Dublin; it afterwards proceeded to Limerick, but on arriving at
Carrick-on-Suir, it was detached, under Major General Kirke, to
besiege _Waterford_: the garrison of this place surrendered without
waiting for an attack.
King William afterwards besieged _Limerick_; but King James's
soldiers made a more resolute defence than appears to have been
expected, and His Majesty was induced to raise the siege, and send
the troops into quarters.
The TWELFTH regiment was employed in various services during the
winter, and detached parties of the corps had several rencounters
with the bands of armed peasantry called _Rapparees_. Towards the
end of December, the regiment was in motion against the enemy, and
on the 31st of that month it approached the town of _Lanesborough_,
when it encountered some opposition from a body of Irish troops
formed up to oppose its advance. Colonel Brewer led the regiment
forward with great gallantry; some sharp fighting ensued, and the
enemy was driven from the trenches cut across the road, through the
town, and across the river. The TWELFTH were unable to follow their
opponents for want of boats or other means to cross the stream.
[Sidenote: 1691]
From Lanesborough the regiment marched to Mullingar, of which place
its commanding officer, Colonel BREWER, was appointed governor. The
quarters of the regiment were infested with parties of armed Roman
Catholic peasantry, called rapparees, and on the 28th of April,
Colonel Brewer advanced with six hundred men of the TWELFTH and
eighteenth regiments, and twenty dragoons, towards the castle of
_Donore_, beyond which place two thousand rapparees had taken post
and occupied a number of huts. At daybreak the following morning
the soldiers arrived at the quarters of the rapparees, who formed
for battle on the hills; but when the musketeers of the TWELFTH and
eighteenth advanced to commence the action, the enemy fled; the
soldiers pursued some distance, and killed fifty of the fugitives.
Parties of rapparees continued to hover round Mullingar, and on the
2nd of May, they intercepted a serjeant and four soldiers of the
TWELFTH regiment between that place and _Kinnegad_; they put the
serjeant and three of the soldiers to death, and put out the eyes
of the fourth soldier. Three of the perpetrators of this cruelty
were captured; two of them were hanged on the spot, and the third,
to save his life, guided Captain Poynes and a hundred soldiers of
the regiment, to one of the lurking-places of the rapparees, where
the men of the TWELFTH fell suddenly upon a large company of these
marauders, killed forty, dispersed the remainder, and recovered a
quantity of property, which had been taken from the Protestants.
Towards the end of May, one division of the army encamped at
Mullingar, where General De Ginkell arrived and assumed the command.
From Mullingar the army advanced to the fort of _Ballymore_, which
was besieged, and surrendered on the 8th of June.
After repairing the breaches of Ballymore, and putting the place in
a state of defence, the army advanced to _Athlone_, and on the 20th
of June, the regiment was ordered to support the storming party
at the attack of the Westmeath side of the town. Major-General
Mackay commanded the troops employed on this service, and after
making the necessary arrangements for the attack, took his post on
the battery to see the issue, when he observed that the advanced
party had missed its way and halted. He instantly hastened to the
TWELFTH regiment, and taking the first captain he came to by the
hand, pointed the way to the breach. The regiment immediately
rushed forward, stormed the breach in gallant style, and overcoming
the resistance of the Irish, drove them across the bridge to the
Connaught side of the town.
Several batteries were raised against the works on the Connaught
side of the river, and the grenadier company of the TWELFTH was
engaged in forcing the passage of the Shannon, and in capturing
the town by storm, on the 30th of June, which was a most desperate
service, and was performed with distinguished valour and
intrepidity.
The Irish army, commanded by a French officer of talent and
reputation, General St. Ruth, took up a position near _Aghrim_,
where it was attacked on the 12th of July. During the action,
Major-General Mackay ordered the TWELFTH, and three other
regiments, to pass a difficult bog, ford a rivulet, and drive
the Irish from behind the hedges of the nearest enclosures. The
soldiers waded through the bog and rivulet, which was waist deep,
and drove the Irish out of the first enclosures in gallant style.
They afterwards pressed forward with too much ardour, before
the troops designed to support them had arrived, and becoming
insulated, they were attacked in front and on both flanks by very
superior numbers, and driven back to the edge of the bog. The Irish
followed, shouting and plying them with musketry; but a support
arriving under Major-General Talmash, the four regiments faced
about, repulsed their pursuers, and by a spirited effort recovered
their lost ground; the cavalry passed the bog near the castle of
Aghrim, and by a determined charge completed the overthrow of the
Irish army: the French general, St. Ruth, was killed towards the
close of the action by a cannon-ball.
The TWELFTH regiment had one major, one captain, one ensign, and a
number of private soldiers killed, one lieutenant, and seven rank
and file wounded.
The regiment afterwards marched with the army to _Galway_, and
formed part of the force employed in the siege of that place, which
surrendered on the 21st, and was delivered up on the 26th of July.
Major-General Bellasis was appointed governor of Galway, and the
TWELFTH, twenty-second, and twenty-third regiments were selected to
form the garrison of that fortress.
During the remainder of the campaign, the TWELFTH regiment was
stationed at Galway; and in the autumn, the war in Ireland was
terminated by the surrender of Limerick, which delivered that
country from the power of King James the Second.
The conquest of Ireland enabled King William to withdraw several
regiments from thence to strengthen the allied army in the
Netherlands, assembled to oppose the progress of the French
conquests in that country. The TWELFTH regiment marched from
Galway on the 23rd of November, embarked at Kinsale towards the
end of that month, and sailed to Plymouth, where it landed in the
beginning of December.
[Sidenote: 1692]
During the summer of 1692, the regiment was selected to form part
of an expedition against the coast of France, under the command
of the Duke of Leinster: it embarked at Southampton, and the
expedition menaced the French coast at several places, occasioning
much alarm; but the French had assembled so great a number of
regiments to oppose the descent, that a council of war decided
against landing. The troops afterwards sailed to Ostend, where
they landed, and being joined by a detachment from the confederate
army under King William III., they took possession of the towns
of Furnes and Dixmude, which they fortified, to be occupied as
frontier posts during the winter. After these places were put in a
state of defence, the regiment returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1693]
During the year 1693, the regiment remained in Great Britain; but
the loss of the battle of Landen, by King William, rendered it
necessary for the confederate army in Flanders to be augmented, and
Colonel Brewer's was one of the regiments selected to proceed on
service.
[Sidenote: 1694]
The regiment embarked for Flanders in the spring of 1694; it was
stationed at Malines a short time, and afterwards formed part of
the escort which accompanied the train of artillery to the army at
Tirlemont, where it arrived on the 6th of June; on the 10th the
regiment was reviewed by the King, who expressed his approbation
of its appearance and discipline. It was formed in brigade with a
battalion of the Royal, the third, fourth, seventh, and nineteenth
regiments, under Brigadier-General Erle, and was engaged in
the toilsome operations of the campaign, which was passed in
manœuvring, without a general engagement. The regiment formed part
of the covering army during the siege of Huy, and after the capture
of this fortress it was stationed at Bruges.
[Sidenote: 1695]
The progress of the French conquests had been arrested, and in
1694 the current of success flowed in favour of the Confederates.
In 1695, King William resolved to undertake the siege of Namur. As
a preparative measure, the TWELFTH, and several other regiments,
marched to Dixmude, in May; in June an attack was made on the fort
of _Kenoque_,--a strong post situate at the junction of the Loo and
Dixmude canals, to draw the French forces to that part of their
line of fortifications. The TWELFTH were engaged in this attack;
and they were formed in brigade with the fourteenth, fifteenth,
and seventeenth regiments, under Colonel Leslie; they had several
men killed and wounded. The French troops having taken post
behind their lines, leaving _Namur_ exposed, the King seized the
favourable moment and invested the town. The attack on fort Kenoque
was then discontinued, and the TWELFTH marched into garrison at
_Dixmude_, where three British and five Dutch regiments of foot,
and the Queen's (now third) dragoons, were stationed under a Dutch
officer,--_Major-General Ellemberg_.
A powerful French army, commanded by Marshal Villeroy, approached
the town of Dixmude, and on the 15th of July the place was invested
by a strong division under General de Montal. The trenches were
opened on the same night, and on the following day a battery of
eight guns and three mortars commenced a heavy fire. The works
beginning to crumble under fire, Major-General Ellemberg called
a council of war of the commanding officers of regiments, and
suggested the necessity of surrendering, using, at the same time,
various arguments to induce the other officers to agree to his
proposal. Colonel Brewer, of the TWELFTH foot, remonstrated against
this measure, and recommended a resolute defence of the town to
the last extremity; but a majority in the council of war voted for
surrendering. The garrison expected to march out with the honors of
war; but the French King sent orders to make the whole prisoners
of war. The soldiers in garrison were anxious to be permitted to
defend the town; many of them broke their arms sooner than deliver
them up to the French, and several stands of regimental colours
were destroyed by the men, that they might not become trophies in
the hands of the enemy. The regiments in garrison were all made
prisoners of war, and were marched into the territory subject to
France, Louis XIV. refusing to deliver them up on the conditions of
the cartel previously agreed upon.
In the mean time King William was carrying on the siege of Namur,
and when the citadel was surrendered, he permitted the garrison to
march out with the honors of war, but ordered Marshal Boufflers to
be arrested, and detained, until the regiments made prisoners by
the French at Dixmude, and detained contrary to the cartel, were
delivered up.
This produced the desired effect--the TWELFTH, and other corps in
prison, were liberated, and rejoined the army, and the necessary
arms, equipments, and clothing, were procured as speedily as
possible, to enable the regiment to resume its duties; it was
afterwards placed in garrison at Malines.
A general court-martial assembled for the trial of the officers
who delivered up Dixmude and its garrison to the enemy;
_Major-General Ellemberg_ was sentenced to be _beheaded_, and
executed at Ghent on the 20th of November; Colonels Graham, Leslie,
and the Dutch Colonel Aüer were cashiered; Colonel Brewer of the
TWELFTH foot, and the other commanding officers, who remonstrated
against the surrender of the town, were acquitted.
[Sidenote: 1696]
The French monarch made preparations for the invasion of England in
favour of King James, and in the spring of 1696, several regiments
were withdrawn from Flanders, when the TWELFTH marched from Malines
to Ostend and Bruges; but the enemy did not venture to put to sea,
and the regiment was not required to embark for England.
On the 28th of May, the regiment joined the troops encamped between
Ghent and Bruges; it was formed in brigade with the first battalion
of the royals, the fifteenth, and Collingwood's (afterwards
disbanded) regiments, under Brigadier-General the Earl of Orkney,
and served the campaign of this year with the army of Flanders,
under the Prince of Vaudemont. The troops of that army were
encamped behind the Bruges canal, nearly all the summer, to cover
Ghent, Bruges, and the maritime towns of Flanders: in the autumn
the regiment was ordered to occupy quarters in the town of Bruges.
[Sidenote: 1697]
In the spring of 1697, the English regiments were ordered to
proceed to Brabant, to join the army commanded by King William in
person; the TWELFTH foot were, however, detained in Flanders until
the Brandenburg troops arrived, when they marched to Brabant, and
served under the King during the remainder of the campaign. They
were formed in brigade with a battalion of the first royals, and
the fifth, Collier's and Lauder's (afterwards disbanded) regiments,
commanded by the Earl of Orkney.
The regiment was encamped before Brussels, when the war was
terminated by the treaty of Ryswick, and King William saw his
efforts, to prevent the aggrandizement of France by conquest,
attended with complete success. During the winter the regiment
returned to England.
[Sidenote: 1698]
[Sidenote: 1699]
Considerable reductions were made in the establishment of the
army in 1698 and 1699, and the TWELFTH were ordered to proceed to
Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1700]
[Sidenote: 1701]
While the regiment was stationed in Ireland, the death of Charles
II., King of Spain, occurred, and he was succeeded by Philip,
Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., in violation of existing
treaties, which rekindled the war in Europe.
[Sidenote: 1702]
Various circumstances occurred to induce Great Britain to take part
in the contest, and Queen Anne declared war against France and
Spain, in May, 1702.
The establishment of the TWELFTH regiment was augmented, and it
was held in readiness to proceed on foreign service; but it was
detained in Ireland several months, during which period Colonel
Brewer was succeeded in the colonelcy by Lieut.-Colonel Livesay, by
commission, dated the 28th of September 1702.
As soon as hostilities were commenced, Vice-Admiral Benbow,
commanding the British naval force in the West Indies, began
an active warfare against the commerce of the enemy, with some
success. Soon afterwards the TWELFTH regiment was ordered to form
part of a powerful armament, designed to be sent to the West
Indies, under Charles Earl of Peterborough who was promoted to the
local rank of General, and a Dutch naval and land force arrived at
Spithead, to accompany the British fleet; but this joint expedition
was laid aside.
[Sidenote: 1703]
The TWELFTH regiment embarked for the West Indies during the
winter. In the early part of March, 1703, an unsuccessful attack
was made on the island of _Guadaloupe_, by the troops under Colonel
Codrington; two regiments landed and gained some advantages, but
the expedition was not of sufficient strength to capture the island.
[Sidenote: 1704]
Additional regiments were afterwards sent to the West Indies:[7]
but nothing of importance took place, and the TWELFTH were sent to
the island of Jamaica, where they were stationed during the year
1704.
[Sidenote: 1705]
The regiment sustained very serious losses from the effects of the
climate, and, in 1705, it transferred the non-commissioned officers
and soldiers fit for service, to the twenty-second foot, and the
officers and a few of the serjeants returned to England to recruit.
[Sidenote: 1706]
[Sidenote: 1707]
[Sidenote: 1708]
During the years 1706 and 1707, the regiment was employed in
recruiting, training, and disciplining its ranks, and having
attained a state of efficiency, it was reported fit for service,
and in the spring of 1708, it was held in readiness to serve on
board the fleet as marines.
During the summer, the regiment was encamped in the Isle of Wight,
where it was reviewed, on the 19th of July, by Major-General
Erle, and afterwards embarked on an expedition against the coast
of France, the fleet being under the orders of Admiral Sir
George Byng, and the land forces under Major-General Erle.[8] The
fleet sailed from Spithead on the 27th of July, and menaced the
coast of Picardy with a descent, creating considerable alarm and
consternation; a landing was afterwards effected a few miles from
Boulogne, but nothing of importance was accomplished.
In the mean time, the allied army, commanded by the great Duke
of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy, was carrying on the
siege of the celebrated city of Lisle, the capital of French
Flanders, which was defended by fifteen thousand men, under Marshal
Boufflers. The French and Spaniards, thinking to prevent the allied
army receiving supplies from the coast, detached a body of troops,
under General Count de la Motte, towards Ostend; and the troops
employed in alarming the French coast, were suddenly ordered to
proceed to that port, where they arrived on the 21st of September.
The TWELFTH, and other regiments of the expedition, having landed
at Ostend, the French general retired; first cutting the dykes, to
lay the country between Ostend and Nieuport under water, and to
prevent the troops, under Major-General Erle, communicating with
the grand army under the Duke of Marlborough. A strong detachment
from the TWELFTH, and two other regiments, seized on Leffinghen,
constructed some works, and established a post at that village.
At this period, the army before Lisle was deficient in ammunition
for carrying on the siege, and the Duke of Marlborough, having
heard of the arrival of the troops at Ostend, and of their having
established a post at Leffinghen, sent seven hundred waggons
thither, under a strong guard, for supplies. The soldiers of the
TWELFTH, and other corps at Ostend, were employed in draining the
inundations; they built a bridge over the canal of Leffinghen,
opened a communication with the grand army, and assisted in loading
the seven hundred waggons with ammunition and other necessaries.
The waggons left Ostend on the 27th of September; the troops
employed to guard the convoy, under Major-General Webb, were
attacked on the following day in the wood of Wynendale, by
twenty-two thousand French and Spaniards, under Count de la
Motte, who was repulsed, and the convoy arrived in safety at the
head-quarters of the army. Major-General Webb received the thanks
of Parliament for his conduct on this occasion.
The Duke of Vendôme was so chagrined at this success, that he
advanced with a numerous army to Oudenburg, posted his men along
the canal between Plassendael and Nieuport, and caused the dykes
to be cut in several places, in order to let in the sea, and lay
a great extent of country under water. The TWELFTH, and other
corps under Major-General Erle, were encamped on the high grounds
of Raversein, and watched the enemy's movements; at length, the
Duke of Marlborough put the covering army in motion, to attack the
enemy, when the Duke of Vendôme made a precipitate retreat. The
TWELFTH were afterwards employed in conveying another supply of
ammunition and other necessaries, for the besieging army, across
the inundations in boats, which enabled the generals of the allied
army to continue the siege of Lisle, and insured the reduction of
that fortress. The Duke of Vendôme sent a body of troops to besiege
Leffinghen, which was captured after a short resistance; the enemy
also menaced the camp at Raversein, when the TWELFTH, and other
regiments under Major-General Erle, retired into the outworks
of Ostend. The supplies furnished to the army, however, proved
sufficient, and the citadel of Lisle surrendered on the 9th of
December.
[Sidenote: 1709]
The service, for which the regiment was sent to Flanders having
been accomplished, it returned to England in the early part of
1709, and was stationed in garrison at Portsmouth.
[Sidenote: 1710]
On the 4th of July, 1710, the regiments of Livesay (TWELFTH), and
of Montandre, Lord Mark Kerr, and Windsor (afterwards disbanded),
were reviewed at Portsmouth by Lieut.-General Erle.
[Sidenote: 1711]
The regiment was detained on home service in 1711.
[Sidenote: 1712]
Colonel Livesay was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by
Lieut.-Col. Richard Phillips, whose commission was dated the 16th
of March, 1712.
Being in an efficient state, the regiment was embarked for Spain,
to reinforce the allied army in that country. In the summer of
1712, preliminary articles for a treaty of peace were agreed
upon, which was followed by a cessation of hostilities, and the
TWELFTH regiment proceeded to the island of Minorca, which had been
captured by a body of troops under Major-General Stanhope in 1708.
[Sidenote: 1713]
Minorca was ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Utrecht in
1713, and the TWELFTH regiment was one of the corps selected to
form part of the garrison of that island.
[Sidenote: 1717]
Colonel Phillips was appointed to the command of the fortieth foot,
on the formation of that regiment from non-regimented companies
in America, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the TWELFTH by
Colonel Thomas Stanwix, from the thirtieth foot, whose commission
was dated the 25th of August, 1717.
[Sidenote: 1719]
Having been relieved from duty at Minorca, in 1719, the regiment
returned to England, where it arrived in October of that year.
[Sidenote: 1722]
In the summer of 1722, the regiment was encamped on Salisbury
Plain, and it was reviewed on the 30th of August by King George I.,
and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, afterwards King George
II.
[Sidenote: 1725]
On the 14th of March, 1725, Brigadier-General Thomas Stanwix died,
and King George I. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on
Major-General Thomas Whetham, from the twenty-seventh foot.
[Sidenote: 1739]
The regiment was employed on home service for several years; and on
the breaking out of the war with Spain, in 1739, its establishment
was augmented to nine hundred officers and soldiers.
[Sidenote: 1740]
In the summer of 1740, the regiment pitched its tents near Newbury,
where an encampment was formed of two regiments of horse, three
of dragoons, and four of infantry, under Lieut.-General Wade. It
afterwards served on board the fleet as marines.
In the autumn of this year, Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, died,
and the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa, as Queen of
Hungary and Bohemia, was disputed by the Elector of Bavaria, who
was aided by a French army.
[Sidenote: 1741]
King George II. resolved to support the house of Austria, and the
TWELFTH was one of the regiments selected to proceed on foreign
service. It was encamped, in the summer of 1741, on Lexden Heath,
and was held in readiness to embark; in the autumn it went into
cantonments.
General Whetham died on the 28th of April; and the colonelcy
remained vacant until August, when His Majesty conferred that
appointment on the lieut.-colonel of the regiment, Scipio Duroure,
who had performed the duties of commanding officer with reputation
during the preceding seven years.
[Sidenote: 1742]
During the summer of 1742, King George II. sent an army to Flanders
under Field-Marshal the Earl of Stair, to support the house of
Austria, and the TWELFTH foot embarked on this service under
Colonel Duroure.
[Sidenote: 1743]
The regiment passed several months in Flanders, and in February
1743 it commenced its march for Germany. It was encamped a short
period near the forest d'Armstadt, and afterwards at Aschaffenburg,
where the King and His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland joined
the army.