on the evening of the 15th of that month fell in with the enemy
posted on some strong heights near the town of _Garris_; after
halting a few minutes to observe him, an order was received from
the Marquis of Wellington “_to take the hill before dark_,”
when the first battalions of the Twenty-eighth and THIRTY-NINTH
regiments, composing Major-General William Henry Pringle’s brigade,
were instantly put in motion, and after crossing a deep ravine,
steadily and briskly ascended the hill in contiguous close columns.
The Twenty-eighth meeting with some little delay in the ascent,
Major-General Pringle left them, and put himself at the head of the
THIRTY-NINTH, who gained the summit under the continued fire of
the enemy without returning a single shot. The French retired from
the brow of the hill, and the battalion, wheeling to the right,
continued to drive them along the ridge until it reached a spot
where their principal force appeared to be concentrated: here they
made an obstinate resistance. The other brigades of the division
not being so soon in motion, and having a greater distance to
proceed to their points of attack, did not gain the heights for
some time, and the Twenty-eighth having proceeded in a different
direction, the THIRTY-NINTH had to sustain, in this place, the
whole efforts of the enemy for about twenty minutes. During this
time the French made three attempts to drive the battalion from the
position it had gained, and repeated instances occurred of personal
conflict, and bayonets crossing: the battalion, however, maintained
its ground, and charging in its turn, the enemy was eventually
forced to retire in confusion with the loss of several prisoners.
On the following morning Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir William
Stewart, K.B., who commanded the division, assembled the officers
in front of the battalion, and expressed to them his high
satisfaction at the gallant conduct of the corps on the preceding
evening; and at the same time offered to recommend to the notice of
the Marquis of Wellington any officer or non-commissioned officer
that Colonel the Honorable Robert William O’Callaghan might point
out: upon which Captain Duncan Campbell was recommended for the
brevet rank of Major, which he obtained on the 3rd of the following
month.
The battalion had also the proud satisfaction of being mentioned by
the Marquis of Wellington, who was an eye-witness of its conduct,
as having particularly distinguished itself on this occasion. In
his Lordship’s despatch of the 20th of February, it was stated,
“Much of the day had elapsed before the attack could be commenced,
and the action lasted till after dark, the enemy having made
repeated attempts to regain the position, _particularly in two
attacks, which were most gallantly received and repulsed by the_
THIRTY-NINTH _regiment under the command of the Honorable Colonel
O’Callaghan_, in Major-General Pringle’s brigade. The Major-General
and Lieut.-Colonel Bruce, of the THIRTY-NINTH, were unfortunately
wounded. We took ten officers and about two hundred prisoners.”
In addition to Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Charles Bruce, who was
severely wounded, the battalion had two serjeants and eleven rank
and file killed; one serjeant and twenty-eight rank and file were
wounded.
The battalion moved forward without interruption until its arrival
in the neighbourhood of _Orthes_ on the 25th, and was present at
the battle there of the 27th of February; but the division being
employed in turning the enemy’s left, the THIRTY-NINTH did not
suffer any loss. Brevet-Major George D’Arcy, who commanded the
battalion on that day, was presented with a medal for the battle of
Orthes.
The royal authority was subsequently granted for the THIRTY-NINTH
to bear the word “ORTHES” on the regimental colour and appointments.
The battalion moved forward on the road to Toulouse, and on the
18th of March fell in with the rear-guard of the enemy, near the
village of _Castillon_, which was driven in. On this occasion
Lieutenant Charles Cox was wounded.
The THIRTY-NINTH having arrived in the neighbourhood of Toulouse,
nothing particular occurred until the battle of _Toulouse_ on the
10th of April, when the operations of the division being confined
to the left bank of the Garonne, the battalion was only occupied
in driving in the enemy’s outposts, and taking some field-works
which had been thrown up to defend the entrance to the town. In
accomplishing this, Captain Samuel Thorpe, one serjeant, and a few
men were wounded.
During the night of the 11th of April the French troops evacuated
Toulouse, and a white flag was hoisted. On the following day the
Marquis of Wellington entered the city amidst the acclamations of
the inhabitants. In the course of the afternoon of the 12th of
April intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon;
and had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French
police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been
prevented.
A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much
unnecessary bloodshed at _Bayonne_, the garrison of which made
a desperate _sortie_ on the 14th of April, when Lieut.-General
Sir John Hope (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun) was taken prisoner,
Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was
wounded. This was the last action of the Peninsular war.
A treaty of peace was established between Great Britain and France;
Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne of France, and Napoleon
Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty of that
island having been conceded to him by the Allied Powers.
In addition to the other distinctions acquired during the war in
Spain, Portugal, and the south of France, the THIRTY-NINTH received
the royal authority to bear the word “PENINSULA” on the regimental
colour and appointments.
Shortly after the termination of the war in Europe, the first
battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH was ordered to proceed to North
America in consequence of the hostilities between Great Britain and
the United States. The battalion accordingly marched to Bourdeaux
under the command of Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Charles Bruce, and
embarked for Canada on the 8th of June.
While the battalion was on its voyage to North America, the Duke of
Wellington, prior to the breaking up of the Peninsular army, issued
the following General Order:--
“_Bourdeaux, 14th June 1814_.
“GENERAL ORDER.
“The Commander of the Forces, being upon the point of returning
to England, again takes this opportunity of congratulating the
army upon the recent events which have restored peace to their
country and to the world.
“The share which the British army have had in producing those
events, and the high character with which the army will quit
this country, must be equally satisfactory to every individual
belonging to it, as they are to the Commander of the Forces, and
he trusts that the troops will continue the same good conduct to
the last.
“The Commander of the Forces once more requests the army to
accept his thanks.
“Although circumstances may alter the relations in which he has
stood towards them for some years so much to his satisfaction, he
assures them he will never cease to feel the warmest interest in
their welfare and honor, and that he will be at all times happy
to be of any service to those to whose conduct, discipline, and
gallantry their country is so much indebted.”
The first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment arrived at Quebec
on the 5th of August, and marched from thence to Chambly.
After the arrival of the reinforcements from Europe, the
Governor-General of Canada, Lieut.-General Sir George Prevost,
Bart., assembled all the disposable forces in the lower province
for an attack upon the state of New York. On the 2nd of September
the first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH, with the other corps
employed on this service, proceeded towards the United States to
co-operate with the naval force on Lake Champlain. As the troops
approached the line of separation, the Americans abandoned their
entrenched camp on the river Chazy, and this post was occupied by
the British on the 3rd of September.
The first battalion remained at Chazy to keep up the communication,
having sent forward the light company to _Plattsburg_, a fortified
place on Lake Champlain; two officers and sixty men of the
THIRTY-NINTH were detached on board the fleet to act as marines.
The attack was made on the morning of the 11th of September; but
the defeat of the British naval force on the lake rendered it
necessary to abandon the enterprise, as the most complete success
on shore would have proved unavailing after the loss of the
shipping. The troops accordingly retired to Lower Canada.
[Sidenote: 1815. 1st Batt.]
After the failure of these operations the first battalion
returned to Chambly, where it remained until the 27th of May
1815, and then proceeded to embark at Quebec under the command
of Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Lindesay, its services being
again required in Europe in consequence of the return of Napoleon
Bonaparte to France, who resumed his former title of Emperor of the
French, but which assumption the Allied Powers refused to recognise.
The first battalion sailed from the river St. Lawrence on the 12th
of June, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 15th of July. Meanwhile
the destiny of France had been decided on the field of Waterloo,
and Louis XVIII. had been again restored to the throne. The
battalion proceeded on the 18th of July for Ostend, disembarked
on the 21st, and immediately marched to join the British army
at Paris. On the 26th of August it was reinforced by a strong
detachment from the second battalion under Lieut.-Colonel Cavendish
Sturt, who assumed the command.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
In April 1815 the second battalion was removed from Weymouth
to Winchester Barracks, and, after having transferred all the
effective men to the first battalion, was disbanded at the latter
place on the 24th of December following.
The regiment remained near Paris until the Army of Occupation
was formed, and on the 27th of December 1815 marched to take up
the cantonments appointed for it in the Pas-de-Calais, between
the towns of Arras and St. Pol, moving annually to the camps of
St. Omer and Valenciennes until the breaking up of the Army of
Occupation in 1818.
[Sidenote: 1818.]
On the 30th of October 1818, the regiment embarked at Calais,
disembarked at Dover on the 31st, and marched to Portsmouth, where
it arrived on the 11th of November. The THIRTY-NINTH regiment
embarked for Ireland on the 17th of December following, arrived at
Cork on the 24th, and disembarked on the 26th of that month.
[Sidenote: 1819.]
The regiment proceeded on its route for Castlebar in the county of
Mayo, where it arrived on the 7th of January 1819.
[Sidenote: 1820.]
The THIRTY-NINTH marched from Castlebar to Dublin in August 1820,
and arrived at its destination on the 17th of that month.
[Sidenote: 1821.]
In March 1821, the regiment was removed from Dublin to Cork.
On the 24th of August 1821, the establishment of the regiment
was reduced from ten to eight companies, of three serjeants and
seventy-two rank and file each; and on the 26th of November it
marched from Cork to Tralee.
[Sidenote: 1822.]
In January 1822, some detachments of the regiment were employed in
suppressing a partial insurrection of the Whiteboys. Brevet-Major
George D’Arcy was attacked at Millstreet, in the county of Cork,
and beat off considerable bodies of the insurgents. Brevet-Major
Charles Carthew was also engaged with a large body of them near
Bantry, when one private of the regiment was killed.
[Sidenote: 1823.]
The regiment marched, on the 1st of October 1823, from Tralee to
Limerick.
Lieut.-General Sir George Airey, K.C.H., was appointed colonel
of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 28th of October 1823, in
succession to General Nisbett Balfour, deceased.
[Sidenote: 1824.]
On the 12th of August 1824, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Lindesay,
C.B., was appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment,
in consequence of the retirement of Colonel Cavendish Sturt;
Brevet-Major Donald M^cPherson succeeded to the vacant majority.
The regiment marched to Buttevant, in the county of Cork, in the
beginning of October 1824, and in this place was at length brought
together, having been continually broken into small detachments
during the whole of its service in Ireland, with the exception of a
few months while stationed in Dublin.
[Sidenote: 1825.]
On the 25th of March 1825, the regiment, in common with the rest of
the infantry, received an augmentation of two companies, raising
its establishment to forty-two serjeants, fourteen drummers,
and seven hundred and forty rank and file. These companies were
given to the two senior subalterns, Lieutenants Simon Newport and
Francis Henry Hart, whose commissions as captains were dated 7th
and 8th of April 1825. At this period it was directed that each
battalion of infantry in the United Kingdom, as well as those on
foreign stations (the East Indies excepted), should consist of six
_service_ companies of eighty-six rank and file each, and four
_dépôt_ companies of fifty-six rank and file each, making seven
hundred and forty in all. The dépôts of such regiments as were
serving at home, continued united with their respective corps.
An order was received on the 10th of July 1825, intimating that the
regiment was destined to proceed to New South Wales, and ultimately
to India. On the 19th of July, it marched to Cork to be embarked
for Chatham, from whence it was ordered to proceed to New South
Wales, as guards over convicts. The first division left Cork on the
19th, and the head-quarters on the 30th of September.
A detachment, consisting of one captain, one subaltern, one
serjeant, and twenty rank and file, embarked in the “Woodman”
convict ship on the 4th of November 1825, and proceeded to Van
Diemen’s Land and Sydney.
The last division of the regiment arrived at Chatham from Cork, on
the 25th of November 1825.
[Sidenote: 1826.]
Several detachments of the regiment proceeded to New South Wales
during the year 1826.
In the latter part of 1826, Captain Joseph Wakefield proceeded
to assist in establishing a settlement at King George’s Sound on
the southern coast of New Holland; and in the beginning of the
following year, Captain Henry Smyth was despatched to effect a
similar purpose on the northern coast, and succeeded in forming a
settlement named Fort Wellington, in Raffles’ Bay.
[Sidenote: 1827.]
The head-quarters under the command of Colonel Lindesay, were
embarked for New South Wales in the ship “Cambridge” on the 26th
of April 1827, and arrived at their destination on the 17th of
September following.
From the 4th of November 1825, to the 5th of May 1827, the whole of
the men of the service companies, together with two officers and
fifty-nine men drawn from the dépôt, were embarked for New South
Wales.
[Sidenote: 1828.]
In consequence of the breaking-up of the reserve or dépôt
companies of the regiment in the beginning of 1828, the officers
and men composing those companies proceeded by detachments to
the head-quarters in New South Wales, leaving a dépôt company
in England, on the 24th of August 1830, of two captains, two
lieutenants, one ensign, five serjeants, six corporals, four
drummers, and thirteen privates. The first detachment embarked for
New South Wales on the 1st of February 1828, and the last sailed on
the 30th of August 1830.
During the period the regiment was employed in New South Wales,
detachments were stationed at Van Diemen’s Land, at King George’s
Sound, and on the northern coast, which were distant six hundred,
fifteen hundred, and two thousand miles from the head-quarters.
[Sidenote: 1829.]
[Sidenote: 1830.]
The attention of Lieut.-General Ralph Darling, governor of the
colony, having for some time been drawn to the importance and
advantages which would result from a greater knowledge of the
interior of the country, yielded to the entreaties of Captain
Charles Sturt of the THIRTY-NINTH, and permitted him to proceed for
the purpose of prosecuting the discoveries already commenced by
other travellers. This officer departed from Sydney on his first
expedition, on the 6th of November 1828, proceeding in a westerly
direction, and remained absent until the 2nd of April 1829, when
he rejoined the regiment, having performed the task allotted to
him in a manner highly satisfactory to the government; so much so,
that having again most particularly requested permission to proceed
once more for the purpose of exploring the country in another
direction, his request was readily acceded to by the governor, and
he accordingly departed from Sydney on the 3rd of November 1829.
Proceeding southerly, he had the good fortune to make the coast at
Spencer’s Gulf, having traced a large and important river through
a vast tract of country, until it discharged its waters into the
ocean, on the point of which he emerged. Captain Sturt returned
from this expedition on the 26th of May 1830, and was subsequently
detached to Norfolk Island; but his health having received a
severe shock from the fatigue incident to his labours, he received
permission to return to England in 1832.
Serious disturbances having arisen amongst the convicts in the
Bathurst district in August 1830, large detachments of the regiment
were ordered to proceed thither, where Major Donald M^cPherson was
stationed in command, and Captain Horatio Walpole was directed
to pursue a body of those deluded men, who had fled from their
employment, and furnishing themselves by plunder with arms and
horses, bade defiance to all law and authority. He succeeded in
ascertaining the direction which they had taken, and following
them for several days over a large tract of country, finally
succeeded in capturing the whole gang without any loss on the part
of his detachment.
In the month of October of the same year, Lieut.-General Ralph
Darling addressed a letter to Colonel Lindesay, to ascertain if
the immediate services of Captain John Douglas Forbes could be
dispensed with by the regiment, as it was his wish to place him in
command of the mounted police; to which a reply was sent by Colonel
Lindesay, stating his consent to Captain Forbes being withdrawn
from his regimental duties; “for that, although he could ill be
spared, yet he did not wish to deprive the colonial government of
the services of an officer who, he had every reason to believe,
would prove both valuable and efficient.” The result fully realized
his anticipations; and on the 16th of October, Captain Forbes was
by a general order placed in command of this corps; a body of men
drawn in equal numbers from the regiments in garrison, and mounted
by government, for the more effectually assisting of the civil
power, by dispersing them over the various settled parts of the
colony. They had, at the time of Captain Forbes’s appointment,
no recognized commanding-officer, but were nominally under the
superintendence of the Major of Brigade, whose various avocations
rarely allowed him to examine into their interior economy;
consequently, their discipline had become relaxed, and their duties
were but too often performed with carelessness.
Soon after Captain Forbes assumed the command, a manifest change
took place; the mounted police rapidly became an efficient and
highly disciplined body of men, and their utility and zeal in the
discharge of their duty were universally acknowledged.
[Sidenote: 1831.]
New colours were presented to the THIRTY-NINTH by Lieut.-General
Ralph Darling, in the Barrack Square of Sydney, on the 16th of May
1831, being the anniversary of the battle of _Albuhera_, in which
engagement the second battalion of the regiment had twenty years
before distinguished itself. On this occasion the following speech
was delivered by the Lieut.-General, the ceremony of consecration
having been first performed by the Venerable Archdeacon Broughton:--
“THIRTY-NINTH! It is highly gratifying to me to present you, on
the part of your Colonel, with these colours, henceforth the
proud record of your general and distinguished services.
“It is unnecessary for me, THIRTY-NINTH, to emblazon your
achievements; your friends will ever remember, and your enemies
can never forget, that during the Peninsular War, which in
its results was as glorious to the British Arms as it was
important to the general interests of Europe, you, led on by
your present gallant Commander, fought at _Albuhera_, of which
battle this is the twentieth anniversary; that you were also
engaged with, and defeated, the enemy at _Vittoria_, at the
_Pyrenees_, the _Nivelle_, the _Nive_, and at _Orthes_. You
have indeed, THIRTY-NINTH, nobly redeemed the pledge which your
predecessors in arms first gave at the battle of _Almanza_[29],
now one hundred and twenty-four years ago, which was as
admirably seconded in the glorious field of _Plassey_, as it was
successfully followed up at the memorable defence of _Gibraltar_!
“Soldiers! It is not necessary to the fame of your corps, that
you should augment the honors which it has so gallantly acquired;
but I am sure, whenever your King and country shall require your
services, you will add fresh laurels to the noble wreath which
now so proudly adorns your banners.
“Gentlemen! In addressing you more particularly to whom this
sacred trust, the immediate charge of these colours is especially
confided, I need only point out, that they will be the objects to
which the eyes of your corps will be directed. You will protect
them with your lives; and may the Almighty, who alone can shield
you in the day of battle, guide and preserve you in the faithful
discharge of this sacred duty!”
Colonel Lindesay having made a suitable reply to the foregoing
address, the ceremony was concluded in the usual manner.
The festivity consequent on the presentation of colours was damped
by the melancholy intelligence of the death of Captain Collett
Barker, who was barbarously murdered on the 30th of April 1831,
by the native tribes on the southern coast of New Holland, near
the spot at which Captain Sturt had made the coast on his second
expedition. Captain Barker had served in the THIRTY-NINTH regiment
for a period of twenty-five years, and was highly esteemed. At
the time of his death he was returning from King George’s Sound,
where he had been for some time commandant, but which settlement
he had been ordered to deliver over to the government of Western
Australia, and had landed for scientific purposes near the spot
where he was murdered. Captain Barker had also for a considerable
period been commandant at the settlement of Fort Wellington, in
Raffles’ Bay, on the northern coast of New Holland, where his
services were highly estimated by the Colonial Government.
On the 30th of May 1831, a general order was issued, acquainting
the regiment that it was destined to proceed to India, upon the
arrival of the Fourth foot in New South Wales.
Lieut.-General Darling embarked for England on the 22nd of October
1831, leaving the administration of the government of the colony in
the hands of Colonel Lindesay, who continued to act as governor
until the arrival of Major-General Richard Bourke, C.B., on the
2nd of December. During this period the command of the regiment
devolved upon Major M^cPherson, who was withdrawn from the Bathurst
district for that purpose.
[Sidenote: 1832.]
On the 5th of July 1832, a general order was issued, directing
the head-quarters of the regiment to embark for Madras; upon
which occasion an address was unanimously voted by the civil
officers of the colony to Colonel Lindesay on his departure, as
a mark of sincere esteem and respect; and he, together with the
officers of the THIRTY-NINTH, received an invitation to a dinner,
immediately after which the address, most numerously signed, and
highly complimentary to the Colonel and to the regiment, was read
by Chief-Justice Forbes. Colonel Lindesay, in reply, expressed his
thanks for the honor conferred upon him and upon the THIRTY-NINTH
regiment.
Six companies of the regiment embarked at Sydney on the 21st of
July 1832, in three divisions, and disembarked at Madras on the
22nd of September, 10th and 14th of October. The remaining four
companies embarked at Sydney on the 3rd of December, and arrived at
Madras on the 21st of February of the following year.
The regiment was for a short period stationed at Poonamallee, about
thirteen miles from Madras.
[Sidenote: 1833.]
After receiving several contradictory orders as to its final
destination, the regiment marched on the 22nd of January 1833,
for Bangalore in the Mysore territory, where it arrived on the
14th of February. On the following day, Colonel Lindesay assumed
the command of the cantonment of Bangalore, and that of the
regiment devolved on Lieut.-Colonel M^cPherson. A week afterwards
the remainder of the corps, with the exception of forty men left
behind, had disembarked at Madras from New South Wales, under the
command of Major Thomas Poole, and joined the head-quarters on the
15th of April; the strength of the corps had also been increased by
one hundred and fifteen volunteers received from the Forty-sixth
regiment. Lieutenant Charles Cox, who had been detached under the
command of Captain Wakefield, to take charge of these volunteers,
died of cholera while on the route to Hyderabad.