogan of
the EIGHTY-EIGHTH. The trenches were in such a state from the rain
which had fallen almost incessantly from the commencement of the
siege, that the working parties were up to their knees in water, and
it was deemed right to keep the covering troops as much as possible
out of the wet ground. About half an hour before the usual time
of relieving the guard of the trenches, Ensigns Darcy and Grattan
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, although the smoke of the French batteries
combined with a heavy fog rendered it impossible to distinguish
objects at any distance, thought they observed symptoms of the
enemy’s meditating a sortie from the Picurina Fort. Without waiting
for orders, they instantly directed the working party to throw down
their tools and resume their arms; in the next moment, and before
many of the men were in readiness to act, the French made a rush at
the battery No. 2, but were received at the point of the bayonet, by
the few assembled men of the Forty-Fifth and EIGHTY-EIGHTH, and thus
the readiness and presence of mind of two young officers, and the
firmness of a handful of brave men, preserved the half finished works
from destruction. Some of the soldiers pursued the repulsed enemy as
far as the glacis of the town, and two privates of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
Kelly of the fourth company (who has been already mentioned for his
conduct at Talavera, Busaco, and Ciudad Rodrigo) and M‘Gowan of the
grenadiers particularly distinguished themselves.
On the 24th the regiment lost one Lieutenant (North) killed, and
had another Lieutenant (Stewart) wounded, by the fire of the place.
On the evening of the 25th it was determined to storm the Picurina
redoubt; five hundred men of the third division were ordered upon
that duty, and amongst them a detachment of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
commanded by Captain Oates and Lieutenant George Johnston. The latter
officer was a volunteer; it was not his tour of duty in the trenches,
and he still carried his arm in a sling from the effects of his wound
at Ciudad Rodrigo; but the moment he heard that Captain Oates, who
was the Captain of his company, was to be of the storming party, he
determined to join him. The first attack was made at the gorge of
the redoubt, but the defences were too strong and the resistance too
obstinate even for troops accustomed to victory; repulsed there,
however, and with severe loss, they did not abandon the attack in
despair; gliding round the flanks and faces of the work, they sought
for, and at length obtained, an entry by scaling the ramparts. In
one of these attempts the ladders proving too short, Captain Oates
observing that the ditch though very deep was narrow, called out,
“Come, boys, though the ladders are too short to mount _up_ the
ditch, let us try our hand with them across it.” In a few minutes
three ladders were pitched from the glacis into the mouth of an
embrasure, and across them, in spite of a severe fire of musketry and
grape. Captain Oates led the way into the redoubt; here he soon fell,
disabled by a severe wound, and Lieutenant Johnston was killed within
a few paces of him; in fact, of fifteen officers who were with the
party not one escaped unhurt.
During the further progress of the siege, the regiment lost a
field-officer, Major Thompson, who was killed in the trenches on the
night of the 28th, and on the same night Brevet-Major Murphy was
wounded. In the final assault on the 6th of April, the escalade of
the castle was the duty allotted to the third division. Lieutenant
Whitelaw of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH volunteered to lead the advance of
twenty men, but less fortunate than his brother officer, Lieutenant
Mackie at Ciudad Rodrigo, fell at the moment of victory; Captain
Lindsay of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was also killed while in the act of
raising a ladder for his company to escalade the castle wall; three
other Lieutenants were killed (Mansfield, Cotton, and Macalpine); and
one Captain (Peshall) and four Lieutenants (Faris, Armstrong, Davern,
and Grattan) wounded. Mr. Thomas Martin, eldest son of Richard
Martin, Esq., many years M.P. for Galway, who had joined the regiment
as a volunteer soon after the opening of the trenches and accompanied
the grenadiers in the assault, was also wounded in the shoulder. The
total loss of the regiment before Badajoz, during the sieges in June,
1811, and in March and April, 1812, amounted to eight officers, five
serjeants, and forty-two rank and file killed; and eight officers,
ten serjeants, and one hundred and sixty-six rank and file wounded.
After the fall of _Badajoz_, the regiment returned to the frontiers
of Beira, where it remained till the army again took the field in
June. At the battle of _Salamanca_, (22nd July) the EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
together with the Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth, formed the right
brigade of the third division, which was posted on the right of the
army, opposite to the Seventh French division, under General Bonnet.
Lieutenant-General Picton being at this time absent from the field on
account of ill-health, the division was commanded by Major-General
the Honourable Edward Pakenham, the brigade by Lieutenant-Colonel
Alexander Wallace of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH itself
by Major Seton, who had succeeded to that rank upon the death of
Major Thompson in the trenches at Badajoz. It was five in the
afternoon, when Lord Wellington rode up and desired Major-General the
Hon. E. Pakenham to move the third division forward, and carry the
heights and guns in his front. The division was at this time formed
in open column, right in front, facing a hill behind which the French
were posted, and on which were erected two batteries. The colours
were just uncased, and the bayonets fixed, when Lieutenant-Colonel
Wallace addressed a few animating words to the men, explaining their
situation, and cautioning them to be aware of the enemy’s cavalry,
which was watching them closely, and hanging on their flank: to the
officers he said, “Gentlemen, the regiment is on this day, as it
generally is on such occasions, tolerably strong, and (pointing to
the batteries which crowned the hill in front) we are likely to have
a good deal of noise about our ears. I would recommend you to place
yourselves in the centre and front of your companies, which will
prevent any mistake.”
The brigade now moved forward in one column, the Forty-Fifth leading,
followed immediately by the EIGHTY-EIGHTH; the enemy opened a
heavy fire from fourteen guns, which was replied to by a brigade of
nine-pounders firing over the heads of the advancing column. When the
smoke cleared away, Bonnet’s division was perceived advancing rapidly
round the face of the hill, as if determined to anticipate attack;
Major-General Pakenham now rode up to Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace
and ordered him to wheel the brigade into line without halting, a
manœuvre which evidently disconcerted the enemy, who nevertheless
continued to advance with drums beating and keeping up a heavy
fire of musketry. In spite of the enemy’s fusillade, Major-General
Pakenham, Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, and Majors Seton and Murphy,
remained at the head of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, which formed the centre
of the brigade, and continued to advance steadily in line with
firelocks on the rest. As the British advanced, the fire of the enemy
slackened, and they seemed inclined to give way, when several of
their officers advanced in front to animate the men, and one officer
of the Twenty-Second, (the leading regiment of the French column,)
seizing a firelock, ran out in front of his men and shot Major Murphy
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH through the heart. At the same moment a ball
struck the pole of the King’s colour, cutting it nearly in two,
and taking the epaulette off the shoulder of Lieutenant D’Arcy who
carried it. The men now, for the first time, became impatient, and
called out for revenge; Major-General Pakenham cheered, and desired
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace to _let them loose_; the men rushed into
the midst of the fire, and a close and desperate, but short, conflict
took place. The deep and ponderous column, so formidable in attack,
was now completely overthrown, and at the mercy of its assailants;
many of the French were killed and wounded, and the broken column
pursued for about a quarter of a mile through an extensive but
thinly-planted wood of cork-trees. At this moment a shout in the rear
caused the pursuers to expect to have a charge of French cavalry to
repel, but they were agreeably disappointed by having Major-General
Le Marchant’s brigade of heavy cavalry to greet, instead of a fresh
enemy to resist. The French could not withstand this new attack, and
the whole column, originally seven thousand strong, was cut to pieces
or captured, together with two eagles and eleven pieces of cannon.
Owing to the previous casualties at Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz,
only four Captains were present with the regiment at Salamanca,
and of these, one (Captain Mackie) acted as Aide-de-Camp to
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace, and when the heavy brigade charged,
joined them in the attack. Two others (Murphy, brevet-major, and
Hogan) were killed, and the fourth (Captain Adair) so severely
wounded, as to survive the effects only a few months. Captain Tryon
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, D.A.A.G., was likewise severely wounded. The
EIGHTY-EIGHTH had also four Lieutenants (Meade, Nickle, Grattan, and
Kingsmill) wounded; one serjeant and eighteen rank and file killed,
and one serjeant and one hundred and nine rank and file wounded; the
total of casualties amounting to seven officers and one hundred and
twenty-nine non-commissioned officers and privates.
After the battle of Salamanca the EIGHTY-EIGHTH formed part of the
corps which occupied Madrid during Lord Wellington’s march to Burgos,
and on the evacuation of that capital in October following, returned
to quarters in Portugal, where it received a strong detachment of
the Second battalion, which again raised its effective strength to
near one thousand rank and file. For the first time, also, since its
arrival in the Peninsula, it was furnished with tents in common with
the other regiments.
[Sidenote: 1813]
On the 16th of May, 1813, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH broke up from its
cantonments at Leomel, and joined in the general advance of the army
into Spain, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Macpherson.
In the course of the march an accident occurred both annoying and
prejudicial to the regiment. In order to facilitate the movements
of the army, to render the column of march less encumbered, and to
lessen the fatigue of the troops, it was customary, when not in
the presence of the enemy, to proceed either by brigades or single
corps: Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane’s brigade, of which the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH formed part, moved by regiments. The EIGHTY-EIGHTH,
on the route from Leomel to St. Jean de Pasquera, arrived at a spot
where the road branched off in different directions, one leading to
its proper point of destination, the other descending into the steep
and precipitous country which forms the left bank of the Douro. By
some unaccountable ignorance or misconception on the part of its
guide, the regiment took the wrong road, and after struggling for
some time through a series of rugged defiles, found itself at a
late hour in the evening embedded in the mountains, and as distant
from St. Jean de Pasquera as it had been when starting from its
cantonments at Leomel. Some men died of the heat and fatigue, but the
_esprit de corps_ sustained the regiment through the long and severe
forced march, across a country deeply intersected with ravines,
thickly covered with gum cistus, and traversable only by goat-paths,
by which it rejoined its division.
On the 27th of May the regiment entered Spain, and on the 20th of
June, it was posted near the river Bayas, when dispositions were
made for attacking the enemy in his position in front of Vittoria.
The troops were under arms an hour before daylight on the 21st,
and the third and seventh divisions were destined to attack the
enemy’s centre; but the French, having weakened their centre to
support their flanks, which were first attacked, the centre column
of the allied army did not meet with serious opposition. In front
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH the enemy occupied a hill of considerable
elevation, from which he was forced by that regiment, while the
Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth made flank movements round its
base, the French retiring to a second hill in the rear of their
former position. The EIGHTY-EIGHTH, which had hitherto been in
column, now deployed into line, and notwithstanding a heavy fire
of musketry and artillery, continued to advance, till the enemy
having rallied and brought up fresh troops, there was momentary
halt by order of Sir Thomas Brisbane, who commanded the brigade. At
this instant Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton coming up, and
feeling displeased at the halt, made use of some harsh expressions
to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH as the leading corps, which led to an immediate
explanation from Sir Thomas Brisbane, when the regiment again moved
forward and headed the brigade in the attack upon the town of
Vittoria. During the day the EIGHTY-EIGHTH charged several times, but
the enemy never waited to receive them, and it was generally observed
among the soldiers, that so far as this regiment was concerned, King
Joseph’s army at Vittoria proved decidedly the worst fighting army
they had encountered.
The loss of the regiment at Vittoria was one officer, Ensign
Saunders, and thirty rank and file killed; four officers, Captain
M‘Dermott, and Lieutenants Flood, Fitzpatrick, and Faris; two
serjeants, and one hundred and ninety-five rank and file wounded; in
all, two hundred and thirty-two.
The expressions used by Sir Thomas Picton became afterwards the
subject of remonstrance, and even of a memorial to the Duke of
Wellington. The result was that, after due explanations, a letter
satisfactory to the regiment was addressed by Sir Thomas Picton
to Sir Thomas Brisbane, as Commander of the brigade, declaring
that, after the many instances of gallantry he had witnessed in
the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, it could never have been his intention to cast
any reflections on that corps, by words uttered in a moment of
irritation, and adding, that his divisional order after the battle
should be received as a sufficient proof of this. The following is an
extract of that order:—
“_Division Orders, 23rd June, 1813._
“Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton congratulates Major-General
the Honourable Sir C. Colville, Major-General Brisbane, and
Major-General Power, upon the conspicuous services rendered by the
brigades under their several commands towards the brilliant success
of the 21st of June instant. He requests to assure the commanding
officers, officers, non-commissioned officers and men of their
corps and regiments, that their conduct did not fail to excite his
warm admiration, and to increase the confidence he has always felt
in the command of the third division,” &c.
On the 28th of July, two companies of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH had an
opportunity of earning distinction for themselves and their corps
under the immediate eye of the whole third division, as well as of a
strong and select body of the French. The attempt of Marshal Soult
to raise the siege of Pampeluna, which had been invested by the Duke
of Wellington’s army shortly after the battle of Vittoria, and the
series of actions which took place between the covering army and that
of Soult in the passes of the Pyrenees between the 25th and 30th of
July, which ended in the complete repulse of the French, gave rise
to the display of British valour with a splendour never exceeded in
the annals of war. The allied army was posted immediately in front
of Pampeluna, the right in front of the village of Huarte, the
third division being to the right, and those of Lieutenant-General
Cole, and Major-General the Honourable E. Pakenham, together with
the Spaniards, to the left. The main efforts of Soult during the
day were directed against the allied left, but about five in the
afternoon, some of his tirailleurs were pushed forward as if to
feel the countenance of the third division, and ascertain whether
its position would be seriously defended or not. The light company
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, commanded by Captain Robert Nickle (late
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty-Sixth Foot) was ordered to drive
them back, which it speedily accomplished: a select body of French,
headed by an officer of the staff, who had volunteered for that
service, now advanced to support the repulsed tirailleurs, and two
battalion companies of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH hurried to the assistance
of their comrades. The skirmish, fought in sight of the two armies,
took almost the type of a national trial of skill and courage; the
French rushed forward with their characteristic impetuosity, shouting
“Vive l’Empereur;” the CONNAUGHT RANGERS, accompanied by the cheers
of their division, met them with the bayonet, and overthrew them
at the first onset. The French commanding officer was left on the
field mortally wounded; Captain Nickle, as soon as the conflict was
decided, went up to render any assistance in his power to his fallen
antagonist, and, finding him already dead, tied his handkerchief on
the point of his sabre, and waving it towards the retreating French,
beckoned to them to return for the body of their officer, which they
did, and carried him off to render the last honours to his remains.
During the movements of the succeeding day, when the allied army
resumed the offensive, a heavy column of French infantry was routed
by Major-General Brisbane’s brigade, and the greater part made
prisoners by the Forty-Fifth, Seventy-Fourth, and EIGHTY-EIGHTH.
After this the third division re-occupied the pass of Roncesvalles,
where it remained till the 8th of August, when Major-General
Brisbane’s brigade was relieved by Colonel Downie’s brigade of
Spaniards, and proceeded by the valley of Los Alduides to the pass of
Maya.
On the 31st of August the whole of the third division crossed the
frontiers of France, and Major-General Brisbane’s brigade occupied
the pass of Echalar, replacing there the Seventh division, which had
proceeded to reinforce the troops before St. Sebastian; on the 4th,
however, it returned to the pass of Maya, and on the 15th resumed
its old position near the village of Erisoun, and remained in the
valley of Bastan till the 7th of October, when, in consequence of the
left of the army having crossed the Bidassoa and entered France, the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH and the rest of the division moved to the village of
Zagarramundi to the right and in front of the pass of Echalar.
During this interval (9th of September, 1813) Lieutenant-Colonel
Taylor joined the regiment, and superseded Lieutenant-Colonel
Macpherson in the command.
The colours of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH bear testimony that it had its share
on the 10th of November, in the storming of the formidable lines
which the French had erected on the river _Nivelle_, and in the
various actions which took place on the banks of the _Nive_, between
the 9th and 13th of December; but on neither of these occasions had
it the good fortune to come into actual contact with the enemy. On
the 17th of December it went into cantonments in the village of
Urcuray, situated on the high road leading from Bayonne to St. Jean
Pied de Port, and the adjacent hamlets, where it remained till the
army again moved forward in February following.
[Sidenote: 1814]
In the battle of _Orthes_, 28th of February 1814, the third division
was directed to attack the heights on which the enemy’s centre and
left stood, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH had once more an opportunity of
distinguishing itself, when its loss was more severe than on any
other occasion, except the siege of Badajoz. The Fifty-Second led the
attack; the EIGHTY-EIGHTH advanced on the right; the heights were
carried, and the regiment advancing in pursuit, its left flank was
charged by a body of French cavalry, which it entirely overthrew,
killing, wounding, or taking prisoners the whole detachment, which
was hemmed in in a narrow road, and precluded from all retreat. In
this battle, Captain Oates’s conduct was particularly noticed, and
procured for him the Brevet rank of Major in the army. The loss of
the battalion was three officers, Captain M‘Dermott, Lieutenant
Moriarty, and Ensign Reynolds, five Serjeants and thirty-six Rank and
File killed; and eleven Officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, Captains
Oates and Bunworth, Lieutenants Fitzpatrick, Davern, Faris, Creswell,
Holland, and Stewart, Ensign M‘Intosh, Ensign and Adjutant Mitchell,
thirteen Serjeants, and two hundred and one Rank and File wounded.
Total, two hundred and seventy-seven.
After this severe action the regiment was placed in cantonments until
the 13th of March, when it again took the field, and was present on
the 4th of April, at the battle of _Toulouse_. Although only three
companies of the regiment were engaged on this occasion, they had
the good fortune to perform a critical and important service, in
supporting the Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth when engaged with
very unequal numbers of the enemy. The Light Infantry Company, in
particular, suffered, and its Captain, R. Nickle, was severely
wounded: the loss of the three companies in killed, was equal to
that of the whole battalion at Vittoria, amounting to one Serjeant
and twenty-nine Men; the wounded were Captain Nickle and Lieutenant
Poole, one Serjeant, and fifty-three Rank and File.
The Serjeant who fell at Toulouse, was much regretted by the whole
corps; his name was Thorpe, and he was Serjeant-Major of the
battalion. He had been originally Drum-Major, in which capacity he
was present at the battle of Busaco: on that occasion, when ordered
with the band and drummers, to the rear, he entreated his commanding
officer to allow him to join his company, and having obtained
permission he fell into the ranks, behaving with the utmost gallantry
throughout that memorable day. This, and other instances of his
courage, induced Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace to consider him qualified
for a higher situation, and to remove him from the band into the
line. He had for some time been recommended for a commission, to
which the Gazette which arrived from England a few days after his
death, contained his appointment.
The peace of Paris in 1814, having put an end to the war on the
Continent, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment was among the corps ordered
to proceed to America, where hostilities were still raging. It
embarked in the Gironde on the 15th of June, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Macpherson, and, without returning to England,
sailed direct to Quebec, where it arrived on the 3rd of August
following. The unfortunate failure of the combined military and naval
operations on Lake Champlain and at Plattsburgh put a stop to active
hostilities in Canada, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH had only one opportunity
of coming into contact with the enemy, viz., at the passage of
the Savannah, where the light company, under Captain Nickle,
distinguished itself.
If, however, the period of its stay in Canada was barren of laurels
to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, it gave the regiment an opportunity of
displaying qualities which, if not so dazzling and brilliant, are
equally valuable in, and honourable to the soldier, namely, firm
discipline and unshakeable fidelity to his king, his country, and his
colours. The extent to which desertion prevailed amongst the British
troops in America, is unhappily but too well known; but although the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH was stationed on the banks of the river Richelieu,
within a few hours’ sail of the province of Vermont; although the
men were considerably in debt to their officers, and under stoppages
to pay off an incumbrance, of which desertion would at once have
relieved them; although tempting rewards awaited such as should reach
the American territory, which could be done without the slightest
risk; although American ships were daily arriving and departing, and
the facilities were such that, if so disposed, the whole battalion
might have deserted in a night, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH _did not lose one
man by desertion_, during the whole eleven months that it remained
in Canada!!
[Sidenote: 1815]
This honourable conduct of the men of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH did not go
unnoticed or unrewarded; their reward was exemption from the painful
duty of being present when the extreme sentence of martial law was
executed upon deserters from other regiments. The following is a copy
of the brigade order on one occasion of the kind, more than nine
months after the arrival of the regiment in America.
“_St. John’s, May 19, 1815._
“No men having deserted from Major Green’s artillery, or from the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment, they will not be required to attend at
Chambly for the purpose of witnessing the execution of the sentence
of a General Court Martial on several deserters.”
The subject was again honourably adverted to by Major-General
Brisbane, in a letter addressed to the regiment in Brigade Orders,
when, in consequence of the escape of Napoleon from Elba, and the
prospect of renewed and active warfare in Europe, it had been ordered
to return to England.
“B. O.
“Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane was much pleased this day with
the general appearance and movements of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment.
He cannot refrain from expressing how much, and how sincerely he
regrets losing a regiment with which he has so long served, and
which has conducted itself so creditably since its arrival in this
country; but he confidently looks forward to have it again in his
brigade. The circumstance of the regiment _never having lost a
man by desertion_ is highly honourable to it, and can never be
forgotten by the Major-General.
(Signed) “J. CAMPBELL,
“Brigade-Major.
“_St. John’s, May 26, 1815._”
On the 29th of May the regiment marched from St. John’s, reached
William Henry on the 1st of June, where it embarked in small craft,
and arrived at Trois Rivieres on the 4th. At Trois Rivieres it was
shifted into transports, reached Quebec on the 8th, sailed again on
the 10th, and arrived at Spithead on the 15th of July.
The battle of Waterloo had decided the contest in Europe before the
arrival of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH; nevertheless the regiment was ordered
to proceed, without disembarking, to Flanders. After two days’ stay,
therefore, at Spithead, it sailed again on the 17th, and landed at
Ostend on the 21st of July. From thence it proceeded towards Paris,
and on the 12th of August took up its quarters at St. Denis, and was
once more attached to Sir Thomas Brisbane’s brigade. In December
following it was removed to that of Sir John Keane, on which occasion
Major-General Brisbane caused the following letter to be addressed to
Colonel Wallace, who had again taken command of the regiment.
“_Paris, Dec. 17, 1815._
“SIR,
“I am directed by Major-General Sir T. Brisbane to express to
you, and to request that you will communicate to the regiment
under your command, the very sincere regret he feels in losing the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment from his brigade: but he begs to assure
them that his best wishes accompany them, and he will always be
happy to have again under his command a regiment that was surpassed
by none, either for gallantry in the field, or orderly conduct in
quarters, during the seven years they have been with him.
“I have, &c.
“J. CAMPBELL,
“Brigade-Major.
“_To_ COLONEL WALLACE,
_Commanding the Eighty-Eighth Regiment_.”
[Sidenote: 1816]
[Sidenote: 1817]
From January, 1816, to the end of the spring, 1817, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
was in garrison at Valenciennes, when it returned to Great Britain,
and was quartered in Edinburgh about two years. Some time after its
arrival in Scotland, a letter was received from Lieutenant-General
the Honourable Sir Charles Colville, who had frequently had it
under his command, as part of the third division, in the Peninsula,
and more recently during its stay at Valenciennes, “expressing
his hearty wish for the honour and well-being of the regiment in
whatever situation it may be placed, and requesting the Officers,
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, to accept his thanks for the
ready attention paid to his orders during the period the regiment was
under his command.”
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1818]
During the period of repose at Edinburgh, it occurred to Colonel
Wallace to establish an _Order of Merit_ in the regiment, by
conferring some honorary mark of distinction on the non-commissioned
officers and privates, proportioned to their regimental character,
length of service, and the number of general engagements in which
they had been present. This was, however, a design which could not
be carried into execution without the consent and approbation of
the Commander-in-Chief, which Colonel Wallace applied for in the
following letter:—
“_Edinburgh Castle, June 4, 1818._
“SIR,
“I have the honour to state, that some of the non-commissioned
officers and soldiers of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment have served in
twelve different general actions, and have been two, three, and
four times wounded, have been a long time in the regiment, and
always conducted themselves well in the field and in quarters. I am
anxious to bestow upon them some mark of distinction for their good
conduct, as an encouragement to them and others in future.
“I shall be much obliged to you if you will obtain His Royal
Highness the Commander-in-Chief’s permission for me to give such
men medals as a testimony of their merit.
“I have, &c.,
“J. A. WALLACE,
“Colonel Commanding.
“_To the Adjutant-General._”
The answer of the Commander-in-Chief, communicated in a letter
from Sir Henry Torrens, dated 28th of the same month, sanctioned
Colonel Wallace’s plan, leaving it to his “discretion to grant such
testimonials in the case alluded to, as he might deem essential
to the good of the regiment.” The proper authority thus obtained,
Colonel Wallace’s intentions were carried into effect without delay.
Silver medals of three distinct classes were struck at the expense
of the officers of the regiment. The first class was bestowed on men
who had been present in twelve general actions, and consisted of a
Maltese cross on which the names of the twelve actions were stamped.
The second class was given to those who had served in from six to
eleven general actions, and the third to such as had served in any
number less than six. The name of the man to whom it was given was
engraved on each medal. The total number distributed was,—
Serjeants, Corporals, Drummers, Privates.
First Class, 13 6 6 45
Second Class, 7 9 3 126
Third Class, 19 10 3 185
—— —— —— ———
39 25 12 356
[Sidenote: 1819]
On the 11th of March, 1819, Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond,
G.C.B., was appointed Colonel of the Regiment, in succession to
Lieut.-Gen. Viscount Beresford, who was removed to the Sixty-Ninth
Regiment.
In the summer of 1819, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH moved from Edinburgh to
Hull, sending detachments to Manchester and Stockport. In August
of the same year, Colonel Wallace, after more than fourteen years’
service with the regiment, was promoted to the rank of Major-General,
and was succeeded in the command by Lieutenant-Colonel James Ferguson.
During the time the regiment was quartered at Hull, the manufacturing
districts of England were in a high state of discontent, and
attempts were made to circulate inflammatory publications amongst
the military. Private James Tracy, of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, being
tampered with for this purpose, received the papers, but, instead of
distributing them amongst his comrades, instantly gave them up to his
commanding officer, Major Nickle, furnishing, at the same time, such
information as led to the apprehension and conviction of the man from
whom he had received them. For this conduct Tracy received a liberal
reward, as well as the approbation of Lieutenant-General Sir John
Byng, commanding the district, which was conveyed to him through a
letter to Colonel Ferguson.
[Sidenote: 1821]
[Sidenote: 1822]
[Sidenote: 1823]
From Hull the EIGHTY-EIGHTH removed to Chester, and from thence, in
the summer of 1821, to Liverpool, where it embarked for Ireland,
landed at Dublin, and proceeded to Enniskillen, where it took up its
head-quarters, furnishing sixteen officers’ detachments. In July,
1822, it moved from Enniskillen to Castlebar in Connaught, where
it remained, again furnishing fifteen officers’ detachments, till
December, 1823, when it marched to barracks at Naas. On quitting
Castlebar it received a very flattering address from the magistrates
and resident gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood.
[Sidenote: 1824]
On the 16th of January, 1824, Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond
was removed to the Seventy-First regiment, and the Colonelcy of
the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was conferred upon Lieutenant-General Sir Henry
Frederick Campbell, K.C.B., G.C.H.
[Sidenote: 1825]
It was February, 1825, before the last detachment joined from
Connaught, when the regiment, once more united, removed to Dublin,
occupying first the Richmond, and subsequently the Royal barracks.
While the EIGHTY-EIGHTH remained in Dublin, orders were issued
for increasing the establishments of regiments from eight to ten
companies. The zealous exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson,
aided by the high popularity the corps enjoyed, enabled the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH to complete its numbers in little more than six
weeks, and to be the first regiment reported as complete to the
Commander-in-Chief, a circumstance honourably noticed in a letter
from the Adjutant-General of the Forces to Major-General Sir
Colquhoun Grant, then commanding the garrison of Dublin, under date
of 20th of June, 1825. “I have it in command,” says the letter of
the Adjutant-General, “to express His Royal Highness’s approbation of
the zeal manifested by Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, the commanding
officer, in thus rapidly raising the augmentation, and which being
the first instance of completion yet reported, is most creditable to
that officer, and the corps under his command.”
In the latter part of the summer of 1825, the regiment removed
to Templemore, furnishing fourteen detachments in the counties
of Tipperary and Limerick. Here Lieutenant-Colonel O’Malley
joined on the 10th of August, and took the command in place of
Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, who had been removed to the Fifty-Second
Regiment. In September it received orders for the Mediterranean,
embarked by divisions at Cork on the 7th and 21st of October and 12th
of December, 1825, and proceeded to Corfu, where the last division
arrived on the 27th of January, 1826.
[Sidenote: 1828]
During the year 1828 the regiment furnished several detachments to
the neighbouring islands of Ithaca, Cerigo, Calamos, and Santa Maura;
the detachment in the last-named island suffered severely from a
malignant fever which raged during the months of June, July, and
August, and carried off thirty-six men out of seventy-five, of which
it originally consisted. On the 19th of September, the head-quarters
were removed to Cephalonia, on which occasion Major-General Woodford
took leave of it in the following very flattering terms:—
“GARRISON ORDERS.
“_Brigade-Major’s Office, Corfu,
“Sept. 18th, 1828._
“Major-General Woodford will not allow the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment
to embark without his expressing the satisfaction he feels at
the invariably good conduct the regiment has maintained in the
garrison. Its interior order and general soldier-like appearance
sufficiently evince the assiduous attention which has been bestowed
on the regulation and discipline of the corps. The Major-General
feels this tribute to be due to Lieutenant-Colonel O’Malley, and he
requests he will communicate his sentiments to the regiment.”
[Sidenote: 1830]
In April, 1830, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH again returned to Corfu, where it
remained until September, 1831, when it was removed to Vido, and
continued there until December, 1831, when it again proceeded to
Corfu. The reserve companies remained in Ireland from 1825, to April,
1830, when they embarked for England.
* * * * *
From the time of its original formation, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment
had, as stated at the commencement of the Record, borne on its
colours and appointments a device, consisting of a Harp and Crown,
with the motto “_Quis separabit?_” No direct authority appears to
have authorised this appropriation of a badge and motto, but use
had sanctioned it, and the recollection of the fields of glory in
which it had waved before the enemy, endeared it to the sympathies
of the officers and men. In an official design for a new stand of
colours preparing for the regiment towards the end of 1830, this
device and motto were omitted. Colonel O’Malley immediately wrote
to the Adjutant-General representing the case, and the strong
wishes of the regiment for its retention, for the consideration
of the Commander-in-Chief. His application was successful, and
obtained distinct authority for the corps to continue the use of the
badge to which it was so strongly and so reasonably attached. The
Adjutant-General, in a letter dated from the Horse-Guards, 30th of
December, 1830, says—
“Sir,
“I have had the honour to submit to the General Commanding-in-Chief
your letter of the 22nd instant with its enclosures, and am
directed to acquaint you, that under the circumstances therein
stated, his Lordship has been pleased to obtain his Majesty’s
permission, that the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment, or ‘CONNAUGHT
RANGERS,’ may retain on its colours and appointments the HARP and
CROWN, with the motto ‘_Quis separabit?_’ in addition to the badges
and devices which it has been authorized to bear in commemoration
of its distinguished services on various occasions.
“I have, &c.,
“JOHN MACDONALD, A.G.
“_Colonel O’Malley, Eighty-Eighth Regiment._”
The EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment having been omitted among the regiments
authorised to bear, as an honorary distinction, the word “_Pyrenees_”
on its Colours, the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel
O’Malley, in the year 1830, made the most strenuous exertions to
obtain this additional honour for the regiment, in commemoration
of its services in the actions in the Pyrenees, as narrated at
pages 52, &c.; and testimonials of its gallant conduct on the
occasions in question, were furnished by Major-General Sir Thomas
Brisbane, who commanded the brigade of which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
formed a part,—by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Frederick Stovin, who
acted as Assistant-Adjutant-General to the third division,—and by
Lieutenant-Colonel James Campbell, who was Major of Brigade.
This omission occurred in consequence of the officer who commanded
the regiment on the occasion alluded to, not having received a medal
for that service, perhaps owing to an accident, or clerical error
at the time; but, as Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, who
commanded the third division, fell in the battle of Waterloo, the
requisite form of recommendation for honours of this description
could not be procured, and the General Commanding-in-Chief did not
feel himself justified in departing from the general rule which had
been established, as the ground on which these distinctions should
be submitted for the King’s approval. This honorary inscription is,
consequently, not borne on the colours of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment,
for its services in the Pyrenees.
[Sidenote: 1831]
On the 20th October, 1831, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Frederick
Campbell, K.C.B., was removed to the Twenty-Fifth regiment, and
Major-General Sir John Alexander Wallace, Bart. and K.C.B., who had
commanded the regiment in many of the arduous campaigns during the
Peninsular war, was appointed to the Colonelcy of the CONNAUGHT
RANGERS.
The EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment continued in Corfu from the year 1830 to
1836, furnishing occasionally working parties for the island of Vido,
and detachments to Santa Maura, and the other islands: the detachment
to Santa Maura in April, 1832, continued there ten months, and
consisted of two Captains, three Subalterns, one Assistant-Surgeon,
six Serjeants, two Drummers, and one hundred and fifty Rank and File.
To those persons interested in the well-being of the corps, and
who recollect the extent of sickness and mortality experienced by
a former detachment at this station, and of not more than half the
strength, in the year 1828, it will be gratifying to know, that
not more than two deaths took place, neither of which was caused
by climate, one of them was accidental drowning, and the other the
consequence of _delirium tremens_; indeed, such was the health of
this detachment, that the hospital was, for the greater part of the
time, unoccupied during its stay at Santa Maura.
From the period of the return of the regiment from the Island of
Cephalonia to Corfu, Major-General Sir Alexander Woodford, in
making his half-yearly inspections, expressed in every instance
his approbation of the corps, more especially in June, 1831, when
he addressed a letter, of which the following is a copy, to Major
O’Hara, then Commanding Officer, upon whom, and the regiment
altogether, the sentiments expressed by the Major-General reflect
much credit:—
“_Corfu, 6th June, 1831._
“Sir,
“Having now inspected the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment, twice within six
months, and having on both occasions found it in high order, I have
a satisfactory duty to perform, in desiring you will communicate
to the regiment my approbation of its soldier-like appearance, its
interior order, and its general steadiness under arms.
“I beg you will intimate to the Officers, that their attention
to their duties, and to the good order and management of their
companies, is very apparent; and that, from the direction
thus given to the men, in the care and keeping of their arms,
accoutrements, and appointments, and in everything relating to
their equipment and personal appearance, arise, in my opinion,
the good humour and contentment, and consequent regularity and
discipline, which characterise the regiment.
“To the Non-Commissioned Officers and Men, I desire you will state,
that I am perfectly satisfied with them, individually, as clean,
smart, and well-behaved soldiers, and collectively as a corps,
highly creditable to the King’s service.
“In conveying these observations to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment
assembled on parade, you will, Sir, receive yourself the best
testimony I can give, to the care and attention with which you have
discharged your own superior duties.
“I have, &c.
(Signed) “A. WOODFORD,
“Major-General.
“_To Major O’Hara, Commanding
Eighty-Eighth Regiment._”
Nothing of importance connected with the history of the regiment,
occurred from the date of its return to Corfu, with the exception
of the melancholy circumstance of Captain the Honourable Charles
Gustavus Monckton having been assassinated by a villain, private
James Clarke, on the 9th August, 1831, under the impression, as it is
believed, that his being accidentally met out of barracks at a late
hour of the night, by Captain Monckton, when in the act of committing
felony, might tend to his conviction thereof.
The constitution of a regiment is such that the acts of individuals,
more or less, reflect honour or disgrace on the whole corps, and
much of the fame and high character to which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
regiment has claim, would perhaps be tarnished, if grounds existed
for imagining that any other individual belonging to it was concerned
in this diabolical act; the feelings evinced by the soldiers of the
regiment, particularly those of the company to which the assassin
belonged, when forgetful of the forbearance due to religion and to
the laws, they were with difficulty restrained from taking vengeance,
as well as their subsequent conduct in requesting to be permitted
to subscribe one dollar (4_s._ 4_d._) per man, to erect a monument
to the memory of their much-lamented officer, and thereby make
known to posterity, their horror and indignation at the disgraceful
occurrence, are convincing proofs that no other soldier was
implicated in this disgraceful transaction.
The request of the regiment was acquiesced in; at the same time it
was deemed prudent to limit the subscription of the Non-Commissioned
Officers and Privates, to one day’s pay each, with which a monument
has been erected in the military burial-ground of Corfu.
The following notification was made to the regiment on this
occasion:—
“_Corfu, 15th March, 1833._
“The Colonel commanding has much pleasure in announcing to the
regiment, that the Monument to the memory of the late Honourable
Captain Monckton has been completed, and now stands over the grave
of that much-lamented officer, in the military burial-ground of
this garrison. This mark of esteem and regard for the deceased
reflects much credit and honour upon the regiment, more especially,
as the expense attending it has been paid by the voluntary
subscriptions of the Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers who
generously offered one dollar per man towards it, which Colonel
O’Malley feels quite assured they would as cheerfully have paid,
if necessary, and if permitted to do so, as they have readily
contributed one day’s pay, to which it was deemed prudent to limit
their contribution.”
The monument bears the following inscription in English, and in
Greek, viz.:—
SACRED
To the Memory of
THE HONOURABLE CHARLES GUSTAVUS MONCKTON,
Late Captain in
His Majesty’s Eighty-Eighth Regiment (or Connaught Rangers),
Who died by the hand of an Assassin, on the 9th August, 1831,
Aged Twenty-Six years.
This Monument is erected by the Non-Commissioned Officers and Private
Soldiers of the Regiment, in testimony of their respect and regard
for this most lamented young Officer, and to record their
abhorrence of the atrocious act by which he was
deprived of life.
The feeling of grief and indignation, strongly and universally expressed
by the Regiment, was only moderated on witnessing the prompt
punishment of the murderer, Private James Clarke, who
was executed on the 11th August, 1831.
[Sidenote: 1833]
It may be here told, in further justice to the feelings of the men
of the company to which this assassin Clarke belonged, that such
was the horror of the wretch’s memory amongst them, that not one of
those soldiers could be prevailed with, unless positively ordered,
to receive, and do duty with the arms and accoutrements which had
been in his charge, and this having come to the knowledge of the
Commanding Officer, in March, 1833, when a draft of men was received
from the reserve companies, which made it necessary to bring in
use some spare arms and accoutrements, Colonel O’Malley (in proof
of his acquiescence in the feeling) caused the accoutrements and
appointments in question to be cut in pieces on the parade of the
regiment, and the objectionable firelock was delivered into the
Ordnance stores in exchange for another.
[Sidenote: 1834]
The ceremony of presenting new colours to the regiment, took place at
Corfu on the 27th of February, 1834, _the anniversary of the battle
of Orthes_, in which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment bore a distinguished
part, and suffered a severe loss in officers and men.
The presentation of colours, which is under any circumstances
interesting, caused on the present occasion an unusual excitement, it
being known that they were to be given by Lady Woodford, the wife of
Major-General Sir Alexander Woodford, commanding the troops in the
Ionian Islands. A vast concourse of people, with all the beauty and
fashion of the place, assembled at an early hour on the esplanade
of the citadel, which is finely situated, commanding a view of the
rugged and snow-topped mountains of Albania, of the sea, and of the
fertile hills of the island covered with olives, and green with the
opening vegetation of an early spring. The fineness of the day was
in unison with the beauty of the scenery, and nature herself seemed
to smile on the expected ceremony. The Lord High Commissioner, Lord
Nugent, the President of the Senate, and the Senators with their
families, and the nobility and gentry of the island, honoured the
corps with their presence.
The regiment being assembled and drawn up in line, at about eleven
o’clock Lady Woodford arrived in her carriage, attended by the
Major-General and his Staff on horseback; and on her Ladyship’s
descending in front of the line, the regiment presented arms, the
band playing “God save the King.” The grenadier company then moved
from the right, and drew up facing the centre of the battalion:
having opened its ranks, it presented arms to the old colours, of
which it took charge, and escorted them to the citadel, the regiment
presenting arms to them. Shortly afterwards the grenadiers returned
with the new colours, which had been consecrated on the previous
Sunday, and had remained in the garrison chapel. These were delivered
by the Rev. Charles Küper to the Major and senior Captain, by whom
they were borne to the parade, where those officers placed themselves
on either side of Lady Woodford, continuing to hold the colours
unfurled. The grenadiers having resumed their place on the right of
the line, the regiment formed three sides of a square, leaving the
fourth open to the public. During this formation, in order that a
suitable impression might be made on their young minds, the school
children of the regiment (boys and girls), neatly and uniformly
dressed in green, moved into the square.
Ensigns Herbert and Honeywood, upon whom the honour of receiving the
colours devolved, were then ordered to advance towards Lady Woodford,
when her Ladyship delivered the colours to those officers, with the
following exhortation:—
“Gentlemen,
“Receive and guard with fidelity, in every danger, these Colours
which I have the honour of presenting to you! May the Almighty
protect and prosper you in this sacred duty, and may you live to be
distinguished in your country’s service!”
At this moment a light breeze expanded the Colours, emblazoned
with the names of the many battles in which the corps had borne
a distinguished part, and a simultaneous burst of admiration and
applause issued forth from the numerous spectators.
The Ensigns then moved to their places in the line of Officers; as
they advanced, the regiment presented arms, the band playing “God
save the King.”
The Major-General then stepped forward and addressed the regiment in
the following terms:—
“Colonel O’Malley, Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and
Privates of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment, I have witnessed
the presentation of your Colours with peculiar interest and
satisfaction.
“To a regiment whose bravery in the field has ever been
conspicuous, few words can be necessary on this occasion; but as
your Colours are a sacred pledge which binds you to your duty and
your country, I cannot pass over in silence a ceremony which calls
forth every warm and honourable feeling that ought to animate a
soldier’s breast.
“This day, the anniversary of the battle of Orthes, reminds us of a
period when the valour and discipline of the British arms rendered
it everywhere triumphant, under that great commander who led it
from victory to victory.
“In those active and arduous campaigns, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment,
from first to last, bore a most distinguished part, under the
command of that gallant officer who is now your Colonel[8].
“The records of its meritorious services in those hard fought
battles, emblazoned on these colours which are now confided to your
trust, will be to you a proud memorial of the past, and a stimulus
for days to come.
“There are other corps, too, in this command, who equally shared
in those glorious successes, and in reverting to their own gallant
conduct, they will attest, and they can well appreciate the ardour
and gallantry of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH.
“Nor can I pass over a fact not less honourable to the corps than
even brilliant achievements in the field, I allude to the campaign
in Canada, where the inducement to desertion was great, but where
your men, without one single exception, spurned every attempt to
seduce them from their colours and their duty; a memorable instance
of their love of country, and of their fidelity to the service,
which rendered them worthy of their native land, and an honour to
the British army.
“Colonel, Officers, and Soldiers,
“The good spirit and discipline which pervade your ranks are the
best presages of your future conduct, wherever you may be called.
“In your hands, Sir, warmly supported as you are by the officers
around you, with your vigilance, your perseverance, and your
zeal for the welfare of the regiment, I feel persuaded that its
reputation and high name will ever be nobly maintained.
“With respect to you, Soldiers, there never was a period when
the country had stronger claims on your attachment; when the
regulations of the service so carefully provide for your
maintenance, your comfort, and your protection, while serving; your
support and honourable retirement, when age and infirmity render
you incapable of active duty; and I may say, with confidence, there
never was a time when the British soldiers were more sensible of
the advantages they enjoy—more firm in their allegiance—more
faithfully devoted to their King and country.
“And whenever your services shall again be required to encounter
the enemies of our country in the field, need I say to the
CONNAUGHT RANGERS, by these Colours you must stand or fall—with
these Colours you must conquer or perish?”
The Commanding Officer, Colonel O’Malley, replied to the
Major-General as follows:—
“It becomes my duty for the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers,
and Soldiers of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, to return thanks to you, Lady
Woodford, and to you, Sir Alexander, for the honour done to us this
day; in performing which duty, I feel, with much regret, how very
incapable I am to do justice to the occasion, or to the grateful
feelings towards you, which animate me and every individual of the
regiment.
“RANGERS! the Colours you have just received have been in my
possession above two years, in which I have watched over them
with a constant and anxious desire to witness their delivery to
you. Unavoidable circumstances have hitherto prevented this, more
especially, which we all have viewed with deep sympathy and regret,
the long and severe indisposition of Lady Woodford. We have now,
however, thanks to the Almighty, the great satisfaction to see her
Ladyship on this parade in renewed health and strength; under any
circumstances you would receive with pleasure and honour throughout
your lives, those Colours, borne as they are on the old and wounded
poles which accompanied the regiment through many successful and
triumphant battles, and with the only remaining fragments of the
old Colours attached to them; but tenfold will be your satisfaction
in having received them through the hands of Lady Woodford, a
circumstance in itself which could not fail to insure them your
respect and devotion; of this I was fully aware, when in your name
I solicited her Ladyship to present those Colours.
“In reference to them, identified as they are with the history and
gallant achievements of the regiment, I might, and would say much,
and that without a fear of the charge being made against me, of
sounding my own praises, (for, unhappily, I had no share in the
deeds of glory to which I allude); but my feelings, excited by the
very impressive address that the Major-General has had the goodness
to make to us, and by the interesting presentation of the Colours
by Lady Woodford, altogether unfit me for the task.
“To gain the good opinion and the confidence of those General
Officers under whose orders we may serve, should at all times be
our study; to succeed must in any case be gratifying; but in the
instance of so very distinguished an officer as Sir Alexander
Woodford, who so thoroughly knows what a British soldier is and
ought to be; and after a period of seven years, in which we have
served under his orders, in the course of which he has acquired
an intimate knowledge of us as a regiment, it is flattering and
grateful in the extreme to me, as it is to you, Officers and
Soldiers, to have heard the Major-General speak as he has done of
the good spirit and discipline which pervade our ranks.
“We owe it to ourselves never to be unmindful of this address,
and I pray you to recollect what I have frequently impressed
on you, that not only by bravery in war can the honour of your
Colours be upheld, but also by a steady perseverance in good and
regular conduct, and let us ever bear in mind, that valour without
discipline is of no avail.”
The square was then reduced, and the regiment being in line, fired a
_feu de joie_, the drums beating a point of war between each fire,
and at the close the band played “God save the King;” after which
the regiment gave three hearty cheers in honour of the occasion.
The regiment then broke into column and marched past, the Officers
saluting, and the line being re-formed, opened its ranks, advanced,
and again presented arms.
At two o’clock, the whole of the Non-Commissioned Officers and
Soldiers, with their families, were provided with an excellent dinner
on the parade in the citadel.
The Service Companies embarked from Corfu on board the Barosa troop
ship, under command of Major Eden, on 29th July, 1836, and landed
at Portsmouth the 23rd of September, where they joined the Depôt
Companies after a separation of nearly eleven years, those companies
having arrived only _two_ days previously from Ireland.
The Depôt Companies after being moved from Ireland to Languard Fort
and Harwich in 1830, continued to occupy those quarters until July,
1832, when they moved to Chatham, leaving a detachment of one company
at Harwich, under command of Captain Orr; on the 1st January, 1833,
Major O’Hara joined and assumed the command of the depôt, Major Eden
having proceeded to join the Service Companies, and in this year
the depôt moved to Sheerness, where Captain Orr’s detachment joined
in June from Harwich, on quitting which place Captain Orr received
a letter expressive of the admiration of the Mayor, Justices, and
Inhabitants, of the good conduct of the detachment, of which letter
and of Captain Orr’s reply, the following are copies, viz.:—
_“Harwich, 12th June, 1833._
“Sir,—By the desire of the Mayor and Justices of this Borough, and
on behalf of the inhabitants at large, I have to communicate to you
the expression of their admiration of the conduct of the detachment
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment under your command, during their long
services on this station, as having been of the most exemplary and
praiseworthy description. I beg to assure you how much gratified I
am by the honour of this instrumentality.
“Believe me, Sir, very respectfully, yours,
(Signed) “B. CHAPMAN, T. C.”
“A correct copy of the testimonial of good conduct of a detachment
of EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment, under the command of Captain Orr.
(Signed) “GEORGE GRAHAM, Mayor.
“_To Captain Orr, Commanding 88th Foot._”
“_Harwich, 12th June, 1833._
“Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter, conveying the kind expression of the Mayor, Justices, and
Inhabitants at large, on the conduct of the detachment under my
command, and am much gratified that their constant good conduct
should have called forth the approbation of those among whom
they have so long been quartered, requesting you to accept my
best thanks for the handsome manner you have communicated their
sentiments to me.
“Believe me, Sir,
“Your most obedient humble servant,
(Signed) “MARTIN ORR, Capt. 88th regt.
“_To B. Chapman, Esq., Town Clerk._”
In June, 1834, the depôt marched in _two_ divisions from Sheerness,
and returned to Chatham, where, soon after, one of those incidental
riots took place between some soldiers and some of the seamen and
labourers in the Dock-yard, which, as in most cases of the kind,
originated from some trifling cause, and was in the first instance
considered of no importance; but unhappily it shortly after assumed
a more grave and serious form, as very frequent opportunities were
taken to grossly insult and assault the soldiers, who, though
fully impressed with that good sense of discipline which commands
forbearance, were forced in self-defence to retaliate. Again, on the
21st August, after the races, an altercation took place between some
soldiers and sailors, the origin of which could not be ascertained,
but the sailors were joined by a vast rabble of the lowest kind, who
aided in seriously maltreating the soldiers, whose numbers being
comparatively few, acted alone in self-defence, until some of the
well-disposed of the inhabitants ran to the barracks and gave notice
to the guard of what was passing: when the soldiers in barracks
were made aware of it, they rushed therefrom to the aid of their
comrades, some of whom they met, in appearance frightfully maimed,
the consequences of which might have been most serious, had not
the Officers of the depôt hurried forward and arrested the advance
of the soldiers, who in obedience to orders immediately returned
to the barracks. In the course of this proceeding, no interference
was made by the civil authorities, nor on the following day when a
party of seamen in a state of intoxication, accompanied by a vast
rabble armed with bludgeons, and preceded by persons with musical
instruments, marched up to the barrack-gate and called for the
soldiers of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, to come out for fight, and decide
the affray of the previous day, a challenge which no doubt would
have been readily accepted, more especially as the men were termed
cowards, &c. had not the serjeant of the barrack-guard and his men
done their duty by keeping their comrades within the walls, until the
Commanding Officer and Officers were made aware of what was passing,
and ordered the barrack-gates to be closed, and thus terminated this
threatened fight. A detailed report of these proceedings was made
by the Officer commanding the depôt to the Commandant of Chatham,
and a complaint against the military having been forwarded in the
name of the inhabitants of that place, a Court of Enquiry of _five_
Officers (Major Dubourdieu of the Provisional Battalion, President)
was assembled on the 1st September for the investigation of the
complaints, of which due notice was given to the complainants, with
an invitation to attend and support the charges they had preferred:
notwithstanding which, not one individual appeared before the court;
and however blameable the civil authorities may be considered for
their non-interference to check the scenes which took place, it
may be justly inferred that no guilt could be established against
the military, more especially, as such a report was made for the
General Commanding-in-Chief’s information, as brought a letter from
the Adjutant-General, expressive of Lord Hill’s satisfaction at the
exertions of Major O’Hara and that of the Non-Commissioned Officers,
in supporting his exertions to prevent and stop the irregular
proceedings which took place, of which letter the following is a
copy, viz.:—
“_Horse-Guards, 20th September, 1834._
“Sir,—Having had the honour to submit to the General
Commanding-in-Chief, your letter of the 5th inst., and that of
Major O’Hara of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment therewith received,
I have it in command to say, that Lord Hill learns with great
satisfaction from the detailed explanation which the Major has
submitted on the present occasion, that he did not fail to exert
himself to the very utmost to prevent and put a stop to the
irregular proceedings to which that explanation alludes; and that
his Lordship’s satisfaction is greatly enhanced, from learning,
also, that the Non-Commissioned Officers of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH did
their duty in supporting their Commanding Officer’s exertions
on that occasion, as the contrary line of conduct had been
calumniously imputed to them.
“I have the honour to be, Sir,
“Your very obedient humble Servant,
(Signed) “JOHN MACDONALD, Adjt.-Gen.
“_To Colonel Sir Leonard Greenwell,
K.C.H., Chatham._”
The depôt marched in two divisions to Dover, on the 6th and 8th
of September, and arrived on the 10th and 12th. They occupied the
Western Height Barracks, giving a detachment to the Castle until
the 3rd of January, 1835, when the entire of the depôt were moved
to the Castle. Soon after its arrival in Dover it actively assisted
with the Artillery in extinguishing a fire, for which the thanks of
the inhabitants were received; and after being quartered in Dover
for eleven months, it embarked for Ireland in the Messenger steamer,
the 5th August. The feeling of the inhabitants at its departure will
be best understood by reading the following description thereof,
extracted from the “Dover Telegraph,” which, with a letter from the
Magistrates, and a garrison order, on the occasion, sufficiently
refute the calumny cast on the corps when at Chatham.
_From the Dover Telegraph._
DEPARTURE OF THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH.
The official documents which follow this article, so justly embody
the sentiments of the chief civil and military authorities of the
town and garrison, on the uniform good conduct of the depôt companies
of the CONNAUGHT RANGERS, since they have been stationed here, as to
leave us but the alternative of referring to our humble testimony in
their favour on the first arrival of their route for Ireland.
That the inhabitants of all ranks fully concur in these testimonies,
is best proved by the voices of the _thousands_ assembled to greet
them with a farewell cheer. At five o’clock on Wednesday evening, the
depôt marched from their quarters in the Castle through the town to
the new cross wall, where they were immediately embarked on board the
Messenger steamer, and from that hour till nearly half-past eight,
the piers and quays were literally crowded with the largest concourse
of persons witnessed there for many years. During the flowing of the
tide the brass band gave their final entertainment, by performing
several national and appropriate airs in their acknowledged excellent
style, and considerable amusement was afforded to those near the
vessel by the leave-takings of the soldiers’ female friends, most
of whom seemed more desirous of taking leave to accompany them. At
nearly half-past eight the Messenger was warped into the middle of
the harbour, and presently afterwards the paddle wheels were in
motion. At this moment the most perfect silence was observed by the
troops, an arrangement that seemed necessary for every order being
distinctly heard, relative to navigating in the harbour a vessel
of eight hundred tons, propelled by machinery of two hundred horse
power. But no sooner had she passed the boom-house jetties, than the
cheers of the troops burst forth in a genuine Hibernian hurra, which
was immediately answered most cordially by the multitude assembled
on the piers, and continued for some minutes. The band played “Rule
Britannia” as the ship glided majestically to sea, and in a few
minutes the CONNAUGHT RANGERS were out of sight and progressing
towards their native land.
[Sidenote: 1835]
We have entered more into detail than is usual on the embarkation
of a single corps, but the peculiarly disadvantageous circumstances
under which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH arrived at Dover, thus contrasted with
the interest excited by their departure, after a stay of nearly
twelve months amongst us, we think may warrant our doing so, as a
proof that the odium attached to the corps at Chatham was undeserved.
We now turn cheerfully to the documents before alluded to, the
communication from the town clerk, and the garrison order of Colonel
Arnold, viz.:—
“_Dover, 3rd August, 1835._
“Sir,—I am directed by the Mayor and Magistrates to express
to you their regret that the town is shortly to be deprived of
the EIGHTY-EIGHTH depôt under your command. When the peculiar
circumstances attending its removal to this town are taken into
consideration, the Mayor and Magistrates deem it but an act of
justice to the regiment, to state their great satisfaction with the
general good conduct of all parties connected with it during the
period it has been stationed in this garrison.
“I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) “G. W. LEDGER, Town-Clerk.
“_To Major O’Hara, Commanding Depôt
Eighty-Eighth Regiment, Dover Castle._”
“_Dover Castle, 4th August, 1835._
“Sir,—I have received with much satisfaction your letter of the
3rd inst. expressive of the regret of the Mayor and Magistrates at
our departure from this garrison. In the present instance its value
is much enhanced from the circumstance to which it refers, and
their favourable opinion is the best refutation to those unfounded
calumnies which were disseminated to our disadvantage at Chatham.
Here we have found no unjust prejudice; on the contrary, we are
much indebted to the inhabitants for their invariable kindness and
attention, and we feel a pride and satisfaction in having elicited
this testimony of approbation from so highly respectable a body
as the Mayor and Magistrates of Dover, to whom, as well as to the
inhabitants, we sincerely bid farewell.
“I have the honour to be, Sir,
“Your obedient servant,
(Signed) “ROBERT O’HARA, Major 88th,
“Commanding Depôt.
“_To Mr. G. W. Ledger, Town-Clerk, Dover._”
Copy of a Garrison Order issued by the Commanding Officer at Dover,
on the departure of the depôt of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment:—
“_Dover, 3rd August, 1835._
“The depôt of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment being about to embark
for Cork, Colonel Arnold cannot suffer it to leave Dover without
expressing his high sense of its excellent and exemplary conduct
since it has been stationed here, and which he has frequently
had much satisfaction in reporting to his Lordship the General
Commanding-in-Chief. By its correct and soldier-like behaviour, the
depôt of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment has fully supported in garrison
the high character which that distinguished corps has always
maintained in the field, and conciliated the respect and regard of
the inhabitants generally, by whom Colonel Arnold is confident its
departure will be greatly regretted, and he sincerely wishes the
depôt health and prosperity.
(Signed) “T. B. ARNOLD, Colonel,
“Royal Engineers, Commg. the Garr.”
[Sidenote: 1836]
On the arrival of the Messenger steamer at the Cove of Cork,
orders were received to convey the depôt to Kinsale, where it
disembarked the 10th September, and went into barracks at Charles
Fort, from which a company was detached to Bandon on the 14th.
On the 6th October, the depôt was inspected by Major-General Sir
Thomas Arbuthnot, K.C.B., commanding the southern district, who
expressed himself highly satisfied with it in every particular. On
19th October, Assistant-Surgeon Douse, Lieutenant Mackie, with one
serjeant, and twenty-one privates, proceeded to Spike Island, where
(with the exception of Surgeon Douse, promoted to the 14th foot, who
was replaced by Assistant-Surgeon Dalmage) they remained until the
9th February, 1836, when they embarked in the Bristol freight ship to
join the service companies at Corfu. On the 31st March, a company was
detached to Dunmanway.
The depôt received the route for Nenagh, and two companies, with
head-quarters, marched from Charles Fort on the 19th of April,
detaching, _en route_, a company to Killaloe, and relieved the depôt
of the 27th regiment at Nenagh, on the 27th. The companies at Bandon
and Dunmanway joined head-quarters on the 12th May, and the depôt was
inspected by Major-General Sir James Douglas, K.C.B., commanding the
south-western district, on the 14th, who was pleased to say, “he had
seen no depôt of which he should make a more favourable report.”
A letter, of which the following is a copy, was received by Captain
Rutherford, commanding the detachment at Bandon, on his departure
from that town:—
“_Bandon, 2nd May, 1836._
“Sir,—We the undersigned inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood
of Bandon, having learned with regret that you are about to be
removed with the detachment under your command of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH
regiment, consider it but justice to express to you before your
departure, our perfect satisfaction at the regular and strict
propriety of conduct of the men of your distinguished corps while
they have been stationed here, now upwards of seven months; thus
proving to their friends at home, as they have often done to their
enemies abroad, what can be effected by uniform steadiness and high
discipline.
“We beg you to accept and express to your men, our very best
wishes for yours and their happiness and success, and the great
satisfaction we shall feel, should the CONNAUGHT RANGERS at any
future period be quartered among us.”
Signed by the Honourable WM. BERNARD, Provost of Bandon, eight
Magistrates, ten Clergymen, and one hundred and forty-eight of
the most respectable and influential inhabitants of the town and
neighbourhood.
To the foregoing Captain Rutherford made the following reply:—
“To the Provost, Magistrates, Clergymen, and Inhabitants of the
town and neighbourhood of Bandon.
“_Bandon, 3rd May, 1836._
“Gentlemen,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
very flattering address of the 2nd inst.
“That the conduct of the men of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment, since
they have been quartered here, has elicited the approbation of so
numerous and highly respectable a body of the inhabitants, is to
me, as I am sure it will be to every officer of the corps, a source
of the greatest gratification.
“The regret you express at the departure of the detachment, and
the satisfaction it would afford, should the CONNAUGHT RANGERS at
any future period return to Bandon, must be fully participated in
by every individual who has had the good fortune to be stationed
here, where the officers have received such general and friendly
attention, and where the men have witnessed such cordiality and
good feeling.
“With a deep sense of the honour you have conferred, not only on
me, but the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment if generally,
“I have the honour to remain,
“Your very obedient humble servant,
(Signed) “H. W. RUTHERFORD,
“Capt. 88th, Commandg. Detach.”
The depôt marched from Nenagh to Buttivant on the 9th June, where it
arrived on the 14th, and received orders to hold itself in readiness
to embark for England, which it did in September following, on board
the Athol troop ship, and joined the service companies at Portsmouth,
on the 23rd of that month, when they landed from Corfu.
[Sidenote: 1837]
The regiment continued to do duty in the garrison of Portsmouth
nearly eleven months, in the course of which time it was twice
inspected by Major-General Sir Thomas M‘Mahon, K.C.B., who, on each
occasion, expressed his most unqualified approbation of it in every
particular, and his intention to report accordingly to the General
Commanding-in-Chief. Whilst at Portsmouth the regiment discharged
nine serjeants and ninety-two rank and file, most of them after long
service, worn out and unfit for further service; those numbers were,
however, recruited in the course of fourteen weeks, forty-one of whom
were chosen from disbanded soldiers of Evans’s legion on their return
from Spain, and the regiment discontinued to recruit. It marched
for Weedon Barracks, Northamptonshire, in three divisions, on the
14th, 15th, and 16th August, 1837, and on the 20th of September, it
was inspected by Lord Hill, General Commanding-in-Chief, when his
Lordship was pleased to express himself in high terms of approbation.
After a stay of only seven weeks at this most desirable station, it
again marched in four divisions into Lancashire, on 16th, 17th,
18th, 19th, of October, to Bolton (head-quarters), Wigan, Haydock
Loch, and Liverpool.
The EIGHTY-EIGHTH, or CONNAUGHT RANGERS, though comparatively a young
regiment, has performed much arduous service. A few months after
it was embodied, it was engaged in operations against the enemy
in Flanders and Holland, and shared in all the difficulties and
privations of a winter campaign in 1794. A portion of the corps was
afterwards employed in active operations in the West Indies. In a
few years it appeared on the shores of India; and it formed the van
of the Indian army through the deserts of Egypt. In South America
the CONNAUGHT RANGERS performed their duty as gallant soldiers: and
throughout the Peninsular campaigns their services are associated
with the _Third Division_ of the British army, which was eminently
distinguished for gallantry. After a series of victories in Europe,
the services of the regiment were transferred to North America, where
it was distinguished for a praiseworthy national feeling, which is
inherent in brave men, and was evinced by the absence of desertion.
Its services may be estimated from the circumstance, that in a period
of six years it lost forty-three Officers, twenty-eight of whom fell
in the field; the remainder died from wounds, from the effects of
climate, or from fatigue; and its loss in Non-Commissioned Officers
and Privates during the same period, and from the same causes, was
above two thousand. Since the termination of the war, this regiment,
whether on home service, or in garrison abroad, has been eminent for
good conduct; and its past services furnish a laudable incentive
to perseverance in well-doing, to all who have the honour of being
enrolled under its Colours.
_In compiling this Record of the_ EIGHTY-EIGHTH _Regiment, or_
CONNAUGHT RANGERS, _in conformity to the King’s Command, as
conveyed in the General Orders of the Army, great credit is due
to Colonel O’Malley, who, with much diligence, has obtained a
very circumstantial and correct statement of the services of the
regiment; and Colonel O’Malley has acknowledged his obligations for
much valuable information which has been furnished to him by the
late Captain Robertson, and several other Officers who formerly
served in the regiment;—particularly by Lieutenant Grattan,
who served with the regiment in the Peninsular Campaigns and in
North America, and has evinced the most indefatigable zeal and
perseverance in contributing to the completion of this Memoir._
SECOND BATTALION OF THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
This battalion was composed of recruits raised in Ireland, for
limited service, under the authority of the Additional Force Act,
which passed 4th of July, 1804, and was placed on the establishment
of the army, December 25th of the same year. It was formed at
Dumfries, in Scotland, in November, 1805, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel John Alexander Wallace, embarked at Leith for
the Thames, and landing at Gravesend, marched into Sussex, where
it occupied various quarters, and furnished, from time to time,
reinforcements for the First Battalion. In January, 1807, it returned
to Ireland, and was quartered principally in Connaught, where it
recruited numerous volunteers from the Irish militia regiments.
In the summer of 1809 it embarked from Cork for Lisbon; but on its
arrival, and subsequent inspection there, it was sent, in consequence
of the youth of the men, to Gibraltar, and did duty in that garrison
for a few months. From Gibraltar it was ordered, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, to Cadiz, in which city it was quartered
during the operations against Fort Matagorda. After the reduction
of that fort it was encamped for two or three months in the Isla de
Leon, under the command of Major (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel)
Macpherson, and assisted in the construction of the lines thrown
up for the defence of that island against the French. A short time
before Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Graham engaged in the expedition
which led to the battle of Barossa, the Second Battalion of the
EIGHTY-EIGHTH was ordered again to Lisbon, where Colonel Taylor
resumed the command.
In the pursuit of Massena’s army from the lines of Torres Vedras,
the second battalion, under the command of Major Dunne, was attached
to the third division of the army. It was engaged in the action
at Sabugal, and was present in the operations of the army down to
the storming of Badajoz, after which, it furnished, as formerly
stated, a large draft of men to the First Battalion and returned
to England. In the end of 1813 it was ordered to Ireland, for the
greater facility of recruiting. The very liberal encouragement which
Lieutenant-General Lord Beresford afforded to this service, enabled
Major Dunne to obtain a number of volunteers from the Irish militia;
the liberality of the Colonel, and the judicious management of the
Commanding Officer, were so successful, that in two months the
battalion was increased from one hundred and forty to eight hundred
strong. It continued in Ireland, furnishing occasional drafts to the
First Battalion until January, 1816, when it was finally reduced at
Clare Castle, after transferring all the men who were fit for service
to the 1st battalion, then quartered in France.
SUCCESSION OF FIELD OFFICERS;
THE
NAMES OF OFFICERS, &c., KILLED AND WOUNDED;
WITH A
LIST OF NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, &c.,
WHO HAVE RECEIVED MEDALS FOR MERITORIOUS
SERVICE.
SUCCESSION OF FIELD OFFICERS.
COLONELS.
Date of Appointment. Date of Removal, &c.
The Honourable John Thomas } { Removed to the 66th
De Burgh, afterwards } Sept. 25th, 1793. { Regt., 27th Nov.
Major-General the } { 1794.
Earl of Clanricarde }
General John Reid Nov. 27th, 1794. Died in 1807.
Colonel William Carr } { Removed to the 16th
Beresford, now General } Feb. 9th, 1807. { regiment of foot
Viscount Beresford } { in 1819.
Lieut.-General Sir Gordon } { Removed to the 71st
Drummond, G.C.B. } Mar. 11th, 1819. { regiment of foot
{ in 1824.
Lieut.-General Sir Henry } { Removed to the 25th
Fred. Campbell, K.C.B. } Jan. 16th, 1824. { regiment of foot
{ in 1831.
Lieut.-General Sir John }
Alexander Wallace, Bt. } Oct. 20th, 1831.
and K.C.B. }
LIEUTENANT-COLONELS.
Date of Appointment. Date of Removal, &c.
Robert Brownrigg September 25, 1793. Coldstream Guards.
Frederick Keppell March 28, 1794. 49th foot.
Wentworth Serle June 21, 1795. To half-pay.
Wm. Carr Beresford September 16, 1795. { Promoted to the
{ Colonelcy in 1807.
Alexander Duff April 14, 1798. To half-pay.
John Alex. Wallace February 6, 1805. { Promoted to
{ Major-General, 1819.
John Taylor May 18, 1809. To half-pay.
James Ferguson August 12, 1819. To 52nd foot.
George N. O’Malley June 2, 1825.
MAJORS.
Date of Appointment. Date of Promotion
or Removal.
J. T. Harvey Elwes March 28, 1794. To 4th foot.
Alexander Duff March 28, 1794. To Lieut.-Col. 88th.
Alexander Houstoun July 15, 1795. To 57th foot.
F. W. Buller June 27, 1796. To half-pay.
Daniel Hoghton April, 1798. To 8th foot.
Richard Vandeleur April 1, 1804. Died in Portugal, 1809.
William Ironmonger September 18, 1804. To 2nd foot.
John Silver September 19, 1804. Killed at Busaco, 1810.
Daniel Colquhoun November 23, 1804. To 7th garrison batt.
Christopher Vowell March 10, 1810. Retired.
R. B. M‘Pherson March 17, 1808. To half-pay.
R. B. M‘Gregor November 23, 1809. To half-pay.
John Dunne October 25, 1810. To half-pay.
Joseph Thompson August 4, 1811. Killed at Badajoz.
W. C. Seton October 30, 1812. To half-pay.
C. M. Graham November 28, 1816. Retired.
R. N. Nickle November 28, 1822. To Lieut.-Col. in 1825.
Henry Heathcote October 6, 1825. Died in 1829.
Harris Hailes May 25, 1826. To Lieut.-Col. 28th foot.
William Onslow February 15, 1827. To half-pay.
Robert O’Hara May 14, 1829. To Lieut.-Col. unatt.
W. H. Eden July 2, 1829.
William Mackie Nov. 10, 1837.
RETURN of the NAMES of the OFFICERS, and the Number of
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, Killed
and Wounded by the Enemy, at the Places and Dates specified.
Place and Date Officers’ Names. Non-Commissioned
of Action. Officers and Privates.
Killed. Wounded. Killed. Wounded.
Serjts. Serjts.
R.&F. R.&F.
Major Ironmonger
Capt. M‘Pherson
” Dunn
” Chisholm
” Seton
” Peshall
Lieut. Thompson Lieut. Adair
BUENOS AYRES ” Hale ” R. Nickle — 100 — 120
5th July, 1807. Ensign M‘Gregor ” Graydon
Asst.-Sur. ” Whittle
Fergusson ” Stewart
” Buller
” Mackie
” Gregg
” Bury
Adjut. Robertson
TALAVERA, Capt. Blake
27th and 28th Lieut. Graydon Capt. Brown 3 22 12 93
July, 1809 ” Whittle Lieut. Whitelaw
” Mc. Carthy
Maj. R. B. M‘Gregor
Capt M‘Dermott
BUSACO, Major Silver ” G. H. Dansey 1 29 2 92
27th Sept. Lieut. Johnston(1) ” Bury
1810. Ensign Leonard Lieut. W. Nickle
” Fitzpatrick
FOZ-D’ARRONCE,
15th March, Lieut. Heppenstall .. .. .. .. 0 0 0 0
1811.
Lieut. Stewart
FUENTES D’ONOR, Capt. Irwin ” M‘Alpin 1 6 3 50
5th May, 1811. ” Halket
Ensign Owgan
Lieut. W. Flack
CIUDAD RODRIGO, Lieut. Beresford ” Armstrong — 20 2 54
19th January, ” W. Kingsmill
1812. ” Johnston
Major Thompson Brev.-Major Murphy
Capt. Lindsay Capt. Peshall
Lieut. North Lieut. Stewart
BADAJOZ, ” Johnston(2) ” Faris
24th March, to ” Mansfield Capt. Oates 5 42 10 166
6th April, 1812. ” Cottom Lieut. Armstrong
” Mc. Alpin ” Davern
” Whitelaw Ensign Grattan
Capt. Adair
Lieut. Nickle, Wm.
SALAMANCA, Brev.-Major Murphy ” Meade 1 18 1 109
22d July, 1812. Capt. Hogan ” Grattan
” Kingsmill
Capt. M‘Dermott
VITTORIA, Ensign Saunders Lieut. Flood
21st June, 1813. ” Fitzpatrick — 30 2 195
” Faris
Colonel Taylor
Capt. Oates
” Bunworth
Lieut. Fitzpatrick
Capt. Mc. Dermott ” Davern
ORTHES, Lieut. Moriarty ” Faris 5 36 13 201
27th Feb. 1814. Ensign Reynolds ” Creswell
” Holland
” Stewart
Ensign M‘Intosh
Lt. & Adjt. Mitchell
TOULOUSE, .. .. .. Capt. Robert Nickle 1 29 1 53
10th April, 1814 Lieut. Poole
—— ——— —— ————
17 332 46 1133
RETURN of OFFICERS of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, or CONNAUGHT RANGERS, who
died of Wounds, Fatigue, &c., from 1807 to 1814.
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Rank and Name. | Place and Date of Decease. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Major Vandeleur | Died at Campo Mayor in 1809. |
| | |
| Captain Brown | ” Pinhel in 1810. |
| | |
| Lieut. Shaw } | ” sea when returning from South |
| ” Lawson } | America in 1807. |
| ” Smith | ” Salamanca in 1812. |
| ” Rutledge | ” Lesan in 1813. |
| | |
| Ensign Jackson | ” sea, proceeding to South America, |
| | in 1807. |
| ” Hall | ” Madeira in 1808. |
| ” Fawcett | ” near Salamanca in 1812. |
| | |
| Asst.-Surgeon | ” at Lisbon in 1811. |
| Cunningham | |
| | |
| Paymaster Rogers | ” Belem in 1812. |
| | |
| Captain Adair | After lingering upwards of two years, died |
| | in consequence of a severe wound |
| | received at Salamanca. |
| | |
| Lieut. Stewart | Died immediately after his return from South |
| | America. |
| Ensign M‘Gregor | ” at Portsmouth, after landing from Cadiz. |
| ” Hacket | ” Berry-head soon after his return from |
| | Portugal. |
+-------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| ABSTRACT. —Killed, 28 —Died Abroad, 11 —Died in England, 4. |
| —Total, 43. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
RETURN of the 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 nature of the gallant The Titles, Medals, or |
|Rank and Names. services or meritorious other marks of His |
| conduct of the Officers. Majesty’s gracious |
| favour. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Lt.-Col. Beresford } } |
| ” Duff } } |
|Major Houghton } } |
|Captain Vandeleur } } |
| ” Silver } } |
| ” Beresford } } |
| ” Trotter } } |
| ” M‘Gregor }For their services in the } |
|Lieut. Blake } Indian army which crossed }A Medal from the Grand |
| ” Murphy } the Desert to Egypt in } Seignor. |
| ” Browne } 1801. } |
| ” Canilac } } |
| ” Oates } } |
| ” Atkinson } } |
| ” Irwin } } |
| ” Adair } } |
| ” M‘Dougall } } |
|Ensign Rogers } } |
|Adjt. Thompson } } |
|Surgeon M‘Gregor } } |
|Asst.-Surg. Taunry } } |
| |
| |
| {A Cross and Seven Clasps,|
| {For his distinguished { and appointed G.C.B, |
| { conduct at Corunna, { K.G., Cross of the Royal|
|Lieut.-Gen. { Busaco, Albuera, Badajoz, { Hanoverian Guelphic |
| Viscount { Salamanca, Vittoria, { Order, Grand Cross, |
| Beresford { Pyrenees, Nivelle, { Tower & Sword, St. |
| { Nive, Orthes, and { Ferdinand, and of Merit,|
| { Toulouse. { and of St. Hernunegeld |
| { and St. Fernando. |
| |
| {In command of the regiment } |
|Lt.-Gn. J. A. { at the actions of Busaco, }A Medal and two Clasps, |
| Wallace { Fuentes d’Onor, and } and appointed C.B. |
| { Salamanca. } |
| |
| {In command of the regiment }A Medal and two Clasps, |
|Lieut.-Gen. Sir { at the actions of Nivelle,} and appointed C.B. |
| John Taylor { Orthes, and Toulouse. } |
| |
| {In command of the advance } |
|Col. James { of the light division at }A Medal. |
| Fergusson { Badajoz, when Captain in } |
| { the 43rd regiment. } |
| |
| {For services as a } |
| { Subaltern in the 13th }A Medal from the Grand |
| { regiment with the army } Seignor. |
|Col. Geo. O’Malley { in Egypt in 1801. } |
| {For commanding Second } |
| { Battalion 44th regiment }A Medal, and appointed |
| { in the battle of } C.B. |
| { Waterloo in 1815. } |
| |
| {A Medal and one Clasp, |
|Lt.-Col. Rt. }In command of the regiment { and appointed C.B. |
| Barclay Macpherson} at Vittoria and Orthes. { and K.H. |
| |
|Major W. C. Seton {In command of the regiment }A Medal and one Clasp, |
| { at Badajoz and Salamanca } and appointed C.B. |
| |
| {Assistant-Adjutant-General } |
|Lt.-Col. C. Tryon { with the army in the }A Medal. |
| { Pyrenees. |
| |
| {For his distinguished } |
|Major B. Murphy { services at Buenos Ayres }Received the Brevet rank |
| { in 1807, on the staff of } of Major in the army. |
| { the army. } |
| |
| {For his conduct in the } |
| ” G. H. Dansey { action at Busaco, 27th }Ditto. |
| { Sept., 1810. } |
| |
| {In command of the light }The Brevet rank of |
| ” R. N. Nickle { battalion of the third } Major, a Medal, and |
| { division at Nivelle. } appointed K.H. |
| |
| {For his distinguished } |
| ” John Stewart { services at Fuentes }Received the Brevet rank |
| { d’Onor, on the 3rd and } of Major in the Army. |
| { 5th May, 1811. } |
| |
| {Received the Brevet rank |
| { of Major in the army, |
| ” Oates For services in the Field. { and appointed to the |
| { third class of the |
| { Royal Hanoverian Order. |
| |
| {Appointed to the third |
| ” Mackie For services in the Field. { class of the Royal |
| { Hanoverian Order. |
| |
|Lt. & Adj. D. {As Lieutenant in the 71st } |
| Souter { Light Infantry at }A Medal. |
| { Waterloo. } |
| |
|Paym. P. V. {As Paymaster in the Second } |
| Robinson { Battalion 69th regiment }A Medal. |
| { at Waterloo. } |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
RETURN of the Non-Commissioned Officers, Drummers, and Privates
of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, or CONNAUGHT RANGERS, who received
Medals under the sanction of His Royal Highness the Duke of York,
per Adjutant-General’s Letter, dated the 20th day of June, 1818, for
their Services during the Peninsular War from the year 1809 to the
year 1814.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FIRST CLASS.--FOR TWELVE GENERAL ACTIONS. |
+------------------+-----------------+------------------+------------------+
| Rank and Names. | Rank and Names.| Rank and Names. | Rank and Names. |
+------------------+-----------------+------------------+------------------+
| SERJEANTS. | CORPORALS. | PRIVATES. | PRIVATES. |
| 1 James Birds | John Phair | Fras. Connolly | Wm. Milton |
| Pat. Brazell | 6 Law. Redmond | Pat. Curren | Alex. Mancur |
| James Bowmer | |10 Pat. Doras | Pat. Muldoon |
| Pat. Carmody | DRUMMERS. | Bryan Farrell |30 Jas. O’Flanagan|
| 5 Pat. Cawly | 1 Jas. Baxter | Edwd. Freill | Wm. Oldershaw |
| Alex Coleman | Mat. Durinan | Bern. Faris | Pat. Philbin |
| Martin Conway | Pat. Fox | Thos. Heffron | Hugh Rogers |
| Benj. Corbett | Pat. Leonard |15 Alex. Hogg | Owen Reilly |
| Edw. Irwin | Jas. Mackenzie| Thos. Hodges |35 Thos. Shea |
|10 John Husband | 6 Fras. White | Henry Joyce | Wm. Salisbury |
| Mich. O’Neill | | Timy. Kelly | Geo. Taplin |
| Sj-M Spellacy | PRIVATES. | Edwd. King | Patt. Tumond |
|13 Barth. Flanagan| 1 Law. Barclay |20 Dan. Leonard | Wm. Walker |
| | Darby Burns | Law. Leonard |40 John Webb |
| CORPORALS. | Chas. Boyle | Dan. Logan | Bryan M‘Cullen |
| 1 Pat. Boyle | Patt. Brennan | Sam. Langsdale | Patrick Hopkins|
| Pat. Cooney | 5 Wm. Bowles | John Lloyd | Mich. Bradley |
| Wm. Lyons | Wm. Brearton |25 Pat. M‘Laughlin| John Mears |
| John Nutsford | Rob. Cahill[9]| Luke M‘Gann |45 John Croucher |
+------------------+-----------------+------------------+------------------+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| SECOND CLASS.--FROM SEVEN TO ELEVEN GENERAL ACTIONS. |
+----------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Rank and Names.| Rank and Names. | Rank and Names. | Rank and Names. |
+----------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| SERJEANTS. | PRIVATES. | PRIVATES. | PRIVATES. |
| 1 Irwin Beatty | Rich. Bryan | John Farragher | 90 Rob. M‘Grath |
| B. Dumphy |15 Peter Burke | Maur.Fitzgerald| John M‘Manus |
| Rd. Gardner | Rob. Craige | Mich. Finen | Owen M‘Gown |
| Sam. Kennedy | Miche Campbell |55 Thos. Flanagan | Thos. M‘Cann |
| 5 John M‘Manus | Js. Cavanagh(1)| John Fallon | Wm. Maclean |
| Moses Martin | Dan. Crowly | John Fitzpatrick| 95 Wm. Mawn |
| 7 Thos. Moore. |20 Peter Caffray | Pat. Farrill | Law. Mahon |
| | John Carroll | Jas. Gaven | Patt. Morgan |
| CORPORALS. | Js. Cavanagh(2)|60 Martin Gillan | John Meolieu |
| 1 Jas. Brazell | Patt. Corcoran | Bern. Gray | Philex Murphy |
| Jn.Cunningham| Jas. Carter | Jas. Gaffney |100 Mich. Maxwell |
| Andw. Dykes |25 Peter Connors | John Glancey | Owen Mulvey |
| Mich. Flynn | Mich. Connors | John Grady | Pat. Newell |
| 5 Thos.Hennesey| John Coyne |65 Pat. Hearns | Mich. O’Brien |
| Wm. Irwine | Martin Chasty | Andrew Holmes | John O’Connor |
| Thos. Smith | Rt.Chandlehouse| John Higgins |105 Th. O’Laughlin|
| John Yates |30 Mich. Conroy | Hen. Hailey | Wm. Rochford |
| 9 John Hannah. | John Cahill | Pat. House | Patt. Reilly |
| | Jas. Craddock |70 Mich. Hussy | Hugh Rourke |
| DRUMMERS. | Mich. Dawson | Pat. Horn | Dudley Scanlon|
| Jacob Cooe | Thos. Dailey | Mich. Hearne |110 John Shannon |
| Isaac Cooe |35 Hugh Daly | Pat. Kearns | John Scaunell |
| 3 Jas. Gough. | Patt. Dignan | John Kilmartin | John Stewart |
| | Jos. Dwyer |75 John Kelly | Alex. Shannon |
| PRIVATES. | John Darcy | Tim. Kelly | Mich. Suckling|
| Jas. Anderson| Pat. Darcy | Jas. Kerso |115 Phil. Sullivan|
| Wm. Anderson |40 John Davis | Wm. Karsons | Ths. Sweeny(1)|
| Denis Barry | Mich. Devine | John Killerlane| Jon. Thompson |
| John Burke | Jas. Devine |80 John Kurrijan | James Treacy |
| 5 Andrew Burns | Miles Durcan | Owen Kilroy | Daniel Tighe |
| Wm. Barlow | John Dougherty | Owen Lynch |120 Thos. Wilson |
| Robt. Barry |45 Geo. Dowlan | Peter M‘Coy | Mich. Walsh(1)|
| Jas. Brien | John Dundon | Henry M‘Manus | Denis Wardock |
| Pat. Boyle | John Donovan |85 Hugh M‘Guire | Robt. Will |
|10 Rob. Beatty | George Eyres | Ed. M‘Cormick | Alex. Williams|
| Thos. Byrne | John Farrell(1)| Thos. M‘Kenna |125 Thos.Wiltshire|
| Hen. Bell |50 John Farrell(2)| Hugh M‘Mahon |126 Francis Walsh |
| Pat. Belton | John Farrell(3)| Philip M‘Carty | |
+----------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| THIRD CLASS.--FROM ONE TO SIX GENERAL ACTIONS. |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| Rank and Names. | Rank and Names. | Rank and Names. | Rank and Names. |
+------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------+
| SERJEANTS. | PRIVATES. | PRIVATES. | PRIVATES. |
| 1 Sj-M B. O’Neill| 1 James Anker | John Cox | John Hughes |
| Qm-S W. Smith | Andrew Arrago |40 Pat. Crowley | Mich. Harris |
| M. Babington | Wm. Archer | Antony Dailey | Tim. Hand |
| John Gillis | John Boyland | Jas. Doughert |80 Edw. Howell |
| 5 John Ingham | 5 Hen. Burke | Pat. Dalton | And. Hill |
| John Little | Thos. Burnett | Dav. Dunwoody | Thos. Hill |
| Edw. M‘Nulty | Edw. Brennan |45 David Dunnon | Thos. Higgins |
| Thos. Mullen | Thos. Burns | Mich. Doyle | Thomas Holmes |
| Peter Moran | Thomas Bowles | Pat. Devine |85 David Hennessy |
|10 Thos. Mills |10 Hugh Brady | Fergus Devine | Mau. Hunt |
| Pat. Minaghan | Thomas Beckitt | Wm. Daniels | Pat. Hennessy |
| John Nicholson | Andw. Brady |50 Dan. Dowde | John Hennessy |
| John O’Brien | Jos. Brennan | Jas. Donovan | Mau. Hennessy |
| Geo. Phair | Wm. Burke | Mich. Dunn |90 Denis Hartt |
| Thos. Power |15 Ridmd. Barry | Wm. Dalton | Rich. Jones |
| Pat. Prior | Mich. Brien | Pat. Dailey | Rob. Irwine |
| Pat. Shaughnessy| Steph. Burgoy |55 Pat. Duffin | Wm. Kearney |
| Jas. Smith | John Brennan | Jas. Dunleavy | James Kelly |
|19 Charles Lewis. | John Connolly | Wm. Elliott |95 Henry Kerr |
| |20 John Carlton | Thos. Flynne | James Kilfoyle |
| | Pat. Clarke | Jas. Flynne | Bart. Kilbride |
| CORPORALS. | Thos. Corrigan |60 Mich. Fahey | James Knight |
| 1 James Costello | Mich. Carty | Thomas Faris | Henry Knight |
| John Feeney | Hen. Clarke | James Fox |100 Philip Lanagan|
| Pat. Hearne |25 John Compton | Hugh Fay | Christ. Loughry|
| Peter Higgins | Thos. Castilloe| Luke Flanaghan | Tun. Lanagan |
| 5 Ter. Kelly | Pat. Croughan |65 Pat. Farilly | Christ. Lee |
| Jas. Kelly | Steph. Cuddy | Rd. Foley | John Leeson |
| Jas. Reynolds | Bern. Cumerford| Pat. Fitzgerald|105 Sl. Lewismoore|
| Pat. Shaughnessy|30 Barth. Cullen | Mich. Fitzgibbon| Lau. Lane |
| Wm. Tupper | James Chambers | Pat. Glancy | Thos. Little |
|10 Wm. Waters. | Bernard Cuffe |70 Corn. Grogan | John Lyster |
| | Pat. Connors | Peter Garrick | Wm. Lewis |
| | Dan. Crowly | Pat. Gallagher |110 Wm. Loughead |
| DRUMMERS. |35 Thos. Connell | Thos. Grady | W. M‘Chestny |
| Jas. Arkwell | Martin Connolly| Wm. Gordon | Chs. M‘Dermott|
| Alex. Douglas | Farrell Cunniffe|75 And. Gorman | Hugh M‘Mahon |
| 3 Jas. Ogilvie | Pat. Conway | Wm. Hannah | M. M‘Laughlin |
| | | | |
|115 Thos. M‘Cue | Denis Murphy | Wm. Pendleton | Francis Sims |
| Alex. M‘Kerker| Hugh Moore | Edw. Quinn |170 John Smith |
| Mich. M‘Nama |135 Lau. Mahony | James Quinn | John Tobin |
| Ow. M‘Dermott | Wm. Moffet | Thos. Rafferty| Mich. Travers |
| John M‘Ilgun | John Murphy |155 Jn. Richardson| Wm. Travers |
|120 Jas. M‘Gowan | Benj. Mann | Edw. Rattigan | John Thomond |
| John M‘Cullen | Pat. Matthews | John Robinson |175 Nich. White |
| Jas. M‘Dermott|140 Bern. Newman | Bern. Rooney | Patt. Wynne |
| Thos. M‘Cale | Jas. Neale | John Reilly(1)| Peter Ward |
| Jas. M‘Intosh | Wm. Neyland |160 Edw. Ring | Peter Wynne |
|125 Sam. M‘Connell| Mich. Newell | Thos. Ross | James Waller |
| Pat. M‘Conville| Dav. Needham | Thos. Regan |180 Denis Woods |
| Pat. M‘Murren |145 Edw. O’Brien | John Reardon | Owen White |
| Thos. M‘Grath | John Powell | Patt. Sheridan| Thos. Ward |
| Jere. M‘Carthy| Wm. Phibbs |165 Mich. Swift | Mich. Walsh |
|130 Thos. M‘Keal | Jas. Price | Hugh Saint | Edw. Walsh |
| H. Mulholland | Mich. Pettit | John Shaw |185 John Young |
| George Mullen |150 Mich. Price | Denis Sweeny | |
| |
| Serjts. Corp. Drs. Priv. |
| No. of First Class 13 6 6 45 |
| ” Second Class 7 9 3 126 |
| ” Third Class 19 10 3 185 |
| —— —— —— ——— |
| Total number of Medals 39 25 12 356 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Consisting of the first battalions of the Fifth, Thirty-Sixth,
Forty-Fifth, and EIGHTY-EIGHTH Foot; five companies of the Rifle
Corps, two squadrons of the Sixth Dragoon Guards, and two companies
of artillery.
[2] It may not be improper, in this place, to notice and correct
an erroneous report which became prevalent in England, that the
troops engaged in the assault of Buenos Ayres were ordered, not only
to advance unloaded, but actually to take the flints out of their
muskets. The fact is, that two companies of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH only
were thus deprived of every means of offence or defence except their
bayonets; they had been on a piquet the night before at “White’s
House,” and, consequently, joined their corps in the morning with
loaded arms; the order to draw their charges occasioning some delay,
General Gower, who was present, became impatient, and directed those
who had not drawn to take their flints out. The consequence was, that
several of these men were killed in the streets while in the act of
screwing in new flints.
[3] General Reid was head of an ancient Scotch family, and served
as a Lieutenant in Loudon’s Highlanders in 1745. In 1759 he was
appointed Major of the Forty-Second, in which regiment he continued
until 1771. In 1780 he was appointed Colonel of the Ninety-Fifth
Foot, a newly-raised regiment, and continued to command it until it
was disbanded in 1783. In 1794, as stated in the text, he became
Colonel of the Connaught Rangers. His commissions as a General
Officer were, Major-General 19th October, 1781; Lieutenant-General
12th October, 1793; and General 1st January, 1798.
[4] Colonel Napier.
[5] Ibid.
[6] 17th October.—He was succeeded by Captain Robert B. M‘Gregor.
[7] The French army had recently been reinforced by their victorious
troops from Germany.
[8] Lieutenant-General Sir John A. Wallace, Bart., and K.C.B.
[9] Robert Cahill was transferred as Serjeant to the Thirty-First
regiment, for the purpose of being Pay-Serjeant to Captain Bray, who
exchanged from the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, with Captain Hutton. Cahill was
on board the Kent East Indiaman, when she took fire in the Bay of
Biscay, and from the account given by Captain Bray, his conduct and
extraordinary exertions on that trying occasion were most exemplary
and conspicuous. Having lost his Medal (which was of the First Class)
and all his necessaries, the Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates
of the Light Company (in which Company Cahill served during the whole
of the Peninsular war) made a subscription amongst them of Five
Pounds to purchase him a kit, which sum was sent to him by Lieutenant
and Adjutant Souter, who at the same time made him the present of a
Medal, which he forwarded through the Horse Guards.
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.
Some wide tables in the Appendix have had { and } bracketing removed,
some have had the column divider | removed, to reduce the width.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Historical record of the Eighty-eighth Regiment of Foot, or Connaught Rangers. : containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1837." ***
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