In this year the second battalion proceeded to Ireland.
The first battalion was encamped at Shorncliffe, where it was formed in brigade with the Ninth and Ninety-first Foot, under Major-General Rowland Hill, (afterwards General Lord Hill); this brigade was reviewed with the Forty-third Regiment by His Royal Highness the Duke of York, who expressed his high approbation of the appearance and discipline of the several corps. In December the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment proceeded to Ireland.
1807
After remaining in Ireland five months the first battalion returned to England, and in June, 1807, it embarked under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Watson, for the East Indies, where it arrived in November of the same year, and landed at Fort St. George, Madras.
1808
The influence of French councils at the court of Denmark, had involved that country in hostilities with Great Britain, and in the beginning of 1808 the first battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment sailed from Madras with the expedition against the Danish settlement of Tranquebar, situate at one of the mouths of the Caveri river, in the Carnatic, which surrendered to the British arms on the 8th of February, when Lieutenant Colonel Watson, with the head quarters, returned to Madras, and shortly afterwards to Bengal.
1809
In the mean time important events had occurred in Europe, which called the second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment into active service. After reducing Germany to submission to his will, and forcing Russia to accede to his decrees, Napoleon was prompted by his restless ambition to attempt the subjugation of Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese rose in arms to assert their national rights, and in the summer of 1808 Portugal was delivered by a British army under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. In the autumn Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore received orders to advance with a body of British troops from Portugal, into the heart of Spain, at the same time several regiments were sent from the United Kingdom to co-operate in this enterprise. The second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Jasper Nicolls, embarked from Cork for Spain, and landed at Corunna, forming part of the force under Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird. Advancing up the country, the British troops encountered many difficulties and privations, and the Spanish armies, with which they were directed to co-operate, were defeated and dispersed by the legions of Napoleon, who had three hundred thousand men in Spain. To confront this host of veterans, the British general had not twenty-five thousand men; yet, with that intrepidity for which he was always distinguished, he advanced and menaced the enemy's lines. Sir David Baird's division joined the troops under Sir John Moore on the 20th of December, at Majorga, from whence the army advanced to Sahagun, and preparations were made for attacking the French troops under Marshal Soult; but information being received that Napoleon was advancing at the head of an overwhelming force, the army retreated towards the coast. In this retrograde movement of two hundred and fifty miles, along roads covered with snow, over rivers and mountains, and along narrow defiles, the troops endured privation and suffering of various kinds; but the ability of their commander was conspicuous, and the army arrived, unbroken, at Corunna, in January, 1809. The soldiers obtained shelter, food, and repose in the town and neighbouring villages, and their wasted strength was recruited while they waited the arrival of shipping to transport them to England.
The French army under Marshal Soult approaching, the British troops formed for battle on a range of heights in front of Corunna; the Fourteenth were formed in brigade with the Second, Fifth, and Thirty-second Regiments, under Major-General (afterwards Lord) Hill, and were posted towards the left of the position. On the 16th of January the French troops descended the mountains and attacked the British position in three columns; the first column carried the village of Elvina; then dividing, attempted to turn the right of Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird's division by the valley, and to break its front; the second column advanced against the British centre, and the third attacked the left at the village of Palavia Abaxo. The furious onsets of the enemy were met and repulsed with a firmness and determination which proved the unconquerable spirit and excellent discipline of the British troops. The enemy finding his efforts unavailing on the right and centre, determined to render the attack on the left more serious, and succeeded in obtaining possession of Palavia Abaxo, the village through which the great road to Madrid passes, and which was situate in front of that part of the line; from this post the French were, however, soon expelled, by a very gallant attack of some companies of the second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls[14]. The enemy was repulsed at all points, and the lustre of the British arms shone with peculiar brilliance amidst the most disadvantageous circumstances; but the army sustained the loss of its gallant commander, Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, who was mortally wounded during the engagement.
Having defeated a French army of superior numbers, the British troops withdrew on board the fleet. Major-General Hill's brigade took up a position near the ramparts, leaving the piquets to keep up the bivouac fires, to cover the embarkation, which was completed with little loss, and the army returned to England.