In the course of the afternoon of the 12th of April, intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon: had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been prevented.
A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at Bayonne, the garrison of which made a desperate sortie on the 14th of April, and Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun), the Colonel of the NINETY-SECOND regiment, was taken prisoner. Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was wounded. This was the last action of the Peninsular war.
On the 20th of April, 1814, the NINETY-SECOND marched into Villa Franche; on the 24th to Beziege; and on the 25th occupied quarters in Toulouse.
A treaty of peace was established between Great Britain and France; Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of France, and Napoleon Buonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty of that island having been conferred upon him by the allied powers.
The war being ended, the NINETY-SECOND marched from Toulouse on the 5th of June, and continued on the move until the 19th of that month, when it encamped at Blanchfort, about two leagues from Bourdeaux.
In addition to the other distinctions acquired during the war in Spain, Portugal, and the south of France the NINETY-SECOND received the royal authority to bear, the word “Peninsula” on the Regimental Colour and Appointments.
On the 9th of July, the NINETY-SECOND marched from Blanchfort, and encamped near Pouillac. On the 17th of July, the battalion was conveyed down the Garonne in small craft, and embarked in H. M.’s ship “Norge,” which sailed immediately, and on the 26th entered Cove of Cork harbour.
The NINETY-SECOND disembarked at Monkstown on the 29th of July, and marched to Fermoy barracks, where the thanks of Parliament were communicated to the officers and soldiers for “the meritorious and eminent services which they had rendered to their King and Country during the course of the war.”
On the 6th of August, the first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND regiment, commanded by Colonel Cameron, was inspected at Fermoy by Major-General Sir William Aylett, who expressed in orders his great satisfaction at its appearance under arms, as well as of its interior economy. Its effective strength consisted of fifty serjeants, sixteen drummers, and seven hundred rank and file.
Two captains and three lieutenants were ordered on the 12th of October to proceed to Scotland to take under their charge the non-commissioned officers and men of the second battalion, about to be transferred to the first battalion.