Part 5

On the 16th of May, 1813, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH broke up from its cantonments at Leomel, and joined in the general advance of the army into Spain, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Macpherson. In the course of the march an accident occurred both annoying and prejudicial to the regiment. In order to facilitate the movements of the army, to render the column of march less encumbered, and to lessen the fatigue of the troops, it was customary, when not in the presence of the enemy, to proceed either by brigades or single corps: Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane’s brigade, of which the EIGHTY-EIGHTH formed part, moved by regiments. The EIGHTY-EIGHTH, on the route from Leomel to St. Jean de Pasquera, arrived at a spot where the road branched off in different directions, one leading to its proper point of destination, the other descending into the steep and precipitous country which forms the left bank of the Douro. By some unaccountable ignorance or misconception on the part of its guide, the regiment took the wrong road, and after struggling for some time through a series of rugged defiles, found itself at a late hour in the evening embedded in the mountains, and as distant from St. Jean de Pasquera as it had been when starting from its cantonments at Leomel. Some men died of the heat and fatigue, but the _esprit de corps_ sustained the regiment through the long and severe forced march, across a country deeply intersected with ravines, thickly covered with gum cistus, and traversable only by goat-paths, by which it rejoined its division.

On the 27th of May the regiment entered Spain, and on the 20th of June, it was posted near the river Bayas, when dispositions were made for attacking the enemy in his position in front of Vittoria.

The troops were under arms an hour before daylight on the 21st, and the third and seventh divisions were destined to attack the enemy’s centre; but the French, having weakened their centre to support their flanks, which were first attacked, the centre column of the allied army did not meet with serious opposition. In front of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH the enemy occupied a hill of considerable elevation, from which he was forced by that regiment, while the Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth made flank movements round its base, the French retiring to a second hill in the rear of their former position. The EIGHTY-EIGHTH, which had hitherto been in column, now deployed into line, and notwithstanding a heavy fire of musketry and artillery, continued to advance, till the enemy having rallied and brought up fresh troops, there was momentary halt by order of Sir Thomas Brisbane, who commanded the brigade. At this instant Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton coming up, and feeling displeased at the halt, made use of some harsh expressions to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH as the leading corps, which led to an immediate explanation from Sir Thomas Brisbane, when the regiment again moved forward and headed the brigade in the attack upon the town of Vittoria. During the day the EIGHTY-EIGHTH charged several times, but the enemy never waited to receive them, and it was generally observed among the soldiers, that so far as this regiment was concerned, King Joseph’s army at Vittoria proved decidedly the worst fighting army they had encountered.

The loss of the regiment at Vittoria was one officer, Ensign Saunders, and thirty rank and file killed; four officers, Captain M‘Dermott, and Lieutenants Flood, Fitzpatrick, and Faris; two serjeants, and one hundred and ninety-five rank and file wounded; in all, two hundred and thirty-two.

The expressions used by Sir Thomas Picton became afterwards the subject of remonstrance, and even of a memorial to the Duke of Wellington. The result was that, after due explanations, a letter satisfactory to the regiment was addressed by Sir Thomas Picton to Sir Thomas Brisbane, as Commander of the brigade, declaring that, after the many instances of gallantry he had witnessed in the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, it could never have been his intention to cast any reflections on that corps, by words uttered in a moment of irritation, and adding, that his divisional order after the battle should be received as a sufficient proof of this. The following is an extract of that order:—

“_Division Orders, 23rd June, 1813._

“Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton congratulates Major-General the Honourable Sir C. Colville, Major-General Brisbane, and Major-General Power, upon the conspicuous services rendered by the brigades under their several commands towards the brilliant success of the 21st of June instant. He requests to assure the commanding officers, officers, non-commissioned officers and men of their corps and regiments, that their conduct did not fail to excite his warm admiration, and to increase the confidence he has always felt in the command of the third division,” &c.

On the 28th of July, two companies of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH had an opportunity of earning distinction for themselves and their corps under the immediate eye of the whole third division, as well as of a strong and select body of the French. The attempt of Marshal Soult to raise the siege of Pampeluna, which had been invested by the Duke of Wellington’s army shortly after the battle of Vittoria, and the series of actions which took place between the covering army and that of Soult in the passes of the Pyrenees between the 25th and 30th of July, which ended in the complete repulse of the French, gave rise to the display of British valour with a splendour never exceeded in the annals of war. The allied army was posted immediately in front of Pampeluna, the right in front of the village of Huarte, the third division being to the right, and those of Lieutenant-General Cole, and Major-General the Honourable E. Pakenham, together with the Spaniards, to the left. The main efforts of Soult during the day were directed against the allied left, but about five in the afternoon, some of his tirailleurs were pushed forward as if to feel the countenance of the third division, and ascertain whether its position would be seriously defended or not. The light company of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, commanded by Captain Robert Nickle (late Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty-Sixth Foot) was ordered to drive them back, which it speedily accomplished: a select body of French, headed by an officer of the staff, who had volunteered for that service, now advanced to support the repulsed tirailleurs, and two battalion companies of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH hurried to the assistance of their comrades. The skirmish, fought in sight of the two armies, took almost the type of a national trial of skill and courage; the French rushed forward with their characteristic impetuosity, shouting “Vive l’Empereur;” the CONNAUGHT RANGERS, accompanied by the cheers of their division, met them with the bayonet, and overthrew them at the first onset. The French commanding officer was left on the field mortally wounded; Captain Nickle, as soon as the conflict was decided, went up to render any assistance in his power to his fallen antagonist, and, finding him already dead, tied his handkerchief on the point of his sabre, and waving it towards the retreating French, beckoned to them to return for the body of their officer, which they did, and carried him off to render the last honours to his remains.

During the movements of the succeeding day, when the allied army resumed the offensive, a heavy column of French infantry was routed by Major-General Brisbane’s brigade, and the greater part made prisoners by the Forty-Fifth, Seventy-Fourth, and EIGHTY-EIGHTH. After this the third division re-occupied the pass of Roncesvalles, where it remained till the 8th of August, when Major-General Brisbane’s brigade was relieved by Colonel Downie’s brigade of Spaniards, and proceeded by the valley of Los Alduides to the pass of Maya.

On the 31st of August the whole of the third division crossed the frontiers of France, and Major-General Brisbane’s brigade occupied the pass of Echalar, replacing there the Seventh division, which had proceeded to reinforce the troops before St. Sebastian; on the 4th, however, it returned to the pass of Maya, and on the 15th resumed its old position near the village of Erisoun, and remained in the valley of Bastan till the 7th of October, when, in consequence of the left of the army having crossed the Bidassoa and entered France, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH and the rest of the division moved to the village of Zagarramundi to the right and in front of the pass of Echalar.

During this interval (9th of September, 1813) Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor joined the regiment, and superseded Lieutenant-Colonel Macpherson in the command.

The colours of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH bear testimony that it had its share on the 10th of November, in the storming of the formidable lines which the French had erected on the river _Nivelle_, and in the various actions which took place on the banks of the _Nive_, between the 9th and 13th of December; but on neither of these occasions had it the good fortune to come into actual contact with the enemy. On the 17th of December it went into cantonments in the village of Urcuray, situated on the high road leading from Bayonne to St. Jean Pied de Port, and the adjacent hamlets, where it remained till the army again moved forward in February following.

[Sidenote: 1814]

In the battle of _Orthes_, 28th of February 1814, the third division was directed to attack the heights on which the enemy’s centre and left stood, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH had once more an opportunity of distinguishing itself, when its loss was more severe than on any other occasion, except the siege of Badajoz. The Fifty-Second led the attack; the EIGHTY-EIGHTH advanced on the right; the heights were carried, and the regiment advancing in pursuit, its left flank was charged by a body of French cavalry, which it entirely overthrew, killing, wounding, or taking prisoners the whole detachment, which was hemmed in in a narrow road, and precluded from all retreat. In this battle, Captain Oates’s conduct was particularly noticed, and procured for him the Brevet rank of Major in the army. The loss of the battalion was three officers, Captain M‘Dermott, Lieutenant Moriarty, and Ensign Reynolds, five Serjeants and thirty-six Rank and File killed; and eleven Officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, Captains Oates and Bunworth, Lieutenants Fitzpatrick, Davern, Faris, Creswell, Holland, and Stewart, Ensign M‘Intosh, Ensign and Adjutant Mitchell, thirteen Serjeants, and two hundred and one Rank and File wounded. Total, two hundred and seventy-seven.

After this severe action the regiment was placed in cantonments until the 13th of March, when it again took the field, and was present on the 4th of April, at the battle of _Toulouse_. Although only three companies of the regiment were engaged on this occasion, they had the good fortune to perform a critical and important service, in supporting the Forty-Fifth and Seventy-Fourth when engaged with very unequal numbers of the enemy. The Light Infantry Company, in particular, suffered, and its Captain, R. Nickle, was severely wounded: the loss of the three companies in killed, was equal to that of the whole battalion at Vittoria, amounting to one Serjeant and twenty-nine Men; the wounded were Captain Nickle and Lieutenant Poole, one Serjeant, and fifty-three Rank and File.

The Serjeant who fell at Toulouse, was much regretted by the whole corps; his name was Thorpe, and he was Serjeant-Major of the battalion. He had been originally Drum-Major, in which capacity he was present at the battle of Busaco: on that occasion, when ordered with the band and drummers, to the rear, he entreated his commanding officer to allow him to join his company, and having obtained permission he fell into the ranks, behaving with the utmost gallantry throughout that memorable day. This, and other instances of his courage, induced Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace to consider him qualified for a higher situation, and to remove him from the band into the line. He had for some time been recommended for a commission, to which the Gazette which arrived from England a few days after his death, contained his appointment.

The peace of Paris in 1814, having put an end to the war on the Continent, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment was among the corps ordered to proceed to America, where hostilities were still raging. It embarked in the Gironde on the 15th of June, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Macpherson, and, without returning to England, sailed direct to Quebec, where it arrived on the 3rd of August following. The unfortunate failure of the combined military and naval operations on Lake Champlain and at Plattsburgh put a stop to active hostilities in Canada, and the EIGHTY-EIGHTH had only one opportunity of coming into contact with the enemy, viz., at the passage of the Savannah, where the light company, under Captain Nickle, distinguished itself.

If, however, the period of its stay in Canada was barren of laurels to the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, it gave the regiment an opportunity of displaying qualities which, if not so dazzling and brilliant, are equally valuable in, and honourable to the soldier, namely, firm discipline and unshakeable fidelity to his king, his country, and his colours. The extent to which desertion prevailed amongst the British troops in America, is unhappily but too well known; but although the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was stationed on the banks of the river Richelieu, within a few hours’ sail of the province of Vermont; although the men were considerably in debt to their officers, and under stoppages to pay off an incumbrance, of which desertion would at once have relieved them; although tempting rewards awaited such as should reach the American territory, which could be done without the slightest risk; although American ships were daily arriving and departing, and the facilities were such that, if so disposed, the whole battalion might have deserted in a night, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH _did not lose one man by desertion_, during the whole eleven months that it remained in Canada!!

[Sidenote: 1815]

This honourable conduct of the men of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH did not go unnoticed or unrewarded; their reward was exemption from the painful duty of being present when the extreme sentence of martial law was executed upon deserters from other regiments. The following is a copy of the brigade order on one occasion of the kind, more than nine months after the arrival of the regiment in America.

“_St. John’s, May 19, 1815._

“No men having deserted from Major Green’s artillery, or from the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment, they will not be required to attend at Chambly for the purpose of witnessing the execution of the sentence of a General Court Martial on several deserters.”

The subject was again honourably adverted to by Major-General Brisbane, in a letter addressed to the regiment in Brigade Orders, when, in consequence of the escape of Napoleon from Elba, and the prospect of renewed and active warfare in Europe, it had been ordered to return to England.

“B. O.

“Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane was much pleased this day with the general appearance and movements of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment. He cannot refrain from expressing how much, and how sincerely he regrets losing a regiment with which he has so long served, and which has conducted itself so creditably since its arrival in this country; but he confidently looks forward to have it again in his brigade. The circumstance of the regiment _never having lost a man by desertion_ is highly honourable to it, and can never be forgotten by the Major-General.

(Signed) “J. CAMPBELL, “Brigade-Major.

“_St. John’s, May 26, 1815._”

On the 29th of May the regiment marched from St. John’s, reached William Henry on the 1st of June, where it embarked in small craft, and arrived at Trois Rivieres on the 4th. At Trois Rivieres it was shifted into transports, reached Quebec on the 8th, sailed again on the 10th, and arrived at Spithead on the 15th of July.

The battle of Waterloo had decided the contest in Europe before the arrival of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH; nevertheless the regiment was ordered to proceed, without disembarking, to Flanders. After two days’ stay, therefore, at Spithead, it sailed again on the 17th, and landed at Ostend on the 21st of July. From thence it proceeded towards Paris, and on the 12th of August took up its quarters at St. Denis, and was once more attached to Sir Thomas Brisbane’s brigade. In December following it was removed to that of Sir John Keane, on which occasion Major-General Brisbane caused the following letter to be addressed to Colonel Wallace, who had again taken command of the regiment.

“_Paris, Dec. 17, 1815._

“SIR,

“I am directed by Major-General Sir T. Brisbane to express to you, and to request that you will communicate to the regiment under your command, the very sincere regret he feels in losing the EIGHTY-EIGHTH regiment from his brigade: but he begs to assure them that his best wishes accompany them, and he will always be happy to have again under his command a regiment that was surpassed by none, either for gallantry in the field, or orderly conduct in quarters, during the seven years they have been with him.

“I have, &c. “J. CAMPBELL, “Brigade-Major.

“_To_ COLONEL WALLACE, _Commanding the Eighty-Eighth Regiment_.”

[Sidenote: 1816]

[Sidenote: 1817]

From January, 1816, to the end of the spring, 1817, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was in garrison at Valenciennes, when it returned to Great Britain, and was quartered in Edinburgh about two years. Some time after its arrival in Scotland, a letter was received from Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir Charles Colville, who had frequently had it under his command, as part of the third division, in the Peninsula, and more recently during its stay at Valenciennes, “expressing his hearty wish for the honour and well-being of the regiment in whatever situation it may be placed, and requesting the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, to accept his thanks for the ready attention paid to his orders during the period the regiment was under his command.”

* * * * *

[Sidenote: 1818]

During the period of repose at Edinburgh, it occurred to Colonel Wallace to establish an _Order of Merit_ in the regiment, by conferring some honorary mark of distinction on the non-commissioned officers and privates, proportioned to their regimental character, length of service, and the number of general engagements in which they had been present. This was, however, a design which could not be carried into execution without the consent and approbation of the Commander-in-Chief, which Colonel Wallace applied for in the following letter:—

“_Edinburgh Castle, June 4, 1818._

“SIR,

“I have the honour to state, that some of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH Regiment have served in twelve different general actions, and have been two, three, and four times wounded, have been a long time in the regiment, and always conducted themselves well in the field and in quarters. I am anxious to bestow upon them some mark of distinction for their good conduct, as an encouragement to them and others in future.

“I shall be much obliged to you if you will obtain His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief’s permission for me to give such men medals as a testimony of their merit.

“I have, &c., “J. A. WALLACE, “Colonel Commanding.

“_To the Adjutant-General._”

The answer of the Commander-in-Chief, communicated in a letter from Sir Henry Torrens, dated 28th of the same month, sanctioned Colonel Wallace’s plan, leaving it to his “discretion to grant such testimonials in the case alluded to, as he might deem essential to the good of the regiment.” The proper authority thus obtained, Colonel Wallace’s intentions were carried into effect without delay. Silver medals of three distinct classes were struck at the expense of the officers of the regiment. The first class was bestowed on men who had been present in twelve general actions, and consisted of a Maltese cross on which the names of the twelve actions were stamped. The second class was given to those who had served in from six to eleven general actions, and the third to such as had served in any number less than six. The name of the man to whom it was given was engraved on each medal. The total number distributed was,—

Serjeants, Corporals, Drummers, Privates. First Class, 13 6 6 45 Second Class, 7 9 3 126 Third Class, 19 10 3 185 —— —— —— ——— 39 25 12 356

[Sidenote: 1819]

On the 11th of March, 1819, Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond, G.C.B., was appointed Colonel of the Regiment, in succession to Lieut.-Gen. Viscount Beresford, who was removed to the Sixty-Ninth Regiment.

In the summer of 1819, the EIGHTY-EIGHTH moved from Edinburgh to Hull, sending detachments to Manchester and Stockport. In August of the same year, Colonel Wallace, after more than fourteen years’ service with the regiment, was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and was succeeded in the command by Lieutenant-Colonel James Ferguson.

During the time the regiment was quartered at Hull, the manufacturing districts of England were in a high state of discontent, and attempts were made to circulate inflammatory publications amongst the military. Private James Tracy, of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH, being tampered with for this purpose, received the papers, but, instead of distributing them amongst his comrades, instantly gave them up to his commanding officer, Major Nickle, furnishing, at the same time, such information as led to the apprehension and conviction of the man from whom he had received them. For this conduct Tracy received a liberal reward, as well as the approbation of Lieutenant-General Sir John Byng, commanding the district, which was conveyed to him through a letter to Colonel Ferguson.

[Sidenote: 1821]

[Sidenote: 1822]

[Sidenote: 1823]

From Hull the EIGHTY-EIGHTH removed to Chester, and from thence, in the summer of 1821, to Liverpool, where it embarked for Ireland, landed at Dublin, and proceeded to Enniskillen, where it took up its head-quarters, furnishing sixteen officers’ detachments. In July, 1822, it moved from Enniskillen to Castlebar in Connaught, where it remained, again furnishing fifteen officers’ detachments, till December, 1823, when it marched to barracks at Naas. On quitting Castlebar it received a very flattering address from the magistrates and resident gentlemen of the town and neighbourhood.

[Sidenote: 1824]

On the 16th of January, 1824, Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond was removed to the Seventy-First regiment, and the Colonelcy of the EIGHTY-EIGHTH was conferred upon Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Frederick Campbell, K.C.B., G.C.H.

[Sidenote: 1825]

It was February, 1825, before the last detachment joined from Connaught, when the regiment, once more united, removed to Dublin, occupying first the Richmond, and subsequently the Royal barracks. While the EIGHTY-EIGHTH remained in Dublin, orders were issued for increasing the establishments of regiments from eight to ten companies. The zealous exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, aided by the high popularity the corps enjoyed, enabled the EIGHTY-EIGHTH to complete its numbers in little more than six weeks, and to be the first regiment reported as complete to the Commander-in-Chief, a circumstance honourably noticed in a letter from the Adjutant-General of the Forces to Major-General Sir Colquhoun Grant, then commanding the garrison of Dublin, under date of 20th of June, 1825. “I have it in command,” says the letter of the Adjutant-General, “to express His Royal Highness’s approbation of the zeal manifested by Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, the commanding officer, in thus rapidly raising the augmentation, and which being the first instance of completion yet reported, is most creditable to that officer, and the corps under his command.”

In the latter part of the summer of 1825, the regiment removed to Templemore, furnishing fourteen detachments in the counties of Tipperary and Limerick. Here Lieutenant-Colonel O’Malley joined on the 10th of August, and took the command in place of Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, who had been removed to the Fifty-Second Regiment. In September it received orders for the Mediterranean, embarked by divisions at Cork on the 7th and 21st of October and 12th of December, 1825, and proceeded to Corfu, where the last division arrived on the 27th of January, 1826.

[Sidenote: 1828]