TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been placed at the end of each major section.

The three changes noted in the [ERRATA] have been applied to the etext. These are indicated by a dashed blue underline. The eleven other occurrences of ‘Kurnool’ have not been changed.

Basic fractions are displayed as ½ ⅓ ¼ etc; other fractions are shown in the form a/b, for example 1/10 or 1/25.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at [the end of the book]. These are indicated by a dotted gray underline.

BY COMMAND OF His late Majesty WILLIAM THE IV^TH.
and under the Patronage of
Her Majesty the Queen.
HISTORICAL RECORDS,
OF THE
British Army
Comprising the
History of every Regiment
IN HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE.
By Richard Cannon Esq^re.
Adjutant General’s Office, Horse Guards.
London.
Printed by Authority.

HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE THIRTY-NINTH,
OR THE
DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT:

CONTAINING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
In 1702,

AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
To 1853.

COMPILED BY

RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.,

ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS.

Illustrated with Plates.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY,
FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE.
PUBLISHED BY PARKER, FURNIVALL, AND PARKER,
MILITARY LIBRARY,
30, CHARING CROSS.

1853.

GENERAL ORDERS

HORSE GUARDS,

1st January, 1836.

His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with the view of doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who have distinguished themselves by their bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army shall be published under the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the following particulars, viz.:—

—— The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies, &c., it may have captured from the Enemy.

—— The Names of the Officers, and the number of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the Enemy, specifying the Place and Date of the Action.

—— The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other Marks of His Majesty’s gracious favour.

—— The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in Action.

And,

—— The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.

By Command of the Right Honorable

GENERAL LORD HILL,

Commanding-in-Chief.

John Macdonald,

Adjutant-General.

PREFACE.

The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.

Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honorable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication.

The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the “London Gazette,” from whence they are transferred into the public prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions, the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery; and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign’s approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most highly prizes.

It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies) for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic account of their origin and subsequent services.

This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and abroad.

From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth derive information as to the difficulties and privations which chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose.

In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,—on their sufferings,—and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.

The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and their character has been established in Continental warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against superior numbers.

In the Official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the Corps employed; but the details of their services and of acts of individual bravery can only be fully given in the Annals of the various Regiments.

These Records are now preparing for publication, under His Majesty’s special authority, by Mr. Richard Cannon, Principal Clerk of the Adjutant-General’s Office; and while the perusal of them cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and information to the general reader, particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.

There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or are serving, in the Army, an Esprit de Corps—an attachment to everything belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood “firm as the rocks of their native shore:” and when half the world has been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war,—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow-citizens in arms,—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us,—will certainly prove acceptable to the public.

Biographical Memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished Officers will be introduced in the Records of their respective Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.

As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall be completed the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.

INTRODUCTION
TO
THE INFANTRY.

The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority of the British troops over those of other countries has been evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is Intrepidity. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army, on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and, although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar’s favourite tenth legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades, and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat, sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry. These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar’s legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full development of the national character followed, and it shone forth in all its native brilliancy.

The military force of the Anglo-Saxons consisted principally of infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only. They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and javelins.

The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted (as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost entirely of horse: but when the warlike barons and knights, with their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a considerable portion of the military force; and this arme has since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.

The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances, halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel, that it was almost impossible to slay them.

The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth century, produced a change in the arms and equipment of the infantry-soldier. Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of fire-arms, but British archers continued formidable adversaries; and, owing to the inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of the fire-arms when first introduced, a body of men, well trained in the use of the bow from their youth, was considered a valuable acquisition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century.

During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in every hundred men forty were “men-at-arms,” and sixty “shot;” the “men-at-arms” were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and thirty pikemen; and the “shot” were twenty archers, twenty musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.

Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150 to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John Smithe) in 1590 was; the colour in the centre of the company guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on each flank of the halberdiers; half the musketeers on each flank of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers, and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number of companies into one body, called a Regiment, which frequently amounted to three thousand men; but each company continued to carry a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier, armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry were reduced to two classes, viz.: musketeers, armed with matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and pikemen, armed with pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.

In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men. He caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks, or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division of Pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English, French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not adopted until near a century afterwards.

In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled the Admiral’s regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with hand grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was designated the “grenadier company.” Daggers were so contrived as to fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets, similar to those at present in use, were adopted about twenty years afterwards.

An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers (now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did not carry pikes.

King William III. incorporated the Admiral’s regiment in the second Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service. During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46 musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans; ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in 1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]

During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand grenades; and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour: the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the Army in this reign.

About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the Seven Years’ War. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have been limited to the musket and bayonet.

The arms and equipment of the British Troops have seldom differed materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods, been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained over very superior numbers.

Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves valiant with any arms. At Crecy, King Edward III., at the head of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000 men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:—the King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles were slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten years afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the Black Prince, defeated at Poictiers, with 14,000 men, a French army of 60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of France, and his son, Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October, 1415, King Henry V., with an army of about 13,000 men, although greatly exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated, at Agincourt, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower of the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men, and gained a complete victory.

During the seventy years’ war between the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and firmness;[3] and in the thirty years’ war between the Protestant Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British Troops in the service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British army under the great Marlborough was spread throughout the world; and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French army, which had been vainly styled Invincible, to evacuate that country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal Wellington; and the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates, in the distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers, Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons of the nineteenth century.

The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular frame,—intrepidity which no danger can appal,—unconquerable spirit and resolution,—patience in fatigue and privation, and cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities, united with an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to command, whose presence inspires confidence,—have been the leading causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5] The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory; these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of time.

The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in the various parts of the world where the calls of their Country and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and unfavourable climes.

The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements of this arme, as at present practised, while they are adapted to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements have from time to time been introduced, to ensure that simplicity and celerity by which the superiority of the national military character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:—

20	20	20	30	20	30	20	20	20
Harquebuses.		Muskets.		Halberds.		Muskets.		Harquebuses.
	Archers.		Pikes.		Pikes.		Archers.

The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.

[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at the siege of Barcelona in 1705.

[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed in 1590, observes:—“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the field, let them be chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe. For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during the seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third Foot, or Buffs.

[4] Vide the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot.

[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed on the consideration of every part of the army, that it has been a strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under circumstances of peculiar difficulty.”—General Orders in 1801.

In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January 1809, it is stated:—“On no occasion has the undaunted valour of British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the troops themselves: and the enemy has been taught, that whatever advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows not how to yield,—that no circumstances can appal,—and that will ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any human means.”

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE THIRTY-NINTH,

OR THE

DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT:

CONTAINING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
In 1702,

AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
To 1853.

COMPILED BY

RICHARD CANNON, ESQ.,

ADJUTANT GENERAL’S OFFICE, HORSE GUARDS.

Illustrated with Plates.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY,
FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE.
PUBLISHED BY PARKER, FURNIVALL, AND PARKER,
MILITARY LIBRARY,
30, CHARING CROSS.

1853.

ERRATA.

[Page 86, line 30],—for “Thansi,” read “Jhansi.”
[Do. line 34],—for “Kurnool,” read “Kurnaul.”

[Page 94, line 24],—for “Captain Charles Campbell (Major of Brigade)” read “Captain Marmaduke George Nixon (Major of Brigade).”

THE THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT

BEARS ON THE REGIMENTAL COLOUR AND APPOINTMENTS

THE MOTTO “PRIMUS IN INDIS,”

TO DENOTE ITS HAVING BEEN THE FIRST KING’S REGIMENT
EMPLOYED IN INDIA;

AND THE WORD “PLASSEY,”

IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS GALLANTRY IN THAT
BATTLE, ON THE 23rd OF JUNE, 1757;

THE WORD, “GIBRALTAR,”
WITH THE DEVICE OF THE “CASTLE AND KEY,”

AND THE MOTTO, “MONTIS INSIGNIA CALPÉ,”

IN TESTIMONY OF ITS SERVICES DURING THE DEFENCE OF GIBRALTAR,

FROM 1779 TO 1783;

THE WORDS “ALBUHERA,” “VITTORIA,”
“PYRENEES,” “NIVELLE,” “NIVE,”
“ORTHES,” AND “PENINSULA,”

IN COMMEMORATION OF ITS GALLANTRY IN THE
SEVERAL ACTIONS FOUGHT DURING THE WAR
IN PORTUGAL, SPAIN, AND THE SOUTH
OF FRANCE, FROM 1809 TO 1814;

AND
THE WORD “MAHARAJPORE,”

IN TESTIMONY OF ITS DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT IN
THAT BATTLE, ON THE 29th OF DECEMBER,
1843.

THE

THIRTY-NINTH,

OR

THE DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.

CONTENTS

OF THE

HISTORICAL RECORD.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT.

APPENDIX.

PLATES.

THIRTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
For Cannon’s Military Records

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE THIRTY-NINTH,

OR THE

DORSETSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.

1700.
1701.

The long-expected decease of King Charles II. of Spain occurred on the 1st of November 1700, and the circumstance of his bequeathing his crown to Philip, Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin of France, involved the several Powers of Europe in a lengthened contest, which has been designated the “War of the Spanish Succession.” England would, probably, have abstained from becoming a principal in the war, had not Louis XIV., upon the death of James II. at St. Germains, on the 16th of September 1701, proclaimed that monarch’s son, known as the Pretender, as King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which so aroused the feelings of the English people as to lead the nation to support with ardour Charles, Archduke of Austria, the second son of Leopold, Emperor of Germany, in his efforts to obtain the throne of Spain, particularly as it was considered that the anticipated union of the crowns of France and Spain would be inimical to the “balance of power” in Europe.

1702.

Active preparations for war commenced, and the Thirty-ninth was one of the regiments raised at this period, and has been since retained on the establishment of the army.[6] The regiment was raised in Ireland by Colonel Richard Coote, under the authority of a royal warrant dated the 13th of February 1702, and continued to be stationed in that country for the five following years.

The sudden decease of King William III. on the 8th of March 1702, did not retard the breaking out of hostilities, for his views were carried into effect by his successor Queen Anne, who declared war against France and Spain on the 4th of May following, and the Earl of Marlborough was appointed to command the forces in Flanders, with the rank of Captain-General.

1703.

Colonel Nicholas Sankey was appointed to the colonelcy of the regiment on the 17th of March 1703, in succession to Colonel Richard Coote, deceased.

1704.

Gibraltar, a name which, in subsequent years, is so gloriously connected with the Thirty-ninth regiment,[7] was taken in July 1704 by the British and Dutch marines, aided by the seamen, under Major-General the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, and Admiral Sir George Rooke. In October following, the French and Spaniards endeavoured to retake the fortress, but after a siege of some months they desisted from the attempt in March 1705.

1705.
1706.

While the army under the Duke of Marlborough was pursuing a victorious career in Flanders and Germany, the troops which had been employed in Portugal and Spain had likewise gained important successes. In October 1705, the allied troops under the Earl of Peterborough captured Barcelona, and that celebrated city was successfully defended by them in April and May of the following year. Madrid was taken possession of by the Earl of Galway in June 1706, and the fortunes of Charles III. appeared in the ascendant; but the delay of that prince to avail himself of these advantages, by marching at once to the capital of Spain, enabled Philip V. to collect an army superior in numbers to the Allies, and Madrid was again occupied by the enemy in August of the same year.

1707.

On the 25th of April 1707, the allied forces under the Earl of Galway were defeated by the Duke of Berwick at Almanza[8], which materially changed the aspect of affairs in Spain.

Additional troops were shortly afterwards selected for embarkation for Portugal, and the Thirty-ninth was one of the regiments directed to proceed to that country.

Accordingly the Fifth, Twentieth, Thirty-ninth, and a newly raised regiment commanded by Colonel Stanwix (since disbanded), having been selected for this service, sailed from Cork on the 22nd of May 1707, and landed at Lisbon on the 8th of June. This seasonable reinforcement arriving soon after the defeat of the allied army at Almanza, in the south-east of Spain, and at the moment when the enemy, having captured Serpa and Moura in the Alemtejo, had seized on the bridge of Olivenza in Portuguese Estremadura, and menaced that important place with a siege, its presence revived the drooping spirits of the Portuguese.

These four regiments being the only British troops in that part of the country, were disembarked with every possible expedition, and marched to the frontiers under the command of the Marquis de Montandre, when the enemy immediately ceased to act on the offensive, and retired. The four regiments having halted at Estremos, a strong town of the Alemtejo, situated in an agreeable tract on the Tarra, remained in this pleasant quarter during the summer heats, and afterwards encamped in the fruitful valley of the Caya, near Elvas, having detached parties on the flanks to prevent the enemy making incursions into Portugal, in which service the regiments were engaged until November, when they went into quarters in the frontier towns of Portugal.

1708.

In the spring of 1708 the regiment again took the field, and was encamped at Fuente de Sapatores, between Elvas and Campo Mayor. The British division was soon afterwards increased to six regiments, by the arrival of the Thirteenth foot, and a newly raised regiment (Paston’s) from England. The little army in the Alemtejo was commanded by the Marquis de Fronteira, but the characteristic inactivity of the Portuguese occasioned the services of the Thirty-ninth to be limited to defensive operations. The regiment was encamped in the autumn at Campo Mayor, and afterwards went into cantonments.

1709.

The regiment moved from its quarters in the spring of 1709, and became engaged in active operations. It was first encamped near Estremos, and proceeded from thence to Elvas on the 23rd of April 1709; the regiment was subsequently encamped with the army on the banks of the Caya, where the Earl of Galway, who had been removed from the army in Catalonia, appeared at the head of the British division.

On the 7th of May, the French and Spaniards, commanded by the Marquis de Bay, marched in the direction of Campo Mayor; when the Portuguese generals, contrary to the Earl of Galway’s advice, resolved to pass the Caya, and attack the enemy. The Portuguese cavalry and artillery took the lead, and having passed the river and gained the opposite heights, opened a sharp cannonade; but upon the advance of their adversaries to charge, the squadrons faced about and galloped from the field, leaving their cannon behind. The British division, arriving at the moment, repulsed the enemy; the leading brigade, consisting of the Thirteenth, Stanwix’s and Galway’s regiments, commanded by Brigadier-General Thomas Pearce, charging furiously, recaptured the Portuguese guns; but the three regiments, pressing forward too far, were surrounded and made prisoners, and with them Major-General Sankey, the Colonel of the Thirty-ninth; and the Earl of Barrymore, together with Brigadier-General Thomas Pearce, fell into the hands of the enemy.

At the same time the Fifth, Twentieth, Thirty-ninth, and Lord Paston’s regiments, though deserted by the whole of the cavalry, made a determined stand, bearing the brunt of the enemy’s reiterated attacks with admirable firmness, until the Portuguese infantry had retired; then moving to the rear in firm array, while the balls flew thickly on every side, and the Earl of Galway’s horse was shot under him, the enemy advanced in full career, threatening the destruction of this little band; yet, with ranks unbroken and steady tread, these undaunted English calmly retraced their steps, exhibiting one of the noblest spectacles of war, and occasionally punishing the temerity of their pursuers with a cool and deliberate resolution, which laid a thousand Spaniards dead upon the field, and impressed the enemy, and likewise the Portuguese, with a sense of British courage and magnanimity. Thus they effected their retreat, with the loss of only one hundred and fifty men killed and wounded, and passed that night at Arronches.

The Thirty-ninth acquired great honour by its gallantry on this occasion. The regiment was afterwards encamped at Elvas, was subsequently in position on the banks of the Guadiana, and again passed the winter in cantonments in the Alemtejo.

1710.

The casualties of the preceding campaign having been replaced by recruits from England, the regiment again took the field in the spring of 1710, and was employed in the Alemtejo; but the army was weak and unequal to any important undertaking, and the French having obtained some success in the province of Tras os Montes, occasioned a detachment to be sent thither. In the autumn the army advanced across the Guadiana, and on the 4th of October arrived at the rich plains of Xeres de los Cabaleros, on the river Ardilla, in Spanish Estremadura. It was determined to attack this place by storm on the following day, and the Fifth, Twentieth, and Thirty-ninth regiments, having been selected to perform this service under the command of Brigadier-General Stanwix, advanced at four in the afternoon to attack the works near St. Catherine’s gate by escalade. A few minutes after the regiments had commenced the assault, the Governor sent proposals to surrender, which were agreed to, and the garrison, consisting of seven hundred men, became prisoners of war. The army afterwards retired to Portugal by the mountains of Orlor, and went into quarters.

During this summer, the army on the other side of Spain gained two victories—one at Almanara, and the other at Saragossa,—and afterwards advanced to Madrid, when the most pressing instances were made by King Charles III. and General Stanhope to induce the army of Portugal to advance upon the Spanish capital; but the Portuguese generals were unwilling to engage in so great an undertaking.

1711.

The Thirty-ninth, during the campaign of 1711, formed part of the army which assembled at Olivenza in May, and having passed the Guadiana by a pontoon bridge at Jerumenha, advanced against the enemy, who took refuge under the cannon of Badajoz. The regiment was afterwards engaged in the capture of several small towns, and in levying contributions in Spanish Estremadura; but the summer passed without any occurrence of importance, excepting a discovery made by the Earl of Portmore, who commanded the British troops in Portugal, of a clandestine treaty in progress between the crown of Portugal and the enemy, in which the former had agreed to separate from the Allies; to give an excuse for this, a mock battle was to have been fought, in which the British troops were to have been sacrificed. This treaty was broken off, but the British Government soon afterwards entered into negotiations with France.

The claimant of the Spanish throne, Charles III., was in October 1711 elected Emperor of Germany by the title of Charles VI., his brother Joseph having died at Vienna in the preceding April. This circumstance materially affected the war, and inclined Great Britain to agree to peace, for the consolidation of Spain with the empire of Germany would have perilled the balance of power in Europe as much as the anticipated union of the crowns of France and Spain. The course of events had also shown, that a French, and not an Austrian prince, was the choice of the Spanish nation.

1712.

The regiment remained in Portugal, and during the summer of 1712 was encamped on the pleasant plains of the Tarra. In the autumn a suspension of hostilities was proclaimed at the camp by Major-General Pearce, and the regiment went into cantonments.

1713.

On the 11th of April 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, and by its provisions the fortress of Gibraltar and the island of Minorca, which had been taken by the English during the war, were ceded to Great Britain. The Thirty-ninth proceeded in the first instance to Gibraltar; but in the course of the year 1713, the regiment was selected to form part of the garrison at Minorca.[9]

1719.

Upon the decease of Lieut.-General Nicholas Sankey, in March 1719, His Majesty King George I. appointed, on the 11th of that month, Brigadier-General Thomas Ferrers to be Colonel of the Thirty-ninth regiment.

The Thirty-ninth regiment remained at Minorca until the year 1719, when it embarked for Ireland, in which country it was stationed for some years.

1722.

Colonel William Newton was appointed by King George I. to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 28th of September 1722, in succession to Brigadier-General Thomas Ferrers, removed to the Seventeenth regiment of foot.

1726.

Spain had relinquished its claim on Gibraltar with reluctance; and that country having resolved to engage in war with Great Britain, a large army, under the command of the Count de las Torres, was assembled in Andalusia towards the end of 1726, in order to commence hostilities with the siege of this important fortress, for which purpose the Spaniards had made very extensive preparations.

The British Government resolved to send certain regiments to reinforce the garrison of Gibraltar, and six men-of-war were also fitted out at Portsmouth with all possible expedition. Admiral Sir Charles Wager was appointed to command the fleet, on board of which three regiments of infantry, Anstruther’s, Disney’s, and Newton’s (Twenty-sixth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirty-ninth regiments), were embarked. On the 24th of December 1726, Sir Charles Wager arrived at Portsmouth, and shortly afterwards sailed for Gibraltar, but was detained for some time at Spithead by the southerly winds. Two other regiments of infantry, Middleton’s and Hayes’s (Twenty-fifth and Thirty-fourth), were ordered to embark at Cork, for the purpose of joining Sir Charles Wager, and of reinforcing the garrison of Gibraltar.

1727.

Admiral Sir Charles Wager arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar on the 2nd of February 1727, after a voyage of fourteen days from Portsmouth. In the previous month the Spanish troops, under General Count de las Torres, had encamped before the fortress, and the bringing up of cannon and mortars occupied several weeks. In February they commenced constructing batteries before any declaration of war had been made, and persisted in the work, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the Lieut.-Governor, Colonel Jasper Clayton.

The garrison opened its fire upon the besiegers towards the end of February, and the reverberation of the thunder of the cannon and mortars among the mountains of Andalusia, proclaimed the strenuous efforts of the enemy, and the gallant defence made by the garrison. The tremendous fire of the Spaniards produced little effect beyond the bursting of many of their own cannon, and rendering others useless. The siege was continued until thousands of the enemy had perished, while very little loss was sustained by the garrison.[10] In the early part of June the fire slackened; and shortly afterwards hostilities ceased, in consequence of preliminary articles for a treaty of peace having been agreed upon. Thus the fortress of Gibraltar was a second time preserved, and continued to form one of the trophies of British prowess.

1729.

Peace having been concluded between Great Britain, France, and Spain, in November 1729, the regiment was ordered to proceed from Gibraltar to Jamaica, and it embarked for that island in the course of the year following.

1730.

Colonel John Cope was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 10th of November 1730, in succession to Brigadier-General William Newton, deceased.

1732.

In the year 1732 the regiment returned from Jamaica to Ireland.

Colonel Thomas Wentworth was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 15th of December 1732, in succession to Colonel John Cope, removed to the Fifth fusiliers.

The regiment continued to be stationed in Ireland during 1733 and ten following years.

1737.

Colonel John Campbell, afterwards Duke of Argyle, was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 27th of June 1737, in succession to Colonel Thomas Wentworth, who was removed to the Twenty-fourth regiment.

1738.

Upon Colonel Campbell being removed to the Twenty-first Royal North British Fusiliers on the 1st of November 1738, King George II. appointed Colonel Richard Onslow to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment from that date.

1739.

Colonel Onslow was removed to the Eighth regiment of foot on the 6th of June 1739, and the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth was conferred, from the same date, on Lieut.-Colonel Robert Dalway.

While the regiment was stationed in Ireland, war was proclaimed on the 23rd of October 1739, by Great Britain against Spain, in consequence of the Spanish depredations in the West Indies.

1740.

Lieut.-Colonel Samuel Walter Whitshed was promoted from the Eighth dragoons to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 28th of December 1740, in succession to Colonel Dalway, removed to the Thirteenth dragoons.

While the war was being carried on between Great Britain and Spain, the decease of Charles VI. Emperor of Germany, on the 20th of October 1740, and the support given by France to Charles Albert, Elector of Bavaria, in opposition to the claims of the Archduchess Maria Theresa, the eldest daughter of the late Emperor, to her father’s hereditary territories, occasioned the contest that is designated the “War of the Austrian Succession.”

1742.

The Elector of Bavaria was chosen Emperor of Germany at Frankfort on the Maine, and crowned as Charles VII. on the 11th of February 1742; and in the summer of that year the King of England sent an army of sixteen thousand men, under Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, to Flanders, in order to support the Queen of Hungary, Maria Theresa.

1743.

Colonel Edward Richbell was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 14th of June 1743, in succession to Colonel Samuel Walter Whitshed, who was removed to the Twelfth dragoons.

The battle of Dettingen was fought on the 27th of June 1743, and is remarkable as the last action in which a British monarch was present; but King George II. at this period did not act as a principal in the war, his troops having been furnished as allies to the Austrians.

1744.

On the 9th of March 1744, the Thirty-ninth regiment proceeded from Ireland to Great Britain, and was employed on board the fleet, as Marines, for two years.

War was at last declared by France against Great Britain on the 20th of March 1744, and a counter-declaration was made by the latter country on the 29th of the same month; thus these two powers, from auxiliaries, now became principals in the contest.

1745.

In January 1745, the Emperor Charles VII. died at Munich, and Francis, Grand Duke of Tuscany, consort of Maria Theresa, became a candidate for the imperial crown; this circumstance changed the aspect of affairs in Germany, and led to the re-establishment of the House of Austria in the imperial dignity.

In July Prince Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, arrived in Scotland, and being joined by several clans, obtained some advantages; but after advancing as far as Derby, he retreated towards the north in December following.

1746.

The hopes of the Pretender were annihilated by the battle of Culloden on the 16th of April 1746, and part of the military force of the kingdom becoming available for other services, an expedition proceeded against the coast of Brittany. Sixteen sail of the line under Admiral Lestock, and eight frigates, conveying five thousand troops (of which the Thirty-ninth formed part), exclusive of Marines, under Lieut.-General St. Clair, sailed from Plymouth on the 14th of September, in order to make an attack on Port L’Orient, the principal station for the French East India Company’s shipping and stores.

The troops landed in Quimperlay Bay on the morning of the 20th of September, and marched on the following day in two columns against Plymeur, which surrendered, and on the following day advanced to within a mile of Port L’Orient. Some affairs took place between the 21st and 26th of September, and the town was cannonaded; but the enemy having assembled a formidable force, it was determined to withdraw the troops, and they were accordingly re-embarked.

The British troops landed on the peninsula of Quiberon on the 4th of October, and captured a fort mounting eighteen guns; and after destroying all the forts and guns, together with those on the islands of Houat and Hedic, the force was re-embarked, sailed for England, and arrived at Spithead on the 26th of October.

1747.

During the years 1747 and 1748, the regiment again served as Marines on board the fleet.

1748.

On the 7th of October 1748, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed, which terminated the war, and the regiment was again stationed in Ireland, where it remained upwards of five years.

1751.

In the royal warrant, dated the 1st of July 1751, for establishing and maintaining uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of the army, and regulating the number and rank of regiments, the facings of the Thirty-ninth regiment were directed to be green. The first, or King’s colour, was the Great Union; the second, or regimental colour, was of green silk, with the Union in the upper canton; in the centre of the colour the number of the rank of the regiment, in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.

At this period the uniform of the regiment was cocked hats bound with white lace; scarlet coats faced and turned up with green, and ornamented with white lace; scarlet waistcoats and breeches; white gaiters, white cravats, and buff belts.

1752.

Colonel John Adlercron was appointed to the colonelcy of the Thirty-ninth regiment on the 14th of March 1752, in succession to Brigadier-General Edward Richbell, removed to the Seventeenth foot.

1754.

In the beginning of 1754, the Thirty-ninth proceeded from Ireland to the East Indies, being the first King’s regiment employed in that country.

1756.

The regiment remained at Madras until 1756, when events transpired which occasioned a portion of the Thirty-ninth to be embarked for Bengal. Upon the decease of Allaverdy Khan, in April 1756, Surajah Dowlah was proclaimed Soubah, or Nabob of Bengal. During nearly half a century the British at Calcutta had pursued a profitable commerce in peace; but the new ruler soon evinced his hostility to them, and taking the field shortly afterwards, with a numerous army, invested Calcutta, which was captured by him on the 20th of June. Then followed that awful sacrifice of life in the “Black Hole,” a dungeon at Calcutta only eighteen feet square, into which one hundred and forty-six of the prisoners were thrust, and on the following morning only twenty-three survived,—their unfortunate companions having perished from suffocation.

Dark was the cloud which hung over the affairs of the East India Company at this period; self-preservation made it imperative to adopt measures of retaliation, and it was a proud epoch in the career of the Thirty-ninth when a portion of the regiment was selected for service in Bengal, where the subsequent successes, obtained under Lieut.-Colonel Clive, dispersed the prevailing gloom, and paved the way for British ascendancy in India.

The intelligence of these events reached Madras in August 1756, and it was determined to send a force to Bengal, of which Colonel Adlercron, of the Thirty-ninth, claimed the command, but Lieut.-Colonel Robert (afterwards Lord) Clive, was eventually appointed to command the troops. The armament consisted of nine hundred Europeans and fifteen hundred Sepoys: two hundred and fifty of the Europeans belonged to the Thirty-ninth regiment, and the remainder were the best men of the Company’s troops. The naval squadron comprised the Kent of 64 guns, Cumberland of 70, Tiger of 60, Salisbury of 50, Bridgewater of 20, and a fire-ship; to which were added, as transports, three of the Company’s ships, and two smaller vessels. The fleet under Rear-Admirals Watson and Pocock having the troops on board, sailed from Madras on the 16th of October 1756, and anchored in the river Hoogly, off Fulta, twenty miles from Calcutta, on the 15th of December, with the exception of the Cumberland, in which Admiral Pocock had hoisted his flag, which grounded on the sandheads off Saugur, but afterwards bore up to Vizagapatam. The fleet left Fulta on the 27th of December, and anchored in the afternoon of the day following at Mayapore, a town ten miles below the fort of Budge-Budge.

It was determined to attack this fort on the following day, and it was resolved to lay an ambuscade in order to intercept the retreat of the garrison towards Calcutta. All the men of the Thirty-ninth who had arrived, being one hundred and twenty, remained on board the ships of war; but five hundred Europeans, with the Sepoys, and two field-pieces, landed, and marched from Mayapore, at sunset, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Clive. Monickchund, the Governor of Calcutta, attempted to make a stand near the fort of Budge-Budge, but was defeated, and forced to return to Calcutta.

Meanwhile the Kent, having outsailed the other ships, anchored before Budge-Budge, and alone silenced the cannon of that fort, which was abandoned by the garrison during the night of the 30th of December.

1757.

The fleet left Budge-Budge on the 31st of December, and anchored, on the 1st of January 1757, between the forts of Tanna and Aligur, which were abandoned by the enemy without firing a shot. On the following morning Lieut.-Colonel Clive, with the greater portion of the Europeans and Sepoys, landed, and advanced towards Calcutta. At nine o’clock the Kent and Tiger anchored before the British fort, which, after a brisk cannonade, was deserted by the enemy, and also the town shortly afterwards, when a detachment from the ships under Captain Eyre Coote, of the Thirty-ninth, (afterwards Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B.), hoisted the British colours in the fort, as the troops under Lieut.-Colonel Clive had not then arrived.

Hoogly, a town about twenty-three miles above Calcutta, was the next object of attack: one hundred and seventy of the Thirty-ninth regiment, with two hundred Sepoys, were embarked on this service on the 4th of January, sailed on the following day, and arrived before the place on the 10th of that month, the delay having been caused by one of the vessels having struck on a sandbank. The fort was garrisoned by two thousand men; three thousand more had been sent from Moorshedabad to guard the town, but these retreated upon the landing of the British troops, remaining, however, within a few miles distance. The fort was battered until night, and although the breach was scarcely practicable, it was resolved to storm it before dawn. At the main gate a false attack was made, while Captain Coote, of the Thirty-ninth, with the other division, accompanied by some sailors, mounted the breach undiscovered by the garrison, who no sooner saw their assailants on the ramparts, than they quitted their posts and fled. Three Europeans and ten Sepoys were killed in the attack. The booty taken in the expedition against Hoogly was estimated at 15,000l. sterling.

On the 12th of January Captain Coote, with fifty of the Thirty-ninth regiment, and twice that number of Sepoys, marched to Bandell, a large village three miles off, where they destroyed several granaries of rice, but on their return were surrounded by the fugitive garrison and the troops sent from Moorshedabad, from whom they disengaged themselves without loss. On the 19th of January the portion of the Thirty-ninth employed on this service, with the smaller vessels, returned to Calcutta.

While this expedition was in progress, the news of the war, which had been declared between Great Britain and France in May of the previous year, was received in India. The Nabob, Surajee Dowlah, exasperated by the attack of Hoogly, commenced his march towards Calcutta, and the British made every preparation to oppose his approach. On the 30th of January the Nabob’s forces commenced their passage of the river about ten miles above Hoogly, and arrived before Calcutta on the 3rd of February. In the afternoon of that day, a numerous body of the enemy commenced entrenching themselves in a large garden, within a mile and a half of the British camp. Upon this Lieut.-Colonel Clive immediately advanced with the greater portion of his troops, and six field-pieces. The attack of so numerous a force appeared extremely hazardous, and Lieut.-Colonel Clive restrained the action to a cannonade, which continued only for an hour, in order that the troops might be enabled to regain the camp before dark. Negotiations for peace had been proposed by Lieut.-Colonel Clive, and failed; it was therefore determined to attack the Nabob’s camp in the morning. At midnight five hundred and sixty-nine sailors, armed with firelocks, were landed from the ships of war: the Europeans amounted to six hundred and fifty, the artillerymen to one hundred, and the Sepoys to eight hundred. Shortly before dawn on the 5th of February, the British line came upon the advance-guards of the enemy, who fled after discharging their matchlocks and some rockets: one of the latter struck the cartouch-box of a Sepoy, set fire to the charges, which exploded, and communicated the mischief to several others: the dread of catching this fire threw the division into confusion, but fortunately none of the enemy were at hand to take advantage of this accidental circumstance, and Captain Coote, of the Thirty-ninth, who marched at the head of the grenadiers, in the rear of the Sepoys, rallied them, and restored the line of march. A desperate contest ensued, during which Ensign Martin Yorke, of the Thirty-ninth, with a platoon of the regiment, rescued one of the field-pieces which was on the point of being captured by the enemy. The British sustained a loss in killed of twenty-seven Europeans, twelve seamen, and eighteen Sepoys: seventy Europeans, twelve seamen, and thirty-five Sepoys were wounded. The Nabob lost twenty-two officers of distinction, six hundred men, four elephants, five hundred horses, some camels, and several bullocks.

A treaty of peace was concluded between the Nabob and the East India Company on the 9th of February, and hostilities terminated.

It was, however, perceived that the Nabob was only temporising, and it was ascertained that he had sent a present of one hundred thousand rupees to the government of Chandernagore, then in possession of the French; and that Nuncomar, the governor of Hoogly, had received instructions to assist the French in case they should be attacked by the British.

Lieut.-Colonel Clive then resolved upon placing Meer Jaffier, one of the distinguished chieftains in Bengal, on the musnud, or government-seat, and of deposing the Nabob Surajee Dowlah, the former having engaged, in the event of his being elevated to the viceroyship, to aid in expelling the French from Bengal. Accordingly, Chandernagore, on the Hoogly, sixteen miles above Calcutta, was invested by Lieut.-Colonel Clive on the 14th of March, and, after a gallant defence, the place surrendered on the 24th of that month. A part of the garrison escaped, and joined the Nabob’s army.

Lieut.-Colonel Clive marched into Chandernagore with the King’s troops, on the following day. Admiral Watson, in his despatch of the 31st of March, 1757, stated that “all the officers and men behaved with great spirit and resolution on this occasion; as did also the Land Forces, who kept up a good and constant fire the whole time from two batteries and two guns which they had raised very near the fort.”

Meer Jaffier having signed the treaty with Admiral Watson, Lieut.-Colonel Clive, and the other counsellors, it was determined to commence operations. On the 12th of June, the troops which were at Calcutta, with one hundred and fifty seamen from the squadron, proceeded to join the army quartered at Chandernagore. The necessary preparations having been made, the army marched from Chandernagore on the following day, leaving a hundred seamen to garrison the fort, so that every soldier might serve in the field.

The British army arrived and halted on the 16th of June at Patlee, a town on the western shore of the Cossimbuzar river. Twelve miles above Patlee was situated the Fort of Cutwah, which commanded the passage of the river. Captain Coote was detached on the 17th against Cutwah, which was taken two days afterwards.

The main body of the army arrived at Cutwah in the evening, and encamped on the plain. The rainy season commenced on the following day with such violence that the troops were compelled to strike their tents, and shelter themselves in the houses of the town.

The co-operation of Meer Jaffier appearing doubtful at this period, made Lieut.-Colonel Clive hesitate as to crossing into the island of Cossimbuzar, and at all risks attack the Nabob Surajee Dowlah. A council of war consisting of sixteen officers was summoned; and contrary to the usual practice of taking the voice of the youngest officer first, and ascending from this to that of the president, Lieut.-Colonel Clive at once declared for remaining at Cutwah, and to continue there during the rainy season. Eight other officers were of the same opinion, and only seven voted for immediate action. Captain Eyre Coote, of the Thirty-ninth, was one of the latter, and argued, “that the soldiers were at present confident of success, and that a stop so near the enemy would naturally quell this ardour, which it would be difficult to restore; that the arrival of the French troops with Mr. Law would add strength to the Nabob’s force and vigour to his councils; that they would surround the English army, and cut off its communication with Calcutta, when distresses, not yet foreseen, might ruin it as effectually as the loss of a battle. He therefore advised that they should either advance and at once decide the contest, or immediately return to Calcutta.”

Lieut.-Colonel Clive’s anxieties were not alleviated by the sanction of the majority. He retired into the adjoining grove, and remained for nearly an hour in deep meditation; the result was that he determined to act on the opinion of Captain Coote and the minority, by giving orders for the passage of the river of Cossimbuzar, a branch of the Ganges.

At sunrise on the 22nd of June, the British troops commenced to pass the river, and all were landed on the opposite shore by four in the afternoon. After a march of fifteen miles they arrived at one o’clock on the following morning at Plassey, and immediately occupied the adjoining grove. The guards being stationed, the remainder of the wearied soldiers were allowed a short interval of repose, which was broke at daybreak, when the Nabob’s hosts issued from their entrenched camp, amounting to about fifteen thousand cavalry, thirty-five thousand infantry, and upwards of forty pieces of cannon.[11] This was a fearful disparity of numbers when contrasted with the small army under Lieut.-Colonel Clive, which consisted of two thousand one hundred Sepoys, one hundred Topasses[12], one hundred Malabar Portuguese, six hundred and fifty European infantry, and one hundred and fifty artillerymen, including fifty seamen, together with eight six-pounders and one howitzer.

The Nabob commenced the attack by six o’clock, and his numerous artillery kept up a heavy cannonade for some hours, which was warmly responded to by the British. Lieut.-Colonel Clive sheltered his troops in the adjacent grove; and they were ordered to sit down, while the field-pieces alone answered the enemy’s cannon from behind the bank. At eleven o’clock Lieut.-Colonel Clive consulted his officers at the drumhead, when it was resolved to maintain the cannonade during the day, and at midnight to attack the enemy. At noon a heavy shower of rain covered the plain, and damaged the enemy’s powder to such on extent that his fire slackened, but the British ammunition remained serviceable.

A crisis had arrived, and Lieut.-Colonel Clive, no longer acting on the defensive, became the assailant. Seizing the opportunity, he advanced, and obtained possession of a tank, and two other posts of consequence, which the enemy vainly attempted to recover. A successful attack was then made upon the eminence and angle of the Nabob’s camp, defended by forty French soldiers (the men who had escaped from the garrison of Chandernagore), and their two pieces of cannon were captured. This was followed by a general rout, and the discomfited enemy was pursued for six miles: upwards of forty pieces of cannon, abandoned by the fugitives, fell into the hands of the victors.

In this astonishing victory, which laid the foundation of the British dominion in Bengal, five hundred of the enemy were killed, while the army under Lieut.-Colonel Clive sustained a loss of only twenty-two killed and fifty wounded.

It appears from a manuscript journal kept by Captain Eyre Coote, now in the library of the Honourable East India Company, that the following officers of the Thirty-ninth were present in the battle of Plassey: namely, Captains Archibald Grant, and Eyre Coote; Lieutenant John Corneille; and Ensigns Joseph Adnett, and Martin Yorke.

The motto “Primus in Indis,” and the word “Plassey,” borne by royal authority on the regimental colour and appointments of the Thirty-ninth, are proud memorials of its having been the first King’s regiment which served in India, and of the gallantry displayed in this battle.[13]

Lieut.-Colonel Clive, accompanied by a guard of two hundred Europeans, and three hundred Sepoys, entered the city of Moorshedabad on the 29th of June, and saluted Meer Jaffier as Nabob, who received the usual homage from the people as Soubah of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. Surajee was subsequently taken prisoner, and fell a victim to the dagger of the son of Meer Jaffier.

Mr. Law, who was the French chief at Cossimbuzar, had collected nearly two hundred French European troops, and was proceeding to the assistance of the late Nabob;—when within a few hours’ march of him, he was taken prisoner, and Mr. Law, receiving that intelligence, advanced no further. Lieut.-Colonel Clive thereupon detached a party in pursuit under the command of Captain Coote, of the Thirty-ninth regiment, consisting of two hundred Europeans and five hundred Sepoys, who were to be joined by two thousand of Meer Jaffier’s cavalry. After long and harassing marches, in which the troops suffered much fatigue, Captain Coote received orders to return, and arrived at Moorshedabad in September, when his detachment was subsequently stationed in the factory at Cossimbuzar. The rest of the troops, which had served at Plassey, proceeded to Chandernagore, that station being considered more healthy than Calcutta.

While the portion of the Thirty-ninth had been thus engaged in Bengal, the remainder of the regiment left at Madras had not been unemployed. An expedition having been determined upon against Nelloure, Major Francis Forde, of the Thirty-ninth, was selected to command the force selected for that service, which consisted of one hundred Europeans, fifty-six Caffres, and three hundred Sepoys. He effected a junction with the army of the Nabob of Arcot, or of the Carnatic, at Serapely on the 25th of April 1757. Two days afterwards the troops encamped before Nelloure. A practicable breach having been made, at sunrise on the 5th of May the assault was commenced; but in consequence of the Sepoys being seized with a panic, the attack was not successful. The troops subsequently returned towards Serapely, where Major Forde received express orders to return to Madras, in order to prevent the designs of the French on Trichinopoly.

In consequence of the danger to which Trichinopoly was exposed, Colonel Adlercron marched from Madras on the 26th of May with three hundred Europeans, being the whole of the Thirty-ninth at that station, together with five hundred Sepoys, thirty of the King’s artillery, and four field-pieces. Intelligence having been received of the relief of Trichinopoly by Captain Caillaud, who had been selected to command the expedition against Madura[14], Colonel Adlercron was directed to invest the fortress of Wandewash, and accordingly marched towards that place on the 5th of June. On the following day he entered the town; but before the heavy cannon could arrive, the greater part of the French army from Trichinopoly reached Pondicherry, and marched to the relief of Wandewash, upon which Colonel Adlercron withdrew from the town, and encamped a few miles off. Several marches and countermarches were afterwards made, but no general engagement took place, and it being seen that nothing but the certainty of advantage would bring the enemy from his entrenched camp to action, the troops marched for Conjeveram on the 26th of July, at which place they arrived on the 28th of that month, where five hundred Europeans and fifteen hundred Sepoys remained in cantonments under the command of Major Francis Forde, of the Thirty-ninth, and the rest of the troops returned to the garrisons and stations from whence they had been drawn.

Shortly afterwards orders were received from England recalling the Thirty-ninth regiment, when most of the men, and certain of the officers, entered the East India Company’s service.

1758.

The regiment remained in India until the end of the year 1758, when it returned to Ireland, on the western coast of which it was wrecked.

1759.

After remaining in Ireland some time, and being recruited to its establishment, the regiment was greatly reduced by a large detachment sent to Germany to join the British troops serving under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. No record has been preserved by the regiment of the services of this detachment, and the research made to supply the deficiency has not been attended with success.

1763.

The Seven Years’ War, which had commenced in 1756, while the regiment was serving in India, was terminated by the peace concluded at Paris in February 1763.

1766.