Historical record of the Eighty-Sixth, or the Royal County Down Regiment of Foot / Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1842.

by Richard Cannon

FOOTNOTES:

[1] “GEORGE R.,

“Whereas we have thought fit to order a regiment of foot to be forthwith raised, under your command, which is to consist of ten companies, with three serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and fifty-seven private men in each company, with two fifers to the grenadier company, besides a serjeant-major and quarter-master-serjeant, together with the usual number of commissioned officers; these are to authorise you, by beat of drum, or otherwise, to raise so many men in any county or part of our kingdom of Great Britain, as shall be wanted to complete the said regiment to the above-mentioned numbers.

“And all magistrates, justices of the peace, constables, and other our civil officers, whom it may concern, are hereby required to be assisting unto you, in providing quarters, impressing carriages, and otherwise, as there shall be occasion.

“Given at Our Court, at St. James’s, this 1st day of November, 1793, in the thirty-fourth year of Our reign.

“By His Majesty’s command,
“(Signed) George Yonge.”

“To Our trusty and well-beloved C. Cuyler, Esq., Major-General in our Army, and Colonel of a Regiment of Foot to be forthwith raised, &c., &c., &c.”

[2] Now General Commanding-in-Chief.

[3] The troops designed for this service consisted of the tenth, eightieth, and eighty-eighth regiments, seven companies of the nineteenth, three of eighty-sixth, a battalion of native infantry, and a proportion of artillery, under Colonel the Honourable Arthur Wellesley.

[4] Officers Present,—Majors Henry Torrens, (commanding,) George Cuyler; Captains James Richardson, John Grant, —— Maclaurin; Lieutenants W. Martin, J. H. Wilson, Peter Drummond, John Harvey, Alexander Grant, R. Travers, William Bourd, S. G. McKay, Thomas Lanphier, J. Wilson, David Morrice, Edmund Carter, G. D’Aigular; Ensign Neill Maclaurin; Adjutant W. Moreton; Quarter-Master J. Coor; Surgeon P. W. Deane; Assistant-Surgeons Bellars and Liddle: 53 serjeants, 22 drummers, 668 rank and file.

[5] Officers present, 1st January, 1805:—Major George Cuyler, (commanding); Captains James Grant, William Moreton; Lieutenants R. Travers, W. Baird, Thomas Lanphier, J. Wilson, D. Morrice, George D’Aguilar, N. Maclaurin, H. Steele; Surgeon P. W. Deane; Assistant-Surgeons Bellars and Liddle:—51 serjeants, 22 drummers, 511 rank and file.

[6] Officers present, 1st December, 1805. Major George Cuyler (commanding a brigade); Captains John Grant, (commanding the regiment), William Baird; Lieutenants D. Morrice, N. Maclaurin, H. Steele, Thomas Lanphier, George D’Aguilar, (brigade-major); Quarter-Master J. Smith; Surgeon, P. Deane; Assistant-Surgeon R. Bellars: 48 serjeants, 19 drummers, 354 rank and file.

[7] Major Edwards was killed at the storming of Bhurtpore, under Lord Cumbermere, while in command of the Fourteenth Foot.

[8] The Regiment erected a handsome Monument where this officer fell, with the following inscription:—

“Lieut. John Graham Munro fell near this spot on the 8th of July, 1810, while charging the enemy, at the head of His Britannic Majesty’s 86th Grenadiers. The Officers of the Regiment have erected this Monument as a mark of their respect for his memory.”

This monument having, some years back, suffered by a hurricane, the French officers stationed on the island, (to their honour be it known,) had it put in a thorough state of repair at their own expense.

[9] A division of the regiment on marching through Tipperary, in 1823, halted at the village of Middleton: in the evening the commanding officer observed the soldiers assembled round a tomb in the burial ground, with their caps off; on enquiring the cause, a soldier of the grenadiers replied, “Your honour, we are come up to see our old captain.” On joining the group, he observed the tomb of his old and respected comrade, Lieut.-Colonel Lanphier, and the following words, which had been scratched by the soldiers beneath the inscription on the tomb-stone, “A Brave Soldier!” “Please your honour,” (the soldier continued) “the Boys of the company would like to fire three rounds over the grave, and would be glad to pay for the powder if your honour will let them fire.” On the following morning the grenadier company, which the deceased had gallantly commanded for a number of years, paid the last tribute of respect to their late captain’s remains which was duly appreciated by his surviving relatives, and also by the villagers. Lieut.-Colonel Lanphier entered the army as Ensign in the 10th Foot, in 1798, and was promoted to be Lieutenant in the 86th Regiment in 1800, to be Captain in 1806, to the rank of Brevet-Major in 1810, and of Brevet Lieut.-Colonel in 1819; he retired from the service by the sale of his Commission on the 30th of January, 1823, being then the Senior Captain of the 86th Regiment.

[10] List of officers who served against the Kandians.

Major Marston commanding.

Grenadier Company, Captain, Michael Creagh; Lieutenants, William Home, David Bradford, Andrew Russell.

Light Company, Captain, Archibald McLean; Lieutenants, James Creagh, P. P. Goold, and Edward Caddell; Assistant-Surgeon, R. H. Bell.

[11] [See Preface].

[12] At Clonmel, the regiment lost a fine young officer, Lieutenant Frederick Close, whose body was found in the river Suir, together with the body of a young lady named Grubb. The cause of their melancholy fate was never ascertained.

[13] Names of the Officers who proceeded to the West Indies, in 1826:—

In the “Princess Royal,”—Lieut.-Colonel J. W. Mallet; Captains Robert Crawford, James Creagh; Lieutenants Francis Kearney, Lewis Halliday; Ensign Robert Mayne; Adjutant John Dolman; and Surgeon A. Cunningham.

In the “Waterloo,”—Captain R. B. Usher; Lieutenants P. North, F. H. Dalgety, Lewis Grant; Ensigns James Galwey, J. B. Selway, E. Davis, and W. Johnson.

In the “Thetis,”—Major Michael Creagh: Captains Alexander McLean, R. B. Wolseley; Lieutenants J. Grant, J. McIntyre; and Quarter-Master J. Jerome.

[14] State of Loss:—

Trinidad and Tobago	42
Barbadoes	71
Antigua, St. Kitts, Montserrat, and Tortola	72
British Guiana	114
	——
	299

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

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

Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when a predominant preference was found in the original book.

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

[Pg 16]: ‘a langour pervaded’ replaced by ‘a languor pervaded’.
[Pg 22]: ‘Rao Holkur, one’ replaced by ‘Rao Holkar, one’.
[Pg 24]: ‘above Bareach’ replaced by ‘above Baroach’.
[Pg 38]: ‘The moonson having set’ replaced by ‘The monsoon having set’.
[Pg 46]: Sidenote: ‘1814’ replaced by Sidenote: ‘1813’.
[Pg 60]: ‘SEPARABIT?” the harp’ replaced by ‘SEPARABIT?”. The harp’.
[Pg 60]: ‘removed to Demarara’ replaced by ‘removed to Demerara’.
[Pg 61]: ‘Frederic Cavendish’ replaced by ‘Frederick Cavendish’.
[Pg 61]: ‘his acknowlgements’ replaced by ‘his acknowledgements’.
[Pg 64]: ‘fort of Ticonderago’ replaced by ‘fort of Ticonderoga’.