Pretender, arrived in Scotland, and being joined by several clans,
he asserted his father’s pretensions to the throne. Unaccustomed
to hear the sound of war at their own gates, the British people
were at first alarmed, but soon recovering, they evinced loyalty
and union in sustaining the fixed rights of their sovereign and in
defending their own liberties. The volunteer associations were not,
however, ready to take the field for some time, and several corps
were ordered to return from Flanders. The THIRTEENTH regiment
was one of the corps ordered home on this occasion, and it landed
at Blackwall on the 23rd of September. It was immediately ordered
to the north; and, joining the troops assembled by Field-Marshal
Wade at Doncaster, marched from thence to Newcastle-on-Tyne. When
the clans penetrated into England, the regiment was employed in
covering Yorkshire, and when they made their precipitate retreat to
Scotland, it returned to Newcastle, where it arrived on the 26th of
December.
[Sidenote: 1746]
From Newcastle the regiment marched to Edinburgh, and joined the
forces assembled at that place, under Lieut.-General Hawley, for
the relief of Stirling Castle, which was besieged by the young
Pretender. This force advanced to _Falkirk_, where it arrived on
the 16th of January, 1746, and encamped. On the following day the
outposts gave information of the approach of the rebel army, and
the King’s troops left their camp-ground and formed for battle on
Falkirk moor. At the moment when the battle commenced, a heavy
storm of wind and rain beat violently in the faces of the King’s
troops; the soldiers could scarcely see their opponents, their
muskets would not give fire, confusion ensued, and a great portion
of the army retired from the field of battle: a few regiments,
however, remained firm, and repulsed the left wing of the rebel
army.
After retiring from Falkirk moor, the THIRTEENTH regiment marched
back to Edinburgh, where additional forces arrived, and His Royal
Highness the Duke of Cumberland took the command of the troops in
Scotland.
On the 31st of January, the army again advanced, when the young
Pretender raised the siege of Stirling Castle, and made a
precipitate retreat towards Inverness. The THIRTEENTH were engaged
in the pursuit of the rebel clans; but the army was forced to halt
at Perth, in consequence of the severity of the weather, until the
20th of February, when the march was resumed; and in the beginning
of March, the army arrived at Aberdeen, where it was detained by
heavy rain and snow storms.
In the early part of April, the King’s troops were again in motion,
and on the 14th of that month they arrived at Nairn. The rebels
made a sudden advance From Inverness, with the view of surprising
the royal forces in the night, but finding the outposts alert, they
retreated.
Early on the morning of the 16th of April, the army advanced in
three columns towards Inverness, and about eleven o’clock the
rebel forces were discovered on _Culloden_ moor, when the royal
army formed for battle; the THIRTEENTH regiment having its post in
Brigadier-General Mordaunt’s division, and bringing into the field
twenty-two officers, twenty-three serjeants, nineteen drummers,
and three hundred and ten rank and file. In the first instance,
the regiment formed part of the reserve, but as the army advanced,
a change in the character of the ground occasioned the THIRTEENTH
foot to be ordered forward to take post on the right of the royals.
The fire of cannon was succeeded by several charges, in which the
King’s troops were victorious. A body of Highlanders, with broad
swords and targets, advanced towards the THIRTEENTH foot, but they
were intimidated by the gallant bearing of the regiment, and fled
from the field before the soldiers could close upon them with
bayonets. The rebel army was routed at every part of the field, and
pursued for several miles with great slaughter, and the loss of
all its artillery. Thus the events of one day transformed the young
Pretender from an imaginary monarch to a destitute fugitive, and
after enduring great hardship and suffering he escaped to France.
After the victory at Culloden, the regiment was encamped a short
period at Inverness, and it was subsequently employed in escorting
the prisoners taken on that occasion.
The rebellion in Scotland having been suppressed, the THIRTEENTH
regiment was ordered to return to the Netherlands. It landed in
Holland in the autumn and advanced up the country to Maestricht,
where it arrived on the 9th of October. At this period, the French
army under Marshal Saxe, and the allied army under Prince Charles
of Lorraine, were manœuvring in the vicinity of the city of Liege,
and an engagement being expected, the regiment received orders
to advance with all possible expedition, and join the army. In
obedience to these orders, the regiment quitted Maestricht, and,
by a forced march, arrived in the vicinity of Liege on the morning
of the 11th of October, at the moment when the French army was
developing its attack on three villages, which were occupied by
eight battalions of English, Dutch, and Hessians. The regiment was
instantly ordered to take post near the village of _Roucoux_, under
the command of Brigadier-General Houghton. The leading brigades
of the enemy were repulsed, and a second line of combatants was
defeated; but the enemy brought forward so many fresh troops, that
the eight battalions were driven from the villages by superior
numbers. A retreat was ordered, which was executed with great
regularity, and the army inarched to the vicinity of Maestricht.
[Sidenote: 1747]
The regiment was subsequently employed in the province of Limburg,
and passed the winter in quarters near the Dutch frontiers.
In the spring of 1747, the regiment took the field, and formed part
of the army under the command of His Royal Highness the Duke of
Cumberland. After encamping for a short period near the banks of
the Scheldt, it was employed in operations on the Great Nethe and
on the Demer. On the 1st of July, the opposing armies confronted
each other between Tongres and Maestricht, and the THIRTEENTH,
twenty-fifth, and thirty-seventh regiments, with Freudeman’s
Hanoverians, and a portion of artillery, took possession of the
village of _Val_, situate about a league from Maestricht, and on
the south of the road from that place to Tongres. The day was
passed in cannonading and skirmishing, and the troops lay all the
night on their arms.
Early on the morning of the 2nd of July, the French infantry
descended the hills, and advanced in a grand column of upwards of
sixty battalions against the village of Val, where the THIRTEENTH
and three other regiments were formed to resist this immense
array of French power, and the Duke of Cumberland galloped to
that part of the field to encourage the soldiers to a determined
resistance, and to be ready to support them as circumstances might
require. About ten o’clock, the French artillery opened a heavy
fire, and the second shot killed the Duke of Cumberland’s German
aide-de-camp, Baron Ziggesaer: under the cover of this cannonade,
the leading brigade of the French column attacked the village,
and the British battalions withstood the tempest of war with
astonishing firmness, repulsing the French regiments, and driving
them back with severe loss. As the discomfited regiments retired,
a second line of combatants advanced to storm the village, but
they were met, overthrown, and driven back in disorder, and the
THIRTEENTH and other regiments at that point remained triumphant at
their post. Few moments elapsed before a fresh body of assailants
came rushing forward, but the British battalions were again
victorious; and a fourth attack on the village was also repulsed.
The French commander appeared determined to carry this point, and
his superior numbers enabling him to continue to send forward fresh
troops, he eventually gained possession of the village; but the
THIRTEENTH, and other corps which had occupied that post, were
reinforced by four additional battalions, and they returned to the
charge, and recovered the village in gallant style. The vicinity
of _Val_ was covered with killed and wounded men, and several
French brigades had been nearly destroyed, yet the French commander
continued to order forward fresh troops: the soldiers on both sides
fought with great resolution, and the village was lost and won
several times.
The superior numbers of his army gave Marshal Saxe a decided
advantage, and after the display of British valour, which reflected
great honor on the corps engaged, the army was ordered to retreat
towards Maestricht.
In the narratives of this battle published at the time, the
heroic conduct of the corps engaged is highly commended. The
THIRTEENTH foot had Lieutenant Haddock and forty rank and file
killed; Captain Stafford, Lieutenant Naylor, Ensign Holyday,
five serjeants, two drummers, and seventy rank and file wounded;
fifty-one non-commissioned officers and soldiers prisoners of war
and missing.
The regiment was employed near the frontiers of the United
Provinces during the remainder of the campaign, but it was not
again engaged in combat with the enemy.
[Sidenote: 1748]
A fine body of recruits from England replaced the losses of the
preceding year, and in the spring of 1748, the regiment again took
the field, and was employed in several services in the province of
Limburg and in North Brabant. Preliminary articles for a treaty of
peace were afterwards agreed upon, a suspension of hostilities took
place, and the regiment went into quarters in Holland.
A treaty of peace, concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, terminated the
contest, and during the winter the regiment returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1749]
In 1749 a reduction was made in the strength of the army, and the
THIRTEENTH regiment was placed on a peace establishment.
[Sidenote: 1751]
On the 1st of July, 1751, King George II. issued a regulation
relative to the clothing, standards, and colours of the several
regiments. According to this regulation, the uniform of the
THIRTEENTH regiment was scarlet, faced and lined with _philemot
yellow_. The first, or King’s, colour was the great union; the
second colour was of philemot yellow silk, with the union in the
upper canton, and in the centre of the colour, XIII. in gold Roman
characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.
[Sidenote: 1754]
[Sidenote: 1762]
The regiment remained in Great Britain until the year 1754, when
it embarked for Gibraltar; and was stationed at that fortress
during the whole of the seven years’ war; at the termination of
hostilities in 1762, it returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1766]
King George III. paid great attention to everything connected with
the army, and the THIRTEENTH foot obtained His Majesty’s special
approbation of their conduct on all occasions. In June, 1766, His
Royal Highness William, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, was appointed colonel
of the regiment, in succession to General the Honorable Henry
Pulteney, who resigned.
[Sidenote: 1767]
His Majesty reviewed the regiment in Hyde Park, in brigade with the
twelfth foot, on the 5th of June, 1767: the Queen, and a numerous
assemblage of distinguished persons, were present on this occasion;
and the King was pleased to express his high approbation of the
appearance and discipline of the two corps.
In December the Duke of Gloucester was promoted to the rank of
major-general, and appointed colonel of the third foot guards; at
the same time the colonelcy of the THIRTEENTH foot was conferred on
Major-General the Honorable James Murray, from colonel-commandant
in the sixtieth regiment.
[Sidenote: 1768]
After remaining in England upwards of five years, the THIRTEENTH
were ordered to transfer their services to Ireland, where they
arrived in August, 1768, and were stationed in that part of the
United Kingdom seven months.
[Sidenote: 1769]
In March, 1769, the regiment embarked for the island of Minorca.
[Sidenote: 1775]
[Sidenote: 1776]
When the American war commenced, in 1775, the regiment was
performing garrison duty at Port Mahon; it was relieved, soon
afterwards by a battalion of Hanoverians, which had been taken into
British pay, and returned to England, where it arrived in February,
1776.
[Sidenote: 1778]
In the summer of 1778, the regiment was encamped near Plymouth,
with four battalions of militia, under Lieut.-General Parker.
[Sidenote: 1779]
[Sidenote: 1780]
The regiment was encamped, in 1779, at Rye; and, in 1780, pitched
its tents at Dorking.
[Sidenote: 1781]
Meanwhile the American war had been continued; France and Spain
had taken part in the contest, in favour of the colonists; and
an English armament had captured several French islands in the
West Indies. The enemy sent a powerful force to recapture the
lost possessions; and, in 1781, the THIRTEENTH received orders to
proceed to the Leeward Islands, to augment the British force in
that part of His Majesty’s dominions.
[Sidenote: 1782]
Soon after the regiment arrived in the West Indies, hostilities
were terminated; the British Monarch acceded to the independence of
the United States, and a treaty of peace was concluded. This change
occasioned the regiment to return to England in 1782.
In this year, the THIRTEENTH foot received directions to assume
the title of the FIRST SOMERSETSHIRE REGIMENT, and, in order to
facilitate the procuring of recruits, to cultivate a connection
between that county and the regiment.
[Sidenote: 1783]
The army was reduced in 1783, when the regiment was placed upon a
peace establishment.
[Sidenote: 1784]
In the spring of 1784, the regiment embarked for Ireland, where it
was quartered during the succeeding six years.
[Sidenote: 1789]
On the 5th of June, 1789, General the Honorable James Murray was
removed to the twenty-first foot, or Royal North British Fusiliers,
and His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the THIRTEENTH regiment
on Major-General George Ainslie, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the
fifteenth light dragoons.
[Sidenote: 1790]
In the following year, the regiment received orders to hold itself
in readiness for foreign service. A revolution had taken place
in France; the French monarch was divested of regal power; the
doctrines of liberty and equality were disseminated, and Great
Britain was on the eve of being engaged in a contest to arrest the
destructive operation of the principles of democracy.
The doctrines of equality were taught in the French West India
Islands; their mischievous tendency was soon experienced among the
black population, and the British Government deeming it necessary
to augment its military power in that part of the world, the
THIRTEENTH regiment was sent as a reinforcement to the island of
Jamaica.
[Sidenote: 1791]
[Sidenote: 1793]
In 1791, the negroes of the French settlements in _St. Domingo_,
(now the black republic of Hayti,) one of the largest and most
fertile of the West India Islands, revolted; the island became
a scene of massacre and devastation, and the French planters
solicited the aid of the British, in 1793; when troops were sent
to enable them to recover their estates from their former slaves.
The revolted blacks and mulattoes took possession of part of the
island, and declared themselves a free and independent people:
the British gained several important posts; many of the planters
transferred their allegiance to the British crown, and strenuous
efforts were made to deliver the island from the domination of the
slaves. Towards the end of 1793, the THIRTEENTH regiment embarked
from Jamaica, and proceeded to the island of St. Domingo, where
it was engaged in many difficult and arduous services, in which
the officers and soldiers evinced valour, constancy, and patient
endurance of the most distressing sufferings, in a manner which
reflected great credit on the corps.
[Sidenote: 1794]
In January, 1794, the regiment was stationed at Jeremie, of which
town its commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel John Whitelocke, was
commandant. On the 31st of January, the regiment embarked, with
the expedition commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Whitelocke, for the
attach of the important post of Cape _Tiburon_, which commanded
Cape Nichola mole, and an extensive bay. On the evening of the 2nd
of February, the squadron approached the shore, where about six
hundred and fifty blacks, and two hundred mulattoes and whites were
formed to oppose the landing. A few broadsides from the frigates
soon cleared the beach, and as the sun was declining beneath the
horizon, Major Brent Spencer, of the THIRTEENTH, quitted the ships
with the flank companies of the expedition. As the boats approached
the shore, a line of opponents commenced a sharp fire of musketry;
but the soldiers leaped upon the beach, charged with bayonets,
routed their opponents in an instant, killed and wounded a number
of blacks and mulattoes, and took possession of a house which
was well situated for protecting the landing of the whole of the
detachment. At daylight on the following morning, the THIRTEENTH
and twentieth regiments landed, with a party of marines and of the
British Legion; and as the troops prepared to attack the post,
the enemy fled, leaving twenty-two pieces of heavy ordnance,
three field-pieces, and a magazine full of every description of
ammunition, behind them: about fifty of the enemy were killed and
wounded, and a hundred and fifty taken prisoners.
The loss of the regiment, on this occasion, was limited to two
private soldiers killed; Captain the Honorable Charles Colville,
Lieutenant George Kinnaird Dana, Volunteer Dolphina, and two
private soldiers, wounded. The conduct of Major Spencer of
the THIRTEENTH, and of the officers and soldiers of the flank
companies, was commended in Lieut.-Colonel Whitelocke’s despatch.
This important post was placed under the charge of Lieutenant
Robert Baskerville, of the THIRTEENTH, who had fifty men of his own
regiment, the colonial corps, and Jean Kino’s corps from Irois,
under his orders for the defence of the post.
On the 20th of February, the flank companies of the THIRTEENTH
were engaged in the storming of the post of _L’Acal_, situate six
miles from Leogane. Part of the force designed for this service
proceeded by water, and the remainder by land: the whole under
Lieut.-Colonel Whitelocke. Contrary winds prevented the troops
in transports taking part in the attack, but the other division
captured the fort in gallant style; the soldiers climbing the hill,
exposed to a heavy fire of grape and musketry, and their progress
impeded by felled trees placed in all directions, and capturing the
works with fixed bayonets. After obtaining possession of the fort,
two officers and thirteen soldiers were killed by the explosion
of a magazine. The only loss sustained by the THIRTEENTH foot was
one private soldier killed; one serjeant, and one private soldier
wounded. Major Spencer again distinguished himself.
The flank companies of the regiment were employed, under
Brigadier-General Whyte, in the expedition against
_Port-au-Prince_, the capital of the island: the troops employed in
this service arrived in the bay on the 31st of May, and the capture
of this place was accomplished in four days, with little loss. A
malignant fever broke out in the town soon afterwards, and the
British lost forty officers and six hundred soldiers by disease,
within two months after the surrender of the place. Lieut.-Colonel
Whitelocke had the rank of colonel in the expedition, and
Major Spencer that of lieut.-colonel; they both distinguished
themselves, and their conduct was commended in the strongest terms
in Brigadier-General Whyte’s despatch.
Captain James Grant, of the THIRTEENTH regiment, commanded the
garrison of _Fort Bizzeton_, which consisted of one hundred and
twenty men. Between four and five o’clock on the morning of the 5th
of December, three columns of the enemy, amounting to about two
thousand men, approached the fort with great silence, and arrived
under the works before they were discovered; but the garrison
was under arms; it repulsed the assailants, and drove them from
before the works with great loss. Major-General Sir Adam Williamson
stated in his public despatch,--‘Captain Grant (THIRTEENTH), and
his two lieutenants, Clunes of the Royals, and Hamilton of the
twenty-second regiment, merit every attention that can be shown
them. They were all three severely wounded early in the attack, but
tied up their wounds and continued to defend their post. It has
been a very gallant defence and does them great honor.’
[Sidenote: 1795]
[Sidenote: 1796]
The regiment continued actively employed in St. Domingo in the year
1795; but the climate proved particularly injurious to the health
of the officers and soldiers, and its losses from disease were so
severe that, in 1796, it returned to England a skeleton.
[Sidenote: 1797]
After remaining in England a few months, the regiment embarked for
Ireland in 1797, and arrived in that part of the kingdom at the
period when the Roman Catholics were combining against the British
government, and preparing for open rebellion, in the expectation of
receiving aid from France.
[Sidenote: 1798]
In May, 1798, the rebellion broke out, and the passions of the
misguided peasantry having been excited into a state of fury,
by all the motives which bigotry and vengeance could inspire,
their conduct was marked by actions of a most atrocious and cruel
character. The THIRTEENTH regiment was, however, weak in numbers,
and it was not called in very active service on this occasion. The
rebellion was suppressed towards the end of July; and in August,
when a body of French troops arrived, they were surrounded and made
prisoners.
[Sidenote: 1799]
The regiment remained in Ireland recruiting its numbers during the
year 1799.
[Sidenote: 1800]
In the early part of 1800, the establishment was completed by
volunteers from the Irish militia; and on the 3rd of March the
regiment embarked for England, where it arrived, a splendid corps
of disciplined men, and it was soon afterwards selected to proceed
on foreign service.
The Spanish monarch had united with France, in the war against
Great Britain, and an attack on the ports of Spain formed part of
the plan for employing the disposable force of the country. The
THIRTEENTH embarked from England on the 31st of July, and sailed,
with the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir James Pulteney, to the
bay of Corunna, and a landing was effected on the coast of Galicia,
with the design of attacking the fortress of _Ferrol_; but after
viewing the town and its defences, Sir James Pulteney resolved not
to lose time in attacking this place, and the troops re-embarked
and proceeded to join General Sir Ralph Abercromby, who commanded
a British force in the Mediterranean. The united forces appeared
before _Cadiz_, and summoned the governor to surrender; but a
disease was ravaging the city at the time, and the fleet quitted
the coast for fear of infection, and proceeded to Gibraltar.
At this period a veteran French army, which had been vauntingly
styled the ‘_Army of the East_,’ was holding _Egypt_ in subjection,
and meditating scenes of conquest in distant regions; and the
British government resolved to employ the disposable force of the
kingdom in delivering Egypt from the French yoke. The THIRTEENTH,
commanded by Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Charles Colville, were
selected for this enterprise: they mustered seven hundred and
thirty-seven rank and file, fit for duty, and formed part of the
second brigade under Major-General Cradock.
After experiencing much severe weather at sea, the fleet arrived
at the island of Malta, where the troops went on shore, and the
abundance of fresh provisions which the island afforded, with
the comforts of the beautiful city of Valetta, soon restored and
reanimated the troops.
Leaving Malta on the 20th of December, the armament sailed to
Marmorice, in Asiatic Turkey, where the fleet anchored in a
spacious bay surrounded by mountains, while gun-boats were being
procured for the expedition, horses for the cavalry, and a plan of
co-operation arranged with the Turks.
[Sidenote: 1801]