Historical Record of the Seventieth, or, the Surrey Regiment of Foot / Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1758, and of its subsequent services to 1848

by Richard Cannon

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF THE

SEVENTIETH,

OR

THE SURREY REGIMENT OF FOOT.

---

John Parslow,

Appointed 28th April, 1758.

John Parslow was many years an officer in the First Regiment of Foot Guards, in which corps he rose to the rank of captain and lieut.-colonel on the 18th of May, 1747. In 1758 King George II. conferred upon him the colonelcy of the SEVENTIETH regiment, from which he was removed, in 1760, to the Fifty-fourth regiment. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1761, to that of lieut.-general in 1770, and of general in 1782. He was removed to the Thirtieth regiment in April, 1770. He died at Bath on the 15th of November, 1786.

Cyrus Trapaud,

Appointed 10th July, 1760.

Cyrus Trapaud, descended from a family of distinction in France, was related to Marshal Turenne and other noblemen in that country: his father was a Protestant, and was forced by persecution to seek an asylum in England. Cyrus Trapaud entered the British army, and was many years an officer in the Buffs. He accompanied his regiment to the Netherlands in 1742, served at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, and of Fontenoy in 1745. Returning to Great Britain in the same year, he served, in 1746, at the battles of Falkirk and Culloden. In 1747 he again proceeded to the Netherlands, and served at the battle of Val. On the 3rd of February, 1750, he was appointed lieut.-colonel of the Buffs, and commanded that regiment in the expedition to the coast of France, in 1757. He served at the attack of Martinique, and commanded a brigade at the reduction of Guadaloupe in 1759. In 1760 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the SEVENTIETH regiment; he was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1762, and to that of lieut.-general in 1772; was removed to the Fifty-second regiment in 1778, and promoted to the rank of general in 1783. He was conspicuous for courage, and for the exact performance of every duty both of public and private life, united with a kind and gentlemanly deportment, which procured him the esteem of all who knew him. He lived to be the senior general in the army, and dying on the 3rd of May, 1801, was buried with military honors at Chelsea, many distinguished persons attending his funeral.

William Tryon,

Appointed 14th May, 1778.

This Officer served many years in the First Foot Guards, in which corps he was promoted to the rank of captain and lieut.-colonel in 1758; in May, 1772, he was advanced to the rank of colonel, and in 1776 he was nominated major in his regiment. He was appointed governor of the state of North Carolina, where he evinced great zeal and ability in suppressing the rising seeds of insurrection, and he conciliated the loyal British subjects. Being afterwards called to the government of New York, his abilities were conspicuously displayed there during the American War of Independence. He raised a body of Provincials for the King’s service, and evinced gallantry in several military services, particularly in the expedition to Danbury in the spring of 1777. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in the same year, and to that of lieut.-general in 1782. In 1778 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the SEVENTIETH regiment, and was removed to the Twenty-ninth in 1783. He died in 1788.

John, Earl of Suffolk,

Appointed 16th August, 1783.

John Howard was page to His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, and entered the army as ensign in the First Foot Guards, on the 13th of June, 1756; he was promoted to the rank of captain and lieut.-colonel in 1773. In 1782 he was nominated colonel of the Ninety-seventh regiment, afterwards disbanded; he succeeded to the dignity of Earl of Suffolk in 1783, and was removed to the SEVENTIETH regiment in the same year. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1787, to that of lieut.-general in 1797, and of general in 1802. In 1814 he was removed to the Forty-fourth regiment. He was many years governor of Londonderry and of Calmore fort. His Lordship died in 1820.

The Honorable Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, K.B.,

Appointed 12th January, 1814.

The Honorable Galbraith Lowry Cole entered the army in March, 1787, and after serving in the subordinate commissions, was advanced to the rank of major in 1793, when the struggle between Great Britain and the revolutionists of France had commenced; and the progress of the eventful contest which followed, afforded him opportunities for the display of those professional abilities which he possessed. In 1794 he was appointed lieut.-colonel in Ward’s regiment, afterwards disbanded; and in 1799 he was nominated lieut.-colonel in General Villette’s corps, afterwards disbanded; in 1801 he obtained the rank of colonel. He served in the island of Sicily, as brigadier-general, and commanded the first brigade at the battle of Maida on the 4th of July, 1806; Major-General Sir John Stuart, afterwards Count of Maida, bore testimony, in his public despatch, to the gallant conduct of Brigadier-General the Hon. G. L. Cole on that occasion, which reflected lustre on the British arms. In 1808 he was promoted to the rank of major-general. His services were afterwards extended to the Peninsula, where he commanded a division during the campaigns from 1810 to the overthrow of Napoleon, Emperor of France, and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty in 1814. His distinguished services during those campaigns are blended with the military annals of the Peninsula, and the public despatches of the Duke of Wellington bear testimony of his excellent conduct during many difficult operations, severely contested battles, and sieges. He received the local rank of lieut.-general in Spain and Portugal in 1810; was appointed colonel of the 103rd regiment in 1812; and obtained the rank of lieut.-general in 1813. He was nominated a Knight of the most Honorable Military Order of the Bath, and on the extension of that order, in 1815, he received the decorations of Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. In commemoration of his distinguished services in Sicily, Portugal, Spain, and the South of France, he received the distinction of a cross and four clasps, for the battles of Maida, Albuhera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse. In 1814 he was removed to the SEVENTIETH regiment; in 1816 to the Thirty-fourth; and in 1826 to the Twenty-seventh regiment. He was appointed governor of Gravesend and Tilbury Fort; and in 1830 promoted to the rank of general. He died in 1842.

Forbes Champagné,

Appointed 21st May, 1816.

This officer was appointed ensign in the Fourth foot in 1773; he was stationed at Boston when the American war commenced, and was engaged at Lexington on the 19th of April, 1775. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the same year, and attached to the first light battalion, with which he served in 1776, at the descent on Long Island, battle of Brooklyn, capture of New York, action at Frog’s Neck, capture of Fort Washington, and capture of New Jersey. In 1777 he served in the expedition to Pennsylvania, and was at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown: and in the march through the Jerseys, in 1778, he was engaged at Freehold. He was promoted to captain in the Twenty-third regiment in 1779, and was removed to the mounted light infantry in 1780. He served in the expedition to South Carolina, was at the siege of Charleston, at the battles of Camden, and Guildford Court-house, and in all the actions in which the troops under Major-General the Earl Cornwallis were engaged, in the two Carolinas and in Virginia, ending with the capitulation of York Town. He returned to England at the end of the war. In 1793 he was appointed major, and afterwards lieut.-colonel of the Eightieth regiment, with which corps he served in the Netherlands at the siege of Nimeguen, and during the winter campaign of 1794-5 in Holland. In 1795 he was removed to the Twentieth foot, and in 1797 was promoted to the rank of colonel. He served as brigadier-general in Ireland, during the rebellion in 1798, and in 1799 in the expedition to Holland. In 1800 he was placed on the staff of the south-west district; and was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1803. In 1806 he was nominated to the command of the western district, and to the colonelcy of the Eighth Garrison Battalion. In May, 1807, he was placed on the staff in the East Indies, where he served some time. He was appointed colonel-commandant of a battalion of the Rifle Brigade in 1809,—promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in 1810, and removed to the colonelcy of the SEVENTIETH regiment, in May, 1816. He died on the 22nd of October, 1816.

Sir Kenneth Alexander Howard, G.C.B.,

afterwards

Lord Howard, Earl of Effingham,

Appointed 24th October, 1816.

This officer entered the army, as ensign in the second (Coldstream) foot guards, on the 21st April, 1786, and on the 25th February, 1793, embarked for Flanders, and served during the campaign in that country; on the 25th April, 1793, he obtained a lieutenancy, and on the 1st September the adjutancy. He continued to serve with his regiment on the Continent till May, 1795, when the troops returned to England. He was wounded at the battle of St. Amand; and was present at the siege and capture of Valenciennes, action of Lincelles, and siege of Dunkirk. On the 30th of December, 1797, he was promoted to a captain-lieutenancy; and to a company on the 25th of July, 1799. On the 13th of June, 1793, he was appointed major of brigade to the foot guards sent to Ireland, where he served during the whole of the rebellion. In August, 1799, he served in the same capacity with the expedition to Holland, and was present in all the actions. On the 1st of July, 1801, he was deputed to act as inspector-general of foreign corps during the absence from England of Colonel W. Clinton; and on that officer’s return he was appointed on the 25th of February, 1802, deputy inspector-general of foreign corps; on that office being abolished, he was nominated commandant of the foreign depôt. On the 1st of January, 1805, he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King, and received the rank of colonel; on the 4th of August, 1808, second major in his regiment; and on the 25th of July, 1810, major-general. He joined the army in the Peninsula on the 9th of January, 1811, and was appointed to the command of a brigade in the first division, and was present with it at the action at Fuentes d’Onor on the 5th of May; he was afterwards transferred with his brigade to the second division, the command of which he held, as senior officer, from July, 1811, to April, 1812; he commanded the right column at the action of Arroyo dos Molinos; stormed and took with part of his brigade the forts Napoleon and Ragusa at Almaraz. In November, 1812, he was appointed to the command of the first brigade of foot guards in the first division, and in June, 1813, to the command of the division, which he held until the end of the Peninsular war in 1814, being present at the battle of Vittoria, attack on Tolosa, passage of the Bidassoa, Nivelle, Nive, and Adour; investment of Bayonne, and repulse of the sortie, besides various minor actions. Major-General Howard received a medal and one clasp for Vittoria and Nive. He was subsequently appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth,—a Knight Companion of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath,—and, on the 24th of October, 1816, he was appointed by the Prince Regent, in the name, and on the behalf, of His Majesty King George III., Colonel of the SEVENTIETH regiment. He succeeded Richard, the late Earl of Effingham, in the Barony, when the earldom became extinct, on the 11th of December, 1816. On the 12th of August, 1819, Lord Howard of Effingham was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general, and on the 17th of March, 1820, was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. On the 30th of January, 1832, his Lordship was removed from the SEVENTIETH regiment to the Third foot, or the Buffs. On the 10th of January, 1837, his Lordship was further advanced to the rank of general, and on the 21st of that month was created, by His Majesty King William IV., Earl of Effingham.

His Lordship’s decease occurred at Brighton on the 13th February, 1845.

Gage John Hall,

Appointed 30th January, 1832.

LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE.

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.

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

[Pg xxiii]: (ToC) added page number ‘ix’ to INTRODUCTION entry.
[Pg 6]: ‘Great Britian’ replaced by ‘Great Britain’.