CHAPTER XXIX.
“When wild war’s deadly blast was blawn,
And gentle peace returning,
And eyes again with pleasure beam’d
That had been blear’d wi’ mourning,
I left the lines and tented field,
Where lang I’d been a lodger,
My humble knapsack a’ my wealth,
A poor but honest sodger.”
THREATENED INVASION—THE PENINSULAR WAR—CORUNNA—TOULOUSE—QUATRE BRAS—WATERLOO—CRIMEA—INDIA—1803–1862.
The peace of Amiens in 1803, which for a short period released our army from the bloody toils of war, was but as the portentous calm presaging the lowering storm, when the waves of angry passion, lashed into fury, should beat upon the shore of every continent of the world. The pride of France had been humbled, and the ambitious schemes of her haughty despot thwarted by British valour, which, upon the plains of Egypt, had wrested from veteran legions their boasted “invincibility.” The French navy, moreover, had been swept from the seas and all but exterminated—there remaining not an armament in Europe which could dare to dispute the British ocean sovereignty. Stung by the remembrance of many defeats by sea and land—the painful recollection of which ever and anon haunted and troubled the dreamer of universal empire, begetting
“The vengeance blood alone could quell”—
a spirit of malignity was awakened in the mind of Napoleon. These combined occasioned the concentration of the giant might of his empire upon the western shores of France, purposing therewith to crush, were it possible, the only power which, amidst the general wreck of nations, yet lived to challenge his assumed omnipotence. Vainly he hoped to bridge the channel, or, as he termed it, the “ditch,” which divided this beloved land from our natural rival and implacable enemy, France. Loudly he threatened that, with an army of 600,000 men, he would land to desolate our homes, and overwhelm our country in a doom as awful as had hitherto befallen less favoured countries. But apart from the “ditch,” which proved an impassable gulf to the mightiest efforts of his power, the patriotism of our people, appreciating the emergency, was equal to the danger, and in 1804 achieved the following magnificent result:—
| Army in the British Isles, | 129,039 |
| Colonies, | 38,630 |
| India, | 22,897 |
| Recruiting, | 533 |
| Militia in Great Britain, | 109,947 |
| ———— | |
| 301,046 | |
| Regular and Militia, | 301,046 |
| Volunteers in Great Britain, | 347,000 |
| ———— | |
| Total in Great Britain, | 648,046 |
| Irish Volunteers, | 70,000 |
| Military, | 718,046 |
| Navy, | 100,000 |
| Grand Total in arms, | 818,046 |
| ———— |
In this vast armament we must include a second battalion raised in 1803, and attached to the Royal Forty-second. In 1805 the first battalion was removed to Gibraltar. Napoleon, disappointed in his favourite scheme of effecting our conquest, suddenly directed his march eastward, launching the thunderbolts of war with remorseless wrath upon the devoted sovereignties of Germany, yea, piercing, in his aggressions, the gloomy wilds of Russia. By a crooked policy, begetting a matchless perfidy, Napoleon had found further employment for the myriad spoilers who looked to him for prey, in the invasion and appropriation of Spain and Portugal. In this crisis of their country’s calamity, the patriots of the Peninsula invoked the friendly aid of Britain, as alone able to help them in the unequal yet protracted struggle for independence they maintained. Ever the champion of the weak and oppressed, Britain descended to the rescue; and in accordance therewith, a British army, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, landed in Portugal in 1808. The first battalion of the Forty-second was ordered to join this expedition from Gibraltar, but reached too late to participate in the glories of Roleia and Vimiera. The deliverance of Portugal being for the time accomplished, the Forty-second thereafter joined the army of General Sir John Moore, which attempted to drive the French from Spain. Inadequately supported, this gallant chief failed to do more than penetrate into the interior, occasioning the concentration of the several French armies to repel him. Unable to cope with such a vast superiority, retreat was inevitable. Shattered by the vicissitudes of the war, his army retired to the sea coast, hotly pursued by a powerful French force under Marshal Soult. At length halting near Corunna, the British, in defence of their embarkation, accepted battle from the French, which, whilst victory crowned our arms, was dearly bought in the death of Sir John Moore. Brigaded with the Fourth and Fiftieth regiments, under Major-General Lord William Bentinck, and in the division of Sir David Baird, these regiments sustained the weight of the attack. Twice on this memorable day did the Commander-in-Chief address himself to the Highlanders. In the advance to recover the lost village of Elvina, he uttered these thrilling words, awakening the recollection of the time when he himself had led them to victory—“Highlanders,” he said, “remember Egypt!” And again, when sorely pressed by the enemy, having expended their whole ammunition, he thus distinguished them:—
“‘My brave Forty-second, join your comrades, ammunition is coming, and you have your bayonets.’ At the well-known voice of their general, the Highlanders instantly sprang forward, and closed upon the enemy with bayonets. About this period Sir David Baird was wounded, and forced to quit the field, and soon afterwards Sir John Moore was struck to the ground by a cannon ball. He was raised up, his eyes were steadily fixed on the Highlanders, who were contending manfully with their numerous antagonists, and when he was assured that the Forty-second were victorious, his countenance brightened up, he expressed his satisfaction, and was removed to the rear, where he expired, to the great regret of the officers and soldiers, who admired and esteemed their excellent commander.”
On dark Corunna’s woeful day,
When Moore’s brave spirit passed away,
Our Highland men, they firmly stood,
Nor France’s marshalled armies could
Break through the men of Scotland.
SIR JOHN MOORE.
In this severe fight the loss of the Forty-second exceeded 200 killed and wounded. In consequence of this victory, the British were enabled to embark without further molestation from the enemy. The regiment arrived in England in 1809. As soon as sufficiently recruited—brigaded with the Seventy-ninth and Ninety-second regiments, constituting the Highland Brigade—it was embarked with the army which attempted to gain a footing in Flanders; but failed, rather from the evil effects of the climate, inducing a malignant disease, than the sword of the enemy. Of 758 men, which comprised the battalion, 554 were stricken down or disabled in less than six weeks. Meanwhile, the second battalion, which had joined the army of Lord Wellington in Portugal, suffered severely from a similar cause whilst stationed on the banks of the Guadiana River. Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Blantyre, this battalion was creditably present in the actions of the Peninsular War, which arrested the progress of the French under Marshal Massena, at Busaco, and finally defied their every effort at the formidable, impregnable lines of Torres Vedras. The battalion won a title to the distinction of “Fuentes d’Onor,” by gallantly resisting a charge of French cavalry thereat. It was present at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, and, previous to the battle of Salamanca, was joined by the first battalion from England, with whom it was consolidated. A recruiting party was sent home to enrol a now second battalion, afterwards disbanded in 1814.
It is needless here to detain the reader with a record of the military transactions of the war. These words—“Pyrenees,” “Nivelle,” “Nive,” “Orthes,” “Toulouse,” and “Peninsula”—borne upon the colours and appointments of the regiment, are sufficiently expressive of its gallantry. At the battle of Toulouse, the public despatch refers to the conduct of the Forty-second as “highly distinguished throughout the day;” whilst an officer of the regiment contributes the following account of its dauntless behaviour on the occasion. In the sixth division of our army, and in brigade with the Seventy-ninth and Ninety-first regiments, he says:—“We advanced under a heavy cannonade, and arrived in front of a redoubt, which protected the right of the enemy’s position, where we were formed in two lines—the first consisting of some Portuguese regiments, and the reserve of the Highland Brigade.
“Darkening the whole hill, flanked by clouds of cavalry, and covered by the fire of their redoubt, the enemy came down upon us like a torrent; their generals and field-officers riding in front, and waving their hats amidst shouts of the multitude, resembling the roar of an ocean! Our Highlanders, as if actuated by one instinctive impulse, took off their bonnets, and, waving them in the air, returned their greeting with three cheers.
“A death-like silence ensued for some moments, and we could observe a visible pause in the advance of the enemy. At that moment the light company of the Forty-second regiment, by a well-directed fire, brought down some of the French officers of distinction, as they rode in front of their respective corps. The enemy immediately fired a volley into our lines, and advanced upon us amidst a deafening roar of musketry and artillery. Our troops answered their fire only once, and, unappalled by their furious onset, advanced up the hill, and met them at the charge. Upon reaching the summit of the ridge of heights, the redoubt which had covered their advance fell into our possession; but they still retained four others, with their connecting lines of entrenchments, upon the level of the same heights on which we were now established, and into which they had retired.
“Major-General Pack having obtained leave from General Clinton that the Forty-second should have the honour of leading the attack, which it was hoped should drive the French from their strong position, that distinguished officer exultingly gave the word—‘The Forty-second will advance.’ We immediately began to form for the charge upon the redoubts, which were about two or three hundred yards distant, and to which we had to pass over some ploughed fields. The grenadiers of the Forty-second regiment, followed by the other companies, led the way, and began to ascend from the road; but no sooner were the feathers of their bonnets seen rising over the embankment, than such a tremendous fire was opened from the redoubts and entrenchments, as in a very short time would have annihilated them. The right wing, therefore, hastily formed into line, and, without waiting for the left, which was ascending by companies from the road, rushed upon the batteries, which vomited forth a most furious and terrific storm of fire, grape-shot, and musketry.
“The redoubts were erected along the side of a road, and defended by broad ditches filled with water. Just before our troops reached the obstruction, however, the enemy deserted them, and fled in all directions, leaving their last line of strongholds in our possession; but they still possessed two fortified houses close by, from which they kept up a galling and destructive fire. Out of about five hundred men, which the Forty-second brought into action, scarcely ninety reached the fatal redoubt from which the enemy had fled.
“As soon as the smoke began to clear away, the enemy made a last attempt to re-take the redoubts, and for this purpose advanced in great force. They were a second time repulsed with great loss, and their whole army was driven into Toulouse, which they evacuated on the 12th of April, 1814.”
The peace which crowned these glorious achievements afforded but a brief interval of repose to our army. In the spring of the following year, Europe was startled in her dream of fancied security by the sudden and unexpected return of Napoleon from Elba. In the campaign of Waterloo, which quickly and decisively broke his power, and almost annihilated the military strength of imperial France—with which strong, convulsive effort it hoped to restore its earlier and mightier dominion—the Forty-second claims a most conspicuous place, especially in the action of Quatre Bras, so immediately followed by the grander event of Waterloo. The unexpected and furious attack of Marshal Ney upon the advanced position of the allies at Quatre Bras, gave the French a momentary advantage. Roused to arms, and hurried forward to the scene of conflict, the Highlanders (Forty-second and Ninety-second regiments) were conspicuous for the promptitude with which they mustered and took the field, hastening forward to relieve the gallant few that dared to withstand the impetuous assaults of the French. The good conduct of the Highlanders, whilst quartered in Brussels, had so won the esteem of the citizens, that they are said to have mourned for them as a brother, grieving for their departure—perchance
“The unreturning brave,—alas!
Ere evening to be trodden like the grass
Which now beneath them, but above shall grow
In its next verdure; when this fiery mass
Of living valour rolling on the foe,
And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low!
“Last noon beheld them full of lusty life;
Last eve, in beauty’s circle proudly gay;
The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife;
The morn the marshalling in arms; the day
Battle’s magnificently-stern array!
The thunder-clouds close o’er it, which, when rent,
The earth is cover’d thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover—heap’d and pent,
Rider and horse,—friend, foe,—in one red burial blent!”
One historian speaks of the Forty-second as displaying “unparalleled bravery;” whilst another thus narrates the attack of the Highlanders at Quatre Bras:—“To the Forty-second Highlanders, and Forty-fourth British regiment, which were posted on a reversed slope, and in line, close upon the left of the above road, the advance of French cavalry was so sudden and unexpected, the more so as the Brunswickers had just moved on to the front, that as both these bodies whirled past them to the rear, in such close proximity to each other, they were, for the moment, considered to consist of one mass of allied cavalry. Some of the old soldiers of both regiments were not so easily satisfied on this point, and immediately opened a partial fire obliquely upon the French lancers, which, however, Sir Denis Pack and their own officers endeavoured as much as possible to restrain; but no sooner had the latter succeeded in causing a cessation of the fire, than the lancers, which were the rearmost of the cavalry, wheeled sharply round, and advanced in admirable order directly upon the rear of the two British regiments. The Forty-second Highlanders having, from their position, been the first to recognise them as a part of the enemy’s forces, rapidly formed a square; but just as the two flank companies were running in to form the rear face, the lancers had reached the regiment, when a considerable portion of their leading division penetrated the square, carrying along with them, by the impetus of the charge, several men of those two companies, and creating a momentary confusion. The long-tried discipline and steadiness of the Highlanders, however, did not forsake them at this critical juncture; these lancers, instead of effecting the destruction of the square, were themselves fairly hemmed into it, and either bayoneted or taken prisoners, whilst the endangered face, restored as if by magic, successfully repelled all further attempts on the part of the French to complete their expected triumph. Their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Macara, was killed on this occasion, a lance having pierced through his chin until it reached the brain; and within the brief space of a few minutes, the command of the regiment devolved upon three other officers in succession: Lieutenant-Colonel Dick, who was severely wounded, Brevet-Major Davidson, who was mortally wounded, and Brevet-Major Campbell, who commanded it during the remainder of the campaign.” Their subsequent service at Waterloo fully sustained, nay, rather excelled the heroism of previous achievements.
SEBASTOPOL, FROM FORT CONSTANTINE.
Peace has long reigned over our land, and the after history of the regiment appears, when shorn of a farther warlike character, devoid of interest. We only, therefore, mention that, after serving in various garrisons at home, the regiment was removed in 1826 to Gibraltar, thence in 1832 to Malta, and thereafter, in 1834, to the Ionian Islands. Returning home in 1836, it was welcomed by a grateful public. In 1841 it was again stationed in the Ionian Islands, until removed to Malta in 1843.
In the Crimean war, the Forty-second, with the Seventy-ninth and Ninety-third regiments, shared the dangers and the sufferings through which, as our “Highland Brigade,” they gloriously won a deathless renown—as the “Rocks of Gaelic Infantry.” The regiment was present at the battle of the Alma, the siege of Sebastopol, and with the expedition against Kertch. Many of its soldiers earned, as the reward of personal courage, the Victoria Cross.
In July, 1857, the Forty-second proceeded to India, to aid in the suppression of the mutiny. It still remains in India, being now stationed at Dugshai, Bengal. It is worthy of remark, that all the Highland regiments were more or less employed in suppressing this terrible outbreak.
In conclusion, these records, if “aught inanimate e’er speaks,” speak in silent yet living eloquence to the soul, and more than ever endear to us the soldiers who inherit, and who will not fail to emulate, by their own good conduct and gallant demeanour, the illustrious and glorious career of their predecessors.