Historical Record of the Thirty-first, or the Huntingdonshire Regiment of Foot

---

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE THIRTY-FIRST,

OR,

THE HUNTINGDONSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT;

CONTAINING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1702,
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1850;

TO WHICH IS APPENDED,

An ACCOUNT of the SERVICES of the MARINE CORPS,
from 1664 to 1748;

The Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second Regiments having been
formed in 1702 as Marine Corps, and retained from 1714 on the Establishment
of the Army as Regiments of Regular Infantry.

---

COMPILED BY

RICHARD CANNON, Esq.

ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS

 

---

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES

---

LONDON:

PARKER, FURNIVALL, & PARKER,

30, CHARING CROSS.

---

1850.

---

THE THIRTY-FIRST

OR,

THE HUNTINGDONSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT,

BEARS ON THE REGIMENTAL COLOUR AND APPOINTMENTS

THE WORDS “TALAVERA,” “ALBUHERA,” “VITTORIA,”
“PYRENEES,” “NIVELLE,” “NIVE,” “ORTHES,”
AND “PENINSULA.”

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE SERVICES OF THE SECOND BATTALION
DURING THE “PENINSULAR WAR,” FROM 1809 TO 1814.

---

ALSO

THE WORD “CABOOL, 1842.”

FOR THE DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT OF THE REGIMENT DURING
THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN AFFGHANISTAN
IN THE YEAR 1842;

---

AND THE WORDS

“MOODKEE,” “FEROZESHAH,” “ALIWAL,” AND
“SOBRAON,”

IN TESTIMONY OF ITS GALLANTRY IN THOSE BATTLES DURING THE
CAMPAIGN ON THE BANKS OF THE SUTLEJ,
FROM DECEMBER 1845, TO FEBRUARY 1846.

---

THE

THIRTY-FIRST,

OR,

---

---

Year		Page
1701	Introduction	1
1702	Decease of King William III., and accession of Her Majesty Queen Anne	2
——	Certain Regiments of Marines raised	—
——	Formation of the Thirty-first as a Regiment of Marines	—
——	Colonel George Villiers appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	Names of the Officers	3
——	War of the Spanish Succession	—
——	The Earl of Marlborough appointed to the command of the troops in Flanders	—
——	Expedition to the coast of Spain under the Duke of Ormond	4
——	The Thirty-first and other regiments embarked for Cadiz	—
——	Capture of the combined French and Spanish fleets at Vigo	5
——	The troops under the Duke of Ormond returned to England	6
1703	The Thirty-first Regiment stationed at Plymouth	7
——	Decease of Colonel Villiers	—
——	Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Lutterell appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
1704	Services of the Thirty-first Regiment on board the fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke	—
——	Unsuccessful attempt on Barcelona	—
——	Capture of Gibraltar	—
——	The Spanish and French armaments defeated in their attempts to retake Gibraltar	8
1705	Operations against Barcelona	—
——	Capture of Fort Montjuich	—
——	The Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt killed	—
——	Surrender of the Garrison of Barcelona	—
1706	Decease of Colonel Lutterell	—
——	Lieut.-Colonel Josiah Churchill appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	Barcelona besieged by the French	9
——	Barcelona relieved by the English and Dutch fleet	—
——	The allied fleet proceeded to the coast of Valencia	—
——	Capture of Carthagena and Alicant	—
——	Surrender of Iviça and Majorca	—
1707	Attack upon Toulon	—
——	The siege of Toulon raised	10
1708	Capture of Sardinia	—
——	—— —— Minorca	11
1709	Capture of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia	—
——	The Fortress named Anna-polis Royal, in honor of Queen Anne	12
——	Alicant recovered by the enemy	13
1710	The Isle of Cette taken by the British, and afterwards recaptured by the French	—
1711	Retirement of Colonel Churchill	14
——	Lieut.-Colonel Sir Harry Goring, Bart., promoted Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	Charles III., the claimant to the Spanish throne, elected Emperor of Germany, and its effect upon the war	—
1712	Negociations for Peace	—
1713	Treaty of Utrecht	—
——	Reductions in the Army and Navy	15
1714	Decease of Queen Anne	—
——	Accession of King George I.	—
——	Augmentation of the Army, to counteract the designs of the Pretender	—
——	The Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second Regiments, which had been ordered to be disbanded, retained on the establishment, and incorporated with the regiments of the line	—
——	Authorized to take rank in the Army from the date of original formation in 1702	—
1715	Disaffection of the Earl of Mar	16
——	Rebellion in Scotland in favor of the Pretender	—
——	Battle of Sheriffmuir	—
——	Surrender of the Rebels at Preston	—
——	Arrival in Scotland of the Pretender	17
1716	His flight to France	—
——	Suppression of the Rebellion	18
——	The Thirty-first embarked for Ireland	—
——	Retirement of Colonel Sir Harry Goring	—
——	Lord John Kerr appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
1727	Decease of King George I.	—
——	Accession of King George II.	—
1728	Decease of Major-General Lord John Kerr	—
——	Colonel the Honorable Charles Cathcart appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
1731	Colonel the Honorable Charles Cathcart removed to the Eighth Dragoons	18
——	Colonel William Hargrave appointed Colonel of the Thirty-first Regiment	—
1737	Colonel Hargrave removed to the Ninth Regiment	—
——	Colonel William Handasyd appointed Colonel of the Thirty-first Regiment	—
1739	Removal of the Regiment from Ireland to Great Britain	19
——	Spanish depredations in America	—
——	War declared against Spain	—
1740	War of the Austrian Succession	—
1741	The Regiment encamped at Windsor and on Lexden Heath	21
1742	Embarked for Flanders as Auxiliaries	—
1743	Marched towards the Rhine	22
——	Battle of Dettingen	23
——	The Battle compared with other victories	24
1744	Declaration of War against France	25
1745	Decease of Colonel Handasyd	—
——	Colonel Lord Henry Beauclerk appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	Investment of Tournay by Marshal Saxe	—
——	Battle of Fontenoy	26
——	Surrender of Tournay to the French	27
——	Skirmish at La Mésle, near Ghent	28
——	Rebellion in Scotland, headed by Prince Charles Edward	—
——	Return of the Thirty-first and other Regiments to England	—
——	The Regiment stationed in the vicinity of London	29
1746	Battle of Culloden	—
——	Escape of Prince Charles Edward to France	—
1747	Battle of Laffeld, or Val	29
1748	Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle	—
1749	Retirement of Colonel Lord Henry Beauclerk	30
——	Colonel Henry Holmes appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	The Regiment embarked for Minorca	30
1751	Regulations prescribed by Royal Warrant for establishing uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of regiments, &c.	—
1752	The Regiment returned from Minorca to England	—
1755	Proceeded to Scotland	—
1756	The Seven Years’ War	—
——	War declared against France	30
——	Capture of Minorca by the French	31
——	Augmentations in the Army and Navy	—
——	The Second Battalion of the Thirty-first constituted the Seventieth Regiment	—
1759	Summary of the occurrences of the War	—
1762	War declared against Spain	32
——	Capture of Martinique, Grenada, St. Vincent, and other West India Islands, by the British	—
——	Peace of Fontainebleau	—
——	The Regiment removed from Scotland to England	—
——	Decease of Lieut.-General Holmes	—
——	Colonel James Adolphus Oughton appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
1765	The Regiment embarked for Florida	33
——	Suffered severely from yellow fever	—
1772	Embarked for St. Vincent	34
——	Engaged in reducing the Caribs	—
1774	Termination of the Carib War	35
——	The Regiment returned to England	—
1775	Stationed in North Britain	—
1775	War of American Independence	35
1776	The Regiment embarked for Canada with the
——	Troops under Major-General Burgoyne	—
——	Defence of Quebec against the American Army	—
——	Defence of the British Post at Trois Rivières	—
——	Declaration of Independence by the American Congress	36
——	Operations on Lake Champlain	—
1777	The flank companies of the Thirty-first and other regiments proceed on an expedition under Major-General Burgoyne	37
——	Capture of Ticonderago	—
——	Action at Skenesborough	—
——	Action near Castleton	—
——	Pursuit of the Americans to Fort Anne and Fort Edward	38
——	Action at Stillwater	39
——	Lieut.-General Burgoyne is compelled to capitulate to General Gates	40
——	Convention of Saratoga	—
1778	Aid rendered by France to the Americans	41
1780	Decease of Lieut.-General Sir James Oughton	—
——	Major-General Thomas Clarke appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
1781	The battalion companies, which remained in Canada, joined by the flank companies	—
——	The light company engaged in effecting the destruction of military stores at Ticonderago	—
1782	The Independence of the United States acknowledged by King George III.	42
——	The Thirty-first styled the Huntingdonshire Regiment	—
1783	Treaty of Peace between England, France, and Spain	43
——	Peace concluded with Holland	—
1787	The Regiment embarked at Quebec for England	43
——	Stationed in Great Britain	—
1789	Commencement of the French Revolution	—
——	Preparations for War with Spain	44
1790	The Thirty-first embarked on board the fleet to perform its original service of Marines	—
——	Convention with Spain	—
1791	Disturbances in the Manufacturing Districts	45
1792	Lieut.-General Thomas Clarke removed to the Thirtieth Regiment	—
——	Major-General James Stuart appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	The Regiment embarked for Ireland	—
1793	Decease of Major-General Stuart	—
——	Colonel Lord Mulgrave appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	Progress of events in France	—
——	War with France	—
——	The flank companies embarked for Barbadoes	—
1794	Capture of Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadaloupe	46
——	A French Armament sent to retake Guadaloupe	47
——	Gallant defence of Guadaloupe by the British	—
——	The Garrison of Berville Camp surrendered to the French	—
——	Return of the Troops at Guadaloupe	48
——	Evacuation of Fort Matilda by the British	49
——	The Regiment proceeded from Ireland to England	—
——	Embarked for Holland	—
1795	Returned to England	—
——	Joined the Camp formed at Nursling, near Southampton	—
——	Embarked for the West Indies	—
——	Delayed by storms and contrary winds	50
1796	Disembarked at Gosport	51
——	Embarked for St. Lucia	—
——	Engaged in the capture of that Island	52
——	Employed against the Caribs in St. Lucia	53
1797	Returned to England	54
1799	Augmented by volunteers from the Militia	55
——	Embarked for Holland, as part of the Army under the Duke of York	56
——	Engaged in the Action at Alkmaar	—
——	Attack on the French position between Bergen and Egmont-op-Zee	58
——	Occupation of Alkmaar by the British Troops	59
——	Action near Alkmaar	—
——	Withdrawal of the British Troops from Holland	60
——	Regiment arrived in England	—
1800	Embarked for Ireland	—
——	Expedition to the coast of France under Brigadier the Honorable Sir Thomas Maitland	—
——	Joined the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir James Pulteney destined for the coast of Spain	—
——	Landed at Ferrol	—
——	Sailed to Vigo	61
——	Proceeded to Cadiz	—
——	Embarked for Gibraltar	—
——	Expedition to Egypt	—
1801	The Thirty-first proceeded to Lisbon, and subsequently to Minorca	—
1802	Deliverance of Egypt from the French Troops	62
——	Peace of Amiens	—
——	The Regiment embarked at Minorca for England	—
1803	Removed to Jersey	—
——	Gallant conduct of a Private Soldier of the Thirty-first Regiment	—
1803	Renewal of the War with France	63
——	Preparations for the defence of England from the menace of French Invasion	—
1804	A second battalion added to the Regiment	64
——	The Regiment embarked for England	—
——	War declared by Spain against Great Britain	—
1805	The second battalion proceeded from Chester, and joined the first battalion at Winchester	—
1806	Employed on the occasion of the Funeral of Admiral Viscount Nelson	65
——	The first battalion embarked for Sicily	—
1807	Proceeded on the Expedition to Egypt under Major-General Fraser	66
——	Attacked by the Turks at Rosetta	67
——	Egypt evacuated by the British	68
——	Return of the troops to Sicily	—
1808	The first battalion embarked for Malta	—
1810	Returned to Sicily	—
1811	Proceeded to Malta	69
——	Returned to Sicily	—
1812	The grenadier company embarked for the east coast of Spain	—
1813	Returned to Sicily	—
1814	The first battalion proceeded on an expedition to Italy	70
——	Disembarked at Leghorn	—
——	Actions at Sestri and Recco	—
——	Action at La Sturla, on the heights of Albaro	71
——	Gallantry of the first battalion	72
——	Occupation of Genoa	73
——	The first battalion embarked for Corsica	—
——	Returned to Sicily	74
——	Treaty of Peace with France	—
——	The second battalion disbanded	—
——	Honorary Distinctions acquired by the Regiment	—
1815	Return of Napoleon Bonaparte to France, and Renewal of the War	75
——	The Regiment embarked for Naples	—
——	Battle of Waterloo	76
——	Termination of the War	—
——	The Regiment embarked for Genoa	—
1816	Embarked for Malta	—
1818	Returned to England	—
1819	Disturbed state of the Manufacturing Districts	—
——	The Thanks of the Sovereign and of the Magistrates conveyed to the Thirty-first and other Corps employed at Manchester	77
1821	The Regiment embarked for Ireland	78
1824	Returned to England	79
1825	Embarked for Calcutta	—
——	Destruction of the “Kent” East Indiaman by fire in the Bay of Biscay	80
——	Gallant conduct of the right wing, embarked in the “Kent” during the conflagration	81
——	Names of the Officers, and the number of the men, women, and children, saved by the ships “Cambria” and “Caroline”	82
——	Letter from the Adjutant-General to Lieut.-Colonel Fearon, commanding the Thirty-first, expressive of the Commander-in-Chief’s approbation of the courage and discipline displayed by the right wing of the regiment during the burning of the “Kent”	88
——	Further particulars relating to this calamity	89
——	Part of the right wing re-embarked for India	92
——	Joined the left wing at Berhampore	—
1826	Another detachment embarked for India	93
——	The Regiment marched to Meerut	94
——	Presentation of New Colours to the Regiment by Lady Amherst	95
1831	Marched to Kurna	96
——	Decease of General the Earl of Mulgrave	97
——	General Sir Henry Warde, G.C.B., appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	Interview between the Governor-General of India, Lord William Bentinck, and Runjeet Singh, the Sovereign of the Punjaub	98
——	The Regiment formed part of the Governor-General’s Escort	—
——	Detail of the Proceedings on the Sutlej	99
——	The Regiment returned to Kurnaul
1834	Decease of General Sir Henry Warde	100
——	Lieut.-General Sir Edward Barnes, G.C.B., appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
1836	The Regiment marched to Dinapore	—
1838	Decease of General Sir Edward Barnes	101
——	Lieut.-General Sir Colin Halkett, K.C.B., appointed Colonel of the Regiment	—
——	The Regiment marched to Ghazeepore	—
1840	Marched to Agra	102
1841	Insurrection at Cabool	103
1842	The Regiment marched to Peshawur to join the army under Major-General Pollock, destined to proceed to Cabool	—
——	Arrival of the army at Jellalabad	104
——	The Regiment marched to Peshbolak to attack the Shinwarees	105
——	Action at Mazeena	107
——	Passage of the Jugdulluck Pass	109
——	Action at Tezeen	110
——	Advance on Cabool	112
——	Occupation of the Bala Hissar	113
——	Release of the Officers, Ladies, and Soldiers, taken prisoners by the Affghans, at the commencement of the insurrection	—
1842	Return of the Army to India	113
——	Action at the Jugdulluck Pass	114
——	Skirmishes in the Passes between Tezeen and Gundamuck	—
——	Arrival of the troops at Jellalabad	115
——	Marched to Peshawur	—
——	Honors rendered to the troops on arrival at Ferozepore	—
——	Authorized to bear the word “Cabool, 1842,” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	—
——	The Regiment marched to Umballa	—
——	Expedition to Khytul	116
——	Outbreak at Lahore	—
1843	The Regiment marched to Ferozepore	—
1844	Returned to Umballa	117
1845	Disturbed state of the Punjaub	—
——	Sikh invasion of the British Territories in India	118
——	The Regiment marched from Umballa to join the Ferozepore Field force	119
——	Battle of Moodkee	120
——	—— —— Ferozeshah	126
1846	The Regiment marched towards Loodiana with the troops under Major-General Sir Henry Smith	136
——	The Fort of Dhurrumkote captured from the Sikhs	137
——	Action at Buddiwal	—
——	Battle of Aliwal	138
——	Return of the troops under Major-General Sir Henry Smith to the head-quarters of the Army	145
——	Battle of Sobraon	—
——	Advance of the Army on Lahore	156
——	Occupation of the City	158
1846	Orders received for the Regiment to return to Europe	159
——	Embarked for Calcutta	163
——	Review of the Punjaub Campaign	165
——	Honors conferred on the “Army of the Sutlej”	167
——	General Lord Gough’s farewell order to the Regiment	172
——	Embarked for England	174
——	Reception on arrival	175
——	Letter to Lieut.-Colonel Spence, from General Sir Colin Halkett, reviewing the services of the Regiment	177
——	Stationed at Walmer	182
1847	Authorized to bear on the Regimental Colour and Appointments the words “Moodkee,” “Ferozeshah,” “Aliwal,” and “Sobraon”	183
——	General Sir Colin Halkett G.C.B., removed to the forty-fifth Regiment	—
——	Lieut.-General the Honorable Henry Otway Trevor appointed Colonel of the Thirty-first Regiment	—
——	The Regiment removed to Manchester	—
1848	Embarked for Ireland	—
——	Presentation of New Colours by Major-General His Royal Highness the Prince George of Cambridge	184
1849	Stationed at Athlone	186
1850	Removed to Dublin	—
——	Presentation of a Testimonial to Lieut.-Colonel Spence on his retirement	—
——	Conclusion	—

---

OF

THE THIRTY-FIRST REGIMENT.

---

Year		Page
1804	Projected French invasion of England	187
1805	Formation of the Second Battalion of the Thirty-first Regiment at Chester	—
——	Marched from Chester to Winchester	—
1806	Proceeded to Gosport	188
1807	Embarked for Guernsey	—
——	Proceeded to Ireland	—
1808	Joined the force assembled at Falmouth under the command of Lieut.-General Sir David Baird	—
——	Sailed for Portugal	189
——	Marched to reinforce the army in Spain under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore	—
1809	The intended advance countermanded	—
——	Battle of Corunna	190
——	Arrival of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley at Lisbon, and his appointment to the command of the army in the Peninsula	—
——	The second battalion of the Thirty-first marched towards Oporto	191
——	Passage of the Douro	—
1809	Arrived at Oropesa	191
——	Battle of Talavera	192
——	Authorized to bear the word “Talavera” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	193
——	Stationed at Abrantes	194
1810	Marched to Portalegre	—
——	Encamped between the Estrella and the Tagus	195
——	Battle of Busaco	—
——	Marched on Thomar	—
——	Skirmishes near Alhandra	196
1811	Pursuit of Marshal Massena	—
——	Siege of Olivenza and Badajoz	—
——	Battle of Albuhera	197
——	Authorized to bear the word “Albuhera” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	199
——	Second siege of Badajoz	—
——	Affair at Arroyo dos Molinos	200
——	Stationed at Merida	—
1812	Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo	—
——	Third siege of Badajoz	—
——	Capture of Badajoz	201
——	Attack on the French works at Almaraz	—
——	Operations against General Drouet	202
——	Siege of the Castle of Burgos	203
——	Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division, of which the second battalion of the Thirty-first formed part, cantoned at Coria and Placentia	204
1813	Advance upon Burgos and Vittoria	—
——	Battle of Vittoria	—
——	Authorized to bear the word “Vittoria” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	205
——	Siege of Pampeluna	206
——	The French dislodged from the valley of Bastan	—
——	Action in the Pass of Roncesvalles	—
1813	Engaged on the heights at Pampeluna	206
——	Authorized to bear the word “Pyrenees” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	207
——	Capture of a French convoy at Elizondo	—
——	Capture of St. Sebastian and Pampeluna	—
——	March of the Allied Army to the French side of the Pyrenees	—-
——	Engaged in the Pass of Maya	—
——	Passage of the Nivelle	—
——	Authorized to bear the word “Nivelle” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	208
——	Passage of the Nive	—
——	Action at St. Pierre, near Bayonne	209
——	Authorized to bear the word “Nive” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	210
1814	Action on the heights of Garris	—
——	Battle of Orthes	211
——	Authorized to bear the word “Orthes” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	—
——	Action at Aire	—
——	Battle of Toulouse	—
——	Sortie from Bayonne	212
——	Termination of the Peninsular War	—
——	The second battalion of the Thirty-first Regiment marched to Bourdeaux	—
——	Embarked for Ireland	—
——	Authorized to bear the word “Peninsula” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments	—
——	Proceeded to Portsmouth	213
——	Disbanded	—

---

---

OF

THE THIRTY-FIRST, OR THE HUNTINGDONSHIRE,

REGIMENT OF FOOT.

---

---

In the commencement of the eighteenth century, the British Monarch, King William III., found that the conditions of the Treaty of Ryswick, concluded in 1697, were violated by the King of France, Louis XIV., who, on the decease of Charles II. of Spain on the 1st of November, 1700, pursued with unremitting assiduity his ambitious project of ultimately uniting the crowns of France and Spain, by procuring the accession of his grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, to the vacant throne; thus excluding the claims of the House of Austria, and disregarding the existing treaties between the principal nations of Europe. The seizure of the Spanish Netherlands by the troops of France,—the detention of the Dutch garrisons in the barrier towns,—the declaration of Louis XIV. in favour of the family of James II., and other acts of hostility, justified the British Government in making preparations for war.

King William had determined on active measures, by sea and land, against the powers of France and Spain, and had accordingly directed augmentations to be made in the navy and army. A division of the army had been appointed, under the command of Brigadier-General Ingoldsby, (twenty-third regiment,) to embark for Flanders, and another portion of the army was selected to embark for the coast of Spain, under the orders of the Duke of Ormond.

The death of King William III. took place on the 8th of March, 1702. His policy was adopted by his successor Queen Anne, who entered into treaties of alliance with the Emperor of Germany,—the States-General of the United Provinces,—and other Princes and Potentates, for preserving the liberty and balance of power in Europe, and for defeating the ambitious views of France.

The measures for increasing the efficiency of the fleet had occasioned the suggestion of raising Corps of Marines, capable of acting on land as well as at sea. Several regiments of the regular army were appointed to serve as Marines, and six additional regiments were especially raised for that service.[6]

On the 14th of March, 1702, a Royal Warrant was issued, authorising Colonel George Villiers to raise a Regiment of Marines, which was to consist of twelve companies, of two serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and fifty-nine private soldiers each, with an additional serjeant to the grenadier company. The rendezvous of the regiment was appointed to be at Taunton and Bridgewater.

For the raising of this regiment the following officers received commissions, those of the field officers being antedated to the 12th of February, 1702:—

The declaration of hostilities against France and Spain was issued on the 4th of May, 1702: thus began, “fruitful in great actions and important results,” The War of the Spanish Succession.

Additional forces were sent to Flanders, and the Earl of Marlborough was appointed to command the confederate troops with the rank of Captain-General.

The expedition, which had been planned by King William against Spain, was carried out by the Ministers of Queen Anne. It was arranged, accordingly, that a combined fleet of English and Dutch ships, consisting of fifty sail of the line, besides frigates, under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and a land force amounting to nearly fourteen thousand men, under the command of the Duke of Ormond, should proceed to the coast of Spain. The following corps were employed on this service, namely:—

			Officers and Men.
Lloyd’s Dragoons, now 3rd Light Dragoons (detachment.)			275
Foot Guards, the Grenadier and Coldstream			755
Sir H. Bellasis’s	now   2nd	Foot	834
Churchill’s	3rd	”	834
Seymour’s	4th	”	834
Columbine’s	6th	”	724
O’Hara’s, 3 companies	7th	Royal Fusiliers	313
Erle’s	19th	Foot	724
Gustavus Hamilton’s	20th	”	724
Villiers’s Marines, 5 Companies.	31st	”	520
Fox’s Marines	32nd	”	834
Donegal’s	35th	”	724
Charlemont’s	36th	”	724
Shannon’s Marines			834
			——
			9653
Dutch Regiments commanded by Major-General Baron Sparre and Brigadier Pallandt			}   3924
			———
			13,577

Colonel Villiers’s Corps of Marines, now the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, soon after its formation was thus called upon to supply five Companies for embarkation for active service on board the fleet destined against Spain: these Companies embarked in the latter part of May from Plymouth, and proceeded to join the fleet at Portsmouth, from whence the expedition sailed to Cadiz in the month of July, 1702.

The armament appeared off Cadiz on the 12th of August, and the Duke summoned the place; but his terms being refused, he landed on the 15th at the Bay of Bulls, between Rota and Fort St. Catherine, under great disadvantages and a well conducted opposition: he marched upon Rota, where the horses and stores were disembarked, and in two days afterwards he advanced to the town of St. Mary. Rota was retaken by a coup-de-main, and the British garrison of 300 men was captured. The attempt on Cadiz failed; the troops were re-embarked, and sailed from Cadiz on the 30th of September.

In alluding to this expedition, Bishop Burnet remarks,—“It is certain our Court had false accounts of the state the place was in, both with relation to the garrison, and to the fortifications; the garrison was much stronger, and the fortifications were in a better state, than was represented.”

Conspicuous as the bravery of the troops had been in the expedition against Cadiz, still the failure of the attempt naturally caused painful feelings to arise among the British soldiers, who were disappointed of reaping the well-earned fame of a successful enterprise, when victory appeared almost within their grasp. The receipt of information of the arrival of a Spanish fleet from the West Indies, under a French convoy, at the harbour of Vigo, speedily dissipated these feelings, and gave renewed hopes to the troops. The allied fleet immediately bent its course thither, and arrived before Vigo on the 22nd of October, 1702. The French admiral Count de Chateaurenaud had placed his shipping and the galleons within a narrow passage, the entrance to which was defended by a castle on one side, and by platforms mounted with cannon on both sides of the inlet; a strong boom was thrown across the harbour.

To facilitate the attack on this formidable barrier, the Duke of Ormond landed a portion of his army six miles from Vigo on the 23rd of October, and took, by assault, a battery of forty pieces of cannon, situated at the entrance of the bay. A British flag, hoisted on this fort, was the signal for a general attack. The fleet in full sail approached, broke the boom at the first shock, and became closely engaged with the enemy’s ships, while the British troops that had landed, stormed and captured the batteries. After a vigorous defence, the French and Spaniards, finding they could not escape, set fire to some of their vessels, and cast their cargoes into the sea; but the British exerted themselves nobly in extinguishing the flames, and succeeded in saving six galleons and seven ships of war. Two thousand of the enemy are stated to have perished, and the Spaniards sustained a loss in goods and treasure exceeding eight million dollars, more than one-half of which fell to the captors, whose loss in this victory was inconsiderable. Queen Anne, attended by the Lords and Commons, went in state to St. Paul’s Cathedral to return thanks for this success, and each of the regiments of infantry received 561l. 10s. prize-money.

Villiers’s Marines (THIRTY-FIRST regiment) did not land at Vigo, but served on board the fleet in this gallant enterprise.

The troops under the Duke of Ormond subsequently returned to England, and on their arrival in November, 1702, were stationed as follows, namely:—

On the 6th of January, 1703, seven companies of the regiment were stationed at Plymouth, and on the 27th of that month four companies were ordered for embarkation on board of the ships Suffolk and Grafton, which proceeded on service to the coast of Spain, to join the fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and continued in that quarter, and in the Mediterranean, during that year.

In December, 1703, Colonel Villiers, who was in command of the Regiment on board of the fleet, was drowned. He was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Regiment by Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Lutterell, on the 6th of December of that year.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, being at this time a Marine Corps, continued to serve on board the fleet in the Mediterranean, and in February, 1704, proceeded, under Admiral Sir George Rooke, to Lisbon, from whence it proceeded to Barcelona, where the troops were landed under the command of Major-General the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, on the 19th of May; but the force, being inadequate for the purpose intended, was re-embarked on the day following.

The fleet next proceeded to attack the fortress of Gibraltar, and the Prince of Hesse effected a landing on the afternoon of the 21st of July, 1704, with eighteen hundred British and Dutch Marines: after a bombardment of three days, the governor was forced to capitulate, and the Prince of Hesse took possession of the garrison on the evening of Sunday, the 24th of July, 1704. The attack of the seamen and marines is recorded in history to have been one of the boldest and most difficult ever performed. The fortress of Gibraltar was thus taken, and was besieged by the Spaniards and French in October following, for seven months, during which period it was successfully defended by the navy and marines, and has since remained, as a monument of British valour, in possession of the Crown of Great Britain.

After selecting a sufficient force to garrison Gibraltar, the Marine Corps were distributed in the several ships of war which were then collected in the Tagus, in order to co-operate with the land forces on the coast of Spain.

Towards the end of May, 1705, the British fleet having about five thousand troops on board, with General the Earl of Peterborough, proceeded to Lisbon; King Charles embarked on board of the Ranelagh on the 23rd of July, and the Dutch fleet having joined in the Tagus, proceeded from thence, and anchored before Barcelona on the 22nd of August.

The Earl of Peterborough commenced operations against Barcelona by an attack on the strong fortress of Montjuich, which was taken by storm on the 17th of September. In this attack the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt was wounded by a musket-ball which occasioned his death. The city of Barcelona was invested, and after considerable efforts on the part of the besiegers and the besieged, the garrison surrendered on the 6th of October, 1705.

The capture of Barcelona obtained for the allied forces the applause of the nations of Europe, and in a great degree promoted the cause of King Charles in his efforts to succeed to the Crown of Spain.

The decease of Colonel Lutterell having taken place, he was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel Josiah Churchill, on the 1st of February, 1706.

The neglect of King Charles III. and his counsellors to secure the advantages obtained by the conquests before stated, and the persevering efforts made in favour of King Philip V. by the French, and by those persons in other countries who supported his cause, occasioned great difficulties, as well as serious losses to the allied forces.

A powerful French and Spanish force by land, aided by a fleet, attempted the recapture of Barcelona, which was besieged in the beginning of April, 1706; but when the enemy had made preparations to attack the place by storm, the English and Dutch fleet arrived with reinforcements for the garrison;—the French relaxed in their efforts, and the siege was raised on the 11th of May.

The city of Barcelona was thus relieved, and the allied fleet, with the troops on board, proceeded to the coast of Valencia; after capturing Carthagena, and placing six hundred Marines for its defence, the expedition proceeded to an attack upon Alicant, which, after a gallant resistance and severe loss, surrendered on the 25th of August, 1706.

The fleet then proceeded to Iviça and Majorca, which surrendered to King Charles III., and detachments of Marines were placed as garrisons in those islands.

The defeat of the allied forces under the Earl of Galway by the Duke of Berwick at Almanza, on the 25th of April, 1707, cast a gloom over the prospects of King Charles in Spain; and in June following, measures were adopted for co-operating with the Duke of Savoy and the Prince Eugene, in an attack upon Toulon. The fleet proceeded for the coast of Italy, and anchored between Nice and Antibes, when a conference took place with the commanders-in-chief of the sea and land forces, and it was decided that a joint attack should be made upon a portion of the enemy’s army which was entrenched upon the river Var; the enemy having evacuated his positions, they were immediately occupied by several hundred British seamen and marines; the passage was thus secured for the Duke of Savoy to prosecute his designs, and ships were stationed along different parts of the sea-coast: every aid was afforded by the fleet; but the enemy, having been reinforced, made a successful sally, and the allied forces sustained considerable loss; the siege was consequently raised on the 10th of August following.

In consequence of King Charles having desired that Sardinia should be reduced, with a view to a passage being opened for his troops into Naples to attack Sicily, and also to secure the means of supplying provisions for his armies, it was decided that a body of marines should be withdrawn from Catalonia to assist in this enterprise. On the 12th of August, 1708, the armament designed for this service arrived before Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, and after receiving a hesitating reply to the summons to surrender, the bombardment commenced on that evening, and continued until the following morning, when, at the break of day, Major-General Wills (Thirtieth regiment), at the head of the Marines, with one Spanish regiment, landed, and the place surrendered.

It was next decided that an attempt should be made upon the island of Minorca. The fleet accordingly set sail, and arrived before Port Mahon on the 28th of August, 1708.

At this period the six marine regiments had been much reduced in numbers by the arduous services on which they had been employed from the commencement of the war, so that it became necessary to draft the men of two of these corps into the other four regiments, in order to render this force effective for the service for which it was now destined, and which, there was reason to expect, would be difficult, and would require the most energetic measures towards effecting the conquest of the island. For this purpose all the Marines fit for service, were drawn from the ships about to return home, and were incorporated in the four regiments which were employed in the reduction of this island. The two regiments (Holl’s and Shannon’s) returned to England in order to recruit their numbers.

The fleet proceeded to commence operations, and the first attack was against Fort Fornelle, which was cannonaded, and surrendered after a contest of four hours; a detachment proceeded to Citadella, the capital, which surrendered; batteries, which had been erected, were opened on the works defending the town of Port Mahon, on the 17th of September, when, after a short but brisk fire, a lodgment was effected under the walls of St. Philip’s Castle, and on the following day the place surrendered.

The valuable and important Island of Minorca was thus reduced to submission to the British Crown by the gallantry of the Navy, and about two thousand four hundred Marines; the island, which was ceded to Great Britain at the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, continued in the British possession until the year 1756, when it was recaptured by a combined Spanish and French force under the command of Marshal the Duke de Richelieu.[7]

In the early part of the year 1709, an armament was prepared for the purpose of attacking Port Royal in the province of Nova Scotia, which was then in possession of the French; the expedition was entrusted to Colonel Nicholson of the Marines, and to Captain Martin of the Navy. The squadron proceeded to Boston, where it was reinforced by some ships, and by provincial auxiliary troops: a council of war was held, and arrangements were made for disembarking the troops, which took place on the 24th of September. The fortress surrendered on the 1st of October, and the Marines took possession. The fortress was named Anna-polis Royal, in honor of Queen Anne, in whose reign the conquest was effected.

The affairs of Spain at this time had materially changed, and the prospects of King Charles III. in obtaining the monarchy had become very doubtful. The town of Alicant, after sustaining a powerful siege by the forces of Spain and France, was compelled to surrender in April; the fleet under Admiral Sir George Byng, and the troops on board under Lieut.-General Stanhope, which were destined for its relief, were prevented, by heavy gales and severe weather, from communicating with the town, and affording the desired assistance. The garrison consisted of Colonel Sir Charles Hotham’s and Colonel Frederick Sybourg’s regiments (afterwards disbanded), together with a large body of Marines, who evinced the most heroic perseverance in maintaining the place. On the 6th of April, 1709, the enemy sprung a mine, which split the rock on which the Castle of Alicant was situated, when Colonel Sybourg and several other officers were swallowed up in the opening, which immediately closed. Although they had been permitted to see the mine, they refused to capitulate; the garrison afterwards continued to defend the castle, until Lieut.-General Stanhope, being unable to communicate with the town, proposed terms of surrender, which being acceded to, the gallant survivors of the siege were conveyed on board the fleet, and were removed to Minorca, and afterwards to Barcelona.

In March, 1710, Admiral Sir John Norris, who had arrived at Port Mahon as commander-in-chief of the Naval forces, proceeded to Barcelona, in the month of June, in order to concert with King Charles III. the plan of future operations. It was determined that an expedition should proceed against the Isle of Cette in the province of Languedoc. His troops, including the Marines, landed on the 13th of July, and after a feeble resistance the fort surrendered: the regiment of Stanhope and three hundred Marines advanced against Agde, and the town surrendered. The Isle of Cette was shortly afterwards recaptured by the French, but the British troops had been previously re-embarked.

Colonel Churchill having received Her Majesty’s permission to sell his commission, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Harry Goring, Bart., was promoted to the Colonelcy of the Thirty-first Regiment by purchase, on the 1st of March, 1711.

The decease of Joseph I., Emperor of Germany, took place on the 17th of April, 1711, and King Charles III. of Spain was elected Emperor of Germany, by the title of Charles VI., on the 12th of October of that year: this circumstance rendered unnecessary any further attempts in the cause of King Charles on the part of the British Government. His Majesty embarked at Barcelona on board of the fleet, and proceeded to assume the duties of the Imperial throne.

In the year 1712 negotiations were entered into between Great Britain and France, and a Treaty of Peace was concluded at Utrecht, on the 11th of April, 1713. By this treaty it was settled, that Great Britain should retain possession of Gibraltar, Minorca, and Nova Scotia, which had been conquered during the war, and in acquiring which the Marine Corps had greatly contributed.

From the period of the formation of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in the year 1702, as a Corps of Marines, to the termination of the war by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the regiment was employed, by detachments, on board the fleet, and was engaged on various services at sea, as well as on land, according to the conditions on which it was raised.[8]

Among the reductions which were directed to take place in the establishment of the army consequent on the Peace of Utrecht, the Marine Corps were included in the list of regiments to be discontinued.

The decease of Queen Anne took place on the 1st of August, 1714, and King George I., who was then at Hanover, was immediately proclaimed as the Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland. The partisans of the Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, son of the late King, James II., renewed their exertions in his behalf; and Jacobite principles had become so prevalent in certain parts of the kingdom, that it was necessary that the army, which had been considerably reduced after the Peace of Utrecht, should be again augmented.

Six additional regiments of cavalry (from the ninth to the fourteenth dragoons) were raised. The establishments of the regiments of infantry were increased, and, in consideration of the services of the Marine Corps during the late war, Wills’s, now thirtieth,—Goring’s, now thirty-first,—and Borr’s, now thirty-second, which had been ordered to be disbanded, were retained on the establishment, and were incorporated with the regiments of infantry of the line, and authorised to take rank according to the dates of their original formation in 1702.

The adherents of the Stuart dynasty continued to be numerous, particularly in Scotland, where active preparations were made for the elevation of the “Pretender” to the throne; and the Chevalier de St. George[9] (so styled in France) repeated the attempt which he had made in 1708, and effected a landing in Scotland in December, 1715, where a rebellion had broken out in September; the Earl of Mar had assembled his vassals, erected the standard of the Pretender in the Highlands, and had been joined by several clans, to the number of ten thousand men. King George I. was supported by his Parliament in adopting energetic measures for opposing the designs of the Jacobites, and for maintaining the Protestant Succession.

To oppose the rebellious forces, the Duke of Argyle was appointed to the command of the army in Scotland. After several movements and skirmishing, the rebel army, commanded by the Earl of Mar, advanced, in the early part of November, towards the Firth; and the Duke of Argyle quitted the camp at Stirling, and proceeded to the vicinity of Dumblaine. On the morning of Sunday, the 13th of November, the hostile armies confronted each other on Sheriffmuir. After half-an-hour’s sharp fighting the left wing of the rebel army gave way, and the King’s troops captured several standards and colours; but while this portion of the rebel army was being pursued, the rebels had defeated the left wing of the royal army. Thus each commander had a wing triumphant and a wing defeated: both armies returned to their former ground, but the action was not renewed. The rebels were, however, defeated in their design of crossing the Firth, and they retired, during the night, towards Perth. The royal army returned to Stirling on the following day. The rebels who had assembled in England under the Earl of Derwentwater and Mr. Forster, were also compelled to surrender at Preston, in Lancashire, to General Carpenter, on the same day as the battle of Sheriffmuir was fought.

Towards the end of December the “Pretender” arrived in Scotland, but his presence did not animate the Scots sufficiently to induce them to renew the contest in his behalf; they considered him unfit to be the leader of a great military enterprise, although the Chevalier is recorded in history to have greatly distinguished himself in the battle of Malplaquet in 1709, “when he charged twelve times with the household troops of the King of France, and, in the last charge, was wounded in the arm by a sword.” The Chevalier had the credit of possessing plenty of animal courage, when led by others, but no moral fortitude when left to himself, and dependent upon his own resources.[10]

In the latter part of the year 1715 the royal army had been joined by considerable reinforcements, and in January, 1716, the Duke of Argyle advanced towards Perth.

The Pretender and the Earl of Mar, being unable to oppose effectual resistance, and seeing no prospect of establishing a footing in Scotland, withdrew from their army privately, and escaped to France, after which the Highlanders dispersed.

The rebellion in Scotland at this period thus terminated.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment proceeded to Ireland, and continued to form a part of the force in that portion of the United Kingdom until the year 1739.

On the retirement of Colonel Sir Harry Goring, on the 8th of September, 1716, Lord John Kerr was appointed to the Colonelcy of the regiment.

The remainder of the reign of King George I. did not produce any events to give occasion for the active services of the army, and the movements of regiments from one station to another seldom took place.

His Majesty’s decease occurred on the 11th of June, 1727, and his son, King George II., succeeded to the throne.

Major-General Lord John Kerr died on the 1st of August, 1728, and on the 13th of that month, Colonel the Honorable Charles Cathcart, from the Ninth foot, was appointed to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment.

Colonel William Hargrave was promoted on the 1st of January, 1731, from the Seventh Royal Fusiliers to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to Colonel the Honorable Charles Cathcart, who was removed to the Eighth dragoons.

On the 27th of January, 1737, Colonel William Handasyd was promoted from the Fifteenth foot to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to Colonel William Hargrave, who was removed to the Ninth foot.

In the year 1739 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was removed from Ireland to Great Britain.

In the two previous years the British merchants had made great complaints against the Spanish depredations in America, and on the 23rd of October, 1739, war was proclaimed against Spain by Great Britain; and the events which occurred in Germany in the following year occasioned the contest that is designated the “War of the Austrian Succession,” in which most of the European powers became engaged, and which disturbed the long interval of comparative peace that had succeeded the Treaty of Utrecht.[11]

These events were occasioned by the decease of Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, on the 20th of October, 1740. The Emperor was the last Prince of the House of Austria, and he was succeeded in his hereditary dominions by his eldest daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa, who married, in 1736, the Duke Francis Stephen, of Lorraine. The Duke, in the following year, became Grand-Duke of Tuscany. Immediately on her father’s decease, Maria Theresa was proclaimed Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Transylvania, Archduchess of Austria, and universal successor to all the dominions of the House of Austria, pursuant to the “Pragmatic Sanction;”[12] and she declared her husband co-regent in the government of her dominions.

Although the possessions of Austria were guaranteed to the Archduchess Maria Theresa by the German Edict known in history as the “Pragmatic Sanction,” to which nearly all the powers of Europe had been parties, yet the succession of the Archduchess to her father’s Austrian hereditary territories was disputed by several claimants; and among others by Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, who was afterwards elected Emperor of Germany. The King of Prussia also revived a dormant claim to Silesia, which he invaded in November; the Prussian monarch offered Maria Theresa sufficient money to resist all her enemies, on condition of ceding Silesia to him, but the proposition was indignantly rejected.

The King of France supported the Elector of Bavaria, while King George II. supported the Archduchess Maria Theresa; and in April, 1741, the British Parliament voted a subsidy of 300,000l. to the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. His Majesty also informed the Parliament, that the Queen of Hungary had demanded the twelve thousand troops he had stipulated to furnish; and accordingly he had requested the King of Denmark and the King of Sweden to hold in readiness their quotas of six thousand men each, for the maintenance of which they had received subsidies from England. King George II. was drawn into the war from the apprehension of losing Hanover, but at this period His Majesty abstained from being a principal in the contest, by agreeing with the French sovereign, Louis XV., to give his vote, as Elector of Hanover, to the Elector of Bavaria for the dignity of Emperor of Germany, and thereby to preserve the neutrality of his Hanoverian territories.

During 1741 and the previous year the regiment was encamped at Windsor, and on Lexden Heath, near Colchester, as part of the force ordered to be prepared for the assistance of Maria Theresa, but no embarkation for continental service took place during the year 1741.

The Elector of Bavaria was chosen Emperor of Germany at Frankfort on the Maine, and crowned, as Charles VII., on the 11th of February, 1742: he was, however, a most unhappy prince; his electoral dominions were overrun by the Austrians, the French were driven out of Bohemia, and the King of Prussia, under the mediation of King George II., concluded a peace at Breslau with the Queen of Hungary.

The King of England resolving to take a more active part in the war, an army of sixteen thousand men, under Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, was ordered to be embarked for the Netherlands in the summer of 1742, in order to support the Queen of Hungary.

On the 17th of May the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Deptford for Flanders, having been previously reviewed on Kew-green by King George II. and the Duke of Cumberland, with the other regiments destined for the above service.[13] No action took place during the year, the troops being suddenly marched into winter-quarters, after every preparation had been made for active operations.

In the commencement of the year 1743 the British and Hanoverian troops were assembled in the Low Countries, commanded by Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, as allies to the Austrians, under the command of Marshal Neuperg and the Duke d’Aremberg, and advanced towards Germany, in order to secure the navigation of the Upper Maine. The French Marshal, Noailles, had anticipated the British general, and was already on the opposite shore of this river, and in possession of its principal posts when the Allies arrived at Aschaffenberg. Here the Allied army remained until June, on the 19th of which month King George II., attended by the Duke of Cumberland, arrived at the camp.

The two armies were encamped on the plains near the banks of the Maine, opposite to, and in sight of, each other; with a ridge of hills, covered with woods on the north of each, the Allies being on the north and the French on the south side of the river. The Confederate army amounted to nearly forty thousand men, in high spirits, though nearly destitute of provisions. A retrograde movement being resolved on for the purpose of obtaining supplies, as well as to effect a junction with a corps of twelve thousand Hessians and Hanoverians, in some danger of being cut off at Hanau, His Majesty, on the evening of the 26th of June, gave orders that the army should hold itself in readiness to march on the following morning; accordingly the Confederate army marched towards Dettingen before daylight on the morning of the 27th of June. The army was weakened for want of provisions, the soldiers having been on half-rations for some time, and the horses were without forage.

Marshal Noailles immediately ordered a large force of cavalry and infantry, composed of the household troops and of the Royal Guards, to the village of Dettingen, by which the British had to pass. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Montague, was in advance towards Dettingen, when the French made the above movement, and gave the first intelligence of it to His Majesty.

Aschaffenberg was occupied by the French the moment it was evacuated by the Allies. The Confederate army had to march through a narrow way between a mountain and the Maine, the cannon on the opposite side of the river commanding its flank. Dettingen, in front, was occupied in force by the French, and also Aschaffenberg in the rear. In this situation the destruction of the Allies seemed inevitable; but Marshal Noailles having repassed the river, the Duke de Grammont, who succeeded to the command, advanced to the attack through the defile, thus relinquishing all the advantages of his position. The British troops, animated by the presence of their Sovereign, on the 27th of June, received the impetuous attack of the French with such steadiness and intrepidity, that the latter were forced to retire, and recross the Maine with the greatest precipitation and the loss of five thousand men.

The Twentieth and THIRTY-FIRST regiments were in reserve in a wood on the British right, and towards the afternoon they were led into action by his Majesty in person, who evinced the same martial qualities for which he was distinguished at the battle of Oudenarde, on the 11th of July, 1708, when Hereditary Prince of Brunswick Lunenburg.

The regiment sustained but trifling loss at the battle of Dettingen, in consequence of its having been in reserve during the early part of the action.[14]

Although the victory was highly honorable to those by whom it was gained, yet it was productive of no decisive results.[15] The allied army continued its march to Hanau; it subsequently crossed the Rhine, and was employed in West Germany, but returned to Flanders for winter-quarters.

On the 20th of March, 1744, France declared war against England, and on the 29th of that month a counter-declaration was made by Great Britain, in which the French monarch was accused of violating the “Pragmatic Sanction,” and of assisting the son of the Pretender in his designs on the British throne.

The regiment served the campaign of 1744 with the army commanded by Field-Marshal Wade; it was encamped some time on the banks of the Scheldt, and afterwards penetrated the French territory to the vicinity of Lisle, but no general engagement occurred.

In January, 1745, the Emperor Charles VII. died at Munich, and Francis, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, consort of Maria Theresa, became a candidate for the Imperial crown; this event changed the aspect of affairs in Germany, and led to the re-establishment of the House of Austria in the Imperial dignity.

Colonel Lord Henry Beauclerk was appointed, on the 22nd of April, 1745, from the forty-eighth to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to Colonel W. Handasyd, deceased.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland was appointed to the command of the Confederate army, and on the French investing Tournay, which towards the end of April was besieged by an immense force, under Marshal Count de Saxe, His Royal Highness determined to raise the siege, which resulted in the battle of Fontenoy.

On the morning of the 11th of May, the formidable position at Fontenoy, occupied by the superior numbers of the enemy, was attacked, when the British infantry evinced that heroism for which that arme of the service has ever been conspicuous, and forced the enemy’s position; but being exposed to a destructive cross-fire, in consequence of the Dutch having failed in their attack on the village of Fontenoy, and Brigadier-General Ingoldsby not having captured a battery in the wood of Barry, the British regiments, which had forced the French position, were ordered to retire. The attack was repeated, with the same results: British valour was conspicuous, but the failure of the Dutch rendered a retreat necessary, and the Allied army withdrew to Aeth.[16]

In the London Gazette it was stated that,

It was the practice at this period in all the armies of Europe to form battalions of Grenadiers of the different regiments composing the force in the field; it was their privilege to lead upon all arduous occasions, when they were ever conspicuous, and suffered the most. The grenadier company of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment brought only eleven men out of the field of Fontenoy, of the seventy-five that it took into action, and its captain and subalterns were killed.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment had Lieut.-Colonel Montague, Captains Baird and Pollock, Lieutenant Dalway, four serjeants, and one hundred and twenty-five rank and file killed; Lieutenants Stafford and Porter, Ensigns Worsley, Bromley, and Freeman, six serjeants, and one hundred and thirty rank and file, wounded.

Tournay made a gallant defence until the 21st of June, when it surrendered to Marshal Saxe.

After the battle of Fontenoy the Allied army encamped at Lessines and Grammont, when a demonstration being made by the French to attack the Confederates, it was concentrated at the latter place, in order to receive them. After exchanging a few cannon-shots, the enemy withdrew, showing a disposition to surround the Allies, which determined the Duke of Cumberland to fall back on Brussels.

The Confederate generals suspected that the French would make an attempt upon Ghent, and therefore despatched Lieut.-General Baron de Molck to Ghent to reinforce the garrison of that fortress. The troops appointed for this service were Sir Robert Rich’s (fourth) dragoons, three squadrons of Slipperbach’s dragoons, and two squadrons of the regiments of Ligne and Styrum, and seven hundred hussars; with a battalion of the Royal regiment of foot, and Bligh’s and Handasyd’s regiments (Twentieth and THIRTY-FIRST foot); in all about four thousand men.

The Baron de Molck led his column along the cause-way of Alost, until he reached the Priory of Melle (Pas du Mésle), when it was suddenly assailed by a volley from two batteries near the priory, and the next moment from ten to fifteen thousand French sprang from their concealment among the trees and surrounded the detachment. The Baron de Molck attacked them with such resolution, that he forced a passage, and arrived safely in Ghent with the fourth dragoons, the Royals, and the hussars. Brigadier Bligh, finding it impossible to follow the Lieut.-General, drew off to the right with his own regiment (the 20th), the THIRTY-FIRST, and the Austrian and Dutch dragoons, forced a passage through the enemy, gained an adjacent wood, and retired thence to Dendermond, twelve miles east of Ghent. The loss of the Allies amounted to about six hundred men. This action, which was fought on the 9th of July, is called by the French the combat of La Mésle. In the account of this affair published at the time, it was stated that “our troops behaved with incredible bravery, and have acquired immortal honor.” Ghent was shortly afterwards taken by the French.

The allied army remained entrenched between Antwerp and Brussels until the French Marshal had reduced the chief fortified places in Austrian Flanders.[17]

On the 2nd of September the Grand-Duke of Tuscany was elected Emperor of Germany, by the title of Francis I. At this period the rebellion in Scotland began to assume a formidable aspect. Prince Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, who had arrived in the Highlands towards the end of July, had been joined by several clans, and on the 16th of September proclaimed his father King of Great Britain, at Edinburgh. The success gained over the Royal army, under Lieutenant-General Sir John Cope, at Preston-Pans, on the 21st of September, caused numerous adherents to flock to the Prince’s standard.

Several regiments were in consequence recalled from the Continent, and the THIRTY-FIRST, with other corps, arrived in the river Thames on the 25th of October.[18]

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, which had been much reduced by its casualties during the campaigns in Flanders, did not proceed to Scotland, but remained in the vicinity of London. The young Pretender marched as far as Derby, from whence he commenced his retreat to the north on the 6th of December, as he found but few partisans in England to join him in his expedition.

On the 16th of April, 1746, a decisive blow was given to the hopes of the Pretender by the defeat of the rebels at Culloden. Prince Charles, after enduring many hardships, escaped to France.

Several regiments were now ordered to return to Flanders, but the THIRTY-FIRST remained in Great Britain. On the 2nd of July, 1747, the Duke of Cumberland engaged the French at Laffeld, or Val, where the Allies suffered severely from the misconduct of the Dutch troops.

In the summer of 1748 the Allies again took the field, but hostilities were at length terminated by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was signed on the 7th of October, 1748. By it all the great treaties, from that of Westphalia in 1648, which first recognised the principle of a balance of power in Europe, to that of Vienna in 1738 were renewed and confirmed. Prussia retained Silesia, and the Empress-Queen, Maria Theresa, was guaranteed in the possession of her hereditary dominions, according to the Pragmatic Sanction. France surrendered her conquests in Flanders, and England those in the East and West Indies; all therefore Great Britain gained by the war was the glory of having supported the German sovereignty of Maria Theresa, and of having adhered to former treaties.

Colonel Henry Holmes was appointed by King George II. to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment on the 8th of May, 1749, in succession to Colonel Lord Henry Beauclerk, who retired from the service.

In the year 1749 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was embarked for Minorca, where it remained for the three following years.

In the Royal Warrant, dated the 1st of July, 1751, for ensuring uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of the army, and regulating the number and rank of regiments, the facings of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment were directed to be Buff. The first, or King’s colour, was the Great Union; the second, or Regimental colour, was of Buff silk, with the Union in the upper canton; in the centre of the colour the number of the rank of the regiment, in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.

In 1752 the regiment returned to England from Minorca.

During the years 1753 and 1754 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was stationed in England.

In the year 1755 the regiment proceeded to Scotland, in which country it remained for seven years.

While the regiment was stationed in North Britain, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was interrupted by the aggressions of the French on the British territory in North America, and early in 1756 the King of France prepared a powerful armament for the capture of the island of Minorca. In consequence of this attack on Minorca, hostilities became inevitable on the part of Great Britain, and on the 18th of May war was declared against France.

The garrison of Minorca, consisting of the 4th, 23rd, 24th, and 34th regiments, after making a noble and vigorous defence, which called forth the unqualified admiration of their opponents, was forced to surrender on the 29th of June.

At this period the army and navy were increased, and among other augmentations, fifteen of the regiments of infantry were authorised to raise second battalions from the 25th of August, 1756.

In 1758 these additional battalions were formed into distinct corps, and numbered from the sixty-first to the seventy-fifth regiment. By this arrangement, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was constituted the present Seventieth regiment.[19]

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, having been selected to remain in the United Kingdom, was precluded from taking a part in The Seven Years’ War, the most memorable occurrences of which were, the battle of Plassey, gained in India by Colonel Clive, on the 23rd of June, 1757, which laid the foundation of the British dominion in India; in Germany, the battle of Minden, which was fought on the 1st of August, 1759; in North America, the capture of Cape Breton, in July, 1758; and the capture of Quebec, in September, 1759, which cost the life of the gallant General Wolfe, but which led to the conquest of Canada in the following year, when Montreal, with the whole of that country, surrendered to General Amherst, in September, 1760.

In Germany several hard-fought but indecisive actions occurred: the battle of Warbourg, on the 31st of July, 1760; the action near the Convent of Campen, on the 16th of October following; and the battle of Kirch Denkern, or Fellinghausen, on the 15th and 16th of July, 1761. In the following year actions were fought at Wilhelmstahl and at Amonebourg; the former on the 24th of June, and the latter on the 21st of September.

On the 4th of January, 1762, war was declared against Spain; and Martinique, Grenada, St. Vincent, and other West India islands surrendered to English valour. The important city of Havannah, in Cuba, also capitulated to the British arms.

These successes were followed by a Treaty of Peace, the preliminary articles of which were signed at Fontainebleau, by the Duke of Bedford, on the 3rd of November, 1762.

In June, 1762, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment proceeded from Scotland to England, where it was stationed during the two following years.

On the 20th of August, 1762, Colonel James Adolphus Oughton, from the fifty-fifth regiment, was appointed by His Majesty King George III. to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to Lieutenant-General Henry Holmes, deceased.

The treaty of Fontainebleau was concluded at Paris on the 10th of February, the ratifications were exchanged on the 10th of March, and peace was proclaimed in London on the 22nd of that month.

By this treaty, the whole of Canada, part of Louisiana, together with Cape Breton, and the other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were ceded to Great Britain. In the West Indies, the islands of Tobago, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Grenada were retained by Great Britain; but Martinique, Guadaloupe, Marigalante, and St. Lucia were restored to France. In the East Indies, the French obtained the restitution of their settlements, but agreed not to erect any fortifications in Bengal. Minorca was restored to England in exchange for Belle-Isle, which had been captured by the British in 1761, and it was stipulated that the fortifications of Dunkirk should be demolished. Spain ceded East and West Florida to Great Britain, in return for the restitution of the Havannah, Manilla, and all the places which Spain had lost since the commencement of the war.

In this year the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was embarked for Pensacola, the capital of West Florida, which country had been ceded to Great Britain by Spain at the peace of Fontainebleau; on the passage out, the transport having the regiment on board put into Blue-field Bay, Jamaica, at the time the yellow fever was raging with great violence in that island; the THIRTY-FIRST took the infection, and unfortunately carried it to Pensacola, where the soldiers continued to suffer most severely; so great was the mortality, and so rapid the disease in its course, that the regiment could not supply men to carry their comrades to the grave. The men who attended the funerals of their brother soldiers in the morning, while the regiment was strong enough to preserve some ceremony, were, in many instances, consigned to the tomb in the evening. It appears by the newspapers of the period, in which allusion is made to the mortality, that at one period of its illness the regiment could muster only a corporal and six men for duty.

The regiment remained in the Floridas, garrisoning alternately St. Augustine and Pensacola, the capitals of East and West Florida, until the autumn of 1772, when it was embarked for St. Vincent, to take part in reducing to submission the refractory Caribs in that island.

The island of St. Vincent was captured from the French, in 1762, and was ceded to Great Britain at the peace concluded in the following year; it contained two tribes of natives, called the red and black Caribs, the former being the aborigines, and the latter having sprung from a cargo of African slaves, who escaped from a vessel which was wrecked on the island. The Caribs were devoted to the French interest; they were dangerous and troublesome neighbours to the English planters, and it was found necessary to restrain their conduct, and enforce obedience to a few salutary regulations. They were, however, of a resolute spirit, possessed many thickly wooded fastnesses, and resisted all attempts to restrain their roving propensities and mode of life with such determination, that it became necessary to augment the military force on the island. Although they were contemptible opponents in skill, yet the nature of the climate, and the natural difficulties of the country, being thickly wooded where they inhabited, rendered the service extremely tedious and arduous.

On the 14th of January, 1773, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment fell into an ambuscade, and sustained some loss; the commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Walsh, was among the killed.

After the troops had been in the woods for some months, they at length succeeded, in February, 1774, in bringing the Caribs to terms, who agreed to acknowledge the sovereignty of Great Britain, but were permitted to preserve their own laws and customs.

Thus terminated the Carib war. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment returned to England, and was subsequently stationed in North Britain.

At this period the unfortunate misunderstanding between Great Britain and her American colonies, on the subject of taxation, produced open hostilities. On the 19th of April the first collision occurred at Lexington, and on the 17th of June following the battle of Bunker’s Hill was fought. During the winter Quebec was besieged by an American Army: this fortress was gallantly defended by the troops under Lieut.-General Guy Carleton, and reinforcements were ordered to proceed from England to Canada.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment proceeded from Glasgow to Cork, whence it embarked for Canada in April, as part of the army under Major-General Burgoyne. The transports arrived at Quebec on the 28th of May, shortly after the defeat of the Americans by a sortie of the garrison. Lieut.-General Carleton had pursued the enemy up the river St. Lawrence, and Major-General Burgoyne’s force remained only one night at anchor below Quebec, where orders had been left for him to follow. He joined at Trois Rivières; part of the army disembarked and immediately occupied the villages adjacent to their post on the road to Montreal. On the 8th of June the Americans attempted to surprise the post of Trois Rivières, having passed the river from Sorel with two thousand men.

Brigadier-General Fraser, who commanded at the post of Trois Rivières, gave the foe a ready reception, with such men as he could collect, and, being soon supported from the cantonments and the transports, put the Americans to the rout. The troops pursued the fugitives along the shore, while the shipping sailed up the river and intercepted their flight. Major-General Thompson, the American General, with many officers, and two hundred men, were taken prisoners.

On the 14th of June the flotillas and the force on shore reached Sorel, which the colonists had evacuated a few hours before; Major-General Burgoyne continued the pursuit as far as St. John’s, where the troops from the transports under Major-General Phillips joined him, and soon afterwards an additional reinforcement under Brigadier-General Fraser.

All hope of accommodation now failed; on the 4th of July the American Congress issued their Declaration of Independence, and abjured their allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain. By this Declaration the name of colonies was abolished, and the thirteen provinces, namely, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, were constituted the United States of America.

The whole of Major-General Burgoyne’s army was assembled by the end of July at St. John’s, where it remained encamped during the naval operations on Lake Champlain. After the defeat of the American fleet, on the 11th of October, the weather becoming too severe for further operations in the field, the troops returned to Canada. The posts occupied by the THIRTY-FIRST regiment during the winter were Sorel, St. Charles, St. Denis, St. Anthony, and St. Ours.

Major-General Burgoyne, who had proceeded to England to submit to the Government a plan for the ensuing campaign, arrived in Canada in May, 1777, empowered to carry it out. An army, composed of British, Dutch, and Colonial Corps, with the flank companies of the regiments left to garrison Quebec (among which was the THIRTY-FIRST regiment), amounting to nearly eight thousand men, was equipped and in the field by the 1st of July.

The flank companies of the THIRTY-FIRST, commanded by Captains Cotton and Simpson, formed, with the other flank companies and the twenty-fourth regiment, the advance of the army under Brigadier-General Fraser. Ticonderago was first attacked, and the Provincials were forced to evacuate that post.

Major-General Burgoyne’s plan was to penetrate the United States from Lake Champlain to the river Hudson, and advance upon Albany, with the view of reducing that country to submission. While Major-General Burgoyne moved towards the lake by Skenesborough, a short distance inland from South Bay, where an action occurred on the 6th of July, Brigadier-General Fraser, with the advance, followed the Provincial troops towards Castleton, and on the following day commenced an action by detaching his light companies to occupy a height commanding their flank. The American General observing this movement detached a force to prevent the British obtaining possession of this post. A sharp action ensued, and the Americans retreated with much loss to Huberton, where, meeting with a reinforcement, they made a stand in good order. Brigadier-General Fraser attacked them with great vigour, but not having half their number, made no impression upon them, until Major-General Reidesel, commanding the Dutch, arrived, when their flank being turned, the Americans retreated, leaving two hundred dead on the field, among whom was Colonel Francis, their commander.

The flank companies were hotly engaged in this affair. Brigadier-General Fraser had but 850 men in the beginning of the day, while the enemy amounted to 2000.

When Major-General Burgoyne joined, he pursued the Americans to Fort Anne and Fort Edward, notwithstanding the natural difficulties of the road, which the enemy increased by every possible means that could be devised. The Americans retreated from Fort Edward to Saratoga, and abandoning Fort George, left the navigation of Lake George open to Major-General Burgoyne.

General Arnold was now appointed to command the Americans in the British front, and, forming at Saratoga, fell back to Stillwater. Major-General Burgoyne remained at Fort Edward in great want of provisions and of means to advance; a detachment sent to procure supplies was completely cut off at Bennington, while Lieut.-Colonel St. Leger was compelled to raise the siege of Fort Stanwix, leaving behind his equipage and baggage.

The Americans, greatly elated by these circumstances, had assembled a large body under Major-General Gates at Stillwater. Small parties having been detached to Lieut.-General Burgoyne’s[20] rear, were in some measure successful, and his communication being thus threatened, notwithstanding his difficulties, arising from want of resources, he resolved to advance, and at all hazards to attempt a junction with the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, taking with him thirty days’ provisions. Lieut.-General Burgoyne crossed the river Hudson on the 13th and 14th of September by a bridge of rafts, which had once been swept away, and on the 18th arrived at Stillwater, before the enemy’s position, which he attacked at two o’clock in the afternoon of the 19th of September, when a severe and indecisive action ensued. Both parties held their respective positions, and entrenched themselves within them. The British General, confined between two rivers by a stronger force than his own, continued within his lines and redoubts until the 7th of October, and when nearly destitute of provisions, determined to make another effort to extricate his troops; 1500 British, with twelve pieces of artillery, commanded by Lieut.-General Burgoyne in person, moved in advance towards the American position, and formed his right wing, while a body of light companies and Indians were placed under cover to act upon the enemy’s rear when he should be sufficiently advanced. General Gates, observing this separation of wings, instantly attacked the left wing with a view to cut off all chance of a junction; the British grenadiers were in this wing, and behaved with great gallantry. General Arnold attacked the British right, and Brigadier-General Fraser threw the light companies into a second line, in rear of the right wing, to cover its retreat upon the left. While this movement was taking place, the left of the right wing doubled to the rear. Brigadier-General Fraser led the light infantry to its support, but was mortally wounded; not, however, before his brave troops gave the right wing time to recover, and secured Lieut.-General Burgoyne’s retreat to his camp. The Americans pushed on, and obtained an entrance into the British lines: night put an end to the action.

During the night Lieut.-General Burgoyne removed his position to higher ground in his rear. General Gates distributed his corps to surround the British, and Lieut.-General Burgoyne once more tried a new position, retiring on Saratoga, and abandoning his baggage and provisions, as well as his hospital with 300 sick. He reached Saratoga safely, the Americans having been delayed in their pursuit by bad weather: a detachment, sent to observe the British, succeeded in reaching the place, but withdrew on the appearance of Lieut.-General Burgoyne’s force. Sending a detachment with workmen to examine and repair the roads, Lieut.-General Burgoyne resolved to continue his retreat to Fort George. The detachment, which was of regular troops, had scarcely marched, when the Americans appeared in force; it was instantly recalled, and the hope of rendering the roads passable for artillery was abandoned. The British patrols reported that every avenue of escape was in possession of the enemy; the men were worn down with fatigue and hunger, having been for some time on a reduced allowance, and but three days’ provisions remained. Under these circumstances Lieut.-General Burgoyne was constrained to treat with Major-General Gates, and obtaining honorable terms, capitulated on the 17th of October. The troops, of which the grenadier and light companies of the THIRTY-FIRST formed part, laid down their arms on condition of being sent to England; and they engaged not to serve again in North America during the war.

The American government violated the conditions of the convention, and detained the troops until the year 1781.

In 1778 the French monarch sent a numerous fleet under the Count D’Estaing, having on board a large body of troops, to the assistance of the Americans; in 1779 the court of Spain commenced hostilities against Great Britain, and this example was followed by the Dutch.

Major-General Thomas Clarke, from the Coldstream Guards, was appointed, on the 3rd of May, 1780, to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to Lieut.-General Sir James Adolphus Oughton, K.B., deceased.

The battalion companies of the regiment had remained in Canada, where they eventually were joined by the flank companies. On the 12th of March, 1781, the light company was detached to Lake Champlain, with a view of reconnoitring the neighbourhood, and effecting the destruction of the military stores left at Ticonderago by Lieut.-General Burgoyne. The object was partly accomplished, and Captain Andrew Ross, who commanded the company, gained great credit for the skill and conduct he displayed in this difficult enterprise. The party consisted, in addition to the light company of the THIRTY-FIRST, of men selected from the different Provincial corps, with a few Indians. It was in the spring of the year, when the ice was breaking up, and the operations were attended with difficulties and great privations. The men suffered so severely from fatigue, that the Provincials and Indians dropped off by degrees, and the party was reduced, on its return, to the light company only.

During July the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was encamped on the Plain of Abraham, memorable as the scene of the British victory over the French under the Marquis de Montcalm, on the 13th September, 1759, by which Quebec was gained to England, and in which battle the celebrated Major-General Wolfe lost his life.

In October, 1781, the British army under Lieut.-General the Earl Cornwallis, after a gallant defence against the combined French and American forces, was compelled to surrender to General Washington at York-Town. The enormous expense of carrying on the war with America, so distant from the seat of preparation and power, with the other evils attending this memorable and ever-to-be regretted contest, were so apparent, that the desire for peace became general, and King George III. at length conceded the Independence of the United States. The Preliminary Articles of Peace were signed at Paris on the 30th of November, 1782, by the Commissioners of the King of Great Britain and by those of the American Congress, and the Treaty was concluded in the ensuing February.

While the THIRTY-FIRST was stationed in Canada, a letter, dated the 31st of August, 1782, conveyed to the regiment His Majesty’s pleasure that County-titles should be given to the regiments of infantry, and the THIRTY-FIRST was directed to assume the name of the Huntingdonshire regiment, in order that a connexion between the corps and that county should be cultivated, which might be useful in furthering the success of the recruiting service.

The preliminaries of the treaties between England, France, and Spain, were signed at Versailles on the 20th of January, 1783. St. Lucia was restored to France, also the settlements on the river Senegal, and the city of Pondicherry in the East Indies. France relinquished all her West India conquests, with the exception of Tobago; Spain retained Minorca (which she had captured in the previous year) and West Florida; East Florida was ceded in exchange for the restitution of the Bahamas to Great Britain.

On the 2nd of September, 1783, were signed the Preliminary Articles of Peace with Holland, the peace with that country having been postponed in consequence of the Dutch claiming an indemnification for the expenses of the war, and the restoration of Trincomalee, in Ceylon, which had been captured from the Dutch by the English, in January, 1782, and retaken by the French in August following. The place was, however, restored to Holland.

After eleven years’ service in North America, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked, on the 4th of October, 1787, at Quebec, and on the 7th of November landed at Portsmouth.

During the two following years the regiment remained in Great Britain.

In the year 1789 was effected the French Revolution; the Bastile was stormed by the Parisians on the 14th of July, and the Governor put to death. The National Assembly passed several decrees abolishing all the relies of the feudal system. On the 20th of August a declaration of rights was agreed on to serve as the basis of the French constitution. A national force was embodied, and no vestige of the old government remained, except a King without power, and a Court without splendour.

In the summer of 1789 two British vessels were seized by the commander of a Spanish frigate at Nootka Sound, on the western coast of North America, where a settlement had recently been established for carrying on the fur-trade with the natives. The settlement was taken possession of by Spain, and the British crews were made prisoners. The Government, on receiving this intelligence, called upon the Court of Madrid to make satisfaction for these injuries, and great preparations were made for war by both countries.

Accordingly in July, 1790, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Spithead on board the fleet to perform its original service of Marines, in the event of a war with Spain, which appeared probable. The negotiations were protracted to a considerable length of time, but on the 28th of October a convention was entered into, by which Spain agreed to make reparation for the injuries sustained, and to restore Nootka.

In July, 1791, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was sent hastily to Birmingham, to aid in the suppression of very serious disturbances, which broke out there in consequence of the celebration of the anniversary of the French Revolution, on the 14th of July, 1791, by a party of the “Friends of Freedom,” at a tavern. The populace destroyed the house and chapel of Dr. Priestley, the eminent philosopher, and burned many of the dwellings of those suspected to be friendly to the French cause. The troops employed were praised for their regularity and forbearance on this occasion.

When order had been restored in Birmingham, an outbreak among the miners at Whitehaven called for the assistance of the military, and the regiment was again employed in the delicate as well as unpleasant duty of aiding the civil power in the suppression of riot.

Major-General James Stuart was appointed from the half-pay of the Ninetieth regiment to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment on the 8th of February, 1792, in succession to Lieutenant-General Thomas Clarke, removed to the Thirtieth regiment.

On the 17th of April, 1792, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Port Patrick for Ireland.

Colonel Henry Lord Mulgrave, from the Grenadier Guards, was appointed Colonel of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment on the 8th of February, 1793, in succession to Major-General James Stuart, deceased. His Lordship subsequently assumed the command of the regiment at Waterford, as its Colonel; and, after inspecting the corps in the field, entertained the officers at dinner.

Meanwhile, Louis XVI. had been decapitated, and the progress of democracy menaced Europe with universal anarchy. On the 1st of February the National Convention of France declared war against Great Britain and Holland, and the British Government prepared for hostilities. A large army was sent, under the command of the Duke of York, to join the Austrian and Prussian allies. Several engagements occurred, and the French gained possession of the Austrian Netherlands. Holland opened her principal towns to the enemy, and they were garrisoned by French troops.

In September, 1793, the flank companies of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked for Barbadoes, for the purpose of taking part in the capture of the French West India Islands.

In the beginning of 1794 an armament was assembled at Barbadoes, of which the flank companies of the THIRTY-FIRST formed part, and early in February the expedition, under Admiral Sir John Jervis and General Sir Charles (afterwards Earl) Grey, sailed for Martinique. After some sharp fighting the island was taken possession of by General Sir Charles Grey, on the 22nd of March.[21]

From Martinique the grenadiers, under Prince Edward (afterwards Duke of Kent), the light infantry, under Major-General Dundas, and three other regiments, embarked on the 30th of March for St. Lucia, where they arrived on the 1st of April, and the conquest of that island was effected in three days; His Royal Highness Prince Edward, with his brigade of grenadiers, and Major-General Dundas, with his brigade of light infantry, taking possession of St. Lucia on the 4th of April. The flank companies of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment were afterwards employed in the reduction of the island of Guadaloupe. A determined resistance was made by the enemy; but the island was captured by the 20th of April.

France did not view with indifference the loss of these valuable possessions, and in June a French armament arrived at Guadaloupe for the recovery of that island. The light company, under Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Andrew Ross, highly distinguished itself on the night of the 13th of June, in attacking the enemy near Point-à-Petre. General Sir Charles Grey stated in his despatch:—

The light company also participated in a night attack on Fort Fleur d’Epée between the 25th and 26th of June; on the day following, Brigadier-General Symes, with the grenadiers and light infantry, attacked the enemy, who was driven to Morne Mascot, where he again made resistance, but being charged with the bayonet, he fled into Fort Fleur d’Epée.

Lieut.-Colonel Ross, of the THIRTY-FIRST, commanded the second battalion of light infantry on these occasions.

Lieut.-Colonel Colin Graham, of the twenty-first Royal North British Fusiliers, was appointed to the command of the troops in Basse Terre, and he defended Berville camp with the utmost gallantry until the 6th of October, when he was forced to surrender,—his force having become reduced by excessive exertion, and the unhealthiness of the climate, to one hundred and twenty-five rank and file fit for duty.

The troops at Guadaloupe suffered severely from the climate, and the arduous duties they had to perform, and could only muster 389 soldiers fit for duty on the 1st of September.[23]

By the articles of capitulation the British troops were to march out with the honors of war, and it was agreed to send the garrison to England on board French ships, as soon as transports were ready. The latter part of the agreement was not, however, complied with, as they remained prisoners for more than a year afterwards, during which time many of them died. The garrison consisted of the flank companies of the 17th, 31st, and 34th regiments; the 39th, 43rd, 56th (three companies), and 65th regiments. Their loss in the different actions between the 27th of September and the 6th of October amounted to two officers killed and five wounded; twenty-five non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and fifty-one wounded.

During the year 1794 Lieutenants Davies, Mackenzie, and Williams, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, died of fever contracted in the West Indies.

The whole island of Guadaloupe, with the exception of Fort Matilda, had been recaptured by the French: this fort was defended by the troops under Lieut.-General Prescott until the 10th of December, when it was evacuated by the British.

On the 12th of July, 1794, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Wexford for England, disembarked at Bristol, and marched thence to Southampton.

The regiment, on the 25th of July, 1794, was augmented to ten battalion and two flank companies; and on the 17th of August following embarked for Holland, where it was stationed at Middleburg and Flushing, in the island of Walcheren, but was not employed on any particular duty.

In this year the regiment returned to England, and landed at Plymouth on the 27th of February, 1795.

A camp was formed in the month of August, at Nursling, near Southampton, which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment joined on the 25th of that month, and received a reinforcement to its strength in drafts from the 43rd, 88th, 92nd, and 94th regiments, which raised its establishment to 1000 rank and file, with a second lieutenant-colonel, a major, and one additional lieutenant to each company, besides two recruiting companies.

On the 25th of October, 1795, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked for the West Indies, as part of the armament which had been prepared for the deliverance of the French West India Islands from the power of republicanism, and to reduce to obedience the insurgents of St. Vincent and Grenada. The expedition, commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, sailed with the immense fleet, under the convoy of a squadron of the Royal Navy, commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Christian. The troops amounted to about 25,000 men, in the highest state of equipment; and the armament on quitting the British shores presented a magnificent spectacle, calculated to impress the mind with a just idea of the power of England; but it unfortunately happened that the voyage had been delayed until a very late period of the year; three attempts were made to get under weigh, and each was prevented by the violence of the weather: many ships were driven from their anchors and stranded.

Three hundred sail got under weigh on the 11th of November, when an accident to the Admiral rendered the attempt of no avail. On the 15th another endeavour was overcome by the tempestuous weather. At length the fleet sailed, but it had scarcely got clear of the Isle of Wight, when another severe storm obliged the vessels that had ridden through it with safety to return to Portsmouth.

With great difficulty and exertion Admiral Christian collected the remainder of his convoy, and again sailed on the 9th of December, but four days afterwards a storm destroyed many of the transports, and so scattered the fleet as to render a re-union impossible.

Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby sailed in the “Arethusa” frigate, with such vessels as could be collected, and on the 14th of March, 1796, arrived at Barbadoes.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, having weathered the storm, which had dispersed the fleet in the Channel, proceeded on the voyage, but was unable to make good the passage, and on the 5th of February, 1796, after being six weeks at sea struggling against the violent tempests, the regiment was landed at Gosport, whence it marched to Poole, in Dorsetshire; the regiment was not long inactive, as on the 19th of March it was again on board ship at Southampton, and proceeded to its original destination.

On the 1st of May the THIRTY-FIRST arrived off the island of St. Lucia, on which Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby had already effected a landing. The regiment disembarked immediately, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Hay, and was cantoned near the point of disembarkation at Choc Bay. The fortress of Morne Fortunée was invested by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby; Morne Chabot, another strong position, having been carried with great gallantry by Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir John) Moore.

The batteries against Morne Fortunée were opened on the 14th of May, and on the night of the 17th the strong outpost of La Vigie was assaulted. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched from its position, near Choc Bay, at sunset, for the purpose of a night-attack upon this post, which was remarkably strong. It formed a peninsula, accessible only by a narrow isthmus, and commanded the entrance on one side of the Carenage harbour. The post was defended by two batteries; the first placed midway upon the acclivity, and the second on the summit of the height. The approaches to both were by a circuitous path, and the guide who accompanied the regiment was mortally wounded by the first fire from the enemy’s piquet stationed on the isthmus. The regiment, being ignorant of the country, missed the proper direction. Lieut.-Colonel Hay ordered it to ascend the hill en force, which was done, although attended with great difficulty from the precipitous nature of the ground. The first battery was gallantly carried by storm, and the enemy retired to the higher one. The regiment was unfortunately separated in the ascent, and was unable to make a concentrated and effectual attack upon the works that crowned the height, which it nevertheless, in spite of all obstacles, bravely attempted, but the enemy’s grape-shot took such effect that the regiment was obliged to withdraw, after a severe struggle.

The THIRTY-FIRST had Captains Johnson and Walker, four serjeants, and eighty rank and file killed; Lieut.-Colonels Hay and Arbuthnot, Captains Murray and Sorrell, Lieutenants Sullivan and Hawkshaw, four serjeants, and one hundred and twenty-one rank and file wounded.

On the 25th of May the island of St. Lucia capitulated, and the THIRTY-FIRST, forty-fourth, forty-eighth, and fifty-fifth regiments, under Brigadier-General Moore, were selected to occupy the place. The possession of the island was not a quiet one; small bodies of French, who had deserted from the different fortresses at their capitulation, withdrew into the interior, and joined the runaway slaves and Caribs; taking advantage of the impenetrable nature of the country, they formed themselves into bands for the purpose of molesting the British, and plundering the planters and other residents of the island. Brigadier-General Moore took the field, and penetrated with his force into the wildest quarters of the mountains, in order to eradicate these predatory bands.

The THIRTY-FIRST was employed on this harassing duty, and suffered much from fatigue, privation, and continual exposure; on the service being concluded, the regiment went into quarters at Vieux Fort, and other posts, when it became so unhealthy that the authorities were compelled to remove the corps from the island. The deaths among the men were for a time sixteen each day; on the embarkation of the regiment, on the 22nd of December, for Barbadoes, it had scarcely a soldier fit for duty; and on its disembarkation there, six days afterwards, it became necessary to send the entire regiment into hospital, which was the second time the THIRTY-FIRST had been rendered unserviceable from sickness, the corps having suffered in a similar manner while stationed in Florida in the year 1765.

During the year 1796 the regiment had lost seventeen officers, and eight hundred and seventy men, including those who fell in the attack of La Vigie, in St. Lucia.

In the previous year Prussia had concluded a peace with the French republic, and, in consequence of the United Provinces of Holland having leagued with France, England had taken possession of the Cape of Good Hope; in February, 1796, the island of Ceylon was also captured from the Dutch by Great Britain. The former allies of England now became converted into enemies. War was declared by Holland, which had been constituted the Batavian republic, against Great Britain in May, and Spain followed the example in October. In the same month Lord Malmesbury was sent to Paris to negotiate a peace on the part of the British Government, but the French insisted upon retaining, as integral parts of the republic, the conquests lately made: these terms could not be acceded to consistently with the general interests of Europe, and the negotiation was discontinued.

On the 14th of February, 1797, the combined fleets of France and Spain were defeated off Cape St. Vincent, by Admiral Sir John Jervis, afterwards created Earl St. Vincent, on account of this glorious victory, for which the honor of knighthood was also conferred on Commodore (afterwards Admiral Viscount) Nelson. On the 18th of February the Spanish island of Trinidad surrendered to a British force under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby.

In April, 1797, Austria signed the preliminaries of peace with the French Republic, and, in July, Lord Malmesbury was sent a second time to negotiate a treaty, but the demands of the French Directory rendered the attempt abortive.

In the year 1797 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, greatly reduced in numbers, embarked for England and landed at Gravesend in July; it mustered only eighty-five men, including serjeants, drummers, and rank and file. Shortly after disembarkation the regiment marched to Doncaster, and remained at stations between that place, Hull, and York, for the two following years.

In this year alarming mutinies occurred on board the fleet at Spithead and the Nore, but the British seamen nobly redeemed their character on the 11th of October, 1797, in the victory gained by Admiral Duncan (who was in consequence created Viscount Duncan), over the Dutch fleet, off Camperdown, which was proceeding to join that of the French at Brest.

On the 17th of October the definitive treaty of peace between Austria and the French republic was signed at Campo Formio, so that Great Britain was left to continue the contest single-handed with France and her allies.

The threat of invasion, renewed by France, called forth the patriotic feelings of the British nation; the militia force was increased, and volunteer corps were formed in every part of the kingdom.

Napoleon Bonaparte, against whose legions in the Peninsula, in subsequent years, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment acquired great renown, was now rising step by step to that Imperial sway which he afterwards attained. The French Directory, jealous of his ambition, sent him on the expedition to Egypt, with the view of acting from that country against the British empire in India. Napoleon took Alexandria by storm, and soon established himself at Cairo. The Sublime Porte, incensed by the invasion of Egypt, declared war against France, and formed an alliance with Russia. The fleet, which had conveyed the expedition to Egypt, was almost destroyed by Admiral Nelson in Aboukir Bay on the 1st of August. So large a portion of the French army being thus secluded in a distant land, gave fresh impulse to the Allies, and in November the island of Minorca surrendered to the British arms. In December the co-operation of Russia against France was secured by Great Britain.

At this period of the war the soldiers of the English militia regiments were permitted to extend their services to the regular army;—the THIRTY-FIRST regiment received eight hundred and fifty-three volunteers from the militia.

In March, 1799, war was declared by the French Directory against Austria, and the combined Austrian and Russian armies were so successful as to recover the greater portion of Italy.

In August, 1799, a corresponding attempt was made by Great Britain to recover Holland from the dominion of France, and a numerous army was selected to proceed to that country, under His Royal Highness the Duke of York. Previously to the arrival of the Duke of York, the army was commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.B., with the local rank of General.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched to Deal, embarked for Holland on the 8th of September, and arrived at the Helder on the 15th of the same month. The THIRTY-FIRST and other regiments were embarked after the departure of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, in order to reinforce his army. The Duke of York, having preceded these additional troops by two days, was already in command of the army, which was intrenched in the advance of the Helder on the Zuype, in which lines Sir Ralph Abercromby had, on the 10th of September, near the village of Crabbendam, repulsed the attack of the French and Dutch under General Brune.

Immediately on landing, the THIRTY-FIRST marched to the lines, and joined Major-General the Earl of Chatham’s brigade, in the division of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, on the 15th of September. The Duke of York, having been reinforced by the expected arrival of a corps of twelve thousand Russians, under Lieut.-General Hermann, resolved on attacking the French position in advance of Alkmaar, reaching from Zuyder-Zee on the right, to Camperdown on the left, and embracing the town of Bergen.

The attack was made on the 19th of September, in four columns: the right, formed entirely of Russians, under Lieut.-General Hermann, moved on Bergen; the centre divisions, under Lieut.-General Dundas and Lieut.-General Sir James Pulteney, forced the village and post of Oude Carspel, on the road to Alkmaar; while the left column, in which was the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, advanced to the capture of Hoorne.

The point of attack selected for Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division being at a considerable distance beyond the extent of the line, the THIRTY-FIRST, and other regiments, marched at eight o’clock on the night of the 18th of September, and the movement was performed with such skill and secrecy, that Hoorne was surprised and carried on the following morning without loss, which placed the French position in considerable peril. The Russians having failed in holding Bergen, after having entered it in gallant style, rendered it impossible for the centre division to continue in possession of the posts it had acquired. The British troops were therefore withdrawn to their former lines upon the Zuype, to which the Russians had retreated. Hoorne was evacuated, and the THIRTY-FIRST, with the other regiments of Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division, returned on the night of the 19th of September to the ground they had quitted on the former evening.

From the 20th of September until the 1st of October, both armies remained within their intrenchments, strengthening their lines of defence; the French had received reinforcements, and had inundated a large tract of country on their right by cutting the sluices, thus contracting the ground of operations to six or seven miles.

The Duke of York, on the 2nd of October, made another attack on the French position between Bergen and Egmont-op-Zee. The combined attacks were made in four columns; the division under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, being on the right, marched along the beach. The left of the French army was posted and concentrated about Bergen, a large village surrounded by extensive woods, through which passed the great road leading to Haarlem; between which and the sea was an extensive region of high sand-hills impassable for artillery. Behind the sand-hills, and to the enemy’s right, through the whole extent of North Holland, lies a wet and low country, intersected with dykes, canals, and ditches. The French centre was supported by the town of Alkmaar. The battle soon became serious in front of Bergen, upon which Lieut.-General Dundas had been ordered to proceed.

Meanwhile Sir Ralph Abercromby had passed Bergen in order to turn the position of the French at Alkmaar, and overcame every opposition until he reached Egmont-op-Zee, which post was occupied in great numbers, and gallantly defended. Sir Ralph Abercromby, however, here overthrew a corps of the French army, and wheeling his division to the left, turned the enemy’s position at Bergen, upon which General Brune, the commander-in-chief of the French and Batavian army, fell back, taking up an equally strong position at a short distance to the rear.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment had an opportunity of distinguishing itself particularly throughout this arduous contest, which lasted from six in the morning until the same hour in the evening. In the attack of Bergen, the regiment took two pieces of artillery from the enemy; the corps on the right frequently charged with the bayonet, and lost a great number of men. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment had one serjeant and twenty-seven rank and file killed; Captain Smith, Ensign King, and fifty-five rank and file wounded.

During the night of the 2nd of October, Bergen and Egmont-op-Zee were evacuated by the enemy.

The army remained during the night on the ground it held at the close of the battle, and on the 3rd of October Alkmaar was occupied by detachments of British troops. On the 6th of October, the advanced posts in front of Alkmaar, Egmont-op-Hooff, and Egmont-op-Zee, were pushed forward, preparatory to a general forward movement. At first little opposition was shown, and the British took possession of some villages, and of a position on the sand-hills near Wyck-op-Zee; but the column of Russian troops, under the command of Major-General D’Essen, in endeavouring to gain a height in front of their intended advanced post at Baccum, was vigorously opposed, and afterwards attacked by a strong body of the enemy.

This movement obliged General Sir Ralph Abercromby to move up in support with the reserve of his corps; the French advanced their whole force; the action became general along the whole line from Limmen to the sea, and was maintained with great obstinacy on both sides until night, when the enemy retired, leaving the British masters of the field of battle. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, on the 6th of October, had Lieutenant Forster, one serjeant, and thirty-five rank and file killed; Captain Pickering, Lieutenants Mullins, Walker, Ball, Ensigns Williams and Johnson, three serjeants, and eighty-four rank and file wounded.

In the meantime the French army had been reinforced; the state of the weather, the ruined condition of the roads, the total want of the necessary supplies, offered great obstacles; besides which, the efforts which had been made for the liberation of Holland were not seconded by the Dutch people, so that it was determined to withdraw the British army. A convention was ultimately concluded with General Brune at Alkmaar, on the 18th of October.

On the 16th of November the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at the Texel, and landed at Deal three days afterwards, when it marched immediately to Canterbury, where the effects of the Dutch campaign began to be perceptible. Before the army left Holland dysentery had broken out among the men, arising from their exposure to the damp and fogs natural to the country. The THIRTY-FIRST lost a great number of men, from this cause, while stationed at Canterbury.

On the 15th of May, 1800, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Dover for Ireland, landed at Cove on the 6th of June, and marched directly to Cork, where a force was collecting for a secret service, to which it was added. On the 27th of June the embarkation took place, and on the 8th of July the armament reached the Bay of Quiberon; the twenty-third, THIRTY-FIRST, fifty-second, and sixty-third regiments landed on the Isle de Houat, where they remained encamped, under the command of Brigadier-General the Honorable Thomas Maitland, until the 19th of August, when they again embarked and joined the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir James Pulteney, destined for the coast of Spain. A landing was effected at Ferrol on the 25th of August; the troops advanced to the heights which overlook the town, and the THIRTY-FIRST had some skirmishing with the enemy’s piquets. After viewing the town and its defences, Sir James Pulteney abandoned the idea of attacking the place; the troops were re-embarked on the following morning, and the fleet sailed for Vigo, where it arrived on the 27th of August. Here General Sir Ralph Abercromby joined with other troops, and assumed the command of the whole force. After remaining in Vigo Bay for some time, the fleet sailed for Cadiz, where it arrived on the 3rd of October. Sir Ralph Abercromby summoned the Governor to surrender, but an epidemic fever was raging in the city, and the fleet quitted the coast for fear of infection, and proceeded to Gibraltar.

At this period General Sir Ralph Abercromby received orders from the British Government to proceed to Egypt; but the three battalions of the ninth foot, the second battalion of the twenty-seventh, the THIRTY-FIRST, and two battalions of the fifty-second regiment, being composed principally of volunteers from the militia, whose conditions of enlistment limited their services to time and place, were not available for the expedition to Egypt: they were accordingly ordered to proceed to Lisbon, where they arrived on the 27th of November, having suffered much from confinement on board ship, and the use of salt provisions.

On the 27th of January, 1801, the THIRTY-FIRST was again at sea, and on the 14th of February disembarked at Minorca, which had surrendered to Great Britain in November, 1798; this island was restored to Spain at the Peace of 1802.

The successes of the British arms in Egypt, by which the French were expelled from that country, were followed by a Treaty of Peace, which was signed on the 27th of March, 1802, at Amiens, between the French Republic, Spain, and the Batavian Republic, on the one part, and Great Britain on the other. The principal features of the treaty were, that Great Britain restored all her conquests during the war, excepting Trinidad and Ceylon, which were ceded to her, the former by Spain, and the latter by the Batavian Republic. Portugal was maintained in its integrity, excepting that some of its possessions in Guiana were ceded to France. The territories of the Ottoman Porte were likewise maintained in their integrity. The Ionian Republic was recognised, and Malta was to be restored to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The French agreed to evacuate the Neapolitan and Roman states, and Great Britain all the ports that she held in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.

In May, 1802, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment sailed from Minorca for England, and early in June landed at Portsmouth, on the 19th of which month it was reduced to the Peace Establishment.

In the year 1803 the regiment was removed to Jersey.[24]

Napoleon Bonaparte was now approaching the zenith of his power: the unsettled state of affairs in France had induced him to quit his army in Egypt, and on his return the Directory was abolished, Bonaparte being appointed First Consul of the French Republic. This occurred in 1799, and in the following year Europe was astounded by his daring passage of the Alps, followed by the victory of Marengo, which caused Austria to sue for peace.

The French being driven from Egypt in 1801 by the gallant Abercromby and his brave troops, in which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment would probably have shared, had it not been for the circumstances stated at page 61, the Peace of Amiens was concluded; it, however, gave but a slight interval of tranquillity to Europe. The military spirit of the French nation had been aroused by the genius of Napoleon, who endeavoured to realize his schemes for the aggrandizement of France;—and England appeared as a barrier to his designs.

In May, 1803, the war was renewed; Hanover was overrun by the French, and severed for a time from the British Crown. An immense flotilla was also assembled at Boulogne for the invasion of England. The threat of invasion aroused the patriotism of the British people, and the most strenuous measures were pursued to defeat the French ruler’s designs; the “Army of Reserve Act” was passed in June, 1803, for raising men for home service by ballot; numerous volunteer and yeomanry corps were formed in every part of the kingdom; and all party differences merged into one universal effort for the preservation of Great Britain.

On the 18th of May, 1804, Napoleon was invested with the dignity of Emperor of the French, and on the 26th of May of the following year he was crowned King of Italy at Milan.

Further measures of defence were adopted by Great Britain, and the “Additional Force Act” was passed on the 14th of July, 1804, by which a second battalion was added to the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to be formed of men raised in the county of Chester, for limited service.

The regiment embarked at Jersey for England on the 9th of November, and on the 27th of that month arrived at Portsmouth, whence it marched to Winchester, and received a further number of volunteers from the Militia.

On the 12th of December the Court of Spain issued a declaration of war against England, in consequence of the capture of some frigates off Cadiz, which had been intercepted while on their way to France with cargoes of treasure,—Spain having agreed to furnish a powerful aid to Napoleon.

By July, 1805, the second battalion was fully embodied, and in October proceeded from Chester to Winchester, where the first battalion was stationed.

While the French were pursuing their victorious career in Germany, they experienced dreadful reverses from the navy of Great Britain. On the 21st of October the combined fleets of France and Spain were completely defeated off Cape Trafalgar. The victory was, however, clouded by the death of Admiral Viscount Nelson, to whose memory the highest honors were paid by a grateful and admiring nation.

On the 9th of January, 1806, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was present at the funeral of Admiral Viscount Nelson, and formed part of the line between which the procession passed on its way to St. Paul’s Cathedral, in which the Admiral’s remains were interred, and where a monument was erected by order of Parliament.

In November of the preceding year a squadron of English and Russian vessels landed some troops at Naples without any opposition from the Neapolitan Court. The French Emperor, on receiving intelligence of this transaction, issued a proclamation that “the Neapolitan dynasty had ceased to reign,” and an army, under his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, assisted by Marshal Massena, marched for Naples. On the 15th of February the French entered that capital, and soon obtained possession of the whole kingdom, excepting Gaeta; Ferdinand IV. and his Court having previously retired to Sicily. A decree was shortly issued by Napoleon, conferring the crown of Naples on his brother Joseph, who was proclaimed King on the 30th of May.

England being desirous of preserving Sicily from the dominion of France, troops were embarked for that island;—on the 26th of April the first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at Tilbury-fort, and landed at Messina on the 26th of July.

Previously to the arrival of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, the French had assembled a force in Calabria for the invasion of Sicily, and Major-General Stuart, commanding the British troops in that island, formed the design of cutting off the French division under General Regnier; the result was the battle of Maida, where a victory was gained by the British troops on the 4th of July. Major-General Stuart being sensible that he could not, with his small force, maintain himself in Calabria, recrossed the straits of Messina and returned to Sicily. For this victory Major-General John Stuart received the dignity of Knight of the Bath, the thanks of Parliament, and was created Count of Maida by the King of the Two Sicilies.

Admiral Sir John Duckworth having failed in his coercive mission to detach Turkey from the interests of France, Great Britain determined to seize upon Egypt, as a check to any fresh demonstration by the French against the British possessions in the East Indies.

An armament accordingly sailed from Melazzo, on the coast of Sicily, in February, 1807, under the command of Major-General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser, Colonel of the seventy-eighth regiment, and landed at Aboukir on the 18th of March. On the 21st of March, Alexandria was occupied by the British troops, and it is a singular coincidence that it was the anniversary of the battle fought near there in the year 1801, when the gallant General Sir Ralph Abercromby received the wound which terminated his honorable career.

On the 27th of March a force of fifteen hundred men, of which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment formed part, was detached under the command of Major-General Wauchope to Rosetta. The troops arrived before the city on the 31st of March, and not having been impeded in their progress to the environs, entered the place. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched into Rosetta, while the grenadier battalion occupied a high sandy mound without the city.

Rosetta is situated upon a slight eminence, commanding a view of the river Nile and the fertile lands of the Delta; the streets are somewhat wider than the generality of Egyptian towns, and planted here and there with trees. The houses are high, the lower half of each being a dead wall, with a small door, leading into a narrow passage, well secured with bolts and bars of iron. The chambers are above, with trelliced windows projecting over the streets. The Turks had garrisoned their houses, and remaining quiet, allowed the British to continue their march until some way into the town, when through the loop-holes they had constructed on purpose, and their trelliced windows, a destructive and unexpected fire was opened upon the column. The troops, although placed in a most trying and perilous situation, behaved extremely well, and after having suffered very materially in killed and wounded, retired to Aboukir, from whence they returned to Alexandria.

Major-General Wauchope, who commanded the force, was killed; the THIRTY-FIRST regiment had Captain John Robertson, three serjeants, three drummers, and sixty-nine rank and file killed; Captain Patrick Dowdall, Lieutenants Edward Knox, Peter Fearon, John Thornton, —— Sladden, and Francis Ryan, Ensign Richard Kirby, seven serjeants, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty-nine rank and file wounded. Lieutenant Sladden subsequently died of his wounds.

Brigadier-General the Honorable Robert Meade (Lieutenant-Colonel of the THIRTY-FIRST), the second in command, was also severely wounded.

Major-General Fraser finding that a famine would be the consequence of the British remaining at Alexandria, without the occupation of Rosetta, detached another body of troops, amounting to two thousand five hundred men, under Brigadier-General the Honorable William Stewart, to reduce the place. The force consisted of a detachment of Royal Artillery, a detachment of the twentieth light dragoons, light infantry battalion, first battalion of the thirty-fifth regiment, second battalion of the seventy-eighth regiment, the Baron De Roll’s regiment, and a detachment of seamen. A large Turkish force coming down the Nile from Cairo, the troops were compelled to retire, fighting all the way to Alexandria.

A formidable force now approached Alexandria, and Major-General Fraser sent a flag of truce offering to evacuate Egypt, on condition that the British prisoners should be liberated. The proposal was readily accepted, and on the 19th of September the British troops embarked for Sicily, where they arrived on the 16th of October.

The first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked from Sicily for Malta, on the 17th of September, 1808, where it remained until August, 1810, when it returned to Sicily.

On the 17th of August, 1810, the first battalion landed at Messina, and remained in garrison in the citadel until April, 1811, when Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, being about to proceed to the eastern coast of Spain, sent it to Malta, in order that a stronger corps might be drawn from that island, the thirty-first having been reduced considerably in numbers while stationed in the Mediterranean. The battalion landed at Malta on the 18th of April, but the force left in Sicily being found insufficient, four companies were immediately recalled, and on the 22nd of April re-embarked for Messina; a few months afterwards the head-quarters were ordered back to Sicily, and on the 28th of August joined the detached companies, when the battalion was once more united in Sicily.

About this period the British authorities in Sicily detected the traces of a conspiracy set on foot the year before by the Queen of Naples, who, it is said, had proposed a scheme to Napoleon for massacring the English. A new constitution was established in Sicily, upon the model of that of Great Britain, under the auspices of Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, who had been appointed Captain-General of the Island, and the Queen was sent into retirement.

In November, 1812, the grenadier company of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked from Sicily for the east coast of Spain, under Lieut.-General Frederick Maitland, and landed at Alicant on the 2nd of December. In April, 1813, it returned to Sicily, where it arrived in May.

The first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment remained in garrison in the citadel of Messina until towards the end of 1813, when, in consequence of disturbances at Palermo, the capital of Sicily, which threatened to spread, the troops were detached to various central positions. The THIRTY-FIRST, by a detour, marched upon Castro Giovanni, and remained there until January, 1814, when the battalion returned to Messina.

On the 28th of March, 1814, the battalion embarked at Melazzo, as part of an expedition destined for the shores of Italy, under Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck. In the beginning of April the first division of the army arrived off the coast above and below the city of Genoa, and threatened a descent upon Voltri, rather to engage the attention of the enemy, however, in that quarter, than for any other purpose.

On the 5th of April the second division of the Anglo-Sicilian army disembarked at Leghorn, and marched directly upon Sestri. The French reinforced that place to protect the coast batteries, and prevent the British communicating with the people of the mountains, who were ready to rise against the French. The two British divisions had united, and attacked the enemy, on the 8th of April, at Sestri; the battle lasted throughout the day, and in the night the French General Ronger St. Victor retired towards Recco, taking up his position in rear of Rafallo, where he left his advanced guard; a third British division, in which was the first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, hovered about the coast, and made some attempts to land fresh troops, but was prevented by the enemy’s detachments at Recco.

On the 9th and 10th of April the squadron cannonaded Recco, but was obliged to stand out again; in the night of the 10th General Pègot, who had arrived to relieve General Ronger St. Victor, retired, and occupied, on the 11th of April, a position at Mount Fascia. The English squadron and transports had all arrived before Genoa, and a detachment from the divisions on shore had been able to communicate with the native levies at Fontana Buona. On the 12th of April the position of Mount Fascia was attacked, and, after a hard day’s contest, General Pègot fell back in the night, and took up another strong position at La Sturla, on the heights of Albaro, his right on the sea being covered by a battery of four pieces of artillery, and his left resting on Fort Richelieu. The remainder of the British army disembarked at Nervi, and immediately attacked the enemy on the heights of Albaro, on the 13th of April.

The THIRTY-FIRST, under the command of Colonel Bruce, belonged to this division, and, with the 8th battalion of the Line of the King’s German Legion, dashed in among the enemy the instant of their debarkation, notwithstanding the intersected and difficult nature of the ground, which assisted so materially the obstinate defence of the French. Meanwhile the light company of the THIRTY-FIRST, under Captain Nunn, had carried the battery which covered the enemy’s right, with conspicuous bravery, and dismounted the four guns upon it under a galling fire of musketry and artillery from another battery near that captured.

The THIRTY-FIRST had Captains Stewart and Cruice, three serjeants, one drummer, and thirty-six rank and file wounded; one serjeant and thirteen rank and file killed.

The following extract from Division Orders, dated La Sturla, 14th of April, 1814, bears testimony to the conduct of the corps:—

During the 14th and 15th of April the attacks upon the heights of Albaro were repeated, and on the 17th, while disaffection among the people was rapidly spreading in Genoa, the posts of St. Francisco and St. Martin d’Albaro were carried, and the French retired behind the Bizagno.

By the 18th of April the disaffection in Genoa had reached a crisis, and upon the following day the advance upon the city took place. The THIRTY-FIRST drove the enemy from a strong battery of ten brass guns and two 13½ inch brass mortars, without sustaining any loss.

During the night of the 19th of April a convention was signed; on the morning of the 21st, the enemy marched out of the city and evacuated all his posts. On the 22nd the head-quarters of the THIRTY-FIRST were within the city of Genoa, when the Commander-in-Chief, Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, issued the order from which the following extract is taken:—

On the 27th of April the first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST sailed with a force for the island of Corsica; when the troops arrived opposite Ajaccio, that place capitulated. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment then sailed for Bastia (the birth-place of Napoleon), and landing there on the 11th of May, remained until the 24th of June following, when it embarked for Sicily, and again went into garrison in the citadel of Messina, on the 18th of July, 1814.

In the meantime the brilliant successes gained over the French in the Peninsula and South of France, by the troops under the Duke of Wellington, in which the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment bore a prominent part, led to a treaty of peace with France; Napoleon retired to Elba, which island was ceded to him in full sovereignty for life, with a pension payable from the revenues of France; and on the 3rd of May, 1814, Louis XVIII. entered Paris, and ascended the throne of his ancestors.

On the 24th of October, 1814, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was disbanded at Portsmouth, and the officers and men fit for service were transferred to the first battalion, with which they were incorporated on the 6th of May, 1815, at Messina.

In commemoration of the services of the second battalion during the Peninsular War, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment has received the Royal Authority to bear on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, the words “Talavera,” “Albuhera,” “Vittoria,” “Pyrenees,” “Nivelle,” “Nive,” “Orthes,” and “Peninsula.”

Although the first and second battalions of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment were employed in different countries, yet they were engaged in the promotion of the same interests, namely, the restoration of the exiled families of the House of Bourbon to the thrones of their ancestors; the achievements of the second battalion were in the most distinguished arena, but the first battalion, although it was stationed among the pastoral beauties of Sicily, and the luxurious towns of Italy, maintained its discipline and character, besides adding honors to those formerly acquired on the field of battle, whenever, as on the heights of Albaro, an opportunity had offered.

The peace of Europe was again to be disturbed. The French army retained a chivalrous veneration for Napoleon, who returned from Elba, landed at Cannes, in Provence, on the 1st of March, 1815, and was joined by his former troops. Louis XVIII. withdrew from Paris to Ghent, and Napoleon assumed his former dignity of Emperor of the French.

Marshal Murat, the brother-in-law of Napoleon, by whom in 1808 he had been made King of Naples, upon Joseph Bonaparte being constituted King of Spain, had, in January, 1814, signed a treaty with England, and engaged to co-operate with the allies against France. Napoleon’s triumphal return to France caused Murat to espouse his cause, and he at once commenced hostilities against Austria, issuing a proclamation asserting the independence of Italy. Naples was thereupon invested by the Austrians, while an English squadron entered the port and acted in co-operation.

The allied powers, however, refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of Napoleon, and determined on his dethronement.

These events caused the THIRTY-FIRST regiment to be embarked at Melazzo for Naples, where it arrived on the 25th of May. The city had capitulated to the British fleet, under Admiral Lord Exmouth, and the troops landed to hold possession until the restoration of order in the kingdom, and Ferdinand IV. should be reinstated on the throne of the Two Sicilies. After an exile of nine years, this sovereign entered his capital on the 17th of June; on the following day the hopes of Bonaparte were crushed by his defeat on the memorable field of Waterloo, which victory triumphantly closed the campaign; and on the 8th of July Louis XVIII. re-entered Paris, and the Bourbon government was restored.

In the beginning of July the THIRTY-FIRST had sailed from the Bay of Naples for Genoa, and remained there to support the arrangements for restoring the Sardinian dominions to their original state.

Bonaparte was subsequently compelled to surrender himself a prisoner on the 15th of July to Captain Maitland, commanding the “Bellerophon” ship of war, and the island of St. Helena was afterwards appointed for his residence. Murat’s career was equally brief; he was driven from Italy, and withdrew to Corsica, from which island he made a rash descent on the coast of Calabria. After a sharp action he and his followers were taken prisoners. Murat was tried by a military commission, and shot on the 15th of October.

In February, 1816, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked for Malta, and remained in that island until June, 1818, when it proceeded to England, and landed at Deal on the 22nd of July.

On the return of the regiment to England it was stationed at Dover Castle, Colchester, Chatham, and Sheerness.

In August, 1819, in consequence of disturbances in the manufacturing districts, three companies of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment proceeded to Manchester, three to Macclesfield, and three to Stockport. On the 10th of the same month the regiment was employed in Manchester.

An assemblage of people, estimated at forty to sixty thousand, took place on the 16th of August, in an open space in the town of Manchester, named St. Peter’s Field, for the purpose of petitioning Parliament. Such meetings having been forbidden by proclamation some weeks previously, the military were employed by the civil authorities in dispersing the crowd of persons who had entered the town, with banners, some of which were of a menacing nature.

The troops of the garrison, the fifteenth hussars, the THIRTY-FIRST and eighty-eighth regiments, with the Chester and Manchester yeomanry cavalry, were ordered to be assembled in the vicinity, under the senior officer, Lieut.-Colonel L’Estrange, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment. The yeomanry were engaged during part of the day in dispersing the multitude, many of whom received injuries, and eight or ten were killed. The regular troops behaved with their usual coolness and discipline, in the delicate and important duty they had to perform. The thanks of the Prince Regent, and of the Magistrates, were communicated to the troops in the following letters:—

The disturbances among the manufacturing classes having subsided, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment left Manchester on the 2nd of June, 1820. The troops had been much harassed throughout the winter, in consequence of the ill spirit which prevailed among the people of the surrounding districts, and on the removal of the regiment the municipal authorities of Manchester and Salford addressed a letter to Lieut.-Colonel L’Estrange, expressing their regret at its departure, and their esteem for its conduct during the eventful period the corps was stationed in those towns.

On the 10th of June, 1820, the regiment arrived at Sunderland.

In February, 1821, the regiment marched from Sunderland to Port Patrick, in Scotland, whence, on the 7th of March, it embarked for Donaghadee, and on the following morning proceeded to Belfast. While quartered in this town, the establishment was reduced from ten companies of sixty-five rank and file, to eight companies of seventy-two rank and file each.

During the period the head-quarters remained at Belfast, detachments of the regiment were stationed in Coleraine, Downpatrick, and Carrickfergus, where they were employed on the revenue and other duties generally required from the army in Ireland.

In April, 1822, the regiment was removed from Belfast and its neighbourhood, occupying fresh quarters at Armagh, Newry, and Dundalk.

The regiment, in October 1823, marched from Armagh to Naas, and in January, 1824, proceeded to Dublin, where it occupied Richmond barracks.

In the year 1824 the regiment received orders to prepare for foreign service:—the island of Ceylon was, in the first instance, selected as its destination, but it was eventually changed to Bengal. On the 20th of July the left wing of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched to Kingstown, and embarked on board of transports for Portsmouth, where it arrived on the 26th of July; the right wing, following soon afterwards, joined on the 2nd of August, and the regiment went into barracks at Gosport.

On the 12th of January, 1825, the regiment marched from Gosport for Chatham, where it arrived on the 20th of that month. On the 7th of February the regiment marched to Gravesend to embark for Calcutta: the right wing on board the Honorable East India Company’s ship “Kent,” under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Fearon; the left wing on board the “Scaleby Castle,” under Major Tovey. The two ships parted company off Portsmouth at the end of February, and the “Scaleby Castle,” after making a favourable voyage, arrived at Sangor, in the mouth of the Hoogley, on the 7th of June.

The men had been remarkably healthy during the long confinement on board ship; two only had died during the passage, and only eight were on the sick list when the vessel came to anchor. The men were transferred, after a few days’ delay at Sangor Point, to sloops, a particularly uncomfortable and clumsy description of vessel, then used to transport troops up the River Hoogley from the sand-heads, and on the 21st of June they arrived opposite Fort William, where boats had been prepared to receive them, for they were not yet destined to land. It was the 26th, however, before the left wing was able to sail again; it was therefore five days, during the most trying season of the year, confined in small thatched boats, which were moored to the river’s bank: it nevertheless reached Berhampore on the 2nd of July, with the loss of only one man.

Berhampore, on the Bhagaritty river, is the cantonment of the city of Moorshedabad, and in 1825 was the depôt of the regiments on the Bengal establishment, then on service in Burmah. The companies of the left wing of the corps took possession of the barracks, and remained in them till the 22nd of September.

The voyage of the right wing of the regiment from England was interrupted very early in its progress by one of the most unhappy events that could befall a ship at sea. The Kent took fire on the 1st of March, in the Bay of Biscay, and was totally destroyed: the accident was first perceived about ten o’clock A.M., towards the end of a violent gale of wind, when the sea was disturbed, and the ship rolling heavily.

When all hopes of saving the ship vanished, exertions were made to rescue the troops and the crew. Encouraged by the noble example of their officers, the soldiers preserved the utmost order and firmness in their perilous situation.

During the long and honorable services of the regiment, no opportunity had occurred to put its discipline and conduct to such a severe trial, but it brought from the ordeal a reputation even more distinguished than it had previously gained. In the field, when the spirits of men are excited by the animating circumstances of the contest, where honor is sure and death uncertain, valour and good order may be expected; but in the midst of dangers against which it appeared hopeless to struggle,—at a time when no aid appeared, and passively to die was all that remained,—the manly resignation, the ready obedience, and the unfailing discipline—characteristics of a good soldier—evinced by the THIRTY-FIRST, entitle the regiment to dwell at some length, in its Record, upon the events that called forth those admirable qualities. Although Lieut.-Colonel Fearon and Major M‘Gregor were most conspicuous, yet all who were on board deserve that their names should be recorded.

In the following statement is shown the number of officers and men of the THIRTY-FIRST embarked in the “Kent,” specifying also the number saved:—

	Officers.	Men.	Women.	Children.	Total.
Embarked in the Kent	20	344	47	73	484
Saved by the Cambria	20	276	46	52	394
Saved by the Caroline	—	14	—	—	14
Total lost		54	1	21	76

The following letters will explain the providential means of escape afforded by the brig Cambria, and do justice to the humanity and gallantry of Captain Cook, who commanded it, as well as of his officers and crew. The name of this gallant officer must ever be held in great estimation by the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to him, under Providence, it owes the power of being enabled to record the many high qualities shown by its members in the extremity from which he rescued them.

It was two hours after midnight when the ‘Kent’ blew up; all the individuals of the regiment and of the crew that it had been possible to save were now on board the “Cambria;” their number, however, was diminished by sixty-eight men, one woman, and twenty-one children:—about twenty of the former were left on the poop of the vessel, when it became unsafe for a vessel to approach her; whence, abandoning themselves to despair, they would make no exertion to escape; it was absolutely necessary therefore to leave them: others had thrown themselves into the sea, and were drowned before help could be extended to them, or had come in contact with part of the wreck and had been killed; while the anxiety of some few to board the “Cambria” lost them their lives;—they were jammed to death between the brig and the boats. The only woman lost was suffocated in the orlop deck, with her three children; she was not able to escape. Among the children lost there were four, three girls and a boy, the family of Serjeant Jack, an old and deserving soldier, who had seen much service with the second battalion in the Peninsula. While the women and children were being lowered into the boats, Mrs. Jack fell overboard; the serjeant leaped into the sea to save his wife, and was not able to return to the ship. In the confusion unavoidable on board, the children were overlooked; missing their parents, they had sought refuge, it is supposed, in the Colonel’s cabin, and no one knew, until it was too late, that they were still on board; for the soldiers were not backward in giving their aid to save the families of their comrades; there were instances of men who tied the children of their brother soldiers on their backs, and, leaping overboard, swam with their burdens to the boats. There were indeed proofs among the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of a fortitude, courage, and good-feeling that would have done honor to the highest station. It happened, however, that fourteen of the men, who had remained on the wreck, were picked up the following morning, clinging to some portions of it, by the “Caroline,” a vessel bound from the Mediterranean to Liverpool, and carried by her into that port. The lives lost amounted, therefore, to seventy-six, being two serjeants, two corporals, one drummer, forty-nine privates, one woman, and twenty-one children, as specified at page 82. The “Cambria” was of 200 tons only; notwithstanding her crowded state, she providentially reached Falmouth on the third day (the 4th March), when the regiment landed.

It is needless to observe that nothing was saved from the wreck, and many had found it difficult to preserve even the clothes they happened to have on at the time; the motley and forlorn appearance the corps presented on its landing, was never equalled,—at any rate, in the British army. The kind exertions of the gentry and residents generally in Falmouth, to soften the sufferings of the women and children, must ever be remembered with gratitude by the regiment; the officers are more particularly indebted to this calamity for the brotherly attention and friendship it procured for them from the officers who then belonged to the Division of Royal Marines at Chatham, where on the 26th of March it arrived, having sailed on the 16th of that month in the “Diadem” transport from Falmouth.

The following letter from the Military Secretary, Major-General Sir Herbert Taylor, conveying the sentiments of his Royal Highness the Duke of York of the conduct of the officers and men of the regiment, will show that the discipline received approbation from the quarter from which it was most valuable:—

His Majesty was graciously pleased to confer upon Lieut.-Colonel Fearon the distinction of a Companion of the Bath, for his conduct on the 1st of March.

On the 10th of April a detachment, from the head-quarters at Chatham, marched to Gravesend, and embarked on board the “Charles Grant,” under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Cassidy, who had, a short time before, been appointed to the regiment. After a good passage the “Charles Grant” reached Calcutta on the 16th of August, when the detachment was ordered to Berhampore; it joined the left wing in that cantonment on the 12th of September, when, immediately on its landing, orders were received to return to Fort William. On the 21st of the same month, the left wing, with the detachment,—all under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Cassidy,—were again embarked, and dropping down the river, in a few days reached Fort William, and disembarking, marched into barracks in the fort on the 27th of September.

On the 17th of November the head-quarters marched into Fort William, and the regiment was once more together. This portion had embarked on board the “Lord Hungerford” on the 21st of June, under the command of Major Eagar.

The cholera broke out among the men of the regiment towards the end of November, and not abating, the regiment moved into camp on the south glacis of the fort. The ground was occupied on the 20th of December, and the change was soon attended with advantage.

On the 18th of January 1826, another detachment, consisting of the grenadier company, and part of No. 1, joined, and the strength of the regiment was 39 officers, 50 serjeants, 17 drummers, 48 corporals, and 812 privates.

On the 13th of February the regiment embarked on the river Hoogley, and left the ghaut below the fort for the Sunderbunds, on its route to Dinapore, the Bhagaritty river, by which branch of the Ganges it would have entered the main stream, being at this season of the year too shallow for boats of such a size as composed the fleet. The cholera unfortunately made its appearance during the voyage, and carried off a great number of men. The disease was so sudden in its attacks, and so quick in its effects, that the men scarcely survived till assistance could reach them from the hospital, which being always in the rear, the boat in which a sick man might be, was ordered to drop down to it,—it therefore became necessary to supply officers with a mixture to be given immediately to the person seized: the sick man thus received aid from the nearest boat to his own, and was saved until the more necessary treatment could be used upon him. It was the 2nd of May before the regiment reached Dinapore;—this cantonment is within a few miles of Patna, midway between it and the junction of the Soane with the Ganges; it is composed of two quadrangles, a larger and a smaller one, the southern side of the former being occupied by two long buildings, with a road dividing them in the centre; these formed the barracks, each for a wing of a regiment, the remaining sides of the square being the quarters of the officers;—the centre area is a smooth greensward, used as a parade-ground; the river flows on the north of the whole, and within a few yards of the quarters on that side.

At the end of the hot season of the year, the regiment was ordered to Meerut, and commenced its first march in India, before daylight on the morning of the 8th of November, under Lieut.-Colonel James Cassidy, who had succeeded to the command of the THIRTY-FIRST, Lieut.-Colonel Fearon having been appointed to the sixty-fourth regiment on the 12th of January, 1826. The sick with the women and children had been previously sent by water under Captain Bolton.

The route of the regiment lay across the Soane, which it passed at Quilwur Ghaut, through the Shahabad district to Buxar, beneath the fort of which place it crossed the Ganges by ferry, and marched towards the military station of Ghazeepore, then occupied by the forty-fourth regiment. After passing this post, the regiment crossed the Goomtee by a bridge of boats, where it falls into the Ganges, near the village of Kitee; then to the cantonment of Seerole, near the city of Benares; again reached the banks of the Ganges, at the little village of Joosey, and recrossed it to Allahabad; thence the route lay through Kurrah, Futtehpore, and Korah to Etawah, a city on the Jumna. From Etawah through Shekohabad and Jellasir, in the province of Agra; passing the dilapidated fort of Shasnee, the road led through the city of Coel, to the celebrated fortress of Allyghur; thence by Khorjah Bolundshuhur and Haupper to Meerut, where the regiment arrived on the morning of Saturday, January 13th, 1827, after a march of sixty-seven days, during which time the men continued very healthy;—the number in hospital never exceeded thirty, many for trifling cases, and but two men died.

On the same day the THIRTY-FIRST occupied the lines vacated by the fourteenth regiment. Meerut was the head-quarters of a division of the Bengal Army, commanded by Major-General Reynell; and a considerable force was assembled, as a check upon Delhi, thirty-six miles from Meerut, as well as upon the province of Rohilcund, on the opposite shore of the Ganges.

The THIRTY-FIRST had been without colours since the destruction of the “Kent,” but a new stand, which, for want of an opportunity, had not yet been presented, was in possession of the regiment; and the Governor-General of India, the Right Honorable Lord Amherst, being at Delhi, in the course of a tour of the upper provinces, his Lady was solicited to present the new colours to the regiment. They were presented by her Ladyship on the 7th of March, 1827, and the Governor-General addressed the following speech to Lieut.-Colonel Cassidy on the occasion:—

To celebrate the event, the officers of the regiment entertained a large party at a ball and supper in their Mess-house.

During the years 1828 and 1829 the regiment continued at Meerut.

In 1829 orders were received to reduce the establishment of the regiment to 736 rank and file.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment was at this time stronger than it had ever been; its effective strength amounted to 1086. The men were young and in high health; the climate good, and the barracks excellent, different from those at Dinapore; they consisted of a certain number of detached buildings, each calculated for a subdivision only: they were thatched, and had at the angles good rooms for non-commissioned officers. New buildings were erected of even a superior description, each company having four houses allotted to it, with its proportion of non-commissioned officers’ rooms at the angles, as in the old buildings.

In the commencement of the year 1831 the north-west frontier of India was reinforced, and the THIRTY-FIRST marched to Kurnaul, the head-quarters of the Sirhind division. The regiment left Meerut on the 27th of January, and halted that day at Sardhanna, the capital of an independent state, under the celebrated Begum Sumroo. She had been its ruler for a period of sixty years; and, a Mahometan in her youth, she had adopted Christianity. The officers of the regiment dined with her Highness.

It is five days’ march from Meerut to Kurnaul. On the 30th of January the river Hinden was crossed by ferry, and on the following day the river Jumna, when the regiment encamped in its new quarters. The barracks had not then been built, Kurnaul never having been occupied by a British regiment. The Native cantonment was situated in front of the city, facing to the north.

The new lines marked out for the regiment were in front of the right of the old lines facing the west, in which quarter an extensive plain extends, without one tree to shade it, as far as the eye can reach; in the rear flows the canal of Merdan Ali Khan, a lively stream drawn from the Jumna at Rajghaut, fifty miles above, and running to Delhi, eighty miles below. On the right are long tracts of jungle, with a few villages and some cultivated land near the bank of the canal, a little to the rear. The barracks were detached buildings, two to each company.

General Sir Henry Warde, G.C.B., was appointed from the sixty-eighth regiment to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment on the 13th of April, 1831, in succession to General the Earl of Mulgrave, G.C.B., deceased.

It was the month of June before the barracks were ready to receive the men, until which time the regiment remained in camp. The officers’ houses in rear of the barracks were built at their own expense, it being the custom in the upper provinces of India to possess property of this description; the inconvenience and expense of establishing a cantonment are very severe at the time on many, particularly on the junior officers. It is only, however, when a cantonment is altogether abandoned that this custom can be attended with loss. Kurnaul was likely to be permanent from its position with regard to the Punjaub and the dominions of the Ameers of Scinde, besides the great importance acquired every year by the country beyond the Indus.

In October, 1831, the regiment marched to Roopur on the river Sutlej, as part of the escort attached to the Governor-General, Lord William Bentinck, who had arranged to have an interview at that place with his Highness Runjeet Singh, the Ruler of the Punjaub.

Having left Kurnaul on the 10th of October, the regiment reached the ground allotted for the escort on the 22nd of that month; the route lay through the Sikh territories, on the British side of the Sutlej. Thennaiser, a spot of celebrated sanctity, and Umballa, a populous city, were the only places of consequence, however, on the march. The escort assembled at Roopur, to do honor to the interview, was composed of two squadrons of the sixteenth Lancers, with the band of that regiment, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, two battalions of native infantry (the 14th and 32nd), eight guns of horse artillery, with two squadrons of irregular cavalry from Colonel Skinner’s regiment.

The force Runjeet Singh had brought with him encamped, on the morning of the 25th of October, on the opposite bank of the river, and consisted of ten thousand of his best horse and six thousand disciplined infantry. A bridge of boats had been thrown across the river, and on the morning of the 26th of October the meeting took place; the Chief of the Punjaub, accompanied by a deputation of British officers that had gone to meet him, with a detachment of 3800 horse, 800 being disciplined dragoons, under General Allard, a French officer in Runjeet’s service, crossed the river. All the Sikh chiefs were in attendance on their Sovereign, and the train passed through a street to the Governor-General’s camp, formed by the sixteenth Lancers and the THIRTY-FIRST regiment. This is not the place in which to dwell on the splendour or chivalrous appearance of the scene, on the glitter of the polished armour of some, and the gaiety of the yellow silk in which all were dressed. The British troops were infinitely greater objects of interest and curiosity to the Sikhs, than even the variety of the arms, and the figures of the men of the latter, were to the former. Runjeet Singh inquired into every thing connected with the arming and disciplining of the THIRTY-FIRST with the keenest eye. During a review of the corps, on a second visit, he rode close into the line, and examined every movement, pointing out with great intelligence to the Sirdars, or leaders, about him the evolutions that he thought useful, or sending them to observe particularly how they were performed. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment was not under arms on the return visit. The farewell interview took place on the last day of the month, with the same ceremony as that observed at the first meeting.

The next morning (November 1st) the camps broke up; the THIRTY-FIRST regiment returned, by the route it had come, to Kurnaul, and arrived there on the 16th of November.

In the spring of the year 1832, Lieut.-Colonel Cassidy returned to England in ill health, after having commanded the regiment seven years. He was succeeded by Major Eagar, who died in December following, when for nearly three years the command of the regiment devolved upon the two senior Captains alternately.

On the 10th of October, 1834, Lieut.-General Sir Edward Barnes, G.C.B., was appointed from the seventy-eighth regiment to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to General Sir Henry Warde, G.C.B., deceased.

In December, 1834, Major Bolton joined the regiment, and was promoted, in November of the following year, to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, by purchase, Colonel Cassidy having been removed to the charge of a recruiting district.

On the 20th of January, 1836, the regiment left Kurnaul on its march to Dinapore, and, halting a day near Delhi, crossed the Jumna below the city; thence, continuing through the Doab (land between two rivers), to Allahabad, crossed the Ganges by a bridge of boats above the fort. Having halted at Benares and Ghazeepore, it recrossed the Ganges at Buxar, and arriving on the 26th of March at Dinapore, again took up its quarters in the barracks it had occupied ten years before;—although the weather was very hot, and the regiment had marched without a day’s halt from Cawnpore (thirty-one marches), there were only fifteen sick. From Kurnaul to Dinapore the change of climate is very great, while the confinement of the latter place, with the close and crowded state of the barracks, after the open scene, the comfortable thatched buildings, and the cold bracing winter air of the former station, were severely felt. In Kurnaul the hospital list never exceeded seventy, while it occasionally continued, during the hot weather, so low as thirty, and in the cold season eight or nine, for months together.

During the summer of the year 1837, the thermometer remained at 115 degrees in the barracks for several days, and many deaths occurred from apoplexy, produced by the great heat.

Lieut.-General Sir Colin Halkett, K.C.B. and G.C.H., was appointed from the seventy-first regiment to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, on the 28th of March, 1838, in succession to General Sir Edward Barnes, G.C.B., deceased.

On the 16th of November the THIRTY-FIRST marched towards Ghazeepore, to relieve the forty-fourth regiment, and occupied the barracks at that station on the 27th of that month. Ghazeepore stands at the edge of a fine plain on the left bank of the Ganges, close to the river. It is one of the frontier posts towards Nepaul, is forty-six miles from Benares, and four hundred and six miles from Calcutta.

The strength of the regiment had been reduced to six hundred and thirty-two rank and file; it had at this period been fourteen years in India, during which time the casualties by death amounted to fourteen officers, and six hundred and seventy-seven men.

During this year the regiment remained cantoned at Ghazeepore, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Bolton; and was constantly on the alert in expectation to march towards Nepaul to repel the incursions of the Nepaulese.

On the 3rd of April, 1839, the regiment was augmented to an establishment of ten companies, consisting of one colonel, two lieut.-colonels, two majors, ten captains, thirty subalterns, six staff, fifty-seven serjeants, nineteen drummers, and nine hundred and seventy-six rank and file.

On the 13th of May, 1839, the regiment was inspected by Major-General Cocks, of the Honorable East India Company’s Service, who expressed, in high terms, his approbation of its appearance.

Ghazeepore was found very unhealthy during the rains, and the regiment suffered severely, both in officers and men, from fever and dysentery.

The regiment remained at Ghazeepore until the 12th of October, 1840, when orders were received to march to Agra, to relieve the ninth foot. It arrived at Agra on the 30th of November, and its effectives amounted to forty-one serjeants, and seven hundred rank and file.

At Agra the regiment was more healthy than at the two former stations, and its strength was increased during the year by a large detachment of recruits from England.

In March, 1841, a large party of recruits joined the regiment under the command of Major Skinner, through whose able management they arrived in the highest possible order.

Owing to the indefatigable exertions of Lieut.-Colonel Bolton, the commanding officer, little time elapsed before the regiment formed a highly disciplined and most efficient battalion of 992 bayonets.

At this period the government of Shah Shoojah became so unpopular, that the Affghans appeared determined to effect the expulsion of the British, by whose aid he had been reinstated in the sovereignty of Cabool in 1839, and whose presence was rendered necessary to support his authority.

Towards the close of the year 1841, the Affghans broke out into open insurrection; the British Envoy, Sir William McNaghten, and Sir Alexander Burnes were treacherously murdered; and the British troops, including the forty-fourth regiment, which occupied Cabool, being compelled to evacuate and retreat towards Jellalabad, were cut to pieces on the march.

Jellalabad was soon beleaguered by the Affghans, and every exertion was made to send succour from India to its little garrison, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Sir Robert Sale, of the thirteenth light infantry, who was serving with the rank of Major-General in Affghanistan. Upon the breaking out of the insurrection, the Major-General had been detached from Cabool with a force, in order to reduce the insurgents, and, after much hard fighting in the passes, had taken possession of Jellalabad, the successful defence of which, by his small garrison, forms so interesting a feature in the Affghan campaign.

The regiment was ordered to join a force collected at Peshawur, in the north of the Punjaub, under Major-General Pollock; and on the 15th of January, 1842, it marched from Agra, mustering 996 bayonets, in the highest state of discipline and efficiency.

On the 10th of March the Sutlej was crossed by means of a bridge of boats (which had been constructed for the accommodation of the British troops by the Sikh government) by the force under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Bolton, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment. The force, which consisted of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, the sixth native infantry, some troops of Tait’s irregular horse, and Delafosse’s troop of horse artillery, arrived at Peshawur on the 21st of April, and was most hospitably entertained by General Avitabile,[26] by order of the Maharajah Shere Singh.

Before the corps could join the army, Major-General Pollock forced the Khyber Pass, and marched on to Jellalabad, at which place he arrived on the 16th of April; the Affghans had, on the 7th of April, been attacked, and defeated, by Major-General Sir Robert Sale; Mahomed Akbar Khan was consequently obliged to abandon the siege of Jellalabad, which he had blockaded since February, 1842.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, which had followed Major-General Pollock by forced marches, joined at Jellalabad on the 5th of May,—after making a halt for about five days at Peshawur,—having undergone much privation on the way by the desertion of the camel-drivers: several deaths occurred from famine and fatigue.

The army was halted in wretched tents at Jellalabad, the climate of which is known to be so unhealthy during the summer as to cause it to be used by the natives as a winter residence only. Soon the effects of this displayed itself; the days became so oppressive that both officers and men were obliged to dig deep holes underground in which to shield themselves, in some slight measure, from the burning heat of the sun. The thermometer rose as high as 126° in the tents, and man and beast fell stricken by the extreme heat.

Neither was it in men alone that the army was daily losing its efficiency. From the valley of Jellalabad having been so long the seat of war, the fertile land had become a desert,—the wretched half-starved camels could find no forage on the bare face of the sand, and they died by hundreds; their dead bodies lying about in all directions, swollen with the sun, and emitting the most horrid exhalations, together with the filth and dirt of a standing camp of 50,000 men, added to the disease which raged among the troops. The army suffered a loss which the most sanguinary encounter with the enemy could not have exceeded.

At last, it was found necessary to divide the force, and the fourth brigade, in which was the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, was ordered to march under Brigadier Monteath to Peshbolak, in the Shinwaree country, to punish some refractory tribes, which had behaved with great treachery to a party of Jezailchees, who had been at the former place, and to bring to submission the unruly Shinwarees, who had attacked several convoys, and been guilty of many acts of murder and plunder.

For the first month the regiment met with little opposition, and the camel-thorn, a wild bush, on the leaves of which camels feed, being found in great quantities, and large supplies of grain being taken, the condition of the camels, horses, and other baggage animals was much improved; the half-starved emaciated animals, which had marched from Jellalabad, quickly recovered their wonted vigour and efficiency. The warlike and turbulent Shinwaree tribes retired before Brigadier Monteath’s brigade, until they sheltered themselves in their strongholds, which were formed in a narrow valley, strengthened by many forts and stockaded enclosures, while the heights on either side were defended by numerous sunghas, or breastworks of large stones, which were so constructed as to enable them to dispute every inch of ground with an advancing force.

The brigade having arrived, and encamped about two miles from this formidable position, a reconnoitring party was sent out, under the command of Captain Willes, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to examine the strength of the enemy’s preparations, and determine his exact position. It was composed of two companies of the thirty-third Native Infantry, with a few Jezailchees, or Native Light Infantry, so named from the Jezail, or short rifle, with which they are armed. This party, having proceeded some four or five miles from the camp, was furiously attacked by a large force of Shinwarees, and suffered severely from their fire, which was very effective from the position they had taken up, and from which it required a very considerable force to drive them: nevertheless the object sought was fully obtained; the enemy’s position was correctly ascertained, together with every requisite information for the attack in force, after which the reconnoitring party returned to the camp, sustaining a smart action the whole way back.

On the 26th of July Brigadier Monteath prepared to attack the enemy near Mazeena with his whole force; and accordingly, leaving the camp standing under an efficient guard, he moved towards the position occupied by the Affghans, who were prepared, and nothing loth to meet him. Little time elapsed before the engagement was commenced by the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, seconded by the thirty-third and fifty-third Native Infantry, ascending the heights, and driving the Shinwarees from their breastworks, and along the ridges of the hills, while the tenth Light Cavalry, in the valley below, charged them whenever they showed front on level ground. The camp followers and pioneers had been furnished with combustibles to burn the forts, as the Shinwarees were driven out of them, which service was very efficiently performed. Meanwhile, on the heights, the enemy disputed every foot of ground until taken at the point of the bayonet, and Lieut. M‘Ilween, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, was killed while gallantly leading an attack of this kind against a vastly superior force.

The Affghans being driven from their defences, the artillery, under the command of Captain Abbott, played upon them with great effect; and after contesting the day until every fort and place of defence had been taken and destroyed, they fled, dispersing themselves among the neighbouring hills, where it was impossible to pursue them. Their loss was very great, including most of their leaders.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment had Lieut. Dalway M‘Ilveen killed, and seven rank and file wounded; several men of the regiment died suddenly from apoplexy, caused by the heat of the sun and want of water. Thus ended the action of Mazeena, in which the behaviour of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment elicited the highest commendation from Brigadier Monteath, who stated, in his despatch of the 27th of July, that

The Brigadier also acknowledged the services of other officers belonging to the force under his command, in which number was included Lieutenant and Adjutant Lugard, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, who acted as Major of Brigade.

The brigade of Brigadier-General Monteath, having thus performed most successfully the service for which it had been detached, now marched to join the main army at Jellalabad, and arriving there took up its old ground. On the 22nd of August the army marched in two divisions, and proceeded without opposition, but suffering intense fatigue from the labour of dragging the artillery and stores over the almost inaccessible paths, until it arrived at Soorkhab, distant four marches from Jellalabad.

On the British leaving Soorkhab, the Affghans showed themselves in force, and the rear-guard, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Bolton, was so hard-pressed by thousands of the irregular troops of the enemy, that Brigadier Monteath thought it necessary to halt the brigade at the entrance of the Jugdulluck pass, to enable it to form a junction with the main column, which it did after suffering considerable loss. The Ghilzees hotly contested the passage of the pass, but after a sharp engagement they were driven off with much slaughter.

In this action Lieut.-Colonel Bolton had his horse shot under him in two places, and Lieutenant Shaw, of the regiment, was wounded.

The next day (9th September) the Affghans were so much dispirited by their defeat, that the division marched to Jugdulluck without further opposition than a little skirmishing with the rear-guard, and Lieutenant Brooke, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, was wounded.

On the 10th of September, it having been ascertained that Akbar Khan with 20,000 men had established himself in the Khoord Cabool pass, in order to cover the capital and fight a pitched battle with the British, the second division was ordered to join the first by a forced march to Tezeen, where Major-General Pollock was encamped. This junction was effected on the 11th of September, with little loss, although a running fight was kept up the greater part of the way. In fact, the advance to Cabool was a succession of skirmishes, oftentimes by night as well as by day.

The camp was attacked on the night of the 12th of September, but the enemy made no impression, and little loss occurred, although all the piquets of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment were engaged until daybreak.

Shortly after daybreak on the 13th of September the army moved off its ground towards the Tezeen Pass, the advanced guard, commanded by Sir Robert Sale, being composed of three companies of the ninth regiment, three companies of the thirteenth or Prince Albert’s Light Infantry, together with two companies of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under Captain Baldwin and Lieutenant Greenwood.

After moving carefully along the pass for about two miles, the Affghans were discovered, in great force, occupying strong positions on the heights on either side, while their artillery and cavalry were formed some distance farther on in the pass itself. The action commenced by a heavy fire from the enemy on the advanced guard of the British; and the distance being too great for musketry, from the effect of which also the Affghans were covered by extensive sunghas, or intrenchments formed of large blocks of stone, for the whole length of their position, it was judged necessary for the troops to ascend the heights, and drive them from their posts at the point of the bayonet.

This service was most brilliantly performed on the left heights by the ninth and THIRTY-FIRST regiments, and on the right by the thirteenth light infantry.

The companies ascended the face of the mountain under a most galling fire, from the effects of which many casualties occurred, and not returning a shot until the ledge was gained: a combined volley within ten yards of the enemy, followed by an immediate charge of bayonets, drove him from his defences with great slaughter, and the heights were gained. For this service Captain Baldwin received the brevet rank of Major.

The Affghans’ advanced posts being driven in and pursued as far as the broken and difficult nature of the country would admit, they retired upon their supports, which were, with great judgment, defended by endless sunghas, erected in every position from which a fire could be brought on advancing troops.

The British, having gained the heights, and being reinforced by fresh troops, pushed on, and, storming one intrenchment after another, threw the Affghans into great confusion. The artillery, having been brought up, played upon them with terrific effect, while the British cavalry, having charged and overthrown their horse, posted in the pass, and taken their guns, together with the state tent of Akbar Khan, the fortune of the day at this early period evidently smiled on the British arms; but the warlike mountaineers, who composed the Affghan army, fought with desperate valour to retrieve the day. Attack after attack was made upon the troops occupying the posts from which the enemy had first been driven. Reckless of life, the stern fanatics came on to be shot down from the defences which they had themselves thrown up. In a series of desultory attacks the day declined, and the British, having obtained possession of every height commanding the pass, the remains of the Affghan army made a détour among the hills, falling with great fury upon the British rear-guard, commanded by Colonel Richmond, of the thirty-third regiment of Native Infantry. Here they were so warmly received that their discomfiture was completed, and the day was won. The victorious British encamped for the night in the valley of Khoord (Little) Cabool, a village distant about sixteen miles from Cabool.

In this action Lieutenant Pollard received a severe contusion from a large block of stone while attempting to take a standard. Major Skinner, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, highly distinguished himself with the force which was detached under his command, and which proceeded, in the afternoon of the 12th of September, across the hills towards the valley of Khoord Cabool by a route different from that of the main army. On the march, Major Skinner came suddenly in presence of a greatly superior number of Affghans. Notwithstanding that the country was difficult and imperfectly known, by a series of skilful manœuvres he extricated his troops from the perilous situation in which they were placed, and defeated the Affghans, who exceeded five times his force, with great slaughter, on the 13th of September.

So complete was the defeat of the Affghan army on the 13th of September, that Akbar Khan escaped from the field accompanied only by a solitary horseman.

The enemy acknowledged to have lost fifty-three chiefs and persons of consequence, and 700 men. The casualties on the part of the British amounted to 185.

Major-General Pollock, in his despatch dated 14th of September, again acknowledged the services of Lieut.-Colonel Bolton and Major Skinner, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment.

No impediments now existed to the advance of the British on the city of Cabool. On the 15th of September the army arrived at Cabool, and encamped on the race-course. On the following day the place was occupied and the standard of England hoisted on the highest pinnacle of the battlements of the Bala Hissar (Upper Fort), on which occasion the flank companies of the THIRTY-FIRST formed part of the guard which garrisoned the citadel. The British colours were hoisted daily as long as the army remained at Cabool.

All the objects of the campaign having been gained, and the rescue of the prisoners effected,—among whom were several officers and ladies (Lady Sale, the partner of the gallant defender of Jellalabad being among the number), also three serjeants, three drummers, and thirty rank and file of Her Majesty’s forty-fourth regiment,—the Anglo-Indian army commenced its march towards Hindoostan on the 12th of October, after having destroyed the grand bazaar of Cabool, named the Chahar Chuttah, where the remains of the British Envoy had been exposed to public insult by the infuriated Affghans.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment was again constantly engaged in desultory skirmishes with the Ghilzees and Afreedee tribes which infested the passes.

At the Jugdulluck Pass the Affghans again made head, and a severe action occurred on the 18th of October, in which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment sustained some loss, but the Ghilzees were put to flight with great slaughter. Lieutenant Thomas Pender, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, received a severe wound near Seh Baba, from the effects of which he died on the 18th of November.

Major-General McCaskill, in his despatch dated 20th of October, 1842, recording the attacks on his division by the predatory tribes of the mountains between Tezeen and Gundamuck, stated that,

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment arrived at Jellalabad on the 23rd of October, and, after destroying the fortifications, proceeded thence on the 27th to Peshawur, where it arrived in the beginning of November.

The campaign having now been brought to a close, the THIRTY-FIRST reached Ferozepore on the 19th of December, having been in the field for eleven months during this arduous campaign.

On arrival at Ferozepore the THIRTY-FIRST regiment joined the “Army of Reserve,” which had been assembled on the frontier, and where the Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, and General Sir Jasper Nicolls, the commander-in-chief in India, had proceeded to receive the army of Affghanistan.

For his services connected with the command of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, Lieut.-Colonel Bolton was made a Companion of the Bath, and appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen, with the rank of colonel.

In testimony of the services of the THIRTY-FIRST during the campaign in Affghanistan, Her Majesty was graciously pleased to authorize the regiment to bear the word “Cabool, 1842,” on the regimental colour and appointments.

On the breaking up of the army at Ferozepore, the THIRTY-FIRST, commanded by Colonel Bolton, was ordered to Umballa, a place about 170 miles to the south, and which had never been previously occupied by troops. Here the regiment arrived on the 27th of January, 1843, and, cantonments having been marked out, barracks were commenced for the men, and ground allotted for the erection of bungalows for the officers.

On the 5th of May the THIRTY-FIRST sustained a severe loss by the death of Major and Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Skinner, a zealous and talented officer, whose services are frequently alluded to in the historical record of the regiment.[27]

In May, 1843, the regiment was ordered to Khytul, and formed part of a force under Major-General Fast, which was sent to reduce the city and state of Khytul to British subjection. The force arrived at Khytul after about a week’s march, and the enemy, after a slight show of resistance, evacuated the city, which was occupied by the British troops. All the objects of the expedition having been fulfilled, the regiment returned to its cantonments at Umballa. All, however, remained under canvas, exposed to most intense heat, until July, 1843, when the men were housed, and a few of the officers got shelter. In October, 1843, an outbreak occurred at Lahore, and the Maharajah, Shere Singh, was shot at a review by his brother-in-law, Ajeet Singh; after this event the youthful Dhuleep Singh, a reputed son of the late Runjeet Singh, was placed on the throne.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment was in consequence ordered to the frontier, and marched for Ferozepore on the 16th of November, where it arrived on the 1st of December, 1843, and remained as a corps of observation.

The THIRTY-FIRST, commanded by Colonel Bolton, C.B., continued at Ferozepore, where the regiment was joined by ninety-three recruits from England. On the 16th of January, 1844, the regiment was inspected, and elicited great praise from Major-General Hunter of the Company’s Service, and again on the 16th of February, by Major-General Sir Robert Dick, K.C.B., who expressed great praise as well of the soldierlike and gallant bearing as of the high state of discipline of the regiment.

The weather becoming extremely hot, the regiment marched from Ferozepore on the 19th of April, 1844, en route to Umballa, where it arrived on the 2nd of May.

On the 30th of December, 1844, his Excellency General Sir Hugh Gough, Bart., Commander-in-Chief in India, inspected the THIRTY-FIRST, in review order, on which occasion he expressed himself highly satisfied with the soldierlike appearance of the regiment.

On the 12th of March, 1845, a detachment of recruits and volunteers, consisting of one major, one captain, three lieutenants, two ensigns, one assistant-surgeon, with four hundred and seventy-one rank and file, joined the regiment from the lower provinces, under the command of Major Spence.

Many men continued to die from the effects of the Cabool campaign, but the station in itself proved healthy until July, when it was visited by cholera in a most fearful manner. On the 26th of July the regiment was ordered into camp, about two miles from the barracks, at a few hours’ notice, with orders for one officer per company, as well as the medical officers, constantly to remain in camp under Major Spence, where they continued until the 5th of August. In one month the regiment lost by cholera eighty-nine men, women, and children.

After the death of Maha Shere Singh, the Punjaub was in a state of anarchy; the juvenile sovereign, Dhuleep Singh, under the tutelage of his mother and uncle, was unable to control the turbulent Sikh chieftains, and open hostility soon manifested itself against the British Government in India.

In the beginning of December, 1845, the inclination of the Sikh Sirdars to invade the British territories appeared to increase, and about the 11th of that month, with a large army and a well-appointed artillery, they actually crossed the Sutlej, the boundary river which separates the Punjaub from the British dominions.[28]

The Commander-in-Chief in India, General Sir Hugh Gough, sent immediate orders for the Umballa division of the army, which had lately been considerably increased in strength, to be pushed on towards the invaded frontier.

Previous to its march, this force had been formed into divisions and brigades. The first brigade of the first division was composed of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, and two regiments of Native infantry, viz., the twenty-fourth and forty-seventh regiments. The first division was commanded by Major-General Sir Henry Smith; Colonel Bolton, C.B., of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, was appointed Brigadier to command the first brigade. Lieut.-Colonel Byrne, the next senior officer, assumed the command of the regiment. Captain Garvock was appointed Brigade-Major to the first brigade, and Captain Lugard, Assistant-Adjutant-General to the first division.

It being of the utmost importance to aid the division of the army in the defence of Ferozepore, a fort on the left bank of the Sutlej, where the British Government had large magazines containing munitions of war, a park of artillery, military stores, and equipments for the field army, which protected the frontier, it was necessary to push on the Umballa division, with all possible speed, by rapid and forced marches, towards the point near which the Sikhs, after having crossed the Sutlej, were assembled in large force, emboldened by numbers, and their army composed of well-disciplined troops, with a numerous and well-appointed artillery. This army had been instructed and trained in European tactics and discipline by French and Italian officers; it was confident in its own strength and in the powerful aid of its formidable artillery.

It was evidently the object of the enemy to prevent the junction of the Umballa division with the Ferozepore field force, to cut off the latter division, and to capture the fort and magazines of Ferozepore, before the Umballa division could arrive at the scene of action. The enemy hoped also to have a rich booty in the plunder of the large town of Ferozepore. The Sikhs knew and calculated the distance the Umballa troops had to march before they could reach the vicinity of Ferozepore, one hundred and fifty miles, and the nature of the country through which they had to march; but they did not calculate on the energy, patient endurance of hardships, and privation, which the British soldier would cheerfully undergo, when he knew, that his brave and heroic Commander-in-Chief was leading him in person against the foe, who had dared to invade the British possessions.

On the 10th of December the THIRTY-FIRST received the order to march, and the morning of the 12th saw the regiment leave Umballa, mustering 30 officers and 844 men.

After long and harassing marches of twenty-five to thirty miles a day, the severe nature of which it is impossible to describe, the regiment arrived at the village of Moodkee about two o’clock in the afternoon of the 18th of December, having on that day performed a march of not less than twenty-five miles: some idea may be formed of the sufferings which the men endured from fatigue on this eventful day, when it is known that at the last halt, about two miles from Moodkee, scarcely fifty men were left with the colours; and for miles to the rear they might be seen staggering forward through the soft sand in an exhausted state from want of water and rest.

The soldiers were in the act of pitching their tents, and had eaten nothing, when the alarm was given that the enemy was close upon them in force. The THIRTY-FIRST rushed to arms, and forming the right of the first brigade of the first division, under Major-General Sir Henry Smith, formed in quarter-distance column, left in front, advanced two or three miles, deployed on the grenadier company, and so continued the line formed by the regiments on their right.

The THIRTY-FIRST were now on ploughed land in front of a thick jungle of thorny bushes, and moving forward under a heavy fire of round and grape-shot, entered the jungle, through which it was impossible to move in anything like a correct line, and beyond which the Sikhs were formed. It was here that the gallant Colonel Bolton received his death-wound;—his last emphatic words to the men were, “Steady, THIRTY-FIRST, and fire low,”—when man and horse came down together; but he did not allow himself to be removed from the field until the action was over. The regiment now found itself in front of a battery of fourteen or fifteen guns. By this time the men were falling quickly under severe discharges of grape from the guns, a few yards only distant, which were also protected by a battalion of infantry, from which withering volleys were sent into the ranks of the THIRTY-FIRST, who, however, returned it with interest, and the intrepid valour of the men bore down all opposition. One continued fire from the regiment laid low nearly the whole of the enemy’s artillery-men opposed to its part of the line, while the bayonet disposed of such of the remainder of the foe as had not time to save themselves by flight. The opposition of the Sikhs was desperate; but nothing could resist the bravery of the British troops, who drove them from one position after another with great slaughter: all their advanced guns remained in the hands of the British.

It was not till an hour and a half after sunset that this hand to hand conflict was over, when the rolling of musketry gradually died away, and the British found themselves undisputed masters of the field. Soon after the commencement of the action, Lieut.-Colonel Byrne being severely wounded, the command of the regiment devolved upon Major Spence, the senior major.

The regiment, being much broken and scattered over the field in pursuit of the enemy, was re-formed in quarter-distance column, and marched back to within about a mile of Moodkee, where it bivouacked on the sand until daylight, and then returned to camp.

In this short but hard-fought action the regiment suffered severely. Of 30 officers and 814 men, who went into action, 9 officers and 155 rank and file were killed or wounded.

The following officers were killed or wounded in the action at Moodkee:—

In this action Lieutenant Bolton, of the twenty-first Fusiliers, acted as aide-de-camp to his father Brigadier Bolton.

The army was commanded in the action by General Sir Hugh Gough, the Commander-in-Chief, aided by the counsel and military experience of the Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge. The following extract is taken from the despatch of the Commander-in-Chief, dated 19th of December, 1845:—

It appears from the list of killed and wounded, that the first or Major-General Sir Henry Smith’s division bore the brunt of the action at Moodkee, as the casualties in that division out-numbered those of the other two infantry divisions united, as will be seen by the following published list:—

The army of the Sikhs amounted, it is said, to upwards of 32,000 men of all arms. The British force did not amount to more than one-third of that number.

Thus terminated the battle of Moodkee, the first action in which the Sikhs measured their strength with British troops in the field.

The following extracts are taken from an account of the battle of Moodkee:—

After describing the preliminary movements of the cavalry and artillery, the narrator proceeds:—

The following officers were present with the regiment at the battle of Moodkee on the 18th of December:—

Colonel	S. Bolton, C.B. (Commanding	Lieut.	W. F. Atty.
	the first brigade).	”	J. L. R. Pollard.
Lt.-Col.	John Byrne (commanding the	”	H. W. Hart.
	regiment).	”	Robert Law.
Major	James Spence.	”	J. P. Robertson.
”	G. Baldwin.	”	Graham Elmslie.
Capt.	W. G. Willes.	”	Poole Gabbett.
”	T. Bulkeley.	”	S. J. Timbrell.
”	G. D. Young.	”	John Brenchley.
”	G. F. White (Acting	”	A. Pilkington.
	Paymaster).	”	E. A. Noel.
”	J. Garvock.	Ensign	James Paul.
”	D. F. Longworth.	”	H. P. Hutton.
”	E. Lugard.	”	C. H. G. Tritton.
Lieut.	T. H. Plasket.	Adjt.	William Bernard.
Q. M.	Samuel Benison.	Lieut.	A. S. Bolton (H. M. 21st
A. Surg.	G. W. Macready.		Fusiliers, doing duty).
”	David Stewart.	Surg.	R. B. Gahan (H. M. 9th Foot,
			in medical charge).

It being expected that the Sikhs, notwithstanding their defeat on the previous evening, would make a second attack, the troops were ordered under arms early on the following morning, the 19th, and remained so till evening, when, no enemy appearing, they returned to their tents.

It having been subsequently ascertained, by scouts, that the enemy was strongly entrenched in great numbers round the village of Ferozeshah, the Commander-in-Chief determined to effect a junction with the troops at Ferozepore, and with the combined force to drive the Sikhs from their position. Accordingly at daylight on the 21st of December the army was formed in separate columns of attack, and marched in order of battle in the supposed direction of the enemy. Having proceeded about five miles, it was ascertained that the Sikhs had retired to their entrenched camp at Ferozeshah, about twelve miles from Moodkee.

The troops then fell into columns of route, and after a very fatiguing and circuitous march, rendered more so from no water being procurable on the road, they arrived about three o’clock P.M. in the neighbourhood of the enemy’s position, having, on the march, effected the desired junction with the division under Major-General Sir John Littler, consisting of five thousand men and twenty-one guns, which had moved from Ferozepore on the morning of the 21st of December: about a quarter of an hour was allowed for rest, and the plan of battle was then immediately arranged. The first division formed the reserve, and was drawn up in line, the THIRTY-FIRST being about the centre: here they remained about twenty minutes, during which time the round shot were passing through the ranks, killing and wounding several men.

The order was now given to advance to the support of the troops, who were hotly engaged and hard-pressed; the reserve moved forward in excellent order, though darkness was coming on, and very shortly became engaged and exposed to a heavy fire. The two lines were shortly reduced to one, the shattered remains of the reserve scarcely filling up the gaps formed in the first line by the deadly fire of the enemy, who nobly fought, and fell every man in his place; thus those two lines, which had so shortly before presented the regularity of a field-day, were now but one, standing surrounded by their dead and dying comrades, and the brave fellows of other European regiments could scarcely understand how they came to be fighting in the ranks of the THIRTY-FIRST. After a long and desperate contest, the Sikhs were driven from their guns, but not without severe loss on the part of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, both in officers and men. Lieut. and Adjutant Bernard was killed on the spot, and Major Baldwin and Lieut. Pollard were mortally wounded; Lieut. Pilkington was struck by two shots, one passing through each ankle; and the horse of Major Spence was shot under him. On the death of Lieutenant and Adjutant Bernard, Lieutenant Robertson was appointed Adjutant, which appointment he held until the nomination of Lieutenant Bolton was received from the Horse Guards, he having been applied for by his father, Colonel Bolton, previously to the campaign. The camp of the Sikhs being now on fire in several places, mines and magazines exploding with terrific violence at short intervals, the enemy’s fire being silenced,—and their guns standing undefended,—the order was given to fall back a short distance and re-form, which was accordingly done; the troops bivouacked during the night in front of the Sikh camp, within reach of shot from their guns, which, having been left unspiked, were quickly reopened upon the exhausted troops, whose sufferings on that fearful night, from thirst and intense cold, will never be forgotten by those who endured them.

Towards morning the troops were formed in one line facing the enemy; the THIRTY-FIRST happened to be on the right of the whole. At the break of day, the British artillery opened on the enemy, who returned their fire, and after a short cannonading the infantry advanced to the attack: the THIRTY-FIRST moved steadily towards a battery of seven guns on the enemy’s extreme left, which kept up a continued fire of grape; it was, however, carried by the bayonet without a single check, and almost without a shot being fired by the assailants, though the loss of the THIRTY-FIRST was severe. Having killed all the enemy’s artillery-men who remained at their guns, the regiment, led by its brave commander, Major Spence, passed through the battery, and advanced steadily in an excellent line for about 300 yards, when it halted. The Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief passed down the ranks amidst the cheers of the men; the line saluted them, dropping the regimental colours; and private William Ash, a grenadier, stood in front of his company displaying a colour taken from the enemy in the battery before mentioned.

The defeat of the enemy now appearing to be complete, the soldiers were allowed to go in search of water, the want of which was severely felt. In the course of half an hour the alarm was suddenly given, that the Sikhs were coming down in force; the troops were quickly placed in position, though there could be no regularity as regarded brigades, and on the near approach of the enemy’s horse, the THIRTY-FIRST formed square, the Governor-General and his Staff placing themselves in the centre: a terrific fire was now opened upon the devoted troops (whose artillery ammunition was expended) from the guns of Tej-Singh’s army advancing to the support of the already defeated Sikhs, and the tide of victory appeared about to turn, when Sir Henry Hardinge, glancing at the small but undismayed band around him, exclaimed “Thirty-first, remember Albuhera.” Line was, however, soon after re-formed, no decided attack being made by the enemy, who nevertheless kept up a galling and destructive fire from his guns. The THIRTY-FIRST suffered very considerably without the power of retaliation, but patiently maintained their position; at one time, when threatened by cavalry, forming an oblong square of four deep, one side of the square being composed of the twenty-ninth foot under Brigadier Taylor of that corps, the twenty-ninth forming four deep to the front, and the THIRTY-FIRST four deep to the rear, and in this position they remained for some time, ready to receive cavalry. The THIRTY-FIRST maintained their position upwards of three hours, when they were once more enabled to go in search of water by the sudden and precipitate retreat of the enemy. The water in the wells was, however, found to be in such a putrid state, as to be nearly useless, from the bodies of the dead having been thrown into them; and the ground in the neighbourhood was extremely dangerous, having been extensively mined.

The loss of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment at the battle of Ferozeshah, on the 21st and 22nd of December, amounted to two officers killed and six wounded.

The following officers were killed or wounded on this occasion:—

Captain Garvock, Major of Brigade, had his horse shot under him in the advance to charge the enemy’s batteries.

On the 21st of December, Lieutenant Bolton was appointed to carry orders from the Governor-General to Major-General Sir Henry Smith, and was transferred from the twenty-first Fusiliers to the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to which he was appointed adjutant shortly afterwards.

Lieutenant Pollard, a promising officer, was wounded at Moodkee; but being a high-spirited young man, he would not remain behind, when his regiment went into action at Ferozeshah, although suffering from his wound, and advised to remain in his tent by the medical officers. He went into action on horseback; his wound being in the foot, he was unable to walk. At the desire of Sir Henry Smith he was employed as second adjutant to convey the orders of his commanding officer, Major Spence, who was so hoarse from a severe cold which he had caught at the battle of Moodkee, that he could not make himself sufficiently heard by the men; in the performance of this duty this gallant young officer nobly fell.

Another account of the action states:—

The Commander-in-Chief in his despatch to the Governor-General, after the battle of Ferozeshah, bears the following testimony of his approbation of the gallant conduct of the army under his command on that glorious occasion. At the conclusion of the despatch General Sir Hugh Gough stated:—

On receipt in London of the despatch of the Governor-General of India, announcing the victories of Moodkee and Ferozeshah, the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted unanimously to the Governor-General, the Right Honorable Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Hardinge,—to General Sir Hugh Gough, Bart., the Commander-in-Chief,—and to the several officers under their command,—for the eminent services rendered by them in the recent arduous and successful operations;—also to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, European and Native, for the perseverance and fortitude maintained by them at Moodkee on the 18th of December, 1845, and for the daring valour with which they forced the enemy’s intrenchments at Ferozeshah on the 21st and 22nd of December, captured most of his guns, and finally compelled the Sikh army, of greatly superior numbers, to retire within their own frontiers.

The thanks of the Court of East India Directors were voted to the army of the Sutlej at the same time.

The Court of East India Directors confirmed the grant of a medal to all the officers and soldiers engaged in the battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah, denoting that they served in this important campaign.

On the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of December, the army bivouacked on the field of battle, having been, since the morning of the 20th, without tents, or any regular supply of food; and owing to the extreme heat by day, and intense cold by night, both officers and men had suffered much. On the 24th the troops changed their ground about four miles to Sultan Khan Walla, and three days afterwards the regimental baggage arrived.

At Sultan Khan Walla they remained seven days; the whole army was then moved to the banks of the Sutlej, not far from the fort of Hurreekee, where large camps were formed. For nearly a week after these terrible encounters, the Sikhs remained on the British side of the Sutlej, the army being unable to follow up its victory, as the troops, which were on their march to join, had not yet arrived; the heavy artillery, which was on the march from Cawnpore, was still very distant, and until the whole of the army was concentrated, it would be impossible to attack the enemy, who had again collected a formidable force of 70,000 men, with 110 pieces of ordnance, which were encamped on the opposite side of the river, and ready to oppose the British.

In the meantime the wounded officers and soldiers had been removed to the hospital at Ferozepore.

Lieut.-Colonel Byrne being prevented from resuming the command of the regiment by the severe wound he received at Moodkee, Major Spence continued to exercise the command during the arduous conflict of the 21st and 22nd of December at Ferozeshah, where he showed an example of bravery to his distinguished regiment. He was ably supported by every Officer and Man under his command. All nobly performed their duty on this well-contested field.

Colonel Bolton, being mortally wounded at Moodkee, died on the 4th January, 1846;[30] and the Commander-in-Chief promoted Major Spence, the senior major, to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the regiment.

Major Baldwin also died of the wounds received at Ferozeshah.[31] Captains Bulkeley and Young were promoted to the vacant majorities, a promotion which they justly merited for their gallant conduct at Moodkee, where both these officers were severely wounded.

Captain Willes, a meritorious and deserving officer, also died of the wounds received at Moodkee. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, now greatly reduced in numbers from the heavy loss, both of officers and men, sustained in the late arduous conflicts, still preserved its spirit and energy, and was ready at a moment’s notice to be led on to future victories.

On the 30th of December, the Governor-General published a General Order, congratulating the Army on the recent victories, from which the following are extracts:

---

Thus ended the year 1845. The Sikhs, after having suffered two severe defeats, were preparing to renew the contest; they had made large additions to their army, and had again collected a formidable train of artillery.

On the 16th of January, 1846, the first brigade, with a few guns and some Native cavalry, received sudden orders to march on the following morning in the direction of Loodiana, under the command of Major-General Sir Henry Smith; by a forced march on the 17th, the fort of Dhurrumkote was surprised, and the garrison, consisting of about three hundred men, laid down their arms, and were sent prisoners to head-quarters. On the 20th of the same month, this division was reinforced near the fort of Jugraon by the sixteenth lancers, the fifty-third foot, a detachment of recruits of the Queen’s regiments, and a troop of horse artillery.

The Major-General decided on attempting the relief of Loodiana, which was but slightly garrisoned, and was threatened by a large body of the enemy. Jugraon is distant from Loodiana about twenty-five miles, and the road (if road it can be called) is over a heavy and sandy soil. The troops were formed, and commenced their march about one o’clock on the morning of the 21st; about eleven A.M. the enemy was observed to be drawn up, parallel with the British line of march, in a strong position at Buddiwal, his front covered by a ridge of low sand-hills, bristling with forty pieces of artillery, which were so placed that it was necessary, in order to gain Loodiana, either to risk a battle to dislodge him from a strong position,—which, with troops fatigued by a long march, under a burning sun, and greatly inferior in numbers, would have been a hazardous proceeding,—or to march along the entire front of his position under a galling fire.

Major-General Sir Henry Smith, having a just confidence in the steadiness of his troops, chose the latter. The infantry, formed in open column of companies right in front (the grenadier company of the THIRTY-FIRST leading), and ready at any moment to form line, preceded by the artillery, and covered by the cavalry, marched at a distance of five hundred yards, along the front of this formidable line, receiving the fire of each battery as it bore upon them. The regiment formed line on the grenadier company.

On this occasion, and under the fire of forty guns, the THIRTY-FIRST received an order from Sir Henry Smith to change front to the rear on the centre, a movement which was rendered necessary by the manœuvres of the enemy, who had thrown forward his right in such a manner as to get into the rear of the British; this movement could not be attempted without the most perfect steadiness on the part of the men, and it was performed in such a manner as to call forth the praises of the Major-General. This was the first time this manœuvre was ever done under fire of the enemy; after which, the retirement of corps in line, covered by the sixteenth lancers, to relieve Loodiana (the object being to relieve that place), was beautifully executed.

The Sikh position being passed, and the enemy declining to follow, by three o’clock in the afternoon the troops arrived at Loodiana, thus effecting Sir Henry Smith’s object. In this affair the THIRTY-FIRST lost 21 men killed and wounded; and 19 men, who had, from the length and severity of the march, been unable to keep up with the column, were taken prisoners. The greatest part of the baggage belonging to the division was taken by the enemy.

On the 22nd and 23rd the troops were permitted to rest themselves after their late fatigues, and on the 24th the enemy retired to Aliwal, a village on the Sutlej. The British force moved to the ground lately occupied by them at Buddiwal, where it was reinforced by the second brigade of Sir Henry Smith’s division, consisting of Her Majesty’s fiftieth foot, and forty-eighth Native infantry, from head-quarters, with some cavalry and infantry from Loodiana.

On the 28th of January at daylight, Major-General Sir Henry Smith marched with his whole force to attack the enemy under Sirdar Runjoor Singh and the Rajah of Ladwa in their camps at Aliwal, but found him, on approaching it, drawn up in line of battle, with his left resting on the village. From information afterwards received, it appeared that the Sikhs were about to march upon Jugraon that very morning, for the purpose of getting between Sir Henry Smith’s force and the heavy guns coming up from Delhi under a very slender escort. The march having been previously conducted in column of brigades at deploying distance, each brigade deployed on its leading company, and thus formed one long line. The troops advanced on the enemy, distant about one mile and a half, and about ten A.M. the action was commenced by a heavy cannonade from the Sikh artillery, which was principally directed on the British centre. The village of Aliwal was filled with infantry, supported by cavalry in the rear, and further defended by two guns on its left, immediately opposite that part of the line occupied by the THIRTY-FIRST regiment. The village was carried, and the two guns were captured.

The line, being somewhat disordered in carrying the village, was quickly re-formed, and advanced in excellent order, carrying everything before it. The attack of the enemy by the left wing was equally successful. The line advanced, and made a steady and successful charge; the enemy, being everywhere beaten, gave way, and fled towards the river in the utmost confusion, leaving his camp and fifty-two pieces of artillery, as trophies in the hands of the victors. A standard was captured here by the THIRTY-FIRST regiment; also a gurry, or gong.[32]

The advance of the British force in order of battle is thus described by Major-General Sir Henry Smith in his despatch containing an account of the action:—

After lauding the gallant service performed by the artillery, Sir Henry Smith proceeds to state in his official despatch:—

The loss of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment in this conflict was fortunately small: one officer, Lieut. Atty, slightly wounded, and fifteen men killed and wounded. The troops bivouacked for the night near the field of battle. The army remained at Aliwal five days, during which the following General Order was received from General Sir Hugh Gough, the Commander-in-Chief:—

The following extract is taken from the General Orders issued by the Governor-General, dated “Camp, Ferozepore, 2nd of February, 1846:”—

Extract of the despatch of the Governor-General of India to the Secret Committee, dated “Camp, Kanha Kutchwa, 19th of February, 1846:”—

Notwithstanding the signal defeat in the battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshah, and Aliwal, and the loss of 143 pieces of artillery captured by the British in these actions, the enemy determined to persevere in his rash project of invading the British dominions. For this purpose he made extraordinary efforts; he had collected all his available troops, and assembled a large army on the left bank of the Sutlej, near the village of Sobraon. Here the Sikhs formed an intrenched camp, defended by 30,000 men with 70 pieces of artillery; this camp was supported by a large reserve on the opposite side of the river, the communication being preserved by a bridge of boats.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under its distinguished and experienced leader, Major-General Sir Henry Smith, rejoined the head-quarter camp on the 8th of February, just in time for the crowning and decisive victory of Sobraon. The arrival of Sir Henry Smith’s force enabled the Commander-in-Chief to carry his plan of attacking the enemy into execution. Two days were allowed, that this division should rest after its fatigues.

The entrenched camp of the Sikhs was in a position judiciously chosen in a bend of the river, about five or six miles from the British camp. The defences of the enemy were constructed scientifically by European engineers.

On the morning of the 10th of February, some hours before daylight, the several divisions were silently formed in column of attack. Major-General Sir Henry Smith’s division was on the extreme right; it was formed into two lines; the first line consisted of the first brigade, to which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment belonged, under Lieut.-Colonel Spence: this line was supported by the second brigade at a short distance in the rear. When the day dawned, the first brigade found itself about three-quarters of a mile in front of the enemy’s works. The cannonading, which commenced a little after daylight, continued with little interruption, until about nine A.M. A stray shot was now and then sent at the regiment, but did no damage, when orders were given to the infantry to advance to the attack. The men, who had been lying down, instantly jumped up, formed line, and advanced.

The ground immediately in front of the enemy’s works was very irregular, which made it difficult for the men to keep their places. The enemy’s fire, which commenced at a distance of two or three hundred yards, grew gradually more and more heavy; and firing, as the Sikhs did, from behind lofty entrenchments at the assaulting party, who offered a fair mark as they scrambled up the ramparts, they shot down a number of the British troops, while the survivors, after in vain attempting to reach the top, the loose nature of the soil rendering the footing extremely insecure, were compelled to fall back on the advancing second brigade, who saw with indignation that the enemy were hacking the wounded.

The line was quickly re-formed and advanced a second time; the same determined resistance was again made: but the men, burning to revenge their comrades, would not be deterred. Here Lieut. Tritton, bearing the Queen’s colour, was shot through the head; and Ensign Jones,[33] who carried the regimental colour, was, nearly at the same time, mortally wounded; the regimental colour, falling to the ground, was seized by Serjeant Bernard M‘Cabe, who, rushing forward, crossed the ditch and planted it on the ramparts. The men cheering, scrambled into the works as best they could, and drove the enemy, who were beaten at all points, before them into the river, Lieut. Noel gallantly carrying the Queen’s colour in front of the regiment, the staff of which was shivered in his hand.

The attack having been everywhere successful, the slaughter of the Sikhs, as they crossed the river, was tremendous. Many casualties, however, in the THIRTY-FIRST regiment occurred within the enemy’s works. Lieutenant Timbrell was dangerously wounded by a grape-shot, which broke both his thighs, and Lieutenant Elmslie was also severely wounded by a musket-ball. Captain Garvock, Major of Brigade, and Lieutenant and Adjutant Bolton, were both severely wounded outside the works, where Lieutenants Gabbett and Law were also wounded. Thirty-five rank and file were killed, and 102 wounded.

Two stands of colours were captured by the regiment, making four stands altogether.

The first brigade, on this glorious occasion, was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Spence, whose horse was shot during the advance, and the sword in his hand bent nearly double by a grape-shot.

Captain White, the senior Captain, being left sick at Loodiana, from the effects of the sun on service, Captain Longworth commanded the regiment during the action. He was promoted for his gallant conduct to be major in the army; his horse was killed under him. Captains Garvock and Lugard were also promoted to be majors in the army on the same occasion.

The following account of the action is given in Captain Longworth’s despatch, dated 11th of February, 1846:—

On the 14th of February, 1846, the Governor-General published a General Order, dated from his camp at Kussoor, from which the following extracts are taken:—

The despatch of the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Hugh Gough, to the Governor-General, dated Camp, Kussoor, 13th of February, 1846, giving a detailed account of the battle of Sobraon, contained the following expressions of approbation and thanks:—

“The Sikhs, even when at particular points their intrenchments were mastered with the bayonet, strove to regain them by the fiercest conflict, sword in hand. Nor was it until the cavalry of the left, under Major-General Sir Joseph Thackwell, had moved forward and ridden through the openings in the intrenchments made by our sappers, in single file, and re-formed as they passed them; and the third light dragoons, whom no obstacle usually held formidable by horse appears to check, had, on this day, as at Ferozeshah, galloped over and cut down the obstinate defenders of batteries and field-works, and until the full weight of three divisions is of infantry, with every field-artillery gun which could be sent to their aid, had been cast into the scale, that victory finally declared for the British.

“The fire of the Sikhs first slackened and then nearly ceased, and the victors, then pressing them on every side, precipitated them in masses over their bridge and into the Sutlej, which a sudden rise of seven inches had rendered hardly fordable. In their efforts to reach the right bank through the deepened water, they suffered from our horse artillery a terrible carnage. Hundreds fell under this cannonade: hundreds upon hundreds were drowned in attempting the perilous passage. Their awful slaughter, confusion, and dismay were such as would have excited compassion in the hearts of their generous conquerors, if the Khalsa troops had not, in the earlier part of the action, sullied their gallantry by slaughtering and barbarously mangling every wounded soldier whom, in the vicissitudes of attack, the fortune of war left at their mercy.

“Sixty-seven pieces of cannon, upwards of two hundred camel-swivels (zumboorucks), numerous standards, and vast munitions of war, captured by our troops, are the pledges and trophies of our victory.

“The battle was over by eleven in the morning, and in the forenoon I caused our engineers to burn a part and to sink a part of the vaunted bridge of the Khalsa army, across which they had boastfully come once more to defy us, and to threaten India with ruin and devastation.

“The consequences of this great action have yet to be fully developed. It has at least, in God’s providence, once more expelled the Sikhs from our territory, and planted our standards on the soil of the Punjaub. After occupying their intrenched position for nearly a month, the Khalsa army had perhaps mistaken the caution which had induced us to wait for the necessary materiel, for timidity; but they must now deeply feel that the blow, which has fallen on them from the British arm, has only been the heavier for being long delayed.”

---

OF THE

THIRTY-FIRST, OR THE HUNTINGDONSHIRE

REGIMENT OF FOOT.

---

---

Napoleon Bonaparte, upon being raised in May 1804 to the dignity of Emperor of the French, increased his immense preparations to carry into effect his project for the invasion of England, that he might, by one great effort, crush the power of the British people, who appeared as a barrier to his ambitious designs. This menace of invasion had aroused the spirit of the British nation; patriotic enthusiasm pervaded all ranks; and among the measures of defence[38] adopted by the Government was the introduction of the “Additional Force Act” which was passed on the 14th of July 1804.

Under this Act of Parliament, a second battalion was added to the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, which was to be formed of men raised in the county of Chester for limited service.

The second battalion was embodied by July 1805, and in October it proceeded from Chester to Winchester, where the first battalion was stationed.

After the first battalion had embarked for Sicily in April 1806, the second battalion continued at Winchester until June following, when it proceeded to Gosport.

On the 8th of January 1807, the second battalion embarked at Gosport for Guernsey, where it arrived on the 15th of that month. In May 1807, the battalion proceeded to Ireland, and was stationed at Limerick.

In March 1808, the battalion was removed from Limerick to Dublin.

Important events had in the meantime occurred on the Continent, which occasioned the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment to be ordered on active service. Napoleon, having reduced Germany to submission to his will, and forced Russia to accede to his decrees, next attempted the subjugation of Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese rose in arms to assert their national rights, the French Emperor having conferred the crown of Spain on his brother Joseph, who relinquished the throne of Naples in favor of Marshal Murat.

In the summer of 1808, Portugal was delivered by a British army under Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley; and in the autumn Lieut.-General Sir John Moore received orders to advance with a body of British troops from Portugal into the heart of Spain; at the same time several regiments were embarked from the United Kingdom to co-operate in the enterprise.

The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, which had proceeded in August to Fermoy, marched on the 8th of September to Monkstown for embarkation, and sailed in a few days afterwards to Falmouth, where a fleet was assembling with a force for service, the command of the troops being held by Lieut.-General Sir David Baird. In a short time, the fleet sailed, and arrived in the Bay of Corunna on the 23rd of October. The THIRTY-FIRST did not, however, land with the army, the battalion being despatched to Lisbon, where it arrived on the 5th of November.

Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock, who commanded in Portugal at this period, detached some regiments towards the frontier, with a view of reinforcing Lieut.-General Sir John Moore in Spain. The THIRTY-FIRST, being one of the corps destined for this service, marched with a force under the command of Brigadier-General Richard Stewart from Lisbon, on the 18th of December, upon Castello Branco, where the battalion arrived in ten days.

The communication with Lieut.-General Sir John Moore being at this period suddenly interrupted, Brigadier-General Stewart was ordered to halt, and unfavourable intelligence being received from Spain, Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock determined to concentrate his army near Lisbon, and the further advance was, therefore, countermanded.

The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, and the other corps of the division, commenced their march to the rear on the 1st of January 1809. On arrival at Santarem, the intelligence of Sir John Moore’s advance upon Sahagun had reached head-quarters, and the anticipated danger being thus drawn from the frontiers of Portugal, Brigadier-General Stewart was again ordered to halt. His head-quarters continued at Santarem, and the THIRTY-FIRST occupied cantonments in the neighbourhood of Bucellas. A month’s march in incessant rain had seriously damaged the appointments, and the men being indifferently provided with shoes, rendered a rest in this pleasant quarter of infinite benefit.

In the meanwhile, the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore had continued its retreat over two hundred and fifty miles of mountainous country, constantly repulsing the attacks of the enemy. The British army arrived at Corunna on the 11th of January, being closely followed by Marshal Soult, who occupied a position on a height above the town, in order to make an attack on the troops while proceeding to embark. This operation commenced on the 16th of January, and the French descending from the heights in three columns, a sanguinary action ensued. Lieut.-General Sir John Moore received a mortal wound from a cannon-ball, and his country was deprived of an officer, who, both in his professional and private character, had acquired universal esteem and admiration. Lieut.-General Sir David Baird lost an arm, and the command devolved on Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, who vigorously maintained the action, the British remaining masters of the field. The embarkation for England was effected on the following night, no further molestation being offered by the enemy.

No change was made in the disposition of the army in Portugal until the middle of March, when Lieut.-General Sherbrooke, and Major-General John Randoll McKenzie, with their corps arrived. The army was then drawn together between Lumiar and Sacavem, in which position it encamped until toward the end of April, when Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock commenced his advance towards Spain on the 24th of that month; and when Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had arrived at Lisbon with reinforcements, assumed the command of the army, the force was assembled at Leiria. The first object of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was to dislodge Marshal Soult from Oporto, and he accordingly marched towards that city at the end of April.

A corps of British and Portuguese was detached, previous to Sir Arthur Wellesley’s march upon Oporto, under Major-General McKenzie, to watch the right bank of the Tagus in observation of Marshal Victor in Estremadura. The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST joined this army, and remained posted at Thomar until after the famous passage of the Douro by the British General, and the fall of Oporto, which compelled Marshal Soult to retreat.

In the month of June the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was at Cortiçada with Major-General McKenzie’s head-quarters, and in that officer’s division reached Placentia, whence on the 17th of July it commenced its march to Oropesa, where it arrived on the 20th. A junction with the Spanish army under General Cuesta was effected here, and on the 22nd the advanced guards, to which the THIRTY-FIRST belonged, moved forward to the attack on the French posts at Talavera. The enemy’s position was turned by the British cavalry and infantry, while the Spanish General drove the French on in front. On the 25th, in consequence of General Cuesta having followed the enemy, two divisions of infantry were sent across the Alberche to Casa Legas. The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was in that commanded by Major-General McKenzie, and was brigaded with the twenty-eighth and forty-fifth regiments.

On the 27th of July, when General Cuesta had retreated from Alcabon under cover of Lieut.-General Sherbrooke’s divisions, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley withdrew to the position of Talavera, leaving Major-General McKenzie on the Alberche to protect the movement. When the French, on the 27th of July, crossed this river, Major-General McKenzie’s division was posted near the Casa des Salinas, his infantry in the forest, and cavalry on the plain.

The attach was somewhat sudden, and the THIRTY-FIRST and eighty-seventh regiments, which were in the wood on the right of the Alberche, sustained some loss. As the enemy increased his numbers on the British side of the river, Major-General McKenzie fell back gradually, and entering the position by the left of the combined army, took up his ground in a second line, in rear of the foot guards. In the dusk of the evening the enemy commenced his attack on the British left, but failed; in the night the attack was repeated, and on the morning of the 28th of July the French renewed the attack on the height on the British left, and were again repulsed with considerable loss. After a pause of some hours the attacks were renewed upon the whole British front, and the action became general. Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell’s division, on the British right, sustained the assault of the enemy’s fourth corps, assisted by Major-General McKenzie’s brigade. “The English regiments, putting the French skirmishers aside, met the advancing columns with loud shouts, and breaking in on their front, and lapping their flanks with fire, and giving no respite, pushed them back with a terrible carnage. Ten guns were taken; but as General Campbell prudently forbore pursuit, the French rallied on their supports, and made a show of attacking again: vain attempt! The British artillery and musketry played too vehemently upon their masses, and a Spanish regiment of cavalry charging on their flank at the same time, the whole retired in disorder, and the victory was secured in that quarter.”[39]

The ten captured guns remained in possession of the British;—Major-General John Randoll McKenzie was killed;—and the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under Major John Williams Watson, conducted itself in such a manner as to merit notice in the despatch, as well as approbation in General Orders. Major Watson received a medal, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel for his conduct on this occasion.

The THIRTY-FIRST, in the actions of the 27th and 28th of July, had Captain William Lodge, two serjeants, and forty-two rank and file killed; Captains Nicolls and Coleman,—Lieutenants George Beamish, Adderley Beamish, and Girdlestone,—Ensigns Gamble and Soden,—Assistant-Surgeon Edwards,—eight serjeants, and one hundred and eighty-two rank and file, wounded. Most of the wounded fell into the hands of the French, on the abandonment of Talavera afterwards by the Spanish General. Assistant-Surgeon Edwards, who was left in charge of the wounded, died shortly afterwards.

The news of the brilliant victory of Talavera, gained over the French army commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, excited great joy in England, and Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington. The Royal Authority was afterwards given for the THIRTY-FIRST to bear the word “Talavera” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, to commemorate the distinguished conduct of the second battalion on that memorable occasion.

After the battle of the 28th of July, the second battalion was posted to Major-General Tilson’s brigade, in the division commanded by Major-General Rowland (afterwards Viscount) Hill; and on the 3rd of August marched from Talavera, in order to oppose the French, who had entered Estremadura by Placentia.

On the 3rd of September, the head-quarters arrived at Badajoz, and the army was distributed about Elvas, Campo Mayor, and other places, the THIRTY-FIRST being in the division cantoned at Montejo. The troops had suffered greatly on the march from Talavera, generally from dysentery, brought on by bad food, fatigue, and exposure. When the second battalion had rested awhile in its position, the sickness that had been kept off in a great measure by the previous excitement, now visited the men severely, and a considerable number died.

When Viscount Wellington broke up from the Guadiana in the month of December, and crossed the Tagus, he left Lieut.-General Hill, who had been appointed to serve on the Staff in the Peninsula as a Lieut.-General, after the battle of Talavera, with a force of ten thousand men, British and Portuguese, at Abrantes. Among the former was the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST; it continued at that place until February 1810, when Lieut.-General Hill, on the approach of Marshal Mortier on Badajoz, marched to Portalegre, and occupied that strong position. He made a move on the 23rd of April through the Sierra de St. Marmede, which had the desired effect of relieving General O’Donnell at Albuquerque, the enemy retiring to Merida. Lieut.-General Hill was once more at Portalegre on the 26th of April, and on the 15th of May he again quitted his cantonment, by which movement he disengaged Badajoz from the attention of the enemy, who had made a reconnoisance on the 12th of that place, and relieved General Ballasteros, returning in a few days afterwards to his old position.

During the continuance of the division at Portalegre, it was always on the alert, owing to General Regnier’s movements in Estremadura. In the beginning of July, Lieut.-General Hill concentrated his corps at Campo Mayor, previously to an expedition into Estremadura in conjunction with the Marquis de Romana. General Regnier had, however, frustrated this plan, by quitting Merida on the 10th of July, and marching upon Aleonete and Almaraz, effected the passage of the Tagus on the 16th. Lieut.-General Hill made a parallel movement, and crossing the river at Vilha Velha, was at Castello Branco on the 21st; he encamped at Sarzedas, in front of the Sobreira Formosa, remaining some time in observation between the Estrella and the Tagus.

Upon Marshal Massena concentrating his force for the invasion of Portugal, Lieut.-General Hill fell back from his position at Sarzedas, and on the 21 st of August, arrived on the Alva. On the 26th, the THIRTY-FIRST in Lieut.-General Hill’s corps, crossed the Mondego, arrived on the Sierra de Busaco, and was posted on the right, across the road leading over the mountain ridge to Peña Cova, but the battalion was not engaged in the action.

When General Regnier attacked the position held by the third and fifth divisions, Lieut.-General Hill withdrew towards his left to support them; it was unnecessary however, these divisions having repulsed the enemy, and he therefore continued in his original position.

After the battle of Busaco, fought on the 27th of September, the army withdrew from the Sierra, and Lieut.-General Hill’s division marched on Thomar, arriving there on the 4th of October; whence continuing its retreat by Santarem, it took up its ground, on the 8th, on the right of the Torres Vedras lines at Alhandra, on the right of the Tagus, in which position the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST had several skirmishes with the enemy, without sustaining much loss. The battalion remained at Alhandra, opposite which was the second French corps under General Regnier.

On the 17th of November, the second division crossed the Tagus at Villada upon Abrantes, where the French were in retreat. Upon Marshal Massena taking up a position at Santarem, it halted at Chamako, where the head-quarters were stationed; the troops being so distributed as to have an eye to the enemy, and prevent his crossing to the south of the Tagus. Lieut.-General Hill returned to England on account of ill health in December, and Marshal Sir William Carr (now Viscount) Beresford succeeded him in the command of his division, which amounted to fourteen thousand men, British and Portuguese.

The hostile armies remained in the same positions until the beginning of March, when Marshal Massena broke up from Santarem, and Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, with a body of troops, of which the THIRTY-FIRST formed part, crossed the Tagus at Abrantes, and moved to Thomar, while Marshal Beresford remained at Barla, and did not join in the pursuit of Marshal Massena.

Towards the end of March, Sir William Beresford arrived at Portalegre with twenty thousand infantry, two thousand cavalry, and eighteen guns, with orders to relieve Campo Mayor, and besiege Olivenza and Badajoz. The first object was effected on the 25th of March; it was an affair of cavalry only. On the 6th of April, the passage of the Guadiana took place at Jurumenha, and the army occupied a position on a strong range of hills. On the 9th of April, Olivenza was summoned, and not surrendering the army encamped round it. General Latour Maubourg having retired to Llerena, Marshal Beresford leaving the fourth division, with Colonel Madden’s cavalry, opposite Olivenza, took post on the 11th at Albuhera, the infantry being on the 16th drawn nearer to Badajoz, which place was invested on the 8th of May.

On the 8th and 10th of May, the French made two sorties, but were driven back with considerable loss. Marshal Soult’s approach to relieve Badajoz having been ascertained, the siege was raised on the night of the 12th, and moving to Albuhera, the British were in position on the 15th of May.

The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was on the left of Lieut.-Colonel Colborne’s brigade, in the division under Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, which was drawn up, in one line, behind the village of Albuhera; its right on a commanding hill, over which the Valverde road passed; its left on the road to Badajoz.

On the morning of the 16th of May, the grand attack was made by the French on the right of the position, and in a line at right angles to it: this point was contested by the Spaniards without success,—they gave way, and the French columns pushing on, seized the crown of the hill, and bringing up their reserves, established their batteries in position on it. At this moment Major-General the Honorable William Stewart brought forward Lieut.-Colonel Colborne’s brigade, and arrived with it at the foot of the hill, while all was in confusion above. The Major-General rushed on in open column of companies, attempting to form his line in succession as the battalions arrived. The THIRTY-FIRST, the left of the brigade, was still in column, when four regiments of hussars and lancers, which had been concealed by the heavy rain falling at the time, passed by the right flank to the rear of the line.

“One battalion only (the THIRTY-FIRST) being still in column, escaped the storm, and maintained its ground, while the French horsemen, riding violently over everything else, penetrated to all parts.”[40]

Major-General the Honorable William Lumley sent some squadrons of cavalry to take the attention of the Lancers, but the THIRTY-FIRST continued to hold the height, while the Spaniards would not advance, and Marshal Soult still kept his columns together on the point he had assailed. Major-General Hoghton’s brigade coming up in good order, under Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, and being soon afterwards reinforced by a portion of the fourth division, relieved the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST from the difficulty of its position.

The THIRTY-FIRST had two serjeants and twenty-six rank and file killed; and Captains Fleming and Knox, Lieutenants Butler, Gethen, and Bolton; Ensigns Wilson and Nicholson; four serjeants, and one hundred and sixteen rank and file, wounded.

Major George Guy Carleton L’Estrange, who commanded the battalion, at the battle of Albuhera, was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel in the army for his conduct on that day, and received a medal. Viscount Wellington alluded to his gallantry in the following terms:—

“There is one officer, Major L’Estrange, of the THIRTY-FIRST, whom I must recommend, in the strongest manner, for promotion in some way or other. After the other parts of the same brigade were swept off by the Cavalry, this little battalion alone held its ground against all the ‘colonnes en masse.’”

Captain Peter Fearon, of the THIRTY-FIRST, distinguished himself on the same day in command of the Lusitanian legion, and received a medal for his conduct.

The Royal Authority was afterwards given for the THIRTY-FIRST to bear the word “Albuhera” on the regimental colour and appointments, to commemorate the distinguished conduct of the second battalion on that memorable occasion.

The army was again in position during the 17th of May, the enemy appearing to meditate another attack; the remainder of the fourth division, however, arrived by forced marches from Jurumenha, and on the 18th Marshal Soult retreated, followed by Marshal Beresford, who left the Portuguese to make a show of investing Badajoz. The infantry had no affair with the enemy during his retreat; and when he assumed a position at Llerena, the operations terminated.

Major-General Hill at this period rejoined from England, and the second siege of Badajoz commenced on the 30th of May.

The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST continued under Lieut.-General Hill, to which rank he was promoted on the 4th of June 1811, in the covering army, which was posted between Merida and Albuhera. Having been much reduced in the late action, it was formed, with the sixty-sixth regiment, into a Provisional Battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Colborne.

When Marshal Soult advanced, and the siege of Badajoz was raised, the covering army was once more concentrated on the position of Albuhera. The French Marshal did not, however, attack; on the 17th of June, the British crossed the Guadiana, and prepared for the probability of an engagement with the united corps of Marshals Marmont and Soult. In July, the British were relieved from their presence, and the Commander-in-Chief, Viscount Wellington, leaving Lieut.-General Hill to watch Estremadura, at Portalegre, Villa Viciosa, and Estremos, with ten thousand men, put the rest of the army into quarters near the Tagus.

The THIRTY-FIRST continued with Lieut.-General Hill in the second division: this part of the army was constantly on the alert, but nothing very important occurred until October.

On the 9th of October, Lieut.-General Hill’s force was concentrated behind Campo Mayor, and on the 22nd marched to drive Marshal Girard from Caçeres: at daylight on the 28th of October, the British General surprised the French Marshal at Arroyo dos Molinos, in which brilliant affair the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was present.

The army returned to its cantonments about Portalegre immediately afterwards, and remained in them until the 24th and 25th of December, when it moved upon Merida, and arrived there on the 30th to surprise General Dombrouski, and attack General Drouet. They both retired, abandoning magazines of wheat, and Lieut.-General Hill took up his cantonments at Merida on the 6th of January, 1812.

Immediately afterwards Lieut.-General Hill fell back upon the frontiers of Portugal, while the grand army was investing Ciudad Rodrigo, and occupied Portalegre.

In March, Badajoz was invested for the third time, and Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s[41] corps again formed part of the covering army. He halted at Almendralejos, while Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) took post at Zafra. Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division then moved forward, and took post at Medellin. When the breaches at Badajoz were nearly practicable, Marshal Soult, having effected a junction with Generals Drouet and Daricau, advanced to relieve it. Viscount Wellington thereupon determined to fight him at Albuhera. Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham then fell back towards that place, and Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill having destroyed the bridge at Merida, marched from the Upper Guadiana to Talavera Real. Marshal Soult did not however advance in time, and Badajoz was taken on the 6th of April.

After the fall of Badajoz, when Viscount Wellington marched towards Beira, two divisions of British infantry, in one of which was the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, remained with Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill in Estremadura, to cover Badajoz during the re-establishment of its works. Nothing occurred in the army until the 12th of May, when six thousand men, with twelve field-pieces, crossed the Guadiana at Merida, and joining the battering train and pontoons, formed the force destined to surprise the French at Almaraz.

The THIRTY-FIRST remained in position on the Guadiana, while the expedition proceeded to attack the French works on the Bridge at Almaraz, on the Tagus, which were captured on the 19th of May. The bridge having been destroyed, and the communication between the several divisions of the French army rendered more difficult, the British troops returned to the south of the Guadiana.

A great part of June was passed in operations against General Drouet, until he was reinforced on the 18th of that month with General Barrois’s division of infantry, and two divisions of cavalry. Hereupon Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill fell back gradually to Albuhera, and took up a position on the former field, awaiting an attack. The enemy did not advance, and on the 2nd of July, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill broke up from Albuhera, and moved upon General Drouet, who retired towards Cordova. At the end of July, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill was at Llerena, and the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in Brigadier-General Byng’s brigade, was detached to Merida. General Drouet made a demonstration, but no action of infantry ensued.

After the victory gained by the army under Viscount Wellington on the 22nd of July at Salamanca, the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill penetrated the Spanish provinces: during the month of August they were engaged in the pursuit of General Drouet, and in the beginning of October they were on the Tagus, between Aranjuez and Toledo.

While the army under the Marquis of Wellington, which title was conferred upon him after the victory of Salamanca, was engaged in the siege of the Castle of Burgos, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment remained at Aranjuez. In consequence of the necessity of raising the siege of Burgos, and retreating, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill broke up from his ground on the Tagus, to effect a junction with the grand army, which commenced its retrograde movement from Burgos on the 21st of October.

On the 30th of October, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, having taken up a position of defence on the Jarama, was pressed by the enemy, who attacked the bridge of Aranjuez. The French were repulsed by Colonel Skerrett, with the forty-seventh (of which he was the Lieutenant-Colonel), and part of the ninety-fifth regiment, now the Rifle Brigade. The retreat continued without molestation; and on the 8th of November, the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill were at Alba, while the Marquis of Wellington occupied the heights of San Christoval. The brigade of the second division, in which the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was posted, being in the neighbourhood of the fords of Encinas.

On the 14th of November, the enemy passed the river near that place, and the Marquis of Wellington moved with the second division to attack him, while the remainder of the troops were ordered towards the Arapiles in the evening. No engagement occurred. The enemy fortified himself at Mozarbes, on the ground he had taken up the night before, and moved bodies of cavalry and infantry to the communication with Ciudad Rodrigo. The superiority of numbers on the part of the French caused the British army to continue its march to Ciudad Rodrigo, which it reached on the 19th of November. Thus ended the retreat from Burgos. The men had suffered greatly on the march and required rest; the enemy had pressed the retreat closely with his cavalry, and made an attack upon the rear upon the passage of the Huebra; the roads were difficult, and in some parts impassable. The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST did not share in the hardships of the main retreat until it had crossed the Tormes.

Marshal Soult having retired to the Upper Tormes, towards the pass of Banos, it was reported that he intended to invade Portugal by the valley of the Tagus. Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division was therefore moved to the right as far as Robledo, to cover the pass of Perales. King Joseph, however, in December, took up his position for the winter, and the allied army was also distributed in quarters.

Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division occupied Coria and Placentia, the THIRTY-FIRST being cantoned in the latter place.

The allied army remained in cantonments until the month of May 1813; on the 19th of that month the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, in the second division, broke up from its winter-quarters, and, forming a part of the right wing of the army, shared in the operations during the advance upon Burgos and Vittoria; in the plan for the action of the 21st of June, before Vittoria, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s corps, composed of Morillo’s Spaniards, Sylveira’s Portuguese, and the second British division, forming the right of the allied army, was to attack the enemy’s left, and forcing the passage of the lower Zadora, at Puebla, assail the French on the heights beyond, entering the plain of Vittoria, by the defile of La Puebla. The river was passed about ten o’clock A.M., and Morillo’s Spaniards assailed the mountain with his first brigade; but meeting with much resistance on the heights, called up his second brigade, which, the French being also reinforced, was supported by part of the second division, while Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, with the rest, passed through the defile, and, seizing the village of Subijana de Alava, held his ground: he thus connected his own right with the troops on the mountain, and maintained this forward position, although the French made great efforts to dislodge the allies from this vantage-ground.

Meanwhile the fourth division crossed by the bridge of Nanclares. The action on the British right was severe, and sustained with great gallantry. The French, being driven from all their defences, retreated with such precipitation towards Pampeluna as to abandon all their baggage, artillery, ammunition, military chests, and the court equipage of King Joseph, whose carriage being seized, he had barely time to escape on horseback. The defeat was the most complete that the French had experienced in Spain.

The bâton of Marshal Jourdan was taken, and the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of his Majesty, appointed the Marquis of Wellington a Field-Marshal. In a most flattering letter, the Prince Regent thus conferred the honor:—“You have sent me among the trophies of your unrivalled fame, the staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in return that of England.”

During part of the day, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST was stationed to cover a brigade of guns: its loss was not very great, being one private killed, and thirteen wounded. Captain Girdlestone was the only officer of the THIRTY-FIRST who was wounded.

Lieut.-Colonel Leith received a medal for his conduct in command of the battalion, and the Royal Authority was afterwards given for the word “Vittoria” to be inscribed on the Regimental Colour and Appointments of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to commemorate the gallantry of the second battalion in that battle.

The second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment shared in the pursuit of the enemy after his defeat at Vittoria, and, when the Marquis of Wellington marched on the 26th of June to intercept the French General Clausel, it remained with the other corps of the second division for the siege of Pampeluna.

Although the enemy had withdrawn his right and left into France, he maintained his centre in force in the rich valley of Bastan, which afforded numerous strong positions, and the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, having been relieved from the blockade of Pampeluna, advanced to dislodge the French. On the 4th of July, and the three following days, General Gazan was driven from the valley of Bastan by the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, and the positions abandoned by the enemy were occupied by the British. Major-General Byng’s brigade, of which the THIRTY-FIRST formed part, with some Spanish corps under General Morillo, took possession of the Pass of Roncesvalles on the 7th of July. In this celebrated valley the THIRTY-FIRST remained for a few days.

Marshal Soult having arrived at Bayonne on the 13th of July to command, as Lieutenant of the Emperor, the united French army of Spain, amounting to above seventy-eight thousand men, exclusive of garrisons, collected more than sixty thousand of his own left, and advanced on the 25th of July to force the Pass of Roncesvalles. The brigade which had been ordered to occupy the Pass, and of which the THIRTY-FIRST formed a part, kept the French in check for several hours, but was obliged to fall back, on perceiving that a strong body had succeeded in turning the position.

The THIRTY-FIRST had two privates killed, and three wounded, in the action on the 25th of July. On the 28th and 30th of July, the battalion was engaged in the attack made upon the enemy on the heights in front of Pampeluna, and had Captain Girdlestone, Ensign Smith, and Quarter-Master McIntosh, together with thirty-three rank and file, wounded:—two rank and file were killed.

Lieut.-Colonel Leith received a clasp, in addition to his former medal, for his conduct on these occasions.

The THIRTY-FIRST regiment subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Pyrenees” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, to commemorate the services of the second battalion in these several combats, which have been designated the “Battles of the Pyrenees.”

On the 31st of July, Major-General Byng’s brigade captured a large convoy near Elizondo, and made many prisoners.

The British troops resumed their position in the Pyrenees, awaiting the capture of St. Sebastian and Pampeluna. St. Sebastian was captured on the 31st of August, and on the 31st of October the French garrison of Pampeluna surrendered prisoners of war.

Pampeluna being captured, the right of the allied army, which had been employed in covering the blockade, became disengaged, and the British Commander looking down from the lofty Pyrenees on the well-guarded territory of France, resolved to carry the war into the heart of that country. The British army, early on the morning of the 10th of November, descended into the valleys on the French side; the division of which the THIRTY-FIRST formed part entered France by the Pass of Maya, having sustained some loss in the capture of one of the enemy’s redoubts. Only one man belonging to the battalion was killed, but Captain Girdlestone and eleven rank and file were wounded. Marshal Soult’s army was driven from his fortified position on the river Nivelle, and several guns and prisoners were captured. The French being pursued on the following day, retired to their fortified camp near Bayonne.

Captain Thomas Samuel Nicolls was promoted to the rank of Major in the army for his conduct on this day, and the THIRTY-FIRST afterwards received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Nivelle” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, in testimony of the gallantry of the second battalion in that action.

The passage of the river Nive was effected on the 9th of December: the THIRTY-FIRST passed over without the loss of a man, one serjeant only being wounded.

Lieut.-Colonel Leith received an additional clasp for his conduct on this occasion, and Captains Patrick Dowdall and Peter Fearon were promoted to the rank of Majors in the army.

On the 13th of December, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment shared in the action at St. Pierre, near Bayonne, when the enemy abandoned two pieces of cannon, which were taken possession of by Captain Hemsworth’s company.

The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch dated St. Jean de Luz, 14th December 1813, thus alluded to the conduct of the brigade under Major-General John Byng,[42] of which the THIRTY-FIRST formed part.

In a very interesting life of the late Viscount Hill, by the Reverend Edwin Sidney, A.M. is the following account of the action at St. Pierre, near Bayonne.

The THIRTY-FIRST had seven rank and file killed, and three serjeants, two drummers, and twenty-seven rank and file wounded.

Lieut.-Colonel Leith, who received a cross for his conduct, was slightly wounded. Ensign Hardy died of his wounds.

Brevet Major Peter Fearon, of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, who commanded the fifth Portuguese Caçadores, received an additional distinction to the medal which had been granted him for the battle of Albuhera.

The THIRTY-FIRST subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear on the Regimental colour the word “Nive,” to commemorate the gallantry of the second battalion in the actions which ensued on the passage of that river.

No further actions occurred during the few remaining days of the year 1813; and the army occupied winter-quarters.

Leaving their cantonments at the village of St. Pierre, the THIRTY-FIRST advanced with the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, in the middle of February 1814, when the French corps, under General Harispe, were driven from Hellete, and afterwards forced from a position on the heights of Garris on the 15th of February. The battalion had one private killed, and six rank and file wounded. Brevet Major Peter Fearon, who commanded the fifth Portuguese Caçadores, died of his wounds. The other officer wounded was Captain Knox, who was subsequently promoted to the brevet rank of major.

On the 27th of February, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, in Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division, crossed the Adour, on the right of Orthes, with the loss of only two rank and file wounded.

Lieut.-Colonel Leith gained another distinction, and the THIRTY-FIRST afterwards received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Orthes” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, in commemoration of the conduct of the second battalion in that battle.

Advancing rapidly against the enemy, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill engaged him at Aire, on which occasion the THIRTY-FIRST had Ensign Hardcastle (Captain in the third Portuguese Caçadores) one serjeant, and two rank and file wounded.

On the 10th of April, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was in action with the French in the suburbs of Toulouse, and had one private wounded.

During the night of the 11th of April, the French army evacuated Toulouse, and the white flag was hoisted. On the day following, the Marquis of Wellington entered the city amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. In the afternoon of this day intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon; and had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been prevented. A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at Bayonne, the garrison of which made a desperate sortie on the 14th of April, and Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun) was wounded and taken prisoner. Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was wounded. This was the last action of the Peninsular war.

The advance of the Allied troops into the heart of France led to a Treaty of Peace, by which Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of that kingdom, and Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty of that Island having been conferred upon him by the Allied Powers.

The war being ended, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was ordered to return to England. It marched from Toulouse to Bourdeaux on the 3rd of June, and on the 12th of July embarked in the Rodney, disembarking on the 23rd at the Cove of Cork, whence it immediately marched to Middleton.

In commemoration of the services of the second battalion, the THIRTY-FIRST subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Peninsula,” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, in addition to the names of the several actions in which the second battalion had taken a prominent part, during the war in Spain from 1808 to 1814, namely, “Talavera,” “Albuhera,” “Vittoria,” “Pyrenees,” “Nivelle,” “Nive,” and “Orthes.”

Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Leith was nominated a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath for his conduct in command of the second battalion during the Peninsular war.

Lieut.-Colonel George Guy Carleton L’Estrange, who was promoted from major in the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel in the twenty-sixth regiment on the 15th of December 1812, was nominated a Companion of the Order of the Bath for his conduct while serving with the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment.

On the 23rd of September, the second battalion proceeded to Portsmouth, where it was disbanded on the 24th of October 1814, the officers and men, fit for service, being transferred to the first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, at that period stationed in Sicily.

 

---

1814

---

---

List of the British Regiments which served in Flanders and Germany between 1742 and 1748, during the “War of the Austrian Succession.”

Rejoined the Army in Flanders, after the suppression of the Rebellion.
Returned to Great Britain in consequence of the Rebellion in favor of the Pretender.
Year in which embarked for Flanders.
Regiments.	Colonels.
Cavalry.
3rd Troop Horse Guards	Earl of Albemarle	1742	1746	..
4th ditto    ditto	Earl of Effingham	1742	1746	..
2nd ditto Horse Grenadier Guards.	Earl of Cranfurd	1742	1746	..
Royal Regiment Horse Guards	Earl of Hertford	1742	1746	..
1st Horse (1st Dragoon Guards)	Earl of Pembroke	1742	1746	..
4th Irish Horse (7th Dragoon Guards)	Sir John Ligonier	1742	1745	..
1st Dragoons	Hawley	1742	1745	..
2nd ditto	Campbell	1742	RF	..
3rd ditto	Honeywood	1742	1745	..
4th ditto	Rich	1742	1746	1747
6th ditto (Inniskilling)	Lord Cadogan	1742	RF	..
7th ditto	Cope	1742	RF	..
Foot Guards.
1st Foot Guards 1st Battalion	Duke of Cumberland	1742	1745	1747
2nd ditto ditto	Duke of Marlborough	1742	1745	..
3rd ditto ditto	Earl of Dunmore	1742	1745	1747
Infantry.
1st Foot 1st Batt.	St. Clair	1744	1745	..
3rd ditto (Buffs)	Howard	1742	1745	1747
4th ditto	Barrel	1744	1745	..
8th ditto	Onslow	1742	1745	1746
11th ditto	Cornwallis	1742	RF	..
12th ditto	Duroure	1742	1745	..
13th ditto	Pulteney	1742	1745	1746
18th ditto	Mordaunt	1743	1745	..
19th ditto (Green)	Howard	1744	RF	..
20th ditto	Bligh	1742	1745	1748
21st ditto, Royal Nth. British Fusiliers	Campbell	1742	1745	1747
23rd ditto, Royal Welsh Fusiliers	Peers	1742	1745	1747
25th ditto	Earl of Rothes	1744	1745	1747
28th ditto	Bragg	1744	1745	..
31st ditto	Handasyd	1742	1745	..
32nd ditto	Skelton	1742	RF	..
33rd ditto	Johnson	1742	RF	..
34th ditto	Cholmondeley	1744	1745	..
36th ditto	Fleming	1744	1745	1747
37th ditto	Ponsonby	1742	1745	1747
42nd ditto	Lord Semphill	1744	1745	..
48th ditto (orig. 59th)	Lord Harry Beauclerk	1744	1745	1747

RF = Remained in Flanders

---

As the Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second Regiments were originally raised, in 1702, as Marine Corps, and served in that capacity until the year 1714, when they were retained, as Regiments of regular Infantry, on the Establishment of the Army, the following account of the Marine Corps is appended,—it being found impracticable to record the earlier services of the Thirtieth, Thirty-first and Thirty-second Regiments distinct from those of the Marine Corps, in consequence of their being employed, from 1702 to 1714, by detachments on board the Fleet, and engaged on various services at Sea, as well as on land, according to the purposes for which they were originally raised.

---

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE MARINE CORPS,

CONTAINING

AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR FORMATION AND SERVICES
FROM 1664 TO 1748;

AT WHICH PERIOD THOSE CORPS CEASED TO FORM PART OF THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE REGULAR ARMY.

---

FROM THE YEAR 1755

THE PRESENT CORPS OF

ROYAL MARINES

HAVE BEEN UNDER THE CONTROL OF

THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY.

---

COMPILED BY

RICHARD CANNON, Esq.,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE-GUARDS.

---

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES.

---

---

---

---

Note.—The Compiler of these Records feels it a duty to acknowledge, that he has derived a principal portion of the means of drawing up the details of the services of the Marines from “An Historical Review of the Royal Marine Corps,” published in 1803, “by Captain Alexander Gillespie, who served as an Officer in that Corps upwards of twenty-four years;” a work of considerable merit and research, which reflects great honor on its author, as an excellent scholar and a most zealous officer.