about to quit Chester, the mayor and magistrates of this city
cannot allow you to leave without expressing the very high sense
entertained of the general urbanity of yourself and brother
officers; and the prompt exertions of the officers, and good
conduct of the privates upon several trying occasions, when the
safety and property of the city were threatened by fire.
“_For the Magistrates of the City_,
(Signed) “ROBERT MORRIS,
“_Mayor_.
“_Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair, &c._”
On the 20th of May the regiment occupied the following stations:
head-quarters and four companies at Stockport; two companies at
Macclesfield; two at Oldham; one company at Hyde, and one at
Ashton-under-Lyne.
The following highly gratifying letter was received on the 14th of
June:—
“_Head Quarters, Rotherham,
“11th June 1829._
“SIR,
“It is with great pleasure that I obey the orders of the General
Commanding in chief, to express to you the satisfaction he
has felt at the favorable report which I was enabled to make
in my half-yearly confidential report upon the state of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment under your command; and it is his
Lordship’s desire that you make this expression of his sentiments
known to the regiment.
(Signed) “H. F. BOUVERIE,
“_Major-General_.
“_Lieut.-Colonel Hunter Blair,
Commanding Eighty-seventh Regiment._”
On the 7th of July, the regiment left Salford Barracks, Manchester,
and occupied the following stations. Head-quarters and four
companies at Bolton in Lancashire; four companies at Blackburn,
and two companies at Oldham. Prior to quitting Manchester a letter
was received from Robert Sharpe, Esq., constable of Manchester,
expressive of the regret of his colleagues, the inhabitants of
the place, and himself, at the sudden departure of the regiment,
and in which a marked tribute was paid by the authorities to its
“_exemplary conduct_” while stationed in that town.
[Sidenote: 1830.]
On the 25th of December 1830, the regiment commenced wearing
the royal uniform and appointments, in compliance with the
Adjutant-General’s letter of the 15th of October 1827: also
Oxford-mixture pantaloons, which were introduced into the army by
circular, dated 10th of February 1829.
By circular letter from the Adjutant-General, dated the 18th of
March, a red fatigue jacket was substituted for the infantry of the
army, in lieu of the white jacket formerly in wear.
By a circular letter from the Adjutant-General, dated the 22nd
of April, regiments were directed not to recruit beyond six
hundred and sixty rank and file, being eighty under the nominal
establishment of seven hundred and forty.
The regiment was twice inspected at Manchester by Major-General Sir
Henry Bouverie, on the 21st of November 1829, and the 28th of May
1830, on which last occasion the Major-General declared that it had
gained, in all respects, his most unqualified approbation.
The regiment remained at Manchester until July 1830, when it was
removed to Bolton-le-Moors: it embarked for Ireland in September
following, and was stationed at Newry until November, when it
returned to England, and was quartered at Plymouth.
[Sidenote: 1831.]
On the 1st of January 1831, an orderly-room clerk was authorised to
be borne on the establishment.
In the early part of the year 1831, directions were given for
the formation of the regiment into six service and four depôt
companies, and on the 23rd of February the service companies
embarked for the Mauritius, where they arrived in June following:
the depôt companies were left at Devonport.
[Sidenote: 1833.]
[Sidenote: 1834.]
The depôt companies remained at Devonport until October 1833,
when they proceeded to Fort Cumberland; from thence to Gosport in
December following, and to Portsmouth in February 1834.
On the 15th of August 1834, Major-General Sir Thomas Reynell,
Bart., K.C.B., was removed from the colonelcy of the Ninety-ninth
to that of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in succession to General
Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., deceased.
[Sidenote: 1835.]
[Sidenote: 1839.]
The depôt companies remained at Portsmouth until August 1835, when
they were moved to Chatham: they embarked for Ireland in August
1836, and were stationed at Nenagh; proceeded to Birr in September
1837, to Longford in December, and Castlebar in May following,
where they remained until April 1839, when they were removed to
Boyle: they proceeded to Virginia in July, to Drogheda in August,
and to Dublin in September 1839.
On the 12th of August 1839, the establishment of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
Royal Irish Fusiliers was increased to forty-seven serjeants,
fourteen drummers, forty corporals, and seven hundred and sixty
privates.
[Sidenote: 1840.]
[Sidenote: 1841.]
[Sidenote: 1842.]
The depôt companies of the regiment returned to England in June
1840, and were stationed at Carlisle: they were removed to
Tynemouth in May, and to Hull in June 1841: they remained at the
latter station until August 1842, when they proceeded to Airdrie,
and in the following month they marched to Paisley.
On the 15th of March 1841, Major-General Sir Hugh (now Viscount)
Gough, K.C.B., was removed from the colonelcy of the Ninety-ninth
to that of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment, in succession to
Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Reynell, Bart., K.C.B., appointed to the
Seventy-first light infantry.
[Sidenote: 1843.]
The number of drummers on the establishment of the regiment was
increased from fourteen to seventeen, on the 1st of April 1843.
The service companies had continued at the Mauritius from June
1831 to the 20th of June 1843, when they embarked for the United
Kingdom on board Her Majesty’s ship “Thunderer,” and disembarked at
Devonport on the 30th of September 1843.
On the 29th of September 1843, the depôt companies marched from
Paisley _en route_ to Fort George.
The head-quarters of the regiment were embarked for Scotland on
the 2nd, and arrived at Glasgow on the 4th of October 1843; and
on the 29th the depôt companies were taken on the strength, and
amalgamated with the regiment.
[Sidenote: 1844 to 1847.]
The regiment remained at Glasgow until August 1844, when it marched
for Edinburgh, and in July 1845 it moved to Aberdeen: in September
1846 the regiment proceeded to Newport in Monmouthshire, and in
September 1847 it marched for Weedon.
[Sidenote: 1848.]
On the 1st of April 1848, the regiment was augmented to fifty-seven
serjeants, twenty-one drummers, fifty corporals, and nine hundred
and fifty privates, and another serjeant was added in the following
year, to raise it to the India establishment.
[Sidenote: 1849.]
The regiment proceeded to Gravesend in April 1849, and on the 20th
of that month it embarked for the East Indies, and arrived at
Calcutta on the 31st of July 1849, and is at present serving in the
Bengal presidency.
[Sidenote: 1853.]
The depôt company was moved, in March 1849, from Weedon to Chatham,
where it now continues a part of the provisional battalion.
1853.
[Illustration: QUEEN’S COLOR
REGIMENTAL COLOR
THE 87^{TH} REGIMENT
OR
THE ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS
FOR CANNONS MILITARY RECORDS
_Madeley lith 3, Wellington S^t. Strand_]
FOOTNOTES:
[6] A list of the battalions formed from men raised under the
“_Army of Reserve_” and “_Additional Force Acts_” is inserted in
pages 97, &c. of the Appendix.
[7] In June 1806, _Buenos Ayres_ had been captured by the British
under Brigadier-General William Carr Beresford, afterwards General
Viscount Beresford; the place was, however, recovered by the
Spaniards in August following, and the troops became prisoners.
In the autumn of 1806, an armament, consisting of the Ninth and
Seventeenth light dragoons, detachment of the Twenty-first light
dragoons, Royal artillery and engineers, Fortieth, first battalion
of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH, and Ninety-fifth (rifle corps) regiments,
proceeded to share in the contest in South America. In October
the Thirty-eighth regiment commanded by Colonel Vassal, and the
Forty-seventh, under Colonel Backhouse, proceeded from the Cape of
Good Hope to the Rio de la Plata, and on finding that Buenos Ayres
had been recaptured by the Spaniards, the troops under the command
of Colonel Backhouse, in conjunction with the naval squadron
under Commodore Sir Home Popham, took possession of the town of
Maldonado, and the island of Gorreti, on the left bank of the river
Plate. In the summer of 1807 an expedition for a second attempt on
Buenos Ayres proceeded to that part of the world, under the command
of Lieut.-General Whitelocke, who assumed the command of the troops
in South America. Other corps had also proceeded to South America,
of which a list is inserted in the Appendix, page 91.
[8] Lieutenant Fenton was promoted to the rank of Captain in the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment on the 22nd of April 1817.
[9] A Memoir of the services of Lieut.-Colonel Shawe, is inserted
in the Appendix, page 95.
HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SECOND BATTALION
OF
THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT,
OR THE
ROYAL IRISH FUSILIERS.
[Sidenote: 1804.]
The British Government continued to adopt the most vigorous
measures for the defence of the kingdom, and for the prosecution
of the war. In addition to the acts of Parliament passed in July
1803 for raising “_The Army of Reserve_,” further Acts were passed
in June and July 1804 for levying a larger number of men in the
several counties of Great Britain and Ireland, which were termed
the “_Additional Force Acts_.”
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment was augmented by a second battalion,
which, with seven other regiments, was appointed to receive men
raised in _Ireland_ under the act of the 14th of July 1804; the men
raised in the counties of _Tipperary_, _Galway_, and _Clare_, were
allotted to the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment; the assembling quarter of
the second battalion was appointed at Frome in Somersetshire, and
the battalion was placed on the establishment of the army, from
the 25th of December 1804, at six hundred rank and file, which was
augmented in the following year to eight hundred, and in the year
1807 to one thousand rank and file, and continued at that number
to December 1814, when it was reduced to eight hundred, and from
December 1815 to six hundred rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1805.]
The second battalion marched from Frome to Bristol in March 1805,
and embarked for Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1806.]
On the 27th of October 1806 the battalion, consisting of
twenty-nine serjeants, nine drummers, and five hundred and
sixty-eight rank and file, embarked from Ireland for England.
[Sidenote: 1807.]
On the 27th of April 1807 the battalion embarked at Plymouth, and
proceeded to Guernsey.
The following report was made to Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle,
Bart., commanding the troops at Guernsey, by Brigadier-General
John Fraser, after his inspection of the second battalion of the
EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment.
“_Guernsey, 30th June 1807._
“SIR,
“I have the honor to report, that when I minutely inspected the
second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment two months after
their arrival in this island, I found every thing in a state of
perfection that would have done credit to an old established
regiment, and which could not have been expected in a battalion
so lately formed. The flank companies are uncommonly fine. The
battalion men are in general of good size, young and stout, and
the whole appear healthy and well fed: they march well, are
steady under arms, and perfect in their discipline. The interior
regulations are excellent, barracks and hospital clean, books
regular, women and children decent in their appearance, _and every
thing to be commended_. The appointments are in good order, the
clothing is very good and well fitted, gaiters, shoes, &c. good
without exception. There have been very few courts martial, very
few non-commissioned officers reduced, and _not one punished man in
the battalion_.
“The officers are well dressed and very attentive to their duty.
Since their arrival here, the EIGHTY-SEVENTH have occupied the town
district, where I have had daily opportunities of seeing them, and
I have always found them attentive on duty, well dressed in the
streets, quiet and regular, no complaints, no drunkenness, even at
the monthly settlements.
“I am of opinion that the second battalion of the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
is fit for any service, and very likely to be distinguished,
especially while commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, who appears
one of the best and most attentive officers I have ever seen, and
who is to be particularly commended for keeping up very strict
discipline without the least appearance of severity.
“I have, &c.,
(Signed) “JOHN FRASER,
“_Brigadier-General_.
“_To Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, Bart., commanding
His Majesty’s Forces in Guernsey and Alderney._”
The above report of Brigadier-General Fraser was highly gratifying
to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, whose
approbation thereof was signified to Lieut.-Colonel Doyle, and to
the second battalion, through Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, by the
Adjutant-General on the 10th of July 1807.
[Sidenote: 1808.]
Important events had in the meantime occurred on the continent of
Europe. Napoleon having reduced Germany to submission to his will,
and forced Russia to accede to his decrees, next attempted the
subjugation of Spain and Portugal. The Spaniards and Portuguese
rose in arms to assert their national rights, the French emperor
having conferred the crown of Spain on his brother Joseph, who
relinquished the throne of Naples in favour of Marshal Murat.
In the summer of 1808 Portugal was delivered by a British army
under Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, and in the autumn
Lieut.-General Sir John Moore received orders to advance with a
body of British troops from Portugal into the heart of Spain;
several regiments were embarked from the United Kingdom to
co-operate in the enterprise.
On the 4th of June 1808, the battalion embarked from Guernsey,
proceeded to Harwich, and from thence to Ramsgate, having
previously occupied Weely Barracks and Danbury Camp.
Lieut.-Colonel Charles W. Doyle[10] having been appointed a
brigadier-general and employed on a special mission in Spain, the
command of the second battalion devolved upon Major Hugh Gough,
and on the 28th of December following, it embarked at Ramsgate to
join the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, with numerous
supplies of men and stores; but being dispersed by a storm, it
rendezvoused at Cork, from whence it was ordered to proceed to
Portugal.
[Sidenote: 1809.]
The battalion arrived at Lisbon on the 12th of March 1809, and
joined the army under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley. It was employed in the operations against the French at
Oporto, and advanced in April following in pursuit of the French
army, which had retreated from Portugal towards Madrid.
After suffering many privations in common with the rest of the
troops, a junction was effected at Oropesa on the 20th of July
with the Spanish army under General Cuesta. On the 27th of July,
when General Cuesta had retreated from Alcabon under cover of
Lieut.-General Sherbrooke’s divisions, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur
Wellesley, K.B., withdrew to the position of _Talavera_, leaving
Major-General John Randoll McKenzie on the Alberche to protect
the movement. When the French on the 27th of July crossed this
river, Major-General McKenzie’s division was posted near the
Casa des Salinas, his infantry in the forest, and cavalry on the
plain. The attack was somewhat sudden, and the second battalions
of the Thirty-first and EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiments, which were in
the wood on the right of the Alberche, sustained some loss. As
the enemy increased his numbers on the British side of the river,
Major-General McKenzie fell back gradually, and entering the
position by the left of the combined army, took up his ground in a
second line in rear of the foot guards. In the dusk of the evening
the enemy commenced his attack on the British left, but failed. In
the night the attack was repeated, and on the morning of the 28th
of July the French renewed the attack on the height on the British
left, and were again repulsed with considerable loss.
After a pause of some hours the attacks were renewed upon the whole
British front, and the action became general. Brigadier-General
Alexander Campbell’s division, on the British right, sustained the
assault of the enemy’s fourth corps, assisted by Major-General
McKenzie’s brigade. “The English regiments, putting the French
skirmishers aside, met the advancing columns with loud shouts, and
breaking in on their front, and lapping their flanks with fire, and
giving no respite, pushed them back with a terrible carnage. Ten
guns were taken; but as General Campbell prudently forbore pursuit,
the French rallied on their supports, and made a show of attacking
again. Vain attempt! The British artillery and musketry played too
vehemently upon their masses, and a Spanish regiment of cavalry
charging on their flank at the same time, the whole retired in
disorder, and the victory was secured in that quarter.”[11]
In the action on the 28th of July, Major-General McKenzie, who
commanded the division of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH formed part, was
killed.
The news of the victory of _Talavera_ gained over the French army,
commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, excited great joy in
England, and Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the
peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington.
The loss of the British amounted to six thousand in killed,
wounded, and missing; that of the French was much more
considerable. The loss sustained by _the second battalion of the_
EIGHTY-SEVENTH _regiment_ consisted of one officer and one hundred
and ten men killed, and thirteen officers and two hundred and
thirty men wounded: total three hundred and fifty-four; strength
in the field, eight hundred and twenty-six, leaving a remainder of
four hundred and seventy-two.
_Killed._
Ensign—Nicholas la Serre.
_Wounded._
_Major_—Hugh Gough, _severely_ (on 28th July).
_Captain_—Rawdon McCrea, _slightly_ (_since dead_).
” Anthony William Somersall, _slightly_.
_Lieutenant_—W. G. Cavanagh, _severely_.
” Richard Thos. Hingston, _died of his wounds_.
” Ralph Johnson, _severely_.
” John D. Bagenal, _arm amputated_.
” James Carroll, _severely_.
” Adam Rogers, _severely_ (on 28th July).
_Ensign_—Theobald Butler, _severely_.
” Theobald Pepper, _severely_ (on 28th July).
” Wright Knox, _severely_.
” James T. Moore, _slightly_.
Acting Serjeant-Major Paterson was promoted to an ensigncy for
good conduct in this action, and Quartermaster-Serjeant Cowell
was shortly afterwards promoted also to an ensigncy for length of
service and gallant conduct.
The EIGHTY-SEVENTH subsequently received the royal authority
to bear the word “TALAVERA,” on the regimental colour and
appointments, in commemoration of the conduct of the second
battalion on that occasion.
The junction of the divisions of Marshals Soult, Ney, and
Mortier, in the rear of the British, compelled them to fall back
on Badajoz. On the 10th of September, the second battalion of
the EIGHTY-SEVENTH regiment received orders to repair to Lisbon,
where it arrived on the 24th; and two strong detachments having
arrived from England, and a number of wounded men joining from the
hospitals, the battalion was again reported fit for service.
[Sidenote: 1810.]
On the 5th of February 1810, the battalion embarked at Lisbon for
_Cadiz_, and disembarked there on the 12th, which city was at that
time besieged by a powerful French army, under Marshal Soult.
The whole of this year the battalion was employed in erecting
batteries, and strengthening the defence of the place, during which
the battalion lost several men.
Lieut.-General Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) commanded
the British forces in Cadiz, and an expedition was resolved upon
for the purpose of making a combined attack on the rear of the
blockading army under Marshal Victor, who now commanded at the
siege of Cadiz, in consequence of Marshal Soult having proceeded
with a body of troops into Estremadura.
[Sidenote: 1811.]
On the 18th of February 1811, the battalion embarked at Cadiz, and
sailed for Gibraltar.
The army under the command of Lieut.-General Graham consisted of
about three thousand men[12], and a body of seven thousand troops
commanded by General La Pena. The force of which the EIGHTY-SEVENTH
formed part, disembarked at Algesiras on the 23rd of February, and
the troops being united at Tarifa, marched from thence on the 28th
of February.
General Zayas pushed a strong body of Spanish troops across the
river Santi Petri near the coast on the 1st of March, threw a
bridge over, and formed a _tête-de-pont_. This post was attacked
by the enemy on the nights of the 3rd and 4th of March, who was
repulsed, though the Spaniards sustained considerable loss.
On the 5th of March 1811, Lieut.-General Graham, and the army under
his command, arrived on the low ridge of _Barrosa_, and gained
a decisive victory over the French army under Marshal Victor,
composed of the two divisions of Generals Rufin and Laval.
The circumstances under which Lieut.-General Graham found himself
placed were such as compelled him to attack the very superior
force, in point of numbers, of his opponents. The allied army,
after a night-march of sixteen hours from the camp near Veger,
arrived on the morning of the 5th at the low ridge of _Barrosa_,
about four miles to the southward of the mouth of the Santi
Petri river. This height extends inland about a mile and a half,
continuing on the north the extensive heathy plain of Chiclana.
A great pine forest skirts the plain, and circles round the
height at some distance, terminating down to Santi Petri, the
intermediate space between the north side of the height and the
forest being uneven and broken. A well-conducted and successful
attack on the rear of the enemy’s lines near Santi Petri by the
vanguard of the Spaniards under Brigadier-General Ladrizabel,
opened the communication with the Isla de Leon, and Lieut.-General
Graham received General La Pena’s directions to move down from the
position of Barrosa to that of the Torre de Bermeja, about half
way to the Santi Petri river, in order to secure the communication
across the river, over which a bridge had been recently
constructed. This latter position occupied a narrow woody ridge,
the right on the sea cliff, the left falling down to the Almanza
creek on the edge of the marsh. An easy communication between the
western points of these two positions was kept up by a hard sandy
beach. Lieut.-General Graham, while on the march through the wood
towards the Bermeja, received intelligence that the enemy had
appeared in force on the plain of Chiclana, about fifty miles from
Tarifa, and was advancing towards the heights of _Barrosa_.
The British general, considering that position as the key to that
of Santi Petri, immediately countermarched in order to support
the troops left for its defence, and the alacrity with which this
manœuvre was executed served as a favourable omen. It was, however,
impossible in such intricate and difficult ground to preserve order
in the columns, and time was never afforded to restore it entirely.
Before the British could get quite disentangled from the wood, the
troops on the _Barrosa_ hill were seen returning from it, while
the enemy’s left wing was rapidly ascending. His right wing at
the same time stood on the plain, on the edge of the wood, within
cannon-shot. A retreat in the face of such an enemy, already
within reach of the easy communication by the sea-beach, must have
involved the whole allied army in all the danger of being attacked
during the unavoidable confusion of the different corps arriving
nearly at the same time on the narrow ridge of the Bermeja.