British Fusiliers, was appointed to the command of the troops
in Basse Terre, and he defended _Berville_ camp with the
utmost gallantry until the 6th of October, when he was forced
to surrender,--his force having become reduced by excessive
exertion, and the unhealthiness of the climate, to one hundred and
twenty-five rank and file fit for duty.
The troops at Guadaloupe suffered severely from the climate, and
the arduous duties they had to perform, and could only muster 389
soldiers fit for duty on the 1st of September.[23]
By the articles of capitulation the British troops were to march
out with the honors of war, and it was agreed to send the garrison
to England on board French ships, as soon as transports were
ready. The latter part of the agreement was not, however, complied
with, as they remained prisoners for more than a year afterwards,
during which time many of them died. The garrison consisted of
the flank companies of the 17th, 31st, and 34th regiments; the
39th, 43rd, 56th (three companies), and 65th regiments. Their loss
in the different actions between the 27th of September and the
6th of October amounted to two officers killed and five wounded;
twenty-five non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and
fifty-one wounded.
During the year 1794 Lieutenants Davies, Mackenzie, and Williams,
of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, died of fever contracted in the West
Indies.
The whole island of Guadaloupe, with the exception of Fort Matilda,
had been recaptured by the French: this fort was defended by the
troops under Lieut.-General Prescott until the 10th of December,
when it was evacuated by the British.
On the 12th of July, 1794, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at
Wexford for England, disembarked at Bristol, and marched thence to
Southampton.
The regiment, on the 25th of July, 1794, was augmented to ten
battalion and two flank companies; and on the 17th of August
following embarked for Holland, where it was stationed at
Middleburg and Flushing, in the island of Walcheren, but was not
employed on any particular duty.
[Sidenote: 1795]
In this year the regiment returned to England, and landed at
Plymouth on the 27th of February, 1795.
A camp was formed in the month of August, at Nursling, near
Southampton, which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment joined on the 25th
of that month, and received a reinforcement to its strength in
drafts from the 43rd, 88th, 92nd, and 94th regiments, which
raised its establishment to 1000 rank and file, with a second
lieutenant-colonel, a major, and one additional lieutenant to each
company, besides two recruiting companies.
On the 25th of October, 1795, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked
for the West Indies, as part of the armament which had been
prepared for the deliverance of the French West India Islands
from the power of republicanism, and to reduce to obedience the
insurgents of St. Vincent and Grenada. The expedition, commanded
by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, sailed with the immense
fleet, under the convoy of a squadron of the Royal Navy, commanded
by Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Christian. The troops amounted to about
25,000 men, in the highest state of equipment; and the armament
on quitting the British shores presented a magnificent spectacle,
calculated to impress the mind with a just idea of the power of
England; but it unfortunately happened that the voyage had been
delayed until a very late period of the year; three attempts were
made to get under weigh, and each was prevented by the violence of
the weather: many ships were driven from their anchors and stranded.
Three hundred sail got under weigh on the 11th of November, when an
accident to the Admiral rendered the attempt of no avail. On the
15th another endeavour was overcome by the tempestuous weather. At
length the fleet sailed, but it had scarcely got clear of the Isle
of Wight, when another severe storm obliged the vessels that had
ridden through it with safety to return to Portsmouth.
With great difficulty and exertion Admiral Christian collected the
remainder of his convoy, and again sailed on the 9th of December,
but four days afterwards a storm destroyed many of the transports,
and so scattered the fleet as to render a re-union impossible.
[Sidenote: 1796]
Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby sailed in the “Arethusa”
frigate, with such vessels as could be collected, and on the 14th
of March, 1796, arrived at Barbadoes.
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, having weathered the storm, which had
dispersed the fleet in the Channel, proceeded on the voyage, but
was unable to make good the passage, and on the 5th of February,
1796, after being six weeks at sea struggling against the violent
tempests, the regiment was landed at Gosport, whence it marched to
Poole, in Dorsetshire; the regiment was not long inactive, as on
the 19th of March it was again on board ship at Southampton, and
proceeded to its original destination.
On the 1st of May the THIRTY-FIRST arrived off the island of _St.
Lucia_, on which Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby had already
effected a landing. The regiment disembarked immediately, under the
command of Lieut.-Colonel Hay, and was cantoned near the point of
disembarkation at Choc Bay. The fortress of _Morne Fortunée_ was
invested by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby; _Morne Chabot_,
another strong position, having been carried with great gallantry
by Brigadier-General (afterwards Sir John) Moore.
The batteries against _Morne Fortunée_ were opened on the 14th of
May, and on the night of the 17th the strong outpost of _La Vigie_
was assaulted. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched from its position,
near Choc Bay, at sunset, for the purpose of a night-attack upon
this post, which was remarkably strong. It formed a peninsula,
accessible only by a narrow isthmus, and commanded the entrance
on one side of the Carenage harbour. The post was defended by
two batteries; the first placed midway upon the acclivity, and
the second on the summit of the height. The approaches to both
were by a circuitous path, and the guide who accompanied the
regiment was mortally wounded by the first fire from the enemy’s
piquet stationed on the isthmus. The regiment, being ignorant
of the country, missed the proper direction. Lieut.-Colonel Hay
ordered it to ascend the hill _en force_, which was done, although
attended with great difficulty from the precipitous nature of the
ground. The first battery was gallantly carried by storm, and the
enemy retired to the higher one. The regiment was unfortunately
separated in the ascent, and was unable to make a concentrated and
effectual attack upon the works that crowned the height, which it
nevertheless, in spite of all obstacles, bravely attempted, but the
enemy’s grape-shot took such effect that the regiment was obliged
to withdraw, after a severe struggle.
The THIRTY-FIRST had Captains Johnson and Walker, four serjeants,
and eighty rank and file _killed_; Lieut.-Colonels Hay and
Arbuthnot, Captains Murray and Sorrell, Lieutenants Sullivan and
Hawkshaw, four serjeants, and one hundred and twenty-one rank and
file _wounded_.
On the 25th of May the island of St. Lucia capitulated, and
the THIRTY-FIRST, forty-fourth, forty-eighth, and fifty-fifth
regiments, under Brigadier-General Moore, were selected to occupy
the place. The possession of the island was not a quiet one; small
bodies of French, who had deserted from the different fortresses
at their capitulation, withdrew into the interior, and joined the
runaway slaves and Caribs; taking advantage of the impenetrable
nature of the country, they formed themselves into bands for the
purpose of molesting the British, and plundering the planters and
other residents of the island. Brigadier-General Moore took the
field, and penetrated with his force into the wildest quarters of
the mountains, in order to eradicate these predatory bands.
The THIRTY-FIRST was employed on this harassing duty, and suffered
much from fatigue, privation, and continual exposure; on the
service being concluded, the regiment went into quarters at _Vieux
Fort_, and other posts, when it became so unhealthy that the
authorities were compelled to remove the corps from the island.
The deaths among the men were for a time sixteen each day; on
the embarkation of the regiment, on the 22nd of December, for
Barbadoes, it had scarcely a soldier fit for duty; and on its
disembarkation there, six days afterwards, it became necessary to
send the entire regiment into hospital, which was the _second_ time
the THIRTY-FIRST had been rendered unserviceable from sickness,
the corps having suffered in a similar manner while stationed in
Florida in the year 1765.
During the year 1796 the regiment had lost seventeen officers, and
eight hundred and seventy men, including those who fell in the
attack of _La Vigie_, in St. Lucia.
In the previous year Prussia had concluded a peace with the French
republic, and, in consequence of the United Provinces of Holland
having leagued with France, England had taken possession of the
Cape of Good Hope; in February, 1796, the island of Ceylon was
also captured from the Dutch by Great Britain. The former allies
of England now became converted into enemies. War was declared
by Holland, which had been constituted the Batavian republic,
against Great Britain in May, and Spain followed the example in
October. In the same month Lord Malmesbury was sent to Paris to
negotiate a peace on the part of the British Government, but the
French insisted upon retaining, as integral parts of the republic,
the conquests lately made: these terms could not be acceded
to consistently with the general interests of Europe, and the
negotiation was discontinued.
[Sidenote: 1797]
On the 14th of February, 1797, the combined fleets of France and
Spain were defeated off Cape St. Vincent, by Admiral Sir John
Jervis, afterwards created Earl St. Vincent, on account of this
glorious victory, for which the honor of knighthood was also
conferred on Commodore (afterwards Admiral Viscount) Nelson. On the
18th of February the Spanish island of Trinidad surrendered to a
British force under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby.
In April, 1797, Austria signed the preliminaries of peace with the
French Republic, and, in July, Lord Malmesbury was sent a second
time to negotiate a treaty, but the demands of the French Directory
rendered the attempt abortive.
In the year 1797 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, greatly reduced in
numbers, embarked for England and landed at Gravesend in July; it
mustered only _eighty-five_ men, including serjeants, drummers, and
rank and file. Shortly after disembarkation the regiment marched to
Doncaster, and remained at stations between that place, Hull, and
York, for the two following years.
In this year alarming mutinies occurred on board the fleet at
Spithead and the Nore, but the British seamen nobly redeemed their
character on the 11th of October, 1797, in the victory gained by
Admiral Duncan (who was in consequence created Viscount Duncan),
over the Dutch fleet, off Camperdown, which was proceeding to join
that of the French at Brest.
On the 17th of October the definitive treaty of peace between
Austria and the French republic was signed at Campo Formio, so that
Great Britain was left to continue the contest single-handed with
France and her allies.
[Sidenote: 1798]
The threat of invasion, renewed by France, called forth the
patriotic feelings of the British nation; the militia force was
increased, and volunteer corps were formed in every part of the
kingdom.
Napoleon Bonaparte, against whose legions in the Peninsula,
in subsequent years, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment acquired great
renown, was now rising step by step to that Imperial sway which he
afterwards attained. The French Directory, jealous of his ambition,
sent him on the expedition to Egypt, with the view of acting from
that country against the British empire in India. Napoleon took
Alexandria by storm, and soon established himself at Cairo. The
Sublime Porte, incensed by the invasion of Egypt, declared war
against France, and formed an alliance with Russia. The fleet,
which had conveyed the expedition to Egypt, was almost destroyed
by Admiral Nelson in _Aboukir Bay_ on the 1st of August. So large
a portion of the French army being thus secluded in a distant
land, gave fresh impulse to the Allies, and in November the island
of _Minorca_ surrendered to the British arms. In December the
co-operation of Russia against France was secured by Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1799]
At this period of the war the soldiers of the English militia
regiments were permitted to extend their services to the regular
army;--the THIRTY-FIRST regiment received eight hundred and
fifty-three volunteers from the militia.
In March, 1799, war was declared by the French Directory against
Austria, and the combined Austrian and Russian armies were so
successful as to recover the greater portion of Italy.
In August, 1799, a corresponding attempt was made by Great Britain
to recover Holland from the dominion of France, and a numerous army
was selected to proceed to that country, under His Royal Highness
the Duke of York. Previously to the arrival of the Duke of York,
the army was commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby,
K.B., with the local rank of General.
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched to Deal, embarked for Holland
on the 8th of September, and arrived at the Helder on the 15th of
the same month. The THIRTY-FIRST and other regiments were embarked
after the departure of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, in order
to reinforce his army. The Duke of York, having preceded these
additional troops by two days, was already in command of the army,
which was intrenched in the advance of the Helder on the Zuype, in
which lines Sir Ralph Abercromby had, on the 10th of September,
near the village of _Crabbendam_, repulsed the attack of the French
and Dutch under General Brune.
Immediately on landing, the THIRTY-FIRST marched to the lines, and
joined Major-General the Earl of Chatham’s brigade, in the division
of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, on the 15th of September. The
Duke of York, having been reinforced by the expected arrival of a
corps of twelve thousand Russians, under Lieut.-General Hermann,
resolved on attacking the French position in advance of _Alkmaar_,
reaching from Zuyder-Zee on the right, to Camperdown on the left,
and embracing the town of Bergen.
The attack was made on the 19th of September, in four columns: the
right, formed entirely of Russians, under Lieut.-General Hermann,
moved on Bergen; the centre divisions, under Lieut.-General Dundas
and Lieut.-General Sir James Pulteney, forced the village and post
of Oude Carspel, on the road to Alkmaar; while the left column,
in which was the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under General Sir Ralph
Abercromby, advanced to the capture of Hoorne.
The point of attack selected for Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division
being at a considerable distance beyond the extent of the line,
the THIRTY-FIRST, and other regiments, marched at eight o’clock on
the night of the 18th of September, and the movement was performed
with such skill and secrecy, that Hoorne was surprised and carried
on the following morning without loss, which placed the French
position in considerable peril. The Russians having failed in
holding Bergen, after having entered it in gallant style, rendered
it impossible for the centre division to continue in possession
of the posts it had acquired. The British troops were therefore
withdrawn to their former lines upon the Zuype, to which the
Russians had retreated. Hoorne was evacuated, and the THIRTY-FIRST,
with the other regiments of Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division,
returned on the night of the 19th of September to the ground they
had quitted on the former evening.
From the 20th of September until the 1st of October, both armies
remained within their intrenchments, strengthening their lines of
defence; the French had received reinforcements, and had inundated
a large tract of country on their right by cutting the sluices,
thus contracting the ground of operations to six or seven miles.
The Duke of York, on the 2nd of October, made another attack on the
French position between _Bergen_ and _Egmont-op-Zee_. The combined
attacks were made in four columns; the division under General Sir
Ralph Abercromby, being on the right, marched along the beach. The
left of the French army was posted and concentrated about Bergen, a
large village surrounded by extensive woods, through which passed
the great road leading to Haarlem; between which and the sea was
an extensive region of high sand-hills impassable for artillery.
Behind the sand-hills, and to the enemy’s right, through the whole
extent of North Holland, lies a wet and low country, intersected
with dykes, canals, and ditches. The French centre was supported
by the town of Alkmaar. The battle soon became serious in front
of _Bergen_, upon which Lieut.-General Dundas had been ordered to
proceed.
Meanwhile Sir Ralph Abercromby had passed Bergen in order to
turn the position of the French at _Alkmaar_, and overcame every
opposition until he reached _Egmont-op-Zee_, which post was
occupied in great numbers, and gallantly defended. Sir Ralph
Abercromby, however, here overthrew a corps of the French army, and
wheeling his division to the left, turned the enemy’s position at
_Bergen_, upon which General Brune, the commander-in-chief of the
French and Batavian army, fell back, taking up an equally strong
position at a short distance to the rear.
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment had an opportunity of distinguishing
itself particularly throughout this arduous contest, which lasted
from six in the morning until the same hour in the evening. In
the attack of Bergen, the regiment took two pieces of artillery
from the enemy; the corps on the right frequently charged with the
bayonet, and lost a great number of men. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment
had one serjeant and twenty-seven rank and file _killed_; Captain
Smith, Ensign King, and fifty-five rank and file _wounded_.
During the night of the 2nd of October, Bergen and Egmont-op-Zee
were evacuated by the enemy.
The army remained during the night on the ground it held at the
close of the battle, and on the 3rd of October _Alkmaar_ was
occupied by detachments of British troops. On the 6th of October,
the advanced posts in front of Alkmaar, Egmont-op-Hooff, and
Egmont-op-Zee, were pushed forward, preparatory to a general
forward movement. At first little opposition was shown, and the
British took possession of some villages, and of a position on the
sand-hills near Wyck-op-Zee; but the column of Russian troops,
under the command of Major-General D’Essen, in endeavouring to gain
a height in front of their intended advanced post at Baccum, was
vigorously opposed, and afterwards attacked by a strong body of the
enemy.
This movement obliged General Sir Ralph Abercromby to move up in
support with the reserve of his corps; the French advanced their
whole force; the action became general along the whole line from
Limmen to the sea, and was maintained with great obstinacy on both
sides until night, when the enemy retired, leaving the British
masters of the field of battle. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, on
the 6th of October, had Lieutenant Forster, one serjeant, and
thirty-five rank and file _killed_; Captain Pickering, Lieutenants
Mullins, Walker, Ball, Ensigns Williams and Johnson, three
serjeants, and eighty-four rank and file _wounded_.
In the meantime the French army had been reinforced; the state of
the weather, the ruined condition of the roads, the total want of
the necessary supplies, offered great obstacles; besides which, the
efforts which had been made for the liberation of Holland were not
seconded by the Dutch people, so that it was determined to withdraw
the British army. A convention was ultimately concluded with
General Brune at Alkmaar, on the 18th of October.
On the 16th of November the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at the
Texel, and landed at Deal three days afterwards, when it marched
immediately to Canterbury, where the effects of the Dutch campaign
began to be perceptible. Before the army left Holland dysentery
had broken out among the men, arising from their exposure to the
damp and fogs natural to the country. The THIRTY-FIRST lost a great
number of men, from this cause, while stationed at Canterbury.
[Sidenote: 1800]
On the 15th of May, 1800, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at
Dover for Ireland, landed at Cove on the 6th of June, and marched
directly to Cork, where a force was collecting for a secret
service, to which it was added. On the 27th of June the embarkation
took place, and on the 8th of July the armament reached the Bay
of Quiberon; the twenty-third, THIRTY-FIRST, fifty-second, and
sixty-third regiments landed on the Isle de Houat, where they
remained encamped, under the command of Brigadier-General the
Honorable Thomas Maitland, until the 19th of August, when they
again embarked and joined the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir
James Pulteney, destined for the coast of Spain. A landing was
effected at _Ferrol_ on the 25th of August; the troops advanced to
the heights which overlook the town, and the THIRTY-FIRST had some
skirmishing with the enemy’s piquets. After viewing the town and
its defences, Sir James Pulteney abandoned the idea of attacking
the place; the troops were re-embarked on the following morning,
and the fleet sailed for Vigo, where it arrived on the 27th of
August. Here General Sir Ralph Abercromby joined with other troops,
and assumed the command of the whole force. After remaining in Vigo
Bay for some time, the fleet sailed for Cadiz, where it arrived on
the 3rd of October. Sir Ralph Abercromby summoned the Governor to
surrender, but an epidemic fever was raging in the city, and the
fleet quitted the coast for fear of infection, and proceeded to
Gibraltar.
At this period General Sir Ralph Abercromby received orders
from the British Government to proceed to Egypt; but the three
battalions of the ninth foot, the second battalion of the
twenty-seventh, the THIRTY-FIRST, and two battalions of the
fifty-second regiment, being composed principally of volunteers
from the militia, whose conditions of enlistment limited their
services to time and place, were not available for the expedition
to Egypt: they were accordingly ordered to proceed to Lisbon, where
they arrived on the 27th of November, having suffered much from
confinement on board ship, and the use of salt provisions.
[Sidenote: 1801]
On the 27th of January, 1801, the THIRTY-FIRST was again at sea,
and on the 14th of February disembarked at Minorca, which had
surrendered to Great Britain in November, 1798; this island was
restored to Spain at the Peace of 1802.
[Sidenote: 1802]
The successes of the British arms in Egypt, by which the French
were expelled from that country, were followed by a Treaty of
Peace, which was signed on the 27th of March, 1802, at Amiens,
between the French Republic, Spain, and the Batavian Republic,
on the one part, and Great Britain on the other. The principal
features of the treaty were, that Great Britain restored all her
conquests during the war, excepting Trinidad and Ceylon, which were
ceded to her, the former by Spain, and the latter by the Batavian
Republic. Portugal was maintained in its integrity, excepting
that some of its possessions in Guiana were ceded to France. The
territories of the Ottoman Porte were likewise maintained in their
integrity. The Ionian Republic was recognised, and Malta was to be
restored to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The French agreed
to evacuate the Neapolitan and Roman states, and Great Britain all
the ports that she held in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.
In May, 1802, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment sailed from Minorca for
England, and early in June landed at Portsmouth, on the 19th of
which month it was reduced to the Peace Establishment.