“When wild war’s deadly blast was blawn,
And gentle peace returning,
And eyes again with pleasure beam’d
That had been blear’d wi’ mourning,
I left the lines and tented field,
Where lang I’d been a lodger,
My humble knapsack a’ my wealth,
A poor but honest sodger.”
THREATENED INVASION—THE PENINSULAR WAR—CORUNNA—TOULOUSE—QUATRE
BRAS—WATERLOO—CRIMEA—INDIA—1803–1862.
The peace of Amiens in 1803, which for a short period released our army
from the bloody toils of war, was but as the portentous calm presaging
the lowering storm, when the waves of angry passion, lashed into fury,
should beat upon the shore of every continent of the world. The pride of
France had been humbled, and the ambitious schemes of her haughty despot
thwarted by British valour, which, upon the plains of Egypt, had wrested
from veteran legions their boasted “invincibility.” The French navy,
moreover, had been swept from the seas and all but exterminated—there
remaining not an armament in Europe which could dare to dispute the
British ocean sovereignty. Stung by the remembrance of many defeats by
sea and land—the painful recollection of which ever and anon haunted and
troubled the dreamer of universal empire, begetting
“The vengeance blood alone could quell”—
a spirit of malignity was awakened in the mind of Napoleon. These
combined occasioned the concentration of the giant might of his empire
upon the western shores of France, purposing therewith to crush, were it
possible, the only power which, amidst the general wreck of nations, yet
lived to challenge his assumed omnipotence. Vainly he hoped to bridge
the channel, or, as he termed it, the “ditch,” which divided this
beloved land from our natural rival and implacable enemy, France. Loudly
he threatened that, with an army of 600,000 men, he would land to
desolate our homes, and overwhelm our country in a doom as awful as had
hitherto befallen less favoured countries. But apart from the “ditch,”
which proved an impassable gulf to the mightiest efforts of his power,
the patriotism of our people, appreciating the emergency, was equal to
the danger, and in 1804 achieved the following magnificent result:—
Army in the British Isles, 129,039
Colonies, 38,630
India, 22,897
Recruiting, 533
Militia in Great Britain, 109,947
————
301,046
Regular and Militia, 301,046
Volunteers in Great Britain, 347,000
————
Total in Great Britain, 648,046
Irish Volunteers, 70,000
Military, 718,046
Navy, 100,000
Grand Total in arms, 818,046
————
In this vast armament we must include a second battalion raised in 1803,
and attached to the Royal Forty-second. In 1805 the first battalion was
removed to Gibraltar. Napoleon, disappointed in his favourite scheme of
effecting our conquest, suddenly directed his march eastward, launching
the thunderbolts of war with remorseless wrath upon the devoted
sovereignties of Germany, yea, piercing, in his aggressions, the gloomy
wilds of Russia. By a crooked policy, begetting a matchless perfidy,
Napoleon had found further employment for the myriad spoilers who looked
to him for prey, in the invasion and appropriation of Spain and
Portugal. In this crisis of their country’s calamity, the patriots of
the Peninsula invoked the friendly aid of Britain, as alone able to help
them in the unequal yet protracted struggle for independence they
maintained. Ever the champion of the weak and oppressed, Britain
descended to the rescue; and in accordance therewith, a British army,
under Sir Arthur Wellesley, landed in Portugal in 1808. The first
battalion of the Forty-second was ordered to join this expedition from
Gibraltar, but reached too late to participate in the glories of Roleia
and Vimiera. The deliverance of Portugal being for the time
accomplished, the Forty-second thereafter joined the army of General Sir
John Moore, which attempted to drive the French from Spain. Inadequately
supported, this gallant chief failed to do more than penetrate into the
interior, occasioning the concentration of the several French armies to
repel him. Unable to cope with such a vast superiority, retreat was
inevitable. Shattered by the vicissitudes of the war, his army retired
to the sea coast, hotly pursued by a powerful French force under Marshal
Soult. At length halting near Corunna, the British, in defence of their
embarkation, accepted battle from the French, which, whilst victory
crowned our arms, was dearly bought in the death of Sir John Moore.
Brigaded with the Fourth and Fiftieth regiments, under Major-General
Lord William Bentinck, and in the division of Sir David Baird, these
regiments sustained the weight of the attack. Twice on this memorable
day did the Commander-in-Chief address himself to the Highlanders. In
the advance to recover the lost village of Elvina, he uttered these
thrilling words, awakening the recollection of the time when he himself
had led them to victory—“Highlanders,” he said, “remember Egypt!” And
again, when sorely pressed by the enemy, having expended their whole
ammunition, he thus distinguished them:—
“‘My brave Forty-second, join your comrades, ammunition is coming, and
you have your bayonets.’ At the well-known voice of their general, the
Highlanders instantly sprang forward, and closed upon the enemy with
bayonets. About this period Sir David Baird was wounded, and forced to
quit the field, and soon afterwards Sir John Moore was struck to the
ground by a cannon ball. He was raised up, his eyes were steadily fixed
on the Highlanders, who were contending manfully with their numerous
antagonists, and when he was assured that the Forty-second were
victorious, his countenance brightened up, he expressed his
satisfaction, and was removed to the rear, where he expired, to the
great regret of the officers and soldiers, who admired and esteemed
their excellent commander.”
On dark Corunna’s woeful day,
When Moore’s brave spirit passed away,
Our Highland men, they firmly stood,
Nor France’s marshalled armies could
Break through the men of Scotland.
[Illustration: SIR JOHN MOORE.]
In this severe fight the loss of the Forty-second exceeded 200 killed
and wounded. In consequence of this victory, the British were enabled to
embark without further molestation from the enemy. The regiment arrived
in England in 1809. As soon as sufficiently recruited—brigaded with the
Seventy-ninth and Ninety-second regiments, constituting the Highland
Brigade—it was embarked with the army which attempted to gain a footing
in Flanders; but failed, rather from the evil effects of the climate,
inducing a malignant disease, than the sword of the enemy. Of 758 men,
which comprised the battalion, 554 were stricken down or disabled in
less than six weeks. Meanwhile, the second battalion, which had joined
the army of Lord Wellington in Portugal, suffered severely from a
similar cause whilst stationed on the banks of the Guadiana River.
Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Blantyre, this battalion was
creditably present in the actions of the Peninsular War, which arrested
the progress of the French under Marshal Massena, at Busaco, and finally
defied their every effort at the formidable, impregnable lines of Torres
Vedras. The battalion won a title to the distinction of “Fuentes
d’Onor,” by gallantly resisting a charge of French cavalry thereat. It
was present at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, and, previous to the battle
of Salamanca, was joined by the first battalion from England, with whom
it was consolidated. A recruiting party was sent home to enrol a now
second battalion, afterwards disbanded in 1814.
It is needless here to detain the reader with a record of the military
transactions of the war. These words—“Pyrenees,” “Nivelle,” “Nive,”
“Orthes,” “Toulouse,” and “Peninsula”—borne upon the colours and
appointments of the regiment, are sufficiently expressive of its
gallantry. At the battle of Toulouse, the public despatch refers to the
conduct of the Forty-second as “highly distinguished throughout the
day;” whilst an officer of the regiment contributes the following
account of its dauntless behaviour on the occasion. In the sixth
division of our army, and in brigade with the Seventy-ninth and
Ninety-first regiments, he says:—“We advanced under a heavy cannonade,
and arrived in front of a redoubt, which protected the right of the
enemy’s position, where we were formed in two lines—the first consisting
of some Portuguese regiments, and the reserve of the Highland Brigade.
“Darkening the whole hill, flanked by clouds of cavalry, and covered by
the fire of their redoubt, the enemy came down upon us like a torrent;
their generals and field-officers riding in front, and waving their hats
amidst shouts of the multitude, resembling the roar of an ocean! Our
Highlanders, as if actuated by one instinctive impulse, took off their
bonnets, and, waving them in the air, returned their greeting with three
cheers.
“A death-like silence ensued for some moments, and we could observe a
visible pause in the advance of the enemy. At that moment the light
company of the Forty-second regiment, by a well-directed fire, brought
down some of the French officers of distinction, as they rode in front
of their respective corps. The enemy immediately fired a volley into our
lines, and advanced upon us amidst a deafening roar of musketry and
artillery. Our troops answered their fire only once, and, unappalled by
their furious onset, advanced up the hill, and met them at the charge.
Upon reaching the summit of the ridge of heights, the redoubt which had
covered their advance fell into our possession; but they still retained
four others, with their connecting lines of entrenchments, upon the
level of the same heights on which we were now established, and into
which they had retired.
“Major-General Pack having obtained leave from General Clinton that the
Forty-second should have the honour of leading the attack, which it was
hoped should drive the French from their strong position, that
distinguished officer exultingly gave the word—‘The Forty-second will
advance.’ We immediately began to form for the charge upon the redoubts,
which were about two or three hundred yards distant, and to which we had
to pass over some ploughed fields. The grenadiers of the Forty-second
regiment, followed by the other companies, led the way, and began to
ascend from the road; but no sooner were the feathers of their bonnets
seen rising over the embankment, than such a tremendous fire was opened
from the redoubts and entrenchments, as in a very short time would have
annihilated them. The right wing, therefore, hastily formed into line,
and, without waiting for the left, which was ascending by companies from
the road, rushed upon the batteries, which vomited forth a most furious
and terrific storm of fire, grape-shot, and musketry.
“The redoubts were erected along the side of a road, and defended by
broad ditches filled with water. Just before our troops reached the
obstruction, however, the enemy deserted them, and fled in all
directions, leaving their last line of strongholds in our possession;
but they still possessed two fortified houses close by, from which they
kept up a galling and destructive fire. Out of about five hundred men,
which the Forty-second brought into action, scarcely ninety reached the
fatal redoubt from which the enemy had fled.
“As soon as the smoke began to clear away, the enemy made a last attempt
to re-take the redoubts, and for this purpose advanced in great force.
They were a second time repulsed with great loss, and their whole army
was driven into Toulouse, which they evacuated on the 12th of April,
1814.”
The peace which crowned these glorious achievements afforded but a brief
interval of repose to our army. In the spring of the following year,
Europe was startled in her dream of fancied security by the sudden and
unexpected return of Napoleon from Elba. In the campaign of Waterloo,
which quickly and decisively broke his power, and almost annihilated the
military strength of imperial France—with which strong, convulsive
effort it hoped to restore its earlier and mightier dominion—the
Forty-second claims a most conspicuous place, especially in the action
of Quatre Bras, so immediately followed by the grander event of
Waterloo. The unexpected and furious attack of Marshal Ney upon the
advanced position of the allies at Quatre Bras, gave the French a
momentary advantage. Roused to arms, and hurried forward to the scene of
conflict, the Highlanders (Forty-second and Ninety-second regiments)
were conspicuous for the promptitude with which they mustered and took
the field, hastening forward to relieve the gallant few that dared to
withstand the impetuous assaults of the French. The good conduct of the
Highlanders, whilst quartered in Brussels, had so won the esteem of the
citizens, that they are said to have mourned for them as a brother,
grieving for their departure—perchance
“The unreturning brave,—alas!
Ere evening to be trodden like the grass
Which now beneath them, but above shall grow
In its next verdure; when this fiery mass
Of living valour rolling on the foe,
And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low!
“Last noon beheld them full of lusty life;
Last eve, in beauty’s circle proudly gay;
The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife;
The morn the marshalling in arms; the day
Battle’s magnificently-stern array!
The thunder-clouds close o’er it, which, when rent,
The earth is cover’d thick with other clay,
Which her own clay shall cover—heap’d and pent,
Rider and horse,—friend, foe,—in one red burial blent!”
One historian speaks of the Forty-second as displaying “unparalleled
bravery;” whilst another thus narrates the attack of the Highlanders at
Quatre Bras:—“To the Forty-second Highlanders, and Forty-fourth British
regiment, which were posted on a reversed slope, and in line, close upon
the left of the above road, the advance of French cavalry was so sudden
and unexpected, the more so as the Brunswickers had just moved on to the
front, that as both these bodies whirled past them to the rear, in such
close proximity to each other, they were, for the moment, considered to
consist of one mass of allied cavalry. Some of the old soldiers of both
regiments were not so easily satisfied on this point, and immediately
opened a partial fire obliquely upon the French lancers, which, however,
Sir Denis Pack and their own officers endeavoured as much as possible to
restrain; but no sooner had the latter succeeded in causing a cessation
of the fire, than the lancers, which were the rearmost of the cavalry,
wheeled sharply round, and advanced in admirable order directly upon the
rear of the two British regiments. The Forty-second Highlanders having,
from their position, been the first to recognise them as a part of the
enemy’s forces, rapidly formed a square; but just as the two flank
companies were running in to form the rear face, the lancers had reached
the regiment, when a considerable portion of their leading division
penetrated the square, carrying along with them, by the impetus of the
charge, several men of those two companies, and creating a momentary
confusion. The long-tried discipline and steadiness of the Highlanders,
however, did not forsake them at this critical juncture; these lancers,
instead of effecting the destruction of the square, were themselves
fairly hemmed into it, and either bayoneted or taken prisoners, whilst
the endangered face, restored as if by magic, successfully repelled all
further attempts on the part of the French to complete their expected
triumph. Their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Macara,
was killed on this occasion, a lance having pierced through his chin
until it reached the brain; and within the brief space of a few minutes,
the command of the regiment devolved upon three other officers in
succession: Lieutenant-Colonel Dick, who was severely wounded,
Brevet-Major Davidson, who was mortally wounded, and Brevet-Major
Campbell, who commanded it during the remainder of the campaign.” Their
subsequent service at Waterloo fully sustained, nay, rather excelled the
heroism of previous achievements.
[Illustration: SEBASTOPOL, FROM FORT CONSTANTINE.]
Peace has long reigned over our land, and the after history of the
regiment appears, when shorn of a farther warlike character, devoid of
interest. We only, therefore, mention that, after serving in various
garrisons at home, the regiment was removed in 1826 to Gibraltar, thence
in 1832 to Malta, and thereafter, in 1834, to the Ionian Islands.
Returning home in 1836, it was welcomed by a grateful public. In 1841 it
was again stationed in the Ionian Islands, until removed to Malta in
1843.
In the Crimean war, the Forty-second, with the Seventy-ninth and
Ninety-third regiments, shared the dangers and the sufferings through
which, as our “Highland Brigade,” they gloriously won a deathless
renown—as the “Rocks of Gaelic Infantry.” The regiment was present at
the battle of the Alma, the siege of Sebastopol, and with the expedition
against Kertch. Many of its soldiers earned, as the reward of personal
courage, the Victoria Cross.
In July, 1857, the Forty-second proceeded to India, to aid in the
suppression of the mutiny. It still remains in India, being now
stationed at Dugshai, Bengal. It is worthy of remark, that all the
Highland regiments were more or less employed in suppressing this
terrible outbreak.
In conclusion, these records, if “aught inanimate e’er speaks,” speak in
silent yet living eloquence to the soul, and more than ever endear to us
the soldiers who inherit, and who will not fail to emulate, by their own
good conduct and gallant demeanour, the illustrious and glorious career
of their predecessors.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE SEVENTY-FIRST FOOT;
OR,
GLASGOW HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY.