Historical Record of the Sixty-first, or the South Gloucestershire Regiment of Foot

Chapter III: Part 3

Text size

At Legattah we found a large detachment of Sepoys, under Captain Mahony, of the Seventh Bombay Regiment: he behaved to us in the most attentive and liberal manner. We were supplied with every necessary by this officer; and he fulfilled the duties of his post, not to the strict letter of his orders, but to the fullest extent of every humane and hospitable construction of them. The ensuing march to Buramba was to be a very long one; and I found it necessary to make it in two, as follows: at six P.M. of the 26th, we left Legattah, and continued our route for six hours and a half by my watch, when I ordered the detachment to halt, caused the treasure camels to be unloaded, and directed the rest with the tents, baggage, sick, &c., to proceed on Buramba. I then ordered the detachment to be served with plenty of water, when we all lay down and enjoyed three hours’ most refreshing sleep. A little before day the drums beat, the treasure was reloaded, and we proceeded, and arrived at Buramba at six A.M. of the 27th. Here we first saw verdure: this agreeable prospect opened to us immediately upon the dawn of day, and infused spirit into everybody. This village seemed to us a little paradise, and, like sailors arrived at a shore of plenty and ease, after the perils of shipwreck, distress, and want, was looked upon by all as a blessed haven. At noon I despatched an officer with a report to General Baird, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army, who was at Kenè on the Nile, of my having reached Buramba without the loss of a single man; and at two o’clock A.M. on the 28th, I marched (having previously at midnight sent on the tents and baggage). Shortly after daylight we passed two miserable Arab villages; we then found ourselves in _cultivated ground_, and were eagerly looking out for the glorious Nile, whose direction we could easily trace from the date-trees and vegetation apparent upon its banks, although we could not see that noble river; shortly afterwards we got sight of Kenè, and a mile or two from it were met by General Baird and his suite. He ordered me to proceed to the banks of the Nile, and at seven o’clock we encamped about a quarter of a mile westward of the town of Kenè, and fifteen yards from the brink of the river. One cannot picture the joy we all felt at arriving amongst our brother soldiers, after the ten days of uncommon fatigue we had just experienced. Kenè abounded with every kind of provision, such as mutton, poultry, fish, milk, vegetables, &c., the whole at the most reasonable rates. The heat in this camp was excessive, certainly greater than at Cosseir. The General ordered the troops to be in readiness to embark in d’jirms, already collected to convey the army down the Nile, and which were to rendezvous at Cairo, where the General meant to collect all his army, in order to carry it entire to Rosetta, from which place he could make every arrangement for our junction with the English army before Alexandria. We embarked on the 2nd of August; the SIXTY-FIRST Regiment, about 900 strong, was allowed seventeen d’jirms, and fell down with the current. The distance to Cairo is about 400 miles. We arrived at that celebrated place on the 11th. The army encamped on the island of Rhoda on the Nile, between Cairo and Gaza; and on the 28th, the whole being collected, we re-embarked and proceeded towards Rosetta; and on the 31st we landed and encamped at El Hamed, four miles to the southward of that town; two days after which the General changed his camp to Aboumandour, so called from the tower which stands just above the Nile, about one mile and a quarter to the S.E. of Rosetta: it was from this tower that Pousseilgue made such accurate remarks upon the memorable battle between the English and French fleets in Aboukir Bay.

J. J. BARLOW,
_Lieut.-Colonel, 61st Regiment_.

SIXTY-FIRST REGIMENT.

RETURN OF CASUALTIES during the PENINSULAR WAR, from 1809 to 1814.

+----------------+--------+------------------------------------+
| Place and Date | | Total Loss. |
| | +---------+----------+---------+-----+
| of Action. | |Officers.|Serjeants.|Drummers.|Rank |
| | | | | |and |
| | | | | |File.|
+----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
| | | | | | |
| Battle of | | | | | |
| TALAVERA, |Killed | 3 | -- | 1 | 45 |
| 27th and 28th |Wounded | 11 | 10 | -- | 186 |
| July, 1809. |Missing | -- | -- | -- | 16 |
| | | | | | |
+----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
| | | | | | |
| Storming the |Killed }| | | | |
| Forts at | and }| 2 | 1 | -- | 12 |
| Salamanca, |Wounded}| | | | |
| 22nd June, 1812| | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
| | | | | | |
| Battle of | | | | | |
| SALAMANCA, |Killed | 6 | 3 | 1 | 35 |
|22nd July, 1812.|Wounded | 18 | 22 | 1 | 280 |
| | | | | | |
+----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
| | | | | | |
| Siege of the |Killed }| | | | |
| Castle of | and }| 1 | -- | -- | 10 |
| BURGOS, |Wounded}| | | | |
|in October, 1812| | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+

+-----------------+--------+------------------------------------+
| Place and Date | | Total Loss. |
| | +---------+----------+---------+-----+
| of Action. | |Officers.|Serjeants.|Drummers.|Rank |
| | | | | |and |
| | | | | |File.|
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|Battle of the |Killed }| | | | |
|PYRENEES, | and }| 4 | -- | -- | 70 |
|28th July, 1813. |Wounded}| | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|Battle of the |Killed }| | | | |
|NIVELLE, | and }| 7 | 5 | -- | 82 |
|10th Nov., 1813. |Wounded}| | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|Battle of the |Killed }| | | | |
|NIVE, | and }| 2 | -- | -- | 8 |
|9th Dec., 1813. |Wounded}| | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|Battle of |Killed }| | | | |
|ORTHES, | and }| -- | 1 | | 10 |
|27th Feb., 1814. |Wounded}| | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|At TARBES, |Wounded | -- | -- | -- | 4 |
|1st March, 1814. | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|At GRENADA |Killed | -- | -- | -- | 1 |
|2nd March, 1814. |Wounded | -- | -- | -- | 4 |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+
|Battle of | | | | | |
|TOULOUSE, |Killed | 3 | 1 | -- | 13 |
|10th April, 1814.|Wounded | 16 | 7 | -- | 140 |
| | | | | | |
+-----------------+--------+---------+----------+---------+-----+

FOOTNOTES:

[1] BEATSON’S _Naval and Military Memoirs_.

[2] Lieutenant-General the Honorable James Murray’s answer to this proposal is printed in BEATSON’S _Naval and Military Memoirs_, and is as follows:--

“_Fort St. Philip, October 16, 1781._
“Sir,

“When your brave ancestor was desired by his sovereign to
assassinate the Duc de Guise, he returned the answer which you
should have done, when the King of Spain charged you to assassinate
the character of a man whose birth is as illustrious as your own,
or that of the Duc de Guise. I can have no further communication
with you but in arms. If you have any humanity, you may send
clothing to your unfortunate prisoners in my possession; leave it
at a distance, because I will admit of no contact for the future
but such as is hostile in the most inveterate degree.

“I am, &c.,
“JAMES MURRAY.”

“_To the Duc de Crillon._”

[3] Lieut.-Colonel Barlow wrote a journal of this march, which is printed at the end of this Record.

[4] The grenadier company of the SIXTY-FIRST was selected by Major-General Stuart, for his personal escort during the reconnoissance which he made before the battle.

[5] Casualties at the battle of Salamanca,--

Officers. Soldiers.
Strength in the field. 27 420
Killed and wounded 24 342
-- ---
Remaining 3 78

Six reliefs of officers and serjeants were shot under the colours.

[6] Lieut.-Colonel ROBERT JOHN COGHLAN was a most distinguished and gallant officer, and highly respected and beloved by the SIXTY-FIRST, who cherished the memory of his exalted virtues w peculiar veneration. The regimental record shows the number of times he led the corps to battle and to victory, and the honorary distinctions he had acquired. The Duke of Wellington directed his remains to be removed from the grave in which they had been hastily laid, on the field of battle, and honored with a public funeral himself attending to pay the last tribute of respect to departed valour. A marble slab, placed by his brother officers in the Protestant churchyard of Toulouse, marks the spot where the remains of this gallant officer are deposited.

[7] Lieutenant Norbury Furnace had fought with his regiment in every battle and skirmish in which it had been engaged in the Peninsula and South of France, and had lost two brothers gallantly combating in the same cause.

[8] Lieutenant William White was on his way to join the regiment from Ireland; hearing at Tarbes of the probability of an action at Toulouse, he travelled by post to arrive in time to take part in it. He was twice wounded, and, although bleeding profusely, he refused to quit his post. A general officer saw the state he was in, and directed him to be taken to the surgeons.

[9] Mussacks are large leathern bags made so as to hold water, and are placed on the backs of camels like panniers.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

The roman page numbering at the front of the book goes from iii
to viii, then from v to viii again; this has not been changed.

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

Pg vi: page number ‘53’ added to the ‘Conclusion’ entry.
Pg 11: ‘Guadaloupe’ replaced by ‘Guadeloupe’.
Pg 12: ‘Sidenote: 1771’ inserted before ‘Three years ...’
(to be consistent with the Table of Contents entry for 1771).
Pg 15: ‘Guadaloupe’ replaced by ‘Guadeloupe’.
Pg 22: ‘the troop under’ replaced by ‘the troops under’.
Pg 49: ‘preparatorily to its’ replaced by ‘preparatory to its’.
Pg 56: ‘Guadaloupe’ replaced by ‘Guadeloupe’.

Comments

Historical Record of the Sixty-first, or the South Gloucestershire Regiment of FootChapter III: Part 3

0%10 min left in chapter