against the settlers on the frontiers of the southern provinces
of North America, and in the early part of 1760 the two flank and
four battalion companies of the ROYALS, mustering 400 men, were
ordered to proceed, under the command of Major Frederick Hamilton,
to South Carolina, to strike a decisive blow against the aggressors.
They accordingly embarked from New York, and, with a battalion of
Highlanders and some provincial troops commanded by Colonel Montgomery,
sailed to Charleston, and marched from thence up the country to Fort
Ninety-six, situate on the borders of the Cherokee territory. Having
halted a short time at this place, the troops advanced on the 28th of
May, and arrived on the 1st of June at Twelve-mile River. The scouts
being unable to find any Indian tracks, it was concluded that the
Cherokees were not informed of the march; and, although the men had
already traversed twenty miles of rugged ground that morning, from
Beaver-dams to the river, the commanding officer resolved to push
forward immediately. The tents, waggons, and cattle, were placed in a
square, a guard was placed over them, and, just as the sun was sinking
beneath the horizon, the troops moved quietly forward along the rugged
wood-lands. After a march of sixteen miles the detachment arrived at an
Indian hamlet called Little Keowee, and the light company of the ROYALS
was ordered to surround the houses and bayonet the inhabitants. As the
ROYALS approached the houses, a company of Indian warriors, who were
sleeping under the trees near the hamlet, raised their usual war-cry,
and opened a scattering fire; but the soldiers--undaunted by the dismal
yell of their antagonists--fired one volley,--then, rushing forward,
encountered the Indians in close fight, and bayoneted the whole except
the women and children. The troops then continued their route, and
just as the first rays of morning began to dawn they arrived at
Estatoe, the capital of the Lower Cherokees; the town had, however,
been abandoned nearly an hour before; but about a dozen warriors were
intercepted and slain. The town, which was found well provided with
ammunition, provision, and magazines of corn, was plundered and laid
in ashes, and many of the inhabitants who had concealed themselves
perished in the flames. This service performed, the troops resumed
their march, and laid several other towns and villages in ashes; an
act of necessary severity, which excited painful feelings in the
breasts of the brave men who executed it. Colonel Grant observes, in
his narrative of these transactions, published in the South Carolina
Gazette,--"I could not help pitying them; their villages were agreeably
situated, their houses neatly built and well provided, having abundance
of everything; they must be pretty numerous, for Estatoe and Sugartown
consisted at least of two hundred houses, and every other village of at
least one hundred houses. After killing all we could find, and burning
every house, we marched to Keowee, and arrived on the 2nd of June,
after a march of sixty miles without sleeping, at Fort Prince George,
at four in the evening." This service was performed with the loss of
four men killed, and Lieutenants Marshal and Hamilton, of the ROYALS,
wounded.
After this severe chastisement, pacific overtures were made to
the Cherokee nation, but without the desired effect; and a second
expedition into their country was resolved upon. For this purpose
the six companies of the ROYALS and other troops were in motion at
day-break on the morning of the 24th of June, taking with them six
days' provision, and arrived that night at Orkonee Creek. Thence
proceeding on the following day through woody dells and narrow tracts
and chasms between mountains, reached War-woman's Creek in the
evening. Continuing the march on the 26th through a country wild and
rugged beyond description, the detachment arrived on the following
morning within eighteen miles of the Indian town called Etchöey, and
the troops proceeded forward with caution. A few horsemen marched in
front and on each flank,--the grenadiers and light infantry scoured
the thickets,--and the four battalion companies of the ROYALS marched
in the rear. Arriving at a valley covered with trees and bushes, and
overlooked by hills on both sides, Captain Morrison and a few men
pushed forward into the thickets, and were assailed by a straggling
fire, which proved fatal to the captain, and the next moment the woods
echoed with the dismal howlings of a thousand Indians raising their
war-cry. Undaunted by this appalling noise, the grenadiers and light
infantry rushed forward amongst the trees to encounter the Indian
warriors,--the four battalion companies of the ROYALS supported the
attack,--while the Highlanders pushed forward on the left to cut off
the retreat of the Indians to the hills. The savage warriors soon gave
way,--the Highlanders intercepted them in their retreat,--the ROYALS
pressed upon the rear, and a number of Indians were slaughtered amongst
the trees on the side of the hill. The main body of the Indian army
appeared soon afterwards on the face of the mountain on the left of
the line of march, and, with frantic gestures and horrid sounds, bid
defiance to their white adversaries. The ROYALS, having gained the
front of the column, pushed forward to engage their fierce opponents
with distinguished bravery. The Indians opened a scattering fire, and
made the valley echo with their whooping and howling; but this noise
produced little effect on the soldiers, who dashed through the bushes
and thick foliage with a "valour, discipline, and steadiness, worthy of
admiration;" and, although the warriors kept up a sharp fire with their
rifles for some time, yet they eventually gave way. "The action lasted
about an hour. Captain Manley Williams, of the ROYALS, was killed: he
was truly a gentleman and an extreme good officer."[100] The ROYALS
had also eight private men killed; and Captain Peter Gordon, Ensigns
Edrington and Knight, one serjeant, and thirty-two private men, wounded.
The Indians fled from the field of battle towards Etchöey, to alarm
their women and children; and the soldiers pressing forward soon drew
near the town, when a band of warriors opened a straggling fire from
amongst some trees and then fled. The town was found deserted, but well
stored with corn. The Cherokees, finding themselves unable to resist
the troops, abandoned several other towns and fled to the mountains. At
the same time Colonel Montgomery, having no place of safety where he
could leave his wounded men, did not advance any farther, but retired
on the 28th of June to War-woman's Creek. The Indians, taking courage
from this retrograde movement, returned in swarms from the mountains,
and on the morning of the 29th the woods and bushes on the line of
march appeared crowded with warriors ready to attack the troops in
their retreat; but two officers and fifty men of the ROYALS being
sent out to scour the bushes on the right of the road, and the same
number of the Highlanders on the left, they were chased from their
lurking-places, and the retreat was continued to Fort Prince George.
The Commanding Officer, in his despatch, observes:--
"The fatigue was immense, yet not an officer or soldier complained.
The detachment has been all along in high spirits, judging nothing too
difficult. Never did greater harmony appear than amongst the corps of
our little army."
The two flank companies marched soon afterwards to Charleston, and
there embarked for New York, leaving the four battalion companies in
South Carolina under the command of Major Frederick Hamilton.
The four battalion companies left in quarters at New York, under
Lieut.-Colonel Forster, had in the meantime advanced up the country
to Crown Point, of which place the Lieut.-Colonel was appointed
Commandant. Embarking from thence on the 11th of August, the four
companies sailed, with several other corps under Colonel Haviland, down
Lake Champlain towards _Isle-aux-Noix_, and, having landed on the 16th,
encamped on the left bank of the River Richlieu. The enemy occupied a
fort near the river; but when the batteries opened their fire against
it, the French commandant retreated with the greater part of the
garrison, leaving an officer and 30 men to capitulate, who were made
prisoners. Two other forts were also abandoned by the French, and the
Isle-aux-Noix was taken possession of by the English. In the meantime a
British force, under General Amherst, had proceeded to Oswego, embarked
from thence on Lake Ontario, and, sailing down the River St. Lawrence,
invaded the French settlements in Canada on that side, and advanced
upon _Montreal_. Quebec had been captured in the preceding year; and
an army, commanded by Major-General Murray, was advancing from thence
towards Montreal. The four companies of the ROYALS and other troops,
under Colonel Haviland, were also advancing towards the same point by
lake Champlain and the River Richlieu; and the whole were united near
Montreal on the 7th of September. The French Governor, being unable to
withstand the forces opposed to him, surrendered on the following day;
and thus the conquest of Canada was effected with trifling loss. When
the French battalions laid down their arms their colours were demanded;
and their Commander answered:--"Although the several regiments had
brought with them their colours from France, they had, finding them
troublesome and of little use in this woody country, destroyed them."
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
While the second battalion of the ROYAL Regiment was thus engaged in
North America the first battalion had embarked from Ireland, under the
command of Lieut.-Colonel Horne Elphinston, and sailed for Quiberon
Bay, on the coast of France, which station was appointed for the
rendezvous of an expedition under the orders of Major-General Kingsley,
designed for the capture of one of the French islands in the Bay of
Biscay, called Belle-Isle; but the death of King George II. occurring
(25th October, 1760) before all the troops arrived, the expedition was
laid aside, and the battalion sailed back to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1761]
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The four companies of the second battalion left in South Carolina,
under Major Hamilton, were stationed at Charleston; and, the _Cherokee
Indians_ having rejected the proposed conditions for a peace, these
companies, with two of the 17th, three of the 22nd, and eight of
newly-raised provincials, proceeded up the country in March, 1761,
again to make war on the refractory Indians. These companies encamped
a short time on the banks of the Congaree, from whence they proceeded
in May to Fort Prince George, and were joined by twenty Chickasaw
warriors from the country on the east side of the Mississippi, and
by King Heigler, with twenty Catawbas warriors. From Fort Prince
George this company of regulars, provincials, and savages, advanced in
the early part of June against the middle Cherokees, through a most
difficult country. An officer of the expedition, in a letter published
in July, 1761, observes:--"The defiles and passes along War-woman's
Creek are horrid; on one side high and rocky mountains hanging over
our heads, the path rocky, and no wider than for a single pack-horse;
and on the other side a deep and frightful precipice, at the bottom
of which is the creek." On the 10th of June, as the troops were on
the march along the banks of a river, the Indian army was discovered,
arranged for battle on a high woody hill on the right of the line of
march, with a straggling line of warriors beyond the river. The Indian
riflemen opened an irregular fire, and immediately afterwards more
than a thousand warriors raised the dismal war-whoop, which echoed
in the woods and dells. This produced little effect on the soldiers,
who advanced in regular order to engage their savage antagonists. The
commanding officer observed, in his report:--"The troops behaved with
great spirit and coolness, and by the heavy fire of their platoons
dislodged the enemy from the advantageous posts which they had taken
possession of." The firing continued until two in the afternoon, when
the Indians were driven from their posts and fled. The loss of the
four companies of the ROYALS was three men killed; with Ensign Joseph
Knight, and six men wounded.
After this victory the expedition continued its advance into the
Cherokee country: the Indians fled to their mountain fastnesses; and
the soldiers laid fifteen towns and villages in ruins, destroyed the
crops of corn, and afterwards returned to Fort Prince George. This
proceeding convinced the Indians of their inability to resist the
King's forces, and they sued for peace, which was accordingly granted
them.
The other four battalion companies of the second battalion of the
ROYAL Regiment, which had been engaged in the conquest of Canada in
the preceding year, had in the meantime proceeded from Montreal,
across the country, to New York, and, leaving the two flank companies
in garrison, embarked in April, 1761, for the West Indies, under the
orders of Colonel Lord Rollo. About this period the British government
had resolved to capture the Island of _Dominico_, which was declared
neutral by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, but had become
subject to France; and when the four companies of the ROYALS arrived
at Guadaloupe they were selected to form part of the expedition for
this service. Sailing from Guadaloupe on the 4th of June, the troops
soon arrived at Dominico, effected a landing on the 6th, under a
sharp fire of cannon and musketry, captured a flanking battery, and
took the town of Roseau, the capital of the island, in a few hours.
In the evening of the same day the troops assaulted and carried the
intrenchments above the town, and captured the French commandant and
several other officers; and no further resistance was made. Thus the
whole island was reduced with trifling loss; and Lord Rollo observed,
in his despatch:--"As to the King's troops, I cannot enough applaud the
coolness and intrepidity with which they acted on this occasion."
[Sidenote: 1762]
Leaving Dominico in December, the four companies of the ROYALS
proceeded to Barbadoes, where a body of troops was assembled, under the
orders of Major General the Hon. Robert Monckton, for an attack on the
French island of _Martinico_. A landing was effected in the early part
of January, 1762, and the island was reduced in the succeeding month.
"I cannot," observes the general, in his despatch, "find words to
render that ample justice which is due to the valour of His Majesty's
troops which I have the honour to command. The difficulties they had
to encounter in the attack of an enemy possessed of every advantage of
art and nature were great; and their perseverance in surmounting these
obstacles furnishes a noble example of British spirit."
While the contest at Martinico was in progress, the four companies of
the ROYALS which had been engaged in the war with the Indians embarked
from Charleston, and sailed to the West Indies under the orders
of Colonel Grant. War had, in the meantime, been declared against
Spain; an attack on the Spanish settlements in the West Indies had
been resolved upon; and the four companies of the ROYALS were placed
under the orders of General the Earl of Albemarle, to proceed against
the valuable settlement of the _Havannah_, in the island of Cuba.
Proceeding through the Straits of Bahama, the expedition arrived within
six leagues of the Havannah on the 6th of June; a landing was effected
on the following day; and on the 9th the troops took up a position
between Coximar and the Moro. The Moro fort being the key-position of
the extensive works which covered the town, the capture of this place
was of great importance; and the four companies of the ROYAL Regiment
formed part of the force destined to make the attack on this formidable
fortress. The hardships endured in carrying on the operations were
very great: a thin soil, hardly sufficient to cover the troops in
their approaches, a scarcity of water, and the labour of dragging the
artillery several miles over a rocky country, and under a burning
sun, were happily overcome by the unanimity which existed between
the land and sea forces. The progress made in erecting batteries,
carrying forward approaches, and sapping and mining the works, with
the fire of the artillery, having alarmed the Spanish governor, he
resolved to attempt to relieve the Moro. 1500 men were ferried over
the harbour, and they made three separate attacks on the British line;
the four companies of the ROYALS were brought forward to sustain the
posts, and the Spaniards were repulsed, with considerable loss. The
siege was afterwards continued with vigour; two mines were sprung; a
practicable breach was made, and a detachment of the ROYALS was ordered
to form part of the storming party,[101] under Lieut.-Colonel Stuart,
of the 90th Regiment. The attack was made on the 30th of July. LIEUT.
CHARLES FORBES, of the ROYALS, led the assault, and, ascending the
breach with signal gallantry, formed his men on the top, and soon drove
the enemy from every part of the ramparts. The garrison was taken by
surprise; the Spanish commander, Don Louis de Velasco, exerted himself
to save the fortress; and, while endeavouring to rally his men, he was
mortally wounded. The confusion amongst the ranks of the enemy was thus
augmented; nearly 150 Spaniards were killed, 400 threw down their arms
and were made prisoners, and the rest were either killed in the boats,
or drowned in attempting to escape to the Havannah. As Lieutenants
Forbes, of the ROYALS, Nugent, of the 9th, and Holroyd, of the 90th
Regiments, were congratulating each other on their success, the two
latter were killed by a party of desperate Spaniards, who fired from
the light-house. Lieutenant Forbes, being exasperated at the death of
his companions, attacked the light-house with a few men, and put all in
it to the sword.
The capture of the Moro facilitated the attack on the Havannah; and on
the 11th of August a new series of batteries opened so well-directed a
fire that at two o'clock in the afternoon the guns of the garrison were
silenced, and flags of truce were hung out from every part of the town
and from the ships in the harbour. The capitulation was signed on the
13th, and on the following day the British troops took possession of
this valuable settlement. Three Spanish men-of-war, with a company's
ship, were found sunk at the entrance of the harbour, nine men-of-war
were delivered up to the victors, and two were found upon the stocks.
The loss sustained by the ROYAL Regiment in this important service was
Lieutenants Cook and Ashe, 1 serjeant, and 31 rank and file, killed;
Captain Balfour, Lieutenant Ruth, Ensign Keating, 2 serjeants, 1
drummer, and 75 rank and file, wounded; two rank and file missing; 3
men dead of their wounds, and 12 from diseases arising from the climate
and severe exertions in carrying on the siege.
The British government having withdrawn many troops from North America
to the West Indies, the French sent an armament across the Atlantic,
and took possession of St. John's, Newfoundland. Detachments were
immediately ordered from the British garrisons to dislodge the enemy;
and the two flank companies of the second battalion of the ROYAL
Regiment, having been left in North America, were employed in this
service, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel William Amherst. A landing
was effected, on the 13th of September, at Torbay, and the troops
gained possession of the strong post of Kitty Vittiy. A detachment was
sent to the top of a high rock which commanded the ford, and under
cover of the fire of these men the light companies of the ROYAL and
Montgomery's Highlanders passed the river. The grenadiers of the ROYAL
and 77th Regiments supported the attack; and the French were driven
from their post on a hill beyond the river. Two other heights were
afterwards carried; and on the 17th, a battery being ready to open its
fire on the fort, the French commander surrendered.
In November of this year General the Hon. James St. Clair died at
Dysart; and the Colonelcy of the ROYAL Regiment was conferred on his
cousin, Sir Henry Erskine, from the Twenty-fifth Regiment.
[Sidenote: 1763]
[Sidenote: 1764]
At the peace in 1763 the Havannah was restored to Spain; and the
several companies of the second battalion were withdrawn from North
America and the West Indies, and sailed for England. In 1764 this
battalion proceeded to Scotland, where it remained four years.
[Sidenote: 1765]
Sir Henry Erskine died in August, 1765, and was succeeded in the
Colonelcy of the ROYAL Regiment by John Marquis of Lorne, afterwards
Duke of Argyle.
[Sidenote: 1768]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
In January, 1768, the first battalion embarked from Ireland for
Gibraltar, and was stationed in garrison at that important fortress for
several years.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1771]
The second battalion remained in Scotland until the spring of 1768,
when it returned to England; and in April, 1771, it embarked with the
51st and 63rd Regiments for the island of Minorca, to relieve the 3rd,
11th, and 67th Regiments.
[Sidenote: 1775]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1776]
The first battalion was relieved from garrison duty at Gibraltar in
the autumn of 1775, and arrived in England in December of the same
year. The second battalion was also relieved at Minorca in a few
weeks afterwards, and arrived in England in February, 1776; and both
battalions remained in Britain until the autumn of 1780.
[Sidenote: 1780]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The contest on the subject of taxation between Great Britain and her
North American Colonies having given rise to hostilities in 1775, the
insurgents were abetted by France, Spain, and Holland. The French
monarch openly declared in favour of the rebellious colonists in 1778,
the Spaniards in 1779, and a secret treaty between the Dutch and
Americans was discovered in 1780. Thus the contest assumed a formidable
character; hostile proceedings extended from North America to the
West Indies; and in November, 1780, the first battalion of the ROYAL
Regiment embarked from Portsmouth to take part in the contest.
[Sidenote: 1781]
On arriving in the West Indies the ROYALS proceeded, with other troops
commanded by Major-General Vaughan, and a naval force under Sir
George Brydges Rodney, against the Dutch island of _St. Eustatia_,
which surrendered on the 3rd of February, 1781, together with the
neighbouring isles of _St. Martin_ and _Saba_. Property to an immense
amount was captured on this occasion, and a severe blow was thus
inflicted on the Dutch.
[Sidenote: 1782]
The first battalion was afterwards stationed on the island of _St.
Christopher_, together with the flank companies of the 15th, and
a detachment of the Royal Artillery, which, with a few militia,
constituted the whole military force on the island, and was commanded
by LIEUT.-COL. THOMAS FRASER of the ROYALS, "a brave old officer,"[102]
who acted as Brigadier-General under the Governor, Major-General
Thomas Shirley.
In the early part of January, 1782, a French naval force, and a fleet
of transports with an army on board, appeared before the island;
and the commander of the British troops, being unable to oppose so
formidable a host, retired to Brimstone Hill, where he was joined
by the governor with a few militia. Unfortunately, the principal
inhabitants were in the interest of the enemy; so much so, that twelve
brass 24-pounders, two 13-inch mortars, and a quantity of ammunition,
sent from England for their defence, were suffered, by the Council
and Assembly of the island, to lie in a useless state at the foot
of Brimstone Hill. The French Commander, the Marquis de Bouillé,
immediately landed 8000 men and a formidable train of artillery,
and advanced towards the hill on which the garrison had taken post.
The ground occupied by the ROYALS, flank companies of the 15th, and
militia, was about 200 yards in diameter, and remarkably strong; but
the fortifications were old and in a ruinous state, and the troops had
no intrenching tools: they, however, resolved to defend the place as
long as possible, in hopes of being relieved.
Although the French had so great a superiority of numbers they did not
venture to attack the little band of stout-hearted Britons on Brimstone
Hill by storm, but commenced the siege in regular form,--breaking
ground on Sommerfall's estate on the north-west side, and on Rawlin's
estate on the old road-side. The French artillery opened its fire on
the 19th of January, and from that day a storm of balls and bombs
rattled round Brimstone Hill with increasing fury, until the houses
on the heights were battered to pieces, and the old works were nearly
destroyed.
During this period Rear-Admiral Hood appeared before the island with a
British naval and land force, and a body of troops effected a landing
on the 29th of January; but the French had so great a superiority of
numbers, and they had completely surrounded Brimstone Hill, so that
these few troops could not be of any use in attempting to save the
island, and they re-embarked.
The fire of the French batteries had, in the meantime, dismounted or
disabled nearly all the guns on the hill; several large breaches had
also been made in the works on the north-west side of the fort; the
garrison was reduced by sickness and other casualties to about 500
men; the want of intrenching tools rendered it impossible for the men
either to repair the damaged works or throw up intrenchments; the
provision-stores had also been destroyed by the French batteries; and
the few remaining men fit for service had to be under arms every night,
expecting the enemy to storm the hill. Yet, under all these disasters,
the garrison evinced that valour, firmness, and constancy, for which
the British soldier has been distinguished at periods of extreme danger
and privation.