trenches. At day-break on the following morning it led the attack
under the orders of Major Peter Fraser, and, though exposed to a most
destructive shower of grape and musketry, which thinned the ranks,
it advanced in the teeth of this storm of fire, in the most cool and
determined manner. Major Peter Fraser, while gallantly encouraging
his brave followers by his example, was killed; and Captain Mullen,
being next in seniority, assumed the command of the battalion, which
duty he performed with much credit. Though the cannon of the fortress
thundered in front, the French soldiers poured down their volleys of
musketry, and hand-grenades, shells, and large stones, flew in showers
through the darkened air; yet onward went the ROYAL SCOTS, and assailed
the breach with a degree of valour and intrepidity which rivalled
the gallant exploits of their predecessors under the great Gustavus
Adolphus. But the defences round the breach had not been destroyed, and
success was found to be impossible; the storming party was consequently
ordered to retire.[116] The battalion lost, on this occasion, Major
Fraser, Captain Cameron, Lieutenants Anderson, Clark, Massey, and
Adjutant Cluff, 6 serjeants, and 75 rank and file, killed; Captains
Arguimbeau, Logan, Stewart, Macdonald, and Buckley, Lieutenants O'Neil,
Eyre, and Reynolds, Volunteer Miller, 7 serjeants, and 230 rank and
file, wounded; Lieutenant Reynolds died of his wounds, and Lieutenant
Eyre was taken prisoner.
The siege was afterwards prosecuted with vigour, and on the 31st of
August the fortress was again attacked by storm. The ROYAL SCOTS,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Barns, were directed to make their attack
on the left of the second breach, and were supported by the 38th
regiment. The assault was made with great gallantry; some of the
traversers of the semi-bastion were carried by the leading companies,
but were retaken by the enemy. Nothing could exceed the bravery and
steadiness of the troops employed at this point; and the enemy,
observing the whole division in motion, sprung a mine on the top of the
curtain; but the explosion was premature, and only a few of the leading
men of the ROYAL SCOTS suffered from it. Yet undismayed by the bursting
mine, and fierce opposition of the enemy, the ROYAL SCOTS pressed
forward upon their adversaries, and carried the coverlain; the troops
crowded into the town in every direction, and in the course of an hour
were masters of the place, excepting the citadel.[117]
On the 8th of September batteries mounting fifty-four pieces of
ordnance opened a tremendous fire upon the citadel. In less than three
hours the enemy hoisted a flag of truce, and, after some discussion,
surrendered. As a testimony of the royal approbation of the signal
valour evinced by the ROYAL SCOTS during this siege, and of the value
attached to their services, they were permitted to bear the words "ST.
SEBASTIAN" on their colours. Their loss in the successful storm of the
town was, Ensign Boyd, 3 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 48 rank and file,
killed; Lieutenants Armstrong, Holebrooke, Macdonnell, Clark, and
Suckling, 7 serjeants, and 133 rank and file, wounded. Captain James
Stewart, who was performing the duty of aide-de-camp to Major-General
Hay, was killed from the castle while reconnoitring the works on the
4th of September. Captain Robert Macdonald was promoted to the rank of
Major in the army, for his distinguished services at the storm of St.
Sebastian.
After the capture of this fortress the troops advanced to the
frontiers; and on the 7th of October the light company of the ROYAL
SCOTS, commanded by Lieutenant J. N. Ingram, crossed the _Bidassoa_,
followed by the remainder of the battalion and that portion of the
army which had reduced St. Sebastian; the ROYAL SCOTS being the first
British corps of the allied army which entered France. Thus, after
driving the legions of Napoleon out of Portugal and Spain, the seat of
war was transferred to the enemy's country; and the interior of France
became the scene for the display of British prowess. After crossing the
Bidassoa the troops drove the enemy to the heights of Irun, a distance
of about three miles.
On the 10th of November the enemy's formidable line of works on the
river _Nivelle_ were attacked, and the ROYAL SCOTS, with the other
regiments of the 5th division, drove the enemy from a field redoubt,
and pursued them under the guns of Bayonne. The battalion lost, on this
occasion, 1 rank and file, killed, and 4 serjeants and 15 rank and file
wounded. Further operations were retarded by snow and rain; but in the
early part of December the army passed the river _Nive_, and drove the
French into their entrenched camp in front of Bayonne; from whence they
issued on the three following days, and attacked the allies, but were
repulsed. The ROYAL SCOTS were warmly engaged on these occasions, and
their gallantry was rewarded with the royal permission to bear the word
"NIVE" on their colours. Their loss was 3 rank and file killed, and 1
serjeant and 3 rank and file wounded.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
In the meantime important events had transpired on the continent of
Europe. The invasion of Russia by Napoleon, the burning of Moscow,
the disastrous retreat of the French army from the north, and the
separation of Prussia, Austria, and other states, from the interest of
Napoleon, were followed by a treaty of alliance and subsidy between
Great Britain and Sweden, in which it was stipulated that a Swedish
army commanded by the Crown Prince should join the allies; and on the
2nd of August, 1813, the 4th battalion of the ROYAL SCOTS embarked
under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Muller for Stralsund, in Swedish
Pomerania, forming part of an expedition sent thither under the orders
of Major-General Gibbs. Thus a battalion of the regiment proceeded to
the same part of the world to which a body of daring Scots, who formed
the nucleus of this distinguished corps, proceeded exactly 200 years
before, to engage in the service of the Swedish monarch. The battalion
remained at Stralsund until the middle of December, when it advanced to
support the army of the Crown Prince of Sweden on the Elbe, and halted
on the 24th of December at Lubeck.
Thus at the conclusion of the year 1813 the regiment had four
battalions on foreign service in three different quarters of the globe;
namely--
1st battalion in Upper Canada, America.
2nd " the East Indies, Asia.
3rd " France, Europe.
4th " Germany, "
[Sidenote: 1814]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The services of the 1st battalion were limited, during the early
part of 1814, to the usual duties of a corps stationed on an enemy's
frontier. On the night of the 3rd of March, Captain Stewart received
information of the appearance of a strong body of Americans in
_Longwood_, in advance of Delaware town; and he directed the light
companies of the ROYAL SCOTS, and 89th regiment, to march at day-break,
to support the advance posts. At five o'clock on the evening of the
4th the Americans were discovered, in very superior force, posted on a
commanding eminence, protected with breastworks formed of logs of wood.
The companies of the ROYAL SCOTS and 89th instantly attacked the enemy
in front, "in the most gallant manner," while a company of rangers, and
a detachment of Canadian militia, made a flank movement to the right,
and a small band of Indians made a similar movement to the left, with
a view of gaining the rear of the position. "After repeated efforts
to dislodge the enemy in an arduous and spirited contest of an hour
and a half's duration, which terminated with the daylight, the troops
were reluctantly withdrawn, having suffered severely, principally
in officers."[118] The ROYAL SCOTS had Captain David Johnstone, 1
serjeant, and 9 private men killed; Lieutenant Angus Macdonald, 2
serjeants, and 37 private men, wounded; and a bugler taken prisoner.
The battalion assembled at Fort George on the 1st of June; and on the
3rd of July two flank and five battalion companies marched from that
place towards _Chippewa_. In the meantime a body of Americans had
landed at Black Rock, and had driven in the garrison of Fort Erie.
On the 4th the enemy advanced in force by the river, and the light
company of the ROYAL SCOTS was engaged in a skirmish with the American
riflemen. On the 5th of July a severe engagement with very superior
numbers of the enemy took place.[119] The attack was not attended with
success. Major-General Riall, speaking of the conduct of the troops
in general orders, observed--"Although their efforts were not crowned
with the success they deserved, yet he has the greatest satisfaction
in saying it was impossible for men to have done more, or to have
sustained with greater courage the heavy and destructive fire with
which the enemy, from his great superiority in numbers, was enabled to
oppose them." The ROYAL SCOTS had Captain E. P. Bailey, 5 serjeants,
and 71 rank and file killed; Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, Lieutenants W.
Campbell, A. Macdonald, A. Campbell, J. T. Connell, B. Fox, George
Jackson, and Charles Hendrick, 12 serjeants, and 132 rank and file,
wounded; Captains E. M. Bird and John Wilson severely wounded and taken
prisoners; 5 serjeants and 72 rank and file missing.
Fort Erie afterwards surrendered to the superior numbers of the enemy;
the ROYAL SCOTS returned to Fort George; and on the 13th of July seven
companies took up a position at Fifteen-mile Creek.
The three companies left at Fort George quitted that place a few days
afterwards, and, having crossed the Niagara river on the 25th of
July, marched to _Lewiston_ to attack a body of the enemy; but the
Americans fled, and the ROYAL SCOTS captured a quantity of stores and
other articles. The three companies afterwards re-passed the river
at Queenstown; and, advancing to the _Falls of Niagara_, formed in
the position of _Lundy's Lane_, under the orders of Lieut.-General
Drummond. In the mean time the other seven companies were on the march
from Fifteen-mile Creek towards the Falls.
The three companies of the ROYAL SCOTS had scarcely taken their post in
the centre of the position of Lundy's Lane, when about 5000 Americans
advanced, and attacked the British troops with great fury; and a most
sanguinary contest ensued. During the heat of the conflict the seven
companies of the ROYAL SCOTS arrived from Fifteen-mile Creek, under
the command of Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, and took post on the right of
the line. The enemy attempted to force the centre for the purpose of
gaining the crest of the position, but were repulsed with loss, and the
ROYAL SCOTS distinguished themselves in driving back the assailants.
About nine in the evening there was an intermission of firing; but the
Americans renewed the attack soon afterwards with fresh troops, and a
fierce conflict of musketry and artillery followed in the dark. The
Americans charged up the hill; the British gunners were bayoneted
while in the act of loading, and the guns were in the possession of
the enemy for a few moments; but the troops in the centre, where the
three companies of the ROYAL SCOTS were fighting, soon drove back the
Americans, and retook the guns. The storm of battle still raged along
the heights; the muzzles of the British and American artillery were
within a few yards of each other, and the fight was kept up with a
sanguinary obstinacy seldom witnessed. In limbering up the guns, at
one period an American six-pounder was put by mistake on a British
limber, and a British six-pounder on an American limber. At one moment
the Americans had the advantage; at the next the shout of victory rose
from the British ranks; and about midnight the enemy retreated.[120]
The troops were thanked for their distinguished bravery in general
orders on the following day; and "the admirable steadiness of the ROYAL
SCOTS, under Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, at several very critical points
and movements, claimed the Lieut.-General's particular notice." The
three companies in the centre of the line particularly distinguished
themselves, and were twice mentioned in the Lieut.-General's public
despatch in terms of the highest commendation. The ROYAL SCOTS lost on
this occasion Lieutenant William Hemphill, 3 serjeants, 1 drummer, and
48 rank and file, killed and missing; Captain Brereton, Lieutenants
Haswell and Fraser, 4 serjeants, and 93 rank and file, wounded;
Lieutenants Clyne, Lamont, and Fraser taken prisoners. The conduct of
the battalion on this occasion, with the distinguished bravery evinced
by the grenadier company in the storm of Fort Niagara on the 19th
of December, 1813, obtained the Royal permission to bear the word
"NIAGARA" on the colours of the regiment.
An attack on _Fort Erie_ having been resolved upon, the 1st battalion
of the ROYAL SCOTS appeared before this place on the 4th of August, and
formed part of the besieging force. During the progress of the siege
several slight skirmishes occurred; and on the 10th of August the ROYAL
SCOTS had Lieutenant Gregor M'Gregor and 3 private men killed and 9
private men wounded.
The batteries having produced an impression on the place, a general
assault was made on the fort and adjoining works on the 15th of August
before day-break; and two companies of the ROYAL SCOTS formed part of
the force selected to storm the fort and entrenchments leading from
it to the lake. This portion of the storming party made its attack
with signal gallantry, and after a desperate resistance succeeded
in effecting a lodgment in the fort through the embrasures and
demi-bastion, and turned the guns against the enemy, when a sudden
explosion of some gunpowder placed under the platform occurred, and
almost all the men who had entered the place were either killed or
dreadfully mangled. This occasioned the troops to retreat; the enemy
opened a heavy fire of musketry, and the storming party retired.
The eight companies of the ROYAL SCOTS which had not taken part in
the storming of the fort were immediately thrown out to cover the
retreat--"a service which that valuable corps executed with great
steadiness."[121] The loss of the battalion in this unfortunate affair
was--Captain Torrens and 32 rank and file killed, 2 serjeants and 37
rank and file wounded.
The troops continued before the fort, and on the 9th of September 2
private soldiers of the ROYAL SCOTS were killed, and Lieutenant P.
Grant wounded by a shell. On the 17th the enemy made a sortie, and an
engagement took place, which lasted nearly five hours. "On the right
the enemy's advance was checked by the 1st battalion ROYAL SCOTS,
supported by the 89th regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel
Gordon of the Royals; and in the centre he was driven back by the
Glengarry light infantry, under Lieut.-Colonel Battersby, and directed
by Lieut.-Colonel Pearson, inspecting field officer."[122] On this
occasion the battalion lost 2 serjeants and 22 rank and file killed
and missing; Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, Lieutenant Rutledge, and 30 rank
and file, wounded. Lieutenant Rutledge died on the same day, and
Lieut.-Colonel Gordon on the 25th.[123]
On the 17th of October the battalion marched to Chippewa, and engaged
the enemy at _Cook's Mills_, drove the Americans from their post,
without sustaining any loss. Shortly afterwards the battalion proceeded
to Fort Niagara, where it was stationed during the remainder of the
year.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
In April, 1814, the left wing of the 2nd battalion in the East Indies
marched to Bellary; at the same time the right wing, forming part of
the force in the southern Mahratta country, quitted the field, and
joined the left wing at Bellary in May. Soon afterwards the battalion
proceeded to Hyderabad, where it remained until the beginning of
November, when it received orders to proceed to Ellichpoor, to join
the field force under the command of Brigadier-General Doveton, and
was subsequently employed against a barbarous people called the
_Pindarees_, who infested the British territory in India at this
period, and committed dreadful ravages wherever they appeared.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
The 3rd battalion was employed in the spring of 1814 in the blockade
of the strong fortress of _Bayonne_, in France; while a great part of
the allied British, Spanish, and Portuguese army, which had passed the
Pyrenees mountains, advanced up the country.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
In the meantime the Dutch had made an energetic struggle to free
themselves from the power of Napoleon, and a strong party had declared
in favour of the Prince of Orange. A British force was sent to Holland
under the orders of Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, afterwards Lord
Lynedoch, and the 4th battalion of the ROYAL SCOTS was ordered from
the north of Germany to join the troops in Holland. The battalion
accordingly commenced its march from Lubeck on the 17th January, 1814,
and encountered many difficulties, from the inclemency of the weather.
While traversing the forest of _Shrieverdinghen_, 120 men were lost in
a snow storm; much extreme suffering occurred during the journey; and
on the 2nd of March the men went into cantonments at Rozendalh. After
halting six days the battalion was ordered to join the force destined
to make an attempt on the strong fortress of _Bergen-op-Zoom_; and
was selected to form part of the 4th column of attack; at the same
time its flank companies were detached to join another column. The
attack was made about ten o'clock on the night of the 8th of March.
The ROYAL SCOTS succeeded in crossing the Zoom, and forced an entrance
by the water-port. Having gained possession of the ramparts round the
water-port gate, the battalion was exposed to a heavy fire of grape
and musketry from two howitzers, and a strong detachment of French
marines, stationed near the arsenal: two companies were detached to
keep the enemy in check, and were relieved every two hours by two other
companies of the battalion. These companies were actively engaged in
this service from eleven o'clock until daylight; when the enemy made a
furious attack in strong columns, which bore down all before them. The
two detached companies of the ROYAL SCOTS were attacked by a host of
combatants, and driven in. A heavy fire of grape was opened upon the
battalion from the guns of the arsenal; and it was forced to retire by
the water-port gate, when a detached battery opened upon it. Being thus
placed between two fires, with a high palisade on one side, and the
Zoom filled with the tide on the other, the battalion was unfortunately
obliged to surrender. The colours were first sunk in the river Zoom by
Lieutenant and Adjutant Galbraith: the battalion then surrendered, on
condition that the officers and men should not serve against the French
until exchanged. The failure of the coup-de-main on Bergen-op-Zoom
occasioned an immense sacrifice of gallant men. Of the ROYAL SCOTS,
Captains M'Nicol, Edward Wetherall, and Purvis, Lieutenant Mills, 1
serjeant, and 36 rank and file, were killed; Lieutenants Robertson,
Stoyte, Midgley, and Stewart, 7 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 63 rank and
file, wounded.
On the following day the battalion marched out of Bergen-op-Zoom, and
on the 8th of April it embarked for England: on the 21st it arrived at
Hilsea barracks, where it was supplied with clothing and equipments,
and on the 6th of May it embarked on board the Diomede and Leopard (two
sixty-fours, armed en-flute), and sailed for Canada.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
Meanwhile the success of the arms of the allied sovereigns in various
parts of Europe had been followed by the abdication of Bonaparte,
and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of France.
This event occurred in April, 1814, at which time the 3rd battalion
of the ROYAL SCOTS was employed in the blockade of _Bayonne_. The
French commandant in this fortress, not believing the statement of
Bonaparte's abdication to be true, made a sortie with the garrison on
the morning of the 14th of April, and gained a temporary advantage;
but was afterwards repulsed. Major-General Hay,[124] Lieut.-Colonel
of the ROYAL SCOTS, was killed at the first onset; the battalion also
had 5 rank and file killed; Captain Buckley, Lieutenant Macdonnell, 1
serjeant, 1 drummer, and 32 rank and file, wounded; also a few private
men missing.
This was the last action of the war; and the British troops, after
vanquishing the legions of Bonaparte in various parts of the globe,
stood triumphant in the interior of France, and saw the fall of that
gigantic power which had shaken the throne of every sovereign on the
continent of Europe, and, aiming at universal empire, had sought
to rule the world with Asiatic despotism. The ROYAL SCOTS remained
encamped near Bayonne until August, when they marched back to Spain,
and were the last British corps which quitted the French territory
after the termination of this glorious war. The battalion, having
embarked at Passages for Ireland, landed at the Cove of Cork on the
13th of September, 1814.
His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to confer upon the 3rd
battalion the honour of bearing the word "PENINSULA" upon its colours,
as a mark of his royal approbation of its meritorious conduct in
Portugal and Spain.
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
The right wing of the 4th battalion, which sailed for Canada in May,
arrived at Quebec on the 26th of June, and on the 1st of July sailed up
the St. Lawrence to Three Rivers; but the left wing, in the Leopard,
was wrecked on Anticosti, a barren island in the mouth of the river St.
Lawrence, and lost all its arms and baggage. The right wing afterwards
returned to Quebec, and, the left having joined it, the battalion
formed part of that garrison until May of the following year.
[Sidenote: 1815]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
[Sidenote: 4th Batt.]
[Sidenote: 1st and 4th Batts.]
In January, 1815, the first battalion quitted Fort Niagara, and
proceeded to Queenstown. From this place it proceeded to Fort George,
Kingston, Prescott, Montreal, and Three Rivers, which latter place it
reached on the 25th of May, when it embarked for Quebec; and on its
arrival off Cape Diamond, peace having been concluded with the United
States, it was removed on board of transports. At the same time the 4th
battalion was withdrawn from garrison at Quebec, and, having embarked
on board the fleet, both battalions sailed for England, and arrived at
Portsmouth on the 17th and 18th of July.
[Sidenote: 3rd Batt.]
In the meantime Napoleon Bonaparte, with that perfidy which had ever
marked his conduct, had quitted the island of Elba, and, attended
by 600 men, made his appearance on the shores of France. The French
troops joined the standard of the invader, the royal family fled, and
Bonaparte reascended the throne with a rapidity which exceeded the
wildest flights of poetry or romance. The peace of Europe was thus
broken. The allied sovereigns resolved to wage war against the usurper;
and in April, 1815, the 3rd battalion of the ROYAL SCOTS was suddenly
ordered from its quarters at Fermoy to the Cove of Cork, to embark for
the Netherlands, where a British force was assembling to engage in the
approaching contest, under Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington--a
leader under whose eye this portion of the ROYAL REGIMENT had already
acquired numerous laurels in the Peninsular War.
The battalion landed at Ostend in the early part of May, and proceeded
to Ghent, and from thence to Brussels, where it was stationed several
weeks. It formed part of the 9th brigade, commanded by Major-General
Sir Denis Pack, and was placed in the 5th division, under the command
of Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton.
During the night between the 15th and 16th of June, while the ROYAL
SCOTS were reposing in comfortable quarters at Brussels, the men were
suddenly aroused by the bugles sounding and drums beating to arms.
Instantly quitting their beds, the soldiers prepared for action, and,
seizing their muskets, issued in bands from every part of the city;
and in a few hours the British regiments were passing through the dark
forest of Soignes in the direction of Charleroi, a sharp conflict
having already commenced between the corps in advance and the enemy.
After a march of about twenty-two miles, the 5th division arrived at
the scene of conflict soon after mid-day on the 16th of June, and,
diverging from the high road, confronted the enemy on the undulating
grounds near the farm-house of _Quatre Bras_.