Part 15
The capture of the capital of Egypt added additional lustre to the British arms; and the brave men, whose skill and prowess gained these honours, were rewarded with the approbation of their Sovereign and the thanks of Parliament. From Cairo the British and Turks retired down the Nile, and proceeded to the vicinity of _Alexandria_, and, having driven in the French out-posts, besieged the city, which was surrendered in the beginning of September. The ROYALS had one serjeant and seven private men killed before Alexandria, and also sustained considerable loss from the effects of fatigue and climate.
The nations of Europe had witnessed with anxiety the progress of this important struggle, and, when the veterans of France were overpowered, the dawn of liberty appeared above the distant horizon.
The British troops having, by a display of gallantry and heroism which exceeded the most sanguine expectations of their country, overcome the boasted "_Invincible_" legions of Bonaparte, and forced the French "_Army of the East_" to evacuate Egypt, from whence its ambitious and tyrannical leader had vainly imagined he should be able to extend his conquests throughout Asia, King George III. conferred upon the ROYALS and other corps, which had thus exalted the military fame of Great Britain, the honour of bearing on their colours the SPHYNX, and the word "EGYPT," as a distinguished mark of His Majesty's royal approbation of their conduct.
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The 1st battalion had, in the meantime, marched from Scotland to England; and it sailed on the 1st of January, 1801, from Portsmouth for the West Indies, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Nicholson. A combination had been entered into by the courts of Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, to support the principles of an armed neutrality, contrary to the stipulations of treaties, and injurious to the interests of Great Britain; orders were in consequence issued for the attack of the Swedish and Danish islands in the West Indies; and the ROYALS joined the expedition, commanded by Lieut.-General Thomas Trigge, at the island of St. Bartholomew, on the 22nd of March. On the 24th the troops made good their landing on the Danish island of _St. Martin_. After landing, the ROYALS, with the 11th and 2nd West India regiments, proceeded to the French quarter and took possession of Lee Hill, which commanded Fort Chesterfield. The artillery was dragged up the heights, and preparations made for commencing the attack, when the governor surrendered.
One wing of the battalion, and a detachment of the Royal Artillery, were left at St. Martin's under Lieut.-Colonel Nicholson, who was appointed to the command of the troops and the charge of the administration of the island. The other wing, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel J. C. Cowell, proceeded with the expedition to the island of _St. Thomas_, which surrendered, together with _St. John_, and their dependencies, on the 28th of March; and on the 31st of the same month the Danish island of _Santa Cruz_ was taken. The battalion was then stationed, half at the island of St. Martin, and half at St. Thomas.
In August, 1801, General Lord Adam Gordon died, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the ROYAL Regiment by His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, from the 7th Royal Fusiliers.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
In November of the same year the 2nd battalion was withdrawn from Egypt, and proceeded to the island of Malta, where it remained upwards of four months.
[Sidenote: 1802]
The victories gained by the British troops in Egypt, the West Indies, and other parts of the globe, were followed by a treaty of peace, which was concluded at Amiens; and in May, 1802, the 2nd battalion of the ROYAL Regiment proceeded from Malta to Gibraltar.
[Sidenote: 1803]
It quitted Gibraltar in the beginning of 1803, and proceeded to England. Soon after its arrival the war again broke out, and it was ordered to the West Indies, where it arrived in June. It was inspected at Barbadoes by Lieut.-General Greenfield, and immediately afterwards proceeded with an expedition against the French island of _St. Lucia_. The 1st division, consisting of the ROYALS and two field-pieces, landed on the island in the afternoon of the 21st of June, under the orders of Brigadier-General Brereton. The other corps followed; the French out-posts were driven in, and the town of Castrées taken possession of. On the following morning, before daylight, the ROYALS and 64th regiment advanced to attack the strong post of _Morne Fortuné_ by storm. The ROYALS led the assault in gallant style; the redoubt was carried with fixed bayonets, and the enemy immediately surrendered. On the same day Lieut.-General Greenfield issued a general order, in which he stated:--
"The Commander of the Forces has the honour to congratulate the troops under his command on the gallant attack and capture of the fortress of Morne Fortuné, and the unconditional surrender of the island of St. Lucia.
"He shall have particular satisfaction in reporting to the King the readiness with which the troops forming the expedition were embarked on the shortest notice: he must, in particular, speak of the gallant behaviour of the second battalion of the ROYALS."
The loss of the battalion on this occasion was 1 serjeant, and 8 rank and file, killed; Lieut.-Colonel Macdonald, Captain Chaloner, 2 serjeants, and 43 rank and file, wounded; and 1 rank and file missing. Both the officers afterwards died of their wounds.
As a mark of His Majesty's approbation of the signal gallantry evinced by the ROYALS on this occasion, they were permitted to bear the words "SAINT LUCIA" on their colours.
After the capture of St. Lucia the expedition proceeded to _Tobago_, where it arrived on the 30th of June. The troops landed without opposition, and marched in column towards Scarborough; the French governor, General Berthier, was summoned, and he surrendered the island on the same day. The ROYALS were afterwards stationed at the island of Tobago for several months.
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The first battalion, which had been in the West Indies since 1801, was employed in 1803, under Lieut.-General Greenfield, in capturing the islands belonging to the Batavian republic. _Essequibo_ and _Demerara_ surrendered on the 20th of September, 1803; and the island of _Berbice_ surrendered to Lieut.-Colonel Robert Nicholson, of the ROYALS, on the 23rd of that month, when the Batavian garrison, of upwards of 600 men, was made prisoners.
[Sidenote: 1804]
[Sidenote: 3rd and 4th Batts.]
While the first and second battalions were in the West Indies two additional battalions were embodied at Hamilton, in North Britain, on the 25th of December, 1804, and added to the establishment of the FIRST, or ROYAL Regiment of Foot, which now consisted of four battalions, all fit for active service.
[Sidenote: 1805]
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
Soon afterwards the fourth battalion marched to Stirling Castle, and, after doing duty there a short time, embarked for Ireland.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
In May, 1805, the third battalion marched from Scotland to the south of England.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1806]
In February of the same year the two flank companies of the second battalion were detached from Tobago, for the defence of the island of Antigua; and the battalion companies embarked for the defence of Trinidad; and in July the whole returned to Tobago, where the battalion remained until November of the same year, when, after transferring its effective non-commissioned officers, drummers, and private men to the first battalion, it embarked for England, and landed in January, 1806, a mere skeleton.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
This year (1806) the fourth battalion quitted Ireland, and on its arrival in England it was quartered at Horsham, and afterwards at Bexhill barracks. The third battalion was also stationed, during the winter of the same year, at Bexhill barracks.
[Sidenote: 1807]
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
In the meantime information arrived in England of the revolt of two battalions of Sepoys, in the service of the East India Company, at Vellore, and of their attack on a few companies of the King's troops at that place in July, 1806; also of the alarming spirit of insubordination evinced by the native troops in other parts of India; and the second battalion of the ROYAL Regiment was immediately ordered to embark for India, to strengthen the European force in that country. When the order arrived the battalion only mustered about 500 men; but it was completed in twenty-four hours to 1000, by volunteers from the third and fourth battalions, then at Bexhill barracks. On the 17th of April, 1807, it embarked at Portsmouth in six China ships, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel A. Stewart, arrived off the west coast of the Malay peninsula in September following, and landed on the 18th of that month on the Prince of Wales's Island.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
The third battalion had in the meantime proceeded to the island of Jersey, from whence it embarked, in September, for Ireland.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
The fourth battalion, consisting, after it had transferred its service-men to the second, of about 40 rank and file, embarked in April of the same year at Portsmouth, for Scotland; arrived at Glasgow on the 29th of that month, and commenced recruiting its numbers.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1808]
While the second battalion remained at the Prince of Wales's Island it lost about 100 men from disease. In November it embarked for the continent of India, landed at Madras in December, and, marching into the interior, was stationed at Wallajahbad and Bangalore, where it remained until March, 1808, when it returned to Madras.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
During the summer of 1808 the fourth battalion, having recruited its ranks, embarked from Scotland, and arrived in England in August.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1809]
The resistance of the Portuguese and Spaniards to the tyrannical government of Napoleon had, in the meantime, occasioned a British force to be sent to their aid; and Portugal had been freed from the power of France. Spain was overrun by the legions of Napoleon; the Spaniards were rising in arms in every quarter; and a British force was ordered to their aid, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir John Moore. The third battalion of the ROYAL Regiment was selected to form part of this force; and it accordingly embarked at Cork in September, 1808, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Andrew Hay,[108] and sailed for Spain with a body of troops under the orders of Lieut.-General Sir David Baird. These troops landed at Corunna in October, and marched up the country; at the same time another British force was advancing into Spain from the frontiers of Portugal, under Sir John Moore; and a junction was effected on the 20th of December at Majorga, from whence the united forces advanced on the following day to Sahagun, in the province of Leon. The Spaniards had, however, been defeated and dispersed; and the few troops under Sir John Moore were unable to cope with the overwhelming numbers with which Napoleon advanced to attack the British army. A retreat was consequently resolved upon; and the third battalion of the ROYAL Regiment shared with the other corps in all the fatigues and privations consequent upon a retrograde movement, continued for a distance of 250 miles, along roads covered with snow, over mountains and rivers, and through narrow defiles, with an enemy above three times as numerous as themselves following in full career, and frequently skirmishing with the rear-guard. Yet such was the ability of the British commander, and the native energy and resolution of the troops, that this retrograde movement was successfully executed, and in the middle of January, 1809, the army arrived, unbroken, in front of _Corunna_. Napoleon, having been foiled in his object, had desisted from the pursuit; but he had detached a large body of troops, under Marshal Soult, to pursue the British to the sea-shore; and a general engagement was fought on the 16th of January, when the British were victorious. The third battalion of the ROYAL Regiment was formed, on this occasion, in brigade with the 26th (Cameronians), and the second battalion of the 81st, under Major-General Manningham, in the division commanded by Sir David Baird. Before the action commenced, Captain Rowan was sent forward with 100 men of the ROYALS, and joined the 81st Regiment, which had also been posted in advance. On the approach of the enemy this party was attacked by very superior numbers, and Captain Rowan brought back very few of his men. When the enemy approached Sir David Baird's division, it did not wait to be attacked, but advanced under a heavy fire to meet its opponents; on no occasion was the valour of British troops more manifest, and the ROYALS, with the remainder of their brigade, were thanked in general orders for their gallant conduct. This victory was, however, purchased at the expense of many valuable lives; and the death of Sir John Moore, who was killed by a cannon-ball, was an irreparable loss to his country. The British troops afterwards embarked at Corunna, and returned to England. When the ROYALS arrived in England, it was discovered that they had sustained, in killed, wounded, missing, and death from fatigue, a loss of about 250 men: and their gallantry was rewarded with the Royal permission to bear the word CORUNNA on their colours.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
This year (1809) the 2nd battalion marched, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel H. Conran, from Fort St. George, Madras, to take the field. Previously to quitting this station the following order was issued by the Governor-General in Council:--
"On the march of the 2nd battalion of the ROYALS from the garrison of Fort St. George, Lieut.-Colonel Conran will assume the command of the force under the orders of march to the ceded districts, without interfering with the command of the troops in the centre division of the army.
"The Governor-General in Council is pleased to express his entire approbation of the conduct of the 2nd battalion of the ROYALS while they have been stationed at Fort St. George.
"The Governor-General in Council requests Lieut.-Colonel Conran will accept the expression of his warmest thanks for the able and satisfactory manner in which he has conducted the duties incidental to the command of the troops in the garrison of Fort St. George."
After the ROYALS had been in the field a short time they were separated, and one wing proceeded to Hyderabad, and the other to Masulipatam, a considerable sea-port in the district of Condapilly, where they remained during the succeeding year.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
The 3rd battalion had, in the meantime, been selected to form part of an expedition to Holland, under the command of the Earl of Chatham, for the purpose of destroying the enemy's shipping, arsenal, &c., on the Scheldt. It accordingly embarked from Portsmouth in July, under the command of Major Gordon, and landed at _Walcheren_, one of the Dutch islands in the German ocean, situated at the mouth of the river Scheldt, and was engaged in the siege of _Flushing_, the capital of the island. On the 7th of August the enemy issued from the town, and attacked the British troops. "Their principal effort was directed against the small wood on the left of our advanced piquet on the dyke; and their left column advanced towards that point in a heavy mass, attempting to deploy while they entered the small meadow which lies between the two woods. Here they were received with a most destructive fire by the ROYALS, posted on the dyke, and were gallantly charged by the light company of that regiment." These gallant exertions being seconded by the 5th and 35th regiments, and two six-pounders, the enemy fell back, having sustained very considerable loss.
An attempt was afterwards made to drive the enemy from their posts in front of the advanced piquets. "The 3rd battalion of the ROYALS advanced along the sand-hills; and the light company of that battalion, under Captain Hay, charged the enemy most gallantly. Very little resistance was made, and the enemy retired into the suburbs of the town, to which they set fire. They had with them two small field-pieces, one of which was taken in a most gallant manner by Lieutenant Jackson and thirty men of the ROYALS."[109] The Commander of the Forces expressed his approbation of the conduct of the ROYALS on this occasion, in general orders, and attributed the success principally to the rapid and gallant charge made by Captain Hay with the light company at the moment of the enemy's deployment.
The siege was afterwards prosecuted with vigour, and the town surrendered on the 15th of August. After the capture of this place, the expedition prepared to carry the original design into execution; but the enemy had, in the meantime, removed his shipping higher up the Scheldt, and collected so large a body of troops for the defence of Antwerp, that further proceedings were abandoned, and the troops returned to England. The loss of the ROYALS in this expedition was--Lieutenant M'Lean, 1 drummer, and 8 private men, killed; Captain J. Wilson, Lieutenants Jackson and M'Kenzie, 7 serjeants, and 81 rank and file, wounded; and 6 rank and file missing. The unhealthy climate of Walcheren, however, produced a much greater loss from disease.
[Sidenote: 1810]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The 1st battalion had continued in the West Indies, and was stationed at Demerara and Tobago, from whence fifty men were detached, under the command of Captains Lynch and Mullen,[110] to form part of an expedition under Lieut.-General Sir George Beckwith, K.B., against the island of _Guadaloupe_. The ROYALS formed part of the 2nd battalion of light infantry, under Lieut.-Colonel David Stewart, of the 8th West India Regiment. A landing was effected on the 28th of January, 1810, and the ROYALS took part in the operations, by which the enemy was forced to surrender the island in the early part of February. The ROYALS had 3 rank and file killed, and 1 serjeant and 12 rank and file wounded, in this service.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
A British army was at this period in Portugal, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley; and the 3rd battalion of the ROYAL Regiment, having, after its return from Walcheren, been recruited to 1000 rank and file, embarked at Portsmouth in February, 1810, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Barns,[111] for Portugal. After landing at Lisbon it joined the army under Sir Arthur Wellesley, and formed part of Major-General Leith's division. Marshal Massena was advancing from Spain with an immense army, and he vaunted that he would drive the English into the sea. The British and Portuguese troops manœuvred to retard the advance of the enemy, and in September the army took up a position on the rocks of _Busaco_. This position was attacked by the enemy on the 27th of September; a desperate engagement ensued, and the British, by astonishing efforts of valour, overcame their antagonists, and stood triumphant on the lofty heights. Sir Arthur Wellesley, in his despatch, stated,--"Major-General Leith reports the good conduct of the ROYALS;" and the royal permission was afterwards obtained for the regiment to bear the word BUSACO on its colours, in commemoration of the good conduct of the battalion in this engagement.
The army afterwards retired to the lines of _Torres Vedras_, where a series of works constructed with skill opposed an insurmountable barrier to the progress of the enemy. The French Marshal, after reconnoitring the works, retired to Santarem, and the two armies confronted each other during the remainder of the year.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The 4th battalion proceeded, in August of this year, from England to Scotland; the 1st battalion continued in the West Indies; and the 2nd battalion passed the year at Hyderabad and Masulipatam, in the East Indies.
[Sidenote: 1811]
In the early part of 1811[112] the left wing of the 2nd battalion of the ROYAL Regiment proceeded by forced marches from Hyderabad to Masulipatam, where it joined the right wing, in the expectation of embarking with the expedition commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, against the Dutch island of Java. The battalion mustered 1036 rank and file, and the officers and men panted for an opportunity to signalize themselves; but, to their great regret, the order for their embarkation was countermanded. They remained at Masulipatam until July, when they proceeded to Trichinopoly, a strong city in the Carnatic.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
The 3rd battalion remained opposed to the French army in Portugal. Marshal Massena occupied his position at Santarem until his numbers were reduced by sickness and privation, and on the night of the 5th March, 1811, he retreated towards the frontiers. The ROYALS, moving forward with the army, took part in the operations which followed; the French retired into Spain, leaving a garrison in Almeida, which was blockaded by the allies. Having crossed the frontiers, the ROYALS were engaged on the 5th of May at _Fuentes d'Onor_, on which occasion the French Marshal was defeated in his attempt to relieve Almeida. The ROYALS had one serjeant and 8 rank and file wounded in this action.[113]
[Sidenote: 1812]
This battalion was also before the strong fortress of _Ciudad Rodrigo_, when it was besieged by the allied army in January, 1812, and captured by storm on the 19th of that month.
On the 11th of February, 1812, "His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased, in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty, to approve of the FIRST, OR ROYAL REGIMENT OF FOOT, being in future styled, THE FIRST REGIMENT OF FOOT, OR ROYAL SCOTS."
From the province of Leon the 3rd battalion marched towards Spanish Estremadura, and was before the city of _Badajoz_ when that fortress was besieged and taken by storm in the month of April; in which service the ROYALS had two officers wounded; namely, Lieutenants Rea and O'Neil, who were attached to the engineer's department.
After the capture of Badajoz the battalion proceeded with its division (the 5th) towards Ciudad Rodrigo, and advanced upon Salamanca, which city the French were forced to evacuate in the middle of June. The enemy retreated beyond the Douro, and part of the allied army advanced to Trabancos. The French subsequently re-passed the Douro, when the ROYAL SCOTS, with the remainder of the division, advanced to _Torrecille de la Orden_, to cover the retreat, and insure the junction of the corps in advance. On the 18th of July the French army commanded by Marshal Marmont pushed forward, some sharp skirmishing occurred, and the ROYALS were partially engaged, and had two men wounded. The allied army afterwards retreated, and took up a position on the rocky heights near _Salamanca_.