Part 4

The right wing experienced bad weather and lost a number of boats, by which one serjeant, two drummers, five women, and four children were drowned. On the 19th of August the right wing landed at Dinapore, and the left on the 25th, having made a very prosperous voyage, not meeting with a single accident in the passage: on the 1st of November, the regiment marched to Ghazeepore.

[Sidenote: 1823.]

On the 17th of May 1823, Lieut.-Colonel Francis M. Miller, C.B., died, after having served his Majesty upwards of thirty-four years, during which he had commanded the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment at different periods for sixteen years. He was deeply and most deservedly regretted by every officer and soldier who had served with him, and had invariably received the marked approbation of every general officer under whom he had been placed. The command of the regiment subsequently devolved on Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Shawe, C.B.

[Sidenote: 1824.]

Serjeant Stephen Carr was appointed quartermaster on the 24th of June 1824, as a reward for his distinguished gallantry and honorable trustworthy conduct: he was present in every action in which the second battalion was employed during the Peninsular war.

In consequence of the Forty-seventh regiment having embarked at Calcutta for Ava, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH left Ghazeepore in boats oh the 9th of June 1824, and reached Berhampore on the 29th of the same month.

[Sidenote: 1825.]

On the 14th of January 1825, the regiment proceeded towards Calcutta to replace the second battalion of the Royals on its departure for Ava; the left wing moved by land, the right by water, and were reunited on the 29th in Fort William, of which garrison Lieut.-Colonel Shawe became commandant.

On the 6th of June, the regiment performed the melancholy duty of attending to the grave the remains of its beloved and lamented commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Henry Browne. He had entered the regiment in 1800 as an ensign, when sixteen years of age, and had never belonged to any other: his qualities as a man and a soldier endeared him to all. In the meantime hostilities had commenced between the British and the Burmese, and on the 5th of October the regiment embarked for Ava, to reinforce the army in that country, in four divisions, which landed at Rangoon between the 3rd and 10th of November, and immediately proceeded in boats towards Prome, the head-quarters of the army. During the passage, Major William Slade Gully’s division was attacked from the bank of the river, on the 25th of November, by a strong party of Burmese, which was immediately repulsed on the troops being landed. Lieutenant and Adjutant James Bowes, in command of the advanced guard, was wounded, and two privates killed.

Six companies of the regiment, with Major Gully, Captains Charles Lucas and George Rodney Bell, and John Day; Lieutenants John Baylee, William Bateman, Robert Joseph Kerr, William Lenox Stafford, with Assistant Surgeons William Brown, M.D., and William Peter Birmingham, reached Prome in time to share in the operations of the 1st and 2nd of December, which terminated in the entire discomfiture of the enemy. On this occasion the regiment maintained its unvarying reputation for cool and distinguished gallantry: Lieutenant Baylee and two men were killed; Major Gully and twenty-one men were wounded.

[Sidenote: 1826.]

On the 8th of January 1826, Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair joined the regiment, and was appointed a Brigadier, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH being in his brigade.

On the 19th of January Brigadier Thomas Hunter Blair, Lieut.-Colonel of the regiment, commanded the right column of attack at the capture of _Melloone_, consisting of the Eighty-ninth regiment and the flank companies of the Forty-seventh and EIGHTY-SEVENTH with Captain James Moore (major of brigade), Brevet Captain James Kennelly, Lieutenants Henry Gough Baylee, Edmund Cox, George Mainwaring, William Lenox Stafford, and Joseph Thomas, and Assistant Surgeon Birmingham. No loss was sustained.

The day after the fall of _Melloone_, the Bengal division, under Brigadier Shawe, made a flank movement from the river Irrawaddy, and entered a well-cultivated country abounding in cattle, eight hundred head of which were secured, and they proved a most seasonable supply to the army.

On the 28th of January the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, with the flank companies of the Twenty-eighth native infantry, and detachments of the Governor-General’s body-guard and artillery, under Brigadier Hunter Blair, were sent from Tongwyn, to attack the position of _Moulmein_, eleven miles distant. The flank companies of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH had one man killed and five wounded in forcing a piquet half way to Moulmein, which had been in part evacuated the preceding day. The position, being a great annoyance to the surrounding country, was destroyed, and the troops returned to camp the same evening.

On the 21st of February, the Bengal division rejoined head-quarters at Yandaboo; and on the 24th of February a royal salute announced the termination of the Burmese war.

The constancy and valour of the British troops had thus forced the monarch of an Eastern empire, with its myriads of inhabitants, to sue for peace; and their conduct is thus alluded to in the order issued by the Governor-General of India.

“While the Governor-General in Council enumerates, with sentiments of unfeigned admiration, the achievements of the First or Royals, the Thirteenth, Thirty-eighth, Forty-first, Forty-fifth, Forty-seventh, EIGHTY-SEVENTH, and Eighty-ninth regiments, the Honorable Company’s Madras European regiment, and the Bengal and Madras European artillery, as the European troops which have had the honor of establishing the renown of the British arms in a new and distant region, his Lordship in Council feels that higher and more justly-merited praise cannot be bestowed on those brave troops than that, amidst the barbarous hosts which they have fought and conquered, they have eminently displayed the virtues and sustained the character of the British soldier.”

In commemoration of the meritorious conduct of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH and other corps, the royal authority was subsequently granted for the word “AVA” to be borne on the regimental colour and appointments.

Brigadier Shawe, on the 1st of March, was compelled to proceed to Rangoon, in consequence of ill health.

On the 8th of March, the portion of the army that was ordered to return by land, marched from Yandaboo, under the command of Brigadier Hunter Blair. It consisted of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, the Governor-General’s body-guard, the Horse artillery, the Twenty-eighth, Thirty-eighth, and Forty-third Madras native infantry, and a battalion of the Madras pioneers. The column reached Prome, a distance of two hundred and ninety miles, on the 3rd of April, having had only one halting day, which was St. Patrick’s.

The EIGHTY-SEVENTH remained at Prome, as the rear-guard of the army, until the arrangements for the final evacuation of the province was completed; on the 15th of April it embarked in the flotilla, and reached Rangoon on the 21st of that month.

On the 27th of April was received the melancholy intelligence of the death of Lieut.-Colonel Matthew Shawe, C.B., which lamented event took place on board His Majesty’s sloop, “Slany,” Captain Thornton, on the 10th of that month, within one day’s sail of Penang, where he was buried with all military honors. He was much regretted as an excellent man, and an officer of conspicuous gallantry. His life was sacrificed to his zeal for active service, for such was the state of his health, on leaving Calcutta, that his medical advisers used every endeavour to dissuade him from proceeding to Ava.[9]

Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, became senior Lieut.-Colonel of the regiment, of which he assumed the command on the 1st of June, on the reduction of the staff in Ava.

On the 1st of September, Lieutenant Edmund Cox, with twenty-eight flankers, proceeded to Ava, as escort to the envoy, they being the first British soldiers who had visited that capital.

An order was received at Rangoon, on the 16th of October, directing that in consequence of the intended return of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH to England, the men should be permitted to volunteer for the Forty-fifth regiment, also in garrison: one hundred and twenty-three men availed themselves of this offer.

On the 22nd of October, the head-quarters embarked for Calcutta, which they reached on the 16th of November, and were joined by the rest of the regiment on the 24th of that month.

Besides those already named, the regiment had to regret the death (in Ava) of two old and much valued officers, Captain Peter Benson Husband and Surgeon Alexander Leslie; and of Lieutenant Nicholas Milley Doyle, and Ensign Richard Loveday, two most promising young men, who were drowned in the Irrawaddy, and of above one hundred and eighty non-commissioned officers and soldiers, chiefly from dysentery.

After the return of the regiment from Ava, it had the honor of being reviewed at Calcutta by General Lord Combermere, G.C.B., Commander-in-chief in India, and inspected by Major-General Robert Alexander Dalzell, afterwards the Earl of Carnwath.

On the 13th of November, the volunteering re-commenced, and continued, with intervals, to the 27th of December, during which two hundred and fifty-nine men turned out, for the Sixteenth lancers, Thirteenth, Thirty-first, Thirty-eighth, and Forty-fourth regiments and East India Company’s service, reducing the regiment in India to two hundred and eighty men.

[Sidenote: 1827.]

On the 1st of February the head-quarters, with nine companies, sailed from Calcutta in the free trader “Lord Lynedoch,” leaving the remainder of the regiment to follow in the “Cornwall.”

It may be remarked, as a singular circumstance, that the regiment should return to England in a ship bearing the name of the hero under whom it gained the decoration of the eagle at Barrosa, and still more remarkable, that its actual commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, had proceeded to India in the “Barrosa.”

The following general order, dated the 29th of January, was published by his Excellency General Lord Combermere, on the embarkation of the regiment.

“The Commander-in-Chief having directed the embarkation of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, on its return home, his Lordship cannot allow the corps to leave India, without expressing his high approbation of its services. Of the conduct of this corps, during its services in Ava, his Lordship has had the most favourable reports; and he has every confidence that, wherever its future destinies may lead it, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment will always add to its spirited and distinguished military reputation.”

On the 27th of April the head-quarters reached St. Helena, and remained there four days.

On the 23rd of June 1827 the EIGHTY-SEVENTH landed in England, and was placed on the British establishment from that day inclusive, and marched into Chatham Barracks; from thence, after being inspected, and the invalids discharged, the regiment was moved by water on the 7th of July to Albany Barracks, Isle of Wight, the effective strength at head-quarters being two hundred and eighty rank and file.

In consequence of the continued career of brilliant services which has distinguished the regiment from its first taking the field, to its return to England, a period of thirty-three years, General Sir John Doyle felt it an imperative duty, as its Colonel, to bring those services under the notice of its revered and beloved Sovereign, and humbly to solicit for the corps some mark of His Majesty’s royal favour.

The gracious manner in which the King had condescended to view the conduct of his EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, and the encouraging expressions with which His Majesty has been pleased to convey his approbation of its services, must be so cheering to the hearts of every member of the corps, that the circumstance naturally claims a place in the records of the regiment.

On the 20th of June 1827, the Colonel addressed the following letter to the Adjutant-General of the Forces, Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B.:

“_4. Somerset Street, Portman Square, “20th June 1827._ “SIR,

“I have the honor to represent to you that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, under my command, has arrived in England, after a service of twenty-one years in tropical climates.

“It has just returned from the Burmese campaign, where it has obtained additional honors to those it had formerly won.

“To you, Sir, who so well know the character of every corps in the army, it is unnecessary to detail the services of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH. It is now thirty-three years since I had the honor to raise it, thirty-one years of which period it has been upon foreign service; on the continent of Europe, the Peninsula, South America, and the East and West Indies. In all the well-fought

## actions where it bore a part in both hemispheres, it has been

distinguished in general orders. My authority is the Government Gazette.

“Under these circumstances, may I be permitted to hope that you will do me the favour to lay at His Majesty’s feet my humble petition that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment may be appointed a light infantry corps, which, as being a mark of His Majesty’s approbation, would be most gratifying to those brave men, who have so freely bled, and would lay down their lives, to manifest their devoted attachment to their gracious and beloved Sovereign. Perhaps, Sir, you will have the less difficulty in complying with my request, when I mention that, immediately after the action of Barrosa, I received the following note from Lord Lynedoch, written from the field of battle:

“MY DEAR DOYLE,

“Your regiment has covered itself with glory. Recommend it and its commander to the notice of its illustrious patron, the Prince Regent. Too much cannot be done for the corps.”

“I presented it to his Royal Highness, who graciously said, ‘It is very true, and I will do any thing you wish for the regiment; will you have it made _Royal_?’ I respectfully declined the honor, for reasons his Royal Highness did not disapprove.

“For the correctness of this statement I humbly appeal to His Majesty, who never forgets any circumstance relating to those who have faithfully and zealously served him. “I have, &c., (Signed) “I. DOYLE, “_Colonel of the_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH, _or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Regiment, and General_.

“_Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., Adjutant-General of the Forces, Horse Guards._”

To which letter the following answer was returned:

“_Horse Guards, “6th July 1827._ “SIR,

“I have had the honor to lay before the King your letter of the 20th instant, requesting that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish regiment, of which you are colonel, may be made a corps of Light Infantry.

“On this occasion His Majesty has commanded me to express to you the perfect sense he entertains of the high and meritorious character of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, and of the long course of brilliant services which have distinguished its career,—services which, the King has condescended to observe, have been impressed upon his memory by the recollection of more than one trophy captured from the enemy, and by the interest His Majesty must always take in a regiment which possesses, from its title, an early and peculiar claim to his protection.

“But with every disposition to accede to your wishes, the King laments that it is out of his power to grant your request without inconvenience to the public service, as well as a deviation from the principle that has guided His Majesty’s refusal on similar occasions. I am at the same time instructed to accompany this expression of the King’s regret, with the assurance of the gracious sense which His Majesty entertains of the services of the Prince of Wales’s Own Irish regiment, and of the personal interest he must always take in its welfare and honor. “I have, &c., (Signed) “H. TORRENS, “_Adjutant-General_.

“_General Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., Colonel of the_ EIGHTY-SEVENTH _Regiment_.”

In his reply to the above communication, in a letter dated the 11th of July 1827, General Sir John Doyle preferred a request, that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH might be styled the “_Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Regiment of Fusiliers_,” in the following terms:—

“England, Scotland, and Wales, have each their national fusilier regiments; Ireland alone is without one. The prayer of my petition is, that the blank may be filled up by the Prince of Wales’s Own Irish regiment, to be honored by the title of the _Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Fusiliers_. Thus _shall we preserve the endearing title we so highly prize_; _retain the national colours under which we have so long fought_; and avoid collision with any regiment that might have been honored with the name of Royal.”

This request was complied with, and the result was communicated to General Sir John Doyle in the following letter from the Adjutant-General:

“_Horse Guards, “16th July, 1827._ “SIR,

“In reply to your letter of the 11th instant, I have the honor to acquaint you, that the King has been graciously pleased to approve of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, of which you are Colonel, receiving the title of the Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Fusiliers, as a mark of His Majesty’s most gracious favour, and in consideration of the _extraordinary distinction_ that has marked the career of the corps on all occasions. “I have, &c. (Signed) “H. TORRENS, “_Adjutant-General_.

“_General Sir John Doyle, Bart. G.C.B., Colonel of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, &c. &c._”

It was directed that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH should wear _blue_ facings, instead of green, in order to render it uniform with the other fusilier regiments.

A further communication was made by the Adjutant-General to General Sir John Doyle, of which the following is an extract:—

“_Horse Guards, “17th November 1827._ “SIR,

“I have the honor to acquaint you, that the King has been pleased to approve of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment assuming the title “Royal,” and its being in future styled the EIGHTY-SEVENTH or Royal Irish Fusiliers, instead of the Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Fusiliers.

“His Majesty has further been pleased to approve the patterns of facings and lace proposed by you for the uniform of the officers, non-commissioned officers, drummers, and privates of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH or Royal Irish Fusiliers, and to command that the same be adopted from the 25th of December 1829, when the clothing now in possession of the regiment shall be worn out. “I have, &c. (Signed) “H. TORRENS, “_Adjutant-General_.

“_General Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., Colonel of the Eighty-seventh, or Royal Irish Fusiliers._”

The regiment was inspected on the 2nd of November by Major-General Sir James Lyon, K.C.B. and G.C.H., who was pleased to express his unqualified approbation of the progress made during four months in the formation of a corps nearly composed of recruits, and which he declared to have surpassed his most sanguine expectation.

[Sidenote: 1828.]

On the 19th of May 1828 the regiment was reviewed by General Lord Hill, commanding in chief, who expressed himself highly pleased with its evolutions and general appearance; and his Lordship also alluded to the favorable opinion entertained of the corps by the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, in consequence of its quiet and orderly conduct in quarters.

The regiment was inspected on the 5th of June by Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, K.C.B., and had the gratification of obtaining his approbation.

The regiment, which, upon its arrival at Albany Barracks eleven months previously, had only two hundred and eighty rank and file present, was now within thirty-four of its establishment (seven hundred and forty), the recruits having been chiefly enlisted in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Carrick-on-Shannon, and Galway.

The regiment quitted Albany Barracks on the 7th of July, where it had been stationed one year, and marched by Portsmouth and Maidstone to Chatham, which it reached on the 15th of that month.

On the 24th July, a route was received directing the regiment to march immediately for London, thence to proceed by the Paddington Canal to such destination as might be ordered. It was mustered, and marched in three hours after the receipt of the route, and arrived in Lambeth on the third day.

The regiment was reviewed on the 28th of July by General Sir John Doyle, Bart., attended by Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., Adjutant-General of the forces, and numerous other officers, when its appearance elicited unqualified approbation.

On the 29th of July the regiment embarked in seventeen boats on the Paddington Canal, landed at Northwich and Middlewich on the 2nd, and marched into Chester Castle on the 4th of August.

Towards the end of September two alarming fires broke out in the city of Chester: the very serious consequences that threatened were chiefly counteracted by the bold and active intrepidity displayed by the soldiers of the regiment in extinguishing the conflagration, and by the exertions of the officers to secure the property of the inhabitants.

These services were acknowledged in a vote of thanks from the Commissioners of Police to Lieut.-Colonel Blair, the officers, and soldiers of the regiment.

Various letters of thanks to the regiment also appeared in the Chester newspapers, from those inhabitants whose property was chiefly endangered.

On the 11th of October the regiment was inspected by Major-General Sir Henry Bouverie, K.C.B., who was pleased to express himself much pleased with its appearance, movements, and interior economy.

A circular from the Horse Guards, dated the 5th of December, was received, which directed regiments not to recruit beyond six hundred and ninety rank and file, being fifty short of the nominal establishment of seven hundred and forty rank and file.

[Sidenote: 1829.]

On the 19th of April 1829, under instruction from the Secretary of State, three companies, commanded by Major Gully, marched towards Abergelly, in Denbighshire, forty miles distant, in order to prevent a riot, expected on the ejection by the high sheriff, at the suit of the Bishop of St. Asaph, of a body of miners, from an extensive lime quarry, of which they refused to give up possession, in consequence of having enjoyed the privilege of working it for many years. The miners having submitted, the detachment rejoined head-quarters in four days, and fortunately without its interference being required.

On the 14th of May the regiment was again inspected by Major-General Sir Henry Bouverie, and received his entire approbation.

The regiment moved from Chester on the 19th of May, where it had been quartered between nine and ten months. Previously to its departure, the following letter was received from the mayor of Chester.

“_Town Clerk’s Office, “Chester, 16th May 1829._ “SIR,

“Understanding that the EIGHTY-SEVENTH Royal Irish Fusiliers are about to quit Chester, the mayor and magistrates of this city cannot allow you to leave without expressing the very high sense entertained of the general urbanity of yourself and brother officers; and the prompt exertions of the officers, and good conduct of the privates upon several trying occasions, when the safety and property of the city were threatened by fire. “_For the Magistrates of the City_, (Signed) “ROBERT MORRIS, “_Mayor_. “_Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, &c._”

On the 20th of May the regiment occupied the following stations: head-quarters and four companies at Stockport; two companies at Macclesfield; two at Oldham; one company at Hyde, and one at Ashton-under-Lyne.

The following highly gratifying letter was received on the 14th of June:—

“_Head Quarters, Rotherham, “11th June 1829._ “SIR,

“It is with great pleasure that I obey the orders of the General Commanding in chief, to express to you the satisfaction he has felt at the favorable report which I was enabled to make in my half-yearly confidential report upon the state of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment under your command; and it is his Lordship’s desire that you make this expression of his sentiments known to the regiment. (Signed) “H. F. BOUVERIE, “_Major-General_. “_Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, Commanding Eighty-seventh Regiment._”

On the 7th of July, the regiment left Salford Barracks, Manchester, and occupied the following stations. Head-quarters and four companies at Bolton in Lancashire; four companies at Blackburn, and two companies at Oldham. Prior to quitting Manchester a letter was received from Robert Sharpe, Esq., constable of Manchester, expressive of the regret of his colleagues, the inhabitants of the place, and himself, at the sudden departure of the regiment, and in which a marked tribute was paid by the authorities to its “_exemplary conduct_” while stationed in that town.

[Sidenote: 1830.]