BATTLE HONOURS OF THE BRITISH ARMY

THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.

Frontispiece.

[vii]

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF BATTLE HONOURS

[x]
[xi]

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF BATTLE HONOURS

[xiv]
[xv]

CONTENTS

[xxi]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[xxii]
[xxiii]

INTRODUCTION

In the following pages I have endeavoured to give a brief description of the various actions the names of which are emblazoned on the colours and appointments of the regiments in the British army. So far as I have been able, I have shown the part that each individual corps has played in every engagement, by appending to the account a return of the losses suffered. Unfortunately, in some cases casualty rolls are not obtainable; in others, owing to the returns having been hurriedly prepared, and later corrections neglected, the true losses of regiments do not appear.

The whole question of the award of battle honours abounds in anomalies. Paltry skirmishes have been immortalized, and many gallant fights have been left unrecorded. In some cases certain corps have been singled out for honour; others which bore an equal share in the same day's doings have been denied the privilege of assuming the battle honour. In some campaigns every skirmish has been handed down to posterity; in others one word has covered long years of fighting. Mysore, with its one honour, and Persia, with four, are cases in point. In some instances honours have been refused on the plea that the headquarters of the regiment was not present in the action; in others the honour has been granted when but a single troop or company has shared in the fight. There are regiments whose colours bear the names of battles in which they did not lose a single man; others have suffered heavy losses in historic battles[xxiv] which are as yet unrecorded. At Schellenberg, for example, Marlborough's earliest victory, and one unaccountably absent from our colours, the losses of the fifteen regiments engaged exceeded the total casualties of the whole army in the campaign in Afghanistan from 1879 to 1881, for which no less than seven battle honours were granted.

Esprit de corps is the keystone of the discipline of the British army, and the regimental colours are the living symbol of that esprit de corps. It is to their colours that men look as the emblems of their regimental history, and on those colours are—or should be—emblazoned the names of all historic battles in which the regiment has been engaged. A soldier knows—or ought to know—the history of his own regiment, but the moment arrives when his curiosity is piqued, and he wishes to learn something about a corps which has fought side by side with his own. Perchance curiosity may be excited as to the reason why Copenhagen appears on the appointments of the Rifle Brigade, and Arabia on the colours of the York and Lancaster; or how it comes about that Dominica is alone borne by the Cornwalls and Pondicherry by the Dublin Fusiliers. I have made no attempt to deal exhaustively with the subject; that would be beyond my powers and would open up too wide a field. I have therefore touched but lightly on those campaigns, such as the Peninsular and Waterloo, which are familiar to everyone in the least conversant with the history of his country, and have dwelt in more detail with those wars which are less well known. Memories are short. Already the South African War has been effaced by that titanic struggle between Russia and Japan. How, then, can the ordinary man be expected to carry in his mind even the rough outline of the Defence of Chitral, an episode which rivals Arcot in the heroism of its few defenders, or of Mangalore and Corygaum, which were in no way inferior in point of steadfast gallantry. When I read of the efforts made to insure the regular supply of jam during the South African War, my mind turns to[xxv] Chitral, where the daily ration for six long weeks was one pound of flour a day, rice and meat being issued only on the doctors' orders, the one antiseptic available being carbolic tooth-powder! Or I think of Mangalore, which capitulated after Campbell had cut up his last horse and served out his last ration of flour. Yet I know that the men who defended Mangalore were in no way the superior of those who "muddled through" in South Africa, and that these were in no way inferior to the men who drove the French out of Spain. There were complaints of the stamp of recruits two centuries ago, as there are to-day. "The men you send me," wrote Grey from Martinique, "are not fit to bear arms." "I know not which are worse, officers or men," wrote Moore. "Send me men, not boys," wrote Sir Colin Campbell from India. Yet the boys who were not fit to bear arms captured the West Indies from the French; the worthless officers and men traversed Spain and held Napoleon's veterans in check at Corunna while their leader lay dying; and the boys in Sir Colin's regiments helped to restore peace in India.

Does the nation realize the calls it has made upon the army, or what oceans of blood have been shed owing to the vacillation and parsimony of successive Ministries? Three times have we captured the West India Islands; twice have our troops taken the Cape of Good Hope; three times have our armies marched from sea to sea in Spain; and there are few towns of importance in the Low Countries which have not been captured more than once by British troops. Conquests have been restored at the conclusion of a war in the full knowledge that on the outbreak of fresh hostilities those same conquests would have to be freshly undertaken and more lives sacrificed. Armies hastily reduced on the conclusion of a spurious peace had to be as hastily improvised on the renewal of war. Officers have been censured, broke, and shot if they have not performed prodigies with raw, untrained recruits. Uncomplainingly, all ranks went forth to die,[xxvi] eager only to uphold the honour of their Sovereign, of their regiments, and of their country.

I have not confined myself to the honours which appear only on the colours of British regiments, but have included all which have been granted to any corps which bears allegiance to our King. Some of the noblest feats of arms have been achieved by a few British officers at the head of a handful of Indian troops. At Mangalore and at Lucknow the sepoy regiments fought no less gallantly than the British corps which bear the same battle honour. The despatches of Colonel Campbell and of Sir John Inglis bear testimony to this fact; but at Seedaseer, Saugor, and Seetabuldee, at Corygaum, Arrah, and Kahun, and last, but by no means least, at Chitral, the sepoys had no British soldier to stiffen the defence. Yet there was no wavering. So long as the fighting races of India show the devotion to their officers and their loyalty to the Crown they have ever shown, we may smile at the frothy vapourings of the over-educated Bengalis, who have never furnished a single man for the defence of the country which they wish to emancipate from our rule. We read in the story of Chitral how the water-carrier, with his jaw smashed by a bullet, insisted as soon as his wound was dressed in taking more water to his Sikhs in the fighting-line. Is there not a story rife of a British regiment in the Mutiny which wished to recommend the regimental bheesti for a similar act of valour? There are few names amongst these battle honours around which stories of equal gallantry have not been woven. The memory of those deeds which men have dared, and in daring which they have gone forth to certain death, is the heritage not merely of those who serve under the colours, but of every man and woman of our race: Hardinge, rallying the men round the colours of the 57th at Albuera, with the now historic words, "Die hard, my men, die hard!"—a title that has clung to the regiment to this day. Luke O'Connor, then a colour-sergeant, holding high the colours of the Royal Welsh[xxvii] Fusiliers at the Alma, under which ten young subalterns had fallen, and he with bullet through the breast, refusing to leave his sacred charge. Souter, of the 44th, tearing the colours from their staff and wrapping them under his sheepskin coat, and so saving them, when 667 officers and men fell under the fierce onslaughts of the Afghans in the dim defiles of the Khurd Kabul Pass, one solitary survivor reaching the shelter of the mud walls, held by the 13th, at Jelalabad. Or those two boy heroes, Melville and Coghill, whose dead bodies were found in the bed of the Tugela River, hard by the colours they had died to save. Or Quentin Battye, the first of three brothers to fall in the "Guides," dying with the old tag on his lips: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."

These are the stories our colours have to tell, these the lessons the names upon them teach. Not merely gallantry in action—that is a small thing, and one inherent in our race. They teach of privations uncomplainingly borne, of difficulties nobly surmounted, of steadfast loyalty to the Crown, and of cheerful obedience to orders even when that obedience meant certain death. Such are the honours which have found an abiding-place on the colours of the British army.

I am aware that I possess few qualifications for the task I have undertaken, and I am also painfully aware that I have entirely failed to do justice to my theme. That failure would have been immeasurably greater had I not received the most valuable assistance from those far better qualified than I am to bring into relief the history of our army.

To these I would now venture to offer my most cordial thanks—to the Army Council, for some invaluable casualty returns, which I believe are now published for the first time; to the ever-courteous officials at the Record Office and in the libraries of the British Museum, the India Office, and the Royal United Service Institution, for the patience with which they have suffered my many importunities; last, but by no means least, to the many[xxviii] officers of regiments, British and Indian, who have so kindly given me unrecorded details of their regimental histories.

For the reproduction of the colours of "The Queen's" and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers I am indebted to the courtesy of the commanding officers of those two distinguished regiments. A close relationship exists between them. When Tangier and Bombay passed into our possession as the dowry of Queen Catharine of Braganza two regiments were raised as garrisons for our new possessions. The one proceeded to Tangier, and after some years of hard fighting, returned to England, to be known as "The 2nd Queen's." The other went to Bombay, and for two long centuries nobly upheld the honour of our name under the title of "The Bombay Europeans." On the transfer of the East India Company to the Crown the regiment appeared in the Army List as the 103rd Royal Bombay Fusiliers. Twenty years later, when regimental numbers were thrown into the melting-pot and the nomenclature of historic regiments changed, the Bombay Regiment became the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and as such worthily maintained its old reputation in South Africa. The Royal Scots and the Munster Fusiliers may claim seniority to the Queen's and the Dublins, but the battle honours on the colours I have selected cover the whole period with which I deal—from Tangier to Ladysmith, from Arcot to Lucknow.

I would, in conclusion, beg those—and they are many—whose knowledge of regimental history is far deeper than my own to deal gently with the many imperfections in this book—an unworthy tribute of homage to the incomparable heroism of the British soldier.

C. B. NORMAN.

January, 1911.

[1]

BATTLE HONOURS OF
THE BRITISH ARMY

A few weeks after this action the King's Own (Lancaster Regiment), then commanded by Colonel Kirke, arrived as [3]a reinforcement, and later in the year the Coldstream Guards. In 1684 the place was evacuated, having cost us many millions in money and many thousand valuable lives.

THE COLOURS OF THE TANGIER REGIMENT, 1684.
(Now The Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment.)

To face page 2.

Gibraltar, 1704-05.

This battle honour, which commemorates the capture of Gibraltar by the fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and the subsequent defence of the fortress under Prince George of Hesse, is borne by the following regiments:

Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
King's Own (Lancaster).
Somerset Light Infantry.
East Lancashire.
East Surrey.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
Royal Sussex.

Queen Anne caused a medal to be struck in recognition of the services of the senior officers at the capture of this historic fortress, but it was left to King Edward VII. to sanction the grant of the battle honour to the regiments which added the Rock to the possession of Great Britain.

Owing to our having espoused the cause of Charles III. in the War of the Spanish Succession, a fleet of fifty sail was sent into the Mediterranean, under the command of Sir John Rooke, but it was practically placed at the disposal of King Charles. Embarked on the fleet under the command of Prince George of Hesse were the 4th (King's Own), 30th (East Lancashire), 31st (East Surrey), the 32nd (Cornwall Light Infantry), with Holt's and Shannon's Regiments, all acting as Marines. On July 22, 1704, the fleet anchored in Gibraltar Bay, and landed on what is now known as neutral ground. To a summons to surrender, the Governor sent a defiant answer. He, at all hazard, refused to recognize King Charles as his Sovereign, or our right to dictate to Spaniards in the choice of their monarch. On the following day Admiral Byng, with twenty-seven vessels, stood close in and silenced the batteries, when the bellicose Governor, in order to avoid the effusion of blood, accepted the terms offered. Rooke then landed the troops under Prince George, and sailed away to attack the allied fleets which were in the offing. In the course[4] of the month of August he fought the Battle of Malaga, the effects of which were overshadowed by the glorious victory of Blenheim. The French and Spaniards were not prepared to sit down and see England established at the entrance of the Mediterranean, and at once took steps to recover possession of Gibraltar. We, on the other hand, took equally decisive measures to hold it. At that moment we had a considerable force in Portugal, acting in support of Charles III., and from this force reinforcements were immediately despatched to Gibraltar.

Casualties at the Capture of and Subsequent Operations at Gibraltar, 1704-05.

A combined battalion of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards, the 13th (Somerset Light Infantry), and the 35th (Royal Sussex), some 1,800 of all ranks, embarked on transports. Narrowly escaping capture,[1] they succeeded in eluding the French fleet, and landed in Gibraltar Harbour on December 18. On the 23rd Prince George made a successful sortie at the head of his new troops, and destroyed a considerable portion of the siege-works; but the allies, having the land side open to them, were[5] able to bring up supplies and fresh troops without difficulty, whereas we were dependent entirely on our fleet—in fact, on our command of the sea. In the early dawn of February 7, 1705, the allies made a determined attempt to carry the place by assault, but they were repulsed with terrible loss by the Coldstream Guards and the 13th (Somersets); then, finding their efforts useless, they abandoned the siege. Seventy-five years later a fresh attempt to dispossess us of the fortress led to a new battle honour appearing on the colours, but the siege of 1727 has been unaccountably lost sight of.

Gibraltar, 1727.

It is somewhat difficult to understand why the defence of Gibraltar in the year 1727 has not been considered worthy of being inscribed on the colours of the regiments which fought so well under the veteran Lord Portmore. From February 22 to June 23 the garrison, barely 6,000 strong, withstood a close siege, repelling many assaults and suffering many casualties. Famine as well as disease stared them in the face. I have been unable to ascertain the complete details of the losses of individual regiments engaged, but from the accounts of contemporary writers who went through the siege it would appear that the Grenadier Guards alone lost upwards of 100, of whom nineteen were killed in one day. Surely "Gibraltar, 1727," might be added to the colours of the twelve regiments which held the fortress for England under Lord Portmore.

The story of the siege is not pleasant reading. It is an early exemplification of the manner in which the warnings of the "man on the spot" are almost invariably disregarded by the authorities at home, and how our soldiers are expected to make bricks without straw, and to undergo perils which with a little exercise of forethought might be avoided. In the month of August, 1726, the Acting Governor, Colonel Kane, reported the threatening attitude of the Spaniards, and that Malaga was being converted into a military base, where large quantities of war material were being collected. He further asked for the paltry[6] sum of £3,000, in order to place the fortress in a better state of defence. One of the most pressing questions was the levelling of the earthworks constructed by the Spaniards during the last siege, which were still left standing, and which would afford shelter to the enemy in the event of the outbreak of hostilities. The troops were lodged in houses in the town; there were no barracks, and no casemates to the various outworks. His garrison consisted of but four weak battalions. On these representations one battalion was sent from Minorca. In December Kane reported the mobilization at Malaga of 5,000 Walloon Guards, of fourteen Spanish battalions, and eight regiments of cavalry. No doubt as to the intention of the Spaniards now remained. Orders had been published for the Governors of the four Andalusian provinces to raise 8,000 men, and in reporting this circumstance Kane drew attention to the fact that the artillery under his command consisted of three non-commissioned officers and fifteen gunners, whilst the infantry amounted to but 1,400 men. His lines of defences were three miles in extent, and the two works mounted no less than 150 guns, the large majority of which had long since been condemned. In the month of January the Spaniards openly commenced their siege-works, throwing up batteries within gunshot of the fortress; but it was not until the month of April that General Clayton arrived with the first reinforcements, but with no siege material. By the end of April the garrison had been increased to a total of 6,000 men, two only of the regiments being over 600 strong, whilst the reinforcements of artillery brought up the strength of the Royal Regiment to 127 of all ranks; and of these Lord Portmore wrote that the gunners "are the worst that ever were employed."[2] The want of fresh provisions told heavily on the men, and all ranks and all arms were busily employed in throwing up fresh defensive works. Complaints were rife as to the[7] guns—large numbers burst—and the Governor reiterated his complaints that the Spanish guns were far superior in range and accuracy to our own. By the end of May the garrison was reduced to 4,427 effectives, the men rarely getting one night in three in bed. Still the stout old veteran answered shot for shot, warning the Government that the Spaniards were evidently determined on wresting the position from us, and that unless reinforcements were speedily sent the place was liable to be carried by assault, as his men were not sufficiently numerous to man the whole of the works. Fortunately for the garrison, diplomacy was at work, and by the end of July preliminaries of peace had been signed, and the safety of the fortress was assured.

When actual hostilities broke out, the garrison of Gibraltar, including the two regiments that had been sent from Ireland and Minorca, consisted of the 5th (Northumberland Fusiliers), 13th (Somerset Light Infantry), 18th (Royal Irish), 20th (Lancashire Fusiliers), and the 29th (Worcesters). Considerable delays occurred in despatching the reinforcements, and, as I have remarked, it was not until the month of April that these left England. The Governor, the veteran Lord Portmore, who was at home on leave, returned to his post, and at the same time a battalion of the Grenadier Guards, under Colonel Guise—a name which has ever been synonymous in the service with daring gallantry—the 14th (West Yorks), 25th (Scottish Borderers), 26th (Cameronians), 34th (Border Regiment), and 39th (Dorsets), were despatched under convoy of the fleet to Gibraltar.

There would appear to have been the same eagerness amongst the younger members of the House of Lords to see active service in those days as there was in the Crimea and in the Boer War. The Duke of Richmond, who was a Knight of the Garter and a member of the King's Household, applied for leave to join the army, and so did a son of the Duke of Devonshire. On the other hand, the Duke Wharton joined the Spanish forces, and was happily wounded very early in the siege, and so[8] spared the shame of taking a prolonged share in the operations against his own fellow-countrymen.

I have experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining any records of the casualties, but the following list appears in a contemporary publication written by an officer who took part in the siege, and may, I think, be relied on as showing to a certain extent the losses incurred during a portion of the siege:

Gibraltar, 1779-1783.

(With Castle and Key and motto, "Montis Insignia Calpe.")

The regiments permitted to bear these distinctions are the

Suffolk.
Dorset.
Northampton.
Essex.
Highland Light Infantry.

In the month of June, 1779, Spain declared war against England, France having done so in the preceding year. There was no doubt as to the object of the Spaniards—the recapture of Minorca, Gibraltar, and the American Colonies lost to us in the preceding wars. Fortunately, we had in Gibraltar a soldier who knew his work. Though the name of Eliott will ever be associated with the Rock, soldiers may also like to know that the gallant defender of Gibraltar raised and trained that distinguished regiment[9] the 15th Hussars. From the moment that he took over the command in 1777 Eliott set to work to strengthen the defences. On the declaration of war he had but 5,382 of all ranks in his garrison, including 458 gunners. His chief danger was starvation, for on the land side he was completely hemmed in, whilst on the sea the Spaniards instituted a close blockade, and brought pressure to bear on His Shereefian Majesty to forbid the exportation of fresh meat and vegetables to the garrison from Morocco. In November of that year Rodney defeated the blockading fleet, and threw in the 71st (Highland Light Infantry), a welcome reinforcement, and also stores sufficient to maintain the garrison for a year. The Spaniards now drew closer the blockade, and commenced to throw up elaborate siege-works; but it was not until April, 1781, that the blockade was converted into a siege in earnest, and it is said that between then and November upwards of 100,000 shot and shell were poured into the place. Our casualties were by no means heavy, nor did the fortifications suffer much, though the town itself was utterly destroyed. On the 27th of that month (November) Eliott attacked the Spaniards, destroyed and burnt their batteries, spiking a large number of guns, but though his losses in this sortie were slight, his men suffered much from scurvy and the incessant duty which was imposed on an all too scanty garrison. From time to time a vessel would elude the blockading fleet; and on one occasion Admiral Darby forced his way through with the 97th Regiment, and later still the King's Own Scottish Borderers and the 59th (East Lancashires) were also thrown in. In May, 1782, the Spaniards were reinforced by a strong French division, and the siege was continued with renewed vigour. Floating batteries, with massive timber roofs to protect the gunners, were built by the allies, and then on September 14, 1782, convoyed by forty-seven sail of the line, this formidable armada entered the bay, and opened a fresh bombardment from the sea. To this Eliott responded with red-hot shot, and once more the[10] garrison was saved. In the following month Howe was enabled to convoy a fleet of transports under the Rock, and so relieved Eliott of his one dread—starvation. In February, 1783, peace was signed between Spain and England, and on the 6th of the month the gates of the fortress were thrown open, after a bombardment of thirteen months.

Casualties at the Defence of Gibraltar, 1779-1783.

Maida, July 4, 1806.

This distinction is borne on the colours of the

Lancashire Fusiliers.
Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Royal Sussex.
North Lancashire.
Northamptons.
Seaforth Highlanders.
Gloucestershire Regiment.

It recognizes the gallant services of these regiments in the engagement fought in defence of our ally, the King of Naples, by the little force under the command of General Stuart against a superior body of French under General Regnier. In 1847, when the so-called Peninsular medal was issued, a special clasp, "Maida," was awarded to the survivors of the brilliant little action on the shores of the Straits of Messina. The Grenadier and Light Infantry battalions, which bulk so largely in the accompanying list of casualties, were composed of the flank companies of the five battalions engaged, supplemented[11] by 250 men of the 35th (Royal Sussex) and a company of the 61st (Gloucesters), and so it comes about that, although the headquarters were not present, the old 35th and 61st were accorded the battle honour. The losses in this engagement were:

Mediterranean.

This distinction was awarded to the following regiments of Militia for their services during the Crimean War of 1854-55, when they volunteered to perform garrison duty in order to set free line regiments for service at the front:

3rd Batt. the Buffs.
3rd Batt. the King's Own (Royal Lancaster).
5th Batt. Royal Fusiliers.
3rd Batt. South Stafford.
3rd Batt. West Yorkshire.
3rd Batt. Loyal North Lancashire.
3rd Batt. Oxford Light Infantry.
3rd Batt. Northamptons.
3rd Batt. Royal Berkshire.
3rd Batt. Wiltshire.

Mediterranean, 1901-02.

The above honour is borne on the colours of the following regiments, in recognition of their services in performing garrison duty in the Mediterranean during the South African War of 1899-1902. For these services they were also granted a medal.

3rd Batt. Northumberland Fusiliers.
5th Batt. Royal Fusiliers
3rd Loyal North Lancashire.
3rd Batt. West Yorkshire.
3rd Batt. King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.
3rd Royal West Kent.
3rd Batt. Seaforth Highlanders.
5th Batt. Royal Munster Fusiliers.

[12]

CHAPTER II

BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN NORTHERN EUROPE, 1695-1709

Namur, 1695—Blenheim, 1704—Ramillies, 1706—Oudenarde, 1708—Malplaquet, 1709.

-

Namur, 1695.

In the month of February, 1910, an Army Order was published announcing that His Majesty King Edward VII. had been graciously pleased to approve of the following regiments being permitted to bear the honorary distinction "Namur, 1695" upon their colours, in recognition of services rendered during the siege and capture of that city, 215 years previously:

Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Scots Guards.
Royal Scots.
Queen's (Royal West Surrey).
King's Own (Lancasters).
Royal Warwicks.
Royal Fusiliers.
West Yorkshire.
Bedfords.
Leicesters.
Royal Irish.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
King's Own Scottish Borderers.

Previously to this date the only regiment which in any way commemorated its association with the siege of Namur was the 18th (Royal Irish), which was entitled to bear on its colours the words "Virtutis Namurcensis præmium," and which had received the title of the "Royal Regiment of Ireland" from King William himself for its conduct at the storming of that fortress. There was no good reason why the Royal Irish should have been honoured above its fellows. The details of the operations at Namur were open to all the world, and the casualties suffered by other corps showed that they too had borne their fair share of the fighting.

Battlefields in NORTHERN EUROPE

[13]

Namur was one of the many fortified towns in Flanders which had fallen into the hands of the French during our struggles with that nation in the closing years of the seventeenth century. King William's military operations had not been attended with any marked degree of success. His troops, despite the gallantry of the English regiments, had been worsted at Steenkirk, Landen, and many other fights, and in the ranks of our own regiments there was a very decided feeling that our friends the Dutch were prone to throw the brunt of the hard work on us, and were not too eager to afford us that assistance in action which we had a right to expect. A glance at the casualty lists which follow the various actions—the names of which are inscribed on our colours—proves the truth of this statement. Whether at Namur, Dettingen, Emsdorff, in Flanders or in Spain, the British regiments were invariably expected to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for their allies.

The Siege of Namur commenced on July 3, 1695, and three days later King William determined to carry the outworks by assault. The Guards attacked on the right, the Royal Scots and Royal Fusiliers on the left. The assault was perfectly successful, but the loss was enormous, the Brigade of Guards losing thirty-two officers, the Royal Scots and Royal Fusiliers ten. A few days later, after the fire of the batteries had opened a practicable breach in the walls near the St. Nicholas Gateway, the British were again called upon to carry this work. This they did with a loss of 800 killed and wounded. Then came the final assault on the citadel, for which the Leicesters, the Royal Irish, and Mackay's and Buchan's Highlanders were told off. These two last are no longer with us. These four battalions lost 63 officers and 925 men killed and wounded. But the day was ours, and with the fall of the citadel Namur once more passed into the possession of the House of Orange.

Although the Army Order of February, 1910, only grants the distinction to infantry regiments, there were a number of British cavalry regiments employed in[14] covering operations during the siege. There were the 1st and 2nd Life and the Royal Horse Guards, all seven regiments of Dragoon Guards, the Royal Dragoons, Scots Greys, 4th Hussars, 5th Lancers, and 7th Hussars. I regret I have not been able to ascertain the losses they suffered. Those of the infantry were as follows:

Casualties at the Siege and Assault of Namur, 1695.

The War of the Spanish Succession.

In the month of May, 1701, just two months after the death of William III., we found ourselves involved in war with France, in consequence of the quarrel as to the right of succession in Spain. One hundred and thirty years later a similar cause led to the Franco-German War. In those far-off days England was a Continental Power, and whatever affected the Low Countries affected also the United Kingdom. The Dutch provinces of[15] Flanders lent themselves to attack, and as in the wars under William, so now once more they formed the theatre of war. We had no King to assume the command, and to Marlborough was confided the task of commanding our armies. The Spaniards were no longer our allies, and Spanish Flanders was in the hands of our enemies, adding considerably to the military difficulties. The Dutch, too, showed themselves no more favourably disposed to us than when William of Orange was on the throne, and the whole year of 1701 was wasted in fruitless wrangling. There was infinite jealousy between ourselves and the Prussians and Dutch as to Marlborough's position, and both nations seemed to forget that their troops were but mercenaries, maintained in the field to a very great extent by the subsidies voted by the English Parliament. In 1702 Marlborough found himself in nominal command of about 60,000 men, of whom 12,000 were British soldiers. His freedom of action was much hampered by Dutch Deputies and Prussian jealousies. That year, however, saw him victorious on three occasions: at Venloo, which, after a short siege, was carried by assault in the most gallant manner by the English, led by the noted fire-eater Cutts; at Maestricht, in August, where we lost 4 officers and 132 men killed, 7 officers and 134 men wounded; and at Liège, which was captured with a loss to us of 11 officers and 143 men killed, 20 officers and 360 men wounded. As was the custom in those days, the army went into winter-quarters, whilst the Commander-in-Chief returned to England to face Parliament and secure funds and reinforcements for the coming year.

In 1704 Marlborough determined to carry the war into his enemies' country, and by a masterly movement, worthy of Napoleon in his best days, transferred the scene of operations from the Valley of the Meuse to that of the Danube, and on June 21, 1704, gained a brilliant victory at Schellenberg, on the banks of that river—a name that might well be borne on the colours and appointments of the sixteen regiments which bore such[16] a distinguished part in the fight. I append the casualty lists of the losses incurred in this now almost forgotten battle, which surely deserves recognition.

Casualties at Schellenberg, June 21, 1704.

Marlborough, in conjunction with the Prince Eugène of Savoy, now pushed up to the vicinity of Munich, and there is little doubt, had he been in possession of a sufficient artillery force, that the capital of Bavaria would have fallen into his hands. He had with him but thirty-five guns of the Royal Artillery, and he felt compelled to relinquish the attempt. Falling back, he attacked the Allies at Blenheim, where again the British troops covered themselves with glory.

Blenheim, August 2, 1704.

This battle honour has been conferred on the

King's Dragoon Guards.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
5th Dragoon Guards.
Carabiniers.
7th Dragoon Guards.
5th Lancers.
Royal Scots Greys.
Royal Scots.
Grenadier Guards.
King's Liverpool Regiment.
Buffs.
East Yorkshire.
Lincolns.
Royal Irish.
Bedfords.
South Wales Borderers.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Hampshire.
Cameronians.

[17]

A medal to commemorate this victory was struck by order of Queen Anne, but, unfortunately, no lists of the losses suffered by regiments as regards the rank and file have been preserved, or, if preserved, they have been lost sight of. We know from contemporary journals that there were eighteen squadrons and fourteen battalions of British troops engaged, and that the total casualties amounted to 51 officers and 625 men killed, 147 officers and 1,381 men wounded, the casualties amongst the officers being—

Casualties at Blenheim.

Seldom has there been a victory more complete. Twenty-four battalions surrendered en bloc, the total number of prisoners aggregating upwards of 11,000, amongst them being two General officers; 124 guns and 109 stand of colours also fell into our hands. Ireland is now an integral portion of the British Empire, and Irish soldiers have in all our campaigns fought with stubborn determination on our side. So, too, the Royal Irish covered itself with glory on this day, as it has ever done when fighting for us. At the same time, it is worthy of note that the fiercest of our opponents at Blenheim were[18] the regiments of the Irish Brigade in the pay of the King of France.

Marlborough now retraced his steps to the Low Countries, and once more prepared to oppose the French in the field and the Dutch in the Council. The whole of the following year was spent in futile attempts to organize a successful series of military movements in face of the persistent antagonism of our Dutch colleagues.

Ramillies, May 12, 1706.

A medal was struck to commemorate this victory, which is inscribed on the colours and appointments of the following regiments:

1st King's Dragoon Guards.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
5th Dragoon Guards.
6th Carabiniers.
7th Dragoon Guards.
5th R.I. Lancers.
Royal Scots Greys.
Grenadier Guards.
Royal Scots.
Buffs.
Liverpool Regiment.
Lincolns.
East Yorkshire.
Bedfords.
Royal Irish.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
South Wales Borderers.
Cameronians.
Gloucesters.
Worcester.
Hampshire.

Though inscribed on our colours, there were but few British troops actually under fire at the Battle of Ramillies. On the cavalry fell the task of converting a victory into a rout, and to this end the six regiments of British dragoons enumerated above were worthily employed, their trophies being 56 guns, 80 stand of colours, and 2,000 prisoners. No regimental lists of casualties have been preserved, but it would appear that the Cameronians lost two officers killed, and that the cavalry in the pursuit lost 384 of all ranks killed and wounded.

Ramillies was not the only success that attended our arms in Flanders during the year 1706, and it is difficult to understand why it alone should have been selected for recognition. The whole of Flanders in those days was studded with fortresses, under cover of which the French[19] lay secure. To capture these was a necessity, and one by one they fell into our hands. In the months of August, Menin, after a siege of six weeks, was carried by assault, our loss being 32 officers and 551 men killed, 80 officers and 1,944 men wounded; the regiments which took part in the siege and assault being the Scots Greys, the 3rd and 5th Dragoon Guards, the King's, Liverpool Regiment, the Lincolns, the Royal Irish, and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, the latter losing fifteen officers killed and wounded.

Casualties at the Battle of Ramillies.

Oudenarde, June 30, 1708.

This, again, was one of those victories to commemorate which a medal was struck by order of Her Majesty Queen Anne, whilst a century and three-quarters later the name "Oudenarde" was inscribed on the colours and appointments of the following regiments, by order of Her Majesty Queen Victoria:

[20]

1st King's Dragoon Guards.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
5th Dragoon Guards.
Carabiniers.
7th Dragoon Guards.
Scots Greys.
5th Lancers.
Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Royal Scots.
King's Liverpool Regiment.
Buffs.
Lincolns.
East Yorkshire.
Bedfords.
Royal Irish.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Cameronians.
South Wales Borderers.
Hampshire Regiment.

The year 1707 was wasted, owing to the opposition of the Dutch and the treachery of the Austrians. The French were accordingly enabled by the early spring of 1708 to mass an army of 100,000 men in Flanders. To face them the Allies could bring but 80,000; but the weight of Marlborough's name and the few thousand British veteran troops in his army made up for this deficiency; and when, after a series of the most brilliant manœuvres, the Duke at last met the French at Oudenarde, he at any rate had no doubt as to the result.

At Oudenarde, as at Ramillies, the British troops were not heavily engaged, their losses numbering 4 officers and 41 men killed, 17 officers and 160 men wounded.

Lille, the capital of French Flanders, was Marlborough's next objective. The difficulties attendant on the siege were enormous, owing to the swampy nature of the neighbourhood and the strength of the fortifications. In spite of being some 10,000 men inferior to the French mobile army, Marlborough determined to essay the task, and from the month of August to October there were five British battalions actively employed in the siege, the rest of the army being engaged in covering the operations and holding in check 96,000 French who were endeavouring to find an opening to save the fortress. On October 11 the place was carried by assault, our losses during the operations having been 17 officers and 447 men killed, 82 officers and 1,093 men wounded. The Bedfords, Royal Irish, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and the South Wales Borderers, were the regiments which would be entitled to this distinction.[21] To commemorate the capture of Lille, Queen Anne caused a medal to be struck, but the name is not on our colours.

Casualties at the Battle of Oudenarde, June 30, 1708.

Malplaquet, September 11, 1709.

A medal was struck by Queen Anne to commemorate this victory, and in the reign of Queen Victoria the regiments which were present were permitted to add the name "Malplaquet" to the other distinctions won in more recent battles:

1st King's Dragoon Guards.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
5th Dragoon Guards.
Carabiniers.
7th Dragoon Guards.
Royal Scots Greys.
5th Lancers.
Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Royal Scots.
Buffs.
King's Liverpool Regiment.
Lincolns.
East Yorkshire.
Bedfords.
Royal Irish.
Yorkshire Regiment.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
South Wales Borderers.
Cameronians.
Hampshire Regiment.

[22]

Prior to the Battle of Malplaquet, the Royal Scots, the Buffs, and the Hampshires had been actively employed at the siege and capture of the Fortress of Tournay, in which they suffered heavily; but no distinction was awarded for this siege, save a medal struck by Queen Anne, the word "Tournay" borne by the West Yorkshire, the Hampshire, and the Shropshire, being granted for the action, which took place in the same neighbourhood in 1794, and which I have dealt with on page 94.

Leaving a force to level the fortifications of Tournay, which was looked upon as one of the masterpieces of the great master, Vauban, Marlborough moved towards Mons, where the French, under Marshal Villars, lay with 95,000 men. Their position was a most formidable one. From the forest of Laignieres to the wood of Blangier (a distance of three miles) a series of entrenchments had been thrown up, following the sinuosities of the ground. In advance of this position a number of formidable redans had been constructed, in some of which as many as twenty guns were placed. Fortune, however, favoured the allies in many ways. In front of the position, but out of cannon shot, were the woods of Sart, which enabled Marlborough to conceal his intended movements from the French; whilst the nature of the ground in rear of the French entrenchment prevented Marshal Villars from making any use of his cavalry in the early stages of the fight. On this occasion at any rate we had no reason to complain of the conduct of our allies. The Dutch, under the Duke of Orange, fought with unaccustomed gallantry, whilst the Germans showed that they were not disposed to allow the English to carry off all the honours of the day. Of the details of the battle but little is known, except that it was one of the bloodiest ever fought, scarcely exceeded even by the passage of the Beresina. Although we were the victors, there is no doubt that our losses were greater than those of the French. Sixteen guns and twenty colours remained in our hands.[23] The twenty British battalions engaged lost 36 officers and 571 men killed, 66 officers and 1,281 men wounded.

There were many more occasions in which we crossed swords with the French in Flanders before peace was declared. At Douai, Bethune, and Bouchain, our troops suffered severely, but no honorary distinctions were granted for any of these fights, so they do not fall within the scope of this chapter.

Unfortunately, the lists of regimental losses of non-commissioned officers and men have not been preserved, and all it is possible to give, with any degree of accuracy, are the number of officers killed, and, to a certain extent, of men wounded at Malplaquet.

Casualties at the Battle of Malplaquet, September 11, 1709.

[24]

CHAPTER III

BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN NORTHERN EUROPE, 1743-1762

Dettingen—Minden—Emsdorff—Warburg—Wilhelmstahl.

-

Dettingen, June 27, 1743.

This battle honour is now borne by the following regiments:

1st Life Guards.
2nd Life Guards.
Royal Horse Guards.
1st King's Dragoon Guards.
7th Dragoon Guards.
1st Royal Dragoons.
Scots Greys.
3rd Hussars.
4th Hussars.
6th Inniskillings.
7th Hussars.
Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Scots Guards.
Buffs.
King's Liverpool Regiment.
Devons.
Suffolk.
Somerset Light Infantry.
Lancashire Fusiliers.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
East Surrey.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
West Riding Regiment.
Hampshire.

It commemorates the last battle in which a King of England was present in person, the last in which the Order of Knighthood was conferred on the field. The actual command was in the hands of the veteran Earl of Stair, a soldier who had learned the art of war under Marlborough. He had commanded a brigade at Ramillies, and served on the great commander's staff at Blenheim, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet.

We were fighting in support of the claims of Maria Theresa to the throne of Austria. France, on the other hand, was supporting those of the House of Bavaria.[25] Side by side with our own men fought the armies of Austria and Hanover. The field of battle was on the banks of the Main, midway between Darmstadt and Frankfort, hard by the village of Aschaffenburg, where, in the "Seven Weeks' War," the Prussians gained one of their many successes over the Germans of the Southern States. At Dettingen the brunt of the fighting fell on the British, whose losses far exceeded the combined casualties of the allies, the principal sufferers being the 3rd Dragoons, all their officers but two, and more than half their men, being killed or wounded. The heroism of Trooper Brown of this regiment has been handed down to this day, and King George, recognizing his valour, dubbed him Knight-Banneret at the close of the fight, the Commander-in-Chief (the Earl of Stair), and the Honourable J. Campbell, Colonel of the Scots Greys, being similarly honoured. Brown's deed is recorded in the regimental history, but it is little known outside the ranks of what is now the 3rd King's Own Hussars. Three times did this gallant regiment charge into the French massed infantry, outnumbering them four to one; thrice did they overthrow the enemy's horse. Their standards had been torn to ribbons, the staves shot through and riddled. At the close of one charge a colour fell from a dead Cornet's hand and lay abandoned on the ground. Trooper Brown dismounted to recover it, and, as he regained the saddle, a French trooper with a sabre-cut disabled his bridle-hand. His horse bolted with him into the midst of the French army, when the colour was torn from his grasp and borne away by a gendarme. Wounded and faint, but with the lust of battle strong upon him, the dragoon rallied to his flag, cut down the triumphant captor, then, gripping the broken staff between knee and saddle, bore it in safety to the skeleton squadrons of his own corps. Historians ridicule the part played by King George on the field of Dettingen, but we may rely upon it that the British army appreciated the kingly action when, at the close of the day, veteran Field-Marshal[26] and wounded dragoon alike received from their Sovereign the accolade of honour. In these prosaic days the prosperous tradesman receives the knighthood, the wounded dragoon is relegated to the workhouse.

Casualties at the Battle of Dettingen, June 27, 1743.

Minden, August 1, 1759.

The following six regiments bear this honour:

Suffolks.
Lancashire Fusiliers.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Hampshire.
King's Own Yorkshire L.I.

As at Dettingen, so at Minden, the British troops were acting in support of foreign allies. At the former we were[27] supporting the cause of Austria against France, at the latter we were assisting Frederick the Great in his campaign against the combined forces of France and Austria. Our troops were under the command of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, whose rôle it was to prevent Hanover (then an appanage of the British Crown) from being overrun by the French. In addition to the above regiments, there were present fifteen squadrons of English cavalry under Lord George Sackville, and four batteries of artillery under Captains Foy, Phillips, Drummond, and MacBean. The fruits of the victory and the glory of the day were marred by the inaction of the British cavalry, due to the supineness or something worse of Lord George Sackville. The feature was the majestic advance of the British infantry under Brigadiers Waldegrave and Kingsley, and the magnificent manner in which the four batteries of artillery followed the retreating French, converting an orderly retirement into a disorderly rout.

Casualties at Minden.

On the morning after the battle Prince Ferdinand addressed a personal letter to Captain MacBean of the "Royal British Artillery," in which he said: "It is to you and your brigade that I am indebted for having silenced the fire of a battery of the enemy, which extremely galled the troops."

Still further to show his appreciation of the services of the Royal Artillery, the Prince ordered the Paymaster-General[28] to hand 1,000 crowns to Captain Phillips, and 500 each to Captain MacBean, Drummond, Williams, and Foy, for distribution amongst their men.

Concerning the Marquis of Granby, he wrote: "Had he (Lord Granby) been at the head of the cavalry of the Royal King, his presence would, I am persuaded, have greatly contributed to have made our success more complete and more brilliant."

Emsdorff, July 16, 1760.

This distinction is borne only by the

15th Hussars,

and commemorates their association with a body of German troops in Prince Ferdinand's campaign against the French, the opening action of which was Minden. A French division, consisting of six battalions with a regiment of hussars, was surprised by a force of similar strength under Prince Ferdinand, and by sundown the "King's" Hussars had gained for the Allies a glorious victory. It was to the 15th, and to the 15th alone, that the credit of the day was due. It was their baptême de feu, and well may they pride themselves on their conduct at Emsdorff. Their gallantry was the theme of the whole army, and the recollection of it has stood them in good stead on many a hard-fought field. As Fortescue so generously writes: "The traditions of charging home remained with the regiment, and doubtless remains with it to this day."

In his official despatch Prince Ferdinand bears high testimony to the very distinguished services rendered by the 15th. After describing the action and the conduct of the troops generally, the Prince wrote: "Particularly to Eliott's regiment, which was allowed by everybody present to have done wonders.

"H.S.H. the Prince could not enough commend to the Duke the bravery, good conduct, and good countenance, with which that regiment fought."

[29]

In addition to the 15th, a regiment of Hanoverian cavalry and five battalions of Hanoverian infantry were engaged at Emsdorff, their total casualties being 8 men killed, 2 officers and 52 men wounded. The total losses of the French were never ascertained, but that evening the prisoners numbered 2 Generals and 177 other officers, with 2,482 non-commissioned officers and men, whilst 9 stand of colours and 5 guns remained in our hands. The 15th have good reason to be proud of the battle honour "Emsdorff." Their casualties were 2 officers and 73 non-commissioned officers and men killed, 2 officers and 48 of other ranks wounded, their casualties in horses being 168 killed and wounded.

Warburg, July 31, 1760.

It was not until the close of the year 1909, just 150 years after the battle, that the cavalry regiments which took part in this brilliant action were authorized to bear on their colours and appointments the battle honour "Warburg." Why the infantry regiments which bore the brunt of the fighting should be denied this distinction is not for me to tell. The regiments now honoured are the

Royal Horse Guards.
King's Dragoon Guards.
Queen's Bays.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
Carabiniers.
7th Dragoon Guards.
1st Royal Dragoons.
Scots Greys.
Inniskillings.
7th Hussars.
10th Hussars.
11th Hussars.

At Emsdorff, just a fortnight previously, the 15th Hussars had nobly retrieved the slur which had been cast on the British cavalry owing to the unfortunate behaviour of Lord George Sackville at Minden. At Warburg the mass of the cavalry under Lord Granby had an opportunity of showing that they were by no means behind the 15th in dash or steadiness. De Muy, the French Commander, occupied a very strong position in a bend of the River Diemel. His right resting on the[30] village of Warburg. The British infantry, consisting of one brigade of four battalions under the command of Colonel Beckwith of Kingsley's Regiment (now the Lancashire Fusiliers) attacked in two columns. The right, under Major Maxwell of the Lancashire Fusiliers, consisted of the Grenadier companies of the Suffolks, Lancashire Fusiliers, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Scottish Borderers, 37th (Hampshire), and 51st (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry). On its outer flank was the Heavy Cavalry Brigade under Lord Granby. The left infantry column was under Major Daulhat of the West Riding Regiment; this comprised the flank companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers, the King's Liverpool Regiment, the Devons, the South Wales Borderers, the 33rd (West Riding Regiment), and the 50th (West Kent). On Daulhat's left were the light cavalry under General Mostyn, the 7th Hussars leading. In support came the two regiments of Highlanders, Keith's and Campbell's.[3] Between the two infantry columns were three troops of Horse Artillery, under Captains Phillips, MacBean, and Stephens; these earned Prince Ferdinand's highest praise for their dash and the accuracy of their fire. Some delay occurred in supporting the attack of the British infantry, who alone sustained the early stages of the action; and the Prince ordered Lord Granby to move round the rear of the columns and press home an attack on the French right rear. Granby was a different stamp of leader to Lord George Sackville. Two hours at the trot brought him within striking distance of the French. Then, forming his six regiments of heavy cavalry in two brigades, and supporting them with Mostyn's Light Dragoons, charged straight home. The French never waited the attack, save three squadrons which stood firm and which were cut to pieces. The main portion of the French cavalry turned and fled. Ordering Mostyn to follow these up, Granby (always well to the front) wheeled the heavies to the right, and threw himself[31] on the right rear of De Muy's infantry. These, like the cavalry, broke, throwing down their arms and making for the ford across the Diemel in their rear. Our artillery now came up at the gallop, and effectually prevented any attempt at reforming on the part of the beaten foe. The loss in our cavalry was trifling. That of the French amounted to nearly 8,000 killed, wounded, and prisoners, whilst 12 guns remained in our hands as trophies of war at Warburg.

Casualties at Warburg.

For his services at Minden, Major Daulhat was given the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 51st (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry), and his battalion of Grenadiers was placed under Major Welsh, of the 11th (Devons), who commanded it at Wilhelmstahl.

In his official report of the action to King George, Prince Ferdinand wrote:

"The English artillery got up at a gallop and seconded[32] the attack in the most spirited manner. All the troops have done well, and particularly the English."

"The loss on our side is very numerous, and falls chiefly upon the brave battalions of Maxwell's Grenadiers, which did wonders. Colonel Beckwith, who commanded the Brigade of English Grenadiers and Scotch Highlanders, distinguished himself greatly, and is badly wounded in the head. My Lord Granby with the English cavalry contributed extremely to the success of the day."

This casualty return exemplifies the lack of system in the method of distributing battle honours. The losses in the cavalry amounted to 129 killed and wounded, in the infantry to 376, yet the latter have no "distinction" to show the part they played at Warburg.

Wilhelmstahl, June 24, 1762.

The Northumberland Fusiliers

is the only regiment authorized to bear this honour; but here, as in so many other instances, it is difficult to understand why one regiment should be singled out for a battle honour to the exclusion of others which have borne an equally meritorious part in the same engagement.

Wilhelmstahl was one of the closing actions in Prince Ferdinand's campaigns. As at Warburg, the Valley of the Diemel was the scene of the fight, and, as at Warburg, the honours of the day rested with the English. The French, some 70,000 strong, had their right resting on the forest of Rheinhardswald, with their headquarters at the village of Wilhelmstahl. Ferdinand detached Generals Luckner and Sporcke to attack the flank of the enemy, whilst he with the ten battalions of English infantry—some Brunswickers and Hessians—supported by Lord Granby's cavalry, made a direct attack on their[33] front. With the other columns I have no concern. That under the personal command of the Prince consisted of the three battalions of the Brigade of Guards—one of Grenadiers, one of the Coldstreams, and one of the Scots Guards; a brigade under Colonel Beckwith, of the 20th (Lancashire Fusiliers), comprising a composite battalion, made up of the flank companies of the Brigade of Guards, a second battalion of the grenadier companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers, the 8th (King's), 11th (Devons), 24th (South Wales Borderers), the 33rd (West Riding Regiment), and the 50th (Royal West Kent), commanded by Major Welsh, of the Devons. The third battalion in Beckwith's brigade was under Major Maxwell, of the Lancashire Fusiliers, and was made up of the flank companies of the Suffolks, Lancashire Fusiliers, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 37th (Hampshire Regiment), and the 51st (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry). The 5th (Northumberland Fusiliers), 8th (King's Liverpool Regiment), and the two Highland regiments of Keith and Campbell (then the 87th and 88th), completed the English portion of Prince Ferdinand's column.

The combined movement was well executed. The central column was in presence of the enemy before they had the least apprehension of being attacked. Finding themselves threatened in front, flank, and rear, they struck their tents and fell back in some confusion. Prince Ferdinand, to quote an officer who was present, "pursued and pressed upon them as close as possible. They would have been entirely routed had not Monsieur de Stainville thrown himself forward with the Grenadiers of France, the Royal Grenadiers, and the Regiment of Aquitaine (the flower of the French infantry), to cover their retreat. His resolution cost him dear, his whole infantry having been either killed or dispersed after a very gallant defence. Two battalions only succeeded in escaping. Some of these troops surrendered to Lord Granby's cavalry, and when the infantry came up, the remainder, after one fire, laid down their arms to the[34] 5th Fusiliers, having been driven out of the forest at the point of the bayonet by Beckwith's Grenadiers." Amongst the prisoners taken were 58 officers of the Grenadiers of France, 38 of the Royal Grenadiers, and 22 of the Regiment of Aquitaine, "the flower of the French army." In all 162 officers and 2,570 men.

In his official despatch Prince Ferdinand wrote:

"All the troops behaved exceedingly well, and showed great zeal and willingness, but particularly the battalions of Grenadiers belonging to Colonel Beckwith's brigade, which distinguished themselves exceedingly."

Casualties at Wilhelmstahl.

An artillery officer who was present wrote of the battle:

"They [the French] were fairly surprised, and our troops behaved with a bravery not to be paralleled in history, especially our Grenadiers and Highlanders, who sent prisoners, I dare say, more than double their own numbers out of the forest. The 5th Regiment behaved nobly, and took prisoners about twice their own number. We had the misfortune to lose Lieutenant Cock (an officer of our regiment, and as pretty an officer as any in the army) by a cannon-shot, which took off his head."

[35]

The casualties in the British regiments amounted to 54 killed and 249 wounded; those of the allies, only to 144 killed and wounded.

The surrender of the French Grenadiers to the old "Fighting Fifth" is commemorated by the Fusilier or, rather Grenadier, cap, which at one time was worn only by the Northumberland Fusiliers. Now, however, all Fusilier regiments share this honour with the Northumberlands.

Studying the above list in conjunction with Prince Ferdinand's despatch gives rise to the question, Why should the Northumberland Fusiliers alone bear the battle honour "Wilhelmstahl"?

[36]

CHAPTER IV

BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA, 1758-1814

Louisburg, 1758—Quebec, 1759—Monte Video, 1807—Detroit, August 12, 1812—Miami, April 23, 1813—Niagara, July 25, 1814—Bladensburg, October 24, 1814.

-

Louisburg, July 25, 1758.

The following regiments are authorized to bear this honour:

Royal Scots.
East Yorkshire.
Leicester.
Cheshire.
Gloucester.
Royal Sussex.
South Lancashire.
Sherwood Foresters.
North Lancashire.
Northampton.
King's Royal Rifles.
Wiltshire.

It commemorates the siege and capture of the fortress of Louisburg (Cape Breton's Island, North America) from the French in July, 1758. The army, which was under the command of General the Lord Amherst, numbered 12,000 of all ranks, and was distributed as follows:

The grenadiers and light companies of the various regiments were, as was customary in those days, organized into separate battalions. The force, which was convoyed by twenty-three ships of the line, under Admiral Boscawen, on which the 62nd (Wiltshires) were serving as marines,[37] arrived at Gabarus Bay, a little to the westward of the fortress, on June 8, 1758. The country was well known, for Commodore Sir R. Warren, with some colonial troops, had wrested it from the French in 1745. A reconnaissance revealed three possible landing-places, and, to make assurance trebly sure, Amherst determined to threaten all three, whilst the true attack should be made by Wolfe's brigade, with the grenadier and light infantry battalions, at Freshwater Cove, about three miles from the city.

Casualties at the Siege and Capture of Louisburg, July 25, 1758.

The landing was stubbornly contested by the French, but, thanks to the gallantry of Major Scott, at the head of the light infantry battalion, Wolfe was enabled to effect his object with a loss of about 100 killed and wounded. Lawrence's brigade was immediately thrown ashore, and by nightfall Amherst had pitched his camp to the westward, and just out of the range of the guns of the fortress. The task of disembarking the siege material was exceedingly arduous, and Amherst, owing to the nature of the ground, was compelled to restrict the siege operations to the western face of the fortress. Wolfe, however, was detached to move round the city,[38] and seize some works on the northern side of the harbour. This he effected with but slight loss, and was enabled by a daring coup de main to occupy a commanding position some 300 yards distant from the northernmost bastion. Thanks to the powerful and cordial co-operation of the fleet, Amherst carried on the bombardment with ceaseless vigour. By the end of July the walls were so battered that they could barely withstand the shock of their own guns, and on the 27th of that month the French General surrendered unconditionally, with 5,600 men.

Quebec, September 12, 1759.

The following regiments are authorized to bear this honour:

Oxford Light Infantry.
North Lancashire.
Northampton.
King's Royal Rifles.
East Yorkshire.
Royal Sussex.
Gloucester.

It commemorates that glorious eleven weeks' campaign which culminated in the capture of Quebec and established British supremacy in Canada. It is doubly memorable owing to the fact that the two opposing commanders, Wolfe and Montcalm, fell in the hour of victory, and that vanquished as well as victor are held in veneration by friend and foe alike.

The capture of Louisburg and the successes over the French in West Africa, as well as on the continent of North America, determined Pitt to carry out the scheme formulated in the preceding year for the capture of Quebec. Wolfe, who had so distinguished himself at Louisburg, was, to the surprise of the army, nominated to the command, having under him three Brigadiers—Monckton, Townsend, and Murray. The former had as a regimental commander shown himself possessed of every capacity for high command. The force, which numbered about 8,000 men, was composed of ten battalions of the line: two of grenadiers, made up from the flank companies of all regiments in North America; two of light infantry; and a corps of local troops styled "Roger's[39] Rangers," men inured to war and of proved capacity. The distribution of the force was as under:

It was not until June 27 that Wolfe landed, without resistance, on the Island of Orleans, just below Quebec, and on the following day Monckton's brigade, with some heavy guns, was thrown across to the right bank of the St. Lawrence. Emboldened by the passive attitude of the French Commander, who seemed averse to adopt any offensive measures, Wolfe moved the brigades of Murray and Townsend to the left bank of the St. Lawrence, below the French entrenched camp, whilst he himself, still holding on to the Isle of Orleans, threw up batteries on the left bank below the city. This dissemination of his forces constituted a grave danger, but Montcalm took no advantage of such a palpable error. On July 31 a determined attempt to assault the city was repulsed, our loss being upwards of 500 killed and wounded, and the spirits of the besiegers sank to zero. The British Admiral pointed out to Wolfe that the proper course to pursue was to transfer his main force to a position on the right bank of the St. Lawrence, above Quebec, so as to prevent Montcalm from obtaining supplies or reinforcements from Montreal. This proposition was concurred in warmly by the General, and early in September Townsend and Murray took up their new position to the west of the citadel. On September 13 Wolfe, by a most daring midnight movement, scaled the Heights of Abraham, and so encompassed the fall of what was considered an impregnable city. Shot in the wrist early in the fight, the heroic young commander still led on his men, until, just as the French were falling back, he received a second ball in the groin, and finally fell at the[40] head of the 28th (Gloucesters), at the moment of victory. The command now devolved on Townsend (Monckton having been disabled by a severe wound), and he pressed forward the siege with vigour. On September 18 General Ramesay, who had succeeded Montcalm in command of the French, signed the capitulation of a city which was little better than a mass of shapeless ruins. The praise for the capture of Quebec is due to Wolfe; but Quebec was but an incident in the long-drawn-out campaign which resulted in transferring Canada from the Bourbon to British rule, and the credit for this belongs to a General little remembered in these days—General the Lord Amherst.

Casualties during the Operations at Quebec, 1759.

Monte Video, 1807.

A battle honour borne by the

South Staffords.
South Lancashire.
Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Rifle Brigade.

The expedition to South America redounds little to the credit of our arms, and, as is well known, ended in disaster. A few words are necessary as to its inception. Prior to the expedition to the Cape of Good Hope in 1806,[41] the Admiral, Sir Home Popham, who was in command of the naval forces in the South Atlantic, had been at some pains to impress upon Pitt, the Prime Minister, the immense advantages that would accrue to our trade by the conquest of the Spanish possessions in South America; and though it would appear that Popham was not entrusted with any mission in furtherance of his design, there is no doubt that Pitt did look with considerable favour on his proposals, and a force under General Crawford was actually despatched to make a descent on the western shore of the continent, and to occupy Chili or Peru. Popham, however, did not lose sight of his own scheme, which was the conquest of Buenos Ayres; and no sooner were we in possession of the Cape than he persuaded Sir David Baird to place General Beresford, with the 38th (South Staffords) and the 71st (Highland Light Infantry) at his disposal. With these and the St. Helena Regiment, which consisted of an infantry battalion and a company of artillery, Popham sailed across the Atlantic, and early in June appeared off the coast near Monte Video. After reconnoitring Mondanado, Popham decided that an attack on Monte Video was impracticable, and, overcoming the scruples of Beresford, proceeded to Buenos Ayres. The troops were landed a short distance from the city, and, after a short skirmish, the Spaniards, completely surprised, surrendered. The troops engaged at the first capture of Buenos Ayres were the 71st (Highland Light Infantry), a naval brigade, consisting of seamen and marines, and the St. Helena Regiment, the casualties only amounting to 4 men killed, an officer and 15 men wounded.

The Spaniards soon recovered from their surprise, and, realizing the weakness of our force, took measures for the recapture of the city. On August 12 a body of some 12,000 men appeared before Buenos Ayres, and at the end of the day, our men being entangled in the streets, and the 71st having lost 165 killed and wounded, Beresford felt himself obliged to surrender.

[42]

When the news of the disaster reached England, reinforcements were at once despatched to the coast, and Baird was ordered to send all troops he could spare from the Cape. The command of the new expedition was entrusted to Sir Samuel Auchmuty, whilst the naval forces were placed under Admiral Sterling, Popham being recalled for the purpose of undergoing trial by court-martial. On arriving at Mondanado, Auchmuty found the troops from the Cape. These were unprovided with artillery, and there was much difficulty in securing the necessary provisions. Meat there was in plenty, but for flour and other food-stuffs the troops were dependent on England. After consultation with the Admiral, it was decided to make an attack on Monte Video as a necessary preliminary to the recapture of Buenos Ayres, and the release of the troops in the hands of the Spaniards (close on 1,500 in number). On January 18, 1807, the force was successfully disembarked at Carretas, some seven miles to the eastward of Monte Video. A reconnaissance proved that the defences of the city were far more formidable than had been reported, and on the 19th the Spaniards made a sortie, in which they displayed a gallantry which our men had by no means anticipated. Heavy guns were landed from the fleet, and breaching batteries erected within 1,000 yards of the citadel. The Admiral also landed upwards of 1,400 seamen and marines to assist the troops. The General did not possess the means for a regular siege, and, risky though the experiment was, he determined to carry the place by storm so soon as a practicable breach was effected. On the night of January 24 Sir Samuel made the preparations for the assault. The storming column was composed of the Rifle Brigade, the light and grenadier companies of all the regiments of the force, with the 38th (South Staffords). The 40th (South Lancashire) and the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) were in immediate support, whilst the General held in reserve the 47th (North Lancashire), a company of the 71st (Highland[43] Light Infantry), 700 seamen and marines, and the details of the 17th Lancers, 20th and 21st Light Dragoons. The night was very dark, and it was found that the Spaniards had repaired the breach with timber faced with damp hides, to avoid the contingency of their being set on fire; but the Rifle Brigade and light infantry battalion forced their way over all obstacles in the face of a very determined resistance, and by daybreak we were in possession of the town. The conduct of our men during the actual assault and during the occupation called forth the warmest praise of the General.

Casualties during the Operations at Monte Video.

In the month of March the troops, under General Crawford, which had been destined for the Chilian coast arrived at Monte Video, and General Whitelock assumed command. An advance was now made on Buenos Ayres, which resulted in the capitulation of our force and the trial of the Commander-in-Chief. This disaster cast no reflections either on the gallantry of our troops or the skill of Auchmuty. At the same time, it is impossible to think of this battle honour without recalling the unfortunate circumstances connected with the two attacks on Buenos Ayres.

[44]

NORTH AMERICA, 1812-1814.

The war in North America in the early years of the nineteenth century gave rise to much hard fighting, and though at the close of the campaign in the Iberian Peninsula we were enabled to send a number of our seasoned regiments as reinforcements, the operations were by no means creditable to our arms.

On the institution of the Land General Service Medal in 1847 (commonly called the Peninsular Medal), a certain number of engagements which had taken place in North America were included in the list of those for which the medal was granted, and clasps were issued for the following actions:

Fort Detroit, August, 1812.
Châteaugay, October 26, 1813.
Christler's Farm, November 11, 1813.

But in the distribution of battle honours the two last names were not authorized to be borne on the colours of the regiments engaged. In the case of Christler's Farm an application for permission to bear this honour on behalf of the 89th Regiment (now the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers) met with a decided refusal. On the other hand, four battle honours were granted to regiments to commemorate engagements for which the medal was not issued—namely, Queenstown, Miami, Niagara, and Bladensburg.

Detroit

is borne only on the colours of the Welsh Regiment, and commemorates the services of the old 41st Regiment at the affair which took place in the vicinity of Fort Detroit, on August 16, 1812, when its casualties amounted to 1 officer and 3 men killed, 1 officer and 10 men wounded.

Queenstown

records the services of the Welsh Regiment and the Berkshires in the affair of October 26, 1813, in which their casualties were—

[45]

Miami

This, again, is an honour which was granted alone to the Welsh Regiment as a recognition of its services in the affair of April 23, 1813, when the casualties were 11 men killed, 1 officer and 38 men wounded.

Niagara

is borne on the colours and appointments of the

19th Hussars.
Royal Scots.
Royal Warwick.
Welsh Regiment.
King's Liverpool Regiment.
Royal Canadians.
Royal Irish Fusiliers.
South Lancashire.

In the London Gazette of July 25, 1814, the above regiments, as well as the 103rd Regiment, were authorized to add this battle honour to their other distinctions. In November, 1815, the 104th Regiment were also awarded the honour.[5] The casualties at this engagement were—

Losses at Niagara.

[46]

Bladensburg, August 24, 1814.

This honour is borne on the colours of the following regiments:

King's Own (Royal Lancaster).
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Essex.
Shropshire Light Infantry.

The campaign on the Canadian frontier had been waged with varying fortune: sometimes success attended our arms, at others we suffered considerable reverses. We were fighting, however, under many disadvantages. The bulk of our forces were employed in Spain, or in the abortive expedition to the Low Countries. The abdication of Napoleon, however, set free a portion of our troops, and a brigade was despatched, under the command of Major-General John Ross, from the South of France to North America. It consisted of the 4th (King's Own), the 41st (Welsh), and the 44th (Essex). On arrival at Bermuda it was met by the 21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers), and by Admiral Cochrane, commanding the naval forces on the station. The Admiral had been in the habit whilst blockading the coast of landing at the mouth of the Potomac River, and making incursions into the country, accompanied only by a few Marines. He pointed out to the General the feasibility of an attack on Washington, the young capital of the United States. On August 15 the General, accompanied by the Admiral, landed and made a lengthy reconnaissance up the Patuxent River, which runs parallel to the Potomac, and a short distance to the east. The landing presented no difficulties, and on the 20th the whole of the brigade, having arrived, were disembarked without opposition at a place called Benedict, on the right bank of the Patuxent, only fifty miles from Washington. On the following day the force moved to Nottingham in three columns. The right, under Colonel Brooke, of the 44th, consisted of the 4th (King's Own) and the 44th (Essex); the centre, commanded by Colonel Patterson, of the 21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers), comprised that corps and a strong naval brigade;[47] whilst the left column, which was under Colonel Thornton, of the 85th (King's Light Infantry), was made up of that regiment and the light companies of the other three battalions, and was accompanied by the little artillery force, which consisted of but a couple of 3-pounders and a howitzer. On August 22 the brigade reached Marlborough, a small town sixteen miles from the capital, and here Ross learnt that a body of American troops, about 6,000 strong, was drawn up for the defence of Washington at Bladensburg, to the north of the city. Leaving some marines to guard his lines of communication at Marlborough, Ross pushed on, the left column, under his own personal command, leading, and on the morning of the 24th he found the enemy. The action was soon over, and by nightfall Ross entered Washington, having captured ten of the enemy's guns. Whether the subsequent burning of the Capitol was justified or not is a question that everyone will decide for himself. Suffice to say that public property to the extent of close on half a million sterling was destroyed, in addition to several ships on the stocks, and that we carried away 206 guns. Our losses were by no means heavy. In justice to the memory of the General, it should be put on record that a perfectly orderly entry into the city was effected, and that all firing had long since ceased when, as he and the Admiral were passing through the city, some shots were fired from a private house, and that by his orders that house was set on fire. The flames spread to neighbouring buildings, and before they could be stopped the Capitol was in flames.

The raid—for raid it was—was looked upon as a decided success, and Ross, who had succeeded in carrying off the greater part of the guns found in Washington, determined to carry out a similar raid on Baltimore. This, too, was successful, but it was achieved at the loss of the gallant General, who was one of the four officers who fell in the engagement outside Baltimore on September 12. The action of Bladensburg is commemorated[48] not only on the colours of the four regiments which were present, but the family of the General were authorized by royal licence to add the word "Bladensburg" to their own name of Ross.

Casualties at Bladensburg.

BATTLEFIELDS IN SOUTHERN INDIA

[49]

CHAPTER V

INDIA, 1751-1764

Arcot—Plassey—Condore—Masulipatam—Badara—Wandewash—Pondicherry—Buxar.

-

The names at the head of the chapter commemorate a number of long-forgotten Indian campaigns, waged against desperate odds and extending over many years. The Colar Goldfields, Dindigul Cigars, and the Nundy Droog Mine are names of pleasant memories to the fortunate shareholders in those concerns. Little did soldier or sepoy think that those fields on which he shed his blood in order to maintain British supremacy in India would thus become familiarized to British speculators. For us, their successors, it is humiliating to feel that the heroic forging of the link which connects them with the military history of our Empire should have been long since forgotten. A few words in retrospect are necessary.

In the year 1600 a charter was granted by Parliament to the East India Company, and within ten years factories had been established at Surat, to the north of Bombay, and Petapolam, to the north of Madras. We were not the first-comers in the field, for both Dutch and Portuguese had been for many years engaged in commerce with the East. In 1612 our first troubles arose with the Portuguese, whom we defeated at Surat, and since then no question of their supremacy has arisen. Fifty years later the French had firmly established themselves at Masulipatam and Pondicherry, on the south-east coast,[50] as well as at Chandernagore, a few miles above Calcutta, and for the next 150 years the rivalry between France and England was the cause of much strife. The policy of the French was to stand well in with the native rulers, to organize their armies on a European model, and so, with their aid, to drive the English out of India.

At the commencement of the eighteenth century Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras were our chief centres, the former with factories stretching to Patna, in the northwest. The influence of the Governor of Bombay extended from the settlement at Ahmedabad, in the north, to Calicut, on the west or Malabar coast, whilst Madras had under its rule all factories on the eastern coast from Vizagapatam to Cuddalore. The British East India Company of those days boasted of but little Government support; the French company was fast becoming a military rather than a commercial force. In 1750 the French had driven us out of Madras, and were virtually rulers of Southern India, and the bulk of our forces were besieged in Trichinopoly. Fortunately for England, even in her darkest hour a man has arisen to cope with and surmount her difficulties. Amongst the writers or clerks in the employ of the factory at Madras was one Robert Clive. He, with rare prescience, argued that, as the bulk of the French forces, aided by their ally, the ruler of the Carnatic, were employed in the reduction of Trichinopoly, therefore Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, in all probability lay unguarded. Mr. Saunders, the Governor of Madras, cordially supported the plan advocated by the young writer, which was to carry the war into the enemy's country, and to seize Arcot, the capital, by a coup de main.

ROBERT, LORD CLIVE.

To face page 50.

Arcot, August 31, 1751.

This honour is alone borne by the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, the lineal descendants of the gallant band of Englishmen in the service of the East India Company at Madras, who [51]in the year 1751, under the incomparable Clive, laid the foundation of our Indian Empire. In those days Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, was a city of about 100,000 inhabitants, dominated by a fort almost in ruins. It lies some sixty miles south-west of Madras, and Clive determined not only to effect the relief of Trichinopoly, then besieged by the French, but also to strike at French supremacy by seizing the capital of their most powerful ally, the Sovereign of the Carnatic. He left Madras on September 6, 1751, in command of a small force of 200 Englishmen and 300 sepoys, with but three field-guns. Of his officers, eight in number, four, like him, were "writers" in the Company's factory. Five days later Clive had thrown himself into the half-ruined fort of Arcot, which had been hastily evacuated by its garrison, mounted the guns, which had been abandoned, repaired the defences, and made every preparation for a siege. A month later the siege commenced in earnest, 10,000 trained troops of the Nawab, aided by 300 French, drawing a close cordon round the fort, whilst a siege-train directed by Frenchmen opened fire on its walls. Macaulay, in his brilliant essay on Lord Clive, has borne eloquent testimony to the heroism both of the leader and the led (I have not the space to dwell on the details of the siege)—how the sepoys, with starvation staring them in the face, brought their rations of rice to their English comrades, with the remark that the water in which it was boiled was sustenance enough for them; and how, after being beleaguered for fifty days, in which he had lost one-third of his force, Clive repelled a final assault, and was enabled to assume the offensive against his disheartened and discomfited foes.

Arcot was a prelude to a campaign in which many gallant actions were fought—actions long since forgotten, and which are unrecorded on our colours. Trichinopoly and Covrepauk are no less worthy of emblazonment than Reshire or Koosh-ab. But, alas! no connection can now be traced between the sepoys who fought under Clive[52] and the regiments of our native army, whilst the identity of the First Madras Europeans has for a whole generation been hidden under the title of "Royal Dublin Fusiliers."

Little by little public interest was now being centred on India. The desperate efforts of France to gain an ascendancy in the Peninsula of Hindoostan, and the gallant endeavour of the servants of the East India Company to thwart those efforts, had at last aroused our Ministers to the value of Indian commerce, and to the necessity of affording military assistance in the shape of trained regiments to the "Honourable Company of Merchants trading to the East." In 1754 a first step was made in this direction, and in that year the 39th Regiment (now the 1st Dorsets) landed in Madras, and, in memory of their connection with our early struggles in India, have been permitted to bear on their colours the legend "Primus in Indis." The following year a truce was signed between France and England, thus putting an end to active hostilities. No steps, however, were neglected by either party in order to secure a paramount influence with native rulers. In this, however, we were less successful than our rivals.

Plassey, June 23, 1757.

The following regiments are entitled to bear this battle honour:

The Dorsetshire Regiment.
Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Just as in the South of India the rulers of the Carnatic and of Mysore were the bitter foes of the English settlement at Madras, so at Calcutta we had against us Surajah Dowlah, the ruler of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa—a nominal Viceroy of the Mogul Emperor—straining every nerve to wrest from us the territories on which our factories were built. The tragedy of the Black Hole of Calcutta is familiar to every schoolboy. Fortunate indeed for England was it that, when the news of the[53] fall of Calcutta reached Fort St. George an English fleet, under Admiral Watson, was lying in Madras Roads, and that men of action sat in the Madras Council. Two hundred Europeans were at once despatched to the Hooghly, and a force of 2,500 men hastily organized, consisting of 250 men of the 39th Regiment (1st Dorsets), 700 Madras Europeans, and 1,500 sepoys, for their support. This force was under the joint command of Admiral Watson and Robert Clive. Calcutta was relieved; and as war with France had again broken out, it was determined—now that all pressure on the part of Surajah Dowlah was removed—to attack the French settlement at Chandernagore. The fleet sailed up the Hooghly, and on March 23 the British flag was flying over the French fortress. I have been unable to ascertain the losses of Clive's troops on this occasion. Those of the Royal Navy amounted to 4 officers and 46 men killed, 9 officers and 156 men wounded. In the burial-ground of St. John's Church, Calcutta, may yet be seen two monuments recording thus daring feat of arms and of superb seamanship—the one raised in memory of the Admiral, the other of a midshipman. The former reads:

Here lies interred the Body of
CHARLES WATSON, Esq.,
Vice-Admiral of the White,
Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's
Naval Forces in the East Indies,
Who departed this Life the 16th Day of August, 1757,
In the 44th Year of his Age.

Gheria taken, February 13th, 1756.
Calcutta freed, January 11th, 1757.
Chandernagore taken, March 23rd, 1757.
Exegit monumentum ore perennius.

[54] On the boy's tomb is inscribed:

Here lyes the Body of
WILLIAM SPEKE,
Aged 16, Son of Henry Speke, Esq.,
Captain of His Majesty's Ship Kent.
He lost his Leg and Life in that Ship
At the Capture of Fort Orleans,
The 24th March, Anno 1757.

Having punished the French for their refusal to afford assistance to our beleaguered countrymen and countrywomen in Calcutta, Clive now determined to march against the Nawab Surajah Dowlah. On June 13, having received fresh reinforcements on this occasion from Bombay, he left Chandernagore at the head of 3,000 men, with ten guns. Of these about 1,000 were English—the 39th Foot, under Major Eyre Coote, some gunners of the Royal Artillery who had accompanied the 39th from England, and detachments of the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay European regiments. The Englishmen were conveyed in boats up the Hooghly; the sepoys marched along the banks. On June 23 Clive found himself face to face with Surajah Dowlah's army at Plassey, a town on the River Hooghly, about 100 miles due north of Calcutta. The odds were hopelessly unequal—Clive with 3,000 men and ten light field-guns on the one side; Surajah Dowlah with 55,000 men, of whom 15,000 were cavalry, and fifty guns of all calibres on the other. Had Englishmen ever been in the habit of counting the odds, the Indian Empire would never have been ours. Neither Clive nor Coote were men to quail before difficulties. From eight until eleven our infantry lay motionless, the field-guns only maintaining an unequal duel with the more numerous artillery of the enemy, which were being served—and very badly served—by some Frenchmen in the service of the Nawab. Plassey was the foundation-stone of British[55] supremacy in Bengal, as Arcot was in Madras; yet the fight was, from the soldier's standpoint, a very hollow one. Dawn broke with the odds immeasurably in favour of the Mogul host. At sunset that host was in full retreat, and yet our total losses were but 11 English and 13 sepoys killed, the wounded being 22 and 21 respectively. Such was the price we paid for the establishment of British rule over what is known as the Province of Bengal.

Casualties at Plassey.

Condore, December 9, 1758.

Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

In the course of this year there was incessant fighting between our troops in Madras and the French and their allies; but the value of India was now becoming more thoroughly appreciated by the Cabinet, and a second regiment, then numbered the 79th, was sent out to Madras, under Colonel William Draper. The French, on their part, were not behindhand. The Count Lally and Admiral d'Ache arrived, with close on 3,000 French troops, and the British forts at Cuddalore and St. David were captured. Matters were looking serious indeed in Southern India, when Clive, still in Calcutta, determined to make a diversion. Eyre Coote, the Major of the 39th, who had shown such gallantry at Plassey, was in England busily employed in raising a regiment for service in India,[56] and so was not available; but Clive detached Major Forde, of the 39th, with detachments of his own regiment and of the 1st Bengal Europeans (now the Munster Fusiliers), barely numbering 600 men, and some 2,000 sepoys, down the coast to Vizagapatam, which was being threatened by a French force, under Conflans. Despite the odds against him—for the French army outnumbered his by at least three to one—Forde pushed on, finally meeting Conflans near the mouth of the Godavery River.

Casualties at Condore.

There has been a long-standing dispute as to whether this honour can be rightly claimed by the Dublin Fusiliers as the representatives of the Madras and Bombay regiments which were sent to assist Clive in 1757. It appears certain that the men from Madras and Bombay were incorporated with the Bengal European Regiment in April, 1758, and that none but Bengal troops accompanied Forde to Vizagapatam. The India Office has therefore given its decision in favour of the Munsters for both Condore and Masulipatam.

Masulipatam, April 8, 1759.

This honour is borne by the Royal Munster Fusiliers alone. In spite of many obstacles thrown in his way after the action of Condore by our native allies, Forde determined to follow up Conflans. It was not until March 6 that he arrived before Masulipatam, behind the fortifications of which the French were awaiting him. A fortnight was taken up in landing siege-guns from the fleet, which had followed the army down the coast, and a small[57] number of bluejackets were disembarked to aid in the siege. On April 6 Forde learnt that a force of 40,000 natives, under Salabad Jung, was advancing to the relief of Conflans, and he determined on storming at once. His position was full of difficulty: in front a formidable work, with a garrison exceeding his own force in number, his land communications threatened by a Franco-native army 40,000 strong, and an empty treasure-chest. A weaker man would have taken advantage of the presence of the fleet, contented himself with his own marvellous success at Condore, and embarked his little army for Bengal. Not of such stuff was Forde, and fortunate for him and for England that he had with him men of like metal to himself. On April 8 Forde ordered the assault, and by nightfall Conflans, with 3,000 men, had unconditionally surrendered. Salabad Jung, the Viceroy of the Circars Province, now realizing that all power did not belong to the French, entered into a treaty with Forde, by which he ceded to the English eighty miles of coast-line, and entered into an agreement, not merely to dismiss all the French then in his service, but also never again to employ French troops or instructors. Forde was now free to return to Bengal, where his services were soon to be urgently needed.

Casualties incurred during the Operations at Masulipatam, ending with the Action of April 8, 1759.

Badara, November 25, 1759.

An honour borne by the Royal Munster Fusiliers only. The crushing defeats inflicted by Forde on Conflans had the effect of restoring our prestige in Madras. But[58] in Bengal Clive was in no very enviable position. The Dutch, who had a settlement at Chinsura, on the Hooghly, had commenced open hostilities, and a Dutch fleet, with a considerable force on board, entered that river. Clive had at his disposal about 300 of the 1st Bengal Europeans, and until the return of Forde from Masulipatam matters at Calcutta were serious. As soon as Forde arrived, Clive, who believed only in the offensive, ordered the victor of Condore to attack the land force, whilst he determined to destroy the Dutch fleet with some armed East Indiamen at his disposal. On November 20 Forde marched to Chandernagore (the French settlement on the Hooghly, some miles above Calcutta), and on the following day moved on to Chinsura—only a few miles distant—where a small detachment of the Dutch were encamped. He was joined here by Knox (a Company's officer who had been under Forde at Condore), with a body of eighty volunteer cavalry, raised from the English residents in Calcutta, and a strong battalion of sepoys. He now learnt that the Dutch force was moving to attack him. Confident of victory, Forde wrote to Clive, asking for permission to forestall them. The story runs that Clive was playing cards when Forde's letter reached him. Laying down his hand, Clive scribbled on the back of the letter: "Dear Forde,—Fight them. I will send you the Order in Council to-morrow." Then, taking up his cards, went on with the game. On November 25 the two forces came into collision. Forde's handful of cavalry converted the check, which the steady fire of Knox's guns had inflicted on the Dutch, into a rout. Practically the entire Dutch force was either killed, wounded, or taken. The Government in Holland repudiated the action of the Governor of their Indian settlements, and paid compensation to the East India Company. But Forde's little fight at Badara is deserving of recognition, not merely because it was a gallant action fought against serious odds, but more especially because it put an end once and for all to all pretensions of the Dutch to supremacy in the East.

[59]

Unfortunately, no records exist showing the casualties we suffered at the action of Badara.

Wandewash, January 22, 1760.

An honour borne only by the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

The operations in Southern India had not been characterized by the same degree of success which had marked Forde's campaign against Conflans and the Dutch, but in the very month that we won the action of Badara Eyre Coote disembarked at Madras at the head of his newly-raised regiment, then numbered the 84th. At the same time some 300 recruits arrived for the Company's battalions, bringing the total force at the disposal of the Government of Madras to four battalions of infantry, 100 English troopers, and eighteen field-guns. With these Coote determined to resume the offensive, and on January 22 the two armies met at Wandewash, about 100 miles south-west of Madras. The forces were fairly equally matched. Hyder Ali, with his allies, the French, however, had a considerable preponderance in cavalry. When we reflect on the momentous issue decided by this and the preceding actions between the French and ourselves in India, and compare the number of the troops engaged with those we now mobilize for an Indian frontier campaign, it seems little short of marvellous that our Indian Empire should have been built up with such slender means.

The troops engaged, under the command of Eyre Coote, consisted of Draper's Regiment (then the 79th), his own (the 84th), and two English battalions in the Company's employ (now the Munster Fusiliers), 2,000 sepoys, 1,200 Indian cavalry, and one squadron of English horse, with sixteen guns. The brunt of the fighting fell on the British regiments, Draper's suffering the most heavily; but our total casualties—63 killed and 124 wounded—was a small price to pay for a victory which cost the French 600 killed and wounded and 24 guns.

Step by step Coote now undertook the reduction of all[60] the French ports in Southern India. Arcot, Trincomalee, and finally Pondicherry, all fell into our hands, only to be restored, as was Chandernagore, to the French at the conclusion of peace in 1763—an act of generous imbecility which necessitated their recapture on the renewal of the war fifteen years later, at the cost of many hundred valuable British soldiers.

Casualties at Wandewash.

Pondicherry, 1761, 1778, 1793.

This battle honour is borne only by the Royal Dublin Fusiliers (at that time the 1st Madras European Regiment), and was conferred upon it by the Governor of Madras in recognition of its services at the three sieges of that fortress in the years 1761, 1778, and 1793. The operations were conducted by Sir Eyre Coote, an officer who had received his early training in the 39th (Dorsets), and who, on that regiment being recalled to England, undertook, as I have shown, to raise a battalion for service in India.

This corps, which was numbered the 84th, and which we have already seen at Wandewash, played an all-important part in the early campaigns waged in India; but as it was disbanded in the year 1788, the battle honours it gained are not to be found on the colours of any existing regiment. Coote laid siege to Pondicherry in the month of September, 1760, but it was not until the January following that the Governor surrendered. In accordance with our invariable custom, the fortress and neighbouring colony were restored to the French on the conclusion of peace in 1763. The regiments associated[61] with the Dublin Fusiliers in the Siege of Pondicherry in 1760 were the 79th (Draper's Regiment), the 84th (Coote's), the 89th (Highlanders), under Major Hector Munro, and the 96th, under the Hon. G. Monson. None of these corps survive to bear the battle honour.

In the year 1778, on the renewal of the war with France, the reduction of Pondicherry once more became a matter of urgent necessity. On this occasion the Dublin Fusiliers were again to the fore in their capacity as the 1st Madras European Regiment (two of its battalions being present). With them were no less than ten battalions of sepoys. Many of these are still borne on the rolls of the Madras army. The distinction has not been conferred on the Indian corps for the operations in 1778; but if the losses suffered during a successful campaign constitute a claim to a battle honour, the words "Pondicherry, 1778," may well be accorded to the regiments who figure in the subjoined list of casualties.

Casualties at Pondicherry, 1778.

[62]

The Bengal Recruits alluded to above were a party of recruits on their way out to join what is now known as the Munster Fusiliers. They were detained by the Governor of Madras to swell the British element at the siege, and they well sustained the honour of the regiment now known as the Royal Munster Fusiliers.

In the year 1793 the reduction of Pondicherry became once more necessary. The fortress had been captured by Sir Eyre Coote and its works demolished in 1761. On its restoration to the French, the place was converted into an exceptionally strong fortification, and its capture by Sir Hector Munro in 1778 entailed a loss of upwards of 600 killed and wounded. In 1793 we found that our friends the French had once more—and very rightly, too—done their utmost to render the place impregnable, and that a very considerable force would be necessary for its reduction. Colonel Braithwaite, of the Madras army, was entrusted with its capture. The force at his disposal consisted of the following troops:

The artillery consisted of 117 men of the Royal and 731 of the Madras Artillery, and there were 75 English sappers, together with that well-tried regiment which has fought so bravely on so many fields—the Madras Sappers and Miners.

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I regret that I have been unable to trace the losses of all the native regiments; their total casualties amounted to 4 British officers and 135 native ranks killed and wounded.

Casualties at Pondicherry, 1793.

Although no battle honours have been awarded to the Indian regiments which took part in the operations against Pondicherry in the years 1778 and 1793, I have been at some pains to give a brief account of the operations, both of which, with their accompanying loss of life, might have been avoided had the Home Government either insisted on the retention of the conquests we had made in the East, or, were that impracticable, refused to allow the rebuilding of fortifications in the French settlements in India. "Pondicherry, 1778 and 1793," might be added with propriety to the battle honours of regiments which took part in the sieges of those years.

Buxar, October 23, 1764.

Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

In the interval between Eyre Coote's victory at Wandewash in January, 1760, and the Battle of Buxar in October, 1764, our troops in India had been continuously at war; yet the colours even of those regiments which still survive, and which were then in the service of the Company, bear no record of the many stubborn fights, the[64] by no means inglorious victories achieved over our gallant foes. In the South, the Government of Madras had been carrying on campaign after campaign against the trained troops of France and the scarcely less formidable army of Mysore. In the North, Clive and his successor had found foemen no less worthy of their steel in the armies of the Emperor of Delhi and those of the ruler of Oude, under Surajah Doolah. History—even Greek history—affords no more striking episodes than those early struggles of our countrymen in India; and though the names of Beerpore, Sooty, and Oondna Nullah are forgotten, they deserve to stand side by side with other well-remembered names that are emblazoned on the colours of the old Company's regiments. The Battle of Buxar was the final episode in the long-fought campaign with the ruler of Oude.

Now that the two senior battalions of the old Company's army have been converted into the Royal Munster and Royal Dublin Fusiliers, they are the only regiments which bear on their colours a memento of one of the finest actions ever fought in India. The British force numbered between 6,000 and 7,000 men, with twenty-eight guns. It included, besides the two European regiments in the Company's employ, a composite battalion, just 167 strong, made up of detachments of the 84th, or Coote's Regiment, and volunteers from the disbanded 89th Regiment and 90th (Light Infantry); two companies of Royal Marines, under Captain Wemyss; a handful of seamen, with a midshipman, working some guns side by side with the Bengal Artillery; and a small troop of cavalry, the total being about 1,200 Englishmen. To these must be added 900 Mogul horse and 5,000 sepoys. This little army was under the command of Colonel Sir Hector Munro, of the 89th Regiment. The two Company's battalions were inured to Indian warfare, and the men of the 90th (then the only Light Infantry regiment in the British army), had learned their lesson at the capture of Belleisle, Martinique, and Havana, under their brave Colonel, James[65] Stuart, who was destined to add to the laurels gained at the Moro a great reputation in Southern India.

The force opposed to Munro was a formidable one. It included eight battalions trained and commanded by French officers, two batteries of artillery manned by Europeans, 5,000 Afghan horse, and 40,000 men of Shah Shujah Daulah's own fairly trained army. The battle was stubbornly contested, but the victory was complete. Our weakness in cavalry, however, prevented Munro reaping the full benefits of his success. In addition to the losses of the British contingent, the sepoy battalions lost 257 killed and 435 wounded. Our trophies included 137 guns, whilst the enemy left upwards of 2,000 dead on the field.

Casualties at Buxar.

Broome, in his admirable "History of the Bengal Army," states that the two officers who figure in the list of casualties in the composite battalion both belonged to the 90th Light Infantry. This is an error. On comparing the names of the officers with the Army Lists, I am convinced that they belonged to the 96th Regiment, and that the error has arisen in the transcription by a clerk at the War or India Office. I have come across many such errors. Perhaps the most amusing is in the Gazette recording the capture of Havana in 1762, where the 42nd is referred to in the casualty rolls as the "42nd Royal Hunters"!

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CHAPTER VI

INDIA, 1774-1799

Rohilcund, 1774—Carnatic—Guzerat, 1778-1782—Sholinghur, 1781—Mangalore, 1783—Mysore—Nundy Droog, 1791—Rohilcund, 1794—Seedaseer, 1799—Seringapatam, 1799.

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Rohilcund, 1774.

This honorary distinction was awarded to the 2nd European Regiment of the Bengal army for its services in the campaign undertaken in that year to defend our ally, the King of Oude, against the incursions of the Mahrattas. It is now borne by the Royal Munster Fusiliers.

The campaign of 1774 was under the personal command of Colonel Champion, the Commander-in-Chief in Bengal. There was a good deal of hard work, of privations little to be understood by the soldier who serves in India in these days, and more than one sharp skirmish. The principal engagement was that fought at Kutra, in the near neighbourhood of Bareilly, on St. George's Day (April 23), 1774, long known in India as St. George's Battle. Colonel Champion had with him the 2nd Bengal European Regiment (now the 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers) and six battalions of native infantry. Unfortunately, no representatives of these remain to bear the honour on their standards.

Our casualties amounted to 2 officers and 37 men killed, 7 officers and 93 men wounded. Immense booty was captured, and in the distribution of this, officers and men[67] benefited largely, the respective shares being: Colonels, £1,900; Lieutenant-Colonels, £1,600; Majors, £1,300; Captains, £685; subalterns, £343; cadets, £100; sergeants, £6; privates, £4; Subadars, 131 rupees; Jemidars, 65 rupees; havildars, 40 rupees; sepoys, 35 rupees.

The Carnatic.

This honour has been awarded to the following regiments:

Highland Light Infantry.
Royal Munster Fusiliers.
Seaforth Highlanders.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
27th Light Cavalry.
2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners.
61st Pioneers.
62nd Punjabis.
63rd Light Infantry.
64th Pioneers.
66th Punjabis.
67th Punjabis.
69th Punjabis.
72nd Punjabis.
73rd Carnatic Infantry.
74th Punjabis.
75th Carnatic Infantry.
76th Punjabis.
79th Carnatic Infantry.
80th Carnatic Infantry.

It records their services in repelling the invasion of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore, and covers all the operations undertaken against him up to the invasion of Mysore by the army under Lord Cornwallis in 1791.

The renewal of the war with France in 1788 found Sir Hector Munro, the victor of Buxar, Commander-in-Chief at Madras. It now became necessary to reoccupy the fortified positions which we had captured during the previous war with the expenditure of many lives, and which had been restored to France on the conclusion of peace. Although subsequent to the battle at Wandewash Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore, had entered into a treaty with us, it was well known that he had a striking predilection for the French; and on the resumption of the war between France and England he openly espoused the cause of our enemies, and prepared to invade the Carnatic at the head of his troops. The Mysorean army was by no means contemptible. It was partly trained on the European model, and numbered little short of[68] 100,000 men, of whom 25,000 were cavalry, and it included a battalion of French troops. Munro's first care was to prevent Hyder Ali receiving assistance from France, and he at once took measures to seize the sea-ports of Mahé and Pondicherry. In the defence of the former some of Hyder Ali's troops took an active part, and the place made a gallant defence before it surrendered. Sir Hector Munro undertook the reduction of Pondicherry in person, but the garrison, anticipating the arrival of a French fleet, made a most stubborn defence; and it was not until the middle of October, after a siege lasting over two months, that the British flag flew over its walls, our losses during these operations amounting to upwards of 800 of all ranks, British as well as native, killed and wounded.[6]

When Hyder Ali, in June, 1779, actually crossed the frontier, our forces were much dispersed. Braithwaite, with 1,500 men, held Pondicherry; Colonel Baillie, with 3,000, was at Guntoor, on the Kistnah River; Colonel Cosby, with 2,000 native troops, was at Trichinopoly; and Munro, with barely 5,000 men, at Madras. Braithwaite and Baillie were immediately called in to strengthen the Commander-in-Chief, whilst Colonel Cosby was ordered to threaten Hyder Ali's line of communication. Wandewash, an important strategical point on the Mysorean line of advance, was held by a gallant young subaltern, Lieutenant Flint, with 200 sepoys, aided by one single sergeant of the line. From August 11, 1780, until January 22, 1781, this little band of heroes withstood assault after assault, holding Hyder Ali's besieging force at bay until relieved by Eyre Coote. The story of that siege has yet to be written. Flint improvised his own artillery, made his own powder, infused his own cheerful daring into the breasts of his sepoys, and died unhonoured and unsung. There were, unfortunately, grievous disasters to counterbalance this gallant achievement. Hyder Ali threw himself on Baillie's force before it effected its junction with Munro, practically annihilating it, the survivors,[69] including fifty English officers (amongst them Captain, afterwards Sir David, Baird, of the 71st), being sent as prisoners to Seringapatam.

Whenever our fortunes in India have been at their lowest ebb we have, fortunately, had men at hand to retrieve them. The "man on the spot," unhampered from "home," has rarely failed us. In 1781 Warren Hastings was Governor-General, Eyre Coote Commander-in-Chief at Calcutta. On hearing of Baillie's disaster and of Munro's indecision, Warren Hastings despatched Eyre Coote to Madras armed with full powers (suspending both Munro, the Commander-in-Chief, and Whitehill, the Governor, from their functions). Coote had at his disposal barely 8,000 men—the 71st (Highland Light Infantry), 1st Bengal, and 1st Madras European Regiments, some 1,600 men in all, with six sepoy battalions and three regiments of native cavalry. Munro, a gallant leader of men, but no General, at once put himself under Coote's orders, and was entrusted with the command of a brigade composed of the three British regiments. James Stuart, who had commanded the 90th Light Infantry at Martinique and Havana, and who had subsequently entered the Company's service, being placed in command of the sepoy battalions. On July 1, 1781, Coote inflicted his first defeat on Hyder Ali at the Battle of Porto Novo, a fortified position on the sea-coast about 100 miles south of Madras. On September 27 the two armies again met at Sholinghur, about fifty miles west of Madras, when Coote, with 11,000 men and thirty guns, signally defeated Hyder Ali's army, 70,000 strong, killing, it is said, 5,000 of the enemy.

Guzerat, 1778-1782.

This distinction is borne by the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. There is, however, considerable doubt as to the propriety of the Munsters bearing the honour. Colonel P. R. Innes, the painstaking and accurate historian of that regiment, maintains[70] that the old 1st Bengal European Regiment has no right to it, and if the honour was granted, as it undoubtedly was, for the operations conducted by General Goddard in Guzerat in the years 1778-1782, it is very certain that the 1st Bengal Europeans never were with Goddard. The early part of the year 1778 found the army of the Bombay Presidency hard pressed, and help was solicited from Bengal, where all for the moment was quiet. Warren Hastings at once despatched a force consisting of six battalions of sepoys (none of which are now remaining), a couple of batteries of artillery, and 500 Afghan horsemen, to Bombay. The march was an arduous undertaking—to cross India from east to west, with a possible and very probable combination of Mahratta chieftains to bar its progress. The officer originally nominated to the command was soon superseded by Brigadier-General Goddard, an officer who had received his early training in the 84th under Coote, and who, on that regiment being ordered to England, had been offered increased rank in the army of the East India Company. Goddard marched via Cawnpore and Kalpee, which he stepped aside to capture, to Hoshungabad, finally co-operating with a column sent up from Bombay, which included the 1st Bombay European Regiment, now the Royal Munster Fusiliers, as well as some battalions of native infantry. Later the Madras Presidency was also called upon to assist, and 500 men of the Madras Europeans, now the 1st Battalion of the Dublins, with a battery of artillery and a sepoy battalion, was sent round by sea to Surat, to which place Goddard had advanced. For close on two years the little army was constantly engaged. It captured Bassein on December 11, 1780, Ahmadabad in the following month, and in the space of a little more than a year after the arrival of the Madras troops Goddard had reduced the provinces of Guzerat and the Concan. The Bengal troops were now allowed to return, and once more they marched across India, reaching Cawnpore in April, 1784.

[71]

To commemorate their services the supreme Government struck a medal, which was distributed to all ranks, officers receiving gold and the sepoys silver, medals. According to Mayo, this was the first occasion in which a medal was granted to the private soldiers of our army.

I regret that I have been unable to ascertain the casualties of all the forces engaged. Stubbs, in his invaluable history of the Bengal Artillery, gives the names of the officers of his corps who were killed, but Begbie ignores the fact that Madras artillery were employed. Colonel Harcourt does not allude to the losses of the Madras European Regiment in his history of the old "Blue Caps." The Royal Dublin Fusiliers, then the 1st Bombay Regiment, lost 3 officers and 19 men killed, and 14 officers and 41 men wounded, in the course of these operations, and there is no doubt that the campaign in Guzerat was attended with considerable loss.

Sholinghur, September 27, 1781.

This battle honour, which commemorates the defeat of the Mysorean Army of Hyder Ali and its expulsion from the Carnatic by Sir Eyre Coote, is borne by the following regiments:

Highland Light Infantry.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Royal Munster Fusiliers.
27th Light Cavalry.
2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners.
63rd Light Infantry.
64th Pioneers.
66th Punjabis.
69th Punjabis.
72nd Punjabis.
73rd Carnatic Infantry.
74th Punjabis.
75th Carnatic Infantry.
76th Punjabis.
79th Carnatic Infantry.
80th Carnatic Infantry.

The total casualties in the action were by no means heavy. They fell principally on the British troops. Unfortunately, although Sir Eyre Coote alludes to a casualty return in his despatch announcing the battle, all trace of this has disappeared, so that the losses sustained by individual regiments must, in the case of Sholinghur, as in those of Marlborough's earlier battles, always remain unrecorded.

[72]

Early in the following year welcome reinforcements arrived from England, the 73rd (then the 2nd Battalion of the 42nd) Highlanders, the 98th and 100th Regiments disembarking on the Malabar coast, the 72nd coming to Madras to reinforce Coote. These reinforcements came none too early. Tippoo Sultan (Hyder Ali's son, his most able Lieutenant and his successor) had surprised and annihilated a British force under Colonel Braithwaite, all the officers save one being either killed or carried prisoners to Seringapatam. A few months later fresh reinforcements arrived in the 23rd Light Dragoons (now the 19th Hussars), the 101st and 102nd Regiments (long since disbanded, and not to be confused with the 101st Royal Bengal and 102nd Royal Madras Fusiliers), with two Hanoverian battalions. With these forces Stuart inflicted a severe defeat on Tippoo Sultan at Cuddalore, taking from him thirteen guns. For this fine action no battle honour was granted, though there are many names on many colours less hardly earned.

Casualties at Cuddalore.

On the opposite or Malabar coast Colonel McLeod, with the 2nd Battalion of the 42nd, details of the 98th, 100th, and 102nd Regiments, and the 8th Battalion of Bombay Sepoys, won a decisive victory at Paniani on November 27, 1782, the 42nd losing 3 officers and 57 men in the action; but the chief honours were reserved for the 42nd at Mangalore.

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Mangalore, 1783.

The Royal Highlanders and 101st Grenadiers alone bear this battle honour, and surely in the many names inscribed on the colours and appointments of the Black Watch, there is not one which redounds more to the glory of the regiment than this little-known achievement, one of the brightest in the military history of our own or of any other country.

A glance at the map of India will show Mangalore on the west or Malabar coast of the peninsula. During our operations against Hyder Ali, and subsequently against his son, the redoubted Tippoo Sultan, its possession was of vital importance to both ourselves and to the Mysoreans. Tippoo Sultan was in direct communication with Napoleon, and through the Malabar ports reinforcements and supplies reached him from France. When, in 1783, General Matthews, the Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, led a column to reduce the fortress of Bednore, in which Tippoo's treasure was stored, he left garrisons at Mangalore and Onore to keep open his communication with the sea. At first successful, Matthews was in the end compelled to capitulate, and he, with the bulk of his army, were done to death by the Mysoreans. Mangalore was held by a force of about 1,800 men, under Colonel Campbell, of the 42nd; Onore by an officer of the Bombay Army named Torriano, with whom at present I have nothing to do.

Early in May Colonel Campbell learned of the disaster to General Matthews, and at the same time he received a summons from Tippoo Sultan demanding the surrender of the fort and town of Mangalore in virtue of the terms of the capitulation arranged with the Commander-in-Chief. Now, it is necessary for me here to interpolate that General Matthews and the officers of the King's regiments had not been on the best of terms. He, a servant of the East India Company, refused to recognize their superior rank, and two of the Colonels of the King's regiments (McLeod, of the 42nd, and Humberston, of the 100th) had left his camp and formulated complaints[74] against the Commander-in-Chief to the Governor-General. Campbell therefore replied to Tippoo Sultan's envoy that he refused to recognize any arrangements which might have been made by the Commander-in-Chief, and that he intended to defend the fort to the last.

On May 9 the siege commenced on the land side, and for the next six months Campbell was hemmed closely in by some 60,000 men. It is true that communication by sea was still precariously maintained. On May 23 the Indiaman Fairford appeared off the port, and threw ashore a small party of English recruits destined for the Bombay European Regiment, which had been practically annihilated with Matthews.[7] That day, May 23, Colonel Campbell made a vigorous sortie, and destroyed a portion of the enemy's siege-works and batteries; but in the retirement three companies of native troops were cut off, and three British officers with 225 sepoys fell into Tippoo Sultan's hands. On the morrow Campbell prepared for a determined resistance. The women of the 42nd were told off to the hospitals, and a stern code of orders published. The men were forbidden to fire without explicit orders, and officers were enjoined to remember that the bayonet, and the bayonet alone, was the weapon of the British soldier. "Englishmen must recollect," runs the order, "that the bayonet is the service required of them, and that they demean themselves by firing at such a dastardly foe."

A return, dated May 24, showed the garrison to consist of 70 British and 67 native officers, with 315 British and 1,394 native soldiers. Attached to and included in the total of the 42nd were a few of the then 98th and 101st Regiments (not to be confused with the present Royal Munster Fusiliers), both of which were with General Matthews at Bednore. The native troops included the headquarters of the 8th Battalion (now the 101st Grenadiers), some companies of the 15th Bombay[75] Battalion, and details of other regiments which were with the Commander-in-Chief at Bednore. Amongst the officers was Lieutenant MacKay, of the Royal Navy, who volunteered to act as a gunner during the siege. He did right good and gallant service, and was twice wounded in the course of the operations. Another name appears prominently in the despatches—a name which has since become a household word in the British Army. Campbell's Brigade-Major was a certain Captain Wolseley, of the 98th Regiment, and much of the credit of the defence was due to the gallantry and unwearied exertions of this officer.

Between the Highlanders and the 8th Battalion of Bombay Grenadiers a strong camaraderie existed; they had fought side by side at Panianee, when Colonel Macleod had drawn attention to the dash and steady gallantry of the regiment. Campbell, in his despatches from Mangalore, bore frequent testimony to the unselfish devotion of the native officers, and the uncomplaining heroism of the men.

Into the details of the siege it is not my intention to enter. Suffice to say that from May 23 until July 27, when news arrived of peace between France and England, there was only one day in which the garrison did not suffer some casualties, and that from June 12 the men were on half-rations of flour; of meat they had from the first been deprived. Desertions amongst the sepoys were frequent, and this was not to be wondered at. Life within the walls was not a bed of roses, whereas Tippoo Sultan offered golden inducements to those who would enter his service. On August 2 an armistice was arranged, a French officer attached to Tippoo Sultan's army acting as intermediary, Campbell declining to surrender the fortress until he had received specific instructions on this head from Bombay. The Mysorean Prince promised to furnish supplies on condition that no attempts were made to strengthen the works or to communicate with the outside world, except with the consent of the Tippoo[76] Sultan himself. On several occasions vessels came close enough for Campbell to send an officer on board (indeed, Colonel McLeod, the acting Commander-in-Chief, landed at Mangalore, and had an interview with Tippoo Sultan). Campbell's pitiable condition was well known to the authorities in Bombay;[8] but no well-sustained effort appears to have been made to relieve him, and at last, on January 30, his men reduced to skeletons with fatigue and sickness, and his garrison reduced in numbers to one-half of their original strength, he was compelled to capitulate; but he marched out with all the honours of war, and even Tippoo Sultan kept honourably to the terms of the capitulation, and gave the garrison a safe conduct to Bombay. Colonel Campbell arrived there on March 13, and ten days later he was laid to rest in the cathedral in that city. The Bombay Government, at last recognizing his work, erected a monument to commemorate his heroic defence of the little fort committed to his charge.

The actual siege of Mangalore lasted from May 23 to July 27, 1783, when hostilities ceased; but from that date until January 30, 1784, the garrison suffered from the want of food and the exposure necessitated by being ever on the alert in case of treachery.

The losses of the garrison between those dates amounted to—

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On p. 74 I have given the strength of the garrison on May 24, the actual date of the commencement of the siege. The "marching-out" state on January 27, 1784, shows the true extent of the sufferings of the garrison of Mangalore:

Mysore.

This honour is now borne by the following regiments:

19th Hussars.
Worcester.
West Riding.
Oxford Light Infantry.
Middlesex.
Highland Light Infantry.
Seaforth Highlanders.
Gordon Highlanders.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
26th Light Cavalry.
27th Light Cavalry.
28th Light Cavalry.
2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners.
61st P.W.O. Pioneers.
62nd Punjabis.
63rd Light Infantry.
64th Pioneers.
66th Punjabis.
67th Punjabis.
68th Punjabis.
73rd Carnatic Infantry.
74th Punjabis.
75th Carnatic Infantry.
76th Punjabis.
79th Carnatic Infantry.
80th Carnatic Infantry.
81st Pioneers.
82nd Punjabis.
101st Grenadiers.
103rd Light Infantry.
104th Rifles.
105th Light Infantry.
107th Pioneers.
108th Infantry.
109th Infantry.

The aggressive action of Tippoo Sultan, who had been recognized as ruler of Mysore on the death of Hyder Ali, and the cruelties perpetrated on the English prisoners[78] in Seringapatam, rendered fresh hostilities with Mysore inevitable. The Home Government therefore agreed to raise four more regiments, to be paid by, and held at the disposal of the East India Company. These were numbered 74th and 75th Highlanders, and 76th and 77th of the line. All four arrived in India in the course of the year 1788. It was known that Tippoo Sultan had sent emissaries to France in the hope of securing French aid in his efforts to drive us out of India, and in 1789 he threw down the glove by invading the territory of our ally, the Maharajah of Travancore. The Commander-in-Chief at Madras, General Meadows, was a most gallant officer, who had distinguished himself in the West Indies, but who was new to the East, and, brave man that he was, was quite prepared to recognize that as yet he had not sufficient experience of Eastern life to warrant his assuming command of a large army operating under entirely novel conditions. Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General in India, therefore determined to come down from Calcutta and take command of the army destined for the subjugation of Tippoo Sultan. The task was no easy one. Circumstances arose which delayed the Governor-General, and the year 1790 was wasted in an abortive campaign under Meadows.

The year 1791 opened more auspiciously. The Commander-in-Chief at Bombay, General Robert Abercromby, who was to co-operate with the Governor-General, had by a well-executed movement seized Cannanore, and made himself master of the province of Malabar.

Tippoo was now threatened from both sea-coasts, and seems to have been utterly unprepared for the daring stroke so brilliantly carried out by Cornwallis, who, leaving Madras early in February, and passing through the famous Colar Goldfields, arrived before Bangalore on March 5, and two days later had carried the fortifications of that city by assault, and so secured a base of operations for his projected advance on Seringapatam.

[79]

In May, after an unsuccessful attempt to carry that fortress by storm, Cornwallis was compelled to fall back on Bangalore, where he passed the hot weather.

Casualties at the Capture of Bangalore, March, 1791.

Nundy Droog, October 19, 1791.

This honour is borne by the Royal Dublin Fusiliers alone, and records the capture of what was considered by the Mysoreans an impregnable stronghold by the force under Cornwallis prior to the capture of Seringapatam in 1792. Nundy Droog lies some thirty miles north of Bangalore, and threatened the communications between Cornwallis's army and that of our ally, the Nizam of Hyderabad. It became necessary then to possess it. It bore a great reputation, and for three years had defied the whole strength of Hyder Ali's army, and then only fell into his hands through starvation. Early in September, 1791, Cornwallis detached Major Gowdie, with the 1st Madras European Regiment (now the Dublin Fusiliers) and six battalions of sepoys, to effect its reduction. The fort is on the summit of a granite mountain, its walls being three miles in circumference, the hill itself being inaccessible except on one side. With much difficulty[80] heavy guns were dragged up the cliffs, and the siege begun in due form. Cornwallis, chafing at the delay, moved out from Bangalore with his whole army, thinking to overawe the defenders; but on the night of October 18 he determined to carry the place by assault. This was performed in the most dashing manner, and with but slight loss, by the flank companies of the 36th (Worcester) and 71st (Highland Light Infantry), with the 1st Madras European (Dublins) in support.

Abercromby was now approaching from the Malabar coast, and Lord Cornwallis was preparing for the final advance on Tippoo Sultan's famed stronghold.

In January, 1792, Cornwallis, apprised that Abercromby, with the Bombay division, was within striking distance, commenced his advance on Seringapatam. His force consisted of the 19th Light Dragoons, two regiments of Madras cavalry, and the Governor-General's Bodyguard, which he had brought down from Calcutta, the 36th (Worcester), 52nd (Oxford Light Infantry), 72nd (Seaforths), 74th (Highland Light Infantry), 76th (West Riding), 1st Madras Europeans (Royal Dublin Fusiliers), and sixteen battalions of sepoys, with forty-six field and forty siege guns.

Abercromby's force comprised the 73rd (Royal Highlanders), 75th (Gordons), 77th (Middlesex), 1st Bombay Europeans (2nd Battalion of the Dublins), and eight battalions of sepoys, with twenty field and sixteen siege guns, giving a total of about 9,000 British and 22,000 native troops.

On February 7 Seringapatam was carried by assault, our casualties numbering about 535 of all ranks, and our trophies amounting to eighty guns. On March 19 Tippoo Sultan signed a definitive treaty of peace, ceding to England Malabar and Coorg on the west, Baramahal and Dindigul on the Carnatic frontier, besides restoring to the Nizam the territories wrested from Hyderabad by Hyder Ali.

The distribution of prize-money afforded Lord Cornwallis[81] and General Meadows, the second in command, an opportunity of giving an example of noble generosity, these two commanders placing their shares, amounting to £47,000 and £15,000, into the common fund. The following were the shares for each rank: Colonels, £1,160; Lieutenant-Colonels, £958; Majors, £734; Captains, £308; Lieutenants, £205; Ensigns, £159; sergeants, £29; and privates, £14 10s. In the native army Subadars received 275 rupees; Jemidars, 132 rupees; havildars, 110 rupees; and sepoys, 51 rupees.

Casualties at the Siege and Capture of Seringapatam, 1792.

Rohilcund, 1794.

This distinction is borne only by the Royal Munster Fusiliers.

The campaign was necessitated owing to a serious rising in the independent State of Rampur, and Lord Cornwallis, the Governor-General, deemed the occasion so grave that he took the field in person. The troops employed were the 2nd Regiment of Bengal Europeans (now the 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers), with ten regiments of sepoys, none of which are now borne[82] on the Army List. The force was divided into three brigades of infantry, commanded respectively by Colonel Ware, who afterwards lost his life at the Battle of Laswarree, Colonel MacGowan, and Colonel Burrington. One brigade of two regiments of native light cavalry and four batteries of artillery made up the army. The only action of importance was that of Betourah, which took place some nine miles north of Bareilly. The enemy fought with great gallantry, and charged home on our native cavalry, who do not appear to have been well led—indeed, they fell back in disorder, breaking through the ranks of the 13th Bengal Infantry. This regiment suffered very heavily, all its officers being either killed or wounded, and the Brigadier of the Third Brigade, Colonel Burrington, was cut down in endeavouring to rally the cavalry. The officer commanding that arm disappeared in the course of the action, and so escaped court-martial. It was reported that he entered the service of the French, and was given a commission by Napoleon.

Our casualties were heavy, fourteen officers falling on the field. A monument was erected by Lord Cornwallis to mark the site of their interment, and may yet be seen by the roadside near the village of Betourah. The action, though costly, was decisive as to its results. The recalcitrant leaders of the insurrection made their submission to the Governor-General, and the army was immediately demobilized.

Casualties at Betourah.

Here again it would appear that no record of the losses of the men has been kept.

[83]

Seedaseer, March 6, 1799.

This distinction is borne on the colours of the

103rd Mahratta L.I.
105th Mahratta L.I.
107th Pioneers.

It commemorates a brilliant engagement with the army of Tippoo Sultan, in which these three regiments of Bombay sepoys held at bay for eight long hours some 18,000 of the flower of the Mysorean army.

As in 1792, so now in 1799, the armies of all three presidencies were employed in a last endeavour to crush the power of the Mysorean usurper. The Bombay column, under the command of Major-General James Stuart, moving from the coast at Cannanore, consisted of three brigades. The Centre Brigade, under Colonel Dunlop, comprised the 75th (Gordon Highlanders), 77th (Middlesex), and the 1st Bombay Europeans (now the 2nd Dublin Fusiliers); the Right Brigade, under Colonel Montresor, was made up of the 1st Battalions of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Bombay Infantry (now the 103rd, 105th, and 107th Regiments of the Indian army); the Third or Left Brigade, under Colonel Wiseman, comprised the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd, 2nd Battalion of the 3rd, and 1st Battalion of the 5th Regiment of Bombay Infantry. For convenience of supplies, and also owing to the bad state of the roads, the army was marching in three columns, the Right Brigade, under Colonel Montresor, leading.

On March 5 the Right Brigade had reached Seedaseer, on the frontiers of Coorg, the British Brigade being about eight miles in its rear, and the Left Brigade some four miles farther off. Tippoo Sultan was well informed of all our movements, and he endeavoured to put into effect one of the great Napoleon's maxims—namely, to beat your enemy in detail. With the bulk of his army, amounting to some 20,000 men, he cut in between Montresor's brigade and the British General, never doubting of an easy victory over the three sepoy battalions. Montresor, however, had been warned of his[84] approach, and at once commenced to strengthen his position. Stuart, too, had learnt of the near approach of the Mysoreans, and he sent forward the 1st Battalion of the 5th Bombay N.I. to support Montresor, and later in the day hurried up with the flank companies of the 75th (Gordon Highlanders) and the whole of the 77th (Middlesex). In the meantime Montresor had fought out the battle unaided. The 1st Battalion of the 5th N.I. had never been able to reach him, and the British troops only arrived in time to relieve the pressure and to follow up the defeated enemy. The result of the fight augured well for the future, and showed the Bombay sepoy that he was more than a match even for Tippoo Sultan's men.

The casualty returns prove that the name of Seedaseer was worthily earned by the three regiments which have been allowed to place that battle honour on their colours; but it may reasonably be asked why the same honour has not been conferred on the 109th Infantry, which in those days was the 1st Battalion of the 5th Bombay Regiment, and which contributed in some measure to the success of the day. The Gordon Highlanders and the Middlesex content themselves with the battle honours "Mysore" and "Seringapatam."

Casualties at the Action of Seedaseer.

[85]

Seringapatam, May 4, 1799.

The regiments authorized to bear this battle honour are the

Suffolks.
West Riding.
Royal Highlanders.
Middlesex.
Highland Light Infantry.
Gordon Highlanders.
Connaught Rangers.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
26th Light Cavalry.
27th Light Cavalry.
28th Light Cavalry.
2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners.
61st Pioneers.
66th Punjabis.
73rd Carnatic Infantry.
76th Punjabis.
79th Carnatic Infantry.
80th Carnatic Infantry.
81st Pioneers.
82nd Punjabis.
83rd Light Infantry.
84th Punjabis.
103rd Light Infantry.
104th Wellesley's Rifles.
105th Light Infantry.
107th Pioneers.
109th Infantry.

The troops destined for the final capture of Seringapatam were placed under the command of General Harris, the Commander-in-Chief at Madras. All three Presidencies were represented.

The cavalry division was under Major-General Floyd (an officer well versed in Indian warfare), who had commanded the 19th Hussars in the previous capture of the fortress in 1792. It consisted of the 19th and 25th Light Dragoons and four regiments of Madras cavalry, organized in two brigades, each consisting of one British and two native regiments.

The Madras Column was distributed in three brigades, one composed entirely of British regiments—the 12th (Suffolks), 74th (Highland Light Infantry), and the Scots Brigade (now 2nd Connaught Rangers). Major-General David Baird was in command of this brigade. The six regiments of Madras sepoys were formed in two brigades, under Colonels Gowdie and Roberts, of the Company's service, the Madras Division being under Major-General Bridges, an officer of the Company's service.

The Bengal Column was commanded by Major-General Popham, a Company's officer, and consisted of three[86] brigades. The First, under Colonel Sherbrooke, comprised the 73rd (Royal Highlanders) and a regiment of Swiss mercenaries (de Meurons); the Second Brigade was made up of three battalions of Bengal sepoys, under Colonel Gardiner; and the Third Brigade was composed of three battalions of Madras sepoys, under Colonel Scott, of the Scots Brigade.

The Bombay Column was commanded by General J. Stuart, and consisted of the 75th (Gordon Highlanders), the 77th (Middlesex), and the 1st Bombay Europeans (now the Royal Dublin Fusiliers), under Colonel Dunlop, with six battalions of Bombay sepoys in two brigades, under Colonels Montresor and Wiseman. A fourth column was under the command of Colonel Arthur Wellesley, and comprised two regiments of Bengal and four of Madras infantry, with his own regiment, the 33rd Foot (West Riding Regiment), to stiffen the whole. Wellesley also was given the supervision of the Nizam's troops, numbering some 6,000 irregular cavalry and 3,000 infantry, trained and organized by French officers. In round numbers, the force at General Harris's disposal numbered 7,000 British and 27,000 native troops, with a well-equipped siege-train of forty-seven pieces of heavy ordnance.

Early in February the Commander-in-Chief received his final orders to advance from Madras, and on April 14 he joined hands with Stuart's column in the immediate vicinity of Seringapatam. Three days afterwards the siege commenced, and on May 3 the breach was declared practicable. Baird claimed the privilege of leading the stormers (a privilege his by right). He had been a prisoner in the fortress for over four years as a young Captain, and he had been present in command of a brigade of Madras sepoys at Cornwallis's capture of the fortress seven years before. Taking into consideration the strength of the work and the immense numerical superiority of the enemy, the fortress was carried with marvellously slight loss, the killed numbering 69 English[87] and but 12 sepoys, the wounded 248 and 32 respectively, that of the Mysoreans being estimated at 1,000 killed alone. The total casualties during the siege, however, testified to the stubborn stand made prior to the assault, as the following figures show:

Casualties at the Siege and Capture of Seringapatam in May, 1799.

[88]

CHAPTER VII

BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN FLANDERS, 1793-1799

Lincelles—Nieuport—Villers-en-Couches—Beaumont—Willems—Tournay—Egmont-op-Zee.

-

These seven names record engagements between the allied forces of Prussia, Austria, and Great Britain, with the French at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1793 and 1794. Our army, which was composed of British, Hanoverians, and Hessians, was under the command of the Duke of York. His Royal Highness, who was but eight-and-twenty, had studied his profession in Berlin, and was a thorough partisan of the red-tape and pipe-clay system of the Prussian army. He possessed undeniable courage, with but little experience; and as all his movements were controlled, on the one hand, by the Cabinet at home, and on the other by the Austrian Commander-in-Chief, it is a matter for small wonder that the results of the campaign were something less than negative. At the opening of the operations the British troops at the disposal of the Duke consisted of three cavalry brigades, composed of the Blues; the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th Dragoon Guards; the Royal Scots Greys and Inniskilling Dragoons, with the 7th, 11th, 15th, and 16th Light Dragoons. His infantry was made up of three battalions of the Guards, the 14th (West Yorks), 37th (Hampshire), and 53rd (Shropshire) Regiments—the three latter brigaded under Sir Ralph Abercromby, an officer of very considerable experience.

[89]

In 1794 it became necessary to strengthen the army very largely, and by the month of July of that year the Duke of York had under his command some 26,000 British troops, distributed as under:

There is ample evidence to show that all these regiments were actually under fire during the campaign in Flanders, yet of the twenty-two infantry regiments employed, only ten bear on their colours any record of the share they took in the operations undertaken against revolutionary France. All regiments that served under Wellington in Spain and Portugal bear the word "Peninsula" on their colours and appointments; all which served under Cornwallis in India, the honour "Mysore"; all which landed in the Crimea bear the honour "Sevastopol"; whilst the distinction "South Africa" was conferred on every battalion of Volunteers which sent a company to guard Boer prisoners. Surely, then, the regiments which fought and bled under the Duke of York have a claim to some recognition of their services.

[90]

Lincelles, August 18, 1793.

This battle honour is peculiar to the three senior regiments of the Brigade of Guards—

Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards.
Scots Guards.

—and commemorates one of the many actions fought in Flanders at the outset of the Revolutionary War with France. The Brigade, under Lord Lake, had just arrived at Menin, en route to the Siege of Dunkirk. When the sound of firing was heard, and information reached the Duke of York that the Prince of Orange had met with a sharp rebuff at the hands of the French, he immediately ordered the Brigade of Guards to march to the assistance of the Prince. Although the men had but just arrived from a long, hot, and tiring march, Lake at once marched to the sound of the guns, covering the six miles in a little over the hour; but on reaching Lincelles, which was supposed to be in possession of the Duke of Orange, he was met with a "whiff of grape-shot." The Guards, with their usual dash, at once stormed the French redoubts, which they carried at the point of the bayonet, capturing twelve guns, one stand of colours, and close on 100 prisoners. The action was one of those isolated affairs which had no bearing on the campaign, but merely serve to show the superior stamina and discipline of the Brigade of Guards. Taking into consideration the strength of the force engaged, the casualties were undoubtedly heavy.

Present at Lincelles.

Casualties at Lincelles, August 18, 1793.

[91]

Nieuport, October, 1793.

This battle honour is borne by the Shropshire Light Infantry, and commemorates the gallant defence of this town by the old 53rd Foot, when besieged for ten days by a force of 12,000 French troops, under Vandamme, who later became one of Napoleon's most famous Marshals. With the 53rd were associated some artillery, a half-company of the Black Watch, and two Hessian battalions—all told, some 1,300 men; but the honours of the defence rested with a regiment which throughout its career has ever borne the highest reputation for steady gallantry.

Casualties.

Villers-en-Couches, April 24, 1794.

This is one of the four honours which the 15th Hussars has alone the privilege of wearing. It records the gallantry of the regiment practically under the eyes of the Austrian Emperor, when two squadrons of the 15th charged side by side with the Austrian Leopold Hussars, overthrowing a vastly superior body of the French, taking three guns, and sabring, it is claimed, some 1,200 of the enemy. The eight officers of the regiment were awarded the coveted distinction of the Maria Theresa Order.

Casualties at Villers-en-Couches.

[92]

Beaumont, April 26, 1794.

This honour, which was not conferred until the year 1909, is borne by the

Royal Horse Guards.
1st Royal Dragoons.
1st King's Dragoon Guards.
7th Hussars.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
11th Hussars.
5th Dragoon Guards.
16th Lancers.

There had been rumours after the fight at Villers-en-Couches that General Mansel's brigade of cavalry, consisting of the Blues, Royals, and 3rd Dragoon Guards, had not supported the 15th with sufficient promptitude in the affair on April 22.[9] It was Minden and Warburg over again. So when, on April 25, at Beaumont, General Otto, the Austrian officer in command of the allied cavalry, led his division against 20,000 unbroken French infantry, British Dragoons and Austrian Hussars cheerfully essayed what seemed a mad undertaking. The total loss of the allied cavalry amounted to 15 officers and 284 men killed and wounded, amongst the former being General Mansel, who commanded the British heavies, two of his sons figuring amongst the wounded. Forty-one guns and 750 prisoners were taken, whilst the French casualties, it is said, numbered over 7,000, 1,200 being killed by the sabre alone.

Casualties at the Action of Beaumont, April 26, 1794.

[93]

Willems, May 10, 1794.

In the month of January, 1910, an Army Order was published authorizing the following regiments to assume this battle honour:

Royal Horse Guards.
1st Royal Dragoons.
2nd Queen's Bays.
Scots Greys.
3rd Dragoon Guards.
6th Inniskilling Dragoons.
6th Carabiniers.
11th Hussars.
15th Hussars.
16th Lancers.

As at Beaumont a fortnight earlier, so here at Willems, our cavalry showed themselves able to break the French infantry formation, even when not pounded by artillery. Thirteen guns and 450 prisoners were the trophies of the day, and fully 2,000 of the enemy fell under the sabres of the British horse.

Casualties at the Action of Willems, May 10, 1794.

Tournay, May 22, 1794.

An honour borne by the

West Yorkshire.
Hampshire.
Shropshire Light Infantry.

Just four days previously to the fight, the allied army, under Field-Marshal Otto, had received a handsome beating at the hands of the French. It is true we were hopelessly outnumbered, being able to oppose but 18,000 to 64,000. Though beaten, we were not disgraced. Fox's brigade, consisting of the three regiments above, losing 520[94] of all ranks, whilst in the retirement the 7th and 15th Hussars showed persistent gallantry. Nevertheless, it was a defeat, for nineteen guns were left in the hands of the victors. We were soon to learn that the failure on the part of the Archduke Charles to support Otto and the Duke of York was a deliberate design to discredit the British, and was due to jealousy of the Royal Duke, who, if not a brilliant strategist, was at any rate a brave commander, and ever solicitous for the comfort of his men.

On May 19 the Allies were concentrated in the immediate neighbourhood of Tournay. The French were attempting to press home their success of the preceding day. In the early morning of the 22nd Pichegru, who had hastened to assume command, attacked in four columns. After some hours his superior numbers told, and the Allies were gradually forced back. Then, late in the day, four brigades were moved up to recapture the position of Pont-à-chin, which practically commanded the Valley of the Scheldt. Fox's brigade, having lost very heavily on the 18th, had been held in reserve, and now numbered barely 600 men. At last, even they were pushed forward into the fight, and, though entirely unsupported, these three fine regiments, nobly responding to the Brigadier's call, dashed forward, sweeping the French out of their hard-won vantage-ground and capturing seven guns. This timely action turned the fortunes of the day, and by nightfall the French had been beaten back, with a loss of 6,000 men. So ended Tournay.

Casualties at the Battle of Tournay, May 22, 1794.

[95]

Egmont-op-Zee, October 2, 1799.

In 1799 a fresh attempt was made to wrest Holland from the French, and Sir Ralph Abercromby was despatched to the Low Countries at the head of a division to co-operate with the Russians. His force consisted of a Brigade of Guards (one battalion from each of the three regiments, with a composite battalion of the grenadier companies of the whole Brigade) and two brigades of infantry, under Generals Coote and John Moore. On April 17 a landing was effected at Grote Keten, in face of the determined opposition of a brigade of French troops, our total loss being 27 officers and 440 men killed and wounded. Before the end of the month Abercromby had been reinforced by seven more battalions, and by September 20 the British forces had been brought up to a total of 30,000, with H.R.H. the Duke of York once more in chief command, the whole being distributed as follows:

[96]

After an indecisive action on September 19, the Duke of York attacked the French on October 2 at Egmont-op-Zee, inflicting on them a severe defeat. The brunt of the fighting fell on the Fourth and Sixth Brigades, under Sir John Moore and Lord Cavan, Sir Ralph Abercromby being present and exercising supreme command. Our losses were very heavy, amounting to no less than 1,348 of all ranks killed and wounded.

The following regiments alone have been authorized to bear the honour "Egmont-op-Zee":

15th Hussars.
Royal Scots.
Lancashire Fusiliers.
King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Berkshire.
Manchester.
Cameron Highlanders.
Gordon Highlanders.

But the casualty rolls published in the Duke of York's despatch show that many other regiments were engaged.

[97]

CHAPTER VIII

BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN THE WEST INDIES, 1759-1810

West Indies, 1759-1810—Guadeloupe, 1759—Martinique, 1762—Havana—St. Lucia, 1778—Martinique, 1794—St. Lucia, 1796—St. Lucia, 1803—Surinam—Dominica—Martinique, 1809—Guadeloupe, 1810.

-

The battle honours conferred for services in the West Indies cover the half-century from the capture of Guadeloupe in 1759 to the third capture of the same island in the year 1810. The appended tables of casualties show that our losses in action were by no means contemptible, but these did not represent one-tenth of those we suffered from disease or from neglect of the most elementary precautions against the effects of the climate on our troops. In the event of our being at war with those nations which had possessions in the West Indies, the islands formed convenient bases for operations against our North American Colonies, as well as harbours of refuge for the innumerable privateers which preyed upon our commerce. When war unhappily broke out between our Colonies and the Mother-Country, it became more than ever a matter of paramount necessity that no Power but ourselves should hold possession of these islands. Unfortunately, at the end of each successive war England, as has ever been her custom, restored her conquests to their original holders, with the inevitable result that our soldiers and sailors were called upon to sacrifice their lives in the recapture of the islands[98] in pursuance of the time-worn policy of English Cabinets. In the course of fifty years St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, and Martinique were thrice wrested from the French, and the two last-named islands thrice restored. Up to the year 1909 the battle honours "Martinique" and "Guadeloupe," which figured on the colours and appointments of some of our regiments, had been granted only for the capture of those islands by Sir George Beckwith in the years 1809 and 1810. Last year it was determined (and very rightly) that the previous expeditions, which dated back to 1759, were also worthy of being recorded, and an Army Order was issued in the month of November, 1909, announcing that the King had been graciously pleased to approve of the undermentioned honorary distinctions being borne on the colours and appointments of a certain number of regiments present in the following expeditions: "Havana"; "Guadeloupe, 1759"; "Guadeloupe, 1810"; "Martinique, 1762"; "Martinique, 1794 and 1809"; "St. Lucia, 1778, 1793, and 1803."

In any case where a regiment had been awarded the same distinction, but with different dates, it was to bear on its colours or appointments one distinction only, with the dates. Thus, so far as Martinique is concerned, the East Yorkshire Regiment will have on its colours "Martinique, 1762, 1794, 1809."

The services performed by our troops in the many expeditions for the reduction of the Island of Guadeloupe have been scantily recognized. So far as I have been able to ascertain, the first capture of the Island of Guadeloupe took place in the year 1702, when the Yorkshire Regiment lost 2 officers killed and 3 wounded; the 20th (Lancashire Fusiliers) 3 officers killed and 5 wounded; and the 35th (Royal Sussex), 2 killed, 3 wounded, and no less than 16 by disease.

Then came the expedition of 1759, with which I deal at length, and for which a battle honour was granted.

[99]

In the year 1794 we once more captured the island, the losses being:

For this expedition no battle honour was granted.

In the year 1814 Guadeloupe was handed over to the French, but on Napoleon's escape from Elba in 1815 it declared for him, and a fresh expedition became necessary for which no distinction has yet been awarded. Possibly, in due course of time, the dates 1702, 1794, and 1815 may be added to the name "Guadeloupe" on the colours of the regiments which participated in those long-forgotten, but by no means bloodless, expeditions.

Late in the year 1758 it was determined by the Cabinet to effect the reduction of the colonial possessions of France. With the capture of the Settlements on the West Coast of Africa I have nothing to do. For their reduction no battle honour was granted. The campaigns, which resulted in the reduction of Louisburg and Quebec are narrated on pp. 37 and 38. I now propose to deal with the expeditions which led to the honour "Guadeloupe, 1759"; "Martinique, 1762"; and "Havana" being inscribed on the colours and appointments of our regiments.

Guadeloupe, 1759.

By the Army Order of November, 1909, the above battle honour was conferred on the following regiments:

Buffs.
King's Own (Lancaster).
Gloucester.
South Staffords.
Royal Highlanders.
North Staffords.
Manchester.
York and Lancaster.

[100]

Thus, a century and a half after the event, the services of our troops at the second capture of the Island of Guadeloupe received a tardy recognition.

In November, 1758, the Buffs, King's Own, Gloucester, North Stafford, Manchester, and York and Lancaster Regiments embarked at Spithead for Barbados, where they were joined by the South Staffords and the Royal Highlanders, Lieutenant-General Peregrine Hopson assuming the command. The force was divided into four brigades, under Colonels Robert Armiger, George Haldane, Cyrus Trapaud, and John Clavering, whilst Major-General the Hon. John Barrington joined as second in command. It was also strengthened by a detachment of 500 artillerymen, under Major S. Cleveland, R.A., and a battalion of Marines, under Colonel Rycaut, making a total of about 6,800 men. On January 13, 1759, the expeditionary force sailed for Martinique, where the French were well prepared for defence, and no landing was attempted. Three days afterwards the armament stood on to Fort Royal Bay, Martinique, and, under cover of the guns of the fleet, the troops disembarked. On the following morning a sharp skirmish took place, in which the French were driven out of some entrenched buildings, our casualties amounting to 100 killed and wounded; but it was found impossible to follow up the enemy owing to the denseness of the jungle and the absence of roads.

General Hopson, who was suffering from a mortal disease, appears to have formulated no plan of operations for the reduction of Martinique, and on the following morning the troops re-embarked without opposition, and the fleet stood on to Guadeloupe, arriving before that island on January 22. Basse Terre, the capital of the southern island (for Guadeloupe practically consists of the two islands, Guadeloupe, or Basse Terre and Grande Terre), was bombarded by the fleet and utterly destroyed, the Governor withdrawing his troops to a well-entrenched and most formidable position some miles distant. The disembarkation of the troops was consequently unopposed,[101] but our outposts were much worried day and night by incessant firing and desultory attacks from the French, who had taken refuge in the surrounding jungle. The General again seemed to have no definite plan of operations, and contented himself with strengthening his position on the inland side of the capital. Our troops suffered terribly from the climate. By the end of January 600 men had been invalided to Antigua, and 1,500 were on the sick-list.

The Commodore was a man of action, as also, indeed, was General Barrington; but the former was independent of General Hopson, the latter was not. About the middle of February Commodore Moore sailed round to Port Louis, on the northern island, where he found a good harbour. He at once bombarded its defences, forced the garrison to surrender, and disembarked a battalion of Marines, thus securing for Hopson a second base.

On February 16 the Commander-in-Chief died, and Barrington determined to put an end to the inaction which was demoralizing the troops. Leaving the 63rd (Manchester) Regiment to hold Basse Terre (the defences of which on the land side had been considerably strengthened), Barrington embarked the rest of his troops and occupied Port Louis, whence he despatched Colonel Crump, of the 4th (King's Own), who had succeeded to the command of Haldane's brigade, to effect the reduction of the French settlements in the northern island. Early in April Brigadier Clavering was detached with his brigade (reduced to 1,300 men) to destroy the French position at Arnouville, in Guadeloupe itself. In this attack the 4th (King's Own) and the 42nd (Royal Highlanders) particularly distinguished themselves, and in the middle of the month Clavering was able to join hands with Crump, who had been withdrawn from the Grande Terre, and to march southwards along the coast. Position after position was carried until Clavering finally drove the French from their entrenchments at Capesterre, in the south-west of the mainland, where the[102] inhabitants compelled the French commander to sue for terms; and on May 1 the possession of Guadeloupe passed into our hands.

Casualties during Expedition to Guadeloupe, 1759.

Martinique, 1762.

This distinction was conferred on the following regiments by an Army Order in November, 1909:

East Yorkshire.
Leicester.
Cheshire.
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Gloucester.
Royal Sussex.
South Stafford.
South Lancashire.
Welsh.
Royal Highlanders.
Oxford Light Infantry.
Northampton.
King's Royal Rifles.

The employment of our troops on the Continent of Europe and in Canada had prevented the Cabinet from carrying out the designs for the capture of the Islands of Dominica, Martinique, and St. Lucia; but the fall of Louisburg and Quebec set sufficient forces at[103] liberty to enable Pitt in the early part of 1762 to carry out the long-deferred expedition. Its command was entrusted to General the Hon. Robert Monckton, an officer of considerable experience, who had more recently distinguished himself in command of a brigade under Wolfe at Quebec. Carlisle Bay (Barbados) was the point selected for the mobilization of the expeditionary force, and there, at Christmas, 1761, the Commander-in-Chief arrived with eleven battalions from North America. He was joined shortly by Lord Rollo with five more battalions from Canada, and by General Ruffane with four seasoned regiments fresh from the capture of Belleisle; a couple of regiments from Guadeloupe, and two from Antigua, brought the force at Monckton's disposal to some 12,000 men, distributed in five brigades, under Brigadier W. Havilland, W. Ruffane, F. Grant, Lord Rollo, and Hunt Walsh.

On January 5, 1762, escorted by a powerful fleet under Lord Rodney, the expeditionary force left Barbados, and on the 7th had arrived at St. Ann's Bay, the southernmost harbour in Martinique. Our knowledge of the island was very defective. More than one attempt at disembarkation proved ineffective, owing to the want of roads by which the troops might advance, and it was not until the 16th of the month that the entire force was landed at Case Navire, a little to the north of the capital, Port Royal. A series of works, dominated by powerful entrenchments on the hills, Morne Tortenson and Morne Grenier, had been thrown up for the defence of Port Royal. On January 24 the first-named position was carried by Brigadiers Havilland and Walsh, with a loss of 33 officers and 357 men killed and wounded, and three days later the Morne Grenier was taken, with a loss of about 100 of all ranks. On February 12, finding further resistance useless, the French commander capitulated, and Monckton, in conjunction with Lord Rodney, who was in command of the fleet, despatched detachments for the capture of St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent,[104] which fell into our hands without offering any resistance. Our casualties during the operations in Martinique were as follows:

It will be seen from the above list, copied from the London Gazette (in which the 42nd are styled "Royal Hunters"!), that many regiments suffered casualties which have not been authorized to assume the honour "Martinique, 1762."

Havana.

The regiments authorized by the Army Order of November, 1909, to bear this battle honour are:

Royal Scots.
Norfolk.
East Yorkshire.
Leicester.
Cheshire.
Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Gloucester.
Border.
Royal Sussex.
South Lancashire.
Royal Highlanders.
Oxford Light Infantry.
Essex.
Northampton.
King's Royal Rifles.

A perusal of the following brief account of the campaign will show that, if the ruling holds good under which[105] the 5th Lancers, 18th, 19th, and 20th Hussars, together with many infantry regiments, are permitted to bear the battle honours won by their predecessors, there are other regiments equally entitled to inscribe "Havana" on their colours and appointments than the fifteen above mentioned, and three at least which have more claim to the battle honour "Moro" than the Essex.

The campaign was decided on by the Ministry in the early spring of 1762, General the Earl of Albemarle being nominated to the chief command, with orders to co-operate with Admiral of the Blue, Sir George Pocock, who was at the time commanding the fleet in the West Indies. The troops were composed of 4,000 men despatched from England with the Commander-in-Chief; 8,000 were furnished by the large forces then garrisoning the West India Islands, and 4,000 were detached by Sir Jeffrey Amherst from the forces in North America. For transport service on shore, the Governor of Jamaica raised a body of 1,500 negroes. These were augmented on the arrival in Martinique of Lord Albemarle by the purchase of 500 more! A small force of cavalry was improvised by the Commander-in-Chief, and placed under the orders of Captain Suttie, of the 9th Foot. The whole force assembled at Martinique on May 5, 1762. It would appear that Lord Albemarle, following the custom of the day, formed a couple of Light Infantry Battalions from the light companies, and a couple of Grenadier battalions from the grenadier companies of the regiments under his command, the Light Infantry being placed at the disposal of Colonel Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester. The entire force was brigaded as under:

Of these, Brigadiers Havilland, Hunt-Walsh, and Lord Rollo had been employed in the reduction of the island of Martinique, and it will be noticed that a large proportion of the regiments had fought under Wolfe at Quebec, or Studholme Hodgson at the capture of Belleisle, or under Monckton at Martinique. Owing to the nature of the ground, considerable difficulty was experienced in constructing the siege batteries, which were armed with heavy guns from the fleet, the stores and ammunition being conveyed to the front by the corps of negroes purchased in Martinique by the General. In consequence of the scarcity and badness of the water, the troops suffered terribly. The seamen and Marines escaped the sickness which more than decimated the army, and the Admiral landed a body of 800 Marines to lighten the labours of the army.

On July 1 a heavy bombardment commenced, the fleet standing in to aid. In this the Dragon, Cambridge, and Marlborough suffered severely. For a time the fire of the defence slackened, only to be renewed with increased vigour in a couple of days. On the 21st the garrison made a gallant sortie, which was repelled with equal gallantry by the 90th Light Infantry, under Colonel Stuart. From this date the defence gradually slackened, and on July 30 the General determined to assault the Moro, which was the key of the situation. The storming-party, which was under the command of Colonel Stuart, of the 90th, was composed as follows:

the 35th Regiment in support. The assault was admirably planned, and carried out with dashing gallantry.

[107]

Casualties during the Expedition to Havana, from Date of Landing to Capitulation on August 13, 1762.

[108]

With the Moro in our possession, the capitulation of the island was a mere matter of time, and on August 14 the Captain-General signed the articles of surrender of the Island of Cuba to the British forces. Ninety-one officers and 29,700 of other ranks surrendered as prisoners of war, and Admiral Pocock had the satisfaction of taking possession of thirteen Spanish line-of-battle ships.

Our losses during the forty-four days' campaign had been considerable, as the table of casualties on page 107 proves.

Hitherto the old 56th Regiment (now the Essex) has been the only regiment entitled to carry the battle honour "Moro." The Royal Scots have always, but as yet unsuccessfully, advanced their claim to this distinction. The above facts show that the Scottish Rifles and the Royal Sussex have an equal claim with the Royals to the double distinction.

In conformity with our usual custom, the island was restored to the Spaniards on the conclusion of the war, to be conquered by our American cousins 130 years subsequently.

In those days the ardour of our sailors and soldiers was whetted by the prospects of prize-money, and the capture of Havana, whilst it brought wealth to the senior officers, brought consolation also to all ranks in the shape of a rich distribution of doubloons.

Distribution of Prize-Money for the Capture of Havana.

[109]

St. Lucia, 1778.

This honour was awarded in 1909 to the following regiments—

King's Own (Lancaster).
Northumberland Fusiliers.
East Yorkshire.
Inniskilling Fusiliers.
Gloucester.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
Border Regiment.
Royal Sussex.
South Lancashire.
Royal Berkshire.

—for their services at the capture of the island from the French, and for its gallant defence a few days later against a vastly superior force.

On the outbreak of war between France and England in 1778 the French at once assumed the offensive in the West Indies by the capture of Dominica on September 8, that island, with a garrison of barely 500 men, being compelled to surrender to the Marquis de Bouillé, who landed some 8,000 troops, drawn from the large forces massed in Martinique and Guadeloupe, which, in pursuance of our time-honoured custom, had been restored to France at the end of the previous war in 1763. In the month of November a combined naval and military expedition under Admiral Barrington and Major-General James Grant left Barbados for the reduction of St. Lucia. It numbered some 6,000 men, composed as under:

In addition, there were two companies of Royal Artillery and a troop of Dragoons. Knowing that Admiral d'Estaing, with a fleet outnumbering his own three to one, had already left Boston to oppose him, Admiral Barrington set sail from Barbados on December 10, and the following day entered in Cul de Sac Bay, on the western coast of the island. Two brigades were at once[110] disembarked, and they, carrying the French entrenchments, made themselves masters of a strong position overlooking the main works of the enemy at Castries. On December 12 the remainder of the troops were landed, and an attack on the French entrenchments at the Morne Fortunée was successfully carried out, and by evening we were in possession of all the forts and batteries defending Castries Bay. Two days later the French fleet, carrying 9,000 troops, appeared in the offing, and d'Estaing at once attacked Barrington's squadron, which was anchored across Cul de Sac Bay. Foiled there, he stood to the northward, with the intention of turning General Grant's position at Castries, and, under cover of the guns of the fleet, several thousand French were landed. Here, however, they met with stout opposition. Meadows, at the head of the Northumberland Fusiliers and the Light Infantry Battalion, repulsing several most determined attacks, in which the French lost 400 dead left on the field, with some 1,200 wounded, our casualties in killed and wounded barely reaching 175. D'Estaing re-embarked his men on the 28th, and withdrew his fleet to Martinique, whereupon the French commandant had no option but to surrender.

Casualties at the Capture of the Island of St. Lucia in 1778.

[111]

Martinique, 1794.

This distinction, awarded in 1909, is borne by the following regiments—

Royal Warwick.
Norfolk.
East Yorkshire.
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
East Surrey.
North Stafford.
Northampton.
Dorset.
York and Lancaster.

—and commemorates the second capture of the island from the French. Considerable care had been bestowed on the preparation of this expedition. Its command was entrusted to capable hands, Sir John Jervis—afterwards Lord St. Vincent—having charge of the naval, and General Sir Charles Grey of the military forces. These last were divided into five brigades:

Profiting by the experience of the expedition in 1762, a number of gunboats—flat-bottomed craft, to assist in the disembarkation of the troops—had been sent out from England in sections, and a number of negroes purchased for the formation of a transport corps. On February 3 the expedition set sail from Carlisle Bay, Barbados, and two days later appeared off the island of Martinique in three divisions, the Commander-in-Chief with the Third and Grenadier Brigades, landing at Trois Rivières, in the extreme south; Dundas, with his own and the Light Infantry Brigade, near Trinité, on the east coast; and Gordon at Case Navire, a little to the north of Port Royal, the capital. By February 12 Grey and Gordon, greatly assisted by the guns of the fleet, had gradually converged on Port Royal, driving the French before them, whilst Dunbar was steadily[112] pushing his way across the island from east to west. On February 17 St. Pierre (the commercial capital) surrendered to Dunbar, and on March 8 Grey commenced to throw up siege batteries for the reduction of the fortifications at Fort Royal; fourteen days later Fort Louis fell to a combined assault of seamen and soldiers, and on the 23rd General Rochambeau surrendered.

Leaving six battalions in the island, Grey, who had been reinforced by the Buffs and Norfolks, embarked with these two regiments, the Warwicks, 43rd (Oxford Light Infantry), 63rd (Manchester), and the Grenadier and Light Infantry Brigades, for St. Lucia, which was captured on April 2; then, proceeding to Guadeloupe, he effected the reduction of that island by the end of May, not, however, without very sharp fighting. The casualties we incurred at the capture of Guadeloupe are given on p. 99. At the capture of St. Lucia our losses were trifling; those at the capture of Martinique are given below.

No less than 122 officers of the garrison died of disease before the end of the year:

[113]

St. Lucia, 1794.

No battle honour was conferred for the capture of the island on this occasion.

Immediately after the capture of Martinique, on March 25, 1794, General Sir George Grey, with Admiral Sir John Jervis, sailed for St. Lucia with a force composed as under:

On April 1 the squadron arrived off the island, and the Second Brigade was at once disembarked under the guns of the Winchelsea, the operation being executed, to use Sir John Jervis's words, "with neatness and despatch, under the direction of Lord Viscount Garlies." Colonels Blundell and Coote, at the head of their battalions, advanced rapidly on the fortified position on the Morne Fortunée, which was evacuated by the enemy, when the French commander hoisted the white flag, and the island for the second time in its history passed into the possession of the English. Leaving Sir C. Gordon in command with the 6th and 9th Regiments as garrison, Sir G. Grey returned to Martinique.

Owing to the exigencies of the service, and the inability of the Ministry at home to realize the necessity of maintaining the troops in the West Indies at a proper strength, Grey from time to time was compelled to reduce the garrison, so that when, in the spring of the following year, the negroes of St. Lucia, in common with their fellows in the neighbouring islands, rose in revolt, the then Governor, Colonel Stuart, had only some 400 men to make headway against the revolt. In June the island was evacuated.

[114]

St. Lucia, 1796.

The only regiments authorized to bear the battle honour are the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the Shropshires.

Early in the year 1796 it became necessary to re-conquer practically the whole of the French West India Islands—not, indeed, from the armies of the French Republic, but from the hordes of negroes, whose passions had been inflamed by revolutionary agents, and whose ambitions had been fired by the pernicious doctrines of "the rights of man." The command of the expeditionary force was entrusted to Sir Ralph Abercromby, with whom was associated the ever-to-be-remembered Sir John Moore. The total force numbered some 18,000 men, distributed as under, and was mobilized in Carlisle Bay, Barbados, in March, 1796:

Abercromby's first care was to throw reinforcements into Grenada, which was still holding out, and on April 21 the convoy left Carlisle Bay for St. Lucia. On the 26th Moore landed with the 14th and 42nd, and on the following day he was reinforced by the 53rd, 57th, and the 2nd West India Regiment, under Brigadier Hope. By the 28th the whole of the force was ashore, but the operations dragged on until May 15, when the whole island was in our hands. On the 17th of that month there had been a sharp engagement, in which the 31st (East Surrey) lost heavily. Moore complained bitterly of the troops, writing as follows: "It is hard to say whether the officers or men are the worst." Moore was left in command at St. Lucia, whilst Abercromby undertook the reduction of Grenada and St. Vincent. Although the only regiments authorized to carry the distinction "St. Lucia, 1796" are the Inniskilling Fusiliers (27th),[115] and Shropshire Light Infantry (53rd), reference to the casualty lists shows that this selection casts an unnecessary slur on the other corps which bore their fair share of fighting in the reconquest of the island.

By the close of the year 1796, Moore had buried 1,500 of his garrison. So terrible were the losses we incurred from sickness—losses due to the neglect of the home authorities to provide for the sick—that it was with a sense of relief the army learnt the welcome news that, under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, St. Lucia was restored to the French. This retrocession, however, necessitated its recapture in 1803.

Casualties.

Surinam, 1804.

The regiments authorized to bear this distinction are the Bedfordshire and the North Staffords.

It commemorates the capture of this colony from the Dutch by a combined naval and military expedition on the resumption of hostilities with Holland after the Treaty of Amiens. The colony had been captured in[116] 1799 by Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour and General Trigge, but had been restored to the Dutch in 1802.

Carlisle Bay (Barbados) was the rendezvous, the squadron being under the command of Commodore Samuel Hood, whilst the troops were commanded by Major-General Sir Charles Green. These consisted of the 16th (Bedfords), 64th (North Staffords), and the 6th West India Regiment. Leaving Barbados on April 6, 1804, the squadron, delayed by adverse and light winds, did not arrive off the mouth of the Surinam River until the 25th, when the Dutch commander was invited to surrender. To the summons he returned a truculent reply; and the troops, divided into two brigades, under Colonels Maitland and Hughes, were thrown ashore, reinforced by a naval brigade 600 strong. The defence was feeble, and in three days the place fell into our hands. Our loss was trifling, falling on the naval brigade and the North Staffords, neither the Bedfords nor the West India Regiment suffering any casualties.

Casualties at the Capture of Surinam, 1804.

Dominica, 1805.

The only regiments authorized to bear this distinction are the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and the West India Regiment.

Our connection with the island dates back to the year 1762, when, on June 11, it was captured by a joint naval and military expedition under Colonel Lord Rollo and Commodore Sir James Douglas, R.N., with the Belliqueux, Dublin, Montague, and Sutherland. The troops concerned[117] in this first capture were detachments of the King's Own (Lancaster Regiment), the Cheshires, and the Black Watch. The brunt of the fighting fell on the Highlanders, who lost 2 officers and 19 men killed, 10 officers and 74 men wounded. The possession of the island was confirmed to us by the Treaty of Paris in the following year. In 1778 it was taken from us by the French. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, the Governor, Major-General the Hon. W. Stewart, had reported the precarious position of the island. His total force amounted to 98 men of the 48th (Northamptons) and 28 gunners; of these but 41 were fit for duty. On September 7 a French force of four frigates, convoying 3,000 troops, appeared before the island, and the Governor was perforce compelled to surrender to De Bouillé. By the peace of 1783 the island was restored to us, but in 1805, mindful of their former success, the French made a fresh attempt at its capture. Five line-of-battleships, headed by the Majestueux, of 120 guns, stood into the harbour and overwhelmed the town of Roseau with their fire. The Governor, General Prevost, withdrew to a second position, and refused all summons for surrender, when the French, baffled, left him undisturbed. The garrison consisted of the 46th Foot (now the 2nd Battalion of the Cornwall Light Infantry), the 1st West India Regiment, and some local militia. The casualties of the defenders were slight, but their services were considered sufficiently meritorious for the following notification in the Gazette:

"As a distinguished mark of the good conduct and exemplary valour displayed by that regiment in the defence of the Island of Dominica against a very superior French force on February 22, 1805, the 46th Regiment is permitted to bear on its colours and appointments the name 'Dominica.'" For many long years this was the only distinction borne by that regiment.

The casualties were—

[118]

Martinique, 1809.

This distinction is borne by the

Royal Fusiliers.
King's Liverpool Regiment.
Somerset Light Infantry.
East Yorkshires.
Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
King's Own Scottish Borderers.
King's Own Royal Rifles.
Manchesters.
Scottish Rifles.
West India Regiment.