During the night of the 19th of April a convention was signed; on the morning of the 21st, the enemy marched out of the city and evacuated all his posts. On the 22nd the head-quarters of the THIRTY-FIRST were within the city of Genoa, when the Commander-in-Chief, Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, issued the order from which the following extract is taken:—
“Head-Quarters, Genoa, 24th April, 1814.
“The Commander of the Forces has much satisfaction in witnessing the zeal and gallantry evinced by the whole of the troops under his orders in the late operations, which have led to the possession of this important fortress; and he has not failed to represent their conduct in the most favourable terms to His Majesty’s government.
“Major-General Montresor has particularly reported to him the great assistance he received from Brigadier-General Roth, Colonel Bruce, and Lieut.-Colonel Travers.
“The Commander of the Forces himself observed the very gallant and successful attack made by the third Italian regiment, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Ciravignac, and favourable reports have been made to him of the conduct of the light company of the twenty-first regiment, commanded by Captain Renny, the light company of the THIRTY-FIRST, under Captain Nunn, and the light company of the second Estero regiment, under Captain-Lieutenant Fulghier.”
On the 27th of April the first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST sailed with a force for the island of Corsica; when the troops arrived opposite Ajaccio, that place capitulated. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment then sailed for Bastia (the birth-place of Napoleon), and landing there on the 11th of May, remained until the 24th of June following, when it embarked for Sicily, and again went into garrison in the citadel of Messina, on the 18th of July, 1814.
In the meantime the brilliant successes gained over the French in the Peninsula and South of France, by the troops under the Duke of Wellington, in which the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment bore a prominent part, led to a treaty of peace with France; Napoleon retired to Elba, which island was ceded to him in full sovereignty for life, with a pension payable from the revenues of France; and on the 3rd of May, 1814, Louis XVIII. entered Paris, and ascended the throne of his ancestors.
On the 24th of October, 1814, the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was disbanded at Portsmouth, and the officers and men fit for service were transferred to the first battalion, with which they were incorporated on the 6th of May, 1815, at Messina.
In commemoration of the services of the second battalion during the Peninsular War, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment has received the Royal Authority to bear on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, the words “Talavera,” “Albuhera,” “Vittoria,” “Pyrenees,” “Nivelle,” “Nive,” “Orthes,” and “Peninsula.”
1815