of Queen Anne, and attained the rank of Lieut.-Colonel. During the
rebellion in 1715 and 1716, he served as Aide-de-camp to the Duke
of Argyle; he was appointed Colonel of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment
on the 27th of June 1737; and in the following year was removed to
the Twenty-first or Royal North British Fusiliers. He commanded
a brigade at the battle of Dettingen on the 27th of June 1743;
was promoted to the rank of Major-General in the following year;
and during the rebellion in 1745 and 1746, he held a command in
Scotland. He was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1747,
and was removed to the Second Dragoons or Scots Greys in 1752.
In April 1761 Lieut.-General Campbell was appointed Governor of
Limerick, and also succeeded in that year to the title of Duke of
Argyle, upon the decease of his cousin Archibald, third Duke of
Argyle. The Order of the Thistle was conferred upon His Grace in
1765. His decease occurred in 1770.
RICHARD ONSLOW.
_Appointed 1st November 1738._
This officer entered the army in 1716; and in 1733 he was promoted
to the rank of Colonel. On the 1st of November 1738 King George
II. appointed Colonel Onslow to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-NINTH
regiment; and in June 1739 he was removed to the Eighth regiment of
Foot. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1743, and was
removed to the first troop of Horse Grenadier Guards in 1745. He
was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1747. Lieut.-General
Onslow continued at the head of the first troop of Horse Grenadier
Guards until his decease in the year 1760.
ROBERT DALWAY.
_Appointed 6th June 1739._
This officer commenced his military career as a Cornet in a
regiment of cavalry on the 8th of March 1704. He served several
campaigns under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough, and was
distinguished for gallantry in action, and a strict attention
to duty. On the 1st of February 1713 he was promoted to the
Lieut.-Colonelcy of Harwich’s Horse, now Seventh Dragoon Guards,
and on the 6th of June 1739 King George II. promoted him to the
Colonelcy of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment, from which he was removed
to the Thirteenth Dragoons on the 12th of May 1740. His decease
occurred in November following.
SAMUEL WALTER WHITSHED.
_Appointed 28th December 1740._
SAMUEL WALTER WHITSHED entered the army in August 1704, and served
in Spain and Portugal during the war of the Spanish Succession,
under the Earl of Galway and Archduke Charles of Austria. On the
28th of December 1740 King George II. promoted Lieut.-Colonel
Whitshed from the Eighth Dragoons to the Colonelcy of the
THIRTY-NINTH regiment of Foot; and on the 14th of June 1743 he was
removed to the Twelfth Dragoons. Colonel Whitshed was promoted to
the rank of Brigadier-General on the 28th of May 1745, and retained
the command of the Twelfth Dragoons until his decease in 1746.
EDWARD RICHBELL.
_Appointed 14th June 1743._
This officer entered the army in the reign of Queen Anne,
and served with reputation under the celebrated John Duke of
Marlborough. He evinced a constant attention to the duties of his
profession, and was promoted, on the 18th of May 1722, to the
Lieut.-Colonelcy of the Thirty-seventh regiment, and was advanced
to the rank of Colonel in the army on the 27th of March 1742. He
was appointed Colonel of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 14th
of June 1743, and distinguished himself during the war of the
Austrian Succession. On the 19th of April 1746 he was appointed
Brigadier-General, in which year he commanded a brigade, under
Lieut.-General St. Clair, in the expedition against Port l’Orient.
In 1752, Brigadier-General Richbell was removed to the Seventeenth
regiment, and on the 25th of March 1754 was promoted to the rank of
Major-General. His decease occurred in 1757.
JOHN ADLERCRON.
_Appointed 14th March 1752._
Colonel John Adlercron was appointed by His Majesty King George
II. to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 14th of
March 1752, upon Brigadier-General Edward Richbell being removed to
the Seventeenth Foot. In the beginning of 1754, Colonel Adlercron
embarked with his regiment for Madras; in October 1756, a portion
of the THIRTY-NINTH proceeded to Bengal with other troops under
Lieut.-Colonel Clive. Of this force Colonel Adlercron claimed
the command, but it was determined that he should remain at
Madras with the remainder of the regiment. In May 1757 Colonel
Adlercron marched from Madras in command of the force destined
for the relief of _Trichinopoly_, then threatened by the French,
and was afterwards engaged in operations against Wandewash, and
in the vicinity of that place. On the 16th of May 1758 Colonel
Adlercron was advanced to the rank of Major-General, and to that of
Lieut.-General on the 18th of December 1760. His decease occurred
on the 31st of July 1766.
SIR ROBERT BOYD, K.B.
_Appointed 6th August 1766._
Colonel Robert Boyd was appointed from the First Foot Guards to the
Colonelcy of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 6th of August 1766.
In 1768 he was appointed Lieut.-Governor of Gibraltar, where his
regiment was at that period stationed. On the 25th of May 1772,
Colonel Boyd was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and on
the 29th of August 1777, was advanced to that of Lieut.-General.
He was constituted a Knight of the Order of the Bath in 1784,
in consideration of his services during the celebrated siege of
Gibraltar. It was, according to his suggestion, that red-hot shot
were used, as stated at page 32 of the Historical Record of the
THIRTY-NINTH regiment. In 1790 Lieut.-General Sir Robert Boyd,
K.B., was appointed Governor of that fortress, in succession to
General Lord Heathfield, deceased. Sir Robert Boyd was appointed to
the rank of General on the 12th of October 1793, and died in May of
the following year, while holding the Governorship of Gibraltar.
NISBETT BALFOUR.
_Appointed 2nd July 1794._
This officer entered the army on the 27th of January 1761, as an
ensign in the Fourth Foot, was promoted Lieutenant on the 15th of
November 1765, and advanced to the rank of Captain in the regiment
on the 26th of January 1770. He was at the battle of Bunker’s Hill
on the 17th of June 1775, where he was wounded. Captain Balfour
was present in the action on landing at Long Island and taking of
Brooklyn, in August 1776. The capture of New York occurred shortly
afterwards, on which occasion he was sent home by the Commander
of the Forces in North America, Major-General the Honorable Sir
William Howe, with the public despatches, and in consequence
received the brevet rank of Major.
In the spring of 1777 Major Balfour was in the action near
Elizabeth Town, in the Jerseys. He was promoted Major in the Fourth
Foot on the 4th of June 1777; and was present in the actions of
Brandywine and Germantown on the 11th of September and 4th of
October of that year. On the 31st of January 1778 he was promoted
Lieut.-Colonel of the Twenty-third Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and
was present at the siege of Charlestown; and after the surrender
of that place in May 1780 he served under Lieut.-General Earl
Cornwallis, part of the campaign in South Carolina. On the 20th of
November 1782 he was appointed Aide-de-camp to His Majesty King
George III., with the rank of Colonel in the army. Colonel Balfour
served part of the campaign of 1794 in Flanders and Holland under
His Royal Highness the Duke of York. On the 12th of October 1793
Colonel Balfour was advanced to the rank of Major-General, and was
appointed Colonel of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 2nd of July
1794. He was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General on the 1st of
January 1798, and to that of General on the 25th of September 1803.
He died on the 16th of October 1823.
SIR GEORGE AIREY, K.C.H.
_Appointed 28th October 1823._
This officer commenced his military career as Ensign in the late
Ninety-first regiment, to which he was appointed on the 6th of
December 1779, and in January following proceeded with it to the
West Indies. After serving for a year at St. Lucia, Ensign Airey
returned home, on account of ill-health, a short time previously to
the regiment being drafted, in which, however, he was promoted to
the rank of Lieutenant on the 6th of July 1781. Lieutenant Airey
exchanged from the Ninety-first to the Forty-eighth regiment on
the 2nd of January 1782, and in January 1788 proceeded with the
latter corps to the West Indies. On the 19th of November following
he was promoted to a company in the Forty-eighth, and returned to
England on leave of absence, but rejoined the regiment in 1792.
Prior to the expedition against the French West India Islands under
General Sir Charles (afterwards Earl) Grey in the beginning of
1794, the Forty-eighth regiment was drafted, when Captain Airey
volunteered his services, and was employed in the succeeding
campaign, during which he commanded the light company of the
Sixty-fifth regiment, in the third battalion of Light Infantry.
On the conclusion of the campaign he rejoined his regiment at
Plymouth in October 1794. In December Captain Airey re-embarked
with the regiment for the West Indies, but, from sickness, it
was with several others re-landed. He was subsequently appointed
Aide-de-camp to Lieut.-General Patrick Tonyn, with whom he remained
until the Forty-eighth regiment was ordered on foreign service, and
with which, in the winter of 1795, he sailed to the West Indies,
serving there as Assistant Adjutant-General. He was promoted to
a majority in the Sixty-eighth regiment on the 1st of May 1796,
and returned to England, and on the 4th of May 1798 was advanced
to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of the Eighth Foot. In May 1799,
Lieut.-Colonel Airey proceeded with the Eighth regiment to Minorca,
which had been captured in the previous year from the Spaniards,
and in August 1800 he embarked with his corps, which composed part
of the expedition under General Sir Ralph Abercromby, against
Cadiz. Upon arrival at that place the enterprise was abandoned,
in consequence of a contagious disease carrying off great numbers
of the inhabitants, and the fleet, to avoid infection, sailed
to Gibraltar, and subsequently to Malta, when Lieut.-Colonel
Airey returned to Minorca as Deputy Quartermaster-General, under
Lieut.-General the Honorable Henry Edward Fox, and afterwards
proceeded to Elba, as Commandant of the British troops serving in
Porto Ferrajo, while that place was besieged by the French, and
retained possession of that island until the Peace of Amiens in
1802. For his services in Porto Ferrajo he was created a Knight
of the Tuscan Order of St. Joseph. Lieut.-Colonel Airey then
rejoined Lieut.-General Fox as Deputy Quartermaster-General, and
remained with that officer until his return to England, Minorca
being restored to Spain by the treaty of peace. Lieut.-Colonel
Airey served as Assistant Quartermaster-General in Ireland from
the 1st of August 1803 to the 24th of September 1804, when he
accompanied General the Honorable Henry Edward Fox to Gibraltar
as Military Secretary. He proceeded with the General to Sicily
in 1806, where (with the exception of going to Egypt with the
expedition under Major-General Alexander Fraser in 1807) he served
until the year 1813 as Deputy Adjutant-General. On the 25th of
April 1808, he was promoted to the brevet rank of Colonel. In
the year 1810 he commanded a brigade in Sicily, in addition to
his duties as Deputy Adjutant-General, and was employed with the
troops, of which the first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH formed
part, in the defence of the coast during the threatened invasion
of General Joachim Murat, King of Naples. On the 12th of February
1811, Colonel Airey was appointed Brigadier-General in Sicily, when
he vacated the duties of Deputy Adjutant-General. On the 4th of
June 1811, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and was
from that date appointed Major-General on the staff of Sicily, and
in December following was ordered to proceed to Zante to take the
command of the Ionian Islands, where he remained until succeeded by
Lieut.-General James Campbell in 1813, who was appointed Commander
and Civil Commissioner.
Major-General Airey was appointed Quartermaster-General to the
forces in Ireland on the 2nd of September 1813, which he held
until the 24th of June 1822. On the 19th of July 1821, he had been
advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General. He had also received the
honor of knighthood, and had been constituted a Knight Commander
of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. On the 28th of October
1823, Lieut.-General Sir George Airey, K.C.H., was appointed by
His Majesty King George IV. to be Colonel of the THIRTY-NINTH
regiment, which he retained until his decease at Paris on the 18th
of February 1833.
THE HONORABLE SIR ROBERT WILLIAM O’CALLAGHAN, G.C.B.
_Appointed 4th March 1833._
The above-named officer was appointed Ensign in the One hundred and
twenty-eighth regiment (since disbanded), on the 29th of November
1794; and on the 6th of December following, was promoted Lieutenant
in the Thirtieth light dragoons, in which regiment he rose to the
rank of Captain on the 31st of January 1795, and was removed to
the Twenty-second light dragoons on the 19th of April 1796: these
corps were afterwards disbanded. On the 17th of February 1803, he
was promoted to the rank of Major in the Fortieth regiment, and
to that of Lieut.-Colonel in the THIRTY-NINTH on the 16th of July
1803. Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Robert William O’Callaghan
embarked, in March 1805, in command of the first battalion of the
THIRTY-NINTH regiment, which was selected to form part of the
expedition destined for the Mediterranean under Lieut.-General
Sir James Craig, and subsequently proceeded from Malta to Naples
with the flank companies. When those companies returned to Malta
in February 1806, Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Robert William
O’Callaghan remained in Sicily, and at the battle of Maida, on the
4th of July following, commanded a grenadier battalion; he received
a gold medal for this victory.
On the 20th of August 1811, Lieut.-Colonel O’Callaghan proceeded
with the first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment from Sicily
to join the army in the Peninsula, and on the 1st of January
1812, was advanced to the brevet rank of Colonel. At the battle
of Vittoria, on the 21st of June 1813, he was placed in temporary
command of the brigade, and his conduct was specially noticed
in the Marquis of Wellington’s despatch. Colonel O’Callaghan
also commanded the brigade during the actions in the Pyrenees in
July following, and was present at the passage of the Nivelle
and Nive. His conduct while in command of the first battalion of
the THIRTY-NINTH at Garris, on the 15th of February 1814, was
particularly adverted to by the Marquis of Wellington, in his
Lordship’s despatch. Colonel O’Callaghan also shared in the
victory gained at Orthes on the 27th of the same month. He received
a cross and two clasps for Maida, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle,
Nive, and Orthes. Colonel O’Callaghan was promoted to the rank of
Major-General on the 4th of June 1814, and was nominated a Knight
Commander of the Bath on the 2nd of January 1815.
Major-General the Honorable Sir Robert William O’Callaghan, K.C.B.,
was placed upon the staff of the army in Flanders on the 25th of
June 1815, and was appointed to the staff in France on the 22nd of
April 1818. He was nominated to the command of the troops in North
Britain on the 15th of June 1825; and on the 7th of September 1829
he received the colonelcy of the Ninety-seventh regiment. He was
advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General on the 22nd of July 1830,
which removed him from the command of the troops in North Britain.
Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Robert William O’Callaghan was
appointed to the command of the army at Madras on the 4th of
October 1830; and on the 4th of March 1833, was removed from the
colonelcy of the Ninety-seventh to the THIRTY-NINTH regiment. He
continued in command at Madras until October 1836, and on the
departure for England of General the Right Honorable Lord William
Bentinck, G.C.B., in the spring of 1835, he held for some months
the command of the troops in India. On the 19th of July 1838,
he was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Robert William O’Callaghan,
G.C.B., who was brother to Lord Viscount Lismore, died in London on
the 9th of June 1840.
SIR FREDERICK PHILIPSE ROBINSON, G.C.B.
_Appointed 15th of June 1840._
In February 1777, this officer was appointed Ensign in the Loyal
American regiment, with which he served in North America; on the
11th of September 1778, he was removed to the Seventeenth regiment
of infantry; and on the 1st of September 1779, Ensign Robinson
was promoted Lieutenant in the fourth battalion of the Sixtieth
regiment, and was removed to the Thirty-eighth regiment on the
4th of November 1780. He was a prisoner of war in America several
months during the period of his belonging to the Sixtieth, and
afterwards was in several engagements in that country. Lieutenant
Robinson was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Thirty-eighth
regiment on the 24th of March 1794, and served at the capture of
the West India Islands, under General Sir Charles (afterwards
Earl) Grey, in that year, including the siege of Fort Bourbon
in the island of Martinique. On the 1st of September 1794,
Captain Robinson was promoted to a Majority in the One hundred
and twenty-seventh regiment (since disbanded), and was removed
to the Thirty-second regiment on the 1st of September 1795, when
he returned home from the West Indies. He was removed to the One
hundred and thirty-fourth regiment (since disbanded) on the 29th
of July 1796. In May of this year he had been appointed Inspecting
Field Officer of the Recruiting service at Bedford, and some years
after filled the same situation in the London district. While thus
employed he suggested several improvements in regard to carrying
on the Recruiting service. On the 1st of January 1800, he received
the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and was placed on half-pay of
the Ninety-first regiment on the 30th of April 1807. Lieut.-Colonel
Robinson was promoted to the brevet rank of Colonel on the 25th
of July 1810. He served as Brigadier-General on the staff in the
Peninsula, from the 8th of August 1812 to the 3rd of June 1813.
He was promoted to the rank of Major-General on the 4th of June
1813, and continued, from that date, on the staff in Spain in that
capacity until the 24th of May 1814. He commanded a brigade at the
battle of Vittoria on the 21st of June 1813, siege of Sebastian
in August and September following, where he was wounded, and at
the actions connected with the passage of the Nive, for which he
received a medal and two clasps. After the termination of the war
in the Peninsula, he proceeded to North America, and was employed
on the staff in Canada from the 25th of May 1814 to the 24th of
March 1816, when he was removed to the staff in the West Indies.
On the 2nd of January 1815, Major-General Robinson was nominated
a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. Major-General Sir
Frederick Robinson continued in command of the troops in the
Windward and Leeward Islands until the 24th of July 1821. He was
advanced to the rank of Lieut.-General on the 27th of May 1825;
was appointed Colonel of the Fifty-ninth regiment on the 1st of
December 1827; and was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Order
of the Bath on the 20th of April 1838.
Lieut.-General Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, G.C.B., was removed
from the colonelcy of the Fifty-ninth to that of the THIRTY-NINTH
regiment on the 15th of June 1840, and was promoted to the rank
of General on the 23rd of November 1841. His decease occurred at
Brighton, on the 1st of January 1852.
GEORGE BURRELL, C.B.
_Appointed 11th February 1852._
This officer was appointed Ensign in the Fifteenth regiment of
infantry, on the 4th of February 1797; was promoted Lieutenant
on the 3rd of May following; and rose to the rank of Captain, in
the same corps, on the 15th of August 1805. Captain Burrell was
promoted to a Majority in the Ninetieth regiment on the 30th of
April 1807, and served at the capture of Guadeloupe, in February
1810, with the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir George Beckwith,
K.B., which island had been restored to the French at the Peace of
Amiens. He received the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel on the 4th of
June 1813, and served during the campaign of 1814 in Upper Canada.
He was appointed from the Ninetieth to be Lieut.-Colonel of the
Eighteenth Royal Irish regiment, on the 22nd of July 1830, from
which date he was promoted to the brevet rank of Colonel.
Colonel George Burrell embarked, in command of the service
companies of the Eighteenth regiment, destined for Ceylon, on the
10th of January 1837; in 1840 they proceeded to China, hostilities
having arisen between that country and Great Britain. At the first
capture of Chusan in July 1840, he commanded the troops with the
rank of Brigadier-General, and also a brigade at the attack upon
Canton in May 1841. He was nominated a Companion of the Order of
the Bath on the 14th of October 1841, and on the 23rd of November
following was advanced to the rank of Major-General, and to that of
Lieut.-General on the 11th of November 1851. Lieut.-General Burrell
was appointed Colonel of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 11th of
February 1852, which he held only a short period, as he died at
Alnwick on the 4th of January 1853.
RICHARD LLUELLYN, C.B.
_Appointed 17th January 1853._
APPENDIX.
_Memoir of the Services of Colonel George Wilson, formerly
Lieut.-Colonel of the_ THIRTY-NINTH _regiment_.
The services of Colonel George Wilson are particularly connected
with the THIRTY-NINTH, as all his regimental appointments occurred
in that corps. His commission as Ensign in the THIRTY-NINTH
regiment was dated 18th of February 1784, and he rose to the rank
of Lieutenant on the 1st of February 1786, and to that of Captain
on the 31st of October 1792. In September 1793 the THIRTY-NINTH
regiment was embarked from Ireland for the West Indies, in order
to share in the attack on the French possessions in that part
of the globe. The details of these operations are contained in
the Historical Record of the Regiment (pages 38. to 40.); and
on the 6th of October 1794, the garrison at Berville Camp, in
Guadeloupe, of which the THIRTY-NINTH formed part, was, after a
gallant resistance, compelled to surrender, in consequence of the
havoc made amongst the troops by the unhealthy climate of that
island. Captain Wilson was promoted to the rank of Major of the
THIRTY-NINTH regiment on the 1st of September 1795, and in April
of the following year the regiment formed part of an expedition
against the Dutch colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice.
These colonies surrendered upon being summoned, and were occupied
by the British troops. By official documents it appears that during
the greater part of the year 1799, Major Wilson was in command at
Fort William Frederick in Demerara. On the 1st of January 1801,
he received the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel. The THIRTY-NINTH
returned to England from the West Indies in the spring of 1803, and
on the 9th of July of that year Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Wilson was
appointed Lieut.-Colonel of the Ninth Battalion of Reserve, and on
the 15th of October following was removed to the THIRTY-NINTH,
to which a second battalion had been added. In November 1804
Lieut.-Colonel Wilson embarked at Plymouth in command of the second
battalion, which proceeded to Guernsey.
The second battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment proceeded to
the Peninsula in June 1809, to join the army under Lieut.-General
the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley. On the 25th of July 1810,
Lieut.-Colonel Wilson was appointed Aide-de-camp to His Majesty
King George III., with the rank of Colonel in the army; and
he commanded a brigade at the battle of Busaco on the 27th of
September following. Colonel Wilson subsequently commanded the
brigade to which the first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment
was attached, and added to the deserved reputation he had already
acquired. His career was now drawing to a close, for shortly after
the arrival of the THIRTY-NINTH at Coria, the corps sustained a
severe loss in the decease of Colonel Wilson, which occurred on
the 6th of January 1813, after a service of upwards of twenty-nine
years in the regiment.
_Memoir of the Services of Major-General Sir Charles Bruce,
K.C.B., formerly Lieut.-Colonel of the_ THIRTY-NINTH _regiment_.