FOOTNOTES:
[6] A list of the battalions formed from men raised under the “Army of Reserve” and “Additional Force Acts” is inserted in pages 97, &c. of the Appendix.
[7] In June 1806, Buenos Ayres had been captured by the British under Brigadier-General William Carr Beresford, afterwards General Viscount Beresford; the place was, however, recovered by the Spaniards in August following, and the troops became prisoners.
In the autumn of 1806, an armament, consisting of the Ninth and Seventeenth light dragoons, detachment of the Twenty-first light dragoons, Royal artillery and engineers, Fortieth, first battalion of the Eighty-seventh, and Ninety-fifth (rifle corps) regiments, proceeded to share in the contest in South America. In October the Thirty-eighth regiment commanded by Colonel Vassal, and the Forty-seventh, under Colonel Backhouse, proceeded from the Cape of Good Hope to the Rio de la Plata, and on finding that Buenos Ayres had been recaptured by the Spaniards, the troops under the command of Colonel Backhouse, in conjunction with the naval squadron under Commodore Sir Home Popham, took possession of the town of Maldonado, and the island of Gorreti, on the left bank of the river Plate. In the summer of 1807 an expedition for a second attempt on Buenos Ayres proceeded to that part of the world, under the command of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, who assumed the command of the troops in South America. Other corps had also proceeded to South America, of which a list is inserted in the Appendix, page 91.
[8] Lieutenant Fenton was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Eighty-seventh regiment on the 22nd of April 1817.
[9] A Memoir of the services of Lieut.-Colonel Shawe, is inserted in the Appendix, page 95.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SECOND BATTALION
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR THE
ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
1804.
The British Government continued to adopt the most vigorous measures for the defence of the kingdom, and for the prosecution of the war. In addition to the acts of Parliament passed in July 1803 for raising “The Army of Reserve,” further Acts were passed in June and July 1804 for levying a larger number of men in the several counties of Great Britain and Ireland, which were termed the “Additional Force Acts.”
The Eighty-seventh regiment was augmented by a second battalion, which, with seven other regiments, was appointed to receive men raised in Ireland under the act of the 14th of July 1804; the men raised in the counties of Tipperary, Galway, and Clare, were allotted to the Eighty-seventh regiment; the assembling quarter of the second battalion was appointed at Frome in Somersetshire, and the battalion was placed on the establishment of the army, from the 25th of December 1804, at six hundred rank and file, which was augmented in the following year to eight hundred, and in the year 1807 to one thousand rank and file, and continued at that number to December 1814, when it was reduced to eight hundred, and from December 1815 to six hundred rank and file.
1805.
The second battalion marched from Frome to Bristol in March 1805, and embarked for Ireland.
1806.
On the 27th of October 1806 the battalion, consisting of twenty-nine serjeants, nine drummers, and five hundred and sixty-eight rank and file, embarked from Ireland for England.
1807.
On the 27th of April 1807 the battalion embarked at Plymouth, and proceeded to Guernsey.
The following report was made to Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, Bart., commanding the troops at Guernsey, by Brigadier-General John Fraser, after his inspection of the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment.
“Guernsey, 30th June 1807.
“Sir,
“I have the honor to report, that when I minutely inspected the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment two months after their arrival in this island, I found every thing in a state of perfection that would have done credit to an old established regiment, and which could not have been expected in a battalion so lately formed. The flank companies are uncommonly fine. The battalion men are in general of good size, young and stout, and the whole appear healthy and well fed: they march well, are steady under arms, and perfect in their discipline. The interior regulations are excellent, barracks and hospital clean, books regular, women and children decent in their appearance, and every thing to be commended. The appointments are in good order, the clothing is very good and well fitted, gaiters, shoes, &c. good without exception. There have been very few courts martial, very few non-commissioned officers reduced, and not one punished man in the battalion.
“The officers are well dressed and very attentive to their duty. Since their arrival here, the Eighty-seventh have occupied the town district, where I have had daily opportunities of seeing them, and I have always found them attentive on duty, well dressed in the streets, quiet and regular, no complaints, no drunkenness, even at the monthly settlements.
“I am of opinion that the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh is fit for any service, and very likely to be distinguished, especially while commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, who appears one of the best and most attentive officers I have ever seen, and who is to be particularly commended for keeping up very strict discipline without the least appearance of severity.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “John Fraser,
“Brigadier-General.
“To Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, Bart., commanding
His Majesty’s Forces in Guernsey and Alderney.”
The above report of Brigadier-General Fraser was highly gratifying to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, whose approbation thereof was signified to Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, and to the second battalion, through Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, by the Adjutant-General on the 10th of July 1807.
1808.
Important events had in the meantime occurred on the continent of Europe. Napoleon having reduced Germany to submission to his will, and forced Russia to accede to his decrees, next attempted the subjugation of Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese rose in arms to assert their national rights, the French emperor having conferred the crown of Spain on his brother Joseph, who relinquished the throne of Naples in favour of Marshal Murat. In the summer of 1808 Portugal was delivered by a British army under Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, and in the autumn Lieut.-General Sir John Moore received orders to advance with a body of British troops from Portugal into the heart of Spain; several regiments were embarked from the United Kingdom to co-operate in the enterprise.
On the 4th of June 1808, the battalion embarked from Guernsey, proceeded to Harwich, and from thence to Ramsgate, having previously occupied Weely Barracks and Danbury Camp.
Lieut.-Colonel Charles W. Doyle[10] having been appointed a brigadier-general and employed on a special mission in Spain, the command of the second battalion devolved upon Major Hugh Gough, and on the 28th of December following, it embarked at Ramsgate to join the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, with numerous supplies of men and stores; but being dispersed by a storm, it rendezvoused at Cork, from whence it was ordered to proceed to Portugal.
1809.
The battalion arrived at Lisbon on the 12th of March 1809, and joined the army under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. It was employed in the operations against the French at Oporto, and advanced in April following in pursuit of the French army, which had retreated from Portugal towards Madrid.
After suffering many privations in common with the rest of the troops, a junction was effected at Oropesa on the 20th of July with the Spanish army under General Cuesta. On the 27th of July, when General Cuesta had retreated from Alcabon under cover of Lieut.-General Sherbrooke’s divisions, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, K.B., withdrew to the position of Talavera, leaving Major-General John Randoll McKenzie on the Alberche to protect the movement. When the French on the 27th of July crossed this river, Major-General McKenzie’s division was posted near the Casa des Salinas, his infantry in the forest, and cavalry on the plain. The attack was somewhat sudden, and the second battalions of the Thirty-first and Eighty-seventh regiments, which were in the wood on the right of the Alberche, sustained some loss. As the enemy increased his numbers on the British side of the river, Major-General McKenzie fell back gradually, and entering the position by the left of the combined army, took up his ground in a second line in rear of the foot guards. In the dusk of the evening the enemy commenced his attack on the British left, but failed. In the night the attack was repeated, and on the morning of the 28th of July the French renewed the attack on the height on the British left, and were again repulsed with considerable loss.
After a pause of some hours the attacks were renewed upon the whole British front, and the action became general. Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell’s division, on the British right, sustained the assault of the enemy’s fourth corps, assisted by Major-General McKenzie’s brigade. “The English regiments, putting the French skirmishers aside, met the advancing columns with loud shouts, and breaking in on their front, and lapping their flanks with fire, and giving no respite, pushed them back with a terrible carnage. Ten guns were taken; but as General Campbell prudently forbore pursuit, the French rallied on their supports, and made a show of attacking again. Vain attempt! The British artillery and musketry played too vehemently upon their masses, and a Spanish regiment of cavalry charging on their flank at the same time, the whole retired in disorder, and the victory was secured in that quarter.”[11]
In the action on the 28th of July, Major-General McKenzie, who commanded the division of which the Eighty-seventh formed part, was killed.
The news of the victory of Talavera gained over the French army, commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, excited great joy in England, and Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington.
The loss of the British amounted to six thousand in killed, wounded, and missing; that of the French was much more considerable. The loss sustained by the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment consisted of one officer and one hundred and ten men killed, and thirteen officers and two hundred and thirty men wounded: total three hundred and fifty-four; strength in the field, eight hundred and twenty-six, leaving a remainder of four hundred and seventy-two.
| Killed. | |
| Ensign— | Nicholas la Serre. |
| Wounded. | |
| Major— | Hugh Gough, severely (on 28th July). |
| Captain— | Rawdon McCrea, slightly (since dead). |
| ” | Anthony William Somersall, slightly. |
| Lieutenant—W. G. Cavanagh, severely. | |
| ” | Richard Thos. Hingston, died of his wounds. |
| ” | Ralph Johnson, severely. |
| ” | John D. Bagenal, arm amputated. |
| ” | James Carroll, severely. |
| ” | Adam Rogers, severely (on 28th July). |
| Ensign— | Theobald Butler, severely. |
| ” | Theobald Pepper, severely (on 28th July). |
| ” | Wright Knox, severely. |
| ” | James T. Moore, slightly. |
Acting Serjeant-Major Paterson was promoted to an ensigncy for good conduct in this action, and Quartermaster-Serjeant Cowell was shortly afterwards promoted also to an ensigncy for length of service and gallant conduct.
The Eighty-seventh subsequently received the royal authority to bear the word “Talavera,” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the conduct of the second battalion on that occasion.
The junction of the divisions of Marshals Soult, Ney, and Mortier, in the rear of the British, compelled them to fall back on Badajoz. On the 10th of September, the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment received orders to repair to Lisbon, where it arrived on the 24th; and two strong detachments having arrived from England, and a number of wounded men joining from the hospitals, the battalion was again reported fit for service.
1810.
On the 5th of February 1810, the battalion embarked at Lisbon for Cadiz, and disembarked there on the 12th, which city was at that time besieged by a powerful French army, under Marshal Soult. The whole of this year the battalion was employed in erecting batteries, and strengthening the defence of the place, during which the battalion lost several men.
Lieut.-General Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) commanded the British forces in Cadiz, and an expedition was resolved upon for the purpose of making a combined attack on the rear of the blockading army under Marshal Victor, who now commanded at the siege of Cadiz, in consequence of Marshal Soult having proceeded with a body of troops into Estremadura.
1811.
On the 18th of February 1811, the battalion embarked at Cadiz, and sailed for Gibraltar.
The army under the command of Lieut.-General Graham consisted of about three thousand men[12], and a body of seven thousand troops commanded by General La Pena. The force of which the Eighty-seventh formed part, disembarked at Algesiras on the 23rd of February, and the troops being united at Tarifa, marched from thence on the 28th of February.
General Zayas pushed a strong body of Spanish troops across the river Santi Petri near the coast on the 1st of March, threw a bridge over, and formed a tête-de-pont. This post was attacked by the enemy on the nights of the 3rd and 4th of March, who was repulsed, though the Spaniards sustained considerable loss.
On the 5th of March 1811, Lieut.-General Graham, and the army under his command, arrived on the low ridge of Barrosa, and gained a decisive victory over the French army under Marshal Victor, composed of the two divisions of Generals Rufin and Laval.
The circumstances under which Lieut.-General Graham found himself placed were such as compelled him to attack the very superior force, in point of numbers, of his opponents. The allied army, after a night-march of sixteen hours from the camp near Veger, arrived on the morning of the 5th at the low ridge of Barrosa, about four miles to the southward of the mouth of the Santi Petri river. This height extends inland about a mile and a half, continuing on the north the extensive heathy plain of Chiclana. A great pine forest skirts the plain, and circles round the height at some distance, terminating down to Santi Petri, the intermediate space between the north side of the height and the forest being uneven and broken. A well-conducted and successful attack on the rear of the enemy’s lines near Santi Petri by the vanguard of the Spaniards under Brigadier-General Ladrizabel, opened the communication with the Isla de Leon, and Lieut.-General Graham received General La Pena’s directions to move down from the position of Barrosa to that of the Torre de Bermeja, about half way to the Santi Petri river, in order to secure the communication across the river, over which a bridge had been recently constructed. This latter position occupied a narrow woody ridge, the right on the sea cliff, the left falling down to the Almanza creek on the edge of the marsh. An easy communication between the western points of these two positions was kept up by a hard sandy beach. Lieut.-General Graham, while on the march through the wood towards the Bermeja, received intelligence that the enemy had appeared in force on the plain of Chiclana, about fifty miles from Tarifa, and was advancing towards the heights of Barrosa.
The British general, considering that position as the key to that of Santi Petri, immediately countermarched in order to support the troops left for its defence, and the alacrity with which this manœuvre was executed served as a favourable omen. It was, however, impossible in such intricate and difficult ground to preserve order in the columns, and time was never afforded to restore it entirely.
Before the British could get quite disentangled from the wood, the troops on the Barrosa hill were seen returning from it, while the enemy’s left wing was rapidly ascending. His right wing at the same time stood on the plain, on the edge of the wood, within cannon-shot. A retreat in the face of such an enemy, already within reach of the easy communication by the sea-beach, must have involved the whole allied army in all the danger of being attacked during the unavoidable confusion of the different corps arriving nearly at the same time on the narrow ridge of the Bermeja.
Lieut.-General Graham relying on the heroism of British troops, and regardless of the number and position of the enemy, determined on an immediate attack. Major Duncan soon opened a powerful battery of ten guns in the centre. The right wing proceeded to the attack of General Rufin’s division on the hill, while that under General Laval, notwithstanding the havoc made by Major Duncan’s battery, continued to advance in very imposing masses, opening his fire of musketry, and was only checked by that of the left wing.
The left wing now advanced firing; and a most determined charge by the three companies of Guards and the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment, supported by the remainder of the wing, soon decided the defeat of General Laval’s division. In this charge the Eagle of the eighth French regiment of light infantry (which suffered immensely) and a howitzer were captured, and remained in possession of Major Gough, now Lieut.-General Viscount Gough, G.C.B., and colonel of the Eighty-seventh regiment.[13] These attacks were zealously supported by Colonel Belson with the Twenty-eighth, and Lieut.-Colonel Prevost with a portion of the Sixty-seventh regiment.
Lieut Pym 87th Regt del.
Madeley lith 3 Wellington St. Strand
A reserve formed beyond the narrow valley, across which the enemy was closely pursued, next shared the same fate, and was routed by the same means.
The right wing meanwhile was not less successful, and, after a sanguinary contest, General Rufin’s division was driven from the heights in confusion, leaving two pieces of cannon. In less than an hour and a half from the commencement of the action, the French were in full retreat. The retiring division met, halted, and seemed inclined to form; but a new and more advanced position of the British artillery quickly dispersed the enemy. The exhausted state of the troops rendered pursuit impossible, and a position was occupied on the eastern side of the hill. When the conflict had ceased, Lieut.-General Graham remained on the field of battle; but the Spanish general, La Pena, who had looked on while this terrible battle was fought, did not seize the favourable opportunity which the valour of the British troops had put into his hands, of striking a severe blow at the remains of the French army retreating in disorder. The inactivity of the Spaniards continuing, the British proceeded to Cadiz on the following day.
In this battle the Eighty-seventh had one officer and forty-four men killed; four officers and one hundred and twenty-four men wounded: the strength of the battalion in the field was seven hundred and twenty-two.
Killed.
Ensign—Edward E. Kough.
Wounded.
Major—Archibald Maclaine.
Captain—Anthony William Somersall.
Lieutenant—James Gubbins Fennell.
” James Campbell Barton.
Lieut.-General Graham stated, in his public despatch, “No expressions of mine could do justice to the conduct of the troops throughout. Nothing less than the almost unparalleled exertions of every officer, the invincible bravery of every soldier, and the most determined devotion to the honor of His Majesty’s arms, in all, could have achieved this brilliant success, against such a formidable enemy so posted.”
Among the prisoners were the General of Division Rufin, the General of Brigade Rousseau; the Chief of the Staff, General Bellegarde; an Aide-de-camp of Marshal Victor; the Colonel of the Eighth regiment, and several other officers. The prisoners amounted to two general officers, one field officer, nine captains, eight subalterns, and four hundred and twenty rank and file. The enemy lost about three thousand men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, while that of the British amounted to one thousand two hundred and forty-three killed and wounded. Six pieces of cannon were also captured.
Lieut.-General Graham, on this glorious occasion, wrote a short but comprehensive note from the field of battle, to General Sir John Doyle, the colonel of the Eighty-seventh regiment, in these words, congratulating him on the steadiness and gallantry displayed by the second battalion in an action which redounded so much to the fame of the British arms.
“Barrosa, 5th March, 1811.
“My dear Doyle,
“Your regiment has covered itself with glory. Recommend it and its commander (Gough) to their illustrious patron, the Prince Regent: too much cannot be done for it.
“Ever yours,
(Signed) “T. Graham.”
Major Hugh Gough was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel, in consequence of Lieut.-General Graham’s recommendation, for his gallantry at Barrosa, and also received a medal for that battle.
On the 18th of April 1811, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to approve of the Eighty-seventh being in future styled “The Eighty-seventh, or Prince of Wales’s Own Irish Regiment,” and of its bearing, as a badge of honor, on the regimental colour and appointments an Eagle with a Wreath of Laurel, above the Harp, in addition to the arms of His Royal Highness, in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the second battalion on various occasions, and particularly at the battle of Barrosa on the 5th of March 1811.
Both Houses of Parliament unanimously voted their thanks to Lieut.-General Graham, and the officers and men under his command, for this victory, and their valour and ability were highly applauded by the nation.
The importance of the victory was fully appreciated by Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington, K.B., who in a letter to Lieut.-General Graham, of the 25th of March, thus expressed himself:—
“I beg to congratulate you and the brave troops under your command, on the signal victory which you gained on the 5th instant. I have no doubt whatever, that their success would have had the effect of raising the siege of Cadiz, if the Spanish corps had made any effort to assist them; and I am equally certain, from your account of the ground, that if you had not decided with the utmost promptitude to attack the enemy, and if your attack had not been a most vigorous one, the whole allied army would have been lost.
“You have to regret that such a victory should not have been followed by all the consequences which might reasonably be expected from it; but you may console yourself with the reflection that you did your utmost, and, at all events, saved the allied army; and that the failure in the extent of benefit to be derived from your exertions is to be attributed to those who would have derived most advantage from them.
“I concur in the propriety of your withdrawing to the Isla on the 6th, as much as I admire the promptitude and determination of your attack of the 5th; and I most sincerely congratulate you and the brave troops under your command, on your success.”
And in a letter of the same date to Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford, K.B., Viscount Wellington stated:—
“General Graham has returned to the Isla, after having fought the hardest action that has been fought yet. The Spaniards left him very much to his own exertions. The Spanish General is to be brought to a court-martial.”
In a letter of the 27th of March to the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary of State, Lieut.-General Viscount Wellington expressed similar sentiments to the foregoing, and added:—
“I am convinced that His Royal Highness the Prince Regent will duly appreciate the promptitude with which Lieut.-General Graham decided to attack the enemy in the important position of which they had obtained possession; the vigour with which he carried that decision into execution, and the gallantry displayed by all the officers and troops upon that glorious occasion.”
The Eighty-seventh having returned to Cadiz, after the battle of Barrosa, remained there until the 10th of October, when it embarked with a brigade under the command of Colonel Skerrett, of the Forty-seventh regiment, and landed at Tarifa on the 15th of that month. A strong division of the French army, amounting to ten thousand men, under the immediate orders of General Laval, invested the town of Tarifa on the 20th of December 1811. The garrison consisted of a thousand British, and about seven hundred Spanish troops, and was commanded by Colonel Skerrett. In the night of the 29th the enemy fired salvos of grape on the breach, and on the 30th the breaching fire was renewed. A heavy rain filled the bed of the river during the night, and the torrent bringing down planks, fascines, gabions and dead bodies from the French camp, broke the palisades, and bent the portcullis backward. The surge of the waters also injured the defences behind the breach. After a heavy cannonading and bombardment, with considerable skirmishing, a breach in the walls was effected, and preparations were made for storming on the 31st of December.
The post of the Eighty-seventh was at the breach; and about eight o’clock in the morning of the 31st, the French troops, amounting to two thousand chosen men, composed of all the grenadiers and voltigeurs of the army, advanced thereto, where they were received by the Eighty-seventh with three cheers, the battalion at the same time pouring in a most tremendous and well directed fire, which, for a moment, checked the enemy, who, as if to escape the fire, ran with desperation towards the breach, which they found impracticable; they then hurried along the wall, to endeavour to force the portcullis, but without effect, on which they fled precipitately to their own lines.
During the attack, the drums and fifes of the regiment played the favourite Irish airs of Patrick’s Day and Garryowen, and nothing but the steadiness and discipline of the corps could have prevented them from pursuing the enemy.
The following eloquent description of this assault is given by Lieut.-General Sir William Napier, K.C.B., in his History of the Peninsular War.
“The waters subsided in the night as quickly as they had risen, but at daylight a living stream of French grenadiers glided swiftly down the bed of the river, and as if assured of victory, arrived, without shout or tumult, within a few yards of the walls, when, instead of quitting the hollow, to reach the breach, they, like the torrent of the night, continued their rapid course, and dashed against the portcullis. The British soldiers who had hitherto been silent and observant, as if at a spectacle which they were expected to applaud, now arose, and with a crashing volley smote the head of the French column. The leading officer, covered with wounds, fell against the portcullis, and gave up his sword through the bars to Colonel Gough. The French drummer, a gallant boy, who was beating the charge, dropped lifeless by his officer’s side, and the dead and wounded filled the hollow. The remainder of the assailants then breaking out to the right and left, spread along the slopes of ground under the ramparts, and opened a quick irregular musketry. At the same time, a number of men coming out of the trenches, leaped into pits digged in front, and shot fast at the garrison, but no escalade or diversion at the other points was made, and the storming column was dreadfully shattered; for the ramparts streamed forth fire, and from the north-eastern tower a field-piece, held in reserve expressly for the occasion, sent, at pistol-shot distance, a tempest of grape whistling through the French masses, which were swept away in such a dreadful manner, that they could no longer endure the destruction, but plunging once more into the hollow returned to their camp, while a shout of victory, mingled with the sound of musical instruments, passed round the wall of the town.”
This gallant affair cost the regiment but little; Lieutenants M. Carroll and Waller being the only officers wounded, and a few of the men.
Volunteer William Ireland was promoted to an ensigncy for his own good conduct and that of the regiment at the siege of Tarifa; and Serjeant Irwin very much distinguished himself.
The following is the return of killed and wounded in the action at Tarifa on the 31st of December:—
Royal Engineers.—Lieutenant Joseph Longley, killed.
Forty-seventh Regiment, Second Battalion.—Lieutenant Richard Hall and one man killed; Lieutenant George Hill and two rank and file wounded.
Eighty-seventh Regiment, Second Battalion.—Five rank and file killed; Lieutenant Morgan Carroll, Ensign Waller, and twenty-one rank and file wounded.
Ninety-fifth Regiment, Second Battalion (Rifles.)—One man killed, and one wounded.
Total.—Two officers, and seven rank and file killed: three officers, and twenty-four rank and file wounded.
Colonel Skerrett, in the evening, issued the following orders:—
“Colonel Skerrett most sincerely congratulates the British garrison on the glorious result of the affair of to-day. Two thousand of the enemy’s best troops attacked the breach, and were totally defeated with immense loss. On our side all behaved nobly; but the conduct of Lieut.-Colonel Gough, and the Eighty-seventh regiment, surpasses praise.”
The situation of the enemy’s wounded, with which the ground was covered between his battery and the British fire, where they must have inevitably perished, induced Colonel Skerrett, from motives of compassion, to hoist a flag of truce to carry them off. Some were brought into the place over the breach; but from the extreme difficulty attending this, the French were allowed to carry the remainder away. General Laval expressed his acknowledgment of the conduct of the British and Spanish nations on this occasion in the most feeling and grateful terms. The enemy’s loss was very severe, and ten officers were amongst the prisoners.[14]
1812.
From the movements of the enemy on the 4th of January 1812, it was supposed that another assault was intended, and the garrison waited in eager expectation to display another proof of British valour. On the following morning, at daylight, the columns of the enemy were already at a distance, having taken advantage of a dark and stormy night to make a precipitate retreat, leaving in the possession of the British all his artillery, ammunition, and stores. Marshal Victor was present in the French camp to give orders for the retreat. Major Richard Broad, with a part of the Forty-seventh regiment, was immediately ordered to follow the enemy, and he took possession of the artillery, waggons, and a quantity of stores in sufficient time to save them from the flames, the French having set fire to them. Some prisoners were made on this occasion. In an intercepted despatch from Marshal Soult, three months after the siege, it was stated,—“The taking of Tarifa will be more hurtful to the English and to the defenders of Cadiz, than the taking of Alicant or even Badajoz, where I cannot go without first securing my left and taking Tarifa.”[15]
The royal authority was afterwards granted for the Eighty-seventh to bear the word “Tarifa” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the second battalion in successfully defending the breach at that place against a very superior French force on the 31st of December 1811.
Four companies being left in Tarifa, the six companies returned to Cadiz, the siege of which place having been raised, the six companies marched in August 1812 with other corps from Cadiz, and occupied Seville, where they were shortly joined by the four companies from Tarifa. The battalion quitted Seville on the 30th of September, in order to join the army under the Marquis of Wellington, to which it was transferred on the first of October 1812.
The battalion proceeded to join the fourth division of the Peninsular army at Aranjuez, near Madrid, on the 25th of October. On the morning of the 31st, at eight o’clock, the advanced guard of Marshal Soult, consisting of nine thousand men, attacked the passage of the bridge and fort of Puerto Largo, several times during the day, but was defeated with considerable loss.
The second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment on this occasion behaved with great gallantry, and, continuing its march to Madrid, reached it that night, but, on the following one, commenced its retreat to Salamanca, during which the rear-guard, being formed by the third brigade, of which the Eighty-seventh then composed a part, was, on the 16th of November, attacked several times by the enemy’s cavalry. In the end of December, the regiment arrived at Salamanca, having lost during the retreat to Portugal, two officers, namely, Ensigns De Courcy Ireland and William Ireland, eight Serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and eighty-two rank and file, by disease caused by fatigue and extreme bad weather. It rained continually for three days and nights, during which the regiment had no tents to cover them. The men were obliged to sit down in line each night to receive the enemy.
Serjeants Coppin, M’Mahon, Milligan, O’Hara, and Palmer, were promoted to be ensigns after the retreat, on account of the good conduct of the regiment.
A striking instance of intrepidity and presence of mind occurred on one of those marches in the Peninsula, which so frequently terminated in a general action. During a short halt, the Eighty-seventh took up its ground upon a hill not far from the enemy, and the men were sitting down to rest, when a howitzer, that had been masked, opened upon them; some shells fell short, but one alighted in the centre of one of the companies. The men naturally endeavoured to get out of its reach, when James Geraghty, a private grenadier, called out to the men, “that he would show them how they played foot-ball at Limerick;” and immediately kicked the live shell, with its burning fuse, over the edge of the hill: the moment it touched the ground it exploded without injuring a man of the regiment. For this gallant act the commanding officer made the man a handsome present.
1813.
The army took the field in 1813, and arrived in the neighbourhood of Vittoria on the 18th of June, and on the 21st of that month the regiment was engaged with the French army until dark, when the enemy was routed with immense loss; one hundred and fifty-one pieces of artillery, a stand of colours, with all his baggage, falling into the hands of the victors.
The Eighty-seventh formed part of the third division; the Marquis of Wellington ordered that an attack should be made on three separate points; on the right by Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, with the second division, upon the French left at Puebla; while on the left, Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, with the first and fifth divisions, was to make a wide detour to the left, and crossing the Zadorra at Vittoria to attack their right, and cut off their retreat by the great road to Bayonne. The centre, consisting of the fourth and light divisions (under the Marquis of Wellington himself) on the right, and the third and seventh (under Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie) on the left, were to pass the bridges in front, and attack as soon as the movements on the flanks should be executed. The difficult nature of the country prevented the communication between the different columns moving to the attack from their stations on the river Bayas, at as early an hour as was expected. The fourth and light divisions, however, passed the Zadorra immediately after Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill had obtained possession of Subijana de Alava; and almost as soon as these had crossed, the column under the Earl of Dalhousie arrived at Mendoza. The third division, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, crossed at the bridge higher up, followed by the seventh division under the Earl of Dalhousie. The seventh division, and the centre brigade of the third division, then attacked the French right centre, in front of the villages of Margarita and Hermandad; and the Marquis of Wellington, seeing the hill in front of the village of Arinez weakly occupied by the enemy, ordered the right brigade of the third division, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, in close columns of battalions, at a run diagonally across the front of both armies, to that central point. The hill was carried immediately, and the French withdrew, under cover of a cannonade from fifty pieces of artillery and a crowd of skirmishers, to the second range of heights on which their reserve had been posted; they, however, still held the village of Arinez, on the great road leading to Vittoria. The brigade then advanced to the attack of the village of Arinez, and the French were finally driven back in confusion at the point of the bayonet. These four divisions, forming the centre of the army, were destined to attack the height on which the right of the enemy’s centre was placed, while Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill should move forward from Subijana de Alava to attack the left. The enemy, however, having weakened his line to strengthen his detachment on the hills, abandoned his position in the valley as soon as he saw the British position to attack it, and ultimately commenced his retreat in good order towards Vittoria.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of the ground, the allied troops continued to advance in admirable order. Other movements took place, the result of which terminated in a complete victory. King Joseph, whose carriage and court equipage were seized, had barely time to escape on horseback. The defeat was the most complete that the French had sustained in the Peninsula.
The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch, stated that “Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville’s brigade of the third division was seriously attacked in its advance by a very superior force well formed, which it drove in, supported by General Inglis’s brigade of the seventh division, commanded by Colonel Grant, of the Eighty-second. These officers and the troops under their command distinguished themselves.”
In this conflict the Eighty-seventh, under Lieut.-Colonel Gough, had the honor of taking the bâton of Marshal Jourdan. The circumstance was thus alluded to upon the Marquis of Wellington being appointed a Field Marshal. In a most flattering letter, the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty, thus conferred the honor:—“ You have sent me among the trophies of your unrivalled fame the staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in return that of England.”
The Eighty-seventh had one ensign, four serjeants, and eighty-three rank and file killed; three captains, four lieutenants, two ensigns, seven serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and forty-eight rank and file wounded, making a total of two hundred and fifty-four. The strength of the battalion in the field was six hundred and thirty-seven.
The royal authority was subsequently granted for the word “Vittoria” to be borne on the regimental colour and appointments of the Eighty-seventh, in commemoration of the gallantry of the second battalion in this battle.
Volunteer O’Grady, and Serjeant-Major Wallace, were promoted for their good conduct; and Lieutenant and Adjutant Moore had two horses shot under him in this battle.
The army pursued the French, who, after throwing in reinforcements into the fortress of Pampeluna, continued their retreat. Being reinforced, and Marshal Soult, who had been selected by Napoleon for the command of the French army in Spain, with the rank of “Lieutenant of the Emperor,” having arrived, they forced the British to retire on a position in the Spanish range of the Pyrenees; when the brigade, in which the Eighty-seventh was placed, held the right of the position from the 27th of July to the 1st of August, during which the enemy twice made demonstrations of attack. The French being defeated on the 1st of August, retreated and took up and fortified a position in their own territories; the British pursued through the famous pass of Roncesvalles, and on the 8th of August 1813, first came in view of France, and entered its territories on the 10th of November, having during the intermediate period being engaged in skirmishes, in which a few were killed and wounded.
On the 10th of November the British troops were engaged at the Nivelle, from five o’clock in the morning until dark, meeting with a most obstinate resistance in an entrenched camp. The gallantry of the allies, however, drove the French to Saint Jean de Luz. The Eighty-seventh on this occasion called forth from Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville, who commanded the division, and Colonel John Keane (afterwards Lieut.-General Lord Keane), who commanded the brigade, the most animated praises. One ensign, six serjeants, one drummer, and sixty-eight rank and file, were killed; one lieut.-colonel, four lieutenants, eleven serjeants, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty-three rank and file, wounded. Total, two hundred and sixteen. The strength of the battalion in the field was three hundred and eighty-six.
| Killed. | |
| Ensign— | Hilliard. |
| Wounded. | |
| Brevet Lieut.-Colonel—Hugh Gough. | |
| Lieutenant— | John Kelly, leg amputated. |
| ” | Joseph Leslie. |
| ” | James Kenelly. |
| Ensign— | Henry Bailey. |
The word “Nivelle,” borne on the regimental colour and appointments, by royal authority, is commemorative of the gallantry of the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh on this occasion.
During the remaining part of the year, the regiment was frequently engaged with the enemy in skirmishes.
Private Robert Smith, of the Grenadiers, was, at the request of Sir Charles Colville, promoted to be serjeant for his gallantry.
Volunteers Bourne and Bagenall, who were attached to the light company, were both severely wounded, and promoted to be ensigns for their gallant conduct. Serjeant Prideaux, of the light company, also distinguished himself.
1814.
In 1814 the army, strengthened by recruits and recovered men, continued its march into France, and on the 24th of February arrived at Salvatira.
The light company was engaged with those of the brigade, when a much superior force of the enemy attacked them; the light companies were in consequence recalled, and the brigade brought down to cover their retreat. On this occasion two rank and file were killed; Lieutenants Joseph Barry and William Wolsley Lanphier, with nine rank and file, wounded; and Lieutenant George Jackson taken prisoner.
On the 25th of February the regiment crossed the ford, attacked the French at Orthes on the 27th, and drove them from their entrenchments with immense loss. In this action the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment drew from the general officers in command the greatest praises for its bravery. It had one lieutenant, five serjeants, and eighty-seven rank and file killed; one major, four lieutenants, eight serjeants, and one hundred and fifty-eight rank and file wounded: total, two hundred and sixty-four. The strength in the field was five hundred and fifty-one.
| Killed. | |
| Lieutenant— | James Fitz Gerald. |
| Wounded. | |
| Major—Frederick Desbarres. | |
| Lieutenant— | William Mountgarrett. |
| ” | James Thompson. |
| ” | Grady. |
| ” | William Maginnis. |
In commemoration of this battle, the Eighty-seventh received the royal authority to bear the word “Orthes” on the regimental colour and appointments.
In an affair which took place on the 19th of March at Vic Bigorre, three rank and file were killed, and two lieutenants and twelve rank and file wounded: total, seventeen. The strength of the battalion was five hundred and seventy.
Wounded.
Lieutenant—William Dunlevie.
Lieut. and Adjt.—James T. Moore.
Having continued the pursuit of the enemy and crossed the river Garonne, four leagues below Toulouse, on the 5th of April, and attacked the French on the 10th of the same month at Toulouse on the left of the town, the redoubts were taken and retaken several times during the day. The enemy retreated at night, having suffered great loss; that of the Eighty-seventh was one brevet-major, four serjeants, one drummer, and twenty-two rank and file killed; one lieutenant, one ensign, six serjeants, and sixty-four rank and file wounded: total, one hundred. Its strength in the field was four hundred and sixty-four.
Killed.
Brevet-Major—Henry Bright.
Wounded.
Lieutenant—William Wolsley Lanphier.
Ensign—Abraham F. Royse.
Patrick Connors never went into action without attracting the notice of his officers. On this occasion he particularly distinguished himself, and was promoted to the rank of serjeant, which situation he retained until his death.
Serjeant Carr, who was wounded at Tarifa, and served with credit in every action with the battalion, distinguished himself; likewise Serjeants Rideaux and Irwin. Lieutenant and Adjutant Moore had a horse shot under him. Private Thomas Byrne was also badly wounded, but recovered, and was promoted.
The royal authority was afterwards granted for the Eighty-seventh to bear the word “Toulouse” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the second battalion having shared in this battle.
During the night of the 11th of April the French troops evacuated Toulouse, and a white flag was hoisted. On the following day the Marquis of Wellington entered the city amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. In the course of the afternoon of the 12th of April intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon; and had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been prevented.
A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at Bayonne, the garrison of which made a desperate sortie on the 14th of April, and Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun) was taken prisoner, Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was wounded. This was the last action of the Peninsular war.
A Treaty of Peace was established between Great Britain and France; Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of his ancestors, and Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty of that island having been conceded to him by the allied powers.
Prior to the breaking up of the Peninsular army, the Duke of Wellington issued the following general order:
“Bordeaux, 14th June 1814.
“General Order.
“The Commander of the Forces, being upon the point of returning to England, again takes this opportunity of congratulating the army upon the recent events which have restored peace to their country and to the world.
“The share which the British army have had in producing those events, and the high character with which the army will quit this country, must be equally satisfactory to every individual belonging to it, as they are to the Commander of the Forces, and he trusts that the troops will continue the same good conduct to the last.
“The Commander of the Forces once more requests the army to accept his thanks.
“Although circumstances may alter the relations in which he has stood towards them for some years so much to his satisfaction, he assures them he will never cease to feel the warmest interest in their welfare and honor, and that he will be at all times happy to be of any service to those to whose conduct, discipline, and gallantry their country is so much indebted.”
In addition to the other distinctions acquired during the war in the Peninsula and the south of France, the Eighty-seventh received the royal authority to bear the word “Peninsula” on the regimental colour and appointments.
The war being ended, the battalion marched from Toulouse to Blanchfort, and embarked at Pouillac on the 7th of July, and arrived at Cork on the 20th of that month.
After being inspected, on landing at Cork, by the General commanding the district, the battalion was marched to Mallow to relieve the Twentieth regiment. It subsequently marched to the city of Limerick, and was stationed there for a few days, when orders were received for it to proceed to Middleton, in the county of Cork, to await the arrival of transports.
The battalion embarked at the Cove of Cork on the 23rd of August, and landed at Portsmouth, after a protracted voyage, on the 14th of September. On the day of disembarkation it proceeded en route to Horsham, where the depôt of the regiment was stationed. After a stay of some days at Horsham, it marched to Plymouth for garrison duty, where it remained until December, having taken its tour of a month’s duty over the American prisoners of war at Dartmoor.
On the 6th of December 1814 the battalion embarked for Guernsey, of which island General Sir John Doyle, Bart., the Colonel of the regiment, was Governor, and where it arrived on the 8th of that month.
1816.
The battalion continued on duty at Guernsey until the 2nd of April 1816, when it embarked for Portsmouth, from whence it marched to Colchester in September following.
1817.
On the 25th of January 1817, in pursuance of measures being taken for the reduction of the army, orders were received for the disbandment of the second battalion of the Eighty-seventh regiment, on which occasion Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hugh Gough issued the following orders:—
“Colchester Barracks, 24th January, 1817.
“Regimental Orders.
“It is with the most painful feeling of regret Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hugh Gough is necessitated to announce to the second battalion, Prince’s Own Irish, that their services as a corps are no longer required, in consequence of the military arrangements it has been found necessary to adopt.
“In making this distressing though necessary communication, and in taking leave of those brave officers and men, at whose head it has been Sir Hugh Gough’s good fortune so long to have been placed, he feels himself on this occasion called upon to recapitulate the leading ones of so many brilliant achievements performed by his gallant comrades now about to separate. The recollection of such scenes must be a source of gratification to all, whether called on to serve their country in India, or to retire to their families and native land. To their Commanding Officer it ever has and ever will be, a source of heartfelt exultation. By their country and by their illustrious master, their services have been duly appreciated, and nobly rewarded by that designation, and by those badges so peculiar, so honorable, and so gratifying.
“The Eighty-seventh had the good fortune to serve under the first General of the age, throughout the greater part of the Peninsular war, and longer than most corps in the service. At the battle of Talavera on the 27th of July, 1809 (when the battalion first encountered the enemy), they had to sustain unsupported the repeated attacks of the advance corps, and did not retire until both flanks were turned, the battalion nearly surrounded by an infinitely superior force, and two-thirds of the officers and men either killed or wounded. The movement of the regiment to the rear, and its formation on the other corps of the division, was a counterpart of their conduct, in having instantly recovered, on the first attack of the enemy, a temporary confusion which was occasioned by the fire of a British regiment into the rear of the battalion, the thickness of the wood having made it impossible for that distinguished corps to have perceived the new position which the Eighty-seventh had taken up.
“On this memorable occasion the charge of the two centre companies did them and their officers the greatest honor. The gallantry of the whole was conspicuous, and obtained the personal thanks of the brave officer who commanded the division[16], and who unfortunately fell on the following day, and also the repeated thanks of the officer commanding the brigade.
“At the brilliant action of Barrosa the conduct of the Eighty-seventh in taking up the first position under a most destructive fire from the enemy’s artillery, and a column three times its numbers, when it formed with the precision of parade movements, gave a happy omen of the issue of the day. The advance of the battalion in line, its volley into the two battalions of the eighth, and its charge on that corps, called for and received the proudest meed of gallantry, the enthusiastic approbation of such an officer as Sir Thomas Graham.
“This charge was rewarded by the wreathed eagle of the eighth French regiment, and a howitzer: it led in a great measure to the total discomfiture of the right column under General Laval, and nearly annihilated two battalions of one of the finest regiments in the French army: of one thousand six hundred men, which they brought into the field, only three hundred and fifty returned to Chiclana. The ready formation of the right wing from amidst the ranks of the retreating enemy, and their charge on the fifty-fourth French regiment, which at this moment attacked the right of the Eighty-seventh, was rewarded by the marked approbation of their esteemed chief. The ultimate advance of the battalion on the enemy’s guns was equally praiseworthy.
“At Tarifa, a species of service new to the British army called for a renewal of that steady gallantry which marked the conduct of the Eighty-seventh at Barrosa. The immense superiority, in number, of the enemy, added enthusiasm to discipline: the cool intrepidity, the strict observance of orders, the exulting cheer when the enemy’s columns pressed forward to the attack, proved the feelings which influenced the defenders of the breach of Tarifa, and was as honorable to them as soldiers, as their humane conduct to the wounded (when the enemy fled) was to their characters as men.
“The persevering attention to their duty on the walls, in conjunction with their brave comrades, the second battalion of the Forty-seventh, exposed to the continued fire of an enemy ten times the number of the garrison, and to the most dreadfully inclement weather, led to the ultimate abandonment of the siege, and was rewarded by the approbation of their General, their Prince, and their Country.
“The battle of Vittoria renewed the claim the Eighty-seventh had to a place in the third division, and under its lamented leader[17] the battalion acquired fresh laurels. The charge of the Prince’s Own on the hill crowned with the enemy’s artillery, and covered with a strong column, called forth the marked approbation of Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville, as did the pursuit of that column, though flanked by a corps greatly superior in numbers. The cool steadiness with which they preserved their second position, under the fire and within a short range of a large portion of the enemy’s field artillery, although the battalion at this time had lost upwards of half the number it took into the field, showed the steady perseverance in bravery and discipline which ever marked the glorious career of the corps.
“The attack on the fortified hill at the action of the Nivelle, and the gallantry which rendered the conduct of the battalion so conspicuous in the subsequent attacks on that day, called for those animated expressions from Major-General the Honorable Charles Colville and Colonel John Keane, who commanded the division and brigade, ‘Gallant Eighty-seventh!’ ‘Noble Eighty-seventh!’ and deservedly were those titles bestowed.
“The actions of Orthes and Toulouse were also most glorious to the character of the corps, and its conduct was rewarded by the repeated thanks of the Generals commanding.
“Since the return of the Eighty-seventh from service, they have shown, that to gallantry in the field, they add the most essential requisite in a soldier, orderly and correct conduct in garrison, which has acquired for them the approbation of every general officer under whom they have served, and the good wishes and esteem of the inhabitants with whom they have been placed.
“While the foregoing detail will be most gratifying to the gallant men who have survived, the recital must also be consoling to the families of those who fell. The Prince’s Own Irish bled prodigally and nobly; they have sealed their duty to their King and country by the sacrifice of nearly two thousand of their comrades. But, while Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hugh Gough feels an honest pride in recounting these achievements, he wishes to caution his brother soldiers from assuming any exclusive right to pre-eminence over their gallant comrades; the Army of the Peninsula nobly did their duty, and repeatedly received the thanks of their Prince and their country.
“In parting with the remains of that corps in which Sir Hugh Gough has served twenty-two years, at the head of which, and by whose valour and discipline, he has obtained those marks of distinction with which he has been honored by his Royal Master, he cannot too emphatically express the most heartfelt acknowledgments and his deep regret.
“From all classes of his officers he has uniformly experienced the most cordial and ready support. Their conduct in the field, while it called for the entire approbation of their Commanding Officer, acquired for them the best stay to military enterprise and military renown, the confidence of their men, and led to the accomplishment of their wishes, the Approbation of their Prince, the Honor of their country, and the Character of their Corps. Every non-commissioned officer and man is equally entitled to the thanks of his Commanding Officer. To all he feels greatly indebted, and he begs to assure all, that their prosperity as individuals, or as a corps, will ever be the first wish of his heart, and to promote which he will consider no sacrifice or exertion too great.”
The second battalion was disbanded at Colchester on the 1st of February 1817, having transferred to the first battalion three hundred and thirty effective men, most of whom were embarked in the same month, to join the first battalion in the Bengal Presidency.
1817.
EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT
Madeley lith. 3 Wellington St. Strand