In the mean time occurrences in Europe had occasioned the removal of the first battalion from Madras. The sudden return of Bonaparte to France, and the astonishing facility with which he regained temporary possession of the throne of that kingdom, was followed by a manifested disposition to revolt on the part of the French settlers at the Mauritius, and the first battalion of the Fifty-sixth, which had been joined by three hundred men from the third, embarked on board the Salsette frigate, and the company’s ships Rose and Streatham, to reinforce the garrison at that station, on which occasion the following general order was issued:—
“His Majesty’s Fifty-sixth Regiment being under orders to embark on service at a considerable distance from the presidency, the Right Honorable the Governor cannot refrain expressing his warmest approbation of the uniform good conduct of the regiment, while it remained in garrison at Fort St. George, under the able command of Colonel Barclay, assisted by the zealous exertions of a distinguished corps of officers; and the Right Honorable the Governor begs leave to assure Colonel Barclay, and the officers of the regiment, that he participates in the sentiments of regret, felt by the settlement at large, for the loss sustained, in the circles of social life, by their departure.”
During the voyage the ships were separated by a violent hurricane, and each supposed the other lost; but they arrived safe at Port Louis, where they were stationed until November, when they marched to Mahebourg. The overthrow of Bonaparte on the field of Waterloo, and the restoration of peace, removed all cause of apprehension for the tranquillity of the Mauritius at that period.
1816
The second battalion again took the field with the Poonah subsidiary force, in the early part of 1816; and in May it went into cantonments at Jaulna; from whence Lieut.-Colonel Kingscote, of the Fifty-sixth, was detached in September, with a light battalion, comprising part of the regiment, in pursuit of a native chief, called Trimbuckjee Dainglia, who had murdered the minister of state of Guzerat, escaped from prison, and was suspected of a design to assemble a force on the frontiers of the dominions of his late sovereign, the Peishwa. The pursuit of this chieftain occasioned the soldiers many fatiguing marches, and on one occasion the fortified village of Nimgaum, on the banks of the Peera, was surrounded in the expectation that the chief was there; but when, on the advance of the artillery, the inhabitants opened the gates, he could not be found: the pursuit was afterwards discontinued, and the detachment re-joined the Poonah subsidiary force at Seroor, whither it had been removed from Jaulna in October. At the close of active operations, Colonel Lionel Smith expressed the high opinion he entertained of the battalion, in division orders, dated Seroor, 31st of October, in the following terms:—“There is no language of praise, or thanks, Colonel Smith could feel to be too strong in describing the merits of such a corps.”
In August the first battalion returned to Port St. Louis; and about a month afterwards so serious a conflagration occurred at that place, that the destruction of the town appeared inevitable; but this calamity was averted by the efforts of the soldiers of the Fifty-sixth, who prevented the fire communicating to the government buildings, and thus saved the town: two men of the regiment lost their lives, in attempting to arrest the progress of the flames. The daring conduct of Serjeant James Hasty was particularly conspicuous and successful in checking the progress of the flames; and the governor expressed the following opinion of his merits in a letter to Colonel Barclay:—“I conscientiously believe, that it was in a great measure owing to Serjeant Hasty, of your regiment, that the whole town of Port Louis was not swallowed by the flames. His persevering fortitude and intrepid confidence enabled him to save the government house, by remaining among the flames when most others had despaired; and it is universally allowed, that had the government house been burned, the remainder of the town must immediately have followed, and the whole population of Port Louis left houseless among the smoking ruins[6].”
The peace of Europe appearing to be established upon a sound foundation, a considerable reduction was made in the strength of the British army, and the second battalions of regiments were directed to be disbanded: the second battalion of the Fifty-sixth was consequently ordered to march to Bombay in November.
1817
On the 7th of January, 1817, the following general order was issued:—“His Majesty’s second battalion of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, being under orders for embarkation for Europe, affords an opportunity to the Right Honorable the Governor in Council, of expressing his approbation of the conduct of that valuable corps, whilst serving on the establishment of this presidency, and as a testimonial of the sense entertained of its important services in this country, is pleased to allow three months full batta to be issued to the officers of the battalion, previous to their departure from India.”
Four hundred men volunteered to remain in India, and transferred their services to the Sixty-fifth Regiment: and on the 9th of January, the battalion companies embarked for England. They landed at Liverpool in May, marched to Rochester, and were disbanded at that place on the 25th of June. The flank companies left Bombay in July, landed at Portsmouth on the 10th of December, and were disbanded at Chatham on the 29th of that month.