SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF THE
THIRTEENTH, OR, PRINCE ALBERT’S REGIMENT
OF
LIGHT INFANTRY.
Theophilus Earl of Huntingdon.
Appointed 20th June, 1685.
Theophilus seventh Earl of Huntingdon succeeded to that dignity on the decease of his father in 1655. In the reign of King Charles II. he was attached to the principles entertained by James Duke of Monmouth, who was at the head of a political party in the kingdom; but when he suspected the views of those with whom he was connected to be destructive of the constitution, he quitted their party; and in 1683 he was appointed a member of the Privy Council. He held several appointments in the reign of King James II.; was captain of the band of gentleman pensioners, now the honorable corps of gentlemen-at-arms; and on the breaking out of the rebellion of James Duke of Monmouth, in June, 1685, he exerted himself in raising men for the king’s service, and was appointed colonel of one of the regiments of foot embodied on that occasion, now the Thirteenth Light Infantry. At the Revolution in 1688, he adhered to King James II., and being with his regiment in garrison at Plymouth, he was arrested by Colonel the Earl of Bath, Lieut.-Colonel Hastings, and other officers, who declared for the Prince of Orange. Continuing firm in his adherence to the Roman Catholic cause, he was removed from his appointments by King William, was excluded from the benefit of the Act of Indemnity passed on the 23rd of May, 1690, and upon the receipt of advice of the intended descent, in favour of King James, from La Hogue, in 1692, he was sent a prisoner to the Tower of London; but he was not long detained in confinement. The Earl of Huntingdon was one of the peers who protested against the Act of Settlement in 1701. He died suddenly at his house in Charles-street, St. James’s, on the 30th of May, 1701.
Ferdinando Hastings.
Appointed—December, 1688.
Ferdinando Hastings, cousin of Theophilus seventh Earl of Huntingdon, entered the army in the reign of King Charles II., and was promoted to the command of a company in the first foot guards; in 1686, he was appointed lieut.-colonel of the regiment which is now the Thirteenth Light Infantry. At the Revolution in 1688, he united with the Earl of Bath in bringing over the garrison of Plymouth to the interest of the Prince of Orange, and was rewarded with the colonelcy of his regiment. He served in Scotland under Major-General Hugh Mackay, against the clans under Viscount Dundee, and distinguished himself at the battle of Killicrankie on the 27th of June, 1689. He afterwards proceeded with his regiment to Ireland, and served at the battle of the Boyne, and at the reduction of Cork and Kinsale, in 1690: he evinced ability and personal bravery in several detached services in 1691, and served in the expedition, under the Duke of Leinster, in 1692. He was afterwards found guilty of extortion in his regiment, and was cashiered on the 4th of March, 1695.
Sir John Jacob, Bart.
Appointed 13th March, 1689.
Sir John Jacob, Bart., of Bromley, in the county of Middlesex, entered the army in the summer of 1685, and was many years an officer in the regiment which is now the Thirteenth Light Infantry, in which corps he rose to the rank of lieut.-colonel. He evinced great courage, and received a severe wound at the battle of Killicrankie, in June, 1689, where Viscount Dundee was killed; also behaved with signal gallantry, under the eye of his sovereign, at the battle of the Boyne in 1690; and served under the Earl of Marlborough at the capture of Cork and Kinsale. King William highly approved of his conduct, and promoted him to the colonelcy of his regiment in 1695. Being afterwards desirous of retiring from the service, he obtained permission to sell his regiment to his brother-in-law, James Earl of Barrymore, for fourteen hundred guineas. He died in 1739.
James, Earl of Barrymore.
Appointed 15th March, 1702.
James, fourth Earl of Barrymore, embraced the interests of the Prince of Orange at the Revolution in 1688, and was nominated lieut.-colonel in the army on the 31st of December, 1688. He subsequently held the commission of captain in the seventeenth foot, and purchased the colonelcy of the Thirteenth regiment in March, 1702. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in 1706, and to that of major-general in 1708. He served in Portugal in the war of the Spanish succession, and led his regiment to the charge, at the battle of the Caya, on the 7th of May, 1709, with great gallantry, overthrowing all opposition, and recapturing the Portuguese guns; but not being supported by the Portuguese horse of the left wing, his regiment became insulated, and he was taken prisoner. In 1710 he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; and in 1713 he was sworn a member of the Privy Council. He was elected a member of the British Parliament for the Borough of Stockbridge in 1713, and afterwards for Wigan in Lancashire. He retired from his regiment in 1715. His decease occurred on the 5th of January, 1747, at Castlelyons, where a magnificent marble monument was erected to his memory.
Stanhope Cotton.
Appointed 8th July, 1715.
This officer served with reputation in the wars of Queen Anne, as captain, major, and lieut.-colonel of foot; he was several years in Bowles’s regiment, which was disbanded at the peace of Utrecht; and he was rewarded with the rank of colonel, and the appointment of lieut.-governor of Gibraltar. In 1715 he obtained the colonelcy of the Thirteenth foot, then in garrison at Gibraltar, and under his care that regiment was celebrated for its efficiency and orderly conduct. He died on the 7th of December, 1725.
Lord Mark Kerr.
Appointed 25th December, 1725.
Lord Mark Kerr, fourth son of Robert fourth Earl of Lothian, entered the army on the 1st of January, 1694, and served under King William III. in Flanders. On the 1st of January, 1706, he was promoted to the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, with which he served in the expedition under the Earl of Rivers in the same year, and when the projected descent on the coast of France was abandoned, he proceeded to Portugal, and afterwards to Spain. He commanded his regiment at the battle of Almanza, on the 25th of April, 1707, which was formed between two brigades of Portuguese cavalry which quitted the field. His regiment was engaged with very superior numbers: it behaved with great gallantry, but it was literally cut to pieces; his lordship was wounded in the arm, his lieut.-colonel and major were both killed, and his regiment lost twenty-three officers killed, wounded, and prisoners. In 1711 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and in 1712 he was nominated colonel of the twenty-ninth regiment. He commanded a brigade of infantry in the expedition to Spain, under Lord (afterwards Viscount) Cobham, in 1719, and served at the capture of Vigo. In 1725 he obtained the colonelcy of the Thirteenth foot,—was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1727,—removed to the eleventh dragoons in 1732, and advanced to the rank of lieut.-general in 1735. In 1740 he was appointed governor of the island of Guernsey; in 1743 he obtained the rank of general, and in 1745 he was constituted governor of Edinburgh Castle; in 1751 he was placed on the staff of Ireland. It is recorded in the Peerage of Scotland that—‘He was a man of marked and decided character; with the strictest notions of honour and good-breeding, he retained, perhaps, too punctilious an observance of etiquette, as it gave him an air of frivolity. He was soldier-like in his appearance; formal in his deportment; whimsical, even finical, in his dress; but he commanded respect wherever he went, for none dared to laugh at his singularities. Manners, which in foreign courts, where they had been acquired, would have passed unobserved, were considered as fantastic in his own country, and were apt to lead his impatient spirit into rencontres too often fatal to his antagonists. Naturally of a good temper, his frequent appeals to the sword on trivial occasions drew on him the imputation of being a quarrelsome man; but he was inoffensive unless provoked; and never meddled with any one, but such as chose to meddle with him.’ He died on the 2nd of February, 1752.
John Middleton.
Appointed 29th May, 1732.
John Middleton obtained a commission in the army in the reign of King William III., and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1706; he served in Spain in the war of the Spanish succession, and also on board the fleet, where his company was employed as Marines. He was many years an officer in the twenty-fifth foot, in which corps he rose to the rank of lieut.-colonel, and he was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1711. He commanded the twenty-fifth regiment in Scotland, under the Duke of Argyle, during the rebellion of the Earl of Mar; and in 1721 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of that corps, which he commanded until 1732, when he was removed to the Thirteenth foot. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in 1735. His decease occurred on the 4th of May, 1739, at which period he was member of Parliament for Aberdeen.
Henry Pulteney.
Appointed 5th July, 1739.
Henry Pulteney was appointed ensign in a regiment of foot on the 10th of January, 1703, and he served in Queen Anne’s wars, under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough. He was several years in the first foot guards, and was promoted, in July, 1715, to the command of the grenadier company in the second foot guards, with the rank of lieut.-colonel. In 1733 he was promoted to the commission of second major, with the rank of colonel, and in 1734 to that of first major in the second foot guards, from which he was removed, in 1739, to the colonelcy of the Thirteenth regiment; at the same time he was appointed governor of Hull. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in 1742, and accompanied the army to Flanders under the Earl of Stair. In 1743 he was advanced to the rank of major-general; in 1747 to that of lieut.-general, and in 1765 to that of general. On the elevation of his brother to the dignity of Earl of Bath, he was distinguished by the style of Honorable; and upon his brother’s decease, without issue in 1764, he succeeded to his lordship’s immense estates. He afterwards resigned his commissions. He died 26th of October, 1767.
His Royal Highness
William Henry Duke of Gloucester,
K.G., &c. &c. &c.
Appointed 25th June, 1766.
William Henry, third son of Frederick Prince of Wales, (who died 20th of March, 1751) was elected a Knight of the most noble order of the Garter, in 1762; and a few days before he was of full age, viz., on the 17th November, 1764, his brother, King George III., conferred on him the dignity of Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, and Earl of Connaught; in December following he took his seat in the Privy Council. In 1766 His Royal Highness was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth regiment; and on the decease of his brother, Edward, Duke of York, in the autumn of 1767, he had a grant from the King of Cranburne-chase lodge, Windsor Forest. In December of the same year he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and appointed colonel of the third foot guards; and in April, 1770, he was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general, and nominated to the colonelcy of the first regiment of foot guards. He was promoted to the rank of general in 1772, and to that of field marshal in 1793. His Royal Highness was distinguished as a polite scholar and an accomplished gentleman, engaging in his manners, respectful to his sovereign, affable to his acquaintance, and generous and condescending to his inferiors; a liberal supporter of every institution calculated to promote the interests of society, accompanied by a modest serenity of conduct which kept many instances of his generosity out of public view; and a meekness of disposition pervaded every feature of his character, which insured for him the love of all ranks of society. He died on the 25th of August, 1805.
The Honorable James Murray.
Appointed 16th December, 1767.
The Honorable James Murray, son of the Duke of Athol, served several years in the fifteenth foot, of which regiment he was appointed lieut.-colonel on the 15th of January, 1751. He served with his regiment in North America, in the early part of the seven years’ war, had the local rank of colonel in that country on the 7th of January, 1758, and was appointed colonel-commandant in the sixtieth, Royal American regiment, on the 24th of October, 1759. He also served in Germany, under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, and was wounded in the breast with a musket ball, which could not be extracted, and he was never afterwards able to sleep in a recumbent posture. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1762, appointed colonel of the Thirteenth regiment in 1767, in succession to His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, advanced to the rank of lieut.-general in 1772, to that of general in 1783, and removed to the twenty-first, or Royal North British Fusiliers, in 1789. He also held the appointment of governor of Hull. He died in 1794, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
George Ainslie.
Appointed 5th June, 1789.
This officer was appointed in 1755, sub-lieutenant in the second, or Scots, troop of horse grenadier guards, of which the celebrated General Eliott, afterwards Lord Heathfield, Baron Gibraltar, was lieut.-colonel; and when Colonel Eliott raised his famed regiment of “Light Horse,” now the fifteenth, or King’s Hussars, lieutenant Ainslie was appointed captain of the first troop in that regiment. He proceeded with the fifteenth light dragoons to Germany, in 1760, and distinguished himself in the memorable action at Emsdorf, where his regiment acquired great honour. He was also present at numerous other actions, where “Eliott’s Light Horse” availed themselves of every opportunity to acquire additional laurels; and on the 29th of March, 1762, he was promoted to the majority of the regiment. At the engagement near Homburg, on the 1st of July, 1762, he highly distinguished himself, and was commended in the public despatch of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. In the action near Friedberg, on the 30th of August following, he was attacked by three French hussars, and received a dangerous wound in the head. He was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the fifteenth light dragoons in 1770, to the rank of colonel in the army in 1779, and to that of major-general in 1782: in 1789 King George III. rewarded him with the colonelcy of the Thirteenth foot, His Majesty having frequently witnessed, and expressed his high approbation of, the condition of the fifteenth light dragoons under colonel Ainslie’s command. He was afterwards appointed lieut.-governor of Scilly Island, was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in 1796, and to that of general in 1801. He died in 1804.
Alexander Campbell.
Appointed 11th July, 1804.
On the 21st of April, 1769, Alexander Campbell was appointed ensign in the forty-second, Royal Highland regiment, then in Ireland, and in December, 1770, he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the second battalion of the Royals, which he joined at the island of Minorca; in September, 1772, he was advanced to captain of a company in the fiftieth, from which he exchanged to the sixty-second regiment in November following. He embarked for Canada with the sixty-second on the breaking out of the American war, and served the campaign of 1776, under General Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester. In 1777, he served under Lieut.-General Burgoyne, in the desperate attempt to advance from Canada, through the country, in a state of rebellion, to Albany, shared in the toils and fighting of that enterprise, and was included in the convention at Saratoga. On the 26th of December, 1777, he was promoted to major of the seventy-fourth regiment, and proceeding to New York, he was appointed to act as major of the first battalion of light infantry, with which he served two campaigns, and at the termination of the war he commanded at Penobscot. On the 31st of December, 1782, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the sixty-second foot, with which regiment he served in Scotland and Ireland until June, 1789, when he exchanged to captain and lieut.-colonel in the third foot guards. He served the campaign of 1793, and part of that of 1794, in Flanders, under His Royal Highness the Duke of York; he had, in the meantime, been promoted to the rank of colonel (12th October, 1793), and commissioned to raise the 116th regiment of foot, and he withdrew from Flanders. He subsequently commanded a brigade in the forces under Lieut.-General the Earl of Moira, and was promoted to the rank of major-general, on the 26th of February, 1795. In 1796 he served under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, in the West Indies, and was appointed colonel of the seventh West India regiment, in November of that year. He served on the staff at Newcastle in 1797; in Ireland in 1798; and afterwards in Scotland. In 1802 his regiment was disbanded; he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in April of that year, and was placed on the staff of Ireland, and subsequently on that of Scotland, where he served five years. In 1804 he was appointed colonel of the Thirteenth regiment; in 1812 he was promoted to the rank of general, and was removed to the thirty-second regiment in 1813. He died 24th of February, 1832.
Edward Morrison.
Appointed 15th February, 1813.
This officer entered the army as an ensign in the Coldstream Guards, on the 20th January, 1777; was shortly after employed as Assistant Quartermaster-General; and on the 15th September, 1780, succeeded to a lieutenancy with the rank of captain: from November 1781, to June, 1783, he served as aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief in the West Indies. He was promoted to a company, with the rank of lieut.-colonel on 13th January, 1790, and in 1793, was appointed Deputy Quartermaster-General; but obtained permission to join the first battalion of the Coldstream Guards in Flanders, in 1794. He was appointed Governor of Chester on 2nd November, 1796. On the 26th February, 1795, he received the brevet rank of colonel; and on the 19th November, 1800, was appointed colonel of the Leicester fencibles, and on 1st January, 1805, of a battalion in the sixtieth regiment. He was advanced to the rank of major-general on the 1st January, 1798, and in April following was appointed to the Staff in Ireland, where he commanded the Limerick District during the rebellion. He was removed to the Staff in England in July, 1803, and on the 1st January, 1805, was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general; in May, 1809, was appointed lieut.-general and commander of the forces at Jamaica; and was promoted to the rank of general, on the 4th June, 1814. On the 15th February of the previous year, His Majesty King George III. conferred on him the colonelcy of the Thirteenth light infantry, which he held to the period of his decease, which occurred on the 3rd December, 1843.
Sir Robert Henry Sale, G.C.B.
Appointed 15th December, 1843.
At the early age of fourteen this officer had the honour of carrying his Sovereign’s colours as an ensign in the thirty-sixth regiment, to which he was gazetted on the 19th January, 1795; he was promoted to a lieutenancy on the 12th April, 1797, and on the 8th January following exchanged into the twelfth foot, with which regiment he served at the battle of Mallavelly gained by Lieut.-General (afterwards Lord) Harris on the 27th March, 1799. In less than two months occurred the siege of Seringapatam, where Lieutenant Sale’s services were rewarded by a medal. He served throughout the campaign of 1801, in the Wynaud country, and on the 23rd March, 1806, obtained his company. Captain Sale took part in the storming of the Travancore lines in 1809; and was at the capture of the Mauritius in 1810. On the 30th December, 1813, he was promoted to the rank of Major, and the second battalion of the twelfth being reduced in January, 1818, Major Sale was placed on the half-pay. On the 28th June, 1821, he exchanged to the Thirteenth light infantry, with which he proceeded to India, joined the expedition under Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell, and served throughout the Burmese war, being present at the capture of Rangoon and the storming of the stockades near Kemmendine, on both occasions displaying such heroism, that he received the thanks of the commanding officer on the field of battle, and particular notice in the general orders. He also stormed the seven stockades near Kumaroot and Pagoda Point: on the 1st December, of the same year (1824) he stormed the enemy’s lines, and on the 5th of that month led a body of 1600 men in the engagement which resulted in the utter defeat of the foe, who was driven from all his positions. On the 8th December, he commanded in the attack on the rear of the enemy’s lines opposite the Great Pagoda at Rangoon; and on the 15th, stormed the intrenchments at Kokien, where he was severely wounded in the head. In the following year, he commanded a brigade at the reduction of Bassein, and subsequent operations from 10th February to 2nd May, 1825. On the 2nd June, 1825, he attained the rank of lieut.-colonel; on the 1st December, he commanded the first brigade and repulsed the Shaans and Burmese at Prome, and the next day stormed the lines and heights near Prome. He was again severely wounded at the storming of Melloon on the 19th January, 1826. These services were honored with the riband of a companion of the order of the Bath. He became colonel by brevet on the 28th June, 1838, and in the following October, was appointed to the command of the first Bengal brigade of the army of the Indus, which formed the advance throughout the campaign in Affghanistan: he commanded the detachment of 2500 men sent to Girishk in May, 1839, and on the 23rd July, headed the storming party which captured the fortress of Ghuznee, deemed by the Affghans impregnable. A sabre-wound in the chin and contusions on the chest and shoulder from musket-shots were the results of this formidable conflict; but not the only results, for his services were acknowledged by Lord Keane, and Her Majesty conferred upon him the star of a Knight Commander of the Bath, and his name was enrolled in the list of Eastern Knights constituting the order of the Dooranée Empire, which had been founded by Shah Shoojah. In September, 1840, the forces sent to subdue the Kohistan country were entrusted to his command; and after storming the towns and fort of Tootumdurra, Julgar, Babookooshghur, Kardurrah, and Purwan, he compelled Dost Mahomed to surrender to the authorities at Cabool. In forcing the Khoord Cabool Pass on the 12th October, 1841, he was shot through the leg. His gallant defence of Jellalabad,—his daring sorties, and final defeat of the besieging army under Akbar Khan, for which services he received the thanks of Parliament, and was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath, are detailed in the Regimental Record, and completely identify Sir Robert Sale’s name with the Thirteenth light infantry, the connexion being rendered more intimate by Her Majesty, who conferred on him the colonelcy of the regiment in December, 1843, on the decease of General Edward Morrison. On the 29th March, 1844, he was appointed by Her Majesty, Quartermaster-General to the Queen’s troops serving in the East Indies. Advancing with the army to repel the Sikh invasion, Sir Robert Sale had his left thigh so dreadfully shattered by a grapeshot at the battle of Moodkee on the 18th December, 1845, that he did not long survive the wound, but, after a distinguished career, fell like Wolfe, Sir John Moore, and other heroes, in the hour of victory.
Lieut.-General Sir William Maynard Gomm, K.C.B.
Appointed 10th March, 1846.
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.
Variations in spelling (Mc. Creagh, M‘Creagh) have been changed to M‘Creagh. Other instances of M‘ or Mc (M‘Bean, McGuire) have been left unchanged.
[Pg xxxiv]: ‘Re-occcupied Cabool’ replaced by ‘Re-occupied Cabool’.
[Pg 27]: ‘with distintinguished’ replaced by ‘with distinguished’.
[Pg 28]: ‘four aptains’ replaced by ‘four captains’.
[Pg 88]: ‘in he defile’ replaced by ‘in the defile’.
[Pg 121]: ‘such as choose to’ replaced by ‘such as chose to’.
[Pg 127]: ‘the authorites at’ replaced by ‘the authorities at’.