expedition against the island of _St. Vincent_, and a landing was
effected on the 8th of June: the Caribs having surrendered, the
French troops retired, in a body, to the strong fort of La Vigie.
It having been ascertained that the fort was badly provisioned,
and worse provided with water, it was clear that the garrison
could not hold out many days; and the Commander-in-Chief shortly
received information that they intended to effect an escape, by
night, by descending along the course of a deep ravine, which led
from the town through high and inaccessible rocks. A party of the
FOURTEENTH, consisting of three officers, and one hundred men, was
ordered out to occupy the pass:--they took up a position in the
bed of the river, behind some large stones, over which the men
rested their bayonets. The darkness of the night, and the position
between the woods, precluded the possibility of seeing anything,
and the rushing of the water prevented anything from being heard.
The first intimation that the party in ambuscade received of the
enemy's approach, was the fact of their actually pressing upon
their bayonets. Immediately a desultory firing took place, which
ceased only when the enemy were supposed to have retreated. When
daylight broke, a horrid spectacle of killed and wounded presented
itself. Such of the garrison as succeeded in returning to La
Vigie surrendered the next day. Captain Powell, who commanded,
Lieutenants Gibson and Beavan, and the whole party, received the
thanks of Sir Ralph Abercromby.
These captures having been accomplished, the FOURTEENTH Regiment
returned to Barbadoes, where it was stationed during the remainder
of the year.
[Sidenote: 1797]
Spain having united with France in the war against Great Britain,
orders were issued to attack the Spanish possessions in the West
Indies, and in the early part of February, 1797, the FOURTEENTH
Regiment proceeded to Cariacou, where an expedition was assembled
to attack the island of _Trinidad_. On the morning of the 15th of
February the fleet sailed on the enterprise, and as it anchored
near the shores of Trinidad, the Spaniards became conscious of
their inability to resist, and set fire to their naval force in
the harbour. The troops landed on the 17th of February, and the
Spaniards immediately surrendered, delivering up the island.
From Trinidad the regiment proceed to Martinique, where it was
stationed several weeks.
Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby assembled a small force,
in the beginning of April, for the attack of the Spanish island of
_Porto Rico_, and the FOURTEENTH were withdrawn from Martinique to
take part in the enterprise. The fleet entered a narrow channel
three leagues eastward of the town, and the troops landed on the
18th of April; but met with great opposition by a heavy fire of
musketry from the Spaniards, who were lodged behind a breastwork
on the beach. The FOURTEENTH were in flat-bottomed boats, pulled by
the Lascars of the Indiamen in which they had been conveyed. The
impetuosity of the men could not bear delay; but, leaping out of
the boats, and wading ashore, they soon drove the enemy from their
position, at the point of the bayonet. Lieutenant-Colonel Burnett
was ordered to pursue, with all possible speed, to endeavour to get
possession of the bridge which led over the river between the town
and the beach. So closely were the enemy pursued by the FOURTEENTH,
and particularly by the _Light Company_, that many threw away their
arms and accoutrements, and fairly ran for it: they succeeded in
gaining the bridge; and, as soon as the men of the FOURTEENTH
approached the tête-de-pont, the Spaniards blew up the bridge at
the moment when many of their own people were crossing it. The
destruction of the bridge obliged the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Ralph
Abercromby, to change his plan, which had, originally, been to
take the town by a coup-de-main. The next day, therefore, the army
began to erect batteries. The second day after their completion,
the enemy kept up such an incessant fire, that they succeeded in
dismounting two of the guns of one of the batteries, and otherwise
seriously injuring the works. A strong party was, therefore,
ordered out at night to repair the damage: this party consisted
of three hundred and fifty men, under the command of Captain
Powell, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel and Major of the regiment,
of which number one hundred and fifty were to be employed in the
trenches, and two hundred were placed at some distance from the
battery to act as a covering party. The same night Major Ronald
Hamilton, of the FOURTEENTH, made an attempt to ford the river,
with a view of ascertaining if it were fordable for infantry; but,
being discovered, he was fired upon by an advanced sentry. This
creating some alarm, caused an irregular fire of musketry to be
carried on all night. Under cover of this, and of the darkness, a
party of five hundred Spaniards contrived to cross the river higher
up, and then descending along its edge, secreted themselves among
the brushwood between the river and the battery. At dawn of day a
serjeant and twelve men of the FOURTEENTH, who had been on piquet
in the bushes, were called in, and, at the very same moment, as if
by magic, the whole party of Spaniards rushed, in one dense mass,
into the battery.
Sir Ralph Abercromby, Colonel Hope, the Adjutant-General,
(afterwards Lord Niddry) Colonel Maitland, with the whole staff
of the Commander-in-Chief, had arrived, about an hour before, to
inspect the work, and were at the moment in the battery. The sudden
inrush of the Spaniards created surprise; and the increased number
of persons thus in the battery produced great confusion. The only
British who had arms were the twelve men from the piquet; but
all the Spaniards were provided with bayonets, or short swords,
evidently intended for the butchery of the whole working party.
For a short time it seemed as if they were to be utterly at the
mercy of the enemy; but, soon recovering themselves, they fell to
work with good will with shovels, pickaxes, and other implements
of labour, and that with such terrible effect, that every Spaniard
was either killed, or taken prisoner, before the covering party
could arrive to assist their comrades. The working party had five
men killed, and seventeen wounded. Captain Powell, and Lieutenants
Gibson and Wren, received thanks in general orders[13].
From Porto Rico the regiment again proceeded to Martinique, where
it was stationed upwards of three years.
[Sidenote: 1800]
Towards the end of the year 1800, the regiment relieved the
Seventieth Foot at Trinidad.
[Sidenote: 1802]
[Sidenote: 1803]
On the conclusion of the treaty of Amiens in 1802, Great Britain
gave up the captured possessions of France, Spain, and Holland. The
FOURTEENTH were relieved from duty in the West Indies in April,
1803, and returning to England, landed at Gosport, from whence they
marched to Winchester, under Captain Graves, who had performed the
duty of commanding officer nearly twelve months.
Previously to the arrival of the regiment in England, the short
respite from the horrors of war, granted by the treaty of Amiens,
had terminated; the ambitious designs of Bonaparte, First Consul of
France, had involved Great Britain in another contest, and orders
had been issued for augmenting the regular army. Every effort was
made to complete the establishment of the FOURTEENTH Foot, which
was attended with great success, and when Bonaparte assembled an
army for the invasion of England, the regiment marched to Silver
Hill Barracks, and afterwards to Winchelsea, where it was held in
readiness to repel the legions of France, had they ventured to
land on the British coast. At this momentous period the measures
of the government were nobly seconded by the people; a patriotic
enthusiasm pervaded the country; and the attitude the nation
assumed, with the strength and energy it evinced, while breathing
defiance to the gigantic military power by which it was menaced,
left no room for doubt respecting the result of the contest had
the French army attempted to carry into effect the threats of its
leader.
[Sidenote: 1804]
In 1804 the French army remained inactive at Boulogne, and Great
Britain preserved an attitude of defence. In the autumn of this
year a _second battalion_ was added to the FOURTEENTH Regiment.
[Sidenote: 1805]
The first battalion remained on the Sussex coast in readiness for
active service whenever it might be required. In the mean time
the French nation had conferred on its First Consul, Bonaparte,
the dignity of Emperor, and he was also crowned King of Italy. In
the autumn Napoleon reviewed his army at Boulogne, and afterwards
marched against the forces of Russia and Austria, to crush the
coalition forming against his interests in Germany. At this period
the French troops were withdrawn from Hanover, which country
they seized on resuming hostilities in 1803. Towards the end of
October, the first battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment embarked
for Hanover, where a body of British troops was assembled under
Lieutenant-General Lord Cathcart. The defeat of the Austrians
and Russians at Austerlitz, established the preponderance of the
French power on the continent for a short period, and in the treaty
concluded at Vienna soon afterwards, it was stipulated that Hanover
should be occupied by the Prussians. Under these circumstances the
troops under Lord Cathcart returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1806]
The first battalion landed from Hanover in February, 1806, and was
quartered in Kent.
On the decease of General Hotham, King George III. conferred the
colonelcy of the regiment on Major-General Sir Harry Calvert, from
the Fifth West India Regiment, by commission dated the 8th of
February, 1806.
In this year the second battalion proceeded to Ireland.
The first battalion was encamped at Shorncliffe, where it was
formed in brigade with the Ninth and Ninety-first Foot, under
Major-General Rowland Hill, (afterwards General Lord Hill); this
brigade was reviewed with the Forty-third Regiment by His Royal
Highness the Duke of York, who expressed his high approbation of
the appearance and discipline of the several corps. In December the
first battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment proceeded to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1807]
After remaining in Ireland five months the first battalion returned
to England, and in June, 1807, it embarked under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel James Watson, for the East Indies, where it
arrived in November of the same year, and landed at Fort St.
George, Madras.
[Sidenote: 1808]
The influence of French councils at the court of Denmark, had
involved that country in hostilities with Great Britain, and
in the beginning of 1808 the first battalion of the FOURTEENTH
Regiment sailed from Madras with the expedition against the Danish
settlement of _Tranquebar_, situate at one of the mouths of the
Caveri river, in the Carnatic, which surrendered to the British
arms on the 8th of February, when Lieutenant Colonel Watson, with
the head quarters, returned to Madras, and shortly afterwards to
Bengal.
[Sidenote: 1809]
In the mean time important events had occurred in Europe, which
called the second battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment into active
service. After reducing Germany to submission to his will, and
forcing Russia to accede to his decrees, Napoleon was prompted
by his restless ambition to attempt the subjugation of Spain and
Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese rose in arms to assert
their national rights, and in the summer of 1808 Portugal was
delivered by a British army under Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley. In the autumn Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore received
orders to advance with a body of British troops from Portugal,
into the heart of Spain, at the same time several regiments were
sent from the United Kingdom to co-operate in this enterprise.
The second battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment, commanded
by Lieutenant-Colonel Jasper Nicolls, embarked from Cork for
Spain, and landed at Corunna, forming part of the force under
Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird. Advancing up the country, the
British troops encountered many difficulties and privations, and
the Spanish armies, with which they were directed to co-operate,
were defeated and dispersed by the legions of Napoleon, who had
three hundred thousand men in Spain. To confront this host of
veterans, the British general had not twenty-five thousand men;
yet, with that intrepidity for which he was always distinguished,
he advanced and menaced the enemy's lines. Sir David Baird's
division joined the troops under Sir John Moore on the 20th of
December, at Majorga, from whence the army advanced to Sahagun,
and preparations were made for attacking the French troops under
Marshal Soult; but information being received that Napoleon was
advancing at the head of an overwhelming force, the army retreated
towards the coast. In this retrograde movement of two hundred
and fifty miles, along roads covered with snow, over rivers and
mountains, and along narrow defiles, the troops endured privation
and suffering of various kinds; but the ability of their commander
was conspicuous, and the army arrived, unbroken, at _Corunna_, in
January, 1809. The soldiers obtained shelter, food, and repose in
the town and neighbouring villages, and their wasted strength was
recruited while they waited the arrival of shipping to transport
them to England.
The French army under Marshal Soult approaching, the British troops
formed for battle on a range of heights in front of Corunna; the
FOURTEENTH were formed in brigade with the Second, Fifth, and
Thirty-second Regiments, under Major-General (afterwards Lord)
Hill, and were posted towards the left of the position. On the
16th of January the French troops descended the mountains and
attacked the British position in three columns; the first column
carried the village of Elvina; then dividing, attempted to turn
the right of Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird's division by
the valley, and to break its front; the second column advanced
against the British centre, and the third attacked the left at the
village of Palavia Abaxo. The furious onsets of the enemy were
met and repulsed with a firmness and determination which proved
the unconquerable spirit and excellent discipline of the British
troops. The enemy finding his efforts unavailing on the right and
centre, determined to render the attack on the left more serious,
and succeeded in obtaining possession of Palavia Abaxo, the
village through which the great road to Madrid passes, and which
was situate in front of that part of the line; from this post the
French were, however, soon expelled, by a very gallant attack of
some companies of the second battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment,
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls[14]. The enemy was repulsed
at all points, and the lustre of the British arms shone with
peculiar brilliance amidst the most disadvantageous circumstances;
but the army sustained the loss of its gallant commander,
Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, who was mortally wounded during
the engagement.
Having defeated a French army of superior numbers, the British
troops withdrew on board the fleet. Major-General Hill's brigade
took up a position near the ramparts, leaving the piquets to keep
up the bivouac fires, to cover the embarkation, which was completed
with little loss, and the army returned to England.
The distinguished conduct of the FOURTEENTH Foot was afterwards
rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word "CORUNNA" on the
colours of the regiment.
The second battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment landed at
Portsmouth and Plymouth, from whence it proceeded to Buckingham;
and while stationed at that place, the county title of the regiment
was changed from "BEDFORDSHIRE" to "BUCKINGHAMSHIRE."
In the summer of this year a very powerful armament was fitted out
and placed under the orders of General the Earl of Chatham, for
an attack on Holland, and the second battalion of the FOURTEENTH
Regiment marched from Buckingham to Portsmouth, where it embarked
on this enterprise under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls.
In the beginning of August it landed on the island of _Walcheren_,
situate in the German Ocean, near the mouth of the Scheldt, and
was employed in the siege of _Flushing_, the principal port on
the island. During the progress of the siege, the FOURTEENTH
evinced the same ardour and contempt of danger for which they
were distinguished at the battle of Corunna. On the evening of
the 12th of August they were directed to storm one of the Dutch
entrenchments in front of the position occupied by the troops under
Major-General Graham, and a detachment of the King's German Legion
co-operated in the attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls led the
FOURTEENTH to the assault with great gallantry, and the soldiers
rushed forward with so much spirit and resolution that they carried
the entrenchments in a few minutes, capturing one gun and thirteen
prisoners, and establishing a lodgment within musket-shot of the
walls of the town. This was accomplished with the loss of Ensign C.
Harold, and one private soldier, killed; four rank and file wounded.
On the following day the line of battle ships cannonaded the
town, which was soon in flames, presenting an awful scene of
destruction; in the evening one of the batteries was stormed
by the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-first, and light battalion of the
King's German Legion, and on the morning of the 15th of August the
garrison surrendered.
The FOURTEENTH were thanked in general orders for their
distinguished conduct.
Embarking from Flushing, the battalion was prepared to sail up the
river Scheldt for an attack on Antwerp; but the delays which took
place, gave the enemy time to prepare additional means of defence,
and an epidemic disease of a fatal character breaking out among the
troops, the enterprise was abandoned, and the FOURTEENTH returned
to England, and were quartered at Steyning.
The unhealthy climate of Walcheren produced a serious loss of
life among the troops left on that island, and the soldiers of
the FOURTEENTH having recovered from the effects of the epidemic,
embarked a second time for that station; they formed part of the
covering brigade when the stores, sick soldiers, &c., were removed,
on the final evacuation of that island.
[Sidenote: 1810]
In March, 1810, the second battalion embarked for Malta, but on
arriving at Gibraltar, it was ordered to land at that fortress,
and two companies, under Captain Everard and Captain Ramsay, were
detached to _Tariffa_, for the defence of that town against the
French: the two companies returned to Gibraltar in June, and the
battalion continued its voyage to Malta, where it arrived on the
23rd of that month.
In the autumn of this year the first battalion was withdrawn from
Bengal, to take part in the reduction of the _Isle of France_,
or the _Mauritius_, an important island belonging to France, and
situate in the Indian sea. The battalion sailed to Rodriguez, which
was the appointed rendezvous of the expedition, and on the 28th of
November the fleet came in sight of the Isle of France. The troops
landed in the bay of Mapou, and advanced through a thick wood,
skirmishing occasionally with the French. On diverging into the
open country, the British marched direct upon Port Louis, but the
soldiers suffering much from the want of water, the army halted
at the streams at the powder mills, five miles from the town.
Resuming the march on the following day, the troops were opposed
by the enemy in force, when some sharp fighting occurred, in which
the British soldiers were triumphant. The FOURTEENTH had one man
killed, and two wounded, on this occasion.
Having overcome all opposition, the British continued their march,
and took post in front of the enemy's lines before the town. On
the following morning the governor, General de Caen, agreed to
surrender the place to the British troops, under Major-General John
Abercromby. This valuable island was thus added to the possessions
of the British crown, and the FOURTEENTH were thanked in orders for
their conduct on this service.
After the capture of the Isle of France, the first battalion of the
FOURTEENTH Regiment proceeded to Madras, where it was stationed
several weeks.
[Sidenote: 1811]
In January, 1811, the flank companies of the second battalion
proceeded from Malta, to the island of Sicily, under the orders of
Captain Ramsay and Captain Light, to serve under Major-General Lord
William Bentinck.
After the capture of the Isle of France, the British government
resolved to complete its dominion in the East, by the conquest
of the island of _Java_, of which the Dutch had held undisturbed
possession for more than one hundred years. The extent of the
island,--six hundred and forty miles long, and about a hundred
broad; the luxuriant and fertile character of the soil, the
mountain districts yielding the vegetables and grain of Europe, and
the plains the delicious fruits and other valuable productions of
the East in abundance, without the necessity of laborious tillage,
and to so great an extent as to occasion it to be sometimes
called the granary of the East; rendered the island of Java a
valuable acquisition to the United Provinces, and its principal
city, Batavia, was the capital of the Dutch settlements in the
East Indies. Holland having become a part of that empire which
Napoleon was forming to prepare the way for universal dominion,
it became necessary to deprive the Dutch of the large and fertile
island of Java, and a body of troops was placed under the orders
of Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty for that purpose. In
this enterprise the first battalion of the FOURTEENTH Regiment
was employed, and the greater part of the officers and men were
re-embarked in March on board of the men-of-war ordered to cruise
off the island, in which service they had various opportunities of
distinguishing themselves, in destroying gun-boats, and in other
enterprises on the coast. On one occasion Lieutenant Gillman, who
commanded a party on board the boats of His Majesty's ship "Sir
Francis Drake," was killed. The conduct of a detachment under
Lieutenant J. H. Heyland, embarked in the sloop "Procris," engaged
in the boarding of some of the enemy's gun-boats, was highly
commended in the public despatch of Captain Maunsell, R.N.
Detachments consisting of the FOURTEENTH and Eighty-ninth
Regiments, Royal Marines, and seamen, were landed from His
Majesty's ship "Minden," near Bantam, on the coast of Java, and, in
two contests, defeated five hundred of the enemy's chosen troops,
which had been sent to Batavia to attack them. Captain Watson,
Lieutenants Rochfort, McLean, and L'Estrange, and Ensign Jennings,
of the FOURTEENTH, and Lieutenant Dunscombe of the Eighty-ninth,
particularly distinguished themselves on these occasions.
The head-quarters sailed from Madras on the 18th of April, 1811,
and landed on the 4th of August, at the village of Chillingching,
about twelve miles east of _Batavia_, towards which city the army
directed its march. The French and Dutch troops set fire to the
magazines in Batavia, and abandoned the city, which was taken
possession of by the British.
On the 10th of August the British advanced from Batavia, and found
three thousand select men of the Gallo-Batavian troops in a strong
position, defended by _abattis_ behind _Weltefreden_; and this post
was stormed and carried at the point of the bayonet, many of the
enemy being killed, and the remainder retreating to the entrenched
position at _Cornelis_, between the great river Jacatra, and the
deep aqueduct of Slaken. The conduct of Captain Stannus commanding
the light infantry company of the FOURTEENTH, and of Lieutenant
Coghlan, commanding the rifle company, was highly commended in
Colonel Gillespie's report of this action. The regiment had Ensign
Nickisson and three rank and file wounded.
In the strong position of _Cornelis_ more than ten thousand
Gallo-Batavian troops were assembled, and they were greatly
superior in numbers to the British force. This formidable position
was, however, stormed on the 26th of August, and the invincible
prowess of the assailants overcame all opposition; the British were
triumphant at every point; nearly two thousand of the enemy were
killed, and about five thousand prisoners were taken, including
three general officers. The remainder of the enemy dispersed,
excepting a few men, who accompanied the Gallo-Batavian commander,
General Jansens, in his flight. The FOURTEENTH distinguished
themselves on this occasion, and the conduct of their commanding
officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Watson, was commended in the official
account of the action given by Colonel Gillespie.