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THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, 0» THE BUFFS. \ * I I, LONDON: Ptinted by Willum Clowis and Sovst 14, Charint; Croii. \l \ ! t' .' ■; < , • GENERAL ORDERS. HORSEOVARDS, Itt January, 1836. His Majesty has been pleased to command, that, with a view of doing the fullest justice to Regi- ments, as well as to Individuals who have distin- guished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regi- ment 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 Ori- ginal 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. a 2 GENERAL ORDERS. The Names of those Officers, who, in con- sideration 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-Com- missioned 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 Honourable GENERAL LORD HILL, Commanding'in- Chief. John Macdonald, Adjutant' General. w .r- .% », If/' ' 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 honourable 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 HULFACE. 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 hence- forth 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 PKEFACK. country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agri* culturist 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 valu> able life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved. The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endur- ance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying diffi- culties ; 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 main- tained 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 attach- PREFACE. ment to every thing 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 civilised 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. ;o such cannot actions been of Great nents of of theit arrayed Country ecord of irprising, r-citizens le brave, aly prove iuguished espective ave, from testifying faithfully of each lat when ind up in 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 con- tains 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 Caesar with a Roman army, on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to attack the Roman soldiers as they de- scended from their ships ; and, although their dis- cipline and arms were inferior to those of their adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated the flower of the Roman troops, in- cluding Caesar'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 b INTRODUCTION TO rest ajling 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 Caesar's legions : in the course of time a military system, with dis- cipline 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 swordd 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 Intro- duction 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 pro- portion of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior degree, they proved stout- m z' THE WFANTRY. insisted men of The light, spikes, 3 latter ley had le-axes lam the e Intro- horse; th their a pro- Ithough stout- hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When stipen- diary troops were employed, infantry always con- stituted 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 acqui- sition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century. During a great part of the reign of Queen Eliza- beth each company of infantry usually consisted of b 2 4 INTRODUCTION TO 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 re- commended by an English military writer (Sir John Smithe) in 1590, was : — the colour in the centre of the company guarded by the halberdiers; the pike- men, 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 mus- keteers ; and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the musket then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the company for skirmish- ing.* It was customary to unite a number of com- panies into one body, called a Regiment, which frequently amounted to three thousand men; but * A company of 200 men would appear thus: — C 20 20 20 30 30 20 20 20 UuquebusM. Archers. Muskets. Pikes. Halberds. Pikes. Muskets. Archers. Harquebuse*. The musket carried a ball which weighed tit of a pound ; and the harquebus a ball which weighed ^ of a pound. THE INFANTRY. d each company continued to carry a colour. Numer- ous 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 seven- teenth century : bows and arrows also fell into dis- use, and the infantry were reduced to two classes, viz.: musketeers^ armed with matchlock muskets^ swords, and daggers; and joiArem&n, 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 bandaliers, each contain- ing 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 form- ing 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, • ft INTRODUCTION TO 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 com- pany 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 (ex- cepting 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 THE INFANTRY. 7 Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on the breaking out of the war in 1702.* 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-gren- ades ; 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 * The 30th, 31 8t, 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 after- wBiHls employed at the siege of Barcelona in 1705. 8 INTRODUCTION TO li 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 Bo- hemia, 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 infan- try, 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, pri- vations, 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 .;eventy years' war between the United THE INFANTRY. 9 Provinces of the Netherlands and the Spanish mo- narch, which commenced in 1578 and terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the States General were celebrated for their uncon- querable spirit and firmness;* and in the thirty years' war between the Protestant Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British troops in the ser- vice of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of heroism. f In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British army under the great Maiilborough 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 Abercrombie, and compelled the French army, which had been vainly styled Invincible, to eva- * The brave Sir Roeer 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. t Vide the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot. 10 INTRODUCTION TO cuate that country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous campaigns in the Penin- sula, 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 govern- ment. 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 Cr^cy, Poictiers, Agin- court, 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 obe- dience to his superiors. These qualities, united with an excellent system of order and discipline to regu- late 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 lead- ing causes of the splendid victories gained by the THE INFANTRY. 11 British arms.* 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 an 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 cha- racter, connected with the hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in the vari- ous parts of the world where the calls of their Coun- * '* Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes the successes whicli have attended the exertions of his troops in Egypt, to that determined l)ravery 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 lias 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 mili- tary character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under circum- stances 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 encoun- tered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the troops themselves : and the enemy has been taught, that whatever advan- tages 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." 19 INTRODUCTION, &C. try and the commands of their Sovereign, have required tl m to proceed in the execution of their duty, wliether in native continental operations, or in maintaining' colonial territories in distant and unfavourable dim '8. The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set forth in the wars of s'x centuries, and admitted by the greatest commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and move- ments of this armey as at present practised, while they are adapted to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations and circumstances of ser- vice, are calculated to show forth the brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and scientific principles. Although the m< jvements 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 in- fluence, 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 covmtry at heart, the records of the several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting. 1838. HISTORICAL RECORD THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, OH THE BUFFS; VUHMKUI.V UKVIONATHU THE HOLLAND REGIMENT. UONTAININU AN ACCOUNT UV ITS ORIGIN TN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, ANU Of ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES TO 1838. ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES. PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, ORME, AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW. LONDON; AND BY MESSRS. CLOWES AND SONS, 14, Charing Cross ; AND TO BE HAD Or ALL BOOKSCLLIM. 1839. LONDON ! Prinleil by ^Vilmam CtowBi and Sons, Stiiinfunl Stroet. i \ THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, OR "THE BUFFS," BEARS ON ITS COLOURS, AS A REGIMENTAL BADGE, "THE DRAGON;" WITH THE FOLLOWING INSCRIPTIONS, « DOURO," " TALAVERA," " ALBUHERA," PYRENEES," " NIVELLE," " NIVE," " PENINSULA." CONTENTS. Anno Origin of the regiment for service in the Ne therlands ..... 1572 A body of English enter the service of the Prince of Orange Capture of Mons .... Occurrences at Flushing ; the magistrates and burgesses solicit aid of Queen Elizabeth Captain Morgan raises 300 men to aid the Flemings ..... Relief of Flushing .... The Provinces of Holland and Zealand revolt Sir Humphry Gilbert raises a regiment . Enterprise in Flanders; and attempt on Ter- Goes ..... Action at Southland Second attack on Ter-Goes . Defence of Haerlem .... 1573 Alkmaer .... Capture of Gertruydenberg . Defence of Delft .... 1574 Siege of Middleburg ; and action at sea Defence of Leyden .... 1575 Embassy to Queen Elizabeth 1 576 Pacification of Ghent 1577 Hostilities resumed ; Queen Elizabeth aids the Flemings 1578 Battle of Reminant .... Menin surprised by the Scots 1579 Relief of Steenwick .... 1580 Capture of Malines .... Action at Northofn . Page 1 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 21 22 VI CONTENTS. Auno 1583 Skirmish near Ghent 1584 Defence of Fort Lillo by the Scots The Prince of Orange assassinated 1585 The Sovereignty of the Netherlands offered to Queen Elizabeth .... Additional forces sent to the Netherlands Capture of the fort near Arnheim Action near Niraeguen The Earl of Leicester proceeds to the Nether lauds .... 1586 Relief of Grave Captain Williams' exploit near Venloo Skirmish near Breda Capture of Arseele and Dorp Skirmishes near Arnheim, Deventer, and Breda Capture of Doesburg, and siege of Zutphen Skirmish near Warresfeldt . 1581 Defence of Sluys 1588 The Spanish Armada Defence of Bergen-op-Zoom 1589 the island of Voorn 1590 1591 1592 1593 Relief of Rhineberg . the Castle of Litkenhooven Capture of a Fort near Wesel Zutphen and Deventer . Blakenberg Relief of Knodsenburg fort . Capture of Hulst and Nimeguen . Steenwick Gertruydenberg . iz 1594 Relief of Coverden, and capture of Groningen 1596 Expedition to Spain, and capture of Cad Descent on Portugal . 1597 Battle of Turnhout . Expedition to the Azores . Pag« 24 25 26 27 28 29 31 32 33 34 36 43 44 45 47 48 50 51 52 53 54 57 58 60 I' : I 1 CONTENTS. Vjl Anno P*X*l 1597 Capture of Rhineberg, Meurs, Groll, Breevort, Enschede, Oldenzael, Ootmarsuni, and Lin- gen ....... 60 1598 Defence of Bommel and Voorn . . . 61 1600 Siege of Fort St. Andre .... 62 Battle of Nieuport 63 1601 Defence of Ostend 66 1604 Capture of Sluys 73 1605 Skirmish near the sea shore ... 74 1606 Defence of Sluys . . . . . 75 Rhineberg .... 76 1609 A truce for twelve years . . . . 77 1610 Capture of Juliers ..... — 1614 Occurrences at Aix-la-Chapelle ... 78 1619 in Bohemia and the Palatinate . 80 1621 Hostilities resumed ; defence of Juliers . . 81 1622 Defence of Bergen-op-Zoom ... 83 Recapture of Steenbergen .... 89 1623 Defence of Heidelberg, Manheim, and Franken- intil ••••••• — - 1624 Four additional regiments sent to the Nether- lands ...... 90 Defence of Breda. — Count Mansfeldt's expedi- tion ....... 91 1625 Attempt to raise the siege of Breda . , 93 1626 A List of British Troops in the Netherlands . 95 Capture of Oldenzael, and Broeckhuise Castle 96 1627 Groll _ 1629 Siege of Bois-le-Duc 97 1630 A List of British Troops in the Netherlands . 98 1632 Sieges of Venloo, Ruremonde, and Maestricht 99 Siege of Limburg . . . . . 102 1633 Rhineberg ..... — 1635 Capture of Tirlemont, and recapture of the Schinck ...... 104 ' 1 1 [i vUl CONTENTS. Anno FagM 1637 Capture of Breda 104 1641 Gennep 106 1644 Sas-van-Ghent .... 108 1645 Hulst 109 1648 The Peace of Mimster . . . . 110 1649 King Charles I. beheaded . . . . — 1652 War between the English Commonwealth and the Dutch . . . . . . Ill 1653 Peace restored ; and the English Troops in Hol- land reduced to one Regiment, called the *' Holland Regiment** . . . . 112 1660 The Restoration 1 13 1665 War with the Dutch; — the Holland Regiment embarks for England, and obtains rank as Fourth Foot 114 Services of the Scots Brigade ... — 1666 The establishment of the Holland Regiment augmented ...... 116 1667 Peace concluded. — The establishment reduced — 1672 War with Holland. Detachments serve as Marines . . . . . . 118 1675 Expedition to "Virginia . . . . 1 19 1678 Detachments proceed to Flanders . . . 121 Grenadiers added to the regiment . . . 122 Battle of St. Denis — Peace of Nimeguen . 123 1679 Detachments return from Flanders . . — 1684 Description of the Regimental Colours . . 125 1686 Encamps on Hounslow-heath, and reviewed by King James II. . . . . , 126 1688 The Revolution — 1689 The Third, or Marine regiment, incorporated in the Second Foot Guards ; the Holland Regiment ranks as Third Foot, and obtains the title of Prince George of Denmark's Re- (jimcnt . . . . . . 129 CONTENTS. IX Page 104 106 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 116 118 119 121 122 123 125 126 4 m Anno Pnge 1689 Embarks for Holland ; battle of Walcourt 130 1690 Returns to England . . — 1692 Embarks for the Netherlands • • • 131 Battle of Stpenkirk . • • • 132 1693 Landen • • « 133 1695 Attack on Fort Kenoque • • • 137 Covering the siege of Namur ■ • 4 169T Returns to England . • « 139 1702 Expedition to Cadiz . • • 140 Capture of the enemy's fleet in Vigo bay 141 Returns to England . • • 1103 Proceeds to Holland . • • < 142 Sieges of Huy and Limburg • • 143 1*704 Battle of Schellenberg • • 144 Blenheim . • • 145 1 *?05 Forcing the French lines at Helixem and Neer Hespen • 148 1706 Battle of Ramilies • • 149 1707 The Dragon placed on the regi mental colours 152 1708 Embarks for England. Returns to Flanders 153 Battle of Oudenarde . • • — Siege of Lisle . • 155 Ghent . • • 156 1709 1710 1711 129 Prince George of Denmark dies j the regiment no longer distinguished by his title; but styled " The Buffs " . . . . Siege of Tournay . . . . . Battle of Malplaquet .... Forcing the French Lines at Pont-a-Vendin . Sieges of Douay, Bethune, Aire, and St. Venant Capture of the redoubt at Arleux and Castle ofChanterin ..... Surprise in the camp near Douay Forcing the French lines at Arleux Siege of Bouchain ..... 157 158 161 162 163 X, CONTENTS. Annn ni4 Emba-ks for England— Proceeda to Scotland and afterwards to Ireland ni5 Returns to England — Proceeds to Scotland Battle of Dumblain . ni6 Returns to England . 1719 Encamped in the Isle of Wight Expedition to Vigo . 1*722 Encamped on Salisbury Plain 1121 Marches to Scotland . 1131 Returns to England . 1131 Proceeds to Scotland 1140 Returns to England . 1142 Embarks for Flanders 1143 Battle of Dettingen . 1145 Fontenoy . . Embarks for England— Marches to Scotland 1146 Battle of Falkirk . CuUoden Returns to England 1141 Embarks for Holland Battle of Val . Returns to England . 1151 Regulations respecting the colours, &c 1156 Augmented to two battalions 1151 Expedition to the coast of France 1158 The 2nd Battalion constituted the Sixty-first Regiment ... Embarks for the West Indies 1159 Attack on Martinico . Reduction of Guadaloupe . , Marie-Gallante 1160 Returns to England . 1161 Capture of Belle-Isle 1162 Embarks for Portugal Capture of Valencia de Alcantara Pag* ^.64 165 166 161 168 169 111 112 113 118 119 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 = :gr:j r ^:."" ; =. -- --'iL-j.e~ii. ^j'^ju*! CONTENTS. A II no 1762 Skirmish near Sobrina FormoBa . Surprise of the enemy at Villa Velha 1763 Proceeds from Portugal to Minorca 1771 Returns to Enghmd . 1775 Embarks for Ireland . 1781 North America Relief of Fort Ninety- Six . Action at Eutaw Springs . 1782 Proceeds from South Carolina to Jamaica Styled the Third, East Kent, Regiment, or th Bi'fs 1 790 Leaves Jamaica and returns to England 1791 Riots at Birmingham 1792 Encamps on Bagshot Heath 1 793 Employed on the Windsor and London duty Embarks for the West Indies ; but transferred to the expedition under the Earl of Moira 1794 Proceeds to Holland .... Skirmish near the Waal Defence of Nimeguen Skirmish near Sombreuil . 1795 Retreats to Germany, and embarks for England Embarks for the West Indies 1796 Capture of Grenada . St. Vincents 1797 Trinidad . 1801 St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. John, Santa Cruz, Saba, and St. Eustatia • • • • » 1 802 Embarks for England, and proceeds to Jersey . 1803 Augmented to two Battalions First Battalion embarks for Ireland 1804 Second Battalion 1805 First Battalion embarks for the Continent- Returns to England .... 1806 Proceeds to Ireland . Huge 187 188 189 190 192 195 197 198 200 201 204 205 207 208 209 210 213 214 215 216 217 218 XII CUNTENTS. Anno 1807 Second Battalion removed (rem Ireland to Guernsey .... First Battalion proceeds to Madeira 1808 Embarks for Portugal Advances into Spain, and halts at Rodrigo .... 1809 The Grenadier Company at the buttle of C First Battalion returns to Portugal The passage of the Douro Battle of Talavera 1810 Busaco Lines of Torres "Vedras Ciudad orunna 1811 Recapture of Campo Mayor Battle of Albuhera 1813 Vittoria — — the Pyrenees Nivelle Nive . 1814 Skirmish at St. Palais Battle of Orthes Skirmish at Aire Battle of Toulouse Embarks for Canada Action at Plattsburg 1815 Embarks for Europe Proceeds to France Second Battalion disbanded 1816 Forms part of the army of occupation in France 1818 Returns to England, and embarks for Ireland 1821 1 1822) Proceeds to New South Wales 219 220 221 222 224 226 22T 228 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 1827 Removed from New South Wales to the East Indies ...... 1838 The Conclusion 241 242 CONTENTS. xni COMMANDERS OF THE THIRD REGIMENT FOOT, OR THE BUFFS, PREVIOUS TO THE YEAR HIG,'). OF Thotnaa Morgan Sir John Norris • • • Page 245 246 Robert Earl of Leicester , 251 Sir Francis Vere * * < 255 Horace Lord Vere, Baron of Sir John Ogle . Sir Charles Morgan . Henry Earl of Oxford Robert Earl of Oxford Tilbury . * • • * • • 258 261 262 263 Aubrey Earl of Oxford John Cromwell * • • > • • 264 265 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS, FROM THE DATE OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE REGIMENT IN ENGLAND IN 1665. Anno 1665 Robert Sidney . 1668 Sir Walter Vane 1673 John Earl of Mulgrave 1682 Philip Earl of Chesterfield 1684 John Earl of Mulgrave 1685 Sir Theophilus Oglethorp 1688 Charles Churchill . 1701 John Duke of Argyle 1711 John Selwyn . 1713 Archibald Earl of Forfar 1716 Charles Wills . 1726 Thomas Earl of Londonderry 1729 William Tatton 1737 Thomas Howard 174& George Howaid 267 268 269 270 272 273 274 275 276 K " XIV CONTKNT9. Anno V»g" n63 John Craufiird 21(1 1 V'A Ralph Barton .... — ) 76H Sir Jeffory Amherst . 211 m9 Willittm Style .... 218 ns6 ThomjwHall .... — 1809 Charles Leigh .... — 1815 Sir Henry Clinton . 219 1829 Sir George Don 280 1832 Kenneth Alexander Lord Howard of Effingham 281 PLATES. The Rei^imental Colours, to precede Sir Francis Vere at the battle of Nieuport, to face The Duke of Argyle at the battle of Malplaquet, to face The Uniform in 1838, to face .... Page i „ 64 „ 160 ,. 244 Pun.' 27ft 21 T 218 219 280 281 Page i „ 64 „ 160 „ 244 V I i'i I 1 No. 1. THIRD BEOIMBNT OF FOOT, OR THE BOFP8. lii; No. I. THIKD REGIMENT OF POOT, OR THE BUFFS. 11 HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE 1 . ' THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, OR THE BUFFS, FORMERLY DESIGNATED "THE HOLLAND REGIMENT." This distinguished regiment is the representative of that renowned body of British troops which fought in the glorious cause of civil and religious liberty in the Nether- lands, during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, King James l., and King Charles I., and which by their valour and prowess, during a struggle of more than seventy years, enabled the brave and persevering inhabitants of the *' United Provinces" to wrest their country from Spanish domination, and to obtain from the other powers of Europe an acknowledgment of their independence as a free state. That extensive and wealthy tract of country, called the Netherlands, was conquered by the Romans before the beginning of the Christian era. On the irruption of the northern nations it was subjected to their sway ; it also composed part of the monarchy of the Franks, which rose on the ruins of Gaul ; and Charlemagne united those countries with the wide empire he formed for himself out of Germany, France, and Lombardy. When Charle- magne's possessions were divided among his successors, the Netherlands became at one time provinces of Germany, at another of France, and in the tenth, eleventh, I I: ■ r i-A .^ill!l 1 1 ii 2 HISTORICAL RECORD OF twelfth, and thirteenth centuries they were divided into a number of petty sovereignties, the heads of which held partly of Germany and partly of France. By marriage, inheritance, or conquest, several of these were frequently united under one chief, and in the fifteenth century almost the whole were subject to the house of Burgundy. Archduke Maximilian, afterwards Emperor of Germany, married the heiress of this family ; his son, Philip I., acquired by marriage tha Spanish monarchy; and the next heir, Charles V., was elected to the Imperial crown : thus in the early part of the sixteenth century those ex- tensive provinces had again become part of a vast empire. 1556 Charles V., after governing with despotic sway nearly forty years, resigned his dominions in Spain and the Netherlands* in 1556 to his son Philip II., who was married to Mary Queen of England ; but he could not prevail on the princes of Germany to elect Philip to the Imperial throne; which dignity they conferred on 1565 Ferdinand, Charles's brother. Philip having governed the provinces nearly ten years, appointed Margaret, Duchess of Parma, regent ; in a short time afterwards the Flemings solicited the aid of the English and Scots against the tyrannical conduct of the cruel and haughty King of Spain ; and a British force appeared in Belgium to fight in the cause of freedom, of which the Third Foot is the only remaining corps. This event was occa- sioned by the following circumstances. The errors of the church of Rome had brought on the * The Netherlands consisted at this period of the Duchies of Krabant, Luxembourg, Limburg, and Guelders, the Earldoms of Holland, Zealand, Flanders, Artois, Hainault, Namur, and Zulphen, with the Marquisate of the Empire, and the Lordships of Utrecht, Friese, Overyssel, Groningen, and Malines, containing two hundred and twenty-five cities and towns, and six thousand five hundred and twenty-nine villages. — Orlers. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 3 Reformation, and the Protestant religion had extended 15(i5 itself to the Netherlands. Philip II., in conjunction with the Pope, undertook to extirpate this new heresy, as the reformed religion was then designated. He accord- ingly sent to the Netherlands an inquisition of bishops, whose cruel and sanguinary persecutions excited the Flemings to revolt, particularly in Antwerp. The king, enraged at the resistance of the Flemings, 1568 resolved to govern the Low Country provinces with military and arbitrary authority ; for this purpose he employed Ferdinand of Toledo, Duke of Alva, a general who had acquired renown in the wars of Charles V. This commander conducted in 1568 a powerful body of veteran Spaniards from Italy to the Netherlands, and his avowed animosity to the Flem ngs, with his known ferocious and tyrannical character, struck that people with terror and consternation : their privileges were abolished by edict, and arbitrary and sanguinary tribu- nals were erected. The unequivocal tendency of these proceedings to sub- stitute the inexorable will of a despot for the expansive spirit of freedom induced William, Prince of Orange, who was descended from a sovereign family of great lustre and antiquity in Germany, and had fixed his residence in the Low Countries, where he was respected on account of his personal merit, to oppose the progress of the Spanish usurpations. He had formerly used his influence in allaying the popular tumults at Antwerp, but he now saw the necessity of restraining the proceed- ings of the Spanish monarch. King Philip, being displeased with the prince's con- duct, issued on the 18th of January, 1.568, a warrant for apprehending him, and on his refusing to appear he was declared a rebel, condemned, and his possessions in b2 4 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1568 the Low Countries were confiscated. The prince appealed to the Emperor, but not obtaining redress, he called upon his friends in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, to aid him in an appeal to arms. Men flocked to his standard from various parts of Europe, and he soon was at the head of upwards of twenty thousand Protestants. With this force he advanced into Brabant ; but his newly-raised troops were unable to cope with the veteran Spaniards under the conduct of Alva, and he was forced to retire. The Duke of Alva cited the Count of Egmont and Count Hoorn to appear before his tribunal, and notwith- standing their great merits and past services they were beheaded in the market-place at Brussels. Many Protestant families fled from the Netherlands* and took refuge in distant countries. Others, irritated by a complication of cruelty, oppression, insolence, usurpation, and persecution, only awaited a favourable opportunity to free themselves from the Spanish yoke. 1572 Count Ludwig of Nassau, brother of the Prince of Orange, proceeded to Paris to procure succour from Charles IX., and he obtained a promise of aid to a limited extent. He was also countenanced and assisted by the English ambassador ; and having collected a few bands of horse and foot he advanced in 1572 into the province of Hainault. Among the adventurers who accompanied Count Ludwig was a small band of Englishmen, who, viewing V th indignation the cruel proceedings practised upon the Flemings, tendered their services to fight in the cause of civil and religious liberty, and were commanded by a brave and experienced officer, Sir William Morgan ;* * Historia Belgica ; and the Civil Wars in the Netherlands, by Thomas Churchyard, Esq. . THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. this band of volunteers was the van of a more powerful ^^"^^ aid which the persecuted Flemings afterwards received. In the attack and capture oiMons, the capital of the pro- vince of Hainault, on the 24th of May, 1572, and in the defence of this place when it was besieged by the forces of the Duke of Alva, the English under Si a William Morgan gave presage of that ardour and contempt of danger for which they afterwards became celebrated. When the tide of popular feeling was at its height, tlie Duke of Alva appointed one of the ready instruments of his cruelti( . an Italian, named Scipio Canipt, governor of the town of Flushing, in the island of Walcheren ; he also purposed to have erected a citadel, and to have placed a garrison of Spaniards in the town, to overawe the inhabitants. Soon after the new governor's arrival, the magistrates and burgesses, being alarmed at a report of his designs, demanded to see his commission, and this not satisfying them, they searched his person, and found directions from Alva for several of them to be brought to the scaffold. This discovery aroused their indignation ; they immediately hanged the governor and several of his followers, prepared to defend the town, and sent deputies to England to solicit aid. Queen Elizabeth felt great displeasure at the progress of extermination carried on against the Flemings; and at the erection of so great a military power in a state so near her dominions. Her Majesty was therefore disposed to aid them ; but the immense power of the King of Spain, and the great force he maintained in the provinces, induced her to adopt cautious measures. She had given protection to all the Flemings who took shelter in her dominions, many of whom being intelligent and industrious artists and mechanics, much benefit and advantage were derived from the useful manufactories which they .-f- 6 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 111 1572 introduced into England, and which were previously un- known in the kingdom. In the month of March of this year the citizens of London had, in o* edience to her Majesty's commands, selected from the several companies three thousand men, who were appointed and equipped as "men at arms" and " shot" in the usual manner, and instructed in the military exercises by experienced officers. On the 1st of May they were mustered and exercised in presence of Her Majesty at Greenwich,* and among them were many veteran officers and soldiers, who had served in Ireland, Scotland and France, but were at this period unemployed. Captain Thomas Morgan, an officer of distinguished merit, being privately countenanced by several noblemen and other persons who were favourable to the Flemish cause, and assisted with money by the deputation from Flushing, raised a company of three hundred men, among whom were upwards of one hundred gentlemen of property, who, being inspired with a noble enthusiasm for the cause of religion and liberty, enrolled themselves under the veteran Captain Morgan. f This company was the nucleus of a numerous body of British troops, which after the peace of Munster in 1648 was reduced to one regiment, and having been recalled to England in 1 665 is now the Third Regiment of Foot, or the Buffs, The company, thus formed, immediately embarked for Flushing, and arrived on the eve of a meditated attack on the town by the Duke of Alva's troops, when the Spaniards, intimidated by the appearance of this resolute band of Englishmen, immediately desisted, until they received an accession of numbers. * Holingshed's Chronicle.— Stow, &c. + The Actions in the Low Countries, by Sir Roger Williams, who was a soldier of Captain Morgan's company. m.\ •J wwwp'i '!Lwi<,wi"i>ni!"ii ramm THE THIRD RKGIMKNT OF FOOT. The English did not remain many days at Flushing 1572 before an eager spirit of enterprise led them to make sorties on the enemy, and they soon acquired the character of valiant men ; they also gained, by their peaceful and orderly demeanou'* towards the inhabitants, the esteem of the magistrates and burghers^ who were desirous of having Captain Morgan for their governor. Previous to the arrival of Captain Morgan's company at Flushing, the Count de la Marke, and several other persons who had fled to Fingland, procured a number of English and Scots seamen, and Flemish exiles, and having equipped a small fleet, sailed for the coast of Holland. Arriving at the Briel, they landed, and ad- vancing against the town, in military parade, with drums and trumpets, and with colours flying, made an attack on the gate. The Spanish garrison fled towards Rotter- dam. The people, being delivered from the presence of their oppressors, flew to arms, and in a few days almost the whole province of Holland and that of Zealand bad revolted from the Spaniards, and had openly declared against the tyranny of Alva. The Prince of Orange united the revolted towns into a Lkague, and thus laid the foundation of the Dutch republic. In the mean time Sir HuMPHRy Gilbert, a gentlemarv of great bravery and personal merit, but of little skill in military affairs, had engaged with the burghers of Flush- ing to aid them with fifteen hundred English, in addition to the three hundred who had previously arrived under Captain Morgan, and so great was the popular feeling in England in favour of the cause of the ptrsecuted Flemings that ten companies (or ensigns)* of foot of one hundred and fifty men each, were raised in a few days, * Companies of foot were at this period styled ensigns, and troops of horse were called cornets. 8 HISTORICAL REC:0RD OF I 1572 and arrived at Flushing, to the great joy of the inhabit- ants. A few ensigns of French and Walloons had previously arrived, and the town was not only considered out of danger from the Spaniards, but part of the force was disposable for other services. During this period the troops in Mons, of which Sir William Morgan and a band of gallant English volun- teers formed a part, were defending the town against the power of Spain M'ith signal intrepidity; and Sir Humphry Gilbert resolved to make an incursion into riaiidersinorder to divert the attention of the enemy. He sailed from Flushing with fourteen hundred English, six hundred French, and four hundred Flemings, and after an ineffectual attempt on Sluys and Bruges, captured a Spanish convoy with sixteen pieces of artillery and several ammunition waggons. While engaged in these services information was re- ceived of the surrender of Mons, and of the advance of twenty ensigns of Spanish foot and several cornets of horse towards Bruges, when Sir Humphuy Gilbert retreated to the coast and embarked. An attempt was afterwards made by this small force on the town of Tar-Goes in the island of South Beveland, in which the newly-raised English displayed more valour than military skill, and the attack having failed the troops returned to Walcheren. After landing on the island, the English took post at Southland. Don Rufello, the Spanish governor of Middleburg, sallied out of that city in the night, with two thousand men, to surprise the troops in their quarters, arid such was the savage barbarity with which this war- fare was conducted, that he brought with him a number of ropes, designing to hang on the spot all the English whom he should take prisoners; but an alarm having THE THIRD RKOIMENT OF l(M)T. been given, the men seized their weapons and assembled 1572 in the market-place. The veteran Spaniards came on with daring audacity, expecting to gain an easy victory, but were charged by a body of English pikemcn and halberdiers; a fierce conflict took place in the street; fresh combatants came running forward ; the battle in- creased ; many were slain on both sides, and two English ensign-bearers had their colour-staves broken in the con- flict, but preserved their colours; and, eventually, the Spaniards were overpowered and pursued half the way to Middleburg, and numbers taken prisoners. The English soldiers were enraged at finding the Spaniards in possession of so great a number of ropes, and being informed of the use for which these cords were intended, they hanged the captives in their own halters."' Encouraged by this success Sir Humphry Gilbert made a second attempt on Ter-Goes ; the troops^ having made good their landing, drove the Spaniards into the town, and commenced the siege in high spirits ; a breach having been made. Captain Morgan's company highly distinguished itself in a midnight assault; a body of French also behaved well, but, owing to difficulties which could not be overcome, the attack did not succeed. The garrison made a resolute defence, and a body of Spaniards and Walloons having marched seven miles through the water, from Bergen-op-Zoom across a ford which was never before deemed practicable, succeeded in relieving the town, when the besieging army quitted the island, and Sir Humphry Gilbert returned to England. The Prince of Orange had, in the mean time, garri- soned several towns in Holland, and he urged the inha- bitants by every motive which religious zeal, resentment. * Sir Roger Williams. 10 HISTORICAL HECOKD OF 1572 or love of freedom could inspire, to make a vigorous reHistnuee against the power of Spain. At the same time the Duke of Alva having assemhled an inmieiise army at Brussels, advanced towards Holland ; he crossed the Waal and the Uhinein the depth of winter, and besieged JIaerhm, where two hundred English were in garrison, with Scots, French, and Flemings, amounting to about three thousand men. The burghers were also armed, and such were the zeal and enthusiasm which prevailed among the Hollanders that three hundred women en- rolled themselves in a company under Mrs. Margaret Renault to fight in the cause of liberty.* 1573 The besieged made a desperate defence, and frequently sallied and attacked the Spaniards with varied success. During the progress of the siege a company of English arrived in the vicinity of the town from Flushing; ten newly-raised companies also arrived from England, which were constituted a regiment, and Captain Thomas Mor- gan was appointed its colonel. The Prince of Orange was most anxious to relieve the place, and he sent a number of armed burghers to join his troops under the Baron of Battenburgh. This general had about six hundrc'^ orse and six thousand foot under his orders, inclu<1iiig the armed burghers, and with this force he advanctxl with more valour than discretion against the l>esieging army of twenty-six thousand veterans. The English, Scots, and French formed the leading column, and behaved well ; but tiie result was a complete overthrow, in which the baron was killed. After defending the town for sc^ < i months with great bravery the besieged were forced by famine to surrender in the middle of August, 157 5, and the Spaniards Sir Roger Williams. TlIK THIRD KKOIMKNT OK FOOT II rcvonp;o(l tlu' immense loss of life, which tho siege 1513 hnd occasioned in their army, by the execution of more thun two thousand of the inhnbitants. This extreme severity, instead of strikinjf the Hollanders with terror, rendered them desperate ; and when the Duke of Alva besieged jilkinaer he encountered a vigorous resistance, which he could not withstand, and having been finally repulsed, the Hollanders discovered that their insolent enemies were not invincible. Among the troops who distinguished themselves in the defence of this place, was a body of gallant Scots, who had previously performed excellent service in the defence of Ilairlem. One Scottish ensign -bearer, named Cornelius, is stated to have killed above twenty Spaniards with his own hands while resisting an attack on the town.* While the Duke of Alva was engaged in the siege of Alkmaer, a few companies of English, Scots, French and Flemings embarked from Doit, in Holland, under Co- lonel de Poyet, and having landed in the night on the coast of North Brabant, attacked and carried the town of Oertriiydenherg by escalade at daybreak, and put the garrison to the sword ; the govc^rnor and a few men only escaped over the wall and fled to Breda. At the same time Colonel Morgan's reciment and several Scots companies were engaged in repulsing the attack of a de- tached Spanish division on Delft, and t>ther places be- tween Rotterdam and Ley den, in which service Captain Chester highly distinguished '.jimself ai the head of two hundred English men-at-arms, for which he was promoted by the Prince of Orange to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. * History of the Netherlands, by Edward Grimston, Serjeant at Arms. V ' I; !t 12 HISTORICAL RECORD OP 1574 The steady resolution of the Hollanders and Zealanders, with the bravery of the daring English, Scots, and French adventurers who fought against the power of Spain, deileated the designs of the tyrannical Duke of Alva, who, finding at last the pernicious effects of his vio- lent councils, solicited to be recalled ; and his request being acceded to, he departed from the Netherlands in 1574. Louis de Requesens, commendator of Castile, was sent from Italy to replace the Duke of Alva, but, though a man of milder disposition, he could not appease the violent hatred which the revolted Hollanders had con- ceived against the Spanish government, and the war was coiitinued with as much obstinacy as before evinced. The Zealanders being desirous of capturing Middle- bui'g, the capital of the province. Colonel Morgan's English regiment and a few Scottish ensigns were sent from Holland to the island of Walcheren to engage in this ser- vice. A Spanish fleet arrived, and having landed a body of troops, there was no force on the island sufficient to pre- vent their relieving the town, but, in retiring, the Spa- niards were engaged in a sharp skirmish with Morgan's men ; and the English, though repulsed in the first onset, came off victorious. The Spaniards retreated to their shipping, designing to sail to Antwerp, and the English and Scots requested to be permitted to embark on board the Holland and Zealand fleet and fight their adversaries at yea. The Flemish admiral, being a valiant seaman, consented ; the troops embarked, and the fleet pursued the enemy. Captain Yorke, being on board the vice- admiral's ship with Colon KL Morgan's company of English, boarded the Spanish vice-admiral's ship with the native energy and resolution of Britons. A valiant Scottish captain, named Robinson, having embarked his /■ THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 13 men in a good Flushing vessel, boarded the enemy's rear- 1574 admiral with signal gallantry. The other vessels behaved with equal intrepidity; the English, Scots, French, and Flemings fought manfully : — thirty Spanish vessels were destroyed, and the victors returned in triumph, bringing with them the Spanish vice-admiraPs, rear-admiral' s, and several other ships. The constant presence of a military force was required at this period in Ireland, in consequence of the aid privately given to the insurgents in that country, from time to time, by the Pope of Rome and King of Spain ; the English government availed itself, therefore, of the military experience acquired by Her Majesty's subjects in the Liow Countries, and Colonel Morgan was withdrawn from Holland with seven hundred men of his regiment, who were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth near St. James's palace, and the colonel was sent with four hundred men to Ireland. Sir Roger Williams states, that these were the first good harquebusiers who had been seen in England, and their activity and dexter- ous use of fire-arms brought the musket and harquebus into more general use in Her Majesty's dominions. In the meantime, the siege of Middleburg in Zealand, in which part of the English troops was engaged, was continued, and the Spaniards were forced to surrender. While this siege was in progress, the Prince of Orange sent Lieut. -Colonel Edward Chester with ten English ensigns to assist in the defence of the city of Leyden, This officer having acquired some practical knowledge in war, urged the citizens to provide magazines of pro- visions, &c. ; but a delay occurred, and in the meanwhile a powerful Spanish army arrived and invested the place. A desperate defence was made; but five English ensigns were forced to quit the town for want of pro- 14 HISTORICAL RECORD OF V I |)i ' '} ' : JILt 1574 visions. At length the Hollanders opened the dykes and sluices, and the peasants were active in ruining their fields by inundation rather than again fall under the hated tyranny of Spain ; — these proceedings forced the Spaniards to raise the siege. 1575 To reward the brave and successful resistance of the inhabitants, an university was erected at Leyden in the following year (1575); and the anniversary of the deliverance of the city is still commemorated by public rejoicings. Notwithstanding this repulse, the governor, Requesens, still pursued the war, and the contest seemed too unequal between so mighty a monarchy as Spain and two small provinces, however fortified by nature, and defended by the resolution of the natives, aided by the troops of other nations, who voluntarily fought in the cause of liberty. The Prince of Orange resolved, therefore, to sue for foreign succour, and to make application to one or other of his great neighbours, — the sovereigns of France or England. France at this period was torn by domestic dissensions, and had not leisure or ability to pay regard to foreign interests. A solemn embassy was therefore sent to London by the States of the two provinces of Holland and Zealand, and, after the most humble supplications to Queen Elizabeth, they offered her the possession and sovereignty of the two pro- vinces if she would exert her power in their behalf. Although many motives might have induced the queen to accept of this liberal offer, yet as she had never enter- tained the ambition of making conquests, or gaining new acquisitions, her system of policy being to maintain by frugal and cautious expedients the tranquillity of her dominions, she refused the sovereij^nty proffered her; but in return for the good will which the Prince of Orange y THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 15 and the States had shown her, she endeavoured 1575 to mediate for them an fgreement with the King of Spain. Philip appeared to entertain this negociation in good part ; but no agreement ensued, and tlje war in the Netherlands was continued with the same rage and violence as before. Thegovernor,Requesens, dying suddenly, the Spanish 1576 troops became discontented for want of pay, and licentious by the want of an able commander. They mutinied against their superiors, plundered the cities of Maestricht and Antwerp, slaughtered many of the inhabitants, and menaced other towns with the s^me fate. All the pro- vinces, except Luxembourg, united for mutual defence, and called in the Prince of Orange and the Hollanders as their protectors. Several skirmishes occurred ; and Colonel Balfour encountering a Spanish division near Liege, broke the enemy's ranks by a furious charge of his Scottish bands, and put the mutineers to flight. At length a treaty, commonly called the Pacification of Ghent, was formed by common agreement ; and the removal of foreign troops, with the restoration of their ancient liberties, was the object which the provinces stipulated to pursue. Don John of Austria, natural brother to Philip, was 1577 appointed governor, and finding on his arrival at Luxem- bourg, that the States had so fortified themselves, and that the Spanish troops were so divided by their situation, that there was no possibility of resistance, he agreed to the terms required of him. The Spaniards evacuated the country, and the provinces were freed for a short period from their calamities. It was not, however, easy to establish a peace, while the couiicils of popish priests and the thirst of revenge and dominion governed the King of Spain, and the / 16 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ! (■ 1577 Flemings were agitated with resentment of past, and fear of future injuries. The ambition of Don John, who coveted this great theatre for his military talents, led him rather to inflame than to appease the quarrel, and as he found the States determined to impose very strict limita- tions to his authority, he broke all the articles, seized Namur, and procured the recal of the Spanish army from Italy. ■ The cause of the persecuted Flemings continued as popular in England as before ; the English companies in their service were recruited ; and Captain John Norris, second son of Lord Henry Norris, a gallant young man, who had already distinguished himself in Ireland, engaged a choice band of three hundred men to accompany him to the seat of war. This company sailed in July, 1577, to Dunkirk ; they v^ere equipped with the best weapons and armour which could be procured, and marched across the country to Antwerp, where the Prince of Orange then resided, and was actively engaged in levying an army to resist the power of Spain. Don John was also employed in making preparations for war. This prince, endowed with a lofty genius, and elated by the successes of his youth, had opened his mind to vast undertakings, and looking much beyond the con- quest of the revolted provinces, had projected to espouse Mary, Queen of Scots, and to acquire, in her right, the dominion of the British kingdoms. Queen Elizabeth, aware of these intentions, and see- ing now, from the union of all the provinces, a prospect of their making a vigorous defence against Spain, no longer scrupled to engage in the protection of their liberties, which seemed so intimately cunni;cted with her own safety. After sending tlicai twenty thousand pounds I. :i! THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 17 for the pay of their troops, she concluded a treaty of 1578 alHance with them on tlie 7th of January, 1578, in which she stipulated to assist them with five thousand foot and one thousand horse, at the charge of the Flemings, and to lend them £100,000 on receiving the bonds of some of the most considerable towns of the Netherlands for its repayment within the year. It was further agreed that the commander of the English arny should be ad- mitted into the council of the States, aid nothing be de- termined concerning war or peace without previously in- forming the queen or him of it ; that they should enter into no league without her consent ; that, if any discord arose among themselves, it should be referred to her arbitration ; and that, if any prince, on any pretext, should attempt hostilities against her, they should send to her assistance an army equal to that which she had employed in their defence. The queen represented, through her ambassador Thomas Wilkes, to the king of Spain, that, by entering into this treaty with the States of the Netherlands, she had prevented them from throwing themselves into the arms of France ; that she had religiously acted the part of a good neighbour and ally ; had refused the sovereignty of Holland and Zealand when offered her ; and had ad- vised the Prince of Orange to submit to the king. On the other hand she required that Don John, whom she could not but regard as her mortal enemy, should be recalled ; that the Spanish army should be withdrawn ; and that the Flemings should be restored to their ancient liberties and privileges. King Philip dissembled his resentment against the queen ; but his resolutions to exterminate the Protestant religion, and to subvert the privileges of the Flemings, c m 18 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1578 remained unabated; and he continued to supply Don John with money and troops. During the summer of 1578 the army of the States took the field ; the English regiments were commanded by Coloaels Norris, Morgan, Cavendish, and Cotton; and part of the army encamped at Reminant, near Ma- lines. Don John, whose army lay at Lou vain, sent two soldiers in disguise to set fire to the houses near the camp, designing, while every person's attention was thus engaged, to surprise the army with his whole force ; but his spies were detected and imprisoned. The Spanish commander, ignorant of this event, marched out of Lou- vain, and about nine o'clock on the morning of the 1st of August his van-guard of harquebusiers approached the camp, and were engaged in a sharp skirmish with the ''shot" of Colonel Cavendish's regiment. The English drove back their adversaries across several fields to a large heath, where the main body of the Spanish army appeared in order of battle. Fresh troops advanced and renewed the conflict ; and the Spaniards, extending their attack to the left, encountered a body of gallant Scots, under Colonel Stewart. The Scots displayed their usual valour, and, owing to the heat of the weather, they had left their armour and doublets in their tents, and fought in their shirts ;* being attacked by very superior numbers, they were forced to retire to the camp ; but during their retrograde movement they disputed every defensible spot of ground with great bravery. The Spaniards advanced in great force against Cavendish's harquebusiers, and the latter, extending themselves along the fields, held their adversaries in check for two * Meteren, a Dutch historian, De Thou. Lord Bacon, &c. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, 19 hutirs, but were nearly overpowered, when Colonel 1578 NoRRis arrived with eleven companies of English from Brookam, and restored the fight. The Spaniards brought forward a large body of armed men to charge, when Captain Bingham, with a company of English, took post on a small hill, and, after sustaining the charge of the Spanish men-at-arms, he was driven from thence to the main road, where a sanguinary contest was maintained with unequal numbers. '* Lieutenant William Mark- " HAM, a Nottinghamshire man, stern of countenance, " strong of hands, and courageous of heart, like a lion, " casting down, overthrowing, and overmatching whom- '* soever he met with," * made great havoc among the ranks of his foes. Three brothers of the name of Bing- ham also highly distinguished themselves in close com- bat; and Colonel Norris was seen, like another Hec- tor, cutting down his adversaries with dreadful carnage. One small band of Englishmen was completely surrounded, but sold their lives at a dear rate. Thrice the Spaniards drove back the English, and thrice the English renewed the fight with an obstinacy which knew not how to yield. Colonel Norris had three horses killed under him, yet he continued the combat. After a furious and well- contested engagement, the Spaniards were driven back, and retreated. The States sent letters to England, in which they commended the conduct of the English in strong terms, and especially the distinguished valour of Colonel Norris and Lieutenant Markham. Notwithstanding this repulse, Don John gained con- siderable advantage over the Flemings and a body of Germans, (paid by Queen Elizabeth, and conducted to the Netherlands by Prince Casimir,) at Gcmhiours ; on Churchyard's Civil Wars in the Netherlands. c'2 20 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1 578 which occasion the Scottish Colonel Balfour was severely wounded : but Don John was cut off' in the midst of his prosperity by poison, given him secretly, as was sus- pected, by orders from King Philip, who dreaded his ambition. The Prince of Parma was next appointed to the com- mand of the Spanish army, and he united valour and clemency, — negociation and military exploits. Opposed t-> him, Archduke Matthias commanded in chief the aimy of the United Provinces; and Colonel Norris commanded the English and Scots. 1579 During the campaign of 1579 a body of Scots, com- manded by CoLONKL Balfour, surprised Menin, and took the Spanish and Walloon garrison prisoners, with little loss. At the same time Colonel Norris was en- gaged in several skirmishes in Brabant and Holland. In October the enemy's general Lelain besieged Steenwick, a town of Overyssel, on the confines of Fries- land, with twelve hundred select lancers, and twenty- eight ensigns of foot ; and the governor, having a weak garrison, sent to the States for aid. A small band of light horse and four ensigns of foot were sent, but these were waylaid and cut to pieces by the enemy. A second relief of five ensigns was sent, and experienced the same fate. The States called Colonel Norris from Brabant, and, having promoted him to the rank of a general officer, sent him with two thousand men, including a small band of English cuirassiers under Lieutenant Roger Williams, to relieve the town. While on the march he encountered a band of Spaniards under Othon Sanches, which he overthrew and destroyed, on the 15th of December. The besieging army detached five cornets of lancers and eleven ensigns of foot to meet the English general, and an engagement taking place near the river Aa, the THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 21 valiant Norris overthrew his adversaries and captured 1579 two ensigns. The enemy fled across the river on the ice, which broke under them, and numbers were drowned ; in their haste to escape they threw away their armour, and a sufficient quantity was collected by the English to equip five hundred men. Norris afterwards attacked the enemy's entrenchments, gained some advantage, and threw a relief into the town. The English general encamped at St. Johux to watch 1580 the progress of the besieging army ; and one of the enemy's principal officers, named Thomas of Alba, sent him a challenge to single combat with lance and sword. Lieutenant Williams requested to be allowed to fight the challenger, but Norris resolved to enter the lists him- self. The combat took place between the two armies ; but, both these valiant champions being expert with lance and sword, and completely cased in armour, after several fierce encounters they were separated. The enemy, having great superiority of numbers, sur- rounded the camp at St. Johns, and, unable to overcome NoRRis's men in open fight, sought to accomplish their destruction by famine ; but a relief was obtained from Friesland, and the English general succeeded in throw- ing another supply into Steenwick. The Spaniards raised the siege during the night of the 23d of February, and Norris marched to Brabant. In the beginning of April, 1580, Norris, having assembled his English bands at Liere, on the river Nethe, procured the co-operation of Leven's and Tem- ple's horse and foot from Brussels, and, surprising Ma- lines during the night of the 9th of April, attacked and captured the place by escalade. While storming the walls, Norris encountered a Spanish friar, a tall stout fellow in armour, and slew him in single combat. 99 HISTORICAL RECORD Ol i C! ir>80 About five months afterwards Gknrral Norris marched, at the head of three cornets of horse at)(l thirty ensigns of foot, into Friesland, to arrest the progress of the Spanish general Verdugo, and the opposing armies engaged at Northorn on the 30th of September. Cap- tain Roger Williams highly distinguished himself at the head of the English cuirassiers, and overthrew and routed the enemy's van-guard ; Sir Thomas Morgan's regiment of foot behaved well ; but Verdugo, having great advantage of ground, charged, at a critical moment, with two cornets of chosen lancers, and broke through the Flemish foot. This produced confusion and dis- order; General Norris was shot through the hand with a musket-ball ; and liis army was routed and sus- tained a severe loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. 1581 After this disaster the fortune of the war was in favour of the Prince of Parma, who advanced the progress of the Spaniards by his arts as well as by his arms. During the two succeeding years the army of the States was commanded by the Prince of Orange, who sent an agent to Scotland in 1581 to compliment King James VI. on the valour displayed by the Scottish troops. 1582 I" 1582 Francis Duke of Anjou, brother of Henry III. of France, after visiting England and conferring with Queen Elizabeth, whom he had purposed to have married, proceeded to the Netherlands, and was created Duke of Brabant ; he was also appointed to the chief command of the army of ihe States, and governor of the United Provinces. He procured from his brother the assistance of four thousand French troops, and gained the esteem of many of the Flemings by the appearance of devotion to their interests. 15g3 In August, 1583, the Duke of Anjou and the Prince of Orange took up their quarters at Ghent ; and five ]■ : THE TIIIUI) RKGIMENT OF FOOT. 23 thousand English, Scots, French, and Dutch were en- 1 583 camped within a few miles of the town. The Prince of Parma adv inced against thtiu with a powerful army, and they were ordered to retreat. 6£NF.r.\l Norris covered this retrograde movement with his own regiment of seven ensigns, amounting to about a thousand men, and three cornets of horse, and fought the Spanish army from sun-rise to sun-set, still fighting and retreating until he arrived under the fortifications of Ghent. The Duke of Anjou and the Prince of Orange beheld the skirmish from the walls, and highly applauded the con- duct of the English bands ; several French officers and soldiers issued from the town, and joined in the contest, accounting it an honour to be permitted to fight under NoRRis's banners. 1 ne States were, however, in danger of losing their liberties, from the means by which they had thought to establish them. I'he Duke of Anjou, urged by a restless ambition, and encouraged by pernicious counsels, sought to make himself absolute in the Netherlands. He had placed French garrisons in several fortified towns ; but his conduct aroused the jealousy and excited the indig- nation of the resolute Flemings. The burghers of An- twerp revolted against his authority, and, after a sharp conflict between them and the French soldiers, in which numbers were slain on both sides, he fled to Dender- iiiond. Here he was besieged by General Norris with twenty-three ensigns of English and Scottish foot, and forced to enter into a treaty with the States, and to sur- render the towns which he had seized upon. He soon afterwards retired to France, where he died in the same year, and the Prince of Orange was again placed in the chief command of the army of the United Provinces. It m 24 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1584 This event had a natural tendency to distract the councils, and weaken the efforts, of the States in their re- sistance to their common enemy ; at the san)e time their forces were inferior in numbers to their adversaries, and the Prince of Parma continued to prosecute the war with skill and vigour; thus, notwithstanding the intrepidity and valour of corps and individuals, the Spaniards were enabled to recover possession of several places of strength and importance. These reverses gave opportunity to the British corps to display their native physical powers and contempt of danger; and in 1584, when the Spaniards besieged Fort Lillo on the Scheldt, : ich a defence was made by Teligny, and by Colonkl Halfour, v lio had only four companies of Scots there under his command, that the Spaniards, after losing three veeks' .'me, and two thousand men, before this small fort, were forced u* change the siege into a blockade. From the time that William I., Prince >" Orange, stood forth as the champion of the Protestai t Fiomings, he had been considered by the Pope and King of Spain as an excommunicated and outlawed rebel, and numerous stratagems had been conceived to deprive him of life. The doctrines promulgated at this period b) the clergy of the church of Rome^ setting forth the merit of assassin- ating heretical princes, instigated desperate characters to engage in these diabolical practices ; the scruples of con- science were allayed by the Jesuitical publications which issued from the press, and the ..'• issin usually obtained the benediction of an ecclesiastical dignitary before he proceeded in the execution of his undertaking. Attempts were made on the life of Queen Elizabeth, which were happily discovered and frustrated. Four desperadoes had already failed in their designs against the Prince of i TIIK THIRD RKGIMKNT OK K001\ 25 Ornngc; but the fifth, Biltnzar Gerard^ a Burgiindian, 1584 succeeded in taking away the life of tliis famous restorer and protector of religious liberty, at Delft, in June, 1584. The los8 of this excellent prince and brave patriot produced a feeling of alarm and consternation through- out the confederate States. The Prince of Parma had already succeeded in wresting from them several fortified towns, and in reducing a considerable portion of territory to subjection to the Spanish authority ; and he besieged Antwerp, the richest and most populous city of the Ne- therlands, — the subjection of which would, it was fore- seen, give a serious blow to. the already declining affairs of the United Provinces. Their only hope arose from the prospect of foreign succour. Being well acquainted with the cautious and frugal maxims of Queen Elizabeth, they applied to Henry III. of France; but that monarch was intimidated by the Catholic league, and the im- mense power of Spain, at this period the most potent state in Europe ; and he dreaded the danger of associat- ing himself with the Protestants of the Low Countries. The States, being reduced to this extremity, sent ano- 1585 ther solemn embassy to England, which arrived in Lon- don on the 2Gth of June, 1585, and obtained an audi- ence of Queen Elizabeth at Greenwich Palace, on the 2*Jth of that month. After representing to Her Ma- jesty the evils suffered by their country from the viola- tion of every privilege enjoyed by their ancestors, and from the sanguinary decrees issued by the King of Spain for the extermination of th«" Protestants, with tbe ill condition of their affairs since the rJeath of the Prince of Orange, they tendered, a second time, the sovereignty of the Provinces to the Queen, on condi- tion of obtaining her protection and assistance. Her Majesty again declined the acceptance of this addition to Y\ m 26 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ! !l 1585 her dominions; but, evincing a generous sympathy for the persecuted Flemings, whose interests she deemed closely connected with her own, determined not to permit, without opposition, the entire subjugation of the pro- vinces to the tyranny and despotic sway of Spain. The Queen foresaw that, if she espoused the cause of these provinces, open hostility with King Philip was inevitable ; but, when she saw an evident necessity, she braved danger with magnanimous courage, and, trusting to her own wisdom, and the affections of her subjects, prepared her- self to resist, and even to assault, ihe whole power of the Catholic monarch. A treaty was concluded with the States, and Her Majesty agreed to send an army of one thousand horse and five thousand foot to their assist- ance, and to pay them during the war, on condition that the general, and two others, whom she should appoint, should be admitted into the council of the States ; that neither party should make peace without the consent of the other ; that the Queen's expenses should be refunded after the conclusion of the war, and that the towns of Flushing, Bergen-op-Zoom, and the Briel, with the castle of Rammekins, should be consigned into her hands by way of security. The States sent General Sir John Norris to Eng- land to aid in the embodying of the new levies into corps, and the Queen employed this distinguished officer in superintending the equipment and arming of the several companies. Each county furnished a proportion; the Livery Companies of tlie city of London also provided each a limited number of men for this service ; and the men furnished by the city having been incorporated into the corps, which is now the Third Rdgtmen t of Foot, OR THE Bi'i'Fs, it was afterwards the pracuoe for this regiment to recruit within the precincts of the city, and THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 27 to enjoy the exclusive privilege of marching through the 1585 city of London with drums beating and colours flying.* The men of this regiment were clothed in scarlet coats, and defended by armour on the head, body and limbs ; the several companies were composed of harquebusiers, musketeers, archers, pikemen, and halberdiers, and each company had a colour, which was designated an ensign. Sir John Norris, having obtained the reinforce- ments, took leave of the Queen, and returned to Holland ; and, after placing garrisons in the cautionary towns, he employed himself in clearing the borders of the Rhine of the enemy's detachments. His first attack was made on a strong fort at the junction of the river Yssel with the Rhine, near Arnheim, where on the 15th of October, 1585, the brave Captain Hennings, and several other English- men, obtained renown at the expense of their lives. After the capture of this place, Norris advanced with his Eng- lish bands to the vicinity of Nimeguen, where he reduced another of the enemy's forts, and thus opened the navi- gation with the interior of Germany, from whence sup- plies were obtained for the English camp. Although the usual season for military operations was past, yet the English general resolved to continue in the field as long as the weather would permit, and, setting his men to work with spades and pickaxes, with immense labour and industry he threw up a high mound, on the *" July twenty-third (1585) certain soldiers were pressed in *' the several wards of the citie of London, which souldiers were " furnished for the warres and cloathed in red coates, all at the " charges of the companies and citizens, set foorth toward the seas " on the 13 of August, and were transported over into Holland, " Zealand, &c., as others, the like souldiers out of other parts of " the reaime, before had been transported, to serve for the defence '' of the Lowe Countries, under Genkral Norris and other ap- " proved Captaines." — Stouts Anindes. i.'JvS if it'* I •111 si 28 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1585 top of which he planted his cannon and fired upon the city of Nimeguen. The Prince of Parma assembled a body of troops, and advanced against the English gene- ral; and on the 15th of November the Spanish ensigns were seen approaching in order of battle. Norris formed his bands for the conflict^ and, after encouraging the men in a short speech to follow his example and prove themselves descendants of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers, and Agincourt, he led forward a body of " men-at-arms" against the van of the Spanish army, which was instantly overpowered, and, by their falling back on the main body, the whole was thrown into confu- sion. The English followed up their first advantage — their adversaries were routed — three thousand Spaniards fell in the fight and during the pursuit, and nine ensigns were captured. The severity of the weather preventing further operations, Norris placed his troops in garrisons, and proceeded to the Briel, of which city he had been ap- pointed governor by Queen Elizabeth ; and on his arrival he was greeted with the acclamations of the people, the ring- ing of bells, and a salute from the guns of the fortifications. During the winter Queen Elizabeth sent an additional body of troops to the Netherlands; the total number which Her Majesty furnished, amounted, according to Hollinshed's Chronicle, to " a power of eight thousand •• horse and foote, well appointed with fit habiliments for " warre; besides Her Majesty's ayde of great ordinance " and shippes ;" and the Queen appointed her favourite courtier, Robert Dudley Earl of Lkicester, to the command of her army in the Low Countries, the Earl of Essex to the command of the cavalry, and Sir Wil- liam Pelham, lord marshal of the field. The Earl OF Lkicestkr embarked at Harwich on the 8th of De- cember with a splendid retinue, being accompanied by t THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 20 the youn^ Earl of Essex, the Lords Audley and North, 1585 Sir William Russell, Sir Thomas Shirley, Sir Arthur Basset, Sir Walter Walters, Sir Gervase Clifton, and a select corps of five hundred lancers and light horse, also a body-guard of fifty arcners fifty musketeers, and fifty halberdiers. On the 10th he t^Tived at Flushing, where he was received by Sir Philip Sidi\ey, the governor, the Grave Maurice, (second son of the deceased Prince of Orange,) and the magistrates and burghers ; and the in- habitants of every town through which he passed ex- pressed their joy by acclamations, triumphal arches, and public entertainments. ^he States conferred on the Earl of Leicester the title of governor and captain- general of the United Provinces, and treated him, in some respects, as their sovereign ; but this proceeding displeased the Queen, and both the Earl and the States were reprimanded by Her Majesty. The English general had passed his days at court ; he l^^6 was not inured to the toils of war, neither had he suffi- cient practical knowledge of the military art to enable him to cope with the Prince of Parma. While the Earl OF Leicester was employed in processions and enter- tainments, the Spanish c'^mmander besieged Grave, a strong town situate )n the south side of the river Maese. Sir John Norris was detached with eight ensigns of English foot, to co-operate with a flotilla on the river under Count Hollock in the relief of the town ; at the same time Captain John Price was directed to support them with a few additional companies. Norris advanced with three hundred men to a convenient post within an hour's march of the town, and commenced constructing a field-redoubt ; but while employed in this work, he was attacked, on the 5th of April, 1586, by three thousand Spaniards. Against this force he defended himself above M m ■rM 1 r 30 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1586 an hour ; the harquebusiers keeping up a sharp fire, and the pikenien and halberdiers engaging in close fight ; but he was eventually forced to retire. While retreating, with the Spaniards at his heels, he met Captain Price with seven ensigns of foot coming to his aid ; and, thus reinforced, he confronted the enemy. A volley from the English musketeers pierced the head of the enemy's column, and the Spaniards fell back ; the English pikemen charged, the Spaniards faced about and fled, and the English chased their adversaries three miles, and slew seven hundred men. On arriving at a mill on the road side, Norris's men encountered a reserve of a thou- sand fresh Spixuiards, and were forced to retreat. In this day's skirmish the English and Dutch I >s; one hun- dred and fifty men, and the enemy about eight hundred. Sir John Norris was wounded in single combat with a Spanish officer, and Captains Burrows and Price were applauded for their conduct.* A short time after this encounter, the wind proving fair, Norris's men advanced to the banks of the Maese, and skirmished with the enemy, while a number of vessels, laden with provisions and other necessaries, saiied to the town. Grave being thus relieved, the English withdrew on the 24th of April, and on their return they captured two small forts, (called sconces,) which were garrisoned by the enemy. In the month of May they captured two other fortified places; and on Whitsunday the Lord Willoughb ' sallied out of Bergen -op-Zoom, of which he was governor, with a small party of English horse and foot, and captured a convoy of four hurdred and eighty waggons, laden witli provision, on its way to Antwerp, * Sir John Norris's Despatch, printed in HoUinshed's Chro- nicle. THK THIKD KKQIMKNT OF FOOT. 31 Shortly afterwards, Van Hemert, the governor of Grave, 1586 surrendered the place, after a feeble resistance, for which he was brought to trial before a court-martial, and was beheaded. After the capture of Grave, the Duke of Parma be- sieged Venloo ; when the Eakl of Leicesier sent a small body of English and French cuirassiers under Colonel Skinke and Captain Roger Williams to recon- noitre the besieging force ; and Captain WiUiams, advanc- ing with one hundred and fifty English horse to the enemy's car i, surprised and slew the outguard in the night : — " passing further he killed two courts of guard " fully appointet , and, entering by force the quarter that " the Prince of Parma was in, killed a number of noble- •' men and gentlemen.'"* After this exploit, the enemy's camp being alarmed, this daring band gallopped off, and escaped with trifling loss. On the 30th of June a party of English horse under Sir Philip Sidney and /ornet Robert Sidney highly dis- tinguished themselves in a skirmish with some Spanish cavalry from Breda; and in the beginning of July Prince Maurice of Nassau and Sir Philip Sidney pene- trated into Flanders with a division of horse and foot ; and, while the prince was cutting the banks to inundate the country, Sir Philip captured Arseele, where three hundred Spaniards, and a number of armed burghers, who made resistance, were slain. Advancing from thence, they captured Dorp, and subsequently took five small forts, and gained possession of five Spanish ensigns. Towards the end of July, Sir Philip Sidney made a successful excursion into Br?bant. About the same time twr '■y English cuirussiers and eigiity foot, encoun- * S' ow's Annals. 32 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ' li ■mo ■■ V 15S6 tering a party of the enemy near Amheiin, slew eighty men, and took thirteen prisoners; and Cornet Butler, issuing suddenly from Deventer, captured four hundred head of cattle; while Cornet Sidney, proceeding with one hundred men to the vicinity of Breda, defeated three hundred of the enemy's foot and twelve lancers, and captured one thousand head of cattle. Thus the English evinced their native spirit of enterprise and intrepiditv ; but these exploits, though harassing to the enemy, and occasioning him much inconvenience, produced little effect on the operations of the main army under the Prince of Parma, who captured Venloo. took Nuys by storm, and besieged Rhineberg, which was garrisoned by twelve hundred English under Colonel Thomas Morgan. The Earl of Leicester, considering his force too weak to attack the Spanish army, endeavoured to draw off the Prince of Parma by forming another enterprise : he accordingly besieged Doeshurg, and, a breach having been made, one Dutch and two English regiments* were formed up to attack the place by storm, when the garri- son surrendered. The siege of Zutphen was next undertaken, which the Spanish general thought so important that he quitted Rhineberg and hastened to its relief. On the 22d of September Sir William Stanley, observing a strong division of the enemy advancing with a large convoy, put his regiment in motion to intercept them ; at the same time Sill John Norris came forward with another party ; and as these two leaders were on the march, they * SIlw mentions one Scots and six English regiments of foot at ttiis setre : the English regiments were Sir Thomas Shirley's, Sir William Stanley's, Sir William Pelham's, the Lord Audley's, Sir John Norris's, and H. Digby's. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 33 were joined by the Lord Audley with one hundred and 1586 fifty men. The Spanish force proved to be two thousand two hundred musketeers, eight hundred pikemen, and fifteen cornets of horse. The encounter took place near the church of Warresfeldt ; and after a few volleys the English pikemen charged and drove the enemy back to a strong post in the village. The enemy's cavalry issued from the village to charge their adversaries ; the English horsemen advanced to meet the enemy ; and at this moment the Earl of Essex, the Lord Willoughby, and Sir William Russell arrived from the camp with their troops of cuirassiers. The gallant NoRRisled the charge with a troop of cuirassiers; the young Earl of Essex, turning to his men, cried, " For the honour of England, follow m£'," and throwing his lance into its rest, rushed upon the foe ; the Lord Willoughby poised his lance and led his men forward with equal gallantry j and Sir William Russell and Sir Philip Sidney evinced a noble emulation for glory. These intrepid heroes rushed forward, and encountered the hostile squadrons. Norris engaged an Italian officer, whom he overthrew ; Russell broke his lance at the first onset, but drew his sword and fought with astonishing resolution; and after a fierce conflict for three quarters of an hour, in which many men were killed, the enemy's horsemen galloped to the rear, and took refuge behind a column of pikemen In this encounter the enemy lost an Italian nobleman of great reputation and family, the Marquis of Gonzago, who was slain by a brave English kni^lit. Sir Thomas Perrott. The English had to lament the loss of the gallant Sir Philip Sidney, who received a severe wound, of which he afterwards died.'" * Sir Philip Sidney led his tioop of cuirassiers to the charge three several limes, and behaved with astonishing intrepidity. k VI .. It; I.:;-! Li 8* '1 34 HISTORICAL RECORD OF m\\ 1586 The army continued before Zutplien, and the infantry corps were employed in reducing several detached forts. One of these forts was attacked by storm on the 5th of October by a detachment of Sir William Stanley's regi- ment ; the storming party was led by Captain Edward Stanley, who had a personal encounter with a Spanish officer of immense stature, and was knighted for his bravery. Another fort, and two small castles, were sub- sequently taken, and the Spaniards were restrained in their incursions into the adjacent country ; but the siege of Zutphen was relinquished. 1587 In the following spring the Prince of Parma obtained a reinforcement from Germany, and besieged Slm/s, a fortified town of Flanders, situated on an arm of the sea. The governor, having only a garrison of eight hundred Flemings, and being ill-prepared for defending the place, applied for a reinforcement ; when three com- panies of English foot, of two hundred men each, were withdrawn from Bergen-op-Zoom, and one from Flush- ing, and, with a few English volunteers led by Sir Roger Williams, were thrown into i he town. Thus reinforced, the garrison made one of the most desperate defences on ' >il \:4\-. In the last charge, his horse was ki'led under him, and while mounting another he received the wound of which he died. This young hero was distinguished for virtuous conduct, polite conver- sation, heroic valour, and elesant erudition, which rendered him the ornament and delight of the iinglish court ; and his praise has been handed down to posterity by numerous authors. He wrote the Arcadia, a romance ; and also employed hit? pen with credit on several subj nts. While lying on the field wo.inded, a bottle of water was brought to relieve his thirst, but obseiving a soldier near him in a like miserable condition, he said. This man's necessity is still greater than mine, and resigned to him the water. Ki'ig James VI. of Scotland, struck with admiration of Sidney's virtu?, composed a poem iv. Latin, on the death of that young hero THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 35 record. THoEahl op Leicester assembled an army to 1587 raiso the siege ; but was frustrated by the superior mili- tary conduct of the Prince of Parma. The garrison, in the meantime, persevered in the defence, and made several furious sorties, in which many Spaniards were killed. At length a practicable breach of two hundred and fifty paces in width was made, and the Spaniards attacked the place by storm five times, but were repulsed. The besieging army then commenced mining, — the English countermined, — and parties meeting each other in the subterraneous labyrinths, fought underground with sword,, target, and pistol, for nine days. The assaults on the breach were repeated, and the besieged defended their post with pikes, halberts, and short weapons, for eighteen days — officers and men remaining at the breach, and having their provisions brought to them. Among the brave defenders of Sluys, Sir Roger Williams particularly distinguished himself; and Captain (afterwards Sir Francis) Verk, a lineal descendant from John de Vere, fifteenth Earl of Oxford, always fought at the head of the men-at-arms in the defence of the fort and town ; having been twice wounded, he was requested to retire, but he replied, — / would rather be killed ten times in defending a breach than once in a house. Captains Allen and Hart 3> run twice from the town to inform the States of ihe extremity lu which the besieged were reduced ; but, owing to there being no man of ability at the head of affairs, many schemes were debated and nothing executed. At length the garrison, being reducpd from sixteen hundred to seven hundred mer, their amiT^uuition nearly exhausted, and without the prospect of being relieved, the officers held a consultation and agreed to surrender the town, on condition of being permitted to march out with the'r baggage and arms, drums beating, colours d2 ^ t;.ti I k 1/ ill W'-' :. HISTOKICAI, RECORD OF 1 587 flying, and all the hontjurs of war, and to embark for Zealand ; at the same time they each took an oath to obtain these conditions or die. The Prince of Parma, finding what a desperate set of men he had to deal with, granted all the articles, and the garrison marched out on the 4th of August, 1587. The lofty demeanour and want of military capacity evinced by the Karl of Lkickstkr occasioned him to become very unpopular in the Netherlands, and shortly after the loss of Sluyshe returned to England. The States afterwards elected Count Maurice of Nassau, second son of the late Prince of Orange, as governor of the United Provinces; and the Lord WiLLOucaiBY was appointed by Queen Elizabeth to the command of the English army in the Low Countries. While these events were transpiring on the continent, Queen Elizabeth, knowing that, by engaging in defence of the revolted provinces, she had incurred the resent- ment of the Spanish monarch, made preparations for resisting his power, A number of men of each county were trained in the use of arms, and a fleet was sent out under the renowned Sir Francis Drake, who made several captures in the Spanish West Indies. This cele- brated naval oflicer was afterwards sent out with another fleet, and he destroyed a number of. Spanish vessels at Cadiz, insulted Lisbon, and took a rich caracca prize, with which he returned to England. 15g8 King Philip breathed nothing but revenge against the English queen, and made vast preparations for the con- quest of her dominions. He was encouraged in the hopes of extending his empire by the prosperous state of his affairs ; Portugal was annexed to his kingdom, and the acquisition of the East Indian commerce and settlements, and theyearly importation of vast treasures from America, THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 37 had materially increased his power and influence. His 15^8 design of exterminating the Protestant religion was the point on which he rested his highest glory. Queen Elizabeth was the principal obstacle to the accomplish- ment of this object; und as the conquest of Kngland would insure the immediate subjection of the Flemings, and pave the way for future acquisitions, he hoped not only to acquire an extent of power which would enable him to become the dictator of Europe, but also the renown of reuniting the whole Christian world in the Catholic communion. To the councils of the Catholic monarch the reduction of England appeared of easy execution ; it lay nearer to Spain than the Netherlands, was not fortified by art or nature, and a long period of peace was supposed to have deprived it of military disci- pline and experience ; at the same time it was expected that the Roman Catholics in the country would join the invading army. Influenced by these hopes and motives, the Catholic monarch commenced preparations for the invasion of England, and every part of his dominions resounded to the din of armaments. All his ministers, generals, and admirals were employed in forwarding the design. In all the ports of Sicily, Naples, Spain, and Portugal artizans were employed in building vessels of uncommon size and force ; naval stores were bought at great ex- pence ; provisions amassed ; armies levied and quartered near the coast ; and plans laid for fitting out such a fleet and embarkation as had never before been equalled in Europe. The military preparations in Flanders were no less formidable ; — troops were assembled from all quarters to reinforce the Prince of Parma, who employed all the artizans he could procure in Flanders, Lower Germany, and the coasts of the Baltic, in the construction of boats Mi :JH HISTORICAL KKCUKD OF V! .1 158Hnnd flat-bottomed vessels for the transport of troops. The princes and nobles of Spain and Italy were all ambitious of sharing in this great enterprize, and many men of fatiiily volunteered lo serve in the expedition. No doubt was entertained but these vast preparations, con- ducted by officers of skill and experience, would l)e successful ; and the Spaniards, ostentatious of their power, and elevated with hope, designated this armament the Invinciblk Akmaua. Queen Elizabeth, finding that she had to contend for her crown with the whole force of Spain, made prepara- tions for resistance ; nor was she dismayed at that power, by which all T^urope aj)prehcnded she must of necessity be overwhelmed. She relied, under the protection of Divine Providence, upon the spirit, the bravery, and the energies of her subjects in defending their country, their religion, and their liberties against the immense perils with which they were menaced ; and her appeal to her people was instantly responded to. The commercial towns furnished ships for reinforcing the royal navy. The nobility and gentry hired, armed, and manned many vessels at their own charge; and monies were freely raised
50 253 769 22,000 40 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1588 from Lisbon about the end of May, 1588, under the direction of the Duke of Medina ; but meeting with a teiripest, was forced to take shelter in the bay of Corunna. Lord Howard, leaving Lord Seymour with a naval force off Dunkirk to intercept the Prince of Parma, put to sea with the English fleet, with the view of attacking the Spaniards in the harbours in which they had taken re- fuge, but, the wind changing, he returned to Plymouth. After repairing the damage occasioned by the tempest, the Duke of Medina again put to sea, and Lord Howard quitted Plymouth to meet and attack the enemy. On the morning of the 21st of July, the English Lord High- Admiral, seeing the Armada coming in full sail towards him, in the form of a crescent, and extending a distance of seven miles, made arr.^ngements and gave directions as to the mode of attacking this powerful armament. The spectacle which presented itself was the most mag- nificent that had ever appeared upon the ocean, and was calculated to infuse equal terror and admiration into the minds of all beholders. The lofty masts, the wide ex- panded sails, and the towering prows of the Spanish galleons, which appeared like boating castles, were the subject of most pompous descriptions by the writers of that period ; and m eloquent historian of Italy observed that, " though the ships bore every sail, yet the Armada *• advanced with a slow motion, as if the ocean groaned " with supporting, and the irind.s' were tired with im- " pelting, so enormous a weight.'' The English, how- ever, beheld this tremendous armament without dismay, and having gained the wind, hung upon its rear as it advanced up the channel, and engaged it in skirmishes for several days. Each trial abated the confidence of the Spaniards, and added courage to the English ; and the latter soon found that, even in close fight, the size of THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 41 the Spanish ships was no advantage to them. The English 1588 nobility and gentry, who had equipped and armed ships, now hastened out of every harbour, and reinforced the admiral, who continued to hover round the Spaniards and avail himself of every opportunity of attacking them. At length the Duke of Medina cast anchor before Calais, in the expectation that the Prince of Parma would put to sea and unite his forces to the Armada. In the mean time every preparation was made in Eng- land to repel the invaders should they attempt to land. Many noblemen and gentlemen who had raised troops of horse and companies of foot, advanced to the south, and a number of corps were reviev/ed by Queen Eliza- beth at St. James's. The more to excite the martial spirit of the nation, the Queen appeared on the 9th of August on horseback at the camp at Tilbury, and riding through the lines, exhorted the soldiers to remember their duty to their country and religion, and professed her intention to lead them herself into the field against the enemy, and rather to perish in battle than to survive the slavery of her people. While the Armada lay at Calais, the English admiral filled several small vessels with combustible materials, and, having set them on fire, sent them, during the night of the 6th of August, one after another into the midst of the enemy. The Spaniards, fancying they were fire- ships of the same contrivance with a famous vessel which had lately done much execution in the Scheldt near Antwerp, immediately cut their cables and took to flight with precipitation and disorder. The English fell upon them on the next morning while in confusion, and took or destroyed several vessels. By this time it was become apparent that the object for which these formidable pre- parations were made by the Spaniards could not be I I 42 HISTORICAL RECORD OF !, 1 588 accomplished The vessels provided by the Prince of Parma were designed for transporting soldiers, not for fighting, and when the prince was urged to leave the harbour, he refused to expose his fine army to such appa- rent hazard, so long as the English were able to keep the sea, and seemed to triumph over their enemy. The Spanish admiral found, after many rencounters, that he had lost a considerable part of his own fleet, and he had only destroyed one English vessel, he therefore prepared to return to Spain. The wind being contrary, he sailed northwards ; the English fleet followed for some time, and had not their ammunition been nearly expended, they might have obliged the whole Armada to have sur- rendered at discretion. After the Spanish fleet had passed the Orkney Islands, it was overtaken by a violent tempest ; the ships had already lost their anchors, and were obliged to keep at sea ; the mariners, unaccustomed to such hardships, and not being able to govern such unwieldy vessels, yielded to the fury of the storm, and their ships were driven on the western isles of Scotland, and the coast of Ireland, where they were wrecked ; thus, more than half the vessels of the boasted Invincible Armada were destroyed. Such was the conclusion of this enl' prise against the Pj'otestant religion and against English liberty ; an en- terprise which had been preparing for three years ; which had exhausted the revenue and ^orce of Spain, and had filled all Europe with anxiety. Queen Elizabeth, ascribing this victory to Divine Providence, rather than to English intrepidity and skill, ordered a medal to be striick, which represented a fleet beaten by a tempest, and the vessels running foul of each other, with this inscription, — " He blow with his- winds and thry were ■' scattticdr The 10th of November was set apart for !'■' : 8 THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 43 public thanksgiving, and was celebrated throughout the 1588 kingdom with demonstrations of joy ; and on Sunday the 24th of that month the Queen proceeded with her maids of honour in state to St. Paul's Cathedral, accom- panied by her privy council, nobility, judges, heralds at arms, and state trumpeters, to return thanks for this happy deliverance. Her majesty proceeded from So- merset House on a splendid throne on wheels, in the form of a chariot, drawn by white horses ; and in front of the throne were two pillars whereon stood a Hon and ti dragon. The gentlemen-pensioners and yeomen of the guard attended the procession ; the livery companies lined the streets ; and the lord-mayor and aldermen, having met the procession at Temple-bar, attended her majesty to the cathedral. After divine service the Queen commanded the colours taken from the Spaniards to be exhibited to the people. Her majesty also con- ferred rewards on the naval officers who had distin- guished themselves, and gave pensions to the wounded and disabled seamen. England being thus freed from the danger by which it had been threatened, the officers and soldiers who had quitted the Netherlands, were at liberty to return to their several posts. In the mean time the Prince of Parma, finding that all prospect of invading England had vanished, employed the troops which he had assembled to join the Armada, in the siege of Berg en- op- Zoom. The garrison consisted of twelve ensigns of English foot, and four cornets of Fle- mish horse, under the orders of Sir William Drury, who made agallant defence; and during the siege Sir Thomas Morgan, the governor of the town, hastened from Eng- land, and assumed the command, This officer had ac- quired, in a very high degree the confidence and esteem, not only of the English who fought under his orders, but 44 HISTORICAL RECORD OF .it! 1 "I H' 15SS also of the Scots and Flemings, and his reputation was increased by his coiiduct in the defence of the town. Several sallies were made on the besieging forces with good success; and during a sortie of the garrison on the 11th of November, Colonel Balfour arrived with six hundred Scots and Flemings, and joined in the attack. The Prince of Parma, having lost many men, and his provisions being exhausted, set fire to his camp and re- treated during the succeeding night, and on the follow- ing day he was pursued by the English commander-in- chief with twenty ensigns of foot, and all the cavalry.* After returning from the pursuit, " the Lord Wil- " LOUGHBv, to honour with some recompence the well- " deserving, knighted Sir Francis Verb, (who then •' began to show biiTjScL',) Sir Thomas Knowles, Sir N. '• Parker, and Sir J. Pooly, for their worthy valours."f 1589 During the succeeding year the command of the Eng- lish troops in the Low Countries was conferred on Sir Francis Vkre, of whom it was said, that " amongst all *' the Queen's swordsmen he was inferior to none.' J He held thij command for twenty years, and was highly esteemed by Queen Elizabeth, and also by the States of the United Provinces. His first exploit, as commander-in- chief of the English, was the defence of the island of Voorn, in which service he evinced military abilities of a high order. The Prince of Parma had assembled an army of about twelve thousand men, a b''ttering train, and a number of flat-bottomed boats, for the capture of the island ; and to oppose this force t he States had only * Les Laufiers de Nassau, par Jean Jeanszoon Orlers, &c. t Annalf, of Queen Elizabeth. % Sir Robert Naunton's Fragraenta Regalia. A brief memoir of Sir Francis Vere, is given at page 255. i ,:< !' THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 45 eight hundred men, of whom six hundred were English 1589 under Sir Francis Vkre. Prince Maurice suggested the expediency of retiring, but the English general ob- tained permission to defend the island, and by great dili- gence and perseverance he succeeded in defeating the purpose of the enemy. Shortly afterwards the English commander was sent with nine ensigns of English and seven of Dutch foot, and twelve cornets of horse, to relieve the town of Rhineberg, which was besieged by a Spanish army, commanded by the Marquis of Warrenbon ; and he succeeded in throw- ing troops and provisiov. into the town. The enemy, however, continued the siege, and Sir Francis Verb was despatched a second time to the relief of Rhineberg, on which occasion he highly distinguished himself. The convoy had arrived within two miles of the town, and when passing a defile through a wood, a body of Spanish harquebusiers came boldly forward and commenced a sharp fire, but were driven back by the English. As the rear-guard emerged from among the trees, an immense force of the enemy appeared marching with colours fly- ing, when Sir Francis Verk immediately charged them with a division of pikemen. while the rear companies of English harquebusiers opened their fire on the enemy's flanks. A sharp conflict ensued, and Sir Francis Vere's horse was killed under him by a pike, and him- self wounded. At length the enemy gave way before the superior vrlour and prowess of the English, '• which " they did without any great disorder in troops ; and as " thoy were hard followed by our men, turned and made " head manfully, which they did four several times before " they broke, and at last they flang away their "rmour " a; i scattered asunder, thrusting themselves into the ** thickets. I commanded our men not to disband, but fM i I tri .J r-jA , ', 't I 4G HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1589'* to pursue them, and, passing forward, I easily dis- " comfited the five hundred horsemen, who presently left " their horses and fled into the bushes ; amongst whom, " it was said, the Marquis of Warrenbon was in person, *' for the horse he was mounted on was taken among the " rest. '* The horsemen who fled into the thickets we followed " not, but went on straightway till we encountered " with the twenty-four companies of Neapolitans, who, " discouraged with our success, made no great resistance. " We took eighteen of their ensigns, and made a great " slaughter of their men till we had recovered the bridge. " Night coming on, I made my retreat, and two hours •' after sun-set came with the troops into the town. " This fight was begun and ended with one of the two " English troops, which could not exceed four hundred " men ; the other, which Sir Oliver Lambert led, only *' following, and showing itself in good order, and ready, " if occasion required ; the Netherlanders remained on " the plain with the horsemen and Count Overstein. " The enemy lost about eight hundred men, and, by " an Italian lieutenant of horsemen, (who was the only " man taken ahve,) I understood that the Count Mans- " feldt was newly, before this encounter, arrived, and '* had joined his forces with those of the Marquis of •' Warrenbon, in which were all the Spanish regiments, " making two hundred and twenty ensigns, besides other " forces, so that the whole strength was supposed thirteen ** or fourteen thousand foot, and twelve hundred horse, of " their oldest and best soldiers." * Thus Sir Franc i s Verb succeeded not only in relieving the town, but also in establishing his own reputation, and * Sir Francis Vere's Commentaries. 'it'.i'i THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 47 in adding new lustre to the English arms. That a 15S{> Spanish army of fourteen thousand men should be re- pulsed by four hundred English, without the aid of can- non, or entrenchments, appears almost incredible, was the narrative not supported by collateral evidence. This display of valour appears to have given the 1590 States General the greatest confidence in their English auxiliaries, whom they employed in services of the greatest difficulty, among which may be reckoned the relief of the castle of Litkenhooven, which was besieged in 1590 "by " the people of that country, aided with some good number " of the Duke of Cleves', the Bishops of Colens' and Pa- " derbourn's soldiers, which they call Hannoveers."* For this service Sir Francis Vere was despatched with between seven and eight hundred English foot, and five hundred horse, u-id with these troops he stormed a fort which the enemy had constructed opposite the entrance to the castle. The assault was made with distinguished gal- lantry, " one soldier helping another up, some got to the " top of the rampires, at which the enemy gave back so " as the way became more easie for others to climb to the " top, and so finally the place was forced, and all the " men put to the sword, being in number three hundred " and fifty, all chosen men, with the losse and hurting of " about fourscore of my men."f Thus the place was relieved and preserved from the power of the enemy. The next exploit of these heroic English was the attack of a royal fort near Wesel, in the duchy of Cleves, at the confluence of the Lippe and the Rhine, the pos- session of which enabled the enemy to pass their forces across the latter river in safety. This fort was attacked on two successive nights by escalade, and the horsemen. I 1 m I r| Sir Francis Vere's Commentaries. + Ibid. 48 HISTORICAL RKCORl) OF ill '';;■■)' |';:i' w it;:' 1 590 with their swords and pistols, joined in the assault, but the ladders proved defective, and the assailants were forced to retire. Yet these undaunted warriors prepared for a third 'tack, but the eremy, dismayed at the fury of the assa'.'iu^ts, beat a parley and surrendered the fort, and, OP mnii hii^g out, the garrison proved to be two companies of Germans, and two half companies of Italians, which, as Sir Francis Vere states in his commentaries, were nearly as strong in numbers as the assailants ; for, besides the English font he l;ad with him, he used no troops or countrymen, excepting a few horsemen. 1591 The accession of King Henry of Navarre to the throne '^f France being opposeu, on account of his being a Pro- testant, by the combined Catholic princes and nobles called the " Leaguers," Queen Elizabeth sent a body of troops to his aid, and a few English and Scots companies were withdrawn from the Netherlands in April, 1591, and proceeded to France, where they highly distinguished themselves under the gallant Sir John Norris. In the same year the i'.nglish troops in the service of the States were employed m the siege of Ziifphen, a strong town situate on the ri^ht bank of the Issel, where Prince Maurice of Nassau, (afterwards Prince of Orange,) commanded in chief, and Sir Francis Vkre, and his brave companions in arms, laue their attacks on the side of the town next the river. There was a strong fort on this side of the town, of which Sir Francis obtained posses- sion on the 24th May, 1591, before the siege was com- menced, by the following t,i.ratagem : — " I chose a good " number of lusty and haro young soldiers, the most of " whom I apparelled like the country women of those " parts, the rest like the men, gave to some baskets, to " others packs, and such bur; lens as the people usually " carry to the market, with pi jtols, and short swords, and THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 49 " daggers, under their garments, willing them, by two or 1591 " three in a company, by break of day to be at the ferry •' of Zutjj/ien, which is just against the fort, as if they " stayed for the passage-boat of the town, and bad them " sit and rest themselves in the mean time as near the " gate of the fort as they could, for avoiding suspicic n, " and to seize upon the same as soon as it was opened. " This took so good effect that they possessed the entry " of the fort, and held the same till an officer with two '• hundred souldiers (who was laid in a covert not farre " off) came to their seconds, and so became fully master " of the place ; by which means the siege of the town "afterwards became the shorter."* In this siege Sir Francis Vere was at the head of fourteen ensigns of English, and Colonel Balfour commanded ten ensigns of Scots. Affer signalizing themselves in the capture of Zutphen, which town surrendered on the 30th of ]V1 uy, the forces proceeded to the fertile and agreeable grounds on the right bank of the river Yssel, and besieged Deventer, Avhere the fourteen English companies under Sir Francis Verb, and the ten Scots companies under Colonel Bal- four, again performed the part of '' valiant men," parti- cularly the English, who led the assaulting party when the town was attacked by storm. Owing to the imperfect construction of a bridge of boats, some difficulty was ex- perienced in carrying on the attacks, and Prince Maurice was desirous of relinquishing the siege ; but the English general induced him to persist. The enemy sallipf^ dur- ing the succeeding night to destroy the bridge, but was repulsed by the English pikemen, and the town sur- rendered on the following day. ;J:.(;' Sir Francis Vere's Commentaries. m E fH 50 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1591 While these operations were in profi;re8s, Sir Edward Norris, governor of Ostend, issued from the town with part of his English garrison, and captured the fort and village of Blnkcnberg, on the sea coast between Siuys and Ostend. He afterwards took by storm a strong fort upon the downs, which he destroyed, and returned with the guns to Ostend. The capture of Deventer of several forts and stron pied in Friesland ; but ^ ployed, the Prince of I'aru. n'^ i (llowed by the conquest • vhich the enemy occu- ops were thus em- he river Waal with the Spanish army, and besieged \aodtcnhvrg fort, at the ferry opposite Nimeguen. The States immediately recalled their army from Friesland, to attempt to raise the siege, but on arriving at the vicinity of the besieging army, it was found so superior in numbers and position, that Prince Maurice did not venture to engage it. At length Sir Francis Verb, by a daring attack on the enemy's out-posts with a detachment of light horse, suc- ceeded in drawing a strong column of Spanish cavalry from their main body, and Prince Maurice charged this column with two cornets of lancers, and one of cara- biniers ; * but the Spaniards proved victorious, and, hav- ing routed the Flemish horsemen, pursued them with great slaughter. Sir Francis Verb, ever watchful and prepared to take advantage of any event that might occur, had placed in ambush a body of his English pike- men and musketeers in the thick underwood on each side of the road ; as the Spaniards, in the heat of the pursuit, passed these parties, a few vollies from the musketeers. :!-'|i' * The arubiniers were a few troops of horsemen equipped as cuirassiers, and armed with large pistols cdWe^ carabines, instead of lances.— 0/"/ers. THE Tllini) REdlMRNT OF FOOT. 51 and a fierce charr^c of the • ''-L-mcn, put the pursuing 1591 horsemen into disorder, nnt. laid u niinihcr of cavnhers dca«l on tlic road. IVincc Maurice's horsemen rallied and returned to the charge, and the Spaniards were nearly all slain or taken prisoners. Three cornets (or standards) were taken ; one of them, belonging to the Prince of Parma's own troop of horse, had a representa- tio*^ r Christ on the Cross, embroidered on one side with t}'i) i*,»rri,)tion, •* Hie fort inm lUiidil spolia^^ and on She otr;r side the Virgin and Child, with " Qxwm gcnui ddoro^' inscribed thereon.* ^\\c Prince of Parma was so troubled at the loss of his cavalry, that he raised the siege, repassed the Waal above Nimeguen, and re- treated. After the departure of the Spanish army, Prince Maurice, having strengtliened the garrison of Knodsen- burg fort, crossed the Sclieldt, and on the I9th of Sep- tember he besieged the town of Hiiht. Sixteen English ensigns under Sir Francis Verb, and ten Scots en- signs under Colonel Balfour, were engaged in the siege, and the garrison surrendered on the 24th of September. Encouraged by this success, the Prince undertook the siege of Niniegnen, a strong town situated on tlie left branch of the Rhine, called the Waal ; the English and Scots were again employed in the several attacks, and the town surrendered on the 22d of October. This con- quest concluded the campaign of 1591, and the army was thanked by the States for its brilliant success. The war in France bet\reen Henry IV. and the 1592 Leaguers being continued, several additional English companies were withdrawn from the Netherlands, and sent to France, where they served under the gallant Earl * Orlers. e2 U > fm «■ t ;/■ lit '■■m ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) &c // 4 ^^% 1.0 ^1^ 1^ 1.1 11.25 12.2 1.4 11.6 0% '-^r '/» -> *^ >j 9: Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) •72-4503 \ * ^ In the following spring a thousand English veterans were again recalled from the Low Countries to serve in another expedition against Spain. Although the Spanish navy had been much shattered and destroyed by the attacks of the English, the King of Spain was preparing a squadron and a body of troops at Ferrol and Corunna, for a descent upon Ireland ; and the veterans from the Low Countries formed part of an expedition of six thou- sand men, with a powerful fleet, under the Earl of Essex, designed to attack the Spanish shipping in the harbours. The English fleet encountered a furious storm imme- diately after it put to sea, and was shattered and dis- persed ; and before it could be refitted the Earl of Essex found that the provisions for the voyage were so far exhausted that it would not be safe to take so numerous an army with him ; he therefore dismissed all the soldiers ' * Hume. . 60 HISTORICAL RECORD OP ? 1597 to their homes, except the thousand veterans from the Low Countries ; then, laying aside all thoughts of attack- ing Ferrol and Corunna, proceeded towards the Azores to intercept the Spanish West Indian fleet. On arriving at the Azores, the Spanish island of Fayal was attacked and captured ; and precautions taken to insure the suc- cess of the enterprise ; but owing to a thick fog and the advantage of the wind the Spanish fleet escaped into the fortified harbour of Angra before the English could over- take them. A descent was afterwards made on one of the Azores called St. Michael, and the town of Villa Franca (which is founded on a bed of lava, and has since been partly destroyed by earthquakes) was captured; but while the fleet was watering, two thousand Spaniards, well armed and equipped, assembled at the capital of the island, and advanced to attack the few English troops which had landed. Sir F/ancis Verb sent forward thirty of his veterans, who ^k possession of a chapel beyond Villa Franca, and opening a sharp fire on the head of the Spanish column, held it in check until night, when the Earl of Essex, having no intention of remain- ing on the island, re-embarked the troops. The fleet returned to England, bringing with it three Spanish ships, which had been intercepted and taken, and which were of sufficient value to repay the expences of the expedition. In the mean time, thirteen ensigns of English foot, which had been left in the Netherlands under the orders of Colonel Horace Vere, (brother of Sir Francis, and afterwards Lord Vere, Baron of Tilbury,) with ten ensigns of Scots commanded by Colonels Balfour and Murray, had been engaged in the siege of Rhineberg, which surrendered on the 21st of August; — also in the siege of Meurs, which surrendered on the 13th of THE THIRD REOIMBNT OF FOOT. 61 September ; — Groll, which surrendered on the 28th of I &97 September ; — Breevort, which surrendered on the 12th of October ; — and of Enschede, Oldenzael, and Ootmar' sum, which were taken by capitulation on the 18th, 21st, and 23rd of October. After the capture of these places the English and Scots were engaged in the siege of Lin gen, a town situate at the extreme boundary of the Low Countries ; and during the siege the garrison made a brislc sortie and burnt a mill ; but was driven back by the Scots, who were at the head of the attack. On the 1 2th of November the garrison surrendered. Queen Elizabeth, having an esteem for military men of distinguished merit, conferred the appointment of governor of Briel on Sik Francis Verb. Several noblemen and distinguished personages applied for this command ; but Sir Francis Vere had become so conspicuous for valour, discretion, and virtue, that the Queen, who admired and rewarded these qualities wherever they were found, honoured the gallant knight with the appointment. The success which had already attended the arms of 1598 Queen Elizabeth and the United Provinces, alarmed the Spanish monarch, who caused reinforcements to be sent to the Low Countries from Germany, Italy, and other places; and in the summer of 1598 one of his com* manders, Don Francis Mendoza, Admiral of Arragon, threatened the United Provinces with an invasion. Prince Maurice formed a line of encampments along the Waal and the Maese, to oppose the designs of the enemy. His army was composed of English, Scots, French, Germans, Swiss, and Dutch, and the troops of each nation had a separate post assigned to them, and extended a distance of twenty-four miles : the English were posted at Haften, and the Scots on the island of Voorn. Mendoza formed the project of making a descent on HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1598 Bommelwaert, an island lietween the Waal and the Maeae, and nf capturing the town of Tiommel^ which stands on the island. The English were employed in operations to counteract the purpose of the enemy ; and during the night of the '22nd of May, 1 r/J8, a party of English and French attacked the enemy's entrenchments, and killed upwards of six hundred men. The Scots were also sharply engaged in repidsing an attack of the Spaniards on Voorn, and on one occasion their commander, Colonel Murray, was killed. Mendoza continued the siege of Bommel for a short time ; hut Prince Maurice, having formed an entrenched camp, interrupted the operations of the Spaniards without risking a general engagement, and forced them to retire. 1599 In the mean time the rebellion had lieen continued in Ireland, and the Earl of Tyrone and other lawless chiefs were al)ettcd and aided in their open hostility to Queen Elizabeth's government by the King of Spain and the Pope of Rome. The Queen appointed the Earl of Essex to the command of a body of troops sent to reduce the insurgents to obedience ; at the same time her Majesty again recalled a number of her hardy veterans from the Low Countries to accompany the Earl of Essex in his enterprise, and their places were supplied by new levies from the city of London and other parts of England.* 1600 ^^^ English troops in the Low Countries were em- ployed in the spring of 1600, in the siege of Fort St. * " In the beginins of the month of January souldiers in " Essex and divers other shires, and also in the city of London, " were pressed, and being furnished of all things necessary for " the wars, were sent into the Low Countries, to remain on ser- " vice in place of olde souldiers from thence to be transported " and sent into Ireland. All subsidy-men in the city were cessed " at eightpence the pound, goods or lands, towards this charge." — Stow*s Annalea, or General Chronicle. THK THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 63 Andrii huilt on the island of Bommelwaert at the con- IQOO fluencc of the Afacsc and the Waal. Thi« fort surren- dered on the Gth of May, 1000 ; and the German and Walloon troops in garrison, dissatisfied at not receiving their pay from the Spaniards, entered the service of the States of the United Provinces. The Archduke Albert blockaded Ostend ; and the States, having, after the capture of Fort St. Andre, their frontiers free from danger, resolved upon an offensive war in Flanders. Two thousand vessels were collected, and the troops were embarked for the purpose of landing at Ostend, but l)cing [irevented by contrary winds, the fleet passed up the Scheldt, the flat-bottomed l)oats, in which the troops were embarked, were run aground at high-v/atcr near a small fort called the Philippine, on the 22d of June, and, being left by the tide on dry land, the men debarked with facility. On the following day the army, consisting of three thou- sand horse and twelve thousand foot, marched in three divisions, commanded by Count Ernest of Nassau, Count Solms, and Sir Francis Vere, whose division consisted of ten cornets of lancers, cuirassiers, and mounted harque- busiers ; one thousand six hundred English pikemen and musketeers, and two thousand five hundred Frieslanders. Proceeding by Ghent and Bruges, to the vicinity of Ostend, a communication was opened with the town; and the army, having gained possession of several small forts, afterwards undertook the siege of Nieuport, a fortified town in the earldom of Flanders, situate on the river Yprelee, about two miles from the sea. The Spanish commander assembled the forces under his orders, and advanced to besiege the forts of Ouden- burg, Plassendael, and Bredene, and to cut off the com- 64 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ii ;i] 'I- I Fl !, il J tiff ' 1600 munication of the army of the States with Ostend. In order to impede the movements of the enemy, Prince Maurice detached during the night, between the 1st and 2d of July, Sir William Edmonds's regiment of Scots foot, a regiment of Zealanders, and four cornets of cavalry, under his cousin, Count Ernest of Nassau, to take pos- session of the bridges and oppose the advance of the enemy to the downs of Nieuport. The enemy had, how- ever, passed the bridges, and the detachment was attacked by the whole Spanish army, and routed with great slaughter. The Scots regiment behaved with great bravery, but it was completely annihilated.* After defeating this detachment the Archduke 2dvanced on the same day (2d of July) to the downs or sand- hills near Nieuport, where he encountered Sir Francis Verb's division, which had forded the haven that morn- ing, and was formed in order of battle among the steep and rugged sand-hills, — its left to the sea, and its right towards Nieuport; the tops of the sand-hills were crowned with Friesland musketeers, and in the inter- mediate spaces appeared one thousand English pikemen, and six hundred musketeers, supported by the lancers and mounted harquebusiers. At the sight of this formidable array, the Spanish army halted, and sent forward a few detachments to skirmish; these were supported by additional combatants, and a sharp engage- ment ensued. When the action commenced, the main body of the army of the United Provinces had not passed the haven, consequently the English had to sustain the * " Toute la perte etant tomb^e du cot6 des Ecossois, qui " perdirent tous leur chefs et capitaines, en telle sorle qu'il y " demeurabien huit cents sur la place, entre lesquels il y avoient " onze capitaines, beaucoup de lieutenants et'autres oflSciers." — Orlers. •8 w * « ^ O V ^ 4 D ^ ); 1.. w. i Ht THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 65 brunt of the battle for some time, and both horsemen and 1600 foot highly distinguished themselves, — engaging the enemy in close combat, and sustaining and repulsing the reiterated attacks of such superior numbers of Spaniards and Italians, that their conduct appears almost without parallel in the annals of war. The action became more fierce and sanguinary every moment, and Sir Francis Vere was seen amidst the combatants controlling and directing the storm of battle, and urging his English bands to deeds of heroism. He was shot through the leg, afterwards through the thigh, and received several other wounds ; but, though streaming with blood, he continued at his post. At length, many of his officers and men having fallen, he seht to Prince Maurice, who was passing the haven with the main body, for a reinforcement ; but before any troops came to his aid, his men were so over matched with numbers, and exhausted with fighting, that they were forced to retire ; and while making this retro- grade movement, his horse was killed, and fell upon him. From this perilous situation Sir Francis Vere was rescued by Sir John Ogle, and one of Sir Bobert Drury's men, and conveyed in safety to the rear.* A troop of English lancers, another of harquebusiers, and about three hundred English foot, soon rallied, and this small party " made an exceedingly great charge on ** a sudden, for the enemy, in hope of victory, followed " hard, and being upon the sands where horse might " serve upon them, were soon routed, most cut to pieces, " the rest saving themselves by flight as they could in the " downs, whils our men, both horse and foot, followed " them. Our men on the tops of the hills, who had *' kept their places from the beginning, having a fair * Sir John Ogle's account of the battle of Nieuport. "pi m 1H » 1 *ff ■'if 66 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1600 " mark, plied the enemy with shot. Our English soldiers on all hands resorted to the fight, and pelted the enemy with shot, and pressing upon them, made them recoil. The Count Maurice,* seeing things on these termes, caused the battel to advance, and his horsemen to make a proffer upon the enemy's, upon which sight, without attending any strokes, the enemy was routed " and chased out of the field. " The enemy lost above one hundred and twenty " ensigns (colours,) most of his foot slain, not many of " his horse lost. On our side, in a manner, the whole loss fell upon English, of which near eight hundred " were hurt and slain, eight captains slain, the rest, all but two, hurt, and most of my inferiour officers hurt " and slain. In the rest of the army there was no losse '* at all to speak of, especially amongst the foot. " 1 dare not take the whole honour of the victory to the English, one thousand six hundred men, I will only affirm that they left nothing for the rest of the army " to do, but to follow the chase, "f After the overthrow of the Spanish army, the forces of the States remained before Nieuport fourteen days, and afterwards proceeded to the vicinity of Ostend, and cap- tured a large Spanish fort called Isabella. In the autumn the army embarked for the United Provinces. 1601 On the breaking out of the war between the King of Spain and the States of the Low Countries, Ostend was a small village in the earldom of Flanders; in 1572 it * When Prince Maurice observed the English rally and make head against such an immense superiority of numbers, flushed with the prospect of victory, he cried to those around him in a transport of joy, Voyez ! Voyez! les Angloia qui tournent d la charge ! — Ogle. + Sir Francis Vere's Commentaries. 11 THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 67 was enclosed with palisades and wooden gates, to protect 1601 it from the incursions of the Spaniards ; and five years afterwards, the States, considering the advantageous situation of the place, fortified it in a more formidable manner. The Prince of Parma> having reduced a great part of Flanders to obedience, captured Dunkirk, and Nieuport in 1583, and afterwards appeared with his army before Ostend ; but was repulsed with loss. From this period Ostend had stood alone in the provinces sub- jected to Spain, and the facility with which it could be relieved by water, had enabled it to resist every attempt of the enemy. The garrison had also made frequent incursions into the adjacent country, and had raised heavy contributions; to prevent which, the States of Flanders had erected eighteen forts, in which they kept strong garrisons. The expence of these garrisons had, however, proved burdensome to the people, and large sums of money had from time to time been offered to the Spanish governors to defray the expence of the capture of Ostend. The States of the United Provinces had, in the mean- time, projected the capture of these eighteen forts, an^ the making of additional conquests in Flanders, and had made choice of Sir Francis Vere to command the troops to be employed in this enterprise ; at the same time the attention of Archduke Albert was to be diverted by the siege of Rhineberg, which town had been re- captured by the Spaniards in 1598. Having resolved on this enterprise, the States sent Sir Francis Vere to London, in the spring of 1601, to solicit Queen Eliza- beth for an additional aid of three thousand English, which her Majesty granted. Meanwhile the States of Flanders had offered the Spanish governor nine hundred thousand crowns to de- k2 68 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1601 fray the charge of capturing Ostend, and while Sir Francis Verb was in England, the Archduke had assem- bled a powerful army, and he commenced the siege of the town in the beginning of July, 1601. Instead of think- ing of capturing the forts, the States of the United Pro- vinces had to direct their attention to the preservation of the town ; and Prince Maurice, who had commenced the siege of Rhineberg, was requested to send the twenty- two English companies in his army to the coast, to be embarked for Ostend. His highness was, however, op- posed by a powerful Spanish army in Brabant, and he refused to part with more than eight companies of the celebrated English veterans. To these eight companies were added four additional English companies from the garrisons of Holland, and seven companies of Dutch ; and with this force Sir Francis Veke sailed for Ostend^ and landed on the 11th of July on the sands opposite the town. The English general immediately commenced strengthening and augmenting the defences of the town ; and on the 23d of July he received a reinforcement of one thousand five hundred men from England.* The immense preparations of the Archduke, with the steady resolution of Sir Francis Verb, and the troops under his orders, gave an interesting character to the contest, and occasioned all the nations of Europe to look with intense anxiety at the progress of the siege. Sir Francis Verb, having been wounded in the head, ♦ " On the 2.3(1 of July there arrived one thousand five hundred " Englishmen from England in red cassocks, and the whole were " presently divided amongst the first twelve companies.''— f/j*- tory of the Siege of Ostend. The city of London furnished one thousand men : and the equipment of these levies cost the citizens 31. 10«. for each man. — Stow. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 69 proceeded to Zealand for recovery. The Spaniards, 1601 thinking to overwhelm the garrison with the fury of their batteries during his absence, kept up a tre- mendous fire on the town, and the besieged answered this storm of fire and balls with energy. A PVench his- torian observes, — " From morning to morning, day and " night, there was nothing heard but the thundering of " cannon, and the hissing of balls from both sides. '* The brave English soldiers, observing what storms *• of great shot came daily rolling into the town, (the be- " siegers having already discharged little less than thirty- " five thousand shot against it,) and perceiving that all '' the houses were like to be beaten about their ears, ad- " vised themselves to take this course : — There was a " plot of ground in the town commonly used for a mar- " ket-place, which was something higher than the rest of *• the streets ; here they did earth themselves, digging it " hollow, and fitting themselves with cabins and lodg- *' ings within the ground. The like did they by another " void piece of ground upon the south-west, whereby " they thought themselves secure from the enemy's bat- " teries, so did they sufficiently testify their own resolu- " tion rather to interre themselves in the graves which *' they had digged, than to quit their possession of the " place unto the enemy. Hereupon the besiegers shot " arrows with letters into the English quarters, promis- " ing ten stivers a day to such as would serve the Arch- *' duke against the town ; but these offers were slighted '* by the English, who hated falseness as much as they " contemned danger."* * The continuation of the Siege of Ostend, in Vere's Com- mentaries. "ii 1 H u- 70 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1601 The garrison was strengthened and encouraged to make an extraordinary defence, by the arrival on the 20th of August of two thousand additional troops from England ; and Prince Maurice having captured Rhine- berg, sent a reinforcement from his army of twenty en- signs of Scots, French, Walloons, and Frieslanders, who arrived at Ostend on the 2dd of August. Thus rein- forced, the garrison made several sallies ; and although the Spaniards used great diligence, keeping up an almost constant fire of red-hot balls, flint stones, and musket- shot, until a great part of the town was in ruins, yet the defenders did not relax in their efforts, and the final re- duction of the town appeared remote. On the 19th of September Sir Francis Verb returned from Zealand cured of his wound, and his presence in- spired the troops with confidence. The weather was unusually severe, provisions became scarce, and, during the winter, several men were frozen to death ; yet the defence was continued with unabating vigour. The damage done to the works each day was repaired in the night, and the enemy was only induced to continue the siege by the promise of an additional one hundred thou- sand crowns, to be paid by the States of Flanders, and the sense of shame and disgrace which would attend a failure, after such vast preparations had been made. Early on the morning of the 4th of December, Sir Francis Verb, after remaining all the previous night on the ramparts, retired to rest ; but he had scarcely laid himself down when an alarm was given, and, seizing his sword, he ran half-undressed to the breach, where he found his own company hotly engaged with a Spanish storming party ; the English men-at-arms were display- ing great gallantry, and several English o^ncers were seen THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. n confronting a phalanx of Spanish pikemen, and cutting 16U1 off the heads of the pikes with their swords.* After a sharp contest the assailants were repulsed and driven back, with the loss of five hundred men, left dead in and near the breach. About a fortnight afterwards, the garrison being re- duced in numbers by sickness, and the provisions nearly exhausted, Sir Francis Vere engaged in a parley with the enemy, and he displayed extraordinary abilities in amusing the Archduke with discussions about the terms of surrender, until a supply arrived from Zealand, when he broke off the negociation. The Archduke, enraged at being thus foiled, called to his aid additional forces, and .on the 7th of January, 1602, he made an attempt to i602 carry the place by storm, with ten thousand men. The garrison was reduced by sickness, and other casualties, to one thousand two hundred able men, yet such excel- lent dispositions had been made by the English general, and such a sanguinary tenacity was evinced by the troops, the sick men quitting their beds to take part in the fight, that the enemy was again repulsed, and two thousand Spaniards and Italians were slain. The garrison had only forty men killed, and one hundred wounded. After defending the town for eight months. Sir Francis Vere was relieved by a Dutch governor, and he sailed for England to recruit his health ; but the English troops remained in garrison, and the losses were replaced by recruits from the city of London, and other parts of England. The Archduke, becoming more reso- lute as the siege was protracted, obtained the aid of ano- ther army from Italy ; and the year 1602 was passed in fighting around the ramparts of Ostend, where many V't * Narrative oi'tlie Transactions at Ostend, by Sir John Ogle. 72 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1G02 hundreds were killed on both sides, and others died from disease. 1603 While the English were acquiring renown in the de- fence of Ostendy Queen Elizabeth died, (24th March, 1603.) and was succeeded by King James VI. of Scot- land, (James 1. of England,) who concluded a treaty of peace with Spain, but did not recall his subjects from the service of the States of the United Provinces. The English defenders of Ostend had, consequently, the honour of remaining at their post, and on the night of the 13th of April, 1603, they had another opportunity of displaying their valour, in repulsing a storming party of Spaniards and Italians, who were chased from the ram- parts with the loss of above a thousand men. During this summer the Marquis Ambrosia Spinola, a man of extraordinary genius and ability in military af- fairs, arrived before Ostend to aid the Archduke in the siege, and he engaged to expend his own immense riches in carrying on the operations, in case of need. He drew to his camp the best engineers in Europe, and the attacks were carried on with greater vigour than ever. Under his directions an immense machine, or movable tower on wheels, was constructed, called Pompey's Chariot, by means of which he expected to gain possession of the works; but when it was brought forward, one of the wheels was broken by the fire of the artillery from the town, and the machine was rendered useless. New works were afterwards constructed, and both sides laboured and fought with unabating vigour throughout another year. 1604 In the spring of 1604, Prince Maurice undertook an expedition to Flanders, with the view of drawing the be- sieging army from before the town ; and having sailed from Holland in April, with twelve thousand men, he THE THIRD REOIMKNT OF FOOT. 73 took the island of Cadsand, from whence he proceeded to 1604 the main land on the coast of Flanders, and captured several forts, while his horsemen scoured the country and amassed the spoil of several towns and villages. The Spanish commander continued, however, to keep Ostend closely besieged ; and he attacked the town by assault on the 17th of June, and again on the 16th of July; but so obstinate was the defence, and unremitting the exer- tions of the besieged, that when the Spaniards succeeded in gaining possession of the old rampart, they found within that a second, and a third rampart, forming a kind of citadel, which they termed " New Troy." Notwith- standing these obstacles, the besiegers continued their works, mining the ramparts, erecting forts and batteries, and occasionally giving assaults at various points ; but labouring, more especially, to cut off the communication of the town with the sea, by means of floating batteries, and other devices. While the garrison, equally resolute in the defence, annoyed the Spaniards with countermines, sallies, and a spirited fire from the cannon and small arms ; and when the guns became unserviceable from constant use, they were replaced with others from Hol- land. In the mean time Prince Maurice, though unable to compel the Spaniards to raise the siege of Ostend, cap- tured the strong town of Sluy^', in which service six en- signs of English troops and seven of Scots were engaged, and distinguished themselves. One hundred and twenty thousand men had already perished in the siege and defence of Ostend,* and the * Stow, &c. &c. In the History of the Siege of Ostend it is stated that the besieging army lost seventy-two thousand, and the garrison fifty thousand men. \l "n CM I '1 74 IlISTOKICAt RECORD OF 1604 storm of war still rapped round this devoted fortrcM with unahatfd fury, when an assembly of the Stat <« of the United Provinces took into consideratioti tlu grcut ex- ponsc of defending the lown, which they on!) Iriiirecl to possess for the purpose of having free access to I'laiuttT:^, to carry on the war in the enemy's country, and as the possession of Cadsand and Sluys, which Prince Maurice had recently cupt). red would answer the same purpose, they resolved i '. /e np Oxtand, which was become a heap of run . Accoi .ingly, towards the end of August, 1604. iftet A N ge of three years and one month, the garri wc apitulatcd; and in the beginning of September it nmiched out with drums beating and colours flying, taking every thmg away except a few pieces of damaged cannon, and some spoiled ammunition. All the inha- bitants put their goods ou board of vessels, and quitted the place, excepting one old man and two women, who chose to remain among the heaps of ruin. When the garri- son marched out, four thousand brave soldiers were seen issuing from the town, most of them exhibiting scars, and other marks of honour; the English and Scots troops, (both belonging to the same sovereign since the accession of King James the First,) composed the rear-guard ; the whole marched to Sluys, and joined the army before the town ; and rewards, and promotion, were bestowed on the gallant men who had so signally distinguished them- selves. 1605 In the early part of the campaign of 1605, an expedi- tion "-^s fittetl out from Zealand, for the purpose of making an attack upon Antwerp, but the design was frustrated by contrary winds. During the summer the Marquis Spinola marched the Spanish army from Flan> ders towards Friesland, and captured several small forti- fied towns, 'i'lie English troops were employed in various TIIK THIRD RKGIMKNT OF FOOT. 75 movements to countcritct the designs of the enemy, 1605 and in OotolxT they had another opportunity of adding to their immeruus houoiirs. The Marquis Spinola had so muiiGcuvred, that, according to the writers of that period, h'' had '* grasped up Prince Maurice and his *' men against the sea shore, witli more than three times *' their number." The mcc was attempting to effect a rtjtreot, when the enei attacked his rvar with great fury, and routed several trooj if muuntcd harquebusiers. 'I'he danger being ininiiMeiit, .^ < Houace Vim; obtained permission to quit his pw n\ tlv main body of the army with his English bunds, a ^ to at.'ack thi enemy. Hav- ing forded a deej) river, it- , ha cd the Spaniards with great bravery, drove th».«i ba< . jonsiderablc distance, md afterwards retired in g( rder ; but, as the Eng- lish were repassing the rivei thorn in great numbers^ whet< about with the rear-guard of th( charge of the Spaniards om wit^l astonishing bravery. Tb* powered, and nearly all killed ; saved the army from a seriou.^ Veri s horse was shot under him. )ut lived to carry him across the river,* and the army e^Jn^^^ed its retreat with- out further loss. The English tnutps afterwards pro- ceeded- with the remainder of the army, to Holland. During the following year the Spaniards attempted to 16()6 capture the town of Stuys by surprise. Several men swam, daring a dark night, to a part of the works which had recently been damaged by fire, and having broken the locks of the draw-bridges and gates with petards, a ? enemy came down upon iR iloKACE Vfuf. faced V men, and withstood ' brink of the stream sixty men were over- t their gallant conduct isaster. Sir Horace * Collins' Historical Collections of the Vere Family. ;. y\ i '. 76 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1606 party of Spaniards attempted to force an entrance, but were resisted by the watch. An English captain and sixteen soldiers, who were in quarters near the gate, hearing the report of fire-arms, seized their weapons and rushed half-dressed to the gateway, and assisted in repel- ling the assailants; other combatants also hastened to the scene of conflict, and the Spaniards were driven back. English blood had now become warm, and not satisfied with repulsing their adversaries, the English captain and sixteen men issued from the gate, followed by the watch and many of the other men, whom the noise had drawn to the spot, and attacked the Spaniards with great fury. This sudden onset put the enemy into disorder, numbers were slain, and the remainder sought their safety in flight. In the panic and confusion which prevailed in the dark, many of the fugitives threw away their wea- pons and armour to facilitate their flight, and a suflicient number of arms were afterwards collected to equip a thousand men. Many of the Spaniards who were slain had property on their persons to a considerable value. " The Englishmen, who (besides the watch) were the " first that sallied forth against the enemy, had the best •' purses and booty ; and, whereas most of them went out " half-naked, they came into the town again with good " apparel."* After the failure of the attack on Sluys, the Marquis Spinola besieged Rhineberg ; and a Scots regiment, en- gaged in the defence of the town, lost its colonel, Sir William Edmonds, a brave and experienced officer, who had risen by merit from the ranks, and was killed in * History of the Netherlands, by Edward Grimston, Serjeant-at- Arms. /ho in -at- THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 77 September, 1606, by a musket shot in the head. Sir 1606 Edward Cecil's English regiment was also engaged in the defence of Rhineberg. The States requested Prince Maurice to relieve the town, and he put his army in mo- tion for that purpose ; but he was too slow in his move- ments, and the garrison surrendered on the Ist^October, 1606, before he arrived to its relief. The King of Spain had, in the mean time, conferred 1607 the Netherlands on Archduke Albert of Austria, who was married to the Infanta, Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, and both parties having become weary of the war, nego- ciations were commenced in 1607, with the view of ter- minating hostilities for a given period. As a preliminary article the Archduke and Infanta •' declared in their own '• names, and in that of the King of Spain, that they " would treat with the said Lords of the States General '' of the United Provinces, in the quality of //ee countries, " provinces, and states, to which they pretend no claim." While these negociations were in progress, the English 1608 commander-in-chief in the Netherlands, Sir Francis Vere, died on the 28th August, 1608, and was succeeded in his command by his brother Sir Horace Vere, after- wards Lord Vkre, Baron of Tilbury. The articles for a truce for twelve years having been 1609 sent to Spain, were ratified by His Catholic Majesty on the 25th of July, 1609, and thus the independence of the United Provinces was formally acknowledged, for which they were, in a great measure, indebted to British valour and magnanimity. Scarcely was this treaty concluded, when a dispute 1610 arose on the subject of the succession to the duchies of Cleves and Juliers ; and many of the soldiers who had fought for the liberty of the United Provinces, were em- t m i mim 78 HISTORICAL RECORD OF '■i ■i-iH I'^^r^. 1610 ployed as auxiliaries to the Marquis of Brandenburg, who claimed this territory, in which he was supported by the States. In 1610, four thousand English and Scots, commanded by Sir Edward Cecil, were engaged in the siege of the city of Juliers, which the Archduke Leopold had seized, and had collected an army for its defence. The English were particularly distinguished by the spirit and resolution with which they carried on their approaches, and made their attacks. Besides the Hollanders and British, French and Brandenburg forces were also employed in the siege ; a spirit of emulation and rivalry prevailed among the troops of the several nations, which should most distinguish themselves, and the British, though fewest in numbers, made the first breach, and were the first that passed over the ditch to the wall.* Such was the valour and perseverance of the besieging army, that the Archduke was forced to sur- render in the early part of September. Several English companies were afterwards placed in garrison, at the city of Juliers. 1613 '-The States, being enabled to reduce the strength of their military forces, several companies of Scots, whose services were no longer required in the Low Countries, engaged in the service of Gustavus Adol- phus, King of Sweden. These Scots became the nucleus of a corps, which is now represented by the First, or the Royal, Regiment of Foot, in the British Line. 1614 Notwithstanding the truce which existed, the States had occasion, in 1614, again to assemble an army in the * Continuation of Grimston's History of the Netherlands, by Thomas Crosse, M. A. THE THIRD REGIMKNT OF FOOT, 79 le le by cause of liberty, and of the Protestant religion. The 1614 Protestant inhabitants of the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, being prevented attending divine service at Juliers, a town situate near to them, by a decree of the council, which was composed of Roman Catholics, took arms and expelled all the Jesuits, through whose advice the decree had been made ; the Roman Catholic magistrates were also removed from their offices, and Protestants elected in their stead. The expulsion of the Roman Catholics ex- cited the indignation of the Emperor of Germany, who issued a mandate against the Protestant inhabitants of the town ; and this document having been sent to Arch- duke Albert, the Marquis Spinola was despatched with an army of thirty thousand men from the Spanish Ne- therlands, against the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, which he forced to surrender at discretion. Spinola, having dis- placed the Protestant magistrates, restored the Catholics, punished the offenders, and afterwards captured several places in the duchy of Cleves. These proceedings against the Protestant interest did not prove agreeable to the States of the United Pro- vinces, and Prince Maurice advanced with their army, of which the English, under Sir Horace Verk, formed part, into the duchy of Cleves, took possession of Emme- rick, and several small places, and proceeded to Rees. Thus the peace of Europe was again endangered ; but while the public mind was agitated with hope and fear, further hostilities were prevented by the interposition of the courts of England and France. In 1616, King James I. delivered up the cautionary 1616 towns on the coast of the Netherlands, which had been surrendered to Queen Elizabeth as a guaranty for the repayment of the money which Her Majesty expended in their cause. The States, however, knowing the great ' '' f t K^ h :«V h 80 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ii ; 1616 value of the British troops, retained a body of English and Scots in their service. 1619 The tranquillity of Europe, during the seventeenth century, was never of long duration : contests on the subject of religion and liberty were constantly breaking out in some part of the continent, and the neighbouring states became involved in the conflict. The Catholics ranged themselves on the side of monarchy, and the Pro- testants on the side of liberty, and, whenever a rupture occurred, religious zeal brought crowds of combatants into the field. The States of Bohemia took arms aganist the Emperor of Germany, and claimed the observance of all the edicts in favour of the Protestant religion, with the restoration of their ancient laws. The Emperor Ferdinand II. made great preparations for the recovery of his authority. The States of Bohemia, being desirous of having a prince at their head who could assist them with his arms and in- fluence, tendered the crown of Bohemia, which they con- sidered elective, to Frederic, Elector Palatine, who accepted the off'er, and proceeded to Bohemia to support his new subjects. 1620 The King of Spain took part with the house of Austria, and, while the armies of the empire were advancing into Bohemia, the Marquis Spinola assembled thirty thousand men in the Spanish Netherlands, to invade the Palatinate. At the same time Sir Horace Verb, the commander of the English forces in the Netherlands, with his nephews, the young Earls of Oxford and Essex, raised a regiment of from two to three thousand men in England, to assist in the defence of the Palatinate. The cause in which the Elector Palatine had embarked was so popular in Eng- land, that Sir Horace Verb's regiment was composed principally of men of property, and is said to have made THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 81 the most splendid appearance of any corps which had 1620 been seen for many years. The English forces in the Low Countries also took the field with the army under Prince Maurice, and having advanced to the frontiers of the territory belong- ing to the States, a few men of each company were placed under the command of Prince Henry of Nassau, to accompany Vere's newly-raised English regiment into Germany. The forces assembled to oppose the enormous power of Spain and Austria, were, however, too few in number to make effectual resistance. The result was, Frederic was defeated at the great and decisive battle of Prague, and fled with his family into Holland ; and Spinola, meeting with little resistance in the Palatinate, soon reduced the greatest part of the principality. The English, under Sir Horace Verb, had the mortification to find that, owing to the apathy and divisions among the princes of the union, their efforts were unavailing ; a small part of the country was, however, preserved by them until the end of 1623. 1621 In 1621, the truce between Spain and the United Provinces having expired, both parties prepared to en- gage in war with sanguinary obstinacy. The Spaniards commenced with attacking the towns in the duchy of Juliers, garrisoned by the troops in the service of the States of the United Provinces, and the rich corn-fields and fine pastures of this fruitful part of the country, the picture of rural industry and prosperity, became the scene of conflict and bloodshed. Count Henry Vander- berg appeared in the summer of 1621, with fourteen thousand Spaniards, Burgundians, Germans, and Ita- lians, and a battering train, before the city of Juliers, which was garrisoned by six companies of English and eight of Dutch and French foot, and one troop of cuiras- o A''''^ '.Va 'J ^ I ,. , I***.;? P ! il 82 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1621 siers. The Spanish commander completely invested the place, and formed fortified lines of circumvallation ; but he had to contend with men emulous of fame, particu- larly the English, who were proud of their national celebrity for intrepidity and steady resolution, and were resolved to maintain their character. When the Spanish army appeared before Juliers, Prince Maurice assembled the forces of the States Ge- neral and advanced to the banks of the Rhine, designing to pass the river by a bridge of boats ; but he was op- posed by the Marquis Spinola with another Spanish army, and prevented from raising the siege. Meanwhile the troops in Juliers made a gallant de- fence. In September they issued from the town, slew a number of Spaniards, and destroyed some works on the river Ruhr. Another desperate sally was made in Oc- tober, when the enemy's ordinary guards were over- powered, and the Spanish camp thrown into confusion ; but Count Vanderberg rallied his men and repulsed his assailants. During the progress of the siege, an English captain, John Hay don, and a Dutch officer, challenged any two officers of the besieging army to personal com- bat with sword and pistol, which was accepted, and two stout Burgundians entered the lists. The English officer slew his antagonist, but the Dutchman was killed by the other Burgundian. The garrison defended the town until January, 1622, when it was forced to surrender from want of provisions ; it, however, obtained honourable terms, and marched out with drums beating and colours flying, the Spanish general furnishing six hundred waggons for its baggage and stores. [n the mean time another body of Spaniards had made Zoc bui the THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 88 an attempt on Sluys, in Flanders, and on the island of 1621 Cadsand, but these places were so well defended, that the assailants were forced to retire with loss. In this year Archduke Albert of Austria died, and his duchess, the Infanta of Spain, retired to a religious esta- blishment for life ; her Royal Highness having no issue, the provinces which continued in the Catholic interest, reverted to the crown of Spain. The Spanish commander having resolved on besieging i622 the important fortress of Bergen-ojj-Zoom, sent, in the spring of 16'22, an army into the duchy of Cleves, to menace the frontiers of the United Provinces on that side. Count Henry of Nassau assembled six thousand men in the fruitful plain of Emmerich, on the right bank of the Rhine, from whence he marched to Rees, where he was joined by another body of troops under j'rince Maurice. At the same time part of the garrison of Bergen-op- Zoom was withdrawn to strengthen the threatened fron- tier. Spinola, finding his stratagem had succeeded, pro- ceeded by expeditious marches towards Brabant, and sent a detachment forward under Louis de Velasco, who be- sieged and captured Steenbergen, without meeting with much opposition. This proceeding exposed the designs of the enemy to Prince Maurice, who instantly detached fourteen com- panies of English and Scots under Colonel Hender- son, and eleven companies of Flemings, Walloons, and French, under Colonel Fama, who arrived at Bergen-op- Zoom in July, three days after the Spanish detachment appeared before the town. The arrival of the brave Scot- tish Colonel Henderson was hailed with joy both by the burghers and troops in garrison, " for which," Crosse, the historian of the Netherlands, observes, " there was " good cause, for he was a man of great experience and g2 n — -^j - m\ I 'f pi- . I ^* 84 HISTORICAL RECORD OP 'f ?! 1622 " virtue." The garrison consisted of forty-nine com- panies of foot, of several nations, and a few troops of cuirassiers. To the English and Scots was allotted the defence of the south side of the town ; and scarcely was the mode of resistance settled when the garrison resolved on a sortie to attack the Spaniards, who had taken post behind a hill at a short distance from the town, to await the arrival of reinforcements, and had formed a fortified camp. A select body of men, accordingly, issued from the town on the afternoon of the 22d of July, and march- ing towards the camp met a body of Spaniards advancing towards them, " whom the English and Scots of the van- •• guard encountered courageously, and drove from the " plain into places which were high and well-fortified ; " where fighting hand to hand at the push of pike, " our men did beat them out of their first intrench- " ments and forced them to retire into their chiefest for- " tifications.'' The Dutch cuirassiers behaved well on this occasion ; — a company of volunteers also distin- guished themselves, and the enemy's cavalry was broken and put into disorder. " After the conflict was endedj ** our men, having shown what they durst do, retired " towards the town."* The Marquis Spinola arrived at the Spanish camp on the 28th of July, with additional forces, and the siege was commenced with vigour. At the same time the besieged laboured with great industry to strengthen and increase the works, and to annoy the enemy with sorties and skirmishes ; and while they were thus engaged, an event occurred which produced a great sensation in the Netherlands. King James I. had commenced negociations with the * Crosse. THE THIRD REGIMKNT OF FOOT. 85 the Kill}, r Spain, with the view of procuring the mar- 1622 riage of the Prince of Wales with the Infanta, and encouraged by the favour shown by the King of Eng- land to the Spanish court, Spinola procured an Eng- lish regiment to fight for papacy and tyranny against their countrymen, who were shedding their blood in the cause of liberty and the Protestant religion. On the 2d of August the brave English defenders of Bergen- op-Zoom saw, with feelings of horror more easily con- ceived ihnn expressed, about two thousand of their countrymen in the Spanish camp, and the red cross of St. George floating among the colours of the enenjy. Many of the English deserted the Spanish service, and fled to Bergen-op-Zoom, and, being reproached by their countrymen in the garrison, asserted that they had been deceived, having understood that they were engaged for the service of the States. The garrison continued to annoy the enemy with skir- mishes and sallies ; and on the evening of the 16th of August, a party of English and Scots issued from the horn-work near the Antwerp-gate, took possession of a high piece of ground in the uood, and commenced con- structing a half-moon. About eleven o'clock, a body of Spaniards advanced to storm this little work, but were repulsed by the forty English and Scots who defended it. A second assault was given with additional numbers, and the guard was driven back, but being supported by a reserve, the English and Scots recovered the half-moon sword in hand, and chased the enemy to a hill in the wood. The Spanish general sent forward another body of troops, which assaulted the half-moon with great fury, but was driven back with loss. After breathing a short time, the Spaniards advanced to the attack with greater fury than before; the little band of Britons heard the ;■■ I) i HI 86 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1622 sound of a trampling multitude, and saw through the dark foliage of the wood a host of combatants rushing forward to assault them, and they immediately sent forward a volley of musket-shot which smote the head of the enemy's column and laid many a foe in the dust. The Spaniards passed over their dead and wounded companions with apparent unconcern, and assaulted the entrenchment with pike and sword. The English and Scots stood firm, and disputed every foot of ground ; and the brave Colonel Hkndkrson was seen fighting at the head of his men with signal gallantry. At length he was shot through the thigh, and fell to the ground ; when one of the soldiers cried, " Our colonel is dead ;" but the colonel shouted aloud, " I am not dead, charge 1 charge! " forward against the enemy !" Colonel Fama, hearing the noise of battle in the wood continued for several hours, sent a reinforcement to aid the British ; the Spaniards had effected a lodgement under the parapet, where they maintained their ground, but were unable to gain a single foot of the works, and about three in the morning the fighting ceased. Colonel Henderson was afterwards removed to the Hague, where he died of his wound. A company of two hundred Swiss arrived at Bergen- op-Zoom on the 20th of August, under Captain Wal- tofer, and were engaged on the same evening in repulsing an attack on the half-moon near Wouve-gate. The assault was given in the dark with such fury, and so many hand-grenades were used that (according to Crosse) " the earth seemed to tremble, and the firmament to be " on fire. The English and Scots fought more like " lions than men," and the Swiss, emulous of equalling their brave companions in arms, fought with their two- handed swords with great bravery. " In a word, the THK THIH) fllHMKNr Or ro< r. 87 << enemy were so w < ! attn th in the morning when 1622 " it was light, nothing to t)e seen about the semi- " circle of the half-moon but the slaughtered bodies of " men, and in some places they lay in heaps, one upon " another, like sheaves of corn in a harvest field." The communication with Bergen- op-Zoom by water being open, Colonel Sir Charles Morgan arrived on the 26th of August, to take command of the English and Scots; and the fame of the gallant defence of the town having spread throughout Christendom, a number of distinguished persons arrived in the character of volun- teers, to learn the art of war. Among others. Sir William Nassau, afterwards Count of Moeurs j Lord Mountjoy, son of the great Mountjoy, afterwards Earl of Devon- shire; Sir Robert Oxenbridge, with his two brothers, Henry and William ; W. Wentworth, Efjq., T. Rey- nolds, Esq., and others, who placed themselves under the orders of Sir Charles Morgan, and took their turn of duty on the works. In the beginning of September, three thousand of the enemy made a night attack on the works occupied by the troops under Colonel Fama, when Sir Charles Morgan led a company of English to the assistance of the French and Walloons, and the Spaniards were repulsed with immense loss. In a few days afterwards the English commander made use of a stratagem by which he gained an advantage over the enemy. The muskets were, at this period, discharged by means of lighted rope matches, and when infantry advanced for any particular service in the night they could be discerned at a distance by their lighted matches. Sir Charles Morgan caused a number of these matches to be fastened to a long cord, which was extended, daring the night of the 7th of September, breast high, across one of the 88 HISTORICAL RE(M>Hn OF tk'ii 1622 roads leading to the enemy's cnmp. The Spaniards, seeing the lighted matehcs, isHiicd from their camp, and opened a sharp fire on the supposed adversaries ; in the mean time, Sir Ciiaklks Mok(;an sallied with his Eng- lish and Scottish bands, drove the enemy from the trenches with greot slaughter, and destroyed in a few hours a battery and other works which it re(}uired many days to restore. On the following day the enemy received a reinforce- ment of fifty-six companies of foot, seven troops of horse, and a train of artillery. The besieged were not dismayed by the arrival of these new opponents, but sallied on the succeeding night, and demolished more of the enemy's works : and scarcely a night passed without the enemy being assaulted at some part of their lines; in which service the French, Walloons, Swiss, and men of various nations, emulated their companions, the daring and in- trepid Knglish and Scots. At length the Spaniards began to mine, and the besieged to countermine, and various stratagems of war were carried on under ground. On the 1st of October a mine was sprung, which destroyed part of the rampart, and the enemy immediately stormed the breach, and gained some advantage; but Sir Charles Morgan led forward a chosen band of English and Scots, and drove the enemy out of the works in admirable style. The Spanish army had sustained an immense loss in this siege, and the garrison had gained such an ascend- ency over the minds of their adversaries that the attacks were made with langour and timidity, at the same time Prince Maurice was advancing with an army towards the town. Under these circumstances, the Marquis Spinola raised the siege and retired. The fame of this gallant defence gave additional reputation to the English and TIIK THIRD RKOIMENT OF FOOT. 8» Scots, of whose conduct their countrymen at home were 1622 justly proud On the ()th of October a Ixwly of troops was iletachcd from Hergon-op-Zoom, to retake the town of Strenhnfren, which was immediately surrendered, and replaced under the authority of the States of the United Provinces. The Protestant princes of Germany who had united 1623 against the Catholic interest, having dissolved, the forces of the empire were at liberty to complete the conquest of the Palatinate, and in the autumn of UV2'S General Tilly besieged Ilcidelbcrfr, the capital of the electorate. Several English companies of Sir lloRAct; Vkrk's regi- ment were in garrison at this place, and made a desperate defence, but were overpowered, and the place was taken by storm. After thfs conquest the imperial general advanced to Manheim, a town garrisoned by nine companies of Eng- lish and twelve of Dutch, commanded by Sir Horace Vere. This place was formerly a pretty village of a few houses and a castle, and was chosen in 1C06 by the reigning elector for the site of a town, and was peopled by emigrants, who had been driven from the Netherlands by religious persecution. When General Tilly besieged the town, in October, 1623, the fortifications were not completed ; but the English general made an excellent defence, and, by sallies and other means, he forced the Germans to change the siege into a blockade. By this means the enemy reduced the garrison, from want of pro- visions, to the necessity of capitulating, and it marched out with the honours of war. From Manheim General Tilly proceeded to Franken- thai, the only remaining town of the Palatinate which stood firm to the elector, where Sir John Burrows com- manded the garrison, consisting of a few English and :1-l1 m uH 90 HISTORICAL RKCORD OF I I ■\h 1623 Dutch companies of foot and two hundred horse. Here the imperial general had again recourse to a blockade. Sir John Burrows frequently sallied, and procured pro- visions by the sword, and having performed every thing which could be expected from valour and patient en- durance, an arrangement was at length made that the town , should be delivered into the hands of the Archduchess, until the dispute between the elector palatine and the emperor should be settled. 1624 The negociations between the courts of England and Spain respecting the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Infanta, having been broken off, the States of the United Provinces were enabled to obtain additional troops from England, and in the summer of 1624 four regiments of fifteen hundred men each were raised and embarked for Holland under the command of the Earls of Oxford, Essex, and Southampton, and the Lord Wil- loughby, and arrived in the Low Countries in August. Notwithstanding the arrival of this powerful reinforce- ment, the Spanish general continued to have a great superiority of numbers, and after menacing the frontiers of the territory belonging to the States at several points, he besieged, in the autumn of this year, the large and important town of Breda, situate on the river Merck, and defended by a garrison of English, Scots, French, and Dutch, under the veteran Justin of Nassau. The English troops in the garrison were commanded by Sir Charles Morgan, and were employed in the defence of the works in the vicinity of Bosgate, in which they acquitted themselves with gallantry. The Marquis Spinola surrounded the town with deep entrenchments, strengthened with redoubts, forts, and towers, so as to defend his troops from the attacks of an army designed to relieve the town, and also from the THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, 91 sallies of the garrison ; and having amassed immense 1624 magazines of provision and military stores, he resolved on reducing the place by famine. Meanwhile the garrison endeavoured to annoy the besieging army by sallies, and the soldiers and burghers, resolving to hold out to the last extremity, placed themselves upon a Hmited allowance of provision ; and they were encouraged by the prospect of being delivered by the arrival of additional forces from England. The loss of the Palatinate, and the reduction of so many Protestants under the power of Papacy and foreign domination, excited a deep feeling of sympathy in Eng- land ; and during the winter of 1624 twelve thousand foot and two hundred horse were raised and placed under the orders of Count Mansfeldt, to be employed in the recovery of the Palatinate, and in raising the siege of Breda. In the mean time the Marquis Spinola laboured with indefatigable industry to augment the strength of his lines of circumvallation ; his cavalry scoured the country in large parties, and brought supplies of pro- vision to his camp ; and he called to his aid additional forces. The States were equally industrious in their endeavours to drive the Spanish army from before the town. Three ships laden with stones and clay were sunk in the Merck, and an immense number of men was employed in damming the channel of the river, that the Spaniards might be forced by the inundations to decamp, or the town relieved by boats. A great part of the country was laid under water, and the Spanish camp much incommoded ; but the Marquis Spinola caused deep pits to be made to drain the inundation from among his tents, and sluices cut in the river to empty the water in another direction. His men were, however, reduced to an unhealthy state, and numbers perished by disease. ; i I ;i' \ 92 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ■ I h^ 1624 He was also afflicted 'iimself with great bodily weakness and pain^ and was carried about in a litter to superintend the progress of his works. His lines of circumvalla- tion were enlarged, and extended over a space from twenty to thirty miles ; his works were considered, by the writers of that period, as without parallel in history, and Crosse states, that, " if Pompey or Caesar had been " living, they would not have believed the existence of " such extensive works." 1625 During the winter Count Mansfeldt embarked from England with two troops of horse and six regiments of foot, of which the Earl of Lincoln, Viscount Doncaster, Lord Cromwell, Sir Charles Rich, Sir John Burrows, and T. Gray, Esquires, were colonels, and sailed to Calais ; the French government having agreed to permit these troops to march through France, and also to add a considerable body of cavalry to the expedition. On arriving at Calais Count Mansfeldt learnt that no orders had been received for his admission ; and after waiting for some time in vain, he was obliged to sail for Zealand, where he arrived towards the end of February, 16'25. Here again he was subject to disappointment. No proper measures were concerted for the disembarkation of the troops. After waiting some time before Flushing, he sailed to Gertruydenberg. The rivers were frozen, and some scruples arose among the States on account of a scarcity of provision. Meanwhile a pestilential disease prevailed among the soldiers, who had been long crowded in narrow vessels, and deficient of provision ; half their number died while on board ; and the remainder, having landed at Gertruydenberg, marched a few stages up the country ; but appeared more like living skeletons than men prepared to undergo the fatigues and toils of war. Meanwhile the Marquis Spinola was strengthening his THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 93 lines, and calling to his aid additional forces, to resist the 1625 attack of the army which the States were assembling to raise the siege ; and in the midst of his care and anxiety he sustained a severe loss from fire. He had deposited an immense quantity of provisions in the church of Gin- niken, which a Dutch emissary contrived to set on fire ; and Spinola is stated to have lost on this occasion twenty thousand sacks of wheat, twenty thousand sacks of rye, six thousand sacks of barley, sixteen thousand sacks of oats, four thousand sacks of peas and beans, four hundred flitches of bacon, two hundred jars of oil, two hundred firkins of butter, three hundred bundles of salt fish, two hundred barrels of herrings, two hundred barrels of salt meat, and twenty -three thousand cheeses, besides flour and other articles.* Notwithstanding this disaster the Marquis Spinola continued stedfast in his purpose, and used every exertion to repair the loss. Several Catholic princes supplied sums of money, and taxes were levied in advance. On the 27th of March, 1625, King James I. of Eng- land died, and was succeeded by his son, Charles I. Maurice, Prince of Orange, also died in April, and his brother. Prince Henry Frederick, succeeded to the dignity of the Prince of Orange, and was also appointed com- mander-in-chief of the army of the United Provinces. The forces of the States were assembled to attempt to raise the siege of Breda ; and on the 17th of May S(r Horace Verb advanced with seventy ensigns of foot, of several nations, to attack the enemy's works at the village of Terheyden. The Enghsh taking the lead in this enter- prise, surprised an Italian guard before daylight, climbed up the ramparts, and attacked and carried two forts in * The continuation ol" Grinislon's History of the Netherlands, by W. Crosse, M.A. i:F k ' r 5.', t M^WB. 1 ■ -t 94 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1625 gallant style. They afterwards made a spirited assault upon another work, but were unable to overcome the difficulties which presented themselves, and were ordered to desist. The Earl of Oxford's ensign-bearer, Ancient Stanhope, attempting to fix his colour on the top of one of the turrets, was killed by an Italian officer ; but the gallant earl rushed forward, and being seconded by n soldier named Lane, rescued the colour from the enemy, and brought it off, by which act of heroism he gained great honour ; but he died a fortnight afterwards of a disease produced by excessive exertion. In this action twenty pikemen of Sir Edward Hawley's company, who were newly raised men from Somersetshire, were con- spicuous for their valour and intrepidity. The Spanish army was found so strongly entrenched and fortified at every point, that all thoughts of relieving the town were laid aside, and information to this effect was sent to the governor, with permission to surrender on the best terms he could procure. Although the Mar- quis Spinola offered the garrison honourable conditions. Sir Charles Morgan, who commanded the English, and Colonel d'Hautervie, who commanded the French, would listen to no proposals, saying the honour of their countries were concerned. The governor wrote to the Prince of Orange, who sent an express order to surrender ; and the garrison marched out on the 5th of July, with the honours of war. The Marquis Spinola stood near the gate, and saw the troops march out ; he saluted the governor, the English commander, and other dis- tinguished individuals, and paid a just tribute of praise to the valour and patient endurance of the soldiers. After the surrender of Breda, the remaining men of the twelve thousand English raised for the recovery of the Palatinate, under Count Mansfeldt, advanced into the duchy of Cleves^ and encamped near Rees. They THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 95 were reduced from famine, sickness, and other causes, to 1625 five hundred men, and these were afterwards disbanded, for the want of money for their pay and subsistence. In order to carry on the war with greater vigour, the 1626 Spanish monarch made extensive preparations in the spring of 1626, in Spain, Italy, Flanders, and other places. This occasioned the States to give orders for the recruiting of their army, which consisted of five thousand eight hundred and fifty-three horse, and sixty-one thousand six hundred and seventy foot ; of which the following corps were British : — English. Number of Men. General Lord Vere's troop of horse • • . 100 Cecil's . . . . . 100 Lord Mountiov's • • . 100 Sir Robert Currie*s .... • • . 100 Number of Colours. Lord Vere's regiment of foot . . 32 . . 4090 Viscount Wimbleton's 15 . . 1910 Sir Charles Morgan's .... 14 . . 1820 Sir Edward Harewood's 14 . . 1820 Sir James Leveson's .... 12 . . 1500 Earl of Essex's 12 . . 1500 Lord Willoughby's .... 12 . . 1500 Scots. Sir William Balfour's horse . • • . 100 Captain Thomas Edmonds's . • • . 100 Colonel Brogue's regiment of foot 15 . . 1910 Sir Francis Henderson's . 14 . . 1820 Sir John Burlacie's .... 12 . 1 . . . 1500 * Tota 19,970 '*' Crosse's continuation of the History of the Netherlands. '''^\ pi." |, ;... w. ■1^1 I^r ; ;| p' :•' i^ '■; m\ \ ,;<» 96 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1626 When the army took the field, a party of English was detached, with other forces under Count Ernest of Nas- sau, to besiege Oldenzael, a town of Overyssel, possessed by the Spaniards, which was taken after a short resist- ance. During the siege a few companies of English were detached against Broeckhuise Castle, which was captured in two days. 1627 In 1627, the English took part in the siege of the town of Groll, and the operations being protracted by the spirited defence made by the garrison, a Spanish army, commanded by Matthias van Dulken, attempted to relieve the place, but failed, and it was taken by capi- tulation on the 20th of August, 1627. 1628 In the spring of the following year, King Charles I. having expended large sums in an unsuccessful expedi- tion against Spain, and being unable to procure from Parliament the necessary supplies for prosecuting the war, commanded the four English regiments raised and sent to Holland in 1624, to be reduced to one, which was to be commanded by Sir Charles Morgan, and its establishment was fixed at one thousand five hundred and thirty-five men.* No alteration, however, appears to I8J 1 * A copy of the order for this raduction is preserved among the Harleian Manuscripts, No. 1584; and each company was directed to consist of the following numbers: — Numher of Men. Colonel Sir Charles Morgan's company Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas Conway s . . 200 . 150 Major Henry Wentworth's Captain Tirwhett's . 150 115 „ Ashburnham's . 115 „ Cromwell's . 115 „ Bartlett's . . 115 „ Ernerley's „ Vauxson's . 115 . . 116 THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 97 have been made in the old regiments which had been in 1628 the Netherlands since the time of Queen Fjlizabeth. The s\ege o{ Bois-le-duc, a strong fortress situate at 1629 the conflux of the rivers Dommel and Aa, was under- taken by the Prince of Orange, in the summer of 1629, and the English regiments of Vere, Cecil, Morgan, and Hare wood, besides the English troops of cuirassiers and harquebusiers, and a body of Scots, formed part of the besieging force.* This fortress had, ^r many years, been deemed impregnable ; but it surrendered on the 15th of September, after a siege of five months. The English had Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Vere, and Captains Roes and Byrone, killed ; and the Scots lost Captain Ramsey, and Lieutenant Huns. | Number of Men. Captain Talbott's 115 „ Essex's 115 „ Fielding's 116 Total 1535 * The following noblemen and gentlemen served as volunteers at this siege:— Attached to General Lord Vcre's first company. Lord Houghton, Sir Walter Erie, Sir Roger Bartu, Sir Henry H ungate, and fifty-eight other gentlemen volunteers; attached to Lord Verb's second company, thirty-four gentlemen volunteers ; attached to General Cecil's company, the Viscount of Wimble- ton, Lord Doncaster, Lord Fielding, Lord Craven, Sir Thomas Glemman, and thirty-five gentlemen volunteers ; attached to General Morgan's coriipany, Sir Thomas Bland, Sir Sheffield Claphum, Sir John Gosling, and twenty-three gentlemen volun- teers ; attached to Colonel Harwood's company, thirty-six gentlemen volunteers ; attached to Sir Edward Vere's company, five gentlemen volunteers; attached to Colonel John Cromwell's company, two gentlemen volunteers. t Historical relation of the famous siege of the Basse, (Bois-le- duc,) by Captain John Hexham. H Ul ^ m 98 HISTORICAL RECORD OV 1629 In the autumn of the same year Burich, and several forts on the frontiers of the territory belonging to the States General, which had been taken by the Spaniards, were recaptured. A body of troops also passed the Rhine, and several places in the duchies of Cleves and Berg, and the country of Mark, were rescued from the power of Spain. 1630 Notwithstanding their successes, the United Provinces had so far exhausted their pecuniary means by these wars, that they were unable to pay their army regularly ; and, in the winter of 1630, the Prince of Orange presented to them a remonstrance, in which he stated that several regiments had arrears due to them from 1614, inclusive.* The following British troops are included in the list of corps, to which arrears were due : — • English. Number of Men. Sir Thomas Lucases troop of harquebusiers . 100 Sir Robert Honey wood's troop of cuirassiers 100 Sir John Conyer's ditto . . 100 Captain Porter's troop of harquebusiers . . 100 Sir Charles Morgan's regiment of foot . . 2300 Colonel Herbert's 2180 „ Goring's 2930 „ Culpepper's 2150 Scots. Captain Douglas's troop of cuirassiers 100 „ Villiers's troop of harquebusiers . . 100 „ Bentham's troop of cuirassiers . . 100 * The heads of this remonstrance, with a list of the regiments in the serviceof the.States General, are preserved in a manuscript booic, formerly the property of King George II., and now in the British Musovtm. THE THIRD KEGIMENT OF FOOT. 99 Colonel Brogie's regiment of foot . „ Lord Amy's „ Sir David Bettford's . . . . Number of Men. . 1296 . 1296 . 1296 1630 •4; Total . . 14,148 Arrangements were subsequently made for the more regular payment of the troops, and the army was pre- served in a state of efficiency. This year (1630) a new champion stood forth in Christendom, for the cause of the Protestant religion, namely, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who in- vaded Germany with a small army, and his successful career astonished the nations of Europe. The victory 1631 which he gained at Leipsic, on the 7th of September, 1631, shook the imperial power, and several Protestant princes were delivered from the hands of their oppressors. The army of the United Provinces continued to 1632 maintain the same cause successfully in the Netherlands, in 1632, and the four English and three Scots regiments took part in these triumphs. The Prince of Orange besieged Venloo and Ruremonde^ in Spanish Brabant and both these towns surrendered in June. Several small forts were also taken, and the siege of the famous city of Maestricht was commenced. The fortifications of this place were of /freat strength, a good garrison was also in the town, and before the lines of circum- vallation were completed, a Spanish army, commanded by the Marquis of Santa Croix, and an army of Im- perialists under the Count of Papenheim, were ad- vancing to relieve the place. The garrison made several furious sallies, and the British troops were always found at the post of honour. During the night of the 1st of H 2 ■ I V .f .;. 100 HISTORICAL KKCORD OF 1632 July the English, under Robert Earl of Oxford, carried one of the enemy's traverses by assault ; and being after- wards attacked, defended the post with great valour for some time, but were eventually forced to retire by su- perior numbers. A Dutch historian observes, " Many " English lost their lives gloriously, after giving dis- " tinguishcd proofs of their courage." During the night of the 29th of July, Captain Courtenay highly distin- guished himself at the head of a company of English, in repulsing a sortie of the garrison, and was killed by a hand-grenade. At two o'clock on the morning of the 16th of August the besieged sallied and attacked the Scots quorter, but were repulsed by the veterans under Colonel Balfour. During the succeeding night four hundred Spaniards issued from the town, and, being concealed by a thick fog. surprised the English guard, and forced the trenches. Major Williams, of Sir Charles Morgan's regiment, encountered the enemy at the head of the inner-guard, and he had already per- formed prodigies of valour, when he fell mortally wounded. The second company of Lord Verb's regi- ment, and a company of Scots, came rushing forward to the assistance of their companions, the Earl of Oxford also arrived with a reinforcement, and the Spaniards were forced back into the town. The English general immediately employed a number of men to strengthen this post, and the Earl of Oxford, while superintend- ing the work, was killed by a musket ball.* * " Le Compte d'Oxford, qui etoit present au travail, y fiit " tir^ & re9ut une balle de mousquet qui lui perga la teste, dont " il fut tu6 sur la place, laissant un regret univcrsel dans le cceur " de tous ses officiers & soldats." — Histoire de Frederic Henry de Nassau, par J. Commelyn. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 101 The forces which had advanced to relieve the town 1632 attacked the besieging army with great fury, but were repulsed ; and the siege being persevered in, the garrison surrendered on the 22d of August. Among the English who fell at Maestricht was Colonel Sir Edward Harwood, Bart, who was much regretted by the urmy.* * Within the Cloister Church at the Hague, on the east wall, i» a black marble tablet with the following inscription : — Hospes sis videns ! Condit. hie Quicquid caducum fuit viri Militia D. Edwardi Harwood Angli Equitis Aurati, Norfolcia Oriundia qui Praepot. D. D. Ordin. Gener. . In Obsidione Bommeliee (M.D. XC. IX.) primo militavit Ostendae (M.DC. II) vexillo donatus ; Rhenobergse propugnandae (M.DC. VI.) Pro centurio Centurio evasit, Exin Legionis Angli Illust. D. Rob. Sidney Vice Com. de Lisle Pro tribunus Tribunus factus est Denique Post XXXIII. ann Stipendia Ad obsessam Mosse-Trajectum Tertio globulo perfossus, officio simul simul et fato Functus est. Quod Immortalis (viri fortis juxta ac boni, Deo PatrisBque devotissimi) Memorise Nee non posterorum exemplo, Henricus Herbert et Nic Byron, Equites Aurati lUe Fribanus Legionis, Hie Centurio Cohortis Anglican® P.C. A.D. M.DCXXXVL I i m 102 HISTORICAL RECOUI) or Hi m 1632 The works of MacHtricht having been repaired, the siege of Limhnrg was undertaken, and this place sur- rendered on the 8th September after a short resistance. 1633 In the following year the English troops took part in the siege of Rhincbenj, making their attacks on the north side of the town, and this place surrendered in the early part of June, 1633. Translation. Thou tliat luokest on mayest be a stranger ! Here is buried Whatever was perishable of the soldier Sir Edward Harwood, an Englishman, A Knight, deriving his origin tVom Norfolk, who under very powerful generals, as a common soldier. First served at the siege of Bommel (1599), And was made Ensiern at Ostend (1602) ; At the storming of Rhinberg (1606) He became Lieutenant : after that He was made Lieutenant-Coloml Of the body of English coram uiJed by The illustrious Sir Robi^t Sidney, Viscount of Lisle. In fine After serviniic 3J years. At the siege of Maestrecht He was pierced through by three successive bullets, and died whilst in the discharge of his duty. That which pertained to the iraperishablt part of him ; t. e, that he was a man brave as well as good, and most devoted to his God and Country, Henry Herbert and Nicholas Byron, Both Knights, The former Colonel and the latter Captain in the English Army, Hand down to the recollection and for the example of Posterity, A. D. 1636. se; mi TIIK THIRD REGIMENT OK FOOT. 103 The Spaniards were desirous of retaking Rhinrbrrg, 1634 and having assembled a large army for that purpose, in the spring of 1031, they commenced the siege with vigour. The Prince of Orange, to divert them from their design, invested Breda; the Spaniards raised the siege and advanced to the relief of Breda, when the prince, having succeeded in his object, relinquished his attempt on this town. In the meantime the fall of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, at the battle of Lutzen, and the loss of the battle of Nordlingen by the Swedes, gave the Emperor of Germany and King of Spain the ascendancy over the Protestant interest on the continent. In I'^ngland, the undetermined limits between the royal prerogative and the privileges of the people were agitating the public mind, and the Protestants in Germany had little prospect of being able to procure effectual aid from the British cojurt. The French monarch, was, however, disposed to aid the Protestant league. He had long been jealous of the enormous power of Spain and Austria, and he resolved to unite his arms with the Protestant cause. A French army advanced across the Rhine, to co-operate with the Swedes and Germans ; and in the spring of 1635, a body 1635 of French troops,, commanded by Marshals Chatillon and Breze, marched to the Netherlands to cooperate with the forces of the United Provinces. The French commanders encountered and defeated a Spanish army, commanded by Prince Thomas of Savoy, at Avein, in the dachy of Luxembourg, and afterwards formed a junction with the army under the Prince of Orange, of which the English and Scots brigades in the service of the States formed part. An attempt was made to bring on a general engagement ; but the Spanish commander took refuge under the cannon of Louvain, !„ . ft! ;■ I..- •I i '■: f: 104 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1685 and the Prince of Orange captured several small towns. The troops in Tirlemont made some oppo- sition, and the place being taken by storm, the garri- son, and also the inhabitants, suffered severely for their obstinate resistance. An attempt was afterwards made on the city of Louvain; but the Spaniards having received succours from Germany, and their immense cavalry intercepting the supplies of provision for the besieging army, the attack was relinquished. The Spaniards afterwards surprised the fort of Schinck, and made an incursion into the territory subject to the States General. The Prince of Orange resolved to re- take this fort ; but the siege occupied six months. A 1636 Spanish army advanced in the spring of 1636 to succour the besieged ; but was opposed by the forces of the States, and compelled to retreat to Cleves. The besieged, being closely pressed, surrendered the fort on the 30th of April. 1637 After being engaged in several manoeuvres in the spring and summer of 1637, the four English and three Scots regiments formed part of the army of forty cornets of cavalry, one hundred and ninety-five ensigns of infan- try, and ninety-five pieces of cannon, which appeared before the important fortress of Breda in July, to rescue this portion of the hereditary dominions of the house of Nassau from the power of Spain. During the siege, the English were stationed in the lines of circum- vallation near the gate of Ginneken, and the regiments were soon so strongly entrenched and fortified at their several posts, that when the Cardinal Infant arrived with a Spanish army of superior numbers, he was unable to make an impression, and was forced to retire without relieving the town. The English carried on their ap- proaches on the left of the gate of Ginneken, and on the THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 105 night of the 21st of August, Sir Charles Morgan was 1637 wounded ;* Colonel Goring, being on duty in the trenche*: on the night of the 1st of September, had a similar mis- fortune.f The garrison made several sallies, but were repulsed ; and throughout the siege the British were dis- tinguished for the spirit with which they carried on their approaches and made their attacks. On the 7th of Octo- ber the governor beat a parley, and agreed to sur- render: and the Prince of Orange acknowledged that the gallantry of the British regiments had contributed materially to the speedy reduction of the place. This conquest secured the territory of the States General against the incursions of the Spaniards, and restored the navigation of the Waal, Maese, and the mouths of the Scheldt. During the summer of 1638 the English brigade was 1638 employed in several operations designed to facilitate the capture of Antwerp; but this project was frustrated by the failure of an expedition under Count William of Nassau. In the succeeding year another expedition to Flanders 1639 was undertaken ; but the Spaniards were found in so excellent a posture of defence that the Prince of Orange was induced to return with his army to Holland vi^ithout effecting any important object. In the autumn of this If!: Mm * " Le 21 de Aoust. Les Espagnols ayant quittfi les environs de Breda, les FranQois & les Anglois commencerent il tra- vailler k leurs aproches, ceux cy a la main droit & ceux la ik gauche de la porte de Ginneken, ou Morgan, gouverneur de Bergues-op-Zoom qui commandoit la garde cette nuit lil au quartier des Anglois, fut bless6 legureraent a la jambe d'une balle de mousquet." — Commelyn. t " Le l^re de Sept. Le Colonel Goring qui comoiandoit cette nuit dans les aproches des Anglois, fut bless6 au pied d'une mousquetadc.'' — Ibid. .. Ki\ M 106 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1639 year (1639) the English regiments were employed in operations on the Maese. 1640 Much manoeuvring and some skirmishing occurred between the opposing armies during the campaign of 1640, and part of the army of the States General again penetrated into Flanders ; but no action of importance appears to have occurred. 1641 This system of cautious manoeuvring, which both parties adopted, had the effect of prolonging the war. The operations of 1641 were, however, distinguished by the capture of Gennep, situate near the confluence of the little river Niers and the Maese, in the province of Lim- burg. This place was defended by an efficient garrison under Generdl Thomas Preston, an Irishman who com- manded a body of Iiish in the Spanish service. In the lines of circumvalla*' i ' e English regiments had their post on the banks t *" ' : Maese, opposite the town, and the siege was prosecuted with such vigour that the governor surrendered on honourable terms on the 27th of July. After the works were repaired, the English regiments sailed down the Maese in small boats, and were subse- quently employed in operations in Flanders, as a diver- sion in favour of the French, who besieged and capt«ired Aire: they encamped for a short time near Sas-van- Ghent, and proceeded to St. Philippe, where they again embarked, and sailing to Bergen -op-Zoom, were distri- buted into garrisons for the winter. 1642 The summer of 1642 was passed in manoeuvring and skirmishing, in which the English and Scots regiments took part. In the meantime, the public mind in Eng- land had become violently agitated by religious and politi- cal subjects, and the contentions between King Charles I. and his parliament gave rise to apprehensions of the most THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 107 alarming character. Previously to the breaking out of 1642 hostilities, the Queen Henrietta-Maria conducted her daughter, the Princess Mary, who had recently been married to Prince William of Nassau, eldest son of the Prince of Orange, to Holland. Her Majesty visited the camp on the plain near the island of Voorn in the begin- ning of June ; and the four English and three Scots regi- ments constituted part of the force of eighty -four cornets of cavalry and one hundred and eighty-seven ensigns of infantry formed to receive her Majesty. Aftor passing along the line in her coach, the Queen stood in a tent and saw the regiments pass in review. Her Majesty quitted the camp on the 5th of June ; and shortly after- wards the rebellion broke out in England. The States of the United Provin»?es, though they observed a strict neutrality, were more disposed to favour the parliament in England than the royal cause; and the British troops in Holland were not ordered to return home. The regiments were, however, strictly loyal, and a number of officers and men returned to England and arrayed themselves under the King's standard. In May, 1643, the French army, commanded by the 1643 youthful Louis de Bourbon, Due d'Enghien, afterwards known as the great Conde, gained a decisive victory over the Spaniards at Roucroy, a town of the Ardennes. The English and Scots brigades in the service of the United Provinces embarked Vilh the remainder of the army under the Prince of Orange from Bergen-op-Zoom, and landing near Sas- van-Ghent, were engaged in operations in East Flanders, as a diversion in favour of the French, who besieged and captured Thionville. In the autumn the two brigades returned to Bergen -op Zoom. The contest between King Charles I. and the parlia- 1644 ment being continued, England was involved in a dread- 4 "if." I >i f I p fr > I 108 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1644 ful civil war, and some difficulty was experienced in pro- curing recruits for the British regiments in the service of the United Provinces. Ambassadors were sent to England to endeavour to effect a reconciliation ; but the angry feelings^ which had gained possession of both par- ties, could not be allayed by the friendly interposition of the Stu..:s. Meanwhile preparations were made for opening the campaign, and the four English regiments commanded by Colonels Craven, Herbert, Goring, and Cromwell, with the three Scots regiments under Colonels Erskine, Kirk- pntrick, and Balfour, assembled from their several quar- ters in the spring of 1644, and proceeded to the general rendezvous of the army on a plain near the fort of ^ oorn, where they arrived about the middle of May. They were shortly afterwards embarked on another expedition to Flanders, and having effected a landing at St. Philippe, erected their tents on the banks of the canal. The Prince of Orange, by several demonstrations of a design to penetrate further into the interior of Flanders, succeeded in drawing the Spanish forces from the imme- diate vicinity of Sas-van- Ghent ^ when his highness crossed the river Lys with his army, and captured several forts which obstructed his approach to the town, in which service the Scots under Colonel Erskine particularly dis- tinguished themselves. The prince immediately besieged the town. The English took their post at Assenede, and the Scots at Selsaten, and performed a prominent part in the operations against the fortress. The Spanish garri- son under Don Andrea de Parado made a resolute defence ; and Don Francisco de Melo advanced with a numerous body of Spanish troops to relieve the place ; but after several fruitless attem[)ts he was a spectator of the fall of this important fortress, which surrendered in THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 109 the early part of September, after a siege of six weeks, 1644 The acquisition of this place, in the heart of the Spanish territories, occasioned the United Provinces to entertain extensive views in regard to the future boundaries of their republic. The works of Sas-van-Ghent were imme- diately repaired and augmented ; and an efficient garrison, of which nineteen companies of English formed part, was placed in the town. In the summer of 1645 the British regiments were 1645 again employed in operations in Flanders ; at the same time the French captured several strong towns from the Spaniards. At length a junction took place between the French army and the forces under the Prince of Orange, and his highness was desirous of undertaking the siege of Antwerp : this was, however, rendered im- practicable by the movements of the Spanish generals. In the autumn the Prince of Orange undertook the siege of Hulst ; the British regiments had their post in the lines of circumvallation, and took part in the attacks; and the garrison surrendered on the 4th of November. The Prince of Orange succeeded in procuring the 1646 consent of the Slates General to the siege of Antwerp being undertaken in the spring of 1646; at the same time tht French agreed to co-operate; but the merchants of the provinces of Holland and Zealand were averse to this enterprise, particularly those of Amsterdam, from the fear that, if Antwerp was restored to its former prosperity, it would injure the trade of the other towns. Actuated by these motives, the merchants succeeded in raising obstacles, and in retarding the preparations for the siege, until the designs of the Prince of Orange were frustrated. His highness was soon afterwards seized with a severe illness, of which he died on the 14th of March, 1647. ''HIi i I: li! I8\ ^'.r' ■ I,--.; no HISTORICAL RKCORD OF 1647 This war having occasioned the States to contract an immense debt, they were disposed to entertain proposals for a peace ; at the same time the power of Spain, pro- ving too weak to resist the united armies by which it was attacked, the Spaniards were also desirous of terminating this protracted war. The negotiations were carried on at MuNSTi R in Westphalia, and a treaty of peace was concluded in 1648. 1648 Thus, after a struggle of more than seventy years* dura- tion, the independence of the United Provinces of the Netherlands was established, and they took tiieir station among the nations of Europe as a free state. The power of Spain, which, at one period, was the greatest in Europe, was reduced and humbled; and the Catholic monarch, who attempted to dictate to every other nation, and to destroy the reformed religion, was obliged to surrender his authority, and to abandon his designs. Throughout this long protracted contest, British valour had been conspicuous in effecting these mighty changes, and to this the Dutch were indebted, in a great measure, for their liberty, and for the influence they had obtained among the nations of Christendom. The foregoing pages record the battles and sieges in which the English and Scots nobly evinced their national qualities and superior courage, — their perseverance under difficulties, and their determined bravery when brought into contact with an enemy. These qualities had been exerted in the best of causes, — those of liberty and the reformed religion ; and the officers and men of the Third Rkoiment of Foot, or the Buffs, may reflect with satisfaction on the brilliant career of their corps in a war, wliicli ended in the deliverance of many thousands of protestants from foreign domination, and from popish tyranny. 1649 While these events were taking place on the continent, THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. Ill the royal party in England had been overpowered ; King 649 Charles I. had fallen into the hands of the parliamentary forces, and he was brought to trial, and beheaded in January, 1649. A feeling of abhorrence prevailed in the Netherlands against the perpetrators of this diabolical act ; and Dorislans, a native of Holland, who had resided some time in England, and had been employed as an assistant to the court which had condemned the King, arriving at the Hague in the character of an envoy, was seized upon, dragged from the table where he was sitting with some company, and put to death. This gave offence to the English parliament, and the little energy evinced by the Dutch magistrates in their attempts to bring the offenders to justice, plainly showed the detesta- tion in which the regicides were held. During the civil war in England the Dutch republic 1 650 had continued to maintain a strict neutrality ; but after the death of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, who was succeeded by his son William, married to an English princess, the States were accused of taking steps more favourable to the royal cause, and of betraying great prejudice against the parliament. William, Prince of Orange, died in October, 1650, leaving an infant son, (afterwards King William III. of England,) and the republican party in Holland appeared to have gained the ascendency over the house of Orange. The English 1652 parliament, having changed the monarchy into a common- wealth, sent Chief Justice St. John to the Hague to cement a closer confederacy between the two republics ; hut he was unable to accomplish his mission, and during his stay in Holland he received many insults from the populace, and from the retainers of the Orange and Palatine families. These events were followed by a war between the English and Dutch, and the British regi- I 1 ^ m r " i' .:i f: 112 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1652 ments in the service of the United Provinces were now arrayed in direct hostility against the murderers of their sovereign. The conflicts during this war were, however, limited to engagements at sea, in which the English fleets usually proved victorious, and the States concluded a peace with Oliver Cromwell, who was at the head of the British nation in the character of Lord Protector. 1653 The States having now no enemy to fear, reduced the strength of their land forces ; and the English veterans were incorporated into one regiment, which was desig- nated the Holland Regiment, and is now the Third Regiment of Foot in the British line. This regiment had been commanded by Aubrey de Vere, twentieth Earl of Oxford,* who was subsequently colonel of the royal regiment of horse guards; but after the reduc- tion of the four regiments to on^, which event is stated to 1655 have taken place about the year 1655, the colonelcy appears to have been conferred on the veteran Colonel John Cromwell, who had for many years commanded one of the junior English regiments. At the same time the Scots brigade was reduced to two regiments ; and the troops of cuirassiers and harquebusiers, cT both nations, appear to have been disbanded. * " Aubrey de Vere, twentieth Earl of Oxford, entered early on '* a military life in the service of the States General, and had the " command of a regiment of English foot in their service in, or " before, the year 1648, for on January the 10th of that year, the " famous Algernon Sidney, in a letter to Robert Earl of Leicester, " informs him, that old Berington being dead, his brother, " Robert Sidney, was made Lieut.-Colonel to the Earl of Oxford, " then abroad. This regiment, on the breaking out of the war " with the Dutch, was sent for to England, and the said Robert " Sidney was made Colonel thereof by King Charlf s II. the 31st " May, 1665, and it is yet subsisting, called the Holland " Regiment." — Collin's Historical Collections of the Noble Families of Cavendish, Holies, Vere, Harley, and Ogle. "wl "brJ THE THIRD RKGIMENT OF FOOT. 113 Although Kngland had become a commonwealth, and 1656 the royal family was in exile, yet the Holland Rkoi- MENT preserved its loyalty, and it appears to have been composed of men firmly attached to the royal cause. The 1658 brave Colonkl John Cuomwell, who was a near kins- man of the Lord Protector, and who had been in the service of the States upwards of thirty years, was par- ticularly distinguished for his attachment to the roya* family, and he held the regicides, and usurpers of the kingly authority, in such detestation, that he obtained permission of King Charles II. to change his name from Cromwell to Williams. In September, 1658, Oliver Cromwell died, and was succeeded by his son Richard, who resigned the Pro- tectorship soon afterwards. The nation, being weary 1659 of anarchy and confusion, invited King Charles II. to 1660 return to England and assume the reins of government. While arrangements for the Restoration were in pro- gress, the King was entertained for a short time at the Hague; the officers of the Holland Regiment, eager to manifest their loyalty, proceeded thither, and, on being introduced to the King, were well received by his Majesty ;* and these veterans shared with the rest of the * •' The English officers that are in the service of the Lords " the Estates, and were come to the Hague, did the King " reverence also, and amongst the rest Mr. Henry Cromwe)!, " major of a regiment of foot of the same nation. He is cousin- " german, but issued from an elder brother, of him who is known " to have sacrificed the King, his sovereign, to his irregular " ambition, and detested that brutal and horrible action ; but " seeing some apparent establishment of the fortune of the Pro- " lector, he passed into England, where he rendered considerable " service to those of the good party, and even gave himself the " liberty to remonstrate sometimes with his cousin. The King, '• who knew the intentions of this honest man, and permitted his " brother (who commands the regiment of foot in the service of I m' *•: .p fi-'(ii ; 114 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1660 nation in the great joy which the restoration of monarchy prod t iced. 1661 A commercial rivalry existed at this period between the English and Dutch; and although the latter were indebted to English valour and intrepidity for their existence as a free people, they did not scruple to commit depredations on English commerce, and on the English 1664 settlements abroad. They were also charged with cor- responding with disaffected persons in England, and with having encouraged a conspiracy of the old puritan party against the court. A hostile feeling against the Dutch was manifested by the English parliament in a vote set- ting forth the obstructions to foreign trade occasioned by the wrongs, dishonours, and indignities ofTired to the English by the subjects of the United Provinces. Reta- liation was resorted to, and in the summer of 1G64 a descent was niade on the Dutch settlements on the coast of Guinea; the settlement in North America called " Nova Belgia" was also captured, and its title changed to " New York." 1665 These proceedings were followed by a declaration of war, and in the early part of 1G65 King Charles II. demanded the return of the old English regiment in the service of the United Provinces. This demand was com- plied with,* and on the arrival of the regiment in Eng- •• the Lords the Estates) to take the surname of Wilt.iams, " instead of that which shall be eternally in execration jy all " Englishmen, and who had many good proofs of them, received " him perfectly well.— Sir William Lower's Account of what took place at the Hague in May, 1 660. * The two Scots regiments, whose services in the Netherlands had been parallel with those of the English, were not recalled, as they were no longer purely Scots, — many Dutch, French, and Germans having been admitted into these regiments. They were subsequently purged of all foreigners by William, Prince of Gen Brita Unit« Gene the but that comn Dulcl to th^ oftht desig the A durin afterv lina;tc 24th Brigi so olc THE THIKI) RKGIMENT OF FOOT. Ill Innd, his Majesty conferred the colonelcy on Lieut.- 1665 Colonel Robert Sidney, by commission dated the 31st of May, 1G6.5. At the same time its appellation of the *' Holland Regiment" was continued, and it was dis- tinguished by this title in all orders, warrants, and other official documents during the succeeding twenty-four Orange, afterwards William III. of England; a third rei^iraent was raised in 1674, and the Scots Brigade was restored to its former splendour. This brigade was sent to England in 1685, during the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, and was much admired for its gallant and warlike appearance. It also accom- panied the Prince of Orange to England at the Revolution in 1688; distinguished itself in King '^"illiam's wars, and also under the great Duke of Marlborough in the reign of Queen Anne. These regiments were continued in the Dutch service, and acquired new laurels in the wars of King George II., from 1744 to 1748. During the American war. King George III. having occasion for additional forces, requested, in 1776, that the " Scots Brigade" might be sent home ; but was afterwards induced not to exercise the power of recalling this distinguished body of men, and they were permitted to remain in Holland. They were subsequently recruited, principally with Dutch and Germans. In a few years afterwards a party hostile to Great Britain and to the house of Orange, gained ground in the United Provinces, and in 1782 it was resolved by the States General that an edict should be issued, obliging the officers of the Scots Brii^ade to declare that they acknowledged no power but the States General as their law ,1 sovereign ; also requiring that the British colours, uniform, beat of drum, and word of command, should be abolished, and the regiments changed into Dutch troops. The officers refused to renounce their allegiance to their king, and returning to England, a corps was embodied of the remains of the three regiments and some new levies, and designated the Scots Brigade. It was subsequently numbered the Ninety-fourth regiment ; and it highly distinguished itself during a period of ten years' service in the East Indies, and afterwards in the Peninsula campaigns under the Duke of Wel- lins;ton. This distinguished corps was disbanded at Belfast on the 24th December, 1818. An Historical Account of the Scots Brigade was published in 1794 ; and it is a subject of regret that so old and celebrated a corps was not retained in the service. i2 (f ' ;r 116 inSTORICAL ttKCORI) UF ■.'yiHij 1665 years. It obtained rank in the KngUsh army from the date of its arrival in En<;lan(l in May, IOC),'), and was consequently Fourfh in tlielJritish lino. The FirA-t was Douglas's regiment, now the First Royal, which arrived in England from France in the sununer of WA, and obtained rank from that date ; the Scr.oinl was the Tan- gier regiment, now the Second or Queen's Itoyal, raised in the autumn of 1001 ; the Third was the Admiral's or Duke of York's regiment, raised in IOC)!, and incorpo- rated in 16S0 in the second foot guards ; — the Fourth was the Holland Rkoimknt. On it« arrival in England the Holland Ri:r.iMi:NT mustered six companies of one hundred men each, besides 1666 officers. In July, KiOG, its establishment was augmented to a thousand private men, by the addition of four com- panies of 3 officers, 2 Serjeants, 3 corporals, and 100 private men each ; and each company consisted of 30 1667 pikemen, 73 musketeers, and 2 halberdiers.* in the following summer a further addition of two compam'cs, of the same strength as the others, was made to its numbers. In the autumn of this year (1G()7) peace was con- cluded with the Dutch, and several newly-raised corps were disbanded ; but the King resolved to retain the Holland Regiment in his service ; at the same time its estabhshment was reduced from twelve to ten companies. 1668 ^" '^® ^^*'^ "^ August, 1668j his Majesty conferred * The following arms were issued from the Tower of London for each augmentation company of the Holland Rkgimknt: — 30 pikes, fourteen feet long. 6U matchlock muskets, with collars of bandaliers- 13 firelocks. 103 swords. 2 halberds. 1 partisan. 2 drums fVar Office Records. * 2(1 Fc, THE THIRD REOIMRNT OF FOOT. 1 17 the colonelcy of the regiment, vacant by the decease of 1668 Colonel Robert Sidney, on Major-General Sir Walter Vane. There being only two infantry regiments in England 1669 at this period, besides the foot guards, (viz. the Admiral's and Hoi-LAND regiments,*) this corps was distributed in very extensive quarters. The following list, extracted from the military records in the State Paper Office, shows the stations it occupied on the 24th of March, 1070. 1670 The Holland Reoiment. Companius. Station!. Colonel Sir Walter Vane's \ ^.^^^^^^ ^^^^j^ Captain Sir Thos. Woodcock's [ Lieut.-Col. 'ir Thos. Howard's | Major Sir Thos. Ogle's \ Plymouth. C ptain Henry Pr '.eroy's J M Sir Herbert Landsford"'s . . . . ) y, . , „ Baptist Alcock's j „ Henry Sidney's Carlisle. „ William Manlcy's Jersey. „ William Crown ley's At Carlisle; but ordered to Berwick. During the summer of the following year two com- iq I' , .( ! ^ 1 ;h * Douglas's, now the Ri.yal, had returned to France, and the 2d Foot was at Tangier, in Africa. h ' 118 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1672 of the Holland Regiment to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and embark on board of such vessels as the Duke of York should appoint, for the purpose of serving as marines on board the fleet. Several companies of the foot guards were also employed on the same duty. These companies were engaged in a sharp fight with the Dutch fleet on the 28th of May, in which upwards of two thou- sand men were killed ; they were also engaged in several other actions during that and the following year. While Captain Sidney's company was at sea, a warrant was issued, under the sign manual, respecting the raising of recruits for the Holland Regiment. This corps, having been originally composed of men Raised by the City of London, was authorized to recruit within the precincts of the city ; at the same time the captains of companies were directed that, " as often as any of them " go about raising the said volunteers within Our City of " London, or the liberties thereof, they show this Our " Warrant for the same, to Our mayor of Our said City " of London ; and that the captains raise no more men " than will be sufficient to complete their companies to " their established numbers at land."* Shortly after- wards the establishment was augmented to eighteen com- panies, and additional detachments were sent to serve on board the fleet as marines. 1673 In 1673 the regiment was removed into quarters near *he southern coast of England, to repel a threatened descent of the Dutch ; but the spirit and activity evinced by the British navy gave the enemy sufficient employment near their own shores. On the I'ith of December of the same year the colo- nelcy of the Holland Regiment was conferred on John * War Office Records. ovei est£ THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 119 Earl of Mulgrave ; and on the 26th of the same month 1673 another draft of six men per company, with a lieutenant and two Serjeants, was ordered to embark on board the fleet to serve as marines. A treaty of peace was, however, concluded with the 1674 Dutch in February, 1674 ; when the eight augmentation companies were ordered to be disbanded ; and in the followinff month the establishment was further reduced to seven companies of fifty men each, besides officers. The Dutch being desirous of having British troops in their army obtained permission again to entertain in their service a few regiments ; and when the establishment of the Holland Regimeist was reduced, many of the men proceeded to Holland and entered the service of the States General. The two old Scots regiments were purged of foreigners, and four additional regiments were raised — two English, one Irish, and one Scots ; and two of these regiments are the present fifth and sixth regiments of foot. The seven companies of the Holland Regiment were 1675 placed in garrison at Portsmouth, Hull, and York, where they continued during the year 1675. While the British troops were fighting in the Nether- lands in the cause of liberty and the reformed religion, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a colony was planted by the English in North America, in a part of the continent, which, in consequence of the settlement being first made in the reign of a virgin queen, was designated Virginia. The first settlers were, however, nearly all cut off by the natives ; but in the reign of James I. another attempt was made to fix a number of L . .ers in that country, and after many difficulties were overcome, the foundation of a prosperous colony was established. During the civil war in England, Virginia ife ^:|t .j;!^ ^H^s^ra B i 120 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1675 had proved an asylum to several families of loyalists, and after the Restoration, a few republicans had taken refuge in that distant clime. The diversity of principles and views entertained by the settlers, was by no means con- 1676 ducive to good order and harmony. At length an insur- rection occurred, in consequence of the Governor, Sir William Berkley, refusing to commission a man named Bacon to lead a body of armed planters against the native Indians, who were said to have committed numerous out- rages and murders upon the Europeans. On the arrival of information of this event in England, King Charles II. commanded a battalion of a thousand men to be formed of drafts from the old corps and recruits to be raised for the purpose, and sent to Virginia; and the Holland Regiment furnished 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 1 ensign, 2 Serjeants, and 49 corporals and p.Ivate men for this ser- vice.* This battalion was formed in the autumn of 1G76, * Return of officers and men furnished in 1676 for service at Virginia: — 1st Foot Guards 2d Foot Guards The Admiral's Regiment . The Holland Ragiment . . . Non-regimented Companies | at Portmouth Ditto at Plymouth Ditto Tower of London. . . Ditto Gravesend and Tilbv Ditto Hull Ditto Sheerness Ditto Windsor Impressed by the Drum Major-General Recruits Total.. ry Capt. 2 1 1 1 Lieu. I I 1 1 Ens. Set). 4 2 2 2 Private Drum, Men. 158 84 59 49* 50 20 30 10 20 10 10 15 500 4 12 15 1000 IVar Office Records. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 121 and it was immediately embarked for V irginia, under the 1676 command of Lieut.-Colonel Herbert Jeffrey, of the 1st Foot Guards, together with several commissioners sent to inquire into the cause of the insurrection. The war bet»'/een the French and the Dutch had con- 1677 tinned since lb72, and Louis XIV. had captured many important towns from the Hollanders. The increasing power of France occasioned the British court and parlia- ment to resolve to interfere in behalf of the Dutch. With this view an augmentation was made to the strength of the army ; and on the 11th of January, 1678, an ord^r 1678 was issued for the numbers of the Holland Regiment to be increased to eleven companies of one hundred men each, besides officers. Towards the end of the same month a further addition was made to its establishment of nine companies of the same numbers as the others, making a total of two thousand one hundred and eighty officers and men.* In the early part of March eight companies of the * The following corps were raised in the spring of 1678 : — HOKSE. The Queen's Regiment, commanded by the Duke of Albemarle ; the Duke of York's, commanded by the Earl of Peterborough ; the Lord Gerard's ; aad the Duke of Monmouth's. Dragoons. The Royal Regimer^ ; Prince Rupert's; and Sir John Talbot's. Foot. The Duchess of York's Regiment, commanded by Colonel Edward Villiers ; l.he Duke of Moniiicv.th's ; Sir Charles Wheeler's; Lord Arhngton's; James Lord Douglas's ; Sir John Fenwick's; Sir Lionel Walden's; Lord Morpeth's; Lord O'Bry- an's ; Sir Henry f roodrick's ; Sir Thomas Siingsby's ; Henry Sidney's; Thomas Stradhng's; George Legge's ; hIso several independent companies. These corps were disbanded after the peace of Nimeguen.— Jfar Office Records. ■n Wjyt'" f W ff ^' ' u !^ W im\ [hm 122 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1678 regiment embarke i at Harwich, and sailed to Ostend, — forming part of the English army commanded by the Duke of Monmouth, designed to co-operate with the forces of the States General under WilHam, Prince of Orange,* in reducing the French monarch to submission to the terms of a treaty of peace which had been agreed upon by the English court and the States General. Towards the end of the same month two other companies of the Holland Regiment embarked from Holy Island to join the army in Flanders. For many years past hand-grenades had been used in attacking and defending fortified towns, entrenched camps, and other posts of importance; and King Charles II. having resolved to introduce into the English army the practice of using that destructive missile in the field, a warrant was issued .a the 13th of April, 1678, for a company of one hundred men to be raised and added to the Holland Regiment, under the command of Captain John Bristoe^ and to be armed with hand- grenades, and styled Grenadiers. A similar addition w^as made to several other corps. The grenadiers carried fusils, bayonets, hatchets, and swords; and each man had a large pouch for his hand-greuades.f The uniform of the grenadier was diri'erent from that of the musketeer andpikeman; the V-.'i latter wearing a round hat with broad brim, turned up on one side, and the former a fur cap with high crown ; the grenadiers also wore fur crevats * The Prince William of Orange was married to the Princess Mary of England, the eldest daughter of King James II., in 1677. t The following arms were issued from the Tower of London for the Grenadier company of the Holland Regimknt: — 103 Fusils, with slings. 103 Cartridge boxes, with p;'t-dles. 103 Grenade-pociches. 103 Bayonets. 103 Hatchets, with girdles. 3 Halberts, and 2 Partisans. War Office Records, ■ l-f.' THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 123 (called in the orders of that period '* crevatts of fox 1678 tail es. M>|t ) Tranquillity having been restored in Virginia^ the men of the Holland Regiment, sent thither under Captain Meoles in 1676, returned to England, and were ordered to proceed to Flanders to join the ten companies on foreign service ; they were foPowed by the grenadier company from Gravesend, two companies from Holy Island, one from Portsmouth, and three from Harwich, in July ; thus eighteen companies wer on foreign ser- vice under the Duke of Monmouth, ax c four companies remained in England. The army in Flanders took the field in the summer of this year, and the forces under the Prince of Orange gained a victory over the French at St. Denis, near Mons, on the 14th of August, on which occasion the Earl of Ossory''s English brigade highly distinguished itself. A ce' tion of hostilities took place aftrr the battle, in consequence of the preliminary articles for a treaty of peace having been agreed upon at Nimeguen. The British troops remained in the Netherlands until 1^''^ the spring of 1679, when, the treaty of Nimeguen having been concluded, they embarked for England. At the same time the establishment of the Holland Regiment was ordered to be reduced from twenty-two to twelve companies ; but, before this order was complied with, the rigid presbyterians of Scotland made an appeal to arms in behalf of the Covenant, and of their liberty and religion. * " 1678 ; now were brought into service a new sort of soldiers " called Grenadiers, who were dextrous a'^ ^■•igiiig uand-arenades, " every ;> .e having a pouch full; they wore fu.'i""rl caps with coped " crovnei like Janizaries, which made tiiem look very fierce, and " some had long hciods hanging down behind. Their c'othing " being likewise pybald, yellow, and rad."— Evelyn's Menu irs. %M m II m ■ a' •; ki '.^ Wk I ' 124 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1679 This occasioned the order for the reduction to be sus- pended ; additional forces were directed to be raised,* and several companies of the Holland Regiment were itoitiaiiuded to march towards Scotland ; but after the defeat oil' the insurgents at Bothwel Bridge on the 22d of J'-ne, t'.e 'eduction was ordered to be completed. 1680 On iha 1st of January, 16S0, the establishment was fixed by warrant under the sign manual at 40 officers, 24 Serjeants, 36 corporals, 12 drummers, and 600 private solc'-ers ; and the annual expense of the regiment was £12,820. 12s. 6d.-\ 168'; The regiment was again placed in very extensive quarters, viz., two companies at Jersey, one at the Isle of Wight, one at Portsmouth, three at Plymouth, four at Hull, and one at Scarborough Castle. 1682 I'* the autumn of 1682, the Earl of Mulgrave having resigned his commission, the colonelcy of the Holland Regiment was conferred, by King Charles H., on Philip, 1684 Earl of Chesterfield ; but, on the 26th of January, 1684, the Earl of Mulgrave was re-appointed to the command of the regiment. In the spring of the same year, when the garrison of Tangier, in Africa, arrived in England, the companies of tire Holland Regiment at Portsmouth, Plymouth, * The following aunfrrientation ^^'as ordered on the 11th of June, 1679:— Meu. 3 Troops of Horse Grenadier Guards 200 3 Regiments of Horse 1480 1 Rygimtnt of Dratjoons 640 3 Non-regimented Troops of Dragoons 240 1 Regiment "^ Foot 1600 1 D.tto 1000 Total olGO IVar Office Estab/uhtnetit Book. t i^ibl. Harl. No. 64v!5. THE TniRl> RF-GIMKNT OF FOOT. 135 and the Tsle of Wight, were relieved, and they proceeded, 168 1 three companies to Berwick, and two to Hull. In the autumn of this year (1684) titles of distinction were given to several regiments. Dumbarton's regiment (now 1st foot), was styled the Royal regiment; the 1st Tangier (now 2nd foot), the Qukkn's regiment; and the 2nd Tangier (now 4th foot), the Duchess of York's regiment; but the title of Holland Ukgiment, previously given to the corps whose services form the subject of this memoir, was deemed an honourable de- signation, commemorative of its origin and early services, and was not changed. In the list of the army, published in the autumn of this year by Nathan Brooks, the uniform of the Holland Regiment is stated to be scarlet lined \ni\\ Jlesh-colonr, (or very light buff',) and the regiment is stated to have borne on its colours at this period the red cross of St. George, bordered vith tvhite, in a green field. On the breaking out of the rebellion of the Duke of 1685 Monmouth, in June, 1685, the establishment of the Holland Regiment was ordered, by King James II., to be augmented to thirteen companies of one hundred men each, besides officers ; but after the overthrow of the rebel army at Sedgemoor, on the 6th of July, the num- bers of this i*egimcnt were reduced to fifty men per com- pany. In the autumn of the same year, it was relieved from garrison duty by one of the regiments raised during Monmouth's rebellion ; and, after marching to London, it was placed in quarters in the borough of South wark. On the 25th of October, 1685, the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred by King James II. on Sir Theo- philus Oglethorp, from the lieut. -colonelcy of the third troop of life guards ; a distinguished officer, who had "i^- 1 I 126 HISTORICAL RECORD OF i ... 1685 risen by merit from the post of private gentleman in the life guards. 1686 The regiment passed the winter in Southwark, and on the 29th of March, 1686, two companies were detached to Windsor, to do duty at the castle. In May a train of field artillery was attached to the regiment, and on the 25th of that month it pitched its tents on Hounslow Heath ; from whence two companies were detached in July, to Tunbridge Wells, to attend the Princess Anne (afterwards Queen Anne) during her residence at that place. An army of upwards of twelve thousand men was en- camped, during the summer, on Hounslow Heath ; and in a description of the several corps, published in the Antiquarian Repertory, the uniform of the Holland Regiment is stated to be red lined with ash, with ash- coloured breeches and stockings. The ash colour here spoken of, is the colour of ash wood, that is, a very light buff, the same '.vhiJi, in 1684, was designated Jlesh colour. Having been twice reviewed by King James II. ca Hounslow Heath, the regiment struck its tents on the 10th of August, and marching to the north of Englanc, was afterwards disposed in garrison ; nine companies at Hull, and four at York ; and, in December, four com- panies were removed from Hull to Beverley. 1687 A change of quarters took place in the spring of 1687, and the regiment passed the greater part of this year at 1688 Berwick, from whence it proceeded, in March 1688, to villages in the immediate vicinity of London ; on the lOth of June it was again encampeJ on Hounslow Heath. After the sovereigns of Spain and the G(?rnian empire ^ 'f.'i :'3iuJ#*»v THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 127 had been foiled in their attempts to subvert the reformed 1688 religion, Louis XIV. of France appeared as the cham- pion of Papacy, and sought to become the dictator of Europe. At the same time the British monarch, James II., had openly professed himself a Papist, and, influ- enced by Jesuitical councils, he was making rapid ad- vances towards the subversion of the reformed religion in his dominions, and was also paving the way for absolute monarchy, a proceeding which had proved fatal to his father, Charles I., only a few years before. The con- duct of the British king, with the known designs of the sovereign of France, occasioned much alarm to every Protestant state in Europe ; and when the British nobles and gentry invited the Prince of Orange to come to England with an army, to assist them in opposing the proceedings of the court, the States-General of the United Provinces provided, with great readiness, a fleet and army for the purpose. King James II. had the mortiflcation of discovering t\ut his soldiers had as great en aversion to Papacy as his other .ub'octs, and he dismissed the several corps from the cam;' at Hounsiow to their quarters, with feelings of indignation, resolving to ijitroducc officers and soldiers of the Roman Catholic persuasion into c^ '^ regiment. The Holland Regiment was one of the coips .. I'ich had ex- cited the king's anger; it was originally raised for t'"? protection of the reformed religion, and the officers and men appeared to take an interest iq that cause ; their lo}altv was, however, undoubted, and their conduct dur- ing the trying circumstances in which they were soon afterwards placed, reflects credit on the corps. When the regiment was dismissed, on the 9th of August, from the camp at Hounsiow, it protieeded to Rochester, with one company to Maidstone, and a detachment of one ■'■p. ft ■'". m \i-l) ¥,■ ': [ I- ^r:': i: ii_iii:. it^ m w: ■1 m^ I *-^ ^ ij : . iM m ^K 1 iW II B' r-:- ' B ^t'- B f t; BHB- t ' ' - - C j|i j m ^ '' luH; i yi l-*d 128 HISTORICAL RKCORD OF h 1688 hundred men to Shccrncss; and the king, beiii<» alarmed at tlic preparations in Holland, ordered an augmentation often men per company to this, and also to his other regi- ments. The regiment was recalled from country-quarters in the heginningof November to London, and when informa- tion was received that the Prince of Orange had landed at Torhay, it was ordered to march to Salisbury, where the king's army was assembling. Louis XIV. had proposed to send a French army to England to assist James IL in repelling the invasion of the Prince of Orange, and in su{)pressingany connnotions which might arise among his subjects ; but the aid of a French force had been declined, in the expectation that the English army would ]n-ove a ready instrument in ex- ecuting the designs of the court. The arniy having as- sembled at Salisbury, a crisis had arrived. jMaiiy officers and men went over to the Prince of Orange ; and the king, having discovered that his troops would not tight against the best ' terests of the nation, ordered them to retire towards London. The Holland Rkgimknt was ordered to march to Brentford, where it arrived on the 29th of November. The regiment remained in quarters near London, until after the flight of King James II. for France, when it was ordered by the Prince of Orange to march to Chesham and Amersham ; ami its colonel, Sir Theophilus Ogle- thorp, refusing to take the prescribed oath to his Highness, the colonelcy was conferred on Charles Churchill (bro- ther of Lord Churchill, afterwards the great Duke of Marlborough) from the lieut. -colonelcy of the second Tangier, or Queen's regiment, now the 4th foot. 1689 King James II. having vacated the sovereignty by his flight to France, William and Mary, Prince and Princess Prin Quei THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, 129 of Orange, were elevated to the throne. The Holland n>89 IIkoimdnt, having marchod into quarters at Colchester, and other towns in Essex, was ordered, in tlie spring of 1 089, to hold itself in readiness to proceed to the Nether- lands, to replace the Dutch troops which King William had resolved to retain in England. About this period the title of the regiment was changed under the following circumstances : — The marine regiment raised in 1004, and styled the Admiral's, or Duke of York's regiment, had, for several years past, been designated Prince (ieorgo of Denmark's* regiment ; and, in the spring of 1()89, it was sent to Hol- land, and ordered to be incorporated in the second foot guards. At the same time the title of H(jli,and Rkoimknt, was no longer considered peculiar to the corps which is the subject of this narrative, as the three English regiments raised in Holland in 1074, for the service of the United Provinces, had arrived with the Prince of Orange, and were placed upon the English establishment. The old Scots Brigade had also arrived with his Highness, and was placed upon the British esta- blishment ; hence there were seven regiments in England, at this period, which might each claim the designation of Holland Regiments' ; — having all been raised for the ser- vice of the republic of Holland, — having all fought in the wars of the United Provinces, — and two of the Scots regi- ments, being of equal antiquity and honourable service with the old English Holland Regiment. Under these circumstances, King William was pleased to change the title of this corps to " Prince George of Denmark's 1 l-.V ill 11 U ; :-f^! * Prince George of Denmark was married in 1683 to the Princess Anne, the second daughter of James II., afterwards Queen Anne. 130 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1689 Rkoimknt." The honorary titles of corps were, how- tvtM-, 9cl(l<»m mentioned by the historians of this period, it being customary to distinguish every regiment by the name of its colonel, and this corps was frequently de- signated CiiUKCHiLi/s llK(iiMKNT. Its proper title is only to be met with in the muster-rolls and official returns, and occasionally in D'Auvergnc's history uf the wars in the Netherlands. The regiment embarked for Holland in April, 1689 ; and it served the campaign of this year under IMnce Waldeck. No general engagement occurred ; but a piquet of the regiment, forming part of a body of five hundred men under Colonel Hodges, was sharply en- gaged with the enemy, on the 25th of August, near Walcoitrt. This piquet was employed in covering a foraging party, and was attacked by the French army under Marshal d'Humiercs, who attempted to carry the town of Walcourt by assault. Colonel Hodges, and the men under his orders, evinced signal intrepidity and firmness ; after some sharp fighting had taken place, the Earl of Marlborough brought forward the English cavalry and two regiments of infantry, and the French were repulsed with the loss of two thousand men killed and wounded. In October, Prince George of Den- mark''s regiment marched to Bruges, in West Flanders, where it passed the winter. 1690 In the mean time King James had proceeded to Ire- land, and was at the head of a numerous army of Irish Roman Catholics, and a French force which had accompanied him thither. King William having resolved to proceed with all his disposable forces to Ireland, to rescue that country from the power of the papists. Prince George of Denmark's, and four other regiments, were ordered to quit the Netherlands, and return to England. wit anc (or rcgii cont ofb the flan act s to a A regir gland. THE THIRD RKOIMKNT OF FOOT. 131 These corps, after landi , "f ^ ravcscnd in June, 16W, I6f)0 pitched their tents on l^hxiihcath, where they remained until the middle of August, when they proceeded to South- sea common, near iWtsmouth, and after encamping there until Septeml)er, four regiments proceeded to Ireland under the Earl of Marlborough, to besiege Cork and Kinsale ; at the same time Pkincb Gmorgf. op Den- makk's regiment marched into quarters in Berkshire. The regiment passed the summer of 1G91 in various i691 quarters iu the maritime towns in the south of England, and in January, 1G92, it marched into quarters at Ox- 1692 ford, with four companies detached to Abingdon. The war in Ireland having been terminated by the deliverance of that country from the power of King James, King William was enabled to send a considerable reinforcement to the Low Countries, and Prince George OF Denmark's regiment was one of the corps selected for foreign service. It ?mbarked accordingly from Greenwich and Woolwich in the beginning of March, 1092, and consisted of the following numbers : — 13 cap- tains, who each carried a pike, 14 lieutenants, each armed with a partisan, 12 ensigns with half-pikes, 39 Serjeants with halberts, 2G drummers, 63 grenadiers. 168 pikemen, and 588 musketeers. The practice of having a colour (or ensign) to each company, as at the formation of the regiment in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, had been dis- continued, but as the regiment when drawn up in order of battle, was formed in three divisions, the pikemen in the centre, and the musketeers and grenadiers on each flank, it carried three colours, that each division might act separately, if required. This practice was common to all English regiments of the line at this period. After landing at Williamstadt, in North Brabant, the regiment marched to Flanders, and it joined the army k2 » p : 'i i- 132 HISTORICAL RECORD OF ■ vm ii;; M 1692 commanded by King William in person, at the camp near Louvain, on the 18th of May, (0. S.) At this period the French were besieging Namur, and the regiment, having its post in the reserve under the Count de Lippe, formed part of the force which advanced to relieve the town. The progress of the army was, however, delayed by heavy rains, which occasioned the rivers to overflow. On the 20th of June the regiment was encamped near Fleurus, and a detachment being ordered to proceed towards the banks of the Sambre to cover a foraging party, Captain Luke, of the regiment, advanced in front of his men, and was made prisoner by a party of French troops in ambush. The garrison of Namur capitulated on the same day. The regiment was afterwards employed in several manoeuvres, and on the 29th of June it was reviewed on its camp-ground, near the village of Waterloo, by King William and the Elector of Bavaria, and its appearance and discipline were highly approved. It subsequently performed several marches, and on the 22d of July was ordered to quit its station in the reserve, and take post in the main body of the army. At this date the French army, commanded by the Duke of Luxembourg, was en- camped near Steenkirk^ and the confederates under King William, beyond Halle ; and on the evening of the 23d of July a detachment of the regiment, with several corps under the Duke of Wirtemberg, advanced with hatchets and spades to make a road through the wood which lay between the two armies. Karly on the following morning the army advanced through the defiles, and the men of Prince Georgk of Denmark's regiment, sent forward on the preceding evening, laid aside their axr's and spades and joined the advanced -guard, which attacked the enemy with great THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 133 spirit and resolution. The defiles being narrow, some 169-2 difficulty was experienced in bringing up the main body to support the leading corps, which, being pressed by su- perior numbers, were forced to retire. Prince Geougk OF Denmark's, and the Earl of Bath's regiments, (third and tenth foot,^ having passed through the wood, deployed on some open ground, when the former opened its fire with good effect, and the latter proceeded to the aid of a regiment of Luneiiburgers, which was nearly overpowered by the enemy. The delay which occurred in bringing up the infantry, occasioned the king to order a retreat, and the regiment performed this retrograde movement in the face of an enemy of very superior numbers, in good order, and without sustaining much loss. In the subsequent part of the campaign its services were limited to ma- noeuvring, and it passed the winter in quarters at Ghent. After quitting these quarters in April, 1693, the regi- 1693 ment was encamped a short time on a plain near Ghent, from whence it proceeded in the following month to Parck camp, and took post near the right of the first line. It was subsequently employed in several movements, and on the I8th of July it was posted in the village of Neer- Landen, on the left of the army, where a battalion of the Royals, with the Queen Dowager's and Queen Consort's regiments, (now first, second, and fourth foot,) and one Dutch and one Danish battalion were also stationed; and, in anticipation of being attacked by the enc my, thirty men of each battalion were employed in making a slight breast- work. At sun-rise, on the following morning, a French army of very superior numbers, commanded by Marshal Duke of Luxembourg, was seen drawn up in order of battle on the undulatin*,' grounds in front of the confederate army ; the British and i)utch ?rtillery immediately opened their w RnHi 1 ^tf ll ' wH ■^''•'l^f ■' 1 V.'":| '' ' •! V ., , -i' , 'lii :'-,l1 li^ I ■ '■.■•' 1^ , f ■' ■ i; ^- J 1 , -y - 1 . ,' t ;;.} \y.l 134 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1693 fire, and at this moment Prince George of Denmark's and the Queen Consort's regiments were detached to the right of the army, to reinforce the troops stationed in the village of Laer, against which post a French column was directing its march. Scarcely had the regiment gained its station in the vil- lage, when the enemy's column came sweeping over the broken grounds, and commenced the attack with great spirit ; but the head of the French column was assailed by volleys of musketry, and it shrunk before the steady and well-directed fire of the regiments in the village. Fresh troops soon advanced against this post, when the English regiments, though attacked by very superior numbers, boldly confronted the legions which assailed them in front and flank, and in the midst of the conflict Prince George of Denmark's regiment was seen main- taining its ground with sanguinary tenacity ; * but at length it was forced to give way before the very superior numbers by which it was attacked, and the French gained possession of the village. The regiment, however, soon rallied ; the pikemen made a furious charge ; the mus- keteers, drawing their swords, followed in full career, and the enemy was overpowered and driven from the village with great slaughter, f * " The dispute was hot at Laer, and the fire very violent. '-■ D' Auvergne. t " Ramsey rallied his brigade and charged the enemy that " had possessed themselves of the village of Laer, with such fury, " that he beat them out again, '•ogaincd the post, and made great " slaughter.'' — " The French ,:;ccount, to cover this, says, that " we were considerably reinfor'^pd, both at Laer and Neer-Win- " den, from our main body of foot ; but it is certain there was no " such thing, it was the same forces rallied that had the credit of " reijaining thuir former post, and of beating back their numerous " enemies that had taken it from Wwm." — Ibid. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 135 The regiment had thus, by a noble efTort, regained 1693 its position, and it presented a formidable front to the enemy's battalions ; but the success of the day was not de- pendent on the issue at this part of the field alone ; a severe conflict had been maintained at other parts of the line with varied success ; the French eventually carried the village of Neer-Winden, forced the position, and the regiments stationed in the village of Lfer were cut off from the main body of the army. They defended their post for some time, fiercely engaging the French troops which rushed forward to attack them ; but they were eventually obliged to retire. Prince George of Den- mark's regiment was beset by a brigade of infantry, and several regiments of dismounted dragoons, and while fighting and retreating, two of the ensigns, who carried colours, fell, and the colours were captured by the enemy j the ensign who carried the third colour, was surrounded and taken prisoner; thus the regiment lost its three colours, but it lost them at the post of honour, while en- gaged in conflict with superior numbers. The regiment, still pressed by the French legions, fought its way to the Gheet,* and having forded that river, joined some other troops which had passed by the bridge of Neer-Hespen. The whole army was in full retreat, and this division proceeded that night with the king to the vicinity of Tirlemont. The severe loss which the regiment had sustained in this battle, occasioned His Majesty to order it to proceed * " Our foot did wonders. The enemy had above eighty "thousand eifective men; we were not more than forty-five " thousand men." — London Gazette, 2891. " Ouv troops in general behaved themselves extremely well, " but the English did particularly distinguish themselves." — Ibid, 2892. # 136 HISTORICAL RECORD OF :/ ^*1 i' , , lfi93 into garrison at Malines; * and several officers and Ser- jeants w(?re afterwards sent to Enfjland to procure re- cruits. 1694 Before the following summer the regiment was com- pleted to its former numbers, and marching out of Ma- lines in the beginning of May, 1694, pitched its tents near the cloister of Terbank, where a camp was formed of three English and thirty-six Dutch battalions. The regiment took pait in the operations of the army during this campaign, performing many long and toil- some marches in Flanders and Brabant ; but it had no opportunity of distingui^'iing itself in action with the enemy, and in the {.utumn it returned to the pleasant town of Malines, where it passed the succeeding winter. 1695 Early in the following spring the French commenced some new works between the Lys and the Scheldt, when five hundred men of the regiment marched out of Ma- lines and proceeded to the vicinity of Ghent, where up- wards of forty thousand men were assembled for the pur- pose of interrupting the proceedi.igs of the enemy ; this design was, liowever, laid aside, and the greater part of the troops returned to their quarters, but Prince Gi ORGii OF Denmark's regiment encamped near Marykirk until the army took the field, when it was joined by the men who had been left behind at MaHnes. It was subse- quently detached to Dixmude, in West Flanders, form- ing part of the force under the Duke of Wirtemberg, designed to make a diversion to favour the operations of m : I * " Bri2;adier Churchill's legiment v;as ordered to ]?arrison at '* Malines. This regiment liad suffered very much at Laer, where " it was sent to reinforce Hiit,''adier Ramsay, but more particii- " larly in the loss of its colours; two of the ensigns who carried " them were killed, a;id the third taken prisoner." — WAuvergne. '' J''-:7 THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 137 the main army, and it pitched its tents before the 1695 Kenoque, a strong fortress at the junction of the Loo and Dixmude canals, where the French had a garrison. Having taken post ahnost within musket-shot of the works, a slight entrenchment was thrown up, and on the 9th of June the grenadiers of the several regiments drove the French from the entrenchments and houses near the Loo canal ; the enemy made several attempts to regain this post, but were repulsed. A redoubt was afterwards taken, and a lodgment effected on the works at the bridge, and Prince George of Denmark's regiment took a spirited and distinguished part in these actions, and had several men killed. In the mean time King William had commenced the siege of Namur ; the attack on fort Kenoque was soon afterwards desisted in, and the regiment, marching towards ihe Lys, joined the covering army under the Prince of Vaudemont. This army amounted to about thirty-six thousand men, and Mar- shal Villeroy advanced against it with a French army of about seventy thousand men, when the Prince of Vaude- mont, by skilful manoeuvring, withdrew to the vicinity of Ghent. While on this retreat, Major-General Churchill, co- lonel of this regiment, with his aide-de-camp, and two other officers, halted at a house on the road side, where they had a guard of a Serjeant and twelve men posted. The house was afterwards surrounded bv a company of the enemy, and six of the guard, who were dispersed sentries, were cut off*. The sorjeant, and the other six men, were called into the house, and by a brisk fire from the windows they forced the French to witlidraw a short distance. Major-General Chur^'hill, attempting .o escape, was intercepted, made prisoner, and instantly plundered s'l'li; ii, ,:vT'' I; I'l • ' fi'i 't , Ri r ; ; I m m'4 138 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1695 of his money, watch, coat, and other articles. While the French soldiers were dividing the booty, he was required to sit down under a hedge, and the men were so intent upon making an equal division, that he succeeded in '^ffecing his escape. The officers and soldiers in the 'i*^ defended themselves until the numbers of the lemy were so increased that there remained no chance of escape, when they surrendered. The regiment was subsequently employed in several movements designed to protect the maritime and other towns of Flanders, and to cover the troops carrying on the siege of Namur under the immediate command of King William. Two powerful armies manoeuvred on this occasion, and the French were indefatigable in their attempts to raise the siege, but success attended the arms of the allies ; Namur was taken, and, after the works were repaired, Prince George op Denmark's regiment marched into quarters at Ghent, where it passed the suc- ceeding winter. 1696 It was afterwards selected to form, during the summer of 1696, part of the army of Flanders, under the orders of that veteran commander the Prince of Vaudemont, while the forces under King William in person were em- ployed in operations in Brabant ; the regiment, accord- ingly, marched out of Ghent on the 14th of May, and pitched its tents on the banks of the canal between that place and Bruges. Its services during this campaign were limited to defensive operations for the protection of Ghent, Bruges, and Nieuport, against a French army of superior numbers, commanded by Marshal Villeroy ; and towards the end of August, when the enemy menaced Bruges, the regiment was employed in throwing up en- trenchments before the town, by means of which the THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 139 enemy's designs were frustrated.* Several slight skir- 1696 mishes afterwards occurred, and in October, when the French army had retired, the regiment proceeded to its former quarters at Ghent. After passing the winter at this place, the regiment 1697 marched, in the spring of 1697, to Louvain, to relieve a Dutch regiment in garrison at that city. It subsequently joined the army commanded by King William, and took part in several manoeuvres. When the French marshals menaced Brussels with a siege, it marched with the army from Waterloo, ti:roMgh the forest of Soigne, during the night of the 22nd of June, in dark and tempestuous weather, and, taking post before the city, was instru- mental in its preservation. The regiment remained encamped \ .fore Brussels until the peace of Ryswick was concluded, when it pro- ceeded in boats down the canal to Bruges, and during the winter it embarked for England. After its arrival, the establishment of the regiment was iggs reduced to fifty-two officers, and five hundred and twenty non-commissioned officers and soldiers. In 1699 a fur- 1599 ther reduction took place, and its numbers were fixed at ten companies of three officers, two Serjeants, two cor- porals, one drummer, and thirty- six private men each. During the four years succeeding the peace of Kys- 1702 wick, the regiment was employed in garrison duty in various parts of England; but events had, in the mean time, occurred in Europe, which again called forth its services in actual warfare in the summer of 1702. * " The magistrates of Bruges presented the soldiers with four " hundred barrels of ale, as an acknowledgment of thepain-^they " had taken in making works so necessary for their town." — D'Auvet-gne. f; if ■ m 1 ■ ,1 ; ", I .. r- ■ ■t-' ' mPD m \i JM 1 W I I;'; m III m II n )^HI 140 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1702 This war was occasioned by Louis XIV. of France, who continued to pursue, with unremitting assiduity, the objects of his ambition, and procur^rl the accession of his grandson, Philip Duice of Anjou, i<> the throne of Spain. The union of these two powerfi'l ncnarchies, in violation of existing treaties, i ekindlcd the flame of war in llurope, and the establishment of Prince George of Denmark's Regiment was augmented to 800 officers and men. The death of King William III., and the accession of Queen Anne on the 8th of March, 1702, were followed by a declaration of war against France and Sjt . in ; and this corps was selec'»d to form part of an expedition against the strong port '- 1' Cadiz, under the command of the Duke of Ormond, with a naval force under the direc- tions of Sir George Rookc. The regiment accordingly proceeded to the Isle of Wight, and, after encamping there for a short time, embarked on board the fleet. The expedition arrived off the coast of Andalusia in the ca. ly part of August ; a landing was effected a short distance from Cadiz on the 15th of that month, and on the fol- lowing day the town of Rota, situate on the north side of Cadiz bay, was taken. The town of Part St. Mary's situate at the mouth of the river Guadalete, was taken on the '21st, and Fort St. Catherine surrendered on tl.e succeeding day. On the 2.5th the troops marched out of Port St. Mary's, and encamped at St. Victoria, and the siege of the Matagorda was commenced. Cadiz w^s found much better fortified than when it was captur"'. by an expedition, of w hich this regiment formed a part, in 1596. It was now better prepared for a powerful re- sistance than had been expected, and the (Expedition proved of insufficient strength for the capture of so for THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 141 midable a place; the troops were, consequently, ordered 1702 to retire, and they re-embarked and sailed for England. Before the flett had proceeded far on the voyage, in- formation was received of the arrival of a number of Spanish vessels, with a French convoy, at the port of Vigo, in Galicia, and an attack on this fleet was resolved upon. The British squadron immediately sailed for Vigo. Prince George of Denmark's regiment, with several other corps, effected a landing on the 12th of October, on the south side of the river, seven miles from the town. The grenadiers, commanded by Viscount Shannon, and Colonel Thomas Pearce, advanced against the fort at the entrance of the harbour, while the Duke of Ormond marched with the other corps over the rugged heights, and dispersed a body of Spanish militia. The lower platform, with a battery of thirty-eight pieces of cannon, was captured by the grenadiers, while Prince George of Denmark's regiment advanced on the left against a stone tower, which was also captured, and three hundred French seamen, and fifty Spaniards were made prisoners. When the troops had captured the batteries, the tleet forced an entrance into the harbour, and the French and Spanish shipping were all taken or destroyed. The Duke of Ormond afterwards advanced with Prince George of Denmark's, and several other regiments to Rondendella, which he took without meeting much re- sistance. At the same time great bodies of Spaniards drew together in the mountains, but they did not venture to attack the British troops. The regiment remained at Rondendella until the 17th of October, when it marched back to theharbour of Vigo and embarked for England. After its arrival it was sta- 142 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1T02 tioned at Chatham, and it received £561. lO*. prize money for the capture at Vi^o.* 1703 In the following spring tlie regiment was ordered to proceed to Holland to reinforce the army commanded by the Duke of Marlborough, and having embarked from England about the middle of April, 1703, (togethcsr with the Queen Dowager's regiment.) landed on the 23rd of that month at Williamstadt, in North Brabant, fron whence it proceeded to the province of Limburg, to j the army assembling on the Maese, while the Dukt Marlborough was carrying on the siege of Bonn. While the regiment was marching towards Tongres, where two regiments (the Queen Dowager's and Elsts'f), had already arrived, Marshals Villeroy and Boufflers sud- denly advanced with forty thousand French troops to surprise the British regiments in their dispersed quarters ; but the two corps in Tongres defended themselves for twenty-eight hours, which gave time for the remainder of the forces to assemble in position before Maestricht. The French commanders afterwards advanced to the vicinity of Maestricht ; but finding the allied army formed in order of battle, they retired and encamped at Tongres. Bonn surrendered in the middle of May, when the Duke of Marlborough placed himself at the head of the allied army, and advanced against the enemy, who re- treated at his approach. After several movements the siege of Huy, a town situate in the valley of the Maese, was undertaken, and this place surrendered on the 25th of August. * Bibl. Harl. 7025. t See page 28 of the History of the Second, or Queen's Royals. r M THE THIRD REGIMENT OF F(X)T. 148 The Duku of Marlborough was desirous of forcing ^<.- 1703 enemy's hncs ; but, being prevented by the timiiU.^ of the Dutch geneni's and field deputies, he advanced to St. Trond, where the main army encamped, to watch the motions of the enemy, while a detached force proceeded to the province of Liege, and besieged Limhtirp;, a town situated on the Weze, which surrendered on the '28th of September. After these r. .quests, Princk Gkokoe of Dknmark's regiment m; "«>iv»l i xk to Dutch Brabant, and was placed in garr. in f n the winter. In the mean time the Elector of Bavaria, having united with France and Spain against the confederates, had been joined, in the summer of this year (1703), by a French army, commanded by Marshal Viliiers; the victorious progress of the arms of France and Bavaria in the heart of Germany, occasioned much alarm to the confederates ; and, to avert the destruction of the Ger- man empire, the Duke of Marlborough undertook the important enterprise of marching to the aid of the Em- peror Leopold. To engage in this gigantic undertaking, which was 1704 pregnant with the most important events, Prince George's regiment, after leaving its winter quarters in the spring of 1704, proceeded to the vicinity of Maes- tricht, and subsequently directed its march to Bedburg, on the Lower Rhine, where the army was ordered to assemble. Advancing from Bedburg on the 19th of May, the regiment directed its march on Coblentz, at which place the army crossed the Moselle and the Rhine on the 26th of May, and afterwards marched through a difficult country to Mentz : the Duke of Marlborough proceeding in advance with the cavalry, and Lieut.-Ge- neral Charles Churchill (Colonel of Prince George's regiment) following with the infantry and artillery. k * ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 1.1 |J0 ■^™ JII^H ^ Ki 12.2 ■ 2.0 140 m |l.25 , U |,.6 M 6" » ^ o> ^^>.:^ ^^^* > PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WKST MAIN STRUT WEBSTiR.N.Y. MSSO (716) 873-4S03 144 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1704 From Mentz the army directed its march on Ladenburg, and having crossed the river Neckar, traversed the country in the direction of the Danube, being hailed by the inhabitants of the several states with enthusiastic ac< clamations.* A junction having been effected with the troops of the empire, the Duke of Marlborough was desirous of possess- ing Donawerth as a depot for arms for the invasion of Ba- varia. To effect this it was necessary to dislodge a French and Bavarian force, commanded by the Count D'Arco, from an entrenched position on the lofty heights of Schellenberg, on the north bank of the Danube, and Prince George of Denmark's regiment furnished one hundred and thirty men for the forlorn hope, which was to commence the attack, while the remainder of the regi- ment followed in support. On the 2d of July the army traversed several miles of difficult country, crossed the river Wernitz, and at six in the evening attacked the enemy's position with dis- tinguished bravery. A severe conflict was maintained for some time ; " but the unparallelled valour of our " forces at length prevailed. They possessed themselves " of the enemy's entrenchments, — pursued them with •' great slaughter to the Danube, where the Count " D'Arco, and the elector's other generals saved them- ** selves by swimming over the riv^^r. We took the " enemy's cannon, ammunition, tents, and baggage, and ** Count D'Arco's plate was found in the camp, with " other very rich booty." f Prince George of Den- mark's regiment had Ensign Harrison, Ensign Caldicut, and three men killed ; and thirty-seven men wounded. } * In Melner's Journal every stage is specified, and the number of miles the troops marched each day. t London Gazette. $ Annals of Queen Anne. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 145 The enemy evacuated Donawerth after the battle, and 1704 the victorious confederates traversed in triumph the country of Bavaria, which the Germans destroyed by fire and sword, with unrelenting severity. Prince George of Denmark's regiment, after taking part in several movements, was encamped on the 12th of August near the village of Minster, forming part of the army under the Duke of Marlborough, and Prince Eugene of Savoy, while the remainder of the Germans, under the Margrave of Baden, were engaged in the siege of Ingoldstadt ; and the French and Bavarians, under Marshals Tallard and Marsin and the Elector of Bava- ria, encamped in the valley of the Danube, near the vil- lage of Blenheim, where the confederates resolved to attack them. At dav- break on the mornin? of the memorable 13th of August, 1704, the army advanced against the enemy, and having overcome severa local difficulties, the troops commenced the attack about one o'clock with their usual gallantry. In the severe conflict which ensued. Prince George's regiment availed itself of the opportunities which it had of acquiring honour. Its attacks were di- rected against the right wing of the Gallo-Bavarian army, where the chosen troops of France were posted, and the enemy's veteran corps, which had often triumphed, were overcome by the superior valour and resolution of their antagonists. Marshal Tallard was made prisoner. The powerful armies of France and Bavaria were literally de- stroyed ; their loss, from various causes, being estimated at forty thousand men ; and their cannon and ammunition, with a great number of standards and colours, were cap* tured by the confederates. The conduct of the British troops on this occasion excited universal admiration, and their splendid achievements have been lauded by numerous 146 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1704 historians. Prince Georue's regiment had Lieutenants Scrimpsour and Palfrey killed; and Lieut.-Colonel Peyton, Major Hetley, Captains Meols, Luke, and Slaughter, Ensigns Montgomery, Bolton, Campion, and Smith, wounded.* Of the number of non-com- missioned officers and private men of the regiment killed and wounded, no record appears to have been preserved. On the day after the battle, the wounded men were sent in waggons to Nordlingen, where a general hospital was established for the army. Prince George of Denmark's regiment was one of the corps selected to guard the French prisoners to Holland ; the troops em- ployed in this service were commanded by Brigadier- General Fergusson ; and having escorted the prisoners from Blenheim to Mentz, they embarked in boats and sailed to Holland, where the prisoners were delivered over to the charge of other corps. Prince George of Denmark's regiment arrived at the Hague in October, and was afterwards employed in garrison duty until the following campaign. 1705 Parties of officers and non-commissioned officers hav- ing been sent to England to recruit, the establishment w - completed in the spring of 1705, and the regiment recalled from its quarters to take the field. Proceeding to the province of Limburg, it pitched its tents on the left bank of the Maese, where the British troops were assembled, and revievred by the Duke of Marlborough, in the early part of May. On the 15th of that month the regiment struck its tents, and proceeding up the country, traversed a barren and mountainous tract to the vicinity of Treves, where it arrived on the 26th, * Annals of Queen Anne. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. !47 and encamped on the banks of the Moselle. After pass- 1705 ing the Saar in two columns, the army advanced, on the 3rd of June, along the rugged grounds between that river and the Moselle, — Prince George's regiment forming part of the column, which, after clearing the dif- ficult defile of Tavernen, followed the course of the Roman causeway over the heights, and afterwards en- camped within seven miles of Syrk, beyond which town a French army, of superior numbers, commanded by Marshal Villiers, was posted. The Duke of Marl- borough was desirous of penetrating into France in this direction, and the Imperial generals had agreed to co- operate ; but the further progress of the army was im- peded, and the designs of his grace frustrated, by the tardy movements and inefficient state of the German troops, and, after waiting a fortnight near Syrk, he re- solved to return to the Maese. Accordingly, on the 1 7th of June, a short time before midnight, the army struck its tents in the midst of a heavy rain, passed the defile of Tavernen without interruption, and about mid-day on the 18th arrived in the vicinity f Treves. From this place the English troops proceeded, by forced marches, to the Netherlands, and having crossed the Maese near Yiset on the 2nd of July, advanced on the 4th up to the enemy's lines. The French had thrown up entrenchments, and con- structed a formidable barrier to cover the Spanish Ne- therlands, of which they had taken possession on the accession of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of Spain, and their army, though superior in numbers to the allies, kept close within these works, which were strengthened by all the resources of art, and covered by rivers and marshes. Notwithstanding the advantages possessed by the enemy, the British commander, with L 2 148 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1705 that spirit of enterprise for which he was distinguished, resolved to attack the enemy's lines, and Prince George's regiment formed part of the force selected to take the lead in this memorable adventure. ' ■••■ By menacing the lines on the south of the Mehaine, the Duke of Marlborough succeeded in drawing the French forces in that direction, and the point selected for the attack was thus weakened. On the evening of the 17th of July this regiment, with the other corps designed to commence the attack, proceeded in the direction of Helixem and Neer-Hespen, being followed by the remainder of the army. Continuing the march through- out the night, the leading corps approached the lines about four o'clock on the following morning. The enemy's guards were surprised. The allies cleared the villages of Neer-Winden and Neer-Hespen, — seized the village and bridge of Helixem, — carried the castle of Wange, — and, rushing through the enclosures and marshy ground, forded the river Gheet and crowded across the fortifications, while the enemy's troops retreated in a panic. Scarcely had Prince George's regiment forced every obstacle and entered the lines, when the Marquis D'AlIegre was seen advancing at the head of twenty bat- f alions and fifty squadrons of French and Bavarians ; but this force was attacked, — the British corps displayed their usual gallantry,* and the enemy was forced to retire with the loss of many standards, colours, cannon, and officers and men taken prisoners. The allied army formed up within the lines; the French made a precipi- tate retreat to Parck Camp, near Louvain j and this dar- ing enterprise was thus crowned with success. * " It is not possible to express the bravery and resolution our " troops showed on this occasion."— Zowrfon Gazette, THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 149 Prince George's regiment was subsequently tn- 1705 gaged in several movements ; but throughout the re- mainder of the campaign its services were limited to long and toilsome marches. In the autumn the fortress of Sandvliet was besieged, and it surrendered on the 29th of October. The regiment afterwards marched back to Holland for winter quarters. After remaining in comfortable cantonments among 1706 the Dutch peasantry until the 6th of May, 1706, the regiment commenced its march for the Maese under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles Churchill.* The army being afterwards united at Bilsen, in the province of Liege, directed its march towards Mont St. Andre, and on the 23rd of May, as the troops were advancing in eight columns, information was received that the French, Spaniards, and Bavarians, commanded by Mar- shal Villerov and the Elector of Bavaria, were taking up a position at Mont St. Andre, extending across the plain to Autreglise, with their centre at the village of liamilies, where the Duke of Marlborough resolved to attack them. The march was, consequently, continued, and the columns, after passing through the village of Mierdorp, emerged upon the plain, and directed their course against the enemy's position ; the column of which Prince George's regiment formed a part, taking the right, proceeded in the direction of the village of Au- treglise, and made a demonstration of attacking the enemy's left. This occasioned the French to weaken their centre to support their left, when the British com- mander gave directions for attacking their centre and right wing, and Prince George's regiment, after retir- ;4' m * This officer was the son of Lieut.- General Charles Churchill, the colonel of the regiment. 150 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1706 ing a few paces, took post on the heights of Foulz, where Viscount Mordaun^s regiment, with the Queen's horse, and Royal Scots and Royal Irish dragoons, were also stationed. Here the five regiments remained for some time, spectators of the conflict on the plain, and panting for an opportunity to distinguish themselves. At length, when an important cribis had arrived, and these troops could attack the enemy at a favourable moment, they descended from the heights, Prince George's regi- ment, under the direction of its lieut.-colonel, taking the lead with its usual boldness, and, after forcing its way through a morass in its front, it crossed the Little Gheet, ascended the acclivity between that river and the Jauche, and charging the enemy's left flank with signal gallantry, forced three French regiments into some low grounds, where the greater part of them were either killed or taken prisoners.* Prince George's and Vis- count Mordaunt's regiments having broken the enemy's left, the Queen's horse, with the Royal Scots and Irish dragoons, followed up the advantage, and made great slaughter. Finally the enemy sustained a decisive over- throw. The French, Spaniards, and Bavarians, dis- mayed at the resolute and sanguinary attacks of their antagonists, rushed in wild disorder through the Great Gheet, and spread in all directions like a scattered swarm, while the allies, still pressing upon the rear of the fugi- tives, and giving them no respite, slew and took pri- soners great numbers. The pursuit was continued until • " Colonel Churchill, who commanded General Churchill's " regiment (the third), signalized himself by driving with hisbat- " talion, supported by Lord Mordaunt's regiment, three French " regiments into the morass, where most of them were either '• destroyed or taken prisoners." — Lediar At this period, the Union of England and Scotland having taken place, St. Andrews Cross was placed on the colours of the English regiments, in addition to St. Georges Cross previously displayed ; and a colour with the two crosses of St. George and St. Andrew was de- signated the Union. About the same period Prince George of Denmark's regiment was permitted to dis- play a Dragon on its colours, as a regimental badge, as a reward for its gallant conduct on all occasions. The Dragon, being one of the supporters to the royal arms in the time of Queen Elizabeth, also indicated the origin of the corps in Her Majesty's reign. 1708 The disasters which the French army had experienced during this war, induced Louis XIV. to use various means to separate England from the alliance which had been formed against him. With this view he fitted out a fleet in the spring of 1708, and embarked a body of troops at Dunkirk, for a descent on Scotland, to aid the partisans of the Stuart family in placing the Pretender (said to be the son of the late King James) on the throne of Great Britain. To repel this invasion, Prince George of Denmark's regiment, and several other corps,* were ordered to return to England, and having embarked from Flanders on the 22d of March, they arrived a few days afterwards at Tynemouth, under convoy of Rear- Admiral Baker. In the meantime the to sea ; * The Iroops ordered to England were, a battalion of foot guards, two battalions of the Royals (first foot), the rogiments of Argyle (third), Webb (eighth), North and Grey (tenth). How (fifteenth),Godfrey (sixteenth), Ingoldsby (eighteenth), and Prim- rose (twenty-fourth).— TAe Complete History of Europe, <^c. THK THIRD REGIMENT OF F )0T. 160 Frencli shipping, with the Pretender on board, had put 1708 to sea; but being chased by the British fleet, the enemy quitted the coast of Scotland in haste without effecting a landing, and bent their course back to Dunkirk. The alarm of foreign invasion having subsided, the regiment was ordered back to Flanders. It again took the field in the month of May, 1708, to engage in active services, and shortly afterwards the French, by a treacherous correspondence with the inha- bitants, obtained possession of Ghent and Bruges, in which towns the British infantry had passed the winter. The enemy also invested Oudenarde, a fortress situate on the Scheldt, in East Flanders, but afterwards resolved to direct their arms against Menin. The skill of the British commander, with the valour of the veteran troops under his orders, however, soon countervailed these advantages. After several manoeuvres and forced marches, the allied army passed the Scheldt on pontoon bridges on the 1 1th of July ; this movement brought on the battle of Oude- narde, which was fought in broken grounds near the banks of the river in the afternoon and evening of the same day, when the French army, commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Vendome, was defeated; and Prince Gkorge of Denmark's regiment had another opportunity of distin- guishing itself. It formed part of a division of twenty battalions under the immediate comnriand of its colonel, Lieut,-General the Duke of Argyle, whose personal bravery excited a spirit of emulation in the troops under his orders. This regiment, with the remainder of the division, having passed the Scheldt, took post on the height of Bevere, from whence it advanced about live o'clock in the afternoon, and having traversed the rivulet near the village of Eyne, formed line on the right of > :*' J f! k 'it. A t IM HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1708 llcrlehem« at the moment when thirty battalions of the enemy's infantry, consisting of the French and Swiss foot guards, with the brigades du lloi, IMcardi, and Royal Roussillon, had attacked the infantry of the allies which had taken post at this part of the field. Having arrived at its post, the Duke of Argyle's division was soon warmly engaged. The desultory fire of the leading companies was succeeded by a heavy conflict of musketry, which extended along the whole front of this portion of the army, and each regiment was engaged separately in the fields and enclosures which border the rivulet. Other troops were soon brought into action ; the partial con* flicts were increased to a general roar of musketry, inter- spersed with some hard fighting, sword in hand, and eventually several of the enemy's leading battalions were broken and chased from hedge to hedge with great slaughter. But fresh combatants soon appeared, and the incessant peals of musketry were re-echoed by the woods ; while the growing shades of evening gradually enveloped the field of battle. Yet the conflict was con- tinued, — the musketry blazed on every side, — the clash of arms and shouts of the combatants responded to the loud notes of the trumpet sounding to charge ; and as the French fire slackened, Princk George's regiment, and other corps, pressing forward with redoubled vigour, routed and nearly destroyed several of the enemy's bat- talions. At the same time the right wing of the French army was nearly surrounded, and the streams of fire, which indicated the attack of the allies, were seen gather- ing round their devoted antagonists, whose destruction appeared inevitable. At length the wings of the allied army, circling round the enemy, drew near each other, while the darkness of the night rendered it impossible to distinguish friends from foes, and the troops were con- THE THIRD REOIMKNT OF FOOT. 155 ■NM *l 8cquently ordered to cease firing and halt. Prince 1108 Geokok's regiment passed the niglit under arms, on the field of battle, where crowds of Frenchmen were taken without resistance, while others, favoured by the dark- ness, escaped ; and before the following morning the wreck of the French army had retreated in disorder towards Ghent. Thus ended a conflict which reflected honour on the British arms ; and had not the darkness of the night favoured the escape of the French army, it would doubtlessly have been destroyed.*" After this victory the army was joined by a German force commanded by Prince Eugene of Savoy, and the siege of Lisle, the capital of French Flanders, — a fortress deemed almost impregnable, and garrisoned by fifteen thousand men, commanded by a Marshal of France, BoufHers, — was resolved upon. This enterprise excited the attention and surprise of all Europe ; and the difR- culties to be surmounted on account of the strength of the place, — its distance from the magazines of the allied army, — and the various means used by the enemy to prevent the capture of this important city, put to the test the abilities of the commanders, and the courage and endurance of the troops. Prince George of Dkn- MARKs regiment formed part of the covering army under the Duke of Marlborough, while the Dutch, Ger- mans, and one British brigade carried on the attacks against the town under Prince Eugene. t The services of the regiment were now of a multifarious character ; at * " If nip[ht had not intervened, the French must inevitably " have been destroyed ; dismay succeeded error, and the army " retreated in disorder to Ghent, Tournay, and Ypres." — Voltaire. \ When the besieging army appeared before Zt«/«,the enemy's out-guards retired, and Serjeant Littler of Godfrey's regiment (now sixteenth foot) swam across the river, with a hatchet, and t. I 156 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1708 one time manoeuvring, — al another in position awaiting the attack of an immense army, which the enemy assem- bled to raise the siege. Prince Geoege''s veterans also took their turn in out-post duty, — assisted in throwing up entrenchments, — also in escorting the supplies for the corps engaged in carrying on the siege ; — and even- tually the grenadier company was ordered to join the besieging army and take part in the attacks on the town. At length the enemy undertook the siege of Brussels; when the covering army before Lisle broke up from its camp, forced the enemy's entrenched position behind the Scheldt^ and advanced upon Brussels ; when the Elector of Bavaria, who commanded the troops before the city, raised the siege and made a precipitate retreat. The cita- del of Lisle, being vigorously pressed, surrendered on the 9th of December. After wresting this stupendous bulwark to the frontiers of France from the enemy, the British commander re- solved, notwithstanding the lateness of the season, to retake Ghent and Bruges, and this regiment formed part of the force which made an attack on the outworks of Ghent on the night of the 24th of December, when the valour and resolution evinced by the besieging troops struck the garrison with dismay, and the town was de- livered up on the 2d of January, 1709. This place was taken possession of by the Duke of Argyle, with his own and five other regiments ; Bruges was also vacated by the enemy, and the troops went into quar- ters for the remainder of the winter. The decease of His Royal Highness Prince George of Denmark, consort of Queen Anne, occurred cut down the drawbridge for a party to pass, for which act of eal- lantry he was rewarded with an ensign's commission in Prince George of Denmark's Regiment. — Mi liner's Journal. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 157 on the 28th of October, 1708 ; and the regiment was no 1708 longer distinguished by His Royal Highness's title. In official returns and orders it was distinguished by the name of its colonel ; in newspapers and other periodical publications it was sometimes styled the Holland Regi- ment, and it eventually obtained a title from the colour of the clothing. The men's coats were lined and faced with bvff; they also wore bvff waistcoats, buff breeches, and buff stockings, and were emphatically styled " The Buffs." This being the eldest corps thus clothed, they were sometimes styled "The Old Buffs;" the thirty - first regiment, which was raised in 1702, being also dis- tinguished by buff waistcoats, breeches, and stockings, was for many years styled " The Young Buffs ;" but has since laid aside that title. Althoug'i the bvff waist- coats, breeches, and stockings have been discontinued, the old Holland Regiment continues to be styled "The Buffs" to the present time (1839). After a few months' repose the regiment marched out 1709 of Ghent, and traversing the conquered territory to Lisle, was afterwards encamped with the army on the banks of the Upper Dyle. At the same time Marshal Villiers took up a position with the French army between Douay and the Lys, where he was menaced with an attack by the allies, which induced him to reinforce his army with part of the garrison of Tournay and other towns. Soon afterwards the allies directed their arms against Tournay y and The Buffs, or Argyle's, regiment formed part of a force of sixty battalions selected to carry on the siege,* while the remainder of the troops * The troops appointed for the service were, seven battalions of English, three of Imperialists, three Danes, seven Prussians, three Saxons, twenty-three Dutch, five Hanoverians, three Pala- W ■■;;{• M^ 158 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1709 formed the covering army. The lines of circumvallation were commenced on the 30th of June, and the trenches were opened on the night of the 7th of July, when the thunder of cannon and musketry commenced ; and in carrying on the attacks, — in repulsing the sallies of the garrison, — in storming the out-works, — and in effecting lodgements, the Dftkb op Argyle's regiment had to take part in much hard fighting ; but such were the spirit and resolution with which these services were performed, that on the evening of the 29th of July, when preparations were making for a general assault, the governor hoisted a flag of truce and agreed to surrender the town. Tiie citadel still held out ; but four English regiments which had not taken part in the siege of the town were ordered to assist in the operations against the citadel.* The colonel of The Buffs, the gallant Duke of Arqyle, had been wounded during the siege of the town, but he continued to command as lieut. -general in the attack of the citadel, which surrendered in the beginning of Sep- tember. From Tournay the Duke of Argyle's regiment directed its march with the army towards Mons, at the same time the enemy manoeuvred to prevent the loss of this fortress ; and on the morning of the 11th of Septem- ber an army, composed of the choicest troops of France, commanded by Marshals Villiers and Boufllers, occupied a position near Malplaquet, made formidable by treble entrenchments and other works of art, and covered by tines, four Hessians, and two of Wirtembergers. The English were, two battalions of the Royals, one of The Buffs or Ar- gyle's regiment, one Meredith's, one Prendergast's, one Sir Richard Temple's, and one Evans's. — London Gazette, <^c. * The regiments of Webb's (eighth), North and Grey (tenth), How's (fifteenth) and Godfrey's (sixteenth); to which Ingolds- bys (eighteenth) was afterwards added.— Zowrfon Gazette, ^c. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 159 thick woods; while the all'c army, commanded by the 1709 Duke of Marlborough and 1 /iice Eugene of Savoy, was encamped on the open grounds in front of the enemy's position. As the morning began to dawn, the allies assembled in arms, and the chaplains performed divine service at the head of the several regiments, at which time a thick mist overspread the woods and concealed the armies from each other. At an early hour the Duke of Argyle's regiment was ready to advance, but the mo- ment of onset was protracted by the fog; about half- past seven the sun broke forth, and the artillery of both armies opened their fire. About nine o'clock The Buffs, with the other troops destined to attack the forces posted in the woods on the enemy's left wing, went sweeping through the open grounds and commenced the assault with an animation which evinced the ardour reigning in the breasts of the men. In its advance this regiment encountered entrenchments and breastworks bristled with bayonets and emitting streams of fire, while the showers of cannon balls and musket shot thinned its ranks, and for a moment it recoiled before the dreadful storm of death by which it was assailed. But it soon rallied, and, being supported by fresh troops, took part in a general attack on the entrenchments, which was made with such fury, that the French were driven from their breastworks back into the wood, where a sharp fire of musketry was kept up from behind the trees. The enemy, however, brought forward fresh troops, including the Irish brigade in the French service, and charged into the wood with great resolution. The ground was now disputed step by step ; the combatants, surrounded by a thick foliage and a dense smoke, fought in small parties among the trees, while at one place the enemy, and at other places the allies, proved triumphant, and the shout of victory was occasionally Iff- •■{;:■,.._ ■ ' ;i . i I i: :(•>.: f/i ■:5' m- 160 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1709 raised by both parties and re-echoed by the hollo\^ sounding woods in notes of terror. In the midst of this varied conflict the Duke of Argyle's regiment held the ground it had gained in the wood with tenacity ; but its loss was severe. Meanwhile a sanguinary contest was going on in other parts of the field, where incredible feats of valour were performed, and obstacles deemed insur- mountable overcome, while hundreds fell on both sides. Eventually the enemy's centre was forced ; — furious charges of cavalry took place; — at the same time the Duke of Aroyle's regiment and other forces in the wood gained ground, and finally the enemy was driven from the field of battle. Thus terminated the most severe action fought during this war, and the loss on both sides was very great. This regiment had Captains Eaton, Smith, Scott, and Melville, with Lieutenants Price and Ledman, killed ; also Captains Talbot, Selwin, and Greatson, Lieutenants Bles- sington.Wilson, Montgomery, and Harwood,with Ensigns Barnes and Rearne, wounded. The colonel of the regi- ment, the daring and chivalrous Duke of Argyle, highly distinguished himself: when leading the troops through the wood, in the face of a shower of balls, he urged the sol- diers onward to acts of heroism,* and, turning round, unbuttoned his waistcoat, and showed them his naked bosom, assuring them he was not provided with armour * " The Duke of Argyle, who fought also on the right, exposed " his person in such a manner that he had several musket shots " through his wig, and through his clothes ; not from an over- " heated valour which runs into all places of danger merely to " show a contempt of it, but that he might animate the troops " to imitate his example, and to perform those miracles which, " from their being put upon such an attack, seems to have been " expected from them." — Military History qf Marlborough and Prince Eugene. «,■«. i i ^ & I m 3 W ii I e £ a ■s O O w - a if: 1 M i; 'i li 1 1 ii ;! i 1 any mo non-con that> a i son in ] ordered Inth paigu w the moT the vicii to assen with th( Vendin the sieg by whic the sun ment pi part of siege ol draininj the pro dered < keeping neral er and tak tember, these cc Courtrs during Shon the Du! British were d grace d Selwyn THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 161 any more than themselves. The loss of the regiment in n09 non-commissioned officers and private men was so great, that, a few days after the battle, it proceeded into garri- son in Flanders, to relieve a Dutch regiment which was ordered to the army to take part in the siege of Mons. In the spring of 1710, the losses of the preceding cam- 1 710 paigu were replaced by recruits from England, and in the month of April the regiment directed its march to the vicinity of Tournay, where the forces were commanded to assemble. It took part in the movements connected with the forcing of the enemy's fortified lines at Port a Vendirif — also formed part of the covering army during the siege of Douay^ and was engaged in the manoeuvres by which the relief of this place was prevented. After the surrender of Douay on the 27th of June, the regi- ment proceeded in the direction of Aubigny, and formed part of the army encamped at Villers-Brulin during the siege of Bethune, and a detachment was employed in draining the inundations near the town, which facilitated the progress of the siege. This fortress having surren- dered on the 29th of August, and the French army keeping behind a series of entrenchments to avoid a ge- neral engagement. Aire and St. Venant were invested and taken, the latter surrendering on the 30th of Sep- tember, and the former on the 9th of November. After these conquests the regiment proceeded into quarters at Courtray, where eight British battalions were stationed during the winter. Shortly after the regiment retired into winter quarters, nil the Duke of Argyle was appointed to the command of the British troops in Spain, at the same time The Buffs were destined to remain in the Netherlands; and his grace disposed of the colonelcy to Major-General John Selwyn, from a newly-raised regiment (afterwards dis- M C ' If 'I ^! i = ^" HI 1*1 li 162 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1*711 banded), whose commission of colonel of this regiment was dated the 26th of February, 171 1. The regiment quitted its winter quarters in April, 1711, and, advancing towards the frontiers of France, was encamped a short time at Warde, where it was joined by a reinforcement of recruits from England : on the 8th of June it was reviewed, with the other infantry corps, by the Duke of Marlborough, and " made a very fine appearance." From Warde the regiment advanced with the army to the plain of Lens, where it was again encamped for some time ; and on the 6th of July a detachment supported the troops engaged in the capture of the redoubt at Ar- leux and the castle of Chanter in. The works at Arleux were afterwards repaired and enlarged, and, while this was in progress, the regiment, with several other corps, in all ten battalions and twelve squadrons, encamped be- tween that place and Douay, to protect the workmen. The exposed situation of this detachment induced Mar- shal Villiers, who commanded the French army, to march secretly from behind his lines, during the night of the 11 th of July, with thirty squadrons of cavalry, and be- ing favoured by a very dark night, he succeeded in sur- prising the detachment about one o'clock on the follow- ing morning. The French horsemen, rushing into the camp, cut down all they met with, and fired their pistols into the tents, which put the soldiers who were awakened by the noise into some confusion ; at the same time some of the men seized their swords and ran out of the tents in their shirts to engage the enemy, while others only thought of escaping; and the French horsemen be- took themselves to plundering. Several squadrons of cavalry took the alarm early, and were soon formed up behind the tents. Meanwhile The Buffs, and Colonel THE '^illRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 163 St. Maurice's regiment, formed up in the dark, some 1711 in their shirts and others half dressed, and, charging sword in hand, drove the enemy out of the camp ; at the same time, the squadrons which had formed up behind the tents joined in the attack, and the French cavalry were forced to retire. The colonel of Thk Buffs, Major-General John Selwyn, was applauded for his gallantry on this occasion : he charged the enemy at the head of his regiment, and was severely wounded. When daylight appeared, sixty dead Frenchmen were found in the camp, and about the same number of wounded. The allies had fifty men killed and eighty wounded ; and the Carabiniers (now sixth dragoon guards), with several other corps, lost a number of horses, that had broken loose during the fray, and were carried off by the enemy.* The regiment afterwards took part in the manosuvres by which the Duke of Marlborough succeeded in forcing the enemy's fortified lines at Arleux on the 5th of August ; and it was subsequently engaged in the siege of Bouchain, in which service obstacles of the greatest magnitude, — arising from the vicinity of a deep morass, from inundations, and a river separating the army, — had to be overcome ; but the abilities of the commanders and engineers, with the innate bravery of the troops,— who, on more than one occasion, fought up to their middle in water, — surmounted every difRculty, and this formidable fortress was surrendered on the 13th of September. The lines were then levelled, the fortifications repaired, and the regiment afterwards proceeded into quarters. During the winter the troops were occasionally called out, in consequence of the demonstrations made by the 1712 * London Gazette — Lediard's Life of John, Duke of Marlbo- rough— Journals of the House of Commons— &c. M 2 I'- 'uy 164 HISTORICAL KRCOKU OF 1712 enemy of a design nguiiist some of the frontier garrisons ; but nothing of importance occurred. The regiment marching out of quarters in the spring of 1712, ad- vanced to the frontiers of France, and the Duke of Or- mond appeared at the head of the British army in place of the Duke of Marlborough, who had been removed in consequence of a change in the ministry. Negotiations for a general peace having commenced, a suspension of hostilities between the British and French was proclaimed in July ; and the regiment afterwards marched towards the coast ; at the same time Dunkirk was given up by the French as a pledge until the treaty was concluded. After encamping a short time near Ghent, The Buffs were placed in garrison at Nieuport. The regiment remained in Flanders during the period 1713 the negotiations for the peace of Utrecht were in pro- gress ; and on the 14th of April, 1713, the colonelcy was conferred on Archibald Earl of Forfar. On the 1st of August, 1714, the decease of Queen 1714 Anne took place, and King George I. was immediately proclaimed ; at the same time orders were given for the Buffs to return to England, and they landed at Tower Wharf, London, on the 23rd of August. The regiment was ordered to march to Berwick in the beginning of September, and soon afterwards to Scotland, where the establishment was reduced to ten companies of forty men each. It was subsequently sent to Ireland. Soon after the arrival of the king from Hanover, the 1715 partisans of the Pretender made strenuous exertions in his behalf, and Jacobite principles were become so preva- lent, that in the summer of 1715, the army was aug- mented, and The Buffs, with several other regiments, were ordered to return to England. Soon after The Buffs landed, they were ordered to THK THIRD KEOIMUNT OF FOOT. 105 Scotland, and in the autumn they formed part of a body 1715 of troops encam{)cd near Stirling, under the command of the Duke of Argyle, who had 8o often led the regiment to battle and to victory ; at the same time the establishment was augmented to twelve companies of fifty private men each. In the mean time the Earl of Mar having assembled his vassals, had erected the standard of the Pretender in the Highlands; and, being joined by several clans, and other disaffected persons, he was soon at the head of upwards of ten thousand men ; while the forces under the Duke of Argyle did not exceed four thousand men. After several movements and some skirmishing, the rebel army, commanded by the Earl of Mar, advanced, in the early part of November, towards the Firth ; and the Duke of Argyle quitted the camp at Stirling, and pro- ceeded to the vicinity of Dumblain. On the morning of Sunday the 13th of November, the hostile armies con- fronted each other on Sheriff-muir, and The Buffs were on the right of the first line of infantry of the royal army, under the orders of Major-General Wightman. The action commenced between eleven and twelve; The Buffs were soon sharply engaged, and their colonel, the Earl of Forfar, advancing too far in the heat of the con- flict, was wounded and taken prisoner.* After half an hour's sharp fighting, the left wing of the rebel army gave way, and was chased to the banks of the river Allan, and the king's troops captured several colours and stand- ards. But while The Buffs, and several other corps m 4' P im k, 1 * V/hen the rebels found they could not carry the Earl of For- far oiF, they inflicted seven wounds, and left him for dead : he was soon afterwards found among the killed, and survived several days. HI lite IH6 HIHTOKIOAL RR<:()RD Of 171b were pursuing the enomy'd left wing, the rel)elB had defeated the left wing of the royal army. Thus each com- mander had a wing triumphant, and a wing defeated. Both armies returned to their former ground, but the action was not renewed ; the rebels were, however, defeated in their design of crossing the Firth, and they retired during the night towards Perth. The royal army returned to Stir- ling on the following day, and 1'iik Buffs suffered much in the camp from severe weather. The loss of the regiment in this action was Ensign Branch, and eleven men, killed. Towards the end of the same month the Pretender arrived in Scotland, and his presence appeared to give new life to his adherents. But additional forces having joined the royal army, the Duke of Argyle advanced, in 1716 January, 1716, through snow and over ice, towards Perth, when the Pretender retreated, and soon afterwards fled, with the leaders of the rebellion, to France. The Buffs pursued the rebels to Montrose, and afterwards to Aberdeen ; and were subsequently employed in dis- arming some of the western clans. After the restoration of tranquillity, the regiment was stationed at Aberdeen, together with the Inniskilling dragoons, and Shannon's (twenty-fifth) foot. The Earl of Forfar having died of wounds received at Dumblain, the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred by King George I. on Lieut.-General Charles Wills, fruta the thirtieth regiment, by commission dated the 5th of January, 1716. In the autumn of the same year the regiment ^,r<}- ceeded to Newcastle-on-Tyne and Carlisle, whf- c i. 1717 passed the winter, and in the summer of 1717 it marched 1719 to Manchester. In the following spring it proceeded to Poitsir.'iuth, and after passing the summer in that gar- rison, mo'c^ (.apture of yigo, Rondendellii, and Pont-a-vedru, where a quantity of military stores were s(>ized, which had been provided for the invasion of Britain in favour of the Pretender. In the autumn the troops returned to England. In Novem- ber the regi . ini landed at Portsmouth, and proceeded to Sa!ibL\ . vl iv a reduction of two companies was mod* i. thi istablishment ; and in April, 1720, it marched 1720 to ExtiCi, .here it passed the succeeding twelve months, 1721 und in 1721 proceeded to Bristol. From 'kiitol the regiment proceeded to Salisbury, 1722 and during the summer of 1722 it was encamped on Salisbury Plain, where it was reviewed, with several other corps, on the 30th of August, by King George I. and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, after- wards King George II. The regiment quitted the camp on the 1st of October, and proceeded into quarters at Salisbury, where it passed the winter, and in the follow- ing spring marched to Bristol. It passed the summer of 1723 in camp near Bristol, 1723 and the winter in quarters at Exeter. During the sum- 1724 mer of 1724 it was again stationed at Bristol, in 1725 1725 at Salisbury, and in 1726 it marchtJ into Yorkshire, 1726 and was quartered at Leeds and Beverley. In August, 1726, General Sir Charles Wills, K. B., was removed to the first foot guards, and the colonelcy of "J HE Buffs was conferred on Thomas Earl of London- derry, from the third horse, now second dragoon guards. The regiment marched to Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1727 January, 1727, and in May it proceeded to Scotland, and was placed under the orders of Major-General I % i'H* 168 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1727 Wade, who was employed in constructing a military road in the highlands. 1728 The Buffs remained in Scotland nearly four years, during which time the Earl of Londonderry proceeded to America, and the colonelcy was conferred on Lieut.- Gent-ral William Tatton, by commission, dat^d the 24th 1729 of November, 1729. 1730 The services of the regiment were transferred from 1731 Scotland to England in 1731, and it was quartered at 1732 Berwick ; from whence it proceeded, in July, 1732, to Bristol. 1733 It passed the winter of 1733, and the whole of the year 1734 1734, at Salisbury; in May, 1735,it proceeded to Birming- 1736 ^^^ ^^^ Wolverhampton ; and in the summer of 1736 it was stationed in Kent and Sussex, with detachments on coast duty. 1737 The regiment called in its detachments in January, 1737, and marched to the north of England, and in July it again proceeded to Scotland. On the 27ih of June, 1737, King George II. pro- moted Brigadier-Genera? Thomas Howard to the colo- nelcy of the regiment, from the twerty-fourth foot. 1738 The regiment remained in Scotland three years, dur- 1739 ing which time it was again augmented to a war esta- blishment, in anticipation of approaching hostilities. In the summer of 1740 it returned to England, and was sta- tioned at Berwick and Durham ; from whence it pro- 1741 ceeded in June, 1741, to the south of England, and was subsequently encamped near Colchester ; but in October it marched into quarters in Bedfordshire. J ^4 2 ^" 1742 the regiment was again called upon to take the field. The King of France having joined the Elector of Bavaria in an attempt to deprive Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, of her hereditary dominions. King -r;t| THE THIRD REGLMENT OF FOOT. 169 (George II. resolved to send sixteen thousand men to the 1742 Netherlands, to make a diversion in favour of the Aus- trians, and The Buffs were selected to form part of this force. They, accordingly, marched into quarters near London, embarked in transports on the river Thames in August, 1742, and, after landing at Ostend, went into quarters in Flanders, where, owing to the tardiness of the Dutch, they passed the remainder of the year in a state of inactivity. In the early part of the following year, however, the 1743 regiment commenced its march for Germany, and, after passing through the province of Liege, and the duchy of Juliers, it was engaged in operations in the territory bordering on the Rhine. On the 3rd of June, 1743, it crossed the Maine by a pontoon bridge, and encamped between that river and the forest d'Armstadt ; and on the morning of the 10th it was formed, with the remainder of the Anglo- Austrian army, commanded by Field-Mar- shal the Earl of Stair, in order of battle, expecting to be attacked by the French army, commanded by Marshal Noailles, but the enemy not appearing, the troops re- passed the river and encamped between Hochst and Silingen, and subsequently proceeded to the vicinity of Aschaffenburg, where King George II. and the Duke of Cumberland joined the army. On the 27th of June (N. S.) the army marched in the di- rection of Hanau, and as the troops were proceeding along the banks of the Maine, it was ascertained that the French army had crossed the river, and taken post near Dcltin- gen. Preparations were immediately made for action, — the line was quickly formed, and about mid-day the battle commenced. For a short time The Buffs, owing to local difficulties in the ground, were not engaged : at length they were enabled to deploy and open their fire, and soon afterwards the enemy gave way, and was driven from the ■ '■ • 1 " 1 ■I,; ^ };: i^ f i 170 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1743 field with great slaughter, and with the loss of several standards and colours. In this action the regiment had only three men killed, and three wounded : it passed the night after the battle in bivouac, near the scene of con- flict, and on the following day marched to Hanau. In August the regiment crossed the Rhine, and was employed, with the army, in several movements in West Germany ; but no general engagement occurred. In October it repassed the Rhine, and marched back to Flanders for winter quarters. 1744 Having passed the winter among the Belgians, the regiment took the field in May, 1744, and was encamped with the army commanded by Field-Marshal Wade, be- tween Asche and Alost, and subsequently on the banks of the Scheldt ; but the enemy had such a superiority of numbers that the allies were unable to undertake offen- sive operations until August, when the French having withdrawn a portion of their army to oppose the Aus- trians, the allies crossed the Scheldt and advanced against the enemy, who kept close in his lines behind the Lys. The army subsequently advanced into the territory sub- ject to France, and The Buffs were employed in several services in the vicinity of Lisle; the regiment subse- quently returned with the army to its former station on the Scheldt ; and towards the end of September the life guards and regiments of horse marched to Brussels, and the dragoons and infantry to Ghent and Bruges, for winter quarters. 1745 The regiment, having been joined by eighty recruits from England*, marched out of quarters in April, 1745, and pitched its tents near Brussels ; from whence it ad- vanced on the 30th of that month, and, proceeding through the forest of Soignies, arrived at the village of that name * War-Office Records. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 171 on the 2nd of May, where the army halted two days. 1745 Meanwhile the French monarch had assembled an im- mense army and besieged Tournay ; and the Duke of Cumberland, who commanded the allied army, resolved to attempt to raise the siege. The troops accwdingly resumed their march on the 5th of May, and on the 10th The Buffs were engaged, with other corps, in driv- ing back the enemy's out-posts, while dispositions were made for attacking the French army on the following day. Advancing from their post near the village of Vezont, at an early hour on the morning of the 11th of May (N. S.), The Buffs, commanded by Lieut. -Colonel George Howard, entered the plain in front of the French army, whose batteries, posted on the elevated grounds which rise with a gentle ascent from the plain, opened their fire, while the regiment deployed and prepared to engage in the assault of the French position on the right of the village of Fontenoy. Soon after nine o'clock the British infantry went boldly forward to the attack, — ex- hibiting, in their firm array and noble bearing in the face of showers of grape and musketry, a splendid spectacle of war, and by a gallant charge broke through the French lines ; but owing to the failure of the Dutch in their attempt on Fontenoy, the British battalions were forced to retire. A second attack was, however, made, and never did British valour and intrepidity display itself in greater lustre than on this occasion ; but the Dutch again failed, and the victorious English were forced to retire. Soon afterwards a retreat was ordered. The Buffs being de- tached from the main body, and having penetrated the position, had passed a number of French tents and camp-kettles about a hundred yards, and ignorant of the result of the general attack, were advancing in line with •■■% '. \ \ 172 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1745 drums beating to charge the enemy in their front, when Sir John Ligonier rode up to the lieut. -colonel and said, '* Howard, cease beating your drums, face your regiment " to the right-about, and retire as quickly as you can, for " the army is defeated." * This regiment, with Lord John Murray's Highlanders, (now forty-second,) formed up in Vezont church-yard, to cover the retrograde movement of the army, and the retreat was conducted in good order to Aeth. The Buffs lost in this action. Quartermaster Cummins, one serjeant, and ten private men killed ; with Lieutenant Tanner, Ensign Punceford, and thirty-two private men wounded ; also eight men missing.f The regiment marched from Aeth on the 16th of May, and pitched its tents on the plains of Lessines, where it remained until after the surrender of Tournay on the 21st of June. It was afterwards encamped at Gram- mont, and subsequently near the Brussels canal, in order to cover Dutch Brabant. In the mean time events were transpiring in Scotland which occasioned a change in the nature of the services of The Buffs. Charles- Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, having arrived at a remote part of Scotland, was joined by many of the highland clans, when he assumed the title of Re- gent of the United Kingdom, and resolved to make a desperate effort to overturn the existing government, which appeared the less difficult in consequence of the greatest part of the army being abroad. The young adventurer and his hardy mountaineers had already made considerable progress, when Thr Buffs were ordered to return to England, and they landed on the coast of North- * The late Field-Marshal Sir George Howard, K. B., who com- manded The Buffs at the battle of Fontenoy, frequently related this anecdote in the presence of officers now living, 183S. t London Gazette. THE THIRD REGIMENT OP FOOT. 173 umberland in November : an augmentation of two com- 1745 panies had previously been made to the establishment. The King's troops were engaged in an attempt to prevent the highlanders penetrating into England : the young adventurer, however, eluded the vigilance of the royal forces and advanced as far as Derby ; but meeting with no encouragement from the inhabitants of the towns through which he passed, and finding himself in danger of being surrounded, he made a precipitate retreat towards Scotland. The Buffs were engaged with other forces under Field-Marshal Wade, in attempting to intercept the rebels in their return to the north, but by great dili- gence the young Pretender and his adherents escaped with the loss of a few stragglers and part of their rear- guard killed in a skirmish on Clifton moor. After the flight of the rebels to Scotland, The Buffs 1746 were ordered to march to Edinburgh, where they arrived on the 7th of January, 1746, and were placed under the orders of Lieut. -General Hawley. Meanwhile the young Pretender, being joined by new levies, and having pro- cured artillery and ammunition, obtained possession of the town of Stirling, and commenced the siege of the castle. In order to raise this siege Lieut. -General Haw- ley advanced from Edinburgh ; his first division, consist- ing of five regiments of the line, a militia corps, and some dragoons, under Major-General Huske, advanced on the 13th of January, and, having driven a party of rebels out of Linlithgow, established themselves at that place. On the following day The Buffs, with two other regi- ments, quitted Edinburgh and took post at Barroustou- ness to support Major-General Huske ; and on the 16th these corps advanced and pitched their tents near Falkirk, where they were joined by the remainder of the army. m- 1 > >i;j mm 174 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1746 During the forenoon of the 17th of January, the rebels were seen in motion, and soon after one o'clock, as the soldiers were at dinner in the camp, information arrived of the advance of the highlanders towards some high grounds on Falkirk moor. This gave great joy to the king's troops, who were anxious to engage their adver- saries; and the regiments were soon under arms and marching to battle.* As they advanced over the rugged grounds between themselves and the enemy, the sky, which had been clear, with occasional showers, became dark, — thick clouds were seen gathering beyond the moor, and the hollo;v-sounding wind gave indication of an approaching storm ; — yet onward went the ranks of war, and soon after three o'clock the battalions diverged upon the moor and formed in twoHnes, while The Bupps formed in column behind the right. Before four o'clock the first line advanced to attack the enemy. At this mo- ment a tremendous hurricane, with a heavy shower of rain, burst upon the moor, and beating with great vio- lence in the faces of the soldiers nearly blinded them ; at the same time it beat on the backs of the highlanders and caused them little annoyance. Notwithstanding this disadvantage the troops went boldly to the attack, and the action was comir need with great spirit by the cavalry on the left, and followed up by the first line of infantry. But the soldiers, owing to the storm of wind and rain which beat in their faces, could not see to take aim, — * List of regiments at the battle of Falkirk. — Dragoons: tenth, thirteenth, and fourteenth regiments. — Infantry: first Royals (one battalion), third, fourth, eighth, thirteenth, fourteenth, twenty-seventh, thirty-fourth, thirty-sixth, thirty- seventh, forty-eighth, and B..ttereau's, since disbanded. — The Glasgow and Paisley Militia, with the Argyle Highlanders, were in reserve. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 175 more than half the muskets would not give fire, — the 1746 powder became wet and useless while the men were in the act of priming and loading;* at the same time, the highlanders^ having their backs to the wind, were enabled to keep up a heavy fire of musketry. This occasioned the king's troops to become disheartened ; they were blinded and confounded by the pelting storm^ and several regiments on the left faced about and retreated in some confusion : but the fourth^ fourteenth, and forty-eighth regiments stood firm. The torrent of battle was, however, flowing in favour of the rebels, and the overthrow of the King's army appeared almost inevitable ; when The Buffs were seen at their station on some low grounds behind the right, standing *' firm as the rocks of their own native shore ;"f and they became a rallying point, where the royals, and detachments from several other corps, assem- bled. These were united and formed in one division with the fourth, fourteenth, and forty-eighth regiments, and the gallant Major-General Huske J taking the command, a resolute stand was made against the rebel host. The rain had abated, yet the wind continued violent, and the shades of night were gathering over the field of battle, as the highlanders, with shouts and dismal yells, came on in full career to attack the division, of which The Buffs formed part. Major-General Huske was calm and * " Some soldiers, while on the field of battle, attempted five " times to load and fire, but were prevented by the storm." — His- tory of the Rebellion in 1745 and 1746. t " The regiment of Old Buffs was one of those that stood " firm in the late battle, and was the last that left the field."— General Advertiser , 28/A January, 1746. X " That composed and bold ofiicer, Major-General Huske, " with only about four regiments, beat the left wing of the rebels, " and drove them up the hill, remaining master of the field, and " then retired to the camp."— /Wrf. WM mm^' \m 176 HISTORICAL RECORD OF H I 1746 Collected ; he ordered the front rank to kneel and reserve its fire until the enemy was within reach of the bayonets ; and when the highlanders, who came boldly forward, sword in hand, arrived within musket shot, the centre and rear ranks sent forth a storm of bullets which laid many daring mountaineers dead on the ground. The remainder shrunk back, and were driven up the hill with precipitation. A few encounters afterwards took place between individuals,* but the main body of the rebel army retreated out of sight. The ground being clear, and part of the cavalry, which had been rallied by Colonel Ligonier, having formed on the right of Huske's division, a few horsemen rode to the top of the rising ground, but no enemy was to be seen. By this time darkness had overspread the field, — the soldiers were wet, — the night was cold and stormy, — the remainder of the army had retired some time before, and, in consequence of these untoward circumstances, Major-General Husket with- * " In the time of the action one of the rebels was pursuing a " soldier belonging to the Old Buffs down the hill, the soldier " turned and attempted to fire, but his piece was so wet it would not •' discharge. He then fronted the rebel and was going to attack " him with his sword ; but the rogue, seeing the soldier's courage, " turned and ran from him. The soldier was going to pursue, " but Brigadier Cholmondeley observing the adventure, rode after " the rebel, and fired a pistol, which happened to miss ; he then " discharged a second, which finished the rebel's course. Upon •* this he bid the soldier search the man's pockets, where the " happy fellow found a purse of sixteen guineas." — Narrative of the Rebellion, by Michael Hughes, a volunteer from the City of London, dedicated to the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens. + " The foot being disordered, a flight ensued of nlmost the " whole first line, except Barrell's and Ligonier's regiments, com- " manded by Brigadier-General Cholmondeley. General Huske, " whose bravery will shine in the British annals as the deliverer " of the King's army that day, with these regiments, the Old " Buffs, and Royal Scots, who made a motion to the right, by a " continual fire made a great slaughter, and drove the rebels up the THE THIRD REQIMKNT 01' FOOT. 177 drew his division from the moor. Thus ended the battle 1740 ol' Falkirk. The rebels claimed a victory ; but their loss in killed and wounded was greater than that of the King's army ; the latter, however, lost several pieces of ennnon for want of horses to remove them. The Buffb had several men killed and wounded, and Captains Osrepo and Hacker were among the slain. When the regiment quitted the moor, it proceeded to the camp, where it halted a short time, and afterwards continued its route to Linlithgow, and the soldiers, who were wet to the skin, were put under cover ; on the fol- lowing day they proceeded to Edinburgh, Reinforcements were afterwards ordered to Scotland, and King George II. sent his son, William Duke of Cumberland, to take the command. Meanwhile the Highlanders continued the siege of Stirling Castle, which was gallantly defended by the garrison under Major- General Blakeney. Before the end of January the troops were prepared for a second advance. The Duke of Cumberland arrived at Edinburgh on the 30th, and on the following day the army moved forward, when the young Pretender raised the siege of Stirling Castle, and made a precipitate retreat to Inverness. The Buffs were engaged in the pursuit of the enemy to Perth, from whence detachments were pushed forward in several directions ; but the main body of the army halted in consequence of severe weather. The march was resumed )• I 1 ' ! Hi" " hill with the utmost precipitation. They had endeavoured to " come upon his wing sword in hand, but his troops were in such " good order, and their fire so regular, the same was deferred ; *' for the general had ordered the first line to kneel, but not to fire " until the enemy was just within reach of their bayonets, whereas " the second and third lines kept them in perpetual motion." — History of the Rebellion in 1745 and 1746. N 178 HISTORICAL RECORD OF I i< 1] 1746 on the 20th of February, and in the beginning of March the army arrived at Aberdeen, but its further advance was once more retarded by heavy rains and snow storms. The troops were again in motion in the early part of April, and, having traversed a distance of above a hun- dred miles, arrived, on the 14th of that month, at the royal burgh of Nairn, sixteen miles from Inverness, where the rebel army had taken post. The young adventurer having previously derived ad- vantage from night>marches, and unexpected attacks, called in his detachments and made a sudden advance from Inverness, with the view of surprising the King's army at Nairn, during the night of the loth of April; but finding the out-posts alert, and a surprise impracti- cable, he faced about and retired towards his former post. On the 16th of April, as the first dawn of morning light appeared, the drums beat to arms, the royal army struck its tents, and advanced in three columns towards Inverness. About eleven o'clock the rebel army was discovered on Culloden moor, and the King'r forces formed in order of battle, and advanced boldly to the attack ; The Buffs having their post on the right of Bri- gadier-General Mordaunt's division. The fire of the cannon was quickly followed by a discharge of musketry, which was succeeded by several charges, and the Highlanders, with their broad swords and targets, were unable to withstand the muskets and bayonets of the King's troops. In less than an hour after the commence- ment of the action, the rebel host was overthrown ; the Highlanders, fleeing in confusion and dismay, were cut down by the cavalry, and bayonetted by the pursuing infantry in great numbers, and the line of retreat was covered with slain for a considerable distance. The following account of this action was given in a letter THE THIRD nEdlMKNT OF FOOT. 179 from n serjcant of The BuffSj and was published at the i>j^(^ time : — " We have obtained a glorious victory over the rebels, " who, I must own, behaved with the greatest resolution. *• The battle began at a quarter after twelve, and lasted •' only till one, in which time our army killed between " two and three thousand of the rebels, besides numbers " wounded ; and our killed and wounded does not cx- " ceed two hundred and fifty men. We have taken pri- " soncrs all the French officers and soldiers not killed in " the action, and the pretended French ambassador. We " have also taken the Pretender's coach, baggage, plate, " and furniture, with above two hundred chests of arms, " eighteen pieces of cannon, with all the utensils belong- " ing to them, which makes the victory complete." After returning from the pursuit, the regiment en- camped near Inverness. Detachments were sent out in quest of the fugitives, who made no attempt to rally ; and the young Pretender wandered in disguise among the isles and mountains, being chased from place to place by the soldiers. From Inverness the regiment marched on the 16th of May, for the Highlands, and was encamped in a gloomy valley near Fort Augustus, where, as one observed, " the " mountains were as high and as frightful as the Alps, " and we had nothing pleasant to behold but the sky." From this camp detachments of The Buffs and other regiments were sent into the mountain-districts, to search for arms, and for the leaders in the rebellion, and to execute certain severe measures against the disaffected clans. The Buffs were subsequently employed in guarding prisoners from the wild mountain-districts to Carlisle and other places, and were eventually placed in garrison at Carlisle. N 2 M,* h ' \ i.i J!«i 180 HISTORICAL RECORD OF i i! 1746 After tho suppression of thorobellioti in Scotland, and the escape of the yonnw Pretender to France, the regi- ment remained in garrison at Carlisle several months. 1747 Meanwhile the war was continued on the conti. nent, and a reinforcement being n'quired to enable the allied army to make a more effectual opposition to the enemy, TiiK Buffs were ordered to proceed again on foreign service. They accordingly embarked towards the end of March, 1747, — landed at Ilelvoetsluys on the island of Voorn in tho early part of April, — and, having joined the army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, were engaged in several operations near the frontiers of Holland, which led to the battle of Vnl, fought on the 2nd July, 1747, in the villages in the vicinity of tho city of Maestricht. On this occ sion the allied army was very inferior in nmnbers to tho enemy; and, although tho British in- fantry were conspicuous throiighout tho action for the gallantry with which they fought, the Duke of Cumber- land Wiis obliged to order a retreat. His Royal Higli- ness passed the highest encomiums on the British troops for their conduct in this battle ; and, according to tiie London Gazette, there was not a squadron, or battalion, which did not charge and beat the enemy more than once. Tlie loss of the regiment in this action was Captain Hacker, Knsign French, three drummers, and forty-five rank and file, killed ; with Captains Crosby, Stoye, and Jocelyn, volunteer Mills, two Serjeants, two drum- mers, and eighty-eight rank and file wounded; and nineteen men missing. The army retreated in good order to Maestricht on the same day ; The Buffs were subsequently stationed in the vicinity of that city, and in the month of November they THE THIRD KKUIMKNT OF FOOT. 181 rcturnwl to England, and w«re stationed at Canterbury, 1717 Fevershaiu, Deal, and Sandwich. The regiment passed the following siminier at Dover, 1748 Maidstone, and other places in Kent ; and on the 21st of August, 1749, the color .t-lcy was conferred on Major- 1749 General George Howard. At the same time a treaty of peace having been concluded at Aix-la-ChapoUe, the two additional companies, raised in 1715, were disbanded, and the numbers were reduced to a low peace establish- ment. Prom this time the regiment appears to have passed a 1750 period of ten years on home service, without being en- gaged in any transaction of importance. On the 1st of July, 1751, a royal warrant was issued 1751 respecting the clothing and colours of every regiment. In this warrant the regiment is designated the Third, or Buffs ; and it is authorized to bear in the centre of its colours •• the Dragon, being the ancient badge; and " the rose and crown in the three corners of the " second colour.* On the grenadier caps, the dragon ; " white horse and King's motto on the flap. The " same badge of the dragon to be painted on the drums " and bells of arms, with the rank of the regiment ** underneath." A misunderstanding having occurred between England 1755 and France respecting the extent of the British territory in America , hostilities again commenced, the army was augmented, and in 1756 the strength of the Third foot, or 175Q Buffs, was increased to twenty companies, and the regi- ment was divided into two battalions. * The third colour, spoken of at pages 131 and 1 3 6, was laid aside after the general adoption of bayonets in the reign of Queen Anne, and tlie centre division of pikemen was also discontinued at the same period. \ fi If - f f: 1% I.} i t % i ■ m 182 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1757 During the summer of 1757 The Buffs proceeded to the Isle of Wight, and being embarked in transports, formed part of an expedition against the coast of France, commanded by General Sir John Mordaunt, which was accompanied by a naval force under the orders of Ad- miral Sir Edward Hawke. The fleet and transports sailed in the early part of September ; on the 23rd of that month the Isle of Aix was captured, and the forts were destroyed. An attack on Rochfort was also con- templated ; but, owing to unfavourable weather, a land- ing could not be effected before the enemy was alarmed, and prepared for a vigorous defence; the coast was also found too shallow to admit of the fleet covering the de- barkation, or protecting the troops by their fire when on shore. Under these circumstances the expedition re- turned to England, and The Buffs were placed in quarters. 1758 On the 15th of June, 1758, the second battalion of the Third, or Buffs, was constituted the sixty-first regi- ment, of which Major-General Granville Elliott was ap- pointed colonel. The regiment, now reduced to one battalion, was again called into active service in the autumn of 1758, and, having embarked in transports, sailed with an expedition under the command of Major- General Hopson, against the French West India Islands ; at the same time nine ships of the line were placed under the orders of Commodore Moore, to act in conjunction with the troops. This ex- pedition left England in November, and a landing was effected on the west side of Port Royal harbour, in the 17.'>9 island of Martinico, on the 16th of January, 1759 ; but owing to the steep and rugged precipices, with deep chasms made by torrents of water from the mountains, and other obstructions, the troops were unable to make any progress ; thi-y were, consequently, re-embarked, THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 183 and the expedition being found too weak for the reduc- 1759 tion of Martinico, the troops sailed for the island of Guadaloupe. The fleet arrived before Basse-Terre, the capital of the island of Guadaloupe, on the 23rd of January, and the forts and batteries on the shore having been silenced by the cannon of the men-of-war, the troops landed on the 24th, and took possession of the town and citadel. At the same time the French troops on the island, and the inhabitants with their armed negroes, retired to the mountains, and prepared to make a desperate defence. In the capture of Basse-Terre, The Buffs had Captain Imber, Lieutenant Campbell, Ensign Greenwood, and seventeen private men killed ; and a proportionate num- ber wounded. For three months hostilities were continued in the island, and The Buffs took part in several actions and skirmishes among the woods and mountains ; and de- tachments were occasionally embarked in boats to pro- ceed to those parts of the island to which they could not force their way by land. So effectually had the French governor, M. Dutriel, contrived to stir up the natives and planters to resist the British troops, that Madame Du- charmey armed her servants and negroes, and, like ano- ther Thalestris, led them in person to attack the English camp. Ensign Griear, of The Buffs, received a wound, of which he died, from this party. During the progress of these operations the men are reported to have dis- played signal valour and perseverance; they endured much fatigue and privation with laudable patience, and the conquest of the whole island was effected in the early part of May. Meanwhile the commander-in-chief of the expedition, Major-General Hopson, died ; and was suc- ceeded by Major-General Barrington. " Thus came IK 'm .1 ' m: \%: 184 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1759 " into the possession of Great Britain, this valuable " island, after a campaign of near three months, in which " the Enoflish troops behaved with a firmness, courage, *' and perseverance, which ought never to be forgotten. " Intolerable heat, continual fatigue, the air of an un- " accustomed climate, a country full of lofty mountains " and steep precipices, posts strong by nature and by art, " defended by men who fought for everything that was " dear to them ; all these difficulties only increased the " ardour of our forces, who thought nothing impossible " under commanders who were not more distinguished for '* their intrepidity and skill, than for their zeal for the " service of their country, and the perfect harmony and " good understanding that subsisted between them."* Several small islands near Guadaloupe surrendered a few days afterwards, and this success was followed by the reduction of the island of Marie-Gallante. 1760 The regiment having suffered considerable loss in killed and wounded, and by disease arising from the cli- mate, it returned to England, in 1760, to recruit. 1761 In the spring of 1761, it was again prepared for active service, and formed part of the force placed under the ordersof Major-General Hodgson for an attackupon Belle- Isle, a French island in the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of Brittany. The expedition appeared bf*fore this place on the 7th of April, and a landing was attempted on the following day ; but the whole island was found like one vast fortress — the little which nature had left undone by rocks and crags, having been supphed by art ; and when the grenadiers gained the shore, the enemy was found so strongly fortified, that no efforts of the fiew men which could be landed at once, was of any avail ; they, conse- * Annual Register for 175'J. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF 1 OOT. 185 quently, returned to the boats, and proceeded back to 1761 their several ships. Many of the boats were destroyed or damaged in this attempt, and about five hundred men were lost in killed, wounded, and missing. Another attempt to effect a landing was afterwards resolved upon, and on the 25th of April, while the atten- tion of the enemy was diverted by two feint attacks, Bri- gadier-General Lambert landed with a few grenadiers on a rugged spot near point Lochmaria, and climbed up a very steep rock, which was so difficult that the enemy was less attentive to that part of the coast. This handful of men, having gained the top of the rock, were immediately attacked by three hundred French ; but the little band stoutly maintained its ground until other men climbed up the rocks to its aid. The enemy was eventually repulsed, and three brass field pieces and a few prisoners were taken. The cannon was afterwards landed from the ships, and dragged up the rocks ; the lines which covered the town of Palais were carried by assault, and the siege of the citadel was commenced. The governor, the Chevalier St. Croix, made a vigorous defence. Out he was forced to surrender in June, and the capture of the island was thus effected with the loss of about eighteen hundred men killed and wounded. While success attended the arms of Great Britain in 1752 various parts of the world, the sovereigns of France and Spain were negociating a compact, which gave a new turn to the nature of the war, and the two crowns at- tempted, by menaces, to induce Portugal to co-operate in their measures against Great Britain. At this period Portugal was particularly weak : Lisbon, the capital, had been destroyed by an earthquake only five years before, and nearly thirty thousand inhabitants had been buried TPff ' wW I liNi 1 ,*: ill :' ■■' iv :: tr I' n\ i ill' uIhii h 1 ■' i i m ii ''illlMI PI m ■i| f i 186 HrSTORICAL RECORD OF \n^ 1762 in its ruins. This disaster had been followed by a con- spiracy against the life of the king, and the country had been shaken by internal commotions ; at the same time the military force of the kingdom was weak in numbers, — ill furnished with arms, — deficient in discipline, — and without experienced officers. But notwithstanding his own weakness, and the persuasions and menaces of France and Spain, the King of Portugal resolved to ad- here to his ancient alliance with Great Britain ; and in consequence of this decision France and Spain declared war against him. A powerful Spanish army assembled on the frontiers and threatened to crush the Portuguese, when a military force, with artillery, arms, stores, pro- visions, and money, was furnished by Great Britain to assist its faithful ally, and the Third, or Buffs, was one of the regiments ordered to proceed to Portugal. It, accordingly, embarked from Belle-Isle towards the end of May, 1762, arrived at Lisbon in the early part of June, and, after sailing up the river Tagus in boats to Thomar, landed and marched to Abrantes. The regiment subsequently formed part of the army commanded by Marshal Count de la Lippe, — the Bri- tish troops being under the orders of Lieut.-General the Earl of Loudoun. The Buffs were employed for a short time in the Alentejo ; and on the 27th of August, their grenadier company, after a forced march of above forty miles, was engaged in the capture of Valencia de Al- cantara by a coup de main ; on which occasion Brigadier- General Burgoyne, with his own corps of dragoons, (now sixteenth light dragoons,) led by Colonel Somerville, having forced the guard, galloped into the town sword in hand, followed by the grenadiers of the Third, and other corps, who drove the enemy's infantry out of the houses THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 187 I !, 1 ; with a terrible slaughter, and the Spanish regiment of 1762 Seville was destroyed, and its three colours captured.* The regiment was afterwards encamped on the banks of the Mondego river, near Coimbra, at the same time its grenadier company was stationed at Castel de Vide. Soon afterwards a Spanish army of superior numbers ad- vanced, and the Portuguese were thrown into the greatest consternation. In accounts from Portugal it was stated, " All our hopes are placed in the English ; but, though " we have no doubt of their valour, yet, unless reinforced, " we know not how they will be able to withstand the " great majority which acts against them." The army was forced to make several retrograde movements ; but the steady countenance and gallant bearing of the Bri- tish troops overawed the enemy. This was especially evinced in the beginning of October, when The Buffs, with three other English regiments, a troop of Burgoyne's dragoons, and a few Portuguese grenadiers, commanded by the Earl of Loudoun, covered the retreat of Count St. Jago's corps, from the pass of Alvilo towards So- brinn Formosa. As the British troops were descending the mountain and crossing the river which flows at its base, the Spaniards came forward in great numbers and attacked the rear. The Buffs and three other regi- ments instantly confronted their adversaries, and ad- vanced in fine order to attack them ; but the leading * " The Field Marshal thinks it his duty to acquaint the army " with the t'lorious conduct of Brigadier Burgoyne, who, after " having marched fifteen leagues without halting, took Valencia " de Alcantara sword in hand, made the general who was to have " invaded the Alentejo prisoner, destroyed the Spanish regiment " of Seville, took three stands of colours, a colonel, many officers " of distinction, and a great number of soldiers." — General Orders in Portugal, dated l^th August, 1762. U' (R; « 188 HISTORICAL RECORD OF I'M 1762 Spanish battalions gave way immediately, and made a precipitate retreat, and the allies continued their march towards Cardigas without further molestation. The grenadier company of the regiment remained in advance with the corps under the orders of Brigadier- General Burgoyne, and during the 5th of October it was detached in small parties of ten and twenty men at a time, with directions to proceed by different routes to the head of a ravine not far from the mountains near Villa Velha. Soon after dark a hundred EngMsh grenadiers, a hundred royal volunteers, fifty of Burgoyne's dragoons, and fifty Portuguese horsemen, assembled at the ap- pointed rendezvous under the orders of Colonel Lee, and, by a night march along wild and unfrequented tracts, succeeded in surprising a body of Spaniards encamped on two eminences in the plain of Villa Velha. About two o'clock in the morning the English grenadiers and volunteers rushed into the enemy's camp with fixed bayonets, without firing a shot, and made a great slaughter of the Spaniards in their tents. The shrieks and cries of the wounded and the dying, with a few strag- gling shots, gave the alarm, but the English pressed forward and bayonetted the Spaniards on every side. A body of cavalry attempted to make a stand, but the fifty English dragoons broke in upon the Spanish horse- men and cut them down with a terrible carnage, while the infantry continued the work of destruction with equal ardour with the bayonet, and the Spaniards fled without making further resistance. The enemy's magazines were captured and destroyed. Six pieces of cannon, sixty artillery mules, some horses, and a considerable quantity of valuable baggage, were also taken. The whole loss in this brilliant affair was a corporal of the dragoons and one grenadier killed, with two dragoons and six volun- h-if THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 189 teers wounded. The Portuguese horsemen designed to 1752 take part in this atfair failed from fatigue on the night march. This advantage, being obtained at a critical moment, was attended with important consequences ; the enemy was disheartened : the season for military operations was far advanced, heavy rains fell, the roads were destroyed, and the Spaniards fell back to their own frontiers : thus Portugal was saved by British valour and British skill. The regiment passed the winter among the Portu- 1753 gut se peasantry, during which time a treaty of peace was concluded at Fontainbleau. In this treaty Minorca, the second of the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean, was ceded to Great Britain. This island was captured by the English troops in 1708, and confirmed to the British crown by the treaty of Utrecht, but it was taken by the French in 1757, and restored in 1763, as above stated, when The Buffs embarked from Portugal to take possession of the island. In the same year the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on Major-General John Crawford ; who was succeeded on the 12th of November, 1764, by Brigadier-General Ralph Burton; and on the 7th 1764 of November, 1768, Sir Jeffery Amherst, afterwards Lord 1758 Amherst, was appointed to the command of The Buffs. The regiment remained at the island of Minorca from 1771 1763 until the spring of '771, when it embarked for • • 1 • • 1772 England. After its arrival it was stationed for four ,««o years in various parts of the southern and western 1774 counties ; and in 1775 it proceeded to Ireland, where it ^''''^ remained nearly seven years. In 1776 the colonel of the regiment was advanced to 1776 the peerage by the title of Baron Amherst ; and on the 21st of April, 1779, his lordship was removed to the 1779 ,1; 1] II'" 1 I 'i ■' ' H ' li H P 'in I wm \ 190 HISTORICAL RFXORD OF m I'? 1779 colonelcy of these jond troop of horse g;renadier guards ; and was succeeded in the command of The Buffs hy Major-General William Style. 1780 During the early part of the war between Great Bri- tain and the United States of North America, which commenced in 1775, this regiment was employed on home service ; but after France and Spain had joined with the revolted Americans, and the armies and fleets of the two crowns were employed against Great Britain, Thk Buffs were called from their quarters in Ireland to cross the Atlantic ocean, and to take part in the warfare car- ried on against the insurgent provincials. 1781 The regiment accordingly embarked from Ireland in March, 1781, arrived at Charleston, the principal city of South Carolina, on the 3rd of June, and was soon engaged in active operations. At the moment when The Buffs arrived at the Ame- rican continent, the enemy was besieging Ninety-six, a village so called from being that number of miles from Kecowee, in the Cherokee country ; like other villages on the frontiers of the colonies, it was origmally sur- rounded with a stockade for the protection of the inha- bitants against the sudden assaults of the Indians; some new works were added in 1780, and in the early part of 1781, and it was garrisoned by several detachments under Lieut.-Colonel Cruger. On the 7th of June the flank companies of the Third, forming part of a small force placed under the orders o( Lieut.-Colonel Lord Rawdon, advanced with all possible expedition from Charleston for the relief of the besieged fortress, and after a long and harassing march, arrived at Ninety-six on the 21st of the same month. Meanwhile the Americans had raised the siege and retired across the river Saluda ; and, notwithstanding the fatigue which the king's troops THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 101 had already undergone, and the excessive heat of the ngi weather, they pushed forward in pursuit on the same evening. The Americans fled with great rapidity, and were followed by the English as far as me banks of the Enoree, when the latter, finding it in vain to pursue so fleet an enemy, returned towards Ninety-six. The flank companies of the Third subsequently pro- ceeded to the Congaree, a considerable river formed by the confluence of the Saluda and Broad rivers, where Lord Rawdon expected to be reinforced by troops from Charleston ; but soon after his arrival at this part of the coimtry he ascertained that the American general Green was advancing with an army to cut off the British de- tachment, when he instantly retired; and the troops forced, at noon-day, and in face of the enemy, their passage over a creek, the bridges of which were broken down and the fords guarded by Lee's American legion, and effected their retreat to the town of Orangeburg, situated on the north branch of the Edisto; where the detachment was joined by the remainder of the Third from Charleston, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Alex- ander Stewart. The American commander, finding the detachment, by a daring and spirited movement, had extricated itself from the danger to which it was exposed, advanced to the vicinity of the British camp near Orangeburg, and reconnoitred the position with his cavalry ; but, instead of preparing for an attack, he retired during the night towards the Congaree, and subsequently to the high hills of Santee ; having previously sent out parties to attack several detached posts occupied by the British troops, who were much harassed with the defence of an extensive frontier. After the retreat of the Americans, The Buffs, and l'J2 HISTORICAL RKCOItl) OF I 1781 other corps under tlio orders of Liout.-Colonel Stewart, advanced to the Congaree, and encamped near the junc- tion of that river with the Wateree. The American army was soon afterwards reinforced with troops from North Carolina, and being now greatly superior in numbers to the royal forces imder Lieut. - Colonel Stewart of the Third, who had taken post on Colonel Thompson's estate near M 'Cord's ferry on the Congaree, General Green resolved to advance against his opponents. When the Americans advaticed, the British were almost without provisions ; a supply was on its way from Charleston, but escorts could not be spared lest the remainder should be too weak to resist the enemy ; the troops, therefore, retreated about forty miles to a place called Eutaw Springs, where they halted. They were, at this period, without bread, and, owing to the disaffection of a great portion of the inhabitants to the British cause, no information of the approach of the American army had been received, consequently, at an early hour on the morning of the 8th of September, about fifty of The Buffs, v/ith small parties from other corps, were sent out to search the fields for potatoes, and while thus employed they were surprised by the American army, several were killed and wounded, and the remainder made prisoners ; Lieutenant Edward Silvester, who commanded The Buffs, was dangerously wounded. An alarm of the approach of the enemy was, at the same time, given by the out-posts, — the remainder of the regiment was soon under arms, and the troops formed in order of battle about two miles in front of their camp, occupying the heights near Eutaw Springs, with The Buffs on the left of the line. About nine o'clock the Americans diverged upon the grounds in front of the British position, and commenced the attack with great mgton THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. J 93 fury. The royal forces, though inferior in numbers, sus- 1781 taiiied the first onset with admirable firmness; a fierce conflict of muslietry ensued, and both armies displayed great gallantry. The Buffs repulsed and drove back the troops in their front, but advancing too forward in the pursuit, the regiment became exposed to the superior numbers of the enemy, and it was overpowered and driven back with loss; it, however, rallied. A sharp fire of musketry blazed among the trees, — charges with the bayonet became frequent, — many instances of valour were displayed by both parties, and the sixty-third and sixty- fourth regiments particularly distinguished themselves ; but the superior numbers of the enemy rendered it ne- cessary for the British troops to retire nearer their camp ground. When the retrograde movement was com- menced, a large party look possession of a strong brick house of three stories, with its adjoining offices, another party lodged itself m an almost impenetrable coppice of rugged underwood, while a third possessed itself of a palisadoed garden ; and as the Americans came forward with great spirit and vigour, these parties opened their fire, and the storm of battle soon raged with greater fury than before. The enemy brought forward four pieces of cannon to play on the brick house, and Colonel Wash- ington attempted to force the coppice, but every effort was ineffectual. Incessant peals of musketry from the windows poured destruction upon the Americans, — Co- lonel Washington was wounded and taken prisoner. — the Buffs had gained their appointed station on the left, and were opening their fire, — and the flank battalion, wheeling round, took the enemy in the rear ; when the Americans, finding all their efforts vain, retired, leav- ing two brass field pieces, and about sixty men, in the hands of the British. The commander, Lieut. -Colonel o 'i! N^:.: ^^' ?k 194 HISTORICAL RECORD OF i 1781 Stewart, of the Tiiiun, observed in his despatch, " The " glory of the dtiy a'ouUI have been tmich more complete, " had not the want of cavalry prevented mo from takin}» " the advantage which the gallantry of my infantry " threw in my way." Both commanders, however, claimed the victory ; the American, because of the re- treat of the British during the action; and the British, because of the retreat of the Americans at the close of the action. Among the officers who signalized themselves in this action, Captain Charles M'Murdo, commanding the grenadier company of the Buffs, was particularly dis- tinguished for cool exemplary courage ; and the conduct of Major Thomas Dawson, who commanded the regi- ment, was also spoken of in terms of commendation. The loss of the regiment at the battle o( Entaw Sprmga was Lieutenant Buckwith, one serjeant, one drummer, and twenty-seven rank and file killed ; Brevet- Major Hon. John Leslie, three serjeants, and seventy-four rank and file wounded ; and Lieutenant Douglas Hamilton, two Serjeants, one drummer, and seventy rank and file taken prisoners. Lieut.-Colonel Stewart of the regiment, who commanded the British forces on this occasion, was also wounded. The regiment passed the night after the action, and the following day, on the ground, and in the evening retired with the remainder of the army to Monk's Corner ; and the Americans withdrew soon afterwards to their former camp on the high hills of Santee ; both armies having suffered so severely that neither was in a con- dition to act offensively against the other. 1782 ^ "^^ ^'"^ °^ posts was afterward;? established by le British ; and a desultory warfare was carried on by le- tachments, without being attended with very important II i i THE THIRD REOIMKNT OF FOOT. 105 ri>sulla. At length King (icorgc III. wns induced to 17H2 concede tlu; independence of the United Slates of Ame- rica; and, while the treaty of peace was negoeiating, a suspension of hostilities took place, aiul the Buffs pro- ceciled from So»>tli Carolina to the island of Jamaica. In August, 1782, His Majesty's conmumds were con- veyed to the Buffs, directing them to assume the title of East Kknt Rkgimfnt, and in order to facilitate the procuring of recruits, to cultivate a connexion with that division of the county. This order was communicated to the regiment in a letter from Field-Marshal Conway, commander-in-chief, of which the following is a copy : — Sir, London, ^\st August, 1782. " His Majesty having been pleased to order that the '* regiment of foot which you command shall take the *• county name of Third or East Kent regiment,* and m * County titles were given, at ments except Royal regiments, county title given to each corps : 1st, or The Royal. 2nd, or Queen's Royal. 3rd Buffs, or East Kent. 4th, or King's Own. 6tb. or Northumberland. 6th, or First Warwickshire. 7th Royal Fusiliers, or D*;rb)- shire. 8th, or King's. 9th, or East Norfolk. 10th, or North Lincolnshire 1 Ith, or North Devonshire. 12th, or East Suffolk. 13th, or First Somersetshire. 14th, or Bedfordshire. 15th, or East Riding, Yorkshire. 16th, or Buckinghamshire. 1 7th, or Leicestershire. this period, to all English regi- The following list shows the 18th, or Bnj/(il Irish. 19th or First North Riding, Vorkshire. 30th, or East Devonshire. 2 1st, or Royal North British Fusiliers. 22nd, or Cheshire. 23rd, or Royal Welsh Fusiliers. 24th, or Second Warwickshire. 25th, or S issex. 26th, or Camerunians. 27th, or Inniskilling, 28th, or North Gloucestershire. 29th, or Worcestershire. 30th, or Cambridgeshire. 31st, or Huntingdonshire. 32nd, or Cornwall. o2 « ■ 196 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1782 " be looked upon as attached to that division of the county, I am to acquaint you it is His Majesty's fur- ther pleasure, that you shall in all things conform to that idea, and endeavour, by all means in your power, to cultivate and improve that connexion so as to create a mutual attachment between the county and the regi- ment, which may at all times be useful towards recruit- ing the regiment ; but as the completing of the several regiments, now generally so deficient, is, in the present crisis, of the most important national concern, you will, on this occasion, use the utmost possible exertion for that purpose, by prescribing the greatest diligence to your officers and recruiting parties, and by every suit- able attention to the gentlemen and considerable in- habitants ; and as nothing can so much tend to conci- liate their affections as an orderly and polite behaviour (I (( n (( (< (( (( (( It « 33rd, or First West Riding, Yorkshire. 34th, or Cumberland. 35>. Fau lington, proceeded by canal to Liverpool, at whiv k | uU^i ih > men were re- moved on board of transports and ssail;. ' tor Ireland, where 1807 they arrived on the 8th of January, 1807. On the 26th valour and skill which were displayed by the officers, seamen, and marines, in the battle with the enemy, where every indi- vidual appeared an hero, on whom the glory of his country de- pended; the attack was irresistible, and the issue of it adds to the page of naval annals a brilliant instance of what Britons can do, when their country needs their service. " To the Right Hon. Hear- Admiral the Earl of Northesk, to the captains, officers, and seamen^ and to the officers, non- commissioned officers, and privates of the royal marines, I beg to give my sincere and hearty thanks for their highly meri- torious conduct, both in the action, and in their zeal and activity In bringing the captured ships out from the perilous situation in which they were, after their surrender, among ii}^ !;ihoals of Trafalgar, in boisterous weather. " And i desire that the respective captains will be pleased to communicate to the officers, seamen, and royal mannes this public testimony of my high approbation of their conduct, and my thanks for it. " (Signed) C. CoiiiMv/OOih" THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 219 of the same month the second battalion, which had been 1807 at the island of Guernsey since November, 1804, em- barked for Portsmouth, where it arrived on the 3rd of February. In the summer of this year (1807) Bonaparte de- manded that the ports of Portugal should be shut against British shipping, and other measures were adopted in- jurious to British commerce, and in violation of existing treaties ; and soon afterwards a French army, com- manded by Marshal Junot, marched into Portugal, with the object, ostensibly of enforcing obedience to Bonaparte's mandate, but, in reality, to seize and imprison the royal family of Portugal, that a division of that kingdom might be made among other persons, to suit the interests of Bonaparte. While negotiations were pending between the courts of France and Portugal relating to the mea- sures against British commerce, the first battalion of the Buffs embarked at Cork, upwards of a thousand strong, for America,; but was afterwards placed, with other troops, under the orders of Brigadier-General P idsford. The fleet did not, ixowever, sail until after the royal family of Portugal, being intimidated by the approach of the French army to Lisbon, had embarked ia vessels in the river Tagus and sailed, under the protection of a British naval force, for the Brazils j the expedition the i proceeded to the Portuguese island of Madeira, which surrendered, and Brigadier- General Beresford as' araed the powers of governor ; but the former governor was subsequently restored ; and the island !^eing committed to the protection of the British troops until the conclusion of a general peace, Brigadier-C^neral Beresford re- mained in comnidudof the troops ; the Buffs were landed on the island on the 25th of Decembef. and they remained there nearly eig!' . onths. ■1 ;' % ■IHW, - ;:x-i^»:' 220 IIISTORfCAL RECORD OF 1S08 Soon after tlie French had thus forcibly seized on Por- tugal, the inhabitants took up arms against their invaders, a spirit of resistance manifested itself in every part of the kingdom, and a body of '. ^o" , commanded by Lient.- General Sir Arthur WeUe^ley, liaving proceeded to the aid of the Portu {uose, the first battalion of the Buffs embarked from Madeira on the 16th of August, to join the army in I'ortugal. The gallantry of the British troops, with ll.e distinguished abilities of tiipi: ^ommji^der, proved triumphant ; and while the Buffs wore at sea, the convention of Cintra was concluded, and Portugal was del'WM'ed from the power of France. The regiment arrived a few days after the struggle had terminated , and was tli^embarked at Lisbon, Meauwhile Spain was subject to the power of Napo- Ico', Boii'ipartc, who had caused the royal family to be withdrawn from that kingdom, and had placed his brother Josopli on the throne, supported by a French army : thousands of Spaniards had risen in arms against the usurp r>r; u ae British government having resolved to send .1 body of troops to their aid, the fii*st battalion of the Buffs, mustering nearly nine hundred men, commanded by Lieut.-Colon..4 Blunt, was selected to take part in the enterprise. It was, accordingly, placed under the orders of Lieut. -( reneral Sir John Moore, and towards the end of October it was traversingr the wild mountain scenery of Portugal towards Spain, the frontiers of which kingdom it crosf d in November, and was ordered to halt at Ciudad Hod'ij-o, (where it arrived on the 29th of that month,^ to keep up the com- munication with the troops advanc if intc Spain, and to forward tbo stores as they arrived. Thi ;^renadier com- pany of the Buffs, however, adv-iiice«i, and was engaged in operations '"ith the forces in the interior of Spain. talion subsequ THE THIRD REGIMENT OF VO(n 221 But bclbro the army under Sir John Mooro could 1808 form a junction with t\w Spaniards, with whom ho was to co-operate, the latter had been defeated and dispersed; and Bonaparte advancing in person with anoverwhehning force against the little band of Britons, a retreat to Co- nuina took place. At the same time this regiment retired from Ciudad Rodrigo (21st December), to the frontier-; of Portugal. Tne grenadier company of the Buffs being with Sir John Moore's army, shared, in common with the other corps, in the surt'erings occasioned by this retro- grr.de movement, made in the depth of winter, through a rugged and mountainous country; it was also present at the battle of Corunna, fought on the IGth of January, 1809, wlien the British troops were triumphant over the 1801) legions of Bonaparte ; but Sir John Moore fell in the conflict. This company afterwards embarked and pro- ceeded to England. After the departure of the army from Corunna, tlie re- mainder of the first battalion of the Buffs retired in Febr a'-y, 1809, from the frontiers of Portugal to Lis- bon, and, being placed under the orders of Lieut.-General Sir John t.'radock, occupied the barracks at Belem ; at the same time T-ieut. -Colonel Blunt was appointed a brigadier-general in the Portuguese army, and the bat- talion was commanded by Major Drummond. It was subsequently formed in brigade with the eighty-seventh and eighty-eighth, and a battalion of detachments, under Major- General Tilson, and advancing from Belem in the middle of March, took post at Amaxoria ; meanwhile a power- ful French army was menacing the frontiers of Portugal ; the city of Oporto was captured, and several provinces were overrun by the legions of the enemy. In April the battalion advanced to Obidos, a central town of Portugal, forty-four miles from Lisbon, and soon afterwards Lieut. - i 222 HISTORICAL KECOKU OF 1809 General Sir Arthur Wellesley took the command of thp army. From Obidos the regiment advanced with the army to Coimbra; it was subsequently engaged in operations for the expulsion of the French troops from Portugul, and after several marches, arrived on the 12th of May, unperceived by tlic enemy, near the banks of the river Dovro, in the immediate vicinity of Oporto. The British commander was desirous of passing the river, to drive the French from the city; but the stream was deep, rapid, and more than three hundred yards in width, and ten thousand French veterans guarded the opposite shore ; yet the passage was eftected in the following manner : — A Portuguese barber had passed the river in a skiff, and a British staff officer, (Colonel Waters,) aided by the barber and the prior of Amaranto, traversed the stream and returned in half an hour with three large barges, Be- tween ten and eleven o'clock an officer and twenty-five soldiers of the Buffs entered the first boat, crossed the stream without being observed, and took post in a large unfinished building, on the banks of the river, called the seminary, which was surrounded by a wall that extended to the water on each side the building. Thus a lodg- ment was made in the midst of the enemy's army with- out being observed. A second and a third boat followed ; but scarcely had the men from the third boat reached the shore, when a sudden burst of alarm was heard amidst the French army. The beating of drums, the shouting of men, with a tumultuous outcry resounded from the city, while the French troops were seen in confused masses traversing the upper streets ; and at the moment when the remainder of the first battalion of the Buffs, commanded by Lieut.-General Paget, had gained the shore, a furious attack was made on the seminary, by THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 223 cavftlry, infantry, and artillery. But the Buffs stood 1809 their ground manfully, and sinj^ly resisted the French legions until supported by the forty-eighth and sixty- sixth British and sixteenth Portuguoso regiments. Meanwhile Lieut.-General Paget had fallen dan- gerously wounded, and Major-General Hill com- manded in the seminary. A fierce conflict of musketry was kept up, — the French artillery played on the build- ing, — the British gtnis on the other side of the river opened their fire, and the struggle soon became violent. Meanwhile some citizens crossed the river with several large boats, additional forces were enabled to pass in con- siderable numbers, and, finally, the enemy was driven from Oporto with the loss of five pieces of cannon, and about five hundred men killed and wounded, besides about seven hundred men left in the hospitals. Thus was effected one of the most gallant and brilliant exploits which had been performed for many years. Sir Arthur Wellesley observed in his despatch, " I cannot say too " much in favour of the officers and troops. They have " marched, in four days, over eighty miles of most diffi- " cult country; have gained many important positions; " and have engaged and defeated three different bodies " of the enemy's troops." The Buffs performed a particularly distinguished part in this daring exploit, and their gallantry has been re- warded with the royal permission to have the word " DouRo," inscribed on their colours. They were subsequently engaged in the pursuit of Marshal Soult's army through the wild and mountainous districts of Portugal. The French destroyed their artil- lery, ammunition, and part of their baggage, and saved themselves by a precipitate flight. The French soldiers plundered and murdered the Portuguese peasantry, and ,: li jJL «i'^, :.. 224 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1809 the line of their retreat could be traced by the smoke of burning villages. After the flight of the French from Portugal, the Buffs proceeded towards the Tagus ; they encamped for a short time at Abrantes, from whence they advanced with the army into Spain, and were engaged in the several move- ments which preceded the battle of Talavera de la Reyna. This action was fought in the valley of rhe Tagus, on the 27th and 28th of July ; the Buffs had their post on the left of the line ; and the British infantry sustained and repulsed the furious and repeated attacks made by very superior numbers of Napoleon's veteran legions, with a firmness and resolution which gave imdtniable proof of the innate valour of British soldiers. Ti." gallant con- duct of the Buffs on this occasion procured them tlie honour of having the word Talavera inscribed on their colours. They lost their commanding officer, Lieut. - Colonel Muter, who died of his wounds; and had also one Serjeant and twenty-five rank and file killed ; and Brevei; Lieut.-Cclonel Drummond, five Serjeants, and one hundred and two rank and file wounded ; and seven rank and file missing. This action, though glorious to the British arms, was not followed oy important resuits ; for, owing to the apa- thy and neglect of the Spanish authorities, the soldiers were without a regular supply of provisions, ; their bodily strength was fast decreasing ; and, a few days after the engagement, two powerful French armies, — each of them superior in number to the allies, were advancing by different routes against the British and Spanish forces. Under these circumstances a retrograde movement was resolved upon, and tlie army, retiring by the bridge of Arzobispo, took up a new position ; but the want of pro- vision occasioned a further retreat, and the brave men THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 225 who had withstood the fiercest attacks of the enemy, 1809 were driven from the country they had protected by the bad faith of people who were indebted to British valour for their existence. In September the army was distri- buted along the Guadiana, and the Buffs were stationed at Montego, where they remained several months, dur- ing which time a pestilent fever broke out, and assailing men predisposed to disease by fatigue and want of nourishment, made great ravages. In the winter the regiment proceeded to Portuguese Estremadura, and was stationed for some time at Abrantes and its vicinity. Meanwhile the grenadier company, which had proceeded to England from Corunna, had again arrived in Portugal and joined the army. The death of General Thomas Hall having occurred. His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on General Charles Leigh, from the twentieth foot, by commission dated 29th of December, 1809. Before the following campaign the French received 1810 powerful reinforcements, and so immense a body of troops was prepared to complete the conquest of the Pen- insula, that Lord Wellington was obliged to confine his operations to the defence of a portion of Portugal, in- cluding the capital. He, however, resolved to occupy a forward position as lon,^ as possible, and in February, 1810, while one body of French troops threatened Ciu- dad Rodrigo, and another menaced Badajoz, the Buffs were removed, together with other corps commanded by Lieut. -General Hill, from Abrantes to Portalegre in the Alentejo, not far from the menaced fortress of Bada- joz, and in April they were encamped near Algretta. They were subsequently engaged in several movements to retard the advance of the enemy ; in August they formed part of the force encamped at Sarzedas to hold in Q ill! ■ ■ '' I 226 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1810 check the French corps under General Reynier ; but in September they retreated to the vicinity of Alva; and on the 26th of t.ict month they crossed the Mondego river, and moved into position on the rocks of Busaco, where a formidable barrier was opposed to the further advance of the enemy. On the following morning the French attacked the po- sition, and, after displaying astonishing efforts of valour, were repulsed and driven back with a terrible carnage. The Buffs were stationed on the heights near the Mon- dego river, where a road crosses the mountains to Pena Cova ; but, no attack being made on this part of the po- sition, they had not an opportunity of distinguishing themselves. The French commander. Marshal Massena, being unable to force the position, endeavoured to turn the left flank ; when the allied army retired to the stupendous lines of Torres Vedras, which had been constructed by direction of Lord Wellington along the chain of moun- tains from Alhandra on the Tagus, to the mouth of the Zizandre on the sea coast, and, following the inflections of the hills, extended over a space of 29 miles. The Buffs had their station at Alhandra, on the right of the lines, and on the bank of the Tagus, where a strong flo- tilla of gun-boats, manned by British seamen, covered the flank ; and an insurmountable obstacle was thus op- posed to the advance of the legions of Bonaparte. Marshal Massena vaunted that he would drive the English into the sea, and plant the eagles of France on the towers of Lisbon, but after recoimoitring the lines he despaired of being able to force them, and when his sup- ply of provisions was exhausted, he retired and took up a new position at Santarem. His retreat was discovered on the morning of the 15th of November; the Buffs "Ian " Sir W " late CO " had b *' foragir " ing hi " attack " grenac " which " his con •• of the " mortal " tained " knowU THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 227 were sent forward in pursuit, and on the 17th they crossed 1810 the Tagus at Valada in boats, and subsequently pro- ceeded to Chamusca, * a pleasant village on the left bank of the Tagus. In January, 1811, they proceeded 1811 to Tramagal, forming part of the force employed in pre- venting the passage of the Tagus by the enemy, and in intercepting all communication between the French army at Santarem, and the troops under Marshal Soult in Spanish Estremadura. After remaining in position at Santarem upwards of three months, the French forces, being wasted by fa- tigue, disease, and privation, and being unable to procure a further supply of provision from the country which they had plundered and laid waste, they retired in ♦he early part of March, 1811, towards the frontiers of Por- tugal, and the Buffs were moved forward in pursuit ; but after following the French a few stages, the battalion was ordered to proceed to the Alentejo to the relief of 1 :i .;■ '■. " * While the battalion lay at Chamusca, one of its officers, Lieutenant Joseph Fenwick, died of wounds received in a skir- mish with the enemy. He was commandant of Obidos, with the rank of captain, and his decease is related by the commander of the forces in the following terms : — " I am concerned to forward the enclosed report from Marsha) " Sir William Beresford, of the death of Captain Fenwick, the " late commandant of Obidos. During the last two months he " had been ensjaged more than twenty times with the enemy's *' foraging parties, and I ha\e had several opportunities of report- " ing his success. Upon this last occasion he had made an " attack upon, and had driven in, a party consisting of eighty " grenadiers, in the neighbourhood of Evora, hear Alcoha9a, *• which had come there in search of provisions, having under " his command a detachment of the same number of the militia " of the garrison of Obidos, and was pursuing them when he was " mortally wounded, and he died on the 10th ; we have thus sus- " tained a great loss, and he is lamented by all who had any " knowledge of his gallantry." q2 i vli' iiillll 2% HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1811 Campo Mai/or, which was besieged by a detachment of the army under Marshal Soult. This fortress was, how- ever, captured by the French before the troops marching to its aid arrived. But on the 25th of March the enemy was driven from the place with the loss of many men, and the Buffs encamped near the town ; at the same time the French evacuateu Albuquerque and Valencia de Alcantara. Advanci"- *^ampo Mayor, the Buffs were en- gaged in operations in Spanish Estremadura; in April tlioy proceeded to Almendralego, and were subsequently engaged in driving a body of French troops from Azuaga, preparatory to the siege of Badajoz, * liich was com- menced in the early part of May. While the operations against Badajoz were in progress, Marshal Soult quitted Seville and advanced to the relief of the place; the portion of the allied army under Marshal Sir William Beresford moved forward to meet him, and took up a position in front of Alhuhera, and the Buffs, forming part of the first brigade of the second division under Lieut. -Colonel Colborne, had their post on the flank of a Spanish force under General Blake. On the morning of the 16th of May, the French com- menced a furious attack upon the height occupied by the Spaniards, and the Buffs, with the remainder of the second division under Liout.-General Stewart, were or- dered to support General Blake's corps ; at the same time misty clouds and a shower of rain partly concealed the movements of the enemy. The French a» cillery and in- fantry opening a heavy fire, while their cavalry out- flanked the front and menaced to charge, put the Span- iards into disorder, and they gave way. Marshal Soult then ordered his columns forward, — his reserves mounted the hills in his rear, and all his batteries were placed in Ensij he ht his li to his Wah fell s THE THIRD REGIMENT Of FOOT. 229 position. At this moment the Buffs, with the remainder 1811 of their brigade, arrived at the foot of the heights, and were immediately led up the ascent by Lieut.-General Stewart, in column of companies. Having passed through the broken Spanish troops, the Buffs deployed, gained the summit, and opened their fire in excellent order, when a tremendous conflict of musketry ensued ; but the regi- ment being exposed to a destructive fire, and the men falling fast on every side, it soon advanced to the charge with the bayonet. The men, resolute, and conscious of their own prowess, rushed forward ; but while in the act of charging, four regiments of the enemy's Polish lancers and hussars, which, being concealed by tht' thick atmo- sphere and broken grounds, had turned the right flank, came galloping up in the rear, and charged the regiment with great fury. A dreadful massacre followed. The Buffs fought manfully, but being thus taken by sur- prise, the ranks were soon broken and confusion ensued.* Ensign Thomas was called upon to surrender the colour he held, but he declared he would givf^ it up only with \ his life, and he fell pierced with many wounds, a victim \ to his bravery. The staff of the colour borne by Ensign Walsh, was broken by a cannon ball, and the ensign fell severely wounded ; but he tore the coloui from the i J' 111 * " The right brigade of General Stewart's division, under " Lieut. -Colonel Colborne, came first into action, and behaved iti " the most gallant ?wtt««er, and finding the enemy's column could " not 1)6 shaken by fire, proceeded to attack it with the bayonet, " and while in .ne act of charging, a body of Polish lancers, " (which the thickness of the atmosphere and the nature of the '' ground had concealed, and which was, besides, mistaken, when " discovered, for Spanish cavalry, and therefore not fired upon,) " turned it, and being thus attacked unexpectedly in the rear, it " was unfortunately broken, and suffered immensely."— Afari/ia/ Beres/ord's despatch. iiift 111; m:<'.\ 230 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1811 broken staflFand concealed it in his bosom, where it was found when the battle was over. Other instances of in- dividual bravery occurred, but the regiment was over- powered and nearly annihilated. After much hard fighting, and a dreadful slaughter on both sides, the French were driven back, and the allied army gained a victory. The gallantry displayed by the Buffs was re- warded with the royal authority to bear the word Albu- HERA on their colours. Their loss was particularly severe, viz., Captain Burke, Lieutenant Herbert, Ensigns Chadwick and Tliomas, four Serjeants, and two h^riidred and eight rank and file killed ; Captains Marlej% Gordon, and Stephens, Lieutenants Jaxon, Shepherd, Hooper, Latham, Wright, Woods, Houghton, Titlow, and O'Don- \ lell, Ensign Walsh, eleven Serjeants, one drummer, and / two hundred and twenty-two rank and file wounded ; Captain Cameron wounded and taken prisoner; Lieu- tenants Annesley and Hill, fifteen serjeants, one drummer, and one hundred and sixty-one rank and file missing ; making a total loss of 644 officers and men. When the French army retired, the few remaining men of the Buffs moved forward and formed part of the covering army during the second siege of Badajoz, and were again posted, for a short time, at Almendralego. In the early part of June they, however, retired upon Albuhera, and, the siege being again raised in conse- quence of the advance of an immense French army, they subsequently crossed the Guadiana and encamped in the woody grounds on the Caya, near Toires de Moura, — the allied army occupying a strong position on the Caya to protect the Alentejo. Meanwhile many of the men returned missing rejoined, and a draft of near three hundred men arrived from the second battalion in Eng- land. THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, 231 M. The first battalion continued in the Alentejo during 1812 the remainder of 1811. In the beginning of 1812 it ad- vanced with the other forces under Lieut.-General Hill to Spanish Estremadura; meanwhile the troops under Viscount Wellington besieged and captured Ciudad- Rodrigo. In the middle of March the Buffs advanced upon Merida, and subsequently upon Villa Franca, from whence a French force was driven with loss ; at the same time the main army again besieged Badajoz. During the progress of this siege, which was termi- nated by the capture of the place by storm on the 6th of April, the battalion was actively employed in Spanish Estremadura. It subsequently took part in several movements, and in June it was in position at Albuhera. When the main army advanced into Leon, the Buffs remained in Estremadur After the victory at Sala- manca, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill's division, of which the Buffs continued to form a part, advanced upon Toledo, and subsequently occupied a line from that city to Aranjuez, where it remained, with a few slight alterations, during the siege of Burgos. When the French, by a concentration of their forces, prepared to raise the siege, and also to attack the troops in position on the Tagus, the main army quitted the vicinity of Bur- gos ; Madrid was abandoned ; and Lieut.-General Hill's division retired by the Guardarrama passes, traversed the Tormes on the 7th of November, and, after a retrograde movement of two hundred miles, joined the army com- manded by the Earl of Wellington near Salamanca. The retreat was subsequently continued to Ciudad Rodrigo j the troops, being exhausted with constant duty in severe weather, were sent into winter quarters, and in December the Buffs were in cantonments at Ceclavini, in Spanish Estremadura. 232 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1813 After several marches and changes of quarters during the winter and spring of 1813, the Buffs advanced from Estremadura to the vicinity of Salamanca, and afterwards passed the river Douro ; while the French forces, having no longer so great a superiority of numbers as formerly, retired before the columns which advanced against them. The allies subsequently passed the Carion, and the Pi- suerga, and by combined laiAements ably executed, drove the French back upon Burgos ; then continuing to press forward, a strong French corps was dislodged from a position above the village of Hormaza, the castle of Burgos was destroyed by the French army, which hur- ried in confusion across the Ebro, ^Yhere Joseph Bona- parte expected to be able to make a stand. But the British columns, penetrating with adventurous energy a number of deep narrow vallies and rugged defiles, among rocks and mountains, traversed a wild romantic region, and thus turned the flank of the enemy's position on the Ebro ; when the French army retired upon Vit- toria, and drew up in order of battle before the town. The allied army having been concentrated near Vit- toria, advanced on the 21st of June and attacked the enemy's position. The second division, of which the Buffs formed a part, was in the right column com- manded by Lieut. -General Sir Rowland Hill, and it was engaged in the attack of the posts on the enemy's left ; but the Buffs had no opportunity of distinguishing them- selves. The French were driven from their position, and having lost their artillery, ammunition, and baggage, they made a precipitate retreat. The Buffs pursued tl 3 enemy in the direction of Pampeluna, which town was immediately invested. Nearly the whole of Spain was soon afterwards de- livered from the power of France ; and the Buffs, with THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 233 the remainder of their brigade commanded by Major- 1813 General Byng,* leaving a Spanish force to blockade Pampeluna, advanced along t'^ pass of the lofty Py- renean mountains^ and took p'\,i on the right of he val- ley of Roncesvalles, where Gen'^i u Morillo's division of Spanish infantry was also stationed. Soon afterwards the French army, commanded by Marshal Soult, advanced to drive the allies out of the Pyrenees, and to raise the blockade of Pampebma ; and on the 25th of July, the few troops stationed in the val- ley of Roncesvalles were attacked by between thirty and forty thousand of the enemy. The Bjff^, and other regiments of tl- brigade, under Major-General Byng, boldly confront' d the enemy, and stood their ground for some time, but were eventually driven, by superior num- bers, to the top of the mountain. The fourth division advanced to the assistance of Major-General Byng's bri- gade, and the post was maintained throughout the day ; but the enemy having turned it in the aftuiT.oon, the British troops retired to Lizoain during the night. On the following day the enemy again advanced with very superior numbers, and the Buffs, with the other corps in the mountains, retired skirmishing to a stronj:^ post in their rear near Zubiri, where they remained ir< o.der of battle until dark, and afterwards resumed thfcir retreat, which was continued to the vicinity of Pampeluna, where a great portion of the army was formed in position among the mountains; the Buffs being form.:^d on the heights in front of the village of Villalba. Some hard fighting occurred in the mountains on the 27th and 28th of July, when the French were repulsed. On the 29th the allied army resumed the offensive, and. "hi i'i i:.;j,_ 1 h * Afterwards Sir John Byng, now Lord Strafford, G. C B. I! m I li 234 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1813 an a preparatory movpment, the Buffs, with the re- mainder of their brigade, relieved the fourth division on the left of the position on the road to Oatiz ; and when u » operation on the enemy's flanks had taken effect, the brigade attacked the French troop;* in its front with sig- nal spirit and resolution, and carried the village in gal- lant style, 'riius the Buffs, by their bravery, contributed materially to the forcing of the enemy to abandon a po- sition of extraordinary strength and difficult access. The regiment moved forward in pursuit, and for three days it was hovering upon the rear of the enemy in the passes and defiles among the mountains, where it captured many prisoners: — while traversing the pass of Velate upon Irurita, in order to turn the enemy's position 0.1 Donna Maria, it was engaged in the capture of a large convoy belonging to the enemy in the town of Elizondo. It subsequently took possession of the valley of Bastan, and of the position of the Puerto de Maya : thus was the French driven (som the mountains, aiid the allied army established iii «oyltH*n near the frontiers of France. In the se eral ,?t'm'^ among the mountains, the loss of the Buffs was Captain Walsh and three private men killed ; with Lieutenant Colclough, one drummer, and twenty- four private men wounded. The gallantry displayed by the regiment in these arduous contests was rewarded with the royal permission to bear the word ** Pyrenees" on its colours. The regiment encamped in tbo mountains in the Ron- cesvalles' pass for several months. In the early part of November the army prepared for a forward movement ; but heavy rains near the coast, and snow in the mountains, delayed the operation \mtil the 10th of November, when the whole, having entered France, advanced to dislodge the enemy from a line of works on the river Nivelle. THE THIRD RBOIMBNT OF FOOT. 235 The Buffs, having issued from the mountains, formi'd 1813 part of the right division of the army inider Lieut. - General Sir Rowland Hill, which attacked the heights ofAinhoe; and having forded the river, distinguished themselves by a gallant assault on the entrenchments and a redoubt on the enemy's left, which were carried after a sharp resistance. The French were dr.'^'en from their position, and they lost fifty pieces of cati'^on with ammunition, stores, and a number of men killer '^^ and taken prisoners In this action the Rii the honour of bearing the word " Nivelle ti colours ; their loss was three men killed, and Captain Charles Cameron, one serjeant, and seven men wounded. After this brilliant exploit the army went into canton- ments between the Nivelle and the sea, and the Buffs were quartered at Canibo, a town situate behind the river Nive. Further operations were retarded for a short time by the snow and rain ; but the weather having improved, the army crossed the Nive on the 9th of December, and drove the French into an entrenched camp in front of Bayonne. The enemy, however, issued from this post on the three succeeding days, and attacked various parts of the position occupied by the allies ; on the last day the Buffs particularly distinguished themselves, — having, together with the other regiments of the brigade, carried, in superior style, a hill on the French left which covered their manoeuvres, and captured two guns; and this height was successfully maintained against all the efforts of the enemy to retake it. The loss of the regiment was three men killed, with Captains Thorn, Cameron, and Hamilton, Lieutenants Wright, Fielding, Houghton, Gillman, Woods, Home, Twigg, Murphy, and Blake, and Ensign Everdern, four serjeants, and sixty-nine pri- vate men wounded; and the excellent conduct of the 1 ■*■• ■ ^ = 1H ^ iV^ vTr IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) &^ .V ^< 1.0 1.1 lio ■^~ IIJJ^H ■^ Ui2 12.2 £ 1^ 12.0 u IL25 mg 1.4 U 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRIET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSM (716) 872-4S03 ^'^> ^^V^ > ^ ^ c^ 236 HISTOmCAL RECORD OF 1813 officers and men was rewarded with the royal permission to bear the word " Nive" on their colours. 1814 I'he regiment was afterwards stationed for some time at Vieux Mogure, between the rivers Nive and Adour ; and the further operations were suspended by severe wea- ther. The army was, however, in niotion in the middle of February, 1814, and the Buffs were engaged in the operations, by which a body of French troops were driven from the vicinity of St. Palais; and on the 18th of the same month posts were established on the Gave d'Oleron. Soon afterwards Bayonne was blockaded. In the action on the 14th of February the regiment had one man killed, and Brevet-Major Cameron and one man wounded; and on the 15th of February it had one Ser- jeant and three men killed, and two Serjeants and fifteen men wounded. Again advancing up the country on the 24th of Febru- ary the Buffs passed the Gave d'Oleron at Villeneuve, when the French retired to Orthes, where they were at- tacked by part of the allied army on the 27th of February ; while the second division, of which the Buffs formed a part, forced the passage of the Gave above the town, and menaced the enemy's left ; and the French were driven from their post with great loss. The only loss sustained by the regiment on this occasion was two men wounded. The regiment also formed part of the force under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, which proceeded on the 2nd of March along the left bank of the Adour to Aire, and drove, with great bravery, the French troops from the vicinity of that town ; on which occasion it had two men killed, and Lieutenant Woods, one Serjeant, and nine men wounded. After a further series of advances and manoeuvres, in which the Buffs took part, the French army, under THS:THIRD RBOIMBNT OF.^OOT. 237 Marshal Soult, was assembled ,in position at Toulouse, 1814 where it was attacked and driven from its ground on the 10th of April. The Buffs, though actively engaged in the operations connected with this victory, had no oppor- tunity of signalizing, thomselves in conflict; and soon afterwards hostilities ^Were terminated by the abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the restoration of the Bour- bon dynasty to the throne of France. '^ !' . ^ Thus the gallant achievements of the army produced the most glorious result ; that tyrannical power which had sprung out of the French revolution, after an im- mense expenditure of treasure and life, and after years of toil and bloodshed, was destroyed ; and the Buffs, having traversed kingdoms, fought battles, and shed their blood for their sovereign and country^ stood tri- umphant with the army in the heart of France. Peace was restored to Europe. The regiment went into quarters of refreshment ; and its meritorious exertions in the field of honour during the preceding seven years, was re- warded with the royal permission to bear the word " Peninsula" on its colours, in commemoration of its having borne a share in the arduous conflict which had restored peace to Europe. ' ' The first battalion of the Buffs was soon afterwards ordered to a new scene of conflict. During the progress of the war in which this battalion had taken so splendid a part, Bonaparte attempted to ruin the commerce of Great Britain by prohibiting the reception of British goods by neutral nations ; this gave rise to an order in council, which was issued by the British government to counteract the decrees of Bonaparte ; the United States of America were afterwards induced, by French interest, to resist this order in council, and ultimately to declare war against Great Britain; and, after hostilities had Iff 238 Historical record of 1814 ceased on the continent of Europe, the Buffs, with several other corps, were ordered to proceed to America. The regiment accordingly marched to the coast, and having embarked at Pouillac, near Bourdeaux, on the 3ist of May, arrived, after a passage of two months, in the river St. Lawrence, and landed about a hundred miles above Quebec, in Lower Canada ; being formed in bri- gade with the fifth, twenty-seventh, and fifty-eighth regiments, commanded by Major-General Sir Manley Power. After the arrival of the reinforcements from Europe, the governor-general of Canada, Lieut.-General Sir George Prevost, assembled all the disposable forces in the lower province for an attack upon the state of New York. The Buffs formed part of this force. As the troops approached the line of separation, the American army abandoned its entrenched camp on the river Chazy, and this post was occupied by the British on the 3rd of September. Advancing from thence on the following day, the troops surmounted many difficulties from ob- structions on the roads created by the felling of trees and the removal of bridges, and on the 5th of September halted within eight miles of Plattsburg. On the succeed- ing day the army moved forward in two columns, and the enemy attempted to impede the advance ; but the right column, of which the Buffs formed part, drove the American militia and regulars from all their positions, and entered Plattsburg, by which the strong position taken by the Americans at Dead-creek was turned. Preparations were subsequently made to attack the enemy's fortified position on an elevated ridge on the south branch of the Saranac, which was crowned with three strong redoubts, and other field-works and block- houses, armed with heavy artillery ; at the same time the THE THIRD REOIMENT OF FOOT. 239 British naval force on Lake Champlain was brotight for- 1814 ward to co-operate with the troops. The attack was made on the morning of the 1 1th of September^ when the Buffs, with several other corps, forced the ford at Sara- nac, and advanced with scaling ladders up the heights, while the batteries opened their fire, and the naval force engaged the enemy's flotilla ; but as the troops advanced to the attack, they were suddenly ordered to return, in consequence of the British naval force on the lake having been defeated by the Americans, and this circumstance rendered all fiirther attempts useless, as the most com- plete success on shore would have proved unavailing after the loss of the shipping. The enterprize was conse- quently abandoned, and the troops retired to Lower Canada. The Buffs lost in the several affairs with the enemy. Captain (Brevet Lieut.-Colonel) James Willing- ton, Ensign John Chapman, and two rank and file killed ; also Lieutenants Kingsbury, West, Benson, and Home* with one serjeant and thirty-four rank and file wounded. The battalion remained in Lower Canada during the 1815 winter of 1814, and the succeeding spring ; in which time a treaty of peace was concluded with the Americans ; and part of the forces being withdrawn from Canada, the Buffs embarked from Quebec on the 4th of Jime, 1815, for Europe. Meanwhile Napoleon Bonaparte had quitted the island of Elba, and invaded the kingdom from which he had so recently become an exile. The French troops abandoned their sovereign, and Bonaparte reascended with facility the throne of France. War was immediately declared against 'he usurper; the Buffs were ordered to Flanders ; but while they were at sea, the decisive battle of Waterloo was fought, the hopes of Bonaparte were de- i :l m 240 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1815 stroyed, and the allied army advanced in triumph to Paris. ^ •.,..' , The regiment landed on the 9th of July at Ostend, from whence it proceeded to Paris, and joined the army commanded by Field Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, at its camp at St. Denis, and was afterwards reviewed by the kings of France and Prussia, and the emperors of Russia and Austria. , Peace having been restored, the second battalion, which had been in England since 1 807, transferred the whole of its men who were fit for active service to the first, and was disbanded at Hythe on the 24th of December, 1815. At the same time an additional company, called a re- cruiting company, was placed on the establishment, and the regiment consisted of eleven companies, ten being in France, and one in England. On the 9th of August, 1815, the colonelcy, vacant by the death of General Charles Leigh, was conferred on Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton, G. C. B. and G. C. H. 1816 It having been resolved by the allied sovereigns to leave an army of occupation in France, the Buffs were selected for this service, and they accordingly marched from the vicinity of Paris, and were placed in garrison on the frontiers of France. On the 25th of December, 1816, the regiment was reduced to ten companies, consisting of forty-five Serjeants, twenty-two drummers, forty corporals, and seven hundred and sixty private men. 1817 The regiment continued to form part of the army of 1818 occupation in France until the autumn of 1818, when it was ordered to return to England ; and having embarked from Calais on the 31st of October, landed at Dover in the beginning of November. It was immediately after- wards ordered to proceed to Ireland ; and about ten days THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 241 after its arrival in England, it again embarked at Deal, 1818 and towards the end of November landed at Cork. The regiment remained in Ireland nearly three years; 1819 and on the 25th of August, 1821, its establishment was j^^O reduced to eight companies, and its total numbers, besides officers, to twenty-nine Serjeants, twelve drum- mers, twenty-four corporals, and five hundred and fifty- two private men. In the early part of September of the same year it embarked at Dublin and sailed to Liver- pool, where it landed two days afterwards. The services of the regiment were now destined to be transferred to New South Wales, whither it proceeded by detachments as guards over convicts. The first em- barkation took place at Liverpool in September, 1821, and this detachment arrived at New South Wales in March of the following year. The subsequent embarka- tions took place at Deptford, towards the end of 1821, — at different periods during the year 1822, and in the 1822 spring of 1823, and the last detachment reached its des- 1823 tination in August, 1823. The regiment was stationed at various parts of New 1824 South Wales until the beginning of 1827. In 1825 its 1825 establishment was augmented to ten companies, consisting of forty-two Serjeants, fourteen drummers, thirty-six cor- porals, and seven hundred and four private men ; and in 1826 it was further augmented to eleven companies, con- 1826 sisting of sixty-three Serjeants, twenty-two drummers, fifty-eight corporals, and nine hundred and fifty private men. .i. In 1827 the services of the regiment were transferred 1827 to the East Indies ; one wing embarked from Sydney on the 23rd of January, 1827, and arrived at Bengal in June ; and the other wing embarked from Sydney on the !, ,,:,inf 242 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1827 28th of November of the same year, and landed at Cal- cutta in February, 1828. 1828 In 1828 and the two following years the regiment was stationed at Bhaugulpore ; during which time its colonel, Lieut-General Sir Henry Clinton, died, and His Majesty King George IV. appointed General Sir George Don, G.C.B. and G.C.H., to the command of the Buffs, 1829 by commission dated the 21st of December, 1829. 1S31 The regiment embarked from Bhaugulpore, in boats, in February, 1831, and proceeding down the river Ganges to Fort William, passed this and the succeeding year in garrison at that fortress. 1832 On the 1st of January, 1832, Sir George Don died at Gibraltar, of which fortress he was lieut. -governor ; and on the 30th of January, King William IV. conferred the colonelcy of the Buffs on Kenneth Alexander, Lord Howard of Effingham, G.C.B. Having been relieved from duty at Fort William, the Buffs proceeded to the extensive military cantonment of Berhampore, situated on the eastern bank of the Bhagirutty, five miles from Moorshedabad, where they arrived on the 12th of November, 1832. The regiment marched from Berhampore on the 5th 1833 of December, 1833, for Ghazeepore, where it arrived on 1834 the 13th of January, 1834; and leaving this station * \ 1835 November, 1835, it traversed the country to Meerut, in 1836 the province of Delhi, where it arrived in February, 1836. 1838 At this station it has continued until the year 1838, which brings this record to a conclusion. In preparing the history of the Third Regiment op Foot, or The Buffs, and in detailing its services for a THK THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 243 f peru'd exceeding two hundred and sixty years, much labour and research have been exerted, and an anxious desire has been felt on the part of the compiler of the Records of the Army, to introduce, in a condensed form, every action worthy of record, in which this ancient corps has been concerned, during so long and eventful a period. The heroic achievements of the corps on its formation in the reign of Queen Elizabeth of glorious memory, have established its reputation in the military annals of Europe. The prowess and gallant bearing evinced by the brave Englishmen, who so nobly supported the Flemings in gaining their emancipation from the Spanish yoke, and in asserting and maintaining the ascendancy of Pro' testant principles over the errors and sanguinary proceed- ings of the Roman Catholics, in the states which unhap- pily fell under their dominion, set forth in their true character the innate qualities of the British soldier. The steady and inflexible attachment of the veterans, who had fought the battles of civil and religious liberty in the Netherlands, to the royal cause during the civil wars in the reign of King Charles I., and their con- tinued loyalty on being recalled from Holland by King Charles II. in 1665, afford a strong proof that this corps preserved a high sense of the national honour, and that brave men never lose sight of their duty and allegiance to their sovereign. The services of the regiment in the wars of King Wil- liam III., and in the glorious exploits of the great Duke of Marlborough, give repeated proofs of the bravery, the magnanimity, and the discipline of the Buffs. During the reigns of the twelve successive monarchs in which this corps has served, wars have frequently convulsed Europe, — dynasties have been changed, — and successive tyrants, who have sought to subjugate other r2 ^i ]\" ;irt' ft':! 244 HISTORICAL RECORD, ftc. nations, have been humbled or dethroned ; in these events this veteran regiment has performed a conspicuous part : and it is now an efficient corps, protecting the interests of Uie crown and kingdom in the distant clime of India, in the reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen Victoria. If the practice of inscribing on regimental colours the names of battles won, and of towns captured, had existed from the period of its formation, the colours of the Buffs would exhibit a catalogue of honourable distinctions sufficient to cover a page of history. Its record will, however, bear testimony of its gallantry to future genera- tions, and serve as a monument of its glory, to incite the Buffs of every age to vie in feats of valour with the heroes of Reminant, Turnhout, Nieuport, Ostend, Blen- heim, Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaqvet ; — and with the brave men who fought in Portugal, Spain, and France under the Duke of Wellington, the warriors whose gallantry achieved the honour of bearing the in- scriptions which now decorate the Regimental Colours. 1H38. . .\ A STATEMENT or THE MILITARY SERVICES OF THE OFFICERS BY WHOM THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. OR THE BUFFS, WAS COMMANDED PREVIOUS TO ITS BEING PLACED ON THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT IN 1665. ! I! THOMAS MORGAN. This officer was a native of Wales, and having adopted the profession of arms, he served in the wars in France in 1557, in the reign of Queen Mary. He subsequently served in Ireland, under the Earl of Essex ; and also against the Scots, in the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In 1572, he was employed to discipline the armed bands raised by the city of London, which were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth in Greenwich park on the 1st of May, of that year. After the review, he raised a company of three hundred men, for the service of the magistrates and burghers of Flushing, who had revolted against the Spanish authority ; and this company was the nucleus of the Third Regiment of Foot, or the Buffs, in the Historical Record of which corps an ac- count of his subsequent services will be found. He com- manded a regiment in the service of the States of Holland 246 MILITARY SERVICES OF THE COMMANDERS and Zealand, and acquired a celebrity which occasioned Queen Elizabeth to recai him and part of his corps to proceed to Ireland. By the historians of that period, he is spoken of as a maa equally conspicuous for personal bravery, a kind and humane disposition, and the art of gaining the affections and esteem of all who knew him. These qualities occasioned the inhabitants of Flushing to wish to have him for their governor ; and enabled him to raise his corps and recruit it, from time to time, with facility. SIR JOHN NORRIS, KNIGHT. John Norris, second son of Henry Lord Norris, was born in 1547, and chusing the military profession, he made his first essay in arms as a lanc.r. during the civil wars in PVance. He subsequently commanded an ensign of foot, under the Earl of Essex, in Ireland, where, in several actions with the rebels, he gave presage of future renown. On one occasion he evinced signal valour and intrepidity in the rescue of his younger brother from the power of a party of insurgents. When Don John of Austria violated the conditions of the pacification of Ghent, Captain Norris engaged three hundred of his country- men to accompany him to the seat of war in the Nether- lands, and this little band was augmented to a regiment of which the intrepid Norris was appointed colonel. In the action at Reminant, on the 1st of August^ 1578, he distinguished himself :n a particular manner. Church- yard, a contemporary historian, speaking of this action, observes : — " The greatest glory of this fight fell to the "courageous Colonkl Norris, who joined with eleven "companies of English. He had three horses slain " under him, and with great valour he pursued and sub- ''dued his enemies. Weaponed with sword and pistol, OF THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 247 " he used these so surely, as whoever had seen how cou- " rageously he laid about him, might have said he had "seen a new Hector, another Alexander, or rather a " second Csesar foiling his enemies everywhere. " After this action he was appointed to the command of all the English ia the service of the States of the United Pro- vinces, and his achievements in numerous battles, sieges, and skirmishes, are narrated in the Historical Record of the Holland Regiment, now the Third Foot or the Buffs. In 1587, Queen Elizabeth recalled this celebrated officer from the Netherlands ; the States were desirous of detaining him in their service, and of promoting him to the rank of marshal of the field, but the Queen's mandate was imperative. In the following year he was commissioned to place the maritime towns of England in a posture of defence to resist the Spanish Armada, and he was second in command of the army encamped at Tilbury. An expedition was fitted out in 1589 to assist Don Antonia of Portugal in rescuing that kingdom out of the power of Spain, and was placed under the joint command of General Sir John Norris and Admiral Sir Francis Drake ; and such was the confidence reposed in these two commanders, and the esteem in which they were held, that the Earl of Essex and other persons of rank were desirous of accompanying them, and the volun- teers for this service exceeded the number of men allowed to proceed on the enterprize. The fleet sailed in the middle of April, and on the 24th of that month, a landing was effected on the coast of Galicia. After laying part of the country waste, an attack was made on Corunna. This place consisted of an upper and lower town ; the lower town was captured on the 27th of April; and the iippcM* town was assaulted for several li'if! i, S !".! 1.' ',i 248 MILITARY SERVICBS OF THE COMMANDERS days, but without k ..?ss. At length a Spanish force of eight thousand men, under the governor of Galicia, drew near and encamped within four miles of the town. The English advanced to meet their opponents on the 7th of May, and a sharp action was fought near the village of Faro. Norris's men, by a gallant charge, forced the bridge, — carried the village at push of pike, — routed the Spaniards, and chased them a distance of three miles ; capturing all their provision and military stores. The English were now at liberty to resume the siege ; but disease was making great ravages among them ; they had indulged too freely in the use of wine and fruits, and the commanders resolved to raise the siege of Corunna, and proceed to Portugal. The expedition, accordingly, quitted Spam ; and a landing was effected on the coast of Portugal, and the town of Peniche taken. From this place the troops proceeded to Torres Vedras, and on the sixth day from their landing they took possession of the suburbs of Lisbon. Don Antonia had assured the officers that immediately on his arrival in Portugal, the inha- bitants would rise in arms against the Spaniards, and flock to his standard ; but no such event occurred ; and the Admiral meeting with unexpected difficulties in his approach to the Tagus, while the men were decreasing in numbers from disease. Sir John Norris retired from Lisbon, and re-embarked. A lauding was afterwards effected near Vigo, and the town and adjacent country were laid waste; the troops subsequently returned to England and were disbanded. During this period, a war was raging in France, be- tween Henry IV. and the Leaguers ; and in 1591, Queen Elizabeth sent Sir John Norris, with a body of newly levied troops, and a i'ew veteran companies from the Low Countries, to France, to assist the French monarch. OF THK THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 249 NoRRis landed on the coast of Brittany in the early part of May, and, having joined a small French force, cap- tured Guingamp after a short siege, — assaulted Lam- balle, — took by storm the castle of Castillon ; and per- formed other important services ; and Sir Roger Williams penetrated to the suburbs of Paris, and challenged the Spaniards to a pitched battle with two hundred pikemen and one hundred musketeers, against an equal number of English; but this was declined. Queen Elizabeth afterwards recalled the valiant NoRRis from France ; but sent him back in 1594, and the English troops having, in his absence, besieged the castle of Morlaix, it was surrendered to him soon after his arrival. He afterwards captured the town of Quimper, and castle of Crozon, and signalized himself in several other services. Meanwhile some Spanish emissaries having proceeded to Ireland and excited the people to rebellion, with pro- mises of aid from Spain, Queen Elizabeth recalled Sir John Norris from France, and sent him to Ireland to reduce the Earl of Tyrone and other rebels to obedience. The services of Sir John Norris in Ireland were of a distinguished character; but he was drawn into treaties with men who violated their engagements, and, being perplexed by the intricacy of Irish affairs, and thwarted by the councils and influence of inexperienced men, his anxiety brought on a disease of which he died on the 3d of September, 1597- Stow, in his chronicle, concludes his account of this distinguished officer in the followin^^ ^, »»'■;/ "' I J', V HORACE LORD VKRE, BAKON OF TILBURY. Horace Verb, brother of Sir T; uicis Ver^, was born in 1565; when in the twentieth your of his u^e ho proceeded with the forces under iho Earl ot Loit'ester to the Low Countries ; and sharing with his elder brothef in the hazards and conflicts of the seventy years' war, he acquired a reputation for deeds of valour. He accom- panied I'.ie Earl of Essex in the expedition to the coast c>( ^^aiij, in 1596; and his gallantry at the capture of Cndiz, was rewarded with the honour of knighthood. Soun afterwards he obtained the command of a regiment in the Low Countries. On the 24th of June, 1599, he was stationed with four companies of his regiment and some French soldiers in a newly-constructed half-moon in the upper part of the island of Bommelwaert, and about seven in the evening the Spaniards attacked this post with great fury, and fought resolutely for about au hour ; but Colonel Sir Horace Vere, boldly confronting the storm of battle, and urging his men to deeds of heroism, the Spaniards were repulsed with the loss of five hundred men. He also performed a distinguished part in the famous battle of Nieuport in 1600, and towards the close of the engage- ment he led a few companies of English to the charge with such gallantry^ that he broke one of the enemy's columns and made a great slaughter. In the following year he was at ihe siege of Rhineberg, from whence he was detached by Prince Maurice, with eight companies of his regiment, to assist in the defence of Ostend. He performed a distinguished part during the early part of the siege, and in January, 1602, when the archduke gave a general assault, he defended a post on the sand- hill with signal valour and resolution^ and was wounded ; OF TIIR THIRD KEUIMENT OP FOOT. 250 no great had been the fury of the assault, that on the followriit^ day heaps of dead men, with scaling-ladders, b«tiile-axo!«, spades, and hatchets in great numbers, were fouml at the foot of the sand-hill. In 1604 he distin* piishod himself at the siege of Sluys ; and the gallantry with which ho covered the retreat of Prince Maurice's urniy, be '«krt' the superior numbers of the enemy, com- marulcil . the Marquis of Spinolu, saved the forces of the StatPv Joneral from a severe disaster. On the d( siH« of his brotlior, Sir Francis Vere, in 1608, ii.e was ppoiiited by King James I. to the chief commam ot'th* l.nglish t.iopsinthe Netherlands; and in 1610 Ha M.4)esty constituted him governor of the cautionary town f Briel, which was given up to the States m IBK iu 1618 he was employed in suppressing the comrao raised by the Arminians against the Prince of ( ?e, ;• id after the ringleaders were seized, d governor of Utrecht, that he might keep them in order, •ed officer was appointed in 1620, to the forces sent by James I. to the Elector Palatine, titular King of ler many fatiguing marches in the had the grief to find his efTorts he was appou have authority I'his distinfe the command assistance of Bohemia ; and heart of Germai unavailing, owing v> 'he apathy of, and divisions uinong the princes of the union. The greater part of the Palatinate soon became a prey to the Austrians and Spaniards ; a few towns were, however, preserved by the English until the end of 1622, when General Sir Horace Vere, having been some time besieged in the town of Manheim, without sut&cient means of defence, was forced to surrender the place to the power of the enemy. On his return to England in 1623, the king received him most graciously, and constituted him a member of s 2 "(■ I F:| 260 MILITARY SERVICES OF THE COMMANDERS the council of war assembled to devise measures for the security of Ireland, with the rest of His Majesty's dominions, and for assisting the king's allies, especially in the Low Countries. He continued a member of this council for several years; and immediately after the accession of King Charles I. in 1625, he was advanced to the peerage by the title of Lord Verb, Baron of Tilbury in the county of Essex. On the 5th of March, 1629, he was appointed master- f^<;neral of the ordnance for life. Notwithstanding these appointments in Eng- land he continued to command the English troops in the Low Countries ; * and the king's letters patent, appoint- ing him to that command, empowering him to confer the honour of knighthood, he exercised that authority in 1633, at the camp near Bois-le-Duc. Being at this * period nearly seventy years of age, he did not engage in any further military operations. His demise occurred suddenly on the 3d of May, 1635 ; he was buried in the same vault with his brother. Sir Francis Vere, in West- minster Abbey; his funeral was attended by several companies of the trained bands of the city of London, also by many noblemen and persons of distinction, and the cannon of the Tower of London was fired at the time of his interment. Doctor Thomas Fuller, in his " Wor- thies of England," speaks very highly of Lord Vere ; and Doctor Dillingham, who published Vere's ** Com- mentaries," bears ample testimony of the distinguished merit of this gallant officer and clever and good man. * George Monk, afterwards Duke of Albemarle, who is cele- brated for his services at the restoration in 1660, was at this period a lieutenant in the Netherlands under Lord Vere. — Vide Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. OF THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT 261 SIR JOHN OGLE, KNIGHT. Among the English gentlemen who adopted the profession of arms in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and acquired celebrity for deeds of valour in the wars in the Low Countries, was Sir John Ogle, a companion in arms of Sir Francis and Sir Horace Vere, and many years lieut.- colonel and afterwards colonel of one of the corps of which the Third regiment of foot, or the Buffs, is the repre- sentative. The conduct of this officer at the battle of Nieu- port, in 1600, particularly his dismounting at a moment of extreme danger, and when nearly surrounded by the enemy, and assisting to extricate his wounded general. Sir Francis Vere, from under his horse, — and the gallantry he evinced in the last charge at that battle, have been the subject of much commendation. He also perfor^^ied the part of a valiant and expert officer in the defence of Ostend in 1601 and 1602, and evinced great discretion in con- ducting the parley during that siege. He distinguished himself on many other occasions, and lost his left eye in the service. He wrote a narrative of the last charge at Nieuport, which is printed in Vere's "Commentaries." He also published a vindication of Sir Francis Vere's conduct in the parley with the archduke during the siege of Ostend. SIR CHARLES MORGAN, KNIGHT. Charles Morgan was one of the English gentlemen who signalized themselves in the wars in the Netherlands ; he was several years an officer in Sir Francis Vere's regi- ment, and, accompanying the expedition under the Earl of Essex in 1596, was knighted for his conduct at the capture of Cadiz. He distinguished himself at the battle of Nieuport in 1600, and on several other occasions, and was rewarded with the colonelcy of one of the iiM< mn \i 262 MILITARY SERVICES OF THE COMMANDERS English regiments in the Low Countries. He particu- larly distinguished himself in the defence of Bergen-op- Zoom in 1621, of which place he was appointed governor. His gallantry and prudence were alike conspicuous in the defence of Breda in 1624 and 1625, and in the siege of Breda in 1637 : also in various other services. He was many years second in command to Lord Vere ; and after his lordship retired from the army, the chief com- mand of the English troops in the Netherlands devolved on General Sir Charles Morgan, who performed the duties of his situation with credit to himself and advan- tage to the service. HENRY EARL OF OXFORD, K. B. Henry Vere succeeded to the dignity of Earl of Oxford on the demise of his father Edward, the seven- teenth earl, in 1604; he held also the office of lord great chamberlain of England; and in 1610 he was chosen a knight of the order of the Bath. In 1617 he served as a volunteer with the forces of the republic of Venice at the siege of Gradisca. In 1620 he raised a company of two hundred and fifty men, which was incorporated in a regiment commanded by Sir Horace Vere, and sent by King James I. to the assistance of the Elector Palatine, then King of Bohemia. The Earl of Oxford com- manded his company during the campaign of that year in Germany ; but, though the English performed all that it was possible for men to do, Bohemia was abandoned by its king. He returned to England after that cam- paign, and was appointed one of the council of war as- sembled to consider of the best means to be employed for the recovery of the Palatinate. Fuller, speaking of Henry, eighteenth Earl of Ox- OF THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 263 // ford^ states, that " He was a vigorous gentleman, full of " courage and resolution. His sturdy nature would not '* bow to court compliants ; he would maintain what he " spake, speak what he thought, think what he appre- *' hended true and just, though sometimes dangerous " and distasteful. Once he came to court with a great " milk-white feather about his hat, which then was some- " what unusual, save that a person of his merit might " make a fashion ; one of the lords said to him in some *• jeer, ' My lord, you wear a very fair feather.' * It is " true,' said the earl, * and if you mark it, there's ne'er a *' taint in it.' Indeed his family was ev*»r loyal to the " crown, deserving their motto, Vero nil verius" The Earl of Oxford was subsequently engaged in naval affairs, and for a short time he commanded a small squadron at sea. But in 1624 he obtained the colonelcy of an English regiment employed in the Netherlands ; and served during the campaign of that year, under the Prince of Orange. He commanded the advance-guard of the army marching to the relief of Breda, in May, 1625, — and having captured two forts, attacked a third, but was repulsed ; his standard-bearer was killed in the conflict, and the colours captured by the enemy, when he instantly rushed forward and rescued the colours without receiving a wound. But, being a stout heavy man, his violent exertion on this occasion, brought on a disease, of which he died soon afterwards at the Hague. ROBERT EARL OF OXtORD. Robert Verb, great grandson of John, fifteenth Earl of Oxford, chusing a military life, obtained a commission in one of the English corps serving in the Netherlands, and being a man of great courage and ability, he soon obtained the colonelcy of a regiment. On the decease li \n IP IS'! ! 264 MILITARY SERVICES OF THE COMMANDERS of his second cousin in 1625, he succeeded to the dignity of Earl op Oxford. His military and social virtues won the esteem of the officers and soldiers who sened under him ; but, his ardour urging him into the most perilous services, his career of glory was suddenly termi- nated; being killed at the siege of Maestricht in 1632. AUBREY EARL OF OXFORD. Aubrey Vere, twentieth and last Earl of Oxford, being only five years of age when his father was killed before Maestricht, became a ward of the crown; and when the civil wars broke out in the reign of Charles I., he was in Holland with his mother, at the court of the Princess of Orange. He entered early on a military life, and in 1648 he was colonel of the regiment which is now the Third foot, or the Buffs. He afterwards re- turned to England, and being known as a faithful ad- herent of the royal family, he was confined in the Tower of London in 1654, on a charge of conspiring against Cromwell, but he was released without being brought to trial. He continued constant to the royal cause, was en- gaged in various attempts to effect the restoration, and was again imprisoned in 1659 ; but was released in November of the same year by the committee of safety. He was one of the six lords deputed by the house of peers in 1660, with twelve of the commons, to present the petition of parliament to the King, " that His Ma- " jesty would be pleased to return and take the govern- *• ment of the kingdom into his own hands." He was soon afterwards appointed colonel of one of the regiments of horse, formerly in the service of the Commonwealth ; and after that corps was disbanded, he obtained the colonelcy of the first regiment of horse raised at the OF THE THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT. 265 // restoration, and on the formation of the present regular army, the Royal Horse Guards or Oxford Bhies. He continued in the command of this corps, until the spring of 1688, when he was removed by King James H. for not promoting the views of the court in favour of Papacy ; but was restored by the Prince of Orange at the revolu- tion. In 1690, he proceeded with King William III. to Ireland, was at the battle of the Boyne, and ai the siege of Limerick. He continued in command of the Blues until his decease, which took place on the 12th of March, 1703. JOHN CROMWELL. This officer obtained the commission of captain of a company, in one of the regiments raised by King James I. in 1624, and sent to the assistance of the United Pro- vinces of the Netherlands ; and he was engaged in nearly every siege and military operation during the remainder of the seventy years' war. He particularly distinguished himself in an attempt to relieve Breda in 1625, and was severely wounded in storming the Spanish fortifications. For several years he commanded one of the English regiments in the Netherlands, and acquired the reputa- tion of a brave and meritorious officer. After the peace of Munster in 1648, three of the EngUsh regiments, in the service of the States-General, were disbanded, and the veteran. Colonel Cromwell, was appointed to the command of the remaining regiment (now the Third foot or the Buffs) in the room of the Earl of Oxford, who quitted the Dutch service, and returned to En^j.dL!.d. He appears to have disapproved of the conduct of his relation, the notorious Oliver Cromwell, during the re- bellion in the reign of Charles I., and while he attended 11 i 266 MILITARY SERVICES OF THE COMMANDERS. to his regimental duties in Holland, he interested himself in behalf of the royalists, and even remonstrated with the Protector. Viewing the conduct of the regicides with abhorrence, he obtained permission of Charles II. to change his surname to Williams. When the war broke out between Great Britain and Holland in 1665, he retired from active service. SUCCESSION OF COLONELS OF THK THIRD REGIMENT OF FOOT, OR THE BUFFS, From the time it was placed on the English Establishment, in 1665. ROBERT SIDNEY. Appointed 3lst May, 1665. Robert Sidney, third son of Robert Earl of Leicester, ob- tained, at an early age, a commission in one of the English regiments in the service of the States-General of Holland, and in 1643 he was captain of a company in the same corps. Having served in several campaigns previous to the peace of Munster, he was promoted, in the beginning of 1648, to the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment commanded by Aubrey Earl of Oxford, now the Third foot, or the Buffs ; and when that corps was sent to England, King Charles IL promoted him to the colonelcy, by commission dated the 31st of May, 1665 ; and he commanded the regiment until his decease in the sum- mer of 1668. SIR WALTER VANE. Appointed I2th August, 1668. On the decease of Colonel Sidney, the colonelcy of the Third foot was conferred by King Charles II. on Major-General Sir Walter Vane, an officer of much experience, who was after- wards selected to command a body of British troops which the States-General obtained permission, in 1674, again to entertain in their service. He accordingly proceeded to the Netherlands, and was appointed colonel of one of the regiments designed to be raised on this occasion, (now the sixth foot,) but before the regiment was embodied, he was killed at the battle of SenefFe, on the 11th of August, 1674. 268 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. JOHN EARL or MULQRAVE, K. G. Appointed I'zth December, 1673. John Sheffield, third Earl of Mulgrave, served in the royal navy in the reign of Charles II., and was at the great naval engagement at Solebay, on the 28th of May, 1672. He was afterwards appointed captain of the Royal Catherine ; but at the termination of the war with Holland at the end of the year 1673 he obtained the colonelcy of the Holland regiment, and in May, 1674, he was installed a knight of the most noble order of the Garter. He was also constituted one of the lords of the king's bedchamber, and in 1679 he was appointed gover- nor of Hull, loid-lieutenart of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and a member of the privy council. In 1680 he was ap- pointed to the chief command of the troops destined for Tangier, in Africa, and in 1682 he was removed from the colonelcy of the Third foot; but King Charles II. having resolved to vacate Tangier, he was restored to his regiment in 1684. In the suc- ceeding year he was appointed lord chamberlain of the household, and vice-admiral of York, and the colonelcy of his regiment was conferred on Lieut.-Colonel Oglethorp. At the revolution in 1 688 his lordship adhered to the Protestant interest ; and in 1694 he was created Marquis of Normanby. On the accession of Queen Anne, in 1702, he was advanced to the dignity of Duke of Buckingham; he was also appointed lord privy seal ; and was subsequently one of the Commis- sioners to ratify the Union between England and Scotland. He held also the appointment of lord steward of the household ; lord president of the council ; and on the demise of Queen Anne, in 1714, he was one of the lords justices for governing the kingdom until the arrival of King George I. from Hanover. This nobleman was distinguished in the literary as well as the political world, and his writings have been much admired. He died in 1720, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. PHILIP EARL OF CHESTERFIELD. Appointed 6th November, 1682. Philip Stanhope succeeded to the dignity of Earl of Chester- field, on the decease of his grandfather the first earl of that name. In 1662 he was appointed lord chamberlain to Queen Catherine ; and during the Dutch war, which commenced in SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 2m 1665, he held the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, which was disbanded soon afterwards. In 1679, when the Duke of Monmouth had incurred the king's displeasure, his Majesty appointed the Earl of Chesterfield lord warden of the royal forests and parks on the south side of the Trent ; and in 1682 his lordship obtained the colonelcy of the Holland regi- ment, which he held until 1684, when it was again conferred on John Earl of Mulgrave, afterwards Duke of Buckingham. The Earl of Chesterfield did not afterwards accept of any appointment. He died on the 28th of January, 1713, at the advanced age of eighty years. JOHN EARL OF MULGRAVE, K. G. Reappointed 26th January^ 1684. SIR THEOPHILUS OGLETHORP. Appointed 25//t October y 168.'>. Theophilus Oglethorp entered the army shortly after the restoration of King Charles II. as a private gentleman, in the life guards, and having imbibed the spirit of his profession, he was soon advanced to the post of sub-corporal, with the rank of cornet in the army. In 1677 he rose to the degree of cor- poral, with the rank of lieutenant j and in the following year he was appointed major of the Royal regiment of dragoons, which was then first raised ; but this corps being soon after- wards disbanded, he resumed his post in the life guards. On the breaking out of the rebellion in Scotland in 1679, Major Oglethorp was sent thither with a small body of cavalry ; on the march of the royal army, commanded by the Duke of Monmouth, towards the Clyde, he led the advance-guard, and he proved himself an efficient cavalry officer by his conduct at the battle of Bothwell Bridge. In 1680 he was promoted to the rank of cornet in the Duke of York's troop of life guards, and was appointed to the command of a squadron of life guards ordered for service in Africa against the Moors, who had attacked the British settlement at Tangier : this squadron was, however, ordered to disembark at Portsmouth and return to London. In 1684 he was appointed lieutenant of the third troop of life guards, with the rank of lieut. -colonel in the army ; and in the summer of 1685 he was sent by King James II. 270 SUCCESSION OP COLONELS. with a squadron of the life guards against the rebels, under the Duke of Monmouth. While on this service he evinced great zeal in the royal cause ; on the 25th of June he attacked and defeated a squadron of rebel horse at Caniston Bridge, and on the night preceding the battle of Sedgemoor, he was sent to make a reconnoissance towards Bristol, but he joined the royal army in time to take part in the conflict, and the gallantry with which he led the life guards to the charge, contributed materially to the overthrow of the rebel army. After the suppression of this rebellion Lieut.-Colonel Ogle- thorp was knighted by King James II., and promoted to the colonelcy of the Holland regiment. In 1688 he was pro- moted to the rank of brigadier-general, and he commanded a brigade of the king's army assembled to oppose the Prince of Orange. Having received many favours from King James II., he refused, when the revolution took place, to appear in arms against that monarch, and his regiment was given to Colonel Churchill. He was afterwards a member of parliament for several years for the county of Surrey, and he died in 1704. Three years after his decease a pamphlet was published by Mrs. Francis Shaftoe, in which it was stated that the Pretender, who had been acknowledged as King of Great Britain by the courts of France and Spain, was the son of the late Sir Theophi- lus Oglethorp. The import of this pamphlet was, that Sir Theo- philus Oglethorp and his lady had been in great favour with the late king, James II., and his consort, and had occupied an apartment in the palace ; that the Prince of Wales died when an infant, and that a son of the late Sir Theophilus Oglethorp, of the same age, was substituted. CHARLES CHURCHILL. Appointed 3lst December ^ 1688. Charles Churchill (son of Sir Winstan Churchill, a dis- tir guished loyalist in the reigns of Charles I. and II.) was brother of that celebrated commander, John Duke of Marl- borough, and was born in 1656 ; when thirteen years of age, he was page of honour to Christian V., King of Denmark. He was ensign in the Duke of York's regiment,* in 1675. In 1680, an additional regiment (now the fourth or King's Own,) * Afterwards Prince George of Denmark's regiment. — See page 120. f JCCV ^luV OF COLONELS. 271 war usedfor t* Jefeucc ut Tangier,and placed under the orders of ( .dfflet Rarl Plymouth, and Mr. Churchill having obtained AOMMUMion in this corps, was promoted in a few years to the lieut-c(i.onclc) ui it. In 1685 he was with his regiment at the battle of Sedgemoor ; and at the revolution in 1688, the Prince of Orange promoted him to the colonelcy of the Third foot. He served the campaign of tU'.. following year in the Netherlands ; in the winter of 1690 and spring of 1691 he served as brigadier- general in Ireland ; and on the 3d of August, 1692, he commanded a brigade of infantry under King William III. at the battle of Steenkirk. He also commanded a brigade of infantry in 1694 at the battle of Landen, where he took his nephew, the afterwards celebrated Duke of Berwick, prisoner, for whose ran- som he received twenty-thousand guilders :* and in the succeed- ing year he was promoted to the rank of major-general. In 1695 he was with the covering army during the siege of Namur, and during the retreat towards Ghent, he was surrounded and taken prisoner ; but while the French soldiers who had taken him were disputing about the possession of his watch and money, he effected his escape. He continued to serve under the king until the peace of Ryswick, and his services were rewarded with the appointment of governor of Kinsale in Ireland. On the accession of Queen Anne he was appointed lieut.-gover- nor of the Tower of London, and promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and proceeding to the Netherlands, he commanded a division of the army under his brother John Duke of Marlborough. He evinced great courage and ability on several occasions, and at the close of the campaign of 1*703, he was promoted to the rank of general. In 1104, he con- ducted the British infantry through the states of Germany to the theatre of war, between the Austrians and Bavarians, and at the celebrated battle of Blenheim he acquired new laurels. Soon after the glorious victory at Ramilies in 1706, at which he was present, he wa» appointed governor of Brussels ; he was afterwards appointed governor of the island of Guernsey ; and in February 1707, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the second regiment of foot, guards. He died on the 20th of Sep- tember 1714, and was interred in Mintern church in Dorset- shire, where a monument was erected to his memory. '* The Duke of Berwick was an illegitimate son of King James IL, by Lady Arabella Churchill, sister of General Churchill. 27-2 SUCCESSION OF (JOLONKLS. JOHN DUKK OF AROYLE, K. O. ahu K. T. Appointed 24/ A February ^ 1701. TnK Duke of Argyle entered the army nt an early age, and in 1694 he was co\onel of a regiment of foot in the service of the StateB-Gcneml of Holland, at the head of which corps, he served under King William III. in the Netherlands, and after the peace of Ryswick he was elected a knight of the Thistle. On the breaking out of the war in the reign of Queen Anne, he was appointed colonel of a newly-raised regiment of foot, (af- terwards disbanded,) and in 1703, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the Scots troop of life guards. In the following year he was constituted a brigadier-general ; he highly distin- guished himself in 1706 at the battle of Ramilies, also at the sieges of Ostend and Menin : he was promoted to the rank of major-general in the same year; and in February, 1707, he obtained the colonelcy of the Third foot. He commanded twenty battalions of infantry at the battle of Oudenarde in 1708, and his conduct greatly contributed to the gaining of that victory : he also assistedat the sieges of Lisle and Ghent; and was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general on the 1st of Janu- ary, 1709. In the succeeding campaign, he commanded as lieut.-general at the siege of Tournay, where he was wounded ; and he afterwards highly signalized himself at the battle of Malplaquet. After the campaign of 1710, he was elected a knight of the Garter, and in February 1711, he was promoted to the rank of general, and appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in Spain, when he disposed of the colonelcy of the Third foot. He immediately proceeded to Spain, and assumed the command of the British troops in Catalonia, but he was soon afterwards obliged to quit the field in consequence of ill health. After his return he was appointed commander- in-chief in Scotland, and governor of Edinburgh Castle, but joining the opposition to the ministry, he was removed from his commands. On the accession of King George I., he was again appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland ; also governor of Minorca; and in 1715 he obtained the colonelcy of the Royal regiment of horse guards. His great military talents were soon afterwards evinced in the suppression of the rebellion of the Earl of Mar : but he again joined the opposition and was dis- missed from his commands. He was, however, restored to SUCCKSSION OF COLON Kf.S. 27.5 His Mnjcaty'n favour in 1719, and wa« appointed high steward of the houHehoUl, mid creiitcd Duke of Greenwich. lie Bul)8e- qucntly hehl, ut difl'i rent periods, the appointment of niiuiter- gcnerul of the ordnance, the coloneU;y of the Queen's horse, now second dragoon guiirds, the government of Portsmouth, and the colonelcy of the Uoyal horse guurds, mid was promoted to the rank of field- marslml in 1135. He however joined the opposition to Sir Robert Wulpole, and was coii8e(|uently dis- missed from his appointments ; but on the change of the mini8<- try ill 1742, he was re-appointed colonel of the Ulues ; he how- ever resigned a few days afterwards, and died in 1743. JOHN SELWYN. Appninled 2Gth February ^ 1711, John Selwyn was an officer in the army in the reign of King William III.; and having served several campaigns on the continent under the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, he ob- tained the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment (afterwards disbanded) on the 1st of December, 1709. Two years after- wards he diapoficd of his commission to Colonel Lucas, and purchased the colonelcy of the Third foot, of the Duke of Argyle. He served the campaign of 1711 on the continent, and highly distinguished himself in the afl'air near Douay on the night of the 1 2th of July, on which occasion he was severely wounded, as stated at page 163. After the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, he obtained permission to dispose of the colonelcy of the regiment ; and he then retired into private life. ARCHIBALD EARL OF FORFAR. Appointed XAlh April y 1713. This nobleman, having been several years an officer in the army, obtained permission, in 1713, to purchase the colonelcy of the Third foot. In the following year he was nominated, by King George I., envoy-extraordinary to the court of Prussia. In 1715, when the Earl of Mar had excited a rebel- lion in Scotland in favour of the Pretender, the Earl of Forfar appeared at the head of his regiment to oppose the insurgents, and he acted as brigadier-general at the battle of Duinblain on the 13th of November, where he received a shot in his knee, and sixteen other wounds, of which he died at Stirling on the 8th of December following. T .1) :t>\ 274 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. CHARLES WILLS. Appointed bth January^ 1116. This officer served several campaigns in Flanders under King William III. ; and on the breaking out of the war in the first year of the reign of Queen Anne he was promoted to the rank of colonel, ^n 1705 he obtained the command of a regiment of marines, (now thirtieth foot,) with which he served in Spain under the Earl of Galway, and held the appointment of quarter-master-general in that country. In 1707 he distin- guished himself in the defence of Lerida. He continued to serve in Spain, — was promoted to the rank of major-general on the 1st of January, 1709, — was at the battles of Almanara, and Saragossa, in 1710, and advanced with the army to Ma- drid ; and in the winter, when retiring towards Catalonia, he was with the division which was surrounded by the enemy in the village of Brihuega, and made prisoners. After the peace of Utrecht his regiment (thirtieth) was disbanded ; but it was restored by King George I., on the 25th of May, 1715. When the rebellion broke out in Scotland in the autumn of 1715, Major-General Wills commanded the troops in Che- shire, and when the rebels advanced into Lancashire, he as- sembled several regiments, and attacked the insurgents at Preston ; the conflict lasted two days, but on the arrival of re- inforcements under Lord Carpenter, the rebels surrendered. He was promoted immediately afterwards to the rank of lieut.- geueral ; and in January, 1716, the colonelcy of the Third foot was conferred on this meritorious officer. He was pro- moted to the command of the first foot guards in 1726, — advanced to the rank of general in 1739, — and afterwards con- stituted by King George II. a knight of the honorable mili- tary order of the Bath. He died on the 25th of December, 1741. THOMAS EARL OF LONDONDERRY. Appointed '26th August^ 1726. Thomas Pitt served several campaigns in the wars of Queen Anne; and soon after the accession of King George I. he ob- tained the colonelcy of the third horse, now second dragoon guards. In 1719 he was created a peer of Ireland by the title of Baron of Londonderry. In August, 1726, he was removed from SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 275 the third horse to the Third foot, or the Buffs, and in October of the same year he was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Londonderry. In 1721 he was appointed captain- general and commander-in-chief of His Majesty's Leeward Islands in America, and he died at the island of St. Christopher, on the 12th of September, 1729. WILLIAM TATTON. Appointed 24th November j 1 729. This officer obtained a commission in Colonel Cornwall's regi- ment, (now ninth foot,) on the 1st of June, 1687. At the revolution in the succeeding year he took the oath to the Prince of Orange. He served several campaigns under King William, in^Flanders'; and on the breaking out of the war in 1 702, hewas appointed lieut.-colonelofthe Earl of Marlborough's regiment, (now twenty-fourth foot,) with which corps he served in the Netherlands and in Germany, and was at the memorable battles of Blenheim and Ramilies. In August, 1704, he obtained the colonelcy of the twenty-fourth foot, in succession to the Duke of Marlborough ; and in January, 1707, he was appointed a brigadier-general. In the following year he disposed of his regiment to Colonel Primrose, and was ap- pointed major of the first foot guards. He was advanced to the rank of major-general in 1710, and to that of lie ut. -general in March 1727 ; and on the decease of the Earl of Londonderry, he was promoted' from the lieut.-colonelcy 'of the first foot guards to the colonelcy of the Buffs, which appointment he retained until his decease in 1737. THOMAS HOWARD. Appointed 21th June^ 1737. Thomas Howard entered the army in February, 1703, and served in the Netherlands and in Germany under the cele- brated Duke of Marlborough. In 1708 he obtained the lieut.- colonelcy of the twenty-fourth foot, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army in November, 1711. In 1717 he succeeded General Primrose in the colonelcy of the twenty- fourth regiment ; and on the decease of Lieut.-General Tatton, hewas removed to the Buffs. In 1739 he was promoted to the rank of major-general, he was aide-do-camp to King George II. for several years, and in 1742 he proceeded to T 2 •276 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. Flanders with the army commanded by field-marshal the Earl of Stair. He was promoted to the rank of lieut.-geaeral in 1743, and he served under King George II. at the battle of Dettingen. In 1749 he resigned the colonelcy of the Third foot in favour of his son. GEORGE HOWARD. Appointed 21st August^ 1749. George Howard entered the army in the reign of King George I., and after serving the crown a period of nineteen years, he obtained the lieut.-colonelcy of the Third foot on the 2nd of April, 1744. He commanded the regiment at the battles of Fontenoy, Falkirk, Culloden, and Val ; and in 1749 he succeeded his father in the colonelcy of the corps. He served with distinction in Germany during the seven years' war; and at the conclusion of the peace in 1763, he was re- moved to the seventh dragoons, and advanced to the dignity of a knight of the Bath. In April, 1779, he was removed to the first dragoon guards, and was afterwards promoted to the rank of field-marshal ; he was also a member of the privy council, and governor of Jersey ; and he died on the 16th of July, 1796. JOHN CRAUFURD. Appointed 13th May, 1763. John Craufurd, having served in the subordinate commis- sions, was appointed lieut.-colonel of the thirteenth foot, on the 9th of October, 1749 ; and in 1759, when an augmenta- tion was made to the regular army, he obtained the colonelcy of the eighty-fifth foot, or Royal volunteers, then first raised. He served under Major -General Hodgson, in 1761, at the capture of Belle-Isle, and was afterwards appointed governor of the island. At the conclusion of the peace in 1763 his re- giment was disbanded, when he was appointed to the colo- nelcy of the Third foot, and also commander-in-chief in the island of Minorca, where he died of a fever in the summer of 1764. RALPH BURTON. Ajipoint^d 22nd November, 1764. This officer was appointed, on the 15th of October, 1754, lieut.-colonel of the forty-eighth regiment, then in Ireland. SUCCKSSION OF COLONELS. 277 In the following year he proceeded with his regiment to North America ; and the war with France breaking out soon after- wards, he was engaged in active service against the enemy, and obtained the local rank of colonel in America, on the 10th of January, 1158. Two years afterwards he was appointed colonel of a newly-raised corps, which was numbered the ninety-fifth regiment, and sent to America to serve under Sir Jeffery (afterwards Lord) Amherst, in the reduction of Canada. The ninety-fifth regiment was disbanded in 1763; and in the suc- ceeding year Colonel Burton was appointed to the command of the Third foot. He was afterwards promoted to the rank of major-general, and died at Scarborough in nOS. SIR JEFFERY AMHERST, K. B. Appointed Ith November y llGS. Sir Jeffery Amherst entered the army at an early age, and in n.5G he was appointed colonel of the fifteenth regiment of foot. In 1758 he was appointed colonel-in-chief of the sixtieth regiment. He was many years governor and com- mander-in-chief in North America; and the achievements of the British forces during his continuance in that country 'ire inscribed on an obelisk in the grounds at his seat of Montreal, viz: — LouisBOURG surrendered, and six battalions made prisoners of war, the 26th July, 1*758. Fort du Quesne taken possession of, 24th November, 1758. Niagara surrendered, 25th July, 1759. TicoNDEROGA taken possession of, 26th July, 1759. Crown Point taken possession of, 4th August, 1759. Quebec capitulated, 18th September, 1759. Fort Levi surrendered, 25th August, 1760. Isle du Noix abandoned, 28th August, 1760. Montreal surrendered, and with it all Canada, and ten French battalions laid down their arms, 8th September, 1760. St. John's, Newfoundland, retaken the 18th September, 1762. In November, 1768, he was appointed colonel of the Third foot, and reappointed colonel-in-chief of the sixtieth Royal American regiment, which he had resigned a short time before ; 278 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. and in 1776 he was advanced to the peerage by the title of Baron Amherst. In 1118 he was appointed general on the staff, and he performed the duties of commander-in-chief four years. In 1*779 he was appointed colonel of the second troop of horse grenadier guards ; in 1782 he was removed to the second troop of life guards, and in 1788 his lordship's troop was constituted the second regiment of life guards. In January, 1793, he was reappointed general on the staff, which he held until February, 1795, when he was succeeded by His Royal Highness the Duke of York. He retained the command of the second regiment of life guards until his decease in 1797. WILLIAM STYLE. Appointed 2lst April, 1779. This officer served above thirty years in the first foot guards. He was appointed colonel in the army in 1772; and major- general on the 29th of August, 1777. In 1779 he was pro- moted from major in the first foot guards to colonel of the Third regiment of foot. He obtained the rank of lieut.- general on the 20#l of November, 1782 ; and died on the 12th of March, 1786. THOMAS HALL. Appointed 18th April, 1786. Thomas Hall was appointed lieut.-colonel in the army, and deputy adjutant-general to the forces, in the spring of 1760, In August, 1764, he was appointed lieut.-colonel of the thirty-fifth foot; and in 1769 he was placed on the half-pay of the seventy-fourth foot. He obtained the rank of colonel in 1772; that of major-general in 1777; and lieut.-general in 1782. In 1786 King George III. conferred the colonelcy of the Third foot on lieut-general Hall; who was afterwards promoted to the rank of general on the 3rd of May, 1796 ; and he died in 1809. « CHARLES LEIGH. , Appointed 29th December, 1809. Charles Leigh obtained a commission as ensign in the third foot guards, on the 12tli March, 1764; he was promoted to UCCESSION OF COLONELS. 279 the rank of captain and lieut.-colonel in 1110 ; he served two campaigns in North America, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army in 1182. In 1193 he was appointed to the command of a battalion formed of the grenadier companies of the three regiments of foot guards, with which he pro- ceeded to the Netherlands. He was with the storming party which carried the outworks of Valenciennes on the 25th of July, 1793, and was thanked in general orders for his conduct on this occasion. He was also engaged in several other ser- vices during that campaign ; and in the autumn he was pro- moted from the third guards to the colonelcy of the eighty- second regiment, then newly raised. He was promoted to the rank of major-general on the 12th October, 1793; and was removed to the twentieth foot on the 2nd of March, 1797. He obtained the rank of lieut.-general in 1798, and that of general in 1803; and was removed to the colonelcy of the Third foot in 1809. He was groom of th( bed-chamber to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, rCj^ent of the king- dom ; also lieut.-govemor of the Isle of Wight : and he died on the 7th of August, 1815. SIR HENRY CLINTON, G. C. B. and G. C.H. Appointed 9th August, 1815. Henry Clinton entered the army in 1787 as ensign in the eleventh foot; and was removed in 1789 to the first foot guards. He served nearly twelve months with a Brunswick corps, in Holland ; and in April, 1791, was appointed captain in the fifteenth foot, from which he exchanged to the foot guards in 1792. In January, 1793, he was appointed aide- de-camp to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, in which capacity he served the campaigns of 1793 and 1794, and was present at nearly every battle and siege in which the British troops were engaged ; and was wounded on the 10th of May, 1794. In 1795 he was appointed lieut.-colonel in the sixty- sixth foot, and soon afterwards joined his regiment in the West Indies. He again exchanged to the first foot guards in 1796, and was made prisoner on his passage to England. In 1798 he served in Ireland, and was appointed aide-de- camp to Lord Cornwallis, the commander-in-chief in that country ; and in the succeeding year he proceeded with Lord u 280 SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. William Bentinck on a mission to the Austro-Russian army in Italy; in 1800 he was employed on a mission to the Austrian army in Suabia, and while on these services he was present at numerous battles and sieges. Having returned to England, he was appointed, in 1801, assistant adjutant-general in the eastern district ; and in 1802, adjutant-general in the East Indies. He joined the army under Lord Lake, at Agra, in Oc- tober, 1803, was at the action at Laswarree, and served daring the remainder of the Mahratta war. In 1805 he returned to England, and was employed on a mission to the Russian army in Moravia. In 1806 he embarked for Sicily in command of a battalion of the foot guards, and commanded the garrison of Syracuse nearly twelve months. In 1808 he commanded a brigade under Sir John Moore, in the armament to Sweden ; Ke was afterwards appointed adjutant-general in Portugal, and was present at the battle of Vimiera ; he also served in the campaign in Spain, and the retreat to Corunna. In 1809 he was appointed adjutant-general in Ireland; in 1810 he was pro- moted to the rank of major-general; and in 1813 he was ap- pointed colonel-commandant of the sixth battalion of the sixtieth regiment, and obtained the local rank of lieut.-general in Spain and Portugal. He served during the remainder of the war under Lord Wellington, and distinguished himself in the command of a division at the battles of Salamanca, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, and on other occasions ; he also com- manded a division at the memorable battle of Waterloo, in 1815 ; and was rewarded with the Grand Cross of the order of the Bath, Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, and a Cross with one Clasp. He was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general in 1814; obtained the colonelcy of the Third foot in 181b ; and died in 1829. SIR GEOROE DON, G.C.B. and G. C. H. Appointed 2lst December, 1829. This officer ,;ntered the army in 1170, as ensign in the fifty- first foot; in 1784 he was promoted major of the fifty-ninth foot, and in April, 1789, to the lieut.-colonelcy of the same regiment. He obtained the rank of colonel in 1795 ; the ap- pointment of aide-de-camp to King George III. in 1797 ; and that of major-general in 1798. In the eucceeding year he w ai w Yi V r g /^..•a SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 281 was appointed colonel of the seventh West India regiment; and was removed to the ninety-sixth regiment m 1805. He was also promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and proceeded with the expedition to Hanover in the same year In 1 814 he was promoted to the rank of general, and appointed lieut.-go- vernor of Gibraltar. After the termination of the war, his regiment (the ninety-sixth) was disbanded; and in 1829 he obtained the colonelcy of the Third foot. He was appointed governor of Scarborough Castle in 1831 ; and died at Gibraltar on the 1st January, 1832. KENNETH ALEXANDER. LORD HOWARD OF EFFINGHAM, K. C. B. Appoiuted 30th January, 1832. Vrinteil by Wiiliam Ci.owis and Sons, Stamforil Street.