Major-General; he was universally esteemed as an officer and a
gentleman, and the officers of the regiment resolved to present
him with a sword, value one hundred pounds, as a token of their
respect; but proceeding to Meerut, to assume the command, he
died suddenly of one of the diseases prevalent in that climate,
before he received the sword. He was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel
Wilbraham Tollemache Edwards, who, on arriving, assumed the
command; Colonel Sir Thomas McMahon, the senior lieut.-colonel,
being adjutant-general of His Majesty's forces in India.
[Sidenote: 1820]
On the 21st of December, 1820, the regiment marched for Burhampore;
having lost, during the two years it was at Calcutta, eight
officers and one hundred and thirty-one soldiers, the cholera being
prevalent during that period.
[Sidenote: 1821]
[Sidenote: 1822]
Arriving at Burhampore on the 8th of January, 1821, the regiment
remained at that station until August, 1822, when it proceeded
by water to Calcutta, in order to its embarkation for Europe. In
November, Colonel Edwards exchanged with Lieut.-Colonel Archibald
Maclean of the fourteenth foot.
[Sidenote: 1823]
Four hundred and twelve men volunteered to remain in India: and
on the 20th of January, 1823, the regiment embarked at Fort
William: on which occasion General Sir E. Paget, Commander-in-Chief
in India, issued a General Order, in which he stated,--"The
Commander-in-Chief feels it to be a just tribute to this old and
distinguished corps to express the high character it has always
preserved in Europe, and which his Excellency is happy to find has
been maintained during a long service of eighteen years in India.
"A copy of this Order will be submitted to the gracious notice of
his Royal Highness the Duke of York, and the Commander-in-Chief
takes this opportunity of wishing the regiment a prosperous voyage,
and that it may long enjoy its justly-earned reputation."
The regiment landed at Gravesend on the 27th of May, after an
absence of nineteen years from Europe, and bringing back four
officers and sixty-six non-commissioned officers and soldiers of
those who embarked with it in 1804: it lost in India one thousand
and twenty-one men by disease and killed in action; and four
hundred and twelve were invalided.
The regiment marched to Chatham, and subsequently to Gosport, where
it was joined by the depôt. On the 24th of October it was reviewed
on Southsea Common with the other troops at Portsmouth, Gosport,
&c., by his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, afterwards King
William IV.; and in November marched to Hull, detaching one company
to Carlisle and one to Tynemouth.
[Sidenote: 1824]
In 1824 the regiment commenced practising the new system of drill
and field movements, as established in the army at this period,
agreeably to the improvements introduced by Major-General Sir Henry
Torrens, K.C.B., Adjutant-General of the Forces.
[Sidenote: 1825]
On the 25th of June, 1825, His Majesty King George IV. was
graciously pleased to approve of the regiment "bearing on its
colours and appointments the figure of the 'Royal Tiger,' with
the word 'Hindoostan' superscribed, as a lasting testimony of the
exemplary conduct of the corps during the period of its service in
India, from 1804 to 1823."
From Hull the head-quarters were removed to Scotland in the summer
of this year, and the regiment was stationed at Edinburgh during
the winter, with detachments at out-stations. In the beginning of
the following year it unanimously subscribed one day's pay of all
ranks towards the relief of the distressed operatives of Paisley,
where six companies were stationed a short time.
[Sidenote: 1826]
[Sidenote: 1827]
In the summer of 1826 the regiment marched to
Greenock, where it embarked for Liverpool; it was stationed three
months in Lancashire, the head-quarters being at Bolton, and in
October embarked at Liverpool for Ireland; it landed at Dublin,
from whence it marched to Mullingar; where the head-quarters were
stationed until April, 1827, when they were removed to Galway.
[Sidenote: 1829]
The regiment remained in Ireland until May, 1829, when it embarked
at Dublin for Liverpool, and was quartered in South Britain twelve
months.
[Sidenote: 1830]
In 1830 the regiment commenced embarking by detachments for New
South Wales.
[Sidenote: 1836]
[Sidenote: 1837]
After occupying various stations in New South Wales several years,
the regiment received orders to transfer its services to India; and
it embarked for Bombay in March, 1836; after landing it proceeded
to Poona; near which place it was encamped during the year 1837.
[Sidenote: 1838]
The regiment remained at the camp near Poona until November,
1838; during which period events had transpired on the frontiers
of Affghanistan, which, connected with the political measures of
the chiefs who had assumed the dominion of that country, induced
the British government to undertake the restoration of the former
sovereign, Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk, to the throne of that kingdom,
as a precautionary measure to protect the frontiers of the British
dominions in the East against aggression. To take part in this
enterprise, the regiment quitted the camp near Poona, and embarked
for the mouth of the Indus: it landed in December and proceeded to
the ancient town of Tatta, situate in Lower Scinde, upon a rising
ground four miles west of the river.
[Sidenote: 1839]
To ensure the course of the Indus, the Bombay division of the army
assembling for the invasion of Affghanistan commenced its march
from the mouth of that river, through the country occupied by the
confederation of the Ameers of Scinde, who refused permission for
the British troops to pass in peace through their territory, and
a passage had to be effected by forcible means. Hyderabad, the
capital, was captured; Kurrachee, the richest city of Scinde, was
taken possession of; and the Ameers were brought to submission
in the early part of February, 1839. The army then continued its
march; passed the great river Indus on a bridge of boats near
the fortress of Bukkur; traversed an arid country to Usted, and
afterwards marched through the desert plains of Beloochistan to
Dadur, occasionally suffering inconvenience from the want of water,
and sustaining loss from the hordes of predatory natives.
From Dadur the troops marched through the Bolan Pass, with
gloomy crags rising perpendicularly in awful grandeur on each
side, to Dusht-i-be-doulut, or the Unhappy Desert, having some
camp-followers murdered and baggage plundered, in these wild
regions, by the Beloochees. Afterwards continuing the march over
difficult mountains and sterile plains, suffering from a deficiency
of forage and provision, the army entered Affghanistan, when the
Barukzye chiefs fled, and the British troops took possession of
Candahar, the capital of Western Affghanistan.
The SEVENTEENTH regiment encamped in the grassy meadows of Candahar
nearly two months, and afterwards marched along a valley of dismal
sterility to the Turnuck River; then, advancing up the right bank,
entered the country of the Ghilzees, and arrived before _Ghuznee_,
a fortress of great strength, garrisoned by three thousand Affghans
under Prince Mahomed Hyder Khan, well provided with stores, and
every gate, excepting one, blocked up with masonry.
Before daylight on the morning of the 23rd of July, one of the
principal gates was destroyed by an explosion of gunpowder; and
the British troops rushed in at the opening and captured the
strong fortress of Ghuznee by storm. The SEVENTEENTH regiment,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Croker, had the honour to take a
conspicuous share in the capture of this fortress: it led the
assault of the citadel, which was captured with little loss, and at
five o'clock in the morning its colours were waving triumphantly
on the fortress. The loss of the regiment was limited to one
private killed and six men wounded. A standard was captured by the
SEVENTEENTH, but was afterwards lost by the wreck of a transport in
which a part of the regiment was embarked.
From Ghuznee the British army advanced upon Cabool, the capital
of Eastern Affghanistan; the army of Dost Mahomed Khan refused
to fight in his cause, and the British, proceeding by triumphant
marches to the capital, restored Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk to the
capital of his dominions in the early part of August.
On the 18th of September the Bombay portion of the "Army of the
Indus" left Cabool _en route_ for India. The column reached Ghuznee
by the same road it had advanced, and from thence proceeded to
Quetta, where it arrived on the 31st of October.
The SEVENTEENTH regiment was afterwards detached, under
Major-General Sir Thomas Willshire, against the Khan of Khelat,
to reduce this treacherous chief to submission. On the morning of
the 13th of November, after a previous march, some fighting, and
the assault of the heights commanding the approach to _Khelat_, on
which the enemy had six guns in position, the gate of this strong
fortress was blown open, and the second and SEVENTEENTH British
and thirty-first Bengal regiments charged into the town in the
face of two thousand Beloochees, the _élite_ of the nation, who
disputed every foot of ground to the walls of the inner citadel.
British valour was, however, triumphant, and the capture of the
last stronghold of Beloochistan was accomplished. In this desperate
defence the Khan and many of his chiefs were slain. Here also, as
at Ghuznee, a standard was taken by the regiment.
The regiment had six rank and file killed; Captain L. C. Bourchier,
three serjeants, and twenty-nine rank and file wounded.
Lieut.-Colonel Croker caused the names of Colour-Serjeants J. Dunn
and Mills to be entered in the records of the regiment, on account
of their bravery at Khelat.
The Chiefs, who had joined in hostile designs against the British
interest, having been removed, and a friendly monarch placed on
the throne of Affghanistan, a medal was given by the Government
of India to the officers and soldiers present at the storming of
GHUZNEE, which the Queen authorized them to accept and wear.
Her Majesty Queen Victoria was graciously pleased to approve of
the regiment bearing on its colours the words "AFFGHANISTAN,"
"GHUZNEE," and "KHELAT," to commemorate its distinguished
conduct in enduring the toils and privations of the campaign in
Affghanistan with patient fortitude; its gallantry at the storming
of Ghuznee on the 23rd of July; and its heroic conduct at the
taking of Khelat on the 13th of November, 1839. Lieut.-Colonel
Croker and Major Pennycuick were nominated Companions of the
Order of the Bath; and the latter obtained the brevet rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel.
Lieut.-Colonel Croker, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Pennycuick, and Major
Deshon were nominated members of the order of the "_Dooranée
Empire_," newly instituted by Shah Shooja, on being restored to the
throne of Affghanistan. Major Deshon received the brevet rank of
Lieut.-Colonel, and Captain Darley that of Major.
Soon after the capture of Khelat, the regiment continued its
journey back to the British territory in India, and arrived in
Scinde in December.
[Sidenote: 1840]
On the 6th of February, 1840, the regiment embarked in boats on the
great river Indus, and sailed to Tatta, where it arrived on the
13th; eight days afterwards it marched for Kurrachee; and on the
16th of March four companies, and the head-quarters, embarked on
board the Hannah transport, and were wrecked on a sand-bank off the
mouth of the Indus on the following day. They re-embarked on board
the Bernice steamer on the 26th of March, and arrived at Bombay on
the 29th of that month.
General Sir Josiah Champagné, G.C.H., died in the beginning of this
year; and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by General
Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall, G.C.H., from the sixty-second
regiment.
The regiment embarked from Bombay in April, for Panwell, from
whence it proceeded to Poona, leaving a detail on duty at Bombay.
[Sidenote: 1841]
On the 2nd of June, 1841, the regiment left Poona, and arrived at
Bombay in ten days. On the 22nd of September the head-quarters
and four companies embarked from Bombay for Arabia Felix, and on
the 2nd of October arrived at Aden, the capital of a pleasant and
fertile district near the mouth of the Red Sea, where a detachment
of the regiment arrived from Bombay in October, and another in
November.
On the evening of the 5th of October, 1841, a detachment,
amounting to about six hundred men, selected from the troops at
Aden, proceeded, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Pennycuick,
to attack an Arab force, which had caused much inconvenience by
preventing supplies being received from the country. After a
severe skirmish of two hours' duration, in the hottest part of the
following day, the troops destroyed the Arab post of Sheik Othman,
and returned to Aden on the evening of the 6th, having traversed
upwards of forty miles of ground in about twenty-two hours.
[Sidenote: 1842]
The head-quarters of the regiment remained at Aden, in Arabia
Felix, during the year 1842. In February a detachment proceeded
from Bombay to Poona, and in November a detachment marched from
Poona to Ahmednuggur: in December four officers and thirty-four
rank and file arrived at Aden from Poona.
[Sidenote: 1843]
On the 18th of December, 1842, the venerable General Sir Frederick
Augustus Wetherall, G.C.H., after a service of sixty-seven years,
and attaining the age of eighty-eight years, died, and Her Majesty
Queen Victoria was pleased to confer the colonelcy of the regiment
on Lieut.-General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., from the
seventy-sixth regiment, on the 2nd of January, 1843.
[Sidenote: 1844]
During the years 1843 and 1844 the regiment remained at Aden.
In July and August, 1844, the detached wing at Ahmednuggur was
affected with cholera. In the course of fifteen days one hundred
and eight cases occurred; the deaths during the period amounted
to thirty-two. Amongst them was Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Deshon, an
officer of the highest talents and character.
During the latter part of the year 1844, and beginning of 1845,
a company of the regiment was employed on field service in the
southern Mahratta country, where, at the assault of the fort of
Munscentosh, four privates were killed; Lieutenant Gardiner, who
commanded the company, and one serjeant and five rank and file,
were wounded.
[Sidenote: 1845]
The head-quarters of the regiment embarked at Aden on the 13th of
March, 1845, and arrived at Bombay on the 7th of April. The left
wing marched from Ahmednuggur on the 11th of December, and joined
the head-quarters at Bombay on the 26th of the same month.
[Sidenote: 1846]
In the beginning of January, 1846, the regiment, having been
selected for field service, embarked at Bombay for Scinde, and
on the 11th of January marched from Kurrachee, _en route_ to
Bhawulpore; it arrived at Sukkur on the 3rd of February, and on
the 16th of that month proceeded on its march towards the Punjaub;
but accounts being received of the termination of the war in that
country, the troops advanced no further than Bhawulpore, on the
Sutlej, where the regiment remained until the 12th of March, when
it returned to Sukkur, from whence it embarked for Kurrachee on the
9th of August, 1846.
[Sidenote: 1847]
The regiment embarked at Bombay on the 13th of March, 1847,
under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pennycuick, K.H., in the
freight-ships Ann and John Brewer, and arrived at Gravesend on the
6th of August, from whence it marched to Canterbury. In November
the regiment was removed to Dover.
[Sidenote: 1848]
Apprehensions were entertained that the public peace would be
disturbed by the several meetings of Chartists in the vicinity
of the Metropolis on Monday, the 10th of April, 1848; and as
they appeared determined to unite on Kennington Common, in order
to proceed from thence in procession to the House of Commons
with their petition, the Government took the usual precautionary
measures to prevent tumultuous assemblages of the people.
Accordingly the regiment was ordered to proceed from Dover to
London on the 8th of April, but happily the meetings dispersed
more quietly than was anticipated, and the regiment marched to
Portsmouth on the 13th of that month, in which garrison it remained
until the 26th of July, when it proceeded to Chatham, where the
regiment is doing duty at the period of the termination of this
record, on the 1st of November, 1848.
1848.
[Illustration: SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT OF FOOT.
FOR CANNON'S MILITARY RECORDS
_Madeley lith. 3 Wellington S^t. Strand_]
SUCCESSION OF COLONELS
OF
THE SEVENTEENTH
OR THE
LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.
SOLOMON RICHARDS.
_Appointed 27th September, 1688._
SOLOMON RICHARDS served on the Continent in the reign of King
Charles II., and in the autumn of 1688 he was nominated by King
James II. to raise a corps of pikemen and musketeers, now the
SEVENTEENTH regiment of foot, of which he was appointed Colonel on
the 27th of September, 1688. At the Revolution he transferred his
services to the Prince of Orange, afterwards King William III.,
who sent him, with his regiment, to the relief of Londonderry.
He returned to England, at the suggestion of the governor of
Londonderry, who stated the place could not be defended against
the army advancing to attack it, and King William, disapproving of
his conduct, deprived him of his commission. He was not afterwards
employed in the army.
SIR GEORGE ST. GEORGE.
_Appointed 1st May, 1689._
No record of the services of this officer, previous to his
appointment to the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment on the 1st
of May, 1689, has been met with. He served the campaign of 1694
in Flanders; and in 1695 he exchanged to a newly-raised regiment,
which was disbanded in 1798.
JAMES COURTHORPE.
_Appointed 1st May, 1695._
JAMES COURTHORPE entered the army in the time of King Charles
II., and afterwards commanded a company of foot. He was appointed
Colonel of one of the regiments raised for the reduction of Ireland
in 1689; and in 1695 he exchanged to the SEVENTEENTH foot. He
served in the Netherlands under King William III., and was killed
at the head of his regiment when storming the breach of Terra Nova
at the Castle of Namur, on the 30th of August, 1695.
SIR MATTHEW BRIDGES.
_Appointed 1st September, 1695._
After a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, this
officer was appointed Lieut.-Colonel in the SEVENTEENTH regiment;
he distinguished himself at the storming of the breach of Terra
Nova at the Castle of Namur, on the 30th of August, 1695, when
he was wounded. King William III. conferred the colonelcy of the
regiment upon him, and he served under His Majesty until the treaty
of Ryswick in 1697; and subsequently commanded his regiment in
Ireland. The date of his decease has not been ascertained.
HOLCROFT BLOOD.
_Appointed 26th August, 1703._
This officer was the son of the celebrated Colonel Thomas Blood,
who made a desperate effort to carry off the crown from the Tower
of London in the reign of King Charles II., for which the Colonel
was afterwards pardoned, in consequence of his previous services
in the Royal cause. HOLCROFT BLOOD served on board the fleet,
in the war with Holland, in 1672 and 1673; and he subsequently
entered the French army as cadet in the guards of Louis XIV.,
where he made great proficiency in the study of fortifications. At
the Revolution in 1688 he returned to England, and was appointed
to a commission in Colonel Seymour's regiment, in which corps
he rose to the rank of major. He served in Ireland, where he
was employed as an engineer, and evinced ability at the sieges
of Athlone and Limerick: he also distinguished himself at the
siege of Namur in the Netherlands, in 1695; and was promoted to
the lieut.-colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He accompanied
the SEVENTEENTH to Holland in 1701, and in 1702 he served as a
principal engineer at the sieges of Venloo and Ruremonde, where
he displayed great ability. He particularly distinguished himself
at the storming of Fort St. Michael, at Venloo, where "he showed
the part of a brave officer, charging with the men sword in hand,
and killing an officer of the enemy's grenadiers, who made a
vigorous opposition with his party."[10] The talents and bravery
of Colonel Blood procured him the favour of the great Duke of
Marlborough, who obtained for him the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH
regiment and the command of the British artillery on foreign
service on the Continent, with the rank of brigadier-general. At
the memorable battle of Blenheim in 1704, Brigadier-General Blood
highly distinguished himself; and, by bringing nine field-pieces
into action at a critical moment, greatly contributed to the
gaining of that splendid victory: by a General Order issued in
the evening of that day, all the trophies captured were placed
under his care. Towards the close of the campaign he accompanied
the Duke of Marlborough to the Moselle, and was engaged in the
capture of several places in that quarter. He continued in the
command of the British artillery on the Continent, and his services
were associated with the forcing of the French lines at Helixem
and Neer Hespen in 1705, and the splendid victory at Ramilies in
1706. On the 1st of January, 1707, he was promoted to the rank of
Major-general. He died at Brussels on the 20th of August, 1707.
JAMES WIGHTMAN.
_Appointed 20th August, 1707._
JAMES WIGHTMAN was many years an officer in the SEVENTEENTH
regiment, with which corps he served in the Netherlands under
King William III. He accompanied the regiment to Holland in
1701, and served the campaigns of 1702 and 1703 under John Duke
of Marlborough. He was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the
regiment in 1702, and to the rank of colonel in the army in August
1703. He served in Portugal and Spain under the Earl of Galway; was
nominated Brigadier-general on the 1st of January 1707, and to the
colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment in August following: in 1710
he was promoted to the rank of Major-general. He served in Scotland
under the Duke of Argyle during the rebellion of the Earl of Mar,
and commanded a division of infantry at the battle of Dumblain: he
wrote an account of the battle, which was published at the time.
In 1719 he commanded the King's troops at the battle of Glenshill,
when he forced the Highlanders to disperse, and the Spanish troops
to surrender prisoners of war. His services were rewarded with
the government of Kinsale. He died suddenly at Bath, of a fit of
apoplexy, in September, 1722.
THOMAS FERRERS.
_Appointed 28th September, 1722._
This officer served under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough,
and was promoted to Captain and Lieut.-colonel in the foot-guards;
in May, 1705, he was advanced to the rank of Colonel, and in 1710
to that of Brigadier-general. Being conspicuous for loyalty at
a period when Jacobin principles were prevalent in the kingdom,
he was commissioned to raise a regiment of dragoons, which was
disbanded in 1718; and in the following year he was appointed
Colonel of the thirty-ninth foot, from which he was removed, in
September, 1722, to the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He died about three
weeks afterwards.
JAMES TYRRELL.
_Appointed 7th November, 1722._
JAMES TYRRELL was appointed Ensign in a regiment of foot on the
6th of February, 1694, and he served under King William III. in
the Netherlands. He distinguished himself in the wars of Queen
Anne; and was promoted to the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment
of foot in April, 1709. At the peace of Utrecht his regiment was
disbanded; and in 1715 he raised a regiment of dragoons for the
service of King George I., which was disbanded in November, 1718:
in 1722 His Majesty gave him the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH
regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-general in 1727;
to that of Major-general in 1735; and Lieut.-general in 1739. He
died in August, 1742.
JOHN WYNYARD.
_Appointed 31st August, 1742._