FOOTNOTES:

[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:—

202020302030202020
Harquebuses.Muskets.Halberds.Muskets.Harquebuses.
Archers.Pikes.Pikes.Archers.

The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.

[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at the siege of Barcelona in 1705.

[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed in 1590, observes:—“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the field, let them be chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe. For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during the Seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third Foot, or Buffs.

[4] Vide the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot.

[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes the successes which 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 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 the 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.”—General Orders in 1801.

In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January, 1809, it is stated:—“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 possess, 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.”

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE THIRTY-FIRST,

OR,

THE HUNTINGDONSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT;

CONTAINING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1702,
AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1850;

TO WHICH IS APPENDED,

An ACCOUNT of the SERVICES of the MARINE CORPS,
from 1664 to 1748;

The Thirtieth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second Regiments having been
formed in 1702 as Marine Corps, and retained from 1714 on the Establishment
of the Army as Regiments of Regular Infantry.

COMPILED BY

RICHARD CANNON, Esq.

ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS

ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES

LONDON:

PARKER, FURNIVALL, & PARKER,

30, CHARING CROSS.

1850.

THE THIRTY-FIRST

OR,

THE HUNTINGDONSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT,

BEARS ON THE REGIMENTAL COLOUR AND APPOINTMENTS

THE WORDS “TALAVERA,” “ALBUHERA,” “VITTORIA,”
“PYRENEES,” “NIVELLE,” “NIVE,” “ORTHES,”
AND “PENINSULA.”

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE SERVICES OF THE SECOND BATTALION
DURING THE “PENINSULAR WAR,” FROM 1809 TO 1814.

ALSO

THE WORD “CABOOL, 1842.”

FOR THE DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT OF THE REGIMENT DURING
THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN AFFGHANISTAN
IN THE YEAR 1842;

AND THE WORDS

“MOODKEE,” “FEROZESHAH,” “ALIWAL,” AND
“SOBRAON,”

IN TESTIMONY OF ITS GALLANTRY IN THOSE BATTLES DURING THE
CAMPAIGN ON THE BANKS OF THE SUTLEJ,
FROM DECEMBER 1845, TO FEBRUARY 1846.

THE

THIRTY-FIRST,

OR,