Chapter II: Part 2

Meanwhile the party of the first battalion at the Isle of Roderigue had sailed from thence with the forces under Lieut.-Colonel Keating, to co-operate with the British navy in blockading the Isles of France and Bourbon, and in attacking the enemy’s ports. At five o’clock on the morning of the 21st of September, six hundred men landed in three columns, seven miles from the port of _St. Paul’s_, in the Isle of Bourbon, then called by the French the Isle of Bonaparte, and by a forced march crossed a causeway extending over the lake, before the enemy discovered their disembarkation or approach to the town; they also passed the enemy’s strongest position by seven o’clock, and gained possession of two batteries before the enemy could form in force. Captain Imlack, of the Bombay Native Infantry, was detached with one hundred and fifty men to take possession of a third battery; and on his way he encountered the French forces, concentrated behind a stone wall, with eight field-pieces on their flanks. This post was instantly attacked in a most gallant manner; Captain Hanna of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment arrived with the third column, and charging, captured two guns; and Captain Forbes, of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, advancing with the reserve, the enemy was compelled to retreat with the loss of his artillery. A few men were detached in pursuit; two additional batteries were captured, and by half-past eight o’clock the town, batteries, magazines, eight brass field-pieces, and one hundred and seventeen new iron guns, were in possession of the British troops: at the same time the enemy’s shipping were forced to surrender to the British naval force. Thus was accomplished a most brilliant exploit, in a few hours, and it reflected great credit on the commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel KEATING, of the FIFTY-SIXTH, and on all the troops engaged. The loss of the regiment was one serjeant, and five rank and file killed; one serjeant and twenty-six rank and file wounded.

The town being commanded by the British naval force, the troops returned on board the fleet; part of the enemy’s stores and the guns were destroyed; the remainder were embarked on board the company’s recaptured ship Streatham, which, with the Europe, were placed under their former commanders. In October the troops sailed for the Isle of Roderigue. The conduct of Ensign Pearce, of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, was highly commended in the public despatch of Lieut.-Colonel Keating.

In the beginning of this year, a detachment of the regiment, under Lieutenant John Elliot Cairnes, performed duty as marines, in the Indian Sea, on board of His Majesty’s ship Psyche, which was engaged in the war with the Rajah of Travancore, who governed a populous province at the south-west extremity of Hindoostan. This province was indebted for its independence to the valour of British troops, who rescued it from the power of Tippoo Sultan, when the forces of the Mysore had overrun the country, in 1790; and in 1795 a treaty of alliance was concluded with the rajah, who engaged to subsidize three battalions of British Sepoys for the defence of his dominions. Some disputes arising from the payments to be made in consequence of this treaty, produced war; the British Sepoys stationed at Quilon were menaced with annihilation; the house of the resident, Colonel C. Macauly, at Cochin, was attacked; and the Twelfth and Nineteenth British regiments were suddenly ordered to the scene of contest. A detachment of the FIFTY-SIXTH, on board the Piedmontaise frigate, were employed in services connected with the safety of the troops at Quilon, and the preservation of the life of the British resident. This frigate cannonaded the port of Aleppi, where a party of the Twelfth Foot had been treacherously seized, their wrists broken with a heavy piece of iron, their hands tied behind them, and after lying several days in a dungeon, were precipitated from a rock into the sea. This detachment of the FIFTY-SIXTH landed at Quilon, under Lieutenant Warren, to co-operate in the preservation of the life of the British resident, who had escaped from Cochin. The services of the detachment under Lieutenant Cairnes, on board of the Psyche, were connected with the operations of the army under Brigadier-General the Honorable A. St. Leger; and under the cover of the frigate’s broadside, the soldiers of the regiment stormed and captured a strong battery, commanding _Colatchi Bay_; thus co-operating in the capture of _Travandrum_, the capital, which reduced the refractory Rajah of Travancore to submission.

Measures for enforcing a system of economy, having interfered with the emoluments which British officers in the command of native regiments had been accustomed to receive, from the contract for supplying their corps with camp equipment, the civil and military authorities of Madras became opposed to each other; from this misunderstanding resulted serious disaffection and disobedience of orders in the native army; and the head-quarters and companies of the first battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH at Bombay, were suddenly ordered to Madras. They embarked on board the Cornwallis frigate and two transports, on the 30th of July, under secret orders, and landed at Madras on the 11th of August, before any disclosure of the approach of this reinforcement had reached the army of that presidency. The governor addressed a communication to the regiment on this occasion, in which he stated he felt--“particular satisfaction that the selection for this delicate service had fallen to the first battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, whose distinguished and characteristic zeal for the maintenance of professional subordination to the authority of legal government, must so powerfully tend to recall the misguided to a sense of their duty.”

The regiment proceeded to the Marmalong camp immediately, and after the return of the native corps to their duty, it received the thanks of the Governor in Council, in general orders,--“for the manner in which His Majesty’s officers and soldiers, who rallied round the cause of government, loyalty, and duty, conducted themselves.” In October the battalion proceeded to Bellary.

[Sidenote: 1810]

These troubles being suppressed, the governor-general conceived the idea of clearing the Indian Ocean of all that was hostile to Great Britain, and a considerable force was placed under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Keating, of the FIFTY-SIXTH, including a strong detachment of the first battalion of the regiment, for the capture of the Island of _Bourbon_. On this occasion Lieut.-Colonel Keating resolved to make his first attack on the capital, in the expectation that, with its capture, the reduction of the island would be accomplished. A landing was effected at Grand Chaloupe on the 7th of July, 1810; and Captain Hanna was detached with two companies of the FIFTY-SIXTH to _La Possessime_, “the batteries of which place he took by assault in the most gallant manner[5];” and with the trifling loss of two men killed, and two wounded: thus proving the advantage of making attacks with spirit and resolution. All the troops of the expedition conducting themselves with heroic ardour, the opposition of the enemy was speedily overcome, and the conquest of the island accomplished in so short a period of time, that Lieutenant-Colonel Keating stated in his public despatch,--“In all the operations the troops evinced the native energy and gallantry of Britons, and in a few hours this rich, extensive, and valuable colony was added to the British dominions.” Lieutenant Mallet and a party of the regiment, proceeded with the French troops which had surrendered, to the Cape of Good Hope.

Additional troops arriving at this part of the Indian Ocean, Major-General J. Abercromby assumed the command, and an expedition proceeded against the _Isle of France_, which was afterwards restored to its original designation of the _Mauritius_, and the detachment of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment had the honor to serve in this enterprise; the party which proceeded, under Lieutenant Mallet, in charge of French prisoners to the Cape, arriving in time to take part in this service. A landing was effected in the Bay of Mapon on the 29th of November, and the troops advanced through a thick wood, when some skirmishing occurred, and Lieut.-Colonel Keating, of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, and twelve men of the piquet, were wounded. Penetrating the open country on the following day, the troops experienced great inconvenience from the want of water, and halted at the streams of the powder-mills, five miles from Port Louis. After passing the night at this place, they resumed the march, and were opposed in their progress by a strong body of the enemy, when some severe fighting occurred, in which the British soldiers were triumphant: the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment had five men killed and several wounded.

Pursuing their victorious career, the British troops advanced to the enemy’s lines; and on the following morning the French Commander, General de Caen, proposed to capitulate; thus was this valuable colony wrested from the enemy, and it has continued to form part of the possessions of the British crown to the present time.

During this year the star of Britain shone bright on the naval and colonial affairs of this great maritime power, whose enemies were deprived of the last establishment which they had possessed beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and the Pompadours had the honor of sharing in these brilliant adventures.

The second battalion remained at Barachia; and so successful was the recruiting of the regiment, under the influence and zealous efforts of its colonel, Lieut.-General the Hon. Chapple Norton, that the establishment of the second battalion was augmented to one thousand three hundred and six non-commissioned officers and soldiers; making the number of the two battalions in India, two thousand six hundred and twelve, and, notwithstanding the casualties of war and climate, the effectives approximated the establishment. A strong detachment of volunteers from the militia, to the FIFTY-SIXTH, arriving in India in May, was stationed at the Portuguese establishment at Goa.

The detachment under Lieutenant Cairnes continued to serve as marines.

[Sidenote: 1811]

In March, 1811, the party from Goa joined the head-quarters of the first battalion at Bellary; and towards the close of the year, Lieut.-Colonel Keating returned with the detachment from the capture of Bourbon and the Mauritius. The Honorable the East India Company expressed its sense of the valuable services of the regiment, by presenting the first battalion with a pair of new colours, during its stay at Bellary.

This year the second battalion returned to Bombay.

[Sidenote: 1812]

In May, 1812, Lieut.-Colonel Kingscote arrived from England, and took the command of the second battalion; which, in October, marched from the town barracks, Bombay, to the pendals on Colabah.

The first battalion quitted Bellary, and in September joined the field-force assembled in the southern Mahratta country, under the command of Colonel Dowse, of the East India Company’s Service, for the purpose of enforcing the payment of the arrears of the customary tribute, withheld by the Ranee of Raree; and took part in all the operations consequent upon the performance of this duty.

[Sidenote: 1813]

Two companies of the second battalion were ordered to garrison Surat, in February, 1813; and the head-quarters embarked for the Guzerat, where they arrived at the Dutch Bundes in Surat on the 9th of March; and owing to the bad and unhealthy state of these quarters, the battalion was removed in April, to Domus, where it was encamped: but re-occupied the Dutch Bundes in June, with two companies at Surat.

Four companies were detached, in the same month, under the command of Captain Barrington, to join the Guicwar’s subsidiary force, under the orders of Colonel Holmes, of the East India Company’s service. On the third day the four companies marched from Khim to Oclasceer, a distance of eighteen miles, the last six of which were across an arid plain, destitute of shelter, and exposed to an unusual degree of heat, when many men fell from complete exhaustion; three died where they fell; and seven others expired during the day, after they had been removed to quarters by the natives. These four companies were followed, in September, by two others, under Lieut.-Colonel Kingscote who assumed the command of the six companies with the force under Colonel Holmes, which was employed in operations for the re-establishment of the rightful heir to the throne, which had been usurped by the uncle. On the 15th of November this force took possession of the fort of _Palampore_, which the Scindians had evacuated early in the morning. The troops remained in the neighbourhood of this place until the end of the year, when the companies of the FIFTY-SIXTH marched back to the camp at Domus, where the Guzerat fever deprived the corps of many valuable soldiers.

Notwithstanding its numerous losses, the recruiting of the regiment was conducted with great success, under the influence and zealous efforts of its colonel, and its ranks received a constant supply of young men, many of them from the county of Surrey. At this period the war in Europe had attained a crisis: the British forces had triumphed in Portugal and Spain, and had forced the barrier of the Pyrenees and penetrated France; the Emperor Napoleon had lost a numerous army in the north; the forces of Russia, Austria, Prussia, and the German States, were in arms against him; and a powerful effort promised complete success to the cause of the allies. Measures were adopted to augment the British army at this interesting period; and the facility with which the FIFTY-SIXTH had been recruited, holding out the prospect that its establishment might be increased, a warrant was issued by the Prince Regent in the early part of November, for adding a _third battalion_ to the corps. This battalion was embodied at Horsham, its establishment was six hundred and fifty non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and its ranks were so speedily completed with disciplined men, by volunteers from the militia, &c., that in one month from the date of the order for its formation, it was ready for foreign service. At this period a body of British troops proceeded to Holland, under Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Graham (late Lord Lynedoch), to co-operate with the forces of the allied sovereigns, and the third battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH embarked for this service at Ramsgate, on the 9th of December, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel John Frederick Brown; it was posted to the third brigade, commanded by Major-General Sir Herbert Taylor; the British troops were concentrated in and near Williamstadt.

[Sidenote: 1814]

About the same period the first battalion took the field in India, and formed part of the force assembled at Goute, from whence it proceeded against _Canool_, where it arrived on the 25th of December, and batteries were erected during the night, but a flag of truce being sent out on the following morning, hostilities ceased. The battalion was also at the reduction of the fort of _Raree_, Goosecull; and passed the monsoon in quarters at Cataubaugy; afterwards returning to Goute, it was relieved in the field by the second battalion of the Royals; it had lost three hundred and fifty men from disease, and was so reduced, that it was ordered to return to Bellary; it subsequently marched to Fort St. George, Madras.

The third battalion did not remain many days in quarters in Holland before it was employed in active operations, in consequence of a request of the Prussian general, Bulow, that the British would make a forward movement upon _Antwerp_, to favour his operations; the English general accordingly advanced to make a reconnoissance, and approaching that fortress on the 13th of January, attacked a body of French troops at the village of _Merxem_. On this occasion the FIFTY-SIXTH supported the Seventy-eighth Highlanders, in a charge with the bayonet, on a French column, which was driven from its ground. The FIFTY-SIXTH were engaged in a sharp skirmish, and had four men killed and fourteen wounded. The object of this movement having been accomplished, the British troops marched to Rosendael.

A serious attack on Antwerp was afterwards concerted, and General Bulow engaged to support the British with his Prussian corps. An advance was accordingly made, and on the 2nd of February the English again approached the village of Merxem, where a numerous body of French troops were stationed, and had fortified their post. The light troops commenced skirmishing about nine o’clock in the morning; and the FIFTY-SIXTH, having cleared the wood on the right and left, formed line and advanced; when they were ordered by Sir Thomas Graham, in person, to move to the right,--charge through the village,--ford the dike on the other side,--take the enemy’s battery,--and attack them on the left of their line. These orders were gallantly executed, and two guns, which had annoyed the advance, were captured. The FIFTY-SIXTH sustained some loss from the enemy’s fire, and had several men drowned in crossing the dike; but they succeeded in gaining the left flank of the enemy, and were warmly engaged until the French retired under the guns of Antwerp, when they pursued until recalled, and ordered to take post under the embankment of St. Ferdinand’s dike, which was not accomplished before several round shot had passed through the ranks. The regiment had thirteen rank and file killed; Ensign Sparks, and twenty-four rank and file wounded. Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham stated in his despatch,--“All the troops engaged behaved with the usual spirit and intrepidity of British soldiers;” and the conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Brown of the FIFTY-SIXTH was particularly noticed.

After this success the British troops were employed in constructing a breastwork and battery, and the FIFTY-SIXTH took their share in this labour, the men working all night. On the 3rd of February, several pieces of heavy ordnance opened upon the city of Antwerp, and on the French shipping in the Scheldt, and the cannonade was continued until the 6th, the FIFTY-SIXTH taking their turn in the trenches, and being under fire each day; but General Bulow having received orders to march southward, to act with the grand army of the allies, it became necessary to relinquish the attack on Antwerp, when the British retired towards Breda,--the FIFTY-SIXTH halting a few days at Rysburg, ten miles from Breda.

In the beginning of March the battalion again moved towards Antwerp, and was employed in services connected with preventing the enemy throwing a relief into _Bergen-op-Zoom_, which fortress Sir Thomas Graham had resolved to attack; and the battalion afterwards made a forced march towards that place, where it arrived in time to witness the failure of the attack. The services of the battalion were afterwards connected with the operations against Antwerp, and preventing supplies of provision and troops joining the garrison.

In the mean time Napoleon was pressed on every side by overwhelming numbers, which he was not able to withstand, and he was forced to abdicate the throne of France. Peace was restored, and the battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH marched into Antwerp; from whence it proceeded to Ostend, where it embarked for England in September, and landing at Deal, marched to Sheerness.

The army being reduced on the restoration of peace, the third battalion was disbanded at Sheerness on the 24th of October; its men fit for service being transferred to the first and second battalions in India, for which country they embarked about three months afterwards.

The second battalion continued to suffer severely from disease at the camp at Domus; its loss from March 1813, to December 1814, amounting to three hundred and twenty-nine non-commissioned officers and soldiers. The conduct of the men, during this distressing period, called forth the approbation of the commander of the district, expressed in division orders, in the strongest terms. During the year, it proceeded to Barachia, subsequently embarked for Bombay, and after occupying the pendals at Colabah a short period, marched into Fort George barracks.

[Sidenote: 1815]

Considerable improvement having taken place in the health of the men, the second battalion embarked for Panwell in January, 1815, and mustered upwards of nine hundred non-commissioned officers and soldiers; it joined the Poonah subsidiary force under Colonel Lionel Smith, encamped on the celebrated plain of Assaye, where the troops remained until the 27th of February, when they marched northward. In May they entered cantonments at Jaulna, where they remained during the monsoon, and in August marched in three divisions to Seroor, from whence the grenadier and rifle companies proceeded to Poonah under Colonel Smith, who left Lieut.-Colonel Kingscote in command at Seroor: these companies returned in October.

In the mean time occurrences in Europe had occasioned the removal of the first battalion from Madras. The sudden return of Bonaparte to France, and the astonishing facility with which he regained temporary possession of the throne of that kingdom, was followed by a manifested disposition to revolt on the part of the French settlers at the Mauritius, and the first battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH, which had been joined by three hundred men from the third, embarked on board the Salsette frigate, and the company’s ships Rose and Streatham, to reinforce the garrison at that station, on which occasion the following general order was issued:--

“His Majesty’s FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment being under orders to embark
on service at a considerable distance from the presidency, the
Right Honorable the Governor cannot refrain expressing his
warmest approbation of the uniform good conduct of the regiment,
while it remained in garrison at Fort St. George, under the able
command of Colonel Barclay, assisted by the zealous exertions of
a distinguished corps of officers; and the Right Honorable the
Governor begs leave to assure Colonel Barclay, and the officers
of the regiment, that he participates in the sentiments of
regret, felt by the settlement at large, for the loss sustained,
in the circles of social life, by their departure.”

During the voyage the ships were separated by a violent hurricane, and each supposed the other lost; but they arrived safe at Port Louis, where they were stationed until November, when they marched to Mahebourg. The overthrow of Bonaparte on the field of Waterloo, and the restoration of peace, removed all cause of apprehension for the tranquillity of the Mauritius at that period.

[Sidenote: 1816]

The second battalion again took the field with the Poonah subsidiary force, in the early part of 1816; and in May it went into cantonments at Jaulna; from whence Lieut.-Colonel Kingscote, of the FIFTY-SIXTH, was detached in September, with a light battalion, comprising part of the regiment, in pursuit of a native chief, called Trimbuckjee Dainglia, who had murdered the minister of state of Guzerat, escaped from prison, and was suspected of a design to assemble a force on the frontiers of the dominions of his late sovereign, the Peishwa. The pursuit of this chieftain occasioned the soldiers many fatiguing marches, and on one occasion the fortified village of Nimgaum, on the banks of the Peera, was surrounded in the expectation that the chief was there; but when, on the advance of the artillery, the inhabitants opened the gates, he could not be found: the pursuit was afterwards discontinued, and the detachment re-joined the Poonah subsidiary force at Seroor, whither it had been removed from Jaulna in October. At the close of active operations, Colonel Lionel Smith expressed the high opinion he entertained of the battalion, in division orders, dated Seroor, 31st of October, in the following terms:--“There is no language of praise, or thanks, Colonel Smith could feel to be too strong in describing the merits of such a corps.”

In August the first battalion returned to Port St. Louis; and about a month afterwards so serious a conflagration occurred at that place, that the destruction of the town appeared inevitable; but this calamity was averted by the efforts of the soldiers of the FIFTY-SIXTH, who prevented the fire communicating to the government buildings, and thus saved the town: two men of the regiment lost their lives, in attempting to arrest the progress of the flames. The daring conduct of Serjeant JAMES HASTY was particularly conspicuous and successful in checking the progress of the flames; and the governor expressed the following opinion of his merits in a letter to Colonel Barclay:--“I conscientiously believe, that it was in a great measure owing to Serjeant HASTY, of your regiment, that the whole town of Port Louis was not swallowed by the flames. His persevering fortitude and intrepid confidence enabled him to save the government house, by remaining among the flames when most others had despaired; and it is universally allowed, that had the government house been burned, the remainder of the town must immediately have followed, and the whole population of Port Louis left houseless among the smoking ruins[6].”

The peace of Europe appearing to be established upon a sound foundation, a considerable reduction was made in the strength of the British army, and the second battalions of regiments were directed to be disbanded: the second battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH was consequently ordered to march to Bombay in November.

[Sidenote: 1817]

On the 7th of January, 1817, the following general order was issued:--“His Majesty’s second battalion of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, being under orders for embarkation for Europe, affords an opportunity to the Right Honorable the Governor in Council, of expressing his approbation of the conduct of that valuable corps, whilst serving on the establishment of this presidency, and as a testimonial of the sense entertained of its important services in this country, is pleased to allow three months full batta to be issued to the officers of the battalion, previous to their departure from India.”

Four hundred men volunteered to remain in India, and transferred their services to the Sixty-fifth Regiment: and on the 9th of January, the battalion companies embarked for England. They landed at Liverpool in May, marched to Rochester, and were disbanded at that place on the 25th of June. The flank companies left Bombay in July, landed at Portsmouth on the 10th of December, and were disbanded at Chatham on the 29th of that month.

The regiment left Port Louis on the 1st of March, for Flacq, and in July to Mahebourg, where it received the colours of the late second battalion. It was employed in patrolling and other duties for the suppression of the slave trade.

[Sidenote: 1818]

After commanding the regiment twenty-one years, General the Honorable Chapple Norton died; and was succeeded in the colonelcy by Lieut.-General Sir John Murray, Baronet, from the third West India Regiment, by commission dated the 31st of March, 1818.

[Sidenote: 1819]

In July, 1819, the regiment returned to Port Louis, where it was inspected by Major-General Darling, who stated in orders dated the 16th of August,--“The inspection has afforded the Major-General much real satisfaction. A finer body of men than compose this regiment is perhaps nowhere to be seen; they are clean and soldier-like in appearance, well appointed, and in no respect deficient: in short, the care and attention of Lieut.-Colonel Barclay, and of the officers, and the good disposition of the men, are evident, and could alone have led to the state in which the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment now is.”

[Sidenote: 1820]

[Sidenote: 1826]

The regiment was stationed successively at Port Louis and Mahebourg until 1826, when, after upwards of twenty years’ service abroad, it embarked at Port Louis for England, on which occasion the governor stated in general orders, dated the 27th March,--“If circumstances should again call for his Excellency’s services in the field, he will feel happy in having the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment placed under his orders, as experience has fully proved to him, that a corps distinguished for good conduct in quarters, is always to be the most depended upon in the presence of the enemy.”

After landing at Portsmouth in June, the regiment marched to Cumberland Fort; in September it embarked at Portsmouth for Hull, where it joined the depôt companies.

[Sidenote: 1827]

In January, 1827, the regiment quitted Hull for Manchester, and in October it marched to Liverpool, where it embarked for Dublin.

On the 29th of October Sir John Murray died, and King George the Fourth was pleased to confer the colonelcy of the regiment on Lieut.-General Matthew Lord Aylmer.

[Sidenote: 1828]

New colours bearing the words “MORO” and “GIBRALTAR;” with the device of a CASTLE and KEY, and the motto _Montis Insignia Calpe_, (which had been confirmed to the corps on the 27th of December, 1827, in consequence of an application from Colonel Barclay,) were presented to the regiment, with the usual solemnities, on the 4th of April, 1828.

[Sidenote: 1829]

In May the regiment marched to Londonderry; in the autumn the head-quarters were removed to Newry; and in August, 1829, to Birr.

In the year 1829, His Majesty’s government deemed it necessary to direct courts of inquiry to be instituted in the several regiments, in consequence of numerous frauds having been committed by certain soldiers, who, on being discharged, had given false statements of their ages, dates of enlistment, and of the periods of their former services, by which many had obtained undue rates of pension, and had thus imposed on their commanding officers, and on the bounty of their sovereign and country.

The court held to investigate the books of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment reported, that the description-book had been well kept, and afforded a practical example of a system which it was proposed to adopt generally, namely, to give each man on joining a regiment _a number_, to be marked on his attestation, and placed against his name in the description, and other record-books of the regiment; that the book of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment contained nearly two thousand names, the plan and arrangement of which were highly creditable to the zeal and industry of Colonel Barclay, and that few instances of error, or of fraud, had been detected.

The court concluded their report with a well-merited compliment to Colonel Barclay, whose long service in the regiment had been characterized by zeal and attention to his duties. This report was submitted to the Secretary at War, and Sir Henry Hardinge signified to the General Commanding in Chief, Lord Hill, his cordial concurrence in the observations made by the court, so highly honourable to Colonel Barclay, and his lordship directed it to be announced, that, in the midst of the irregularities which had been made manifest by the investigations of these courts of inquiry in the several corps, it was peculiarly gratifying to him to bear testimony to the successful and unremitting exertions of Colonel Barclay, which, while they reflected credit upon him, proved that, with diligence and a due adherence to regulations, the disreputable errors and frauds, which had been discovered in other regiments, could not have been effected[7].

[Sidenote: 1830]

[Sidenote: 1831]

[Sidenote: 1832]

In March, 1830, the regiment proceeded to Limerick; in June, 1831, to Fermoy; and in November to Cork, where arrangements were made for transferring its services to Jamaica, for which island six service companies embarked in the first week of December under Lieut.-Colonel H. H. Prichard. They were detained some time by contrary winds; but sailed on the 26th, and arriving at Port Royal in February, 1832, landed and were stationed at Up Park Camp.

Lord Aylmer was removed to the Eighteenth (Royal Irish) Foot on the 23rd of July, and King William the Fourth was pleased to nominate Lieut.-General Sir Hudson Lowe, K.C.B., from the Ninety-third Highlanders to the colonelcy of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment.

[Sidenote: 1833]

[Sidenote: 1834]

[Sidenote: 1835]

[Sidenote: 1836]

[Sidenote: 1837]

In April, 1833, the regiment proceeded to Spanish Town, with two companies to Fort Augusta; in May, 1834, it embarked for Falmouth, at the north side of the island; and was stationed at that place, with detachments at Phenix Park, Sans Souci, and Montego Bay, during the years 1835 and 1836; and in January, 1837, it quitted the north side of the island, and was stationed at Up Park Camp, where it sustained the loss of three officers and sixty men from yellow fever.

[Sidenote: 1838]

[Sidenote: 1839]

The head-quarters were removed to Fort Augusta in March, 1838, and the health of the men was much improved; in January, 1839, they were removed to Spanish Town; but returned to Fort Augusta in August, and furnished detachments at Port Antonio, Up Park Camp, Port Royal, &c.

[Sidenote: 1840]

Leaving Jamaica in March, 1840, the regiment sailed on board Her Majesty’s ship Apollo, for North America, passing within sight of the Havannah,--the scene of its former gallant exploits,--and arriving at Halifax, where it was detained ten days in consequence of the navigation of the river St. Lawrence being closed by the ice. On the 24th of April it again put to sea, and arrived at Quebec, on the 7th of May. At this period the Maine and New Brunswick boundary question affected the amicable relations between Great Britain and the United States; and the extensive system of aggression pursued by the people of the State of Maine, rendered certain defensive arrangements necessary for the protection of the interests of the British subjects. The ship conveying the FIFTY-SIXTH to Quebec had not been at anchor two hours when Lieutenant Turner and thirty men landed at Point Levi, and were sent forward in caleshes, with orders to proceed by forced marches to the disputed territory, and relieve a detachment of the Eleventh Regiment at Lake Temiscouata. This party was followed by three companies under Major Palmer, on the 9th of May, to occupy Rivière du Loup, Fort Ingall on Lake Temiscouata, and Degelé. The march of the detachment from Rivière du Loup to the two latter places by the Grand Portage, a dreary pass of thirty-six miles through a dense forest, across an uninhabited country, by a road in the worst possible order, consequent on the breaking up of a Canadian winter, with mud and water frequently up to the knees, proved very trying to soldiers just arrived from a tropical climate, and having been fifty-six days on board of ship. The remainder of the regiment proceeded up the river Saint Lawrence to Sorel, leaving the light company at Three Rivers. On the third of June Lieut.-Colonel William H. Eden arrived with a strong detachment from the depôt companies, and assumed the command of the regiment.

On the 27th of November, the light company, mustering one hundred men, marched for the Madawaska settlement, under Lieut.-Colonel Wm. H. Eden, in consequence of the Americans having offered insults to the warden and magistrates there, and intimated a design to take forcible possession of that part of the country. After traversing two hundred miles of bleak country, covered with snow, in cars, sleighs, &c., the thermometer varying from zero to twenty below, the company arrived at its destination without a casualty.

[Sidenote: 1841]

The head-quarters were removed to Chambly, in June, 1841, and in August, the detachments from the disputed territory, having been relieved by the Sixty-eighth light infantry, arrived at head-quarters[8].

[Sidenote: 1842]

The period having arrived for the return of the regiment to the United Kingdom, its strength was reduced to three hundred and thirty-three men, by volunteers to remain in the country and to join other corps. In the beginning of July 1842 it proceeded to Quebec, where it embarked in Her Majesty’s troop-ship Resistance, and after an extraordinarily quick passage of seventeen days, arrived at Cork on the 22nd of July. It was joined by the depôt companies on the 3rd of August. In the autumn the regiment proceeded to Birr, with detachments to Kilkenny, Banagher, Carlow, and Shannon-bridge.

On the 17th of November, Lieut.-General Sir Hudson Lowe was removed to the Fiftieth Regiment, and the colonelcy of the FIFTY-SIXTH was conferred on Lieut.-General the Earl of Westmorland.

[Sidenote: 1843]

In March, 1843, the several detachments were ordered to head quarters at Birr; but the regiment had been collected little more than a week, when it was again found necessary to detach four companies to Cashel, Tipperary, Bansha, and Dungarvon. In April, the head-quarters marched to Fermoy, and from thence to Cork, where the regiment was concentrated, in expectation of being removed to England. The public service, however, required that it should remain in Ireland, and it has since furnished detachments to Ballincollig, Bandon, Buttevant, Mallow, Dummanway, Skibbereen, Millstreet, &c., in order to be in readiness to aid the civil power, if its services should be required, in consequence of meetings of large masses of the people, to agitate the repeal of the union between Great Britain and Ireland.

At the close of 1843, to which this Record is brought, the head-quarters were at Cork, with four companies, under the command of Major Norman, detached to Clonmel, and one company at Millstreet.

[Sidenote: 1844]

The FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment is distinguished for its career of valuable service to the crown and kingdom; and it was conspicuous for its pre-eminent efficiency in point of numbers and discipline during the war from 1803 to 1815, during which period it was augmented to three battalions, which were all employed on foreign service. It was a favourite corps in England, particularly in the county of Surrey; and although many men were lost by casualties abroad, yet its effectives generally amounted to two thousand rank and file. Its gallantry in the field, and its conduct on colonial service, and in the United Kingdom, have enhanced the value of this corps in the estimation of the government and country.

1844.

NOTE. _In producing the foregoing details of the services of the
FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, the compiler of the Records of Regiments
deems it incumbent to acknowledge the very able assistance he has
received from Lieut.-Colonel Eden, and from Captain T. Johnes
Smith, who have been most anxious to collect and arrange whatever
circumstances they have considered would do justice, and reflect
honor on the Regiment to which they belong_.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE FIFTY-SIXTH REGIMENT

OF

FOOT.

LORD CHARLES MANNERS.

_Appointed 26th December, 1755._

LORD CHARLES MANNERS, ninth son of John, second Duke of Rutland, was many years an officer in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards, in which corps he was promoted to the rank of captain and lieutenant-colonel, on the 27th of May, 1745. On the breaking out of the seven years’ war, he was commissioned to raise, form, and discipline a regiment of foot, now the FIFTY-SIXTH, of which he was appointed colonel in December, 1755. In 1759 he was promoted to the rank of major-general. He died on the 5th of December, 1761.

THE HONORABLE WILLIAM KEPPEL.

_Appointed 17th December, 1761._

THE HONORABLE WILLIAM KEPPEL, fourth son of William-Anne, second Earl of Albemarle, was gentleman of the horse to His Majesty King George II.; and was nominated captain and lieutenant-colonel in the First Regiment of Foot Guards, on the 28th of April, 1751; in July, 1760, he was promoted to second major, with the rank of colonel. On the 17th of December, 1761, His Majesty appointed him to the colonelcy of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, with which corps he embarked with the expedition against the Havannah, in the island of Cuba, with the local rank of major-general. He commanded the troops which besieged the fort of Moro, which was captured by storm on the 30th of July, 1762; and his own regiment having evinced signal gallantry on this service, he afterwards obtained the King’s permission for it to bear the word “Moro” on its colours. On the day after the capitulation of the Havannah, he took possession of the fort La Punta; and he was subsequently left in command of the garrison of that city, which he restored to the Spaniards in July, 1763, according to the articles of peace concluded a few months before. In 1765 he was removed to the Fourteenth Foot; in 1772 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general; and in December, 1773, he was nominated commander-in-chief in Ireland; in October, 1775, he was appointed colonel of the Twelfth Dragoons. He was representative in parliament for the borough of Windsor. His decease occurred in March, 1782.

JAMES DURAND.

_Appointed 13th June, 1765._

This officer served many years in the First Regiment of Foot Guards, in which corps he was appointed captain and lieutenant-colonel, in 1748, and was advanced to the majority, with the rank of colonel, in 1753. He obtained the rank of major-general, in 1759, and the lieutenant-colonelcy of the First Foot Guards in 1760. In the following year he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general; and, in 1765, King George III. conferred on him the colonelcy of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment. He died in 1766.

HUNT WALSH.

_Appointed 22nd May, 1766._

After a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, this officer was appointed major in the Twenty-eighth Foot, in August, 1753, and promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the regiment on the 2nd of February, 1757. He commanded the 28th in America during the Seven years’ war, when that corps had the honor to serve at the capture of Louisburg, in 1758; at the reduction of Quebec, in 1759, under Major-General Wolfe; and at the conquest of Canada, in 1760. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1762, and in 1766 his services were rewarded with the colonelcy of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment. He attained the rank of major-general in 1772; that of lieutenant-general in 1777; and of general in 1793. He died in 1795.

SAMUEL HULSE.

_Appointed 7th March, 1795._

This officer was appointed ensign in the First Foot Guards in 1761, and rose to the commission of captain and lieutenant-colonel in 1776. In 1780 he was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment, and was employed in suppressing the riots in London in that year. At the commencement of the French revolutionary war he was called into active service, and commanded the first battalion of his regiment in Flanders, in 1793. He served at the siege of Valenciennes; and distinguished himself on the 18th of August, in the action at Lincelles, for which he was thanked in orders by the Duke of York. He shared in the operations before Dunkirk, and in the subsequent movements until October, when he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and returned to England. In May of the following year he again proceeded to Flanders, and commanded a brigade in several partial actions near Tournay, and in the retreat to Holland. Returning to England early in 1795, he was appointed colonel of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment, and placed on the home staff, where he continued three years; in 1797 he was removed to the Nineteenth Foot. On the 1st of January, 1798, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general; and during the troubles in Ireland, in the summer of that year, his services were extended to that part of the kingdom; but he returned to England in November, and resumed his command on the staff. He served in Holland under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, in 1799, and was at the several engagements from the 19th of September to the 6th of October. On returning to England he was appointed to the command of the southern district, in which he continued until the peace in 1802. He was advanced to the rank of general in 1803; appointed lieutenant-governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, in 1806, and removed to the Sixty-second Foot in 1810.

He was one of the earliest servants placed by King George III. on the establishment of the Prince of Wales; was many years His Royal Highness’s treasurer and receiver-general; and on the accession of the Prince to the throne, General Hulse was nominated treasurer of the household, and governor of Chelsea Hospital. In 1821 he was knighted. He was also appointed ranger of Windsor Home Park; a privy councillor; and knight grand cross of the royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. On the accession of King William IV., General Hulse was promoted to the rank of field-marshal by commission, dated the 22nd of July, 1830. He died at his apartments in Chelsea Hospital, in 1837, at the advanced age of ninety years.

THE HONORABLE CHAPPLE NORTON.

_Appointed 24th January, 1797._

CHAPPLE NORTON, third son of Sir Fletcher Norton, who was many years Speaker of the House of Commons, and afterwards created Lord Grantley, entered the army in the reign of King George II., and was appointed captain in the Nineteenth Foot in June, 1763. He served with his regiment at Gibraltar; and, in 1769, purchased a majority in the First, the Royal Regiment of Foot, from which he was promoted to captain and lieutenant-colonel in the Second Foot Guards in 1774. He served with the brigade of Foot Guards in North America, and took part in most of the principal occurrences. He particularly distinguished himself in February, 1780, and was thanked in orders in the following terms:--“His Excellency Lieutenant-General Knyphausen desires his thanks may be given in public orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Norton of the Guards, for his good conduct and gallant behaviour in attacking and forcing a considerable body of rebels, advantageously posted at Young’s house, in the neighbourhood of White Plains.” In November following he was promoted to the rank of colonel; and, in 1786, he obtained a majority in his regiment; in 1787 he was advanced to the rank of major-general; in 1797 to that of lieutenant-general, and at the same time he received the colonelcy of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment; in 1802 he was promoted to the rank of general, and he was afterwards appointed governor of Charlemont. He took great interest in everything connected with his regiment: having considerable influence in the county of Surrey, where the estates of his family were situated, his corps received many recruits from that part of the country; he represented Guildford in Parliament many years. He was a generous and good man, and was honored with the favor of the Duke of York. He died on the 19th of March, 1818, at Wonersh in Surrey, the seat of Lord Grantley.

SIR JOHN MURRAY, BARONET.

_Appointed 31st March, 1818._

SIR JOHN MURRAY, a baronet of Nova Scotia, entered the army as ensign in the Third Foot Guards in 1788, and rose to the rank of lieutenant and captain in 1793. He served in Flanders as aide-de-camp to Field-Marshal Freytag, and afterwards to His Royal Highness the Duke of York; and was at the actions of St. Amand and Famars, and the siege of Valenciennes; also at the siege of Dunkirk, and the engagements at Maubege and near Cambresis. In the spring of 1794 he was promoted to the rank of major, and a few weeks afterwards to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the Eighty-fourth Regiment. He was present at the various actions near Tournay, in the same year, and in the retreat to Holland. He afterwards served under General Sir Alured Clarke, and was at the capture of the Cape of Good Hope in September, 1795. In 1799 he commanded a body of troops on the Red Sea; and, in 1800, he was promoted to the rank of colonel. He performed the duties of quarter-master-general to the troops which proceeded from India to Egypt under Major-General Sir David Baird; and afterwards, returning to India, commanded the Bombay division of the army which joined Major-General the Honorable Arthur Wellesley, at Poonah, during the Mahratta war, in 1803. He also commanded a body of troops during the subsequent hostilities with Scindeah and Holkar. Having been promoted to the rank of major-general in 1805, and returned to Europe, he served on the staff of the eastern district, from December of that year to April, 1808; and he subsequently commanded the King’s German Legion in the expedition to the Baltic, &c., under Sir John Moore, whom he accompanied to Portugal. Remaining in that country, he served under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, in the operations against the French under Marshal Soult, and took a conspicuous part in the expulsion of the French from Oporto. On the 27th of May, 1809, he was appointed colonel of the Third West India Regiment; and on the 1st of January, 1812, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. Early in 1813 he took the command of the Anglo-Sicilian army in the south of Spain, and was engaged in operations to create a diversion in favour of the grand allied army under Lord Wellington, and to prevent Marshal Suchet detaching troops to Castille. His proceedings on this occasion did not realize the expectations which had been entertained, and a general court-martial, assembled after his return to England, found him guilty of error of judgment. In 1818 he was appointed colonel of the FIFTY-SIXTH Regiment; and, in 1825, promoted to the rank of general. His honorary distinctions were those of knight grand cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic order, and the first class of the order of St. Januarius of Naples. He died in 1827.

MATTHEW, LORD AYLMER, K.C.B.

_Appointed 29th October, 1827._

Removed to the Eighteenth or the Royal Irish Regiment, in 1832.

SIR HUDSON LOWE, K.C.B.

_Appointed 23rd July, 1832._

Removed to the Fiftieth Regiment in 1842.

THE EARL OF WESTMORLAND, K.C.B. & G.C.H

_Appointed 17th November, 1842._

SUCCESSION OF LIEUTENANT-COLONELS

OF THE

FIFTY-SIXTH, OR WEST ESSEX, REGIMENT OF FOOT.

+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+
| Names. | Dates of | Date of Removal, &c. |
| | Appointment. | |
+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+
|Peter Parr |Dec. 26, 1755|{Removed to Fourth Foot, |
| | |{ June 30, 1760. |
|John Doyne |June 30, 1760|Retired February 20, 1762. |
|James Stewart. |Feb. 20, 1762|Died September 1, 1762. |
|Alexander Monypenny |Sep. 1, 1762|Retired October 3, 1776. |
|John Caulfield |Oct. 3, 1776|Retired November 6, 1778. |
|Henry Johnson |Nov. 6, 1778|{Removed to Seventeenth Foot |
| | |{ in 1778. |
|Peter Craig |Jan. 9, 1779|{Removed to Sixty-second Foot, |
| | |{ November 25, 1799. |
|William Earle Bulwer |Sep. 1, 1795|{Placed on half-pay, November |
| | |{ 18, 1795. |
|John Whitwell |Nov. 18, 1795|Died in 1796. |
|Thomas Picton |May 1, 1796|{Promoted to the colonelcy of |
| | |{ Seventy-seventh Foot, |
| | |{ October 15, 1811. |
|P. K. Skinner |Dec. 11, 1799|Removed July 25, 1814. |
|Samuel Keating |Aug. 1, 1804|{Promoted to Bourbon regiment, |
| | |{ March 5, 1812. |
|Fletcher Barclay |June 27, 1811|Retired April 26, 1831. |
|Boyle Travers |Jan. 2, 1812|Removed July 25, 1814. |
|Nigel Kingscote |Oct 17, 1811|{Placed on half-pay, December |
| | |{ 25, 1818. |
|J. Frederick Brown |March 5, 1812|{Exchanged to Twenty-eighth |
| | |{ Foot, May 9, 1816, with |
| | |{ Sir Charles Belson. |
|Henry Sullivan |July 1, 1813|{Placed on half-pay, on the |
| | |{ reduction of second |
| | |{ battalion, on September |
| | |{ 6, 1817. |
|John William Mallet |Nov. 6, 1813|{Placed on half-pay, December |
| | |{ 25, 1814, on the reduction. |
|Sir Charles P. Belson,}|May 9, 1816|{Placed on half-pay, on |
| K.C.B. }| |{ September 6, 1817, on the |
| | |{ reduction of second |
| | |{ battalion. |
|H. H. Prichard |April 26, 1831|Retired May 20, 1836. |
|G. M. Eden |May 20, 1836|{Removed to Scots Fusilier |
| | |{ Guards, on July 5, 1839. |
|Robert O’Hara |July 5, 1839|{Exchanged to the Eighty-eighth|
| | |{ on August 16, 1839, with |
| | |{ Lieut.-Colonel W. H. Eden. |
|William Hassel Eden |Aug. 16, 1839|At present in command. |
+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------+

SUCCESSION OF MAJORS

OF THE

FIFTY-SIXTH, OR WEST ESSEX, REGIMENT OF FOOT.