In the year 1803 the regiment was removed to Jersey.[24]
Napoleon Bonaparte was now approaching the zenith of his power:
the unsettled state of affairs in France had induced him to quit
his army in Egypt, and on his return the Directory was abolished,
Bonaparte being appointed First Consul of the French Republic. This
occurred in 1799, and in the following year Europe was astounded by
his daring passage of the Alps, followed by the victory of Marengo,
which caused Austria to sue for peace.
The French being driven from Egypt in 1801 by the gallant
Abercromby and his brave troops, in which the THIRTY-FIRST regiment
would probably have shared, had it not been for the circumstances
stated at page 61, the Peace of Amiens was concluded; it,
however, gave but a slight interval of tranquillity to Europe.
The military spirit of the French nation had been aroused by the
genius of Napoleon, who endeavoured to realize his schemes for the
aggrandizement of France;--and England appeared as a barrier to his
designs.
In May, 1803, the war was renewed; Hanover was overrun by the
French, and severed for a time from the British Crown. An immense
flotilla was also assembled at Boulogne for the invasion of
England. The threat of invasion aroused the patriotism of the
British people, and the most strenuous measures were pursued to
defeat the French ruler’s designs; the “_Army of Reserve Act_” was
passed in June, 1803, for raising men for home service by ballot;
numerous volunteer and yeomanry corps were formed in every part of
the kingdom; and all party differences merged into one universal
effort for the preservation of Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1804]
On the 18th of May, 1804, Napoleon was invested with the dignity of
_Emperor of the French_, and on the 26th of May of the following
year he was crowned _King of Italy_ at Milan.
Further measures of defence were adopted by Great Britain, and the
“_Additional Force Act_” was passed on the 14th of July, 1804, by
which a _second battalion_ was added to the THIRTY-FIRST regiment,
to be formed of men raised in the county of Chester, for limited
service.
The regiment embarked at Jersey for England on the 9th of November,
and on the 27th of that month arrived at Portsmouth, whence it
marched to Winchester, and received a further number of volunteers
from the Militia.
On the 12th of December the Court of Spain issued a declaration
of war against England, in consequence of the capture of some
frigates off Cadiz, which had been intercepted while on their way
to France with cargoes of treasure,--Spain having agreed to furnish
a powerful aid to Napoleon.
[Sidenote: 1805]
By July, 1805, the second battalion was fully embodied, and in
October proceeded from Chester to Winchester, where the first
battalion was stationed.
While the French were pursuing their victorious career in Germany,
they experienced dreadful reverses from the navy of Great Britain.
On the 21st of October the combined fleets of France and Spain were
completely defeated off Cape _Trafalgar_. The victory was, however,
clouded by the death of Admiral Viscount Nelson, to whose memory
the highest honors were paid by a grateful and admiring nation.
[Sidenote: 1806]
On the 9th of January, 1806, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was present
at the funeral of Admiral Viscount Nelson, and formed part of the
line between which the procession passed on its way to St. Paul’s
Cathedral, in which the Admiral’s remains were interred, and where
a monument was erected by order of Parliament.
In November of the preceding year a squadron of English and Russian
vessels landed some troops at Naples without any opposition from
the Neapolitan Court. The French Emperor, on receiving intelligence
of this transaction, issued a proclamation that “_the Neapolitan
dynasty had ceased to reign_,” and an army, under his brother,
Joseph Bonaparte, assisted by Marshal Massena, marched for Naples.
On the 15th of February the French entered that capital, and
soon obtained possession of the whole kingdom, excepting Gaeta;
Ferdinand IV. and his Court having previously retired to Sicily.
A decree was shortly issued by Napoleon, conferring the crown of
Naples on his brother Joseph, who was proclaimed King on the 30th
of May.
England being desirous of preserving Sicily from the dominion of
France, troops were embarked for that island;--on the 26th of
April the _first battalion_ of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked
at Tilbury-fort, and landed at Messina on the 26th of July.
Previously to the arrival of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, the French
had assembled a force in Calabria for the invasion of Sicily,
and Major-General Stuart, commanding the British troops in that
island, formed the design of cutting off the French division under
General Regnier; the result was the battle of _Maida_, where a
victory was gained by the British troops on the 4th of July.
Major-General Stuart being sensible that he could not, with his
small force, maintain himself in Calabria, recrossed the straits of
Messina and returned to Sicily. For this victory Major-General John
Stuart received the dignity of Knight of the Bath, the thanks of
Parliament, and was created Count of Maida by the King of the Two
Sicilies.
[Sidenote: 1807]
Admiral Sir John Duckworth having failed in his coercive
mission to detach Turkey from the interests of France, Great
Britain determined to seize upon Egypt, as a check to any fresh
demonstration by the French against the British possessions in the
East Indies.
An armament accordingly sailed from Melazzo, on the coast of
Sicily, in February, 1807, under the command of Major-General
Alexander Mackenzie Fraser, Colonel of the seventy-eighth regiment,
and landed at Aboukir on the 18th of March. On the 21st of
March, Alexandria was occupied by the British troops, and it is
a singular coincidence that it was the anniversary of the battle
fought near there in the year 1801, when the gallant General Sir
Ralph Abercromby received the wound which terminated his honorable
career.
On the 27th of March a force of fifteen hundred men, of which the
THIRTY-FIRST regiment formed part, was detached under the command
of Major-General Wauchope to Rosetta. The troops arrived before the
city on the 31st of March, and not having been impeded in their
progress to the environs, entered the place. The THIRTY-FIRST
regiment marched into Rosetta, while the grenadier battalion
occupied a high sandy mound without the city.
Rosetta is situated upon a slight eminence, commanding a view of
the river Nile and the fertile lands of the Delta; the streets are
somewhat wider than the generality of Egyptian towns, and planted
here and there with trees. The houses are high, the lower half of
each being a dead wall, with a small door, leading into a narrow
passage, well secured with bolts and bars of iron. The chambers
are above, with trelliced windows projecting over the streets. The
Turks had garrisoned their houses, and remaining quiet, allowed the
British to continue their march until some way into the town, when
through the loop-holes they had constructed on purpose, and their
trelliced windows, a destructive and unexpected fire was opened
upon the column. The troops, although placed in a most trying
and perilous situation, behaved extremely well, and after having
suffered very materially in killed and wounded, retired to Aboukir,
from whence they returned to Alexandria.
Major-General Wauchope, who commanded the force, was killed; the
THIRTY-FIRST regiment had Captain John Robertson, three serjeants,
three drummers, and sixty-nine rank and file _killed_; Captain
Patrick Dowdall, Lieutenants Edward Knox, Peter Fearon, John
Thornton, ---- Sladden, and Francis Ryan, Ensign Richard Kirby,
seven serjeants, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty-nine rank
and file _wounded_. Lieutenant Sladden subsequently died of his
wounds.
Brigadier-General the Honorable Robert Meade (Lieutenant-Colonel of
the THIRTY-FIRST), the second in command, was also severely wounded.
Major-General Fraser finding that a famine would be the consequence
of the British remaining at Alexandria, without the occupation of
Rosetta, detached another body of troops, amounting to two thousand
five hundred men, under Brigadier-General the Honorable William
Stewart, to reduce the place. The force consisted of a detachment
of Royal Artillery, a detachment of the twentieth light dragoons,
light infantry battalion, first battalion of the thirty-fifth
regiment, second battalion of the seventy-eighth regiment, the
Baron De Roll’s regiment, and a detachment of seamen. A large
Turkish force coming down the Nile from Cairo, the troops were
compelled to retire, fighting all the way to Alexandria.
A formidable force now approached Alexandria, and Major-General
Fraser sent a flag of truce offering to evacuate Egypt, on
condition that the British prisoners should be liberated. The
proposal was readily accepted, and on the 19th of September the
British troops embarked for Sicily, where they arrived on the 16th
of October.
[Sidenote: 1808]
The first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked from
Sicily for Malta, on the 17th of September, 1808, where it remained
until August, 1810, when it returned to Sicily.
[Sidenote: 1810]
[Sidenote: 1811]
On the 17th of August, 1810, the first battalion landed at Messina,
and remained in garrison in the citadel until April, 1811, when
Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, being about to proceed to
the eastern coast of Spain, sent it to Malta, in order that a
stronger corps might be drawn from that island, the thirty-first
having been reduced considerably in numbers while stationed in
the Mediterranean. The battalion landed at Malta on the 18th of
April, but the force left in Sicily being found insufficient, four
companies were immediately recalled, and on the 22nd of April
re-embarked for Messina; a few months afterwards the head-quarters
were ordered back to Sicily, and on the 28th of August joined the
detached companies, when the battalion was once more united in
Sicily.
[Sidenote: 1812]
About this period the British authorities in Sicily detected the
traces of a conspiracy set on foot the year before by the Queen
of Naples, who, it is said, had proposed a scheme to Napoleon for
massacring the English. A new constitution was established in
Sicily, upon the model of that of Great Britain, under the auspices
of Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, who had been appointed
Captain-General of the Island, and the Queen was sent into
retirement.
In November, 1812, the grenadier company of the THIRTY-FIRST
regiment embarked from Sicily for the east coast of Spain, under
Lieut.-General Frederick Maitland, and landed at Alicant on the
2nd of December. In April, 1813, it returned to Sicily, where it
arrived in May.
[Sidenote: 1813]
The first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment remained in
garrison in the citadel of Messina until towards the end of 1813,
when, in consequence of disturbances at Palermo, the capital of
Sicily, which threatened to spread, the troops were detached to
various central positions. The THIRTY-FIRST, by a detour, marched
upon Castro Giovanni, and remained there until January, 1814, when
the battalion returned to Messina.
[Sidenote: 1814]
On the 28th of March, 1814, the battalion embarked at Melazzo,
as part of an expedition destined for the shores of Italy, under
Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck. In the beginning of April the
first division of the army arrived off the coast above and below
the city of Genoa, and threatened a descent upon _Voltri_, rather
to engage the attention of the enemy, however, in that quarter,
than for any other purpose.
On the 5th of April the second division of the Anglo-Sicilian
army disembarked at Leghorn, and marched directly upon Sestri.
The French reinforced that place to protect the coast batteries,
and prevent the British communicating with the people of the
mountains, who were ready to rise against the French. The two
British divisions had united, and attacked the enemy, on the 8th
of April, at _Sestri_; the battle lasted throughout the day, and
in the night the French General Ronger St. Victor retired towards
Recco, taking up his position in rear of Rafallo, where he left
his advanced guard; a third British division, in which was the
first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, hovered about the coast, and
made some attempts to land fresh troops, but was prevented by the
enemy’s detachments at Recco.
On the 9th and 10th of April the squadron cannonaded _Recco_, but
was obliged to stand out again; in the night of the 10th General
Pègot, who had arrived to relieve General Ronger St. Victor,
retired, and occupied, on the 11th of April, a position at Mount
Fascia. The English squadron and transports had all arrived before
_Genoa_, and a detachment from the divisions on shore had been
able to communicate with the native levies at Fontana Buona. On
the 12th of April the position of Mount Fascia was attacked, and,
after a hard day’s contest, General Pègot fell back in the night,
and took up another strong position at _La Sturla_, on the heights
of Albaro, his right on the sea being covered by a battery of four
pieces of artillery, and his left resting on Fort Richelieu. The
remainder of the British army disembarked at Nervi, and immediately
attacked the enemy on the heights of Albaro, on the 13th of April.
The THIRTY-FIRST, under the command of Colonel Bruce, belonged
to this division, and, with the 8th battalion of the Line of the
King’s German Legion, dashed in among the enemy the instant of
their debarkation, notwithstanding the intersected and difficult
nature of the ground, which assisted so materially the obstinate
defence of the French. Meanwhile the light company of the
THIRTY-FIRST, under Captain Nunn, had carried the battery which
covered the enemy’s right, with conspicuous bravery, and dismounted
the four guns upon it under a galling fire of musketry and
artillery from another battery near that captured.
The THIRTY-FIRST had Captains Stewart and Cruice, three serjeants,
one drummer, and thirty-six rank and file _wounded_; one serjeant
and thirteen rank and file _killed_.
The following extract from Division Orders, dated La Sturla, 14th
of April, 1814, bears testimony to the conduct of the corps:--
“The conduct of the troops in the long contested action of
yesterday, at _La Sturla_, was most honorable to them, and
Major-General Montresor feels the greatest satisfaction in doing
justice to their merits, by publicly declaring his high sense
of their persevering gallantry in surmounting the numberless
obstacles which the broken and intersected nature of the country
presented, in every step, to their advance, whilst it afforded
the best shelter to the enemy, who, well accustomed to his
ground, defended it with the greatest obstinacy.
“However justly entitled the whole may be to individual
distinction, it nevertheless would be unjust not to notice, in
particular, the ardour and spirited skill in which the Royal
Flotilla, and the detachments of the third Italian Levy, and of
the second and third extra regiments, and Royal Marines, began
the attack, and the very gallant manner in which the THIRTY-FIRST
regiment, and the 8th King’s German Legion, dashed in amongst the
enemy after their debarkation, and the conspicuous bravery of
the light company of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in carrying the
battery on the left.”
During the 14th and 15th of April the attacks upon the heights of
Albaro were repeated, and on the 17th, while disaffection among the
people was rapidly spreading in Genoa, the posts of St. Francisco
and St. Martin d’Albaro were carried, and the French retired behind
the Bizagno.
By the 18th of April the disaffection in Genoa had reached a
crisis, and upon the following day the advance upon the city took
place. The THIRTY-FIRST drove the enemy from a strong battery of
ten brass guns and two 13½ inch brass mortars, without sustaining
any loss.
During the night of the 19th of April a convention was signed;
on the morning of the 21st, the enemy marched out of the city
and evacuated all his posts. On the 22nd the head-quarters
of the THIRTY-FIRST were within the city of Genoa, when the
Commander-in-Chief, Lieut.-General Lord William Bentinck, issued
the order from which the following extract is taken:--
“Head-Quarters, Genoa, 24th April, 1814.
“The Commander of the Forces has much satisfaction in witnessing
the zeal and gallantry evinced by the whole of the troops
under his orders in the late operations, which have led to the
possession of this important fortress; and he has not failed
to represent their conduct in the most favourable terms to His
Majesty’s government.
“Major-General Montresor has particularly reported to him the
great assistance he received from Brigadier-General Roth, Colonel
Bruce, and Lieut.-Colonel Travers.
“The Commander of the Forces himself observed the very gallant
and successful attack made by the third Italian regiment, under
the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Ciravignac, and favourable reports
have been made to him of the conduct of the light company of the
twenty-first regiment, commanded by Captain Renny, the light
company of the THIRTY-FIRST, under Captain Nunn, and the light
company of the second Estero regiment, under Captain-Lieutenant
Fulghier.”
On the 27th of April the first battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST
sailed with a force for the island of Corsica; when the troops
arrived opposite Ajaccio, that place capitulated. The THIRTY-FIRST
regiment then sailed for Bastia (the birth-place of Napoleon),
and landing there on the 11th of May, remained until the 24th of
June following, when it embarked for Sicily, and again went into
garrison in the citadel of Messina, on the 18th of July, 1814.
In the meantime the brilliant successes gained over the French in
the Peninsula and South of France, by the troops under the Duke of
Wellington, in which the _second_ battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST
regiment bore a prominent part, led to a treaty of peace with
France; Napoleon retired to Elba, which island was ceded to him in
full sovereignty for life, with a pension payable from the revenues
of France; and on the 3rd of May, 1814, Louis XVIII. entered Paris,
and ascended the throne of his ancestors.
On the 24th of October, 1814, the _second_ battalion of the
THIRTY-FIRST regiment was disbanded at Portsmouth, and the officers
and men fit for service were transferred to the first battalion,
with which they were incorporated on the 6th of May, 1815, at
Messina.
In commemoration of the services of the _second_ battalion during
the Peninsular War, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment has received the
Royal Authority to bear on the Regimental Colour and Appointments,
the words “TALAVERA,” “ALBUHERA,” “VITTORIA,” “PYRENEES,”
“NIVELLE,” “NIVE,” “ORTHES,” and “PENINSULA.”
[Sidenote: 1815]
Although the first and second battalions of the THIRTY-FIRST
regiment were employed in different countries, yet they were
engaged in the promotion of the same interests, namely, the
restoration of the exiled families of the House of Bourbon to the
thrones of their ancestors; the achievements of the _second_
battalion were in the most distinguished arena, but the _first_
battalion, although it was stationed among the pastoral beauties of
Sicily, and the luxurious towns of Italy, maintained its discipline
and character, besides adding honors to those formerly acquired on
the field of battle, whenever, as on the heights of _Albaro_, an
opportunity had offered.
The peace of Europe was again to be disturbed. The French army
retained a chivalrous veneration for Napoleon, who returned from
Elba, landed at Cannes, in Provence, on the 1st of March, 1815, and
was joined by his former troops. Louis XVIII. withdrew from Paris
to Ghent, and Napoleon assumed his former dignity of Emperor of the
French.
Marshal Murat, the brother-in-law of Napoleon, by whom in 1808
he had been made King of Naples, upon Joseph Bonaparte being
constituted King of Spain, had, in January, 1814, signed a treaty
with England, and engaged to co-operate with the allies against
France. Napoleon’s triumphal return to France caused Murat to
espouse his cause, and he at once commenced hostilities against
Austria, issuing a proclamation asserting the independence of
Italy. Naples was thereupon invested by the Austrians, while an
English squadron entered the port and acted in co-operation.
The allied powers, however, refused to acknowledge the sovereignty
of Napoleon, and determined on his dethronement.
These events caused the THIRTY-FIRST regiment to be embarked at
Melazzo for Naples, where it arrived on the 25th of May. The city
had capitulated to the British fleet, under Admiral Lord Exmouth,
and the troops landed to hold possession until the restoration
of order in the kingdom, and Ferdinand IV. should be reinstated
on the throne of the Two Sicilies. After an exile of nine years,
this sovereign entered his capital on the 17th of June; on the
following day the hopes of Bonaparte were crushed by his defeat on
the memorable field of Waterloo, which victory triumphantly closed
the campaign; and on the 8th of July Louis XVIII. re-entered Paris,
and the Bourbon government was restored.
In the beginning of July the THIRTY-FIRST had sailed from the Bay
of Naples for Genoa, and remained there to support the arrangements
for restoring the Sardinian dominions to their original state.
Bonaparte was subsequently compelled to surrender himself a
prisoner on the 15th of July to Captain Maitland, commanding
the “Bellerophon” ship-of-war, and the island of St. Helena was
afterwards appointed for his residence. Murat’s career was equally
brief; he was driven from Italy, and withdrew to Corsica, from
which island he made a rash descent on the coast of Calabria. After
a sharp action he and his followers were taken prisoners. Murat was
tried by a military commission, and shot on the 15th of October.
[Sidenote: 1816]
[Sidenote: 1818]
In February, 1816, the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked for Malta,
and remained in that island until June, 1818, when it proceeded to
England, and landed at Deal on the 22nd of July.
On the return of the regiment to England it was stationed at Dover
Castle, Colchester, Chatham, and Sheerness.
[Sidenote: 1819]
In August, 1819, in consequence of disturbances in the
manufacturing districts, three companies of the THIRTY-FIRST
regiment proceeded to Manchester, three to Macclesfield, and three
to Stockport. On the 10th of the same month the regiment was
employed in Manchester.
An assemblage of people, estimated at forty to sixty thousand,
took place on the 16th of August, in an open space in the town of
Manchester, named St. Peter’s Field, for the purpose of petitioning
Parliament. Such meetings having been forbidden by proclamation
some weeks previously, the military were employed by the civil
authorities in dispersing the crowd of persons who had entered the
town, with banners, some of which were of a menacing nature.
The troops of the garrison, the fifteenth hussars, the THIRTY-FIRST
and eighty-eighth regiments, with the Chester and Manchester
yeomanry cavalry, were ordered to be assembled in the vicinity,
under the senior officer, Lieut.-Colonel L’Estrange, of the
THIRTY-FIRST regiment. The yeomanry were engaged during part of the
day in dispersing the multitude, many of whom received injuries,
and eight or ten were killed. The regular troops behaved with
their usual coolness and discipline, in the delicate and important
duty they had to perform. The thanks of the Prince Regent, and of
the Magistrates, were communicated to the troops in the following
letters:--
“Whitehall, 21st August, 1819.
“SIR