“In reference to them, identified as they are with the history and gallant achievements of the regiment, I might, and would say much, and that without a fear of the charge being made against me, of sounding my own praises, (for, unhappily, I had no share in the deeds of glory to which I allude); but my feelings, excited by the very impressive address that the Major-General has had the goodness to make to us, and by the interesting presentation of the Colours by Lady Woodford, altogether unfit me for the task.
“To gain the good opinion and the confidence of those General Officers under whose orders we may serve, should at all times be our study; to succeed must in any case be gratifying; but in the instance of so very distinguished an officer as Sir Alexander Woodford, who so thoroughly knows what a British soldier is and ought to be; and after a period of seven years, in which we have served under his orders, in the course of which he has acquired an intimate knowledge of us as a regiment, it is flattering and grateful in the extreme to me, as it is to you, Officers and Soldiers, to have heard the Major-General speak as he has done of the good spirit and discipline which pervade our ranks.
“We owe it to ourselves never to be unmindful of this address, and I pray you to recollect what I have frequently impressed on you, that not only by bravery in war can the honour of your Colours be upheld, but also by a steady perseverance in good and regular conduct, and let us ever bear in mind, that valour without discipline is of no avail.”
The square was then reduced, and the regiment being in line, fired a feu de joie, the drums beating a point of war between each fire, and at the close the band played “God save the King;” after which the regiment gave three hearty cheers in honour of the occasion. The regiment then broke into column and marched past, the Officers saluting, and the line being re-formed, opened its ranks, advanced, and again presented arms.
At two o’clock, the whole of the Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers, with their families, were provided with an excellent dinner on the parade in the citadel.
The Service Companies embarked from Corfu on board the Barosa troop ship, under command of Major Eden, on 29th July, 1836, and landed at Portsmouth the 23rd of September, where they joined the Depôt Companies after a separation of nearly eleven years, those companies having arrived only two days previously from Ireland.
The Depôt Companies after being moved from Ireland to Languard Fort and Harwich in 1830, continued to occupy those quarters until July, 1832, when they moved to Chatham, leaving a detachment of one company at Harwich, under command of Captain Orr; on the 1st January, 1833, Major O’Hara joined and assumed the command of the depôt, Major Eden having proceeded to join the Service Companies, and in this year the depôt moved to Sheerness, where Captain Orr’s detachment joined in June from Harwich, on quitting which place Captain Orr received a letter expressive of the admiration of the Mayor, Justices, and Inhabitants, of the good conduct of the detachment, of which letter and of Captain Orr’s reply, the following are copies, viz.:—
“Harwich, 12th June, 1833.
“Sir,—By the desire of the Mayor and Justices of this Borough, and on behalf of the inhabitants at large, I have to communicate to you the expression of their admiration of the conduct of the detachment of the Eighty-Eighth Regiment under your command, during their long services on this station, as having been of the most exemplary and praiseworthy description. I beg to assure you how much gratified I am by the honour of this instrumentality.
“Believe me, Sir, very respectfully, yours,
(Signed) “B. Chapman, T. C.”