Intelligence being received that peace was concluded, the second
Division of the Army embarked at Bordeaux, and, sailing from the
Garonne, arrived in England early in 1814. The 50th was ordered to
Cork, and, after marching through various parts of the Emerald Isle,
they were sent to the north of it, where with the head quarters in
Aughnacloy, they remained for the winter of the same year. Early in
the spring of 1815, the regiment was removed to Enniskillen.[33] Here
we were treated with the most liberal hospitality, not only by the
inhabitants of the town, but by those of the surrounding
neighbourhood, who generously received and entertained the officers,
during the whole time of our residence there. The 2nd Battalion of the
27th, and some troops of the 7th Dragoon Guards, together with the
staff of the Fermanagh Militia, composed the garrison, the whole in
charge of Major General Stephen Mahon.
[33] Lieutenant Robert Keddle, of the 50th, died in this
place, from the effects of a severe wound, which he received
in France. He was interred with military honours, and a
stone with a suitable inscription was placed over his
remains.
Bonaparte's return from Elba was the signal for renewed warlike
preparations; hence every possible means were resorted to for the
augmentation of the British Army. The troops in Enniskillen commenced
beating up with active zeal, and our regiment having on its return
from France been reduced to a mere skeleton, was compelled to use
redoubled exertions in order to complete its numbers. The whole of the
noncommissioned officers, with the band, and drums at their head,
marched daily through the streets, tempting by most alluring baits
those young fellows, who, struck with military ardour, were gazing and
listening with wonder at all the fine speeches of the Serjeant[34]. Of
the raw material there was abundant food for powder, and so many of
the Hibernian youths were out of work that our battalion was soon
filled up, and in the course of the summer we were quite prepared for
any service.
[34] The beating-up was a most enlivening affair; the horns
and kettle-drums, together with the noise of various other
instruments, made such a rattling through the town as kept
the good people thereof wide awake, calling to the windows
on every occasion a precious bevy of fair and blooming
damsels, ready themselves to take on with any gallant gay
Lothario, who might feel inclined to serve a campaign or two
with them, in the field of Venus instead of that of Mars.
From Enniskillen the Regiment marched to Londonderry, where they
remained during the winters of 1815 and 1816.--While they were
stationed in the garrison they were treated with the utmost kindness
by the people, who testified on all occasions the high respect in
which they held the military profession; and those officers now alive
who were at that period quartered there, can bear testimony to this
record of the attention and generosity displayed by the inhabitants of
that loyal and interesting city.
Several detachments from the Regiment were cantoned in various parts
of the country, where they had but miserable accommodation. The
officers thus situated led rather a solitary life, varied occasionally
by the still-hunting expeditions, a species of service attended with
much fatigue. Often have we travelled for miles over deserted tracts,
and, after long continued wanderings, come perchance upon some spot
where the illicit manufactory was in active work, and where every
scheme and stratagem was used to avoid detection. Seized upon without
resistance, the unfortunate people were paralysed with terror, and
were captured together with their whiskey. Many were the wailings and
sorrowful cries of these miserable creatures, thus dispossessed of all
they were worth in the world; and it was pitiable to hear their wives
and children in despair imploring for mercy, while the relentless hand
of law held their husbands and fathers within its grasp.
It is much to be deplored that the King's troops should be employed in
a duty of such a revolting nature, which brings them into hostile
contact with the poor inhabitants of their own country; it is
certainly no very agreeable, and it might be added, honourable
employment, for any officer to be a gauger's whipper-in, or for his
party to be the advanced guard of an excise officer, or deputy
assistant carriers of potteen whiskey. We found it a most irksome,
harassing and unpleasant service, the very recollection of which, even
at this distance of time, is enough to make one shudder.
Whenever the approaching military were observed from the top of a
distant hill, where scouts were posted to look out for the enemy, a
signal was made to the dealers in the contraband, who were busily
employed at their lawless calling, in a poor and roofless hut,
situated in a remote corner of the mountain glen. From hill to hill
the well known signal spread like wild-fire, and long before the
soldiers reached the spot, the chief performers were off, having
previously destroyed or removed the whole apparatus of their trade,
leaving not a vestige of whiskey or machinery behind. The loud
shouting and hallooing of the terrified fugitives, while the gaugers
thirsting for their prey gave chase, resounded among the heights.
Knowing every pathway they soon outran the cunning excisemen, and by
the best of generalship left them to measure back their steps,
bewailing their ill fate, in thus losing their prize, that was almost
within their clutches.
In order to fill up the intervals between these excursions, seeking
for outlawed characters, hunting for robbers and highwaymen, or any
other honest calling in that line, was the employment of the military.
The duty of the officer was no sinecure; nor could he ever enjoy the
quiet pillow, so frequent were the demands upon his time.
While the 50th was in Derry, Mr. Butler, of Grouse Hall, in the County
of Donegal, was cruelly assassinated in front of his own hall door, by
a noted villain named Magennis, who fired at him with deliberate aim,
from a plantation before the house. Magennis, who had been engaged in
other murders, bore a dreadful character, and in such horror was he
held, that on hearing of the commission of this last diabolical act,
that every well disposed and loyal person was willing to lend a hand
in his capture, and an immense reward was offered for his
apprehension. The troops of course were employed in this affair, and
were out at all hours in pursuit of the outlaw, without success. For
months he thus eluded the vigilance of the civil and military powers,
outwitting them in their plans, and bidding defiance to their efforts
to take (as he thought) his invulnerable body. Disguised in various
costumes, he fled from place to place, as best might suit his purpose,
perpetually changing his abode, from the remote villages to the
mountains, and lying at times concealed in deep recesses of the
wildest glen or rocky cavern, where assisted by his friends, (for,
strange to say, this wicked man had friends!) he lay in privacy secure
by day, while by night he prowled about the neighbourhood of his
favorite haunts.
He was familiar with all the most inaccessible and unfrequented spots
throughout the country, and with the trackless waste he was well
acquainted. Being constantly on the watch, he was far distant from his
pursuers at the very time they supposed him within their grasp. As
soon as the soldiers appeared in sight, this daring robber, standing
on a promontory, or ledge of rocks, and waving his hat in the air with
loud shouts of defiance, would challenge the men to fire. At the next
moment he would spring from the precipice, and mounting a hardy
galloway, scour off in triumph to another hill; thus rendering useless
all exertion to take him, and shewing the difficulty of making any man
a prisoner in a country where the laws are not sufficiently respected,
and where the vilest malefactor is screened and sheltered from their
power by the populace, in whose neighbourhood the crimes have been
committed.
Among those stationed at outquarters in Ennisshowen was Lieutenant
John Winder Plunkett, of the 50th, who commanded a party in that
district[35]. This officer, finding that the labours of his men for
the apprehension of Magennis were in vain, and that it was a folly any
longer to persist in the fruitless chase, consulted with the
magistrates, who agreed with him in thinking that it would be better
to proceed by way of stratagem. A few trustworthy fellows were
accordingly despatched in disguise, conducted by faithful guides, who
searched in various corners, with the view of taking the murderer by
surprise. In consequence, however, of treachery, or false
intelligence, even their exertions failed, and it was feared that he
would at last escape, and thus avoid the punishment due to his
enormous crimes.
[35] Lieutenant I. W. Plunkett had served with honor to
himself during greater part of the Peninsular war, but being
reduced with the supernumerary Lieutenants of the 50th, he
memorialized to be placed again on full pay. In consequence
of his good conduct on former occasions, as well as in the
capture of Magennis, he was, through the interest of Sir
Robert Peel, appointed to the 25th, or Royal Borderers; with
which regiment, he served some years in the West Indies, and
died of fever in Demerara, in 1831, after becoming senior of
his rank, deservedly regretted, not only by the 25th, but by
all his old companions of the 50th.
Plunkett himself at length volunteered to make the dangerous attempt
of seizing on the person of the lawless villain; and, as soon as he
could get some clue, by which to ascertain his lurking place, he was
resolved to proceed upon the enterprise. An opportunity was now at
hand for carrying the plan into effect; for, one morning, while the
Lieutenant was considering about the matter, a countryman disguised
appeared suddenly in his room, and assured him, that, if due
protection were afforded, he would conduct him to the place where
Magennis was to sleep on the following night. Rejoiced at this welcome
information, the officer at once closed with the man's proposal, and
told him he would be ready to attend him in the morning.
At the appointed hour, the party was assembled, and, having to travel
over a bleak and mountainous range of hills, the roads on which were
intricate and bad, they did not arrive till midnight at the village,
on the skirts of which they halted. The night was dark as pitch, the
stillness of the grave prevailed throughout, and not even the smallest
gleam of light was seen among the wretched group of dwellings. Every
thing so far was favourable, and lest any treacherous design should
lurk within the peasant's breast, our worthy cicerone was strictly
guarded, and a loaded musket placed in the vicinity of his head. "Come
now, my lads," whispered the Irishman, "move on in silence, you'll
soon be at the spot;" on which they followed him on tiptoe; not even
the barking of a dog was heard, to interrupt them. In a state of
breathless caution they passed the cabins, from the window of one of
which an ugly beldame peeped out her wizened face, and seeing the men,
she quickly hobbled to the door; but the hag was in a moment seized,
and told, in no very gentle terms, that if her ladyship made the
slightest noise, her life would be the forfeit. This admonition caused
Old Curiosity to quake so with fear, that her final exit would have
speedily taken place had she remained in durance vile much longer. A
man or two being left as body guards to her highness, the remainder
moved on quietly down the street, when the guide, pointing to a poor
and desolate hovel on the road, said, in a low voice, "The object of
your search lies there." Measures were immediately taken to dispose
the men in such a way about the cabin that no one could escape;
sentries were placed at doors and windows, the soldiers were prepared
with loaded arms to prevent a rescue, and nothing was left undone to
secure their prey. On being informed of the room in which the guilty
bandit lay concealed, Plunkett, a man of tried courage and great
personal strength, quickly forced the outer door, and clearing all
impediments he rushed onward through the passage, with a pistol loaded
to the muzzle, made a rapid push into a small apartment, and perceived
the outlaw extended on the bed; to spring like a hungry tiger on his
prey, and put his weapon to the fellow's head, was the work of an
instant. Magennis, armed to the teeth, and having for bedfellows a
blunderbuss and brace of pistols, started up with horror, looking
wildly and in fierce anger round, while he made a violent struggle to
disentangle himself from the iron grip of Plunkett. The noise of these
proceedings being the signal, the men without burst into the scene of
action, when the ruffian, after making one last despairing effort to
fire at the Lieutenant, and seeing that further resistance would be
vain, surrendered to the party, delivering up his weapons to their
brave commander. So completely was the villain taken off his guard,
that he appeared almost paralysed with terror. Well aware that of
mercy for his crimes there was none in store, he submitted with dogged
looks to the men about him.
Astonished at the courage of his captor, he addressed him thus--"Sir,
what rank are you in the 50th,"--"I am a Lieutenant," returned the
officer. "Ah!" said Magennis, you ought to be General Plunkett, for
having taken me." The prisoner being pinioned, they marched him from
the village, and, on the following day, he was safely deposited in the
county goal. Thus was this notorious criminal taken in his bed,
through the intrepid conduct of one individual, after the ineffectual
efforts of many well-armed men. He was executed at Lifford, in a few
months after. The unfortunate man, who acted as guide to the captors,
was, in a short time, barbarously murdered by his countrymen.