a supply of artillery and ammunition, which enabled him to commence
the siege of Stirling Castle: and Lieutenant-General Hawley, who
commanded the King's troops at Edinburgh, resolved to attempt to
raise the siege. For this purpose, the FOURTEENTH, and several
other corps, advanced from Edinburgh on the 13th of January, 1746,
under Major-General Huske, and drove a body of the rebels out
of Linlithgow; on the following day another division marched to
Borrowstounness; and on the 16th of January, the army encamped near
_Falkirk_.
About mid-day on the 17th of January, the rebel army was seen
moving towards some high ground on Falkirk-moor, and the King's
troops quitted their camp-ground to engage the clans. Passing
some rugged grounds, the soldiers diverged on the moor, and
formed two lines; the Fourth and FOURTEENTH Regiments constituted
Brigadier-General Cholmondeley's brigade, and were posted in the
first line. As the King's troops advanced to battle a tremendous
hurricane, with a heavy shower of rain, beat violently in their
faces, and nearly blinded them; at the same time it beat on the
backs of the clans, and caused them little annoyance; the soldiers
could not see to take aim, very few muskets would give fire,
and, under these circumstances, some confusion took place, and
several regiments quitted the field; but the Fourth and FOURTEENTH
Regiments under Brigadier-General Cholmondeley made a determined
stand, and they withstood the fury of the charging Highland host
with astonishing firmness, evincing the most heroic valour under
circumstances of peculiar danger and difficulty. They were joined
by the second battalion of the Royals, the Third and Forty-eighth
Regiments; Major-General Huske assumed the command; and these five
corps repulsed one wing of the rebel army, and maintained their
post, on the field of battle, until night, when no enemy could be
seen, and the soldiers being wet, and the night cold and stormy,
they retired.
The King's troops retreated to Edinburgh, where His Royal Highness
the Duke of Cumberland arrived, and assumed the command, and on the
31st of January the army again advanced, when the rebels raised the
siege of Stirling Castle, and made a precipitate retreat towards
Inverness. The royal army pursued the rebels as far as Perth, where
it halted in consequence of severe weather; the march was resumed
on the 20th of February; but heavy rains occasioned the army to
make another halt at Aberdeen. The troops were again in motion in
the early part of April, and on the 16th of that month, as they
advanced in three columns towards Inverness, the rebel army was
discovered in order of battle on _Culloden_-moor, when the royal
forces formed three lines, the FOURTEENTH Foot taking post in
the centre of the first line, under Lieut.-General the Earl of
Albemarle. After a sharp cannonade, several clans rushed forward,
with loud shouts, to attack the King's troops sword in hand; but
they were assailed by a destructive fire of musketry, received on
the point of the bayonet, and driven back with severe loss. The
royal cavalry galloped forward, completed the rout and discomfiture
of the clans, and pursued them with great slaughter several miles.
This victory transformed the young Pretender from an imaginary
monarch to an humble fugitive, and after wandering for some time in
disguise in the isles, and among the mountains, he escaped to the
continent.
The loss of the regiment at the battle of _Culloden_ was limited to
Captain Grosette, and one private soldier killed; Captain Simpson
and nine rank and file wounded[2].
After returning from the pursuit of the rebels, the troops encamped
near Inverness, from whence they advanced in May, and pitched
their tents in a valley, surrounded by lofty mountains, near
Fort Augustus. The FOURTEENTH Regiment was employed in guarding
prisoners taken after the battle, and was afterwards stationed at
Stirling, from whence it was removed to Glasgow.
[Sidenote: 1747]
In June, 1747 the regiment marched from Glasgow to Perth, and in
September to Inverness.
The colonel of the regiment, Brigadier-General Price, commanded
a brigade in the Netherlands, and highly distinguished himself
at the battle of Val, on the 2nd of July, 1747; he died at Breda
in November of the same year; when King George II. conferred the
colonelcy on the Honourable William Herbert, fifth son of Thomas,
eighth Earl of Pembroke, from captain and lieutenant-colonel in the
Second Foot Guards.
[Sidenote: 1749]
[Sidenote: 1750]
The regiment remained in Scotland; in 1749 it was stationed at
Fort William; and in 1750 at Glasgow, from whence it marched to
Carlisle and Newcastle.
[Sidenote: 1751]
In 1751 a royal warrant was issued regulating the clothing,
colours, and standards of the several regiments of the army.
In this warrant the first, or King's colour, of the FOURTEENTH
Regiment, is directed to be the great union: the second, or
regimental colour, to be of _buff_ silk, with the union in the
upper canton; in the centre of the colours XIV. in gold Roman
characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.
The uniform of the regiment at this period, was black
three-cornered cocked hats, bound with white lace; scarlet coats
faced with yellow, yellow cuffs and white lace; scarlet waistcoats
and breeches; white gaiters, and white cravats; buff belts, and
buff pouches. The drummers wore buff coats faced with scarlet. The
grenadiers wore cloth caps with the king's cipher and crown in
front; the "_white horse_," with the motto "_Nec aspera terrent_,"
on the flap; and the number of the regiment behind.
In August of this year orders were issued for the regiment to march
to the south of England, and to furnish detachments on the coast of
Sussex, to assist the officers of the revenue in the prevention of
smuggling.
[Sidenote: 1752]
The regiment called in its detachments in the beginning of April,
1752, and marching to Portsmouth, embarked for Gibraltar, where it
was stationed during the following seven years.
[Sidenote: 1753]
Colonel the Honorable William Herbert was removed to the Second
Dragoon Guards in 1753, and was succeeded in the colonelcy
of the FOURTEENTH Regiment by Colonel Edward Braddock, from
lieutenant-colonel in the Second Foot Guards.
[Sidenote: 1755]
In 1755, some disputes occurred between England and France,
respecting the extent of the British dominions in America, and
Major-General Braddock was mortally wounded at Fort du Quesne: he
was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Fowke, governor of Gibraltar,
from the Second Foot, by commission dated the 12th of November,
1755.
[Sidenote: 1756]
War commenced between Great Britain and France in 1756, when a
French armament attacked the island of Minorca, which was captured
in 1708, and ceded to the British crown at the peace of Utrecht in
1713. Lieutenant-General Fowke received orders to send a detachment
from Gibraltar, to reinforce the garrison of Port Mahon; but he
called a council of war, which passed a resolution against sending
the detachment. He was sentenced to be suspended for nine months,
for disobeying the order, and King George II. dismissed him from
the service. His Majesty afterwards conferred the colonelcy
of the FOURTEENTH Regiment on Colonel Charles Jefferies, from
colonel-commandant of the third battalion of the Sixtieth Regiment,
who had distinguished himself in the defence of Port Mahon.
[Sidenote: 1759]
[Sidenote: 1760]
[Sidenote: 1761]
In December, 1759, the regiment was relieved from garrison duty at
Gibraltar, and embarking for England, arrived, in January, 1760, at
Plymouth, from whence it marched to Canterbury, and in the summer
it was encamped, with the Nineteenth and Twenty-first Regiments,
on Barham Downs under Lieutenant-General Campbell. In October the
FOURTEENTH struck their tents, and marched to Dover Castle, where
they remained during the following year.
[Sidenote: 1762]
[Sidenote: 1763]
The regiment marched to Maidstone, and furnished a guard over
French prisoners of war at Sissinghurst in October, 1762; in
December it proceeded to Exeter; from whence it was removed in
March, 1763, to Plymouth.
[Sidenote: 1764]
Leaving Plymouth in March, 1764, the regiment proceeded to the
vicinity of London, and was reviewed on Wimbledon Common: on the
7th of May it was reviewed in Hyde Park by King George III., who
was pleased to express his high approbation of its appearance and
discipline; after the review it marched to Chatham and Dover.
[Sidenote: 1765]
Major-General Jefferies died in May, 1765, and the King conferred
the colonelcy of the regiment on Major-General the Honorable
William Keppel, fourth son of William Anne, second Earl of
Albemarle, from the Fifty-sixth Foot.
At this period, three companies of the regiment were employed on
duty at Windsor and Hampton Court, and their good conduct attracted
the attention of the King, George III., who was always ready to
confer marks of his royal approbation on corps and individuals.
His Majesty made some alterations in the clothing, and directed
the "_white horse_," with the motto "_Nec aspera terrent_," to be
placed on the black bear-skin caps to be worn by the grenadiers,
and on the white caps to be worn by the drummers[3].
[Sidenote: 1766]
Towards the end of May, 1766, the regiment marched into village
quarters near Hounslow Heath, where it was reviewed on the 4th of
June by the King, who was graciously pleased to express his royal
approbation of its appearance and movements in the field. After
the review the regiment marched to Salisbury and adjacents.
[Sidenote: 1771]
In June the regiment embarked at Portsmouth for North America,
and was stationed in Nova Scotia and Canada until 1771, when it
embarked from Halifax for the West Indies, to take part in reducing
to submission to the British government, the refractory Caribbees
in _St. Vincent's_.
[Sidenote: 1772]
[Sidenote: 1773]
The island of St. Vincent's was captured from the French in 1762,
and was ceded to Great Britain at the peace in 1763; it was found
to contain two tribes of natives called the _red_ and _black_
Caribs, the former being the Aborigines, and the latter having
sprung from a cargo of African slaves, who escaped from a vessel
which was wrecked on the island. The Caribbees were devoted
to the French interest; they were dangerous and troublesome
neighbours to the English planters, and it was found necessary to
restrain their conduct, and enforce obedience to a few salutary
regulations. They were, however, of a determined spirit, possessed
many thickly-wooded fastnesses, and so resolutely resisted all
attempts to restrain their roving propensities and mode of life,
that it was found necessary to augment the military force on the
island. The FOURTEENTH Foot were employed against the refractory
Caribbees in 1772 and 1773; numerous skirmishes occurred among the
thickly-wooded parts of the country, and several soldiers were
killed and wounded, in the bush fighting, which took place daily
for some time. At length the Caribbees were reduced to submission:
and the regiment returned to North America, leaving a number of
sick men and others in the West Indies.
[Sidenote: 1774]
[Sidenote: 1775]
The regiment was stationed at Virginia in North America, when the
misunderstanding between Great Britain and these prosperous and
wealthy colonies, produced open hostilities. The spirit which the
colonists evinced in resisting the acts of the British parliament,
for raising a revenue in their country, assumed a serious aspect
in the years 1773 and 1774, and in 1775 hostilities commenced in
the state of Massachusetts. The FOURTEENTH Regiment remained in the
state of Virginia for some time afterwards; it was, consequently,
not at Bunker's Hill; but it lost two promising officers at that
battle, on the 17th of June, 1775, who were attending Major-General
Howe during the engagement: viz., Lieutenant and Adjutant Bruce,
who was killed, and Ensign Hesketh mortally wounded.
On the 18th of October, 1775, the colonelcy of the regiment
was conferred on Major-General Robert Cunninghame, from the
Fifty-eighth Foot, in succession to Lieutenant-General the
Honorable William Keppel, removed to the Twelfth Dragoons.
The regiment was stationed at Norfolk, in Virginia, from whence a
detachment of one hundred and twenty men, under Captain Fordyce,
advanced at midnight on the 8th of December, against the American
entrenchments at _Great Bridge_. At day-break the detachment
crossed the bridge, and the grenadiers moved forward with great
gallantry to storm the works, Lieutenant Batut being at the head
of the leading section; but as they approached the entrenchments,
a body of Americans, of very superior numbers, assailed them with
a destructive fire of musketry: Captain Fordyce and twelve men
were killed within a few yards of the breast-work; Lieutenant
Batut and sixteen soldiers were wounded and taken prisoners, and
the remainder of the detachment retreated across the bridge to a
British fort, garrisoned by a detachment under Captain Leslie. The
Americans buried Captain Fordyce with military honors.
[Sidenote: 1776]
The American troops afterwards increased in numbers so fast, that
the royal forces were withdrawn from Virginia, and the FOURTEENTH
Foot proceeded to the army under General Sir William Howe, at New
York, where they were joined by a detachment which had been left at
Nova Scotia on the embarkation of the regiment for the West Indies.
After arriving at New York, part of the regiment was stationed
on Staten Island, and the remainder was employed in the general
operations of the army.
[Sidenote: 1777]
The regiment had sustained a serious loss at St. Vincent's, and
being weak in numbers, it was directed to draft the private
soldiers fit for duty to other corps, and return to England, where
it arrived in the summer of 1777, and active measures were adopted
to recruit its ranks.
[Sidenote: 1778]
[Sidenote: 1779]
During the year 1778 the regiment was stationed in the south
of England; and in the summer of 1779 it pitched its tents on
Coxheath, where a camp was formed of the Sixth, FOURTEENTH,
Fiftieth, Sixty-fifth, and Sixty-ninth Regiments, with sixteen
battalions of militia, under Lieutenant-General Pierson.
[Sidenote: 1780]
[Sidenote: 1781]
The regiment marched to Gosport in 1780, and pitched its tents at
Stokes-bay, furnishing working parties at Fort Monkton, and a guard
over the French, Spanish, and American prisoners of war, at Forton
prison. In July the regiment embarked as marines on board the
Channel fleet commanded by Admiral Darby, who, in 1781, relieved
Gibraltar, which fortress was besieged by a combined French and
Spanish force.
[Sidenote: 1782]
Having completed its recruiting, and attained a state of
efficiency, the regiment embarked from Portsmouth, in January,
1782, for Jamaica; it was on board of transports in the harbour of
St. Lucia, during Admiral Rodney's engagement with the French fleet
under Count de Grasse, on the 12th of April, and afterwards mounted
guard over the Count, when a prisoner on that island.
The regiment proceeded to Jamaica, and was formed to receive Prince
William Henry, (afterwards King William IV.,) then a midshipman,
on his landing at Spanish Town, and mounted guard at his quarters
during his stay on the island.
Soon after its arrival at Jamaica, the regiment received orders,
dated the 31st of August, 1782, to assume the title of the
"FOURTEENTH, OR BEDFORDSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT," and to cultivate a
connection with that county, so as to create a mutual attachment
between the inhabitants of Bedfordshire and the regiment, which
might, at all times, be useful towards recruiting the corps.
[Sidenote: 1787]
On the 4th of April, 1787, Lieutenant-General Robert Cunninghame
was removed to the Fifth Royal Irish Dragoons, and was succeeded in
the colonelcy of the FOURTEENTH Foot, by Lieutenant-General John
Douglas, who had commanded the Twenty-first Light Dragoons, which
corps was disbanded in 1783.
[Sidenote: 1788]
The FOURTEENTH Regiment attended the funeral of the Honorable
Captain Chetwynd, of His Majesty's ship "Europa," in November,
1788, at which the Governor of Jamaica,--His Royal Highness Prince
William Henry (then a captain of the Royal Navy),--the officers of
the squadron, and a number of gentlemen in carriages, were present.
The regiment marched at the head of the procession in funeral
order, the band playing the Dead March; and the remains of this
distinguished officer were interred in the chancel of the church at
Spanish Town.
[Sidenote: 1789]
Lieutenant-General Douglas having been removed to the Fifth Dragoon
Guards, His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the FOURTEENTH Foot
on Colonel George Earl Waldegrave, by commission, dated the 27th
of August, 1789. Earl Waldegrave died about six weeks after his
appointment, and was succeeded by Colonel George Hotham, from
captain and lieutenant-colonel of the First Foot Guards.
[Sidenote: 1791]
[Sidenote: 1792]
Having been relieved from duty at Jamaica, the regiment embarked on
board of His Majesty's ship Dover, of forty-four guns, on the 9th
of April, 1791, and landed at Portsmouth on the 10th of June. In
the autumn it marched to Chatham, and afterwards to Canterbury; and
on Friday, the 21st of November, it received their Royal Highnesses
the Duke and Duchess of York, at Dover, on their arrival from the
Continent; the Duke of York having married, a few weeks previously,
Frederica Charlotte Ulrica, Princess Royal of Prussia.
[Sidenote: 1793]
Early in 1792 the regiment returned to Chatham, and was brigaded
with the Third Foot (the Buffs) under the command of Colonel Fox;
in June the two regiments encamped on Bagshot-heath, with several
other corps, under the command of the Duke of Richmond: at this
camp the regiment remained three weeks; it was reviewed several
times by His Majesty, and afterwards returned to Chatham, where it
remained several months.
In the meantime a revolution had taken place in France, where a
republican party had seized the reins of government, beheaded their
sovereign, and involved the country in anarchy and bloodshed. Not
content with carrying the horrors of democracy into every part of
France, the republicans endeavoured to propagate their doctrines
in all countries, and to overturn the constitution of every
monarchy in Europe. Under these circumstances, the British people
became involved in war for the defence of the fixed rights of
their sovereign, the preservation of their own civil and religious
liberties, and of their honor as a nation.
The FOURTEENTH Regiment was one of the first corps completed to a
war establishment, under the zealous and judicious arrangements of
its excellent commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel WELBORE ELLIS
DOYLE, who assumed the command on the arrival of the regiment from
Jamaica in 1791; it was also one of the corps selected for foreign
service at the commencement of the war; and embarking at Dover, on
the 19th March, 1793, for Holland, to aid the Dutch in repelling
an attack of the French, it landed at Helvoetsluys, in the island
of Voorn, on the 25th of March, being the first regiment of the
line which arrived at the scene of war. The success of the allied
arms had removed the theatre of war from Holland to the confines
of French Flanders; and the FOURTEENTH Regiment, commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel Doyle, proceeded to Briel, where it embarked
for Antwerp, whence it marched to Ghent, and was removed in canal
boats to Bruges, where it halted a few days. From Bruges it marched
to Tournay, where it arrived towards the end of April; and the
flank companies, with those of the Thirty-seventh and Fifty-third
Regiments, were placed under the orders of Major Mathews, of the
Fifty-third, and detached to Marquain, to watch the motions of the
enemy, in which service they were employed until the 20th of May.
The Duke of York assumed the command of the British and Hanoverian
troops in Flanders, and co-operated with the Austrians under
the Prince of Saxe-Cobourg. On the 23rd of May the FOURTEENTH
Regiment was engaged in the attack of the enemy's fortified
camp at _Famars_, and evinced great gallantry. Being composed
principally of young soldiers, they rushed up the heights with
great impetuosity to attack the enemy, but did not preserve
sufficient order; Lieut.-Colonel Doyle galloped to the front,
halted, and reformed the ranks, then bid the band play the tune
"_ça ira_," and using a few encouraging expressions to the men, led
them to the attack, when they rushed in compact order upon their
opponents, and overpowered all opposition[4]. The French retreated
across the Scheldt, and the allied army invested the fortress of
Valenciennes. Lieutenant Charles W. Doyle, who performed the duty
of brigade-major, was thanked for his conduct.
The loss of the regiment was limited to two serjeants and seven
rank and file wounded; the Duke of York expressed his approbation
of its conduct in orders.
The FOURTEENTH Regiment was employed at the siege of
_Valenciennes_, under the Duke of York, and on the 25th of July,
it furnished a detachment to take part in storming the horn-work.
Lieut.-Colonel Doyle being appointed to the command of one of
the attacking columns, obtained permission to place at the head
of his party, one hundred volunteers of the FOURTEENTH Regiment,
and having assembled the corps, he said, "Soldiers, one hundred
volunteers from among you are to lead the column that I am to
command _upon a service of the greatest danger_; I have thought
it right to state this before I call upon you; such of you as
volunteer this dangerous enterprise, recover arms:" when every
man brought his musket to the "_recover_." The colonel was much
affected by this display of devotion, and said, "Soldiers, I thank
you from my heart; where all are equally desirous of facing the
greatest danger, I cannot look, or wish, for volunteers. Officers,
call out the first ten men for duty in each company."
On the 26th of July the following general order was issued.--
"His Royal Highness the Commander-in-chief returns his thanks to
Major-General Abercrombie, Colonel Leigh, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Doyle, for the gallantry they showed on the attack last night."
Haying been constantly exposed to the cannon of the town for seven
weeks, the men had acquired great steadiness under fire, the attack
was made with signal intrepidity and resolution, and the out-works
were carried in gallant style.
The regiment had one serjeant and three rank and file killed; one
officer, one serjeant, and fourteen rank and file wounded; the
flank companies also lost seven men.
Three days afterwards the garrison capitulated, and this important
fortress was delivered up to the Duke of York.
After the surrender of Valenciennes the British troops marched
towards Cambray, and they subsequently separated from the
Austrians, taking with them a few Imperial regiments, for the
purpose of undertaking the siege of Dunkirk. On arriving at Menin,
it was ascertained that the French had driven the Dutch from
_Lincelles_; that post was recaptured by the British Foot Guards
under Major-General Lake, on the 18th of August. The FOURTEENTH
Regiment was one of the corps ordered to support the Foot Guards,
and was left in possession of the village, after its capture, until
that post was restored to the Dutch.