1796
1797
1798
In the winter of 1796 it was employed against the insurgent Canadians at Point Levi, on which occasion it crossed the St. Lawrence on the ice. In 1797, the corporals and privates were drafted into the Twenty-fourth regiment, while the officers and serjeants returned to England, and on their disembarkation were ordered to Grantham, in Lincolnshire, to recruit; which service was very successfully carried on in all the principal towns of the county. From Grantham it was moved to Boston, and from thence suddenly ordered to Norman Cross barracks, where some disturbances had broken out among the French prisoners. After a few months, however, at the particular request of the inhabitants of Boston, it was again quartered in that town, on which occasion the volunteer corps lined the streets through which the regiment had to pass, and a splendid dinner and ball were given to the officers by the inhabitants. This kindly feeling between Lincolnshire and the Fifth regiment has continued ever since, and more recruits have joined its ranks from that county than from any other.
1799
When the expedition sent out with the view of delivering Holland from the power of France was determined on in 1799, the Fifth regiment, already in a high state of efficiency, both with respect to numbers and discipline, was selected to form part of the army destined for that service, and was accordingly marched to the camp on Barham Downs. It was immediately after divided into two battalions, upwards of eight hundred each, in strength, Major-General George Hewett being appointed on the 5th of August, 1799, Colonel-Commandant of the second battalion; and in September both battalions embarked at Deal for Holland, where they landed on the 14th and 15th, and formed with the Thirty-fifth regiment, the eighth brigade of the army, under the command of His Royal Highness Prince William of Gloucester.
In the general attack made on the 19th of September on the whole line of the French positions in North Holland, the Fifth regiment formed part of the column under Lieutenant-General Dundas, destined to carry the intrenched villages of Walmenhuysen, and Schoreldam, in the attack upon the latter of which, the first battalion took an active part, and had one Lieutenant (Harris) mortally, and its Lieutenant-Colonel (Stephenson) severely wounded; sustaining, besides, a loss of five killed, four wounded, and four missing. Of this action the Duke of York observed, in his public despatch, "The gallantry displayed by the troops engaged, the spirit with which they overcame every obstacle which nature and art opposed to them, and the cheerfulness with which they maintained the fatigue of an action, which lasted without intermission, from half-past three o'clock in the morning, until five in the afternoon, are beyond my power to describe or extol. Their exertions fully entitle them to the admiration and gratitude of their King and country."
In the battle of Egmont-op-Zee on the 2nd and 6th of October, Prince William's brigade was not actively engaged; but the flank companies of the Fifth, which were attached to the grenadier and light infantry battalions of the line, and formed part of the reserve under Colonel Macdonald of the Fifty-fifth regiment, had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves; they had several men killed and wounded, also Captain Pratt wounded on the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hamilton on the 6th of October; and on both occasions behaved so well as to receive the particular thanks of their commander.
On the 10th of October the posts occupied by the two battalions of the Fifth, in front of the village of Winkle, were attacked by the enemy in great strength. The French troops had succeeded in forcing a passage over a canal which covered the village, when Colonel Bligh, who commanded the first battalion, perceiving that if the advance of the enemy was not checked, the remainder of the brigade was in danger of being cut off, planted the colours of the Fifth on the top of the dyke, and kept his ground till he had secured and covered the retreat of the brigade; the second battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Talbot, in the mean time maintaining its positions till ordered to retreat by Prince William, who on this occasion, issued the following general order:—
"Oude, Sluys, 12th October, 1799.
"Prince William desires Colonel Bligh and the first battalion of the Fifth Regiment will accept his thanks, for the gallant manner in which they attacked the enemy when he was passing the canal opposite Winkle; and Lieutenant-Colonels Talbot and Lindsay, of the second battalion of the Fifth, for their exertions on the 10th instant."
1800