Chapter VI: Part 6

“I was favoured with your note and the enclosure last night,
but in one part, as it does not exactly meet the facts, I have
taken the liberty of enclosing you a certificate, which, from the
conversation I have had with the Colonel, I think will. It is not
in the power of the Colonel to certify that they positively have
borne the word ‘FIRM’ on the colours; but he has every reason
to believe so, as the bearings of the colours are usually on
the regimental seals of regiments. The Colonel has been in the
regiment thirty-seven years, and the oldest officer by very many
years now remaining in it. During his time the regiment must
have had three pairs of regimental colours;--the pair when the
regiment returned from the West Indies, I presume, now entirely
worn out and destroyed; the pair on the regiment’s return from
the East Indies was, from the same cause, burned at Winchester;
and the present pair of colours consists of as many rags as
might form the size of a silk handkerchief, but not a piece that
is whole six inches square. These rags are tied together round
the staff. Therefore, concluding that the former colours were
before disposed of, at least in as bad a state as those, it would
become impossible to say what bearings or mottoes might have
been upon the pair when Colonel Burne joined, which was on their
return from the West Indies, to which is to be added the great
mortality and change among officers who served at that time in
those climates. I should have had the pleasure of waiting upon
you this day upon the subject, but as I leave town to-morrow I am
compelled to confine my business to writing. May I, therefore,
beg the additional favour (should the certificate meet your
approbation, or any other form that may accord with the fact
stated) that you will enclose it to my brother, who will forward
it to me? I feel extremely anxious to get the business completed
as soon as possible, the regiment being again down for service,
&c., which I trust, in your goodness, will plead as my apology
for intruding so much upon your time.

“I am, &c.
(Signed) “HENRY VERNON.”

“_G. Nayler, Esq._”

“Captain Vernon presents his compliments to Mr. Nayler, and with
many thanks encloses him the certificate signed by Colonel Burne.
Should there be any expenses incidental to Mr. Nayler’s office
in this business, he requests to be favoured with them, as the
Colonel, as well as himself, are unacquainted with these matters.”

“_Battle, Sussex, 5th April 1810._”

“I Robert Burne, Lieut.-Colonel of the first battalion of the
THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, a Colonel in the army, and Governor of His
Majesty’s garrison of Carlisle, do hereby certify and declare,
that during the space of _thirty-seven years_ to my own positive
knowledge, and how long previous thereto I cannot set forth, the
said regiment has used on its regimental seal the word ‘FIRM;’
and that I verily believe, by reason thereof, the said regiment
to be entitled to bear the same upon its colours, and that the
said word may have lapsed and been forgotten by the frequent
change of officers and the mutilated or almost destroyed state
in which the colours of the regiment have been on their return
from service, and that I am, therefore, extremely anxious that
the said word ‘FIRM’ should be inscribed in the painting of the
colours of the aforesaid THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, now preparing,
by His Majesty’s command, under the inspection of George Nayler,
Esquire, York Herald, and Inspector of Regimental Colours. In
witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed
the seal of the said regiment, at Battle, Sussex, this fifth day
of April one thousand eight hundred and ten.

(Signed) ROBT. BURNE,
_Lieut.-Col. Commanding 1st Battn.
36th Regt., and Colonel_.

“Signed and sealed in the presence of

“A. MACKENZIE,
_Major 36th Regt._,

“HY. VERNON, Capt.,
_1st Battn. 36th Regt._”

“_36th Regiment of Foot_

“Permitted to bear the word ‘FIRM’ having so done for upwards of
thirty years, as appears by Lieut.-Colonel Robert Burne’s letter
to Sir George Nayler, dated Monte Video, 30th July 1807.”

_Memoir of the services of Lieut.-General Robert Burne, formerly Lieut.-Colonel of the_ THIRTY-SIXTH _regiment_.

ROBERT BURNE entered the army as Ensign in the THIRTY-SIXTH, his commission being dated 28th of September 1773; and it is remarkable that he obtained all his regimental promotions in that corps. On the 13th of January 1777 he was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant. On the 10th of March 1783 Lieutenant Burne embarked with the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment for Madras, and arrived in that Presidency in July following. In 1784 he succeeded to the Captain-Lieutenancy, and on the 7th of May of that year was appointed Captain of a company in the regiment. Upon the army taking the field against Tippoo Saib he was Captain of the Grenadier company. Captain Burne was in the battles of Sattimungulum and Shawoor on the 13th and 14th of September 1790, and was afterwards at the storming of the pettah and fort of Bangalore in March 1791. Captain Burne served at the attack of Nundydroog in October 1791; he was also present in the operations before Seringapatam during the night of the 6th of February 1792, under General the Earl Cornwallis, which compelled Tippoo to enter into a treaty of peace with the British. He was at the siege and capture of Pondicherry in August 1793; and on the 1st of March 1794 he was promoted to the brevet rank of Major, which rank he attained in the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment on the 15th of April 1796. On the 1st of January 1798 Major Burne was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel by brevet, and he embarked at Madras in command of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment on the 15th of October, but did not arrive in England until July 1799, the want of convoy having caused the Indiamen to be detained three months at St. Helena.

On the 13th of November 1799 Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Burne was appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, with which he embarked, in the year 1800, for the coast of France, with the expedition under Brigadier-General the Honorable Sir Thomas Maitland; he afterwards proceeded with his regiment to Minorca, from which island, in 1801, he was compelled, by severe illness, to return to England for the recovery of his health, being the first time he was ever absent from the regiment. Upon the conclusion of the peace of Amiens in 1802 Minorca was restored to the Spaniards, and the THIRTY-SIXTH returned to Ireland, when Lieut.-Colonel Burne resumed the command of the regiment.

Lieut.-Colonel Burne embarked with the first battalion of the regiment for Germany in October 1805, and returned with it to England in March following. In November 1806 he proceeded with the first battalion of the regiment on the expedition to South America under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd; and in June 1807 landed in that country; was with the advance of the army at the operations in the suburbs of Buenos Ayres on the 2d, 3d, and 4th of July; and also shared in the attack on the town of Buenos Ayres on the 5th of July.

The first battalion of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment embarked at Buenos Ayres in September, and arrived at Cork in December 1807. On the 25th of April 1808 Lieut.-Colonel Burne was promoted by brevet to the rank of Colonel, and in July following embarked with the first battalion for the Peninsula. Colonel Burne was present at the battles of Roleia and Vimiera on the 17th and 21st of August 1808. Lieut.-General the Honourable Sir Arthur Wellesley in his despatch particularly noticed the conduct of Colonel Burne and that of the battalion. On the 8th of September following Colonel Burne was appointed Governor of Carlisle by His Majesty King George III. After these services Colonel Burne proceeded in command of the battalion with the troops destined to join Lieut.-General Sir John Moore at Salamanca, and was present at the battle of Corunna on the 16th of January 1809; after which he embarked with the army for England. Colonel Burne, for his services at Roleia, Vimiera, and Corunna, received the honorary distinction of a medal and clasp.

On the 16th of July 1809 Colonel Burne embarked in command of the first battalion of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, with the expedition to the Scheldt, and served in August at the siege and capture of Flushing, in the island of Walcheren. He was afterwards appointed Colonel on the staff at that place, where he continued until the evacuation of the island.

Colonel Burne was appointed a Brigadier-General on the staff in Portugal on the 21st of January 1811, and landed in the Peninsula prior to the retreat of the French army from Santarem, and was present at the battle of Fuentes d’Onor on the 3d and 5th of May, together with the other operations in which the sixth division of the army was engaged. On the 4th of June 1811 he was advanced to the rank of Major-General, and continued on the staff in the Peninsula until the 24th of April 1812, when he returned to England; and, on the 25th of June following, was appointed to the staff of Great Britain, and was ordered to take the command of the camp near Lichfield; upon the breaking up of that encampment Major-General Burne was ordered to the command of the Nottingham district, where he remained on the staff until the 24th of September 1814.

On the 19th of July 1821 Major-General Burne was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General. His decease occurred in June 1825.

LONDON:

Printed by GEORGE E. EYRE and WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
Printers to the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty.
For Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

The roman page numbering at the front of the book goes from i to xix,
then from v to xii; this has not been changed.

The table on page 6 in the original book was very wide. It has been
modified by splitting it into two parts, for each of the three ships.

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 v: ‘707. Battle’ replaced by ‘1707. Battle’.
Pg viii: ‘against of Tippoo’ replaced by ‘against Tippoo’.
Pg 14: ‘corps of infanty’ replaced by ‘corps of infantry’.
Pg 27: ‘in garison at’ replaced by ‘in garrison at’.
Pg 38: ‘the Europeau Powers’ replaced by ‘the European Powers’.
Pg 40: ‘In the begining’ replaced by ‘In the beginning’.
Pg 52: ‘were opposed to’ replaced by ‘were exposed to’.
Pg 58: ‘Seringpatam’ replaced by ‘Seringapatam’.
Pg 78: ‘marched ot Gallegos’ replaced by ‘marched to Gallegos’.
Pg 126: ‘recals to the troops’ replaced by ‘recalls to the troops’.