Historical Record of the Thirty-sixth, or the Herefordshire Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1701, and of its subsequent services to 1852

by Richard Cannon

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE THIRTY-SIXTH,

OR THE

HEREFORDSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.

---

1700.

Charles II., King of Spain, being affected with a dangerous indisposition, the European powers, in order to prevent the contention which was expected to arise on the decease of that monarch, determined to divide the Spanish territories among the several competitors. The first “Partition Treaty” was concluded between France, England, and Holland, on the 29th of August 1698; but a second Treaty was rendered necessary, in consequence of the death of the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, who had been declared heir to the Spanish Crown; accordingly, on the 15th of March 1700, a second Treaty was entered into between the same contracting powers, by which it was arranged that Charles Archduke of Austria, the second son of Leopold Emperor of Germany, should succeed to the throne of Spain, a certain portion of the territories of that Kingdom being, as before, allotted to the Dauphin of France; and the Duke of Lorrain was to receive Milan in exchange for his own country, which was to be given to the French nation.

The long expected demise of the King of Spain occurred on the 1st of November 1700; and that Sovereign, incensed at the dismemberment of his dominions, bequeathed the Spanish monarchy to Philip Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin of France; and Louis XIV., disregarding the treaties to which he had been a party, determined to support his grandson’s accession to the throne of Spain.

The French at this period overran the Spanish Netherlands and seized several strong towns, partly garrisoned by the Dutch, which compelled the States of Holland to acknowledge the Duke of Anjou’s title, with a view of obtaining their soldiers, who were not permitted to return, without difficulty.

1701.

It is a singular circumstance of the time, that King William, seeing the unwillingness of the nation to engage in a fresh war, actually acknowledged the Duke of Anjou as King of Spain, and sent him a letter of congratulation. In May 1701, however, the House of Commons unanimously resolved to assist the Dutch, and provide succours for the States General, in order to maintain the liberties of Europe. Several regiments were in the following month embarked for Holland; and additions were also made to the army and navy.

On the 28th of June 1701 a Royal Warrant was issued authorizing William Viscount Charlemont to raise a regiment in Ireland, which was afterwards numbered the Thirty-sixth.

England might have abstained from open hostilities with France had it not been for the following circumstance:—In the midst of these preparations the decease of James II. occurred at St. Germains on the 16th of September 1701, and his son, the titular Prince of Wales, was immediately proclaimed, by order of Louis XIV., as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the title of King James III. This indignity to the British Sovereign and Nation, added to the contemplated union of the crowns of France and Spain, made war inevitable; and King William, with the Emperor of Austria and the States General, concluded “the Grand Alliance,” the principal objects of which were to procure the Spanish Netherlands as a barrier for the Dutch, and to prevent France and Spain becoming eventually under the sway of the same Prince.

1702.

War was thus on the eve of being proclaimed, when King William met with the accident which terminated in his decease on the 8th of March 1702; the accession of Queen Anne, however, caused no alteration in the policy of her predecessor; and war was declared against France and Spain on the 4th of May following; additional forces were sent to Flanders, and the Earl of Marlborough was appointed to command the British, Dutch, and auxiliary troops, with the rank of Captain-General. The contest which ensued is known as “the war of the Spanish succession.”

Six regiments had been added to the regular army in the year 1702 as marine corps, and six other of the regular regiments of infantry (the Thirty-sixth being among the number) were appointed for sea service; as shown in the following list:—

The six regiments of marines were,—

Colonel Thomas Saunderson’s, now Thirtieth foot.
Colonel George Villiers’s, now Thirty-first foot.
Colonel Edward Fox’s, now Thirty-second foot.
Colonel Harry Mordaunt’s, disbanded in 1713.
Colonel Henry Holl’s, disbanded in 1713.
Colonel Viscount Shannon’s, disbanded in 1713.

The six regiments of foot for sea service were,—

Colonel Ventris Columbine’s, now Sixth foot.
Colonel Thomas Erle’s, now Nineteenth foot.
Colonel Gustavus Hamilton’s, now Twentieth foot.
Colonel Lord Lucas’s, now Thirty-fourth foot.
Colonel Earl of Donegal’s, now Thirty-fifth foot.
Colonel Viscount Charlemont’s, now Thirty-sixth foot.

The following is a copy of the Royal Warrant for levying this body of men, which was dated the 1st of June 1702.

“Anne R.

“Our pleasure is, that this establishment of six regiments of marines and six other regiments for sea service do commence and take place from the respective times of raising.

“And our further pleasure is, that the order given by our dearest brother, the late King deceased, and such orders as are, or shall be, given by us, touching the pay or entertainment of our said forces, or any of them, or any charges thereunto belonging, shall be duly complied with; and that no new charge be added to this establishment without being communicated to our High Treasurer or Commissioners of our Treasury for the time being.

“Given at our Court at St. James’s, on the first day
“of June, in the first year of our reign.
“By Her Majesty’s command,

“Godolphin.”

Prior to the decease of King William the reduction of Cadiz had been contemplated, after which it was resolved to embark an expedition against the possessions of Spain in the West Indies. Queen Anne following out this policy, it was arranged that a combined fleet of English and Dutch ships, consisting of fifty sail of the line, besides frigates, under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and a land force, amounting to nearly fourteen thousand men, under the command of the Duke of Ormond, should proceed to the coast of Spain. The following corps were selected for this service, namely,—

	Officers and Men.
Lloyd’s dragoons, now Third light dragoons (detachment)	275
Foot guards, the Grenadier and Coldstream	755
Sir H. Bellasis, now Second foot	834
Churchill’s, now Third foot	834
Seymour’s, now Fourth foot	834
Columbine’s, now Sixth foot	724
O’Hara’s, three companies, now Seventh Royal fusiliers	313
Erle’s, now Nineteenth foot	724
Gustavus Hamilton’s, now Twentieth foot	724
Villiere’s marines, five companies, now Thirty-first foot	520
Fox’s marines, now Thirty-second foot	834
Donegal’s, now Thirty-fifth foot	724
Charlemont’s, now Thirty-sixth foot	724
Shannon’s marines	834
	——
	9,653
Dutch regiments commanded by Major-General Baron Sparre and Brigadier Pallandt	3,924
	13,577

The Thirty-sixth regiment, having been selected as part of the force to share in this enterprise, was withdrawn from Ireland, and proceeded to the Isle of Wight in June 1702, and embarked for Cadiz in July.

In the Harleian Manuscripts at the British Museum, the embarkation return of the regiment is preserved, of which the following is a copy:—

The Right Honble ye Lord Viscount Charlemont’s Regt.
	Captains.	Lieutenants.
On board the Grey.	┌ Wm Lord Charlemont, Colonel.	James Crofton
	│ Charles Wills, Lieut.-Colonel.	Wm Whitaker
	│ Arthur Moore, Major	Jas. Bamber
	│ Thos. Alnutt	Alex. Foster
	└ Henry Frankland	James Brough

	Ensigns.	Serjts.	Corpls.	Drs.	Centinels.
	Thos Caulfeild	2	3	2	43
	Michl Merritt	2	3	2	42
	Rogr Mosten	2	3	2	44
	Wm King	2	3	2	43
	——	2	3	2	40

	Captains.	Lieutenants.
On board the Ruth.	┌ Hen. Fulvile	Hen. Fitzhugh
	│ Jno. Hutchinson	Andw Dunbar
	│ Medburn Smith	Robt Ennis
	└ Jno. Dentilly	Anth. Callion

	Ensigns.	Serjts.	Corpls.	Drs.	Centinels.
	Wm. Cuffe	2	3	2	43
	Wm. Musgrave	2	3	2	42
	Wm. Airs	2	3	2	42
	——	2	3	2	44

	Captains.	Lieutenants.
On board the Friendship.	┌ James Brathwait	Alex. Crage
	│ Josias Campbell	——
	└ Wm. Edwards	Jno. Mabbott

	Ensigns.	Serjts.	Corpls.	Drs.	Centinels.
	Wm. Levinston	2	3	2	43
	Jno. Lloyd	2	3	2	44
	Wm. Hargrave	2	3	2	44
12 11	10	24	36	24	514

On board the Grey.	Tobias Caulfeild, Chaplain.	On board the Ruth.	Laur. Bondelt, Surgeon.
	Robt. Wilson, Adjt. & Quarter Master.		Jno. Robins, Surgeon’s Mate.
Detached of ye Regt., and put on board ye Vulture Fireshipp,one Lieutenant, one Sergt, one Corpll., and twenty-six men.
			(Signed) Ar. Moore.

The difference in the number embarked, as shown in the foregoing document, and that specified against the Thirty-sixth in the list of regiments ordered to proceed to Cadiz, arises from the establishment being given in the first instance, while the embarkation return has reference only to effectives.

The armament appeared off Cadiz on the 12th of August, and the Duke of Ormond summoned the place; his terms being refused, a landing was effected between Rota and Fort St. Catherine on the 15th of that month, where the troops encountered and repulsed some Spanish cavalry. St. Catherine’s fort was compelled to surrender, and Port St. Mary’s was occupied by the British troops; the expedition, however, proved not of sufficient force to capture Cadiz, which was found much stronger and better garrisoned than was expected from the information which had been received in England prior to the fitting out of the armament, and the soldiers returned on board the fleet. The Thirty-sixth regiment was afterwards detached from Cadiz to the West Indies with a division of the royal navy under Commodore Walker, and sailed on this service on the 24th of September.

1703.

A powerful armament was prepared for the attack of the French and Spanish settlements in the West Indies in 1703, but this enterprise was subsequently abandoned.

1704.

After losing several men from the effects of the climate, the regiment was withdrawn from the West Indies, and was stationed in Ireland in the year 1704.

1705.

The successes obtained by the Duke of Marlborough in Flanders and Germany led to an attempt to place the Archduke Charles of Austria on the throne of Spain by force of arms. In the former year Gibraltar had been captured by the combined English and Dutch fleets, and in connexion with these events the Thirty-sixth regiment was embarked from Ireland in April 1705, in order to proceed with the force under the Earl of Peterborough.

The design of this expedition was either to aid the Duke of Savoy in driving the French out of Italy, to make an attempt on Naples and Sicily, or to further the progress of the Archduke in Spain. The fleet arrived at Lisbon in June, and additional forces were embarked; at the same time the Archduke Charles went on board the fleet to share in the toils and dangers inseparable from the enterprise. From Lisbon the expedition proceeded to Gibraltar, where it was joined by the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt and a reinforcement from the garrison.

The fleet next proceeded to the bay of Altea, in Valencia, and there the officers and soldiers had opportunities of observing the attachment of the inhabitants of that part of Spain to the Austrian Prince. A thousand Catalonians and Valentians who had thrown off their allegiance to the house of Bourbon, and had acknowledged the Archduke Charles as the Sovereign of Spain, seized on the town of Denia, while others made demonstrations of giving effectual aid to the expedition; such a spirit of enterprise was evinced by King Charles, the Earl of Peterborough, the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, and others, that both officers and men became imbued with the ardent zeal of their superiors, and resolved to effect something great and remarkable.

Under these feelings, the celebrated city of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, and one of the most ancient towns in Spain, was selected as the scene of the first attempt. Its situation on a plain near the sea, with a mole capable of containing only galleys and small ships, defended by ten bastions, several old towers, and other works, with a strong castle and citadel named Montjuich, on a hill on the west side, and commanding the town; the garrison consisting of between five and six thousand men under the Viceroy of Catalonia, Don Francisco de Velasco, while the besieging army was unable to bring more than seven thousand men into the lines; these circumstances, with the fact that in 1697 this fortress resisted the Duke of Vendôme, with a French army of thirty thousand men, eight weeks with open trenches, and cost the French monarch twelve thousand men, gave an interesting and romantic character to the enterprise, in which the Thirty-Sixth, and other regiments employed, gained much honour. It is also to be noticed, that it was the same Prince of Hesse Darmstadt who was now engaged in capturing what he had before so nobly defended; for it was a question whether the Duke of Vendôme gained more glory by the taking, than the Prince of Darmstadt by defending Barcelona, when employed in the Spanish service.

The Earl of Peterborough landed his troops on the 23d and 24th of August near the river Bassoz, about three miles east of Barcelona. On the 28th of that month, King Charles came on shore, and several of the inhabitants of the neighbouring towns and villages greeted his landing with great acclamations. The progress of the siege was, however, retarded by opposite opinions and views entertained by the superior officers. It was at length determined to surprise the detached fortress of Montjuich, as proposed by the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt. The storming party of four hundred grenadiers, selected from the various corps employed in the siege, with a support of six hundred musketeers, commenced its march in the night of Sunday the 13th of September, round the mountains, and were followed by another detachment and a party of dragoons. The greater part of the way not being passable for above one man abreast, and the night very dark, the first detachment was nearly twelve hours on the march, and did not arrive at the foot of the mountain until break of day of the 14th of September; some Miquelets, in the service of the enemy, gave the alarm to the troops in the castle and in the town, so that the Prince of Hesse, on his arrival, found the garrison in arms, with guards in the outworks, who received the Confederates with a general discharge of artillery and small arms. Upon this the Prince of Hesse, and the Viscount Charlemont, Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment, (who commanded on the 14th of September as Brigadier, in consequence of the indisposition of the Dutch Brigadier Schonenberg,) ordered Lieut.-Colonel Southwell, of the Sixth foot, to commence the attack with the grenadiers; this service was performed with signal intrepidity and resolution. Upon this success the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt advanced to possess himself of a post which would prevent the enemy’s communication with the town, and in the attempt was mortally wounded. The loss of this officer damped the spirits of the soldiers;—the enemy, perceiving some disorder amongst the Confederates, called out, “Long live King Charles!” and invited the assailants to come to them; upon Colonel Allen’s advance to the fort, with about two hundred and fifty men, the Spaniards opened the gate the better to conceal their stratagem, but immediately fired upon the men, and compelled this detachment to surrender; at the same time, a large reinforcement was seen advancing from the town to aid the garrison in the castle, whereupon the troops were seized with a panic, and Lord Charlemont, with other officers, endeavoured to counteract the disorder which ensued.

Upon the Earl of Peterborough receiving this intelligence, his lordship placed himself at the head of the detachments that were retreating,—rallied them, and ultimately regained the posts they had before so nobly acquired; the Spaniards who were advancing from the town retired, and the outworks of Montjuich were gained. Batteries were then constructed, and the inner works were assailed with cannon balls, bombs, and grenades. After the action was over, the Earl of Peterborough introduced Lord Charlemont and Lieut.-Colonel Southwell to the King of Spain, as officers that had done His Majesty signal service on this occasion; for which they both received the thanks of that Prince.[6]

On the 17th of September, Lieut.-Colonel Southwell, of the Sixth regiment of foot, being on duty in the trenches, observed that the bombs thrown by a Dutch bombardier from a small mortar fell to the left of the fort, and concluding that there was a magazine in the place, he traversed the mortar himself more to the right, and fired it; the bomb fell into a small chapel where the garrison had stored their powder, which exploded, and buried a number of officers and men in the ruins. Lieut.-Colonel Southwell advanced at the head of his men, and was met by the surviving officers and men of the garrison, who immediately surrendered the fortress. The Lieut.-Colonel was made Governor of the place, in consideration of his services.

The capture of Montjuich facilitated the siege of the city of Barcelona, which was prosecuted with vigour; and on the 4th of October the garrison agreed to capitulate. The Viceroy made several extravagant demands, which occupied some days in debating, so that the capitulation was not signed until the evening of the 9th of October; it was agreed that the Angel-gate and bastion should be immediately delivered up to the Allies, and the whole city four days after, when the garrison should march out with all the honours of war. The capture of Barcelona was accompanied by the submission to King Charles of all Catalonia, with the exception of Roses.

King Charles commenced forming a Spanish army for his service; he soon had five hundred dragoons for a guard, and six regiments of infantry. He was joined by Colonel Nebot, who forsook the service of King Philip with a regiment of horse, and in a short time the province of Valencia submitted to the Austrian Prince.

1706.

The regiment continued under the immediate directions of the Earl of Peterborough, with whose achievements its services are connected; his raising the siege of San Matteo, the capture of Monviedro, his exploits in Valencia, and the relief of the capital of that province,—successes gained with a small body of soldiers over a numerous army,—carry with them the appearance of fiction and romance more than of sober reality; but being supported by abundance of collateral and direct evidence, the truth of these achievements is unquestionable. Unfortunately, no documents have been discovered to prove what particular corps his lordship left in garrison, and what he took with him in his daring enterprise in Valencia; the part taken by the First and Eighth dragoons, the Thirteenth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-fourth foot, and a few other corps, can be clearly made out from history; but whether the Thirty-sixth remained in garrison in Catalonia, or was employed in the enterprise in Valencia, has not been ascertained.

King Charles and his counsellors, instead of exerting themselves to provide for the security of the towns which had been acquired, and collecting the means for future conquests, wasted their time and money in balls and public diversions. The breaches in Barcelona and the detached fortress of Montjuich were left unrepaired, and the garrison unprovided for a siege. Meanwhile King Philip was obtaining reinforcements from the frontiers of Portugal, from Italy, Provence, Flanders, and the Rhine; and he soon appeared at the head of above twenty thousand men to recapture the provinces he had lost. A powerful French and Spanish force approached Barcelona by land, a French fleet appeared before the place, and the enemy encamped before the north side of the city on the 2nd of April 1706.

The Earl of Peterborough hastened from Valencia with a body of select troops, but found the town so closely beset that he was unable to force his way into it, when he took to the mountains, and harassed the enemy with skirmishes and night alarms. When the garrison was nearly exhausted, its numbers decreased from deaths, wounds, sickness, and other causes to about a thousand effective men, and a practicable breach was ready for the enemy to attack the place by storm, the English and Dutch fleet arrived with five regiments of foot; the French fleet withdrew from before the town, and the reinforcements were landed. Barcelona being thus relieved, the enemy, having lost six thousand men before the town, made a precipitate retreat on the 12th of May, leaving two hundred brass cannon, thirty mortars, and vast quantities of ammunition and provision behind him, together with the sick and wounded of his army, whom Marshal de Tessé recommended to the humanity of the British commander.

Barcelona was thus preserved by British skill and valour; and the Thirty-sixth, with the other regiments in garrison, received the thanks of King Charles for this important service.

On the 10th of May 1706, Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Alnutt was promoted to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment, in succession to the Viscount Charlemont, who had been removed by the Earl of Peterborough. A complaint on this subject was subsequently preferred by Lord Charlemont; and the reports made by the council of general officers, after a patient investigation, are inserted in the memoir of that nobleman, as Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment, at [page 109]. These documents are highly flattering to Viscount Charlemont, and bear ample testimony to his gallant conduct at Barcelona.

An immediate advance upon Madrid having been resolved upon, the Marquis das Minas and the Earl of Galway, who commanded a British, Portuguese, and Dutch force on the frontiers of Portugal, were requested to penetrate boldly to the capital of Spain. To engage in this service the Thirty-sixth embarked from Barcelona, and proceeded by sea to Valencia, where King Charles was expected to arrive with the cavalry by land. While in Valencia the regiment furnished a detachment of non-commissioned officers and soldiers, which, with similar detachments from other corps of infantry, were formed into a regiment of dragoons, named the Earl of Peterborough’s regiment.

Requena and Cuenza, which places lie on the line of march from Valencia to Madrid, were captured after a short resistance by the troops detached under Major-General Wyndham. Meanwhile the army from Portugal had penetrated to Madrid, and was anxiously awaiting the arrival of King Charles, who, following the pernicious advice of his Italian counsellors, delayed his journey, and eventually proceeded by way of Arragon. This afforded time for the French and Spanish troops under King Philip to re-enter Spain; and uniting with the forces under the Duke of Berwick, the enemy had a great superiority of numbers. The allies were forced to retire from their forward position, and being joined on the 17th of September at Veles, by the troops which had been detached under Major-General Wyndham, they continued their route towards the frontiers of Valencia and Murcia, where they remained during the winter.

1707.

The Thirty-sixth, in the year 1707, joined part of the Allied army, which was composed of English, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch, commanded by the Marquis das Minas and the Earl of Galway, and took the field for offensive operations in the early part of April. After destroying several of the enemy’s magazines, the siege of the castle of Villena was undertaken, and while this was in progress, a French and Spanish force, of very superior numbers, commanded by the Duke of Berwick, advanced to the plains of Almanza. As the enemy expected the arrival of reinforcements under the Duke of Orleans, the allied generals, though much inferior in numbers, resolved to attack their adversaries without delay.

The following regiments were present at the battle of Almanza, and their effective strength is taken from the weekly return dated 22nd of April, three days prior to the battle:—

		Men.
Harvey’s horse, now Second dragoon guards		227
Carpenter’s dragoons, now Third light dragoons	┐	292
Essex’s dragoons, now Fourth light dragoons	┘
Killegrew’s dragoons, now Eighth hussars		51
Pearce’s dragoons, disbanded		273
Peterborough’s dragoons, disbanded		303
Guiscard’s dragoons, disbanded		228
Foot guards		400
Portmore’s, now Second foot		462
Southwell’s, now Sixth foot		505
Stewart’s, now Ninth foot		467
Hill’s, now Eleventh foot		472
Blood’s, now Seventeenth foot		461
Mordaunt’s, now Twenty-eighth foot		532
Wade’s, now Thirty-third foot		458
Gorges’s, now Thirty-fifth foot		616
Alnutt’s, now Thirty-sixth foot		412
Montjoy’s, disbanded		508
Mackartney’s, disbanded		494
Bretton’s, disbanded		428
John Caulfeild’s, disbanded		470
Lord Mark Kerr’s, disbanded		429
Count Nassau’s, disbanded		422
Total		8,910

After a march of several hours along the rugged tracts of Murcia under a burning sun, the soldiers arrived in the presence of the enemy, at Almanza, about noon on the 25th of April. It was nearly three o’clock in the afternoon when the battle commenced. The Thirty-sixth were formed in brigade with the Ninth, Eleventh, and Lord Mark Kerr’s regiments under Colonel Hill, and Mino’s Portuguese dragoons were posted in the centre of the brigade, which was stationed in the second line; but nine of the enemy’s battalions having attacked Major-General Wade’s brigade, consisting of the Sixth, Seventeenth, Thirty-third, and Lord Montjoy’s regiments, the Ninth moved forward to their support. Great valour was displayed, but in vain, for the flight of the Portuguese squadrons had left the British and Dutch exposed to the weight and power of the enemy’s superior numbers, and no hope of victory remained. The Earl of Galway effected his retreat with the dragoons; several general officers collected the broken remains of the English infantry, which fought in the centre, into a body, and uniting them with some Dutch and Portuguese, formed a column of nearly four thousand men, which retreated two leagues, repulsing the pursuing enemy from time to time. On arriving at the woody hills of Caudete, the men were so exhausted with fatigue that they were unable to proceed further: they passed the night in the wood without food, and on the following morning they were surrounded by the enemy. Being without ammunition, ignorant of the country, and having no prospect of obtaining food, they surrendered prisoners of war.

Thus ended a battle in which the Thirty-sixth regiment behaved with great gallantry, but was nearly annihilated. Captains Musgrave and Parsons, Lieutenants Ayriss and Ballance, and Ensign Wells were killed; the following officers of the regiment were taken prisoners:—

Colonel Alnutt (wounded).
Lieut.-Colonel Frankland.
Lieut.-Colonel Barry (wounded).
Lieutenant Hicks.
Lieutenant Duckinfeild (wounded).
Lieutenant Wants.
Lieutenant Dancer (wounded).
Lieutenant Bishop.
Ensign Bennet (wounded).
Ensign Erwine.
Ensign Sheen (wounded).
Ensign Pascal.
Ensign Money.

The number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers killed, wounded, and taken prisoners at the battle of Almanza has not been ascertained; those who escaped, and were found serviceable, were afterwards transferred to other corps in Spain, and certain of the officers returned to England to recruit the regiment.

On the 15th of September 1707, orders were addressed to Colonel Alnutt to recruit and fill up the respective companies of the regiment; and the recruits were to assemble at Chester and Namptwich, which places were appointed for the rendezvous of the corps.

1708.

In the Annals of Queen Anne for the year 1708, it is stated, “Some time before, orders and commissions were delivered for new raising the regiments of—

Mordaunt’s, afterwards Twenty-eighth regiment,
Wade’s, afterwards Thirty-third regiment,
Gorges’s, afterwards Thirty-fifth regiment,
Alnutt’s, afterwards Thirty-sixth regiment,
Montjoy’s, afterwards disbanded,
Mackartney’s, afterwards disbanded,
Lord Mark Kerr’s, afterwards disbanded,

which suffered most at the battle of Almanza, and the officers whereof, who were prisoners in France, were supplied by others.”

1709.

Colonel Archibald Earl of Ilay, afterwards Duke of Argyle, was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 23d of March 1709, in succession to Colonel Thomas Alnutt, deceased.

1710.

On the 23d of October 1710, Colonel Henry Desaulnais (afterwards spelt Desney) from the Coldstream foot guards, was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment, in succession to Colonel the Earl of Ilay, resigned.

During the nine years which this war had been raging in Europe, British blood and treasure had been expended in making conquests for the house of Austria. The only advantage which had accrued to Great Britain was, that the power of the House of Bourbon had been diminished, and that of Austria augmented; the new Ministry chosen by Queen Anne, in 1710, resolved to act upon a different principle. Colonel Nicholson having made a successful attack on Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, on his return to England he submitted to the Government a plan for the reduction of Placentia and Quebec, as a preparatory measure for acquiring Canada for the British crown, and for expelling the French from Newfoundland, in order to regain the fishery.

Canada is stated to have been discovered by the famous Italian adventurer, Sebastian Cabot, who sailed under a commission from Henry VII.; and as the English monarch did not make any use of the discovery, the French soon attempted to derive advantage from it. Several small settlements were established, and in the early part of the seventeenth century the city of Quebec was founded for the capital of the French possessions in this part of the world. Although the colony continued in a very depressed state for some time, and the settlers were frequently in danger of being exterminated by the Indians, yet, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, it had become of such importance that its capture was considered one of the best means of weakening the power of Louis XIV.

1711.

An expedition, consisting of about five thousand men, was accordingly ordered to proceed to North America under Brigadier-General Hill, for the purpose of making an attempt on Quebec. A large fleet formed part of the armament under Commodore Sir Hovenden Walker, and the force was to be further strengthened by troops from the North American colonies. The following regiments were employed on the expedition:—

Kirke’s regiment, now Second foot.
The Queen’s, now Fourth foot.
Hill’s, now Eleventh foot.
Desney’s, now Thirty-sixth foot.
Windress’s, now Thirty-seventh foot.
Clayton’s, disbanded in 1712.
Kane’s, disbanded in 1713.
Churchill’s Marines, disbanded in 1713.
Walton’s and Vetch’s, North American Militia, joined
the expedition at Boston.

On arriving at North America the fleet called at Boston for a supply of provisions, and the troops landed and encamped a short time on Rhode Island; but on the 20th of July they re-embarked, and having been joined by two regiments of provincial troops commanded by Colonels Walton and Vetch, sailed on the 30th of July from Boston for the river St. Lawrence. The expedition did not reach the river St. Lawrence until the 21st of August, when it encountered storms, and being furnished with bad pilots, eight transports, a store-ship, and a sloop were lost by shipwreck, and twenty-nine officers, six hundred and seventy-six soldiers, and thirty-five women of the Fourth, Thirty-seventh, Colonel Kane’s, and Colonel Clayton’s regiments, perished. There was also a scarcity of provisions. It was, therefore, determined in a council of war, that further operations should be abandoned. Some of the regiments engaged in the expedition proceeded to Annapolis Royal, in Nova Scotia, but the Thirty-sixth returned to England, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 9th of October.

On the 12th of October 1711, Charles III., the claimant to the throne of Spain, was elected Emperor of Germany by the title of Charles VI., his brother Joseph having died at Vienna in the preceding April. This circumstance materially affected the war, and inclined Great Britain to agree to peace; for the consolidation of Spain with the Empire of Germany would have perilled the balance of power in Europe as much as the anticipated union of the crowns of France and Spain. The course of events had also shown, that a French and not an Austrian Prince was the choice of the Spanish nation.

Louis XIV. finding his armies defeated and dispirited, by the victorious troops under the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, at length sued for peace, negociations for which were shortly afterwards commenced.

1712.

The conditions of a Treaty of Peace having been agreed upon between Queen Anne and the French monarch, Dunkirk was delivered up to the British by Louis XIV., as a security for the performance of the stipulations, and the Thirty-sixth formed part of the force embarked under Brigadier-General Hill, to occupy that fortress. The regiment sailed from the Downs on the 7th of July 1712, with the fleet under Admiral Sir John Leake; on the following day the troops landed at Dunkirk, relieving the French guards at the citadel.

1713.

While the regiment was stationed at Dunkirk the Treaty of Utrecht was signed on the 11th of April 1713, which terminated the “War of the Spanish Succession.”

1714.

In the spring of 1714, the Thirty-sixth regiment returned to England; on the 1st of August of that year Queen Anne died, and was succeeded by King George I. The new sovereign having been quietly seated on the throne, the regiment proceeded to Ireland, and was placed on the establishment of that country.

1715.

On the 11th of July 1715, Colonel William Egerton was appointed by His Majesty King George I. to be Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment, in succession to Colonel H. Desney, upon whom was subsequently conferred the colonelcy of the Twenty-ninth regiment.

While the regiment was in Ireland, an insurrection was organized in England, by the partizans of the house of Stuart; at the same time the Earl of Mar summoned the Highland clans to arms, and proclaimed the Pretender King of Great Britain. On the breaking out of the rebellion, the regiment was withdrawn from Ireland, in the autumn of 1715; and it joined the troops encamped near Stirling under the Duke of Argyle.

In the early part of November, the rebel army advanced towards the Forth, with the view of penetrating to England, and the Duke of Argyle marched from Stirling to Dumblaine, near Sheriffmuir, for the purpose of opposing the progress of the insurgents. On the morning of Sunday, the 13th of November, the enemy, ten thousand strong, was seen advancing in order of battle; and the King’s troops, not mustering four thousand men, moved forward to engage their opponents. The Thirty-sixth regiment was in the left wing of the royal army. At a critical moment it was ordered to make a change of position, and, while in the act of re-forming, it was attacked by an immense body of Highlanders, the élite of the insurgent host. The soldiers were unable to withstand the very superior numbers of their opponents, and the left wing became separated from the main body of the army, and retired beyond Dumblaine, to gain possession of the passes leading to Stirling. In the meantime, the right wing of the royal army had overpowered the left wing of the rebels, and chased it from the field. Thus both generals had one wing victorious, and one wing defeated: both in consequence claimed the victory. The insurgents were, however, prevented penetrating southward, and were defeated in their object. The Thirty-sixth had one serjeant and twenty-one rank and file killed; Captain Danoer, and fourteen rank and file, were wounded. From the field of battle the troops proceeded to Stirling, where they again encamped.

1716.

Towards the end of December the Pretender arrived in Scotland, and assumed all the ensigns of royalty. He held his court at Scone, and his head-quarters were at Perth: but the Highland chieftains finding it impossible to resist the royal forces, resolved to abandon the enterprize. They, however, burnt several villages, to distress the Duke of Argyle in his march, who, in January 1716, obliged them to abandon Perth, whence they retired to Montrose, where the Pretender escaped on board a French ship, together with the Earl of Mar and other adherents. After this the rebels dispersed to the Highlands.

The Thirty-sixth regiment was subsequently stationed at Dumbarton.

1718.

In the year 1718 the Thirty-sixth regiment proceeded to Ireland. In July 1718, the King of Spain having taken Sardinia and invaded Sicily, the “Quadruple Alliance” was formed between Great Britain, France, Germany, and Holland. War was declared against Spain in December by England and France.

1719.

The King of Spain afterwards made preparations in favour of the Pretender, and the Thirty-sixth regiment embarked, in March 1719, at Cork for Great Britain.

Brigadier-General Sir Charles Hotham, Bart., was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 7th of July 1719, in succession to Colonel Egerton, removed to the Twentieth regiment.

1720.

In January 1720 the King of Spain accepted the conditions of peace, and acceded to the “Quadruple Alliance,” which had been formed two years previously between Great Britain, France, Germany, and Holland; in consequence of which the regiment returned to Ireland, where it remained for several years.

On the 2d of December 1720 Colonel John Pocock was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment, in succession to Brigadier-General Sir Charles Hotham, Bart., removed to the Eighth, or the King’s regiment of foot.

1721.

Lieut.-Colonel Charles Lenoe was promoted from the Coldstream guards to be colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment, on the 21st of April 1721, in succession to Colonel John Pocock, removed to the Eighth, or the King’s regiment of foot.

1732.

On the 14th of May 1732, Brigadier-General John Moyle was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment, upon the removal to the Eighth, or the King’s regiment of foot, of Colonel Charles Lenoe.

1737.

Lieut.-Colonel Humphrey Bland, from the Second horse, now the First dragoon guards, was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 27th of June 1737, in succession to Major-General John Moyle, removed to the Twenty-second regiment.

1739.

The claim of the Spanish Government to the right of search, and the aggressions committed by that power on the commerce of Great Britain, in the West Indies, by the guarda-costas and other ships acting by authority of the King of Spain, contrary to the existing treaties, led to a Convention between the two Crowns, which was concluded on the 14th of January 1739. This Convention stipulated, that compensation should be made by Spain to the English Government, in reparation for the hostilities committed on the British subjects in the American seas. The Court of Madrid, however, violated the Convention, and hostilities being on the eve of commencing, the Thirty-sixth regiment was removed from Ireland to Great Britain in September 1739. On the 23d of October following, war was proclaimed by Great Britain against Spain.

1740.

A formidable armament was prepared for the attack of the Spanish colonies in the West Indies, and the land forces were placed under the command of General Lord Cathcart. On the 12th of June 1740 the Thirty-sixth regiment was ordered to proceed to Portsmouth for embarkation, but only a portion of the corps subsequently proceeded on this service. Some delay occurred by the fleet being twice driven back by contrary winds. On the 26th of October it sailed a third time, and was dispersed by a tempest in the Bay of Biscay; but the greater part of the vessels were re-collected, and proceeded on the voyage. Arriving at the neutral island of Dominica, to provide wood and water, the troops sustained the loss of their commander, Lord Cathcart, (then Colonel of the Sixth dragoon guards, or Carabineers,) who died of dysentery; the command, in consequence, devolved on Brigadier-General Thomas Wentworth, Colonel of the Twenty-fourth regiment.

1741.

Lieut.-Colonel James Fleming was promoted from the Seventh Royal fusiliers to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 9th of January 1741, in succession to Colonel Humphrey Bland, removed to the Thirteenth dragoons.

Upon arriving at Jamaica, in January 1741, the expedition was joined by Vice-Admiral Vernon; but the season of the year for active service in the West Indies was fast passing away, and several circumstances concurred to create further delay. At length an attempt on Carthagena, the capital of a wealthy province in the country of Terra Firma, in South America, was resolved upon. This place was found strongly fortified, and the garrison was reinforced by the crews of a squadron of large ships. A landing was effected on the island of Terra Bomba, near the mouth of the harbour, on the 10th of March, and the siege of the principal fort or castle, named Bocca-chica, was commenced. On the evening of the 25th of March the grenadiers mounted the breach to storm the fortress, when the Spanish garrison fled, and the place was captured without loss.

Two channels having been made through the sunk vessels with which the Spaniards had blocked up the entrance of the harbour, the troops and artillery were re-embarked, and commenced landing on the 5th of April near the city. The country round Carthagena was found covered with trees and herbage of the most luxuriant growth, and the interwoven branches formed a shelter impenetrable both to heat and light; as the troops, led by Brigadier-General Blakeney, advanced along a narrow defile, several men were wounded by shots from the openings into the wood; on diverging from the defile six hundred Spaniards were seen advantageously posted to dispute the passage; but they were speedily driven from their ground, and the British bivouacked within a mile of the castle of Lazar, which commanded the town. The men passed three nights in the open air for want of tents and tools, which could not be landed sooner, and the health of the soldiers was in consequence seriously injured. The siege of the castle was commenced, but as the men were fast diminishing in numbers from hard duty and the effects of climate, Brigadier-General Wentworth resolved to attack St. Lazar by escalade. The attempt was made on the 9th of April before day-break, but without success, although the assailants evinced distinguished gallantry. After sustaining a most destructive fire for several hours with intrepidity and perseverance, the troops were ordered to retire, having sustained a severe loss in killed and wounded.

Violent periodical rains commenced, the country was deluged with water, and the change of atmosphere produced fatal effects on the health of the men, who were drenched with rain. All hope of further success immediately vanished, and the troops returned on board the fleet, where numbers died from the distempers incidental to the climate.

The forts of the harbour of Carthagena having been demolished, the fleet sailed for Jamaica, and the portion of the Thirty-sixth regiment which had formed part of the expedition subsequently returned to Great Britain.

1743.

During the year 1743 the Thirty-sixth regiment was stationed in Great Britain.

1744.

In the year 1744 France and Great Britain, from being auxiliaries in the “War of the Austrian Succession,”[7] became principals in the contest. On the 20th of March 1744 France declared war against England, and on the 29th of that month a counter-declaration was made by Great Britain, in which the French Monarch was accused of violating the “Pragmatic Sanction,”[8] and of assisting the son of the Pretender in his designs on the British throne.

In the spring of 1744 the Thirty-sixth and other regiments were embarked to join the troops in Flanders; but the operations of the British army during that year were confined to the defensive, and no general engagement occurred.

1745.

In the spring of 1745 a French army, commanded by Marshal Saxe, invested Tournay, and the Duke of Cumberland, who had assumed the command of the allied army of British, Dutch, and Austrians, advanced to the relief of the town. The Thirty-sixth regiment was left in garrison at Ghent, and was consequently not at the battle of Fontenoy, which was fought on the 11th of May. The Duke of Cumberland having failed in the attempt to relieve Tournay, retreated and encamped his army at Lessines. In the meantime events were transpiring in Scotland which occasioned the Thirty-sixth and other regiments to be embarked for England.

Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, having arrived at a remote part of Scotland, was joined by many of the Highland clans, when he proceeded to assert his father’s pretentions to the throne. The young adventurer and his hardy mountaineers made considerable progress, and advanced as far as Derby, but subsequently retreated towards Scotland. Upon the arrival of the Thirty-sixth regiment in England, it formed part of the army assembled at Newcastle under Field-Marshal Wade, and upon the young Pretender’s advance into England, was employed in several movements designed to cover Yorkshire. On the retreat of the insurgent clans from England, the regiment returned to Newcastle, and was afterwards ordered to proceed to Edinburgh.

1746.

The regiment arrived at Edinburgh in January 1746, and was placed under the orders of Lieut.-General Hawley, the commander of the forces in North Britain. Meanwhile the young Pretender being joined by new levies, and having procured artillery and ammunition, obtained possession of the town of Stirling and commenced the siege of the castle. In order to raise the siege Lieut.-General Hawley advanced from Edinburgh, and an encampment was formed near the village of Falkirk. On the 17th of January, as the King’s troops were at dinner in the camp, the advance of the enemy was discovered; the royal forces seized their arms and proceeded along some rugged and difficult grounds to a large moor, where the rebel army appeared in order of battle.

Success or failure in the hour of battle has sometimes been found to depend upon accidental circumstances over which the commanders of armies have no control. Such was the case at the battle of Falkirk,[9] at which a tempest of wind and rain beat so violently in the faces of the royal forces at the moment when they engaged their adversaries, that their ammunition was spoiled in the act of loading; the soldiers could not see their opponents, and several regiments gave way, while others maintained their ground. At night both parties withdrew from the field of battle, and the King’s troops proceeded to Edinburgh.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland arrived in Scotland to command the army, and on the 31st of January the troops were again in motion towards the enemy, who instantly raised the siege of Stirling Castle, and made a precipitate retreat to Inverness. The royal forces followed in pursuit, but were delayed in their advance by severe weather. The Thirty-sixth regiment was engaged in the operations of the army until the battle of Culloden on the 16th of April, on which occasion it composed part of the second line under Major-General Huske. The following return shows the number of officers and men in each regiment of infantry on the morning of the battle:—

	Officers.	Serjeants, drummers, and rank and file.
Royal Scots, now First foot	26	455
Lieut.-General Howard’s, now Third foot	16	448
Lieut.-General Barrell’s, now Fourth foot	20	353
Major-General Edwd Wolfe’s, now Eighth foot	22	352
Major-General Pulteney’s, now Thirteenth foot	22	352
Brigadier-General Price’s, now Fourteenth foot	23	336
Brigadier-General Bligh’s, now Twentieth foot	20	447
Major-General Campbell’s, now Twenty-first foot	19	393
Brigadier-General Lord Semple’s, now Twenty-fifth foot	23	392
Major-General Blakeney’s, now Twenty-seventh foot	20	336
Brigadier-General Cholmondeley’s, now Thirty-fourth foot	24	435
Brigadier-General Fleming’s, now Thirty-sixth foot	26	389
Colonel Battereau’s, since disbanded	27	396
Colonel Dejean’s, now Thirty-seventh regiment	23	468
Colonel Conway’s, now Forty-eighth regiment	24	362
Total	335	5,914

After a sharp cannonade several select clans of mountaineers sprang forward, and with shouts and dismal yells attacked the King’s forces sword in hand. In less than an hour after the commencement of the action the enemy’s forces were overthrown and a decisive victory was obtained, which effectually suppressed the rebellion.

The Thirty-sixth regiment sustained but small loss, having only six men wounded on this occasion.

After halting a short time at Inverness the army advanced into the highlands, and encamped in the gloomy valley, surrounded by rugged precipices, near Fort Augustus, from whence detachments were sent out to search for arms, and for persons who had been engaged in the rebellion. Prince Charles, after enduring many hardships, succeeded in escaping to France in September.

1747.

Meanwhile hostilities had been continued on the Continent, and in the beginning of 1747, the Thirty-sixth regiment re-embarked at Gravesend for Flanders. After having joined the army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, the regiment was engaged in several operations near the frontiers of Holland, which led to the battle of Laffeld, or Val, fought on the 2d of July 1747, in the villages in the vicinity of Maestricht. On this occasion the allied army was very inferior in numbers to the enemy, and although the British infantry were conspicuous throughout the action for the gallantry with which they fought, the Duke of Cumberland was obliged to order a retreat. His Royal Highness passed the highest encomiums on the British troops for their conduct in this battle; and according to the “London Gazette,” there was not a squadron or battalion which did not charge and beat the enemy more than once.

The loss of the Thirty-sixth regiment in this battle was Major Petrie, Lieutenant Brodie, two serjeants, and twenty-two rank and file, killed; with Lieut.-Colonel Jackson, Captains Morgan, Pechell, Dod, and Gore, Lieutenant Ackland, Ensigns Vaughan, Duncan, Elrington, Strong, and Porter, three serjeants, two drummers, and seventy-four rank and file, wounded; and eighty-two men missing.

After withdrawing from the field of battle, the army continued its retreat to Maestricht, where it arrived on the same evening. The Thirty-sixth regiment was subsequently employed in various parts of the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant.

1748.

The regiment again took the field in the spring of 1748, and was employed in several operations, but no general engagement occurred. Hostilities were at length terminated by a treaty of peace, which was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 7th of October 1748. During the winter the Thirty-sixth returned to England.

1749.

On its arrival from Holland, the establishment of the regiment was reduced, and it was ordered to proceed to Gibraltar, in which fortress it was stationed during the five following years.

1751.

Colonel Lord Robert Manners was appointed by His Majesty King George II. to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 13th of March 1751, in succession to Major-General James Fleming, deceased.

In the Royal Warrant, dated the 1st of July 1751, for ensuring uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of the army, and regulating the numerical title and rank of regiments, the facings of the Thirty-sixth were directed to be green. The first, or King’s colour, was the great union; the second, or regimental colour, was of green silk, with the union in the upper canton; in the centre of the colour the number of the rank of the regiment, in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.

1754.

In 1754 the Thirty-sixth regiment returned to England from Gibraltar, and was subsequently stationed in North Britain.

1755.

Towards the end of the year 1755 the Thirty-sixth regiment was removed from Scotland to South Britain.

1756.

The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was at length interrupted by the aggressions of the French on the British territory in North America; and early in 1756 the King of France prepared a powerful armament for the capture of the island of Minorca. In consequence of this attack on Minorca, hostilities became inevitable on the part of Great Britain, and on the 18th of May war was declared against France. At this period the army and navy were increased; and, among other augmentations, fifteen of the regiments of infantry, including the Thirty-sixth, were authorized to raise second battalions from the 25th of August 1756.

From the 17th of June to the 12th of October 1756, the Thirty-sixth and other regiments were encamped at Chatham under Major-General Lord George Sackville.

1757.

In the year 1757 the Thirty-sixth regiment, consisting of two battalions, and other corps were encamped under General Charles Duke of Marlborough at Barham Downs.

1758.

The second battalions, which had been added two years previously to fifteen of the regiments of infantry, were, in 1758, formed into distinct corps, and numbered from the Sixty-first to the Seventy-fifth regiment. By this arrangement the second battalion of the Thirty-sixth was constituted the Seventy-fourth regiment, which was disbanded after the peace of Fontainebleau.[10]

The Government resolved upon making a descent on the French coast, by which it was expected to create such a diversion in favour of the British allies in Germany as would obviate the necessity of sending them a reinforcement of troops. The Thirty-sixth formed a part of the army selected for this service, which amounted to fourteen thousand men, and was commanded by General Charles Duke of Marlborough. The Thirty-sixth proceeded to the Isle of Wight, where it was formed in brigade with the Fifth, Twenty-fifth, and Seventy-fourth regiments (the latter corps since disbanded), under Major-General John Mostyn. The embarkation commenced on the 24th of May; the expedition sailed on the 1st of June, and on the 5th of that month a landing was effected, without loss, about two leagues to the eastward of St. Maloes, towards which place the army advanced in two columns on the 7th of June, and encamped within a mile from the town: here the Commander-in-Chief reconnoitred, and having observed several houses filled with naval and military stores, which were not protected by the guns of the town, the Thirty-sixth, in common with the other regiments, furnished a detachment, which was sent after dark to set fire to them, a service which was most effectually performed, thirteen vessels of war, besides several merchantmen, and vast quantities of stores being destroyed. St. Maloes, though incapable of making an effectual resistance against a regular siege, was considered too strong to be attempted by a coup-de-main; the troops were accordingly re-embarked, and preparations were afterwards made for a descent at Granville, on the coast of Normandy, and afterwards at Cherbourg; but, the weather being severe, the fleet returned to England.

In August of the same year the Thirty-sixth was engaged in a second expedition to the coast of France, when Cherbourg was captured, and the harbour, forts, magazines, and ordnance, consisting of 173 pieces of iron cannon and three mortars were destroyed; at the same time, 22 pieces of fine brass cannon and two brass mortars were brought off as trophies, and sent to England, when, after being viewed by King George II. in Hyde Park, they were conducted in procession through the City to the Tower of London.

Another descent was made on the coast of Brittany on the 4th of September, when the batteries in the bay of St. Lunaire were destroyed, and the troops marched into the interior, while the fleet proceeded to the bay of St. Cass, thus alarming the country with the view of producing the return of the French army from Germany. Upon the troops being re-embarked at St. Cass, the enemy attacked the rear-guard and occasioned considerable loss. Towards the end of September the regiment landed at Cowes, and, having encamped a short period near Newport, went into winter quarters.

1759.

During the summer of 1759 the regiment was encamped at Chatham under Lieut.-General John Campbell, afterwards Duke of Argyle.

1760.

In the course of the year 1760 the Thirty-sixth regiment was encamped at Sandheath under Lieut.-General the Earl of Ancram.

1761.

In the spring of 1761 a force proceeded under the command of Major-General Studholme Hodgson against Belle-Isle, a French island in the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of Brittany. The expedition appeared before Belle-Isle on the 7th of April, and a landing was attempted on the following day, but without success;—other endeavours to secure a landing on different points of the island proving also unsuccessful, orders were given to desist from the attempt, and the men returned to the boats, and proceeded back to their several ships. Many of the boats were destroyed or damaged in these efforts, and about five hundred men were lost in killed, wounded, and missing.

Major-General Hodgson subsequently received the following reinforcements, of which the Thirty-sixth formed part:—

Regiments.	Commanding Officers.	Men.
Third foot,	Major J. Biddulph	800
Thirty-sixth foot,	Lieut.-Colonel W. Preston	800
Seventy-fifth foot (afterwards disbanded)	Lieut.-Colonel C. Parry	800
Eighty-fifth foot, Second battalion, (afterwards disbanded),	Major Sir Hugh Williams	600
		3,000

A landing was effected by Brigadier-General Hamilton Lambert on the 22d of April, on the rocks near Point Lomaria, where the difficulty of ascending the precipice had made the enemy least attentive to that part. Beauclerk’s grenadiers (Nineteenth foot), with Captain Patterson, of that regiment, gained the summit before the enemy saw what was intended, who immediately marched a body of three hundred men to attack them; the grenadiers, however, maintained their ground till the remainder of Brigadier Lambert’s troops arrived. The success thus gained was promptly followed up; the French were eventually repulsed, and three brass field-pieces, with a few prisoners, were captured.

The cannon was afterwards landed from the ships and dragged up the rocks; the lines which covered the town of Palais were carried by assault, and the siege of the citadel was prosecuted with vigour. The garrison, under their governor, the Chevalier de St. Croix, made a gallant defence; but on the 7th of June were forced to surrender, and were permitted to march through the breach with the honours of war, in consideration of their bravery. The capture of the island was thus achieved, with the loss of about eighteen hundred men killed and wounded.

This conquest was regarded with great pride by the British nation; but the island was restored to France, at the peace of Fontainebleau in 1763, in exchange for Minorca, which had been taken by the French at the commencement of the war.

During the remainder of the year 1761 the Thirty-sixth regiment was stationed in South Britain.

1762.

The Thirty-sixth regiment during 1762 continued to be quartered in South Britain. In January war was declared against Spain, and in the summer of that year the regiment was encamped at Sandheath under Lieut.-General Edward Carr. Negociations for peace were shortly afterwards commenced, and the preliminary articles were signed at Fontainebleau by the Duke of Bedford on the 3d of November 1762.

1763.

On the 10th of February 1763 the treaty of Fontainebleau was concluded at Paris, the ratifications were exchanged on the 10th of March, and peace was proclaimed in London on the 22d of that month.

1764.

The Thirty-sixth regiment embarked on the 17th of March 1764 for Jamaica, in which island it was stationed for some years.

1765.

Major-General Richard Pierson was removed from the Sixty-third to the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 11th of September 1765, in succession to Lieut.-General Lord Robert Manners, appointed to the Third dragoon guards.

1773.

In 1773 the Thirty-sixth returned home from Jamaica, and the regiment arrived in England in June of that year.

1774.

On the 6th of August 1774, the light infantry companies of the Third, Eleventh, Twenty-first, Twenty-ninth, Thirty-second, Thirty-sixth, and Seventieth regiments assembled at Salisbury, where they were formed into a brigade, and disciplined under the command of Major-General the Honourable Sir William Howe until the 4th of October following, when they were reviewed by His Majesty King George III. in Richmond Park, and were afterwards ordered to rejoin their respective regiments.

1775.

The war with the American colonies commenced in April 1775, but the Thirty-sixth regiment did not proceed to that country; on the 10th of September following it embarked at Portsmouth for Ireland, where it was stationed for the seven following years.

1778.

Colonel the Honourable Henry St. John, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty-seventh regiment, was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth on the 27th of November 1778, in succession to Lieut.-General Richard Pierson, removed to the Thirteenth dragoons.

1782.

A letter, dated the 31st of August 1782, conveyed to the regiment His Majesty’s pleasure that county titles should be conferred on the infantry, and the Thirty-sixth was directed to assume the designation of the Herefordshire regiment, in order that a connexion between the corps and that county should be cultivated, which might be useful in promoting the success of the recruiting service.

On the 6th of September 1782, the Thirty-sixth regiment was brought from Ireland, and placed on the British establishment, and occupied Hilsea barracks, near Portsmouth.

The contest with the American colonists had involved Great Britain in war with France, Spain, and Holland; but on the 30th of November 1782, the preliminary articles of peace were signed at Paris between Great Britain and the United States of America, and the treaty was concluded in the ensuing February.

1783.

In the year 1783, peace was concluded between England, France, Spain, and Holland. A new field of service was about to open for the Thirty-sixth, that regiment having been selected to proceed to the East Indies, for which country it embarked at Portsmouth on the 10th of March 1783, and arrived at Madras in July following, while the British were engaged in hostilities against the powerful Sultan of the Mysore, Tippoo Saib, who, on the death of his father, Hyder Ali, in December of the preceding year, had succeeded to the dominions of that soldier of fortune.

The regiment, being thirteen hundred strong, was immediately transferred from the Indiamen into King’s ships, and proceeded, under the command of Brevet-Colonel Allan Campbell, to the relief of Mangalore, on the Malabar coast, which had been invested by Tippoo Saib on the 18th of May 1783, and was gallantly defended by the second battalion of the Forty-second regiment (afterwards numbered the Seventy-third regiment) and some native corps. Meanwhile the general peace, which had been entered into with the European Powers, deprived Tippoo of his French allies, and the Sultan entered into negotiations for terminating the war between Mysore and the British. The troops under Brigadier-General Macleod appeared in sight of Mangalore on the 24th of November 1783, but on the 1st of December, in consequence of the following circumstances, the ships sailed to the southward.

Some boats with Sepoys having at this period been wrecked near Cannanore, upon the Malabar coast, about two hundred of them were seized and detained by Ali Rajah Biby, the Queen of that country; repeated applications were made for their release, but without success, and Brigadier-General Norman Macleod determined to take satisfaction for these injuries, immediately after the relief of Mangalore. Tippoo Saib desired him to desist, and claimed the ruler of the Cannanore country as his ally.

The Thirty-sixth regiment proceeded under the command of Major the Honourable John Knox to Cannanore, which was captured by the troops under Brigadier-General Macleod in December 1783.

1784.

On the 11th of March 1784 peace was concluded with Tippoo Saib, the Sultan of Mysore; one of the articles of the treaty stipulated, that the fort and district of Cannanore should be evacuated and restored to Ali Rajah Biby, the Queen of that country.

1785 to 1788.

During the years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, the Thirty-sixth regiment occupied cantonments at Poonamallee, Arcot, Vellore, and Wallahabad.

1789.

The insatiable ambition of Tippoo Saib, the Sultan of the Mysore territory, soon involved the British Government of India in another war; he appeared near the confines of the country of Travancore, at the head of a powerful army, made unreasonable demands on the Rajah, a British ally, and commenced hostilities towards the end of December 1789.

1790.

A force was consequently directed to be assembled, in March 1790, at Wallahabad, under the orders of Colonel Thomas Musgrave of the Seventy-sixth regiment; it was put in movement on the 29th of that month, and proceeded towards Trichinopoly, at which place the troops arrived on the 29th of April, where the following corps had been collected under the command of Colonel Bridges:—Two King’s regiments, the Thirty-sixth and Seventy-second; the Second and Fifth Native cavalry; the First, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Sixteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-third Coast sepoys. At the same time Colonel Deare, with three companies of Bengal artillery, joined, the whole being under the orders of Major-General Musgrave, to which rank he had been promoted on the 28th of April 1790.

On the 24th of May Major-General (afterwards Sir William) Medows assumed the command, and reviewed the army, which was directed to proceed towards the Coimbatore country.

Advancing from Trichinopoly on the 26th of May, and penetrating the enemy’s country, the army arrived, after a march of about fifty miles, on the 15th of June, at the fort of Caroor, where the troops encamped eighteen days, while provisions were being collected and a magazine formed. Leaving this place on the 3d of July, the army marched to Daraporam, which was abandoned by the enemy; a garrison was left at this place, and the army marched through a beautiful country to the city of Coimbatore, where the British arrived on the 22nd July; here the army halted, and detachments were sent off to reduce Dindigul, Errode, and Palghautcherry. About the end of July, Colonel, afterwards General Sir John Floyd, of the Nineteenth light dragoons (since disbanded), with the Cavalry of the army and a brigade of Native infantry, was ordered to take possession of the small and weak fort of Sattimungulum, in which, after its capture, he placed a battalion of sepoys. At this period the army was separated in three divisions, one at Coimbatore, one at Sattimungulum, sixty miles in advance, and one besieging Palghautcherry. Tippoo resolved to attack, and if possible destroy, the division in advance before the main body could arrive to its support. The troops from Coimbatore were accordingly ordered to march, to reinforce Colonel Floyd.

In the beginning of September a detachment of troops under Colonel Oldham, of which the Thirty-sixth formed part, marched from Errode to join Colonel Floyd at Sattimungulum, which place was reached in three days. Colonel Floyd’s entire force now consisted of His Majesty’s Nineteenth light dragoons and sixteen troops of Native cavalry, His Majesty’s Thirty-sixth regiment and five battalions of Native infantry, eleven guns, and a due proportion of artillerymen and officers. Detachments of cavalry were sent almost every day to scour the country towards the Gudzelhetty Pass, and they generally brought in a few of the enemy’s horse, belonging to Syde Saib’s party, stationed at the foot of the Ghauts, who were much distressed for provisions and forage, his people having been constantly obliged to cross the Boovany, in order to procure grain in the different villages, in which places they were generally taken prisoners; their horses were very small and bad. A deposit of grain and provisions was in the meantime formed in this frontier station for the use of the army under Major-General Medows, which was destined to ascend to Mysore by the Gudzelhetty Pass early in October. On the 11th and 12th of September it was reported in camp that Tippoo, in person, had descended the Gudzelhetty Pass with a large army of cavalry and infantry, with several pieces of artillery. On the morning of the 12th of September Tippoo’s army, estimated at about thirty thousand cavalry, infantry, and artillery, descended the Gudzelhetty Pass, and crossed the Boovany river at daybreak of the following morning. A reconnoitring party of British cavalry, under Major Child, encountered the enemy’s advance guard of cavalry on the 13th, and compelled it to recross the river. On the 12th at night orders had been given to Major Darley to march with his regiment of Native cavalry towards the Pass early in the morning, to support Major Child, and he had not proceeded three miles, when he perceived a large body of cavalry advancing, and was immediately charged by them; being so much pressed on all sides, he was obliged to take post and keep off the enemy while his ammunition lasted, which was nearly expended, when Colonel Floyd, with the remainder of the cavalry, came to his support, to whom he had sent information on first perceiving the enemy; this reinforcement fortunately arrived just in time, as Major Darley’s regiment was in a very dangerous situation.

Colonel Floyd, unperceived by Tippoo’s forces, charged them in flank with three troops of the Nineteenth light dragoons, supported by the remainder of the regiment, entirely routed them, and pursued them to the river; it was supposed that the enemy had nearly five hundred killed on the ground, and a great number drowned in endeavouring to recross the river, which was fordable in very few places, while those were deep and dangerous.

The infantry moved about two miles from the camp in order to give support if necessary. The encampment being confined, and change of situation requisite, orders had been already issued for a change of ground, which was situated about a mile from the position then occupied, near to Damicotta; the tents were accordingly struck early on the 13th of September.

Colonel Floyd, having dispersed the body of cavalry, the troops were ordered to return to camp, which they had not reached a quarter of an hour, when some guns were opened from the opposite side of the river, whose shot came direct into the lines: the lines immediately turned out, and the tents, which were scarcely pitched, were ordered to be struck. The enemy was perceived in great force on both sides of the river; and three columns, two of infantry and one of cavalry, on the same side of the river with the British detachment, could be distinguished marching with rapidity round the left flank, which the foe seemed endeavouring to penetrate; the opening of the guns on the opposite side, and showing force there, being intended to withdraw attention from his intended attack, Colonel Floyd moved out the infantry to a commanding ground, with the British right towards the river, and the left extended so as to cover Sattimungulum, and prevent the enemy getting on his flank.

The first line consisted of the First Native battalion on the right; the Thirty-sixth King’s regiment, the Fifth and Twenty-fifth Native battalions on the left; the cannon consisted of one eighteen-brass-pounder, two twelve-pounders, and eight sixes.

The ground between the British and that occupied by the forces of Tippoo Saib was low and intersected with thick hedges; the British left was covered by stony rugged ground, difficult of approach; the enemy formed his line nearly parallel to the British, having his left extended to the river at about twelve hundred yards distance. Before the troops had well taken up their position, the enemy opened some guns; the ground was exceedingly stony, as was most of the county adjacent, which in a great manner prevented Tippoo making use of his cavalry during the day. The British cavalry formed a second line, about half a mile in the rear; the baggage was moved under the cover of some hills about the same distance in the rear and on the right flank of the cavalry; the enemy kept firing from three or four guns from the opposite side of the river during the whole of the day, the British right being within shot of them, to which one battalion was fronted to hinder him from crossing the river, as it was fordable in that part. One native battalion (the sixteenth) remained in the fort, where it had been stationed some time.

When the cannonade first commenced it was about eleven o’clock, A.M. Soon after the British had taken up their ground the enemy opened about sixteen guns, and in a short time had the range of the line very exactly. Colonel Deare, of the Bengal Artillery, who was on the right giving some necessary directions, was shot through the body shortly after the commencement of the action. At about one o’clock the axletrees of the two twelve-pounders broke, and rendered those two guns useless; these were the best the British had for the purpose.

Finding that the men were beginning to suffer very much, as nearly every ball struck the line, Colonel Floyd, not wishing to give up his advantageous position, ordered the men to lie down, which preserved the lives of several. The troops obeyed these directions, and sustained with the greatest coolness and fortitude the galling fire of the enemy. The cannonade continued without the least intermission until it was quite dark, about eight at night. Tippoo’s forces, supposing from the inactivity of the British during the day that a night attack was meditated, withdrew about six miles back on the road by which they had advanced that morning.

The British were not able to do the enemy much injury, for the six-pounders scarcely reached his line; the slaughter among the draught cattle was very great, nearly two-thirds of them being killed. The Thirty-sixth had Lieutenant Dennis Kelly Armstrong and twenty-five men killed; Lieutenant John Vallancy and about forty men were wounded.

When the cannonade ceased, every assistance was given to the wounded; from the situation of the baggage and stores no refreshment could be procured for the men except a dram of arrack, the cattle carrying water for the men having been mostly killed, and the drivers fearing to come to the lines, water was much wanted. A council of war was held during the night, in which it was agreed to force a way through the enemy’s lines about three o’clock in the morning of the 14th of September, and join Major-General (afterwards Sir William) Medows, to whom information had been sent on the night of the 12th or morning of the 13th. Every endeavour was made to repair the two twelve-pounders, and settle the other guns so as to move; the want of cattle was so great that it was impossible to draw all the guns; the baggage was searched, and all the private draught bullocks that could be obtained were brought to the lines, but on trial would not move the guns. The necessary instructions were given for the march, which was to take place, from the left, in the following manner:—The grenadiers of the Thirty-sixth regiment to lead, provided with instruments for spiking the enemy’s guns; the Twenty-fifth Native battalion next, then the Fifth battalion; the battalion companies of the Thirty-sixth regiment; the Sixteenth and First Native battalions; the light company of the Thirty-sixth regiment in the rear. The cavalry were to march in a separate column on the left. The sixteenth battalion of sepoys was ordered to be withdrawn from the fort about twelve at night, but did not arrive until five, to which may be attributed the engagement on the 14th, as the troops would otherwise have been two hours’ march in advance of the enemy. It was only found possible to repair one of the twelve-pounders, and that with much exertion; upon collecting all the bullocks that could be obtained, the eighteen-pounder, two six-pounders, and two tumbrils were obliged to be left on the ground, besides the broken down twelve-pounder; one wheel of the eighteen-pounder had been much damaged, as was the timber, and one of the six-pounders; unfortunately the followers, the people with the baggage, and the wounded, who were moved behind one of the hills in the rear, being out of danger, were not properly informed of the intended march, and were left almost to the mercy of the enemy’s horse. The first they knew of the movement was seeing the line in motion, and every one then endeavoured to make the best of his way to it; some of the dooly-men ran off, as did most of the followers, leaving the sick and a great portion of the baggage on the ground; when it was sufficiently light, it was perceived that the enemy had left the position occupied by him during the night. The British line moved off about five o’clock, and was obliged to lift the guns on by hand, which caused the troops to get on very slowly. Before the ground had been well quitted, it was covered by the enemy’s troops, who could be seen cutting down every straggler they met; they came close on the rear, annoying it as much as they could; all the wounded and sick as were able to make their way to the line were placed on the guns, and such officers’ horses as could be found; in a short time the guns were laden with them as much as could by any method be placed on them, which much increased the difficulty of moving, the soldiers being chiefly obliged to drag the guns. The march was continued unmolested except by small parties of horse, until the troops arrived within about four miles of Shawoor, five miles from Sattimungulum. The country was very close, and there being but one road between two rugged hills, the British formed one column, the cavalry leading; these moving faster than the infantry had reached Shawoor, and were most of them dismounted collecting forage, when Tippoo’s forces were perceived on some rising ground on the right flank, gaining on the British with great rapidity. The centre of the line had just reached some rising ground, when the enemy opened two guns; the second shot killed and wounded four men of the Thirty-sixth regiment. The line kept still moving forward, the enemy closing on it in all directions, his cavalry making several charges in front, and particularly on the rear; some of his infantry had by this time got very close without being perceived, as the country was much intersected with hedges, and annoyed the line greatly with musketry and rockets, particularly the centre and rear. The line halted, and fronted the enemy. When the British musketry commenced, the enemy’s horse had formed completely round the troops, and were making constant charges at the line in all directions, several times coming close to the ranks; the most numerous attacks were on the rear flank; the light company of the Thirty-sixth was much pressed, and several were killed and wounded; this company continued the arduous conflict until the ammunition was expended, when charging with the bayonet Captain William Hartley of the Thirty-sixth was killed.

The light company was immediately relieved by a battalion company of the Thirty-sixth, which was again relieved by another company on the ammunition being expended.

In this cool and spirited manner the engagement was carried on for about two hours and a half with the same regularity as on a common field day, when the enemy’s cavalry, consisting of about two thousand, in two dense columns, made a circuit and charged the grenadier company, commanded by Captain Robert Burne, of the Thirty-sixth, but were effectually checked by a steady and well-directed fire from the company, which caused them to wheel off to the south. During the engagement, and immediately after this event, an officer of the British artillery, seeing a chief of the enemy’s army mounted on an elephant encouraging his troops on to the attack, directed his fire against him, and killed him with the third shot. This chief proved to be Bunham-ud-deen, the commander of the army, and a near relative of the Sultan Tippoo Saib.

This event, in addition to the discouraging circumstance of having been repulsed with considerable loss in every attempt to break the British line, decided the fate of the day; the enemy retired from the contest, and by four o’clock in the afternoon left his opponents complete masters of the field of battle.

Colonel Floyd, with the cavalry, being a few miles in advance, on the sudden appearance of the enemy’s cavalry, and hearing from Colonel Oldham the situation of the infantry, immediately formed line, and charged the foe, who, dreading to come in contact with the troops that had, in the early skirmish on the previous day, given him such a severe specimen of their prowess, moved off at too rapid a rate to be overtaken; a pursuit was, however, kept up for some time, and, after scouring the country for a distance round, the troops were enabled to rest quietly during the night at the village of Shawoor, where they arrived about seven o’clock in the evening.

Colonel Floyd having during the action received intelligence of the arrival of Major-General Medows at Vellady that day, a distance of about twenty miles from Shawoor, the march of the entire detachment was in consequence directed to that village; and, moving off at three o’clock in the morning of the 15th of September, arrived there at sunset in the evening, quite overcome by fatigue, thirst, and hunger.

The Thirty-sixth regiment, which had borne the brunt of the contest, had no refreshment from the evening of the 13th until late on that of the 15th of September, excepting a supply of tobacco procured by Lieutenant William Chambers, of the Thirty-sixth, immediately after the action, from a cabin in the neighbourhood of the line. The good qualities of this plant are well known to soldiers and sailors, and under these circumstances this timely supply proved a matter of great importance to the men. It allayed their hunger and thirst, revived their spirits, and afforded infinite relief during the remainder of their long and fatiguing march.

It is to be observed that Tippoo’s regular troops, called the “Tiger Infantry,” were the attacking force on this occasion, and were so named from their jackets having the emblem stripe of the royal tiger woven in the cloth. A report was also current, that after the battle Tippoo asked the officers why they had not destroyed the Feringhee battalion; to which they replied, that “they had done their best, but the battalion wearing the colour of their prophet (the facings of the Thirty-sixth being green), could not be vanquished by any troops in the world.”

The army returned to Coimbatore on the 23d of September. The Sultan, disappointed in his object of destroying the divisions of the British army in detail, resolved to attack the chain of depôts; he gained possession of Errode and the stores at that place, and afterwards marched southwards. The British troops advanced from Coimbatore on the 29th of September, and, arriving at Errode on the 4th of October, found the place abandoned, and Tippoo’s army gone. He had marched in the direction of Coimbatore; but, hearing that the garrison was augmented, he advanced rapidly upon Darraporam, against which the Sultan opened his batteries on the 8th of October. The fort had no cannon mounted, and the garrison, consisting of a hundred Europeans and two hundred sepoys, capitulated on honourable terms, to which the enemy strictly adhered.

The British army moved on the 5th of October, and on the 15th of that month encamped in the neighbourhood of Coimbatore, where Lieut.-Colonel Stuart joined from Palghautcherry, after having taken the place, and left it in a tolerable state of defence. The pursuit of the Sultan was continued, the troops traversing extensive tracts of country, and undergoing much fatigue under an Indian sun. In the middle of November the army traversed the difficult pass of Tappoor, winding through deep valleys, and dragging the guns over precipices. Here the advance fell in with the rear of Tippoo’s force, but could make no impression. The Sultan resolved to leave the British troops in his own country, and to invade the Carnatic, which would bring the English back for the defence of Trichinopoly. Major-General Medows was about to carry offensive plans into execution, when the movements of Tippoo rendered it necessary to return to the Carnatic, and the army arrived at the vicinity of Trichinopoly in the middle of December.

1791.

On the 1st of January 1791, the army arrived at Terrimungulum, and on the 12th at Arnee. During this long and fatiguing march the Anglo-Indian troops frequently encamped upon the ground from which the enemy had removed in the morning; but the efforts made to overtake him were not successful. The sick and heavy guns having been placed in the fort of Arnee, on the 14th of January the advance and right wing marched for Velhout, where they arrived on the 27th, followed by the left wing.

On the 29th of January the army was reviewed by General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K. G., who had arrived from Bengal to assume the command, and who expressed great satisfaction at the appearance of the troops. His Lordship was at this period Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies, and had quitted Bengal on the 6th of December of the previous year, and landed at Fort St. George, Madras, on the 30th of the same month.

The army arrived in the vicinity of Vellore on the 11th of February 1791, and the troops were ordered into the fort. Tippoo was prepared to oppose any attempt to penetrate into the country under his dominion by the easiest passes; but Earl Cornwallis contrived the appearance of a march towards Amboor, which completely deceived the Sultan; and then turning suddenly to the north, traversed the difficult pass of Muglee, without the enemy having power to offer the least obstruction, and arrived on the 20th of February on the table-land of the Mysore country. Two days afterwards the troops commenced their march towards the strong fortress of Bangalore.

The following graphic description of the Fort of Bangalore is extracted from Colonel Mark Wilks’s History of the South of India:—

“The Fort of Bangalore, entirely rebuilt of strong masonry by Hyder and his son Tippoo, is nearly of an oval form, with round towers at proper intervals, and five powerful cavaliers, a fausse-braye, a good ditch and covered way without palisades, and some well-furnished places of arms; but the glacis is imperfect in several places; no part was entirely destitute of the support of reciprocal fire, but in no part was there a perfect flanking defence. There were two gateways, one named the Mysore, the other the Delhi gate; the latter opposite the pettah, overbuilt by the projection of traverses, common to Indian forts. The pettah, or town, of great extent, to the north of the fort, was surrounded by an indifferent rampart, and excellent ditch, with an intermediate berm, if such it may be called, of nearly a hundred yards wide, planted with impenetrable and well-grown thorns; and this defence was only intermitted exactly opposite the fort, where there was a slight barrier, and an esplanade of insufficient extent. The pettah had several gates, protected by a sort of flêche at the end of each sortie outside the ditch. Neither the fort or pettah had drawbridges.”

An attack on the Delhi gate of the pettah was made early in the morning of the 7th of March 1791 by the Thirty-sixth regiment, commanded by Captain Andrew Wight, supported by the Third brigade of sepoys, under Lieut.-Colonel Cockerell, and a few six-pounders under Colonel Moorehouse. The zigzag approach to the gate was scarcely twenty feet wide; two field-pieces were opened on the gate, but that being supported behind by a piece of masonry-work, three feet high and three feet thick, the shot, penetrating through the gate above, had no effect in bringing it down.

All this time the troops were exposed to a destructive shower of musketry from the turrets, on which a heavy fire was kept up by the assailants, when two pieces of ordnance were advanced, and their fire being directed at the lower part of the gate and masonry work, shattered it so much that, with the assistance of the troops, a sufficient opening was made to admit one person to enter, which happened to be Lieutenant John Eyre of the light company of the Thirty-sixth regiment. The soldiers continuing their exertions, at length pulled down the gate, and immediately entered, when the enemy fled with precipitation to the fort.

Lieutenant Eyre had received a sabre blow from a cavalry soldier, which cut through his cap, wounded his forehead, and knocked him down, but recovering his feet immediately, he joined his company in pursuit of the enemy. Shortly afterwards the enemy made a great effort to retake the pettah, but being immediately charged with the bayonet from street to street, were driven back with considerable loss, and the British were left in undisturbed possession of the town. In this attack, Captain Jeremiah Delany, of the Thirty-sixth, was killed.

The efforts of the troops were now directed to the reduction of the fort,—and every preparation for the approaching siege was carried on with diligence and activity. On the 15th of March, the batteries being completed, opened a fire upon Bangalore, and on the 17th the lines were cannonaded by the enemy, while at night the camp was much disturbed by his rockets.

Forage became very scarce, and none could be procured beyond the advanced piquets. The siege, however, proceeded, and the enemy continued to harass the British until the 21st of March, when the breach being considered practicable, an attack was ordered.

The storming party consisted of the grenadiers of the Thirty-sixth, Fifty-second, Seventy-first, Seventy-second, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-sixth regiments, followed by their respective light companies, and led by Lieutenant James Duncan of the Seventy-first, and Lieutenant John Evans of the Fifty-second, with a forlorn hope of thirty chosen men; the whole supported by the battalion companies of the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-second, and Seventy-sixth, with some battalions of Bengal sepoys. The corps of attack were commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell of the Seventy-fourth, the flankers immediately by Major Skelly; Major-General Medows was present on the occasion.

The troops proceeded on this enterprise at eleven o’clock on a fine moonlight night on the 21st of March, and after a sharp conflict, by one o’clock in the morning they became masters of the important fortress of Bangalore.

In the Orders issued on the following day, it was stated:—

“Lord Cornwallis feels the most sensible gratification in congratulating the officers and soldiers of the army on the honourable issue of the fatigues and dangers they have undergone during the late arduous siege. Their alacrity and firmness[11] in the execution of their various duties, has, perhaps, never been exceeded, and he shall not only think it incumbent on him to represent their meritorious conduct in the strongest colours; but he shall ever remember it with the sincerest esteem and admiration.

“The conduct of all the regiments which happened, in their tour, to be on duty that evening, did credit in every respect to their spirit and discipline; but his Lordship desires to offer the tribute of his particular and warmest praise to the European grenadiers and light infantry of the army, and to the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-second, and Seventy-sixth regiments, who led the attack and carried the fortress, and who, by their behavior on that occasion, furnished a conspicuous proof, that discipline and valour in soldiers, when directed by zeal and capacity in officers, are irresistible.”

On the 28th of March the army quitted Bangalore to join the forces of the Nizam, amounting to about fifteen thousand cavalry, sent to co-operate with the English in this war, and the junction was effected on the 13th of April. The army afterwards returned to Bangalore, where preparations were made for the siege of Seringapatam; the troops advanced upon the capital of the Mysore on the 4th of May, and on the 13th of that month arrived at Arakerry, on the Cavery, about eight miles below Seringapatam, which derived its name from the god Serung, to whom one of the pagodas was dedicated. The enemy was discernible in front, with his right resting on the river, and his left on a high hill named the Carighaut.

During the night of the 14th of May, the troops marched with a view to surprise the enemy; but owing to the badness of the weather and roads, together with the jaded state of the gun-bullocks, little or no progress was made during the night; but on the following day, after having undergone great fatigue, they were brought into action, when the enemy was driven from his strong position, and forced across the river into the island upon which the capital, Seringapatam, is situated, where he was protected by his batteries. In this affair Lieutenant John Turner was severely wounded, which caused his death.

The army rested upon the field of battle, and was again in movement on the 18th of May, and arrived on the 20th at Canambaddy, situated on the Cavery, some miles above Seringapatam. It was now ascertained that the season was too far advanced for undertaking immediately the siege of Tippoo’s capital, and it was determined accordingly to withdraw. The battering train was destroyed; all the ammunition and stores were buried which could not be removed, and on the 26th of May the army marched in the direction of Bangalore.

Before commencing their retreat the soldiers were thanked in orders for their conduct throughout these services, and it was added:—

“So long as there were any hopes of reducing Seringapatam before the commencement of the heavy rains, the Commander-in-Chief thought himself happy in availing himself of their willing services; but the unexpected bad weather for some time experienced having rendered the attack of the enemy’s capital impracticable until the conclusion of the ensuing monsoons, Lord Cornwallis thought he should make an ill return for the zeal and alacrity exhibited by the soldiers, if he desired them to draw the guns and stores back to a magazine, where there remains an ample supply of both, which was captured by their valour; he did not, therefore, hesitate to order the guns, and stores which were not wanted for field service, to be destroyed.”

In the course of this retreat the British were joined by the Mahratta army, under Hurry Punt and Purseram Bhow, consisting of about thirty-two thousand men, chiefly cavalry, and thirty pieces of cannon. Of the approach of this large force the British had been kept in total ignorance by the active manner in which the communications were interrupted by Tippoo’s irregular troops. Captain Little, having under his orders two battalions of Bombay sepoys, joined with the Mahratta army, and the supplies were now abundant.

The army arrived at Bangalore on the 11th of July, and the enemy made no attempt whatever to interrupt the march. By this time the Nizam’s cavalry had become unfit to keep the field, and were allowed to return to their own country. Purseram Bhow also, with a large detachment of the Mahrattas, proceeded into the Sera country; but Hurry Punt, with the remainder, continued attached to the British army. On the 15th of July the whole of the sick and one-half of the tumbrils belonging to the field-pieces were sent into the fort of Bangalore, and the army moved towards Oussoor, where it arrived on the 11th of the following month—the fort at that place being abandoned by the enemy after he had blown up the angles thereof.

On the 12th of August the army moved from Oussoor and on the 23d arrived at Bayeur. About this period Major Gowdie, of the Honorable East India Company’s service, was detached with some troops for the reduction of the strong hill fort of Nundydroog, which it was found required regular approaches. Major Gowdie arrived before the place on the 22d of September.

Nundydroog, the capital of a large and valuable district, was built on the summit of a mountain about one thousand seven hundred feet in height; three-fourths of its circumference were absolutely inaccessible, and the only face on which it could be ascended was protected by two excellent walls and an outwork which covered the gateway, and afforded a formidable flank fire. The foundation for a third wall had been dug, but the Sultan had not been able to have the plan completed.

The flank companies of the Thirty-sixth and Seventy-first regiments, under the command of Captain James Robertson of the latter corps, marched on the 17th of October to join the detachment under Major Gowdie, and, upon their arrival, were immediately placed in the last parallel.

General the Earl Cornwallis, with a view to intimidate the garrison, encamped with the army within four miles of Nundydroog, on the 18th of October, and in the evening of that day the troops were told off for an assault upon the two breaches, which had been pronounced practicable. The attacks commenced at eleven o’clock at night, the grenadiers assaulting the right breach and the light companies the left. The forlorn hope of the right attack consisted of twenty grenadiers, volunteers from the Thirty-sixth and Seventy-first regiments. Captain Robert Burne supported, with the Thirty-sixth grenadiers, the right attack, and Captain William Hartley, with the light company of that regiment, the left attack; Major-General Medows animated the whole with his presence.

The assailants were soon discovered; blue lights immediately illuminated the fort, and a heavy fire opened from the works; this fire was fortunately ill-directed, but the large stones hurled down the hill, and acquiring great velocity as they bounded from the rock in their descent, were extremely formidable. The storming party, however, soon mounted the breaches, and pursuing the enemy closely prevented his barricading the gate of the inner wall. This was forced open, and the troops entered. Captain Robertson, seeing that the place was carried, used every endeavour to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood. The flank companies which formed the storming party had two men killed and twenty-eight wounded, the latter principally from bruises by the stones thrown from the rock. The loss during the siege amounted to forty Europeans and eighty sepoys and pioneers, killed and wounded. At this place Lieutenant John Eyre, of the regiment, died of his wounds.

In this manner Nundydroog, in the course of three weeks, was taken, a place defended by seventeen pieces of cannon, principally iron guns of large calibre; this fort was not captured by Hyder Ali from the Mahrattas until after a defence which lasted three years.

After the fall of Nundydroog, the other hill fort of Cumeldroog, adjacent and dependent thereon, although a place of great strength, surrendered on being summoned.

Lord Cornwallis, in General Orders of the 19th of October, stated, that “having been witness of the extraordinary obstacles, both of nature and art, which were opposed to the detachment of the army that attacked Nundydroog, he cannot too highly applaud the firmness and exertions which were manifested by all ranks in carrying on the operations of the siege, or the valour and discipline which were displayed by the flank companies of His Majesty’s Thirty-sixth and Seventy-first regiments.”

In a few days afterwards the army retraced its route to Bangalore. Savendroog and several hill forts were captured by detachments in December, but the Thirty-sixth regiment remained with the main body of the army.

1792.

On the 31st of January 1792 the army under General the Earl Cornwallis was reviewed by the Poonah and Hyderabad chiefs, and on the following day commenced its march towards Seringapatam, passing by Hooleadroog, Tajilly, and Carrycode. The troops came in sight of Tippoo’s capital on the 5th of February, and encamped at the French rocks. The enemy’s horse showed itself on the 4th and 5th, but attempted nothing hostile. The Sultan took up a formidable position to cover his capital, and was attacked during the night of the 6th of February.

The entrenched camp of Tippoo was reconnoitred on the 6th of February, and at dark the army was formed in three columns of attack. The right, under Major-General Medows, consisting of the Thirty-sixth and Seventy-sixth King’s regiments. The centre under the Commander-in-Chief, General the Earl Cornwallis, consisting of the Fifty-second, Seventy-first, and Seventy-fourth King’s regiments. The left, under Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, of the Seventy-fourth, was composed of the Seventy-second regiment. The native troops were divided among the three columns.

The right column, to which the Thirty-sixth regiment was attached, under the command of Major-General Medows, was directed to penetrate the left of Tippoo’s line, and turning to the left, overthrow the troops of the enemy there posted, and proceed on until it joined Lord Cornwallis in the centre column, and receive further orders; but the officer charged to guide the column led it wrong, bringing it to the advanced redoubt on the left of Tippoo’s lines, known by the name of the Ead-gah redoubt,—which was mounted by eight pieces of cannon, and was defended with great bravery. The grenadiers of the Thirty-sixth rushed steadily forward to escalade the work, with the officer of engineers in charge of the scaling ladders, but a heavy fire of grape shot and musketry killed most of the men in charge of the ladders, which, being consequently lost, it appeared impossible to enter the redoubt.

The work near the gorge had not been quite finished; the troops again rushed forward, but the enemy’s fire was so destructive as to sweep all opposed to it; a momentary pause ensued, and at this crisis Captain Andrew Wight, who commanded the Thirty-sixth regiment, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable John Knox having charge of a brigade, observing a narrow pathway leading to the rampart, ordered his corps to follow him, when the soldiers resumed the attack with increased animation, and advancing with the bayonet carried the work; only a few of the defenders escaped instant death, and that by leaping from the embrasure into the ditch, which, from its height, must have proved equally fatal to them. The loss of the enemy at the Ead-gah redoubt was more considerable than at any other post of his lines.

The loss in private men fell chiefly on the Thirty-sixth, that regiment and the flank companies of the Seventy-sixth being the troops which formed the front division of the column. The grenadiers of the Thirty-sixth, who led, in advancing to the redoubt, had twenty men killed and wounded.[12]

After leaving a sufficient force in this strongwork, including four companies of the Thirty-sixth, under Captain John Austin, who had commanded the leading company of the column, the troops under Major-General Medows moved to the left, intending to fall on the enemy’s left wing, instead of which they came in view of another redoubt of equal strength and magnitude with the former, which it was deemed imprudent to attack. The column then recrossed the bound-hedge, moved to the left of the British army, which it did not find until daybreak, when the action was over.

Lord Cornwallis, on joining Major-General Medows at the Pagoda hill, on the morning of the 7th of February, detached the remaining six companies of the Thirty-sixth regiment and the third battalion of Bengal sepoys towards the Sultan’s redoubt; but they were afterwards ordered to proceed to the island, where the enemy had commenced an attack on the troops, which was gallantly repulsed.

The foregoing details show what an active part the Thirty-sixth sustained in these operations, and testify the share which the regiment deserved of the following general commendation bestowed by the Earl Cornwallis in his orders issued on the evening of the 7th of February.

“The conduct and valour of the officers and soldiers of this army have often merited Lord Cornwallis’s encomiums; but the zeal and gallantry which were so successfully displayed last night in the attack of the enemy’s whole army, in a position that had cost him so much time and labour to fortify, can never be sufficiently praised; and his satisfaction on an occasion, which promises to be attended with the most substantial advantages, has been greatly heightened by learning from the commanding officers of divisions, that this meritorious behaviour was universal through all ranks, to a degree that has rarely been equalled.

“Lord Cornwallis, therefore, requests that the army in general will accept of his most cordial thanks for the noble and gallant manner in which they have executed the plan of the attack. It covers themselves with honour, and will ever command his warmest sentiments of admiration.”

In the assault of Tippoo Sultan’s fortified camp and island of Seringapatam on the 6th and 7th of February 1792, the total loss of the right division, under Major-General Medows, including officers, amounted to twenty-seven killed and sixty-five wounded. Lieutenant Alexander David Robertson, of the Seventy-third, doing duty with the Thirty-sixth, from which he had been promoted, and Ensign Pooley Smith, of the Thirty-sixth, were killed. Lieutenants Thomas Brownrigg, Robert Campbell, and John Campbell,[13] of the Thirty-sixth, were wounded.

The enemy’s loss was very severe, being estimated at 20,000 hors de combat. Eighty pieces of cannon were taken by the British.

On the 9th of February the army took up its final position for the siege of Seringapatam, and on the 15th Major-General Robert Abercromby joined with the Bombay force, consisting of the Seventy-third, Seventy-fifth, and Seventy-seventh regiments, beside native troops, making a total of about six thousand men.

Preparations were now made for the siege of Seringapatam, and the approaches were carried on with the greatest activity until the 24th of February, when the general orders announced that the preliminary articles of peace had been signed, and in consequence all hostile measures immediately ceased.

On the 26th of February the two sons of Tippoo Saib, Abdel Kalek and Mooza-ud-Deen, the former ten years of age, and the latter eight, were brought to the British camp, as hostages for the due performance of the preliminary articles.[14]

In consequence of some obstacles which had been opposed by Tippoo to the arrangement of the definitive Treaty, working parties were ordered, and the guns replaced in the batteries on the 10th of March. This state of suspicion and preparation lasted until the 15th of March, when it was discontinued, and on the 18th of that month, the definitive Treaty being duly executed and signed, was delivered by the young Abdel Kalek to each of the confederates. On the 20th the counterpart was sent off to Tippoo Saib.

Thus terminated a war in which the confederates wrested from the enemy seventy fortresses, eight hundred pieces of cannon, and destroyed or dispersed at least fifty thousand men. By the articles of the Treaty Tippoo was bound to pay a large sum of money and to cede one half of his dominions.

The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in India granted from this money a sum equal to six months’ batta for all ranks, and the Court of Directors afterwards made a similar grant.

On the 26th of March the exchange of the definitive treaty being completed, the British commenced moving towards Bangalore, from whence they proceeded to the Pednaigdurgum Pass, where the Bengal troops were ordered to their own Presidency.

1793.

The French revolution, which had commenced a few years previously, had at this period assumed a character which called forth the efforts of other countries to arrest the progress of its destructive principles; and, on the 1st of February 1793, shortly after the decapitation of Louis XVI., war was declared by the National Convention of France against Great Britain and Holland.

News of this event arrived in India in May 1793; in June the Thirty-sixth regiment was ordered to prepare to take the field; it marched soon afterwards against the French settlement of Pondicherry, on the Coromandel coast; the troops employed on this service were commanded by Colonel John Brathwaite.

The siege of Pondicherry was commenced in the early part of August, the army encamping in a thick wood where tigers were so numerous that the natives durst not travel in the night. On the 22d of August a white flag was displayed by the garrison, with a request to be allowed to surrender. The French soldiers in the fortress had embraced democratical principles, and were particularly insubordinate; they insisted that the Governor should surrender; but after the white flag was displayed, they fired two shells, which killed several men. During the night they were guilty of every species of outrage: breaking into houses, and becoming intoxicated. On the following morning a number of them environed the house of the Governor-General Charmont, and threatened to hang him before the door, when application was made to the British for protection. The English soldiers rushed into the town, overpowered the insurgents, rescued the Governor, and preserved the inhabitants from further violence. After this service the regiment returned to Madras.[15]

1794.

During the year 1794 the Thirty-sixth regiment was stationed at Trichinopoly.

1795.

In 1795 the regiment proceeded to Negapatam.

1796.

During the years 1796 and 1797 the regiment was stationed at Warriore, near Trichinopoly.

1798.
1799.

In the beginning of 1798 the regiment was stationed at Pondicherry, and subsequently at Wallahabad. The men fit for service were afterwards drafted into the Seventy-fourth and Seventy-sixth regiments, and the remainder of the Thirty-sixth embarked at Madras for Europe on the 15th of October 1798. Previously to the regiment returning to England, orders were issued by the Governor in Council, and by the Commander-in-Chief of Madras, dated 24th of September and 14th of October 1798, which are highly complimentary of the regiment, and are inserted at [page 121] of the Appendix. The want of convoy caused the fleet of Indiamen to be detained three months at St. Helena, and the regiment did not arrive in England until the 26th of July 1799, when it landed at Greenhithe;—it subsequently proceeded to Cirencester, and thence to Winchester, where the corps was completed to its establishment by volunteers from the militia.

1800.

The Thirty-sixth regiment embarked at Portsmouth, in January 1800, for Ireland, and disembarked at Tarbert and Cork; it afterwards proceeded to Fermoy, Clonmel, and thence to Cork, where the regiment embarked with an expedition under Brigadier-General the Honorable Sir Thomas Maitland, and landed in the beginning of June at the Isle de Houat, on the coast of France; on the 4th of June the light company of the Thirty-sixth regiment landed at Quiberon, and destroyed some batteries, after which it re-embarked for the Mediterranean, and the regiment arrived at Minorca in July, which island had surrendered to Great Britain in November 1798.

1801.

During the year 1801 the regiment was stationed at Minorca.

1802.

On the 27th of March 1802 a treaty of peace was signed at Amiens between the French Republic, Spain, and the Batavian Republic on the one part, and Great Britain on the other; by this treaty the Island of Minorca was restored to Spain.

In August 1802 the Thirty-sixth regiment returned to Cork from Minorca, marched to Galway, and occupied the barracks at that place.

1803.

The conduct of Napoleon Bonaparte had occasioned hostilities to be renewed in May 1803, when the British army was augmented, and preparations were made to repel a threatened invasion by the French. The “Army of Reserve Act” was passed in June 1803 for raising men for home service by ballot; and numerous volunteer and yeomanry corps were formed in every part of the Kingdom.

The regiment was suddenly ordered to proceed by forced marches from Galway to Dublin in July 1803, where a serious riot had occurred on the 23d of that month, when Lord Chief Justice Kilwarden, and his nephew the Rev. Richard Wolfe, were attacked in his carriage, and murdered by the rioters.

1804.

On the 18th of May 1804 Napoleon was invested with the dignity of Emperor of the French; and on the 26th of May of the following year he was crowned King of Italy, at Milan.

Further measures of defence were adopted by Great Britain, and the “Additional Force Act” was passed on the 29th of June 1804, by which a second battalion was added to the Thirty-sixth regiment, to be formed of men raised in the county of Durham for limited service; the second battalion was placed on the establishment of the army from the 25th of December following.

On the 12th of December 1804 the Court of Spain issued a declaration of war against England, in consequence of the capture of some frigates off Cadiz, which had been intercepted on their way to France with cargoes of treasure for the use of Napoleon, Spain having agreed to furnish a powerful aid to that ruler.

During the year 1804 the first battalion of the regiment continued in garrison at Dublin.

1805.

On the 3d of August 1805 the first battalion of the regiment marched from Dublin, having been selected to form part of the army under Lieut.-General Lord Cathcart; it encamped on the Curragh of Kildare until the 20th of September, marched from thence to Bandon, and occupied the barracks there; on the 29th of October the battalion embarked at Cork for Germany.

The second battalion remained in Great Britain during 1805, and three following years.

1806.

The first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment arrived in Germany on the 1st of January 1806, and occupied cantonments in Bramstead and Bokell until February, when it again marched and embarked for Great Britain, the British troops having been recalled to England in consequence of the events which followed Napoleon’s victory over the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz in December of the preceding year;—the battalion landed at Ramsgate early in March.

In the autumn of 1806 the first battalion was directed to proceed to Portsmouth for the purpose of joining the expedition under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd, about to be employed on secret service; and the battalion embarked at Portsmouth on the 22d of September.

1807.

The expedition, which consisted of the first battalions of the Fifth, Thirty-sixth, Forty-fifth, and Eighty-eighth regiments, five companies of the Rifle corps, two squadrons of the Sixth dragoon guards, and two companies of Royal Artillery, did not sail from Falmouth until the 12th of November 1806; and after remaining at St. Jago, in the Cape de Verde Islands, from the 14th of December 1806 to the 11th of January 1807, arrived in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, on the 22d of March following. Here the troops were landed for refreshment and exercise under Brigadier-General Craufurd. From the Cape the expedition sailed again on the 6th of April; reached St. Helena on the 21st of April, where the stock of water and provisions was completed; and, quitting that island on the 26th, arrived on the 14th of June at Monte Video, then occupied by the British troops under Lieut.-General John Whitelocke, who had arrived there in the preceding May, and had assumed the command of the whole British force in South America.[16]

Great preparations were made to effect a landing of the troops, which took place on the 28th of June at Ensenada da Baragon, about thirty-two miles distant from Buenos Ayres, without firing a shot. The first battalions of the Thirty-sixth and Eighty-eighth regiments were brigaded together under the orders of Brigadier-General the Honourable William Lumley. On the 29th the troops moved forward; the light brigade, composed of the Rifle corps and nine light infantry companies, formed the advance, which was supported by Brigadier-General Lumley’s brigade, and followed by the other corps in succession. On the 1st of July the army was concentrated near the village of Reduction, about seven miles from Buenos Ayres, from whence it again advanced on the following day, crossed the Chuelo, a rivulet, by a ford called the Chico, and traversed the low ground on the opposite bank, at the extremity of which is situated the City of Buenos Ayres.

The light company was at the attack and carrying of the enemy’s advance field-work on the 2d of July; on the 5th of that month the right wing of the Thirty-sixth, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Robert Burne, and the left wing by Captain William Cross, stormed and established themselves in Buenos Ayres. Upon this severe service Captains Alexander, Williamson, and Henry Cole Johnson, with Lieutenant Robert Whittell, two serjeants, one drummer, and forty-one rank and file, were killed; Captains William Wright Swain and Henry Vernon, Lieutenants William Wingfield, William Cotton, John Chaloner, and John White, seven serjeants, and thirty-six rank and file, were wounded.

Notwithstanding the intrepidity displayed by the advancing troops, upon whom a destructive fire was poured from the tops of houses and every other advantageous position, the enterprise failed. On the following morning the Governor-General Liniers sent a letter to Lieut.-General Whitelocke, offering to restore the prisoners taken in this action, and also those made with Brigadier-General Beresford, on condition that the whole of the British forces should be withdrawn from South America, which proposals were accepted. The Lieut.-General’s conduct subsequently became the subject of inquiry by a Court-martial, and he was cashiered.

The first battalion of the regiment re-embarked at Buenos Ayres, and descended the River Plate to Monte-Video, whence it embarked on the 9th of September for Europe, and arrived at Cork on the 17th of December following.

1808.

The battalion occupied the barracks at Cork until February 1808, when it proceeded to Fermoy, where it remained until the 5th of July, when it marched to Cork for embarkation, having been selected to form part of a force, under the command of Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley, destined to proceed to the Peninsula to aid the Spanish and Portuguese patriots in their efforts against Napoleon, who had placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, and was endeavouring to reduce the Peninsula under his domination.

In May 1808 the second battalion proceeded to Jersey, but returned to England in July following.

On the 9th of July the first battalion embarked at Cork, and landed at Figuiera, in Portugal, on the 1st of August. The battalion under the command of Brevet Colonel Robert Burne, advanced with the troops under Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley towards Lisbon. The division, consisting of about four thousand men, under Major-General Sir Brent Spencer, K.B., having joined the army from Cadiz, a change was made in the arrangement of the brigades, and the first battalions of the Thirty-sixth, Fortieth, and Seventy-first regiments were placed in that commanded by Major-General Ronald Craufurd Ferguson. After a short halt the army was again put in motion to occupy a more forward position, where it remained for some days. On the 17th of August the enemy, commanded by General Laborde, was encountered near Roleia. The first battalion under the command of Colonel Robert Burne shared in this action, Captain William Cross being detached in charge of three companies. The position was attacked and carried, with great loss to the French, who retreated on Torres Vedras.

The Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Roleia” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of this victory.

Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley, after this battle, did not pursue the enemy by the high roads, but keeping to the right near the sea marched to Vimiera, to cover the landing of a brigade commanded by Major-General Anstruther, which was effected on the 20th of August.

The morning of the 21st of August was given up to the troops in order to prepare and repose themselves. The men were engaged in washing and cleaning their equipments when the approach of the enemy, moving to the left, was discovered at eight o’clock in the morning; and the brigades commanded by Major-General Ferguson, Brigadier-Generals Nightingall, Acland, and Bowes, were consequently moved across a valley from the heights on the west to those on the east of Vimiera.

Marshal Junot, Duke of Abrantes, moved his army to the attack of the position, and commenced it on the British centre, where the Fiftieth regiment was posted, moving along the front gradually to the left, until the whole line became engaged.

THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.

BATTLE OF VIMIERA, Aug^t 21^st 1808.

The Thirty-sixth had the good fortune to take a distinguished share in the battle of Vimiera on the 21st of August; and the gallantry of the battalion was particularly noticed by Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley in the General Orders of that day.

The battalion had nine rank and file killed; Captain Paul Minchin Hobart; Lieutenants H. S. Hart, Thomas Wright, and Walter Ewart; Ensign Peter Joseph Bone; Lieutenant and Adjutant John Povah, and twenty-three rank and file, were wounded.

The conduct of the battalion and of its commanding officer, Colonel Burne, was thus specially noticed by Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley in his despatch of the 21st of August;—

“In mentioning Colonel Burne, and the Thirty-sixth regiment, to you upon this occasion, I cannot avoid to add that the regular and orderly conduct of this corps throughout this service, and their gallantry and discipline in action have been conspicuous.”

In a letter dated 22d of August 1808 (inserted in the Appendix, [page 122]), addressed to Viscount Castlereagh, Secretary of State, Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley bore further testimony to the merits of Colonel Burne, and stated, that “the Thirty-sixth regiment is an example to the army.”

The thanks of both Houses of Parliament were conferred on the troops, and the Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Vimiera” on the regimental colour and appointments in commemoration of this battle.[17]

The “Convention of Cintra” was the result of this victory, and it was signed on the 30th of August; by its provisions the French army evacuated Portugal, which country became freed from its oppressors.

The British army was ordered to move forward to Lisbon, some of the reinforcements for it having proceeded by water, and occupied the forts at the mouth of the Tagus. The French army having by this convention fallen back on Lisbon, the British proceeded to the vicinity of Fort St. Julien, and encamped.

All the objects of the expedition being carried into effect, and the French troops embarked for France, the British army remained for some time at Lisbon and its vicinity. At this period (September) Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, having assumed the command, made dispositions for entering Spain.

The first battalions of the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-first, and Ninety-second regiments were brigaded under Brigadier-General Catlin Craufurd, and placed in the division under the command of Lieut.-General the Honorable John Hope, afterwards the Earl of Hopetoun. On the 27th of October the division was put in motion, and after a short stay at Badajoz resumed the march to Talavera-de-la-Reyna. From this town the column proceeded to the Escurial, seven leagues to the north-west of Madrid, where it arrived and halted on the 22d of November.

Intelligence was here received of the enemy’s approach towards Madrid; the division was in consequence put in motion across the Guadarama mountains on the 27th of November towards Villa Castin, at which place Lieut.-General the Honorable John Hope, in consequence of the information he received of the enemy’s movements, made a night march to the left, by Avila and Peneranda, and finally proceeded to Alba-de-Tormes, where a junction was formed with a detachment from the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, then at Salamanca. The army under Sir John Moore was shortly afterwards put in motion towards Valladolid, and subsequently to the left, to effect a junction with Lieut.-General Sir David Baird’s division, which had landed at Corunna.

Previously to this period, the Spanish armies under General Blake, near Bilboa on the left, General Castanos in the centre, and General Palafox lower down the Ebro on the right, had been completely defeated; Lieut.-General Sir John Moore consequently made arrangements for a retreat on Portugal by Ciudad Rodrigo, but it having been represented to him that Madrid held out against the French, he was induced to form a junction with Lieut.-General Sir David Baird, in order to make a diversion in favour of Madrid, by attacking Marshal Soult on the river Carion.

The British force, twenty-nine thousand strong, joined at Toro on the 21st of December, and on the 23d of that month Sir John Moore advanced with the whole army. The cavalry had already met with that of the enemy, and the infantry were within two hours march of him, when an intercepted letter informed the British commander that Napoleon, who had entered Madrid on the 4th of December, was then in full march for Salamanca and Benevente. A retreat on Corunna, through Gallicia, was immediately decided on, that through Portugal being then impracticable.

Accordingly the several divisions marched towards the Esla, the greater part crossing by the bridge of Benevente on the 26th of December, when, after a day’s halt, the cavalry, under Lieut.-General Lord Paget and Brigadier-General the Honorable Charles Stewart, had an engagement with some of the Imperial guards that had forded the river Esla under General LeFevre, who was made prisoner with several of his men.

At this period the situation of the British army was dispiriting in the extreme. In the midst of winter, in a dreary and desolate country, the soldiers chilled and drenched with the heavy rains, and wearied by long and rapid marches, were almost destitute of fuel to cook their victuals, and it was with extreme difficulty that they could procure shelter. Provisions were scarce, irregularly issued, and difficult of attainment. The waggons, in which were their magazines, baggage, and stores, were often deserted in the night by the Spanish drivers, who were terrified by the approach of the French. Thus baggage, ammunition, stores, and even money were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy; and the weak, the sick, and the wounded were necessarily left behind.

1809.

On the 5th of January 1809, the troops took up a position at Lugo, where they remained bivouacked in order of battle until the 9th of that month, when they marched in the night, and arrived at Corunna on the 11th of January. The British army, having accomplished one of the most celebrated retreats recorded in modern history, repulsing the pursuing enemy in all his attacks, and having traversed two hundred and fifty miles of mountainous country under very disheartening circumstances, accompanied by severe privation, was not destined to embark for England without a battle.

Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, having taken up a position above the town of Corunna, made arrangements for attacking the British army as soon as the troops should commence their embarkation. The sick men, the women, and baggage having been conveyed on board ship, preparations were made for embarking the troops on the 16th of January 1809. The French instantly descended from the heights, and advanced, about two o’clock, to attack the British position in front of Corunna; a sanguinary action ensued, and before dark the French were defeated in all their attacks. Lieut.-General Sir John Moore was killed, and the battle was scarcely ended, when, wrapped in a military cloak, his remains were interred in the citadel of Corunna, over which Marshal Soult, with the chivalrous feeling of a true soldier, erected a monument.

This victory enabled the British troops to be embarked without further molestation. In this battle the first battalion of the Thirty-sixth was posted on the left of the British line.

During the retreat to Corunna, and its services there, the battalion had Lieutenant John White wounded, and one serjeant and two rank and file killed; one serjeant, three drummers, and one hundred and fifty-three rank and file, were taken prisoners.

In commemoration of this battle, and of the conduct of the battalion during the expedition, the Thirty-sixth, in common with the army employed under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, received the Royal authority to bear the word “Corunna” on the regimental colour and appointments.[18]

The army also received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament “for its distinguished discipline, firmness, and valour in the battle of Corunna.”

On the 17th of January the battalion embarked at Corunna for England; portions landed at Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Deal, but the several divisions were assembled at Battle, in Sussex, during the month of February.

Immense preparations had been made by the British Government to fit out the most formidable armament that had for a long time proceeded from England. The troops amounted to forty thousand men, commanded by Lieut.-General the Earl of Chatham; the naval portion consisted of thirty-nine ships of the line, thirty-six frigates, and numerous gun-boats and bomb-vessels, and other small craft, under Admiral Sir Richard Strachan. The object of the expedition was to obtain possession of the islands at the mouth of the Scheldt, and to destroy the French ships in that river, with the docks and arsenals at Antwerp. The first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment received orders to prepare itself for this service, and on the 16th of July embarked at Portsmouth for Walcheren, under the command of Colonel Burne. The expedition sailed from the Downs on the 28th of July, and on the morning of the 1st of August the Thirty-sixth and other corps were landed, and on the same day the troops advanced to the investment of Flushing, which operation was warmly contested by the enemy.

By the 13th of August, the preparations for the attack on the town were completed, and on the night of the 14th one of the enemy’s batteries, advanced upon the sea dyke in front of Lieut.-General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser’s position, was most gallantly carried at the point of the bayonet by detachments from the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-first, and the light battalions of the King’s German legion, under Lieut.-Colonel Denis Pack, of the Seventy-first, although opposed to great superiority of numbers; the troops took forty prisoners, and killed and wounded a great many of the enemy. Flushing capitulated on the 15th of August; the garrison becoming prisoners of war.

From the 8th to the 15th of August the Thirty-sixth had three rank and file killed; Major Alexander Mackenzie was dangerously wounded; two serjeants and seven rank and file were wounded.

An epidemic disease of a fatal character broke out among the troops, and the following officers and men of the Thirty-sixth regiment died of fever:—Captains Waddle, C. Douglas, and Alexander Barbor, Lieutenant McDermott, Assistant-Surgeon James McFarlane, fourteen serjeants, two drummers, and two hundred rank and file.

On the 10th of December 1809 the first battalion embarked for England, and arrived at Woolwich on the 22d of that month; it subsequently returned to Battle in Sussex.

1810.

During the year 1810 the first battalion was stationed at Battle.

The second battalion was moved from Worcester to Kidderminster in the spring, and in the summer to Cirencester, and subsequently to Horsham.

1811.

The first battalion occupied the barracks at Battle until January 1811, on the 28th of which month it embarked at Portsmouth under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane on board His Majesty’s ship “Victory,” and landed at Lisbon on the 5th of March. The battalion immediately joined in the pursuit of Marshal Massena from Santarem, and was in position at the expulsion of the enemy from Guarda on the 29th of March.

The battalion was next employed in the blockade of Almeida, and Marshal Massena, having concentrated his forces, crossed the Agueda on the 2d of May for the purpose of relieving the place. This movement led to the actions at Fuentes d’Onor on the 3d and 5th of May. In the battle of the 5th the battalion was in position, but was not actively engaged. The French were defeated, after a prolonged contest, and Marshal Massena left Almeida to its fate. The place was evacuated by General Brennier at midnight of the 10th of May, when the enemy blew up the works, and the greater part of the garrison succeeded in effecting its escape during the night.

On the 11th of May, when the garrison of Almeida effected its escape through the corps on duty, Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane, with about half of the first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment, had the good fortune to come up with the French at the bridge of Barba del Puerco; and, in conjunction with the Grenadier company of the Fourth foot under Captain Thomas Burke, caused them considerable loss. Many were killed and wounded, and three hundred were taken prisoners, but the rest escaped.

The remainder of the battalion took another road in the pursuit, under the orders of Brigadier-General Robert Burne, Lieut.-Colonel of the Thirty-sixth, and intercepted many stragglers, whom they made prisoners.

The casualties under Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane were two killed;—Lieutenant Charles Moody and eight rank and file were taken prisoners.

Early in June 1811 the battalion commenced its march for the south of Portugal, and continued at the camp of Arronches until the 18th of July, when it again returned to the north, and was in cantonments at Barquilla, in Spain, during August and September; on the 25th of September it was in position at the affair of Especha, when the enemy advanced to relieve Ciudad Rodrigo, which was blockaded by the Allied army. The battalion was likewise in position at the subsequent affair near Ronda on the 27th of September.

On the 30th of September the British army went into cantonments, the Thirty-sixth occupying the village of Pinziu. There Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Basil Cochrane found his health so much on the decline that he was compelled to apply for leave to return to England; and on the 13th of October he quitted the corps for that purpose, the command of which then devolved on Major William Cross.

On the 24th of November the battalion marched to Gallegos, in Spain, with the view of intercepting a convoy of provisions intended for the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo, but the incessant rain had so flooded the rivers that it was found impossible to cross at the points intended, which circumstance enabled the convoy to reach its destination.

The battalion commenced its march to new cantonments at Mongualda on the 27th of November, which it reached on the 3d of December.

1812.

On the 14th of January 1812 the battalion was moved from Mongualda, by forced marches, to assist in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, which, however, was taken on the night of the 19th of January by the troops under Viscount Wellington, just as the Thirty-sixth were on the point of leaving Nava d’Aver, within ten miles of the scene of operations; the battalion remained at Nava d’Aver until Ciudad Rodrigo was secured against a coup de main, and then marched into cantonments at Meda, which it reached on the 3d of February.

Major-General Henry Clinton arrived and assumed the command of the sixth division on the 11th of February. On the 20th of that month the battalion marched for the south of Portugal, reached Estremos on the 6th of March, and remained there until the 14th, on which day it proceeded to Borba, and on the 15th to the camp at Elvas, where the army was assembled. On the following day it marched to aid in investing Badajoz, and from thence proceeded with the covering army, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch), which, after the affairs of Usagré, Llerena, Berlonga, and Asuaga, effected the expulsion of the enemy from Spanish Estremadura, and then returned to support the attack on Badajoz. The battalion reached Albuhera on the 6th of April, on the night of which Badajoz was stormed and carried.

The enemy being thus thwarted in all his views against the south, in which the principal part of the British troops was assembled, made a sudden invasion of the north of Portugal, and advanced as far as Castello Branco. The sixth division was in consequence moved with the utmost rapidity in that direction, but on its approach the enemy retired, and the division again returned to the south, the Thirty-sixth taking up cantonments at Castello de Vide on the 30th of April.

On the 5th May 1812, Lieut.-Colonel Lewis Davies arrived, and assumed the command of the Thirty-sixth; towards the end of the month Major William Cross, who had been in very bad health for several weeks, proceeded to join the second battalion in England.

The battalion marched to Azumar on the 8th of May, and on the 13th to Arronches, from which it moved towards the end of the month to Puebla, in Spain, then to Badajoz, where it halted five days, thence to Castello de Vide for two days, from which it marched through Castello Branco in the direction of Salamanca, which it reached on the 17th of June, and operations were then immediately commenced against the Forts at Salamanca by the light companies of the division under Colonel Samuel Venables Hinde, of the Thirty-second regiment. They were attacked without success on the 23d, and carried on the 27th of June by a party under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Davies, of the Thirty-sixth, with a loss to the battalion of Lieutenant George Mackenzie and eleven rank and file killed, and Captain Paul Minchin Hobart and twenty-five rank and file wounded. Captain Hobart, who was promoted to the brevet rank of Major on the 23d of July 1812, died of his wounds.

The battalion then occupied different villages in the neighbourhood, and on the 22d of July it took a considerable share in the battle of Salamanca. The change of the allied position and various manœuvres occupied the day without any close engagement, excepting on the left for the possession of the Arapiles; the battle of Salamanca did not commence in earnest until after three o’clock, when the French left, having been very much extended by the advance of the division of General Thomières, with the light cavalry and fifty pieces of artillery, along a range of heights parallel with the British line, to cut off the right of the allies from the Ciudad Rodrigo road, the third division was ordered to advance in four columns, supported by cavalry to turn the French left. The evolutions of this great battle are too varied to be clearly described with brevity. The sixth division under Major-General Clinton, of which the Thirty-sixth formed part, was placed at first in reserve, but at a critical period in the action it was ordered up to relieve the fourth division, and the battle was soon restored to its former success.

The enemy’s right, reinforced by the troops which had fled from his left, and by those which had by this time retired from the Arapiles, still continued to resist; and while other corps were directed to turn the right, the sixth division, supported by the third and fifth, attacked the front. It was dark before this point was carried by the sixth division, and the enemy then fled through the woods towards the Tormes.

Lieut.-General Sir William Napier, in his History of the Peninsular War, thus sums up the account of this victory:—

“The battle of Salamanca, remarkable in many points of view, was not least so in this, that it was the first decided victory gained by the allies in the Peninsula. In former actions the French had been repulsed, here they were driven headlong, as it were, before a mighty wind, without help or stay, and the results were proportionate.”

The Thirty-sixth had Captains William Tulloh and Alexander Middleton, Lieutenants Arthur Parker and Richard Barton, one serjeant, and fifteen rank and file killed. Brevet-Major John Fox, Lieutenants Walter Ewart, and David Price, Ensigns Richard James Bourchier, William Wainwright, with four serjeants and seventy rank and file, were wounded. Lieutenant Ewart subsequently died of his wounds.

Lieut.-Colonel Davies obtained the medal issued for the victory gained at Salamanca; and the Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Salamanca” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the gallantry displayed in that battle.

On the 23d of July the battalion was employed in pursuit of the enemy by the route of Alba de Tormes, and in August went into cantonments at Cuellar; towards the end of that month it marched again, and encamped before Burgos, which the Marquis of Wellington (that title having been conferred upon him after the victory at Salamanca) ordered should be forthwith invested.

Major Molyneux Smith, of the Thirty-sixth, died on the 21st of August 1812, and Brevet-Major John Fox was appointed his successor on the 1st of October following. The battalion took an active share in all the operations against Burgos, from which the British army retired on the 21st of October. The Thirty-sixth, during the siege, had seven rank and file killed and eleven wounded.

After this most harassing retreat, rendered so by the severity of the weather and the dreadful state of the roads, as well as by a numerous and active-pursuing enemy, the battalion, early in December, reached Falgosa de Medelina, in Portugal, where it halted for some weeks.

1813.

In February 1813 the battalion marched from Falgosa de Medelina to Toraish, where it remained until May. There Lieut.-Colonel Davies, in consequence of ill-health, left the corps for England, when the command devolved on Brevet Lieut.-Colonel John Ward.

On the 14th of May the allied army again advanced, crossed the Douro on the 19th, and halted on the 20th at Toro de Monte Corva; on the 24th reached Malhadus, and halted until the 27th, and on the 29th entered Spain by crossing the Corsa, near Murga, where the troops, of which the Thirty-sixth formed part, halted until the 31st. On the 1st of June they crossed the Esla by a pontoon bridge, and continued the march until the 19th, when they halted at Madina to observe General Clausel’s corps, and cover the British stores and ammunition.

The battalion reached Vittoria on the 22d of June, the day following the victory gained there by the Marquis of Wellington, and halted at that place during the 23d and 24th, still observing General Clausel. On the 26th the battalion marched to Mondragoa, and afterwards retrograded to Montinca, whence Clausel was pursued to the bridge of Lagosa, where the battalion arrived on the 30th of June; and, marching again on the 1st of July, it encamped near Pampeluna on the 5th of that month.

There the battalion halted until the 13th of July, and on the following day it marched to Lanz, where it remained until the 22d; and on the 23d it crossed the Low Pyrenees to the valley of San Estevan; on the 27th the battalion re-crossed the Pyrenees to Torrossa.

On the 28th of July the battalion was in position near Pampeluna, and was warmly engaged, the light company under Captain William Campbell being detached in smart skirmishing. On the following day both armies remained quiet; but on the 30th of July the battalion was again engaged early in the morning, the light company being, as before, detached, under Captain Campbell, to expel the enemy from the village of Sorauren. About eight o’clock Major Martin Leggatt arrived, and assumed the command, when Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Ward immediately proceeded to join the light company in Sorauren. Marshal Soult was however foiled, and about two o’clock in the afternoon the enemy was in general retreat, being pursued by the whole army.

In approbation of the conduct of Major Leggatt, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Ward and Captain Campbell on the three last-mentioned days, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty, was graciously pleased to present each of them with a medal for the battles of the Pyrenees, and to promote Captain Campbell to the brevet rank of Major.

The Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear on the regimental colour and appointments the word “Pyrenees,” in commemoration of the services of the first battalion in the actions which occurred there, and which have been designated the “Battles of the Pyrenees.”

On the 1st of August the battalion reached Bargetta, and halted there until the 3d; on the following day it pursued the enemy to the valley of Alduides; and on the 5th and 6th the battalion was in position;—on the 7th it marched and encamped in the valley near Maya, and on the 8th moved to the camp at the Pass of Maya, where the battalion remained until the 9th of September.

Major William Cross arrived at the camp of Maya on the 10th of September, and resumed the command of the battalion.

The battalion was present in the affair of Urdax on the 7th of October, and had forty-six rank and file killed and wounded.

The British army was put in motion at an early hour in the morning of the 10th of November, and advanced to attack the enemy in his fortified position on the Nivelle. In the battle which ensued, it was the proud lot of the sixth division, of which the Thirty-sixth formed part, to charge and carry the enemy’s breastwork and principal redoubt on the heights of Ainhoa, with the loss of one drummer and five rank and file killed.

The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch of the 13th of November, thus alluded to the conduct of the Thirty-sixth on this occasion:—

“I had the pleasure of seeing the sixth division under Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, after having crossed the Nivelle, and having driven in the enemy’s piquets on both banks, and having covered the passage of the Portuguese division under Lieut.-Colonel Sir John Hamilton, on its right, make a most handsome attack upon the right of the enemy’s position behind Ainhoa, and on the right of the Nivelle, and carry all the entrenchments, and the redoubt on that flank. Lieut.-General Sir John Hamilton, supported with the Portuguese division, the sixth division on its right, and both co-operated in the attack of the second redoubt, which was immediately carried.”

In this battle the Thirty-sixth had Captains Robert Blakeney and William Gillam, Lieutenants Thomas L’Estrange and William Tunstall, Ensigns James McCabe and John Skerry, one serjeant and fifty-eight rank and file, wounded.

Major Cross, for his services on this day, was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and was with Brevet-Major Campbell honoured with the medal for the battle of the Nivelle.

The Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Nivelle” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the gallantry of the first battalion in that battle.

After this victory the battalion was in cantonments at Usteritz, on the river Nive, observing the enemy,—who was in force on the opposite side,—until the 9th of December, when the passage of the river was forced, and the battle of the Nive ensued. In the passage of the Nive the Thirty-sixth had only three rank and file wounded.

The enemy having failed in all his attacks, with his whole force, on the British left, withdrew into his entrenchments on the night of the 12th of December, and passed a large force through Bayonne, with which, on the morning of the 13th, he made a most desperate attack on the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill; the Marquis of Wellington, in expectation of this attack, had given orders that the Lieut.-General should be reinforced with the sixth division, which crossed the Nive at daylight on that morning. The Thirty-sixth were accordingly in position at Bidart, but Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill defeated the enemy with the troops under his own immediate command on the 13th of December, with immense loss, before the arrival of the reinforcement, although the march of the sixth division afforded him great facility in making his movements.

In commemoration of the operations connected with the passage of the river Nive, the Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Nive” on the regimental colour and appointments.

On the 14th of December the Thirty-sixth occupied cantonments at Ville Franque, and commenced the severe duty of the blockade of Bayonne.

1814.

The battalion was employed on this duty until the 21st of February 1814, on which day the army advanced, the Thirty-sixth being selected by Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, K.B., for the important duty of protecting the artillery of the division from an apprehended attack upon it by the enemy’s garrison of St. Jean Pied de Port, which the dreadful state of the roads obliged it nearly to pass. This obstacle fortunately surmounted, by forced marches the Thirty-sixth rejoined the army on the 26th of February, and shared in the battle of Orthes on the following day.

On the day previous to the battle the third division forded the river Gave de Pau, and a pontoon bridge was afterwards laid at Bereaux, by which the fourth and sixth divisions crossed on the morning of the 27th, at which time the third division was already posted with skirmishers thrown out close upon the left centre of the French position. The sixth division, of which the Thirty-sixth formed part, was placed on the right between the third division and the river, and the light division on its left in rear as a reserve. During the whole morning there had been occasional skirmishing by the third division, but the real attack commenced at nine o’clock by the third and sixth divisions on the French left centre, and the fourth and seventh divisions on their right, which last was intended to be the principal point of attack; but it having been found, after three hours’ hard fighting, that the enemy was there too strongly posted, the Marquis of Wellington ordered an advance of the third and sixth divisions, with the Fifty-second regiment, from the centre upon the left centre of the French position, which they carried, and thus secured the victory; while Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, with the second division, had crossed the river above Orthes, and nearly cut off the only line of retreat open to the enemy, who then retired from the field, but without confusion, and constantly resisting the advance. The allies followed, keeping up an incessant fire and cannonade, but lost many men, particularly of the third division, which was the most strongly opposed; this continued until the French nearly reached the Luy de Bearn river, when their retreat became a flight, and they effected their escape by the fords and one bridge, which they destroyed, having lost four thousand men and six guns.

In commemoration of this victory, the Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Orthes” on the regimental colour and appointments.

The battalion shared in the affairs of Vic Bigorre and Tarbes on the 19th and 20th of March. The movement of the sixth division under Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton is stated by the Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch, to have been very ably made, and it was completely successful.

During the night Marshal Soult retreated towards Toulouse, followed on the 21st of March by the allies, who continued their advance, until on the 26th they arrived in presence of the French army. The town of Toulouse is surrounded on three sides by the Canal of Languedoc and the Garonne; on the left of that river, the suburb, which the enemy had fortified with strong field-works in front of the ancient wall, formed a good tête-de-pont. The city itself was only accessible from the south, and its strong though old-fashioned walls had been rendered more defensible by redoubts, and by an exterior line of entrenchments on a strong and rugged range of heights, about two miles in length beyond the canal. On the 28th the enemy’s troops were driven within the suburb of St. Cyprien, and several attempts were made to attack them by crossing the Garonne above Toulouse. Operations were, however, impeded by the floods and rapidity of the river, until the 3d of April, when the third, fourth, and sixth divisions, with three brigades of cavalry, under Marshal Beresford, passed over by a pontoon bridge fifteen miles below Toulouse; but the crossing of the remainder of the army was again impeded by the rising of the river, which caused the removal of the bridges, until the 8th, when the Marquis of Wellington crossed, and advanced within five miles of Toulouse; Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, with two divisions, remaining on the left bank.

In the battle of Toulouse, which began about six o’clock in the morning of the 10th of April, it was the good fortune of the Thirty-sixth to commence the attack of the sixth division. The Marquis of Wellington’s plan of attack was for Marshal Sir William Beresford, who was on the right of the Ers with the fourth and sixth divisions, to cross that river at the bridge of Croix d’Orade, to gain possession of Montblanc, and to march up to the left of the Ers to turn the enemy’s right, while Lieut.-General Don Manuel Freyre, with the Spanish corps under his command, supported by the British cavalry, attacked the front.

Marshal Sir William Beresford crossed the Ers, formed his corps in three columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, and immediately carried Montblanc. He then moved up the Ers in the same order, over most difficult ground, in a direction parallel to the enemy’s fortified position, and as soon as he reached the point at which he turned it, he formed his lines, and moved to the attack. The gallant efforts of Lieut.-General Don Manuel Freyre did not meet with success, but they were highly applauded by the Marquis of Wellington. Meanwhile Marshal Sir William Beresford, with the fourth division under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Lowry Cole, and the sixth division under Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, attacked and carried the heights on the enemy’s right, and the redoubt which covered and protected that flank; and he lodged those troops on the same heights with the enemy, who were, however, still in possession of four redoubts, and of the entrenchments and fortified houses.

The badness of the roads had induced the Marshal to leave his artillery in the village of Montblanc; some time elapsed before it could be brought up, and before Lieut.-General Don Manuel Freyre’s corps could be re-formed and led again to the attack. As soon as this was effected, the Marshal continued his movement along the ridge, and earned, with Major-General Denis Pack’s brigade of the sixth division, the two principal redoubts and fortified houses in the enemy’s centre. The enemy made a desperate effort from the canal to regain these redoubts, but they were repulsed with considerable loss; and the sixth division continuing its movement along the ridge of the height, and the Spanish troops continuing a corresponding movement upon the front, the French were driven from the two redoubts and entrenchments on the left, and the whole range of heights were gained by the British.

The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch, added—

“We did not gain this advantage, however, without severe loss, particularly in the brave sixth division.

“The Thirty-sixth, Forty-second, Sixty-first, and Seventy-ninth regiments lost considerable numbers, and were highly distinguished throughout the day.

“I cannot sufficiently applaud the ability and conduct of Marshal Sir William Beresford throughout the operations of the day, nor that of Lieutenant-Generals Sir Lowry Cole, Sir Henry Clinton, Major-Generals Pack and Lambert, and the troops under their command.

“The fourth division, although exposed on their march along the enemy’s front in a galling fire, were not so much engaged as the sixth division, and did not suffer so much; but they conducted themselves with their usual gallantry.”

By this last paragraph it is shown, that the sixth division, of which the first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment had for some time formed a part, bore the brunt of this hard-fought, but, as it proved unnecessary, battle.

The killed and wounded of the Thirty-sixth were one hundred and fifty-three, of all ranks, out of two hundred and fifty; namely, Ensign James Cromie, three serjeants and thirty-five rank and file killed, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel William Cross, Brevet Major William Campbell, Lieutenants James Prendergast, Thomas L’Estrange, Peter Joseph Bone, William Henry Robertson, and Edward Lewis, Ensigns Thomas M. Taylor, and James McCabe, eight serjeants, and ninety-seven rank and file wounded.

Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Cross was so severely wounded as to oblige him to be carried off the field, and the command of the battalion devolved upon Major Martin Leggatt.

In approbation of the services of Lieut.-Colonel Cross at the battles of the Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty, was graciously pleased to confer upon that officer a cross, and to nominate him a Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath; His Royal Highness was likewise pleased to bestow on Major Leggatt a medal for the battle of Toulouse.

The Thirty-sixth subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear the word “Toulouse” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the first battalion in that battle; also the word “Peninsula” in testimony of its services in Spain and Portugal.

During the night of the 11th of April the French troops evacuated Toulouse, and a white flag was hoisted. On the following day the Marquis of Wellington entered the city, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. In the course of the afternoon of the 12th of April intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon, and had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been prevented.

A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at Bayonne, the garrison of which made a desperate sortie on the 14th of April, and Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun) was taken prisoner, Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was wounded. This was the last action of the Peninsular war.

A Treaty of Peace was established between Great Britain and France; Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of his ancestors; and Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty of that island having been conceded to him by the allied powers.

The first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment embarked at Pouillac on the 22d of June 1814, and arrived at the Cove of Cork on the 11th of the following month, and subsequently proceeded to Kilkenny.

The second battalion of the Thirty-sixth, which had been employed on home duty during the Peninsular War, was disbanded at Plymouth on the 24th of October 1814, and the men fit for service were transferred to the first battalion:—the detachment accordingly embarked for Ireland on the 30th of October.

1815.

The tranquillity which Europe appeared to have gained by the splendid successes over the French in the Peninsula, was again to be disturbed. Napoleon, who had been accustomed to imperial sway, was naturally discontented with his small sovereignty of Elba. Besides, the correspondence kept up by him with his adherents in France gave him hopes of regaining his former power, which were, for a short time, fully realized. Napoleon Bonaparte landed at Cannes, in Provence, on the 1st of March 1815, with a small body of men, and on the 20th of that month entered Paris at the head of an army, which had joined him on the road. This could not be matter of wonder, for the officers and soldiers had won their fame under his command, and gladly welcomed their former leader, under whom they probably expected to acquire fresh honours, which might cancel the memory of the defeats sustained in the Peninsula and south of France.

Louis XVIII., unable to stem the torrent, withdrew from Paris to Ghent, and Napoleon resumed his former dignity of Emperor of the French. This assumption the allied powers determined not to acknowledge, and resolved to deprive him of his sovereignty, by again restoring the ancient dynasty.

Napoleon was finally defeated on the plains of Waterloo on the 18th of June 1815, and the allies advanced on Paris. The first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment embarked at Cork on the 3d of July, and landed at Ostend on the 11th of that month. The battalion marched from thence to Paris.

The Thirty-sixth regiment remained in the neighbourhood of Paris until December 1815, on the 22d of which month it embarked at Calais for England; and, landing at Dover and Ramsgate, it subsequently proceeded to Portsmouth.

1816.

During the year 1816 the regiment was stationed at Portsmouth.

Colonel the Honourable Basil Cochrane, who had been serving as Assistant-Quartermaster-General in Ireland, died on his passage from Newry to Liverpool on the 14th of May 1816. Brevet Lieut.-Colonel William Cross was appointed to succeed him as Lieut.-Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 23d of May, and Brevet Major William Wright Swain was promoted to the vacant majority.

The word “Firm” being an old regimental acquirement, it was deemed necessary to apply to Sir George Nayler, York Herald, Inspector of Regimental Colours, for its insertion on the new colours which had been prepared, when the following reply was received:—

“College of Arms, 6th Jan. 1817.

“Sir,

“From the papers and documents in my possession,[19] relating to the Thirty-sixth regiment, it is clear that the word ‘Firm’ should be inserted on the colours of that regiment. I would, therefore, recommend your directing the person who made the new colours to cause the above word to be inscribed on them.

“I have, &c.

(Signed) “George Nayler,

“York Herald,
Inspector of Regimental Colours.”

“To Lieut.-Colonel Cross,
Commanding 36th Regiment.”

1817.

The regiment embarked at Portsmouth for the Mediterranean on the 29th of July 1817, and landed at Malta on the 27th of September following.

1818.

On the 4th of April 1818 General George Don was removed from the Ninety-fifth (afterwards disbanded) to the Thirty-sixth regiment, in succession to General the Honourable Henry St. John, deceased.

1820.

The head-quarters of the regiment, with six companies, embarked at Malta on the 5th of December 1820, and landed in the island of Zante on the 11th of the same month, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Cross, having left four companies at Malta under the command of Major Swain.

1821.

On the 18th of June 1821 the four companies which had remained at Malta embarked for the island of Cephalonia, where they arrived on the 22d of the same month. The head-quarters and four companies embarked at Zante on the 8th of July, and arrived at Cephalonia on the 10th of that month, when Lieut.-Colonel Cross assumed the command; two companies were left detached at Zante under the command of Brevet Major Henry Vernon.

On the 1st of November 1821 a detachment of the regiment, consisting of one captain, three subalterns, four serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred rank and file, was ordered to proceed to the island of Cerigo, under the command of Brevet Major William Campbell, on a particular service.

During the five latter months of the regiment being stationed at Cephalonia, the numbers of sick were very great; so much so, that it was deemed indispensably necessary to establish a convalescent hospital, as also forming a detachment of two subalterns, two serjeants, and eighty rank and file, principally consisting of the most weakly soldiers that could be selected, which proceeded to Fort St. George, a healthy eminence situated about five miles from Argostoli, where the head-quarters were stationed; another hospital was also established there for the reception of the sick of that detachment, under the superintendence of a medical staff officer.

The increase of disease in this island was principally attributed to the unconcentrated position of the barracks, which were small, crowded, and temporary, situated on a marsh in a valley close to the beach, together with the insalubrious atmosphere, which prevailed exceedingly during the time the regiment was stationed there. The loss of the Thirty-sixth by sickness here was sixteen in two months, which consisted principally of the stoutest young men in the regiment.

His Excellency the Commander of the Forces in the Mediterranean, Lieut.-General the Right Honorable Sir Thomas Maitland, G.C.B., having arrived at this island early in November, and perceiving the debilitated state of the corps, was pleased to direct its removal; six days previously to which the two companies under the command of Brevet Major Vernon arrived from Zante and joined the head-quarters. On the 30th of November the regiment, with the exception of the detachment at Cerigo, embarked for Corfu, where it arrived on the 4th of December, and occupied part of the barracks in the citadel, and the whole of the barracks and quarters in Fort Neuf; the head-quarters and three companies in the latter, and the remaining companies in the citadel; soon after which Lieut.-Colonel Cross, having been a considerable time in a bad state of health, obtained leave of absence; and Major Swain, through domestic calamities, being absent, the command devolved on Brevet Major Joshua Crosse. Here Lieutenant Henry O’Bré died on the 13th of December, about which time Brevet Major Vernon was appointed Commandant of Paxo, where he died.

1822.

Brevet Major Crosse was succeeded in the command by Brevet Major Campbell, on his arrival from Cerigo in the month of February 1822.

In March following Major Edmond Browne arrived from England and took the command of the regiment, he having succeeded to the majority by exchange from the half-pay with Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Leggatt in May 1821.

On the 2d June 1822 Major-General Sir Frederick Adam, K.C.B., commanding, was pleased to order the head-quarters and three companies stationed at Fort Neuf to join the remaining companies at the citadel, as well as the regimental hospital to be established there, which was productive of much comfort to the corps, together with the unremitting and unwearied attention of the medical department, as well as at their solicitation to send a portion of the men that had not quite recovered from the diseases contracted at Cephalonia, to the sick depôt formed at Malta, which was acceded to, and they accordingly embarked for that station on the 8th of August, where they arrived on the 13th of the same month. This arrangement was attended with the fortunate result of restoration to their former good health; and, upon the 27th of October following, two serjeants and forty-two rank and file arrived from Malta in His Majesty’s ship “Cambrian;” and at subsequent dates others arrived, leaving only a very few bad cases at Malta; so that afterwards it generally had the fewest sick of any regiment in the Ionian Islands, or in the Mediterranean.

1823.

On the 1st of February 1823, the detachment which was stationed at Cerigo arrived at Corfu, and joined the head-quarters of the regiment.

1825.

In the year 1825, the establishment of the regiment was augmented from eight to ten companies, and formed into six service and four depôt companies, consisting of forty-two serjeants, fourteen drummers, and seven hundred and forty rank and file.

The regiment remained in the Ionian Islands until the 2d of December 1825, when it embarked at Santa Maura for England.

1826.

On the 18th of February 1826, the regiment disembarked at Chatham; in the spring it proceeded to Colchester, afterwards to Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester, and Bolton.

1827.

During the early part of the year 1827, the regiment remained at Bolton, in Lancashire, and in April it proceeded to Liverpool, from which place it embarked for Ireland on the 14th of that month. The regiment arrived at Dublin on the following day, proceeded from thence to Mullingar, and returned to Dublin in August following, where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.

1828.

In May 1828, the regiment proceeded from Dublin to Naas, and in October it was removed to Limerick.

1829.

The regiment remained at Limerick until August 1829, when it proceeded to Birr, and continued during the rest of the year at that station.

Lieut.-General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart., was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 21st of December 1829, in succession to General Sir George Don, G.C.B. and G.C.H., removed to the Third foot, or the Buffs.

1830.

In June 1830, the Thirty-sixth regiment proceeded from Birr to Fermoy, and was formed into six service and four depôt companies. The service companies embarked at Cork on the 11th, 13th, and 14th of October for the West Indies. The depôt companies remained at Fermoy for a short time, and were afterwards stationed at Spike Island.

The service companies disembarked at Barbadoes on the 20th, 21st, and 28th of November.

1831.

The service companies suffered severely during the great hurricane in Barbadoes in 1831, having eleven men killed, and several severely injured.

The depôt companies were removed from Spike Island to Charles Fort, Kinsale, in October 1831, and continued there during 1832.

1833.

The service companies which had, since their arrival in the West Indies, remained at Barbadoes, were removed to Antigua in February 1833. The depôt companies proceeded from Charles Fort to Ballincollig in January 1833; to Cork in February; to Templemore in August, and to Nenagh in October following.

1834.

During the year 1834, the service companies remained at Antigua. The depôt companies were removed in October from Nenagh to Limerick.

1835.

In November 1835 the service companies proceeded from Antigua to St. Lucia. The depôt companies quitted Limerick for Galway in May 1835, and marched for Cork in June following, where they embarked for Plymouth on the 14th of September; during the remainder of the year they were stationed at Devonport.

1836.

During the year 1836, the service companies remained at St. Lucia, and the depôt at Devonport.

1837.

In February 1837 the service companies proceeded from St. Lucia to Barbadoes.

1838.

The depôt companies were removed from Devonport to Kinsale in June 1838.

On the 10th of November 1838, the service companies embarked at Barbadoes for Nova Scotia, and arrived at Halifax on the 8th of December.

The following extract of a letter to the Adjutant-General from Lieut.-General Sir Samford Whittingham, K.C.B., Commanding in the Windward and Leeward Islands, is highly creditable to the Thirty-sixth regiment, and is, therefore, here inserted.

“Head-Quarters, Barbadoes,
“14th November 1838.

“The Thirty-sixth regiment was prepared to embark in four and twenty hours after the arrival of the ‘Hercules,’ but the embarkation was delayed, in consequence of the captain reporting that he could not be ready to receive the troops on board till the 10th.

“I feel much pleasure in stating that the embarkation, the whole of which I witnessed, was conducted in the most orderly and soldier-like manner, and I did not perceive a single case of drunkenness.

“I have the honour to enclose copy of the farewell Order I issued on the departure of this old and distinguished corps, as also an embarkation return of it, and a disembarkation return of the Fifty-second regiment.”

“Head-Quarters, Barbadoes,
“9th November 1838.

“General Order.

“The Thirty-sixth regiment being about to embark for Halifax, in obedience to the orders of the General Commanding-in-Chief, Sir Samford Whittingham takes this opportunity of congratulating Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, and the officers and non-commissioned officers of that veteran regiment, on the high state of efficiency in which it will proceed to America, after a period of eight years’ service in the West Indies.

“The Lieutenant-General had great pleasure in witnessing, at his late inspection, the healthy appearance of the men, and their steadiness under arms.

“It is now upwards of thirty years since the Lieutenant-General had first the honour of serving with the Thirty-sixth regiment, then commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Burne; and he has great pleasure in being able to state, that every succeeding campaign has crowned with fresh laurels this truly gallant corps.

“The Lieutenant-General begs Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell will accept, and communicate to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the regiment he so ably commands, the expression of his best wishes for their health and happiness; and his conviction that the oftener they are tried in the field of battle, the greater will be their accession of glory and honour.

“By Command,

(Signed) “E. R. King, Capt.,
“D. A. A. G.”

1839.

In January 1839, the service companies proceeded to New Brunswick, and were stationed during the rest of the year at Fredericton.

The depôt companies were removed from Kinsale to Tralee in April 1839; in November they proceeded to Limerick, and in December to Nenagh.

1840.

During the year 1840 the service companies were stationed at Fredericton in New Brunswick.

In May 1840, the depôt companies proceeded from Nenagh to Clare Castle.

1841.

The service companies were removed on the 7th of July 1841, from Fredericton to St. John’s, New Brunswick. The depôt companies continued at Clare Castle.

1842.

On the 29th of April 1842, the service companies embarked at St. John’s for Ireland, and arrived at Cork on the 28th of May, where they were consolidated with the depôt companies.

In August the regiment proceeded from Cork to Limerick.

1843.

The regiment was removed, in July 1843, from Limerick to Dublin.

1844.

In July 1844, the regiment proceeded from Dublin to Newry.

1845.

The regiment embarked at Newry for Great Britain on the 24th of April 1845; arrived at Whitehaven on the 28th of that month; and proceeded to Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Colonel Archibald Montgomery Maxwell, K.H., died at Newcastle-on-Tyne on the 21st of May 1845, and Major Charles Ashmore was promoted Lieut.-Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment from the 22d of May. Captain Edward R. King was promoted to the vacant majority.

1846.

In 1846 the Thirty-sixth regiment was augmented to sixty-seven serjeants, twenty-five drummers, and twelve hundred rank and file. It was also ordered to be formed into two battalions of six companies each. In May the regiment proceeded from Newcastle-on-Tyne to Manchester, and in August it was removed to Weedon, where on the 28th of November the regiment was divided into two battalions. While quartered at Weedon the regiment received new colours, which were presented by Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, K.C.B., commanding the northern and midland districts of South Britain.

1847.

The first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles Ashmore, embarked at Gosport in Her Majesty’s troop ship “Resistance” for the Ionian Islands, on the 6th of January 1847; the reserve battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles Trollope, who had been promoted to that rank on the augmentation of the regiment, also embarked at Gosport for the Mediterranean, on the 2d of that month, in the “Vengeance” ship of war.

The head-quarters and three companies of the first battalion disembarked at Argostoli, in the island of Cephalonia, on the 8th of February. Two companies were detached to the island of Zante, and one to Ithaca.

The reserve battalion disembarked at Corfu on the 31st of January.

The depôt of the Thirty-sixth regiment formed part of the depôt battalion at the Isle of Wight, on the embarkation of the two battalions for foreign service.

1848.

The detachment of the first battalion at Zante proceeded from thence on the 6th of May 1848, leaving one field officer, one captain, two subalterns, four serjeants, and ninety-six rank and file with the head-quarters at Cephalonia, the remainder proceeding to Corfu. The detachment at Cerigo was moved from thence to Corfu on the 13th of May 1848. The head-quarters and five companies of the first battalion proceeded from Cephalonia to Corfu on the 3d of August.

One company of the reserve battalion was detached at Vido from the 24th of March to the 19th of July 1848, and one company at Ithaca from the 15th of July to the 5th of October 1848. The reserve battalion proceeded from Corfu to Cephalonia on the 2d of August 1848. On the 26th of September an attack was made on the town of Argostoli by several hundred armed Villani, which was repelled by Serjeant Luke Dunn and twelve men of the battalion, the resident’s guard on that morning, with the loss of two killed and two wounded. Privates Daniel McNamara and William Elsom killed; privates Thomas Fox and James Lidwell wounded; several others received shots through their caps, clothing, &c.

On the same day a detachment of fifty men, under Major Lorenzo Rothe, Captain James Nugent, and Lieutenant Rickard Lloyd, succeeded in saving the public records at Lixuri, as they were on the point of being destroyed by a party of insurgents, who fired on, and slightly wounded, two soldiers; the detachment returned the fire, wounded some of the insurgents, and drove them from the town.

The reserve battalion was engaged for ten or twelve days and nights in guarding the towns of Argostoli and Lixuri, during which period the sentries and guards were repeatedly fired upon and otherwise annoyed by the insurgents. A party under Ensign Bernard Robert Shaw succeeded in capturing Cappoletto, one of the principal rebels, for whose arrest a reward of fifteen hundred dollars had been offered. Detachments of fifty men, each under Captain Alexander McGeachy Alleyne and Ensign George Massy Robins, and Lieutenant Cecil Rivers and Ensign John Edmund Harvey, were sent to the southern part of the island to scour the district of Scala.

1849.

Two companies of the first battalion, consisting of one captain, four subalterns, six serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and fifty rank and file, under the command of Major Edward R. King, proceeded to Cephalonia on the 30th of August 1849, for the purpose of suppressing an insurrection in that island, and returned to Corfu on the 17th of November following.

Two companies of the reserve battalion, under Captain Charles Wilson Carden, were, in February, employed in aid of the civil power at St. Gerasimo for the purpose of enforcing payment of the fines inflicted on the villages concerned in the insurrection of the 26th of September of the previous year; this party returned to head-quarters on the 26th of February. A company under Captain James Nugent likewise proceeded to St. Gerasimo in May 1849 in aid of the civil power, and to assist in pursuit of banditti; it rejoined the head-quarters in August. A company under Captain John Pratt proceeded in May to Scala in aid of the civil power, and to assist in enforcing the embargo, and rejoined the head-quarters on the 22d of June.

A company of the reserve battalion under Captain Henry J. Coote was detached to Sissi on the 29th of August in aid of the civil power, and was subsequently employed in very arduous services under the proclamation of martial law, which lasted from the 31st of August, to the 27th of October 1849, and in suppressing the outbreak in Cephalonia. Privates Taylor and Green of this company were wounded in a skirmish with the insurgents. A company under Lieutenant Rickard Lloyd proceeded in September to Sissi to reinforce the detachment under Captain Coote, and after serving in conjunction therewith, returned to head-quarters with it on the 15th of October. One company under Captain Nugent proceeded to Faraclata on the 16th of September, and assisted in the pursuit of the outlawed rebels; a portion of this detachment, under Ensign Alfred Macdonald, was employed as a flying column, and scoured the country in chase of the three outlawed rebel chiefs for twenty-three days, during the whole of which time it was subjected to the most fatiguing marches and labour. The reserve battalion during the period of martial law from the 31st of August to the 27th of October 1849, which was administered by Lieut.-Colonel Trollope, was frequently employed in pursuit of rebels (parties, varying from forty to a hundred, being despatched into the country for this purpose) in disarming turbulent and refractory villages, and in guarding the town of Argostoli, the men having very seldom more than one night in bed.

1850.

In April 1850 it was directed that the regiment should be reduced to a thousand rank and file; the reserve battalion at Cephalonia was in consequence broken up, and consolidated with the first battalion at Corfu, where the regiment was stationed during this year.

1851.

In March 1851, four companies embarked at Cephalonia for England for the purpose of forming the depôt, which was afterwards stationed at the Isle of Wight, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Trollope.

The service companies, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Ashmore, embarked at Corfu for the West Indies on the 21st of March 1851 in the freight ship “Java,” and arrived at Barbadoes on the 16th of May following, where they were stationed during the remainder of the year.

Major-General the Lord Frederick FitzClarence, G.C.H., was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 23d of July 1851, in succession to General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart., deceased.

1852.

In May 1852 the service companies were removed from Barbadoes to Trinidad.

The depôt companies proceeded in April 1852 from Parkhurst to Fort Pembroke Dock.

On the 31st of December 1852, the date to which this record has been brought, the service companies continued to be stationed at Trinidad, and the depôt companies at Fort Pembroke Dock.

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1852.

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Note.—The Compiler of the Regimental Records feels it his duty to acknowledge the assistance which he has received in the completion of the History of the Thirty-sixth, and certain other Regiments, from Mr. Thomas Carter, of the Adjutant-General’s Office, who, by much labour and research, has endeavoured to supply the deficiencies in the manuscript narratives transmitted by Regiments, particularly in the details of their earlier services.

THIRTY SIXTH REGIMENT.
For Cannon’s Military Records.