in the fifth, the Royal Irish dragoons; and in 1787, when the
seventy-fifth regiment was raised by Colonel Robert Abercromby, he
was appointed lieutenant in that corps; in 1792 he was promoted
captain in the same corps. He served in Flanders under His Royal
Highness the Duke of York; and obtained the rank of lieut.-colonel
in 1794. In 1795 he was appointed lieut.-colonel in the FIFTY-THIRD
regiment, which corps he commanded at the capture of St. Lucia,
in 1796, and distinguished himself in the action at the pass of
Morne Chabot, for which he was thanked in orders. He commanded the
FIFTY-THIRD in the Caribbee war in St. Vincent in 1796,--at the
capture of Trinidad, in February, 1797,--and at the unsuccessful
attempt on Porto Rico, in April of the same year, under his father,
Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. In 1800 he was promoted to
the rank of colonel, and in 1805 to that of major-general: on
the 21st of March, 1807, he was nominated to the colonelcy of
the FIFTY-THIRD regiment. He obtained the rank of lieut.-general
in 1812, and was afterwards placed on the staff of the army in
India, where he served two years as governor of Madras, and
commander-in-chief of the coast army; but in September, 1814, he
resigned his appointments to return to Europe for the benefit of
his health. He was afterwards honored with the dignity of Knight
Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. Proceeding to Marseilles, in
the south of France, for the benefit of his health, he died at that
place on the 14th of February, 1817, and was buried with military
honors, by the French garrison; the funeral was attended by the
French authorities, civil and military, of the department and of
the city, and also by the consuls of several nations.
In announcing the death of Lieut.-General the Honorable SIR
JOHN ABERCROMBY, G.C.B., in regimental orders, Colonel Sir
George Bingham stated,--"The length of time he has served in the
FIFTY-THIRD regiment,--his great attachment to the corps,--the
interest he took in its welfare, as well as in that of every
individual belonging to it, will cause him to be particularly
regretted by those not personally acquainted with him; while his
high military abilities and upright private character will occasion
his loss to be regarded as a calamity to the service."
ROWLAND LORD HILL, G.C.B., G.C.H., K.C.,
_Appointed 24th February, 1817_.
ROWLAND HILL was appointed ensign in the thirty-eighth foot in
1790; and in 1791 lieutenant in an independent company, from which
he was removed to the FIFTY-THIRD regiment, which proceeded to
Flanders at the commencement of the French revolutionary war in
1793, and distinguished itself. In the same year he raised an
independent company, was promoted to the rank of captain, and
appointed to the eighty-sixth regiment, or Shropshire volunteers,
then raised by Major-General Cuyler. He accompanied Mr. Drake on
a mission to Genoa, and afterwards proceeded to Toulon, where he
served as aide-de-camp to the three successive generals commanding
there, viz., Lord Mulgrave, Lieut.-General O'Hara, and Sir David
Dundas; and was wounded at the attack of the heights of Arenes, on
the 30th of November, 1793, and narrowly escaped with his life,
when Lieut.-General O'Hara was taken prisoner. On the evacuation
of Toulon, he was sent with despatches to England. In 1794 he was
promoted to a majority in the ninetieth regiment, raised at this
period by Thomas Graham Esq., (of Balgowan, Perthshire,) afterwards
General Lord Lynedoch; and in the same year to a lieut.-colonelcy
in that corps. He served at Isle Dieu on the coast of France, at
Gibraltar, Malta, and Minorca; on the 1st of January, 1800, he
was promoted to the rank of Colonel, and commanded the ninetieth
regiment in the expedition to Egypt under General Sir Ralph
Abercromby, distinguishing himself during the action on the 13th of
March, 1801, when his regiment was at the head of the right column,
and repulsed a charge of cavalry with great gallantry. Colonel Hill
fell from the blow of a musket-ball on the right temple, and was
removed in a state of insensibility, but recovered; the force of
the ball having been resisted by a strong brass binding in front of
his helmet. On his return to England he was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general, and placed on the staff of Ireland, where he was
presented with the freedom of Cork. He was promoted to the rank of
major-general, and served in the expedition to Hanover, under Lord
Cathcart, in 1805; and in 1808 he embarked from Ireland, with a
brigade of infantry, to serve in the Peninsula, where he speedily
gave presage of those military virtues which adorned his character.
He commanded a brigade at the battles of Roleia, and Vimiera, under
Sir Arthur Wellesley; and during the advance into Spain under Sir
John Moore, and the corps under his orders covered the embarkation
at Corunna. He acquired fresh honors at the passage of the Douro
at Oporto, on the 12th of May, 1809, when he commanded the corps
which first passed the river, after Lieut.-General Sir E. Paget
was wounded: and at the battle of Talavera he again distinguished
himself, particularly in repulsing the attack of the French on
the hill on the left of the position; he was wounded in the head
on this occasion. His services during the whole of the campaigns
in the Peninsula and South of France were of a distinguished
character, and have called forth the commendations of historians,
the praises of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, the thanks of
Parliament, the approbation of his Sovereign, and the gratitude
of his country. During the early part of 1811, he was absent from
the army on account of ill health: but he returned to his post
in the month of May with the rank of lieut.-general, and was
placed in command of the troops in Estremadura. His abilities were
conspicuously displayed in the surprise of a body of French troops
at Arroyo dos Molinos, in October, 1811; in the capture of the
forts and the destruction of the bridge at Almaraz, in May, 1812;
and at the battle of the Nive, on the 13th December, 1813. His
reputation was constantly augmented, and his talents, energy, and
sound judgment became more conspicuous as the extent of his command
was increased, and the nature of his services became difficult. His
claim to military eminence was not established by a few solitary
acts of courage and skill; but by a career of brilliant service,
which will descend to posterity interwoven with the triumphs of the
Duke of Wellington, whose victories were followed by the overthrow
of the power of Napoleon, and the restoration of the Bourbon
dynasty to the throne of France. The services of Lieut.-General
Sir Rowland Hill were rewarded with the dignity of BARON HILL OF
ALMARAZ, and of Hawkstone in the county of Salop, by patent dated
the 17th of May, 1814.
When the return of Bonaparte to France re-kindled the war in
Europe, Lieut.-General LORD HILL was selected to hold an important
command in the army in Flanders under Field-Marshal the Duke of
Wellington; and he was placed at the head of a corps of the allied
army at the memorable battle of Waterloo, on the 18th of June,
1815, when the power of Bonaparte was annihilated by British
skill and valour, and peace was acquired for Europe. The honorary
distinctions conferred upon LORD HILL for his important services,
were,--Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath,--Knight Grand
Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order,--a medal for the
battle of Waterloo,--a cross and three clasps for the battles of
Roleia, Vimiera, Corunna, Talavera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle,
Nive, and Orthes; the Turkish Order of the Crescent,--Grand Cross
of the Tower and Sword of Portugal, Commander of Maria Theresa of
Austria,--St. George of Russia, and Wilhelm of Holland. He was
presented with the freedom of the city of London; and was appointed
governor of Hull, and Colonel of the ninety-fourth regiment. In
1817 he was removed to the FIFTY-THIRD regiment.
In 1825 LORD HILL was promoted to the rank of general; and on
the 15th of February, 1828, he was appointed General Commanding
in Chief, the important duties of which appointment he performed
with reputation and advantage to the service fourteen years. He
was appointed Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, and
Governor of Plymouth, in 1830. His Lordship's resignation of
the command of the Army, in August, 1842, was announced in the
following General Order:
"HORSE GUARDS, _15th August, 1842_.
"GENERAL LORD HILL finds it necessary to resign the Command of the
Army on account of his Lordship's present state of health, and
Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to accept his Lordship's
resignation.
"When Lord Hill assumed the command which he now resigns, he
expressed, in General Orders, his confident hope, that from the
General and other Officers, as well as from the Public Departments
of the Army, he should receive that support which should enable him
to fulfil the important trust reposed in him.
"That hope has not been disappointed, but, on the contrary,
realized beyond Lord Hill's most sanguine expectation.
"The conduct of the Troops has, both in the Field and in Quarters,
furnished, during Lord Hill's command of them, an example of
discipline, regularity, and general efficiency, not to be
surpassed, and the Officers have, by their devotion to their duty,
enabled his Lordship to maintain the Army in that creditable state.
The Officers have, therefore, established their claim to Lord
Hill's lasting gratitude and esteem.
"His Lordship cannot, then, but with painful feelings take leave of
Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Soldiers, whose conduct
has been so uniformly approved by their Sovereign and by their
Country.
"These feelings are, however, greatly alleviated and consoled by
the reflection that the Command of the Army is now to be resumed
by the Duke of Wellington, the ever vigilant and most influential
Guardian of its Interests, and whose achievements have raised its
character to the highest Pinnacle of Glory."
On the 3rd of September, 1842, Lord Hill was advanced to the
dignity of Viscount, by Her Majesty, in consideration of his
eminent military services, and in approbation of the ability with
which His Lordship had discharged, for a lengthened period, the
important duties of General Commanding-in-Chief.
The decease of General Lord Hill occurred on the 10th December,
1842, in the seventy-first year of his age, at Hardwicke Grange,
Shrewsbury.
LORD FITZROY JAMES HENRY SOMERSET, G.C.B.,
_Appointed 19th November, 1830_.
APPENDIX.
MEMOIR OF THE SERVICES OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR GEORGE R. BINGHAM,
K.C.B.
SIR GEORGE RIDOUT BINGHAM entered the army in June, 1793, as ensign
in the sixty-ninth regiment, and served at Corsica and in the
Mediterranean. He was promoted to captain in the eighty-first in
1796, and major in the eighty-second in 1801, and he served with
those corps at the Cape of Good Hope and the island of Minorca.
On the 14th of March, 1805, he was nominated lieut.-colonel in
the FIFTY-THIRD regiment, and assuming the command of the second
battalion in Ireland, on the 1st of April, he was at the head
of that portion of the regiment during the whole of its arduous
and distinguished service in the Peninsula, commencing with
the expulsion of Marshal Soult's army from Oporto in 1809, and
continued until the end of 1812, when the battalion was so reduced
in numbers, that six companies returned to England to recruit; and
during these campaigns his conduct reflected honour on the corps to
which he belonged. In 1813 he commanded with reputation the second
provisional battalion. He received a cross and one clasp for the
battles of Talavera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, and Nivelle; he
was also nominated Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and
received permission to accept of the Order of the Tower and Sword
of Portugal. He commanded the troops which proceeded to St. Helena
with Napoleon Bonaparte, in 1815, and served as brigadier-general
at that island until 1820, when he returned to England in
consequence of having been promoted to the rank of major-general in
1819. In 1831 he was appointed colonel commandant of a battalion of
the Rifle Brigade. He served on the staff of Ireland from 1825 to
1832. He died in 1833. As a soldier and a gentleman he stood high
in the estimation of all who knew him; he was an ornament to his
profession and an honour to his country.
LONDON:
Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Stamford Street,
For Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg xxxiii, 'castle of L'Ourde 5' replaced by 'castle of L'Ourde 52'.
Pg 3, 'towards Ticonderago' replaced by 'towards Ticonderoga'.
Pg 21, '[Sidenote: 1815]' inserted before 'In 1815 the ...'.
Pg 55, 'occupy the barracks' replaced by 'occupying the barracks'.
Pg 58, The Illustration of the memorial monument placed after this
page had no caption. The description of this Plate from Pg xxxv has
been inserted as a caption.