The island of Jamaica was taken from the Spaniards, by an English
armament in 1655 (during the commonwealth under Cromwell),
when the slaves belonging to the Spanish planters fled to the
mountains, where they lived in savage independence, and were
called "Maroons." They procured arms, became expert marksmen, and
frequently committed outrages against the British inhabitants. In
1738 a treaty was concluded with them, and they received a grant
of land; but the pernicious doctrines of the French republicans
were circulated among the Maroons, who were joined by a number of
runaway slaves, and commenced hostilities against the English in
1795. The SIXTEENTH served in the _Maroon war_, when the soldiers
encountered many difficulties, and at first sustained some
reverses, from the difficult nature of the mountainous districts
into which they had to penetrate, and from the expert character of
the Maroon warriors in bush-fighting among rocks and dells covered
with trees and underwood. A detachment of the SIXTEENTH was first
called into action; and in October the regiment, commanded by Major
John Skinner, who held the local rank of Colonel, was called into
the field. This officer had served many years in the regiment; he
had distinguished himself in the American war, while serving with
Tarleton's Legion, with which corps he was present at numerous
engagements, and on joining the field force in the Maroon war, his
presence inspired the troops with confidence. Offensive operations
were conducted with prudence and skill, and by a strict combination
in the movements of the troops employed, united with valour and
discipline, the Maroons were driven from their mountain-fastnesses,
and chased from post to post, until they were forced to submit. In
performing this service, the soldiers underwent great fatigue and
privation, and they conquered the Maroons in a part of the island
where no European had ever before thought of penetrating. Captain
Drummond, of the SIXTEENTH, distinguished himself in this war.
[Sidenote: 1796]
The Maroons tendered their submission in March, 1796, and they were
afterwards removed from the island.
[Sidenote: 1797]
Having become considerably reduced in numbers, the regiment
returned to England, towards the close of this year, and was
stationed a short time at Greenwich, from whence it embarked for
Scotland, early in 1797; at the same time it was ordered to recruit
with boys.
Lieut.-General the Honorable Thomas Bruce having died, he was
succeeded in the colonelcy by Major-General Henry Bowyer, from the
Eighty-ninth regiment, by commission dated the 15th of December,
1797.
[Sidenote: 1798]
The regiment was quartered in Fifeshire, under the orders of
Major John Skinner, and afterwards proceeded to Fort George;
Lieut.-Colonel Hugh Wallace assuming the command. The boys were
transferred to the Thirty-fourth and Sixty-fifth regiments, under
orders for India, and the SIXTEENTH were completed by volunteers
from the English militia, principally limited service men.
[Sidenote: 1799]
In 1799 the regiment embarked from Scotland for London, from whence
it proceeded to Margate, to join the expedition to Holland, under
His Royal Highness the Duke of York; but the order to proceed on
this service was countermanded, and the regiment was stationed a
few months at Horsham in Sussex.
[Sidenote: 1800]
[Sidenote: 1801]
Embarking from Portsmouth in 1800, the regiment sailed to Cork, and
was stationed in the south of Ireland; where Lieut.-Colonel St.
John Fancourt joined and assumed the command in 1801.
[Sidenote: 1802]
At the conclusion of the peace of Amiens in 1802, the limited
service men were discharged; and the regiment was completed from
disbanded fencible and militia corps.
[Sidenote: 1803]
War was resumed in 1803; and Lieut.-Colonel Fancourt having been
removed to the Thirty-fourth regiment, the command of the SIXTEENTH
devolved on Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Skinner.
[Sidenote: 1804]
On the 7th of January, 1804, the regiment embarked from Monkstown,
for the West Indies, and arrived at Barbadoes on the 26th of March.
It was immediately ordered to hold itself in readiness to proceed
with the expedition under Major-General Sir Charles Green and
Commodore Samuel Hood, against the Dutch colony of _Surinam_, in
Guiana, in South America. This colony was ceded to the Dutch, by
King Charles II., in exchange for New York, in North America; it
was captured by the British in 1799, and restored at the peace of
Amiens in 1802.
On the 7th of April, 1804, the expedition sailed from Barbadoes,
and a landing was effected on the 26th of that month; the SIXTEENTH
were actively employed in operations, until the surrender of the
colony on the 4th of May.
[Sidenote: 1806]
While the regiment was at Surinam, the post occupied by a
detachment of the light company and a few men of the fourth
West India regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Richard Greene, of
the SIXTEENTH, at _Armena_, was attacked by a large force of
predatory negroes and banditti, and defended with great gallantry,
the greater part of the garrison being killed in the successful
resistance made to the assailants. The inhabitants of the colony
afterwards presented Lieutenant Greene with a valuable sword, in
token of their sense of his conduct.
[Sidenote: 1807]
In 1807 Lieut.-Colonel Skinner was succeeded in the duties of
commanding officer by Major Brabazon Dean Vernon.[8]
[Sidenote: 1808]
On the decease of General Bowyer, in 1808, King George III.
conferred the colonelcy on Major-General Sir Charles Green, Bart.,
from the York light infantry volunteers.
[Sidenote: 1809]
In May, 1809, His Majesty was graciously pleased to approve of the
regiment being styled the SIXTEENTH, or the BEDFORDSHIRE, instead
of the _Buckinghamshire_, Regiment: this exchange of County titles
took place with the Fourteenth Regiment of Foot.
[Sidenote: 1810]
Lieut.-Colonel Henry Tolley assumed the command of the regiment, in
June, 1810.
[Sidenote: 1811]
[Sidenote: 1812]
During its stay at Surinam and Barbadoes, the regiment lost
twenty-seven officers and upwards of five hundred men by disease.
The survivors returned to England by detachments in 1810, 1811,
and 1812, and landed at Falmouth and Portsmouth. One ship, the
"Islam," having on board the remainder of the grenadiers and of one
battalion company, was wrecked on the Tuscan Rock off the coast
of Ireland. By the exertions of some workmen, who were making
preparations to erect a lighthouse on the rock, all were saved
excepting one man, one woman, and some children; all the arms,
appointments, and baggage were lost. On the following day the party
was taken off the rock by a brig, and conveyed to Beaumaris in
Wales.
[Sidenote: 1813]
After occupying quarters at various stations, and receiving many
volunteers from the English and Irish militia, the regiment marched
to Sunderland in July; and in March, 1813, embarked from thence for
Perth: in July of this year it proceeded to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1814]
Sir Charles Green, Baronet, was removed to the Thirty-seventh
regiment in February, 1814, when His Royal Highness the Prince
Regent, conferred the colonelcy of the SIXTEENTH on Lieut.-General
Sir George Prevost, from the Seventy-sixth regiment.
During this period the war was continued in Europe, and British
troops were acquiring laurels under the Duke of Wellington: at
the same time the measures pursued to counteract the decrees made
by Napoleon, Emperor of the French, for the destruction of the
commerce of Great Britain, brought on a war between the British
Crown and the United States of North America; and in the spring of
this year the SIXTEENTH embarked from Monkstown to join the British
troops in Canada. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Tolley,
and arriving at Quebec on the 29th of May, was stationed a short
period at that fortress; it was afterwards removed to Chambly, from
whence it proceeded to Montreal. The British troops having failed
in the attack of the American post at Plattsburg, the SIXTEENTH
were relieved from duty at Montreal, sent to the upper province,
and stationed at Fort Wellington.
[Sidenote: 1815]
A treaty of peace having been concluded with the Americans, the
regiment was ordered to return to Europe; it sailed from Quebec in
July, and arrived at Portsmouth in August. The return of Buonaparte
to France,--his reassumption of the imperial dignity,--his
overthrow at Waterloo, and surrender to a British man-of-war, had
occurred while the regiment was in Canada, and on the passage to
Europe; on its arrival at Portsmouth, it was ordered to proceed
to the Continent, to join the army commanded by the Duke of
Wellington. The regiment landed at Ostend, and marching to Paris,
encamped at St. Denis.
On the conclusion of the definitive treaties of peace, the regiment
marched to Calais, where it embarked for England, and landing at
Dover, remained there fourteen days.
[Sidenote: 1816]
Lieut.-General Sir George Prevost, Baronet, having died, the
Prince Regent nominated Major-General Hugh Mackay Gordon to the
colonelcy of the regiment, from the York Chasseurs, by commission
dated the 8th of January, 1816.
From Dover the regiment embarked for Ireland; it landed at
Monkstown on the 3rd of February, and was stationed successively at
Fermoy, Limerick, and Cashel.
[Sidenote: 1817]
[Sidenote: 1818]
In 1817 the regiment was removed to Kilkenny; and in 1818 to
Athlone.
[Sidenote: 1819]
[Sidenote: 1820]
On the 25th of August, 1819, the regiment embarked from Cork, under
the command of Colonel Tolley, for colonial service, and touching
at the Cape of Good Hope, the flank companies landed, and remained
at Cape Town a month. The battalion companies continued their
voyage to Ceylon, and landed at Colombo on the 20th of February,
1820, under Major William Vandeleur. The flank companies, under
Colonel Tolley, arrived in March.
[Sidenote: 1821]
[Sidenote: 1822]
The regiment remained seventeen months at Colombo, where it
was joined by one hundred and twenty-eight volunteers from the
Seventy-third; in August, 1821, it marched, under Major Vandeleur,
for Kandy, where Colonel Tolley resumed the command, and on his
proceeding on leave of absence, in October, 1822, the command
devolved on Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Lionel Hook.
[Sidenote: 1823]
Lieut.-General Gordon died in the spring of 1823, and was succeeded
in the colonelcy by Lieut.-General William Carr, Viscount
Beresford, G.C.B., and G.C.H.
[Sidenote: 1824]
In March, 1824, the regiment returned to Colombo, where it lost
several officers and a number of men by a malignant fever.
[Sidenote: 1825]
[Sidenote: 1826]
Colonel Tolley was promoted to the rank of Major-General; Brevet
Lieut.-Colonel Hook was nominated to a Lieut.-Colonelcy in the
Ceylon rifle corps; and Colonel David Ximenes was appointed
Lieut.-Colonel of the SIXTEENTH; this officer arrived at Colombo in
March, 1826, and assumed the command of the regiment, which marched
from Colombo, in July following, for Point de Galle.
[Sidenote: 1827]
On the 2nd of July, 1827, Lieutenants Alexander, Mylius, and Hyde,
Ensigns Cassidi and Hannagan, three serjeants, and one hundred and
eight rank and file, joined from the depôt in England.
[Sidenote: 1828]
[Sidenote: 1829]
The regiment, having been appointed to proceed to Bengal, was
relieved from duty at the island of Ceylon, by the Sixty-first,
in November, 1828, and embarking from thence in four divisions,
arrived at Calcutta in January, 1829, when Colonel Ximenes was
appointed to command the garrison of Fort William, and Major John
W. Adain assumed the command of the regiment; which received one
hundred and fourteen volunteers from the Fifty-ninth, and forty-six
from the Thirtieth and Forty-seventh regiments. In April Major
Adain obtained leave to proceed to England, and the command of the
regiment devolved on Major Adam Gordon Campbell, until the arrival
of Lieut.-Colonel Lionel Smith Hook, in November: this officer was
appointed to the regiment in February of this year.
[Sidenote: 1830]
The SIXTEENTH remained on duty at Calcutta, where, in October and
November, 1830, they received sixty-four volunteers from other
corps.
[Sidenote: 1831]
In January, 1831, Colonel Hook was nominated to the command of the
garrison of Fort William, and Major Campbell resumed the command;
but on the regiment quitting Calcutta, in March following, to
proceed in steam-boats to Chinsurah, Colonel Hook again assumed the
command. At this period twenty volunteers joined from the Royal
regiment.
[Sidenote: 1832]
[Sidenote: 1833]
[Sidenote: 1834]
The SIXTEENTH regiment remained at Chinsurah until December, 1833,
when it commenced its march for Ghazepore: while on the march its
destination was altered for Cawnpore; and on the 7th of February,
1834, it had the misfortune to lose its commanding officer, Colonel
Hook, who died at the camp at Secrole, Benares, when the command
again devolved on Major Campbell: on the 28th of February the
regiment arrived at Cawnpore.
[Sidenote: 1835]
[Sidenote: 1836]
In March, 1835, Captain H. M^cManus, Ensigns Henry A. O'Molony
and Edward Brabazon, two serjeants and forty-three rank and file,
joined from England. Another detachment joined in May; and in
March, 1836, one hundred and six volunteers were received from the
Thirty-eighth regiment,--also eighty-four recruits from England,
under Captain R. Brown, Ensigns Hook and Lawson, and Surgeon
Steele. They were followed by Ensigns G. M. Ross and H. C. M.
Ximenes, in September.
[Sidenote: 1837]
[Sidenote: 1838]
In March, 1837, Lieutenant Gibbs, and thirty-two recruits joined;
and in May, twenty-two volunteers from the Twentieth regiment.
Thirty-nine volunteers also joined from the Forty-fifth, in April,
1838.
[Sidenote: 1839]
[Sidenote: 1840]
On the 24th of December, 1839, the regiment received orders to
proceed by water to Calcutta; but in January, 1840, it received
orders to disembark at Dinapore, and relieve the Forty-ninth
regiment, under orders to proceed with the expedition to China.
The SIXTEENTH remained at Dinapore until October, when they were
relieved by a wing of the Twenty-first fusiliers, and embarked for
the Presidency, where they arrived on the 4th of November.
[Sidenote: 1841]
Orders having been issued for the regiment to return to England, it
transferred a number of volunteers to other corps, and embarked,
in three divisions, in December, 1840, and January, 1841, under
Lieut.-Colonel Campbell, Major H. Clements, and Brevet-Major
Dalzell; and landing at Gravesend in April following, marched from
thence to Canterbury, from whence four companies were afterwards
detached to Dover.
In August the regiment was supplied with new _Percussion Arms_. In
December it marched to London, and proceeded from thence by railway
to Winchester.
[Sidenote: 1842]
Leaving Winchester in April, 1842, the regiment proceeded by
railway to Gosport, and in August it was removed to Portsmouth.
On the 22nd of September NEW COLOURS were presented to the
regiment, on Southsea Common, by the Honorable LADY PAKENHAM;
the Rev. RICHARD BINGHAM conducted the ceremony of consecration;
and the regiment was afterwards addressed by Major-General the
Honorable SIR HERCULES R. PAKENHAM, K.C.B., commanding the
South-west District, who detailed, in a very impressive manner, the
ancient achievements of the corps. A large assemblage of nobility
and gentry were present at the ceremony, and were afterwards
entertained by the officers at a déjeuné and ball.
[Sidenote: 1843]
The regiment proceeded from Portsmouth to Manchester, in May, 1843,
and from thence to Ireland in July. During the remainder of the
year it was stationed at Newbridge and Birr.
[Sidenote: 1844]
From Birr the regiment marched, in February, 1844, to Naas, and in
March removed to Dublin, where it remained until December, when the
regiment proceeded to Cork.
[Sidenote: 1845]
In June, 1845, the SIXTEENTH regiment marched to Buttevant, and in
October to Cork, for the purpose of proceeding on foreign service.
[Sidenote: 1846]
The service companies of the regiment, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel Henry M^cManus, embarked at Cork for Gibraltar,
on the 17th and 19th January, 1846, in the freight ships Cressy
and Earl Grey, and arrived at Gibraltar on the 11th February. The
depôt companies marched from Buttevant to Birr, in April, 1846, and
proceeded in November to Fermoy.
[Sidenote: 1847]
On the 9th of March, 1847, the regiment, under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel M^cManus, embarked in Her Majesty's ship
Belleisle for Corfu, where it arrived on the 27th March; and on
its embarkation for the Ionian Islands, a favourable report was
received by the Adjutant-General from the Governor of Gibraltar,
General Sir Robert Wilson, who stated, that the corps was "_very
efficient and soldier-like_," and that it was "_distinguished by
very commendable conduct throughout its service in the garrison_."
The depôt companies marched from Fermoy to Youghal in September,
1847.
[Sidenote: 1848]
Lieut.-Colonel M^cManus retired on half-pay on the 10th March,
1848, and Major Robert Luxmoore was promoted to the rank of
Lieut.-Colonel; Captain Charles Grey succeeded to the Majority.
In April, 1848, the depôt companies proceeded to Cork, and embarked
for Guernsey on the 4th May, where they are now stationed.
On the 1st June, 1848, the date to which the Record has been
continued, the service companies were stationed at Corfu, under the
command of Lieut.-Colonel Robert Luxmoore.
1848
[Illustration: SIXTEENTH REGIMENT.
QUEEN'S COLOUR.]
[Illustration: REGIMENTAL COLOUR.
FOR CANNON'S MILITARY RECORDS
_Madeley lith 3 Wellington S^t Strand_]
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE SIXTEENTH,
OR
THE BEDFORDSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.
ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS,
_Appointed 9th October, 1688_.
ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS was many years an officer in the First, or the
Royal regiment of foot, with which corps he served in France and
Germany, when that veteran Scots regiment was in the service of
Louis XIV.; but it was withdrawn from the army of the French
monarch in 1678, from which period it has been on the British
establishment. He was captain of one of the companies of the Royal
regiment sent to the relief of Tangier, in Africa, when that
fortress was besieged by the Moors in 1680, and he was wounded
in the general engagement on the 27th of September, 1680, when
the Moorish army was overthrown. He was subsequently promoted to
the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment; and he commanded the
companies of his corps at the battle of Sedgemoor, on the 6th of
July, 1685, where he distinguished himself. King James II. placed
great confidence in the loyalty of Colonel Douglas, and when His
Majesty's power was menaced by the armament under the Prince of
Orange, the King nominated this distinguished Scots officer to
raise a regiment, now the SIXTEENTH foot, of which he was appointed
colonel. At the Revolution in 1688, he withdrew from the service,
and was not afterwards employed under the British crown. In
consequence of a mark on his countenance, he was sometimes called
_Spot_.
ROBERT HODGES,
_Appointed 31st December, 1688_.
This Officer served with the army of Louis XIV. in Germany, as
ensign and lieutenant in the Royal regiment of foot, and in
1678, when a grenadier company was added to the regiment, it
was placed under his orders, and he was promoted to the rank of
captain. The Scots grenadiers under his orders were selected to
proceed to the relief of Tangier, and in an account of an action
on the 20th of September, 1680, with the Moorish lancers, it is
recorded--"The grenadiers, under Captain Hodges, behaved themselves
very bravely." He also distinguished himself in a skirmish on
the 22nd of September; and in the general attack on the Moorish
lines, on the 27th of that month, he led the assault at the head of
his grenadiers, and evinced great gallantry. He was subsequently
promoted to the majority of the Royal regiment, and in December,
1688, the Prince of Orange conferred on him the colonelcy of the
corps which is now the SIXTEENTH regiment. He served the campaign
of 1689, in the Netherlands, under Prince Waldeck, and evinced
great courage and ability in command of a detachment of infantry
placed in front of the confederate army at Walcourt, when attacked
by the French, under Marshal d'Humières, on the 25th of August. He
served the campaigns of 1691 and 1692, under King William III., and
was killed by a cannon-ball at the battle of Steenkirk, on the 3rd
of August, 1692.
THE HONORABLE JAMES STANLEY,
_Appointed 1st August, 1692_.
THE HONORABLE JAMES STANLEY, third son of Charles eighth Earl
of Derby, was an adherent of the principles of the Revolution
of 1688, and a member of the Convention of Parliament which
conferred the crown on the Prince and Princess of Orange. He
procured a commission in the first foot guards, in which corps
he obtained the rank of captain and lieut.-colonel; he served
several campaigns in Flanders under King William III., and on 1st
August, 1692, His Majesty, in his camp at Lambeque, promoted him,
from lieutenant-colonel of the foot guards, to the command of
the SIXTEENTH regiment of foot, in succession to Colonel Hodges,
who was killed at the battle of Steenkirk. He was also one of the
grooms of the bed-chamber to King William III. On the decease of
his brother, in 1702, he succeeded to the dignity of Earl of Derby.
On the 10th June, 1702, he was constituted Lord-Lieutenant of North
Wales and of the County of Lancaster; and in the following year he
had a patent to be Vice-Admiral of the said County during Queen
Anne's reign. The Earl of Derby resigned his military appointments
in 1705, and on 10th June, 1706, was sworn at Windsor, by her
Majesty's command, one of the Privy Council, and at the same time
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. At her Majesty's coronation,
on 23rd April, 1702, he carried one of the Three Swords of State,
as he did also at the coronation of King George I., on the 20th
October, 1714. At the change of the administration in 1710, he was
removed from his posts, and from that of Lord-Lieutenant of the
County of Lancaster, but was again constituted Lord-Lieutenant
of that County on the 5th August, 1714. On 23rd September, 1715,
he was appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. He died at
Knowsley, on Sunday, 1st February, 1736.
FRANCIS GODFREY,
_Appointed 25th May, 1705_.
This officer was nephew to the great Duke of Marlborough;[9] he
held a commission in the foot guards, in the time of King William
III., and was promoted to captain and lieut.-colonel, and he served
several campaigns in the Netherlands under his uncle. In 1705 he
was promoted to the colonelcy of the SIXTEENTH regiment, and in
1710 he was advanced to the rank of brigadier-general; in 1711 he
disposed of the colonelcy of the regiment. He died on the 6th of
October, 1712.
HENRY DURELL,
_Appointed 17th February, 1711_.
This officer held a commission in the foot guards, in which corps
he rose to the rank of captain and lieut.-colonel. He served at
several battles and sieges in the Netherlands and in Germany, under
the great Duke of Marlborough, and was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general in 1710: in 1711 he obtained the colonelcy of the
SIXTEENTH regiment. He commanded a brigade in Flanders, in 1712,
and was appointed Deputy Governor of Dunkirk, when that fortress
was delivered up to the British troops. He died on the 1st of
December, 1712.
HANS HAMILTON,
_Appointed 23rd June, 1713_.