present the compliments usual on such occasions, but I had
rather offer the expression of my regard and admiration of
that excellent _esprit-de-corps_ and real worth which a ten
years’ intimate knowledge of the regiment has taught me so
highly to appreciate. I shall always look back with pleasure
to that long period in which I had the good fortune to be your
commanding officer, and during which time I received from the
officers the most cordial and zealous assistance in support of
discipline; from the non-commissioned officers proofs of the most
disinterested regard for His Majesty’s service and the welfare of
their regiment, and I witnessed on the part of the privates and
the corps at large a fidelity to their colours in South America,
as remarkable under such trying circumstances as their valour
has at all times been conspicuous in the field. I am most happy
to think that there is no drawback to the pleasure all should
feel on this occasion. Your former colours were mislaid after
a fête given in London, to celebrate the Duke of Wellington’s
return after his glorious termination of the peninsular war, and
your colonel, General Francis Dundas, has sent you three very
handsome ones to replace them.
“On them are emblazoned some of His Grace’s victories, in which
the SEVENTY-FIRST bore a most distinguished part, and more might
be enumerated which the corps may well be proud of. There are
still in your ranks valuable officers who have witnessed the
early glories of the regiment in the East, and its splendid
career since is fresh in the memory of all. Never, indeed, did
the character of the corps stand higher; never was the fame
of the British arms or the glory of the British empire more
pre-eminent than at this moment, an enthusiastic recollection of
which the sight of these colours must always inspire.
“While you have your present commanding officer to lead you, it
is unnecessary for me to add anything to excite such a spirit;
but was I called upon to do so, I should have only to hold up the
example of those who have fallen in your ranks, and, above all,
point to the memory of that hero who so gloriously fell at your
head.”[32]
[Sidenote: 1818.]
The regiment formed part of the “Army of Occupation” in France
until towards the end of October 1818, when it embarked at Calais
for England, and arrived at Dover on the 29th of that month.
After landing, the regiment proceeded immediately to Chelmsford,
where it remained for a short time. During its stay at this place
the establishment was reduced from 810 to 650 rank and file.
On the 25th of November the regiment marched to Weedon, Derby, and
Nottingham, having its head-quarters at the former place.
[Sidenote: 1819.]
The regiment was inspected at Weedon on the 1st of May 1819, by
Major-General Sir John Byng, who reported most favourably to His
Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief upon its appearance and
discipline. In consequence of this report His Royal Highness was
pleased to dispense with any further inspection of the regiment
during the year.
On the 21st of June 1819, the regiment marched to Chester, having
detachments at Liverpool and the Isle of Man.
[Sidenote: 1820.]
In June 1820, the regiment marched to Rochdale, Blackburn, and
Burnley. In July following it proceeded to Hertford, Ware,
Hoddesdon, and Hatfield; and on the 20th of November it was removed
to Canterbury.
Previously to the departure of the regiment from Hertford, it was
inspected by the Adjutant-General to the Forces, Major-General
Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., who communicated to Colonel Sir Thomas
Arbuthnot, K.C.B., commanding the SEVENTY-FIRST, the expression
of the satisfaction experienced by His Royal Highness the
Commander-in-Chief in perusing the report made on that occasion.
[Sidenote: 1821.]
In June 1821, the regiment marched to Chatham, having detachments
at Sheerness, Tilbury Fort, and Harwich. Here a further reduction
took place of two companies, making the establishment to consist of
576 rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1822.]
From Chatham the regiment marched to London, and proceeded by the
canal to Liverpool, there to embark for Dublin, where it arrived on
the 3d of May 1822; the regiment remained in that city until the
beginning of October, when it marched to the south of Ireland. The
head-quarters were stationed at Fermoy, and detachments proceeded
to the villages of Ballahooly, Castletown Roche, Kilworth,
Kildorrory, Wattstown, Glanworth, and Mitchelstown. A subaltern’s
party was also encamped at Glennasheen in the county of Limerick,
the disturbed state of that part of Ireland requiring detachments
in the above posts, and the utmost exertions of every individual
for their protection.
[Sidenote: 1824.]
Lieut.-General Sir Gordon Drummond, G.C.B., was removed from
the colonelcy of the eighty-eighth to that of the SEVENTY-FIRST
regiment on the 16th of January 1824, in succession to General
Francis Dundas, deceased.
The regiment remained here for two winters, and in the beginning
of May 1824 orders were received to march to the Cove of Cork, to
embark for foreign service.
Before the SEVENTY-FIRST marched to the coast for embarkation,
very gratifying addresses were presented to Colonel Sir Thomas
Arbuthnot, commanding the regiment, from the magistrates and
inhabitants of the district round Fermoy, conveying their
approbation of the conduct of the corps, which had won the esteem
of all classes.
A very gratifying order was also issued by Major-General Sir John
Lambert, K.C.B., commanding the south-western district of Ireland,
relative to the conduct of the regiment.
The regiment embarked for North America on the 14th, 16th, 17th,
and 18th of May 1824, on board the Indian trader Prince of Orange,
Cato and Fanny transports, and anchored at Quebec on the 23d, 24th,
and 25th of June.
[Sidenote: 1825.]
In the year 1825, the establishment of the regiment was augmented
from eight to ten companies, and formed into six _service_ and
four _depôt_ companies, consisting of forty-two sergeants, fourteen
buglers, and 740 rank and file.
In consequence of this arrangement, the officers and
non-commissioned officers of two companies were sent to England to
join the depôt companies at Chichester.
[Sidenote: 1826.]
The detachments stationed during the summer months at the posts of
Sorel and Three Rivers rejoined the head-quarters of the regiment
at Quebec on the 15th of October.
On the 25th of October and the 4th of November, the service
companies were inspected by Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie,
the Commander of the Forces in British North America, who expressed
his fullest approbation of their discipline and interior economy,
as well as of their conduct and appearance.
[Sidenote: 1827.]
The head-quarter division of the SEVENTY-FIRST embarked at Quebec
for Montreal on the 17th of May 1827, after having been stationed
in that garrison nearly three years. Preparatory to this change
of quarters, the service companies were again inspected by
Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie, who, in orders, assured
Lieut.-Colonel Jones that he had never seen any regiment in more
perfect order.
The service companies arrived at Montreal on the 19th of May, and
detachments from them were stationed at Isle-aux-Noix, St. John’s,
William Henry, La Chine, Coteau-du-Lac, and Rideau.
[Sidenote: 1828.]
On the 8th of May 1828, the SEVENTY-FIRST embarked for Kingston in
batteaux, and arrived there on the 16th of that month.
The SEVENTY-FIRST remained stationed here for twelve months. During
the summer and part of the autumn they suffered much from fever
and ague, having had at one period nearly a third of the men in
hospital.
[Sidenote: 1829.]
Upon the 1st of June 1829, the head-quarters embarked in a
steam-boat for York, now called Toronto, the capital of the Upper
Province, and arrived there on the following morning.[33]
One company was detached to Niagara, another to Amherstburg,
and a third to Penetanguishene on Lake Huron. A small number of
men occupied the naval post at Grand River on Lake Erie. The
SEVENTY-FIRST occupied these posts for a period of two years.
On the 10th of August 1829, the depôt companies embarked at
Gravesend for Berwick-on-Tweed.
Major-General Sir Colin Halkett, K.C.B., was removed from the
colonelcy of the ninety-fifth to that of the SEVENTY-FIRST
regiment, on the 21st of September 1829, in succession to General
Sir Gordon Drummond, G.C.B., who was appointed to the forty-ninth
regiment.
[Sidenote: 1830.]
In June, 1830, the depôt companies were removed from
Berwick-on-Tweed to Edinburgh Castle.
[Sidenote: 1831.]
In May 1831, the service companies moved down to Quebec, where the
whole were assembled on the 16th of June. After a stay of nearly
five months in that city, orders arrived for the SEVENTY-FIRST to
proceed to Bermuda. The service companies embarked on the 20th of
October 1831 in the transports Layton and Manlius, and arrived
off St. George’s, Bermuda, upon the 11th of November, when they
immediately disembarked, sending a detachment of one captain, two
subalterns, and a hundred and twenty men to Ireland Island.
The head-quarters were subsequently moved to Hamilton, and small
parties were detached to the signal posts at Gibbs Hill and Mount
Langton.
[Sidenote: 1833.]
During the years 1832 and 1833, the service companies continued at
Bermuda, and the depôt remained in North Britain.
On the 30th of August 1833, Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Charles
Grey exchanged from the half-pay to the SEVENTY-FIRST Regiment with
Lieut.-Colonel Joseph Thomas Pidgeon.
[Sidenote: 1834.]
The tartan plaid scarf was restored to the SEVENTY-FIRST regiment
by an authority (under the King’s Sign Manual) dated 17th of
February 1834.
On the 11th of September 1834, the service companies embarked
at Bermuda for Great Britain, and arrived at Leith on the 19th
of October following. The regiment was afterwards stationed at
Edinburgh, where it remained during the year 1835.
[Sidenote: 1836.]
The regiment embarked at Glasgow on the 11th of May 1836 for
Ireland, and was stationed at Dublin during the remainder of the
year.
[Sidenote: 1837.]
In June 1837, the regiment proceeded from Dublin to Kilkenny.
[Sidenote: 1838.]
Major-General Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham, K.C.B., was appointed
Colonel of the SEVENTY-FIRST regiment on the 28th of March 1838, in
succession to Lieut.-General Sir Colin Halkett, K.C.B., appointed
to the thirty-first regiment.
Meanwhile orders had been received for the regiment to proceed on
foreign service, and on the 20th of April 1838 the six service
companies embarked at Cork for Canada. The four depôt companies
remained in Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1839.]
On the 2d of June 1839 the depôt companies embarked at Cork for
North Britain, and were afterwards stationed at Stirling.
The establishment of the regiment was augmented on the 12th of
August 1839, from seven hundred and forty to eight hundred rank and
file.
[Sidenote: 1840.]
During the year 1840 the service companies were stationed at St.
John’s, Lower Canada. The depôt companies proceeded from Stirling
to Dundee in April.
[Sidenote: 1841.]
Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B., was removed from
the colonelcy of the eighty-seventh Royal Irish fusiliers to that
of the SEVENTY-FIRST or HIGHLAND regiment on the 15th of March
1841, in succession to Lieut.-General Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham,
K.C.B. and K.C.H., deceased.
In May 1841 the depôt companies proceeded from Dundee to Aberdeen.
Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Charles Grey exchanged to half-pay
with Lieut.-Colonel James England on the 8th of April 1842.
[Sidenote: 1842.]
The service companies proceeded from St. John’s to Montreal, in two
divisions, on the 27th and 28th of April 1842.
In consequence of the augmentation which took place in the army at
this period, the SEVENTY-FIRST regiment was ordered to be divided
into two battalions, the six service companies being termed the
first battalion, and the depôt, augmented by two new companies,
being styled the reserve battalion. The depôt was accordingly
moved from Stirling to Chichester in 1842, and after receiving one
hundred and eighty volunteers from other corps, was there organised
into a battalion for foreign service.
The reserve battalion of the SEVENTY-FIRST, under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel James England, embarked at Portsmouth in Her
Majesty’s troop-ship “Resistance,” which sailed for Canada on the
13th of August 1842, and the battalion landed at Montreal on the
23d of September, where the first battalion was likewise stationed,
under the command of Major William Denny, who, upon the arrival of
Lieut.-Colonel England, took charge of the reserve battalion.
[Sidenote: 1843.]
The reserve battalion marched from Montreal to Chambly on the 5th
of May 1843, and arrived there on the same day.
The first battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel England,
embarked at Quebec for the West Indies in the “Java” transport, on
the 20th of October 1843. The head-quarters disembarked at Grenada
on the 15th of December following.
[Sidenote: 1844.]
The head-quarters of the first battalion embarked on the 25th of
December 1844, at Grenada, for Antigua.
[Sidenote: 1845.]
During the year 1845 the head-quarters of the first battalion
continued at Antigua.
The head-quarters and three companies of the reserve battalion
marched from Chambly on the 11th of May 1845, and arrived at
Kingston, in Canada, on the 14th of that month.
[Sidenote: 1846.]
On the 18th of April 1846, the head-quarters and four companies
of the first battalion embarked at Antigua on board the transport
“Princess Royal,” and landed at Barbadoes on the 24th of the same
month.
The first battalion, under the command of Captain Nathaniel Massey
Stack, embarked for England at Barbadoes on the 29th and 30th of
December, on board of Her Majesty’s ship “Belleisle.”
On the 6th of October 1846, the reserve battalion left Kingston, in
Canada West, and the head-quarters arrived at La Prairie on the 8th
of that month.
[Sidenote: 1847.]
The ship “Belleisle,” having the first battalion on board, sailed
for Portsmouth on the 1st of January 1847, and arrived at Spithead
on the 25th of that month. After disembarking at Portsmouth, the
battalion proceeded to Winchester, where it was stationed until the
19th of July, when it was conveyed in three divisions by railway to
Glasgow, and on the 21st of December it was removed to Edinburgh.
In September 1847, the head-quarters of the reserve battalion were
removed from La Prairie to Chambly, and in October proceeded to St.
John’s, in Canada East.
[Sidenote: 1848.]
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, K.C.B., was removed from
the colonelcy of the ninth foot to that of the SEVENTY-FIRST
regiment on the 18th of February 1848, in succession to
Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart. and K.C.B., deceased.
Three companies of the first battalion proceeded from Edinburgh to
Dublin on the 27th of April 1848; and the head-quarters, with the
three remaining companies, were removed to Dublin on the 1st of
May. In June, the head-quarters were removed to Naas.
During the year 1848, the head-quarters of the reserve battalion
remained at St. John’s, in Canada East.
[Sidenote: 1849.]
Lieut.-General Sir James Macdonell, K.C.B. and K.C.H., was
appointed from the seventy-ninth to be colonel of the SEVENTY-FIRST
or Highland regiment, on the 8th of February 1849, upon the decease
of Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, K.C.B.
In compliance with instructions received upon the occasion of
Her Majesty’s visit to Dublin, the head-quarters of the first
battalion, with the effectives of three companies, proceeded from
Naas to that garrison on the 28th of July, and were encamped in
the Phœnix Park. The three detached companies also joined at the
encampment on the same day. On the 13th of August the head-quarters
and three companies returned to Naas.
The head-quarters and two companies of the reserve battalion, under
the command of Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hew Dalrymple, Bart., proceeded
from St. John’s to Montreal, in aid of the civil power, on the
28th of April 1849. The head-quarters and three companies quitted
Montreal and encamped on the Island of St. Helen’s on the 30th of
June, but returned to St. John’s on the 16th of July. On the 17th
of August 1849, the head-quarters and two companies proceeded from
St. John’s to Montreal, in aid of the civil power, and returned to
St. John’s on the 6th of September.
[Sidenote: 1850.]
In April 1850, the first battalion proceeded from Naas to Dublin.
The head-quarters and two companies of the reserve battalion
quitted St. John’s and Chambly on the 21st of May 1850, and arrived
at Toronto on the 23d of that month, where the battalion was joined
by the other companies, and it continued there during the remainder
of the year.
[Sidenote: 1851.]
In April 1851, the first battalion proceeded from Dublin to
Mullingar, and in July following was removed to Newry.
During the year 1851 the reserve battalion continued to be
stationed at Toronto.
[Sidenote: 1852.]
In May 1852, the reserve battalion proceeded from Toronto to
Kingston. On the 8th of June following, Lieut.-Colonel Sir Hew
Dalrymple, Bart., retired from the service by the sale of his
commission, and was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel Nathaniel Massey
Stack.
On the 1st of July 1852, the date to which this Record has been
brought, the first battalion of the SEVENTY-FIRST regiment was
stationed at Newry, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel William
Denny; the reserve battalion continued at Kingston, in Canada.
1852.
[Illustration:
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t. Strand_
SEVENTY FIRST HIGHLANDERS.
LIGHT INFANTRY.
_For Cannon’s Military Records._]
FOOTNOTES:
[6] Regiments raised in the spring of 1778:--
72d regiment, or Royal _Manchester_ Volunteers disbanded in 1783.
73d _Highland_ regiment numbered the 71st regiment in 1786. 74th
_Highland_ regiment disbanded in 1784. 75th Prince of Wales’s
regiment disbanded in 1783. 76th _Highland_ regiment disbanded in
1784. 77th regiment, or _Atholl Highlanders_ disbanded in 1783.
78th _Highland_ regiment numbered the 72d regiment in 1786. 79th
regiment, or Royal _Liverpool_ volunteers disbanded in 1784. 80th
regiment, or Royal _Edinburgh_ volunteers disbanded in 1784. 81st
_Highland_ regiment disbanded in 1783. 82d regiment disbanded in
1784. 83d regiment, or Royal _Glasgow_ volunteers disbanded in 1783.
Two of these twelve regiments have been retained on the
establishment of the Army, namely, the _seventy-third_ and
_seventy-eighth_, which are the present SEVENTY-FIRST and
SEVENTY-SECOND regiments.
[7] A memoir of General the Right Honorable Sir David Baird, Bart.,
G.C.B., is inserted in the _Appendix_, page 144.
[8] See memoir of Captain Philip Melvill in the _Appendix_, page
143.
[9] The following allusion to Captain Gilchrist is made by Captain
_Munro_, in his _Narrative_:--
“Here our regiment had the misfortune of burying Captain Gilchrist,
a brave and experienced officer, whose loss the SEVENTY-THIRD
had much cause to lament, he having always acted as a mentor to
the young and inexperienced gentlemen of his corps. This veteran
had the honor, when a subaltern, of witnessing the exploits of
General Wolfe upon the plains of Quebec, and was now at the head
of our grenadier company; but, having exerted himself too much
upon the march to Conjeveran, he was seized at that place with a
fever, which disabling him from conducting the grenadiers upon the
detachment under Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher, affected his mind so
deeply, particularly when he heard of their dismal fate, that a
delirium came on during this march, of which he died, regretted and
justly lamented by all.”
[10] Lieut.-Colonel James Craufurd, of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment,
was promoted to the local rank of Colonel in the East Indies on the
22d March 1780.
[11] The value of a pagoda is seven shillings and sixpence.
[12] A Narrative of the Military Operations on the Coromandel
Coast, against the combined forces of the French, Dutch, and
Hyder Ali, from 1780 to 1784, by Captain Innes Munro, of the
_Seventy-third_ or Lord Macleod’s Regiment of Highlanders.
[13] The following is extracted from a letter, dated 28th January
1782, from Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote, K.B., then at Fort
George, Madras, addressed to the Earl of Shelburne, one of His
Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State:--
“Colonel Craufurd, of His Majesty’s SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, having
had my leave to return to Europe, will have the honor of delivering
your lordship this letter.
“I should do injustice to the high sense I entertain of Colonel
Craufurd’s merit as an officer, did I omit on this occasion
mentioning how much he has acquitted himself to my satisfaction,
and with honor and credit to himself, in the whole course of a
most trying campaign. He was next in command to me at the battle
of Sholingur, on which occasion his conduct was deserving of the
highest applause.”
[14] Major John Elphinston, of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, was
promoted to the local rank of lieutenant-colonel in the East Indies
on the 23d of May 1781.
[15] _Droog_ signifies a fortified hill or rock.
[16] In 1794 Tippoo received back his sons, and immediately
commenced secret negotiations with the French, who were then at
war with Great Britain, in order to renew measures for “utterly
destroying the English in India.” This animosity ended only with
the death of the Sultan, which took place on the 4th of May 1799,
while defending Seringapatam against his former opponents. His body
was found amidst heaps of slain, and was interred in the mausoleum
which he had erected over the tomb of his father, Hyder Ali, a
portion of the victorious troops attending the ceremony.
[17] On the 23d of May 1821, His Majesty King George the Fourth
was graciously pleased to authorise the SEVENTY-FIRST to bear on
the regimental colour and appointments the word “HINDOOSTAN,” in
commemoration of its distinguished services in the several actions
in which it had been engaged, while in India, between the years
1780 and 1797.
[18] In consequence of the renewal of the war with France, in
May 1803, the British Government introduced the “Army of Reserve
Act,” which was passed in July following, for raising men for
home service by ballot, and thus caused certain regiments to be
augmented to two battalions. Volunteer and yeomanry corps were also
formed in every part of the kingdom, in order to preserve Great
Britain from the threatened invasion.
[19] Number of men which arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in
January 1806, under Major General Sir David Baird.
----------------------+------------------------------+-----------------
| | Number landed,
BRIGADES. | REGIMENTS. | including
| | Recruits for
| | India, attached.
----------------------+------------------------------+-----------------
1st. Commanded by { | Twenty-fourth | 600
Brigadier-General { | Thirty-eighth | 900
Beresford. { | Eighty-third | 800
| |
2d. Under Brigadier { | SEVENTY-FIRST, 1st battalion | 800
General Ferguson. { | Seventy-second | 600
{ | Ninety-third | 800
| Fifty-ninth | 900
| Company’s recruits | 200
| Seamen and marines | 1,100
| Artillery | 200
| Twentieth light dragoons | 300
| +-----------------
| Total | 7,200
----------------------+------------------------------+-----------------
[20] The lofty promontory of Southern Africa received the name of
“_Cabo da Boa Esperança_” (_Cape of Good Hope_), from King John
II. of Portugal, upon its discovery, in 1487, by Bartholomew Diaz,
in consequence of a _good hope_ being entertained of discovering
the long-wished for passage to India, which ten years afterwards
was realised by Vasco de Gama, who doubled the Cape, and continued
the voyage to the Malabar coast. For more than a century the Cape
continued as a temporary rendezvous for European mariners. In July
1620, Humphrey Fitzherbert and Andrew Shillinge, two of the East
India Company’s commanders, took formal possession of the place, in
the name of King James I., but no settlement was formed. In 1650
the government of the Netherlands resolved to colonize the Cape,
which remained in possession of the Dutch until July 1795, when it
was taken by the British for the Prince of Orange, but was restored
to its former possessors by the Peace of Amiens, concluded in 1802.
It was again captured by the British in 1806, in whose possession
it has since remained.
[21] Lieut.-Colonel Pack’s narrative of his escape is inserted in
the Appendix, page 158.
[22] Lieut.-General Sir Harry Burrard landed during the action, but
did not assume the command. Lieut.-General Sir Hew Dalrymple landed
on the following day, and took command of the army. The force under
Lieut.-General Sir John Moore was also disembarked during the
negotiation, which subsequently took place, making the British army
amount to thirty-two thousand men.
[23] _Vide_ page 14.