division in the first parallel and approaches, and lined the parapet
of the second parallel with the 83rd Regiment, in readiness to open
the defences. At the appointed hour the attack commenced on the side
of the place next the bridge, and immediately a heavy discharge of
musketry was opened from the trenches, under cover of which 150
sappers, directed by two engineer officers, and Captain Thomson of
the 74th Regiment, advanced from the second parallel to the crest
of the glacis, carrying bags filled with hay, which they threw down
the counterscarp into the ditch, and thus reduced its depth from
13½ to 8 feet. They then fixed the ladders, and General M’Kinnon’s
brigade, in conjunction with the 5th and 94th Regiments, which
arrived at the same moment along the ditch from the right, pushed
up the breach, and after a sharp struggle of some minutes with the
bayonet, gained the summit. The defenders then concentrated behind
the retrenchment, which they obstinately retained, and a second
severe struggle commenced. Bags of hay were thrown into the ditch,
and as the counterscarp did not exceed 11 feet in depth, the men
readily jumped upon the bags, and without much difficulty carried
the little breach. The division, on gaining the summit, immediately
began to form with great regularity, in order to advance in a compact
body and fall on the rear of the garrison, who were still nobly
defending the retrenchment of the great breach. The contest was
short but severe; officers and men fell in heaps, as Cannon puts it,
killed and wounded, and many were thrown down the scarp into the
main ditch, a depth of 30 feet; but by desperate efforts directed
along the parapet on both flanks, the assailants succeeded in turning
the retrenchments. The garrison then abandoned the rampart, having
first exploded a mine in the ditch of the retrenchment, by which
Major-General M’Kinnon and many of the bravest and most forward
perished in the moment of victory. General Vandeleur’s brigade of the
light division had advanced at the same time to the attack of the
lesser breach on the left, which, being without interior defence, was
not so obstinately disputed, and the fortress was won.
In his subsequent despatch Wellington mentioned the regiment with
particular commendation, especially naming Major Manners and
Captain Thomson of the 74th, the former receiving the brevet of
Lieutenant-Colonel for his services on this occasion.
During the siege the regiment lost 6 rank and file killed, and
Captains Langlands and Collins, Lieutenants Tew and Ramadge, and
Ensign Atkinson, 2 sergeants, and 24 rank and file, killed.
Preparations having been made for the siege of Badajos, the 74th was
sent to that place, which it reached on the 16th of March (1812),
taking its position along with the other regiments on the south-east
side of the town. On the 19th the garrison made a sortie from behind
the Picurina with 1500 infantry and a party of cavalry, penetrating
as far as the engineers’ park, cutting down some men, and carrying
off several hundred entrenching tools. The 74th, however, which
was the first regiment under arms, advanced under Major-General
Kempt in double quick time, and, with the assistance of the guard
of the trenches, drove back the enemy, who lost 300 officers and
men. The work of preparing for the siege and assault went on under
the continuance of very heavy rain, which rendered the work in the
trenches extremely laborious, until the 25th of March, when the
batteries opened fire against the hitherto impregnable fortress; and
on that night Fort Picurina was assaulted and carried by 500 men
of the third division, among whom were 200 men of the 74th under
Major Shawe. The fort was very strong, the front well covered by the
glacis, the flanks deep, and the rampart, 14 feet perpendicular from
the bottom of the ditch, was guarded with thick slanting palings
above; and from thence to the top there were 16 feet of an earthen
slope.[443] Seven guns were mounted on the works, the entrance to
which by the rear was protected with three rows of thick paling. The
garrison was about 300 strong, and every man had two muskets. The
top of the rampart was garnished with loaded shells to push over,
and a retrenched guardhouse formed a second internal defence. The
detachment advanced about ten o’clock, and immediately alarms were
sounded, and a fire opened from all the ramparts of the work. After
a fierce conflict, in which the English lost many men and officers,
and the enemy more than half of the garrison, the commandant, with
86 men, surrendered. The 74th lost Captain Collins and Lieutenant
Ramadge killed, and Major Shawe dangerously wounded.
The operations of trench-cutting and opening batteries went on till
the 6th of April, on the night of which the assault was ordered
to take place. “The besiegers’ guns being all turned against the
curtain, the bad masonry crumbled rapidly away; in two hours a
yawning breach appeared, and Wellington, in person, having again
examined the points of attack, renewed the order for assault.
“Then the soldiers eagerly made themselves ready for a combat,
so furiously fought, so terribly won, so dreadful in all its
circumstances, that posterity can scarcely be expected to credit the
tale, but many are still alive who know that it is true.”[444]
It was ordered, that on the right the third division was to file out
of the trenches, to cross the Rivillas rivulet, and to scale the
castle walls, which were from 18 to 24 feet high, furnished with all
means of destruction, and so narrow at the top, that the defenders
could easily reach and overturn the ladders.
The assault was to commence at ten o’clock, and the third division
was drawn up close to the Rivillas, ready to advance, when a lighted
carcass, thrown from the castle close to where it was posted,
discovered the array of the men, and obliged them to anticipate the
signal by half an hour. “A sudden blaze of light and the rattling of
musketry indicated the commencement of a most vehement contest at the
castle. Then General Kempt,--for Picton, hurt by a fall in the camp,
and expecting no change in the hour, was not present,--then General
Kempt, I say, led the third division. He had passed the Rivillas in
single files by a narrow bridge, under a terrible musketry, and then
reforming, and running up the rugged hill, had reached the foot of
the castle, when he fell severely wounded, and being carried back to
the trenches met Picton, who hastened forward to take the command.
Meanwhile his troops, spreading along the front, reared their heavy
ladders, some against the lofty castle, some against the adjoining
front on the left, and with incredible courage ascended amidst
showers of heavy stones, logs of wood, and burning shells rolled off
the parapet; while from the flanks the enemy plied his musketry with
a fearful rapidity, and in front with pikes and bayonets stabbed
the leading assailants, or pushed the ladders from the walls; and
all this attended with deafening shouts, and the crash of breaking
ladders, and the shrieks of crushed soldiers, answering to the sullen
stroke of the falling weights.”[445]
The British, somewhat baffled, were compelled to fall back a few
paces, and take shelter under the rugged edges of the hill. But by
the perseverance of Picton and the officers of the division, fresh
men were brought, the division reformed, and the assault renewed amid
dreadful carnage, until at last an entrance was forced by one ladder,
when the resistance slackened, and the remaining ladders were quickly
reared, by which the men ascended, and established themselves on the
ramparts.
Lieutenant Alexander Grant of the 74th led the advance at the
escalade, and went with a few men through the gate of the castle into
the town, but was driven back by superior numbers. On his return he
was fired at by a French soldier lurking in the gateway, and mortally
wounded in the back of the head. He was able, however, to descend
the ladder, and was carried to the bivouac, and trepanned, but died
two days afterwards, and was buried in the heights looking towards
the castle. Among the foremost in the escalade was John M’Lauchlan,
the regimental piper, who, the instant he mounted the castle wall,
began playing on his pipes the regimental quick step, “The Campbells
are comin’,” as coolly as if on a common parade, until his music
was stopped by a shot through the bag; he was afterwards seen by an
officer of the regiment seated on a gun-carriage, quietly repairing
the damage, while the shot was flying about him. After he had
repaired his bag, he recommenced his stirring tune.
After capturing the castle, the third division kept possession
of it all night, repelling the attempts of the enemy to force an
entrance. About midnight Wellington sent orders to Picton to blow
down the gates, but to remain quiet till morning, when he should
sally out with 1000 men to renew the general assault. This, however,
was unnecessary, as the capture of the castle, and the slaughtering
escalade of the Bastion St. Vincente by the fifth division, having
turned the retrenchments, there was no further resistance, and the
fourth and light divisions marched into the town by the breaches. In
the morning the gate was opened, and permission given to enter the
town.
Napier says, “5000 men and officers fell during the siege, and
of these, including 700 Portuguese, 3500 had been stricken in
the assault, 60 officers and more than 700 men being slain on
the spot. The five generals, Kempt, Harvey, Bowes, Colville, and
Picton were wounded, the first three severely.” At the escalade of
the castle alone 600 officers and men fell. “When the extent of
the night’s havoc was made known to Lord Wellington, the firmness
of his nature gave way for a moment, and the pride of conquest
yielded to a passionate burst of grief for the loss of the gallant
soldiers.” Wellington in his despatch noticed particularly the
distinguished conduct of the third division, and especially that of
Lieutenant-Colonels Le Poer Trench and Manners of the 74th.
The casualties in the regiment during the siege were:--Killed--3
officers, Captain Collins, Lieutenants Ramadge and Grant, 1
sergeant, and 22 rank and file. Wounded, 10 officers, Lieut.-Colonel
the Hon. B. Le Poer Trench, Captain Langlands, Brevet-Major Shawe,
Captains Thomson and Wingate, Lieutenants Lister, Pattison, King, and
Ironside, Ensign Atkinson, 7 sergeants, and 91 rank and file.
The 74th left Badajoz on the 11th of April, and marched to Pinedono,
on the frontiers of Beira, where it was encamped till the beginning
of June, when it proceeded to Salamanca. Along with a large portion
of the allied army, the 74th was drawn up in order of battle on the
heights of San Christoval, in front of Salamanca, from the 20th to
the 28th of June, to meet Marshal Marmont, who advanced with 40,000
men to relieve the forts, which, however, were captured on the 27th.
Brevet-Major Thomson of the 74th was wounded at the siege of the
forts, during which he had been employed as acting engineer.
On the 27th Picton having left on leave of absence, the command of
the third division was entrusted to Major-General the Hon. Edward
Pakenham.
After the surrender of Salamanca the army advanced in pursuit of
Marmont, who retired across the Douro.[446] Marmont, having been
reinforced, recrossed the Douro, and the allies returned to their
former ground on the heights of San Christoval in front of Salamanca,
which they reached on the 21st of July. In the evening the third
division and some Portuguese cavalry bivouacked on the right bank
of the Tormes, over which the rest of the army had crossed, and was
placed in position covering Salamanca, with the right upon one of the
two rocky hills called the Arapiles, and the left on the Tormes,
which position, however, was afterwards changed to one at right
angles with it. On the morning of the 22nd the third division crossed
the Tormes, and was placed in advance of the extreme right of the
last-mentioned position of the allied army. About five o’clock the
third division, led by Pakenham, advanced in four columns, supported
by cavalry, to turn the French left, which had been much extended
by the advance of the division of General Thomières, to cut off the
right of the allies from the Ciudad Rodrigo road. Thomières was
confounded when first he saw the third division, for he expected to
see the allies in full retreat towards the Ciudad Rodrigo road. The
British columns formed line as they marched, and the French gunners
sent showers of grape into the advancing masses, while a crowd of
light troops poured in a fire of musketry.
[Illustration: Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Sir Robert Le Poer Trench.
From a bust in possession of his daughter, Mrs Burrowes.]
“But bearing on through the skirmishers with the might of a giant,
Pakenham broke the half formed line into fragments, and sent the
whole in confusion upon the advancing supports.”[447] Some squadrons
of light cavalry fell upon the right of the third division, but the
5th Regiment repulsed them. Pakenham continued his “tempestuous
course” for upwards of three miles, until the French were “pierced,
broken, and discomfited.” The advance in line of the 74th attracted
particular notice, and was much applauded by Major-General Pakenham,
who frequently exclaimed, “Beautifully done, 74th; beautiful, 74th!”
Lord Londonderry says, in his Story of the Peninsular War:--
“The attack of the third division was not only the most spirited, but
the most perfect thing of the kind that modern times have witnessed.
“Regardless alike of a charge of cavalry and of the murderous fire
which the enemy’s batteries opened, on went these fearless warriors,
horse and foot, without check or pause, until they won the ridge, and
then the infantry giving their volley, and the cavalry falling on,
sword in hand, the French were pierced, broken, and discomfited. So
close indeed was the struggle, that in several instances the British
colours were seen waving over the heads of the enemy’s battalions.”
Of the division of Thomières, originally 7000 strong, 2000 had been
taken prisoners, with two eagles and eleven pieces of cannon. The
French right resisted till dark, when they were finally driven from
the field, and having sustained a heavy loss, retreated through the
woods across the Tormes.
The casualties in the regiment at the battle of Salamanca
were:--Killed, 3 rank and file. Wounded, 2 officers, Brevet-Major
Thomson and Lieutenant Ewing, both severely; 2 sergeants, and 42 rank
and file.
After this the 74th, with the other allied regiments, proceeded to
Madrid, where it remained till October 20, the men passing their time
most agreeably. But, although there was plenty of gaiety, Madrid
exhibited a sad combination of luxury and desolation; there was no
money, the people were starving, and even noble families secretly
sought charity.
In the end of September, when the distress was very great,
Lieutenant-Colonel Trench and the officers of the 74th and 45th
Regiments, having witnessed the distress, and feeling the utmost
compassion for numbers of miserable objects, commenced giving a
daily dinner to about 200 of them, among whom were some persons of
high distinction, who without this resource must have perished.
Napier says on this subject, that “the Madrilenos discovered a deep
and unaffected gratitude for kindness received at the hands of the
British officers, who contributed, not much, for they had it not,
but enough of money to form soup charities, by which hundreds were
succoured. Surely this is not the least of the many honourable
distinctions those brave men have earned.”
During the latter part of October and the month of November, the
74th, which had joined Lieutenant-General Hill, in order to check the
movement of Soult and King Joseph, performed many fatiguing marches
and counter marches, enduring many great hardships and privations,
marching over impassable roads and marshy plains, under a continued
deluge of rain, provisions deficient, and no shelter procurable. On
the 14th of November the allied army commenced its retreat from Alba
de Tormes towards Ciudad Rodrigo, and the following extract from
the graphic journal of Major Alves of the 74th will give the reader
some idea of the hardships which these poor soldiers had to undergo
at this time:--“From the time we left the Arapiles, on the 15th,
until our arrival at Ciudad Rodrigo, a distance of only about 15
leagues, we were under arms every morning an hour before daylight,
and never got to our barrack until about sunset, the roads being
almost unpassable, particularly for artillery, and with us generally
ankle deep. It scarcely ceased to rain during the retreat. Our first
endeavour after our arrival at our watery bivouack, was to make it
as comfortable as circumstances would admit; and as exertion was our
best assistance, we immediately set to and cut down as many trees as
would make a good fire, and then as many as would keep us from the
wet underneath. If we succeeded in making a good enough fire to keep
the feet warm, I generally managed to have a tolerably good sleep,
although during the period I had scarcely ever a dry shirt. To add
to our misery, during the retreat we were deficient in provisions,
and had rum only on two days. The loss of men by death from the wet
and cold during this period was very great. Our regiment alone was
deficient about thirty out of thirty-four who had only joined us
from England on the 14th, the evening before we retreated from the
Arapiles.”
The 74th went into winter quarters, and was cantoned at Sarzedas, in
the province of Beira, from December 6, 1812, till May 15, 1813.
During this time many preparations were made, and the comfort and
convenience of the soldiers maintained, preparatory to Wellington’s
great attempt to expel the French from the Peninsula.
The army crossed the Douro in separate divisions, and reunited at
Toro, the 74th proceeding with the left column. Lieutenant-General
Picton had rejoined from England on the 20th May.
On the 4th of June the allies advanced, following the French army
under King Joseph, who entered upon the position at Vittoria on the
19th of June by the narrow mountain defile of Puebla, through which
the river Zadorra, after passing the city of Vittoria, runs through
the valley towards the Ebro with many windings, and divides the basin
unequally. To give an idea of the part taken by the 74th in the
important battle of Vittoria, we cannot do better than quote from a
letter of Sir Thomas Picton dated July 1, 1813.
“On the 16th of May the division was put in movement; on the 18th
we crossed the Douro, on the 15th of June the Ebro, and on the 21st
fought the battle of Vittoria. The third division had, as usual, a
very distinguished share in this decisive action. The enemy’s left
rested on an elevated chain of craggy mountains, and their right on a
rapid river, with commanding heights in the centre, and a succession
of undulating grounds, which afforded excellent situations for
artillery, and several good positions in front of Vittoria, where
King Joseph had his headquarters. The battle began early in the
morning, between our right and the enemy’s left, on the high craggy
heights, and continued with various success for several hours. About
twelve o’clock the third division was ordered to force the passage
of the river and carry the heights in the centre, which service
was executed with so much rapidity, that we got possession of the
commanding ground before the enemy were aware of our intention. The
enemy attempted to dislodge us with great superiority of force, and
with forty or fifty pieces of cannon. At that period the troops on
our right had not made sufficient progress to cover our right flank,
in consequence of which we suffered a momentary check, and were
driven out of a village whence we had dislodged the enemy, but it was
quickly recovered; and on Sir Rowland Hill’s (the second) division,
with a Portuguese and Spanish division, forcing the enemy to abandon
the heights, and advancing to protect our flanks, we pushed the
enemy rapidly from all his positions, forced him to abandon his
cannon, and drove his cavalry and infantry in confusion beyond the
city of Vittoria. We took 152 pieces of cannon, the military chest,
ammunition and baggage, besides an immense treasure, the property of
the French generals amassed in Spain.
“The third division was the most severely and permanently engaged
of any part of the army; and we in consequence sustained a loss of
nearly 1800 killed and wounded, which is more than a third of the
total loss of the whole army.”
The 74th received particular praise from both Lieutenant-General
Picton and Major-General Brisbane, commanding the division and
brigade, for its alacrity in advancing and charging through the
village of Arinez.
The attack on and advance from Arinez seems to have been a very
brilliant episode indeed, and the one in which the 74th was most
particularly engaged. The right wing, under Captain M’Queen, went off
at double quick and drove the enemy outside the village, where they
again formed in line opposite their pursuers. The French, however,
soon after fled, leaving behind them a battery of seven guns.
Captain M’Queen’s own account of the battle is exceedingly graphic.
“At Vittoria,” he says, “I had the command of three companies for
the purpose of driving the French out of the village of Arinez,
where they were strongly posted; we charged through the village and
the enemy retired in great confusion. Lieutenants Alves and Ewing
commanded the companies which accompanied me. I received three wounds
that day, but remained with the regiment during the whole action;
and next day I was sent to the rear with the other wounded. Davis
(Lieutenant) carried the colours that day, and it was one of the
finest things you can conceive to see the 74th advancing in line,
with the enemy in front, on very broken ground full of ravines, as
regularly, and in as good line as if on parade. This is in a great
measure to be attributed to Davis, whose coolness and gallantry were
conspicuous; whenever we got into broken ground, he with the colours
was first on the bank, and stood there until the regiment formed on
his right and left.”
Captain M’Queen, who became Major of the 74th in 1830, and who died
only a year or two ago, was rather a remarkable man; we shall refer
to him again. Adjutant Alves tells us in his journal, that in this
advance upon the village of Arinez, he came upon Captain M’Queen
lying, as he thought, mortally wounded. Alves ordered two of the
grenadiers to lift M’Queen and lay him behind a bank out of reach of
the firing, and there leave him. About an hour afterwards, however,
Alves was very much astonished to see the indomitable Captain at
the head of his company; the shot that had struck him in the breast
having probably been a spent one, which did not do him much injury.
Major White (then Adjutant) thus narrates an occurrence which took
place during the contest at Arinez:--“At the battle of Vittoria,
after we had forced the enemy’s centre, and taken the strong heights,
we found ourselves in front of a village (I think Arinez) whence the
French had been driven in a confused mass, too numerous for our line
to advance against; and whilst we were halted for reinforcements,
the 88th Regiment on our left advanced with their usual impetuosity
against the superior numbers I have spoken of, and met with a
repulse. The left of our regiment, seeing this, ran from the ranks
to the assistance of the 88th; and I, seeing them fall uselessly,
rode from some houses which sheltered us to rally them and bring
them back. The piper (M^cLaughlan, mentioned before) seeing that
I could not collect them, came to my horse’s side and played the
‘Assembly,’ on which most of them that were not shot collected round
me. I was so pleased with this act of the piper in coming into
danger to save the lives of his comrades, and with the good effect
of the pipes in the moment of danger, that I told M^cLaughlan that
I would not fail to mention his gallant and useful conduct. But at
the same time, as I turned my horse to the right to conduct the men
towards our regiment, a musket ball entered the point of my left
shoulder, to near my back bone, which stopped my career in the field.
The piper ceased to play, and I was told he was shot through the
breast; at all events he was killed, and his timely assistance and
the utility of the pipes deserves to be recorded.” It was indeed too
true about poor brave M^cLaughlan, whose pipes were more potent than
the Adjutant’s command; a nine-pound shot went right through his
breast, when, according to the journal of Major Alves, he was playing
“The Campbell’s are comin’” in rear of the column. It is a curious
circumstance, however, that the piper’s body lay on the field for
several days after the battle without being stripped of anything but
the shoes. This was very unusual, as men were generally stripped of
everything as soon as they were dead.
When the village was captured and the great road gained, the French
troops on the extreme left were thereby turned, and being hardly
pressed by Sir Rowland Hill’s attack on their front, retreated in
confusion before the advancing lines towards Vittoria.
The road to Bayonne being completely blocked up by thousands of
carriages and animals, and a confused mass of men, women, and
children, thereby rendered impassable for artillery, the French
retreated by the road to Salvatierra and Pamplona, the British
infantry following in pursuit. But this road being also choked up
with carriages and fugitives, all became confusion and disorder.
The French were compelled to abandon everything, officers and men
taking with them only the clothes they wore, and most of them being
barefooted. Their loss in men did not, however, exceed 6000, and that
of the allies was nearly as great. That of the British, however,
was more than twice as great as that of the Spanish and Portuguese
together, and yet both are said to have fought well; but as Napier
says, “British troops are the soldiers of battle.”
The French regiments which effected their escape arrived at Pamplona
and took shelter in the defile beyond it, in a state of complete
disorganisation. Darkness, and the nature of the ground unfavourable
for the action of cavalry, alone permitted their escape; at the
distance of two leagues from Vittoria the pursuit was given up.
The following Brigade Order was issued the day after the battle:--
“Major-General Brisbane has reason to be highly pleased with the
conduct of the brigade in the action of yesterday, but he is at a
loss to express his admiration of the conduct of the Honourable
Colonel Le Poer Trench and the 74th Regiment, which he considers
contributed much to the success of the day.”
The casualties in the 74th at the battle of Vittoria were:--Killed,
7 rank and file; wounded, 5 officers, Captains M’Queen and Ovens,
Adjutant White, and Ensigns Hamilton and Shore, 4 sergeants, 1
drummer, and 31 rank and file.
The army followed the retreating French into the Pyrenees by the
valley of Roncesvalles.
Of the various actions that took place among these mountains we have
already given somewhat detailed accounts when speaking of the 42nd.
The 74th was engaged in the blockade of Pamplona, and while thus
employed, on the 15th of July, its pickets drove in a reconnoitring
party of the garrison, the regiment sustaining a loss of 3 rank and
file killed, and 1 sergeant and 6 rank and file wounded. On the 17th
the blockade of Pamplona was entrusted to the Spaniards, and the
third, fourth, and second divisions covered the blockade, as well as
the siege of San Sebastian, then going on under Lieutenant-General
Sir Thomas Graham.
Marshal Soult, with 60,000 men, advanced on the 25th to force the
pass of Roncesvalles, and compelled the fourth division, which had
been moved up to support the front line of the allies, to retire; on
the 26th it was joined by the third division in advance of Zubiri.
Both divisions, under Sir Thomas Picton, took up a position on the
morning of the 27th July, in front of Pamplona, across the mouth of
the Zubiri and Lanz valleys. At daylight on the 30th, in accordance
with Wellington’s orders, the third division, with two squadrons of
cavalry and a battery of artillery, advanced rapidly up the valley
of the Zubiri, skirmishing on the flank of the French who were
retiring under General Foy. About eleven o’clock, the 74th being in
the valley, and the enemy moving in retreat parallel with the allies
along the mountain ridge to the left of the British, Lieut.-Colonel
Trench obtained permission from Sir Thomas Picton to advance with the
74th and cut off their retreat. The regiment then ascended the ridge
in view of the remainder of the division, which continued its advance
up the valley. On approaching the summit, two companies, which were
extended as skirmishers, were overpowered in passing through a
wood, and driven back upon the main body. Though the regiment was
exposed to a most destructive fire, it continued its advance, without
returning a shot, until it reached the upper skirt of the wood, close
upon the flank of the enemy, and then at once opened its whole fire
upon them.
A column of 1500 or 1600 men was separated from the main body, driven
down the other side of the ridge, and a number taken prisoners; most
of those who escaped were intercepted by the sixth division, which
was further in advance on another line. After the 74th had gained the
ridge, another regiment from the third division was sent to support
it, and pursued the remainder of the column until it had surrendered
to the sixth division. Sir Frederick Stoven, Adjutant-General of the
third division, who, along with some of the staff came up at this
moment, said he never saw a regiment behave in such a gallant manner.
The regiment was highly complimented by the staff of the division
for its conspicuous gallantry on this occasion, which was noticed as
follows by Lord Wellington, who said in his despatch,--
“I cannot sufficiently applaud the conduct of all the general
officers, officers, and troops, throughout these operations, &c.
“The movement made by Sir Thomas Picton merited my highest
commendation; the latter officer co-operated in the attack of the
mountain by detaching troops to his left, in which Lieutenant-Colonel
the Hon. Robert Trench was wounded, but I hope not seriously.”
The regiment on this occasion sustained a loss of 1 officer, Captain
Whitting, 1 sergeant, and 4 rank and file killed, and 5 officers,
Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. Robert Le Poer Trench, Captain (Brevet-Major)
Moore, and Lieutenants Pattison, Duncomb, and Tew, 4 sergeants, and
36 rank and file wounded.
The French were finally driven across the Bidassoa into France in the
beginning of August.
At the successful assault of the fortress of San Sebastian by the
force under Sir Thomas Graham, and which was witnessed by the 74th
from the summit of one of the neighbouring mountains, Brevet Major
Thomson of the 74th, was employed as an acting engineer, and received
the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel for his services.
After various movements the third division advanced up the pass of
Zagaramurdi, and on the 6th October encamped on the summit of a
mountain in front of the pass of Echalar; and in the middle of that
month, Sir Thomas Picton having gone to England, the command of the
third division devolved upon Major-General Sir Charles Colville. The
74th remained encamped on the summit of this bare mountain till the
9th of November, suffering greatly from the exposure to cold and wet
weather, want of shelter, and scarcity of provisions, as well as from
the harassing piquet and night duties which the men had to perform.
Major Alves[448] says in his journal that the French picquets
opposite to the position of the 74th were very kind and generous in
getting the soldiers’ canteens filled with brandy,--for payment of
course.
Pamplona having capitulated on the 31st of October, an attack was
made upon the French position at the Nivelle on the 10th of November,
a detailed description of which has been given in the history of the
42nd. The third, along with the fourth and seventh divisions, under
the command of Marshal Beresford, were dispersed about Zagaramurdi,
the Puerto de Echellar, and the lower parts of these slopes of the
greater Rhune, which descended upon the Sarre. On the morning of the
10th, the third division, under General Colville, descending from
Zagaramurdi, moved against the unfinished redoubts and entrenchments
covering the approaches to the bridge of Amotz on the left bank of
the Nivelle, and formed in conjunction with the sixth division the
narrow end of a wedge. The French made a vigorous resistance, but
were driven from the bridge, by the third division, which established
itself on the heights between that structure and the unfinished
redoubts of Louis XIV. The third division then attacked the left
flank of the French centre, while the fourth and seventh divisions
assailed them in front. The attacks on other parts of the French
position having been successful, their centre was driven across the
river in great confusion, pursued by the skirmishers of the third
division, which crossed by the bridge of Amotz. The allied troops
then took possession of the heights on the right bank of the Nivelle,
and the French were compelled to abandon all the works which for the
previous three months they had been constructing for the defence of
the other parts of the position.
The 74th was authorised to bear the word “Nivelle” on its regimental
colour, in commemoration of its services in this battle; indeed it
will be seen that it bears on its colours the names of nearly every
engagement that took place during the Peninsular War. The French had
lost 51 pieces of artillery, and about 4300 men and officers killed,
wounded, and prisoners, during the battle of the Nivelle; the loss of
the allies was about 2700 men and officers.
On the 9th of December the passage of the Nive at Cambo having been
forced by Sir Rowland Hill, the third division remained in possession
of the bridge at Ustariz. On the 13th the French having attacked the
right between the Nive and the Adour at St Pierre, were repulsed by
Sir Rowland Hill after a very severe battle, and the fourth, sixth,
and two brigades of the third division were moved across the Nive in
support of the right.
The 74th, after this, remained cantoned in farm-houses between the
Nive and the Adour until the middle of February 1814.
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton having rejoined the army,
resumed the command of the third division in the end of December
1813. Many acts of outrage and plunder had been committed by the
troops, on first entering France, and Sir Thomas Picton took an
opportunity of publicly reprimanding some of the regiments of his
division for such offences, when he thus addressed the 74th:--“As for
you, 74th, I have nothing to say against you, your conduct is gallant
in the field and orderly in quarters.” And, addressing Colonel Trench
in front of the regiment, he told him that he would write to the
colonel at home (General Sir Alexander Hope) his report of their good
conduct. As Lieutenant-General Picton was not habitually lavish of
complimentary language, this public expression of the good opinion of
so competent a judge was much valued by the regiment.
The next engagement in which the 74th took part was that of Orthes,
February 27, 1814. On the 24th the French had concentrated at Orthes,
with their front to the river Gave de Pau, while the third division
was at the broken bridge of Bereaux, five miles lower down the river,
on the 25th, crossing to the other side next day. On the 27th, when
the sixth and light divisions crossed, the third, and Lord Edward
Somerset’s cavalry, were already established in columns of march,
with skirmishers pushed forward close upon the left centre of the
French position. During the whole morning of the 27th a slight
skirmish, with now and then a cannon shot, had been going on with the
third division, but at nine o’clock Wellington commenced the real
attack. The third and sixth divisions took without difficulty the
lower part of the ridges opposed to them, and endeavoured to extend
their left along the French front with a sharp fire of musketry. But
after three hours’ hard fighting, during which the victory seemed
to be going with the French, Wellington changed his plan of attack,
and ordered the third and sixth divisions to be thrown _en masse_
on the left centre of the French position, which they carried, and
established a battery of guns upon a knoll, from whence their shot
ploughed through the French masses from one flank to another.[449]
Meantime Hill had crossed the river above Orthes, and nearly cut
off the French line of retreat, after which the French began to
retire, step by step, without confusion. The allies advanced, firing
incessantly, yet losing many men, especially of the third division,
whose advance was most strongly opposed. The retreat of the French,
however, shortly became a rout, the men flying in every direction in
scattered bands, pursued by the British cavalry, who cut down many of
the fugitives.
During the first advance Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton
particularly remarked to Major-General Brisbane the steady movement
of his brigade; and the latter reported to him the notice he had
taken of the gallantry of Sergeant-Major Macpherson, of the 74th,
upon which Sir Thomas Picton expressed to the sergeant-major his
pleasure to hear such a good report of him, and on the following day,
during a short halt on the march, desired Lieutenant-Colonel Manners,
who commanded the regiment in the absence of Lieutenant-Colonel
Trench, to write his recommendation, which he did on a drum-head; the
sergeant-major was consequently promoted to a commission on the 31st
of March following, and was afterwards a captain in the regiment.
The casualties in the regiment at the battle of Orthes were--1
sergeant and 7 rank and file killed; and 5 officers, Captain Lyster,
Lieutenant Ewing (mortally--dying shortly afterwards), Lieutenant
Ironside, Ensigns Shore and Luttrell, 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, and 17
rank and file wounded.
The 74th, along with the other regiments of the third division, was
kept moving about until the 7th of March, when it was cantoned at
Aire, on the left bank of the Adour. On the 18th the whole allied
army advanced up both sides of the Adour, the French falling back
before them. The third division was in the centre column, which on
the 19th came up with a division of the French, strongly posted
amongst some vineyards, two miles in front of the village of
Vic-en-Bigorre. The third division attacked the French and drove
them before it, and encamped in the evening about three miles beyond
the town of Vic-en-Bigorre.
The Marquis of Wellington stated in his despatch.--“On the following
day (the 19th) the enemy held a strong rear-guard in the vineyards
in front of the town of Vic-en-Bigorre; Lieutenant-General Picton,
with the third division and Major-General Rock’s brigade, made a very
handsome movement upon this rearguard, and drove them through the
vineyards and town.”
Two officers of the regiment, Lieutenant Atkinson and Ensign Flood,
were wounded in this affair.
On the 20th, after some sharp fighting, in which the 74th lost a few
men, the right column of the allies crossed the Adour at Tarbes, and
was encamped with the rest of the army upon the Larret and Arros
rivers. The French retreated towards Toulouse, and on the 26th the
allied army came in sight of the enemy posted behind the Touch river,
and covering that city. Details having already been given, in our
account of the 42nd Regiment, concerning this last move of Soult, we
need only mention here that the third, fourth, and sixth divisions
passed over the Garonne by a pontoon bridge fifteen miles below
Toulouse on the 3d of April. On the 10th about six o’clock in the
morning, the various divisions of the British army advanced according
to Wellington’s previously arranged plan. The part taken in the
battle of Toulouse by the 74th is thus narrated by Major Alves in his
journal:--
“Shortly after daylight the division was put in motion, with orders
to drive all the enemy’s outposts before us, and although acting
as adjutant, I was permitted by Colonel Trench to accompany the
skirmishers. With but feeble opposition we drove them before us,
until they reached the tête-de-pont on the canal leading into
Toulouse, on the right bank of the Garonne; on arriving there I
mentioned to Captain Andrews of the 74th, that I thought we had gone
far enough, and reconnoitered very attentively the manner in which
it was defended by strong palisades, &c. I then returned to where
the regiment was halted, and mentioned my observations to Colonel
Trench, and that nothing further could possibly be done without
artillery to break down the palisades. He immediately brought me to
General Brisbane, to whom I also related my observations as above,
who directed me to ride to the left and find out Sir Thomas Picton,
who was with the other brigade, and to tell him my observations.
After riding about two miles to the left I found Sir Thomas, and
told him as above stated, who immediately said, in presence of all
his staff, ‘Go back, sir, and tell them to move on.’ This I did
with a very heavy heart, as I dreaded what the result must be, but
I had no alternative. About a quarter of an hour afterwards the
regiment moved from where it was halted. We experienced a loss of 30
killed and 100 wounded, out of 350, in the attempt to get possession
of the tête-de-pont; and were obliged to retire without gaining
any advantage. The attack was the more to be regretted, as Lord
Wellington’s orders were that it was only to be a diversion, and not
a real attack.”
The casualties in the regiment at the battle of Toulouse were 4
officers, Captains Thomas Andrews and William Tew, Lieutenant
Hamilton, and Ensign John Parkinson, 1 sergeant, and 32 rank and
file killed; and 5 officers, Brevet-Major Miller, Captain Donald
M’Queen,[450] and Lieutenants Jason Hassard, William Graham, and E.
J. Crabbe, 4 sergeants, and 94 rank and file wounded.
The French abandoned the city during the night of the 11th of April,
and the allies entered it in triumph on the 12th, on the forenoon
of which day intelligence arrived of the abdication of Napoleon
and the termination of the war. The officers charged with the
intelligence had been detained near Blois “by the officiousness of
the police, and the blood of 8000 men had overflowed the Mount Rhune
in consequence.”[451]
After remaining in France for some time the 74th embarked in the
beginning of July, and arrived at Cork on the 25th of that month.
The record of the services of the 74th during these eventful years
will be sufficient to prove how well the corps maintained the high
character it had at first acquired in the East Indies, and how well
it earned the distinction for gallantry in the field and good conduct
in quarters.
In consideration of the meritorious conduct of the non-commissioned
officers and men of the regiment during the war, Colonel Trench
applied to the Commander-in-Chief to authorise those most
distinguished among them to wear silver medals in commemoration of
their services. The sanction of the Commander-in-Chief was conveyed
to Colonel Trench in a letter from the Adjutant-General, bearing date
“Horse Guards, 30th June 1814.”
[Illustration: Facsimile of the Medal.
From the collection of Surgeon-Major Fleming, late of the 4th Dragoon
Guards.]
Medals were accordingly granted to the deserving survivors of the
campaign, who were divided into three classes: first class, men who
had served in eight or nine general actions; second class, in six or
seven general actions; third class, in four or five general actions.
The regiment remained in Ireland till May 1818, not having had a
chance of distinguishing itself at the crowning victory of Waterloo,
although it was on its way to embark for Belgium when news of that
decisive battle arrived. While at Fermoy, on the 6th of April 1818,
the regiment was presented with new colours. The colours which had
waved over the regiment in many a hard-fought field, and which
had been received in 1802, were burned, and the ashes deposited
in the lid of a gold sarcophagus snuff-box, inlaid with part of
the wood of the colour-staves, on which the following inscription
was engraved:--“This box, composed of the old standards of the
Seventy-fourth regiment, was formed as a tribute of respect to the
memory of those who fell, and of esteem for those who survived
the many glorious and arduous services on which they were always
victoriously carried, during a period of sixteen years, in India,
the Peninsula, and France. They were presented to the regiment at
Wallajahbad in 1802, and the shattered remains were burned at Fermoy
on the 6th of April 1818.”
The 74th embarked at Cork for Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the 13th
of May, leaving one depôt company, which was sent to the Isle of
Wight. The companies were divided between St John’s, Newfoundland,
St John’s, New Brunswick, and Frederickton, where were headquarters
and five companies. The regiment remained in North America till 1828,
in August of which year proceeding to Bermudas, which it left at the
end of the next year for Ireland, where it arrived in the beginning
of 1830. In 1818 the regiment had been reduced to ten companies of
65 rank and file each, and in 1821 it was further reduced to eight
companies of 72 rank and file. In 1825, however, the strength was
augmented to ten companies--six service companies of 86 rank and
file, and four depôt companies of 56 rank and file each.
The regiment remained in Ireland till 1834, during part of which time
it was actively employed in suppressing the outrages consequent on
the disturbed state of the country. In the latter part of 1834 the
regiment was divided into four depot and six service companies;
three of the latter were sent to Barbadoes, while the headquarter
division, consisting of the three remaining companies, was sent to
the island of Grenada. In November 1835 the two service divisions
were sent to Antigua, where they remained till February 1837. From
thence the headquarter division proceeded to St Lucia, and the other
three companies to Demerara, both divisions being sent to St Vincent
in June of the same year. The regiment was kept moving about among
these western islands till May 1841, when it proceeded to Canada,
arriving at Quebec at the end of the month. While the regiment was
stationed at Trinidad it was attacked by fever and dysentery, which
caused great mortality; and fever continued to prevail among the men
until the regiment removed to Trinidad. With this exception the 74th
remained remarkably healthy during the whole of its residence in the
West Indies.
The 74th remained in the North American colonies till 1845, being
removed from Canada to Nova Scotia in May 1844, and embarking at
Halifax for England in March 1845. On arriving in England in the end
of that month, the service companies joined the depot at Canterbury.
While the regiment was stationed in Canterbury, Lieutenant-Colonel
Crabbe, commanding the regiment, submitted to the Commander-in-Chief,
through the colonel (Lieutenant-General Sir Phineas Ryall), the
earnest desire of the officers and men to be permitted to resume the
national garb and designation of a Highland regiment, under which the
74th had been originally embodied.
The lieutenant-colonel having himself first joined the regiment
as a Highland corps in the year 1807, and having served with
it continuously during the intervening period, knew by his own
experience, and was able to certify to the Commander-in-Chief,
how powerfully and favourably its character had been influenced
by its original organisation; and also that throughout the varied
services and changes of so many years, a strong national feeling,
and a connection with Scotland by recruiting, had been constantly
maintained. Various considerations, however, induced an application
for permission to modify the original dress of kilt and feathered
bonnet, and with the resumed designation of a Highland corps, to
adopt the trews and bonnet as established for the 71st regiment.
His Grace the Duke of Wellington was pleased to return a favourable
answer to the application, in such terms as to render his consent
doubly acceptable to the corps, causing it to be intimated to the
colonel, by a letter from the adjutant-general, bearing date ‘Horse
Guards, 13th August 1845,’ that he would recommend to Her Majesty
that the 74th Regiment should be permitted to resume the appellation
of a Highland regiment, and to be clothed “accordingly in compliment
to the services of that regiment so well known to his Grace in India
and in Europe.”
In the “Gazette” of the 14th November 1845 the following announcement
was published:--
“WAR OFFICE, _8th November 1845_.
“MEMORANDUM,--Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to approve
of the 74th foot resuming the appellation of the 74th (Highland)
Regiment of foot, and of its being clothed accordingly; that is,
to wear the tartan trews instead of the Oxford mixture; plaid cap
instead of the black chaco; and the plaid scarf as worn by the 71st
Regiment. The alteration of the dress is to take place on the next
issue of clothing, on the 1st of April 1846.”
The national designation of the regiment was of course immediately
resumed, and the recruiting has been since carried on solely in
Scotland with uniform success.
It was directed by the Adjutant-General that the tartan now to be
worn by the 74th should not be of the old regimental pattern, that
being already in use by two other regiments (the 42nd and 93rd),
but that it should be distinguished by the introduction of a white
stripe. The alteration of the regimental dress took place as ordered,
on the 1st of April 1846.
In May 1846, Lieutenant-Colonel Crabbe, who had been connected with
the regiment for forty years, retired on full pay, and took leave of
the regiment in a feeling order. Major Crawley was promoted to the
lieutenant-colonelcy in his place.
II.
1846-1853.
Return to Scotland--United at Glasgow--Ireland--South Africa
--Hottentot outbreak--Change of dress of the Regiment--Field
operations--At the Quesana--The Amatola Heights--Hottentots
repulsed--Another engagement--Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce left in
command at Riet Fontein--The Kaffirs at Fort Beaufort--Captain
Thackeray’s testimony--Movements of Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce--His
death--Major-General Somerset’s Movements in the Amatolas--Loss of
the “Birkenhead.”
After being stationed a short time at Canterbury and Gosport, the
74th removed to Scotland in detachments in the months of August
and September 1846, two companies being sent to Dundee, three to
Paisley, one to Perth, headquarters and three companies to Aberdeen,
and detachments to Stirling and Dunfermline. In November of the same
year, all the companies united at Glasgow, and in July 1847 the
regiment proceeded to Ireland. While stationed at Dublin, the 74th,
in consequence of the disturbed state of Tipperary, was sent to that
county on July 29th, to be employed as part of a movable column under
Major-General Macdonald. The regiment, along with the 75th and 85th,
a half battery of Artillery, a detachment of Sappers, and three
companies of the 60th Rifles, the whole forming a movable column, was
kept moving about in the neighbourhood of Thurles and Ballingarry
during the month of August. Happily, however, the column had none of
the stern duties of war to perform, and returned to Dublin in the
beginning of September, after having suffered much discomfort from
the almost incessant rain which prevailed during the time the men
were under canvas.
The 74th remained in Ireland till March 1851, on the 16th of which
month it sailed in the “Vulcan” from Queenstown, having been ordered
to South Africa to take part in the sanguinary Kaffir War of that
period, in which, as will be seen, the regiment maintained its
well-won reputation for valour in the faithful performance of its
duty. The 74th arrived in Simon’s Bay, Cape of Good Hope, on the
11th of May, when it was ordered to proceed to Algoa Bay to join the
first division at Fort Hare, under Major-General Somerset, who was
engaged in active operations against the Kaffirs and Hottentots.
Having arrived at Algoa Bay on the 16th, the regiment disembarked
at Fort Elizabeth, where, owing to the want of transport for the
camp equipage, it remained for a few days before proceeding to
Grahamstown, which, from want of grass and the consequent weak
condition of the oxen, it did not reach till the 27th of May.[452]
While the 74th was at Grahamstown, a sudden outbreak of the
Hottentots at the mission station of Theopolis occurred. Four
companies of the regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Fordyce, together with a few native levies, proceeded to the scene
of disturbance, and succeeded in destroying the rebel camp, and
capturing about 600 head of cattle; the Hottentots, however, made
their escape.
The regiment having resumed its march for Fort Hare, arrived at
that place on June 12th, and encamped near the fort. Though but
a few days in the country, Colonel Fordyce saw that the ordinary
equipment of the British soldier was in no way suited to African
campaigning, and while at Fort Hare he made a complete change in
the appearance of the regiment. The dress bonnets, scarlet tunics,
black pouches, and pipe-clayed cross belts, were put away in the
quartermaster’s stores. Common brown leather pouches and belts were
issued, while an admirable substitute for the tunic was found in the
stout canvas frocks of which a couple are served out to each soldier
proceeding on a long sea voyage. These had been carefully preserved
when the regiment landed, and now, with the aid of copperas and
the bark of the mimosa bush, were dyed a deep olive brown colour,
which corresponded admirably with that of the bush, and was the
least conspicuous dress of any regiment in the field, not excepting
the Rifle Brigade and 60th, both of which corps had a battalion
engaged. The cuffs and shoulders were strapped with leather, and this
rough-looking but most serviceable tunic was worn by both officers
and men as long as they were actively employed in the field. The
forage cap, with a leather peak, completed the costume.
On the 18th of June Major-General Somerset ordered the following
troops, divided into brigades, to form a camp in advance for field
operations:--
First Brigade--Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, 74th Highlanders: the 74th
Highlanders; the 91st Regiment; the 1st European Levy; and the Alice
European Levy.
Second Brigade--Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton, Cape Mounted Riflemen: the
George Levy, the Graaff Reynett Levy, the Kat River Levy, and the
Fingo Levies.
Cavalry Brigade-Major Somerset, Cape Mounted Riflemen: the Royal
Artillery, the Cape Mounted Riflemen, the George Mounted Levy,
and Blakeway’s Horse; and besides, a detachment of Royal Sappers
and Miners, under the orders of Lieutenant Jesse, R.E., Deputy
Quartermaster-General.
These troops marched from Fort Hare on the 24th for the Quesana
River; near the base of the Amatola Mountains, where a standing camp
was formed.
The division moved before daylight on the 26th of June, and ascended
in two columns the western range of the Amatola heights, halting on
the ridge while Major-General Somerset reconnoitered the position
of the enemy. While doing so, his escort was attacked, but on the
arrival of a reinforcement the enemy was driven from his position,
and forced into the valley below. While these operations were in
progress, the 74th Highlanders, Cape Mounted Rifles, European and
Kat River Levies, with the Alice and Port Elizabeth Fingoes, were
moved into the Amatola basin. A formidable body of the enemy, chiefly
Hottentots, were now seen strongly posted on the extreme point of
the ridge of the northern range of the Amatolas, partly concealed
and well covered by large stones and detached masses of rock; these
the 74th, flanked by the Alice and Port Elizabeth Fingoes, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, was ordered to dislodge. The enemy opened
a galling fire upon the advancing troops, but the 74th deployed into
extended line, and having opened fire, drove the Hottentots from
their position and gained the summit. After moving along the ridge,
which was intersected by a narrow strip of forest bush, the troops
were again attacked, and three men of the 74th killed. Having halted
for a short time to refresh themselves, the 74th, flanked by the
Fort Beaufort Fingoes, was again moved on the enemy’s position, when
some sharp firing took place, and the enemy was compelled to abandon
his position altogether, retiring into the forest and mountains. The
division descended into the Amatola basin, and at 5 P.M. bivouacked
for the night. It was reported that some Gaika chiefs and a
considerable number of the enemy were killed on this occasion; while
the casualties in the 74th were one corporal and two privates killed,
and one officer, Lieutenant W. W. Bruce, and nine men wounded.
Nothing of importance occurred during the next two days, and on the
29th the division marched to the camp on the Quesana.
The conduct of the 74th in the above services was highly spoken of
in various orders, but we need only quote from a general order by
Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Bart., dated “Headquarters, King
William’s Town, 3rd of July, 1851:--
“Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce and the 74th Highlanders seized every
opportunity of assailing them and driving them before them, and
the Major-General reports in the strongest terms of admiration the
gallantry and the discipline of the corps.”
On the 2nd of July the division again ascended the Amatolas, and
its operations were thus detailed by Major-General Somerset in the
following letter to the Deputy Quarter-master-General:--
“CAMP ON THE KAMKA OR YELLOW WOODS,
“_3d July 1851_.
“SIR,--I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of
his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, that I proceeded with my
division yesterday morning, and ascended the Amatola, with the view
of clearing the eastern range of the Victoria Heights, and also of
again attacking the enemy’s fastnesses in the forest, at the southern
point of Hogg’s Back Ridge. This latter point was thoroughly cleared
by the European Levy and a company of the 91st under Lieutenant
Mainwaring. The enemy abandoned the forest when their huts were
destroyed, and took refuge in the extreme and highest points of the
Chumie Mountains. I then directed my attention to the southern
point of the Victoria Heights, placing a gun under Lieutenant
Field; the 74th Highlanders, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce; and
the Cape Mounted Rifles, under Major Somerset, in position on the
middle ridge. I detached the Graaff Reynett Levy, under Captain
Heathcote, senior, the Fort Beaufort Fingoes, under Captain Verity,
and destroyed all the kraals east of the Victoria range. While this
movement was going on, I detached Captains Cumbers and Ayliff with
their levies, and Captain Hobbs with the Kat River Levy, down the
valley of the Amatola, destroying all the kraals at the base of the
middle ridge, and nearly succeeded in capturing the Kaffir chief Oba
or Waba, Tyali’s son, whom I saw lately with the Commander-in-Chief
at Fort Cox, as it was his kraal that was surprised by the Kat River
Levy under Captain Hobbs, and his wives and family, with all their
household property, were captured, including the chief’s crane
feathers for his tribe, his smart forage cap and jacket, given to
him by his Excellency, and much other property; and distinctly saw
the chief ride off from his kraal just before the patrol got there.
The enemy was completely routed, and made off in every direction. In
my attack on the Amatola position on the 26th instant, the chiefs
Beta and Pitoi, the son of Vongya (brother of the late Tyali),
were killed, and many others of less note. This information I have
received from the Kaffir Dakana, residing at the Quilli station.”
In a despatch from the Governor, Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith,
Bart., to Earl Grey, the regiment is mentioned as follows:--
“Major-General Somerset speaks in the highest terms of
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce and the 74th Regiment, recently arrived
from England, upon whom the brunt of these operations fell in the
first division.”
During the next month the standing camp of the division was moved
about from place to place, and patrolling parties were constantly
sent out to check the depredations of the enemy. About the middle
of August, when the standing camp was fixed at Riet Fontein,
Major-General Somerset proceeded to Lower Albany with a large portion
of the division, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, of the 74th
Highlanders, in command of the troops remaining in camp.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton, Cape Mounted Rifles, commanding at Fort
Beaufort, communicated with Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, about the
beginning of September, regarding many bold and frequently successful
attempts at the robbery of cattle made by the hordes of Kaffirs
in the neighbourhood of that post, which it became necessary, if
possible, to check. A force, consisting of 11 officers and 245 men
of the 74th Highlanders, 3 officers and 36 men of the Cape Mounted
Rifles, and 22 officers and 372 men of the various levies in camp
and at Fort Beaufort, were assembled at Gilbert’s farm, on the Klu
Klu, on the night of the 7th of September, and marched about 2
o’clock A.M. on the 8th, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, to the
lower edge of the Kroome, where they arrived at dawn, but found
none of the enemy in that locality. The force ascended the Kroome
heights by the steep and difficult ridge called the Wolf’s Head. It
being well known that the enemy, under the Gaika chief Macomo, were
in great force in the adjacent valleys of the Waterkloof, Fuller’s
Hoek, and Blinkwater, it was determined to halt in a hollow, where
there was good water, until future operations were determined upon.
Strong picquets were posted on the surrounding ridges, and the usual
precautions taken to guard against surprise. Some large bodies of the
enemy were seen collecting at various points, and about 3 P.M. the
alarm was given that the Kaffirs were approaching in great force.
They ran almost with the speed of greyhounds, but the troops, many
of whom had to toss away their half-cooked dinners, got under arms
with the utmost promptitude, and were soon posted in extended order
on the ridges surrounding the bivouac, reinforcing the picquets. The
enemy approached in swarms from all quarters of the contiguous bush,
and as soon as they were within range, opened fire, which they kept
up without intermission for about half an hour. Their force, at the
lowest computation, was about 2000 men, and was led by Macomo in
person, who was seen riding about on a white charger, well out of
range. The troops being posted behind a ridge, were enabled to keep
up a sharp fire without much danger to themselves, and the enemy
were soon compelled to withdraw to the bush. Nearly half of the
ammunition being now expended, the troops were ordered to retire; and
Lieutenant-Colonel Sutton, with a few mounted men, was directed to
occupy the pass leading from Kroome heights to Niland’s farm. Between
two and three hundred mounted Kaffirs were now seen endeavouring
to turn the left flank, but they were kept in check, and all the
troops were enabled to gain the pass--a narrow defile, in many parts
of which not more than four or five men could walk abreast. The
retreat was going on with perfect regularity, when a strong force of
the enemy opened fire from the bush, and a detachment of the Fort
Beaufort Fingoes became panic-stricken, rushing among the regular
troops in great disorder, and thereby preventing them from using
their arms with effect against the enemy. This no doubt encouraged
the Kaffirs, who, seizing the advantage, rushed from the bush and
stabbed many of the men with their assegais. The enemy continued
their fire until the troops cleared the bush, but they scarcely
showed themselves beyond it. The ammunition being nearly expended,
the retreat was continued until the force arrived at Gilbert’s farm,
which they did shortly after dark, and bivouacked there for the
night, sending an express to Riet Fontein for waggons to convey the
wounded to camp. The casualties in the regiment on this occasion were
8 privates killed, and 1 officer, Lieutenant John Joseph Corrigan,
1 corporal, and 8 privates wounded. Hans Hartung, who had for many
years been bandmaster of the regiment, and was much respected by all
ranks, lost his life on this occasion; he had accompanied the force
as a volunteer.
The troops returned to Riet Fontein and Fort Beaufort, on the
following day.
An officer,[453] who was with the regiment during the whole of
this war, states that this was the only instance in which the 74th
really met the Kaffirs face to face, and the latter even then had
the advantage of possessing a thorough knowledge of the intricacies
of the bush, and were in overwhelming numbers. There were numerous
hand-to-hand conflicts, and several of the enemy were killed with the
bayonet.
Major-General Somerset having arrived at Riet Fontein in September,
the division marched on the 3rd of October to Fort Beaufort and
encamped there, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from the
second division, under Lieutenant-Colonel Michel, of the 6th
Regiment, intended to act with the first division in a combined
attack on the Waterkloof, Kroome Heights, and Fuller’s Hoek.
The necessary preparations having been made, Lieutenant-Colonel
Fordyce marched on the 13th of October with the Reserve Battalion
12th Regiment, Beaufort West Levy, Graaf Reynett Mounted Levy,
and Fort Beaufort Mounted Troop. The Major-General had previously
proceeded with the Cape Mounted Riflemen and Fort Beaufort Fingo Levy
to meet Lieutenant-Colonel Michel on his march from King William’s
Town.
The force under Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce arrived at the Gola River
on the afternoon of the 13th, and on the southern point of the
Kroome Heights about sunrise next morning. The Waterkloof and Kroome
Heights were that morning enveloped in a dense fog, which for a time
prevented Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce from acting in concert with the
Major-General, according to previous arrangement; but about noon the
fog cleared away, and the Major-General was then seen to be engaged
with the enemy at the head of the Waterkloof. Lieutenant-Colonel
Fordyce joined him with his brigade, and the enemy having been
dispersed, they all marched to Mandell’s farm, where they remained
until the morning of the 16th.
The force was now divided. Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce’s brigade,
reinforced by the Reserve Battalion 91st Regiment, marching by the
Bush Nek to the entrance of the Waterkloof; while the remainder
of the division, under the personal command of the Major-General,
proceeded to the head of the Waterkloof. Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce,
on his arrival at the entrance of the Waterkloof, extended a line
of skirmishers across the valley, seeing but few of the enemy, and
meeting with no opposition until they emerged from the bush at the
head of the Waterkloof, when a brisk fire was opened upon them; fresh
skirmishers were thrown out, and the enemy dispersed. The force then
joined the Major-General near Mount Misery, and the division marched
to Eastland’s Farm and bivouacked. The casualties in the regiment
on this occasion were 2 privates killed, and 1 lance-corporal and 1
private wounded.
In another skirmish at the head of the Waterkloof, on the 23rd, 2
privates were killed and 2 wounded.
Various operations were carried on at the head of the Waterkloof and
Kroome heights until the 28th, when Lieut.-Colonel Fordyce’s brigade
was ordered to the Blinkwater, where it arrived the same day, having
been in the field exposed to heavy rains, and frequently with only
one blanket per man, and since the 13th without tents.
The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Harry Smith, spoke, in his general
order of October 31, in deservedly high terms of the conduct of
the officers and men in these most trying duties; for this kind of
desultory warfare, entailing constant marches from place to place
without shelter, amid almost constant frost, snow, wind, and rain,
and frequently with short supplies of food, and even of ammunition,
against an immense number of savages, with whom it is impossible
to come to close quarters, is far more trying to the temper and
endurance of soldiers than a series of pitched battles with a
powerful, well-disciplined, and well-equipped enemy.
This particular post of the enemy, at the head of the Waterkloof, was
one which seemed almost impregnable, although it was held by only
a few hundred Hottentots. The rebels had taken up a position near
the summit of the Kloof, which they had fortified with a breastwall
of detached rocks, from behind which they long bade defiance to
all efforts to eject them. Occasionally, when the British soldiers
were receding from the bush, the enemy would appear in the open
ground, firing at the former with fatal precision, and seeming as
if to invite them to open combat. Our brave soldiers accepting the
challenge, and returning towards the Hottentots, or “Totties,”
as they were facetiously called, the latter would precipitately
retreat to their stronghold, reappearing when their opponents’
backs were turned, sending death to many a poor fellow, whose brave
comrades could never get a chance to avenge him. Such a mode of
warfare is harassing in the highest degree. It was at the deathful
Waterkloof that the 74th sustained the loss of one of its bravest and
best-beloved officers.
The troops belonging to the second division having marched to
King William’s Town, and the Major-General having assembled at
the Blinkwater all the available force of the first division, he
ascended the Blinkwater Hill on the 4th of November, and bivouacked
at Eastland’s Farm, leaving the tents and baggage at the Blinkwater
under a guard.
On the morning of the 6th of November the infantry under
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce marched about two hours before daylight,
the cavalry under the Major-General following at dawn, to the head
of the Waterkloof, where, as we have said, a considerable party of
the enemy was seen posted in strong positions. The infantry, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, were ordered to attack the position. The
Colonel led his men in column into the Waterkloof, when suddenly
his march was arrested by a rocky precipice which flanked him in
the form of a semicircle, where he found the enemy in considerable
force, and these knew too well the rules of military tactics to
let so favourable an opportunity escape for inflicting a penalty.
Though the bayonets of our brave soldiers seemed powerless in such a
position--for they had to contend against an enemy concealed among
inaccessible rocks--yet Colonel Fordyce placed his men in position
for an assault, and it was while calmly surveying them to see that
all was ready for the desperate work, that he was struck in the side
by a ball, which proved fatal to him in a quarter of an hour. His
last words, it is said, were, “What will become of my poor regiment?”
He was indeed the father of his regiment, looking with parental
solicitude after the comforts of men, women, and children, and by all
he was lamented with unfeigned sorrow.[454] His men, notwithstanding
their irreparable loss, stood firm against the enemy, and the
Major-General having arrived and assumed the command, the enemy was
driven from his position, and the troops bivouacked for the night on
Mount Misery, near the scene of the day’s operations.
The casualties in the regiment on this occasion were 2 officers
(Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce and Lieutenant Carey), 2 sergeants, and 2
privates killed; and 1 officer, Lieutenant Gordon (who died shortly
afterwards), and 8 men wounded. The greater number of the casualties
on this occasion occurred in No. 2 company, under the command
of Lieutenant Carey, until he was mortally wounded, and then of
Lieutenant Philpot. They were opposed to a strong body of the enemy
posted behind rocks, but being assisted by the light company, they
succeeded in dislodging it.
The bodies of the dead were next day carried in a mule waggon for
burial at Post Retief--15 miles across the table-land. “The funeral
will never be forgotten by those who were present. The thunder,
mingled with the booming artillery, rolled grandly and solemnly among
the mountains. As the rough deal coffins were borne out, the ‘firing
party,’ dripping wet, and covered with mud, presented arms, the
officers uncovered, and we marched in slow time out of the gate and
down the road--the pipers playing the mournful and touching ‘Highland
Lament’--to where the graves had been dug, a few hundred yards from
the Post.”
[Illustration: Death of Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce.
From “Campaigning in Kaffirland,” by Captain William Ross King, 74th
Highlanders (now Lieut.-Col. unattached).]
The following division order by Major-General Somerset by no means
exaggerates the soldierly merits of Colonel Fordyce:--
“CAMP BLINKWATER,
“_Nov. 9th, 1851_.
“It is with the deepest regret that Major-General Somerset announces
to the division the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, commanding
the 74th Highlanders. He fell, mortally wounded, in action with the
enemy, on the morning of the 6th, and died on the field.
“From the period of the 74th Highlanders having joined the first
division, their high state of discipline and efficiency at once
showed to the Major-General the value of Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce
as a commanding officer; the subsequent period, during which the
Major-General had been in daily intercourse with Lieutenant-Colonel
Fordyce, so constantly engaged against the enemy in the field, had
tended to increase in the highest degree the opinion which the
Major-General had formed of Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce as a commander
of the highest order, and one of Her Majesty’s ablest officers, and
whom he now so deeply laments (while he truly sympathises with the
74th Highlanders in their irreparable loss), as an esteemed brother
soldier.”
Small parties of the enemy having again taken up positions near the
head of Fuller’s Hoek, they were attacked and dislodged on the 7th;
and on the following day the division marched to its camp at the
Blinkwater.
The 74th was engaged in no enterprise of importance for the next two
months, headquarters having meantime been removed to Fort Beaufort.
In January 1852 preparations were made under Major-General Somerset,
by the first and second divisions, for a combined movement to destroy
the enemy’s crops in the Chumie Hoek, Amatolas, and on the left bank
of the Keiskamma River. The Major-General marched from Fort Beaufort
on the 26th of January 1852 for that purpose, with a force which
included upwards of 250 of all ranks of the 74th. Detachments of the
regiment were left at Post Retief, Blinkwater, Riet Fontein, and Fort
Beaufort.
The Major-General, with the force under his command, arrived at the
Amatolas on the 27th, and on the 28th commenced the destruction of
the enemy’s crops, which was carried on at the Amatolas, Chumie Hoek,
and near the Gwali Mission Station, up to the 24th of February, with
little interruption from the enemy and no loss to the regiment.
The destruction of that part of the crops allotted to the first
division having been completed, the Major-General marched on the 25th
_en route_ for Haddon on the Koonap River, where he arrived on the
29th, and formed a standing camp.
At about two o’clock on the morning of the 4th of March, a patrol
under Lieutenant-Colonel Yarborough, 91st Regiment, consisting of all
the available men of that corps and of the 74th Highlanders, together
with a troop of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, marched to the Waterkloof
to destroy a number of kraals belonging to a party of the enemy who
had located themselves on the sides of the mountain near Browne’s
Farm. This force arrived at the scene of operations about sunrise,
and immediately attacked the kraals, which they completely destroyed,
and captured a number of horses and cattle which were concealed in
a dense bush in an adjacent kloof. These kraals were well defended
by the enemy, and the time necessarily occupied in securing the
horses and cattle allowed the enemy to collect in large numbers from
every part of the Waterkloof. They kept up an incessant fire upon
the troops until their arrival at Nel’s Farm, where a position was
taken up by the 74th and 91st Regiments, which kept the enemy in
check until the horses and cattle were driven beyond their reach,
after which the enemy dispersed, and the troops returned to camp. The
casualties in the regiment on this occasion were 1 private killed and
4 wounded.
On the 7th of March the Commander-in-Chief arrived at the Blinkwater
with all the available force of the 2nd division, for the purpose
of carrying out, in connection with the 1st division, a combined
movement against the Fuller’s Hoek, the Waterkloof, and Kroome
Heights, which were still occupied by Macomo and his best warriors.
These operations were carried on between the 10th and the 16th of
the month, and the regiment was engaged with the enemy on several
occasions during that time, but happily without sustaining any loss.
410 women, among whom was Macomo’s great wife, many children, 130
horses, 1000 head of cattle, and a number of goats were captured,
together with some arms and ammunition, and all the property in
Macomo’s Den.
The Commander-in-Chief, in referring to these six days’ operations
in a general order, spoke of them as a success which may well be
expected to lead to a permanent and lasting peace. “The Kaffir
tribes,” he said, “have never been previously thus punished, and the
expulsion over the Kei being effected, tranquillity on a permanent
basis may be hoped for. No soldiers ever endured greater fatigues, or
ever encountered them with more constant cheerfulness and devotion to
their sovereign and country.”
On the 16th of March the 1st division returned to its standing
camp, which had been removed on the 13th to the Gola River, near
the entrance of the Waterkloof; and the troops belonging to the 2nd
division returned to their stations.
The Waterkloof, Fuller’s Hoek, and Blinkwater being now considered
cleared of the enemy, the Commander-in-Chief ordered a combined
movement to take place against large bodies of the enemy that had
established themselves between the Kaboosie Mountains and the Kei
River. To effect this, the 1st division marched on the morning of the
18th of March; and having been joined on the 26th at the Thorn River
by a burgher force, which was to co-operate with the troops, reached
the Thomas River on the 29th, where a standing camp was formed. The
2nd division, at the same time, sent patrols to the Kaboosie Nek,
Keiskamma Hoek, and the banks of the Kei River, and a large number of
burghers was in the field co-operating with the troops.
On the 5th of April a patrol, under Lieutenant-Colonel Napier, Cape
Mounted Riflemen, consisting of 162 men, from the headquarters of the
74th, along with detachments of the various other corps, marched for
the junction of the Thomas and the Kei Rivers, where it was supposed
large numbers of the enemy’s cattle were concealed.
This force arrived at and bivouacked on the Quantine, a branch of the
Thomas River, on the evening of the 5th, and on the following morning
resumed their march in three separate columns. Large herds of cattle
were seen about ten o’clock in the morning near the junction of the
Thomas and the Kei Rivers, and signal fires were lighted up by the
enemy in various directions. After a successful contest of several
hours’ duration, in which 100 of the enemy were supposed to have
been killed, this force captured, with little loss, large numbers of
cattle, horses, and goats, with which they returned to the standing
camp on the Thomas River. The Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant-General
Sir Harry Smith, Bart., in a general order, spoke in the highest
terms of these services, as being of such a character that a speedy
termination of the war might be looked for, which must lead to the
establishment of permanent peace to the country.
The standing camp was moved on the 10th of April to the Windvogel, a
branch of the Kei River. Lieutenant-General the Hon. George Cathcart,
appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope
in succession to Sir Harry Smith, who was recalled, having assumed
the command and arrived at King William’s Town, Major-General
Somerset proceeded to that town to receive instructions regarding
future operations.
Lieutenant-General Sir Harry George Wakelyn Smith, G.C.B., Bart.,
on resigning the command, bade farewell to the army which he had so
efficiently commanded in a general order, in which he said:--
“I have served my Queen and country many years; and, attached as I
have ever been to gallant soldiers, none were ever more endeared to
me than those serving in the arduous campaign of 1851 and 1852 in
South Africa. The unceasing labours of night marches, the burning
sun, the torrents of rain, have been encountered with a cheerfulness
as conspicuous as the intrepidity with which you have met the enemy
in so many enterprising fights and skirmishes in his own mountain
fastnesses and strongholds, and from which you have always driven him
victoriously.”[455]
During the next few months the 74th was kept incessantly moving about
in detachments from one post to another, the bare recital of which
movements would only fatigue the reader. The regiment was constantly
employed either on patrol, in waylaying parties, or on escort duties,
the work involved in such movements being, as we have already said,
far more trying and fatiguing to the soldier than a regular series
of field operations against a large and thoroughly disciplined
army. The high value of these irritating duties could only be fully
appreciated by the superior officers who were watching the progress
of the operations from day to day, and by the terrified colonists,
whose lives and property the brave soldiers were doing their best,
under great hardship, to protect. That the 74th, as well as the other
regiments, really were the protectors of the colonists in South
Africa, and performed their duties as such with honour and credit to
themselves, all who were in a position to form an opinion concur in
admitting. We have only heard of one instance in which an attempt
was made to sully the honour and honesty of the 74th: that was by
the Rev. Henry Renton, a Scotch missionary, who at a public meeting
in Glasgow made some remarks reflecting on the conduct of the 74th
Highlanders. We cannot believe that a Scotchman would maliciously
attempt to sully the honour of a Highland regiment; and, of course,
a Christian minister never so far should forget himself as to give
utterance to a statement which he does not believe has a foundation
in truth, especially when that statement, as in the present case,
involves the reputation of so many of his fellow-countrymen, and, it
is to be presumed, fellow-Christians. That the Rev. Henry Renton,
whose honesty of intention, then, we cannot doubt, was under a
misapprehension when he rashly--perhaps in a gush of “holy rapture,”
as Burns puts it--made this statement at the public meeting in
Glasgow, is clear from the following letter written on the subject by
Major-General Somerset:--
“GRAHAMSTOWN, _August 18, 1852_.
“SIR,--Having observed in several of the public journals that, at a
recent public meeting, Mr Renton, a Scotch minister, took occasion to
attack the character of the 74th Highlanders for their conduct when
encamped at the Gwali Station on the Chumie River, in the month of
February last, stating that the men of that corps had plundered and
destroyed the garden of the widow Chalmers while the savage enemies
had always spared her property; I desire to state, in justice to
the 74th Highlanders under your command, that the statement is a
false and gratuitous attack on your gallant regiment, whose unvaried
discipline and excellent conduct have ever met my fullest approbation.
“Shortly after the troops arrived in camp at Gwali, a guard was
detached to afford Mrs Chalmers protection, and if any produce was
taken out of her garden, it must have been in total ignorance that
any person was residing on the property--the Kaffirs who had been
residing on the grounds having all fled into the bush.
“I consider the attack of Mr Renton, whose character is so well
known on the frontier, to be an attempt to enhance the value of his
statements in favour of those barbarians whose atrocities he has
attempted to palliate, and whose cause he so earnestly patronises.
“You will be good enough to make this expression of my sentiments
known to the 74th Highlanders under your command.
“I have the honour to be, &c.,
“H. SOMERSET,
“Major-General.
“To Major Patton,
“Commanding 74th Highlanders.”
Major-General Somerset having been appointed to the Staff in India,
Colonel Buller, C.B., Rifle Brigade, assumed the command of the 1st
division on the 27th of August 1852.
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macduff, from the St Helena Regiment, having
been appointed to the 74th Highlanders, joined at Fort Beaufort on
the 17th of October 1852, and assumed the command of the regiment.
The Commander-in-Chief having determined upon sending an expedition
into the Abasutus country against Moshesh, to enforce the payment of
a fine of cattle and horses imposed upon that chief, the detachments
from Fort Browne, Koonap Port, Riet Fontein, Post Retief, joined
headquarters at Fort Beaufort in the beginning of November, and on
the 10th of that month the headquarters, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Macduff--strength, 2 captains, 5 subalterns, 3 staff, 12 sergeants,
5 buglers, and 244 rank and file--marched for Burghersdorp, where
the forces intended for the expedition were to assemble under
the personal command of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief. A
detachment was left at Fort Beaufort under Major Patton, consisting
of 2 captains, 1 subaltern, 2 staff, 11 sergeants, 4 buglers, and 141
rank and file.
On the 11th of November, the force was joined by a detachment of
artillery and 2 guns under Captain Robinson, and a detachment of the
Cape Mounted Rifles, under Major Somerset, the whole being under the
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Macduff. Proceeding by stages towards
its destination, the force was joined on the 16th by Captain Brydon’s
company from Whittlesea, consisting of about 150 men, increasing the
strength to 1 lieutenant-colonel, 3 captains, 6 subalterns, 3 staff,
17 sergeants, 7 buglers, and 404 rank and file; on the 17th to the
Honey Klip River; on the 18th to Klaas Smidts River; on the 19th to
the Vleys on the Stormberg Mountains; on the 20th to the Stormberg
River, on the 22nd it reached Burghersdorp, and joined the troops
under Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre of the 73rd regiment, who had arrived
at Burghersdorp on the previous day.
On the 23rd, the headquarters of the Cape Mounted Rifles joined
the force, and on the 28th, His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief
arrived, and the troops were divided into brigades, the 74th
Highlanders, the 2nd (Queen’s Regiment), and one Rocket Battery,
forming the first brigade of infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Macduff, 74th Highlanders.
On the 28th of November, the march was recommenced by brigades, and
the village of Plaatberg was reached on the 13th.
Moshesh’s sons, Nehemiah and David, arrived in camp the same evening,
and on the 15th, that chief himself appeared and had an interview
with the governor, who informed him that if his fine of horses and
cattle was not paid within three days, he would be obliged to go and
take them.
On the 18th, Nehemiah arrived with 3450 head of cattle; but the
remainder not having been sent within the stipulated time, the
cavalry and 2nd brigade advanced on the 19th to the Drift on the
Caledon River, leaving the camp and cattle at Plaatberg in charge
of the 1st brigade. This force moved against Moshesh on the morning
of the 20th, and after a sanguinary contest on the Berea Mountain,
which lasted during the day, captured 4500 head of cattle, and
some horses and goats. During that night Moshesh sent a letter to
the Governor, saying that he had been severely punished, and suing
for peace, which the Governor granted on the 21st, and the troops
returned to camp on the 22nd.
One company of the 2nd, or Queen’s, and one of the 74th, under
Captain Bruce, marched for Plaatberg on the afternoon of the
19th, and reinforced the troops engaged. The cattle were sent for
distribution to Bloem Fontein, and the troops commenced their march
on their return to the colony on the 24th of December. On their
arrival at the Orange River, it was found so swollen from recent
rains that the troops, waggons, and baggage had to be conveyed across
on two pontoons, which operation occupied six days.
The troops marched on their return to the colony by nearly the same
route by which they had advanced, a detachment of the regiment, under
Captain Bruce, of 2 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 40 rank and file, being
left at Whittlesea.
The Governor and Commander-in-Chief took his leave of the troops in a
general order dated “Camp Boole Poort, 26th December 1852,” in which
he spoke in the highest terms of their conduct during the expedition.
Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre also, on resigning command of the division,
published a division order, in which he spoke of the general
character of all non-commissioned officers and soldiers as having
been most exemplary. “To the officers generally he feels that his
thanks are especially due; their example and exertions have rendered
his task of commanding very easy.” Among the officers particularly
named by Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre were,--Lieutenant-Colonel Macduff of
the 74th Highlanders, commanding the 1st brigade, from whose judgment
and experience he derived great assistance; Captain Hancock, 74th
Highlanders; Lieutenant and Adjutant Falconer, 74th Highlanders,
acting Brigade-Major, and Dr Fraser, 74th Highlanders, &c.
The first brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Macduff, arrived at
Bryce’s Farm, on the Kat River, on the 19th of January, 1853. On the
following day the regiments composing the brigade returned to their
stations; the 74th proceeding to Fort Beaufort, where it arrived
on the 21st, and where, on the 20th, a small detachment from the
regimental depôt had joined.
In the beginning of February orders were received for the regiment
to proceed to King William’s Town to reinforce the 2nd division.
It accordingly marched from Fort Beaufort on the 3rd, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Macduff, leaving a small detachment at Fort
Beaufort. The regiment arrived at King William’s Town on the 7th,
and was ordered to proceed to the Duhne or Itembi Mission Station,
accompanied by detachments from the 12th Royal Lancers, the Royal
Artillery, and the Cape Mounted Riflemen; the whole under the command
of Lieutenant-Colonel Macduff, of the 74th Highlanders, the intention
being to form a connecting link in a chain of posts surrounding the
Amatolas. Numerous patrols were sent out to keep up a communication
with the post at Kaboosie Nek, and to examine the country near the
sources of the Kaboosie and the Buffalo rivers, and the valley
between the Iseli range and Murray’s Krantz.
Peace, however, having been established in March, the regiment
marched from the Duhne Station to Fort Beaufort, arriving there on
the 26th.
On the termination of the war, His Excellency published a general
order, which we shall give at length, as serving to convey the idea
formed by a competent judge of the urgent nature of the duties which
the soldiers engaged in the Kaffir War had to perform, and also
showing the important results of the operations in which the 74th
bore so conspicuous a part.
“HEADQUARTERS, GRAHAMSTOWN,
“_March 14, 1853_.
“The Commander of the Forces congratulates the army under his command
on the termination of the war of rebellion which has troubled the
eastern frontier of Her Majesty’s South African Dominions for more
than two years, and which at one time assuming the character of a war
of races, had it not been arrested by their gallantry, perseverance,
and unparalleled exertions, must have overwhelmed the inhabitants of
the eastern district of the colony. And indeed it is impossible to
calculate the extent to which it might have reached.
“In conveying his thanks to the army for their meritorious services,
His Excellency desires to include those of the Colonial service,
Europeans, Fingoes, and Loyal Hottentots, who, under gallant leaders,
nobly emulated the brilliant examples set them by Her Majesty’s
troops.
“The field of glory opened to them in a Kaffir war and Hottentot
rebellion is possibly not so favourable and exciting as that which
regular warfare with an open enemy in the field affords; yet the
unremitting exertions called for in hunting well-armed yet skulking
savages through the bush, and driving them from their innumerable
strongholds, are perhaps more arduous than those required in regular
warfare, and call more constantly for individual exertions and
intelligence.
“The British soldier, always cheerfully obedient to the call, well
knows that when he has done his duty, he is sure to obtain the thanks
and good opinion of his gracious Queen.
“It is His Excellency’s duty, and one which he has had the greatest
pleasure in performing, to call Her Majesty’s attention, not only
on particular occasions, but generally, to the noble conduct of all
officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers of this army,
throughout the arduous contest in which they have been engaged; and
they may rest assured it will not pass unheeded.
“It cannot fail to be an additional gratification to them to
reflect that the result of their exertions has been the total and
final clearance of the Waterkloof, Fish River, and all the other
strongholds of the enemy within the colony. The surrender of the
rebel chiefs, Sandilli, Macomo, and the Gaika people, who have been
expelled from all their former territories, including the Amatolas,
which now remain in possession of Her Majesty’s troops, and the
removal of that hitherto troublesome race to the banks of the Kei;
the complete submission of the Bassutus, the Sambookies, and the
Anna-Galiekas, and the extinction of the Hottentot rebellion; and
that thus, thanks to their noble exertions, where all was war and
rebellion two years ago, general and profound peace reigns in South
Africa.
“A. J. CLOETE,
“Quartermaster-General.”
Colonel Buller, C.B., Rifle Brigade, commanding 1st Division, made
his inspection of the regiment on the 5th of May, when he expressed
to Lieutenant-Colonel Macduff his entire satisfaction with the
regiment in every respect.
Before concluding our account of the doings of the 74th Highlanders
during the Kaffir War, we must tell the story of an action which
sheds more glory upon those who took part in it than a hundred
well-fought battles, or the taking of many cities; an action in which
discipline and self-denial triumphed gloriously over the love of dear
life itself.
On the 7th of January 1852, the iron paddle troopship “Birkenhead,”
of 1400 tons and 556 horse-power, commanded by Master Commanding
Robert Salmond, sailed from the Cove of Cork, bound for the Cape
of Good Hope, with detachments from the depôts of ten regiments,
all under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Seton of the 74th
Highlanders. Altogether there were on board about 631 persons,
including a crew of 132, the rest being soldiers with their wives and
children. Of the soldiers, besides Colonel Seton and Ensign Alexander
Cumming Russell, 66 men belonged to the 74th.
The “Birkenhead” made a fair voyage out, and reached Simon’s Bay,
Cape of Good Hope, on the 23rd of February, when Captain Salmond was
ordered to proceed eastward immediately, and land the troops at Algoa
Bay and Buffalo River. The “Birkenhead” accordingly sailed again
about six o’clock on the evening of the 25th; the night being almost
perfectly calm, the sea smooth, and the stars out in the sky. Men, as
usual, were told off to keep a look-out, and a leadsman was stationed
on the paddle-box next the land, which was at a distance of about 3
miles on the port side. Shortly before two o’clock on the morning
of the 26th, when all who were not on duty were sleeping peacefully
below, the leadsman got soundings in 12 or 13 fathoms: ere he had
time to get another cast of the lead, the “Birkenhead” was suddenly
and rudely arrested in her course; she had struck on a sunken rock,
surrounded by deep water, and was firmly fixed upon its jagged
points. The water immediately rushed into the fore part of the ship,
and drowned many soldiers who were sleeping on the lower troop deck.
It is easy to imagine the consternation and wild commotion with which
the hundreds of men, women, and children would be seized on realising
their dangerous situation. Captain Salmond, who had been in his
cabin since ten o’clock of the previous night, at once appeared on
deck with the other naval and military officers; the captain ordered
the engine to be stopped, the small bower anchor to be let go, the
paddle-box boats to be got out, and the quarter boats to be lowered,
and to lie alongside the ship.
It might have been with the “Birkenhead” as with many other
passenger-laden ships which have gone to the bottom, had there not
been one on board with a clear head, perfect self-possession, a noble
and chivalrous spirit, and a power of command over others which
few men have the fortune to possess; this born “leader of men” was
Lieutenant-Colonel Seton of the 74th Highlanders. On coming on deck
he at once comprehended the situation, and without hesitation made
up his mind what it was the duty of brave men and British soldiers
to do under the circumstances. He impressed upon the other officers
the necessity of preserving silence and discipline among the men.
Colonel Seton then ordered the soldiers to draw up on both sides of
the quarter-deck; the men obeyed as if on parade or about to undergo
inspection. A party was told off to work the pumps, another to assist
the sailors in lowering the boats, and a third to throw the poor
horses overboard. “Every one did as he was directed,” says Captain
Wright of the 91st, who, with a number of men of that regiment, was
on board. “All received their orders, and had them carried out, as if
the men were embarking instead of going to the bottom; there was only
this difference, that I never saw any embarkation conducted with so
little noise and confusion.”
Meanwhile Captain Salmond, thinking no doubt to get the ship safely
afloat again and to steam her nearer to the shore, ordered the
engineer to give the paddles a few backward turns. This only hastened
the destruction of the ship, which bumped again upon the rock, so
that a great hole was torn in the bottom, letting the water rush in
volumes into the engine-room, putting out the fires.
The situation was now more critical than ever; but the soldiers
remained quietly in their places, while Colonel Seton stood in the
gangway with his sword drawn, seeing the women and children safely
passed down into the second cutter, which the captain had provided
for them. This duty was speedily effected, and the cutter was
ordered to lie off about 150 yards from the rapidly sinking ship. In
about ten minutes after she first struck, she broke in two at the
foremast--this mast and the funnel falling over to the starboard
side, crushing many, and throwing into the water those who were
endeavouring to clear the paddle-box boat. But the men kept their
places, though many of them were mere lads, who had been in the
service only a few months. An eye-witness, speaking of the captain
and Colonel Seton at this time, has said--“Side by side they stood at
the helm, providing for the safety of all that could be saved. They
never tried to save themselves.”
Besides the cutter into which the women and children had been put,
only two small boats were got off, all the others having been stove
in by the falling timbers or otherwise rendered useless. When the
bows had broken off, the ship began rapidly to sink forward, and
those who remained on board clustered on to the poop at the stern,
all, however, without the least disorder. At last, Captain Salmond,
seeing that nothing more could be done, advised all who could swim
to jump overboard and make for the boats. But Colonel Seton told
the men that if they did so, they would be sure to swamp the boats,
and send the women and children to the bottom; he therefore asked
them to keep their places, and they obeyed. The “Birkenhead” was
now rapidly sinking; the officers shook hands and bade each other
farewell; immediately after which the ship again broke in two abaft
the mainmast, when the hundreds who had bravely stuck to their posts
were plunged with the sinking wreck into the sea. “Until the vessel
totally disappeared,” says an eye-witness, “there was not a cry or
murmur from soldiers or sailors.” Those who could swim struck out for
the shore, but few ever reached it; most of them either sank through
exhaustion or were devoured by the sharks, or were dashed to death on
the rugged shore near Point Danger, or entangled in the death-grip
of the long arms of sea-weed that floated thickly near the coast.
About twenty minutes after the “Birkenhead” first struck on the rock,
all that remained visible were a few fragments of timber, and the
main-topmast standing above the water. Of the 631 souls on board,
438 were drowned, only 193 being saved: not a single woman or child
was lost. Those who did manage to land, exhausted as they were, had
to make their way over a rugged and barren coast for fifteen miles,
before they reached the residence of Captain Small, by whom they were
treated with the greatest kindness until taken away by H.M. steamer
“Rhadamanthus.”
The three boats which were lying off near the ship when she went down
picked up as many men as they safely could, and made for the shore,
but found it impossible to land; they were therefore pulled away in
the direction of Simon’s Town. After a time they were descried by the
coasting schooner “Lioness,” the master of which, Thomas E. Ramsden,
took the wretched survivors on board, his wife doing all in her power
to comfort them, distributing what spare clothes were on board among
the many men, who were almost naked. The “Lioness” made for the scene
of the wreck, which she reached about half-past two in the afternoon,
and picked up about forty-five men, who had managed to cling to the
still standing mast of the “Birkenhead.” The “Lioness,” as well as
the “Rhadamanthus,” took the rescued remnant to Simon’s Bay.
Of those who were drowned, 357, including 9 officers, belonged to the
army; the remaining 81 formed part of the ship’s company, including
7 naval officers. Besides the chivalrous Colonel Seton and Ensign
Russell, 48 of the 66 men belonging to the 74th perished.
Any comment on this deathless deed of heroic self-denial, of
this victory of moral power over the strongest impulse, would be
impertinent; no one needs to be told what to think of the simple
story. The 74th and the other regiments who were represented on board
of the “Birkenhead,” as well as the whole British army, must feel
prouder of this victory over the last enemy, than of all the great
battles whose names adorn their regimental standards.
The only tangible memorial of the deed that exists is a monument
erected by Her Majesty Queen Victoria in the colonnade of Chelsea
Hospital; it bears the following inscription:--
“This monument is erected by command of Her Majesty Queen Victoria,
to record the heroic constancy and unbroken discipline shown by
Lieutenant-Colonel Seton, 74th Highlanders, and the troops embarked
under his command, on board the ‘Birkenhead,’ when that vessel was
wrecked off the Cape of Good Hope, on the 26th of February 1852, and
to preserve the memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers,
and men who perished on that occasion. Their names were as follows:--
“Lieutenant-Colonel ALEXANDER SETON, 74th Highlanders, commanding the
troops; Cornet Rolt, Sergeant Straw, and 3 privates, 12th Lancers;
Ensign Boylan, Corporal M’Manus, and 34 privates, 2nd Queen’s
Regiment; Ensign Metford and 47 privates, 6th Royals; 55 privates,
12th Regiment; Sergeant Hicks, Corporals Harrison and Cousins, and
26 privates, 43rd Light Infantry; 3 privates 45th Regiment; Corporal
Curtis and 29 privates, 60th Rifles; Lieutenants Robinson and Booth,
and 54 privates, 73rd Regiment; Ensign Russell, Corporals Mathison
and William Laird, and 46 privates, 74th Highlanders; Sergeant
Butler, Corporals Webber and Smith, and 41 privates, 91st Regiment;
Staff-Surgeon Laing; Staff Assistant-Surgeon Robinson. In all, 357
officers and men. The names of the privates will be found inscribed
on brass plates adjoining.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Seton, whose high-mindedness, self-possession, and
calm determination inspired all on board, was son and heir of the
late Alexander Seton, Esq. of Mounie, Aberdeenshire, and represented
the Mounie branch of the old and eminent Scottish house of Pitmedden.
His death was undoubtedly a great loss to the British army, as all
who knew him agree in stating that he was a man of high ability and
varied attainments; he was distinguished both as a mathematician and
a linguist. Lord Aberdare (formerly the Right Honourable H. A. Bruce)
speaks of Colonel Seton, from personal knowledge, as “one of the most
gifted and accomplished men in the British army.”[456]
III.
1853-1874.
Embarkation for India--Ten years in India--Malabar--Canara--New
stand of Colours--Mrs Anson--A desperate duel--Lieut.-General Shawe
becomes Colonel of the 74th--Indian Rebellion--The Kaffir War
Medals--Storm of Sholapoor--Kopál--Nargoond--Leave to be discharged
in 1858--The 74th embarks for England in 1864--Captain Thackeray
in command of the 74th--Edinburgh--Aldershot--Receives the special
commendation of H.R.H. Commanding-in-Chief.
Orders having been received that the 74th should hold itself in
readiness to proceed to India, all the outlying detachments joined
headquarters at Fort Beaufort. The regiment set out on November 10,
1853, to march for Port Elizabeth, where it arrived on the 18th,
and from which, on the 20th, the headquarters and right wing were
conveyed to Cape Town, where they embarked on board the freight-ship
“Queen.”
The “Queen” sailed from Table Bay on the 25th of November, and
arrived at Madras on the 12th of January 1854. The 74th was destined
to remain in India for the next ten years, during which time the
movements of its various detachments were exceedingly complicated,
and are difficult to follow even with the aid of a good map. Indeed,
few regiments, we are sure, have been more broken up into small
detachments than was the 74th, during its services at the Cape, and
for the greater part of the time that it remained in India; for eight
years from 1850, when the regiment was at Fermoy, in Ireland, it was
broken up into small detachments, and it was only on the repeated
petition of the commanding-officer to the War Office authorities
that, in 1858, all the companies once more found themselves
together: this was at Bellary, in the Madras Presidency, where
headquarters had been stationed for some time.
After the arrival of headquarters and the right wing at Madras, the
regiment was joined by a detachment from England, under Captain Jago.
After headquarters had been about a week at Madras, it, along with
four companies, re-embarked, on January 19, for Negapatam, about 180
miles further south, where it arrived next day, and remained till the
24th, when it set out to march for Trichinopoly, which it reached on
the 2nd of February.
On the 7th of February a detachment, under Captain Brydon, consisting
of 4 officers and 205 men, proceeded to Jackatalla (now Wellington,
about ten miles south of Ootakemund, in the Neelgherri Hills), there
to be stationed for the purpose of assisting in the building of
barracks at that place.
Captain Jago, with the two companies which had been left at Madras,
joined headquarters on the 13th, and a small detachment from England,
under Lieutenant Davies, landed at Madras on the 13th, and arrived at
Trichinopoly on the 27th of February.
The left wing of the service companies, which had left Cape Town
some time after the rest of regiment, landed at Madras on the 19th
of February, and embarked for Tranquebar. This detachment, on its
march from Tranquebar to Trichinopoly, was unfortunately attacked by
cholera, and lost 3 sergeants, 2 corporals, and 15 privates.
The headquarters marched for Jackatalla on the 15th of March, and
arrived there on the 30th, having left a detachment at Trichinopoly,
consisting of 2 captains, 5 subalterns, 1 assistant-surgeon, 10
sergeants, 4 drummers, and 220 rank and file, under command of Major
Hancock, who was relieved of the command by Lieutenant-Colonel
Monklands on the 3rd of April.
It would be tedious to follow the movements of the various
detachments of the regiment in the performance of the ordinary
routine duties which devolve on the British soldier when stationed
in India. The headquarters remained at Jackatalla--where it was
gradually joined by the various detachments which remained at
Trichinopoly--till 1857. At frequent intervals during this time, and
while the regiment remained in India, it was joined by detachments
of recruits from the depôt companies at home, and by volunteers from
other regiments in India--it being a common custom, when a regiment
was ordered home, to allow those of the men who wished to remain in
India to volunteer into other regiments. If we may judge from the
large detachments which the 74th received in this way, it must have
had a very high reputation among the other regiments of Her Majesty
stationed in India. Among the other additions which the 74th received
while at Jackatalla was one which was made by Her Majesty’s gracious
pleasure, much, no doubt, to the gratification of the regiment,
and one which to a Highland regiment is of no mean importance. The
addition we refer to consisted of 1 pipe-major and 5 pipers, who
joined in May 1854, and whose strains, no doubt, served often to
remind the many Highlanders in the regiment of their homes far away
in dear old Scotland. This accession was in addition to a pipe-major
and a piper for each company, which have always been maintained in
the regiment, and dressed at the expense of the officers.
In November of the same year that the regiment received the above
important addition, it was inspected by Major-General J. Wheeler
Cleveland, commanding the Southern Division, who, in a division order
afterwards issued, expressed himself in complimentary and justly
merited terms towards this distinguished regiment.
Colonel Macduff, having been appointed a brigadier of the 2nd class,
and ordered to assume the command of the provinces of Malabar and
Canara, handed over command of the regiment to Captain Brydon on the
7th of February 1855,--Lieutenant-Colonel Monkland, the next senior
officer, having proceeded to Bangalore on sick-leave. But Captain
and Brevet-Major Robert Bruce having joined, from leave of absence,
on the 28th of February, assumed command of the regiment, and was
relieved on the 9th of April by Lieutenant-Colonel Monkland.
A wing of the regiment having been ordered to relieve the 25th
(King’s Own Borderers) Regiment--132 volunteers from which joined
the 74th--at Cannanoor, a detail of 8 officers, 1 surgeon, 13
sergeants, 16 corporals, 6 drummers, 3 pipers, and 304 privates,
under command of Captain Jago, marched from headquarters on the 14th
of February, and arrived at Cannanoor on the 1st of March, having
_en route_ detached No. 5 Company, under Captain Augustus Davies, to
Malliapooram. The wing thus stationed at Cannanoor, on the Malabar
coast, had to furnish so many strong detachments to the provinces of
Malabar and Canara that it was necessary frequently to reinforce it
from headquarters, as well as from England, so that very soon the
number of companies at headquarters was reduced to four, the other
six being with the left wing.
The 24th of May, being the anniversary of the birth of Her Most
Gracious Majesty, was selected by the Hon. Mrs George Anson for
presenting a stand of new colours to the regiment. His Excellency
Lieutenant-General the Honourable George Anson, Commander-in-Chief of
the Madras Army, and the staff of the Most Noble the Governor-General
of India, the Marquis of Dalhousie, and a large concourse of
spectators, were to be present, but the Governor-General was
unfortunately prevented by illness from attending.
The new colours having been consecrated by the Rev. John Ruthven
Macfarlane, the chaplain of the regiment, were handed to Lieutenants
R. H. D. Lowe and H. R. Wolrige (the two senior subalterns present)
by the Honourable Mrs Anson, who, in doing so, mentioned the various
services of the regiment in a most complimentary manner; and His
Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, after the review, was pleased
to express himself in the most flattering terms with regard to the
gallantry, efficiency, soldier-like bearing, and good conduct of the
regiment.
In the month of September, the detachment stationed at Malliapooram,
under the command of Captain Augustus Davies, was employed against
some insurgent Moplahs in the neighbourhood, who had murdered Mr
Conolly, Collector of Malabar, and in an affair on the 17th of that
month 1 private was killed and 1 wounded.
During the performance of this duty a very remarkable incident
occurred which is well worth putting on record. Captain Davies’
company having been sent in quest of the Moplahs, came upon them,
after a hot mid-day march of about eight or ten miles, at the house
of a high caste Nair, which they had taken possession of after
murdering the servant who had been left in charge. The house was no
sooner surrounded by the soldiers than the Moplahs rushed forth,
fired what arms they possessed at the 74th, killing a private; they
then attacked the men with the Moplah war-knives. All the Moplahs
were speedily despatched, not, however, before one of them had
attacked Private Joseph Park, who transfixed the Moplah through the
chest with his bayonet. The Moplah thereupon, although mortally
wounded, seized the muzzle of Park’s firelock--for the 74th was
still armed with the old Brown Bess--and with a fierce blow of his
war-knife, whilst still transfixed with the bayonet, cut Park’s
throat almost from ear to ear. Staggered with the blow, the firelock
dropped from Park’s hands, and the Moplah fell dead at his feet.
After hovering between life and death for some weeks, Park ultimately
recovered.
Colonel Macduff, having been relieved from the provinces of Malabar
and Canara by the return of Brigadier Brown, rejoined headquarters,
and assumed command of the regiment on the 31st of January 1856, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Monkland proceeded to Cannanoor for the purpose of
assuming command of the left wing. On the 14th of November, however,
Colonel Macduff, as senior officer in the Presidency, having been
ordered to proceed to Bellary as acting Brigadier in place of Colonel
Brown of the 43d Foot, who had died, the command of the headquarters
devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Monkland, who, however, retained it
only a few weeks, as Colonel Macduff, having been relieved from the
command of the Bellary Brigade by Colonel Pole, 12th Lancers, his
senior, returned to headquarters at Jackatalla, and reassumed the
command of the regiment on the 6th of February.
On the 16th of February 1857 notification of the appointment of
Lieutenant-General Shawe to the colonelcy of the regiment, in place
of Lieutenant-General Thomson, was received by the regiment.
During all this time, of course, the regular half-yearly inspection
was made by Major-General Cleveland, who on every occasion was able
to express himself perfectly satisfied with the state of the regiment.
On the 12th of April 1857, Enfield rifles were first issued to a
portion of the regiment in accordance with the instructions from home
directing their partial introduction into the army as an experiment.
On the 22d of July, in accordance with instructions received,
the right wing and headquarter companies proceeded _en route_ to
Bangalore by Mysore; but on arriving at the latter place, their
destination having been changed to Bellary (with the exception of
150 men, who, under command of Captain Falconer, followed by marches
in charge of the families and baggage), the regiment was pushed
on by transit to that station, Government being apprehensive of a
rising among the Rajah’s zemindars in the Mahratta country. As the
sequel shows, the services of the regiment were soon called into
requisition. A movable column having been formed under the command
of Brigadier Whitlock, the grenadier company, made up to 100 men
immediately on its arrival, proceeded on the 12th of August to
join the force by way of Kurnool; and as soon as the arrival of
the detachment under Captain Falconer, above referred to, rejoined
headquarters on the 30th, the light company, also made up to 100 men,
proceeded to join the column. These companies were all armed with
the Enfield rifle--the right wing, on passing through Bangalore,
having been furnished with this weapon. These two companies being on
field service, and a wing of six companies being at Cannanoor, the
headquarters of the regiment at Bellary was reduced to a skeleton of
two weak companies.
On the 16th of September, Colonel Macduff being appointed Brigadier
of the 2nd class on the permanent establishment of the Presidency,
the command of the corps again devolved upon Colonel Monkland,
at this time in command of the left wing at Cannanoor, but who
now assumed the command at headquarters. On the following day a
letter, considerably augmenting the establishment of the regiment,
was received; and on the 29th the headquarters, consisting of
the two attenuated companies above referred to, was inspected by
Major-General Donald Macleod,[457] commanding the ceded districts,
who on the occasion expressed himself satisfied with everything that
came under his notice.
Instructions having been received for the left wing at Cannanoor to
join headquarters at Bellary, on the arrival of the 66th Foot at that
station from England, the various detachments rejoined the wing, and
the whole six companies marched, under the command of Captain Jago,
on the 12th of January 1858, having all been furnished with the new
Enfield rifle. The wing arrived at Bellary in daily batches by the
20th of February.
The regiment having been scattered in detachments, the medals which
it had so honourably won in the Kaffir war of 1851-53 had not been
presented to many of the men; therefore, upon the six companies
joining headquarters, Lieutenant-Colonel Monkland took an early
opportunity of distributing to the meritorious those rewards for
their distinguished conduct during that trying campaign.
Intimation having been received that the Rajah of Sholapoor was in
arms against the Government, the two companies of the regiment,
with Brigadier Whitlock, previously referred to, were detached to
Sholapoor, at the storm and capture of which, on the 8th and 9th of
February, they were present and took a prominent part.
On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of March, the regiment being, by good
fortune, all together for a brief period, with the exception of two
companies, Nos. 1 and 10, on field service, Major-General Donald
Macleod again inspected it, and was pleased, as previously, to
express himself much gratified with the discipline and interior
economy of the regiment, as well as with its appearance on parade.
The day following the inspection, the 15th of March 1858, a
detachment, under Captain Falconer, consisting of 2 captains, 4
subalterns, 1 staff-officer, 12 sergeants, 12 corporals, 3 pipers,
and 280 privates, proceeded on field-service to the southern
Mahratta country, being placed at the disposal of the Bombay
Government, and being ultimately stationed at Darwar.
On the 28th of May, a petty rajah or zemindar having taken possession
of the Fort of Kopál, a field force from Bellary was immediately
put in motion--No. 9 Company, under Captain Menzies, composing the
European infantry with the force. Major Hughes, deeming it politic to
nip in the bud this outbreak before it spread further in the Madras
Presidency, pushed on the force as quickly as possible by forced
marches, and arrived before Kopál on the 31st. The fort was stormed
and recaptured on the 1st of June by No. 9 Company, which formed the
storming party on the occasion, having 1 sergeant and 6 privates
wounded, one of the latter dying on the 5th.
The same day on which the storm and capture of Kopál took place,
Companies 2 and 6, under Captain Davies, having been, by direction
of the Bombay Government, detached from the contingent stationed at
Darwar, proceeded to Noorgoond, and stormed and captured the fort of
that name, on which occasion only 1 private was wounded.
Government being apprehensive that the rebel leader, Tantéa Topee,
was endeavouring to enter the Deccan and incite the Mahrattas, a
field force under the command of Brigadier Spottiswood of the 1st
Dragoon Guards, who had temporarily succeeded Brigadier Macduff in
command of the Bellary Brigade, marched from Bellary on the 9th of
November. The force consisted of the 74th Highlanders, 47th Regiment
Native Infantry, one battery of Royal Artillery, 5th Light Cavalry,
and one regiment of Mysore Horse. It proceeded by way of Kurnool to
Hyderabad, arriving there on the 3rd of December. This force remained
fully equipped and ready to move on any point until the 21st of
January 1859, when it was broken up and taken on the strength of the
Hyderabad subsidiary force. The 74th left Hyderabad on February 3rd,
and reached Bellary on the 22nd of the same month.
Shortly before this, Major-General Macleod left his district, and it
must be exceedingly gratifying to the 74th that an officer of his
penetration, knowledge, and honesty of speech, felt himself able
to issue an order so highly complimentary as the following, dated
“Headquarters, Ceded Districts, October 8th, 1858:”--
“The Major-General thanks Colonel Monkland for the excellent state
of discipline and good behaviour of the men of the 74th Highlanders
while the regiment remained at Bellary. The conduct of the men
has been strikingly correct. A single case of irregularity in any
soldier’s conduct out of quarters has never been observed.... As the
Major-General thinks it probable that during his period of command he
will not again have the troops composing the column under his orders,
he deems it right to express his high opinion of those composing it,
and feels confident that opportunity is only wanting to prove that
the Bellary column is second to none on field-service.”
It was at this time that, at the repeated request of the commanding
officer, the whole regiment was reunited at Bellary, where the
strength of the regiment was found to be as follows:--1 colonel,
2 lieutenant-colonels, 2 majors, 10 captains, 14 lieutenants, 2
ensigns, 6 staff, 55 sergeants, 44 corporals, 20 drummers, 6 pipers,
942 rank and file, being a total of 1067; and on the 14th of June a
draft of 16 recruits joined headquarters from England.
The period of service, under the “Limited Service Act” (of June
1847), of many of the men having long expired, and the country being
considered quiet, authority for the discharge of such as desired it
having been received, the regiment lost a large number of its best
soldiers, and by the end of 1859 was considerably reduced in numbers.
Colonel Macduff--the division under Major-General Whitlock, including
the 2nd Infantry brigade which he commanded, having been broken
up--returned to Bellary, and assumed the command of the brigade
at that station, having been repeatedly, during his absence on
field-service, successfully engaged against the rebels.
There is but little to record out of the even tenor of the regiment’s
way from this time until it embarked for England in 1864. The 74th
was of course regularly inspected every half-year by the superior
officer whose duty it was to do so; and invariably a good report
was given, not only of the discipline and bearing of the men,
their knowledge of their business, and their smart and soldierly
appearance, but also of their personal cleanliness, and the excellent
interior economy of the regiment, and of the unanimity and good
feeling that existed among all its ranks. Indeed, the terms in which
Major-General Coffin, whose duty it was at this time frequently to
inspect the regiment, spoke of the character and efficiency of the
74th, were such that Colonel Villiers seems to have been afraid that
the men would be spoiled by so much praise, and in a regimental order
of November 1860 sincerely hopes the high encomiums passed by the
Major-General may not lead either officers or men to rest satisfied
with the present state of the efficiency of their corps, but act as
an additional incentive to renewed exertion on the part of every
one concerned to render perfect what is now in their estimation
considered good.
In a letter dated Horse Guards, 27th of March 1860, it is intimated
that “the small amount of crime has been specially remarked by the
Duke of Cambridge.”