encamped at Wynberg, a tongue of land projecting from the east side
of Table Mountain. The sick men received every attention which could
be procured by Major-General Francis Dundas, commanding at the Cape,
and as they recovered they joined the head-quarters, which were
removed to Simon's-town in January, 1801, and again encamped at
Wynberg in March. In May the regiment marched into Cape Town, and in
September joined the camp at Rondebosch.
The lads having become much improved in size and strength, the light
infantry company joined the flank battalion; and the grenadiers were
detached to the interior, and stationed at Graaff Reinett.
[Sidenote: 1802]
Leaving the camp in January, 1802, the regiment was removed to
Muisenberg, Simon's-town, and Graaff Reinett.
The period having arrived for the regiment to proceed to India, it
was joined by a number of volunteers from corps serving at the Cape
of Good Hope, and embarked from thence in September, October, and
November, when it mustered thirty-one officers, and one thousand and
fifty-five non-commissioned officers and soldiers fit for duty.
[Sidenote: 1803]
In February, 1803, the last division of the regiment landed at Fort
William, Calcutta, where the other companies had previously arrived.
At this period two powerful chieftains, Dowlat Rao Scindia and
Jeswunt Rao Holkar, had usurped the powers of the Peishwa, and were
desolating the Mahratta states with war; and these two chiefs,
with the Rajah of Berar, formed a confederacy against the British
and their allies. Under these circumstances the flank companies
of the regiment embarked from Fort William, and joined the field
force, under Lieut.-Colonel Harcourt, assembled for the attack of
the province of Cuttack. On entering that province, the troops had
to overcome numerous difficulties from the nature of the country,
the season of the year, and the resistance of the enemy, which they
surmounted with great gallantry.
On the 4th of October, the flank companies of the TWENTY-SECOND
regiment highly distinguished themselves at the capture of the fort
of _Barrabatta_ by storm, when they led the assault, and took several
of the enemy's colours. They had one man killed; Captain Harlston and
eight soldiers wounded. The colours captured by the TWENTY-SECOND,
with some others taken by the Ninth and Nineteenth Native Infantry,
were publicly displayed at Calcutta, and afterwards lodged at Fort
William, with an inscription of the names of the corps by which taken.
[Sidenote: 1804]
The flank companies of the regiment remained in the field, and the
splendid successes of the British arms appeared likely to bring about
a speedy termination of the war; but hostilities were protracted
by the defection of the Rajah of Bhurtpore. The flank companies of
the TWENTY-SECOND joined the army under Lord Lake: they had two men
killed and three wounded at the capture of _Deeg_, in December, and
were engaged in the attempt to bring the refractory Rajah Sing to
submission by the siege of the strong fortress of Bhurtpore.
[Sidenote: 1805]
In the meantime, the regiment had commenced its march from Fort
William, for the Upper provinces, and in January, 1805, it halted and
encamped at Benares; but resumed its march in February, and proceeded
to Cawnpore.
The siege of _Bhurtpore_ was carried on, and the flank companies
were engaged in the unsuccessful attempt to capture that place
by storm on the 9th of January, when they had eleven men killed
and twenty-four wounded. They were also engaged in the desperate
attempt to capture the place by storm, on the 21st of January, when
they had Captain Menzies and four men killed; Captains Lindsay and
McNight, Lieutenants Mansergh, Sweetman, and Caswell, and thirty-one
non-commissioned officers and soldiers, wounded. At the third
unsuccessful attack, on the 21st of February, they had two serjeants
and three soldiers killed; three serjeants and four soldiers wounded.
Serjeant John Ship, of the regiment, led the forlorn hope on each
occasion, and his gallant conduct was rewarded with the commission
of ensign in the Sixty-fifth regiment.
Rajah Sing submitted, and concluded a treaty of peace with the
British: the army withdrew from Bhurtpore, and the surviving officers
and soldiers of the flank companies joined the regiment at Cawnpore,
in June.
Holkar continued his resistance to the British authority, and Scindia
evinced a disposition to renew hostilities. These events occasioned
the regiment to quit Cawnpore, in October, to pursue the army of
Holkar, who was driven from place to place, until the British troops
arrived at the banks of the Hyphasis, or Sutlej, where he submitted,
and a treaty of peace was concluded in December. Scindia also
concluded a second treaty, and the British power and influence in
India were thus augmented and consolidated.
[Sidenote: 1806]
From the banks of the Sutlej, the regiment marched to Delhi, where
it arrived in February, 1806, and in March it was removed to Muttra,
where it received the thanks of General Lord Lake, and of the
Governor-General in Council, for its conduct during the war.
On the 30th of October, General Simcoe, who died in 1806, was
succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Lieut.-General Sir
James Henry Craig, from the Eighty-sixth foot.
[Sidenote: 1807]
Leaving Muttra in July, 1807, the regiment proceeded to Berhampore,
where it arrived on the 7th of August.
[Sidenote: 1809]
Major-General the Honorable Edward Finch was appointed colonel of
the regiment on the 18th of September, 1809, from the Fifty-fourth
foot, in succession to Sir James Henry Craig, K.B., removed to the
Seventy-eighth Highlanders.
[Sidenote: 1810]
The regiment remained at Berhampore until August, 1810, when it
embarked in boats, and proceeded to Fort William, in order to form
part of the expedition against the _Mauritius_, under Major-General
the Honorable J. Abercromby. A landing was effected in the bay of
Mapou, on the 29th of November, without opposition, and on the
following day the troops advanced towards the capital; being exposed
to severe heat, and unable to procure water, the soldiers became
exhausted, and arriving at the powder-mills, five miles from Port
Louis, they halted near the stream. Resuming the march on the 1st of
December, the troops were opposed by the enemy in force, and some
sharp fighting occurred, in which the TWENTY-SECOND took part and had
several men wounded. The French were driven from their ground, and
they fell back upon Port Louis; the British took post in front of the
position occupied by the French. Being unable to withstand the valour
and discipline of the invading army, the governor, General de Caen,
surrendered the island to the British arms.
[Sidenote: 1811]
After the capture of the Mauritius, the regiment was stationed a
short time at that island, and in January it sent a detachment
of five officers and seventy men to Tamatave, in the Island of
Madagascar. In March and April the regiment was removed to the island
of Bourbon, where it was joined by the survivors of the detachment
from Madagascar, reduced in number, by disease, to two officers and
twenty-five men: they had been made prisoners by the enemy, and
re-captured by the British ships of war.
[Sidenote: 1812]
[Sidenote: 1813]
In July, 1812, the regiment returned to the Mauritius; but again
proceeded to Bourbon, in August, and was removed to the Mauritius a
second time in May, 1813.
[Sidenote: 1814]
[Sidenote: 1815]
A number of men having volunteered from the militia to the
TWENTY-SECOND regiment, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was
pleased to approve of a _second battalion_ being formed, and it was
placed on the establishment of the army on the 10th of February,
1814. The war in Europe being terminated soon afterwards, by the
abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the restoration of the Bourbon
dynasty to the throne of France, the second battalion was disbanded
at Chester, on the 24th of October, transferring the men fit for duty
to the first battalion, which they joined at the Mauritius, in April,
1815, in so good a state, as to be specially noticed in general
orders, and Captain Thomas Poole, commanding the party, received the
thanks of the governor.
On the 1st of June, 1815, the rifle company of the first battalion
of the Twelfth regiment, together with the first battalion of the
Eighty-seventh regiment, and the flank companies of the TWENTY-SECOND
regiment, were formed into a field brigade, and on the 16th of June
embarked from the Mauritius to join the army in Bengal. The troops
arrived at Bengal on the 2nd and 3rd of August; re-embarked on
the 23rd of September, and landed at the Mauritius on the 14th of
November, 1815. The light company of the TWENTY-SECOND regiment,
while on passage to Bengal, was wrecked in the Straits between Ceylon
and the opposite continent. The conduct of the flank companies, while
in India, was highly commended in general orders issued before they
embarked from Fort William,--on their return to the Mauritius.
While the flank companies were thus employed, the remainder of the
TWENTY-SECOND regiment was placed under canvas at Pamplemousse, seven
miles from Port Louis, as it was suffering severely from a prevailing
disease at the Mauritius. There being but a small force left on
the island, and this reduced in numbers and efficiency by disease,
a meditated insurrection had nearly attained an outbreak, but for
timely information.
[Sidenote: 1819]
The regiment occupied various stations at the Mauritius, under the
command of Colonel Dalrymple, until July, 1819, when it embarked
for England. Previous to quitting the island it was inspected by
Major-General Ralph Darling, who expressed, in general orders, his
admiration of its appearance, and of its excellent conduct while
serving under his command.
Though the TWENTY-SECOND had participated in the capture of the
Mauritius, the French inhabitants of the island presented a large
and handsome gold snuff-box to the regiment on its embarkation for
England, bearing this inscription, "_Aux Officiers du 22 Régiment
de S. M.--Souvenir des Habitans de l'île Maurice_; 1819;" thus
testifying their good feeling, and appreciation of the orderly and
soldierlike conduct of the corps during its service of nine years in
the colony.
After landing at Gosport, in November and December, the regiment
marched to Northampton, under the orders of Colonel Sir Hugh Gough,
K.C.B.
[Sidenote: 1821]
In the Autumn of 1821 the regiment marched to Liverpool, where
it embarked on the 9th of October, for Ireland. Having landed at
Dublin on the 10th of October, the regiment marched to Buttevant,
with detachments at Mallow, Bantyre, Charleville, Newmarket, and
Ballyclough.
Some changes of quarters afterwards took place in consequence of the
riotous and violent proceedings of the misguided peasantry at this
part of the country, and the disposition evinced to violate the law.
[Sidenote: 1822]
On the evening of the 25th of January, 1822, three thousand men
assembled with such arms as they could procure, for an attack on
Newmarket; and they were repulsed, with severe loss, by thirty men
of the regiment, under Captain Thomas Keappock and Lieutenant Samuel
Green, who received the expression of the approbation of His Royal
Highness the Duke of York, the Commander-in-Chief, and were presented
with a silver cup, by the noblemen, gentlemen, and inhabitants of
the town and vicinity of Newmarket,--"In testimony of the high sense
entertained of their gallant conduct in attacking and defeating an
armed body of three thousand insurgents, with thirty men."
A reinforcement was sent to Newmarket, and the regiment performed
many marches, and much extra duty, in consequence of the disturbed
state of the country.
[Sidenote: 1823]
[Sidenote: 1824]
The head-quarters of the regiment were stationed at Buttevant during
the year 1823, and the first nine months of 1824; and the state
of the regiment was repeatedly commended in orders by the General
Officers who made the half-yearly inspections.
[Sidenote: 1826]
In October, 1824, the regiment marched to Dublin; it was subsequently
stationed in Galway, and in the summer of 1826 it was divided into
six service and four depôt companies, in order that the former might
proceed on foreign service.
The service companies embarked from Cork in November and December,
in three divisions, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel P. C. Taylor, Major
James Steuart, and Captain Thomas Poole, and the last division
arrived at the island of Jamaica in February, 1827.
[Sidenote: 1827]
The service companies suffered severely from the effects of the
climate of Jamaica; in September and October, 1827, they lost three
officers, seventeen serjeants, and one hundred and twenty men, from
fever; the total loss during the first year was Lieut.-Colonel P.
C. Taylor, Major James Steuart, Captain William Norton, Lieutenant
Edward Gordon, Ensign E. T. Evans, Paymaster R. Barlow, Adjutant
William Potenger, and one hundred and seventy-two non-commissioned
officers and soldiers.
[Sidenote: 1828]
[Sidenote: 1829]
In the following year the losses were much less numerous; and in
April, 1829, Lieut.-Colonel C. G. Falconar arrived and assumed the
command. In June of the same year, the regiment received the thanks
of the civil authorities for the prompt assistance rendered in
extinguishing an alarming fire in the vicinity of Spanish Town.
[Sidenote: 1830]
On the 7th of June, 1830, the depôt companies embarked from Cork for
South Britain, where they were stationed until the summer of 1836,
when they embarked from Liverpool for Ireland, and landed at Dublin.
[Sidenote: 1831]
The regiment was employed in suppressing a formidable insurrection
among the slaves in Jamaica in the winter of 1831-2; the two flank
companies were encamped on the scene of the insurrection in the
following winter, and when the regiment left Falmouth, in Jamaica,
in the latter part of the year 1833, the thanks of the custos and
magistrates were awarded to the corps for its good conduct.[8]
[Sidenote: 1837]
The service companies performed duty at the island of Jamaica until
the beginning of 1837, when they commenced embarking for Europe, and
landed at Cork in March and April; they were afterwards joined by the
depôt companies.
[Sidenote: 1838]
[Sidenote: 1839]
[Sidenote: 1840]
The regiment remained in Ireland during the years 1838 and 1839;
and embarking from Dublin on the 19th of December, 1840, landed at
Liverpool on the 21st of that month.
[Sidenote: 1841]
The TWENTY-SECOND regiment, having been selected to proceed to
India, embarked from Gravesend in January, 1841, and landed at
Bombay in May following. It afterwards proceeded to Poonah, where an
encampment was formed, and the regiment was stationed there during
the remainder of the year.
[Sidenote: 1842]
In the following year the regiment quitted the camp at Poonah by
divisions, and proceeding to the country of Scinde, was encamped
some time near Kurrachee. The regiment was encamped in two separate
divisions at Kurrachee, as cholera had broken out violently in its
ranks, from which it suffered severely, and during its prevalence
a field-officer's detachment, under Major Poole, consisting of two
companies, was ordered to proceed by the Indus, in the month of
April, 1842, to Sukkur, in Upper Scinde, previously to the withdrawal
of the British force from Beloochistan.
The navigation of the Indus had been acquired by the British in 1839,
and application was made to the Ameers, who governed the country,
for a portion of land on the banks of the river. This they agreed to
give; but at the same time meditated the destruction of the British
power in the country by treachery. The TWENTY-SECOND quitted the camp
at Kurrachee in November, and proceeded up the country.
[Sidenote: 1843]
The regiment formed part of the force assembled under Major-General
Sir Charles Napier, and was employed in the destruction of the fort
of _Emaum Ghur_, in the desert, on the 14th and 15th of January, 1843.
Major-General W. F. P. Napier, in his work entitled "_The Conquest
of Scinde_," has given, with his characteristic eloquence, the
following spirited description of the march to _Emaum Ghur_, a march
which His Grace the Duke of Wellington described in the House of
Lords, "_as one of the most curious military feats he had ever known
to be performed, or had ever perused an account of in his life.
Sir Charles Napier_ (added His Grace) _moved his troops through
the desert against hostile forces; he had his guns transported
under circumstances of extreme difficulty, and in a manner the most
extraordinary; and he cut off a retreat of the enemy which rendered
it impossible for them ever to regain their positions_."
"It was a wild and singular country, the wilderness through which
they (the Anglo-Indian troops) were passing. The sand-hills stretched
north and south for hundreds of miles in parallel ridges, rounded at
top, and most symmetrically plaited, like the ripple on the sea-shore
after a placid tide. Varying in their heights, their breadth and
steepness, they presented one uniform surface, but while some were
only a mile broad, others were more than ten miles across; some
were of gentle slopes and low, others lofty, and so steep that the
howitzers could only be dragged up by men. The sand was mingled with
shells, and ran in great streams resembling numerous rivers, skirted
on each side by parallel streaks of soil, which nourished jungle,
yet thinly and scattered. The tracks of the hyena and wild boar, and
the prints of small deer's footsteps, were sometimes seen at first,
but they soon disappeared, and then the solitude of the waste was
unbroken.
"For eight days these intrepid soldiers traversed this gloomy region,
living from hand to mouth, uncertain each morning if water could be
found in the evening; and many times it was not found. They were not
even sure of their right course; yet with fiery valour and untiring
strength, they continued their dreary dangerous way. The camels found
very little food, and got weak, but the stout infantry helped to
drag the heavy howitzers up the sandy steeps; and all the troops,
despising the danger of an attack from the Beloochees, worked with a
power and will that overcame every obstacle. On the eighth day they
reached _Emaum Ghur_, eager to strike and storm, and then was seen
how truly laid down is Napoleon's great maxim, that moral force is in
war to physical force, as four to one. Mahomed Khan, with a strong
fortress well provided, and having a garrison six times as numerous
as the band coming to assail him, had fled with his treasure two days
before; taking a southerly direction, he regained the Indus by tracks
with which his people were well acquainted, leaving all his stores of
grain and powder behind."
As Emaum Ghur could only serve as a stronghold in which the
Beloochees might be able to resist British supremacy, Major-General
Sir Charles Napier determined upon destroying the fortress. It was
a place of great strength, and was constructed of unburnt bricks,
into which the shot easily penetrates, but brings nothing down, so
that recourse was had to mining. The place was full of gunpowder and
grain, and the former was employed in blowing up the fortress, which
was effected on the 15th of January.
After this difficult and harassing service, the troops returned
triumphant on the 23rd of January, to Peer-Abu-Bekr, where
Major-General Sir Charles Napier reunited his whole army. It is to be
observed that the march was performed without the loss of a man, or
without even a sick soldier, and the Ameers' troops were dispersed,
and their plan of campaign frustrated.
A treaty of peace was signed by the Ameers on the 14th of February:
directions were sent to the British political resident, Major Outram,
by the Ameers, to quit _Hyderabad_, the capital, and before this was
complied with, _eight thousand_ Beloochees, commanded by several
Ameers in person, attempted to force an entrance into the enclosure
of the British residency. The light company of the TWENTY-SECOND
regiment, mustering _one hundred_ men, under Captain T. S. Conway,
Lieutenant F. P. Harding, and Ensign R. Pennefather, was the only
force at the residency, the enclosure of which was surrounded by a
wall from four to five feet high. The gallant officers and soldiers
of this company kept the eight thousand Scindian troops, with six
pieces of artillery, at bay nearly four hours; and when their
ammunition was nearly expended, they retreated to the river, with
Major Outram, and embarking on board of two steam-vessels, joined the
troops under Major-General Sir Charles Napier, at Hala. The light
company had two men killed and four wounded on this occasion.
The Ameers having thus commenced hostilities, assembled a numerous
force to destroy the few British troops in the country. Major-General
Sir Charles Napier, trusting to the valour of the troops under
his orders, advanced to meet the enemy. On the 17th of February,
_twenty-two thousand_ Scindian troops were discovered in position
behind the bank of a river at _Meeanee_. The British, mustering _two
thousand eight hundred_ men, advanced in _echelon_ of regiments to
attack their numerous opponents, and the TWENTY-SECOND, commanded by
Lieut.-Colonel J. L. Pennefather, had the honor to lead the attack. A
numerous body of Beloochees discharged their matchlocks and pistols
at the TWENTY-SECOND, and then rushed forward sword in hand to close
upon the British line; but these bold and skilful swordsmen went down
under the superior power of the musket and bayonet.
After a severe contest the Scindian army was defeated, and, on the
day following the victory, six of the Ameers delivered their swords
to the British General upon the field of battle. The Beloochees
lost five thousand men, and all their guns, ammunition, and treasure
were taken, together with their camp and standards. On the 20th of
February, the British colours waved in triumph over the fortress of
_Hyderabad_.
In Major-General Napier's admirable work on "_The Conquest of
Scinde_," is given the following spirited and picturesque description
of the battle of MEEANEE:--
"The Ameers' right was found to be strengthened and covered by the
village of Kattree, which was filled with men; that flank offered no
weak point. But in the Shikargah on their left the General instantly
detected a flaw. It has been before said this Shikargah was covered
by a wall, having only one opening, not very wide, through which it
was evident the Beloochees meant to pour out on the flank and rear
of the advancing British line. The General rode near this wall, and
found it was nine or ten feet high; he rode nearer, and marked it
had no loop-holes for the enemy to shoot through; he rode into the
opening under a play of matchlocks, and, looking behind the wall,
saw there was no scaffolding to enable the Beloochees to fire over
the top. Then the inspiration of genius came to the aid of heroism.
Taking a company of the TWENTY-SECOND, he thrust them at once into
the opening, telling their brave Captain, Tew, that he was to block
up that entrance; to die there, if it must be,--never to give way!
And well did the gallant fellow obey his orders: he died there, but
the opening was defended. The great disparity of numbers was thus
abated, and the action of six thousand men paralysed by the more
skilful action of only eighty! It was, on a smaller scale as to
numbers, a stroke of generalship like that which won Blenheim for the
Duke of Marlborough.
[Illustration: TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT.
FOR CANNON'S MILITARY RECORDS.
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t. Strand._]