adherents to flock to the Prince's standard; several regiments were
recalled from the continent in October, and His Royal Highness the
Duke of Cumberland proceeded to take the command of the royal army.
The young Pretender, elated with the capture of Carlisle, marched
as far as Derby, from whence, however, he commenced his retreat to
the north on the 6th of December, as he found but few partisans in
England to join him in his expedition.
The Duke of Cumberland, after capturing the rebel garrison of
Carlisle, returned to London, leaving the command of the army to
Lieut.-General Hawley.
[Sidenote: 1746]
In January 1746, Stirling was closely invested by the young
Chevalier, and Lieut.-General Hawley marched to its relief. An
engagement occurred at _Falkirk_ on the 17th of January, in which
the Prince was again victorious. The Duke of Cumberland now
proceeded to Edinburgh, reassumed the command of the army, and on
the 2nd of February entered Stirling.
Fortune no longer favored the young Chevalier, who fixed his
head-quarters at Inverness. The inclemency of the season having
abated, the Duke of Cumberland, on the 8th of April, advanced
towards the enemy, and gained a complete victory over him on
the 16th of April, near _Culloden House_, four miles east of
Inverness.[10]
By official documents it appears, that on the 22nd of March, 1746,
the FIFTY-SEVENTH regiment was stationed at Berwick, and on the
16th of April following, the date of the Battle of _Culloden_, the
subjoined letter was addressed to the officer commanding the first
division of the regiment, then at Tuxford, in Nottinghamshire,
which indicates that the corps had commenced its march towards
London:--
"_War Office, 16th April, 1746._
"SIR,
"I am commanded to signify to you it is His Majesty's pleasure,
that you cause the regiment of Foot under your command to
continue its march in two divisions, with the utmost expedition,
and without halting.
"I am, &c.
(Signed) "W. YONGE.
"_Officer Commanding in Chief the first division
of Colonel Murray's regiment, at Tuxford._"
Prince Charles, after enduring many hardships, succeeded in
escaping to France in September. In the following month the
FIFTY-SEVENTH regiment embarked at Portsmouth for Jersey.
[Sidenote: 1747]
The rebellion being suppressed, several regiments returned to
Flanders, and on the 2nd of July, 1747, the Duke of Cumberland
engaged the French at _Laffeld_, or _Val_, where the Allies
suffered severely from the misconduct of the Dutch troops.
[Sidenote: 1748]
The Allies again took the field in the summer of 1748, but
hostilities were at length terminated by the treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle, which was signed on the 7th of October, 1748.
By it all the great treaties, from that of Westphalia in 1648,
which first recognised the principle of a balance of power in
Europe, to that of Vienna in 1738, were renewed and confirmed.
Prussia retained Silesia, and the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa was
guaranteed in the possession of her hereditary dominions, according
to the Pragmatic Sanction. France surrendered her conquests in
Flanders, and England those in the East and West Indies; all
therefore Great Britain gained by the war was the glory of having
supported the German sovereignty of Maria Theresa, and of having
adhered to former treaties.
Several regiments were disbanded in consequence of the
termination of the war. On the disbandment of Colonel Spotswood's
(afterwards Gooche's) American Provincial Corps, then numbered
the _forty-third_ regiment, and of the ten Marine regiments from
the _forty-fourth_ to the _fifty-third_, the numerical titles of
six of the seven regiments raised in 1741, were changed, and the
_fifty-seventh_ became the FORTY-SIXTH regiment.[11]
[Sidenote: 1749]
In the year 1749 the FORTY-SIXTH regiment proceeded to Ireland,
where it remained for eight years.
[Sidenote: 1751]
In the Royal Warrant, dated the 1st of July, 1751, for ensuring
uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of the army,
and regulating the number and rank of regiments, the facings of
the FORTY-SIXTH regiment were directed to be yellow. The first,
or King's colour, was the Great Union; the second, or Regimental
colour, was of yellow silk, with the Union in the upper canton; in
the centre of the colour the number of the rank of the regiment, in
gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the
same stalk.
[Sidenote: 1756]
While the regiment was stationed in Ireland, the peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle was interrupted by the aggressions of the French
on the British territory in North America, and early in 1756 the
King of France prepared a powerful armament for the capture of
the island of Minorca. In consequence of this attack on Minorca,
hostilities became inevitable on the part of Great Britain, and on
the 18th of May war was declared against France.
[Sidenote: 1757]
On the 7th of May 1757, the FORTY-SIXTH, and other regiments,
embarked at Cork, for Nova Scotia, being intended to form part of
an expedition under Major-General the Earl of Loudoun, for the
attack upon Cape Breton, an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On
arriving at Halifax, the seventeenth, forty-second, FORTY-SIXTH,
and the second battalion of the sixtieth regiments were formed in
brigade under Major-General James Abercromby; but the French at
Louisburg having been reinforced, the expedition was deferred until
the following year, and the regiment remained in Nova Scotia during
the winter.
[Sidenote: 1758]
While the expedition under Lieut.-General (afterwards Lord) Amherst
proceeded in May, 1758, against Cape Breton,[12] the FORTY-SIXTH
regiment was ordered to join the body of troops under Major-General
James Abercromby, selected to attack the fort of _Ticonderoga_.
This force, which comprised the twenty-seventh, forty-second,
forty-fourth, FORTY-SIXTH, and fifty-fifth regiments, embarked on
Lake George on the 5th of July, and landed on the following day
near the extremity of the lake, from whence the troops marched
through a wild and thickly-wooded country, in four columns, upon
_Ticonderoga_; the guides mistook the route through the trackless
woods, and on the 6th of July, a skirmish ensued with a body of
French troops, in which Brigadier-General George Augustus Viscount
Howe (of the fifty-fifth regiment) was killed. With this exception
the British sustained but small loss, while the enemy had three
hundred killed, and one hundred and forty-eight taken prisoners. On
the 8th of July, the British appeared before the fort, which was
situated on a tongue of land, projecting into Lake Champlain, and
was built by the French in 1756. It could only be approached on one
side, which was strongly fortified; the other three sides being
surrounded by water. Felled trees, with their branches outward,
were spread before the works, which were defended by between four
and five thousand men.
The engineer having reported that the entrenchment might be forced
by musketry alone, Major-General Abercromby, unfortunately,
determined to attack the place without waiting for the artillery,
which, on account of the badness of the ground, could not be
easily brought up. A rumour also that the French were about to be
reinforced with three thousand men, confirmed the General in his
resolution. Although the troops behaved with the utmost gallantry
in the attack on fort _Ticonderoga_, on the 8th July, it was found
impossible to succeed in the undertaking, and after many unavailing
efforts, during a desperate contest of upwards of four hours,
Major-General Abercromby gave orders to withdraw, and the British
returned to their camp on the south of Lake George, where they
arrived on the following evening.[13]
[Sidenote: 1759]
The following officers belonging to the FORTY-SIXTH regiment were
killed on this occasion: Lieut.-Colonel Samuel Beaver, Captains
George Needham and Edward Wynne; Lieutenants Jacob Laulhé and
Arthur Lloyd; Ensign George Crofton, and Quarter-Master Thomas
Carbonell.
In the year 1759, it was proposed to attack the French in all
their strong posts in Canada at once, so as to fall as nearly as
possible at the same time upon Crown Point, Niagara, and the forts
to the south of Lake Erie, while a great naval armament, and a
considerable body of land forces under Major-General James Wolfe,
should attempt Quebec by the river St. Lawrence.
Lieut.-General Amherst, who commanded the British forces in
America, was to attack Ticonderoga and Crown Point, by Lake George;
the reduction of these forts would command the Lake Champlain,
where having established a sufficient naval force, he was by the
river Sorel, which forms the communication between this lake and
the river St. Lawrence, to proceed to Quebec, and effect a junction
with Major-General Wolfe.
The third of the grand operations was against _Fort Niagara_, near
the celebrated falls of that name, a place of great consequence.
The reduction of this place was committed to Brigadier-General John
Prideaux (fifty-fifth regiment), under whom Sir William Johnson
commanded the provincials of New York, and several Indians of the
Five Nations, who were engaged in the British service, by the
credit that gentleman had obtained among their tribes. It was to
this portion of the army that the FORTY-SIXTH regiment was attached.
The troops which had been appointed to proceed to Niagara, arrived
at the fort in July. This was a very important post, and was
situated at the entrance of a strait by which Lake Ontario is
joined to Lake Erie. A little above the fort is the cataract of
Niagara, the most remarkable in the world, for the quantity of
water, and the greatness of the fall. The siege of the place had
not been long formed, before Brigadier-General Prideaux was killed
in the trenches, by the bursting of a cohorn. This occurred on
the 20th of July, and the accident threatened to throw a damp on
the operations; but Sir William Johnson, upon whom the command
devolved, omitted nothing to continue the vigorous measures of his
predecessor, and added to them everything his own genius could
suggest.
The French were alarmed for the safety of the fort, and collected
all the troops they could draw from their posts about the lakes,
and to these were joined a large body of Indians; the whole
advanced to raise the siege, and they amounted in all, to seventeen
hundred men.
It was on the 23rd of July, that Sir William Johnson received
intelligence of the approach of the enemy to relieve the fort,
and instantly made a disposition to defeat their designs. The
guard of the trenches was commanded by Major John Beckwith, of
the forty-fourth regiment, and, lest the garrison should sally
out, and either attempt to surprise or overpower that guard, by
which the British would have been hemmed in between two fires, the
forty-fourth regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel William Farquhar, was
posted in such manner as to be able to sustain Major Beckwith.
The road on the left of the line, which led from the cataract to
the fort, was occupied by the light infantry, and piquets of the
army, on the evening of the 23rd of July; early next morning these
were reinforced by the grenadiers and part of the FORTY-SIXTH
regiment, the whole commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Eyre Massey, of
the FORTY-SIXTH, to whose good conduct in the distribution of
the troops, and the steadiness with which he received the enemy
in front, while the Indians in British pay, attacked them on the
flanks, the honor of the day was in a great degree attributable.
The French were completely defeated, and all their officers were
made prisoners, among whom were Monsieur Aubry, De Lignery, Marin,
and Repentini.
This action sealed the fate of _Fort Niagara_, which surrendered on
the following day (25th of July), and Sir William Johnson, Bart.,
in his despatch to Lieut.-General Amherst, of that date, thus
alluded to the conduct of the troops:--
"Permit me to assure you, in the whole progress of the siege,
which was severe and painful, the officers and men behaved with
the utmost cheerfulness and bravery."
In the meantime the siege of _Ticonderoga_ was prosecuted with
vigour by the troops under Lieut.-General Amherst, and on the
25th of July the garrison blew up the fort, and sailed to _Crown
Point_, another fort on Lake Champlain, which place the French also
abandoned, and retired down the lake to _Isle aux Noix_; _Crown
Point_ was occupied by the British on the 4th of August following.
The operations against Quebec by the troops under Major-General
James Wolfe, caused the year to end in a most triumphant manner
to the British Arms. The battle fought on the 13th of September,
1759, on the Heights of _Abraham_, in which the Major-General was
killed, led to the surrender of Quebec, which capitulated five days
afterwards.
While the above operations were being performed, Lieut.-General
Amherst found that the command of Lake Champlain was still an
object of some difficulty, although the retreat of the French from
Crown Point and Ticonderoga had left him master of Lake George. In
October the troops embarked in boats, and proceeded a considerable
distance along the lake, but the season became too advanced for
operations, which were postponed to the following year, and the
force returned to Crown Point and Ticonderoga for winter-quarters.
[Sidenote: 1760]
The French endeavoured to regain possession of Quebec, and after
the battle of _Sillery_ fought before that place on the 28th of
April, 1760, in which, from their superiority in numbers they had
the advantage, trenches were immediately opened by them before the
town. The arrival of the English fleet in May dissipated all fears
for the safety of Quebec, and nothing now remained to cloud the
prospect of the reduction of Canada, by the united efforts of three
British armies, which, by different routes, were marching to attack
those parts of the country that remained in the power of France.
A large army was collected at Oswego by Lieut.-General Amherst,
which the FORTY-SIXTH regiment joined in the afternoon of the 6th
of August. The whole army embarked on the 10th of August, and the
grenadiers, amounting to about six hundred men, were embodied,
and placed under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Eyre Massey of the
FORTY-SIXTH regiment. Dispositions were afterwards made for the
attack of _Fort Levi_, on _L'Isle Royale_, and after two days'
sharp firing, the fort surrendered on the 25th of August, of which
Lieut.-Colonel Massey, with three companies of grenadiers, took
possession.
After spending some days in repairing this post, and in fitting out
the vessels for passing the troops down the river St. Lawrence,
the most difficult part of which was now to be encountered;
notwithstanding all precautions, nearly ninety men were drowned in
passing the dangerous falls, and a great number of vessels broke
to pieces. After a tedious voyage the British came in sight of the
Island of Montreal on the 6th of September.
The troops were immediately landed, and all dispositions were made
for attacking the place, and so excellently was the plan concerted,
that Brigadier-General the Honorable James Murray landed from
Quebec on that very day, and Colonel Haviland with his force from
Isle-au-Noix on the following day.
The Marquis of Vaudreuil, the French Governor-General, saw himself
entirely enclosed, and was compelled to surrender the garrison of
Montreal on the 8th of September; thus was completed the _Conquest
of Canada_, which vast country has since continued under the
dominion of Great Britain.
[Sidenote: 1761]
The regiment remained in North America until October 1761, when it
embarked for Barbadoes, where an armament was being assembled for
the attack of the French West India Islands, and the land forces
were placed under the orders of Major-General the Honorable Robert
Monckton.
[Sidenote: 1762]
The armament sailed from Carlisle Bay, in Barbadoes, on the 5th of
January, 1762, and proceeded against the island of _Martinique_,
which was settled by the French about the year 1635. After menacing
the coast at several points, a landing was effected in the middle
of January in Cas des Navières Bay; many difficulties were
encountered from the rugged surface of the country, and from the
formidable heights occupied by the enemy, but these were overcome
by British skill, discipline, and valour; the heights of _Morne
Tartenson_ were carried on the 24th of January, and of _Morne
Garnier_ on the 27th; _Fort Royal_ surrendered on the 4th of
February, and these successes were followed by the submission of
the island to the British Crown.
Major-General the Honorable Robert Monckton commended the conduct
of the troops in his despatch, and added,--"The difficulties they
had to encounter in the attack of an enemy, possessed of every
advantage that art or nature could give them, were great. Their
perseverance in surmounting these obstacles furnishes a noble
example of British spirit:" and in alluding to the conduct of the
three divisions of grenadiers, one division of which was commanded
by Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable John Vaughan, at this period
Lieut.-Colonel commandant of the ninety-fourth (since disbanded),
but who was appointed to the FORTY-SIXTH regiment in November
following, added, that "they had particularly distinguished
themselves, the warmest part of the service having fallen to their
lot."
The capture of _Martinique_ was followed by the submission of
_Grenada_, _St. Lucia_, and _St. Vincent_.
War had in the interim been declared against Spain, and the
FORTY-SIXTH joined the armament under General the Earl of
Albemarle, destined to proceed against the wealthy Spanish
settlement of the _Havannah_, in the Island of Cuba. On the 7th
of June a landing was effected, and on the 9th the troops took
up a position between Coximar and the Moro Fort. Extraordinary
difficulties were encountered in making the approaches, and
carrying on the siege, while a severe sickness prevailed amongst
the seamen and soldiers. Every obstacle was, however, overcome by
the unanimity which existed between the land and sea forces. The
_Moro_ fort, which protected the harbour, and was regarded as
almost impregnable, was captured by storm on the 30th of July; on
the 11th of August a series of batteries opened so well-directed
a fire on the defences of the town, that the guns of the garrison
were soon silenced, and flags of truce were hung out. On the 13th
of August the town of the Havannah, with all its dependencies,
and the ships of war in the harbour, surrendered, and the British
troops took possession of this valuable settlement. Negociations
for peace were shortly afterwards commenced, and the preliminary
articles were signed at Fontainebleau by the Duke of Bedford on the
3rd of November, 1762.
[Sidenote: 1763]
The treaty of Fontainebleau was concluded at Paris on the 10th of
February, 1763, the ratifications were exchanged on the 10th of
March, and peace was proclaimed in London on the 22nd of that month.
By this treaty the whole of Canada, part of Louisiana, together
with Cape Breton, and the other islands in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, were ceded to Great Britain. In the West Indies, the
islands of Tobago, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Grenada, were
retained by Great Britain; but Martinique, Guadaloupe, Marigalante,
and St. Lucia, were restored to France. In the East Indies, the
French obtained the restitution of their settlements, but agreed
not to erect any fortifications in Bengal. Minorca was restored to
England in exchange for Belle-Isle, which had been captured by the
British in 1761, and it was stipulated that the fortifications of
Dunkirk should be demolished. Spain ceded East and West Florida
to Great Britain, in return for the restitution of the Havannah,
Manilla, and all the places which Spain had lost since the
commencement of the war.
[Sidenote: 1764]
In the meanwhile the FORTY-SIXTH regiment had returned to North
America, where it remained for the four following years.
Colonel the Honorable William Howe was appointed by His Majesty
King George III. from the fifty-eighth to the colonelcy of the
FORTY-SIXTH regiment on the 21st of November, 1764, in succession
to Lieut.-General the Honorable Thomas Murray, deceased.
[Sidenote: 1767]
In the autumn of the year 1767 the FORTY-SIXTH regiment returned to
Great Britain, and was stationed in Ireland for eight years.
Serious disputes had, in the meantime, arisen, on the subject
of taxation, between the colonists in North America and the
British Government. The passing of the Stamp Act, in 1764, was
the first cause of irritation, but the spirit of discontent was
partially allayed by its repeal in 1766. This feeling was again
aroused, in the following year, by the Bill for levying duties
on certain articles imported from England, which was repealed in
1770, with the exception of the duty on tea, which was retained
as an assertion of the right of taxation inherent in the British
Legislature. After the cargoes of tea sent to Boston in 1773 had
been emptied into the sea, an Act of Parliament was passed in the
year 1774 for closing that port.
The colonists adopted retaliatory measures, and subsequently made
preparations for an appeal to arms.
[Sidenote: 1775]
On the 19th of April, 1775, the first hostile collision took place
at _Lexington_, between His Majesty's troops and the Colonists in
the unhappy contest, which was soon to assume a most formidable
character.
Upon Major-General the Honorable Sir William Howe, K.B., being
removed to the colonelcy of the twenty-third Royal Welsh Fusiliers,
on the 11th of May, 1775, Brevet Colonel the Honorable John
Vaughan was appointed to the vacant colonelcy of the FORTY-SIXTH
regiment.
The conflict at Lexington was followed by the battle of _Bunker's
Hill_, which was fought on the 17th of June, 1775.
[Sidenote: 1776]
These events caused several regiments to be embarked for America
early in the year 1776; the FORTY-SIXTH embarked from Ireland at
this period, and arrived on the coast of North Carolina early in
April, when Major-General Henry Clinton, who was serving with the
local rank of General in America, assumed the command. The men
landed at Cape Fear to refresh themselves after the voyage, and
returning on board the transports, sailed on the 1st of June with
the expedition against _Charleston_. After passing Charleston
bar, the troops landed on one of the islands; but the armament
proved of insufficient strength for the capture of the capital of
South Carolina, and the troops re-embarked and proceeded to Staten
Island, where the main body of the British forces had assembled
under Major-General the Honorable Sir William Howe, K.B., who was
serving with the local rank of General in America. The seventeenth,
fortieth, FORTY-SIXTH, and fifty-fifth regiments were here formed
in brigade under Major-General James Grant.
On the 4th of July, 1776, the American Congress issued their
declaration of independence, abjuring their allegiance to the Crown
of Great Britain, and all hope of accommodation failed.
A landing was effected by the British on _Long Island_ on the
22nd of August, and in the evening of the 26th the army was put
in motion to pass a range of woody heights, which intersect the
island, and to attack the American force in position beyond
the hills. The column under Major-General Grant, of which the
FORTY-SIXTH formed part, was directed to advance along the coast,
with ten pieces of cannon, to draw the enemy's attention to that
quarter. Moving forward at the appointed hour, this column fell
in with the advanced parties of the Americans about midnight, and
at daybreak on the following morning, encountered a large body of
troops formed in an advantageous position, defended by artillery.
Skirmishing and cannonading ensued, and were continued until the
Americans discovered by the firing at _Brooklyn_, that the left of
their army had been turned and forced, when they retreated in great
confusion through a morass. The American army, being driven from
its positions with severe loss, made a precipitate retreat to their
fortified lines at _Brooklyn_.