river Gave de Pau, and a pontoon bridge was afterwards laid at
Bereaux, by which the fourth and sixth divisions crossed on the
morning of the 27th, at which time the third division was already
posted with skirmishers thrown out close upon the left centre of
the French position. The sixth division, of which the THIRTY-SIXTH
formed part, was placed on the right between the third division and
the river, and the light division on its left in rear as a reserve.
During the whole morning there had been occasional skirmishing by
the third division, but the real attack commenced at nine o’clock
by the third and sixth divisions on the French left centre, and
the fourth and seventh divisions on their right, which last was
intended to be the principal point of attack; but it having been
found, after three hours’ hard fighting, that the enemy was there
too strongly posted, the Marquis of Wellington ordered an advance
of the third and sixth divisions, with the Fifty-second regiment,
from the centre upon the left centre of the French position, which
they carried, and thus secured the victory; while Lieut.-General
Sir Rowland Hill, with the second division, had crossed the river
above _Orthes_, and nearly cut off the only line of retreat open to
the enemy, who then retired from the field, but without confusion,
and constantly resisting the advance. The allies followed, keeping
up an incessant fire and cannonade, but lost many men, particularly
of the third division, which was the most strongly opposed; this
continued until the French nearly reached the Luy de Bearn river,
when their retreat became a flight, and they effected their escape
by the fords and one bridge, which they destroyed, having lost four
thousand men and six guns.
In commemoration of this victory, the THIRTY-SIXTH subsequently
received the Royal Authority to bear the word “ORTHES” on the
regimental colour and appointments.
The battalion shared in the affairs of _Vic Bigorre_ and _Tarbes_
on the 19th and 20th of March. The movement of the sixth division
under Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton is stated by the Marquis of
Wellington, in his despatch, to have been very ably made, and it
was completely successful.
During the night Marshal Soult retreated towards _Toulouse_,
followed on the 21st of March by the allies, who continued their
advance, until on the 26th they arrived in presence of the French
army. The town of _Toulouse_ is surrounded on three sides by the
Canal of Languedoc and the Garonne; on the left of that river, the
suburb, which the enemy had fortified with strong field-works in
front of the ancient wall, formed a good _tête-de-pont_. The city
itself was only accessible from the south, and its strong though
old-fashioned walls had been rendered more defensible by redoubts,
and by an exterior line of entrenchments on a strong and rugged
range of heights, about two miles in length beyond the canal. On
the 28th the enemy’s troops were driven within the suburb of St.
Cyprien, and several attempts were made to attack them by crossing
the Garonne above Toulouse. Operations were, however, impeded by
the floods and rapidity of the river, until the 3d of April, when
the third, fourth, and sixth divisions, with three brigades of
cavalry, under Marshal Beresford, passed over by a pontoon bridge
fifteen miles below Toulouse; but the crossing of the remainder
of the army was again impeded by the rising of the river, which
caused the removal of the bridges, until the 8th, when the Marquis
of Wellington crossed, and advanced within five miles of Toulouse;
Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, with two divisions, remaining on
the left bank.
In the battle of _Toulouse_, which began about six o’clock in
the morning of the 10th of April, it was the good fortune of
the THIRTY-SIXTH to commence the attack of the sixth division.
The Marquis of Wellington’s plan of attack was for Marshal Sir
William Beresford, who was on the right of the Ers with the fourth
and sixth divisions, to cross that river at the bridge of Croix
d’Orade, to gain possession of Montblanc, and to march up to the
left of the Ers to turn the enemy’s right, while Lieut.-General Don
Manuel Freyre, with the Spanish corps under his command, supported
by the British cavalry, attacked the front.
Marshal Sir William Beresford crossed the Ers, formed his corps
in three columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, and
immediately carried Montblanc. He then moved up the Ers in the
same order, over most difficult ground, in a direction parallel
to the enemy’s fortified position, and as soon as he reached the
point at which he turned it, he formed his lines, and moved to the
attack. The gallant efforts of Lieut.-General Don Manuel Freyre
did not meet with success, but they were highly applauded by the
Marquis of Wellington. Meanwhile Marshal Sir William Beresford,
with the fourth division under the command of Lieut.-General Sir
Lowry Cole, and the sixth division under Lieut.-General Sir Henry
Clinton, attacked and carried the heights on the enemy’s right, and
the redoubt which covered and protected that flank; and he lodged
those troops on the same heights with the enemy, who were, however,
still in possession of four redoubts, and of the entrenchments and
fortified houses.
The badness of the roads had induced the Marshal to leave his
artillery in the village of Montblanc; some time elapsed before it
could be brought up, and before Lieut.-General Don Manuel Freyre’s
corps could be re-formed and led again to the attack. As soon as
this was effected, the Marshal continued his movement along the
ridge, and earned, with Major-General Denis Pack’s brigade of the
sixth division, the two principal redoubts and fortified houses
in the enemy’s centre. The enemy made a desperate effort from
the canal to regain these redoubts, but they were repulsed with
considerable loss; and the sixth division continuing its movement
along the ridge of the height, and the Spanish troops continuing a
corresponding movement upon the front, the French were driven from
the two redoubts and entrenchments on the left, and the whole range
of heights were gained by the British.
The Marquis of Wellington, in his despatch, added--
“We did not gain this advantage, however, without severe loss,
particularly in the _brave sixth division_.
“The THIRTY-SIXTH, Forty-second, Sixty-first, and Seventy-ninth
regiments lost considerable numbers, and were highly
distinguished throughout the day.
“I cannot sufficiently applaud the ability and conduct of Marshal
Sir William Beresford throughout the operations of the day, nor
that of Lieutenant-Generals Sir Lowry Cole, Sir Henry Clinton,
Major-Generals Pack and Lambert, and the troops under their
command.
“The fourth division, although exposed on their march along the
enemy’s front in a galling fire, were not so much engaged as the
sixth division, and did not suffer so much; but they conducted
themselves with their usual gallantry.”
By this last paragraph it is shown, that the sixth division, of
which the first battalion of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment had for some
time formed a part, bore the brunt of this hard-fought, but, as it
proved unnecessary, battle.
The killed and wounded of the THIRTY-SIXTH were one hundred and
fifty-three, of all ranks, out of two hundred and fifty; namely,
Ensign James Cromie, three serjeants and thirty-five rank and
file killed, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel William Cross, Brevet Major
William Campbell, Lieutenants James Prendergast, Thomas L’Estrange,
Peter Joseph Bone, William Henry Robertson, and Edward Lewis,
Ensigns Thomas M. Taylor, and James McCabe, eight serjeants, and
ninety-seven rank and file wounded.
Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Cross was so severely wounded as to oblige
him to be carried off the field, and the command of the battalion
devolved upon Major Martin Leggatt.
In approbation of the services of Lieut.-Colonel Cross at the
battles of the Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse, His Royal
Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty,
was graciously pleased to confer upon that officer a cross, and
to nominate him a Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order
of the Bath; His Royal Highness was likewise pleased to bestow on
Major Leggatt a medal for the battle of Toulouse.
The THIRTY-SIXTH subsequently received the Royal Authority to bear
the word “TOULOUSE” on the regimental colour and appointments, in
commemoration of the distinguished gallantry of the first battalion
in that battle; also the word “PENINSULA” in testimony of its
services in Spain and Portugal.
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, and 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 his ancestors; and
Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, the sovereignty
of that island having been conceded to him by the allied powers.
The first battalion of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment embarked at
Pouillac on the 22d of June 1814, and arrived at the Cove of Cork
on the 11th of the following month, and subsequently proceeded to
Kilkenny.
The second battalion of the THIRTY-SIXTH, which had been employed
on home duty during the Peninsular War, was disbanded at Plymouth
on the 24th of October 1814, and the men fit for service were
transferred to the first battalion:--the detachment accordingly
embarked for Ireland on the 30th of October.
[Sidenote: 1815.]
The tranquillity which Europe appeared to have gained by the
splendid successes over the French in the Peninsula, was again to
be disturbed. Napoleon, who had been accustomed to imperial sway,
was naturally discontented with his small sovereignty of Elba.
Besides, the correspondence kept up by him with his adherents in
France gave him hopes of regaining his former power, which were,
for a short time, fully realized. Napoleon Bonaparte landed at
Cannes, in Provence, on the 1st of March 1815, with a small body of
men, and on the 20th of that month entered Paris at the head of an
army, which had joined him on the road. This could not be matter
of wonder, for the officers and soldiers had won their fame under
his command, and gladly welcomed their former leader, under whom
they probably expected to acquire fresh honours, which might cancel
the memory of the defeats sustained in the Peninsula and south of
France.
Louis XVIII., unable to stem the torrent, withdrew from Paris
to Ghent, and Napoleon resumed his former dignity of Emperor of
the French. This assumption the allied powers determined not to
acknowledge, and resolved to deprive him of his sovereignty, by
again restoring the ancient dynasty.
Napoleon was finally defeated on the plains of Waterloo on the 18th
of June 1815, and the allies advanced on Paris. The first battalion
of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment embarked at Cork on the 3d of July,
and landed at Ostend on the 11th of that month. The battalion
marched from thence to Paris.
The THIRTY-SIXTH regiment remained in the neighbourhood of Paris
until December 1815, on the 22d of which month it embarked at
Calais for England; and, landing at Dover and Ramsgate, it
subsequently proceeded to Portsmouth.
[Sidenote: 1816.]
During the year 1816 the regiment was stationed at Portsmouth.
Colonel the Honourable Basil Cochrane, who had been serving
as Assistant-Quartermaster-General in Ireland, died on his
passage from Newry to Liverpool on the 14th of May 1816. Brevet
Lieut.-Colonel William Cross was appointed to succeed him as
Lieut.-Colonel of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment on the 23d of May,
and Brevet Major William Wright Swain was promoted to the vacant
majority.
The word “FIRM” being an old regimental acquirement, it was deemed
necessary to apply to Sir George Nayler, York Herald, Inspector of
Regimental Colours, for its insertion on the new colours which had
been prepared, when the following reply was received:--
“_College of Arms, 6th Jan. 1817._
“SIR,
“From the papers and documents in my possession,[19] relating
to the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, it is clear that the word ‘FIRM’
should be inserted on the colours of that regiment. I would,
therefore, recommend your directing the person who made the new
colours to cause the above word to be inscribed on them.
“I have, &c.
(Signed) “GEORGE NAYLER,
_“York Herald,
Inspector of Regimental Colours._”
“To Lieut.-Colonel Cross,
Commanding 36th Regiment.”
[Sidenote: 1817.]
The regiment embarked at Portsmouth for the Mediterranean on the
29th of July 1817, and landed at Malta on the 27th of September
following.
[Sidenote: 1818.]
On the 4th of April 1818 General George Don was removed from the
Ninety-fifth (afterwards disbanded) to the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment,
in succession to General the Honourable Henry St. John, deceased.
[Sidenote: 1820.]
The head-quarters of the regiment, with six companies, embarked
at Malta on the 5th of December 1820, and landed in the island
of Zante on the 11th of the same month, under the command of
Lieut.-Colonel Cross, having left four companies at Malta under the
command of Major Swain.
[Sidenote: 1821.]
On the 18th of June 1821 the four companies which had remained at
Malta embarked for the island of Cephalonia, where they arrived on
the 22d of the same month. The head-quarters and four companies
embarked at Zante on the 8th of July, and arrived at Cephalonia
on the 10th of that month, when Lieut.-Colonel Cross assumed the
command; two companies were left detached at Zante under the
command of Brevet Major Henry Vernon.
On the 1st of November 1821 a detachment of the regiment,
consisting of one captain, three subalterns, four serjeants, two
drummers, and one hundred rank and file, was ordered to proceed to
the island of Cerigo, under the command of Brevet Major William
Campbell, on a particular service.
During the five latter months of the regiment being stationed at
Cephalonia, the numbers of sick were very great; so much so, that
it was deemed indispensably necessary to establish a convalescent
hospital, as also forming a detachment of two subalterns, two
serjeants, and eighty rank and file, principally consisting of the
most weakly soldiers that could be selected, which proceeded to
Fort St. George, a healthy eminence situated about five miles from
Argostoli, where the head-quarters were stationed; another hospital
was also established there for the reception of the sick of that
detachment, under the superintendence of a medical staff officer.
The increase of disease in this island was principally attributed
to the unconcentrated position of the barracks, which were small,
crowded, and temporary, situated on a marsh in a valley close
to the beach, together with the insalubrious atmosphere, which
prevailed exceedingly during the time the regiment was stationed
there. The loss of the THIRTY-SIXTH by sickness here was sixteen in
two months, which consisted principally of the stoutest young men
in the regiment.
His Excellency the Commander of the Forces in the Mediterranean,
Lieut.-General the Right Honorable Sir Thomas Maitland, G.C.B.,
having arrived at this island early in November, and perceiving
the debilitated state of the corps, was pleased to direct its
removal; six days previously to which the two companies under the
command of Brevet Major Vernon arrived from Zante and joined the
head-quarters. On the 30th of November the regiment, with the
exception of the detachment at Cerigo, embarked for Corfu, where it
arrived on the 4th of December, and occupied part of the barracks
in the citadel, and the whole of the barracks and quarters in Fort
Neuf; the head-quarters and three companies in the latter, and the
remaining companies in the citadel; soon after which Lieut.-Colonel
Cross, having been a considerable time in a bad state of health,
obtained leave of absence; and Major Swain, through domestic
calamities, being absent, the command devolved on Brevet Major
Joshua Crosse. Here Lieutenant Henry O’Bré died on the 13th of
December, about which time Brevet Major Vernon was appointed
Commandant of Paxo, where he died.
[Sidenote: 1822.]
Brevet Major Crosse was succeeded in the command by Brevet Major
Campbell, on his arrival from Cerigo in the month of February 1822.
In March following Major Edmond Browne arrived from England and
took the command of the regiment, he having succeeded to the
majority by exchange from the half-pay with Brevet Lieut.-Colonel
Leggatt in May 1821.
On the 2d June 1822 Major-General Sir Frederick Adam, K.C.B.,
commanding, was pleased to order the head-quarters and three
companies stationed at Fort Neuf to join the remaining companies at
the citadel, as well as the regimental hospital to be established
there, which was productive of much comfort to the corps, together
with the unremitting and unwearied attention of the medical
department, as well as at their solicitation to send a portion of
the men that had not quite recovered from the diseases contracted
at Cephalonia, to the sick depôt formed at Malta, which was acceded
to, and they accordingly embarked for that station on the 8th of
August, where they arrived on the 13th of the same month. This
arrangement was attended with the fortunate result of restoration
to their former good health; and, upon the 27th of October
following, two serjeants and forty-two rank and file arrived from
Malta in His Majesty’s ship “Cambrian;” and at subsequent dates
others arrived, leaving only a very few bad cases at Malta; so that
afterwards it generally had the fewest sick of any regiment in the
Ionian Islands, or in the Mediterranean.
[Sidenote: 1823.]
On the 1st of February 1823, the detachment which was stationed
at Cerigo arrived at Corfu, and joined the head-quarters of the
regiment.
[Sidenote: 1825.]
In the year 1825, the establishment of the regiment was augmented
from eight to ten companies, and formed into six _service_ and four
_depôt_ companies, consisting of forty-two serjeants, fourteen
drummers, and seven hundred and forty rank and file.
The regiment remained in the Ionian Islands until the 2d of
December 1825, when it embarked at Santa Maura for England.
[Sidenote: 1826.]
On the 18th of February 1826, the regiment disembarked at
Chatham; in the spring it proceeded to Colchester, afterwards to
Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester, and Bolton.
[Sidenote: 1827.]
During the early part of the year 1827, the regiment remained at
Bolton, in Lancashire, and in April it proceeded to Liverpool, from
which place it embarked for Ireland on the 14th of that month. The
regiment arrived at Dublin on the following day, proceeded from
thence to Mullingar, and returned to Dublin in August following,
where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.
[Sidenote: 1828.]
In May 1828, the regiment proceeded from Dublin to Naas, and in
October it was removed to Limerick.
[Sidenote: 1829.]
The regiment remained at Limerick until August 1829, when it
proceeded to Birr, and continued during the rest of the year at
that station.
Lieut.-General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart., was appointed Colonel
of the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment on the 21st of December 1829, in
succession to General Sir George Don, G.C.B. and G.C.H., removed to
the Third foot, or the Buffs.
[Sidenote: 1830.]
In June 1830, the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment proceeded from Birr
to Fermoy, and was formed into six _service_ and four _depôt_
companies. The service companies embarked at Cork on the 11th,
13th, and 14th of October for the West Indies. The depôt companies
remained at Fermoy for a short time, and were afterwards stationed
at Spike Island.
The service companies disembarked at Barbadoes on the 20th, 21st,
and 28th of November.
[Sidenote: 1831.]
The service companies suffered severely during the great hurricane
in Barbadoes in 1831, having eleven men killed, and several
severely injured.
The depôt companies were removed from Spike Island to Charles Fort,
Kinsale, in October 1831, and continued there during 1832.
[Sidenote: 1833.]
The service companies which had, since their arrival in the
West Indies, remained at Barbadoes, were removed to Antigua in
February 1833. The depôt companies proceeded from Charles Fort to
Ballincollig in January 1833; to Cork in February; to Templemore in
August, and to Nenagh in October following.
[Sidenote: 1834.]
During the year 1834, the service companies remained at Antigua.
The depôt companies were removed in October from Nenagh to
Limerick.
[Sidenote: 1835.]
In November 1835 the service companies proceeded from Antigua to
St. Lucia. The depôt companies quitted Limerick for Galway in May
1835, and marched for Cork in June following, where they embarked
for Plymouth on the 14th of September; during the remainder of the
year they were stationed at Devonport.
[Sidenote: 1836.]
During the year 1836, the service companies remained at St. Lucia,
and the depôt at Devonport.
[Sidenote: 1837.]
In February 1837 the service companies proceeded from St. Lucia to
Barbadoes.
[Sidenote: 1838.]
The depôt companies were removed from Devonport to Kinsale in June
1838.
On the 10th of November 1838, the service companies embarked at
Barbadoes for Nova Scotia, and arrived at Halifax on the 8th of
December.
The following extract of a letter to the Adjutant-General from
Lieut.-General Sir Samford Whittingham, K.C.B., Commanding in
the Windward and Leeward Islands, is highly creditable to the
THIRTY-SIXTH regiment, and is, therefore, here inserted.
_“Head-Quarters, Barbadoes,_
_“14th November 1838._
“The THIRTY-SIXTH regiment was prepared to embark in four and
twenty hours after the arrival of the ‘Hercules,’ but the
embarkation was delayed, in consequence of the captain reporting
that he could not be ready to receive the troops on board till
the 10th.
“I feel much pleasure in stating that the embarkation, the whole
of which I witnessed, was conducted in the most orderly and
soldier-like manner, and I did not perceive a single case of
drunkenness.
“I have the honour to enclose copy of the farewell Order I issued
on the departure of this old and distinguished corps, as also an
embarkation return of it, and a disembarkation return of the
Fifty-second regiment.”
“_Head-Quarters, Barbadoes,
“9th November 1838._
“GENERAL ORDER.
“The THIRTY-SIXTH regiment being about to embark for Halifax,
in obedience to the orders of the General Commanding-in-Chief,
Sir Samford Whittingham takes this opportunity of congratulating
Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, and the officers and non-commissioned
officers of that veteran regiment, on the high state of
efficiency in which it will proceed to America, after a period of
eight years’ service in the West Indies.
“The Lieutenant-General had great pleasure in witnessing, at his
late inspection, the healthy appearance of the men, and their
steadiness under arms.
“It is now upwards of thirty years since the Lieutenant-General
had first the honour of serving with the THIRTY-SIXTH regiment,
then commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Burne; and he has great
pleasure in being able to state, that every succeeding campaign
has crowned with fresh laurels this truly gallant corps.
“The Lieutenant-General begs Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell will
accept, and communicate to the officers, non-commissioned
officers, and men of the regiment he so ably commands, the
expression of his best wishes for their health and happiness; and
his conviction that the oftener they are tried in the field of
battle, the greater will be their accession of glory and honour.
“By Command,
(Signed) “E. R. KING, _Capt._,
“D. A. A. G.”
[Sidenote: 1839.]
In January 1839, the service companies proceeded to New Brunswick,
and were stationed during the rest of the year at Fredericton.
The depôt companies were removed from Kinsale to Tralee in April
1839; in November they proceeded to Limerick, and in December to
Nenagh.
[Sidenote: 1840.]
During the year 1840 the service companies were stationed at
Fredericton in New Brunswick.
In May 1840, the depôt companies proceeded from Nenagh to Clare
Castle.
[Sidenote: 1841.]