The Eighty-Eighth, or Connaught Rangers, though comparatively a young regiment, has performed much arduous service. A few months after it was embodied, it was engaged in operations against the enemy in Flanders and Holland, and shared in all the difficulties and privations of a winter campaign in 1794. A portion of the corps was afterwards employed in active operations in the West Indies. In a few years it appeared on the shores of India; and it formed the van of the Indian army through the deserts of Egypt. In South America the Connaught Rangers performed their duty as gallant soldiers: and throughout the Peninsular campaigns their services are associated with the Third Division of the British army, which was eminently distinguished for gallantry. After a series of victories in Europe, the services of the regiment were transferred to North America, where it was distinguished for a praiseworthy national feeling, which is inherent in brave men, and was evinced by the absence of desertion. Its services may be estimated from the circumstance, that in a period of six years it lost forty-three Officers, twenty-eight of whom fell in the field; the remainder died from wounds, from the effects of climate, or from fatigue; and its loss in Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates during the same period, and from the same causes, was above two thousand. Since the termination of the war, this regiment, whether on home service, or in garrison abroad, has been eminent for good conduct; and its past services furnish a laudable incentive to perseverance in well-doing, to all who have the honour of being enrolled under its Colours.
In compiling this Record of the Eighty-Eighth Regiment, or Connaught Rangers, in conformity to the King’s Command, as conveyed in the General Orders of the Army, great credit is due to Colonel O’Malley, who, with much diligence, has obtained a very circumstantial and correct statement of the services of the regiment; and Colonel O’Malley has acknowledged his obligations for much valuable information which has been furnished to him by the late Captain Robertson, and several other Officers who formerly served in the regiment;—particularly by Lieutenant Grattan, who served with the regiment in the Peninsular Campaigns and in North America, and has evinced the most indefatigable zeal and perseverance in contributing to the completion of this Memoir.
SECOND BATTALION OF THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.
This battalion was composed of recruits raised in Ireland, for limited service, under the authority of the Additional Force Act, which passed 4th of July, 1804, and was placed on the establishment of the army, December 25th of the same year. It was formed at Dumfries, in Scotland, in November, 1805, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Alexander Wallace, embarked at Leith for the Thames, and landing at Gravesend, marched into Sussex, where it occupied various quarters, and furnished, from time to time, reinforcements for the First Battalion. In January, 1807, it returned to Ireland, and was quartered principally in Connaught, where it recruited numerous volunteers from the Irish militia regiments.
In the summer of 1809 it embarked from Cork for Lisbon; but on its arrival, and subsequent inspection there, it was sent, in consequence of the youth of the men, to Gibraltar, and did duty in that garrison for a few months. From Gibraltar it was ordered, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor, to Cadiz, in which city it was quartered during the operations against Fort Matagorda. After the reduction of that fort it was encamped for two or three months in the Isla de Leon, under the command of Major (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) Macpherson, and assisted in the construction of the lines thrown up for the defence of that island against the French. A short time before Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Graham engaged in the expedition which led to the battle of Barossa, the Second Battalion of the Eighty-Eighth was ordered again to Lisbon, where Colonel Taylor resumed the command.
In the pursuit of Massena’s army from the lines of Torres Vedras, the second battalion, under the command of Major Dunne, was attached to the third division of the army. It was engaged in the action at Sabugal, and was present in the operations of the army down to the storming of Badajoz, after which, it furnished, as formerly stated, a large draft of men to the First Battalion and returned to England. In the end of 1813 it was ordered to Ireland, for the greater facility of recruiting. The very liberal encouragement which Lieutenant-General Lord Beresford afforded to this service, enabled Major Dunne to obtain a number of volunteers from the Irish militia; the liberality of the Colonel, and the judicious management of the Commanding Officer, were so successful, that in two months the battalion was increased from one hundred and forty to eight hundred strong. It continued in Ireland, furnishing occasional drafts to the First Battalion until January, 1816, when it was finally reduced at Clare Castle, after transferring all the men who were fit for service to the 1st battalion, then quartered in France.
SUCCESSION OF FIELD OFFICERS;
THE
NAMES of OFFICERS, &c., KILLED and WOUNDED;
WITH A