FOOTNOTES:
[1] The marriage portion of Queen Catherine included the city of Tangier, the Island of Bombay, and a sum equal to 300,000l. sterling. Tangier is a place of great antiquity, and was formerly one of the most splendid cities in Africa. It is stated by Procopius Cæsariensis to have been founded by the Phœnicians; it was known by the name of Tingis, or Tinja, and was taken by the Romans under Sertorius. It was afterwards captured by the Vandals, and was retaken by the celebrated Belisarius, who restored it to Justinian. On the invasion of the Saracens it was surrendered to them by Count Julian. In the fifteenth century it was the scene of several desperate engagements between the Moors and Portuguese; and in 1437 Prince Ferdinand was defeated before the city, and his army subjected to an ignominious capitulation. In 1471 it was taken by Alfonso V., king of Portugal. After the death of Sebastian, it fell into the hands of Spain; but upon the restoration of the Braganza family to the throne of Portugal, in 1640, it was once more annexed to that monarchy.
[2] A memorandum on the subject of Regimental Colours is given in the [Appendix, and marked E.]
[3] Copy of a letter addressed by King Charles II.:—
'To the Earl of Peterborough.
'Dated Whitehall, ye 21st of 10ber 1661.
'My Lord Peterborough:—I am very well satisfied of your care and dilligence in the employment your are in, for which I thank you very heartily. And assure yourself I have soe just a sense of this and all your other services, as you shall find upon all occasions how much I esteem and value all those who serve me faithfully. I have noe more to adde at present only to desire you to lett those honest men knowe who are along with you, yt they shall allwayes be in my particular care and protection, as persons yt venture themselves in my service. And so wishing you a good voyage I remain
'Yr very affnate friend
'Charles R.'
'Bibl. Harl., 6844.'
[4] Mercurius Publicus.
[5] These battalions were part of the royal force which fought for Charles I. during the civil war in England. In 1657 they entered the service of Spain; and in 1660 were placed in garrison at Dunkirk; in 1663 they were incorporated in the Queen's Tangier Regiment.
Dunkirk had been taken from the Spaniards by the combined armies of England and France in 1658, and was ceded in 1659 to England. It was sold by King Charles II. to the French, for 500,000l.
[6] Henry, Lord Mordaunt, second Earl of Peterborough, was the son and heir of John, first Earl of Peterborough, who died in 1642. He raised a regiment, at his own expense, in behalf of King Charles I.; was wounded at the battle of Newbury on the 27th of October, 1644, and in 1648 was concerned, with the Earl of Holland, in an attempt to rescue the King from his imprisonment:—the Earl of Holland was taken, and was beheaded in February, 1649; the Earl of Peterborough, and his brother John, (who was created Lord Mordaunt and Viscount Avelon on the 10th of July, 1659,) escaped, and were voted traitors to the Commonwealth, and their estates were sequestered.
The services of the Earl of Peterborough, in support of the royal cause, during the civil wars, entitled him to the favour of King Charles II. at the Restoration; and the Colonelcy of the Queen's regiment of foot, and the governorship of Tangier, were deservedly conferred upon a nobleman who, under the severest trials of his fortitude and consistency, had shown himself a constant and zealous supporter of monarchical government. He was employed in several important situations of trust in the service of King James II., and on the 20th of June, 1685, he was appointed colonel of the 3rd Regiment of Horse, (now the 2nd Dragoon Guards,) from which he was removed at the Revolution in 1688. His lordship died on the 19th of June, 1697, and was succeeded in his titles, &c. by his nephew, Charles, third Earl of Peterborough, so celebrated in the wars in Spain in the reign of Queen Anne.
[7] History of Tangier, published by authority in 1664.
[8] History of Tangier, London, 1664.
[9] Andrew Rutherford, Earl of Teviot, was of a Scotch family, and he commanded a battalion of Scots Guards in the French service for several years. He attained the rank of Lieutenant-General, in France, and enjoyed considerable reputation for his military talents. At the Restoration he accompanied King Charles II. to England, and having been especially recommended to the notice of his sovereign by Louis XIV., was created, in 1661, Lord Rutherford. He was appointed, on the 22nd of May, 1661, to succeed Sir Edward Harley as Governor of Dunkirk, which he held until the place was sold and delivered up to the French in 1662: on the 2nd of February, 1663, he was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Teviot. He was killed in an engagement with the Moors on the 4th of May, 1664, as above stated; and dying without issue, his title became extinct.
[10] The Earl of Middleton who was appointed Governor of Tangier, was John, first Earl, so celebrated in the History of Scotland during the civil wars, and in the early years of King Charles's Restoration. He had been deprived, in 1663, of all his offices, and received the governorship of Tangier as a kind of honourable exile. Charles, second Earl of Middleton, his son, followed the fortunes of the House of Stuart, and his estate was forfeited by Act of Parliament, 1695.
[11] William O'Brien, second Earl of Inchiquin, served under his father in Catalonia, and in other foreign wars, during which, being ordered to command the troops sent to assist the Portuguese in their revolt from Spain, he and his father, with all the family, were taken by an Algerine corsair. In this engagement he lost his eye by a shot. In 1675 he was appointed Captain General of His Majesty's Forces in Africa, and Governor and Vice-Admiral of the Royal Citadel of Tangier, and of the adjacent parts, in which government he continued six years. In 1688 he was attainted by King James's Parliament, and had his estate sequestered; during which troubles he headed a considerable body of Protestants in Munster, who, being surprised by Major-General M'Carthy, were all disarmed. After the Revolution, he was made Governor of Jamaica and Vice-Admiral of the seas thereof; in which island he lived sixteen months only after his arrival. He died in January, 1691, at St. Jago de la Vega.
[12] Sir Palmes Fairborne was son of Colonel Stafford Fairborne, of Nottinghamshire. He served as a soldier of fortune at the siege of Candia. There is a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey, with a long and elegant inscription, in verse, from the pen of Dryden. His son, Sir Stafford Fairborne, was an Admiral in the reigns of King William and Queen Anne.
[13] Lieutenant-Colonel Sackville was promoted to the rank of Colonel on the 12th of June, 1685; of Brigadier-General on the 3rd of July, 1685; and of Major-General on the 7th of November, 1688. He gave up his commissions to King James II. on the 19th of December, 1688.
[14] Narrative of the great engagement at Tangier, 1680.
[15] Colonel Piercy Kirke had served under the Duke of Monmouth in the army of the King of France, by the special permission of his Majesty King Charles II., granted on the 23rd of February, 1673: he was Captain Lieutenant of the Earl of Oxford's own troop of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards in 1675, and was promoted from that regiment to be Lieutenant-Colonel of the Earl of Plymouth's, or the 2nd Tangier Regiment, (now the 4th Foot) on its being raised in 1680, and he embarked with it for Tangier in September of that year. Having distinguished himself in several actions with the Moors, on the death of the Earl of Plymouth at Tangier, he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the 2nd Tangier Regiment on the 27th of November, 1680, and was transferred to the Queen's Regiment on the 19th of April, 1682.
[16] The following rewards were paid to four soldiers of the Queen Dowager's Regiment of Foot, who were wounded at the battle of Sedgemoor: viz., James Barnes, John Rosse, James Resin, and John Pawling; ten marks, amounting to £6 13s. 4d. to each man.—War Office Records.
[17] Story's Wars in Ireland.
[18] Memoirs of the Duke of Berwick.
[19] A quantity of dollars was taken by the Queen Dowager's Regiment at Vigo, and a number of them was distributed amongst the soldiers as a reward for their gallantry. After its return to England the regiment received 561l. 10s. prize-money. Bibl. Harl. 7025.
[20] The following was the disposition of the forces under the command of the Duke of Ormond, upon their arrival in England from Spain, in November, 1702, viz.—
| Lloyd's 3rd Dragoons (detachment) | Portsmouth. | ||
| Foot Guards, 1st, and Coldstream | Gravesend and | ||
| Chatham. | |||
| Sir H. Bellasis' | 2nd | Foot | Portsmouth. |
| Churchill's | 3rd | " | Chatham. |
| Seymour's | 4th | " | Plymouth. |
| Columbine's | 6th | " | Portsmouth. |
| Royal Fusileers | 7th | " | Tilbury. |
| Villiers's (Marines) | 31st | " | Plymouth. |
| Fox's (Marines) | 32nd | " | Portsmouth. |
| Lord Shannon's | Chatham. | ||
[21] The Queen Dowager Catherine was born at Villa Vicosa on the 14th of November, 1638, being daughter of Don Juan XVII., then Duke of Braganza, (afterwards King of Portugal,) and only sister of Don Alphonso XVII., and Don Pedro, afterwards King of Portugal. Her marriage with Charles II., King of England, was solemnised in Portugal, the Earl of Sandwich being proxy for King Charles on the 23rd of April, 1662. She embarked for England, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 14th of May (O.S.), and was married to the King by Doctor Gilbert Sheldon, the Bishop of London, on the 21st of the same month.
[22] David, first Earl of Portmore, K.T., was son and heir of Sir Alexander Robertson, Bart., of Strowan, in the county of Perth, who assumed the name of Colyear, and who was Colonel of one of the regiments of the Scots' Brigade in the service of Holland.
David Colyear engaged as a volunteer with the Dutch forces under the Prince of Orange, in 1674, and came to England with his Highness at the Revolution in 1688. He served, with great reputation, in Ireland and in Flanders, and was created Baron Portmore and Blackness in 1699. In 1703 he was created Baron Colyear, Viscount Milsington, and Earl of Portmore. He was promoted to the rank of General in 1710; in the same year he was appointed Commander of the Forces in Scotland, and was allowed to sell his colonelcy of the Queen's Regiment. He was appointed Governor of Gibraltar in 1713, and in 1714 he succeeded the Earl of Stair as Colonel of the Second, or Royal North British Dragoons. He died at Gibraltar, on the 2nd of January, 1730.
[23] Sir Charles Montague was the son of Brigadier-General Edward Montague, Colonel of the Eleventh Foot, and Governor of Hull, nephew of George, second Earl of Halifax, and great nephew to the celebrated minister Halifax. He had an elder brother, Edward, killed at the battle of Fontenoy, being then Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty-first Foot. Sir Charles attained the rank of Colonel in the army on the 30th of November, 1755; Major-General on the 25th of June, 1759; and Lieutenant-General on the 19th of January, 1761. He died on the 1st of August, 1777.
[24] Lieut.-General Daniel Jones was promoted to the Colonelcy of the Queen's Royal from the Third Foot Guards, in which regiment he had attained the rank of Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel on the 7th of November, 1759, and Major on the 18th of April, 1770. His commissions as a general officer were, Major-General on the 28th of August, 1777, and Lieutenant-General on the 19th of July, 1779.
[25] Major-General Alexander Stewart attained the rank of Captain in the Thirty-seventh Foot in 1761; and was promoted to be Major of the same regiment on the 9th of August, 1771. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Third Foot on the 7th of July, 1775; Colonel in the army on the 16th of May, 1780; and Major-General on the 28th of April, 1790. In the campaigns of 1794, in Flanders, he commanded the First Brigade of British infantry, from which he retired in consequence of ill health, brought on by severe fatigue about a month previous to his death. General Stewart was of Afton, in Wigtonshire, and Member of Parliament for Kirkcudbright.
[26] Lieutenant Charles Turner was promoted to a company in the African Colonial Corps, on the 8th of June, 1803; to a Majority of the same corps on the 18th of April, 1804; and to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the West Indian Rangers, on the 28th of May, 1807. He joined the army in Portugal, under Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford, K.B., and lost his left arm in the repulse of a sortie of the French from Badajoz, on the 10th of May, 1811, while in command of the 17th Portuguese Infantry. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 19th of July, 1821; and was appointed Captain General and Commander-in-Chief in Africa, on the 24th of June, 1824; he died at Sierra Leone on the 7th of March, 1826.
[27] Lieutenant Derisley was killed while on piquet before the Fort St. Julien, Rosetta; and Ensign Allman was wounded in the action of the 21st of March. Besides those who died whilst the regiment was in Egypt, there were 56 left sick in that country on its embarkation, 29 of whom fell a sacrifice to disease.
[28] See General Orders in [Appendix B.]
[29] See General Orders of the 18th of January and the 1st of February, 1809, inserted in [Appendix C.]
[30] At the battle of Corunna, Samuel Evans, a private in the Grenadier company of the Queen's Royal, was carried off among the wounded. He was landed in England, and died in the Military Hospital at Plymouth, on the 30th of January. A post mortem examination showed that he had been shot through the heart, yet had survived sixteen days. His heart is preserved in the museum of the above Hospital.
[31] See General Orders of the 18th of August, 1809, in [Appendix D.]
[32] General James Coates was eighty-two years of age, and at the time of his death, the fourth in seniority on the list of Generals. He was appointed Major of the Sixty-sixth Foot, the 3rd of October, 1766, and Lieutenant-Colonel of the Nineteenth Foot on the 11th of September, 1775; of which regiment he continued to be Lieutenant-Colonel, till the 20th of December, 1794, when he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the Second. His commissions as general officer bear date, Major-General, the 28th of April, 1790; Lieutenant-General, the 26th of January, 1797; and General, the 29th of April, 1802.
[33] Lieutenant-Colonel Williams had been with the regiment in the West Indies. It was probably in consequence of his previous sojourn in an enervating climate that he felt, shortly after arriving in India, symptoms of chronic disease, so alarming when encountered in the heated regions of the tropics. A return to Europe was the course recommended, but Colonel Williams said, that having been honoured by his King with the command of an old distinguished corps, which he had conducted to the shores of India, he thought it was not for a soldier in the prime of life to abandon his post on the first summons, and preferred making trial of an elevated climate on the Neilgherry-hills, in hopes of rejoining his friends and comrades, with whose fortunes he wished to identify his own. The change of abode was found to prolong his life, but did not remove the complaint; and when a reluctant consent was given to depart for England, it was too late: the hand of death was approaching him, and he died at Cannanore, on the Malabar coast, whither he had been conveyed for embarkation.
[34] When Lieutenant-Colonel Place was ordered to Koolapore, he was so far gone in constitution, that his medical advisers suggested the propriety of relinquishing the attempt to proceed on active service. "I go—if I die on the road," was the reply of this respected officer. On this occasion, as above stated, he was charged with the command of a light battalion, and although no fighting took place, he gained the confidence and esteem of all who came in contact with him. Whilst employed on this expedition, he was appointed, by the Commander-in-Chief in India, (Lord Combermere,) to take command of the 41st Regiment, which was also at Koolapore. Like the former appeal, this was also one of duty and honour; and private considerations were again disregarded. Colonel Place had a perfect sense of his danger which at this time was but too apparent to every observer. He assumed the command of the 41st; and by his death, which followed in a few weeks after, his profession was deprived of a brave soldier, and his associates of a valuable friend. Colonel Place had seen much hard service in command of the light company of the 77th Regiment, whilst employed in the Peninsula war, and he had been quartered in Jamaica as major of the same corps shortly before his appointment as Lieutenant-Colonel to the Queen's.
[35] See Memoir in [Appendix marked F.]
[36] The Right Honourable the late General Sir William Keppel, G.C.B., died at Paris on the 11th of December, 1834: he served fifty-six years in the army, having entered the service in the year 1778. He served in North America and the West Indies, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General in 1803; Colonel Commandant of the 60th Foot, 24th of April, 1806; Colonel of the 67th Foot, 1811; Colonel of the 2nd or Queen's, 1828; General in the army, 1813. Sir William Keppel was for many years Groom of the Bedchamber and Equerry to his Majesty King George IV., who bestowed on him the appointment of Governor of Guernsey, when it became vacant by the death of the Earl of Pembroke, in 1827.
[APPENDIX.]
[A.] Chronological Table of the Services of the Second, or Queen's Royal Regiment.
[B.] General Orders relative to the Campaign in Egypt in 1801.
[C.] General Orders relative to the Battle of Corunna in January, 1809.
[D.] General Orders relative to the Battle of Talavera in July, 1809.
[E.] Memorandum on the subject of Regimental Colours, 1835.
[F.] Memoir of Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., late Adjutant-General of the Forces, and Colonel of the Queen's Royal.
[A.]
Chronological Table
OF
THE SERVICES OF THE SECOND, OR QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF FOOT;
THE SUCCESSION OF ITS COLONELS; &c.
From the Period of its Formation in 1661 to 1833.
[B.]
GENERAL ORDERS.
Horse-Guards, 16th May, 1801.
The recent events which have occurred in Egypt have induced His Majesty to lay his most gracious commands on His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, to convey to the troops employed in that country His Majesty's highest approbation of their conduct; and at the same time His Majesty has deemed it expedient, that these his gracious sentiments should be communicated to every part of His Army, not doubting that all ranks will thereby be inspired with an honourable spirit of emulation, and an eager desire of distinguishing themselves in their country's service.
Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes the successes that have attended the exertions of his troops in Egypt, to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but his Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and most forcibly impressed on the consideration of every part of the army, that it has been a strict observance of Order, Discipline, and Military System, which has given its full energy to the native valour of the troops, and has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under circumstances of peculiar difficulty.
The illustrious example of their Commander cannot fail to have made an indelible impression on the gallant troops, at whose head, crowned with victory and glory, he terminated his honourable career; and His Majesty trusts that a due contemplation of the talents and virtues, which he uniformly displayed in the course of his valuable life, will for ever endear the memory of Sir Ralph Abercrombie to the British Army.
His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief having thus obeyed His Majesty's commands, cannot forbear to avail himself of this opportunity of recapitulating the leading features of a series of operations so honourable to the British Arms.
The boldness of the approach to the coast of Aboukir, in defiance of a powerful and well-directed artillery,—the orderly formation upon the beach, under the heaviest fire of grape and musketry,—the reception and repulse of the enemy's cavalry and infantry,—the subsequent charge of our troops, which decided the victory, and established a footing on the shores of Egypt, are circumstances of glory never surpassed in the military annals of the world!
The advance of the army, on the 13th of March, towards Alexandria, presents the spectacle of a movement of infantry through an open country, who, being attacked upon their march, formed, and repulsed the enemy; then advanced in line for three miles, engaged along their whole front, until they drove the enemy to seek his safety under the protection of his entrenched position. Such had been the order and regularity of the advance!
Upon the 21st of March, the united force of the French in Egypt attacked the position of the British Army.
An attack, begun an hour before daylight, could derive no advantage over the vigilance of an army ever ready to receive it. The enemy's most vigorous and repeated efforts were directed against the right and centre. Our infantry fought in the plain, greatly inferior in the number of their artillery, and unaided by cavalry.
They relied upon their discipline and their courage. The desperate attacks of a veteran cavalry, joined to those of a numerous infantry, which had vainly styled itself Invincible, were everywhere repulsed: and a conflict the most severe terminated in one of the most signal victories which ever adorned the annals of the British nation!
In bringing forward these details, the Commander-in-Chief does not call upon the Army merely to admire but to emulate such conduct. Every soldier who feels for the honour of his country, while he exults in events so splendid and important in themselves, will henceforth have fresh motives for cherishing and enforcing the practice of discipline, and by uniting, in the greatest perfection, order and precision with activity and courage, will seek to uphold, and transmit undiminished to posterity, the Glory and Honour of the British Arms.
Nor is a less useful example to be derived from the conduct of the distinguished Commander who fell in the field.
His steady observance of discipline,—his ever watchful attention to the health and wants of his troops,—the persevering and unconquerable spirit which marked his military career,—the splendour of his actions in the field, and the heroism of his death,—are worthy the imitation of all who desire, like him, a life of honour and a death of glory.
By Order of His Royal Highness
The Commander-in-Chief,
Harry Calvert,
Colonel and Adjutant-General.
The following regiments were employed in Egypt, in 1801, and were permitted by His Majesty King George the Third to bear on their Colours the Sphynx, with the word "Egypt," as a distinguished mark of His Majesty's Royal approbation, and as a lasting memorial of the glory acquired to His Majesty's Arms by the zeal, discipline, and intrepidity of his troops in that arduous and important campaign, viz.:—
11th Light Dragoons, 1 Troop, Captain Money.
12th Light Dragoons, Col. Archdall.
26th, afterwards 23rd Light Dragoons, Lieut.-Col. R. Gordon.
Hompesch's Hussars, Major Sir Robert T. Wilson.
Coldstream Guards, 1st battalion.
3rd Guards, 1st battalion.
Royals, 2nd battalion, Lieut.-Col. D. Campbell.
2nd, or Queen's Royal, Colonel Lord Dalhousie.
8th Foot, or King's, Col. Drummond.
*10th, Lieut.-Col. Quarrell.
13th, Lieut.-Col. Hon. C. Colville.
18th, or Royal Irish, Lieut.-Col. H. T. Montresor.
20th, Lieut.-Col. G. Smith.
23rd, or Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Lieut.-Col. J. Hall.
24th Foot, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Forster.
25th, Colonel W. Dyott.
26th, Col. Lord Elphinstone.
27th, or Inniskilling, Lieut.-Col. S. Graham.
28th, Colonel Hon. E. Paget.
30th, Lieut.-Col. W. Wilkinson.
40th, (Flank Companies) Col. B. Spencer.
42nd, or Royal Highlanders, Lieut.-Col. W. Dickson.
44th Foot, Lieut.-Col. C. Tilson.
50th, Col. P. Wauchope.
54th, Lieut.-Col. J. T. Layard.
58th, Lieut.-Col. W. Houstoun.
61st, Lieut.-Col. F. Carruthers.
79th, Col. Alan Cameron.
*80th, Lieut.-Col. J. Montresor.
*86th, Lieut.-Col. Y. P. Lloyd.
*88th, Lieut.-Col. A. Duff.
89th, Col. W. Stewart.
90th, Col. Rowland Hill.
92nd, Lieut.-Col. C. Erskine.
Ancient Irish Fencibles.
Queen's German Regiment.
De Roll's Regiment.
Dillon's Regiment.
Corsican Rangers, Major H. Lowe.
Note.—The 10th, 80th, 86th, and 88th Regiments proceeded from the East Indies, overland, under the orders of Major-General David Baird, to join the Army in Egypt.
[C.]
GENERAL ORDERS.
His Majesty's Ship Audacious,
18th January, 1809.
The irreparable loss that has been sustained by the fall of the Commander of the Forces, Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, and the severe wound which has removed Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird from his station, render it the duty of Lieutenant-General Hope to congratulate the Army upon the successful result of the action of the 16th instant.
On no occasion has the undaunted valour of British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be encountered.
These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the troops themselves; and the enemy has been taught, that whatever advantages of position or of numbers he may employ, there is inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows not how to yield,—that no circumstances can appal,—and that will ensure victory when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any human means.
The Lieutenant-General has the greatest satisfaction in distinguishing such meritorious services as came within his observation, or have been brought to his knowledge.
His acknowledgments are in a peculiar manner due to Lieutenant-General Lord William Bentinck, and the brigade under his command, consisting of the 4th, 42nd, and 50th regiments, which sustained the weight of the attack.
Major-General Manningham, with his brigade, consisting of the Royals, the 26th and 81st regiments, and Major-General Warde, with the brigade of Guards, will also be pleased to accept his best thanks for their steady and gallant conduct during the action.
To Major-General Paget, who, by a judicious movement of the reserve, effectually contributed to check the progress of the enemy on the right, and to the 1st battalion of the 52nd and 95th regiments, which were thereby engaged, the greatest praise is justly due.
That part of Major-General Leith's brigade which was engaged, consisting of the 59th regiment under the conduct of the Major-General, also claims marked approbation.
The enemy not having rendered the attack on the left a serious one, did not afford to the troops stationed in that quarter an opportunity of displaying that gallantry which must have made him repent the attempt.
The piquets and advanced posts, however, of the brigades under the command of Major-Generals Hill and Leith, and Colonel Catlin Craufurd, conducted themselves with determined resolution, and were ably supported by the officers commanding these brigades, and by the troops of which they were composed.
It is peculiarly incumbent upon the Lieutenant-General to notice the vigorous attack made by the 2nd battalion of the 14th regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls, which drove the enemy out of the village, of the left of which he had possessed himself.
The exertions of Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, Quarter-Master General, and of the other officers of the General Staff, during the action, were unremitted, and deserve every degree of approbation.
The illness of Brigadier-General Clinton, Adjutant-General, unfortunately deprived the army of the benefit of his services.
The Lieutenant-General hopes the loss in point of numbers is not so considerable as might have been expected: he laments, however, the fall of the gallant soldiers and valuable officers who have suffered.
The Lieutenant-General knows that it is impossible in any language he can use to enhance the esteem, or diminish the regret, that the Army feels with him for its late Commander. His career has been unfortunately too limited for his country, but has been sufficient for his own fame. Beloved by the Army, honoured by his Sovereign, and respected by his country, he has terminated a life devoted to her service by a glorious death, leaving his name as a memorial, an example, and an excitement to those who shall follow him in the path of honour, and it is from his country alone that his memory can receive the tribute which is its due.
(Signed) John Hope,
Lieutenant-General.
GENERAL ORDERS.
Horse-Guards, 1st February, 1809.
The benefits derived to an army from the example of a distinguished commander do not terminate at his death: his virtues live in the recollection of his associates, and his fame remains the strongest incentive to great and glorious actions.
In this view, the Commander-in-Chief, amidst the deep and universal regret which the death of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore has occasioned, recalls to the troops the military career of that illustrious officer for their instruction and imitation.
Sir John Moore from his youth embraced the profession with the feelings and sentiments of a soldier;—he felt that a perfect knowledge and an exact performance of the humble but important duties of a subaltern officer are the best foundations for subsequent military fame; and his ardent mind, while it looked forward to those brilliant achievements for which it was formed, applied itself, with energy and exemplary assiduity, to the duties of that station.
In the school of regimental duty he obtained that correct knowledge of his profession so essential to the proper direction of the gallant spirit of the soldier; and he was enabled to establish a characteristic order and regularity of conduct, because the troops found in their leader a striking example of the discipline which he enforced on others.
Having risen to command, he signalised his name in the West Indies, in Holland, and in Egypt. The unremitting attention with which he devoted himself to the duties of every branch of his profession obtained him the confidence of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, and he became the companion in arms of that illustrious officer, who fell at the head of his victorious troops in an action which maintained our national superiority over the arms of France.
Thus Sir John Moore at an early period obtained, with general approbation, that conspicuous station in which he gloriously terminated his useful and honourable life.
In a military character obtained amidst the dangers of climate, the privations incident to service, and the sufferings of repeated wounds, it is difficult to select any one point as a preferable subject for praise: it exhibits, however, one feature so particularly characteristic of the man, and so important to the best interests of the service, that the Commander-in-Chief is pleased to mark it with his peculiar approbation—
The life of Sir JOHN MOORE was spent among the
Troops.
During the season of repose, his time was devoted to the care and instruction of the officer and soldier; in war he courted service in every quarter of the globe. Regardless of personal considerations, he esteemed that to which his country called him, the post of honour, and by his undaunted spirit and unconquerable perseverance, he pointed the way to victory.
His country, the object of his latest solicitude, will rear a monument to his lamented memory, and the Commander-in-Chief feels he is paying the best tribute to his fame by thus holding him forth as an Example to the Army.
By Order of His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief.
Harry Calvert,
Adjutant-General.
The following Regiments composed the Army under Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, at Corunna, on the 16th January, 1809.
| Corps. | Commanding Officers. | ||
| 7th | Light | Dragoons | Lieut.-Col. Vivian |
| 10th | —— | ———— | Lieut.-Col. Leigh |
| 15th | —— | ———— | Lieut.-Col. Grant |
| 18th | —— | ———— | Lieut.-Col. Jones |
| 3rd | —— | ————, K. G. L. | Major Burgwesel |
| Artillery | Col. Harding | ||
| Engineers | Major Fletcher | ||
| Waggon Train Detachment | Lieut.-Colonel Langley | ||
| 1st | Foot | Guards, 1st battalion | Lieut.-Col. Cocks |
| —— | —— | ——— 3rd " | Lieut.-Col. Wheatley |
| 1st | Foot, | 3rd battalion | Major Muller |
| 2nd | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Iremonger |
| 4th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Wynch |
| 5th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Mackenzie |
| 6th | —— | 1st ditto | Major Gordon |
| 9th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Cameron |
| 14th | —— | 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Nicolls |
| 20th | —— | Lieut.-Col. Ross | |
| 23rd | —— | 2nd battalion | Lieut.-Col. Wyatt |
| 26th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Maxwell |
| 28th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Belson |
| 32nd | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Hinde |
| 36th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Burn |
| 38th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Hon. Charles Greville |
| 42nd | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Stirling |
| 43rd | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Gifford |
| 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Hull | ||
| 50th | —— | 1st ditto | Major Napier |
| 51st | —— | Lieut.-Col. Darling | |
| 52nd | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Barclay |
| 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. John Ross | ||
| 59th | —— | 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Fane |
| 60th | —— | 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Codd |
| 5th ditto | Major Davy | ||
| 71st | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Pack |
| 76th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Symes |
| 79th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Cameron |
| 81st | —— | 2nd ditto | Major Williams |
| 82nd | —— | Major M'Donald | |
| 91st | —— | 1st ditto | Major Douglas |
| 92nd | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Napier |
| 95th | Rifle | Regt., 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Beckwith |
| 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Wade | ||
| Staff Corps Detachments | Lieut.-Col. Nicolay | ||
| 1st | Light | Battalion, K. G. L. | Lieut.-Col. Leonhard |
| 2nd | —— | ditto ditto | Lieut.-Col. Halkett |
[D.]
GENERAL ORDERS.
Horse Guards, 18th August, 1809.
The Commander-in-Chief has received the King's commands to notify to the Army the splendid victory obtained by His Troops in Spain, under the command of Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Sir Arthur Wellesley, on the 27th and 28th of last month, at the Battle of Talavera de la Reyna.
His Majesty is confident that His Army will learn with becoming exultation that the enemy, after escaping by a precipitate retreat from the well-concerted attack with which Sir Arthur Wellesley, in conjunction with the Spanish Army, had threatened him on the 24th of July, concentrated his force, by calling to his aid the corps under the French General Sebastiani and the garrison of Madrid, and thus reinforced, again approached the Allied Army on the 27th of July; and on this occasion, owing to the local circumstances of its position, and to the deliberate purpose of the enemy to direct his whole efforts against the Troops of His Majesty, the British Army sustained nearly the whole weight of this great contest, and has acquired the glory of having vanquished a French army double their numbers, not in a short and partial struggle, but in a battle obstinately contested on two successive days, (not wholly discontinued even throughout the intervening night,) and fought under circumstances which brought both armies into close and repeated combat.
The King, in contemplating so glorious a display of the valour and prowess of His Troops, has been graciously pleased to command that his Royal approbation of the conduct of the Army serving under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley shall be thus publicly declared in General Orders.
The Commander-in-Chief has received the King's commands to signify in the most marked and special manner the sense His Majesty entertains of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley's personal services on this memorable occasion, not less displayed in the result of the battle itself than in the consummate ability, valour, and military resource with which the many difficulties of this arduous and protracted contest were met and provided for by his experience and judgment.
The conduct of Lieutenant-General Sherbrooke, second in command, has entitled him to the King's marked approbation. His Majesty has observed with satisfaction the manner in which he led on the Troops to the charge with the bayonet—a species of combat which, on all occasions, so well accords with the dauntless character of British soldiers.
His Majesty has noticed with the same gracious approbation the conduct of the several General and other Officers—all have done their duty; most of them have had occasions of eminently distinguishing themselves, the instances of which have not escaped His Majesty's attention.
It is His Majesty's command that His Royal approbation and thanks shall be given in the most distinct and most particular manner to the Non-Commissioned Officers and Private Men. In no instance have they displayed with greater lustre their native valour and characteristic energy; nor have they on any former occasion more decidedly proved their superiority over the inveterate enemy of their country.
Brilliant, however, as is the victory obtained at Talavera, it is not solely on that occasion that Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley and the Troops under his command, are entitled to His Majesty's applause. The important service effected in an early part of the campaign by the same Army, under the command of the same distinguished General, by the rapid march on the Douro, the passage of that river, the total discomfiture of the enemy, and his expulsion from the territory of one of His Majesty's ancient and most faithful Allies, are circumstances which have made a lasting impression on His Majesty's mind; and have induced His Majesty to direct, that the operations of this arduous and eventful campaign shall be thus recorded, as furnishing splendid examples of military skill, fortitude, perseverance, and of a spirit of enterprise calculated to produce emulation in every part of His Army, and largely to add to the renown and to the military character of the British nation.
By Order of the Right Honourable General Sir David Dundas, Commander-in-Chief.
Harry Calvert,
Adjutant-General.
The following Regiments were engaged at the Battle of Talavera de la Reyna, on the 27th and 28th July, 1809: viz.
| Corps. | Commanding Officers. | ||
| 3d Dragoon Guards | Lieut.-Col. Sir G. Calcraft | ||
| 4th Dragoons | Lieut.-Col. Lord E. Somerset | ||
| 14th Light Dragoons | Lieut.-Col. Hawker | ||
| 16th —— —— | Major Hon. L. Stanhope | ||
| 23rd —— —— | Lieut.-Col. Seymour | ||
| 1st —— ——, K. G. L. | Lieut.-Col. Arentschild | ||
| Royal British Artillery | Lieut.-Col. Framingham } Brig.-Gen. | ||
| " | German —— | Major Hartineau } Howorth | |
| " | Engineers | Lieut.-Col. Fletcher | |
| " | Staff Corps | Major Dundas | |
| Coldstream Guards, 1st battalion | Lieut.-Col. Hulse | ||
| 3d | Guards, 1st battalion | Colonel Stopford | |
| 3rd | Foot | Lieut.-Col. Muter | |
| 7th | —— | 2nd battalion | Lieut.-Col. Sir W. Myers |
| 24th | —— | 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Drummond |
| 29th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. White |
| 31st | —— | 2nd ditto | Major Watson |
| 40th | —— | 1st ditto | Major Thornton |
| 45th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Guard |
| 48th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Donellan |
| 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Duckworth | ||
| 53rd | —— | 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Bingham |
| 60th | —— | 5th ditto | Major Davy |
| 61st | —— | 1st ditto | Colonel Saunders |
| 66th | —— | 2nd ditto | Captain Kelly |
| 83rd | —— | 2nd ditto | Lieut.-Col. Gordon |
| 87th | —— | 2nd ditto | Major Gough |
| 88th | —— | 1st ditto | Major Vandeleur |
| 97th | —— | 1st ditto | Lieut.-Col. Lyon |
| 1st | Batt. of Detachments* | Lieut.-Col. Bunbury, 3rd Foot | |
| 2nd | —— | ——————* | Lieut.-Col. Copson, 3rd Foot |
| 1st and 2nd Light Batt. K. G. L. } | Major Bodecker | ||
| 1st | Line | Batt. } | |
| 2nd | —— | —— | Lieut.-Col. Brauns |
| 5th | —— | —— | Captain Hummelberg |
| 7th | —— | —— | Major Burger |
* These two Battalions were formed on the 1st of February, 1809, and consisted of detachments which had been left in Portugal, belonging to the Regiments composing the division of the army, which had marched into Spain under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore.
[E.]
ON REGIMENTAL COLOURS.
The English Regiments of Foot had formerly a Colour to every Company[37]. They were afterwards formed into Three Divisions on the same principle as the Continental Armies, viz., Two wings of Musketeers, and a Centre Division of Pikemen. Each Division had a Stand of Colours, that it might act separately. The Swedish Infantry were formed in this manner, by Gustavus Adolphus, and were copied by Marshals de Turenne and Montecuculi.
This mode of formation was, however, changed during the reign of Queen Anne, when the general adoption of Bayonets took place, and, the Division of Pikemen being discontinued, the Third Colour became unnecessary, and was consequently laid aside.
The Queen's Royal Regiment had originally a Colour to every Company, and after the year 1688 it had Three Stand of Colours, in common with other Regiments: it happened, however, that the Third Colour was retained in possession by the Queen's Royal until 1750, probably from the long absence of the Regiment on Foreign Service, it having embarked in 1730 for Gibraltar, where it remained until 1749.
A belief had thus been induced that the Queen's Royal Regiment had been permitted, AS A DISTINCTION, to carry Three Colours, as appears by a Letter from General Robert Donkin, who entered the Regiment as an Ensign in 1747, and served in it until 1759. He states,—"On our marching over Island Bridge into Dublin duty in 1750, the Third Colour was, by order of General Fowke (then Colonel of the Regiment), taken out of my hand, furled, and never flew since. The men grumbled exceedingly. I felt myself hurt at being deprived of an honour no other Corps then enjoyed."
With a view of establishing Uniformity throughout the Army in the Colours, Clothing, and Appointments of the several Regiments,—a Warrant, dated 1st July, 1751, was issued by King George II., for regulating the Clothing, Standards, Colours, &c., of Regiments of Cavalry and Infantry. By this Warrant it is directed that—
"The King's or First Colour of every Regiment is to be the Great Union throughout;"—and that, "The Second Colour is to be the Colour of the Facing of the Regiment, with the Union in the Upper Canton."
At this period the Facing of the Queen's Royal Regiment was Sea-Green, which was the original Facing of the Corps.
It is further directed, in the same Warrant, under the head of "Devices and Badges of the Royal Regiments, and of the six old Corps," as follows:—
"Second Regiment, or, The Queen's Royal Regiment."
"In the Centre of each Colour, the Queen's Cypher on a red ground, within the Garter, and Crown over it: in the Three Corners of the Second Colour, the Lamb, being the ancient badge of the Regiment."
A subsequent Warrant was issued on the 19th December, 1768, by Command of His Majesty King George III., prescribing "Regulations for the Colours, Clothing, &c., of the Marching Regiments of Foot." This Warrant contains the same directions as that of 1751 regarding "the First and Second Colours of Regiments," and "the Devices and Badges of the Royal Regiments and of the Six Old Corps." The Facing of the Queen's Royal Regiment was, at this period, changed from Green to Blue.
Neither of the Royal Warrants above mentioned contains any Authority for the Queen's Royal Regiment bearing a Third Colour.
The foregoing Statement shows, therefore, that, although the Third Colour so long remained in possession of the Queen's Royal Regiment, after other Regiments had laid it aside, it had been erroneously considered that this Regiment had a peculiar privilege of carrying Three Stand of Colours.
To correct this error, and to maintain uniformity throughout the Army, His Majesty has recently directed "that no Regiment shall, under any circumstances whatever, display a Third Colour;" and the following Letter, dated 14th August, 1835, has been addressed, by His Majesty's Special Command, to Lieutenant-General the Right Honourable Sir James Kempt, G.C.B., as Colonel of the Second, or Queen's Royal Regiment, by the Adjutant-General of the Forces, dated
Horse Guards, 14th August, 1835.
Sir,
By desire of the General Commanding in Chief, I have the honour to make the following Communication to you, for your information and guidance; viz.:
The 5th Foot having, at Malta, preferred a Claim to the distinction of bearing a Third Stand of Colours, Major-General Sir Frederick Ponsonby referred the Case for Lord Hill's consideration, and his Lordship immediately submitted it to the King.
His Majesty at once disallowed this claim, and, at the same time, inquired whether a similar claim had been made and admitted in the case of any other Regiment.
Lord Hill mentioned the case of the Queen's Royal, and fully explained the grounds upon which the distinction of a Third Stand of Colours had, so recently, been conferred upon that Corps; when His Majesty was pleased to decide, that no Regiment in His Majesty's Service should be permitted to display a Third Colour, under any circumstances whatsoever,—and to command that His Majesty's said decision should be notified to you.
The King, however, expressed to Lord Hill His Majesty's earnest hope that you, and the Queen's Royal collectively, would regard this decision, not as a mark of His Majesty's forgetfulness of the uniformly high character of the Regiment, but solely as a proof of His Majesty's determination to establish uniformity in this (as in every other) respect throughout the Army.
His Majesty was graciously pleased to observe, that it was impossible for him to render more manifest the high estimation in which he held the character of the Queen's Royal, than by transferring an Officer of your reputation to the Colonelcy of it, from that of one of the most gallant and distinguished Regiments in the Service; viz., the 40th.
The King was further pleased to observe, that if it were wished upon your part, and upon the part of the Queen's Royal, that the Third Colour should be retained and preserved, His Majesty would not insist upon its being actually withdrawn; but, in making that observation, His Majesty expressly ordered, that on no account should the Third Colour ever be displayed in the Ranks of the Regiment.
Lastly, His Majesty was pleased to Command, that this Letter should be entered in the Regimental Record, as well as in the Standing Orders of the Queen's Royal.
I have, &c.,
John Macdonald, A. G.
South-Street, 19th August, 1835.
Sir,
I have had the honour to receive your Letter of the 14th Instant, signifying to me, by desire of the General Commanding in Chief, that His Majesty has been pleased to decide, that no Regiment in His Majesty's Service shall be permitted to display a Third Colour under any circumstances whatsoever; and that, consequently, the Third Colour now in possession of the Queen's Royal shall not, from henceforth, be displayed in the Ranks of the Regiment.
I will, without delay, transmit a Copy of your Communication to the Officer Commanding the Queen's Royal in India, for his information and guidance, with Orders to enter the same in the Regimental Record, as well as in the Standing Orders of the Corps, in obedience to His Majesty's Commands; and I am persuaded, that the Officers and Men of the Queen's Royal, although thereby deprived of a distinction which the Regiment has for some time enjoyed, will, nevertheless, feel as I do, highly gratified by the very gracious terms in which His Majesty has been pleased to direct his decision upon the subject to be communicated to me.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) James Kempt.
To the Adjutant-General.
N. B. In a printed description of the Colours of every Regiment, published in 1684, no mention is made of the Queen's Regiment having the privilege of carrying an additional Colour.
The following is an extract from D'Auvergne's History of the Campaign in Flanders in 1693, relating to the Battle of Landen:—
"'Tis certain that we have taken from them (the French) Nineteen Colours and Thirty-seven Standards, which, considering the proportion of Forces, is more than they gained from us, particularly as to the Number of Colours; for besides that the French had double our number of Foot, their Battalions never have but Three Colours at the most in each;—our Brandenburg and Hanover Foot have as many Colours as there are Companies in every Battalion, insomuch that some Battalions have a dozen;—and, therefore, it is more for us in proportion to have taken Nineteen Colours from them, than if they had taken Fifty from us."
[F.]
MEMOIR OF SIR HENRY TORRENS.
The following Memoir of the services of Major-General Sir Henry Torrens is inserted, not only with the view of recording his merits as an officer, but of showing to the army and to the public one of the many instances in which the talents of an active and enterprising officer were duly noticed and rewarded by the King, and by His late Royal Highness the Duke of York, as well as by other illustrious commanders of the army:—
Sir Henry Torrens was born at Londonderry in 1779, and having been educated at the military academy in Dublin, he was appointed to an Ensigncy in the Fifty-second Regiment on the 2nd of November, 1793, at the age of fourteen years; he was promoted to a Lieutenancy in the Ninety-second Regiment on the 14th of June, 1794; and on the 11th of December, 1795, was removed to the Sixty-third Regiment, then under orders for the West Indies. At the attack of Morne Fortuné in the island of St. Lucie, on the 1st of May, 1796, while serving with the army under Major-General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, he was severely wounded in the right thigh: after taking a prominent part in storming three French redoubts, he was employed for the space of seven months at an outpost in the woods against the Charibs: on the conquest of those people he was promoted to a company in the Sixth West India Regiment on the 28th of March, 1797. In 1798 he returned to England, and was appointed Aide-de-camp to Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, then acting as second in command under Earl Moira at Portsmouth; in November of the same year he went to Portugal as Aide-de-camp to General Cuyler, who commanded a body of auxiliary troops, sent thither by the British government, to repel the threatened invasion of that country by the Spaniards. While on service at Lisbon, he was removed to the Twentieth Regiment, on the 8th of August, 1799, and immediately relinquished the advantages of his Staff situation in order to join his Regiment, which was a part of the force then destined for the liberation of the United Provinces from the yoke of France. Throughout the short but arduous campaign in Holland, the Twentieth Regiment distinguished itself on every occasion, particularly at the battle of Alcmaar on the 2nd of October, 1799: on the retreat of the British and Russian troops upon the two villages of Egmont, and after a most severe conflict with the enemy from morning till night of the 6th of October, Captain Torrens received a severe wound from a musket-ball, which, passing through the right thigh, entered the left, where it lodged so deeply as to baffle all surgical efforts to extract it.
On the return of the troops from the Helder, in November, 1799, Captain Torrens was promoted to a Majority in the Surrey Rangers, which he joined and commanded in Nova Scotia. In 1801 he came back to England, and exchanged, on the 4th of February, 1802, to the Eighty-sixth Regiment, then serving in Egypt, to which country it had come from India with a division of troops, under the command of Major-General Sir David Baird. Major Torrens lost no time in embarking for the Mediterranean: on his arrival at Alexandria, he found that the object of the expedition had completely succeeded, although attended with the melancholy loss of his revered commander and steady friend, Sir Ralph Abercrombie, who had been mortally wounded at the battle of Alexandria. As the expulsion of the French rendered the presence of a large force no longer necessary in Egypt, the auxiliary troops from India returned across the desert, and embarking at Cosseir, proceeded to Bombay. Soon after the arrival of the troops from Egypt, hostilities broke out between the English and the Mahrattas: in this contest Major Torrens again evinced his natural courage and talents, and obtained the approbation of the officers under whom he served: his health giving way to the active exertions he had made in the execution of his duty, and suffering under the effects of a coup de soleil, he was compelled to have recourse to a change of climate, and accordingly obtained leave to return to England. On arrival at St. Helena, he found his state of health so far improved as to induce him to forego his return to England, and to go back to his regiment. While at St. Helena, he formed an attachment to the daughter of Governor Patton, and was married. On his return to India, he served under General Lord Lake, until the conquest of Scindiah, the most formidable of the Mahratta Chiefs. On the 1st of January, 1805, he was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and in the same year he returned to Europe: after his arrival in England, he was employed as Assistant Adjutant-General in the Kent District. He exchanged from the Eighty-sixth to the Eighty-ninth Regiment on the 19th of February, 1807, and in the same year he proceeded as Military Secretary to Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, with the expedition against the Spanish colonies on the Rio de la Plata, and was present at the disastrous attack upon Buenos Ayres on the 5th of July, 1807.
After his return to England, he was re-appointed an Assistant Adjutant-General on the Staff of Great Britain, and subsequently to be Assistant Military Secretary to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, as Commander-in-Chief. In the month of July, 1808, he embarked with the expedition for Portugal, under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, and was present at the battles of Roleia on the 17th of August, and of Vimiera on the 21st of August, 1808, for which he received a medal struck for the purpose of commemorating those victories, and of distinguishing the officers engaged in them: he received also from the Portuguese Regency the Chivalric Order of the Tower and Sword. These victories led to the Convention of Cintra, and to the consequent evacuation of Portugal by the French army under Marshal Junot, Duke of Abrantes.
Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens returned to England with Sir Arthur Wellesley about the end of the year 1808, and resumed his former situation as Assistant Military Secretary to His Royal Highness the Duke of York; he was promoted to be his Military Secretary on the 2d of October, 1809. He was appointed from the Eighty-ninth Regiment to a company in the Third Foot Guards on the 13th of June, 1811, and Aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent, with the rank of Colonel, on the 20th of February, 1812. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 4th of June, 1814, and in the new arrangement and extension of the Military Order of the Bath in 1815, he was enrolled in the honourable list of Knights Commanders: he was appointed to the Colonelcy of the Second Garrison Battalion on the 5th of April, 1815; removed to the Royal African Colonial corps on the 27th of November, 1815, removed to the Second West India Regiment on the 21st of September, 1818, and on the 26th of July, 1822, he was promoted to the Second, or Queen's Royal; on the 25th of March, 1820, he was appointed from the situation of Military Secretary to that of Adjutant-General to the Forces.
During the period of his employment as Military Secretary, in which the most active operations of the late war took place, the labours of his office were excessive, and his health became affected; yet his exertions were never lessened, and after his appointment as Adjutant-General, he undertook, with considerable labour and zeal, the revision of the 'Regulations for the Exercise and Field Movements of the Infantry of the Army,' and, with the authority of His Majesty King George IV., engrafted in them the alterations and improvements which had been introduced and practised by different Commanders during the late war.
The death of Sir Henry Torrens took place suddenly, on the 22d of August, 1828, while on a visit to his friend Mr. Johnes Knight, at Welwyn, Herts., where his remains were consigned privately to a grave in the church of that parish.