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Title: Historical Record of the Seventy-Third Regiment - Containing an account of the formation of the Regiment from the period of its being raised as the Second Battalion of the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and of its subsequent services to 1851
Author: Cannon, Richard
Language: English
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SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT ***
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
placed at the end of each major section.
A superscript is denoted by ^x or ^{xx}, for example S^t or 4^{th}.
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Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT:
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
FROM THE PERIOD OF ITS BEING RAISED
AS THE SECOND BATTALION
OF THE
FORTY-SECOND ROYAL HIGHLANDERS,
IN 1780
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1851.
COMPILED BY
RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.
LONDON:
PARKER, FURNIVALL, & PARKER,
30, CHARING CROSS.
M DCCC LI.
GENERAL ORDERS.
_HORSE-GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836_.
His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with the view of
doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals
who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with
the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the
British Army shall be published under the superintendence and
direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall
contain the following particulars, viz.:--
---- The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of
the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time
employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations
in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any
Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies,
&c., it may have captured from the Enemy.
---- The Names of the Officers, and the number of
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the
Enemy, specifying the place and Date of the Action.
---- The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their
Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the
Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other
Marks of His Majesty’s gracious favour.
---- The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers,
and Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in
Action.
And,
---- The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been
permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges
or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.
By Command of the Right Honorable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
_Commanding-in-Chief_.
JOHN MACDONALD,
_Adjutant-General_.
PREFACE.
The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend
upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service
are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that
any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which
alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.
Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable
object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the
Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright
examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to
incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have
preceded him in their honorable career, are among the motives that
have given rise to the present publication.
The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the
“London Gazette,” from whence they are transferred into the public
prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the
time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and
admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions,
the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on
the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their
orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill
and bravery, and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour
of their Sovereign’s approbation, constitute the reward which the
soldier most highly prizes.
It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which
appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies)
for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services
and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in
obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic
account of their origin and subsequent services.
This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty
having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in
future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and
abroad.
From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth
derive information as to the difficulties and privations which
chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In
Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to
the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and
where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed
by the _presence of war_, which few other countries have escaped,
comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service
and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the
British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little
or no interval of repose.
In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country
derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist
and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to
reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,--on
their sufferings,--and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which
so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.
The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance,
have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and
their character has been established in Continental warfare by the
irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in
spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and
steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against
superior numbers.
In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample
justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the
Corps employed; but the details of their services and of acts of
individual bravery can only be fully given in the Annals of the
various Regiments.
These Records are now preparing for publication, under His
Majesty’s special authority, by Mr. RICHARD CANNON, Principal Clerk
of the Adjutant General’s Office; and while the perusal of them
cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every
rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and
information to the general reader, particularly to those who may
have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.
There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or
are serving, in the Army, an _Esprit de Corps_--an attachment
to everything belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a
narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove
interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the
valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with
a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race
of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood “firm
as the rocks of their native shore:” and when half the world has
been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their
Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of
achievements in war,--victories so complete and surprising, gained
by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow-citizens in arms,--a
record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their
gallant deeds before us,--will certainly prove acceptable to the
public.
Biographical Memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished
Officers will be introduced in the Records of their respective
Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to
time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value
and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.
As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment
will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall
be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.
INTRODUCTION
TO
THE INFANTRY.
The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for
innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority
of the British troops over those of other countries has been
evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains
so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can
be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be
admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is
INTREPIDITY. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England
when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army,
on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to
attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and,
although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their
adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated
the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar’s favourite tenth
legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other
weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of
which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades,
and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted
and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat,
sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry.
These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar’s
legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline
and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being
thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full
development of the national character followed, and it shone forth
in all its native brilliancy.
The military force of the Anglo-Saxons consisted principally of
infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on
horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The
former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords
and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only.
They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and
javelins.
The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted
(as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost
entirely of horse; but when the warlike barons and knights, with
their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion
of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior
degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When
stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a
considerable portion of the military force; and this _arme_ has
since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never
exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.
The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns
succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances,
halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour
was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice
became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel,
that it was almost impossible to slay them.
The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive
purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth
century, produced a change in the arms and equipment of the
infantry-soldier. Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of
fire-arms, but British archers continued formidable adversaries;
and, owing to the inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of
the fire-arms when first introduced, a body of men, well trained
in the use of the bow from their youth, was considered a valuable
acquisition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century.
During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company
of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in
every hundred men forty were “_men-at-arms_,” and sixty “_shot_;”
the “men-at-arms” were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and
thirty pikemen; and the “shot” were twenty archers, twenty
musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides
his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.
Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150
to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of
formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John
Smithe) in 1590 was:--the colour in the centre of the company
guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on
each flank of the halberdiers: half the musketeers on each flank
of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers,
and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the
muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the
company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number
of companies into one body, called a REGIMENT, which frequently
amounted to three thousand men: but each company continued to carry
a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the
construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to
make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried
a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier,
armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth
century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry
were reduced to two classes, viz.: _musketeers_, armed with
matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and _pikemen_, armed with
pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.
In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men. He
caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks,
or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be
made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed
each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division
of pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments
into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to
three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his
infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen
and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of
other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English,
French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice
in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not
adopted until near a century afterwards.
In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled
the Admiral’s regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually
consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light
firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with
hand grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was
designated the “grenadier company.” Daggers were so contrived as to
fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets, similar to those
at present in use, were adopted about twenty years afterwards.
An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James
II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers
(now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did
not carry pikes.
King William III. incorporated the Admiral’s regiment in the second
Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service.
During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting
the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46
musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans;
ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in
1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on
the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]
During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every
infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the
grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand grenades;
and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour:
the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the Army in this
reign.
About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry
ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light
companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of
General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside
their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the Seven
Years’ War. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have
been limited to the musket and bayonet.
The arms and equipment of the British Troops have seldom differed
materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European
states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods,
been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they
have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and
superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many
and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained
over very superior numbers.
Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have
dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves
valiant with any arms. At _Crecy_, King Edward III., at the head
of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip
King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000
men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:--the
King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles
were slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten
years afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the
Black Prince, defeated, at _Poictiers_, with 14,000 men, a French
army of 60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of
France, and his son Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October,
1415, King Henry V., with an army of about 13,000 men, although
greatly exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated,
at _Agincourt_, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower
of the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men,
and gained a complete victory.
During the seventy years’ war between the United Provinces of the
Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and
terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the
States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and
firmness;[3] and in the thirty years’ war between the Protestant
Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British Troops in the
service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of
heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British
army under the great MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world;
and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory
of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons
of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the
qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of
the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in
Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French
army, which had been vainly styled _Invincible_, to evacuate that
country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous
campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal WELLINGTON; and
the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great
Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means
he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to
their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British
Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates, in the
distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy
which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers,
Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons
of the nineteenth century.
The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular
frame,--intrepidity which no danger can appal,--unconquerable
spirit and resolution,--patience in fatigue and privation, and
cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities, united with
an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give
a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of
the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to
command, whose presence inspires confidence,--have been the leading
causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5]
The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the
various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought
and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory;
these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of
time.
The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a
detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the
hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in
the various parts of the world where the calls of their Country
and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed
in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental
operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and
unfavourable climes.
The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set
forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest
commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements
of this _arme_, as at present practised, while they are adapted
to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations
and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the
brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and
scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have
been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements
have from time to time been introduced, to insure that simplicity
and celerity by which the superiority of the national military
character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain
has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great
measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons
who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the
several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:--
__|
| |
|__|
|
20 20 20 30 2|0 30 20 20 20
|
Harquebuses. Muskets. Halberds. Muskets. Harquebuses.
Archers. Pikes. Pikes. Archers.
The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the
harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.
[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps
in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign
of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under
Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and
in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at
the siege of Barcelona in 1705.
[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed
in 1590, observes:--“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation
would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the
field, let them be chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the
Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe.
For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during
the Seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third
Foot, or Buffs.
[4] _Vide_ the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of
Foot.
[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes
the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in
Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but
His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed
on the consideration of every part of the army, that it has been a
strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which
has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and
has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national
military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under
circumstances of peculiar difficulty.”--_General Orders in 1801._
In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope
(afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the
successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January,
1809, it is stated:--“On no occasion has the undaunted valour of
British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a
severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority
which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired
the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be
encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the
troops themselves: and the enemy has been taught, that whatever
advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is
inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows
not how to yield,--that no circumstances can appal,--and that will
ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any
human means.”
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT
BEARS ON THE REGIMENTAL COLOUR AND APPOINTMENTS
THE WORD “MANGALORE,”
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE GALLANT DEFENCE OF THAT FORTRESS IN 1783;
ALSO,
THE WORD “SERINGAPATAM,”
FOR THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF THAT PLACE IN 1799;
AND,
THE WORD “WATERLOO,”
IN TESTIMONY OF THE GALLANTRY OF THE SECOND BATTALION
AT THAT BATTLE ON THE 18th OF JUNE, 1815.
THE
SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
CONTENTS
OF THE
HISTORICAL RECORD.
Year Page
INTRODUCTION 1
1780 Formation of the second battalion of the forty-second,
afterwards the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment 5
1781 Embarked for India 6
1782 Campaign against Hyder Ali, and Tippoo Saib --
---- Operations before _Paniané_ 7
---- Defeat of Tippoo’s army 8
---- Decease of Hyder Ali, and succession of Tippoo to the
throne of Mysore --
1783 Siege and capture of _Onore_ 9
---- Action at the Hussanghurry Ghaut --
---- Occupation of _Mangalore_ by the British --
---- _Mangalore_ invested by Tippoo Sultan --
---- Defence of _Mangalore_ 10
---- The Royal authority granted for bearing the word
“_Mangalore_” on the regimental colour and
appointments --
---- Armistice between the British and Tippoo --
---- Renewal of hostilities --
---- Second siege of Mangalore 10
---- Termination of hostilities --
---- Embarkation of the battalion for Calcutta --
---- Employed on service in the Upper Provinces --
1786 The second battalion of the forty-second numbered
the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment 11
---- Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart. appointed
colonel of the regiment --
---- Alteration of the facings from _blue_ to _dark green_ --
---- Establishment of the regiment --
---- Major-General Medows appointed colonel of the regiment --
1789 Hostilities renewed by Tippoo --
1790 The SEVENTY-THIRD regiment removed to the seat of war 12
---- And ordered to compose part of the force under
Major-General Abercromby --
1791 Action with the Sultan, and the siege of _Seringapatam_
deferred by the British --
1792 Operations of the troops under Major-General Abercromby --
---- Preparations for the siege of _Seringapatam_ 13
---- Cessation of hostilities --
---- Effects of the French revolution on the affairs of
India --
1793 Expedition against the French settlement of
_Pondicherry_ --
1795 Capture of the Dutch settlements in _Ceylon_ 15
1796 The regiment stationed in that island, and employed
in completing its conquest --
---- Major-General Lake appointed colonel of the regiment --
1797 The regiment embarked for Madras --
1798 Removed to Poonamallee --
1798 Alliances formed by Tippoo for renewing hostilities 15
1799 The regiment ordered to take the field 16
---- Action at _Mallavelly_ --
---- Siege and capture of Seringapatam 17
---- Death of Tippoo, and termination of the campaign 18
---- Casualties of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment 19
---- Authorised to bear the word “SERINGAPATAM” on the
regimental colour and appointments --
---- General Orders issued on the occasion of the above
victory --
---- Partition of the late Sultan’s territory 20
1800 Major-General George Harris appointed colonel of the
regiment --
---- The regiment employed against the Polygars 21
1801 Removed to Gooty --
1802 Proceeded to Bellary --
1803 Returned to Gooty --
---- Proceeded to Pondicherry --
1804 Removed to Madras --
1805 Embarked for England --
1806 Disembarked at Greenwich --
---- Proceeded to Scotland --
1807 New colours received by the regiment 22
1808 Formation of the second battalion 23
1809 Discontinuance of the _Highland_ dress by the
SEVENTY-THIRD and five other regiments --
---- The first battalion embarked for New South Wales 24
1810 Arrival at Sydney --
1812 Augmentation of establishment 25
1814 The first battalion embarked for Ceylon --
1814 Complimentary General Order issued on the occasion 25
---- Aspect of affairs in Ceylon 27
1816 Invasion of the kingdom of Candy by the British 28
---- Deposition of the king of Candy, and annexation of
his territory to the British Crown --
1817 Disbandment of the second battalion 30
---- Reduction of the refractory Candian chiefs --
1818 Casualties sustained on this service 31
---- Medals struck for acts of individual gallantry 32
1821 The regiment embarked for England --
---- Landed at Gravesend, and proceeded to Weedon --
---- Reduction of establishment --
1823 The regiment proceeded to Scotland 33
---- Removed to Ireland --
1825 Augmentation of establishment --
---- Riots in Lancashire and Yorkshire --
1826 Embarked for England --
---- Tranquillity restored, and return of the regiment
to Ireland 34
1827 Formed into service and depôt companies --
---- Service companies embarked for Gibraltar --
1829 Casualties from fever at Gibraltar --
---- Major-General Sir Frederick Adam, K.C.B. appointed
colonel of the regiment 35
---- Service companies proceeded to Malta, and
complimentary order prior to embarkation from
Gibraltar --
1830 Depôt companies removed from Ireland to Great
Britain 36
---- Address from Major-General Maurice O’Connell on his
promotion from the regiment --
1831 Depôt companies proceeded to Jersey 38
1834 Service companies embarked for the Ionian Islands --
1835 Depôt companies removed to Ireland 38
---- Major-General William George Lord Harris, K.C.H.
appointed colonel of the regiment --
1838 Embarkation of the service companies for Nova Scotia 39
---- Service companies removed to Canada --
1839 Depôt companies proceeded to Great Britain --
1841 Return of the service companies to England --
---- Consolidation of the regiment at Gosport --
1842 Stationed at Woolwich, subsequently at Bradford, and
afterwards at Newport, in Monmouthshire --
1844 Embarked for Ireland --
1845 Major-General Sir Robert Henry Dick, K.C.B., appointed
colonel of the regiment --
---- Formed into service and depôt companies --
---- Embarkation of the former for the Cape of Good Hope --
---- Detained at Monte Video --
1846 Major-General Sir John Grey, K.C.B., appointed colonel
of the regiment --
---- The service companies employed in the protection of
Monte Video 40
---- Re-embarkation of the service companies for the Cape
of Good Hope --
---- Employed against the Kaffirs --
1847 Casualties on this service --
1848 Removed to Cape Town --
1849 Major-General Richard Goddard Hare Clarges appointed
colonel of the regiment --
1850 Removal of the service companies to the frontier 41
1851 Employed against the Kaffirs --
CONTENTS
OF THE
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE SECOND BATTALION
OF
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
Year Page
INTRODUCTION 43
1808 Formation of the Second Battalion 44
1809 Received volunteers from the Militia --
1810 Removed from Ashborne to Derby, and subsequently to
Ashford --
1811 Augmentation of establishment --
1812 Removed to Deal, and afterwards to the Tower --
1813 Augmentation of establishment --
---- Embarked for Swedish Pomerania 45
---- Joined the allied forces under Lieut.-General Count
Wallmoden --
---- Action at _Gorde_ --
---- The second battalion proceeded to the north of
Germany --
---- Proceeded to England, but embarked, without landing,
for Holland 46
1814 Bombardment of Antwerp --
---- Action at _Merxem_ --
---- March of the British troops to Breda 47
1814 Bombardment of a detachment of the battalion in Fort
Frederick by a French gun-ship 47
---- Conclusion of peace --
1815 Return of Napoleon from Elba to Paris 48
---- Renewal of hostilities --
---- Rapid advance of Napoleon --
---- The British proceeded to Charleroi 49
---- Action at _Quatre Bras_ 50
---- Casualties of the battalion --
---- Battle of WATERLOO 51
---- Casualties of the battalion 52
---- Honors conferred for the victory 53
---- Authorised to bear the word “WATERLOO” on the colour
and appointments --
---- Return of Louis XVIII. to Paris --
---- Surrender of Napoleon, and his conveyance to St.
Helena --
---- Embarkation of the battalion for England 54
1816 Stationed at Nottingham --
1817 The second battalion disbanded --
1851 CONCLUSION 55
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
Year Page
1786 Sir George Osborn, Bart. 57
---- Sir William Medows 58
1796 Gerard, afterward Viscount Lake 59
1800 George Lord Harris, G.C.B. 61
1829 The Right Honorable Sir Frederick Adam, G.C.B. 63
1835 William George Lord Harris, C.B. and K.C.H. 64
1845 Sir Robert Henry Dick, K.C.B. and K.C.H. 66
1846 Sir John Grey, K.C.B. 68
1849 Richard Goddard Hare Clarges, C.B. --
APPENDIX.
Memoir of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie 69
Memoir of Lieutenant-General Sir Maurice Charles
O’Connell, K.C.H. 70
British and Hanoverian army at Waterloo on the 18th
of June 1815 73
PLATES.
Colours of the Regiment _to face_ 1
Storming of Seringapatam, 4th May, 1799 ” 18
Costume of the Regiment ” 56
[Illustration: LXXIII REGIMENT
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand_
_For Cannon’s Military Records_]
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
During the last century several corps, at successive periods, have
been borne on the establishment of the army, and numbered the
SEVENTY-THIRD; the following details are therefore prefixed to the
historical record of the services of the regiment which now bears
that number, in order to prevent its being connected with those
corps which have been designated by the same numerical title, but
whose services have been totally distinct.
* * * * *
In the spring of 1758, the second battalions of fifteen regiments
of infantry, from the 3rd to the 37th, were directed to be formed
into distinct regiments, and to be numbered from the 61st to the
75th successively, as follows:--
_Second Battalion_ _Constituted_
3rd Foot the 61st regiment.
4th ” ” 62nd ”
8th ” ” 63rd ”
11th ” ” 64th ”
12th ” ” 65th ”
19th ” ” 66th ”
20th ” ” 67th ”
23rd ” the 68th regiment.
24th ” ” 69th ”
31st ” ” 70th ”
32nd ” ” 71st ”
33rd ” ” 72nd ”
34th ” ” 73rd ”
36th ” ” 74th ”
37th ” ” 75th ”
The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus formed, were
disbanded in 1763, after the peace of Fontainebleau.
Several other corps were likewise disbanded at this period, which
occasioned a change in the numerical titles of the following
regiments of Invalids.
The 81st regiment (Invalids) was numbered the 71st regiment.
” 82nd ” ” ” 72nd ”
” 116th ” ” ” 73rd ”
” 117th ” ” ” 74th ”
” 118th ” ” ” 75th ”
The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus numbered,
were formed into independent companies of Invalids in the year
1769, which increased the number of Invalid Companies from eight to
twenty; they were appropriated to the following garrisons, namely
four companies at Guernsey, four at Jersey, three at Hull, two at
Chester, two at Tilbury Fort, two at Sheerness, one at Landguard
Fort, one at Pendennis, and one in the Scilly Islands.
These numerical titles became thus extinct until October, 1775,
when the seventy-first regiment was raised. In December, 1777,
further augmentations were made to the army, and the regiments
which were directed to be raised, were numbered from the
seventy-second to the eighty-third regiment.
The army was subsequently increased to one hundred and five
regular regiments of infantry, exclusive of eleven unnumbered
regiments, and thirty-six independent companies of Invalids.
The conclusion of the general peace in 1783, occasioned the
disbandment of several regiments (commencing with the seventy-first
regiment), and thus changed the numerical titles of certain
regiments retained on the reduced establishment of the army.
In 1786 the SEVENTY-THIRD was directed to be numbered the
seventy-first regiment; the seventy-eighth to be numbered the
seventy-second; and the second battalion of the forty-second to
be constituted the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment. These corps had been
directed to be raised in Scotland in 1777 and 1779, and were
denominated Highland regiments.
The details of the services of the present SEVENTY-THIRD regiment
are contained in the following pages; the histories of the
seventy-first and seventy-second regiments are given in distinct
numbers.
1851
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT;
ORIGINALLY RAISED AS
THE SECOND BATTALION OF THE FORTY-SECOND ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT.
[Sidenote: 1779]
[Sidenote: 1780]
The present SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was authorised, on the 30th
of July 1779, to be raised as the _Second Battalion of the
Forty-second Royal Highlanders_, and was embodied at Perth,
on the 21st of March 1780. Its establishment consisted of one
lieut.-colonel (and captain), one major (and captain), eight
captains, twelve lieutenants, eight ensigns, one chaplain, one
adjutant, one quarter-master, one surgeon, one mate, thirty
serjeants, forty corporals, twenty drummers, two pipers, and seven
hundred private men. Soon after its formation, the battalion
marched to Fort George to be drilled and disciplined, and in
the course of the year was ordered to proceed to England for
embarkation for India, where events had occurred which occasioned
reinforcements to be sent to that country.
[Sidenote: 1781]
Hyder Ali, a soldier of fortune, had risen to the chief command of
the army of the Ruler of Mysore, and when the Rajah died, leaving
his eldest son a minor, Hyder Ali assumed the guardianship of the
youthful prince, whom he placed under restraint, and seized on
the reins of government. Having a considerable territory under
his control, he maintained a formidable military establishment,
which he endeavoured to bring into a high state of discipline
and efficiency. He soon evinced decided hostility to the British
interests in India, and formed a league with the French.
Hostilities had also commenced between Great Britain and Holland,
and the British troops were employed in dispossessing the Dutch of
their settlements in Bengal, and on the coast of Coromandel. Thus
three powers were opposed to the British interests in India, and
the _Second Battalion of the Forty-second Royal Highland_ regiment
was ordered to proceed to that country.
About the end of the previous year the battalion had arrived
at Gravesend from North Britain, and on the 21st of January
1781, embarked at Portsmouth for India, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel Norman Macleod.
One division of the regiment landed at Madras on the 18th of May:
but the other divisions, consisting of seven companies and a half,
had a voyage of thirteen months and thirteen days; they ultimately
landed at Bombay in February 1782.
[Sidenote: 1782]
These divisions, soon after landing, took the field, and
the battalion was subsequently united under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel Macleod, when it shared in the campaign against
Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Saib.
The situation of Colonel Thomas Frederick Mackenzie Humberston
(Lieut.-Colonel Commandant of the seventy-eighth, now
seventy-second regiment) who had been despatched with troops
to the Malabar coast, having become very perilous, the second
battalion of the _Forty-second_ regiment, with other troops,
proceeded to his relief at Mungarry Cottah. In the meantime Tippoo
Saib, with his usual activity, suddenly collected a body of troops,
and proceeded to cut off the force at that station. Notwithstanding
the secrecy of the expedition, Colonel Humberston received some
vague intelligence of its arrival on the northern banks of the
Coleroon, and suspecting at once the design of the enemy, destroyed
the fortifications at Mungarry Cottah, and retreated to Ramgaree;
where receiving certain information that Tippoo was approaching
with the utmost rapidity, he withdrew to _Paniané_, fighting every
step of the march. Upon arriving at the river Paniané, a deep ford,
after a search of two hours, was found, and the troops passed over,
up to the chin in water, with the loss of only two camp followers.
He gained the Fort of _Paniané_ on the 20th of November, much to
the surprise of Tippoo, who had expected an easy conquest.
Colonel Macleod, of the second battalion of the _Forty-second_
regiment, having arrived at _Paniané_ from Madras, the command
of the forces devolved upon him, and the place was immediately
invested by Tippoo Saib and Monsieur Lally, with an army amounting
to eight thousand infantry, including some hundreds of French and
Europeans; ten thousand cavalry, and above six thousand polygars.
The enemy kept up a considerable but ineffectual cannonade for some
days; the British commander at length endeavoured to surprise the
enemy’s camp, but after forcing an outpost or two, and taking a few
prisoners, the colonel found it necessary to relinquish the design.
This sally was returned by Tippoo in a few days, who made a
vigorous attack with his combined army on the 28th of November,
being led by Monsieur Lally at the head of his Europeans. Tippoo’s
forces were everywhere repulsed with the greatest gallantry, and
the victors profited by their success as much as their disparity in
numbers would admit. About two hundred of the dead of the enemy,
whom he was not able to carry off, were buried by the British; and
a French officer, who led one of the columns to the attack, was
taken prisoner. Colonel Macleod and the troops under his command
acquired great praise for their gallantry at _Paniané_.
Tippoo acknowledged his defeat by repassing the river Paniané, and
placing it as a barrier against the British. A state of inaction
succeeded on both sides for several days: but in the night between
the 11th and 12th of December, Tippoo suddenly broke up his camp,
and returned by rapid marches to Palacatcherry, from whence he
proceeded directly back to the Carnatic.
In December 1782, occurred the decease of Hyder Ali, and he left
a kingdom of his own acquisition to his son Tippoo Saib, who now
became one of the most powerful princes in India.
[Sidenote: 1783]
Brigadier-General Mathews having determined to besiege the city
of _Onore_, situated midway between Paniané and Bombay, Colonel
Macleod embarked as many troops as the ships were capable of
receiving, but the place was taken in January 1783, before their
arrival.
The President and Council of Bombay had despatched orders to
Brigadier-General Mathews, that he should penetrate through the
Ghauts, (as the passes in the mountains on both sides of the Indian
Peninsula are termed,) into the Bednore or Canara country, and
particularly to gain possession of the capital, which along with a
strong fort on a small mountain that joins the city, were the great
depositories of the treasures collected by the late Hyder Ali, as
well as the grand magazines of his arms and military stores.
After the capture of _Onore_, Brigadier-General Mathews, in
pursuance of his orders, proceeded further down the coast, and took
the towm of Cundapore with little loss. He subsequently forced a
passage through the Ghauts, and the rich Canara kingdom, with its
capital, now lay open to the invaders. The city of Bednore had
recently changed its name to Hyder Nagur, or the Royal City of
Hyder.
The government and command of the city and country were lodged in
the hands of Hyat Saib, who surrendered the place to the British,
after an action had taken place at the Hussanghurry Ghaut.
This occurred early in February 1783; and on the 9th of March
_Mangalore_ fell into the hands of the British.
Tippoo Saib, who had now succeeded to the title of Sultan,
determined to use every effort for the recovery of these favorite
possessions. Having recovered Bednore, which surrendered on
the 28th of April, the Sultan, in defiance of the terms of the
capitulation, ordered Brigadier-General Mathews and his officers
into close confinement, from which they never returned, being
afterwards put to a violent death.
Tippoo next proceeded to invest _Mangalore_, on the Malabar coast,
and it required all the abilities of Lieut.-Colonel John Campbell,
major of the _Forty-second_, seconded by the well-tried valour of
the second battalion of that regiment, and other corps, to supply
the defects of the fortifications. The place was invested on the
18th of May by the whole of the enemy’s forces, commanded by Tippoo
in person. The garrison under Lieut.-Colonel Campbell (Colonel
Macleod being employed as a Brigadier-General), made a most gallant
and successful defence, subject to hardships and wants which have
seldom been exceeded in the annals of sieges.
In consequence of the General Peace which had been entered into
with the European Powers, Tippoo became deprived of his French
allies, and the Sultan entered into negociations for terminating
the war between Mysore and the British, when an armistice took
place.
This event terminated the siege of _Mangalore_ about the end of
September, at a time when all the works which defended the garrison
were nearly shattered to pieces; all the provisions exhausted, and
numbers of the brave soldiers were dying daily, victims of want and
disease.[6]
The contest was, however, again renewed, and the garrison was a
second time invested by Tippoo.
[Sidenote: 1784]
The fortress of _Mangalore_ was defended until the 25th of February
1784, when sickness, and the want of provisions, compelled
Lieut.-Colonel Campbell to evacuate the place, after obtaining the
most honorable terms from the enemy. Peace was afterwards concluded
with the Sultan of Mysore on the 11th of March following.
The battalion embarked in this year for Calcutta, and was employed
on active service in the Upper Provinces of Bengal.
[Sidenote: 1786]
The _Seventy-third_ Highland Regiment, having in the year 1786
been directed to be numbered the _Seventy-first_ Regiment, the
_Second Battalion_ of the _Forty-second_ Royal Highland Regiment
was constituted a distinct corps, and numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD
Highland Regiment, the colonelcy being conferred upon Major-General
Sir George Osborn, Bart., (Lieut.-Colonel of the Third Foot
Guards), from the 18th of April 1786. The facings were at the same
time altered from _blue_ to _dark green_.
The establishment of the regiment for the ten companies serving
in India, was fixed as follows:--One colonel, with an allowance
in lieu of a company; one lieut.-colonel and captain, one major
and captain; eight captains, twelve lieutenants, eight ensigns,
one chaplain, one adjutant, one quarter-master, one surgeon, one
surgeon’s mate, thirty serjeants, forty corporals, twenty drummers,
two fifers, and seven hundred private men. The company kept at
home for recruiting consisted of one captain, one lieutenant, one
ensign, six serjeants, eight corporals, four drummers, and seventy
private men: in all nine hundred and nineteen.
On the 11th of August 1786, Major-General William Medows was
appointed to be colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD, in succession to
Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart., who was removed to the
fortieth regiment.
[Sidenote: 1789]
The insatiable ambition of Tippoo Sultan, the powerful ruler of the
Mysore, soon involved the British Government in India in another
war; he appeared near the confines of Travancore, at the head of a
powerful army, made unreasonable demands on the Rajah, a British
ally, and commenced hostilities towards the end of December 1789.
[Sidenote: 1790]
This caused the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment to be removed from the
Presidency of Bengal, and it joined the troops under Major-General
Robert Abercromby, which consisted of His Majesty’s seventy-fifth
and seventy-seventh regiments, in addition to other corps belonging
to the East India Company.
[Sidenote: 1791]
The Mahratta armies having advanced to Seringapatam in May 1791,
later than the appointed period, their delay, and other unforeseen
circumstances, compelled General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K.G., to
destroy his battering train, after having defeated Tippoo on the
15th of May, in a pitched battle, and obliged his lordship to lead
back his army, leaving the siege of the enemy’s capital to be the
object of another campaign.
The Bombay army, of which the SEVENTY-THIRD formed part, commanded
by Major-General Abercromby, had, with infinite labour, formed
roads, and brought a battering train, with a large supply of
provisions and stores, over fifty miles of woody mountains called
Ghauts, that immense barrier separating the Mysore country from the
Malabar coast. This army, after surmounting all its difficulties,
had therefore to retrace its steps, worn down by sickness and
fatigue, and exposed to the incessant rains which then deluged the
western coast of India.
The troops under Major-General Abercromby were again ordered to
act from the same quarter as in the former campaign; they marched
on the 5th of December towards the Poodicherrim Ghaut, and took
possession of the pass on the 15th of that month.
[Sidenote: 1792]
On the 5th of February 1792, General the Earl Cornwallis directed
Major-General Abercromby to march from his encampment near
Periapatam, and on the 11th of that month he crossed the Cavery, at
Eratore, a ford about thirty miles above Seringapatam, and joined
the army under Earl Cornwallis on the 16th of February.
Meanwhile the army under General the Earl Cornwallis had attacked
the forces of the Sultan on the night of the 6th of February, near
_Seringapatam_, and gained a decisive victory.
The power of the Sultan being greatly reduced, and preparations for
the siege of his capital having been commenced, he sued for peace,
and a treaty was concluded, by which half of his dominions were
ceded to the allies. A large sum of money was also to be paid by
the Sultan, all the prisoners in his power were released, and two
of his sons were delivered as hostages.
[Sidenote: 1793]
The French Revolution, which had commenced a few years previously,
had at this period assumed a character which called forth
the efforts of other countries to arrest the progress of its
destructive principles, and on the 1st of February 1793, shortly
after the decapitation of Louis XVI., war was declared by the
National Convention of France against Great Britain and Holland.
News of this event arrived in India in May 1793; in June the
SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was ordered to prepare to take the field;
it marched soon afterwards against the French settlement of
_Pondicherry_, on the coast of Coromandel, and arrived before the
fortress in July,--being formed in brigade, with the seventy-second
and seventy-fourth regiments, and the third East India Company’s
European regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel David Baird of the
seventy-first regiment; the troops employed on this service were
commanded by Colonel John Brathwaite.
The siege of _Pondicherry_ was commenced in the early part of
August, the army encamping in a thick wood where tigers were so
numerous, that the natives durst not travel in the night. On
the 22nd of August a white flag was displayed by the garrison,
with a request for permission to surrender. The French soldiers
in the fortress had embraced democratical principles, and were
particularly insubordinate; they insisted that the governor should
surrender, but after the white flag was displayed, they fired two
shells, which killed several men. During the night they were guilty
of every species of outrage, breaking into houses and becoming
intoxicated. On the following morning, a number of them environed
the house of the Governor, General Charmont, and threatened to hang
him before the door, when application was made to the British for
protection. The English soldiers rushed into the town, overpowered
the insurgents, rescued the governor, and preserved the inhabitants
from further violence.
[Sidenote: 1795]
In the early part of the year 1795, Holland became united to
France, and was styled the Batavian republic. When information of
this event arrived in India, an expedition was immediately fitted
out against the large and mountainous island of _Ceylon_, where the
Dutch had several settlements, and the SEVENTY-THIRD Highlanders
were selected to take part in the enterprise; the troops employed
on this service were commanded by Colonel James Stuart, of the
seventy-second, who was promoted to the rank of Major-General at
this period. The fleet arrived on the coast of Ceylon on the 1st
of August, and two days afterwards they landed four miles north of
the Fort of _Trincomalee_; the siege of the place was commenced
as soon as the artillery and stores could be landed, and removed
sufficiently near to the place. On the 26th of August a practicable
breach was effected, and the garrison surrendered. The fort of
_Batticaloe_ surrendered on the 18th of September, and the fort
and island of _Manaar_ capitulated on the 5th of October.
[Sidenote: 1796]
The regiment continued to be actively employed until the whole
of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon were reduced, which was
accomplished in February, 1796, when the governor, John Geraud Van
Angelbeck, surrendered the fortress of _Colombo_ to the British
arms. The people in the interior of the island had not been
deprived of their independence by the Dutch, and they were not
interfered with by the British so long as they preserved a peaceful
demeanour.
Major-General Gerard Lake was removed from the colonelcy of the
fifty-third to that of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment on the 2nd of
November, 1796, in succession to Lieut.-General Sir William Medows,
K.B., who was appointed colonel of the seventh dragoon guards.
[Sidenote: 1797]
In April 1797, the regiment proceeded from Colombo to Point
Pedro, in Ceylon, and shortly afterwards embarked for Madras. It
was removed from Fort St. George to Wallajahbad in October, but
returned to Fort St. George in January, 1798.
[Sidenote: 1798]
The regiment proceeded from Fort St. George to Poonamallee in
September, 1798, and continued at that station during the remainder
of the year.
The reduction of the power and resources of Tippoo Saib, effected
by the treaty of Seringapatam in 1792, had weakened, but not
extinguished, the evils consequent on his inveterate hatred of
the British. The Sultan had entered into a negociation with the
Governor of the Isle of France in 1798, and sent an embassy to
Zemaun Shah, sovereign of Cabool, for the purpose of exciting
him to an attack on the British possessions. Having also derived
encouragement from the successes of Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt,
from which country the French Directory intended to act against
the British dominions in India, Tippoo commenced augmenting his
military force, and his hostile designs became every day more
apparent. The Governor-General the Earl of Mornington (afterwards
the Marquis Wellesley), seeing a rupture inevitable, resolved to
anticipate the attack, and ordered the British army to take the
field, and march into the heart of the dominions of the Sultan
Tippoo Saib.
[Sidenote: 1799]
In conformity to these orders, Major-General George (afterwards
Lord) Harris, who was serving with the local rank of
lieut.-general, advanced with the army under his command, on the
11th of February, 1799, and entered the Mysore territory on the 5th
of March. The SEVENTY-THIRD formed part of the second brigade under
Colonel John Coape Sherbroke, Lieut.-Colonel of the thirty-third
regiment.
The army reached Mallavelly on the 27th of March, when on
approaching the ground of encampment, the forces of Tippoo Sultan
were discovered drawn up on a height at a few miles distance.
The advanced piquets were attacked by the enemy, and a general
action ensued. The enemy lost one thousand killed and wounded, and
immediately retreated upon Seringapatam.
On the following day the army advanced, and arrived before
Seringapatam on the 5th of April, when preparations for the siege
were commenced.
On the 20th of April an attack was made on an entrenchment of
the enemy, about six o’clock in the evening. Colonel Sherbroke,
commanding the advanced posts, directed the attack. Three different
columns were to advance at the same time from Macdonald’s post;
one to the left, under Lieut.-Colonel Michael Monypenny, of the
SEVENTY-THIRD, consisting of four companies of that regiment, and
four of the Bengal volunteers, was to proceed along the bank of the
river Cavery, and to turn the right flank of the enemy’s entrenched
post. Another, to the right, consisting of the flank companies of
the twelfth regiment, and two companies of Bengal volunteers, under
Lieut.-Colonel Gardiner, was to move along Macdonald’s nullah,
and to turn the enemy’s left. The centre column, composed of six
companies of the SEVENTY-THIRD, and four of the Bengal volunteers,
under Brevet Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable George St. John, (Major
of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment), was directed to make a feint,
which was to be converted into a real attack, should it be deemed
expedient.
The three columns at dusk, advanced under a well-directed fire from
the guns which commanded the entrenchment. The enemy’s resistance
was unavailing, and the several attacks were completely successful.
It was afterwards ascertained, that the enemy had two hundred
and fifty men in killed and wounded, and it is remarkable, that
although about eighteen hundred of Tippoo’s infantry occupied
the entrenchment, the British, in this attack, had only one man
wounded.[7]
The siege of Seringapatam was prosecuted with vigour. On the 26th
of April, the SEVENTY-THIRD had Lieutenant James Todd wounded; and
Lieutenant Archibald John Maclean was wounded on the following day.
A breach being reported practicable on the 3rd of May, the assault
was ordered, and the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was selected to take
part in this enterprise, which was ordered to be commenced in the
heat of the following day, as the enemy’s troops would then be the
least prepared to oppose the attack.
The assault took place about half-past one o’clock in the afternoon
of the 4th of May, and the troops for this service, commanded
by Major-General David Baird, were divided into two columns of
attack. The SEVENTY-THIRD, with the seventy-fourth regiment,
four European flank companies, fourteen Sepoy flank companies,
with fifty artillerymen, formed the right column, under Colonel
Sherbroke. Each column was preceded by one serjeant and twelve men,
volunteers, supported by an advanced party of one subaltern and
twenty-five men. A brigade of engineers, under Captain Caldwell,
accompanied the storming party; Lieutenant James Farquhar, of the
seventy-fourth, commanded the European pioneers, and Lieutenant
John Lalor, of the SEVENTY-THIRD, both of whom had examined the
ford, conducted the columns.
The attack was completely successful, and in a short space of time
the British colours waved over the fortress. The body of Tippoo
Sultan was found among heaps of slain, and was afterwards interred
in the magnificent mausoleum which he had erected over the tomb
of his father, the once powerful Hyder Ali; a portion of the
victorious troops attended the ceremony.
In this manner terminated the siege of _Seringapatam_,[8] and the
fall of this capital placed the kingdom of Mysore at the disposal
of the British government, and extinguished a power in India which
had proved itself a formidable enemy.
[Illustration: STORMING OF SERINGAPATAM 4^{TH} MAY 1799.
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand_
_For Cannon’s Military Records._]
In the assault on the 4th of May, the SEVENTY-THIRD had
Lieutenant John Lalor killed; Captain William McLeod, Lieutenant
John Thomas, and Ensigns Henry Antill and John Guthrie, wounded.
During the siege the regiment sustained a loss of twenty-one
killed, and ninety-nine wounded, including all ranks.
The SEVENTY-THIRD afterwards received the Royal authority to bear
on the regimental colour and appointments, the word “SERINGAPATAM,”
in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry displayed by the
regiment in the storming and capture of that fortress.
In the General Orders issued on the 5th of May by Lieut.-General
Harris, the gallantry of Lieut.-Colonel Michael Monypenny, and
Brevet Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable George St. John, of the
SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, is particularly recorded.
In the General Orders issued by the Earl of Mornington (afterwards
the Marquis Wellesley), dated Fort St. George, 15th May, 1799, it
was stated:--
“The Right Honorable the Governor-General in Council having this
day received from the Commander-in-Chief of the allied army in the
field, the official detail of the glorious and decisive victory
obtained at Seringapatam, on the 4th of May, offers his cordial
thanks and sincere congratulations to the Commander-in-Chief,
and to all the officers and men composing the gallant army which
achieved the capture of the capital of Mysore on that memorable day.
“His Lordship views with admiration, the consummate judgment with
which the assault was planned, the unequalled rapidity, animation,
and skill with which it was executed, and the humanity which
distinguished its success.
“Under the favour of Providence and the justice of our cause, the
established character of the army had inspired an early confidence,
that the war, in which we were engaged, would be brought to a
speedy, prosperous, and honorable issue: but the events of the
4th of May, while they even surpassed the sanguine expectations
of the Governor-General in Council, have raised the reputation
of the British arms in India to a degree of splendour and glory,
unrivalled in the military history of this quarter of the globe,
and seldom approached in any part of the world.
“The lustre of the victory can be equalled only by the substantial
advantages which it promises to establish, in restoring the peace
and safety of the British possessions in India on a durable
foundation of genuine security.”
Upon the division of the territory subject to the late Sultan
Tippoo, Seringapatam, with several extensive districts, was
allotted to the East India Company; another portion was given
to the Nizam; and a third to the Mahratta power; the remainder
continued to form an independent state under a descendant of the
ancient Rajahs of Mysore. Thus was the hostile combination against
England confounded, the British territory extended, and its power
and revenue increased.
The SEVENTY-THIRD regiment remained encamped until November, 1799,
when it was selected to garrison Seringapatam.
[Sidenote: 1800]
Major-General George Harris was appointed, from lieut.-colonel of
the seventy-sixth, to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD, on the
14th of February, 1800, in succession to Lieut.-General Gerard
Lake, who was removed to the eightieth regiment.
The regiment remained at Seringapatam until May, 1800. The
SEVENTY-THIRD, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Michael
Monypenny, afterwards served with distinction against the Polygars,
during which campaign great exertions were made, and losses
sustained, of which no distinct record has been preserved.
[Sidenote: 1801]
In October, 1801, the regiment was removed from its encampment to
Gooty.
[Sidenote: 1802]
The regiment remained at Gooty until December 1802, when it
proceeded to Bellary.
[Sidenote: 1803]
In July, 1803, the regiment returned to Gooty, and in September
following, it proceeded to Pondicherry, in the capture of which
place it had participated in the year 1793.
[Sidenote: 1804]
The SEVENTY-THIRD remained at Pondicherry until September, 1804,
when the regiment proceeded to Fort St. George, Madras, where it
continued to be stationed during the remainder of the year.
[Sidenote: 1805]
On the 8th of September, 1805, the SEVENTY-THIRD embarked at Fort
St. George, Madras, for England, after having transferred five
hundred and twelve men to other regiments serving in India.
[Sidenote: 1806]
The regiment arrived in England in the beginning of July, 1806,
and disembarked at Greenwich, where it was quartered until the
middle of November, when, after discharging the men recommended
to be invalided, the remainder proceeded to Scotland, on board
of some Leith packets. Shortly after the disembarkation of the
SEVENTY-THIRD at Leith, the head-quarters of the regiment proceeded
to Stirling Castle, from whence recruiting parties were sent to all
the towns in Scotland, and some to England and Ireland, as far as
officers were disposable for that service.
[Sidenote: 1807]
In February, 1807, the regiment was ordered from Stirling Castle
to Glasgow, as a better recruiting station; but not having proved
as successful there as was expected, it was removed in May
following to Perth, which, from being the town where the regiment
was originally embodied, was expected to prove a better recruiting
station.
In 1807 the regiment received new colours and accoutrements from
Lieut.-General George Harris, and was newly armed and equipped in
that year.
[Sidenote: 1808]
On the passing of the Act, in the year 1808, for permitting a
certain number of the militia of the United Kingdom to volunteer
their services to regiments of the line, the SEVENTY-THIRD
received a very considerable augmentation of force by volunteers,
particularly from the Irish militia. The number received from the
Scotch regiments of militia, allotted for the SEVENTY-THIRD, was
not at all in the same proportion, and the only English corps
allotted to it was the Stafford militia, from which thirty-three
men volunteered, a circumstance totally unexpected, from the
dislike English soldiers were known to entertain to the Highland
uniform.
In December, 1808, the regiment, being then about four hundred rank
and file, received orders to proceed to England, to embark for New
South Wales, and commenced its march from Perth on the 26th of that
month.
On the order for the embarkation of the regiment for New South
Wales, a second battalion was added to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment,
which was directed to be placed on the establishment of the army
from the 24th of December, 1808. It was ordered to consist, in
the first instance, of four companies. When these companies were
completed to a hundred rank and file each, the battalion was to be
augmented to six companies, and so on, in succession, until the
establishment was increased to one thousand.
[Sidenote: 1809]
On the 13th of January, 1809, the regiment embarked at Leith on
board of four packets, and the whole arrived in the course of that,
and the beginning of the following month, at Gravesend, where the
men were transhipped into two transports, and ordered round to
Spithead. In March the regiment was landed at Cowes, in the Isle of
Wight, marched to Newport, whence, after a few days, it was ordered
to Colwell barracks.
A second volunteering from the militia took place in April, 1809,
by which the SEVENTY-THIRD received a considerable increase of
numbers, particularly from the Stafford, West Middlesex, and Durham
regiments.
In April, 1809, officers and non-commissioned officers were
detached to recruit for the second battalion, the head-quarters of
which were fixed at Nottingham.[9]
It appearing that the Highland dress was an obstacle to the
recruiting of the regiments wearing that costume, orders were
issued, directing the SEVENTY-THIRD, and five other regiments, to
discontinue that dress, and to adopt the uniform of other English
regiments.[10]
While at Colwell barracks, sixty men, who had volunteered from
veteran battalions to serve at New South Wales, were transferred
to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, and were ordered to embark with
the first battalion for that colony, which, by the addition of
these men, and of the volunteers from the militia, was now upwards
of eight hundred strong, and its establishment was fixed at ten
companies, consisting of fifty-four serjeants, twenty-two drummers,
and a thousand rank and file.
The first battalion embarked on the 8th of May, 1809, at Yarmouth,
in the Isle of Wight, on board of His Majesty’s ships “Hindoostan”
and “Dromedary,” and sailed from St. Helen’s on the 25th of that
month. The fleet touched at Madeira, Port Praya, Rio Janeiro, and
at the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored at Port Jackson, New South
Wales, on the 28th of December.
[Sidenote: 1810]
The battalion landed at Sydney on the 1st of January, 1810, and
detachments were sent out in the course of that, and the two
following months, to the Derwent and Port Dalrymple, in Van
Diemen’s Land; to Norfolk Island, and to Newcastle, whence Sydney,
the capital of the colony, was supplied with coals, lime, and cedar
wood, for buildings and making furniture.
[Sidenote: 1812]
The first battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment having been
considerably reinforced by volunteers from the hundred-and-second
regiment (late New South Wales corps), which it relieved at
New South Wales, and which was ordered home, its establishment
was raised, in the year 1812, to twelve hundred rank and file,
which included a veteran company formed from the veterans of the
hundred-and-second regiment, and attached to the SEVENTY-THIRD,
while the battalion continued to serve at New South Wales, and was,
on its leaving that colony, transferred to the forty-sixth regiment.
[Sidenote: 1813]
[Sidenote: 1814]
About the end of the year 1813, an order arrived from England to
embark the first battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment for the
island of Ceylon, and the first division, consisting of three
companies, sailed from Port Jackson on board the ship “Earl
Spencer,” hired for the passage, on the 24th of January, 1814. On
the 24th of March two more divisions embarked on board the “General
Hewitt” and “Windham,” and sailed from Port Jackson on the 5th
of April; but the “Windham” being ordered to the Derwent to take
on board the two companies stationed at Van Diemen’s Land, the
“General Hewitt,” having the head-quarters and flank companies
on board, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Maurice Charles
O’Connell, after a very circuitous voyage round New Guinea, New
Britain, and through the Molucca islands, arrived at Colombo, in
Ceylon, on the 17th of August.
Prior to the embarkation of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment from New
South Wales, Major-General Lachlan Macquarie,[11] commanding in
New South Wales, stated in General Orders, dated 17th March, 1814,
that--
“On the occasion of parting with the first battalion of the
SEVENTY-THIRD regiment His Excellency Major-General Macquarie,
the Governor and Commander of the Forces in this territory,
cannot fail to express the warm feelings of interest he takes in
the corps, which he has commanded for six years; and to assure
them, that no additional prosperity or honor, to which they may be
entitled, in the part of the world where they are now destined to
serve, and where they have already obtained so large a portion of
well-earned fame, can exceed his sanguine wishes and expectations.
“This station has not afforded the usual field for military
glory; but in as far as the industrious exertions of those
non-commissioned officers and privates, who could be spared from
military duty, have been exerted, this colony is much indebted
for many useful improvements, which but for the soldiers of
the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, must have remained only in the
contemplation of those anxious for its civilization for a length
of time, and the Major-General cannot doubt but that the comforts
enjoyed by the colonists, in consequence of the zealous and
laborious exertions of the soldiers of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment,
will long be remembered with grateful recollections.
“Major-General Macquarie feels particular satisfaction in rendering
his best acknowledgments to Lieut.-Colonel O’Connell for his
attention to the discipline of the corps, and the health and
comfort of the soldiers under his immediate command, and also for
his zealous and assiduous attention to the duties devolving on him
as Lieut.-Governor, during the Governor’s necessary and occasional
absence from head-quarters.
“To the field-officers, captains, and subalterns, of the
SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, the Major-General desires to offer his
best wishes for their health and happiness, and particularly
to those with whom he has had a long acquaintance, and whose
worth and honorable sentiments he is thereby the more fully
enabled to appreciate; and he has no doubt but that the martial
appearance, and strength of the corps, so far surpassing what is
generally to be met with, will call forth feelings of surprise and
gratification, wherever their services are required.
“Under these impressions, Major-General Macquarie now takes leave
of the regiment, with that regret which a long acquaintance
naturally inspires, but at the same time with the consolatory
assurance that the SEVENTY-THIRD will show themselves at all times
worthy of the respect and esteem which cannot fail to be paid to
military bravery and unshaken loyalty.”
The “Windham” having made nearly the same voyage as the “General
Hewitt,” after leaving Van Diemen’s Land, did not arrive at Ceylon
until the 6th of November.[12]
In the meantime the reigning sovereign of Candy had evinced so
cruel and tyrannical a disposition, that he became odious to his
subjects, who experienced a total insecurity of life and property
under his rule, individuals being frequently deprived of both at
the caprice of the king. The governor of one of his provinces was
summoned to appear at the capital; but this chief, expecting that
the sacrifice of his life, and the seizure of his property, were
intended, did not obey the mandate. The king assembled an army,
overpowered the forces of the disobedient chief, and forced him to
fly for protection to the British settlements in the island.
In addition to this oppressive tyranny over his own subjects, the
King of Candy, elated with his success against the refractory
chief, prepared to invade the British territory, against the
frontier of which he had long carried on occasional hostilities. He
had also inflicted cruelties on some British subjects, who had gone
into his dominions on trading speculations.
[Sidenote: 1815]
These circumstances occasioned Lieut.-General Robert Brownrigg, the
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Island of Ceylon, to render
assistance to the natives to throw off the yoke, and at the same
time preserve the English provinces from aggression, by invading
the kingdom of Candy. The British troops advanced into the kingdom
of Candy in seven divisions, in the beginning of February 1815, and
detachments were formed from the SEVENTY-THIRD, and attached to
four or five divisions of the invading army.
The soldiers underwent great fatigue in crossing mountains, passing
morasses and rivers, and traversing regions inhabited only by
the wild beasts of the forest; they succeeded in overcoming all
opposition, and arrived at the capital in the middle of February.
The king had fled with a small number of his Malabar adherents; but
on the 18th of February, he was surrounded, and made prisoner by
his own subjects, who showed the utmost detestation of the tyrant.
A solemn conference was held between the British Governor and the
Candian chiefs, and the assembly declared the Malabar dynasty
deposed, and the provinces of Candy united to the dominions of the
British Crown. Thus was an extensive tract of country, bountifully
endowed with natural gifts, and producing the necessaries and
luxuries of life, including spices, metals, and precious stones,
added to the British dominions; a numerous race of human beings, of
a peculiarly interesting character, was delivered from the power of
despotism, and brought under the advantages of the just government
and equitable laws of Great Britain. Every species of torture was
immediately abolished; but the ancient religion of the inhabitants,
and the former mode of administering justice, were preserved.
The conduct of the British troops was highly meritorious, and
reflected credit on the several corps employed in this enterprise;
the soldiers abstained from plunder and violence, and behaved with
such order and regularity as to conciliate the inhabitants, whose
condition, improved by a policy founded on liberal ideas, and
exhibiting enlarged views, prepared the way for their emancipation
from the errors of superstition, and their introduction to the
advantages of Christianity, and of European arts, sciences, and
commerce.
While the first battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD was thus employed,
the _Second Battalion_ had acquired the word “WATERLOO” for the
regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of its
distinguished services in that memorable battle, which terminated
the lengthened war in which the powers of Europe had been engaged.
A portion of the British troops occupied posts in the
newly-acquired territory, and the corps not required for this duty
returned to their former quarters. The first battalion of the
SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was again stationed at Colombo.
[Sidenote: 1816]
During the year 1816 the battalion continued to be stationed at
Colombo.
[Sidenote: 1817]
In the month of September 1817, intimation was received at Colombo,
that several Candian chiefs, who were hostile to British interests,
were making preparations in various parts of the interior provinces
of Ceylon, in favour of a new claimant to the throne of Candy, who
subsequently arrived in the island from the continent of India,
and they actually commenced hostilities on the 25th of October,
1817, by the murder of a native Mahandiram in Ouva, and by that
of Mr. Wilson, the collector of that place, who had gone out to
remonstrate with the natives assembled in the vicinity of Badulah.
Detachments from all the regiments stationed in Ceylon were in
consequence ordered into the interior, and the SEVENTY-THIRD
furnished for this service nearly the whole of the officers and men
fit to march.
[Sidenote: 1818]
The head-quarters of the battalion were transferred, in December
1817, from Colombo to Trincomalee, and a detachment from the
second battalion, which had been disbanded on the 4th of May, of
this year, having arrived from England at the latter port, it was
immediately ordered into the interior, where the rebellion had
become general in the beginning of 1818.
On this service the battalion lost ten officers, and three hundred
and sixty-six men, of whom only one officer (Lieutenant John
Maclaine) and about twenty men were killed, or died of wounds
inflicted by the enemy, the remainder having fallen victims to
the unhealthiness of the climate, which even after the rebellion
was subdued, continued to prove fatal to the officers and men who
remained on service in the interior. The frequent exposure to the
sun, and the heavy dews at night (when detachments were constantly
on the march, particularly in the mountainous districts, where the
enemy could not be surprised by day) together with a scarcity of
provisions, brought on the jungle fever to an alarming extent, and
had not an auxiliary force been sent from Madras, the interior of
the island must of necessity have been evacuated.
In this harassing campaign, the superiority of the British over the
native troops acting with them, was very evident; small parties
only could be employed with effect, and therefore, more individual
courage and exertion were required than with large bodies, where
the excitement is much greater. The want of surgical aid was
severely felt, and the officers at last, with the assistance of
manuscript instructions, administered medicine, dressed wounds,
and, on some occasions, performed trifling operations. Besides
fever and dysentery, leech-bites were the occasion of many
casualties.
The peculiar kind of warfare carried on during this campaign,
afforded many opportunities for the officers and men to distinguish
themselves. The following, among many instances, is deserving of
record. A very small party of the SEVENTY-THIRD, in charge of
Lance-Corporal Richard McLoughlin, was furiously attacked on its
march to Badulah, by a numerous force; two men were killed, and the
rest, instead of leaving their deceased comrades to the Candians,
who generally mutilated the remains of British soldiers, divided;
part remained in charge of the bodies, and the other portion, at an
equal risk, proceeded to Badulah, a few miles distant, and returned
with a reinforcement, that enabled them to carry off their deceased
comrades, in spite of the exertions of the enemy to the contrary.
For this gallant conduct, medals were struck by the Ceylon
Government for the following men, who, however, died of fever
before they could be issued, namely, Lance-Corporal Richard
McLoughlin, Privates John Wilson, Christopher Sheppard, and William
Connor.
Whether the WATERLOO medals worn by the men who formerly belonged
to the _Second Battalion_, caused an extraordinary emulation
amongst the other soldiers of the SEVENTY-THIRD is a question; it
is, however, matter of fact, that their conduct during the whole of
the campaign gave not only their own officers, but those of other
corps, the highest satisfaction.
[Sidenote: 1819]
In 1819, the nineteenth regiment was ordered home from Ceylon, when
one hundred and seventy-two men volunteered to the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment.
[Sidenote: 1821]
Upon the SEVENTY-THIRD being directed to proceed to England in
1821, all the men fit for service in a tropical climate were
permitted to volunteer, in the first instance, to regiments in
Ceylon, and ultimately to His Majesty’s regiments stationed in the
territories of the East India Company.
A detachment of one subaltern, three serjeants, one drummer, and
forty-six rank and file, embarked as _Marines_ on board of His
Majesty’s ship “Alligator,” on the 22nd of May, 1821; the remainder
of the regiment embarked at Trincomalee on the 25th of June
following, and landed at Gravesend on the 10th of November. It was
then ordered to proceed to the barracks at Weedon, to which place
the depôt of the regiment had been a short time before removed
from Chichester, and where most of the men brought home were soon
afterwards invalided.
The establishment of the regiment was, on its arrival, reduced to
eight companies, forming a total of four field officers, eight
captains, sixteen subalterns, five staff, twenty-nine serjeants,
twelve drummers, twenty-four corporals, and five hundred and
fifty-two privates.
[Sidenote: 1823]
In March, 1823, the regiment was ordered to proceed to Hull, and
to furnish detachments at Chester, Carlisle, and Tynemouth: in May
it marched to Edinburgh Castle, furnishing detachments at Glasgow,
Stirling and Dumbarton Castles, and at Fort William.
In December, 1823, the regiment embarked at Port Patrick for
Ireland, and was stationed at Castlebar, furnishing twelve small
detachments within the limits of the counties of Mayo and Galway.
[Sidenote: 1824]
[Sidenote: 1825]
The regiment was assembled at Athlone in June, 1824, where it was
quartered until July, 1825, when the head-quarters were removed to
Naas, and detachments were furnished to Drogheda, Wicklow, Trim,
and some villages in the counties of Kildare and Wicklow.
In 1825, the regiment was augmented to ten companies, consisting,
while at home, of forty-two serjeants (including six staff
serjeants), fourteen drummers, and seven hundred and forty rank
and file; when ordered on foreign service to be divided into six
service companies, of four serjeants, and eighty-six rank and file
each; and four depôt companies for home service, consisting each of
three serjeants, one drummer, and fifty-six rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1826]
In November, 1825, the regiment was reunited in the Royal Barracks
at Dublin, where it continued until May, 1826, when, in consequence
of riots in the manufacturing towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire, it
was ordered to proceed to England. The head-quarters were fixed at
Halifax, and detachments were sent to Huddersfield, Bradford, and
to various other towns.
Tranquillity being restored in the above counties, the regiment
was ordered to return to Dublin in July, 1826, and from thence it
proceeded in August to occupy its former quarters at Naas, and the
outposts.
In December following, the regiment received orders to march
to Waterford, furnishing detachments at Kilkenny, Wexford,
Carrick-on-Suir, and Duncannon Fort.
[Sidenote: 1827]
In August, 1827, the regiment was ordered to Fermoy, preparatory
to embarkation, where in the course of the month, the service and
depôt companies were formed.
The service companies embarked at Cove for Gibraltar towards the
end of August and beginning of the following month, and arrived at
their destination on the 10th, 17th, and 24th of September.
The depôt companies remained in Ireland during this and the two
following years.
[Sidenote: 1828]
During the prevalence of the contagious and dreadful fever which
visited Gibraltar in the year 1828, the SEVENTY-THIRD were encamped
with the twenty-third Royal Welsh Fusiliers on Europa Flats, from
the 10th of October to the 17th of January, 1829.
[Sidenote: 1829]
The casualties in the SEVENTY-THIRD were, compared with the other
regiments in that garrison, fortunately limited to a small number.
Out of nine officers and one hundred and ninety-six privates, who
were attacked with the disease, only two officers and thirty-five
men proved fatal cases. Lieutenant Hedworth Huddleston Williamson,
and Assistant Surgeon John Gordon Fraser were the officers; the
latter, though a very young assistant, fell a victim to his zeal
for the service.
Whether the comparatively few casualties were attributable to the
successful practice of the Surgeon George Martin, or some other
accidental cause, can be only matter of conjecture. One thing,
however, is certain, that His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor,
as well as numerous other officers unconnected with the regiment,
acknowledged, in the most public manner, the talents and attention
of Surgeon Martin, of the SEVENTY-THIRD, on this trying occasion.
Major-General Sir Frederick Adam, K.C.B., was appointed colonel of
the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment on the 22nd of May, 1829, in succession
to General George Lord Harris, G.C.B., deceased.
In December, 1829, the service companies embarked for Malta, where
the last division arrived on the 31st of that month.
On the departure of the SEVENTY-THIRD from Gibraltar, His
Excellency the Lieut.-Governor, General Sir George Don, G.C.B.,
issued the following order:--
“_Head Quarters,
Gibraltar, 2nd December, 1829._
“His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor is desirous to express to
the SEVENTY-THIRD, on their departure from this garrison, the
satisfaction afforded him by their regular and orderly conduct
during the period of upwards of two years that they have been
under his command, and he feels peculiar pleasure in noticing,
that in no instance has any individual of this corps been
reported to him for any irregularity on duty during the above
period.
“To the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of this
regiment, His Excellency offers his thanks, and more particularly
to Colonel O’Connell, whose zeal and constant attention must have
so essentially contributed to maintain the discipline and good
order of the corps under his command.”
The first two divisions of the regiment embarked on board the “Lord
Suffield” and “Stentor” transports on the 2nd of December, and
sailed the same day; the last division (head-quarters) embarked on
board the “Henry Porcher” on the 8th. The first two ships reached
Malta on the 20th of December, and performed the usual quarantine
in the Lazaretto; but the “Henry Porcher” experienced such severe
weather on the 10th and 11th off Capo de Gato, that she had to put
back again to Gibraltar in distress. She, however, sailed again
on the 15th, and the men landed in the Lazaretto on the 1st of
January, 1830.
[Sidenote: 1830]
In February, 1830, the depôt companies were removed from Ireland to
Great Britain.
The service companies remained in St. Elmo barracks during the
year 1830, and at the periodical inspection which took place in
April, the Commanding Officer (Colonel O’Connell), by desire
of Major-General the Honorable Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby,
Lieut.-Governor of Malta, issued the following order:--
“_Valetta, 5th April, 1830._
“The Commanding Officer has great pleasure in complying with the
desire of the Major-General commanding, that he should express
in regimental orders the General’s perfect satisfaction with
everything he has this day seen of the regiment.”
On the 22nd of July, 1830, Colonel Maurice Charles O’Connell was
promoted to the rank of Major-General; and on the 25th of the
ensuing month the following farewell address was read to the
regiment:--
“Major-General O’Connell, being removed from the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment by promotion, avails himself of the kindness of Major
Lloyd, now commanding officer of the regiment, to address to it a
few farewell words.
“The Major-General cannot contemplate his separation from a corps,
endeared to him by all those sacred ties which bind the members of
a family together, and which have, in their fullest sense, existed
between him and the regiment for a period of nearly twenty-five
years, that he has almost uninterruptedly commanded it in so many
parts of His Majesty’s dominions, at home and abroad, without
experiencing sensations which he would find it impossible to
describe here, but which he feels most acutely. He will content
himself with requesting the officers of the regiment, generally,
to accept his most sincere thanks for the kindness that he
experienced from them, and for the uniform, undeviating attention
they have paid to his orders, and to his suggestions for the good
of the regiment; where every officer merited his approbation,
the Major-General cannot particularise individuals, but he feels
himself called on by a sense of justice, as well as of duty, and
he certainly has great pleasure in obeying that call, to offer to
his friend Lieutenant and Adjutant Russell his most particular
thanks for the zealous and effectual aid he has ever received from
him in the discharge of every duty, and to declare, that to the
exertions and abilities of this meritorious officer he is mainly
indebted for the high state of discipline which has characterised
the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, in every garrison where it has been
stationed.
“To the non-commissioned officers and men, he begs to express his
thanks for, and his approbation of, their uniform good conduct,
which he exhorts them to persevere in, as the surest means of
insuring to themselves the approbation of their superiors,
exemptions from punishment, and of preparing them for acquiring
honor and glory, when called to meet the enemies of their country
in the field.
“The Major-General will conclude by assuring both officers and
men, that their happiness and glory will be for ever dear to
him, and that to the latest day of his life he will consider the
SEVENTY-THIRD regiment as part of his family, whose interests are
inseparably interwoven with his own. Should any fortunate event
ever enable him to promote the general welfare of the regiment, or
the individual interest of any of its members, whether officers,
non-commissioned officers, or privates, he hopes it is needless for
him to declare with what pleasure he shall avail himself of the
opportunity.
“He now, with sincerest good wishes for the health, happiness, and
glory of the whole, bids them adieu.”[13]
[Sidenote: 1831]
In October, 1831, the depôt companies proceeded to Jersey.
[Sidenote: 1834]
On the 12th of April, 1834, the service companies embarked at Malta
for the Ionian islands.
[Sidenote: 1835]
In September, 1835, the depôt companies embarked at Portsmouth for
Cork.
Major-General William George Lord Harris, K.C.H., was removed from
the colonelcy of the eighty-sixth to that of the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment on the 4th of December, 1835, in succession to
Lieut.-General the Right Honorable Sir Frederick Adam, K.C.B., who
was appointed colonel of the fifty-seventh regiment.
[Sidenote: 1838]
The service companies embarked at Zante for Gibraltar on the 21st
of January, 1838, and arrived at that fortress in the following
month. In April and May of that year they proceeded to Nova Scotia,
and in July, 1838, were removed to Canada.
[Sidenote: 1839]
In June, 1839, the depôt companies were removed from Ireland to
Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1841]
The service companies embarked at Quebec for England on the 5th
June, 1841, and arrived at Gosport in July, at which place they
were stationed during the remainder of the year.
[Sidenote: 1842]
In April, 1842, the regiment proceeded to Woolwich, and in August
to Bradford, from whence it was removed in September to Newport, in
Monmouthshire.
[Sidenote: 1843]
During the year 1843 the regiment remained at Newport.
[Sidenote: 1844]
The regiment embarked by divisions at Newport, on the 8th and 16th
of August, 1844, and disembarked at Kingstown, Dublin, on the
11th and 19th of that month. In December, the regiment moved from
Richmond to the Royal Barracks at Dublin.
[Sidenote: 1845]
Major-General Sir Robert Henry Dick, K.C.B., was appointed colonel
of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment on the 10th of June, 1845, in
succession to Lieut.-General William George Lord Harris, K.C.H.,
deceased.
The service companies, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles
Jowett Vander Meulen, embarked at Cork in H.M. troop-ship “Apollo”
on the 29th of September, 1845, for the Cape of Good Hope. In
consequence, however, of political events in South America,
they were required (together with the reserve battalion of the
forty-fifth regiment) by the British minister at Rio Janeiro to
proceed to the river Plate, and they were disembarked at Monte
Video in January, 1846.
[Sidenote: 1846]
On the 3rd of April, 1846, Major-General Sir John Grey, K.C.B., was
appointed colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, in succession to
Major-General Sir Robert Henry Dick, K.C.B. and K.C.H., who was
killed on the 10th of February, 1846, at the battle of Sobraon.
While the service companies were stationed at Monte Video, from
January to July, 1846, they were employed in the protection of the
town, and of the British merchants and inhabitants, against an
Argentine force under General Oribe, who was investing the place.
[Sidenote: 1847]
In July, the service companies were re-embarked for the Cape of
Good Hope, and arrived at Cape Town in August. After landing their
sick, they were ordered to proceed to Waterloo Bay, near to the
Great Fish River, there to disembark, and join the troops employed
in the field against the Kaffirs, on which arduous duty the
regiment was subsequently employed.
From the 1st of January to the 3rd of February, 1847, and from the
10th of September to the end of the year, the service companies
were engaged in active field operations against the Kaffirs. On
this service the SEVENTY-THIRD had the following officers killed,
namely, Captain William Baker, Lieutenants Clarevaulx Faunt, and
the Honorable William John Granville Chetwynd, Ensign William
Burnop, and Surgeon Neil Stewart Campbell.
[Sidenote: 1848]
In January, 1848, the service companies proceeded to Fort Grey,
where the head-quarters were stationed until July following, and in
October they were removed from Fort D’Urban to Cape Town.
[Sidenote: 1849]
Major-General Richard Goddard Hare Clarges, C.B., was appointed
colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment on the 18th of May, 1849, in
succession to Major-General Sir John Grey, K.C.B., who was removed
to the fifth Fusiliers.
During the year 1849 the service companies were stationed at Cape
Town. The depôt companies also remained in Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1850]
In December, 1850, the head-quarters and four companies, under the
command of Lieut.-Colonel William Eyre, were removed from Cape
Town to the Buffalo mouth for the frontier, in consequence of an
outbreak of the Kaffirs.
[Sidenote: 1851]
At the date of the conclusion of the present record, namely, 1st
of May 1851, the service companies were in camp at King William’s
Town, under Lieut.-Colonel Eyre. The depôt companies, under Major
George Hankey Smith, continued to be stationed in Ireland.
1851.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] Upon the representation of Major-General Gerard Lake, who was
appointed Colonel of the _Seventy-third_ Regiment, in November
1796, the Royal Authority was granted for the word “MANGALORE”
being borne on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, in
consideration of the gallant conduct displayed in the defence of
that place.
[7] “A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo
Sultan, by Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Beatson, late Aide-de-camp to
the Marquis Wellesley, Governor-General of India.”
[8] Seringapatam derived its name from the god _Serung_, to whom
one of the pagodas was dedicated.
[9] The history of the second battalion is resumed at page 43.
[10] MEMORANDUM.
_Horse Guards, 7th April, 1809._
As the population of the Highlands of Scotland is found to be
insufficient to supply recruits for the whole of the Highland
corps on the establishment of His Majesty’s army, and as some
of these corps laying aside their distinguishing dress, which
is objectionable to the natives of South Britain, would, in
a great measure, tend to facilitate the completing of their
establishment, as it would be an inducement to the men of the
English militia to extend their services in greater numbers to
these regiments:--it is in consequence most humbly submitted,
for the approbation of His Majesty that His Majesty’s 72nd,
73rd, 74th, 75th, 91st, and 94th regiments should discontinue,
in future, to wear the dress by which His Majesty’s regiments of
Highlanders are distinguished, and that the above corps should no
longer be considered as on that establishment.
(Signed) HARRY CALVERT,
_Adjutant-General_.
[11] Major-General Macquarie formerly commanded the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment.--_Vide_ Memoir in Appendix, page 69.
[12] A fourth division of the SEVENTY-THIRD sailed from Port
Jackson on the 26th of January 1815, and arrived at Ceylon in the
ship “General Brown,” on the 2nd of March. There still remained
some men of the battalion for whom room could not be provided
in the four ships already named, and those were embarked in the
colonial brig “Kangaroo,” which arrived at Colombo on the 19th of
August 1815.
[13] A memoir of the services of Lieut.-General Sir Maurice
O’Connell, K.C.H., is contained in the Appendix, page 70.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE SECOND BATTALION
OF
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
[Sidenote: 1802]
Europe enjoyed but a short interval of tranquillity by the treaty
of Amiens, which was signed on the 27th of March, 1802. In May of
the following year, the war was renewed, and Napoleon Bonaparte,
the First Consul of the French Republic, threatened the invasion of
Great Britain. On the 18th of May, 1804, Napoleon was invested with
the dignity of Emperor of the French, and on the 26th of May of the
succeeding year, he was crowned at Milan as King of Italy.
[Sidenote: 1804]
In December, 1804, Spain issued a declaration of war against
England, and agreed to furnish a powerful aid to the French Emperor.
[Sidenote: 1805]
While the French pursued a victorious career in Germany, they
experienced dreadful reverses from the British navy, particularly
on the 21st of October, 1805, when the combined fleets of France
and Spain were completely defeated off _Cape Trafalgar_. The
victory was, however, clouded by the death of Admiral Viscount
Nelson, to whose memory a grateful and admiring nation paid the
highest honors.
[Sidenote: 1806]
[Sidenote: 1808]
In the year 1806, the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment arrived in England
from the East Indies, and two years afterwards was ordered to
embark for New South Wales. On the promulgation of the orders
for this embarkation, it was directed that a _second battalion_
should be added to the regiment, which was to be placed on the
establishment of the army from the 24th of December, 1808.
The second battalion was, in the first instance, to consist of four
companies, at a hundred rank and file each; upon the effectives
exceeding four hundred, it was to be augmented to six hundred,
which number being completed, it was to be augmented to a thousand
rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1809]
The battalion was embodied at Nottingham, and was considerably
strengthened, within the year 1809, by volunteers from the English,
Irish, and Scotch Militia.
[Sidenote: 1810]
In March, 1810, the battalion proceeded to Ashborne, and
subsequently to Derby and Ashford.
[Sidenote: 1811]
On the 25th of October, 1811, the establishment of the battalion
was augmented to six companies, consisting of thirty-four
serjeants, twelve drummers, and six hundred rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1812]
In July, 1812, the battalion was removed from Ashford to Deal, and
afterwards proceeded to the Tower of London.
[Sidenote: 1813]
While quartered in the Tower of London, in 1813, the battalion was
augmented to ten companies, consisting of forty-five serjeants,
twenty-two drummers, and eight hundred rank and file. The battalion
proceeded to Colchester in April.
The dreadful disasters experienced by the French in their retreat
from Russia, combined with the successes obtained over the forces
of Napoleon in the Peninsula by the allies under the Marquis of
Wellington, caused the separation of Prussia and other states
from the interest of France, and a treaty of alliance and subsidy
was concluded between Great Britain and Sweden, in which it was
stipulated that a Swedish army, commanded by the Crown Prince,[14]
should join the Allies.
On the 25th of May, 1813, the battalion, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel William George (afterwards Lord) Harris, embarked
on a particular service at Harwich, but subsequently joined the
expedition to Stralsund, in Swedish Pomerania, under the command of
Major-General Samuel Gibbs, and landed at that town on the 7th of
August.
From Stralsund the SEVENTY-THIRD proceeded to join the allied
forces under the command of Lieut.-General Count Wallmoden, who
engaged, and completely defeated, the enemy on the plains of
_Gorde_, on the 16th of September, 1813. The SEVENTY-THIRD was the
only _British_ battalion in the action.[15]
The battalion was afterwards ordered to join the British forces,
then in the north of Germany, under the command of Major-General
Samuel Gibbs, at Rostock, and subsequently embarked for England
at Warnemunde on the 2nd of November, but on arriving at Yarmouth
the battalion was ordered, without landing, to join the army in
Holland under General Sir Thomas Graham, afterwards Lord Lynedoch:
the battalion arrived at Williamstadt on the 18th of December.
[Sidenote: 1814]
The Prussian General, Bulow, having requested that the British
would make a forward movement upon _Antwerp_, to favour his
operations, the battalion accordingly marched to the attack of that
place, which was bombarded by the British forces on the 13th of
January, 1814; and again from the 2nd until the 6th of February,
for the purpose of destroying the French fleet lying there.
In the attack on the village of _Merxem_ on the 2nd of February,
1814, where the enemy was strongly posted, Lieutenant John
McConnell, and Lieutenant and Adjutant Thomas Frederick James were
wounded, the former severely. A volunteer, named J. Simpson, was
also dangerously wounded. This youth was about sixteen years of
age, and was attached to the light company. Soon after the action
commenced, and in the course of a few minutes, he was shot through
both his legs, before which a bullet had lodged in the butt of his
firelock. His military career was short, as he died of his wounds
in a few days.
On this occasion, the light company, under Captain Richard Drewe,
supported the ninety-fifth (rifle brigade) in driving the enemy
from the _abatis_ formed at the entrance to the village. The
troops suffered very severely during the foregoing operations from
the intense cold, the winter being unusually severe, and though
sleeping on the line of march was generally fatal, it was no easy
matter to prevent it.
General Sir Thomas Graham stated in his despatch, “All the
troops engaged behaved with the usual spirit and intrepidity of
British soldiers,” and the conduct of Major Dawson Kelly, of the
SEVENTY-THIRD, was particularly noticed.
After this success the British troops were employed in constructing
a breastwork and battery; on the 3rd of February several pieces of
heavy ordnance opened upon the city of Antwerp, and on the French
shipping in the Scheldt; the cannonade was continued until the 6th,
when General Bulow, having received orders to march southward,
to act with the grand army of the Allies, it became necessary to
relinquish the attack on Antwerp, when the British retired towards
Breda.
On the 16th of March, 1814, a detachment of the SEVENTY-THIRD,
consisting of two hundred men, under the command of Major Dawson
Kelly, was bombarded by a French seventy-four gun-ship and eight
gun brigs, in Fort Frederick on the river Scheldt.
Peace was shortly afterwards concluded. On the 4th of April,
Napoleon Bonaparte signed his abdication in favour of his son; but
this proposal being rejected, he signed in a few days a second
abdication, renouncing the thrones of France and Italy entirely for
himself and heirs. He afterwards selected Elba for his residence,
which island was ceded to him in full sovereignty for life, and a
pension payable from the revenues of France, and by the treaty
which was signed at Paris on the 11th of April between the Allies
and Napoleon, it was agreed that he should enjoy the imperial title
for life. Ample pensions were also assigned to his relatives.
On the 3rd of May, 1814, Louis XVIII. entered Paris, and ascended
the throne of his ancestors, and on the 30th of that month the
general peace between France and the allied powers of Austria,
Russia, Great Britain, and Prussia, was signed at Paris.
In the beginning of May, the battalion was ordered into quarters at
Antwerp, and in September following it marched to Tournay, where it
arrived in October.
[Sidenote: 1815]
The commencement of the year 1815 saw Louis XVIII. apparently
firmly seated on the throne of France; but various causes of
discontent existed in that country. The army, long accustomed to
war, still retained a chivalrous veneration for Napoleon Bonaparte,
who was kept acquainted with the state of the public mind, and
this feeling of his former troops. In the evening of the 26th of
February he embarked at Porto Ferrajo, in the island of Elba,
with about a thousand troops, of whom a few were French, and the
remainder Poles, Corsicans, Neapolitans, and Elbese. With this
motley band he landed at Cannes, in Provence, on the 1st of March,
1815, and the result proved that his calculations were correct.
After being joined by the garrison of Grenoble, he proceeded to
Lyons, and entered that city amidst the acclamations of “_Vive
l’Empereur!_” from the soldiers and the people. The possession of
the second city in France being thus obtained, Napoleon assumed
his former dignity of Emperor, and continued his advance to Paris,
which he reached on the 20th of March, his progress having been a
continued triumph.
In the meantime, Louis XVIII. had withdrawn from Paris to Ghent,
and Napoleon took possession of the throne of France as Emperor,
but the allied powers refused to acknowledge his sovereignty, and
determined to effect his dethronement.
The battalion had remained stationed between Tournay and Courtray
until March, 1815, when, in consequence of the foregoing events,
it was ordered to join the division of the army under the command
of Lieut.-General Baron Alten, and formed part of the brigade of
Major-General Sir Colin Halkett, K.C.B.
On the 11th of April, 1815, it was announced to the army in
Flanders that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name
and behalf of His Majesty, had appointed Field Marshal the Duke of
Wellington, K.G., to be commander of His Majesty’s forces on the
continent of Europe, and it was directed that the _Fifth_ British
brigade of infantry should be composed of the second battalion of
the thirtieth, the thirty-third, and the second battalions of the
sixty-ninth and seventy-third regiments.[16]
Napoleon left Paris on the 12th of June, and endeavoured, by
one of those rapid and decisive movements for which he had been
celebrated, to interpose his forces between the British and
Prussian armies, and then attack them in detail. Information of
this movement arrived at Brussels during the evening of the 15th of
June, and the troops were immediately ordered to prepare to march.
On the 16th of June, the division of which the second battalion of
the SEVENTY-THIRD formed part, pursued its course, with the other
portions of the army, through the forest of Soignies, Genappe, and
along the road towards Charleroi. After a march of twenty-two
miles the troops arrived at the post of _Les Quatre Bras_, where
the second French corps, under Marshal Ney, was developing a
serious attack against that position, with very superior numbers.
As the British regiments arrived at the scene of conflict, they
were instantly formed for action. The repeated charges of the
French were repulsed, but a considerable loss was incurred,
including his Serene Highness the Duke of Brunswick, who fell at
the head of his troops.
The SEVENTY-THIRD had the following officers wounded:--Lieutenants
John Acres and John Lloyd, and Ensigns Robert Greville Heselrige
and Thomas Deacon. Lieutenant Acres died of his wounds. One
drummer, and three rank and file were killed, and one serjeant and
forty-three rank and file wounded.
Marshal Blucher had been attacked on the 16th of June by Napoleon
at Ligny, and the Prussians, after a desperate conflict, were
compelled to retreat to Wavre. This caused the Duke of Wellington
to make a corresponding movement, to keep up his communication with
them.
In the course of the morning of the 17th of June, the troops were
withdrawn from _Quatre Bras_, and proceeded towards _Waterloo_. On
this day, the SEVENTY-THIRD had Lieutenant Joseph William Henry
Streaphan and three rank and file killed.
The position which the Duke of Wellington occupied in front of
_Waterloo_, crossed the high roads leading from Charleroi and
Nivelle to Brussels, and which roads united at the village of Mont
St. Jean, in the rear of the British. The right wing extended to a
ravine near Merke Braine, which was occupied. The left extended
to a height above the hamlet of Ter la Haye, which was likewise
occupied. In front of the right centre, and near the Nivelle road,
the house and garden of Hougomont were taken possession of, and in
front of the left centre, the farm of La Haye Sainte was occupied.
By the left the British communicated with Marshal Prince Blucher at
Wavre, through Ohaim.
Napoleon collected his army on a range of heights in front of the
British, with the exception of his third corps, which he had sent
to observe the Prussians. About ten o’clock the French commenced a
furious attack upon the post at Hougomont. Then ensued a conflict
which will ever be memorable in the history of Europe. The attacks
of the French troops were frequently calculated to spread confusion
through any army. They were supported by the thunder of a numerous
artillery, and followed up by such a succession of column after
column, rolling onwards like the waves of the sea, that it required
a degree of unexampled fortitude and courage to oppose effectual
resistance to so fierce and continued a storm of war.
That degree of courage was not wanting in the British ranks, and
paralysed by the fierce determination of his opponents, the attacks
of Napoleon’s legions relaxed; the Prussians arrived on the left
to co-operate; the Anglo-Belgian army formed line, and with one
impetuous charge decided the fortune of the day. The French were
driven from the field with the loss of their cannon and equipage,
and the hopes of Bonaparte were annihilated.
During the greater part of the battle, the SEVENTY-THIRD, with
the second battalion of the thirtieth, were very much exposed
to the enemy’s artillery, and constantly engaged in repelling
numerous charges of cavalry that appeared determined to break
their square, which ultimately was reduced to a very small size,
from the casualties occasioned by round and grape shot. Lieutenant
Robert Stewart, one of the junior officers of the SEVENTY-THIRD,
commanded the battalion at the termination of the battle, and in
consequence was some years afterwards promoted to a company without
purchase.[17]
The casualties amongst the officers were unusually great. Of
_twenty-three_ who marched into action on the 16th of June at
Quatre Bras, _twenty-two_ were killed and wounded on that and the
two following days.
In the battle on the 18th of June the SEVENTY-THIRD had Captains
Alexander Robertson and John Kennedy; Lieutenant Matthew Hollis;
and Ensigns William Law Lowe and Charles Page _killed_.
The officers wounded were Lieut.-Colonel William George Harris
(Colonel) commanding the battalion, severely; Major Archibald
John Maclean, who died of his wounds; Captains Henry Coane,
William Wharton, and John Garland, all severely. Lieutenants
John McConnell, Thomas Reynolds, and Donald Browne all severely;
Lieutenant Browne afterwards died of his wounds. Ensigns William
McBean, Charles Bedford Eastwood, and George Dondridge Bridge
(severely), and Ensign and Adjutant Patrick Hay severely.
Three serjeants, one drummer, and forty-three rank and file were
killed, and thirteen serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and
sixty rank and file were wounded; twenty-four of the above number
died of their wounds; forty-one rank and file were missing.
In acknowledgment of the services which the army performed in the
battle of Waterloo, and the actions immediately preceding it, each
subaltern officer and soldier present were permitted to count two
years additional service, and silver medals were conferred on all
ranks, bearing on the one side an impression of His Royal Highness
the Prince Regent, and on the reverse the figure of Victory,
holding the palm in the right hand, and the olive branch in the
left, with the word “_Wellington_” over its head, and “WATERLOO,”
18th June, 1815, at its feet.
The thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to the army
with the greatest enthusiasm, “for its distinguished valour at
Waterloo;” and the SEVENTY-THIRD and other regiments engaged,
were permitted to bear the word “WATERLOO” on their colours and
appointments, in commemoration of their distinguished services on
the 18th of June, 1815.
After the battle of Waterloo, the battalion, which was reduced to
a complete skeleton, advanced with the army to Paris, where it
arrived in the first week in July, and encamped in the Bois de
Boulogne until November, when it was placed in cantonments in the
vicinity of that metropolis.
Meanwhile Louis XVIII. had entered Paris, and was again reinstated
on the throne of his ancestors. Napoleon Bonaparte had surrendered
himself to Captain Maitland, commanding the “Bellerophon” British
ship of war, and the island of St. Helena having been fixed for
his residence, he was conveyed thither, with a few of his zealous
adherents.
When the allied forces retired from Paris in December, 1815, with
the exception of the “_Army of Occupation_” left in France, the
second battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was ordered to
return to England; it embarked at Calais on the 23rd of December,
and landed on the same day at Ramsgate; from Ramsgate it marched to
Colchester to join the depôt, which continued in that town during
the absence of the battalion on foreign service.
[Sidenote: 1816]
The battalion afterwards marched to Nottingham, where it arrived on
the 12th of February, 1816.
[Sidenote: 1817]
The battalion was stationed between Nottingham, Weedon, and
Colchester, until May, 1817, when it was ordered to proceed to
Chelmsford to be disbanded, which measure took place on the 4th of
May, 1817, the most effective men, consisting of three hundred and
ten non-commissioned officers and privates being embarked to join
the first battalion of the regiment at Ceylon.
1817.
CONCLUSION.
The earlier services of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, originally
formed as a second battalion to the forty-second Highlanders,
are connected with the wars against Hyder Ali and his son,
Tippoo Saib, the powerful sultans of the Mysore territory: the
word “_Mangalore_,” granted by royal authority for the gallant
defence of that fortress in 1783, and the word “_Seringapatam_”
for the share taken by the regiment in the capture of the capital
of Tippoo’s country in 1799, when that sovereign terminated his
career by a soldier’s death, are borne on the regimental colour and
appointments, in commemoration of these arduous campaigns in India.
Other services were, however, performed by the regiment in the
East, among which may be named the capture of the French settlement
of _Pondicherry_ in 1793, and that of the Dutch island of _Ceylon_
in 1796, when the French Directory had caused Holland to become
involved in hostilities with Great Britain.
After a service of _twenty-four_ years in India, the regiment
returned to England, and arrived at Greenwich in July, 1806.
In 1809 the regiment proceeded to New South Wales, when a second
battalion was added to its establishment.
Brief as was the career of the second battalion, namely from
1809 to 1817, it added the imperishable word “WATERLOO” to the
regimental colour and appointments, that distinction being
conferred by the Sovereign to commemorate its services in that
battle, which gave a lengthened peace to the powers of Europe.
In 1814 the first battalion embarked from New South Wales for
Ceylon, in the capture of which island the regiment had formerly
participated.
The regiment returned to England in 1821, and continued on home
service until 1827, when it embarked for Gibraltar, from which
fortress it proceeded to Malta in 1829, and in 1834 to the Ionian
Islands, whence it returned to Gibraltar in 1838, and embarked for
North America.
In 1841 the regiment returned to England, and, in 1845, proceeded
to the Cape of Good Hope, where it is now employed in active
operations against the Kaffirs.
The orderly behaviour of the regiment in quarters, whether employed
at home, or on foreign stations, combined with its soldier-like
conduct in the field, have secured the confidence of the nation,
and the approbation of the Sovereign.
1851.
[Illustration: SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t Strand_
_For Cannon’s Military Records._]
FOOTNOTES:
[14] On the 21st of August, 1810, the French Marshal Bernadotte,
one of Napoleon’s generals, was elected Crown Prince of Sweden.
The appointment of a successor to the throne of that country was
considered necessary in consequence of the Duke of Sudermania, who
had been elected king in the room of the deposed Gustavus IV.,
being advanced in years, and without children.
[15] The following statement of the above operations is contained
in the _Annual Register_, vol. 87, page 280:--
“After landing at Stralsund, and assisting in completing the works
of that town, Lieut.-Colonel Harris, with the SEVENTY-THIRD, was
detached into the interior of the country, to feel for the enemy,
and also to get into communication with Lieut.-General Count
Wallmoden, which dangerous service he successfully effected,
though he had, with great care and caution, to creep with his
small force between the large _corps d’armée_ of Davoust and other
French generals at that time stationed in Pomerania, Mecklenburg,
and Hanover. Having joined Count Wallmoden, the SEVENTY-THIRD
contributed greatly to the victory that General gained over the
French on the plains of Gorde, in Hanover, where Lieut.-Colonel
Harris, at the head of his battalion, declining any aid, and at the
moment when the German hussars had been routed, charged up a steep
hill, took a battery of French artillery, and unfurling the British
colours, at once spread terror amongst that gallant enemy which
feared no others; a panic struck them, and they fled.”
[16] A list of the British and Hanoverian army at Waterloo is
inserted in the _Appendix_, page 73.
[17] “Once, and once only, during the dreadful carnage at Waterloo,
did the stern SEVENTY-THIRD hesitate to fill up a gap which the
relentless iron had torn in their square; their Lieut.-Colonel
(Brevet Colonel Harris) at once pushing his horse lengthwise across
the space, said with a smile, ‘Well, my lads, if you wont, I must’;
it is almost needless to add that immediately he was led back to
his proper place, and the ranks closed up by men still more devoted
than before.”--(_Annual Register_, _vol. 87_, page 280.)
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
SIR GEORGE OSBORN, BART.
_Appointed 18th April, 1786_.
The early services of this officer were associated with the
sixteenth light dragoons, in which, upon that regiment being raised
in 1759, Sir George Osborn, Bart., obtained a troop on the 20th
of December of that year, and on the 13th of February, 1762, he
was promoted to the rank of major in the eighteenth, Royal Irish,
regiment of foot. On the 31st of March, 1763, Major Sir George
Osborn was appointed deputy quarter-master-general to the Forces
in Ireland, and on the 19th of November, 1765, he was promoted to
the third regiment of foot guards as captain and lieut.-colonel, in
which regiment he was appointed second major, with the brevet rank
of colonel in the army, on the 7th of August, 1777. On the 19th
of February, 1779, he was advanced to the rank of major-general,
and was appointed lieut.-colonel in the third regiment of foot
guards on the 25th of March, 1782. Upon the second battalion of the
forty-second, Royal Highlanders, being numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD
Highland regiment in 1786, His Majesty King George III. appointed
Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart., to the colonelcy of the
SEVENTY-THIRD on the 18th of April of that year, and on the 11th
of August following he was removed to the fortieth regiment, which
he retained until his decease. On the 28th of September 1787, Sir
George Osborn was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general, and to
that of general on the 26th of January, 1797. General Sir George
Osborn died at Chicksands Priory on the 29th of June, 1818, in the
seventy-seventh year of his age.
SIR WILLIAM MEDOWS, K.B.
_Appointed 11th August, 1786_.
The early services of this distinguished officer are connected
with the fourth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in which corps
he was appointed captain in March, 1764, and was promoted to
the rank of major on the 1st of October, 1766. He was further
advanced to the rank of lieut.-colonel of the fifth Fusiliers
in 1769; was removed to the twelfth light dragoons in 1773, and
to the fifty-fifth regiment in 1775. While serving with his
regiment in North America, he evinced that valour, magnanimity,
and military skill, which were afterwards more fully developed in
the West, and also the East Indies. He was again removed to the
lieut.-colonelcy of the fifth Fusiliers in 1777, in succession
to Lieut.-Colonel Walcott, who died of wounds received at the
battle of Germantown, in Pennsylvania, which was fought on the
4th of October, 1777. He commanded the fifth during the long and
hazardous retreat from Philadelphia to New York; and having been
appointed to act as brigadier-general, he proceeded with the
expedition under Major-General James Grant to the West Indies.
Brigadier-General Medows commanded the reserve, consisting of the
fifth foot, grenadiers, and light infantry, at the attack of St.
Lucia in December 1778; and having seized on the post of La Vigie,
he evinced signal intrepidity in defending it against the attacks
of a French force of very superior numbers: though severely wounded
early in the day, he refused to quit his post, and finding his
ammunition nearly expended, he drew up his men in front of their
colours, and waving his sword, exclaimed, “Soldiers, as long as you
have a bayonet to point against an enemy’s breast, defend these
colours.” They did so, and secured the conquest of St. Lucia.
His distinguished bravery was rewarded in 1780, with the colonelcy
of the (late) eighty-ninth regiment: and in 1781 he was promoted
to the local rank of major-general in the East Indies, where
he acquired numerous laurels under General the Earl Cornwallis.
He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1782, and was
appointed to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland regiment
on the 11th of August, 1786; and his meritorious services procured
him the honor of wearing the insignia of a Knight Companion of
the Bath. Sir William Medows was afterwards appointed Governor
and Commander-in-Chief of Madras. In 1792 Sir William Medows was
promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; in 1796 he was appointed
colonel of the seventh dragoon guards; and in 1798 was advanced to
the rank of general. He was also Governor of Hull, and a member of
the Privy Council in Ireland. The decease of General Sir William
Medows, K.B., occurred on the 20th of November, 1813.
GERARD LAKE,
(Afterwards Viscount Lake.)
_Appointed 2nd November, 1796_.
Gerard Lake, third son of Lancelot Charles Lake, Esq., choosing
the profession of arms, was nominated to the commission of ensign
and lieutenant in the first foot guards, on the 9th of May,
1758; in 1762 he was promoted to lieutenant and captain, and in
1776 to captain and lieut.-colonel. He served in North America
during the War of Independence; was engaged in operations in
the southern states, under General the Earl Cornwallis, and had
opportunities of distinguishing himself. When Earl Cornwallis’s
force was besieged in York Town, by the united French and American
armies, Lieut.-Colonel Lake commanded a detachment of foot guards
and grenadiers of the eightieth regiment, which made a sortie
on the 16th of October, 1781, forced the entrenchments, spiked
eleven heavy guns, and killed and wounded about a hundred French
soldiers. On the surrender of York Town he became a prisoner of
war; but hostilities were terminated soon afterwards, and he
returned to England, having been promoted to the rank of colonel
in February, 1782. In 1784 he was nominated major, and in 1792
lieut.-colonel in the first foot guards. In 1790 he was advanced
to the rank of major-general. On the breaking out of the French
revolutionary war, he was nominated to the command of the brigade
of foot guards which proceeded to Flanders, and served under His
Royal Highness the Duke of York. He commanded this brigade at the
battle of Famars, and at the siege of Valenciennes, and highly
distinguished himself at Lincelles, on the 18th of August, 1793,
for which he was thanked in general orders. He also served before
Dunkirk, and in other operations: and in 1794 he was rewarded with
the colonelcy of the fifty-third regiment, and the government of
Limerick; he was afterwards nominated Governor of Dumbarton. In
1796 he was removed to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment: in 1797 he was
promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and placed on the staff
of Ireland, where he evinced talent and energy in suppressing the
rebellion which broke out in 1798, and gained several important
victories over the insurgents. When the French landed in Ireland,
he was obliged to retire a short distance; but additional troops
advancing to his aid, he intercepted the French soldiers and forced
them to surrender prisoners of war. In 1800 he was appointed
Commander-in-Chief in India, and colonel of the eightieth regiment;
and in 1802 he was promoted to the rank of general. He arrived
in India at the period when the Governor-General, the Marquis
Wellesley, was displaying the energies of his mind in counteracting
the intrigues of France among the native powers of Hindoostan; and
the ambitious designs of the Mahratta chiefs soon called General
Lake into the field, when his talents were conspicuously displayed.
His spirited and judicious operations at Coel, on the 29th of
August, 1803; the assault of Aly Ghur, on the 9th of September;
and the overthrow of the Mahratta army near Delhi, on the 11th of
September, on which occasion his charger was killed under him,
produced decisive results. The country between the Ganges and Jumna
rivers, called the Doab (a general name in India for the space
between two rivers), became subject to British authority; and six
days afterwards General Lake visited the Emperor, Shah Alum, whom
he had rescued from oppression, and who conferred upon him titles
which signified,--The Saver of the State,--Hero of the Land,--Lord
of the Age,--and the Victorious in War.
Afterwards proceeding to Agra, General Lake speedily captured that
place, and on the 1st of November, 1803, he gained an important
victory at Leswaree, when the French-officered battalions of Dowlat
Rao Scindia were annihilated, the Mahratta army overpowered,
and its colours, artillery, and baggage captured. His services
on this occasion were of a distinguished character; he led the
charge of the cavalry in the morning;--conducted in person the
attacks of the infantry, and in the midst of the storm of battle he
displayed valour, professional ability, promptitude and decision;
his magnanimous example inspired confidence and emulation in the
troops, and they triumphed over very superior numbers. Two horses
were killed under him on this occasion.
His important services were rewarded, in 1804, with the title of
LORD LAKE OF DELHI AND LESWAREE.
Pursuing, the war with vigour, Lord Lake routed the power of Holkar
at Furruckbad; but the war was protracted by the defection of the
Rajah of Bhurtpore; and when his Lordship besieged the city of
Bhurtpore, he failed in capturing the place from the want of a
battering train. The Rajah of Bhurtpore was, however, brought to
terms; and Lord Lake pursued the hostile Rajah of Berar from place
to place until this chief was brought to submission. The British
military power in the East was strengthened by these successes; and
the extent and stability of the dominions in India augmented.
His Lordship returned to England, and in 1807 he was advanced to
the dignity of VISCOUNT LAKE.
He caught cold while sitting on the general court-martial which
tried Major-General Whitelocke; and died on the 30th of February,
1808.
GEORGE LORD HARRIS, G.C.B.
_Appointed 14th February, 1800._
This distinguished officer entered the service in 1759 as a
cadet in the Royal Artillery, and was appointed ensign in the
fifth fusiliers on the 30th of July, 1762; he was promoted to be
lieutenant on the 2nd of July, 1765, was appointed adjutant in
1767, and promoted to the rank of captain on the 25th of July,
1771. In May, 1774, Captain Harris embarked for America, and
was present in the first action of the American war, namely, at
Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775. At the battle of Bunker’s
Hill on the 17th of June following, he was severely wounded in the
head, and obliged to be trepanned, which caused him to be sent to
England; but he returned in time to take the field previously to
the landing of the British army on Long Island in August, 1776.
Captain Harris was present at the affair of Flat Bush; in the
skirmishes on York Island; in the engagement at White Plains; at
Iron Hill (where he was shot through the leg), and in every action
up to the 3rd of November, 1778, except that of Germantown. In
1778 he was promoted to the rank of major in the fifth fusiliers,
and embarked with the regiment for the West Indies with the force
under Major-General James Grant, by whom he was appointed to
command the battalion of grenadiers, and landed with the reserve
of the army under Brigadier-General Medows, at St. Lucia on the
25th of December. After the taking of Morne Fortunée, Major
Harris was second in command under Brigadier-General Medows at
the post of La Vigie, where the French were repulsed in their
repeated attacks, and in consequence they retreated from the
Island. Immediately after the departure of the French armament,
the Governor surrendered the Island of St. Lucia to the British
troops, the capitulation being signed on the 30th of December,
1778. In 1779, Major Harris embarked with the fifth fusiliers,
which were ordered to serve as marines, and was present in the
engagement off Grenada, under Admiral Byron, on the 6th of July,
1779. In 1780, Major Harris returned to England, and in December of
that year succeeded to a lieut.-colonelcy in the fifth fusiliers,
from which he exchanged into the seventy-sixth regiment, and
accompanied to the East Indies, as secretary, Sir William Medows,
who was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Madras.
Lieut.-Colonel Harris served in the campaigns of 1790 and 1791
against Tippoo Sultan; in the action of the 15th of May, 1791,
he was appointed by General the Earl Cornwallis to command the
second line; he was also personally engaged in the attack of the
Sultan’s camp and of the Island of Seringapatam, on the night of
the 6th of February, 1792, the success of which terminated that
war. Peace being re-established, Lieut.-Colonel Harris returned
with Lieut.-General Sir William Medows to England. On the 18th of
November, 1792, he was promoted colonel by brevet, and on the 3rd
of October, 1794, he was advanced to the rank of major-general,
when he re-embarked for India, and was placed on the Bengal Staff.
On the 3rd of May, 1796, Major-General Harris received the local
rank of lieut.-general, and was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the
Presidency of Fort St. George; in February, 1798, he succeeded to
the military and civil government of the troops and territories of
Madras.
In December, 1798, Lieut.-General Harris was selected, by the
Marquis Wellesley to command the army assembled to repel the
threatened hostility of Tippoo Sultan, to besiege his capital, and
to reduce his power. The army under the command of Lieut.-General
Harris exceeded fifty thousand men, and the object of the
expedition was accomplished by the capture of _Seringapatam_, the
death of Tippoo, and annexation of his dominions to the British
Crown, as detailed in the Historical Record of the SEVENTY-THIRD,
of which regiment he was appointed colonel on the 14th of February,
1800, as a reward for his important services:--on the 1st of
January, 1801, he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general. On
the 1st of January, 1812, Lieut.-General Harris was advanced to the
rank of general. In August, 1815, General Harris was raised to the
peerage by the title of Baron Harris of Seringapatam and Mysore in
the East Indies, and of Belmont in Kent, and was appointed a Knight
Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on the 27th of May, 1820. His
Lordship succeeded General Francis Dundas as Governor of Dumbarton
Castle in January, 1824. During the latter years of his life his
Lordship lived in retirement at his seat at Belmont, Feversham, in
Kent, where his decease occurred on the 19th of May, 1829, at the
advanced age of eighty-two years.
THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR FREDERICK ADAM, G.C.B., & G.C.M.G.
_Appointed 22nd May, 1829._
Removed to the fifty-seventh regiment on the 4th of December, 1835,
and to the twenty-first, Royal North British Fusiliers, on the 31st
of May, 1843.
WILLIAM GEORGE LORD HARRIS, C.B., & K.C.H.
_Appointed 4th December, 1835._
This distinguished officer was the son of General the first Lord
Harris, and entered the army as an ensign in the seventy-sixth
regiment of infantry, on the 24th of May, 1795; was promoted
lieutenant in the thirty-sixth regiment on the 3rd of January,
1796, from which he was removed to the seventy-fourth Highlanders
on the 4th of September following, and joined in India in 1797.
Lieutenant Harris served at the battle of Mallavelly on the 27th of
March, 1799, and during the campaign under his father, Lord Harris,
which led to the capture of Seringapatam, and was in nearly all
the affairs, out-posts, and in the storming party on the 4th of
May, 1799, which carried that fortress, where Lieutenant Harris was
one of the first to enter the breach, for which he was commended
on the spot by Major-General (afterwards Sir David) Baird. Being
sent home with the captured standards, Lieutenant Harris had the
honor of presenting them to His Majesty King George III., and
was promoted to a company in the forty-ninth regiment, on the
16th of October, 1800, which he joined at Jersey, and embarking
with it towards the end of the year for England, was wrecked on
the passage off Guernsey. Captain Harris afterwards accompanied
his regiment in the expedition to the Baltic under the command
of Admiral Parker and Vice-Admiral Nelson, and was present in
the “Glatton” frigate in the desperate action off Copenhagen on
the 2nd of April, 1801. In 1802, Captain Harris embarked with
the forty-ninth regiment for Canada, and served in the upper
province for two years; being then appointed to a majority in
the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, he proceeded to join that corps in
India, and on his way out was employed at the capture of the Cape
of Good Hope in January, 1806, and was present at the action of
Blue Berg. The SEVENTY-THIRD having quitted India previously to
his arrival, he returned to England the same year, and found he
had succeeded to the lieut.-colonelcy of that regiment. Upon the
formation of the second battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD, which was
placed on the establishment of the army from the 24th of December,
1808, Lieut.-Colonel Harris was appointed to the command of it,
and zealously applied himself to perfecting its discipline, and
rendering it efficient in every respect. In 1813, Lieut.-Colonel
Harris embarked on a particular service with the second battalion
of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, but afterwards joined the expedition
to Stralsund, in Swedish Pomerania, under Major-General Samuel
Gibbs. On arrival Lieut.-Colonel Harris was selected to take the
field with his battalion, and place himself under the orders of
Lieut.-General Count Wallmoden, and was present in the action of
the Gorde (in which he highly distinguished himself), under that
commander, on the 16th of September, 1813. In November, 1813, the
second battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD re-embarked in the Gulf of
Lubec for England; but on arriving at Yarmouth, it was ordered,
without landing, to join the army of General Sir Thomas Graham
(afterwards Lord Lynedoch) in Holland. During the winter campaign
before Antwerp, rendered more difficult in consequence of the
severity of the weather, Lieut.-Colonel Harris had the honor of
carrying the village of Merxem by storm, under the eye of His late
Majesty King William IV., then Duke of Clarence, and, during the
remainder of the operations, was employed as brigadier-general.
After the peace of 1814, when Antwerp was delivered up, Colonel
Harris, to which rank he had been promoted on the 4th of June,
1814, was quartered in that town, and remained in the Low Countries
with his battalion during the remainder of the year 1814, and the
early part of 1815. On the return of Napoleon from Elba, Colonel
Harris joined the army of the Duke of Wellington, and his battalion
was appointed to the brigade commanded by Major-General Sir Colin
Halkett, and took part in the stubborn contest of the 16th of
June, 1815, at _Quatre Bras_,--assisted in covering the retreat on
the 17th; and on the 18th of June, at _Waterloo_, bore a gallant
part in the complete defeat of Napoleon in that memorable battle.
Colonel Harris, late in the afternoon, received a shot through the
right shoulder, from which severe wound he continued to suffer
at times for the remainder of his life. On retiring on half-pay,
a testimony of admiration and regard was presented to him by the
officers of his battalion in the shape of a splendid sword. On the
19th of July, 1821, Colonel Harris was advanced to the rank of
Major-General. Major-General the Honorable William George Harris
was employed on the staff of the army in Ireland from the 17th of
May, 1823, until the 24th of June, 1825, when he was appointed to
the command of the northern district of Great Britain, which he
retained until the 24th of July, 1828, and contributed materially
in quelling the disturbances in the manufacturing districts. On the
decease of his father, Lord Harris, in 1829, he succeeded to the
title, and from that period lived in retirement at Belmont, the
family seat, near Feversham in Kent. On the 3rd of December, 1832,
Major-General Lord Harris was appointed colonel of the eighty-sixth
regiment, and was removed to the SEVENTY-THIRD on the 4th of
December, 1835. In January, 1837, Lord Harris was promoted to the
rank of Lieut.-General. His decease occurred at Belmont, after a
short illness, on the 30th of May, 1845. Lord Harris was a Knight
Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, a Companion of
the Bath, and a Knight of the Order of William of Holland.
SIR ROBERT HENRY DICK, K.C.B., & K.C.H.
_Appointed 10th June, 1845._
This officer commenced his military career as ensign in the
seventy-fifth regiment, his commission being dated 22nd of
November, 1800, from which he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant in the sixty-second foot, on the 27th of June, 1802;
was appointed to the ninth battalion of reserve on the 20th of
December, 1803, and removed to the forty-second Royal Highland
regiment on the 5th of January of the following year. Lieutenant
Dick was promoted to the rank of Captain in the seventy-eighth
regiment on the 17th of April, 1804, and embarked with the second
battalion of that corps for Sicily in 1806; in the battle of
Maida, which was fought on the 4th of July, 1806, Captain Dick
was wounded; was also present at the taking of the fortress of
Catrone in Calabria. Admiral Sir John Duckworth having failed in
his mission to detach Turkey from the interests of France, Great
Britain determined to seize upon Egypt, as a check to any fresh
demonstration by the French against the British possessions in
the East Indies, and an armament sailed from Sicily in February,
1807, and landed at Aboukir on the 18th of the following month.
This expedition was under the command of Major-General Alexander
Mackenzie Fraser, the colonel of the seventy-eighth Highlanders,
and Captain Dick was embarked with the second battalion of that
regiment. On the 21st of March, 1807, Alexandria was occupied by
the British troops; this was the anniversary of the celebrated
battle fought there in 1801, when the gallant General Sir Ralph
Abercromby received the wound which terminated his career. A force
of fifteen hundred men was afterwards detached against Rosetta,
before which place Captain Dick was severely wounded. Egypt was
evacuated by the British in September, 1807, and the troops
returned to Sicily. Captain Dick was promoted to the rank of Major
on the 24th of April, 1808, and was appointed to the forty-second
Royal Highlanders on the 14th of July following. Major Dick
embarked with the second battalion of the forty-second regiment
for the Peninsula in June, 1809, and commanded a light battalion
at the battle of Busaco on the 27th of September, 1810, and during
the retreat to the lines of Torres Vedras; also in the action at
Foz D’Aronce on the 15th of March, 1811, where he was wounded;
and at the battle of Fuentes d’Onor on the 3rd and 5th of May
following. During the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, which was captured
on the 19th of January, 1812, Major Dick served with the second
battalion of the forty-second regiment, and also at the third
siege of Badajoz, which was taken on the 6th of April following.
On the first battalion of the forty-second joining the army in
the Peninsula towards the end of April, 1812, the soldiers of the
second battalion fit for duty were transferred to the former,
and the officers and staff of the latter returned to England to
recruit. He commanded a light battalion at the battle of Salamanca
on the 22nd of July, 1812. At the storming of Fort St. Michael,
near Burgos, on the 19th of September, Major Dick commanded the
first battalion of the forty-second, and his conduct was commended
in the Marquis of Wellington’s public despatch. The siege of the
Castle of Burgos was afterwards commenced, but the concentration
of the enemy’s forces obliged the British commander to raise the
siege and retire to Salamanca, and subsequently to Ciudad Rodrigo.
On the 8th of October, 1812, Major Dick was promoted to the brevet
rank of Lieut.-Colonel. In January 1813, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Dick
returned to England on two months’ leave of absence, and joined the
second battalion, which, after its return from the Peninsula in
1812, had remained in North Britain, until it was disbanded after
the termination of the war in 1814.
During the campaign of 1815, Lieut.-Colonel Dick served with the
forty-second regiment, and after the death of Lieut.-Colonel
Sir Robert Macara, K.C.B., at Quatre Bras on the 16th of June
of that year, the command of the regiment devolved on Brevet
Lieut.-Colonel Dick, who was slightly wounded in the hip and
severely in the left shoulder. He was promoted to be lieut.-colonel
of the forty-second regiment on the 18th of June, 1815, the date of
the battle of Waterloo, for which he received a medal, in addition
to the medal and two clasps conferred on him for the battles
of Busaco, Fuentes d’Onor, and Salamanca, and was appointed a
Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Lieut.-Colonel Dick was promoted to the rank of colonel on the 27th
of May, 1825, on being appointed aide-de-camp to King George IV.,
and in November, 1828, exchanged from the forty-second regiment to
the half-pay unattached. On the 10th of January, 1837, Colonel Dick
was promoted to the rank of major-general, and on the 19th of July,
1838, was nominated a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
From December 1838 to July 1842, Major-General Sir Robert Dick
served upon the staff of the army at Madras, and was afterwards
removed to the Presidency of Bengal. Major-General Sir Robert Dick
was appointed by Her Majesty to be colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment on the 10th of June, 1845.
Upon the invasion of the British territories in India by the Sikhs
in the beginning of December 1845, Major-General Sir Robert Dick
was appointed to the command of the third infantry division of the
“_Army of the Sutlej_,” and after sharing in the battle of Moodkee
on the 18th of December, and that of Ferozeshah on the 21st and
22nd of the same month, was wounded by a grape-shot at Sobraon
on the 10th of February, 1846, while personally animating the
troops under his command, from the effects of which he died in the
evening of that day. This victory brought the operations in the
field to a close, and the Sikh city of Lahore was occupied by the
British troops, where a treaty was concluded which was considered
calculated to prevent the repetition of a similar outrage.
SIR JOHN GREY, K.C.B.
_Appointed 3rd April, 1846._
Removed to the fifth Fusiliers on the 18th May, 1849.
RICHARD GODDARD HARE CLARGES, C.B.
_Appointed 18th May, 1849._
APPENDIX.
_Memoir of the Services of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie,
formerly Lieut.-Colonel of the_ SEVENTY-THIRD _regiment_.
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie entered the army on the 9th of
April, 1777, as ensign in the late eighty-fourth regiment, (which
was disbanded in 1784), and performed garrison duty at Halifax,
and other parts of Nova Scotia, for four years, namely, from the
year 1777 to 1781. On the 18th of January, 1781, he was promoted
to the rank of lieutenant in the late seventy-first regiment, and
did garrison duty at New York and Charleston, in North America,
and in the island of Jamaica for three years. He was placed on
half-pay on the 4th of June, 1784, and was appointed lieutenant
in the seventy-seventh regiment on the 25th of December, 1787,
and promoted to the rank of captain on the 9th of November, 1788.
Captain Macquarie served in various parts of India, from the 3rd
of August, 1788, to the 1st of January, 1803; was present at the
sieges of Cannanore, in 1790, at Seringapatam in 1791, at Cochin
in 1795, and at Colombo, in Ceylon, in 1796. As a reward for his
services he had received the brevet rank of major on the 3rd of
May, 1796, and continued to serve in various parts of India, during
the above-mentioned periods. Brevet Major Macquarie was present
at the battle of Seedaseer on the 6th of March, 1799, and at the
siege of Seringapatam in April and May following. Brevet Major
Macquarie was afterwards employed on service in Malabar, and on
the 12th of March, 1801, was promoted from the seventy-seventh
to the eighty-sixth regiment. Major Macquarie proceeded with the
eighty-sixth and other regiments ordered to embark from India,
under Major-General David Baird, to join the army in Egypt, and was
present at the siege of Alexandria in August, 1801. In November
following he was promoted to the brevet rank of lieut.-colonel.
He served at home as Assistant Adjutant-General on the London
District Staff, from July, 1803, until March, 1805; and afterwards
in India, with the eighty-sixth regiment in the field in 1805 and
1806. On the 30th of May, 1805, he was appointed lieut.-colonel
in the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, which corps he returned home to
join in 1807, and in May, 1809, embarked with his regiment for
New South Wales, of which colony, and its dependencies, he was
appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief. On the 25th July, 1810,
he was advanced to the brevet rank of colonel, was appointed
brigadier-general on the 21st of February, 1811, and promoted
major-general on the 4th of June, 1813. His decease occurred in
July, 1824.
_Memoir of the Services of Lieut.-General Sir Maurice Charles
O’Connell, K.C.H., formerly Lieut.-Colonel of the_ SEVENTY-THIRD
_regiment_.
This officer, after serving with the rank of captain in the
emigrant army under the Duke of Brunswick in the campaign of 1792,
entered the British army sent to the Continent on the breaking out
of the war in 1793. He was appointed captain in the fourth regiment
of the late Irish brigade on the 1st of October, 1794, and was
placed on half-pay on the 1st of March, 1798, on the reduction of
that regiment; he was appointed captain in the first West India
regiment on the 21st of May, 1800, and joined shortly afterwards
at St. Lucia; Captain O’Connell was appointed major of brigade to
the forces at Surinam in February, 1802, and served in that colony
until its restoration to the Dutch in December of that year, when
he joined his regiment at St. Vincent. In May, 1803, he proceeded
in command of five companies to Grenada, whence he was ordered
with the whole of the regiment to Dominica in 1804. On the 1st of
January, 1805, he received the brevet rank of major. He commanded
the light company at Roseau, in Dominica, when an attack was made
on that capital on the 22nd of February, 1805, by a French force
commanded by General La Grange, and successfully resisted, during
the whole day, repeated attacks made by very superior numbers of
the enemy on the posts occupied by Brevet Major O’Connell, with
the forty-sixth regiment, his own company of the first West India
regiment, and some colonial militia. He had been appointed major
of brigade to the forces at Dominica in February, 1805, and on the
23rd of May following, was appointed major of the fifth West India
regiment. In September he returned to England. For his services in
the defence of Dominica, Major O’Connell received the thanks of the
House of Assembly in that island, and was presented by that body
with a sword, value one hundred guineas; he also received a sword,
value fifty pounds, and a piece of plate, value one hundred pounds,
from the committee of the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd’s. On the 15th of
October, 1806, Major O’Connell was appointed to the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment, in which he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel
on the 4th of May, 1809, and was appointed Lieut.-Governor of New
South Wales, where he continued until April, 1814, in which month
he embarked in command of the first battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD
regiment for Ceylon. In January, 1815, Lieut.-Colonel O’Connell
marched in command of a division of the army under Lieut.-General
Robert Brownrigg into the territories of the King of Candy, the
conquest of which was achieved in forty days, and crowned by
the capture of the reigning monarch, who was deposed by his own
subjects, and brought a prisoner to Colombo. On the 12th of August,
1819, Lieut.-Colonel O’Connell was promoted to the rank of colonel,
and to that of major-general on the 22nd of July, 1830. In 1838,
Major-General O’Connell was appointed to the command of the troops
in New South Wales, which appointment he held from December of
that year until December, 1847. On the 23rd of November, 1841, Sir
Maurice O’Connell was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and
was appointed colonel of the eighty-first regiment on the 6th of
December, 1842, from which he was removed to the eightieth regiment
on the 15th of January, 1844. The decease of Lieut.-General Sir
Maurice Charles O’Connell, K.C.H., occurred at Sydney, in New South
Wales, on the 25th of May, 1848.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg x: ‘the military foree’ replaced by ‘the military force’.
Pg xxxii (APPENDIX): The third entry ‘British and Hanoverian ... 73’
does not exist. The last page of the book is numbered ‘71’.
Pg 12: ‘above eSringapatam’ replaced by ‘above Seringapatam’.
Pg 39: Missing Sidenote for ‘1843’ inserted at the start
of the paragraph ‘During the year 1843 ...’.
Pg 40: Sidenotes for ‘1848’ and ‘1849’ moved down to the next
paragraph.
Pg 59: ‘appointed Govenor’ replaced by ‘appointed Governor’.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Historical Record of the Seventy-Third Regiment - Containing an account of the formation of the Regiment from the period of its being raised as the Second Battalion of the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and of its subsequent services to 1851" ***
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