TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Footnote anchors are denoted by [number], and the footnotes have been
placed at the end of each major section.
The tables in this book are best viewed using a monospace font.
A superscript is denoted by ^x or ^{xx}, for example S^t or Esq^{re}.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
[Illustration:
BY COMMAND OF His late Majesty WILLIAM THE IV^{TH}.
_and under the Patronage of_
Her Majesty the Queen.
HISTORICAL RECORDS,
_OF THE_
British Army
_Comprising the_
_History of every Regiment_
_IN HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE_.
_By Richard Cannon Esq^{re}._
_Adjutant General’s Office, Horse Guards._
London.
_Printed by Authority._]
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF
THE THIRTY-FOURTH,
OR,
THE CUMBERLAND REGIMENT
OF
FOOT:
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF
THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN 1702,
AND OF
ITS SUBSEQUENT SERVICES
TO 1844.
_ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES._
LONDON:
PARKER, FURNIVALL, AND PARKER,
_MILITARY LIBRARY, WHITEHALL_.
M.DCCC.XLIV.
LONDON:
HARRISON AND CO., PRINTERS,
ST. MARTIN’S LANE.
GENERAL ORDERS.
_HORSE-GUARDS_,
_1st January, 1836_.
His Majesty has been pleased to command that, with the view of
doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals
who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with
the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the
British Army shall be published under the superintendence and
direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall
contain the following particulars, viz.:--
---- The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of
the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time
employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations
in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any
Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies,
&c., it may have captured from the Enemy.
---- The Names of the Officers, and the number of
Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates Killed or Wounded by the
Enemy, specifying the place and Date of the Action.
---- The Names of those Officers who, in consideration of their
Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the
Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other
Marks of His Majesty’s gracious favour.
---- The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers,
and Privates, as may have specially signalized themselves in
Action.
And,
---- The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been
permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges
or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.
By Command of the Right Honorable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
_Commanding-in-Chief_.
JOHN MACDONALD,
_Adjutant-General_.
PREFACE.
The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend
upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service
are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that
any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which
alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.
Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable
object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the
Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright
examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to
incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have
preceded him in their honorable career, are among the motives that
have given rise to the present publication.
The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the
“London Gazette,” from whence they are transferred into the public
prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the
time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and
admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions,
the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on
the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their
orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill
and bravery; and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour
of their Sovereign’s approbation, constitute the reward which the
soldier most highly prizes.
It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which
appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies)
for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services
and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in
obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic
account of their origin and subsequent services.
This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty
having been pleased to command that every Regiment shall, in
future, keep a full and ample record of its services at home and
abroad.
From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth
derive information as to the difficulties and privations which
chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In
Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to
the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and
where these pursuits have, for so long a period, being undisturbed
by the _presence of war_, which few other countries have escaped,
comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service
and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the
British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little
or no interval of repose.
In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country
derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist
and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to
reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor,--on
their sufferings,--and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which
so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.
The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance,
have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and
their character has been established in Continental warfare by the
irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in
spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and
steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against
superior numbers.
In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample
justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the
Corps employed; but the details of their services and of acts of
individual bravery can only be fully given in the Annals of the
various Regiments.
These Records are now preparing for publication, under his
Majesty’s special authority, by Mr. RICHARD CANNON, Principal Clerk
of the Adjutant General’s Office; and while the perusal of them
cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every
rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and
information to the general reader, particularly to those who may
have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.
There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or
are serving, in the Army, an _Esprit de Corps_--an attachment
to everything belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a
narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove
interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great, the
valiant, the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with
a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race
of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood “firm
as the rocks of their native shore:” and when half the world has
been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their
Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of
achievements in war,--victories so complete and surprising, gained
by our countrymen, our brothers, our fellow citizens in arms,--a
record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their
gallant deeds before us,--will certainly prove acceptable to the
public.
Biographical Memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished
Officers will be introduced in the Records of their respective
Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to
time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value
and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.
As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment
will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall
be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.
INTRODUCTION
TO
THE INFANTRY.
The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for
innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority
of the British troops over those of other countries has been
evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains
so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can
be raised upon the facts which are recorded. It must therefore be
admitted, that the distinguishing feature of the British soldier is
INTREPIDITY. This quality was evinced by the inhabitants of England
when their country was invaded by Julius Cæsar with a Roman army,
on which occasion the undaunted Britons rushed into the sea to
attack the Roman soldiers as they descended from their ships; and,
although their discipline and arms were inferior to those of their
adversaries, yet their fierce and dauntless bearing intimidated
the flower of the Roman troops, including Cæsar’s favourite tenth
legion. Their arms consisted of spears, short swords, and other
weapons of rude construction. They had chariots, to the axles of
which were fastened sharp pieces of iron resembling scythe-blades,
and infantry in long chariots resembling waggons, who alighted
and fought on foot, and for change of ground, pursuit or retreat,
sprang into the chariot and drove off with the speed of cavalry.
These inventions were, however, unavailing against Cæsar’s
legions: in the course of time a military system, with discipline
and subordination, was introduced, and British courage, being
thus regulated, was exerted to the greatest advantage; a full
development of the national character followed, and it shone forth
in all its native brilliancy.
The military force of the Anglo-Saxons consisted principally of
infantry: Thanes, and other men of property, however, fought on
horseback. The infantry were of two classes, heavy and light. The
former carried large shields armed with spikes, long broad swords
and spears; and the latter were armed with swords or spears only.
They had also men armed with clubs, others with battle-axes and
javelins.
The feudal troops established by William the Conqueror consisted
(as already stated in the Introduction to the Cavalry) almost
entirely of horse; but when the warlike barons and knights, with
their trains of tenants and vassals, took the field, a proportion
of men appeared on foot, and, although these were of inferior
degree, they proved stout-hearted Britons of stanch fidelity. When
stipendiary troops were employed, infantry always constituted a
considerable portion of the military force; and this _arme_ has
since acquired, in every quarter of the globe, a celebrity never
exceeded by the armies of any nation at any period.
The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns
succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances,
halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour
was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice
became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel,
that it was almost impossible to slay them.
The introduction of the use of gunpowder in the destructive
purposes of war, in the early part of the fourteenth
century, produced a change in the arms and equipment of the
infantry-soldier. Bows and arrows gave place to various kinds of
fire-arms, but British archers continued formidable adversaries;
and, owing to the inconvenient construction and imperfect bore of
the fire-arms when first introduced, a body of men, well trained
in the use of the bow from their youth, was considered a valuable
acquisition to every army, even as late as the sixteenth century.
During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company
of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in
every hundred men forty were “_men-at-arms_,” and sixty “_shot_;”
the “men-at-arms” were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and
thirty pikemen; and the “shot” were twenty archers, twenty
musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides
his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.
Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150
to 300 men; each company had a colour or ensign, and the mode of
formation recommended by an English military writer (Sir John
Smithe) in 1590 was:--the colour in the centre of the company
guarded by the halberdiers; the pikemen in equal proportions, on
each flank of the halberdiers: half the musketeers on each flank
of the pikes; half the archers on each flank of the musketeers,
and the harquebusiers (whose arms were much lighter than the
muskets then in use) in equal proportions on each flank of the
company for skirmishing.[1] It was customary to unite a number
of companies into one body, called a REGIMENT, which frequently
amounted to three thousand men: but each company continued to carry
a colour. Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the
construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to
make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried
a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier,
armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth
century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry
were reduced to two classes, viz.: _musketeers_, armed with
matchlock muskets, swords, and daggers; and _pikemen_, armed with
pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords.
In the early part of the seventeenth century Gustavus Adolphus,
King of Sweden, reduced the strength of regiments to 1000 men. He
caused the gunpowder, which had heretofore been carried in flasks,
or in small wooden bandoliers, each containing a charge, to be
made up into cartridges, and carried in pouches; and he formed
each regiment into two wings of musketeers, and a centre division
of pikemen. He also adopted the practice of forming four regiments
into a brigade; and the number of colours was afterwards reduced to
three in each regiment. He formed his columns so compactly that his
infantry could resist the charge of the celebrated Polish horsemen
and Austrian cuirassiers; and his armies became the admiration of
other nations. His mode of formation was copied by the English,
French, and other European states; but so great was the prejudice
in favour of ancient customs, that all his improvements were not
adopted until near a century afterwards.
In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled
the Admiral’s regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually
consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light
firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with
hand grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was
designated the “grenadier company.” Daggers were so contrived as to
fit in the muzzles of the muskets, and bayonets similar to those
at present in use were adopted about twenty years afterwards.
An Ordnance regiment was raised in 1685, by order of King James
II., to guard the artillery, and was designated the Royal Fusiliers
(now 7th Foot). This corps, and the companies of grenadiers, did
not carry pikes.
King William III. incorporated the Admiral’s regiment in the second
Foot Guards, and raised two Marine regiments for sea-service.
During the war in this reign, each company of infantry (excepting
the fusiliers and grenadiers) consisted of 14 pikemen and 46
musketeers; the captains carried pikes; lieutenants, partisans;
ensigns, half-pikes; and serjeants, halberds. After the peace in
1697 the Marine regiments were disbanded, but were again formed on
the breaking out of the war in 1702.[2]
During the reign of Queen Anne the pikes were laid aside, and every
infantry soldier was armed with a musket, bayonet, and sword; the
grenadiers ceased, about the same period, to carry hand grenades;
and the regiments were directed to lay aside their third colour:
the corps of Royal Artillery was first added to the Army in this
reign.
About the year 1745, the men of the battalion companies of infantry
ceased to carry swords; during the reign of George II. light
companies were added to infantry regiments; and in 1764 a Board of
General Officers recommended that the grenadiers should lay aside
their swords, as that weapon had never been used during the Seven
Years’ War. Since that period the arms of the infantry soldier have
been limited to the musket and bayonet.
The arms and equipment of the British Troops have seldom differed
materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European
states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods,
been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they
have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and
superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many
and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained
over very superior numbers.
Great Britain has produced a race of lion-like champions who have
dared to confront a host of foes, and have proved themselves
valiant with any arms. At _Crecy_, King Edward III., at the head
of about 30,000 men, defeated, on the 26th of August, 1346, Philip
King of France, whose army is said to have amounted to 100,000
men; here British valour encountered veterans of renown:--the
King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and many princes and nobles
were slain, and the French army was routed and cut to pieces. Ten
years afterwards, Edward Prince of Wales, who was designated the
Black Prince, defeated, at _Poictiers_, with 14,000 men, a French
army of 60,000 horse, besides infantry, and took John I., King of
France, and his son Philip, prisoners. On the 25th of October,
1415, King Henry V., with an array of about 13,000 men, although
greatly exhausted by marches, privations, and sickness, defeated,
at _Agincourt_, the Constable of France, at the head of the flower
of the French nobility and an army said to amount to 60,000 men,
and gained a complete victory.
During the seventy years’ war between the United Provinces of the
Netherlands and the Spanish monarchy, which commenced in 1578 and
terminated in 1648, the British infantry in the service of the
States-General were celebrated for their unconquerable spirit and
firmness;[3] and in the thirty years’ war between the Protestant
Princes and the Emperor of Germany, the British Troop in the
service of Sweden and other states were celebrated for deeds of
heroism.[4] In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British
army under the great MARLBOROUGH was spread throughout the world;
and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory
of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons
of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the
qualities which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of
the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in
Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French
army, which had been vainly styled _Invincible_, to evacuate that
country; also the services of the gallant Troops during the arduous
campaigns in the Peninsula, under the immortal WELLINGTON; and
the determined stand made by the British Army at Waterloo, where
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had long been the inveterate enemy of Great
Britain, and had sought and planned her destruction by every means
he could devise, was compelled to leave his vanquished legions to
their fate, and to place himself at the disposal of the British
Government. These achievements, with others of recent dates in the
distant climes of India, prove that the same valour and constancy
which glowed in the breasts of the heroes of Crecy, Poictiers,
Agincourt, Blenheim, and Ramilies, continue to animate the Britons
of the nineteenth century.
The British Soldier is distinguished for a robust and muscular
frame,--intrepidity which no danger can appal,--unconquerable
spirit and resolution,--patience in fatigue and privation, and
cheerful obedience to his superiors. These qualities, united with
an excellent system of order and discipline to regulate and give
a skilful direction to the energies and adventurous spirit of
the hero, and a wise selection of officers of superior talent to
command, whose presence inspires confidence,--have been the leading
causes of the splendid victories gained by the British arms.[5]
The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the
various battle fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought
and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory;
these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of
time.
The records of the several regiments will be found to contain a
detail of facts of an interesting character, connected with the
hardships, sufferings, and gallant exploits of British soldiers in
the various parts of the world, where the calls of their Country
and the commands of their Sovereign have required them to proceed
in the execution of their duty, whether in active continental
operations, or in maintaining colonial territories in distant and
unfavourable climes.
The superiority of the British infantry has been pre-eminently set
forth in the wars of six centuries, and admitted by the greatest
commanders which Europe has produced. The formations and movements
of this _arme_, as at present practised, while they are adapted
to every species of warfare, and to all probable situations
and circumstances of service, are calculated to show forth the
brilliancy of military tactics calculated upon mathematical and
scientific principles. Although the movements and evolutions have
been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements
have from time to time been introduced, to insure that simplicity
and celerity by which the superiority of the national military
character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain
has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great
measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons
who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the
several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] A company of 200 men would appear thus:--
__|
| |
|__|
|
20 20 20 30 2|0 30 20 20 20
|
Harquebuses. Muskets. Halberds. Muskets. Harquebuses.
Archers. Pikes. Pikes. Archers.
The musket carried a ball which weighed 1/10th of a pound; and the
harquebus a ball which weighed 1/25th of a pound.
[2] The 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments were formed as Marine corps
in 1702, and were employed as such during the wars in the reign
of Queen Anne. The Marine corps were embarked in the Fleet under
Admiral Sir George Rooke, and were at the taking or Gibraltar, and
in its subsequent defence in 1704; they were afterwards employed at
the siege of Barcelona in 1705.
[3] The brave Sir Roger Williams, in his Discourse on War, printed
in 1590 observes:--“I persuade myself ten thousand of our nation
would beat thirty thousand of theirs (the Spaniards) out of the
field, let them be chosen where they list.” Yet at this time the
Spanish infantry was allowed to be the best disciplined in Europe.
For instances of valour displayed by British Infantry during the
Seventy Years’ War, see the Historical Record of the Third Foot, or
Buffs.
[4] _Vide_ the Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of
Foot.
[5] “Under the blessing of Divine Providence, His Majesty ascribes
the successes which have attended the exertions of his troops in
Egypt to that determined bravery which is inherent in Britons; but
His Majesty desires it may be most solemnly and forcibly impressed
on the consideration of every port of the army, that it has been a
strict observance of order, discipline, and military system, which
has given the full energy to the native valour of the troops, and
hue enabled them proudly to assert the superiority of the national
military character, in situations uncommonly arduous, and under
circumstances of peculiar difficulty.”--_General Orders in 1801._
In the General Orders issued by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope
(afterwards Lord Hopetoun), congratulating the army upon the
successful result of the Battle of Corunna, on the 16th of January,
1809, it is stated:--“On no occasion has the undaunted valour of
British troops ever been more manifest. At the termination of a
severe and harassing march, rendered necessary by the superiority
which the enemy had acquired, and which had materially impaired
the efficiency of the troops, many disadvantages were to be
encountered. These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the
troops themselves; and the enemy has been taught, that whatever
advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is
inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows
not how to yield,--that no circumstance can appal,--and that will
ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any
human means.”
[Illustration: THIRTY-FOURTH (THE CUMBERLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT.
(Regimental Colour.)
(_To face page 101._)]
THE THIRTY-FOURTH,
OR
THE CUMBERLAND
REGIMENT OF FOOT,
BEARS ON ITS REGIMENTAL COLOUR THE WORDS
“ALBUHERA”--“VITTORIA”--“PYRENEES”--“NIVELLE”--“NIVE”--“ORTHES”--“PENINSULA,”
TO COMMEMORATE ITS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES IN THE PENINSULA
AND SOUTH OF FRANCE,
FROM 1809 TO 1814.
CONTENTS.
Year Page
1702 Formation of the Regiment 9
---- Names of Officers 10
1705 Forms part of the Force under the Earl of Peterborough,
and embarks for Spain 11
---- Siege of Barcelona --
1707 Returns to England 15
1708 Proceeds to Ostend 16
---- ---- Antwerp 17
1710 Sieges of the Fortresses of Douay, Bethune, Aire,
and St. Venant 18
1711 Siege of Bouchain 19
1712 Stationed at Dunkirk --
1713 Returns to England 20
---- Reduction of the Regiment --
1715 Restoration of the Regiment --
---- Names of Officers --
1717 Proceeds to Ireland 21
1719 Returns to England --
---- Forms part of the expedition under General
Viscount Cobham, destined for Spain --
---- Capture of Vigo --
---- Returns to England, and is again stationed in
Ireland 22
1727 Embarks for Gibraltar --
1728 Returns to Ireland 23
1739 Augmentation of the Establishment --
1739 Removed to England --
1744 Embarks for Flanders 24
1745 Battle of Fontenoy --
---- Returns to England 25
1746 Proceeds to Edinburgh 26
---- Battle of Culloden 27
---- Stationed in South Britain 28
1749 The Regiment placed on a peace establishment --
1751 Uniform and Colours of the Regiment --
1752 Embarks for Minorca 29
1756 Embarks for Gibraltar 32
---- Returns to England --
1757 The Regiment augmented to two battalions --
1758 The Second Battalion constituted the Seventy-third
Regiment --
---- Forms part of an armament employed to reduce the
maritime power of France, and after destroying the
shipping and magazines at St. Maloes, returns
to England --
---- Forms part of a similar expedition, and after taking
possession of Cherbourg, returns to England 33
1762 Siege of the Moro Fort, and Capture of the Havannah 35
1763 Proceeds to North America 36
1768 Returns to Europe --
1769 }
1776 } Stationed in Ireland --
1775 Augmented to the War Establishment --
1776 Embarks for North America 37
1777 Siege of Fort Stanwix 39
1782 Styled the _Cumberland Regiment_ --
1786 Returns to England --
1792 Augmentation of the Establishment --
1795 Embarks for the West Indies --
---- Proceeds to St. Lucia 40
1796 Reduction of St. Vincent 41
---- Embarks for England --
1800 ---- ---- the Cape of Good Hope 42
1802 ---- ---- the East Indies --
1803 Four Companies proceed from Madras to Ceylon 43
1805 A Second Battalion added --
---- The Detachment of the First Battalion rejoins
Head-Quarters from Ceylon 44
1807 The Second Battalion proceeds to Ireland --
---- Embarks for England --
1809 The Second Battalion embarks for the Peninsula 45
1810 Battle of Busaco 47
1811 Siege of Badajoz 48
---- Battle of Albuhera 49
---- Action at Arroyo de Molinos 51
1812 Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo 53
1813 Battle of Vittoria 55
---- Blockade of Pampeluna 56
---- Battle of the Pyrenees 60
---- ---- ---- Nivelle 61
---- ---- ---- Nive --
1814 ---- ---- Orthes 62
---- ---- ---- Toulouse --
---- The Second Battalion embarks for Ireland 63
1817 ---- ---- ---- disbanded 64
1817 }
to } Mahratta and Pindaree war 66
1820 }
1823 Embarks for England 70
1824 Proceeds to Ireland --
1829 Embarks for North America 71
1836 The red and white tuft resumed 72
1841 Embarks for England 76
1843 Proceeds to Ireland 77
1844 The Conclusion 78
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS.
Year Page
1702 Robert Lord Lucas 79
1705 Hans Hamilton 80
1712 Thomas Chudleigh --
1723 Robert Hayes 81
1732 Stephen Cornwallis --
1738 Lord James Cavendish --
1742 The Honorable James Cholmondeley 82
1749 The Honorable Henry Seymour Conway 83
1751 Charles Russell --
1754 Thomas Earl of Effingham 84
1760 Lord Frederick Cavendish --
1797 George Ferdinand Lord Southampton --
1810 Sir Eyre Coote, G.C.B. 85
1816 The Honorable Sir G. Lowry Cole, G.C.B. 87
1826 Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Bart. G.C.B.
and G.C.H. 88
Succession of Lieutenant-Colonels 89
Succession of Majors 91
PLATES.
Regimental colour _to face page_ xix
Queen’s and Regimental Colours ” 9
Uniform of Officers in 1844 ” 9
Uniform of Private Soldiers in 1742 ” 24
Uniform of Private Soldiers in 1844 ” 78
[Illustration: THIRTY-FOURTH (THE CUMBERLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT.
(Queen’s and Regimental Colours.)
(_To face page 1._)]
[Illustration: THIRTY-FOURTH (THE CUMBERLAND) REGIMENT OF FOOT.
(Uniform of Officers in 1844.)
(_To face page 1._)]
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
THIRTY-FOURTH,
OR
THE CUMBERLAND REGIMENT
OF
FOOT.
[Sidenote: 1702]
At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the British monarch
witnessed his efforts to curb the ambition of Louis XIV., and
to preserve the balance of power in Europe, counteracted by the
virtual union of two powerful states, under a dynasty distinguished
for its thirst for conquest, the King of France having procured the
accession of his grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, to the throne of
Spain. Existing treaties were thus openly violated; at the same
time the liberties of Europe were invaded by the seizure of the
Spanish Netherlands, by the troops of France, and the detention
of the Dutch garrisons in the barrier towns; and war was resolved
upon. A considerable augmentation was made to the British army, and
the THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT OF FOOT is one of the corps embodied on
this occasion. Its first colonel was ROBERT LORD LUCAS, from the
lieutenant-colonelcy of Sir John Jacob’s Regiment, now Thirteenth
Light Infantry, his commission bearing date the 12th of February,
1702.
This regiment was composed of men from Norfolk, Essex, and the
adjoining counties, and was raised under the authority of warrants
from King William III., by Colonel Lord Lucas, Lieutenant-Colonel
Thomas Dare, Major Garth, Captains Kitson, Edward Shadwell, E.
Parsons, P. Lechire, ---- Pardon, Richard Steele, and Robert
Cecill, who each raised a company; and when the numbers were nearly
complete, the establishment was augmented to twelve companies, of
three officers and sixty-six non-commissioned officers and soldiers
each: one wing of the regiment had its rendezvous at Colchester,
and the other at Norwich.
While the regiment was completing its ranks, the death of King
William III., and the accession of Queen Anne, occurred on the 8th
of March, 1702, and the soldiers took the oath of allegiance to Her
Majesty.
An expedition being fitted out against Cadiz, under the Duke of
Ormond, LORD LUCAS’S Regiment was ordered to send five companies to
Landguard Fort, Sheerness, and Tilbury, early in May, to relieve
the Buffs, who were ordered to embark on board of frigates for the
Isle of Wight, to join the expedition to Spain; at the same time
seven companies of LORD LUCAS’S Regiment were ordered to relieve a
detachment of the Foot Guards on duty at the Tower of London, of
which fortress his Lordship was lieutenant-governor; two companies
were afterwards detached to Dover Castle.
On the return of the expedition from Spain, the regiment was
relieved from duty at the out-stations, and was quartered in the
Tower, from whence it detached three hundred men to the West
Indies, to complete Colonel Columbine’s Regiment, now Sixth Foot,
which was ordered to proceed to that station. After the departure
of this detachment, the regiment proceeded, in December, into Essex
to recruit, the head-quarters being established at Chelmsford.
[Sidenote: 1703]
[Sidenote: 1704]
The ranks of the regiment were speedily completed, and in the
spring of 1703 it marched to Hull, Berwick, and Carlisle; where it
was stationed in the following year.
[Sidenote: 1705]
On the 31st of January, 1705, Colonel Lord Lucas died; and was
succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Lieutenant-Colonel
Hans Hamilton, from the Earl of Derby’s Regiment, now the Sixteenth
Foot.
Meanwhile, the war which commenced on the frontiers of the
Netherlands, in 1702, had taken a wider range, and Italy,
Germany, Portugal, and Spain, had become the theatre of conflict;
and in May, the regiment embarked on board the fleet under Sir
Cloudesly Shovel, with other forces commanded by General the Earl
of Peterborough, either to aid the Duke of Savoy in driving the
French out of Italy, to make an attempt on Naples and Sicily, or
to effect a landing on the coast of Spain, as should appear most
for the interest of Her Majesty’s service. The fleet arrived at
Lisbon in June, and additional forces were put on board; Archduke
Charles, who was acknowledged as King of Spain, also embarked, and
an attempt on the coast of Catalonia was resolved upon. From Lisbon
the armament sailed, on the 28th of July, for Gibraltar, where a
reinforcement joined from the garrison, and Colonel Hans Hamilton,
of the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, was nominated quartermaster-general
of the expedition.
Leaving Gibraltar, the fleet proceeded to the Bay of Altea, in
Valencia, and a number of Catalonians and Valencians throwing
off their allegiance to the House of Bourbon, and acknowledging
Archduke Charles as king of Spain, the British general was induced
to undertake the siege of _Barcelona_, the capital of Catalonia,
which was defended by upwards of five thousand men, under the
viceroy of Catalonia, Don Francis Velasco. In 1697, this fortress
resisted thirty thousand French troops eight weeks, and cost Louis
XIV. twelve thousand men; but the Earl of Peterborough was unable
to bring more than seven thousand men into the lines, which gave
an interesting character to the enterprise.
Landing near the river Bassoz, on the 23rd and 24th of August, the
troops advanced towards the town, and after some difficulties were
overcome, the siege was commenced. The native energy of British
soldiers was conspicuously displayed on this occasion, and the
grenadiers of the THIRTY-FOURTH had the honor to take part in
storming the detached fortress of _Montjuich_, situate on a hill
on the west side of the town. The troops engaged on this service
made a detour through the mountains during the night of the 13th of
September, and stormed the outworks early on the following morning,
making a lodgment, gaining the bulwark of a new fortification, and
establishing themselves in the works. In a few days afterwards the
garrison surrendered.
This success facilitated the siege of the city of Barcelona, in
which the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment took an active part. The armed
Catalonian and Valencian peasantry blocked up the avenues of the
town; seamen were landed from the fleet to take part in the siege;
the soldiers were incessant in their exertions; cannon and mortars
were dragged up steep precipices by men; and a practicable breach
being effected, a detachment of the regiment was in readiness to
take part in storming the town; but the garrison surrendered,
and saved the effusion of blood which would have attended this
enterprise. A number of armed countrymen entered the city through
the breach, to plunder the partisans of the house of Bourbon; but
the Earl of Peterborough entered the town at the head of a troop
of dragoons, and the grenadiers of the THIRTY-FOURTH, and other
regiments, put a stop to the plundering, and rescued the governor
and his garrison from the vengeance of the people.
The capture of Barcelona produced great astonishment throughout
Europe, and the splendour of the achievement augmented the
reputation of the British arms.
This success was followed by the submission of all the province of
Catalonia, and part of that of Valencia; and after a short stay at
Barcelona, the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment was selected to form part of
the garrison of the ancient town of Tortosa, situated in a pleasant
fertile country, on the left bank of the Ebro, near its influx into
the sea. At this town, which was called Dordosa by the Romans,
and received municipal privileges from Scipio, the regiment was
stationed some time: its services are consequently not immediately
connected with the exploits of the Earl of Peterborough in Valencia.
[Sidenote: 1706]
As the operations of the British troops became extended, the
regiment quitted its pleasant quarters at Tortosa, and was employed
in several movements in the early part of 1706.
King Charles and his counsellors did not make efforts to provide
for the defence of the towns which had been gained, nor to obtain
the means for future conquests; but spent their time and money in
diversions: the breaches of _Barcelona_ and Montjuich were not
repaired, and the garrison was unprovided for a siege. King Philip
pursued a different line of conduct; he collected forces from
various quarters, and assembled a numerous army, with a powerful
artillery, for the re-capture of the provinces he had lost, and
a formidable French and Spanish force approached the capital of
Catalonia by land; at the same time a French fleet appeared before
the city. The garrison being weak in numbers, corps were hurried
from various places to increase its strength; and the THIRTY-FOURTH
Regiment travelled one hundred and twenty miles on mules, on the
30th and 31st of March, and on the 1st of April mounted guard on
the works. The regiment had not been two hours on duty when the
French approached the place, and made an attack on the outworks
of fort Montjuich; but were repulsed by a hundred men of the
THIRTY-FOURTH, in gallant style[6]. To the timely arrival of the
regiment may be attributed, in a great measure, the preservation of
the town: the soldiers repaired the breaches, and made a desperate
and resolute defence.
King Charles remained in Barcelona; his presence stimulated
the garrison to extraordinary efforts, and British valour was
conspicuously displayed in his cause; but the troops were not
sufficiently numerous for the defence of so extensive a place. When
the garrison, bravely struggling against multiplied difficulties,
had become exhausted; its numbers decreased by deaths, wounds, and
sickness to about a thousand men, and a practical breach was ready
for the enemy to attack the place by storm, the combined English
and Dutch fleets approached with reinforcements; the French naval
force hurried from before the town, and the garrison was relieved.
Losing all hope of final success, and having had five thousand men
killed and wounded before the town, the enemy made a precipitate
retreat on the 12th of May, leaving two hundred brass cannon,
thirty mortars, and immense stores of ammunition and provision,
together with the sick and wounded of their army, behind them,
and hurrying to France, they thus left the allies at liberty to
engage in new enterprises. Barcelona was thus preserved by British
skill and valour; and the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment received, with the
other corps in garrison, the thanks of King Charles for its heroic
conduct. Its numbers were considerably reduced by casualties during
the siege.
An immediate advance on Madrid was resolved upon; and the allied
army on the frontiers of Portugal was requested to penetrate boldly
to the capital of Spain. The THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment embarked
for Valencia to join in this enterprise; and, after landing, it
furnished a number of select men towards completing the Earl of
Peterborough’s Regiment of Dragoons, which was embodied on this
occasion. The advance to Madrid was delayed; pernicious councils,
which paid more attention to court formalities than to military
operations, retarded the journey of King Charles. This gave time
for the French forces to re-enter Spain, and for the arrival of
additional troops to reinforce the enemy; and the allied army,
after advancing to Madrid, was obliged to retreat to Valencia and
Murcia.
[Sidenote: 1707]
After passing the winter in Spain, the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment,
being much reduced in numbers, was directed to transfer its private
soldiers fit for duty to other corps, in the spring of 1707, and to
return to England to recruit. This took place before the army took
the field; and while the officers and non-commissioned officers
were waiting for transports, the battle of Almanza was fought,
on the 25th of April, when the enemy gained a decisive victory.
The embarkation was afterwards delayed a short period; but in the
autumn the regiment arrived in England, and commenced recruiting
its ranks, in which it had great success.
[Sidenote: 1708]
The regiment was stationed in the south of England in the spring
of 1708, when the King of France fitted out a fleet, and embarked
troops, for the invasion of Scotland, in favour of the Pretender.
On this occasion the regiment had so far recruited its numbers, and
become efficient, that it was selected to proceed to the north,
to confront the invaders; but it was ordered to halt at Leeds, in
consequence of the French shipping having been chased from the
British shores by the English fleet.
Having defeated the enemy’s designs of invading the United Kingdom,
the British Government fitted out an armament against the French
coast, and the THIRTY-FOURTH Foot were ordered to return from
Yorkshire to take part in the enterprise. They proceeded to the
Isle of Wight, where they were reviewed by Major-General Erle,
on the 19th of July, and afterwards embarked on board the fleet,
under Admiral Sir George Byng. The expedition approached the
coast of France in the early part of August, and after menacing
several places, a landing was effected to create alarm, and make
a diversion in favour of the allied army in Flanders. The troops
subsequently returned on board the fleet, and, after menacing
the coast at several points, withdrew towards England. Orders
were afterwards received to proceed to Ostend, where the several
regiments arrived on the 21st of September; when a body of French
troops, under Count de la Motte, who was advancing to surprise
the town, made a precipitate retreat towards Bruges, cutting
the dikes to lay the country between Ostend and Nieuport under
water. Major-General Erle landed with the THIRTY-FOURTH and other
regiments, and taking post at the village of Leffinghen, formed an
intrenched position.
At this period the allied army in the Netherlands was engaged in
the siege of the important fortress of _Lisle_, and ammunition
becoming scarce, the Duke of Marlborough sent seven hundred
waggons, under a strong guard, to Ostend, for a supply.
Major-General Erle had drained the inundations, built a bridge over
the canal at Leffinghen, and opened a communication with the army,
towards which the waggons laden with stores began their march on
the 26th of September; and the guard having repulsed the forces
under Count de la Motte, at Wynendale, the convoy arrived safe at
its destination, and the army was enabled to continue the siege.
The French commanders resolved to cut off the communication of
the allied army with Ostend, and the Duke of Vendosme proceeded
to Oudenburg with thirty thousand men, established posts along
the canal between Plassendale and Nieuport, cut the dikes in
several places, and laid a great extent of country under water.
The THIRTY-FOURTH and other regiments, under Major-General
Erle, pitched their tents on the high grounds of Raversein,
and the Duke of Marlborough put the covering army in motion;
when the Duke of Vendosme made a precipitate retreat, and the
THIRTY-FOURTH Foot took part in forwarding a supply of ammunition
across the inundations in boats. The Duke of Vendosme detached
a body of troops to besiege Leffinghen, which was taken after a
sharp resistance. He also menaced the camp at Raversein, when
Major-General Erle retreated to the outworks of Ostend.
A numerous body of the enemy marching to Brabant, under the Elector
of Bavaria, the THIRTY-FOURTH, and four other regiments, embarked
from Ostend, under Brigadier-General Wynne, for Antwerp, where
they were stationed when the citadel of Lisle surrendered, and the
campaign was terminated by the re-capture of Ghent and Bruges.
[Sidenote: 1709]
The THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment, being composed of young soldiers, was
employed on garrison duty during the year 1709.
[Sidenote: 1710]
In April, 1710, the regiment quitted its quarters, and traversed
the country towards the frontiers of France, to serve the
campaign of that year with the army under the celebrated Duke of
Marlborough. The regiment was engaged in the operations by which
the French lines were passed at _Pont-a-Vendin_, and it afterwards
took part in the siege of the strong fortress of _Douay_, where it
had repeated opportunities of distinguishing itself. This fortress
was defended by a numerous garrison, under General Albergotti, an
officer of reputation, who made a determined resistance; and the
soldiers of the THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment were fully employed on duty
in the trenches, carrying on the approaches, repulsing the sallies
of the garrison, and storming the outworks, which occasioned
considerable loss. The French army advanced to raise the siege, but
did not hazard a general engagement; and Douay surrendered on the
27th of June. The THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment had one subaltern, six
serjeants, and seventy-five rank and file killed; two captains,
three subalterns, five serjeants, and one hundred and twenty rank
and file wounded, during the siege[7].
After the capture of this fortress, the regiment joined the main
army, which was encamped at Villers-Brulin during the siege of
_Bethune_, which fortress was reduced before the end of August. The
regiment was subsequently employed in covering the sieges of _Aire_
and _St. Venant_, both of which fortresses were captured before the
end of the campaign.
[Sidenote: 1711]
Quitting its winter quarters among the Walloon peasantry, in April,
1711, the regiment joined the army, and was reviewed, at the camp
at Warde, on the 8th of June, by the Duke of Marlborough. It was
formed in brigade with the Tenth, Twenty-first, and Wynne’s
(afterwards disbanded) Regiment, under Brigadier-General Hamilton,
and took part in the movements by which the enemy’s formidable
lines were passed at _Arleux_, on which occasion the superiority of
the English general’s tactics was particularly conspicuous.
This splendid success was followed by the siege of the town of
_Bouchain_, situated on both sides of the river Scheldt, and the
THIRTY-FOURTH Regiment had the honor to take an active share in the
operations against this fortress, which was taken by capitulation
in the middle of September. When the damaged works at Bouchain were
repaired, the regiment went into winter quarters.
[Sidenote: 1712]