“Ye sons of the strong, when that dawning shall break,
Need the harp of the aged remind you to wake?
That dawn never beam’d on your forefathers’ eye,
But it roused each high chieftain to vanquish or die.”
AMERICA—FRENCH REVOLUTION—WEST INDIES—NEW ORLEANS—CRIMEA—1748–1862.
Restless like the ocean, anew the spirit of ambition, the thirst for conquest, awakened the flames of war between these ancient rivals—France and Britain. In those days, when standing armies were dreaded by a people ever jealous of the prerogative of the Crown, with whom, moreover, there still lingered the bitter experience of the past, or the lively, yet painful, recollection of the tyranny of the Stuarts—in those days our army was limited. Hence, when war broke out, we find the whole force of the kingdom called into action, or embarked on foreign service, leaving to militia and volunteers the defence of “our hearths and homes”—just as it should ever be. In such circumstances, in 1761 our Fusiliers were engaged in a desperate descent upon the French island of Belleisle, situated in the Bay of Biscay. The natural and artificial defences of the island had almost defeated the object of the expedition; and when, after much searching and toil, a landing had been effected, the dangers to be encountered required the utmost steadiness and perseverance to be overcome. The French made a resolute defence, and only surrendered when their position had become no longer tenable, and no promise of relief seemed at hand. Afterwards stationed in England, the regiment in 1765 was sent out for the occupation of West Florida in America, whence, in 1770, it was removed to Quebec. It had been commanded by the Earl of Panmure, who, in 1738 succeeded the Duke of Argyle in the colonelcy, and in 1770 he was in turn succeeded by Major-General the Hon. Alexander Mackay. In 1772 our Fusiliers returned to England; soon, however, to be recalled to the American States, to take an active part in the unnatural war which had arisen out of vexing disputes on the all-important question of taxation between the Home and Colonial Governments. Accordingly, in 1776 the regiment was sent out for the relief of Quebec, then besieged by the Americans. The timely arrival of such welcome reinforcements, strengthening and encouraging the garrison, produced an opposite feeling of weakness and dejection in the ranks of the besiegers, so as to induce the American General to raise the siege and retire. In his retreat he was pursued and harassed by the British troops. In the following year, the Twenty-first, as we shall henceforth call them, was employed reducing the American forts, especially Ticonderago, which studded the shores of Lake Champlain. Ultimately the regiment formed part of an unfortunate expedition under Lieut.-General Burgoyne, who, encouraged by previous successes, was tempted to advance into the enemy’s territory, away from his own resources, where—notwithstanding the repeated defeats, especially at Stillwater, with which our troops visited the temerity of the foe, and the heroism with which they conquered all obstacles and endured many sufferings from the pinchings of want, reduced to about 3500 fighting men, and surrounded by an American army of fully 16,000—the Twenty-first, with the relics of the other regiments included in the expedition, were under the painful necessity of laying down their arms, and surrendering themselves prisoners of war. This untoward event terminated for the present the active service of the Twenty-first. The battalion, on being released, returned to Britain, where it remained on home duty until 1789, when, embarking for America, it was employed for nearly four years in that country.
The French Revolution having, by a flood of evil influences, submerged well nigh every vestige of living righteousness, war, with all its horrors, had been accepted as the dire alternative which, with its fiery deluge, should purge the political world of the cankering iniquities which hitherto fattened upon the miseries a tyrant democracy had inflicted upon civilisation. Unable to cope with the vast armaments which the revolutionary energy of France had brought into being and sent forth to convert Christendom to its own dogmas of “Equality, Fraternity, and Liberty,” and whilst these overran the Netherlands and other adjacent countries, our Government directed the efforts of its arms against the French West Indian Islands, the natives and lower classes of which, becoming infected by the republican fever, had assumed to be free, and in token thereof adopted the tri-colour cockade, whilst the Royalists, who, as proprietors and capitalists, had everything to lose, invoked the friendly aid of Britain. Accordingly, the Twenty-first, proceeding from Canada to the West Indies with the army under Major-General Bruce, took part in the first attempt upon the island of Martinique in 1793, which failed. A second attempt in 1794, under General Sir Charles Grey, was more successful, the Republicans being overthrown. This desirable result was speedily followed by the reduction of the islands of St Lucia and Guadaloupe, in the capture of both of which the Twenty-first was honourably distinguished. Our possession of Guadaloupe was not long to be enjoyed. A powerful French fleet from Europe, with a considerable body of troops on board, arrived and succeeded but too well in resuscitating the republican interests, and at length prevailing, the few British defenders, numbering only 125, were forced to surrender to overwhelming odds. In the fall of Fort Matilda, which terminated our dominion in the island, the Twenty-first met with another heavy disaster, which, with the ravages of the yellow fever, had so reduced the effective strength of the regiment, that in 1796 it was sent home to recruit, where it soon attained a strength of 800 men, by volunteers from the Scots Fencible Regiments.
Whilst stationed at Enniskillen, the good conduct of the regiment won for our Fusiliers the esteem of the inhabitants, whose good-will could not fail to be appreciated as a record of no small importance, considering the excellent regiments, which, bearing the name of “Inniskilling,” have ever done honour by their gallantry to British valour. These good impressions were deepened, and the deserved esteem of our Fusiliers greatly increased, by the firm attitude maintained by the regiment during the Dublin riots of 23d July, 1803. On this trying occasion, stationed in the Irish metropolis, the determined front of the Twenty-first, under Major Robertson, (Lieut.-Colonel Brown having been murdered by the rioters whilst proceeding to join his regiment,) succeeded in overawing and reducing to obedience the refractory mob whose discontents had assumed the dangerous character of a fierce insurrection, and whose malignity towards Government had avenged itself in the barbarous murder of the Lord Chief Justice, Viscount Kilwarden. The good conduct of the regiment was rewarded with the public thanks, whilst Lieutenant Douglas and the Adjutant (Brady), as specially distinguished for activity and judgment, were each presented with a valuable gift of plate.
The vastly increasing power and menacing attitude assumed by Napoleon had roused the latent energies of the nation, and in the exigencies of the times, induced one of those most splendid efforts of true patriotism of which only a free nation like our own is capable of producing. The people as one man rose to arms, and practically illustrated the fervid eloquence of the immortal Pitt, when, with a soul pregnant with devotion to his country, he exclaimed—“Were an enemy on our shores, I never would lay down my arms. Never! never! never!” whilst the muse of Campbell summoned the charms of language to aid the sacred cause:—
“Rise, fellow-men! Our country yet remains!