Chapter I: Part 1

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
placed at the end of each major section.

The tables in this book are best viewed using a monospace font.

A superscript is denoted by ^x or ^{xx}, for example S^t or Esq^{re}.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.

BY COMMAND OF His late Majesty WILLIAM THE IV^{TH}.
_and under the Patronage of_
Her Majesty the Queen.

HISTORICAL RECORDS,
_OF THE_
British Army

_Comprising the_
_History of every Regiment_
_IN HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE_.

_By Richard Cannon Esq^{re}._

_Adjutant General’s Office, Horse Guards._
London.
_Printed by Authority._]

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE THIRTY-FOURTH,

OR,

THE CUMBERLAND REGIMENT

OF

FOOT:

CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF

THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1702,

AND OF

ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1844.

_ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES._

LONDON:
PARKER, FURNIVALL, AND PARKER,
_MILITARY LIBRARY, WHITEHALL_.

M.DCCC.XLIV.

LONDON:
HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS,
ST. MARTIN’S LANE.

GENERAL ORDERS.

_HORSE-GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836_.

His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with the view of doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army shall be published under the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the following particulars, viz.:--

---- The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of
the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time
employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations
in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any
Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies,
&c., it may have captured from the Enemy.

---- The Names of the Officers, and the number of
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the
Enemy, specifying the place and Date of the Action.

---- The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their
Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the
Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other
Marks of His Majesty’s gracious favour.

---- The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers,
and Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in
Action.

And,

---- The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been
permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges
or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.

By Command of the Right Honorable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
_Commanding-in-Chief_.

JOHN MACDONALD,
_Adjutant-General_.

PREFACE.

The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.

Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honorable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication.

The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the “London Gazette,” from whence they are transferred into the public prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions, the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery; and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign’s approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most highly prizes.

It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies) for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic account of their origin and subsequent services.

This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and abroad.

From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth derive information as to the difficulties and privations which chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so long a period, being undisturbed by the _presence of war_, which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose.

In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,--on their sufferings,--and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.

The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and their character has been established in Continental warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against superior numbers.

In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the Corps employed; but the details of their services and of acts of individual bravery can only be fully given in the Annals of the various Regiments.

These Records are now preparing for publication, under his Majesty’s special authority, by Mr. RICHARD CANNON, Principal Clerk of the Adjutant General’s Office; and while the perusal of them cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and information to the general reader, particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.

There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or are serving, in the Army, an _Esprit de Corps_--an attachment to everything belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood “firm as the rocks of their native shore:” and when half the world has been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,--victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow citizens in arms,--a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us,--will certainly prove acceptable to the public.

Biographical Memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished Officers will be introduced in the Records of their respective Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.

As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.

INTRODUCTION

TO

THE INFANTRY.

The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority of the British troops over those of other countries has been evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is INTREPIDITY. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army, on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and, although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar’s favourite tenth legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades, and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat, sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry. These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar’s legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full development of the national character followed, and it shone forth in all its native brilliancy.

The military force of the Anglo-Saxons consisted principally of infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only. They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and javelins.

The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted (as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost entirely of horse; but when the warlike barons and knights, with their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a considerable portion of the military force; and this _arme_ has since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.

The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances, halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel, that it was almost impossible to slay them.

The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth century, produced a change in the arms and equipment of the infantry-soldier. Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of fire-arms, but British archers continued formidable adversaries; and, owing to the inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of the fire-arms when first introduced, a body of men, well trained in the use of the bow from their youth, was considered a valuable acquisition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century.

During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in every hundred men forty were “_men-at-arms_,” and sixty “_shot_;” the “men-at-arms” were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and thirty pikemen; and the “shot” were twenty archers, twenty musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.

Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150 to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John Smithe) in 1590 was:--the colour in the centre of the company guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on each flank of the halberdiers: half the musketeers on each flank of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers, and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number of companies into one body, called a REGIMENT, which frequently amounted to three thousand men: but each company continued to carry a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier, armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry were reduced to two classes, viz.: _musketeers_, armed with matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and _pikemen_, armed with pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.

In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men. He caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks, or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division of pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English, French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not adopted until near a century afterwards.

In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled the Admiral’s regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with hand grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was designated the “grenadier company.” Daggers were so contrived as to fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets similar to those at present in use were adopted about twenty years afterwards.

An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers (now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did not carry pikes.

King William III. incorporated the Admiral’s regiment in the second Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service. During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46 musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans; ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in 1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]

During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand grenades; and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour: the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the Army in this reign.

About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the Seven Years’ War. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have been limited to the musket and bayonet.

The arms and equipment of the British Troops have seldom differed materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods, been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained over very superior numbers.

Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves valiant with any arms. At _Crecy_, King Edward III., at the head of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000 men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:--the King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles were slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten years afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the Black Prince, defeated, at _Poictiers_, with 14,000 men, a French army of 60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of France, and his son Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October, 1415, King Henry V., with an array of about 13,000 men, although greatly exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated, at _Agincourt_, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower of the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men, and gained a complete victory.

During the seventy years’ war between the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and firmness;[3] and in the thirty years’ war between the Protestant Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British Troop in the service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British army under the great MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world; and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French army, which had been vainly styled _Invincible_, to evacuate that country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal WELLINGTON; and the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates in the distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers, Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons of the nineteenth century.

The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular frame,--intrepidity which no danger can appal,--unconquerable spirit and resolution,--patience in fatigue and privation, and cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities, united with an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to command, whose presence inspires confidence,--have been the leading causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5] The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the various battle fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory; these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of time.

The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in the various parts of the world, where the calls of their Country and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and unfavourable climes.

The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements of this _arme_, as at present practised, while they are adapted to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements have from time to time been introduced, to insure that simplicity and celerity by which the superiority of the national military character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:--

__|
| |
|__|
|
20 20 20 30 2|0 30 20 20 20
|
Harquebuses. Muskets. Halberds. Muskets. Harquebuses.
Archers. Pikes. Pikes. Archers.

The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.

[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking or Gibraltar, and in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at the siege of Barcelona in 1705.

[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed in 1590 observes:--“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the field, let them be chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe. For instances of valour displayed by British Infantry during the Seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third Foot, or Buffs.

[4] _Vide_ the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot.

[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed on the consideration of every port of the army, that it has been a strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and hue enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under circumstances of peculiar difficulty.”--_General Orders in 1801._

In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January, 1809, it is stated:--“On no occasion has the undaunted valour of British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the troops themselves; and the enemy has been taught, that whatever advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows not how to yield,--that no circumstance can appal,--and that will ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any human means.”

(Regimental Colour.)

(_To face page 101._)]

THE THIRTY-FOURTH,

OR

THE CUMBERLAND

REGIMENT OF FOOT,

BEARS ON ITS REGIMENTAL COLOUR THE WORDS

“ALBUHERA”--“VITTORIA”--“PYRENEES”--“NIVELLE”--“NIVE”--“ORTHES”--“PENINSULA,”

TO COMMEMORATE ITS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES IN THE PENINSULA
AND SOUTH OF FRANCE,

FROM 1809 TO 1814.

CONTENTS.

Year Page

1702 Formation of the Regiment 9

---- Names of Officers 10

1705 Forms part of the Force under the Earl of Peterborough,
and embarks for Spain 11

---- Siege of Barcelona --

1707 Returns to England 15

1708 Proceeds to Ostend 16

---- ---- Antwerp 17

1710 Sieges of the Fortresses of Douay, Bethune, Aire,
and St. Venant 18

1711 Siege of Bouchain 19

1712 Stationed at Dunkirk --

1713 Returns to England 20

---- Reduction of the Regiment --

1715 Restoration of the Regiment --

---- Names of Officers --

1717 Proceeds to Ireland 21

1719 Returns to England --

---- Forms part of the expedition under General
Viscount Cobham, destined for Spain --

---- Capture of Vigo --

---- Returns to England, and is again stationed in
Ireland 22

1727 Embarks for Gibraltar --

1728 Returns to Ireland 23

1739 Augmentation of the Establishment --

1739 Removed to England --

1744 Embarks for Flanders 24

1745 Battle of Fontenoy --

---- Returns to England 25

1746 Proceeds to Edinburgh 26

---- Battle of Culloden 27

---- Stationed in South Britain 28

1749 The Regiment placed on a peace establishment --

1751 Uniform and Colours of the Regiment --

1752 Embarks for Minorca 29

1756 Embarks for Gibraltar 32

---- Returns to England --

1757 The Regiment augmented to two battalions --

1758 The Second Battalion constituted the Seventy-third
Regiment --

---- Forms part of an armament employed to reduce the
maritime power of France, and after destroying the
shipping and magazines at St. Maloes, returns
to England --

---- Forms part of a similar expedition, and after taking
possession of Cherbourg, returns to England 33

1762 Siege of the Moro Fort, and Capture of the Havannah 35

1763 Proceeds to North America 36

1768 Returns to Europe --

1769 }
1776 } Stationed in Ireland --

1775 Augmented to the War Establishment --

1776 Embarks for North America 37

1777 Siege of Fort Stanwix 39

1782 Styled the _Cumberland Regiment_ --

1786 Returns to England --

1792 Augmentation of the Establishment --

1795 Embarks for the West Indies --

---- Proceeds to St. Lucia 40

1796 Reduction of St. Vincent 41

---- Embarks for England --

1800 ---- ---- the Cape of Good Hope 42

1802 ---- ---- the East Indies --

1803 Four Companies proceed from Madras to Ceylon 43

1805 A Second Battalion added --

---- The Detachment of the First Battalion rejoins
Head-Quarters from Ceylon 44

1807 The Second Battalion proceeds to Ireland --

---- Embarks for England --

1809 The Second Battalion embarks for the Peninsula 45

1810 Battle of Busaco 47

1811 Siege of Badajoz 48

---- Battle of Albuhera 49

---- Action at Arroyo de Molinos 51

1812 Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo 53

1813 Battle of Vittoria 55

---- Blockade of Pampeluna 56

---- Battle of the Pyrenees 60

---- ---- ---- Nivelle 61

---- ---- ---- Nive --

1814 ---- ---- Orthes 62

---- ---- ---- Toulouse --

---- The Second Battalion embarks for Ireland 63

1817 ---- ---- ---- disbanded 64

1817 }
to } Mahratta and Pindaree war 66
1820 }

1823 Embarks for England 70

1824 Proceeds to Ireland --

1829 Embarks for North America 71

1836 The red and white tuft resumed 72

1841 Embarks for England 76

1843 Proceeds to Ireland 77

1844 The Conclusion 78

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS.

Year Page

1702 Robert Lord Lucas 79

1705 Hans Hamilton 80

1712 Thomas Chudleigh --

1723 Robert Hayes 81

1732 Stephen Cornwallis --

1738 Lord James Cavendish --

1742 The Honorable James Cholmondeley 82

1749 The Honorable Henry Seymour Conway 83

1751 Charles Russell --

1754 Thomas Earl of Effingham 84

1760 Lord Frederick Cavendish --

1797 George Ferdinand Lord Southampton --

1810 Sir Eyre Coote, G.C.B. 85

1816 The Honorable Sir G. Lowry Cole, G.C.B. 87

1826 Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Bart. G.C.B.
and G.C.H. 88

Succession of Lieutenant-Colonels 89

Succession of Majors 91

PLATES.

Regimental colour _to face page_ xix

Queen’s and Regimental Colours ” 9

Uniform of Officers in 1844 ” 9

Uniform of Private Soldiers in 1742 ” 24

Uniform of Private Soldiers in 1844 ” 78

(Queen’s and Regimental Colours.)

(_To face page 1._)]

(Uniform of Officers in 1844.)

(_To face page 1._)]

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF THE

THIRTY-FOURTH,

OR

THE CUMBERLAND REGIMENT

OF

FOOT.

[Sidenote: 1702]

At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the British monarch witnessed his efforts to curb the ambition of Louis XIV., and to preserve the balance of power in Europe, counteracted by the virtual union of two powerful states, under a dynasty distinguished for its thirst for conquest, the King of France having procured the accession of his grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, to the throne of Spain. Existing treaties were thus openly violated; at the same time the liberties of Europe were invaded by the seizure of the Spanish Netherlands, by the troops of France, and the detention of the Dutch garrisons in the barrier towns; and war was resolved upon. A considerable augmentation was made to the British army, and the THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT OF FOOT is one of the corps embodied on this occasion. Its first colonel was ROBERT LORD LUCAS, from the lieutenant-colonelcy of Sir John Jacob’s Regiment, now Thirteenth Light Infantry, his commission bearing date the 12th of February, 1702.

This regiment was composed of men from Norfolk, Essex, and the adjoining counties, and was raised under the authority of warrants from King William III., by Colonel Lord Lucas, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Dare, Major Garth, Captains Kitson, Edward Shadwell, E. Parsons, P. Lechire, ---- Pardon, Richard Steele, and Robert Cecill, who each raised a company; and when the numbers were nearly complete, the establishment was augmented to twelve companies, of three officers and sixty-six non-commissioned officers and soldiers each: one wing of the regiment had its rendezvous at Colchester, and the other at Norwich.

While the regiment was completing its ranks, the death of King William III., and the accession of Queen Anne, occurred on the 8th of March, 1702, and the soldiers took the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty.

An expedition being fitted out against Cadiz, under the Duke of Ormond, LORD LUCAS’S Regiment was ordered to send five companies to Landguard Fort, Sheerness, and Tilbury, early in May, to relieve the Buffs, who were ordered to embark on board of frigates for the Isle of Wight, to join the expedition to Spain; at the same time seven companies of LORD LUCAS’S Regiment were ordered to relieve a detachment of the Foot Guards on duty at the Tower of London, of which fortress his Lordship was lieutenant-governor; two companies were afterwards detached to Dover Castle.

On the return of the expedition from Spain, the regiment was relieved from duty at the out-stations, and was quartered in the Tower, from whence it detached three hundred men to the West Indies, to complete Colonel Columbine’s Regiment, now Sixth Foot, which was ordered to proceed to that station. After the departure of this detachment, the regiment proceeded, in December, into Essex to recruit, the head-quarters being established at Chelmsford.

[Sidenote: 1703]

[Sidenote: 1704]

The ranks of the regiment were speedily completed, and in the spring of 1703 it marched to Hull, Berwick, and Carlisle; where it was stationed in the following year.

[Sidenote: 1705]

On the 31st of January, 1705, Colonel Lord Lucas died; and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Hamilton, from the Earl of Derby’s Regiment, now the Sixteenth Foot.

Meanwhile, the war which commenced on the frontiers of the Netherlands, in 1702, had taken a wider range, and Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Spain, had become the theatre of conflict; and in May, the regiment embarked on board the fleet under Sir Cloudesly Shovel, with other forces commanded by General the Earl of Peterborough, either to aid the Duke of Savoy in driving the French out of Italy, to make an attempt on Naples and Sicily, or to effect a landing on the coast of Spain, as should appear most for the interest of Her Majesty’s service. The fleet arrived at Lisbon in June, and additional forces were put on board; Archduke Charles, who was acknowledged as King of Spain, also embarked, and an attempt on the coast of Catalonia was resolved upon. From Lisbon the armament sailed, on the 28th of July, for Gibraltar, where a reinforcement joined from the garrison, and Colonel Hans Hamilton, of the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, was nominated quartermaster-general of the expedition.

Leaving Gibraltar, the fleet proceeded to the Bay of Altea, in Valencia, and a number of Catalonians and Valencians throwing off their allegiance to the House of Bourbon, and acknowledging Archduke Charles as king of Spain, the British general was induced to undertake the siege of _Barcelona_, the capital of Catalonia, which was defended by upwards of five thousand men, under the viceroy of Catalonia, Don Francis Velasco. In 1697, this fortress resisted thirty thousand French troops eight weeks, and cost Louis XIV. twelve thousand men; but the Earl of Peterborough was unable to bring more than seven thousand men into the lines, which gave an interesting character to the enterprise.

Landing near the river Bassoz, on the 23rd and 24th of August, the troops advanced towards the town, and after some difficulties were overcome, the siege was commenced. The native energy of British soldiers was conspicuously displayed on this occasion, and the grenadiers of the THIRTY-FOURTH had the honor to take part in storming the detached fortress of _Montjuich_, situate on a hill on the west side of the town. The troops engaged on this service made a detour through the mountains during the night of the 13th of September, and stormed the outworks early on the following morning, making a lodgment, gaining the bulwark of a new fortification, and establishing themselves in the works. In a few days afterwards the garrison surrendered.

This success facilitated the siege of the city of Barcelona, in which the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment took an active part. The armed Catalonian and Valencian peasantry blocked up the avenues of the town; seamen were landed from the fleet to take part in the siege; the soldiers were incessant in their exertions; cannon and mortars were dragged up steep precipices by men; and a practicable breach being effected, a detachment of the regiment was in readiness to take part in storming the town; but the garrison surrendered, and saved the effusion of blood which would have attended this enterprise. A number of armed countrymen entered the city through the breach, to plunder the partisans of the house of Bourbon; but the Earl of Peterborough entered the town at the head of a troop of dragoons, and the grenadiers of the THIRTY-FOURTH, and other regiments, put a stop to the plundering, and rescued the governor and his garrison from the vengeance of the people.

The capture of Barcelona produced great astonishment throughout Europe, and the splendour of the achievement augmented the reputation of the British arms.

This success was followed by the submission of all the province of Catalonia, and part of that of Valencia; and after a short stay at Barcelona, the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment was selected to form part of the garrison of the ancient town of Tortosa, situated in a pleasant fertile country, on the left bank of the Ebro, near its influx into the sea. At this town, which was called Dordosa by the Romans, and received municipal privileges from Scipio, the regiment was stationed some time: its services are consequently not immediately connected with the exploits of the Earl of Peterborough in Valencia.

[Sidenote: 1706]

As the operations of the British troops became extended, the regiment quitted its pleasant quarters at Tortosa, and was employed in several movements in the early part of 1706.

King Charles and his counsellors did not make efforts to provide for the defence of the towns which had been gained, nor to obtain the means for future conquests; but spent their time and money in diversions: the breaches of _Barcelona_ and Montjuich were not repaired, and the garrison was unprovided for a siege. King Philip pursued a different line of conduct; he collected forces from various quarters, and assembled a numerous army, with a powerful artillery, for the re-capture of the provinces he had lost, and a formidable French and Spanish force approached the capital of Catalonia by land; at the same time a French fleet appeared before the city. The garrison being weak in numbers, corps were hurried from various places to increase its strength; and the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment travelled one hundred and twenty miles on mules, on the 30th and 31st of March, and on the 1st of April mounted guard on the works. The regiment had not been two hours on duty when the French approached the place, and made an attack on the outworks of fort Montjuich; but were repulsed by a hundred men of the THIRTY-FOURTH, in gallant style[6]. To the timely arrival of the regiment may be attributed, in a great measure, the preservation of the town: the soldiers repaired the breaches, and made a desperate and resolute defence.

King Charles remained in Barcelona; his presence stimulated the garrison to extraordinary efforts, and British valour was conspicuously displayed in his cause; but the troops were not sufficiently numerous for the defence of so extensive a place. When the garrison, bravely struggling against multiplied difficulties, had become exhausted; its numbers decreased by deaths, wounds, and sickness to about a thousand men, and a practical breach was ready for the enemy to attack the place by storm, the combined English and Dutch fleets approached with reinforcements; the French naval force hurried from before the town, and the garrison was relieved. Losing all hope of final success, and having had five thousand men killed and wounded before the town, the enemy made a precipitate retreat on the 12th of May, leaving two hundred brass cannon, thirty mortars, and immense stores of ammunition and provision, together with the sick and wounded of their army, behind them, and hurrying to France, they thus left the allies at liberty to engage in new enterprises. Barcelona was thus preserved by British skill and valour; and the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment received, with the other corps in garrison, the thanks of King Charles for its heroic conduct. Its numbers were considerably reduced by casualties during the siege.

An immediate advance on Madrid was resolved upon; and the allied army on the frontiers of Portugal was requested to penetrate boldly to the capital of Spain. The THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment embarked for Valencia to join in this enterprise; and, after landing, it furnished a number of select men towards completing the Earl of Peterborough’s Regiment of Dragoons, which was embodied on this occasion. The advance to Madrid was delayed; pernicious councils, which paid more attention to court formalities than to military operations, retarded the journey of King Charles. This gave time for the French forces to re-enter Spain, and for the arrival of additional troops to reinforce the enemy; and the allied army, after advancing to Madrid, was obliged to retreat to Valencia and Murcia.

[Sidenote: 1707]

After passing the winter in Spain, the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, being much reduced in numbers, was directed to transfer its private soldiers fit for duty to other corps, in the spring of 1707, and to return to England to recruit. This took place before the army took the field; and while the officers and non-commissioned officers were waiting for transports, the battle of Almanza was fought, on the 25th of April, when the enemy gained a decisive victory. The embarkation was afterwards delayed a short period; but in the autumn the regiment arrived in England, and commenced recruiting its ranks, in which it had great success.

[Sidenote: 1708]

The regiment was stationed in the south of England in the spring of 1708, when the King of France fitted out a fleet, and embarked troops, for the invasion of Scotland, in favour of the Pretender. On this occasion the regiment had so far recruited its numbers, and become efficient, that it was selected to proceed to the north, to confront the invaders; but it was ordered to halt at Leeds, in consequence of the French shipping having been chased from the British shores by the English fleet.

Having defeated the enemy’s designs of invading the United Kingdom, the British Government fitted out an armament against the French coast, and the THIRTY-FOURTH Foot were ordered to return from Yorkshire to take part in the enterprise. They proceeded to the Isle of Wight, where they were reviewed by Major-General Erle, on the 19th of July, and afterwards embarked on board the fleet, under Admiral Sir George Byng. The expedition approached the coast of France in the early part of August, and after menacing several places, a landing was effected to create alarm, and make a diversion in favour of the allied army in Flanders. The troops subsequently returned on board the fleet, and, after menacing the coast at several points, withdrew towards England. Orders were afterwards received to proceed to Ostend, where the several regiments arrived on the 21st of September; when a body of French troops, under Count de la Motte, who was advancing to surprise the town, made a precipitate retreat towards Bruges, cutting the dikes to lay the country between Ostend and Nieuport under water. Major-General Erle landed with the THIRTY-FOURTH and other regiments, and taking post at the village of Leffinghen, formed an intrenched position.

At this period the allied army in the Netherlands was engaged in the siege of the important fortress of _Lisle_, and ammunition becoming scarce, the Duke of Marlborough sent seven hundred waggons, under a strong guard, to Ostend, for a supply. Major-General Erle had drained the inundations, built a bridge over the canal at Leffinghen, and opened a communication with the army, towards which the waggons laden with stores began their march on the 26th of September; and the guard having repulsed the forces under Count de la Motte, at Wynendale, the convoy arrived safe at its destination, and the army was enabled to continue the siege.

The French commanders resolved to cut off the communication of the allied army with Ostend, and the Duke of Vendosme proceeded to Oudenburg with thirty thousand men, established posts along the canal between Plassendale and Nieuport, cut the dikes in several places, and laid a great extent of country under water. The THIRTY-FOURTH and other regiments, under Major-General Erle, pitched their tents on the high grounds of Raversein, and the Duke of Marlborough put the covering army in motion; when the Duke of Vendosme made a precipitate retreat, and the THIRTY-FOURTH Foot took part in forwarding a supply of ammunition across the inundations in boats. The Duke of Vendosme detached a body of troops to besiege Leffinghen, which was taken after a sharp resistance. He also menaced the camp at Raversein, when Major-General Erle retreated to the outworks of Ostend.

A numerous body of the enemy marching to Brabant, under the Elector of Bavaria, the THIRTY-FOURTH, and four other regiments, embarked from Ostend, under Brigadier-General Wynne, for Antwerp, where they were stationed when the citadel of Lisle surrendered, and the campaign was terminated by the re-capture of Ghent and Bruges.

[Sidenote: 1709]

The THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, being composed of young soldiers, was employed on garrison duty during the year 1709.

[Sidenote: 1710]

In April, 1710, the regiment quitted its quarters, and traversed the country towards the frontiers of France, to serve the campaign of that year with the army under the celebrated Duke of Marlborough. The regiment was engaged in the operations by which the French lines were passed at _Pont-a-Vendin_, and it afterwards took part in the siege of the strong fortress of _Douay_, where it had repeated opportunities of distinguishing itself. This fortress was defended by a numerous garrison, under General Albergotti, an officer of reputation, who made a determined resistance; and the soldiers of the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment were fully employed on duty in the trenches, carrying on the approaches, repulsing the sallies of the garrison, and storming the outworks, which occasioned considerable loss. The French army advanced to raise the siege, but did not hazard a general engagement; and Douay surrendered on the 27th of June. The THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment had one subaltern, six serjeants, and seventy-five rank and file killed; two captains, three subalterns, five serjeants, and one hundred and twenty rank and file wounded, during the siege[7].

After the capture of this fortress, the regiment joined the main army, which was encamped at Villers-Brulin during the siege of _Bethune_, which fortress was reduced before the end of August. The regiment was subsequently employed in covering the sieges of _Aire_ and _St. Venant_, both of which fortresses were captured before the end of the campaign.

[Sidenote: 1711]

Quitting its winter quarters among the Walloon peasantry, in April, 1711, the regiment joined the army, and was reviewed, at the camp at Warde, on the 8th of June, by the Duke of Marlborough. It was formed in brigade with the Tenth, Twenty-first, and Wynne’s (afterwards disbanded) Regiment, under Brigadier-General Hamilton, and took part in the movements by which the enemy’s formidable lines were passed at _Arleux_, on which occasion the superiority of the English general’s tactics was particularly conspicuous.

This splendid success was followed by the siege of the town of _Bouchain_, situated on both sides of the river Scheldt, and the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment had the honor to take an active share in the operations against this fortress, which was taken by capitulation in the middle of September. When the damaged works at Bouchain were repaired, the regiment went into winter quarters.

[Sidenote: 1712]

Early in April, 1712, the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment took the field, and joined the army under the command of the Duke of Ormond, who penetrated the French territory to the frontiers of Picardy, encamping at Cateau-Cambresis, while the Germans undertook the siege of _Quesnoy_. In the mean time the French monarch had solicited peace, and had agreed to deliver the city of Dunkirk into the hands of the British sovereign, as a pledge of his sincerity. A suspension of arms was proclaimed between the British and French, and the army under the Duke of Ormond withdrew to Ghent. On the 4th of August the regiment was detached from the camp near Ghent, with several other corps, under Lieutenant-General the Earl of Orkney, to Dunkirk, where it was stationed some time.

On the 30th of November, 1712, Queen Anne conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Chudleigh, from Brigadier-General Durell’s regiment, in succession to Brigadier-General Hamilton, who, on the death of Brigadier-General Durell, in December following, was nominated colonel of his corps,--the Sixteenth Foot.

[Sidenote: 1713]

At the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht, the regiment was withdrawn from Dunkirk, and proceeded to Great Britain. At this period a considerable reduction took place in the numbers of the regular army, and all the corps raised after the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, were directed to be taken off the establishment, except two, viz., the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Regiments of Foot. This reduction included the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, which was accordingly reduced, and the officers placed upon half-pay.

[Sidenote: 1714]

[Sidenote: 1715]

The decease of Queen Anne, and the accession of King George I., on the 1st of August, 1714, was followed by a short period of tranquillity; but in 1715 the partisans of the Pretender made efforts to procure his accession to the throne, and commotions occurred in England; at the same time the nation was threatened with invasion from abroad. The King augmented the army, and warrants were issued for the restoration of the THIRTY-FOURTH and several other regiments of foot, in the summer of this year.

Names of the officers appointed to the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, at its restoration in the summer of 1715:--

_Colonel_, THOMAS CHUDLEIGH.
_Lieutenant-Colonel_, THOMAS WHITNEY.
_Major_, CHARLES DOUGLAS.

_Captains._
Robert Hayes[8]
Samuel Daniels
Richard Doige
Michael Moore
Francis Mutys
Henry Skelton
Richard Pyott

_Lieutenants._
-- Saubergues
Walter Yard
Edward Cooksey
-- Brereton
William Hamilton
John Tremaigne
Thomas Batten
Christopher Philips
Timothy White
William Hayes
Thomas Ford

_Ensigns._
Henry Sirck
Roger Sterne
John Sutton
John Spaddy
Thomas Kitson
Thomas Parker
Thomas Price
John Brushfield
William Wickham

[Sidenote: 1716]

Soon afterwards the standard of the Pretender was raised in Scotland, by the Earl of Mar; but the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment was retained in England; and the rebellion was suppressed in the early part of 1716, by the troops under the Duke of Argyle.

[Sidenote: 1717]

In 1717, the regiment received orders to proceed to Ireland, to relieve one of the corps ordered to be disbanded in that country.

[Sidenote: 1718]

[Sidenote: 1719]

The regiment remained in Ireland until the early part of 1719, when the preparations made by the King of Spain to forward the interests of the Pretender, occasioned it to be withdrawn from that country; and it was subsequently encamped in the Isle of Wight, and held in readiness for active service. The British Government projected the capture of Corunna, in Biscay, and of Peru, in South America; and the THIRTY-FOURTH sailed in the early part of September with the expedition, under General Viscount Cobham, for the attack of the former place; but on arriving off the coast of Gallicia, circumstances occurred which occasioned an attack on _Vigo_ to be resolved upon. The fleet entered the harbour of Vigo on the 29th of September, seized on seven Spanish ships, and on the following day the troops landed under the fire of musketry from the mountains. Advancing towards the town, the British forced the Spaniards to abandon Vigo and Fort St. Sebastian, which were taken possession of by eight hundred men, under Brigadier-General Honeywood. A battery being opened against the citadel, the garrison was soon induced to surrender, giving up two thousand barrels of powder, eight thousand muskets, and fifteen pieces of brass artillery, which had been prepared for the invasion of Britain in favour of the Pretender. While the siege of the castle of Vigo was in progress, _Rondondella_ was captured by a detachment from the army; and on the 12th of October a thousand men proceeded, under Major-General Wade, against _Pont-a-Vedra_, from whence thirteen companies of Spaniards fled in a panic; the town, arsenal, barracks for two thousand men, thirteen pieces of brass and eighty-six of iron ordnance, five thousand small arms, three hundred barrels of powder, and a great quantity of other stores, were captured. The arsenal, barracks, and Fort Marine, were destroyed; the iron ordnance and the more valuable stores were removed on board the fleet.

Finding himself oppressed on every side, and his resources exhausted, the King of Spain made pacific overtures; and a treaty of peace was concluded before the expedition to Peru was undertaken. The armament returned to England, and the THIRTY-FOURTH were again stationed in Ireland.

[Sidenote: 1723]

On the 18th of February, 1723, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Hayes, from the command of a company in the First Foot Guards, was appointed colonel of the regiment, by purchase, in succession to Colonel Chudleigh, who retired.

[Sidenote: 1726]

Few years elapsed before the Spanish monarch again violated the peace of Europe. The possessions, of which he was deprived by the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, had been relinquished with reluctance, and towards the end of 1726, he assembled an army in Andalusia, under the command of the Count de la Torres, to make a determined effort for the re-capture of _Gibraltar_.

[Sidenote: 1727]

In February, 1727, the garrison of Gibraltar opened its fire on the besieging army; and the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment was, at this period, on its way from Ireland, to share in the honor of a successful defence of this important fortress. The regiment encountered a storm at sea, and lost several companies by shipwreck; six companies proceeded to Plymouth, and afterwards continuing their voyage, arrived at Gibraltar on the 26th of March, in company with the Twenty-fifth Regiment; they were followed by several other corps. The garrison made a very gallant defence of the fortress committed to their charge, against the storm of war, which raged against them with increasing fury until the thunder of one hundred cannon became almost incessant in the day time, and was partially continued throughout the night. The tremendous fire of the Spaniards produced little effect beyond the bursting of many of their own cannon, and rendering others useless; and many thousands of the besieging army perished in the attempt. In the early part of June, the fire slackened; on the 18th of that month hostilities ceased; and the fortress of Gibraltar continued to form one of the trophies of British prowess.

[Sidenote: 1728]

Peace having been concluded with Spain, the regiment was withdrawn from Gibraltar, and proceeded to Ireland, where it was conspicuous for its good conduct in quarters.

[Sidenote: 1731]

[Sidenote: 1732]