From 1763 to 1771 was a singularly uneventful period in the history of the Regiment. One Battalion was quartered in America, its head-quarters being at Woolwich; the companies of another were divided between Gibraltar and Minorca, and the third was in Great Britain. The companies in the East Indies remained as before until 1765. A relief of the 2nd by the 1st Battalion took place towards the end of this time; and the companies at home were periodically relieved as at present. One peculiarity, however, existed then, which does so no longer. When two or more companies were required from Woolwich for out-stations at home, the Captains were ordered to meet at the Commandant's office, and draw lots for their destinations. As a means of silencing grumblers, it was certainly advantageous.
Although England was at peace, other countries had their troubles; and Portugal, being in distress as regarded her Artillery, applied during this time for the services of Captain Macbean, who had served her so well before, and various other officers of the Regiment. The request was granted: the officers being made supernumerary, their promotion going on, but their pay coming from the Portuguese Government. Captain Macbean reached the highest rank in the Portuguese service, and all the others received the strongest commendations.—One—Captain-Lieutenant Yorke—died in Portugal: the same officer, who, as a subaltern, with a handful of men, managed to get a gun up the heights above Quebec, when Wolfe made his famous and successful attack.
This was not the first instance of a Foreign Government paying the compliment to the Royal Artillery of asking assistance from its ranks. In 1744, the King of Sardinia asked and obtained the services of five officers and twenty-four men of the Royal Artillery, who were on board the bomb-vessels in the Mediterranean; and they served with distinction in his Army until taken prisoners at the capture of Montalban and Montleuze.
Some changes in the dress of the officers were made during this time. In 1768 white waistcoats, instead of scarlet, and white breeches were adopted both for officers and men. In 1770, swords were substituted for the fusees which had hitherto been the arms of the officers, and the same sword exercise was adopted as was in use among dragoons. At the same time, the Regiment adopted the German mode of wearing the sash round the waist, instead of over the right shoulder, as hitherto. Epaulettes were also substituted for laced shoulder-knots. The non-commissioned officers and men wore their hair plaited, and turned up behind with a black ribbon or tape, three quarters of a yard long, in a bow-knot where tied; and if any men were debarred by nature or accident from wearing their hair sufficiently long, they were compelled to wear a false plait—anticipating by a century the present custom of the other sex.
The letter-books of this time are chiefly devoted to correspondence on matters connected with clothing, promotion and reliefs. On the first named subject, the correspondence with Major James, who commanded at New York, is particularly voluminous.
Promotion was slow; and when accelerated by retirement of officers, the system pursued was peculiar. For example, it was decided to remove Captain-Lieutenant Rogers to the half-pay list. His half-pay,—six shillings per diem, was to be augmented by two shillings from the Board of Ordnance; but—by an ingenious arrangement, whereby the Lieutenant, Second Lieutenant, and Lieutenant-Fireworker, who got promotion, were made to remain on their old rate of pay, six shillings and fourpence per diem was saved towards Captain Rogers' half-pay, and the Board had only to find the daily sum of one shilling and eightpence. At this time, in the year 1765, the Board placed the responsibility of the men's clothing on the Colonels of Battalions, declining any further interference. The wisdom of the change—except in so far as it saved trouble to the Honourable Board—was questionable; for some Colonels took a very liberal view of their discretion and power in the matter, going so far even as to alter the colour as well as the shape of the various articles of their men's uniform.
An excellent and hospitable officer, General Williamson, now commanded at Woolwich; and one of his invitations to his friends is so quaint as to be worthy of reproduction:—"July 25th, 1767. The gentlemen of twenty years' acquaintance are desired to meet General Williamson, and dine at 'The Bull' on Shooter's Hill, on Monday next, 1st August, their names to be sent to Dr. Irwin. Dinner on table at three o'clock." The General had a son in the Regiment, at this time in New York, who was as great a favourite as his father.
This time of peace was beneficial to the Royal Military Academy. More time was devoted to the curriculum, and inducements to proficiency held out successfully to the cadets. The King and Queen paid a visit to the Academy, among the other lions of Woolwich. It was on this occasion that "their Majesties saw many curious firings; among the rest a large iron cannon, fired by a lock like a common gun; a heavy 12-pounder, fired 23 times in a minute, and spunged every time by a new and wonderful contrivance, said to be the invention of Dr. Desaguliers, with other astonishing improvements of the like kind."[[24]] In 1765, a most formal examination of the cadets had taken place in presence of the Master-General and principal officers of the Ordnance, and many other important officials, including the President of the Royal Society, who expressed their satisfaction with the "noble institution," and distributed gold and silver medals to the most distinguished cadets. In a hundred years, one who had been himself a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, and for many years an honoured officer in the Royal Artillery, Sir Edward Sabine, would occupy the chair filled by one of the visitors on that day, and be one of the most popular Presidents of the Royal Society.
The names of the following officers appear during this peaceful time, as in command of companies:—Captains Foy, Drummond, and Stehelin, at Minorca; Torriano, Innes, and Butler, at Gibraltar; Jeffery, Phillips, Smith, Carter, and Howdell, at Woolwich. In America, we trace companies commanded at different times by Captains Martin, Williams, Farrington, Hay, Ferguson, Webdall, Lewis, Dover, Walton, Winter, Carlisle, and Gillespie. The stations on that continent which were the head-quarters of the companies included New York, Pensacola, Quebec, Halifax, Pittsburg (Louisbourg), Montreal, and Placentia in Newfoundland. There were also detachments at Boston, Crown Point, Fort Ontario, and Niagara.
An amusing narrative of the service of a bombardier and two matrosses who were permitted to accept employment from the Emperor of Morocco may prove an interesting conclusion to this short chapter. It is based upon a manuscript in the Royal Artillery Library, framed by the bombardier himself, one John Turner by name, who had been called upon to make a report of his doings during his absence, and who certainly even on his own showing had a keen eye to the main chance. The ineffable conceit of the man, his firm impression that Emperors and Princes only existed to give him his daily pay and rations, and his exalted notion of his position as a bombardier in the Royal Artillery, can only be realized by a complete perusal of the manuscript. But even if curtailed, the narrative cannot fail to amuse.