Major-General Whyte stated 'he had great pleasure in informing the
British troops, that General Count Clerfait has highly approved of
their spirited conduct in the field, and great exertions in going
through such excessive fatigues, as they necessarily have had since
their first movement from Ostend. Major-General Whyte laments the
loss sustained by the eighth light dragoons, whose spirited and
distinguished gallantry, led on by Lieut.-Colonel Hart, has gained
them the highest honour; and he desires his thanks may be accepted
by the commanding officers, and all the officers and men of the
thirty-eighth and fifty-fifth regiments; and also by Major BOWES
and the officers and men of the TWELFTH regiment, whose conduct
has been highly approved of by Major-General Hammerstein, under
whose immediate command they served. To Lieut.-Colonel Hart, who
led on the squadron of the eighth light dragoons to the attack at
Rousbeck, his best and distinguished thanks are due; and also to
Lieut.-Colonel M'Donald, who led on the fifty-fifth regiment to
support the attack on the front. He is perfectly convinced the
same praise would have been due to Lieut.-Colonel Pitcairn of the
thirty-eighth, had they been called into action.'
The TWELFTH foot continued to serve under General Count Clerfait,
and when the French besieged _Ypres_, with thirty thousand men,
with a covering army of twenty-five thousand, the regiment was
engaged in the attempt to relieve that fortress. The Austrian
advance-guard was repulsed at Olglede on the 7th of June; but
the French were defeated in their attempt on Rouselaer. Still
entertaining hopes of being able to raise the siege, Count Clerfait
attacked the French again on the 13th of June, at Hoogledge, and
Major-General Hammerstein engaged a body of the enemy, of very
superior numbers, at Kootmarke, and was repulsed. He afterwards
retreated to Bruges, detaching the eighth light dragoons, and
thirty-eighth and fifty-fifth foot to Ostend.
The very superior numbers of the enemy gave them so great an
advantage, that the allied army was forced to commence retrograde
movements. The TWELFTH foot remained with Major-General
Hammerstein's division until the 9th of July, when the following
paragraph appeared in the division orders issued at the camp at
Contiche,--'As the TWELFTH British regiment is going to leave
Major-General Hammerstein's brigade, he takes this opportunity to
assure the regiment of his best acknowledgments for the good and
gallant behaviour it has shown during the time the general has had
the honour to command it; he likewise thanks it for the readiness
and good will with which it has borne so many and great fatigues.'
On its removal from Major-General Hammerstein's command, the
regiment was formed in brigade with the thirty-third, forty-second,
and forty-fourth foot, under Major-General Balfour. In August it
was in position near Breda, and in the beginning of September
retired to the vicinity of Bois-le-duc.
In the middle of September the enemy advanced in great force,
and attacked all the British posts on the right; the outpost at
_Boxtel_, being most advanced, was forced, and the troops of Hesse
D'Armstadt, who occupied it, sustained a severe loss. The post,
occupied by a detachment of the TWELFTH regiment, was environed
and assailed by very superior numbers; it was defended with
great gallantry for a short time, but the soldiers were unable
to withstand so overwhelming a force as that by which they were
assailed. The regiment had a few soldiers killed and wounded, and
Lieutenant Eustace, three serjeants, one drummer, and forty-four
rank and file taken prisoners. The British troops afterwards
retired beyond the river Maese.
In the meantime, the flank companies had been engaged in the
defence of the island of _Guadaloupe_, where about two thousand
French troops had arrived from Europe, and being joined by a
multitude of mulattoes and blacks, among whom the doctrines of
liberty and equality were disseminated, they gained possession of
part of the island, and frightful outrages were perpetrated. The
companies of the TWELFTH were engaged in an attempt to regain
possession of Grand-Terre; but the troops employed in this service
were not sufficiently numerous. The TWELFTH had Lieutenant John
Leister and several soldiers killed, and others wounded.
The companies of the TWELFTH were employed in the defence of
Guadaloupe under great disadvantages, and they were nearly
annihilated. The island was given up in October, and the few
remaining officers and soldiers proceeded to St. Domingo.
Meanwhile the TWELFTH regiment, serving under the Duke of York,
in Holland, was exposed to much suffering and privation. The
Dutch, having imbibed the revolutionary doctrines of equality,
beheld the advance of the French without alarm, and surrendered
their fortresses without much resistance. The British troops had
no chance of ultimate success, yet they held their positions with
firmness, and they did not fail to impress the enemy with a just
idea of British valour. The TWELFTH were in position near Nimeguen
in September, and afterwards attempted to defend the passage of the
Waal.
[Sidenote: 1795]
During the winter the river Waal became frozen, so as to admit the
immense masses of the enemy to pass on the ice, and the British
were obliged to retreat through Holland to Germany. The sufferings
of the soldiers during this retrograde movement were very great;
long marches, exposed to snow-storms and tempests, along roads
choked with ice and snow, and a deficiency of provisions, put
to a severe test the strength of the officers and soldiers. In
March, 1795, they arrived at Bremen, where the hardships they
had endured were ended. The TWELFTH regiment lost so many men
during the campaign and retreat through Holland, that its numbers
were reduced from eight hundred and fifteen to four hundred and
twenty-five rank and file.
The regiment embarked from Bremenlee on the 11th of April,
landed at Gosport on the 12th of May, and marched from thence
to Portchester, where it was joined by Lieutenant O'Brien, one
serjeant, and one private soldier from the West Indies; being the
only surviving individuals of the two fine flank companies which
proceeded to the West Indies in 1793.
Every effort was made to recruit the regiment as speedily as
possible, and on the 2nd of July, it was reviewed by His Royal
Highness the Duke of York, who expressed his approbation of its
appearance.
On the 19th of October, the regiment embarked from Southampton, and
sailed to Spithead, where it remained a few days, and afterwards
put to sea. On the 5th of October, it landed on the Isle de Dieu,
in conjunction with a small force under Major-General Needham, and
a body of French emigrants, accompanied by the Count D'Artois,
brother of the King of France. No circumstances occurred to favour
any further attempts connected with this enterprise, and in
December the regiment left the island; it was exposed to several
violent storms at sea, but arrived safely at Southampton in ten
days, and marched from thence to Iron-hill barracks.
[Sidenote: 1796]
The regiment was stationed in the neighbourhood of Southampton, and
in the Isle of Wight, until the 8th of June, 1796, when it embarked
in the 'Rockingham,' 'Hawksbury,' 'Airly castle,' and 'Melville
castle' Indiamen, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Henry Harvey
Aston, in order to transfer its services to the East Indies. The
regiment sailed from St. Helens on the 27th of June, and on the
19th of September anchored in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope; that
colony having been captured from the Dutch a short time previously.
The regiment remained on board, but small parties landed daily for
the benefit of their health. While the Indiamen were in Table Bay,
a dreadful hurricane threatened the destruction of every ship,
and they all sustained some injury, several losing their anchors.
Serious apprehensions were entertained for the safety of the
regiment; but providentially it did not sustain any loss, and it
sailed from the Cape of Good Hope on the 10th of November.
[Sidenote: 1797]
On the 10th of January, 1797, the Indiamen anchored in Madras
roads; the regiment landed on the following day at Fort St George,
and mustered eight hundred and seventy rank and file, whose
appearance excited admiration.
The regiment was employed on garrison duty at Fort St. George until
the middle of August, when it embarked for Manilla, the capital
of the Spanish settlements in the Philippine Islands, situate
on the banks of a bay, at the mouth of the river Pasig, in the
island of Luconan. On the 23rd of August six companies proceeded
on the voyage; the other four companies were embarked on board of
men-of-war, and were about to follow, when orders were received
for their disembarking, in consequence of intelligence from the
Mysore country, indicating a projected irruption into the British
territory by the celebrated Tippoo Saib.
The six companies continued the voyage, and arrived in September
at the Prince of Wales's Island, called also Penang, or Betel Nut
Island, situated off the west coast of the Malay peninsula, from
which it is separated by a narrow strait. At this place a large
fleet was assembled, with a numerous body of troops, from the
Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, for the expedition
against Luconan and the other Philippine islands; the Prince of
Wales's Island having been selected for the rendezvous of the
forces to be employed in this enterprise. The prospect of the
services of the troops being speedily required in more important
military operations on the continent of India, occasioned orders to
be issued for their immediate return. Towards the end of September,
the 'Express' sloop arrived with despatches from Madras, and in a
few days afterwards the six companies of the TWELFTH sailed from
the Prince of Wales's Island. They encountered contrary winds, and
it being found impossible for the transports to contend against the
north-west monsoon, the TWELFTH returned to the island in October.
They again sailed for Madras on the 15th of November, and landed at
Fort George on the 12th of December; during their absence the other
four companies of the regiment had exchanged a few shots with a
French squadron, which had appeared in Madras-roads, and succeeded
in driving an Indiaman on shore under the works of the fort.
[Sidenote: 1798]
Among the various schemes of aggrandizement entertained by the
republican government of France, was the wild and extravagant idea
of being able to gain possession of the British territory in the
East Indies. To strike an effectual blow at the naval, commercial,
and colonial greatness of the British nation, was an object of
primary consideration with the French directory, and to excite
the jealousy of the native princes of India, and induce them to
take up arms against the English, was one of the means used to
accomplish this object. In the ruler of the fruitful province of
Mysore, the celebrated Tippoo Sultan, the French found a chieftain
eager to seize on the first opportunity for being revenged on the
British, who had punished his former aggressions by depriving him
of a considerable portion of territory, and inflicting a fine
equal to three and a half millions sterling. This chief entered
zealously into the design to drive the English out of India, and
endeavoured to induce other princes to join in the enterprise.
After the discovery of the designs of the enemy, hostilities were
delayed some time, and the TWELFTH regiment marched for Tanjore,
the capital of a well-cultivated province in the Carnatic, where it
arrived on the 1st of March, 1798.
The regiment was reviewed at Tanjore, by Major-General Floyd, who
expressed in orders to Colonel Aston, the officers, and soldiers,
'the satisfaction he received on inspecting the eight companies of
the TWELFTH regiment of infantry at the station;' and added--'In
the masterly hands of their commanding officer, there is every
reason to expect that His Majesty's TWELFTH regiment of infantry
will, whenever called upon, be ready and disposed to renew in the
east the glories of Minden and Gibraltar.'
Preparatory to the grand enterprise of driving the English out of
India, General Bonaparte was sent with a French army to Egypt; many
French officers and men were introduced into the army of Tippoo
Sultan, and other measures were adopted calculated to forward the
design. Under these circumstances the Governor-General of India,
Lord Mornington, deemed it necessary to assemble a body of troops
on the coast of Coromandel, and to engage the Nizam of the Deccan
to furnish an auxiliary force. The TWELFTH regiment marched from
the fortress of Tanjore, on the 22nd of July, to join the army
assembling under the orders of Lieut.-General Harris.
[Sidenote: 1799]
On the 1st of January, 1799, the regiment joined the camp of the
army advancing towards Mysore, and negociations having failed, the
troops penetrated the territory of Tippoo Sultan in the beginning
of March. The TWELFTH, seventy-fourth, and Scots brigade, formed
the first brigade of infantry under Major-General Baird.
During the night of the 7th of March, the regiment was employed,
under Major-General Baird, in an attempt to surprise the camp of a
body of the enemy's cavalry, but the Mysoreans obtained information
of the design and made a precipitate retreat.
On the following day, the light company of the TWELFTH, commanded
by Captain Woodhall, took possession of _Neldroog_ without
opposition.
The British advanced direct upon the capital of the Mysore country,
_Seringapatam_,[19] and Tippoo endeavoured to harass the march
by skirmishes, and impede the progress of the troops by burning
villages and laying waste the country. The regiment having entered
upon active warfare, the Commanding Officer issued the following
order:--'As the TWELFTH regiment, from having the honour to be the
eldest King's regiment with the army, is more liable to be called
on for immediate service than other corps, the Commanding Officer
expects the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and Private Men,
will be ready, night or day, to turn out at the shortest notice,
and to parade under arms without noise or confusion. On all sudden
alarms the light infantry is instantly to accoutre without waiting
for orders, and to be in readiness to march whenever their services
may be required.'
On the 27th of March, as the Lascars were pitching the tents of the
army on a fine plain beyond the fort of _Malleville_, they were
suddenly assailed by a heavy cannonade from an eminence in front;
at the same time the advance-piquet, under Captain McPherson of the
TWELFTH regiment, was attacked by a force of very superior numbers,
but repulsed its assailants with distinguished bravery. The army
arriving on the plain, advanced in close column of regiments
towards the eminence, upon which large bodies of Mysorean cavalry
and infantry were formed, who withdrew their heavy guns, but
annoyed the advancing columns with rockets.
As the British columns approached the height, they formed line,
and ascended to the summit, which was abandoned by the enemy, but
a short distance beyond the eminence appeared the army of Mysore
in order of battle. As the TWELFTH moved forward, a large body
of Mysorean cavalry formed in the shape of a wedge, having an
elephant with a howdah on his back in front, appeared advancing
to charge the regiment, and the British line halted to receive
the attack. Immediately afterwards two other very large bodies of
the enemy were discovered in two topes, or woods, preparing to
support the first charge. Lieut.-General Harris, seeing the danger
which menaced the regiment, placed himself in its rear, frequently
repeating the words, 'Steady, Twelfth!' 'Steady, old Twelfth!'
and when the wedge approached within a hundred yards of the line,
the Mysoreans discharged their carbines and pistols, but without
doing execution. The TWELFTH remained steady, with their muskets
at the recover, until the enemy arrived within about thirty yards,
when a well-directed volley, followed by a rapid file firing,
carried destruction into the enemy's ranks; a rampart of killed
and wounded men and horses lying along the front of the regiment.
The rear of the wedge was embarrassed by the killed and wounded
in front, and could not continue their charge. The elephant was
severely wounded, his conductor killed, the chiefs on his back had
fallen, and he turned round and directed all his fury upon the
Mysoreans, overturning everything in his retrograde movement, and
producing great havoc with a prodigious chain, which he swayed. A
few Mysorean horsemen broke through the regiment, but they were
instantly shot in its rear, and the British artillery arriving, and
opening its fire, the enemy's cavalry fell back; at the same time
the British line advanced, and decided the fate of the day at that
part of the field; a distant cannonade, however, indicated that the
battle was raging elsewhere.
The left of the right wing was opposed to Tippoo's infantry,
and gained a complete victory; between seven and eight thousand
Mysoreans being put _hors de combat_: the loss of the British did
not amount to so many hundreds.
In general orders issued on the same evening, it was stated, 'The
Commander-in-Chief congratulates the army on the happy result of
this day's action, during which he had various opportunities of
witnessing its gallantry, coolness, and attention to orders:' and
in brigade orders, 'Major-General Baird, with the most heartfelt
satisfaction, congratulates the brigade on the victory obtained
this day over the enemy; it is sufficient for him to say, that the
valour of the corps fully answered his expectation.'
On the following morning, the army continued its advance upon
the capital of Mysore, and the enemy used various stratagems to
retard the movement until the approach of the rainy season should
render the siege of Seringapatam impracticable. The water was
found impregnated with poison; many men were taken seriously ill,
and several horses fell down dead while in the act of drinking;
the smoking ruins of villages, and other scenes of devastation
presented themselves; at the same time large bodies of hostile
cavalry hovered round the army, and the camp was often annoyed by
rockets; but the British forces moved steadily forward, and on the
3rd of April they arrived within four miles of _Seringapatam_,--a
city and fortress, which had attained considerable strength and
splendour under Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Sultan: it is situate
at the upper end of an island, four miles long, and a mile and a
half broad, in the river Cavery.
About six o'clock on the evening of the 3rd of April, the TWELFTH
regiment, with the flank companies of the seventy-fourth and
Scots brigade, assembled under Major-General Baird, to beat up
the enemy's cavalry encampments: they were out all night without
effecting the surprise of any of the enemy's detachments; but about
three o'clock on the following morning they came suddenly upon a
numerous body of Mysorean cavalry, when they rushed forward and
bayoneted nearly every man before the Mysoreans could mount their
horses, which were led into the British camp at six o'clock, at the
moment the army was about to commence its march.
On the 4th of April, the army arrived in sight of Seringapatam;
the soldiers had skirmished with the enemy's cavalry and rocket
men, during the march, and in the evening a general order was
issued, in which it was stated,--'The Commander-in-Chief takes
this opportunity of noticing the high sense he has of the general
exertion of the troops throughout the long and tedious march, with
the largest encampment ever known to move with any army in India;
and in congratulating them on a sight of Seringapatam, he has every
confidence that a continuance of the same exertions will very
shortly put an end to their labours, and place the British colours
on its walls!'
The army took up a new position on the 5th of April, and in the
evening the TWELFTH regiment was ordered to advance, supported
by two battalions of Sepoys, and take possession of a nullah, or
bed of a river or aqueduct, about a mile and a half in front of
the camp. The night was very dark, but the regiment had scarcely
cleared the outposts, when the air was illuminated by hundreds of
fire-balls thrown up by the enemy, who thus detected the advance
of the British troops, and immediately commenced a heavy fire of
musketry and rockets, under which the TWELFTH continued to advance
in open column of companies. Suddenly, regular platoon firing
was heard in front, and showers of bullets assailed the regiment
on both flanks and in front, when it formed line. The trampling
sound of approaching troops occasioned the regiment to prepare
to charge with the bayonet, which was about to be executed, when
it was discovered that the approaching troops were one of the
battalions of Sepoys which had been ordered to support the TWELFTH.
This battalion had lost its road, moved to the front, and become
exposed to the attack of very superior numbers of the enemy, whom
it had engaged upwards of an hour, which accounted for the platoon
firing heard in front; it was retreating, bringing off its killed
and wounded, under Major Colin Campbell, and being pursued, formed
in the rear of the TWELFTH regiment. When the pursuing Mysoreans
discovered, by their fire-balls, the line of Europeans before them,
they fell back to a greater distance, but without any relaxation
in their fire, and so many spent balls struck the officers and
soldiers of the TWELFTH, that they were ordered to sit down to
await the approach of day for the completion of the enterprise;
the nullah was at some distance, and it could only be approached
by a road of difficult access. The regiment did not fire a shot,
but large quantities of ammunition were sent from the camp; the
incessant firing having given rise to the expectation that the
soldiers must have expended their cartridges.