THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GIFT OF COMMODORE BYRON MCCANDLESS HISTORICAL RECORD THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT: CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT FROM THE FKlllOD OF ITS BEING RAISED AS THE SECOND BATTALION OF THE FORTY-SECOND ROYAL HIGHLANDERS, IN 1780 AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES TO 1851. COMPILED BY RICHARD CANNON, ESQ., ADJUTANT-GENKBAL'S OFFICE, HOBSE GUAEDS. ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES- LONDON : PARKER, FURNIVALL, & PARKER, 30, CHARING CROSS. M DCCC I.I. GENERAL ORDERS. HORSE-GUARDS, 1st January, 1836. His MAJESTY has been pleased to command that, with the view of doing the fullest justice to Regi- ments, as well as to Individuals who have dis- tinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army shall be pub- lished under the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant-General ; and that this Account shall contain the following particulars, viz. : The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of the Regiment ; The Stations at which it has been from time to time employed ; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any Achieve- ment 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 1 0344 i 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 Regi- ment 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 Bight Honorable GENERAL LORD HILL, Commanding -in- Chief. JOHN MACDONALD, Adjutant- General. P R E F A C E. THE character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted. Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honorable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication. The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the " London Gazette," from whence they are transferred into the public prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute a 2 IV PREFACE. 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 Com- manders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery ; and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign's approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most highly prizes. It has not, however, until late years, been the prac- tice (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 obtain- ing, particularly from the old Regiments, an au- thentic account of their origin and subsequent services. This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and abroad. From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth derive information as to the difficulties and privations which chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so PREFACE. V long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, which few other countries have escaped, com- paratively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose. In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country derives from the industry and the enter- prise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor, on their sufferings, and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved. The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties : and their character has been established in Continental warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have, main- tained their advantages against superior numbers. In the official Reports made by the respective Com- manders, 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 VI PREFACE. 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 can- not fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and information to the general reader, particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service. There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or are serving, in the Army, an Esprit de Corps an attachment to everything belonging to their Regiment ; to such persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood " firm as the rocks of their native shore :" and when half the world has been arrayed against them, they have fought the bnttles of their Country with un- shaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war, victories so complete and sur- prising, gained by our countrymen, our brothers^ PREFACE. vii 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 testify- ing 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 num- ber, so that when the whole shall be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession. INTRODUCTION 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 Cesar's favourite tenth legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the X INTRODUCTION axles of which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades, and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat, sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry. These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cesar'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 swords and spears ; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only. They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and javelins. The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted (as already stated in the 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- hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When stipen- diary troops were employed, infantry always con- stituted a considerable portion of the military force ; TO THE INFANTRY. XI 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 im- perfect 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 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. XI 1 INTRODUCTION 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 muskets 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 each company continued to carry a colour. Nume- rous 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, * A company of 200 men would appear thus : 2JO 30 20 20 20 . Halberds. Pikes. Muskets. Archers. Harquebuses. 20 20 20 30 Harquebuses. Archers. Muskets. Pikes The musket carried a ball which weighed ^th of a pound ; and (lie harquebus a ball which weighed jV.th of a pound. TO THE INFANTRY. Xlll swords, and daggers; and pikemen, armed with pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords. In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men. He caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks, or in small wooden bandoliers, each 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, 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, Xiv INTRODUCTION 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 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 gre- nades ; 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 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking of Gibraltar, and in its subsequent defence in 1704 ; they were afterwards employed at the siege of Barcelona in 1705. TO THE INFANTRY. XV the reign of George II. light companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the Seven Years' War. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have been limited to the musket and bayonet. The arms and equipment of the British Troops have seldom differed materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European states ; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods, been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they have had to contend ; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained over very superior numbers. Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves valiant with any arms. At Crecy, King Edward III., at the head of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000 men ; here British valour encountered veterans of renown : the King of 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 infantry, and took John I., King of France, and his son XVI INTRODUCTION 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 seventy years' war between the United Provinces of the Netherlands and the Spanish mo- narchy, 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 MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world ; and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the qualities * The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed in 1590, observes: "I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the field, let them be chosen where they list.'" Yet at this time the Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe. For instances of valour displayed by the British Infantry during the Seventy Years' War, see the Historical Record of the Third Foot, or Butts. t Vide the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot. TO THE INFANTRY. Xvil which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French army, which had been vainly styled Invincible, to eva- 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 Crecy, Poictiers, Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons of the 'nineteenth century. The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular frame, intrepidity which no danger can appal, unconquerable spirit and resolution, patience in fatigue and privation, and cheerful 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 leading causes of the splendid victories gained by the British b XV111 INTRODUCTION amis.* The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory ; these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of time. The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the "hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in the various parts of the world where the calls of their Country and the com- mands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed in the execution of their duty, whether in * " Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons ; but His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed on the considera- tion of every part of the army, that it has been a strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and has enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national military character, in situations uncom- monly arduous, and under circumstances of peculiar difficulty." General Orders in 1801. In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope (after- wards 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, ren- dered necessary by the superiority which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired the efficiency of the troops, many disad- vantages were to be encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the troops themselves : and the enemy has been taught, that whatever advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows not how to yield, that no circumstances can appal, and that will ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any human means. TO THE INFANTRY. XIX active continental operations, or in maintaining colo- nial territories in distant and unfavourable climes. The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and move- ments of this arme, as at present practised, while they are adapted to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements have from time to time been introduced, to insure that simplicity and celerity by which the superiority of the national military cha- racter is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting. T1JE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT BEARS ON THE REGIMENTAL COLOUR AND APPOINTMENTS THE WORD "MANGALORE," IN COMMEMORATION OF THE GALLANT DEFENCE OF THAT FORTRESS IN 1783; ALSO, THE WORD "SERINGAPATAM," FOR THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF THAT PLACE IN 1799 ; AND, THE WORD "WATERLOO," IN TESTIMONY OF THE GALLANTRY OF THE SECOND BATTALION AT THAT BATTLE ON THE 18TH OF JUNE, 1815. ( XXV ) THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. CONTENTS OF THE HISTORICAL RECORD. Year 1'age INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1780 Formation of the second battalion of the forty- second, afterwards the SEVENTY-THIRD regi- ment ....... 5 1781 Embarked for India 6 1782 Campaign against Hyder Ali, and Tippoo Saib Operations before Paniane .... 7 Defeat of Tippoo's army .... 8 Decease of Hyder Ali, and succession of Tippoo to the throne of Mysore .... 1783 Siege and capture of Onore .... 9 Action at the Hussanghurry Ghaut. Occupation of Mangalore by the British . . Mangalore invested by Tippoo Sultan Defence of Mangalore. . . . . 10 The Royal authority granted for bearing the word "Mangalore" on the regimental colour and appointments ..... Armistice between the British and Tippoo Renewal of hostilities . XXVI CONTENTS. Vear Page 1784 Second siege of Mangalore . . . . lu Termination of hostilities .... Embarkation of the battalion for Calcutta Employed on service in the Upper Provinces . 1786 The second battalion of the forty- second num- bered the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment . . 11 Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart, ap- pointed colonel of the regiment . Alteration of the facings from blue to dark green ....... Establishment of the regiment Major-General Medows appointed colonel of the regiment ...... 1789 Hostilities renewed by Tippoo 1790 The SEVENTY-THIUD regiment removed to the seat of war ...... 12 And ordered to compose part of the force under Major-General Abercromby . 1791 Action with the Sultan, and the siege of Sering- apatam deferred by the British . 1792 Operations of the troops under Major-General Abercromby ...... Preparations for the siege of Seringapatam . 13 Cessation of hostilities ..... Effects of the French revolution on the affairs of India ....... 1793 Expedition against the French settlement of Pondicherry .... . 1795 Capture of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon . 15 1796 The regiment stationed in that island, and em- ployed in completing its conquest Major-General Lake appointed colonel of the regiment. ...... 1797 The regiment embarked for Madras. 1798 Removed to Poonamallee CONTENTS. XXVH Year PRe 1798 Alliances formed by Tippoo for renewing hos- tilities 15 1799 The regiment ordered to take the field . . 16 Action at Mallavelly ..... Siege and capture of Seringapatam . . . 17 Death of Tippoo, and termination of the cam- paign ....... 18 Casualties of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment . 19 Authorised to bear the word " SERINGAPATAM " on the regimental colour and appointments . General Orders issued on the occasion of the above victory ...... Partition of the late Sultan's territory . . 20 1800 Major-General George Harris appointed colonel of the regiment ..... The regiment employed against the Polygars . 21 1801 Removed to Gooty 1802 Proceeded to Bellary 1803 Returned to Gooty Proceeded to Pondicherry .... 1804 Removed to Madras ..... 1805 Embarked for England 1806 Disembarked at Greenwich .... Proceeded to Scotland ..... 1807 New colours received by the regiment . . 22 1 808 Formation of the second battalion . 23 1809 Discontinuance of the Highland dress by the SEVENTY-THIRD and five other regiments The first battalion embarked for New South Wales ....... 24 1810 Arrival at Sydney 1812 Augmentation of establishment ... 25 1814 The first battalion embarked for Ceylon . . XXV111 CONTENTS. Year Pige 1814 Complimentary General Order issued on the occasion . . , . ,*>}' 25 Aspect of affairs in Ceylon . .. , i; > . 27 1816 Invasion of the kingdom of Candy by the British 28 Deposition of the king of Candy, and annexa- tion of his territory to the British Crown ,. 1817 Disbandment of the second battalion . . 30 Reduction of the refractory Candian chiefs 1818 Casualties sustained on this service. . . 31 Medals struck for acts of individual gallantry . 32 1821 The regiment embarked for England ' i ' '. Landed at Gravesend, and proceeded to Weedon Reduction of establishment . '.'" ''.- ' '. - 1823 The regiment proceeded to Scotland > . ; ' 33 Removed to Ireland . . . >. .' 1 825 Augmentation of establishment . ;-u,.' Riots in Lancashire and Yorkshire. 1826 Embarked for England '. , Tranquillity restored, and return of the regiment to Ireland . . .- ,..., v ,., .; 34 1827 Formed into service and depot companies - )t> tf , Service companies embarked for Gibraltar . : 1829 Casualties from fever at Gibraltar . : . i . ... > Major-General Sir Frederick Adam, K.C.B. ap- pointed colonel of the^regiment . . ....-'; 35 Service companies proceeded to Malta, and complimentary order prior to embarkation from Gibraltar ., . . . . 1830 Depot companies removed from Ireland to Great Britain . . ." . ^ : ". * 36 Address from Major-General Maurice O'Connell on his promotion from the regiment . . _ 1831 Depot companies proceeded to Jersey . . 38 1834 Service companies embarked for the Ionian Islands . CONTENTS. XXIX Year Page 1835 Depot companies removed to Ireland . . 38 Major-General William George Lord Harris, K.C.H. appointed colonel of the regiment . 1 838 Embarkation of the service companies for Nova Scotia 39 Service companies removed to Canada 1839 Depot companies proceeded to Great Britain 1841 Return of the service companies to England Consolidation of the regiment at Gosport 1842 Stationed at Woolwich, subsequently at Bradford, and afterwards at Newport, in Monmouthshire 1844 Embarked for Ireland ... J845 Major-General Sir Robert Henry Dick, K.C.B., appointed colonel of the regiment Formed into service and depot companies Embarkation of the former for the Cape of Good Hope .*.... Detained at Monte Video .... 1846 Major-General Sir John Grey, K.C.B., appointed colonel of the regiment .... The service companies employed in the protec- tion of Monte Video .... 40 Re-embarkation of the service companies for the Cape of Good Hope ..... Employed against the Kaffirs 1847 Casualties on this service .... 1848 Removed to Cape Town .... 1849 Major-General Richard Goddard Hare Clarges appointed colonel of the regiment 1850 Removal of the service companies to the frontier 41 1851 Employed against the Kaffirs ... ( XXX ) CONTENTS OF THE HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE SECOND BATTALION OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. INTRODUCTION ...... 43 1808 Formation of the Second Battalion . . . 44 1809 Received volunteers from the Militia 1810 Removed from Ashborne to Derby, and subse- quently to Ashford ..... 1811 Augmentation of establishment . . ... 1812 Removed to Deal, and afterwards to the Tower. 1813 Augmentation of establishment . . Embarked for Swedish Pomerania ... 45 Joined the allied forces under Lieut. -General Count Wallmoden . . . *.:;' Action at Gorde .... . v, The second battalion proceeded to the north of Germany { Proceeded to England, but embarked, without landing, for Holland .... 46 1814 Bombardment of Antwerp .... Action at Merxem ..... March of the British troops to Breda . . 47 CONTENTS. XXXI Year Page 1814 Bombardment of a detachment of the battalion in Fort Frederick by a French gun-ship . 47 Conclusion of peace ..... 1815 Return of Napoleon from Elba to Paris . . 48 Renewal of hostilities ..... Rapid advance of Napoleon. ... The British proceeded to Charleroi . . 49 Action at Quatre Bras .... 50 Casualties of the battalion .... Battle of WATERLOO . . . . . 51 Casualties of the battalion .... 52 Honors conferred for the victory ... 53 Authorised to bear the word '' WATERLOO" on the colour and appointments . . . Return of Louis XVIII. to Paris . Surrender of Napoleon, and his conveyance to St. Helena Embarkation of the battalion for England . 54 1816 Stationed at Nottingham .... 1817 The second battalion disbanded ... 1851 CONCLUSION . . 55 ( xxxii ) SUCCESSION OF COLONELS OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. Year Page 1786 Sir George Osborn, Bart 57 Sir William Medows . . . . . 58 1796 Gerard, afterward Viscount Lake ... 59 1800 George Lord Harris, G.C.B. ... 61 1829 The Right Honorable Sir Frederick Adam, G.C.B 63 1835 William George Lord Harris, C.B. and K.C.H. 64 1845 Sir Robert Henry Dick, K.C.B. and K.C.H. . 66 1846 Sir John Grey, K.C.B 68 1849 Richard Goddard Hare Clarges, C.B. . . APPENDIX. Memoir of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie * 69 Memoir of Lieutenant-General Sir Maurice Charles O'Connell, K.C.H 70 British and Hanoverian army at Waterloo on the 18th of June 1815 . ... 73 PLATES. Colours of the Regiment .... to face 1 Storming of Seringapatam, 4th May, 1799 , , 18 Costume of the Regiment * , * 56 M/i6trrr fftcmis INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL RECORD SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. DURING the last century several corps, at successive periods, have been borne on the establishment of the army, and numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD ; the following details are therefore prefixed to the historical record of the services of the regiment which now bears that number, in order to prevent its being connected with those corps which have been designated by the same numerical title, but whose services have been totally distinct. In the spring of 1758, the second battalions of fifteen regiments of infantry, from the 3rd to the 37th, were directed to be formed into distinct regiments, and to be numbered from the 61st to the 75th successively, as follows : Second Battalion Constituted 3rd Foot . . the 61st regiment. 4th 62nd 8th llth 12th 19th 20th 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL RECORD Second Battalion 23rd Foot . 2ith 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 36th 37th Constituted the 68th regiment. 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus formed, were disbanded in 1763, after the peace of Fontainebleau. Several other corps were likewise disbanded at this period, which occasioned a change in the numerical titles of the following regiments of Invalids. The 81st regiment (Invalids) was numbered the 71st regiment. 82nd 72nd 110th 73rd H7th ' 74th 118th 75th The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus numbered, were formed into independent com- panies of Invalids in the year 1769, which increased the number of Invalid Companies from eight to twenty ; they were appropriated to the following garrisons, namely four companies at Guernsey, four at Jersey, three at Hull, two at Chester, two at Tilbury Fort, two at Sheerness, one at Landguard Fort, one at Pen- dennis, and one in the Scilly Islands. These numerical titles became thus extinct until October, 1775, when the seventy-first regiment was raised. In December, 1777, further augmentations were made to the army, and the regiments which were directed to be raised, were numbered from the seventy- second to the eighty -third regiment. The army was subsequently increased to one hundred OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 3 and five regular regiments of infantry, exclusive of eleven unnumbered regiments, and thirty- six inde- pendent companies of Invalids. The conclusion of the general peace in 1783, occa- sioned the disbandment of several regiments (com- mencing with the seventy-first regiment), and thus changed the numerical titles of certain regiments retained on the reduced establishment of the army. In 1786 the SEVENTY-THIRD was directed to be numbered the seventy-first regiment; the seventy- eighth to be numbered the seventy-second ; and the second battalion of the forty-second to be constituted the SEVENTY- THIRD regiment. These corps had been directed to be raised in Scotland in 1777 and 1779, and were denominated Highland regiments. The details of the services of the present SEVENTY- THIRD regiment are contained in the following pages ; the histories of the seventy-first and seventy-second regiments are given in distinct numbers. 1851 B 'J HISTORICAL RECORD THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT; ORIGINALLY RAISED AS THE SECOND BATTALION OF THE FORTY- SECOND ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT. THE present SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was authorised, 1779 on the 30th of July 1779, to be raised as the Second Battalion of the Forty-second Royal Highlanders, and was embodied at Perth, on the 21st of March 1780. Its es- 1780 tablishment consisted of one lieut.-colonel (and captain), one major (and captain), eight captains, twelve lieu- tenants, eight ensigns, one chaplain, one adjutant, one quarter-master, one surgeon, one mate, thirty Serjeants, forty corporals, twenty drummers, two pipers, and seven hundred private men. Soon after its formation, the battalion marched to Fort George to be drilled and disciplined, and in the course of the year was ordered to proceed to England for embarkation for India, where events had occurred which occasioned reinforcements to be sent to that country. Hyder Ali, a soldier of fortune, had risen to the 1781 chief command of the army of the Ruler of Mysore, 6 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1781 and when the Rajah died, leaving his eldest son a minor, Hyder Ali assumed the guardianship of the youthful prince, whom he placed under restraint, and seized on the reins of government. Having a considerable ter- ritory under his control, he maintained a formidable military establishment, which he endeavoured to bring into a high state of discipline and efficiency. He soon evinced decided hostility to the British interests in India, and formed a league with the French. Hos- tilities had also commenced between Great Britain and Holland, and the British troops were employed in dis- possessing the Dutch of their settlements in Bengal, and on the coast of Coromandel. Thus three powers were opposed to the British interests in India, and the Second Battalion of the Forty-second Royal Highland regiment was ordered to proceed to that country. About the end of the previous year the battalion had arrived at Gravesend from North Britain, and on the 21st of January 1781, embarked at Portsmouth for India, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Norman Macleod. One division of the regiment landed at Madras on the 18th of May : but the other divisions, consistipg of seven companies and a half, had a voyage of thirteen months and thirteen days; they ultimately landed at Bombay in February 1782. 1782 These divisions, soon after landing, took the field, and the battalion was subsequently united under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Macleod, when it shared in the campaign against Hydcr Ali and his son Tippoo Saib. The situation of Colonel Thomas Frederick Mac- kenzie Humberston (Lieut.-Colonel Commandant of the seventy-eighth, now seventy -second regiment) who had THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. / been despatched with troops to the Malabar coast, 1*782 having become very perilous, the second battalion of the Forty-second regiment, with other troops, proceeded to his relief at Mungarry Cottah. In the meantime Tippoo Saib, with his usual activity, suddenly collected a body of troops, and proceeded to cut off the force at that station. Notwithstanding the secrecy of the expe- dition, Colonel Humberston received some vague intelligence of its arrival on the northern banks of the Coleroon, and suspecting at once the design of the enemy, destroyed the fortifications at Mungarry Cottah, and retreated to Ramgaree; where receiving certain information that Tippoo was approaching with the utmost rapidity, he withdrew to Paniant, fighting every step of the march. Upon arriving at the river Paniane, a deep ford, after a search of two hours, was found, and the troops passed over, up to the chin in water, with the loss of only two camp followers. He gained the Fort of Paniane on the 20th of November, much to the surprise of Tippoo, who had expected an easy conquest. Colonel Macleod, of the second battalion of the Forty- second regiment, having arrived at Paniane from M adras, the command of the forces devolved upon him, and the place was immediately invested by Tippoo Saib and Monsieur Lally, with an army amounting to eight thou- sand infantry, including some hundreds of French and Europeans ; ten thousand cavalry, and above six thou- sand polygars. The enemy kept up a considerable but ineffectual cannonade for some days ; the British com- mander at length endeavoured to surprise the enemy's camp, but after forcing an outpost or two, and taking a few prisoners, the colonel found it necessary to relin- quish the design. 8 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1782 This sally was returned by Tippoo in a few days, who made a vigorous attack with his combined army on the 28th of November, being led by Monsieur Lally at the head of his Europeans. Tippoo's forces were every- where repulsed with the greatest gallantry, and the victors profited by their success as much as their disparity in numbers would admit. About two hun- dred of the dead of the enemy, whom he was not able to carry off, were buried by the British ; and a French officer, who led one of the columns to the attack, was taken prisoner. Colonel Macleod and the troops under his command acquired great praise for their gallantry at Paniane. Tippoo acknowledged his defeat by repassing the river Paniane, and placing it as a barrier against the British. A state of inaction succeeded on both sides for several days : but in the night between the llth and 12th of December, Tippoo suddenly broke up his camp, and returned by rapid marches to Palacatcherry, from whence he proceeded directly back to the Carnatic. In December 1782, occurred the decease of Hyder Ali, and he left a kingdom of his own acquisition to his son Tippoo Saib, who now became one of the most powerful princes in India. 1783 Brigadier-General Mathews having determined to besiege the city of Onore, situated midway between Paniane and Bombay, Colonel Macleod embarked as many troops as the ships were capable of receiving, but the place was taken in January 1783, before their arrival. The President and Council of Bombay had despatched orders to Brigadier- General Mathews, that he should penetrate through the Ghauts, (as the passes in the mountains on both sides of the Indian Peninsula are THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT termed,) into the Bednore or Canara country, and par- 1783 ticularly to gain possession of the capital, which along with a strong fort on a small mountain that joins the city, were the great depositories of the treasures collected by the late Hyder Ali, as well as the grand magazines of his arms and military stores. After the capture of Onore, Brigadier - General Mathews, in pursuance of his orders, proceeded further down the coast, and took the town of Cundapore with little loss. He subsequently forced a passage through the Ghauts, and the rich Canara kingdom, with its capital, now lay open to the invaders. The city of Bednore had recently changed its name to Hyder Nagur, or the Royal City of Hyder. The government and command of the city and coun- try were lodged in the hands of Hyat Saib, who sur- rendered the place to the British, after an action had taken place at the Hussanghurry Ghaut. This occurred early in February 1 783 ; and on the 9th of March Mangalore fell into the hands of the British. Tippoo Saib, who had now succeeded to the title of Sultan, determined to use every effort for the recovery of these favorite possessions. Having recovered Bed- nore, which surrendered on the '28th of April, the Sul- tan, in defiance of the terms of the capitulation, ordered Brigadier-General Mathews and his officers into close confinement, from which they never returned, being afterwards put to a violent death. Tippoo next proceeded to invest Mangalore, on the Malabar coast, and it required all the abilities of Lieut.-Colonel John Campbell, major of the Forty- second^ seconded by the well- tried valour of the second battalion of that regiment, and other corps, to supply the defects of the fortifications. The place was in- 10 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1783 vested on the 18th of May by the whole of the enemy's forces, commanded by Tippoo in person. The garrison under Lieut.-Colonel Campbell (Colonel Macleod being employed as a Brigadier-General), made a most gallant and successful defence, subject to hardships and wants which have seldom been exceeded in the annals of sieges. In consequence of the General Peace which had been entered into with the European Powers, Tippoo became deprived of his French allies, and the Sultan entered into negociations for terminating the war between Mysore and the British, when an armistice took place. This event terminated the siege of Mangalore about the end of September, at a time when all the works which defended the garrison were nearly shattered to pieces ; all the provisions exhausted, and numbers of the brave soldiers were dying daily, victims of want and disease.* The contest was, however, again renewed, and the garrison was a second time invested by Tippoo. 1784 The fortress of Mangalore was defended until the 25th of February 1784, when sickness, and the want of provisions, compelled Lieut.-Colonel Campbell to evacuate the place, after obtaining the most honor- able terms from the enemy. Peace was afterwards concluded with the Sultan of Mysore on the 1 1th of March following. The battalion embarked in this year for Calcutta' and was employed on active service in the Upper Pro- vinces of Bengal. * Upon the representation of Major-General Gerard Lake, who was appointed Colonel of the Seventy-third Regiment, in November 1796, the Royal Authority was granted for the word " MANGALORE" being borne on the Regimental Colour and Appointments, in consider- ation of the gallant conduct displayed in the defence of that place. THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 11 The Seventy-third Highland Regiment, having in the 1786 year 1786 been directed to be numbered the Seventy - first Regiment, the Second Battalion of the Forty-second Royal Highland Regiment was constituted a distinct corps, and numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland Regiment, the colonelcy being conferred upon Major- General Sir George Osborn, Bart. (Lieut.-Colonel of the Third Foot Guards), from the 18th of April 1786. The facings were at the same time altered from blue to dark green. The establishment of the regiment for the ten com- panies serving in India, was fixed as follows : One colonel, with an alloAvance in lieu of a company ; one lieut.-coloneland captain, one major and captain ; eight captains, twelve lieutenants, eight ensigns, one chaplain, one adjutant, one quarter-master, one surgeon, one surgeon's mate, thirty Serjeants, forty corporals, twenty drummers, two fifers, and seven hundred private men. The company kept at home for recruiting consisted of one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, six Serjeants, eight corporals, four drummers, and seventy private men : in all nine hundred and nineteen. On the llth of August 1786, Major-General William Medows was appointed to be colonel of the SEVENTY- THIRD, in succession to Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart., who was removed to the fortieth regiment. The insatiable ambition of Tippoo Sultan, the power- 1739 ful ruler of the Mysore, soon involved the British Government in India in another war ; he appeared near the confines of Travancore, at the head of a power- ful army, made unreasonable demands on the Rajah, a British ally, and commenced hostilities towards the end of December 1789. This caused the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment to be re- 1790 12 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1790 moved from the Presidency of Bengal, and it joined the troops under Major-General Robert Abercromby, which consisted of His Majesty's seventy-fifth and seventy- seventh regiments, in addition to other corps belonging to the East India Company. 1791 The Mahratta armies having advanced to Seringapa- tam in May 1791, later than the appointed period, their delay, and other unforeseen circumstances, compelled General Charles Earl Cornwallis, K.G., to destroy his battering train, after having defeated Tippoo on the 15th of May, in a pitched battle, and obliged his lord- ship to lead back his army, leaving the siege of the enemy's capital to be the object of another campaign. The Bombay army, of which the SEVENTY-THIRD formed part, commanded by Major-General Abercromby, had, with infinite labour, formed roads, and brought a battering train, with a large supply of provisions and stores, over fifty miles of woody mountains called Ghauts, that immense barrier separating the Mysore country from the Malabar coast. This army, after surmounting all its difficulties, had therefore to retrace its steps, worn down by sickness and fatigue, and exposed to the incessant rains which then deluged the western coast of India. The troops under Major-General Abercromby were again ordered to act from the same quarter as in the former campaign ; they marched on the 5th of Decem- ber towards the Poodicherrim Ghaut, and took possession of the pass on the 15th of that month. 1792 On the 5th of February 1792, General the Earl Cornwallis directed Major-General Abercromby to march from his encampment near Periapatam, and on the 1 1 th of that month he crossed the Cavery, at Eratore, a ford about thirty miles above eSringapatam, THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 13 and joined the army under Earl Cornwallis on the 16th 1792 of February. Meanwhile the army under General the Earl Corn- wallis had attacked the forces of the Sultan on the night of the 6th of February, near Seringapatam, and gained a decisive victory. The power of the Sultan being greatly reduced, and preparations for the siege of his capital having been commenced, he sued for peace, and a treaty was con- cluded , by which half of his dominions were ceded to the allies. A large sum of money was also to be paid by the Sultan, all the prisoners in his power were re- leased, and two of his sons were delivered as hostages. The French Revolution, which had commenced a few 1793 years previously, had at this period assumed a charac- ter which called forth the efforts of other countries to arrest the progress of its destructive principles, and on the 1st of February 1793, shortly after the decapitation of Louis XVI., war was declared by the National Con- vention of France against Great Britain and Holland. News of this event arrived in India in May 1793; in June the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was ordered to pre- pare to take the field ; it marched soon afterwards against the French settlement of Pondicherry, on the coast of Coromandel, and arrived before the fortress in July, being formed in brigade, with the seventy-second and seventy-fourth regiments, and the third East India Company's European regiment, under Lieut. -Colonel David Baird of the seventy-first regiment ; the troops employed on this service were commanded by Colonel John Brathwaite. The siege of Pondicherry was commenced in the early part of August, the army encamping in a thick wood where tigers were so numerous, that the natives durst 14 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1793 not travel in the night. On the 22nd of August a white flag was displayed by the garrison, with a request for permission to surrender. The French soldiers in the fortress had embraced democratical principles, and were particularly insubordinate ; they insisted that the governor should surrender, but after the white flag was displayed, they fired two shells, which killed several men. During the night they were guilty of every species of outrage, breaking into houses and becoming intoxi- cated. On the following morning, a number of them environed the house of the Governor, General Char- mont, and threatened to hang him before the door, when application was made to the British for protection. The English soldiers rushed into the town, overpowered the insurgents, rescued the governor, and preserved the inhabitants from further violence. 1795 In the early part of the year 1795, Holland became united to France, and was styled the Batavian republic. When information of this event arrived in India, an expedition was immediately fitted out against the large and mountainous island of Ceylon, where the Dutch had several settlements, and the SEVENTY-THIRD Highlanders were selected to take part in the enterprise ; the troops employed on this service were commanded by Colonel James Stuart, of the seventy-second, who was promoted to the rank of Major- General at this period. The fleet arrived on the coast of Ceylon on the 1st of August, and two days afterwards they landed four miles north of the Fort of Trincomalee ; the siege of the place was commenced as soon as the artillery and stores could be landed, and removed sufficiently near to the place. On the '26th of August a practicable breach was effected, and the garrison surrendered. The fort of Batticaloe surrendered on the 18th of September, and the fort THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 15 and island of Manaar capitulated on the 5th of Oc- H95 tober. The regiment continued to be actively employed 1796 until the whole of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon were reduced, which was accomplished in February, 1796, when the governor, John Geraud Van Angelbeck, surrendered the fortress of Colombo to the British arms. The people in the interior of the island had not been deprived of their independence by the Dutch, and they were not interfered with by the British so long as they preserved a peaceful demeanour. Major- General Gerard Lake was removed from the colonelcy of the fifty-third to that of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment on the 2nd of November, 1796, in succession to Lieut.- General Sir William Medows, K.B., who was appointed colonel of the seventh dragoon guards. In April 1797, the regiment proceeded from Colombo 1797 to Point Pedro, in Ceylon, and shortly afterwards em- barked for Madras. It was removed from Fort St George to Wallajahbad in October, but returned to Fort St. George in January, 1798. The regiment proceeded from Fort St. George to 1798 Poonamallee in September, 1798, and continued at that station during the remainder of the year. The reduction of the power and resources of Tippoo Saib, effected by the treaty of Seringapatam in 1792, had weakened, but not extinguished, the evils conse- quent on his inveterate hatred of the British. The Sultan had entered into a negociation with the Governor of the Isle of France in 1798, and sent an embassy to Zemaun Shah, sovereign of Cabool, for the purpose of exciting him to an attack on the British possessions. Having also derived encouragement from the successes of Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt, from which country 16 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1798 the French Directory intended to act against the Bri- tish dominions in India, Tippoo commenced augmenting his military force, and his hostile designs became every day more apparent. The Governor-General the Earl of Mornington (afterwards the Marquis Wellesley), see- ing a rupture inevitable, resolved to anticipate the attack, and ordered the British army to take the field, and march into the heart of the dominions of the Sultan Tippoo Saib. 1799 In conformity to these orders, Major- General George (afterwards Lord) Harris, who was serving with the local rank of lieut.-general, advanced with the army under his command, on the llth of February, 1799, and entered the Mysore territory on the 5th of March. The SEVENTY-THIRD formed part of the second brigade under Colonel John Coape Sherbroke, Lieut. -Colonel of the thirty-third regiment. The army reached Mallavelly on the 27th of March, when on approaching the ground of encampment, the forces of Tippoo Sultan were discovered drawn up on a height at a few miles distance. The advanced piquets were attacked by the enemy, and a general action en- sued. The enemy lost one thousand killed and wounded, and immediately retreated upon Seringapatam. On the following day the army advanced, and arrived before Seringapatam on the 5th of April, when prepa- rations for the siege were commenced. On the 20th of April an attack was made on an en- trenchment of the enemy, about six o'clock in the evening. Colonel Sherbroke, commanding the ad- vanced posts, directed the attack. Three different columns were to advance at the same time from Mac- donald's post ; one to the left, under Lieut.-Colonel Michael Monypenny, of the SEVENTY-THIRD, consisting THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 17 of four companies of that regiment, and four of the 1799 Bengal volunteers, was to proceed along the bank of the river Cavery, and to turn the right flank of the enemy's entrenched post. Another, to the right, con- sisting of the flank companies of the twelfth regiment, and two companies of Bengal volunteers, under Lieut. - Colonel Gardiner, was to move along Macdonald's nul- lah, and to turn the enemy's left. The centre column, composed of six companies of the SEVENTY-THIRD, and four of the Bengal volunteers, under Brevet Lieut. -Colon el the Honorable George St. John, (Major of the SKVKNTY- THIRD regiment), was directed to make a feint, which was to be converted into a real attack, should it be deemed expedient. The three columns at dusk, advanced under a well- directed fire from the guns which commanded the entrenchment. The enemy's resistance was unavailing, and the several attacks were completely successful. It was afterwards ascertained, that the enemy had two hundred and fifty men in killed and wounded, and it is remarkable, that although about eighteen hundred of Tippoo's infantry occupied the entrenchment, the Bri- tish, in this attack, had only one man wounded.* The siege of Seringapatam was prosecuted with vigour. On the 26th of April, the SEVENTY-THIRD had Lieutenant James Todd wounded ; and Lieutenant Archibald John Maclean was wounded on the following day. A breach being reported practicable on the 3rd of May, the assault was ordered, and the SEVENTY- THIRD regiment was selected to take part in this en- terprise, which was ordered to be commenced in the * "A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War withTippoo Sultan, by Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Beatson, late Aide-de-camp to the Marquis Wellesley, Governor-General of India." 18 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1799 heat of the following day, as the enemy's troops would then be the least prepared to oppose the attack. The assault took place about half-past one o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of May, and the troops for this service, commanded by Major-General David Baird, were divided into two columns of attack. The SEVENTY- THIRD, with the seventy-fourth regiment, four European flank companies, fourteen Sepoy flank companies, with fifty artillerymen, formed the right column, under Colonel Sherbroke. Each column was preceded by one serjeant and twelve men, volunteers, supported by an advanced party of one subaltern and twenty-five men. A brigade of engineers, under Captain Caldwell, ac- companied the storming party ; Lieutenant James Farquhar, of the seventy-fourth, commanded the Euro- pean pioneers, and Lieutenant John Lalor, of the SEVENTY-THIRD, both of whom had examined the ford, conducted the columns. . The attack was completely successful, and in a short space of time the British colours waved over the fortress. The body of Tippoo Sultan was found among heaps of slain, and was afterwards interred in the mag- nificent mausoleum which he had erected over the tomb of his father, the once powerful Hyder All ; a portion of the victorious troops attended the ceremony. In this manner terminated the siege of Seringapatam,* and the fall of this capital placed the kingdom of Mysore at the disposal of the British government, and extin- guished a power in India which had proved itself a for- midable enemy. In the assanlt on the 4th of May, the SEVENTY- * Seringapatam derived its name from the god Serung, to whom one of the pagodas was dedicated. THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 19 THIRD had Lieutenant John Lalor killed ; Captain 1199 William McLeod, Lieutenant John Thomas, and En- signs Henry An till and John Guthrie, wounded. During the siege the regiment sustained a loss of twenty-one killed, and ninety-nine wounded, including all ranks. The SEVENTY-THIRD afterwards received the Royal authority to bear on the regimental colour and ap- pointments, the word "SERINGAPATAM," in comme- moration of the distinguished gallantry displayed by the regiment in the storming and capture of that fortress. In the General Orders issued on the 5th of May by Lieut.-General Harris, the gallantry of Lieut.-Colonel Michael Monypenny, and Brevet Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable George St. John, of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, is particularly recorded. In the General Orders issued by the Earl of Morn- ington (afterwards the Marquis Wellesley), dated Fort St. George, 15th May, 1799, it was stated : "The Right Honorable the Governor-General in '* Council having this day received from the Com- " mander-in- Chief of the allied army in the field, the " official detail of the glorious and decisive victory ob- " tained at Seringapatam, on the 4th of May, offers his " cordial thanks and sincere congratulations to the " Commander-in-Chief, and to all the officers and men " composing the gallant army which achieved the " capture of the capital of Mysore on that memorable " day. " His Lordship views with admiration, the consum- " mate judgment with which the assault was planned, " the unequalled rapidity, animation, and skill with " which it was executed, and the humanity which dis- " tinguished its success. c 2 20 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1799 " Under the favour of Providence and the justice of " our cause, the established character of the army had " inspired an early confidence, that the war, in which " we were engaged, would be brought to a speedy, " prosperous, and honorable issue : but the events of " the 4th of May, while they even surpassed the san- " guine expectations of the Governor-General in Coun- " cil, have raised the reputation of the British arms in " India to a degree of splendour and glory, unrivalled " in the military history of this quarter of the globe, " and seldom approached in any part of the world. " The lustre of the victory can be equalled only by " the substantial advantages which it promises to es- " tablish, in restoring the peace and safety of the " British possessions in India on a durable foundation " of genuine security." Upon the division of the territory subject to the late Sultan Tippoo, Seringapatam, with several ex- tensive districts, was allotted to the East India Com- pany ; another portion was given to the Nizam ; and a third to the Mahratta power ; the remainder continued to form an independent state under a descendant of the ancient Rajahs of Mysore. Thus was the hostile com- bination against England confounded, the British territory extended, and its power and revenue in- creased. The SEVENTY-THIRD regiment remained encamped until November, 1 799, when it was selected to garrison Seringapatam. 1800 Major-General George Harris was appointed, from lieut. -colonel of the seventy-sixth, to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD, on the 14th of February, 1800, in succession to Lieut-General Gerard Lake, who was removed to the eightieth regiment. THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 21 The regiment remained at Seringapatam until May, i 800 1800. The SEVENTY- THIRD, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Michael Monypenny, afterwards served with distinction against the Polygars, during which campaign great exertions were made, and losses sus- tained, of which no distinct record has been preserved. In October, 1801, the regiment was removed from its 1801 encampment to Gooty. The regiment remained at Gooty until December 1802 1802, when it proceeded to Bellary. In July, 1803, the regiment returned to Gooty, and 1803 in September following, it proceeded to Pondicherry, in the capture of which place it had participated in the year 1793. The SEVENTY-THIRD remained at Pondicherry until 1804 September, 1804, when the regiment proceeded to Fort St. George, Madras, where it continued to be stationed during the remainder of the year. On the 8th of September, 1805, the SEVENTY -THIRD 1805 embarked at Fort St. George, Madras, for England, after having transferred five hundred and twelve men to other regiments serving in India. The regiment arrived in England in the beginning 1806 of July, 1806, and disembarked at Greenwich, where it was quartered until the middle of November, when, after discharging the men recommended to be invalided, the remainder proceeded to Scotland, on board of some Leith packets. Shortly after the disembarkation of the SEVENTY-THIRD at Leith, the head-quarters of the regiment proceeded to Stirling Castle, from whence re- cruiting parties were sent to all the towns in Scotland, and some to England and Ireland, as far as officers were disposable for that service. In February, 1807, the regiment was ordered from 1807 22 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1807 Stirling Castle to Glasgow, as a better recruiting sta- tion ; but not having proved as successful there as was expected, it was removed in May following to Perth, which, from being: the town where the regiment was originally embodied, was expected to prove a better recruiting station. In 1807 the regiment received new colours and accoutrements from Lieut. -General George Harris, and was newly armed and equipped in that year. 1808 On the passing of the Act, in the year 1808, for per- mitting a certain number of the militia of the United Kingdom to volunteer their services to regiments of the line, the SEVENTY-THIRD received a very consider- able augmentation of force by volunteers, particularly from the Irish militia. The number received from the Scotch regiments of militia, allotted for the SICVENTY- THIRD, was not at all in the same proportion, and the only English corps allotted to it was the Stafford militia, from which thirty-three men volunteered, a circumstance totally unexpected, from the dislike English soldiers were known to entertain to the H ighland uniform . In December, 1808, the regiment, being then about four hundred rank and file, received orders to proceed to England, to embark for New South Wales, and com- menced its march from Perth on the 26th of that month. On the order for the embarkation of the regiment for New South Wales, a second battalion was added to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, which was directed to be placed on the establishment of the army from the 24th of December, 1808. It was ordered to consist, in the first instance, of four companies. When these com- panies were completed to a hundred rank and file each, the battalion was to be augmented to six companies, THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 23 and so on, in succession, until the establishment was 1808 increased to one thousand. On the 13th of January, 1809, the regiment embarked 1809 at Leith on board of four packets, and the whole arrived in the course of that, and the beginning of the following month, at Gravesend, where the men were transhipped into two transports, and ordered round to Spithead. In March the regiment was landed at Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, marched to Newport, whence, after a few days, it was ordered to Colwell barracks. A second volunteering from the militia took place in April, 1809, by which the SEVENTY-THIRD received a considerable increase of numbers, particularly from the Stafford, West Middlesex, and Durham regiments. In April, 1809, officers and non-commissioned officers were detached to recruit for the second battalion, the head-quarters of which were fixed at Nottingham.* It appearing that the Highland dress was an obstacle to the recruiting of the regiments wearing that costume, orders were issued, directing the SEVENTY-THIRD, and five other regiments, to discontinue that dress, and to adopt the uniform of other English regiments.! * The history of the second battalion is resumed at page 43. f MEMORANDUM. Horse Guards, 7th April, 1809. As the population of the Highlands of Scotland is found to be insufficient to supply recruits for the whole of the Highland corps on the establishment of His Majesty's army, and as some of these corps lay ing aside their distinguishing dress, which is objectionable to the natives of South Britain, would, in a great measure, tend to f'aci'i- tate the completing of their establishment, as it would be an induce- ment to the men of the English militia to extend their services in greater numbers to these regiments : it is in consequence most humbly submitted, for the approbation of His Majesty that His 24 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1809 While at Colwell barracks, sixty men, who had volunteered from veteran battalions to serve at New South Wales, were transferred to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, and were ordered to embark with the first battalion for that colony, which, by the addition of these men, and of the volunteers from the militia, was now upwards of eight hundred strong, and its establishment was fixed at ten companies, consisting of fifty-four Serjeants, twenty-two drummers, and a thousand rank and file. The first battalion embarked on the 8th of May, 1809, at Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, on board of His Majesty's ships " Hindoostan" and " Dromedary," and sailed from St. Helen's on the 25th of that month. The fleet touched at Madeira, Port Pray a, Rio Janeiro, and at the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored at Port Jackson, New South Wales, on the 28th of December. 1810 The battalion landed at Sydney on the 1st of January, 1810, and detachments were sent out in the course of that, and the two following months, to the Derwent and Port Dalrymple, in Van Diemen's Land ; to Norfolk Island, and to Newcastle, whence Sydney, the capital of the colony, was supplied with coals, lime, and cedar wood, for buildings and making furniture. 1812 The first battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment having been considerably reinforced by volunteers from the hundred-and-second regiment (late New South Majesty's 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th, 91st, and 94th regiments should discontinue, in future, to wear the dress by which His Majesty's regiments of Highlanders are distinguished, and that the above corps should no longer be considered as on that establishment. (Signed) HABBT CALTEKT, Adjutant- General. THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 25 Wales corps), which it relieved at New South Wales, and 1812 which was ordered home, its establishment was raised, in the year 1812, to twelve hundred rank and file, which included a veteran company formed from the ve- terans of the hundred-and-second regiment, and attached to the SEVENTY-THIRD, while the battalion continued to serve at New South Wales, and was, on its leaving that colony, transferred to the forty-sixth regiment. About the end of the year 1813, an order arrived 1813 from England to embark the first battalion of the SEVKNTY-THIRD regiment for the island of Ceylon, and the first division, consisting of three companies, sailed from Port Jackson on board the ship " Earl Spencer," hired for the passage, on the 24th of January, 1814. 1814 On the 24th of March two more divisions embarked on board the " General Hewitt" and " Windham," and sailed from Port Jackson on the 5th of April ; but the "Windham" being ordered to the Derwent to take on board the two companies stationed at Van Diemen's Land, the " General Hewitt," having the head-quarters and flank companies on board, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Maurice Charles O'Connell, after a very circuitous voyage round New Guinea, New Britain, and through the Molucca islands, arrived at Colombo, in Ceylon, on the 17th of August. Prior to the embarkation of the SEVENTY-THIRD regi- ment from New South Wales, Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, * commanding in New South Wales, stated in General Orders, dated 17th March, 1814, that " On the occasion of parting with the first battalion " of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment His Excellency Major- " General Macquarie, the Governor and Commander of * Major-General Macquarie formerly commanded the SKVENTY- THIRI> regiment. Vide Memoir in Appendix, page 69. 26 HISTORICAL RECORD OF 1814 " the Forces in this territory, cannot fail to express the " warm feelings of interest he takes in the corps, which " he has commanded for six years ; and to assure them, " that no additional prosperity or honor, to which " they may be entitled, in the part of the world where " they are now destined to serve, and where they have " already obtained so large a portion of well-earned " fame, can exceed his sanguine wishes and expecta- " tions. " This station has not afforded the usual field for " military glory ; but in as far as the industrious exer- " tions of those non-commissioned officers and privates, " who could be spared from military duty, have been " exerted, this colony is much indebted for many useful " improvements, which but for the soldiers of the " SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, must have remained only in " the contemplation of those anxious for its civilization " for a length of time, and the Major- General cannot " doubt but that the comforts enjoyed by the colonists, " in consequence of the zealous and laborious exertions " of the soldiers of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, will ' long be remembered with grateful recollections. " Major- General Macquarie feels particular satisfac- " tion in rendering his best acknowledgments to " Lieut.-Colonel O'Connell for his attention to the " discipline of the corps, and the health and comfort of " the soldiers under his immediate command, and also " for his zealous and assiduous attention to the duties " devolving on him as Lieut.-Governor, during the " Governor's necessary and occasional absence from " head-quarters. " To the field-officers, captains, and subalterns, of " the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, the Major- General " desires to offer his best wishes for their health and THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 27 i " happiness, and particularly to those with whom he has 1814 " had a long acquaintance, and whose worth and honor- " able sentiments he is thereby the more fully enabled " to appreciate ; and he has no doubt but that the assisted in covering 1 the retreat on the 17th ; and on the 18th of June, at Waterloo, bore a gallant part in the complete defeat of Napoleon in that memorable battle. Colonel Harris, late in the afternoon, received a shot through the right shoulder, from which severe wound lie continued to suffer at times for the remainder of his life. On retiring on half-pay, a testimony of admiration and regard was presented to him by the officers of his bat- talion in the shape of a splendid sword. On the 19th of July, 1821, Colonel Harris was advanced to the rank of Major- General. Major-General the Honorable William George Harris was employed on the staff of the army in Ireland from the 17th of May, 1823, until the 24th of June, 1825, when he was appointed to the command of the northern district of Great Britain, which he retained until the 24th of July, 1828, 66 SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. and contributed materially in quelling the* disturbances in the manufacturing districts. On the decease of his father, Lord Harris, in 1829, he succeeded to the title, and from that period lived in retirement at Belmont, the family seat, near Feversham in Kent. On the 3rd of December, 1832, Major- General Lord Harris was appointed colonel of the eighty- sixth regiment, and was removed to the SEVENTY-THIRD on the 4tli of December, 1835. In January, 1837, Lord Harris was promoted to the rank of LieuL-General. His decease occurred at Belmont, after a short illness, on the 30th of May, 1845. Lord Harris was a Knight Commander of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, a Companion of the Bath, and a Knight of the Order of William of Holland. SIR ROBERT HENRY DICK, K.C.B., & K.C.H. Appointed 10th June, 1845. THIS officer commenced his military career as ensign in the seventy-fifth regiment, his commission being dated 22nd of November, 1800, from which he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the sixty-second foot, on the 27th of June, 1802 ; was appointed to the ninth battalion of reserve on the 20th of December, 1803, and removed to the forty-second Royal High- land regiment on the 5th of January of the following year. Lieutenant Dick was promoted to the rank of Captain in tlie seventy-eighth regiment on the 17th of April, 1804, and em- barked with the second battalion of that corps for Sicily in 1806 ; in the battle of Maida, which was fought on the 4th of July, 1506, Captain Dick was wounded; was also present at the taking of the fortress of Catrone in Calabria. Admiral Sir John Duckworth having failed in his mission to detach Turkey from the interests of France, Great Britain deter- mined to seize upon Egypt, as a check to any fresh demon- stration by the Frencli against the British possessions in the East Indies, and an armament sailed from Sicily in February, 1807, and landed at Aboukir on the 18th of the following month. This expedition was under the command of Major- General Alexander Mackenzie Fraser, the colonel of the seventy-eighth Highlanders, and Captain Dick was embarked with the second battalion of that regiment. On the 21st of March, 1807, Alexandria was occupied by the British troops ; this was the anniversary of the celebrated battle fought there in 1891, when the gallant General Sir Ralph Abercromby SUCCESSION OF COLONELS. 7 received the wound which terminated his career. A force of fifteen hundred men \vas afterwards detached against Rosetta, before which place Captain Dick was severely wounded. Egypt was evacuated by th British in September, 1807, and the troops returned to Sicily. Captain Dick was v promoted to the rank of Major on the 24th of April, 1808, and was appointed to the forty-second Royal Highlanders on the 14th of July following. Major Dick embarked with the second battalion of the forty-second regiment for the Peninsula in June, 1809, and commanded alight battalion at the battle of Busaco on the 27th of September, 1810, and during the re- treat to the lines of Torres Vedras ; also in the action at Foz D'Aronce on the 15th of March, 181 1, where he was wounded ; and at the battle of Fuentes d'Onor on the 3rd and 5th of May following. During the siege of Ciudad Rodiigo, which was captured on the 19th of January, 1812, Major Dick served with the second battalion of the forty-second regiment, and also at the third siege of Badajoz, which was taken on the 6th of April following. On the first battalion of the forty- second joining the army in the Peninsula towards the end of April, 1812, the soldiers of the second battalion fit for duty were transferred to the former, and the officers and staff' of the latter returned to England to recruit. He commanded a light battalion at the battle of Salamanca on the 22nd of July, 1812. At the storming of Fort St. Michael, near Burgos, on the 19th of September, Major Dick commanded the first bat- talion of the forty-second, and his conduct was commended in the Marquis of Wellington's public despatch. The siege of the Castle of Burgos was afterwards commenced, but the con- centration of the enemy's forces obliged the British commander to raise the siege and retire to Salamanca, and subsequently to Ciudad Rodrigo. On the 8th of October, 1812, Major Dick was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel. In January 1813, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Dick returned to Eng- land on two months' leave of absence, and joined the second battalion, which, after its return from the Peninsula in 1812, had remained in North Britain, until it was dis- banded after the termination of the war in 1814. During the campaign of 1815, Lieut.-Colonel Dick served with the forty-second regiment, and after the death of Lieut.- Colonel Sir Robert Macara, K.C.B., at Quatre Bras on the 16th of June of that year, the command of the regiment 68 SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. devolved on Brevet Lieut. -Colonel Dick, who was slightly wounded in the hip and severely in the left shoulder. He was promoted to be lieut.-colonel of the forty-second regi- ment on the 18th of June, 1815, the date of the battle of Waterloo, for which he received a medal, in addition to the medal and two clasps conferred on him for the battles of Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, and Salamanca, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Lieut. -Colonel Dick was promoted to the rank of colonel on the 27th of May, 1825, on being appointed aide-de-camp to King George IV., and in November, 1828, exchanged from the forty-second regiment to the half-pay unattached. On the 10th of January, 1837, Colonel Dick was promoted to the rank of major-general, and on the 19th of July, 1838, was nominated a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. From December 1838 to July 1842, Major-General Sir Robert Dick served upon the staff of the army at Madras, and was afterwards removed to the Presidency of Bengal. Major- General Sir Robert Dick was appointed by Her Majesty to be colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment on the 10th of June, 1845. Upon the invasion of the British lerritories in India by the Sikhs in the beginning of December 1845, Major-General Sir Robert Dick was appointed to the command of the third infantry division of the " Army of the Sutlrj" and after sharing in the battle of Moodkee on the 18th of December, and that of Ferozeshah on the 21st and 22nd of the same month, was wounded by a grape-shot at Sobraon on the 10th of February, 1846, while personally animating the troops under his command, from the effects of which he died in the evening of that day. This victory brought the operations in the field to a close, and the Sikh city of Lahore was occupied by the British troops, where a treaty was concluded which was considered calculated to prevent the repetition of a similar outrage. SIR JOHN GREY, K.C.B. Appointed 3rd April, 1 846. REMOVED to the fifth Fusiliers on the 18th May, 1849. RICHARD GODDARD HARE CLARGES, C.B. Appointed IBM May, 1849. APPENDIX. Memoir of the Services of Major- General Lachlan Macquarie, formerly Lieut. -Colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment. MAJOR-GENERAL LACHLAN MACQUARIE entered the army on the 9th of April, 1777, as ensign in the late eighty-fourth regiment, (which was dis-banded in 1784), and performed gar- rison duty at Halifax, and other parts of Nova Scotia, for four years, namely, from the year 1777 to 1781. On the 18th of January, 1781, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the late seventy-first regiment, and did garrison duty at New York and Charleston, in North America, and in the island of Jamaica for three years. He was placed on half-pay on the 4th of June, 1784, and was appointed lieutenant in the seventy- seventh regiment on the 25th of December, 17S7, and pro- moted to the rank of captain on the 9th of November, 1788. Captain Macquarie served in various parts of India, from the 3rd of August, 1788, to the 1st of January, 1803; was present at the sieges of Cannanore, in 1790, at Seringapatam in 1791, at Cochin in 1795, and at Colombo, in Ceylon, in 1796. As a reward for his services he had received the bre- vet rank of major on the 3rd of May, 1796, and continued to serve in various parts of India, during the above-men- tioned periods. Brevet Major Macquarie was present at the battle of Seedaseer on the 6th of March, 1799, and at the siege of Seringapatam in April and May following. Bre- vet Major Macquarie was afterwards employed on service in Malabar, and on the 12th of March, 1801, was promoted from the seventy-seventh to the eighty-sixth regiment. Major Macquarie proceeded with the eighty-sixth and other regiments ordered to embark from India, under Major- General David Baird, to join the army in Egypt, and was present at the siege of Alexandria in August, 1801. In November fol- lowing he was promoted to the brevet rank of lieut.-colonel. 70 APPENDIX. He served at home as Assistant Adjutant-General on the London District Staff, from July, 1803, until March, 1805; and afterwards in India, with the eighty sixth regiment in the field in 1805 and 1806. On the 30th of May, 1605, he was appointed lieut. -colonel in the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, which corps lie returned home to join in 1807, and in May, 180.4, embarked with his regiment for New Soutli Wales, of which colony, and its dependencies, lie was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief. On the 25th July, 1810, he was advanced to the brevet rank of colonel, was appointed bri- gadier-general on the 21st of February, 1SU, and promoted major-general on the 4th of June, 1813. His decease occurred in July, 1824. Memoir of the Services of Lieut. -General Sir Maurice Charles Q* Connrll, K.C.H., formerly Litut.- Colonel of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment. THIS officer, after serving with the rank of captain in the emigrant army under the Duke of Brunswick in the campaign of 1792, entered the British army sent to tlie Cominent on the breaking out of the war in 1793. He was appointed captain in the fourth regiment of the late Irish brigade on the 1st of October, 1794, and was placed on half-pay on the 1st of March, 1798, on the reduction of that regiment ; he was ap- pointed captain in the first West India regiment on 'the 21st of May, 1 800, and joined shortly afterwards at St. Lucia ; Captain O'Connell was appointed major of brigade to the forces at Surinam in February, 1802, and served in that co- lony until its restoration to the Dutch in December of that year, when he joined his regiment at St. Vincent. In May, 1803, he proceeded in command of five companies to Grenada, whence he was ordered with the whole of the regiment to Dominica in 104. On the 1st of January, 1805, he received the brevet rank of major. He commanded the light company at Roseau, in Dominica, when an attack was made on that capital on the 22nd of February, 1805, by a French force commanded by General La Grange, and successfully resisted, during the whole day, repeated attacks made by very s-uperior numbers of the enemy on the posts occupied by Brevet-Major APPENDIX. 71 O'Connell, with the forty-sixth regiment, his own company of the first West India regiment, and some colonial militia. He had been appointed major of brigade to the forces at Dominica in February, 1805, and on the 23rd of May following, was appointed major of the fifth West India regiment. In Sep- tember he returned to England. For his services in the de- fence of Dominica, Major O'Connell received the thanks of the House of Assembly in that island, and was presented by that body witli a sword, value one hundred guineas ; he also received a sword, value fifty pounds, and a piece of plate, value one hundred pounds, from the committee of the Patriotic Fund at Lloyd's. On the 15th of October, 1806, Major O'Connell was appointed to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, in which he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel on the 4th of May, 1809, and \vasappointed Lieut.-Governor of New South Wales, where he continued until April, 1814, in which month he em- barked in command of the first battalion of the SEVENTY THIRD regiment for Ceylon. In January, 1815, Lieut.-Colonel O'Connell marched in command of a division of the army under Lieut.-General Robert Brownrigg into the territories of the King of Candy, the conquest of which was achieved in forty days, and crowned by the capture of the reigning monarch, who was deposed by his own subjects, and brought a prisoner to Colombo. On the 12th of August, 1819, Lieut.-Colonel O'Connell was promoted to the rank of colonel, and to that of major-general on the 22nd of July, 1830. In 1838, Major- General O'Connell was appointed to the command of the tioops in New South Wales, which appointment he held from De- cember of tliat year until December, 1847. On the 23rd of November, 1841, Sir Maurice O'Connell was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and was appointed colonel of the eighty- first regiment on the 6th of December, 1842, from which he was removed to the eightieth regiment on the 15th of January, 1844. The decease of Lieut.-General Sir Maurice Charles O'Connell, K.C.H., occurred at Sydney, in New South Wales, on the 25th of May, 1848. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. JAN II DUE2WKSFRQ ) 4 1399 M DATE RECEIVED 000 035 389 6