SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE THIRTY-SIXTH,

OR THE

HEREFORDSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.

William Viscount Charlemont.

Appointed 28th June 1701.

William Caulfeild, the second Viscount Charlemont, for his services in the cause of King William III., was rewarded by a regiment of infantry. His Majesty also made him Governor and Custos Rotulorum of the counties of Tyrone and Armagh, and Governor of the fort of Charlemont. Several regiments of infantry being ordered to be disbanded in 1697, and his Lordship’s regiment being one of them, His Majesty, in consideration of his faithful services, directed the sum of eight shillings per day to be paid him as half-pay, and on the 28th of June 1701, His Majesty again appointed him to the command of a newly raised corps, which is now the Thirty-sixth regiment. On the 25th of August 1704, his Lordship was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and in the following year was called upon to serve in Spain under Charles, Earl of Peterborough. Lord Charlemont rendered important services at the siege of Barcelona; and at the attack of Fort Montjuich on the 14th of September 1705, his Lordship marched into the works, at the head of his men, and was near the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt when he received the wound which terminated mortally. After the action Lord Charlemont, and Lieut.-Colonel Southwell of the Sixth foot, were presented to the King of Spain as officers that had performed signal service on that occasion, for which they received the thanks of that Sovereign. The taking of this fort paved the way for reducing Barcelona, which surrendered on the 9th of October 1705. His Lordship was subsequently removed from the Thirty-sixth regiment, by the Earl of Peterborough, and, in justice to his character and feelings, preferred a complaint to Her Majesty Queen Anne against his former Commander; this was referred to a Council of General Officers, who, after several meetings, at which witnesses were heard on both sides, made two satisfactory reports to Her Majesty, copies of which are inserted at the end of this memoir. On the 1st of January 1707 Queen Anne advanced him to the rank of Major-General, and he was honoured with the confidence of Her Majesty, as had been the case with King William III., both as a Peer, and in his military capacity. In May 1709, his Lordship was one of the committee appointed to draw up an address of condolence to Her Majesty on the decease of Her Royal Consort Prince George of Denmark, and also to congratulate the Queen on the success of her arms.

In May 1726, his Lordship was sworn of the Privy Council to King George I., and after having enjoyed the peerage upwards of fifty-five years, and being reputed the oldest nobleman in the Kingdom, he died on the 21st of July 1726, and was buried at Armagh.

The following are copies of the Reports of the General Officers concerning the difference between the Earl of Peterborough and Viscount Charlemont, alluded to in the foregoing Memoir.

“May it please your Majesty,

“We, the General Officers of the Army, in obedience to your Majesty’s commands, have examined into the Memorial of the Lord Viscount Charlemont, complaining of hardships received from the Earl of Peterborough, in Spain, in relation to his regiment, from which he alleged he had been removed upon a pretended order from your Majesty; and having fully heard what their Lordships had severally to offer therewith with witnesses, and other testimony, as were produced on both sides, on due debate and consideration of the whole, we are humbly of opinion,—

“That it appears to this Board, that a pretended Order from the Queen was made use of, to induce the Lord Charlemont to part with his regiment; and that there have been indirect means used for the doing it.

“That it likewise appears to the Board, that the Earl of Peterborough has not done anything irregular to compel the Lord Charlemont to part with his regiment. All which is most humbly submitted to your Majesty this 12th day of February 1707-8.

“(Signed) Schomberg, President.
William Stewart.Mohun.
Portmore.Stairs.
Richard Ingoldsby.Richard Temple.
Charles Ross.Thomas Pulteney.
William Seymour.Barthol. Ogilvy.
Argyle.Thom. Crowther.
Shannon.Kellum.
Francis Palmes.Tatton.”

“May it please your Majesty,

“In obedience to your Majesty’s command, referring to the General Officers of the Army a Petition of the Lord Viscount Charlemont, praying his conduct at the Fort of Montjuich may be examined into, as to which he lay under some reflections; the General Officers have met, and heard several witnesses produced on that occasion; and do thereupon humbly report to your Majesty, that they find as followeth:—

“That the Lord Charlemont was at the attack of the Fort of Montjuich, and marched into the works at the head of his men, and was near the Prince of Hesse when he was killed; and continued doing his duty during the heat of the action.

“That toward the end of the said action, a panic fear took the troops, to which the Lord Charlemont no way contributed; but the contrary, his Lordship having endeavoured, both by himself and other Officers, to put a stop to the disorder.

“That when the action was over, after the Lord Charlemont had been first relieved by Brigadier Gorges, the Earl of Peterborough took his Lordship and Colonel Southwell, and presented them to the King of Spain, as Officers that had done His Majesty signal service in that action; for which they both received His Majesty’s thanks.

“That by the disposition of the attack of the breach of the town of Barcelona, as the same is attested by the Earl of Peterborough’s secretary, the Lord Charlemont was commanded, with the First brigade, for that attack.

“The General Officers do also take leave to observe to your Majesty, that it does not appear to them, that any General Officer refused rolling with the Lord Charlemont; but that they did their duty with him as before. Which is most humbly submitted to your Majesty, this 24th of March 1707-8.

“(Signed)Tyrawley, President.
Richard Ingoldsby.Richard Temple.
Thomas Farrington.Sherrington Davenport.
Robert Ecklin.Bartholomew Ogilvy.”
Stairs.

Thomas Alnutt.

Appointed 10th May 1706.

Upon Viscount Charlemont’s raising the corps which is now numbered the Thirty-sixth, this officer was appointed to a company in the regiment; and he embarked with it in the expedition against Cadiz in 1702. Captain Alnutt subsequently proceeded with the regiment to the West Indies; and in 1704 returned with it to Ireland. His services are also connected with the expedition to Spain under the Earl of Peterborough in 1705, the siege of Barcelona in the same year, and its gallant and successful defence against King Philip in 1706. Lieut.-Colonel Alnutt, to which rank he had been advanced at this period, was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 10th of May 1706, in succession to the Viscount Charlemont. At the Battle of Almanza on the 25th of April 1707, Colonel Alnutt was wounded and taken prisoner. His decease occurred on the 7th of May 1708.

Archibald, Earl of Ilay,
afterwards
Duke of Argyle.

Appointed 23d March 1709.

Archibald, third Duke of Argyle, was born at Ham, in Surrey, in June 1682, and resided in England until he was about seventeen years of age, when he was sent to the University of Glasgow. From thence he went to Utrecht, and made considerable advancement in the study of civil law, intending to practise in that profession. Upon his father’s advancement to the Dukedom of Argyle on the 23d of June 1701, his son Archibald embraced a military life, and served under the Duke of Marlborough.

In 1705 he was constituted Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, and in the Parliament of that year, in which his brother John, who had succeeded his father as Duke of Argyle two years previously, presided as Lord High Commissioner, he sat and voted as such upon the Queen’s letter; he was nominated one of the Commissioners for the Treaty of Union in 1706, and on the 19th of October of that year was created by patent, dated at Kensington, Earl and Viscount of Ilay, Lord Oransay, Dunoon, and Arrase. This nobleman was one of the sixteen representatives of the Scottish peerage, chosen by Parliament on the 13th of February 1707, and was re-chosen at every general election until his decease, with the single exception of the last Parliament of Queen Anne’s reign.

The Earl of Ilay, upon his brother’s resignation, was, on the 1st of June 1708, sworn and admitted one of the extraordinary Lords of Session, being, says Fountainhall, “the best school of law for the nobility to learn that is in Europe.” On the 23d of March 1709 Her Majesty Queen Anne appointed the Earl of Ilay to be Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment. The governorship of Dumbarton Castle was also conferred upon his Lordship.

Finding that a statesman’s career was more congenial to his taste than the military profession, he quitted the army and resigned the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment in 1710. With his accustomed assiduity his Lordship employed himself in the acquisition of political knowledge. In 1710 he was appointed Lord Justice General of Scotland, and was sworn a Privy Councillor in the following year. Upon the accession of George I. the Earl of Ilay was constituted Lord Clerk Register; and on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1715 he again betook himself to arms in defence of the reigning family. By his prudent conduct in the Western Highlands he prevented General Gordon at the head of three thousand men, from penetrating into the country and raising levies. He joined his brother the Duke of Argyle on the 13th of November 1715, half an hour before the battle of Sheriffmuir, where he was wounded.

In 1725 this nobleman received the office of Keeper of the Privy Seal, and in December 1733 his Lordship was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal. Upon the decease of his brother, in 1743, the Earl of Ilay became third Duke of Argyle, and Hereditary Justiciary of Argyleshire and the Western Islands. After the suppression of the rebellion in 1746, he carried into effect the judicious plan of employing the Highlanders in the Royal army, which had been suggested by the Right Honourable William Pitt, afterwards the Earl of Chatham.

The Duke of Argyle continued at the head of affairs in Scotland, in full possession of his mental faculties, until his death, which happened in London, without a moment’s pain, as he was sitting in his chair at dinner, on the 15th of April 1761, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. On this nobleman’s decease the title of Earl of Ilay became extinct; his other titles and estates in Scotland descended to his cousin, Lieut.-General John Campbell of Mamore, Colonel of the Second dragoons, or Scots Greys.

Henry Desaulnais.

Appointed 23d October 1710.

Upon the resignation of Colonel the Earl of Ilay, Lieut.-Colonel Henry Desaulnais (afterwards spelt Desney) was promoted from the Coldstream guards to the Colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 23d of October 1710. In the following year he served with his regiment in the expedition against Quebec, and on the 25th of December 1725 this officer was appointed Colonel of the Twenty-ninth regiment. He died on the 21st of November 1731.

William Egerton.

Appointed 11th July 1715.

This officer served with reputation in the wars of King William III. and of Queen Anne. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in November 1711, appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 11th of July 1715, and on the 6th of July 1719 was removed to the Twentieth regiment, which corps he commanded until his decease on the 15th of July 1732.

Sir Charles Hotham, Bart.

Appointed 7th July 1719.

Charles Hotham, eldest son of the Reverend Charles Hotham, rector of Wigan, succeeded to the baronetcy on the decease of his uncle in 1691. He served with distinction in the wars of King William III., and also under the great Duke of Marlborough in the reign of Queen Anne. In 1705 he obtained the colonelcy of a regiment of infantry, with which he proceeded to Spain in 1706, and was in garrison at Alicant when the unfortunate battle of Almanza was fought. Sir Charles Hotham served with reputation during the remainder of the war; but his regiment, having suffered severely in the defence of several fortified towns, was disbanded in Catalonia in 1708. He was appointed Brigadier-General on the 1st of January 1710, and shortly after the accession of King George I. he was commissioned to raise a regiment of infantry, which, after the suppression of the rebellion of the Earl of Mar in 1716, was sent to Ireland, and disbanded in the following year. Sir Charles Hotham was afterwards appointed Colonel of a newly raised regiment of dragoons, which was disbanded in November 1718.

On the 7th of July 1719, the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment was conferred on Sir Charles Hotham; he was removed to the Eighth or King’s regiment of foot in December 1720, and in April following to the Royal dragoons. His decease occurred on the 8th of January 1723.

John Pocock.

Appointed 2d December 1720.

This officer obtained a commission in a regiment of infantry in June 1695; and having signalized himself in the wars of Queen Anne, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army in 1707. In 1710, he succeeded William Lord Strathnaver in the colonelcy of a regiment of infantry, with which he served in Flanders under the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, and afterwards under the Duke of Ormond. At the peace of Utrecht his regiment was disbanded; and in 1715 he was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot for the service of King George I. After the suppression of the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, this regiment was sent to Ireland, where it was disbanded in 1718; and on the 2d of December 1720, he was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment, from which he was removed in April 1721 to the Eighth or King’s regiment. On the expectation that Great Britain would become involved in a continental war, in 1727, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. He died in April 1732, at his house in Leicester Fields, London.

Charles Lenoe.

Appointed 21st April 1721.

Charles Lenoe entered the army in the reign of Queen Anne, his first commission bearing date the 4th of December 1704; he served under the Duke of Marlborough, and on the 21st of April 1721, Lieut.-Colonel Lenoe was promoted from the Coldstream guards to be Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment, from which he was removed to the Eighth or King’s regiment on the 8th of May 1732, the colonelcy of which he retained until his decease in December 1738.

John Moyle.

Appointed 14th May 1732.

This officer entered the army in the reign of Queen Anne, and served with reputation under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough; he rose to the lieut.-colonelcy of a newly raised regiment of infantry, and in 1708 was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the army. At the peace of Utrecht in 1713, his regiment was disbanded. Colonel Moyle was advanced to the rank of Brigadier-General on the 13th of March 1727. On the 14th of May 1732, King George II. conferred the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment on Brigadier-General Moyle, who was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 5th of November 1735. In June 1737, he was removed to the Twenty-second regiment. Major-General Moyle died on the 3d of November 1738.

Humphrey Bland.

Appointed 27th June 1737.

Humphrey Bland served in several campaigns on the continent under the famous John Duke of Marlborough, as a Lieutenant and Captain of horse. He afterwards served as Lieut.-Colonel in Spain, and on the 27th of July 1710 was wounded at the battle of Almanara. In 1715, when a number of new corps were raised, King George I. appointed him Lieut.-Colonel of the Eleventh dragoons, and he was instrumental with his regiment in suppressing the rebellion which broke out in Scotland towards the end of that year; he was afterwards appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the Second horse, now First Dragoon guards, and having distinguished himself as an efficient and loyal officer, he was on the 27th of June 1737, promoted to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment, from which he was removed, in 1741, to the Thirteenth dragoons, and two years afterwards to the Third or King’s Own dragoons. He had his horse shot under him at the battle of Dettingen on the 27th of June 1743; on the 30th of March 1745, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General; he displayed great gallantry at the battle of Fontenoy on the 11th of May following, and highly distinguished himself in the battle of Culloden on the 16th of April 1746; he was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General on the 12th of September 1747. In July 1752 he was removed to the First Dragoon guards, the colonelcy of which regiment he retained until his decease in 1763.

James Fleming.

Appointed 9th January 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. He was advanced to the rank of Brigadier-General in June 1745, and was present in the action at Falkirk on the 17th of January 1746, and also at the battle of Culloden on the 16th of April following. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 2d of September 1747. He died in March 1751.

Lord Robert Manners.

Appointed 13th March 1751.

Lord Robert Manners, son of John, second Duke of Rutland, choosing a military life, purchased an ensigncy in the Coldstream guards, on the 26th of July 1735; was appointed Lieutenant in May 1740, and Captain and Lieut.-Colonel in the First Foot guards on the 22nd of April 1742. In December 1747, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and appointed Aide-de-camp to King George II.; on the 13th of March 1751 his Lordship was appointed by His Majesty to the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment. The rank of Major-General was conferred upon Lord Robert Manners on the 7th of February 1757, and his Lordship was advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-General on the 7th of April 1759; in 1765 he was removed to the Third Dragoon guards, and was promoted to the rank of General on the 25th of May 1772. His decease occurred on the 31st of May 1782.

Sir Richard Pierson, K.B.

Appointed 11th September 1765.

Richard Pierson was for many years an officer in the First Foot guards, in which regiment he was appointed Major, with the rank of Colonel in the army, on the 21st of July 1760. On the 10th of July 1762, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and on the 5th of September 1764 he was appointed Colonel of the Sixty-third regiment, from which he was removed on the 11th of September 1765 to the Thirty-sixth regiment. In 1772 he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General, and was also honoured with the dignity of a Knight of the Bath; and on the 27th of November 1778, Sir Richard Pierson was removed to the Thirteenth dragoons. He was taken suddenly ill on his return from the theatre on the night of the 12th of February 1781, and died before the following morning.

The Honourable Henry St. John.

Appointed 27th November 1778.

The Honourable Henry St. John, brother of Viscount Bolingbroke, entered the army as Ensign in the Coldstream regiment of Foot guards, his commission being dated 31st of December 1754, from which he was promoted on the 12th of January 1758 to the rank of Captain in the Eighteenth, Royal Irish regiment, then stationed in Ireland. Captain the Honourable Henry St. John was advanced to the rank of Major in the Ninety-first regiment on the 12th of January 1760, in which he was promoted Lieut.-Colonel on the 13th of February 1762, and on the corps being disbanded at the Peace of 1763 he was placed on half pay. On the 9th of November 1767, Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Henry St. John was appointed to the Sixty-seventh regiment then in garrison at Minorca. He received the brevet rank of Colonel on the 11th of January 1776, and was appointed by His Majesty King George III. to be Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 27th of November 1778.

Colonel the Honourable Henry St. John was advanced to the rank of Major-General on the 19th of February 1779, to that of Lieut.-General on the 28th of September 1787, and to that of General on the 16th of January 1797. His decease occurred in April 1818, at which period he retained the colonelcy of the Thirty-sixth regiment, which he had held for upwards of thirty-nine years.

Sir George Don, G.C.B. and G.C.H.

Appointed 4th April 1818.

This officer entered the army in 1770, as Ensign in the Fifty-first foot; in 1784 he was promoted Major of the Fifty-ninth regiment, and in April 1789 was appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the same corps. He was advanced to the rank of Colonel in 1795, and was appointed Aide-de-camp to His Majesty King George III. in 1797.

In 1798 Colonel Don was promoted to the rank of Major-General; in the succeeding year he was appointed Colonel of the Seventh West India regiment (afterwards disbanded), and was removed to the Ninety-sixth regiment in 1805. He was also promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General, and proceeded with the expedition to Hanover in the same year. In 1814 he was promoted to the rank of General, and appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar. On the 24th of January 1819, the Ninety-fifth (formerly Ninety-sixth) regiment was disbanded, previously to which he was, on the 4th of April 1818, removed therefrom to the Thirty-sixth regiment. General Don was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on the 20th of May 1820, and on the 21st of December 1829 was appointed Colonel of the Third foot or the Buffs. He was appointed Governor of Scarborough Castle in 1831, and died at Gibraltar on the 1st of January 1832.

Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart.

Appointed 21st December 1829.

This officer commenced his military career as ensign in the Fifth fusiliers, his commission being dated 1st of May 1778, in which regiment he rose to the rank of lieutenant on the 27th of December 1780. Lieutenant Sheaffe served in Ireland from January 1781 to May 1787, and in Canada from July following to September 1797. In 1794 he was employed under the orders of Lord Dorchester, and with instructions from Lieut.-Governor Simcoe, on a public mission to protest against certain settlements made by the Americans on the south shore of Lake Ontario. On the 5th of May 1795, he was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Fifth fusiliers, and on the 13th of December 1797 was promoted Major in the Eighty-first regiment, and was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of the Forty-ninth regiment on the 22d of March 1798.

Lieut.-Colonel Sheaffe served in Holland from August to November 1799; in the Baltic from March to July 1801; and in Canada from September 1802 to October 1811. On the 25th of April 1808, he received the brevet rank of Colonel, and on the 4th of June 1811 was advanced to the rank of Major-General. He again served in Canada from the 29th of July 1812 to November 1813. The Americans having invaded Upper Canada at Queenstown on the 13th of October 1812, and General Brock, commanding in the province, having fallen in a gallant effort with an independent force to oppose them, Major-General Sheaffe, on whom the command devolved, assembled some regular troops and militia, with a few Indians, and the same day attacked them in a woody height, which they occupied above the town, and completely defeated them, though far exceeding his own followers in number, their Commander delivering his sword, and surrendering his surviving troops on the field of battle.

In acknowledgment of this important service, Major-General Sheaffe was created a Baronet by patent, dated 16th January 1813. Sir Roger Sheaffe defended the town of York (now called Toronto), in Upper Canada, on the 27th of April 1813, when it was attacked by the Americans, whose loss exceeded the number of those opposed to them. He continued to command in the Upper Province, and to administer its government, until June 1813; on quitting it he received, from the resident members of the Executive Council, an address expressing their sense of “that display of candour, justice, and impartiality which had marked his administration, and the urbanity and confidence of his official intercourse.” They further acknowledged their conviction that they owed the salvation of the whole province to his military talents on the memorable day when he succeeded to the command. He was appointed to the Staff of Great Britain on the 25th of March 1814; but the appointment was recalled and deferred, in consequence of the change of affairs in Europe.

Major-General Sir Roger Sheaffe was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General on the 19th of July 1821, and on the 21st of December 1829 was appointed by His Majesty King George IV. to be Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment. He was advanced to the rank of General on the 28th of June 1838. General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart., died at Edinburgh, aged eighty-eight years, on the 17th of July 1851.

Lord Frederick FitzClarence, G.C.H.

Appointed 23d July 1851.