in the operations by which the enemy was driven from his positions
at _Vaux_, _Prémont_, _Marets_, &c., on the 17th of that month,
when the Duke of York expressed in general orders the sense he
entertained of the bravery and conduct of the troops engaged.
The regiment was subsequently employed in covering the siege of
_Landrécies_; it was in line on the 26th of April, when the attack
of the French on the British position at _Cateau_ was repulsed;
and after the surrender of Landrécies, the regiment marched to the
vicinity of Tournay.
On the 10th of May the position near _Tournay_ was attacked, and
the French were repulsed with severe loss.
A combined attack on the posts occupied by the French army was
made on the 17th of May; when the FOURTEENTH, THIRTY-SEVENTH,
and FIFTY-THIRD regiments, forming the second brigade, under
Major-General Fox,[7] were attached to the column under the Duke of
York's immediate command, which captured _Lannoy_, _Roubaix_, and
_Mouveaux_; and the three regiments were afterwards posted on the
main road from Lisle to Roubaix. Meanwhile the failure of the other
columns of the allied army had left the British troops exposed to
the whole weight and power of the enemy's overwhelming numbers,
and early on the 18th of May the fourteenth, thirty-seventh,
and FIFTY-THIRD regiments were attacked by a numerous force. A
historian of that campaign states,--"Major-General Fox, with the
fourteenth, thirty-seventh, and FIFTY-THIRD regiments, was engaged
with the whole of the column which had marched from Lisle, and the
different corps, which had driven back the rest of the army, fell
upon his flanks and rear. Perhaps there is not on record a single
instance of greater gallantry and more soldier-like conduct than
was exhibited on that occasion by these three regiments. At length
Major-General Fox, finding that the whole army had left him, began
to think of retreating; to effect which it was necessary to get
possession of the causeway leading to Leers, and before that could
be accomplished, he was obliged to charge several battalions of
the enemy, who were astonished that such a handful of men should
presume to give them battle, and expected every moment that they
would lay down their arms; but with a degree of intrepidity that
words cannot describe, and is, indeed, scarcely conceivable, they
gained the wished-for point; then forming with such regularity that
the enemy could not assail them, they secured their retreat towards
Leers, and the next morning joined General Otto's column. This
brigade, which consisted of only eleven hundred and twenty men,
left in the field five hundred and thirty-three."[8]
The FIFTY-THIRD regiment had Lieutenant John Rhind, eight
serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and ninety-one rank
and file killed and missing; Major Thomas Scott, Captain Thomas
Brisbane, Ensign E. Pierce, one serjeant, and fourteen rank and
file wounded.[9]
Resuming its post in front of _Tournay_, the regiment was in
line on the 22nd of May, when a numerous French army attacked the
position occupied by the allies. The right wing of the army being
pressed by the enemy, Major-General Fox's brigade was detached
to its support. Speaking of the FOURTEENTH, THIRTY-SEVENTH, and
FIFTY-THIRD regiments on this occasion, the Duke of York stated in
his despatch, "Nothing could exceed the spirit and gallantry with
which they conducted themselves, particularly in the storming of
the village of _Pontéchin_, which they forced with the bayonet.
The enemy immediately began to retreat." In general orders it
was stated, "His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief desires
to express his particular thanks to Major-General Fox; to the
fourteenth regiment, under the command of Major Ramsey; to the
thirty-seventh regiment, commanded by Captain Lightburne; to the
FIFTY-THIRD regiment, commanded by Major Wiseman; and to the
detachment of artillery that was attached to them, under the
command of Captain Trotter, for their intrepidity and good conduct,
which reflects the greatest honor upon themselves, at the same time
that it was highly instrumental in deciding the important victory
of the 22nd instant."
In Jones's Journal it is stated:--"There never was a better
opportunity of putting British valour to the test; nor could there
be anything more conspicuous than the proof they gave of what
highly disciplined soldiers, well led on, may be brought to do. It
appears almost impossible; but it is a fact, that a single British
brigade, less than six hundred men, on that great day absolutely
won the battle; for had they not come up, the allies would have
been beaten."
The regiment had six rank and file killed: Lieutenants Rogers and
Robertson, Ensign Pierce, one serjeant, and twenty-three rank and
file wounded; twelve rank and file missing.
The word "TOURNAY," displayed by royal authority on the colour of
the regiment, commemorates its heroic conduct on this occasion.
The enemy afterwards acquired so great a superiority of numbers,
that the British army withdrew from its position, and a series of
retrograde movements brought the army to the banks of the Rhine and
the Waal.
[Sidenote: 1795]
A severe frost having rendered the rivers passable on the ice, the
British troops retired through Holland to Germany. The FIFTY-THIRD
shared in the toil, privation, and suffering occasioned by long
marches through a country covered with ice and snow: in the spring
of 1795 they embarked for England, where they arrived in May.
The regiment was encamped near Southampton, where its ranks
were completed by drafts from the 109th regiment; in November
it embarked for the West Indies, and afterwards sailed with the
armament, under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, for the conquest of
the French West India Islands. The disasters which befell this
fleet from storms at sea, and the number of shipwrecks which took
place, are recorded in the naval history of Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1796]
Four companies of the regiment, commanded by Major Brisbane,
arrived at Barbadoes in March, 1796, and they formed part of the
armament which proceeded against _St. Lucia_; three other companies
also arrived in time to share in the enterprise. A landing was
effected on the 26th and 27th of April, and at midnight on the
last-mentioned day, Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir John)
Moore advanced with seven companies of the FIFTY-THIRD, under
Lieut.-Colonel John Abercromby, and a detachment of Rangers along
a defile in the mountains, and falling in with the enemy's post at
_Morne Chabot_, carried it after a considerable resistance. The
FIFTY-THIRD distinguished themselves on this occasion; and Sir
Ralph Abercromby's thanks were expressed to the regiment in orders,
accompanied by the declaration that he would bring its conduct
before His Royal Highness the Duke of York.
The loss of the regiment on this occasion was one drummer and
twelve rank and file killed; Captain Charles Stuart, Lieutenant
Richard Collins, and John Carmichael, two serjeants, forty-four
rank and file wounded; one drummer and eight private soldiers
missing.
The regiment was engaged in the subsequent operations for the
reduction of the island, which was accomplished before the end of
May; and the Royal authority was given for the word "ST. LUCIA"
to be borne on the colours of the regiment, to commemorate its
distinguished conduct on this service.
After the reduction of St. Lucia, the regiment was embarked for
St. Vincent, where an insurrection had broken out, and the native
Caribs and many French colonists were in arms against the British
authority. The insurgents were speedily overcome, and the Caribs
fled to the woods. The hostile spirit which these people had long
shown towards the British interests, occasioned the government
to resolve to remove them from the island. The measures for this
purpose were attended with much harassing duty to the troops, and
many skirmishes occurred; but the Caribs were eventually forced to
submit. The regiment was afterwards withdrawn from the island, when
it received the following communication from Major-General Peter
Hunter, dated 26th November, 1796:--
"SIR,--I beg you, and the officers and soldiers of the FIFTY-THIRD
regiment, under your command, will accept of my best thanks for the
zeal, activity, and humanity which have been testified by you and
them, on all occasions, while under my command, during the brigand
and Caribbee war in the island of St. Vincent. I am also requested
by the Council and Assembly of the island to communicate, not only
to the officers and soldiers now serving in St. Vincent, but to all
those whom I have had the honor to command since my arrival here,
the sentiments that the Assembly and inhabitants of this colony
entertain of the good conduct and behaviour of the troops, and to
offer their warmest, most grateful, and unfeigned thanks for the
eminent services the army has rendered this island."
Major-General Lake having been removed to the seventy-third
regiment, he was succeeded in the colonelcy of the FIFTY-THIRD by
Major-General Welbore Ellis Doyle, by commission dated the 2nd of
November, 1796.
[Sidenote: 1797]
Spain having united with France in hostility to Great Britain, the
FIFTY-THIRD were employed in an expedition against the Spanish
settlement of _Trinidad_, which was captured in February, 1797,
without loss.
The army subsequently proceeded against _Porto Rico_, and a landing
was effected on the 18th of April; but the expedition proved of
insufficient strength for the capture of this place, and the troops
re-embarked on the night of the 30th of April. The FIFTY-THIRD
had three rank and file killed; Captain John Rhind and three men
wounded; Captain Samuel Dover taken prisoner. The regiment returned
to St. Vincent.
[Sidenote: 1798]
On the death of Major-General Doyle, the colonelcy was conferred
on Lieut.-General Charles Crosbie, from the late Royal Dublin
regiment, his commission bearing date the 3rd of January, 1798.
[Sidenote: 1799]
[Sidenote: 1800]
After remaining at St. Vincent during the years 1798 and 1799, the
regiment was removed to St. Lucia in 1800.
[Sidenote: 1802]
At the peace of Amiens, in 1802, the island of St. Lucia was
restored to France, when the regiment returned to England, much
reduced in numbers by the climate of the West Indies.
[Sidenote: 1803]
On the arrival of the regiment in England, the men enlisted for
limited service were discharged at Hilsea barracks, and in January,
1803, it marched, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Lightburne,
for Shrewsbury.
[Sidenote: 1805]
The first battalion, having been completed to eight hundred rank
and file, embarked at Portsmouth, on the 20th of April, 1805,
for the East Indies, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Sebright
Mawby. The fleet sailed under the convoy of His Majesty's ship
"Blenheim," on the 24th of April: in the early part of August it
encountered a French line-of-battle ship and a frigate, when some
firing took place, but nothing serious occurred; and on the 23rd
of that month it arrived in Madras roads, when the FIFTY-THIRD
landed, and marched into Fort St. George, where they lost a very
promising officer, Captain Henry Knight Erskine, whose death was
much regretted. In October they proceeded in boats to the fertile
district of Dinapore, on the right bank of the Ganges, and occupied
that station, in the midst of a country abounding with grain,
cattle, and sheep.
[Sidenote: 1806]
In consequence of the unhealthy state of the battalion, it was
withdrawn from Dinapore, when Major-General Clarke expressed, in
orders, his approbation of its conduct while under his command,
and the high sense he entertained of the zeal and abilities of
Lieut.-Colonel Mawby and of the officers generally. It arrived at
Berhampore, a considerable station on the left bank of the Hoogly
river, on the 6th of July.
[Sidenote: 1807]
General Crosbie having died, the colonelcy was conferred on
Major-General the Honorable John Abercromby, by commission dated
the 21st of March, 1807, the sixth anniversary of the battle of
Alexandria.
In September the first battalion embarked in boats to proceed up
the Ganges, when Major-General Palmer recorded, in orders, his
approbation of its exemplary conduct while stationed at Berhampore.
After a voyage of eleven weeks in boats up the river, the battalion
landed at Cawnpore on the 29th of November, and marched into the
spacious barracks on an elevated site at that place.
The gallant conduct of two serjeants and fourteen private soldiers
of the first battalion on board of the Company's ship Fame, when it
was captured by a French frigate (the Piedmontaise), was rewarded
by a donation from the Court of Directors, of 5_l._ to each of the
serjeants, and 4_l._ to each private soldier.
The first battalion was stationed at Cawnpore during the year,
and was highly commended in orders for its correct discipline and
excellent conduct.
[Sidenote: 1809]
On the 19th of January, 1809, three companies were detached, under
Captain Piercy, to the province of Bundelcund, and joining the
troops under Lieut.-Colonel Martindell, were employed in reducing
some refractory native Sirdars. These companies were at the siege
and capture of the fort of _Adjighion_, situate upon a lofty
mountain; and after the surrender of this place they rejoined the
regiment, which took the field in November, and joined a numerous
division under Lieut.-Colonel Martindell. This body of troops was
called out in consequence of signs of defection in the native
Madras army, and it performed many long and difficult marches.
[Sidenote: 1810]
The first battalion continued in the field until March, 1810, when
it returned to Cawnpore. Lieut.-Colonel Mawby, the officers and
soldiers, received the thanks of the Commander of the field force
for their excellent conduct.
[Sidenote: 1811]
During the year 1811 the first battalion remained at Cawnpore,
where Lieut.-Colonel Buckland assumed the command.
[Sidenote: 1812]
Five companies of the first battalion proceeded from their
quarters at Cawnpore to take part with the division under Colonel
Martindell, in the reduction of the strong fortress of _Callinger_,
before which place the troops arrived on the 19th of January,
1812. A breach having been reported practicable, the fortress was
assaulted on the 2nd of February. A serjeant and twelve privates
of the FIFTY-THIRD regiment formed the forlorn-hope, which led the
assault of the breach; they were followed by the grenadiers and
light infantry of the FIFTY-THIRD, under Captain Fraser, supported
by the remaining three companies of the FIFTY-THIRD, and the
grenadiers and light infantry of the native regiments. The fortress
of Callinger is situated upon a high rock of difficult access and
great extent, in one of the ranges of mountains in the province of
Allahabad; and when that portion of the country was ceded to the
British, this strong fortress, which had resisted native armies,
became the asylum of the disaffected and of the banditti of the
province. These desperate characters crowded the breach as the
FIFTY-THIRD rushed forward to storm the works. Select marksmen of
the garrison were supplied with loaded muskets by other men as fast
as they could fire them, and huge stones were in readiness to be
thrown upon the assailants. The signal being given, the storming
party, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Sebright Mawby and the
officers and soldiers of the FIFTY-THIRD, made a gallant effort
to gain the breach; ladders were placed against the rock and the
men ascended with enthusiastic ardour; but showers of huge stones
and a storm of musketry destroyed every man who gained the top of
the rock; at the same time it was found impracticable to get other
ladders fixed to communicate with a second small projection of the
rock which appeared in the breach; under these circumstances the
storming party was ordered to retire. The FIFTY-THIRD had Captain
Fraser, Lieutenant and Adjutant Nice, one serjeant, one corporal,
and ten private soldiers killed; Captain Cuppage, Lieutenants
Stone, Young, Stewart, Daly, Cruice, Davis, and Booth, and one
hundred and twenty soldiers wounded; several men died of their
wounds.
In regimental orders issued on the 3rd of February, it was
stated:--"Lieut.-Colonel Mawby has not words to express his
admiration of the conduct of every officer and soldier of the
FIFTY-THIRD in the storm of yesterday; anything he could say on the
occasion would fall very short of what they deserved, for greater
bravery and perseverance never were displayed by men, and had it
been possible to have carried the breach, their bravery would have
done it. His feelings for the severe loss sustained by the regiment
may be imagined, but cannot be expressed; it is, however, a great
consolation to know that the whole army before Callinger speaks of
their bravery in terms of the highest commendation."
The conduct of the storming party was also commended in orders by
Colonel Martindell, who stated,--"If the difficulties which they
had to surmount had been found of a nature to be overcome, the
persevering energy and undaunted courage of the troops, so very
admirably conspicuous, would have been crowned with that success,
which their animated exertions, and steady cool bravery, so
eminently deserved."
In general orders by the government it was stated, "His Lordship
in Council cordially unites in the sentiments of admiration
expressed by His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, of the
exemplary exertions, zeal, and persevering courage manifested by
Lieut.-Colonel Mawby, FIFTY-THIRD regiment, and the brave officers
and men acting under his command."
Lieut.-Colonel Mawby particularly reported the gallant conduct of
Serjeant-Major Thomas Clarke, of the FIFTY-THIRD regiment.
In consequence of the difficulty experienced in the reduction of
Callinger, Major Piercy, who commanded the five companies of the
regiment left at Cawnpore, received orders to proceed as rapidly
as possible to join the besieging army; but before he arrived,
the garrison had surrendered. The cool determined bravery of the
officers and soldiers of the FIFTY-THIRD, at the storming of the
breach, had produced a great impression on the defenders of the
fortress, who declared to their commander, that they would not
stand a second assault: the Killedar, therefore, was forced to
capitulate and deliver up the fortress.
The regiment afterwards returned to Cawnpore, where its appearance
and discipline elicited the commendations of the Commander-in-Chief
in India at a review in September of this year. In October the
regiment marched to Meerut on the north-west frontier.
[Sidenote: 1813]
During the year 1813 the first battalion was stationed at Meerut.
In the meantime circumstances had occurred which occasioned the
battalion to be called from its quarters at Meerut, to take the
field against the Nepaulese, whose depredations on the British
territory could not be restrained without force of arms. The
FIFTY-THIRD marched from Meerut on the 14th of October, and joined
the division of the army appointed to invade the kingdom of Nepaul,
or the Gorca state, under the orders of Major-General Robert Rollo
Gillespie. This division was directed to penetrate the Himalaya
mountains by the pass of the Deyrah Doon, and capture the strong
fort of _Kalunga_, situate upon a peak in the mountains between
the rivers Sutlej and Ganges, which was defended by a garrison
of warlike mountaineers, under a celebrated Hindoo warrior named
Bulbudder.
[Sidenote: 1814]
Two companies of the FIFTY-THIRD, commanded by Lieutenant Young,
were detached with a small column under Lieut.-Colonel Carpenter
of the seventeenth native infantry, and ascending the Timlee
pass, into the Deyrah valley, joined at midnight on the 24th of
October, another detachment under Colonel Mawby of the FIFTY-THIRD
regiment, who advanced to capture the fort of _Kalunga_ by a
_coup-de-main_; but upon approaching the place, it was found to be
a strong work of excellent stone masonry, more formidable than it
had been represented to be, and not to be taken without cannon.
After a close reconnoissance, Colonel Mawby retired, and received
the acknowledgments of Major-General Gillespie, in orders, for his
conduct on the occasion. The Major-General afterwards advanced with
the leading corps, and taking with him a few light field-pieces on
the backs of elephants, had them placed in battery upon a piece
of table-land near the fort, and on the morning of the 31st of
October storming parties were in readiness to attack the fort.
The troops moved forward with great gallantry, but under such
unfavourable circumstances, that the assault failed; among the
other disasters the pioneers bearing the ladders fell, from the
fire of the garrison, in the midst of a village of grass huts,
which caught fire, and the storming party was thus deprived of the
means for ascending the walls of the fort. The two companies of
the FIFTY-THIRD lost several men, and had Lieutenants Young and
Anstice severely wounded. Three of the columns of attack had not
advanced, in consequence of not hearing, or not understanding,
the signal, and the messengers despatched to them never reached
their destination. The columns which had advanced, withdrew to the
village. At this moment three companies of the FIFTY-THIRD arrived
from a long march, under Captain Wheeler Coultman, and were ordered
to join the storming party, which consisted also of a brigade
of Bengal horse artillery (six-pounders), under the command of
Captain Charles Pratt Kennedy, for the purpose of making another
determined effort to capture the place. Major-General Gillespie
headed the assault in person. A party of the FIFTY-THIRD dragged
two of the guns forward with ropes up a steep ascent under a sharp
fire, and after overcoming the difficulty of a stockade across the
path, a few shots were fired at a small gate in the wall, to force
it open. A destructive fire was opened from the walls upon the
storming party, crowded in a narrow space, waiting for the gate to
be forced open and a passage to be made; Major-General Gillespie
placed himself at the head of the troops, and while leading the men
to the assault, he fell mortally wounded. The attack failed; the
storming party retired; and afterwards withdrew from before the
fort to await the arrival of a battering train. The FIFTY-THIRD had
sixteen men killed and seventy-five wounded.
The battering train having arrived from Delhi, the siege was
resumed by the troops under Colonel Mawby, and on the 27th of
November the flank companies of the FIFTY-THIRD, with one battalion
company of the regiment, and the grenadiers of the native corps,
stormed the breach under the orders of Major William Ingleby of
the FIFTY-THIRD. A numerous body of mountaineers defended the
breach with desperate resolution. Major Ingleby was wounded, and
withdrew, leaving the storming party under Captain Coultman.
Lieutenant Harrington and a few men of the FIFTY-THIRD ascended
the breach, but were instantly killed. The storming party proving
not sufficiently numerous to capture the place, the remaining
companies of the regiment were ordered forward, and the attack was
repeated, but without success: the approach to the breach proved
very difficult, and the defenders numerous and desperate; after a
severe loss had been sustained, the storming party was ordered to
retire. Lieutenant Harrington and twenty men of the regiment were
killed on this occasion; Major Ingleby, Captain Stone, Lieutenants
Horsley, Green, and Brodie, Ensign Aufrere, twelve serjeants, three
drummers, and one hundred and eighty-four rank and file wounded.
The battery resumed its fire to widen the breach; but further loss
was prevented by the garrison evacuating the fort, and retreating
and forcing their way through the besieging corps.