“While you have your present commanding officer to lead you, it is unnecessary for me to add anything to excite such a spirit; but were I called upon to do so, I should have only to hold up the example of those who have fallen in your ranks, and, above all, point to the memory of that hero who so gloriously fell at your head.”[415]
After remaining in France until the end of October 1818, the 71st embarked for England, and arrived at Dover on the 29th of that month, proceeding to Chelmsford, where the establishment was reduced from 810 to 650 rank and file.
From 1818 to 1822 this regiment performed garrison duties at various places in England, a mere enumeration of which would not be interesting, and is needless here. While at Chatham in 1821, the strength of the regiment was reduced to 576 rank and file. In 1822 it sailed from Liverpool for Dublin, where it arrived on the 3rd of May, and remained there till the beginning of October, when it was marched to the south of Ireland. Here it remained until May 1824, having its headquarters at Fermoy, with detachments stationed at various villages in order that disturbances might be suppressed and order maintained. The nature of the duties which the regiment had to perform can be seen by reference to our account of the 42nd about this period. In January 1824 Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond was removed from the colonelcy of the 88th to that of the 71st, vacant by the death of General Francis Dundas.
In May the regiment proceeded to Cork to re-embark for North America; but before doing so, Colonel Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, commanding the regiment, received very gratifying addresses from the magistrates and inhabitants of Fermoy, praising highly the conduct of the regiment, which had now the esteem of all classes. The 71st embarked at Cork for North America on the 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th of May 1824, and arrived at Quebec about a month thereafter, at which place the headquarters of the regiment was stationed. The 71st remained in America performing garrison duty at various places till 1831. In May 1827 the headquarters was removed to Montreal; preparatory to the change, the service companies were inspected by Lieutenant-General the Earl of Dalhousie, who assured Lieutenant-Colonel Jones that he never had seen any regiment in more perfect order. In May 1828 the regiment removed to Kingston, where it remained for a year, and where it suffered much from fever and ague. From this place headquarters removed to Toronto in June 1829, and companies were sent out to occupy various posts; the 71st remained there for two years.
In June 1825 the strength of the regiment had been increased to 710 rank and file, who were formed into 6 service and 4 depôt companies, the latter stationed in England; the movements of the former we have been narrating. In August 1829 the depôt companies removed from Gravesend to Berwick-on-Tweed, and in June 1830 from the latter place to Edinburgh Castle. In September 1829 Major-General Sir Colin Halkett succeeded General Drummond as colonel of the 71st.
In May 1831 the service companies returned to Quebec, where they stayed four months, sailing in October for Bermuda, where they were stationed till September 1834. While at Bermuda, in February 1834, the tartan plaid scarf was restored to the 71st by authority of the King. In September of that year the 6 service companies left Bermuda for Britain, arriving at Leith on October 19th. The regiment was stationed at Edinburgh till May 1836, when it embarked for Ireland, and was stationed at Dublin till June 1837, when it proceeded to Kilkenny. The regiment remained in Ireland till April 1838, on the 16th of which month the 6 service companies again sailed from Cork to Canada. The four depôt companies remained in Ireland till June 1839, when they sailed from Cork to Scotland, and were stationed at Stirling. While in Ireland, March 1838, Major-General Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham succeeded Sir Colin Halkett to the colonelcy of the regiment, and he again was succeeded in March 1841 by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Reynell, formerly so intimately associated with the regiment as its lieutenant-colonel. The strength of the regiment was in August 1838 increased to 800.
During 1840 the 6 service companies were stationed at St John’s, Lower Canada.
The service companies proceeded from St John’s to Montreal, in two divisions, on the 27th and 28th of April 1842.
In consequence of the augmentation which took place in the army at this period, the 71st regiment was ordered to be divided into two battalions, the 6 service companies being termed the first battalion, and the depôt, augmented by two new companies, being styled the reserve battalion. The depôt was accordingly moved from Stirling to Chichester in 1842, and after receiving 180 volunteers from other corps, was there organised into a battalion for foreign service.
The reserve battalion of the 71st, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James England, embarked at Portsmouth in Her Majesty’s troop-ship “Resistance,” which sailed for Canada on the 13th of August 1842, and landed at Montreal on the 23d of September, where the first battalion was likewise stationed, under the command of Major William Denny, who, upon the arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel England, took charge of the reserve battalion.