advanced in triumph to the capital. A crisis had arrived, and the
destiny of Spain appeared to depend on the speedy advance to Madrid
of a body of British and Portuguese troops which were manœuvring on
the frontiers of Portugal; but the Portuguese generals disappointed
the hopes of the allies, and sent their troops into quarters.
Meanwhile King Charles occupied Madrid with a small army; the
enemy called to his aid additional troops; new armies and new
generals appeared in Spain, and the forces of King Philip were
soon so superior in numbers to the allies, that the latter were
forced to retire from the capital towards Catalonia. King Charles
consulted his own safety and proceeded to Barcelona, accompanied
by a detachment of the royal dragoons. The army was pressed by
the enemy in its retiring movements; the country people withheld
supplies of provisions and forage, and availed themselves of every
opportunity to attack small parties and to plunder the baggage.
Thus harassed on every side--worn out with the fatigues of a long
campaign--in a country hostile to their cause--exposed to inclement
weather, and without tents--the condition of the soldiers may be
more easily conceived than expressed. On the 6th of December, the
SIXTH and several other corps, forming the rear column on the
left, under Lieut.-General Stanhope, arrived at the village of
_Brihuega_, consisting of about a thousand houses, and situate on
the side of a hill near the river. Here the troops halted on the
following day, and at the moment when the officers and men were
expecting orders to march, the village was surrounded by the French
and Spanish forces under the Duke of Vendosme. The English, finding
their retreat thus cut off, prepared for a vigorous defence; but
unfortunately they had no artillery, and very little ammunition,
and the ruinous old wall which surrounded the village was but a
feeble bulwark to oppose to a powerful train of artillery. The
enemy forced one of the gates with their cannon, made a practicable
breach in the wall, and attacked the place by storm. But British
courage did not quail before the host of foes by which the village
was surrounded; and the enemy was driven back with great slaughter.
A second attack was made: eight hundred French infantry gained
access to the village, and a sharp conflict was maintained in the
houses and streets; and when the English had expended all their
ammunition, they hurled bricks, stones, and other missiles from
the tops of the houses upon their opponents. But being pent up in
a small village by a numerous army, and without ammunition, they
were forced to surrender prisoners of war. Such was the fate of
two thousand brave men, whose achievements are immortalized in
history; and the veterans of the SIXTH, who had so often signalized
themselves, were consigned to surveillance and to prison: but their
honour was preserved untarnished.
[Sidenote: 1711]
[Sidenote: 1712]
[Sidenote: 1713]
[Sidenote: 1714]
Lieut.-Colonel John Ramsay and about three hundred officers and
men of the regiment were thus made prisoners at the little walled
town of Brihuega, in the mountains of Castile; but the officers
and men on command and on detachment in the towns through which
the army advanced escaped this disaster. The enemy used every
means to induce the English, German, and Palatine soldiers, taken
prisoners, to enlist into their service, and withheld provision
from such as refused: this, however, proved advantageous to the
allies; the soldiers availed themselves of every opportunity to
desert the enemy's service, and returned in parties of thirty and
forty to their own army.[32] Recruits also arrived from England;
the officers and men who remained in captivity were exchanged, and
several of the corps were re-organized; but the SIXTH do not appear
to have been engaged in any important service in the years 1711 and
1712. On the decease of the Emperor of Germany, King Charles was
elevated to the imperial throne; one of the competitors for the
crown of Spain was thus removed; a cessation of hostilities took
place between the English and French in the campaign of 1712, which
was followed by a treaty of peace, called the peace of Utrecht; and
the SIXTH proceeded to Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1715]
[Sidenote: 1716]
After the decease of Queen Anne, and the accession of King George
I., several alterations were made in the army, and Colonel Harrison
was succeeded in the command of the SIXTH by Colonel ROBERT DORMER,
from the lieut.-colonelcy of the first troop (now first regiment)
of life-guards, by commission dated the 7th of March, 1716.
[Sidenote: 1717]
[Sidenote: 1718]
[Sidenote: 1719]
During the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, and the alarm occasioned
by the proceedings of the courts of Spain and Sweden in favour of
the Pretender, the SIXTH remained in Ireland; but when the rash
and unjust proceedings of the Spanish minister, Cardinal Alberoni,
involved Great Britain and France in a war with Spain, the
regiment was selected to form part of an expedition against the
coast of Spain. The capture of Sardinia and the invasion of Sicily
by the Spaniards was followed by a naval war in the Mediterranean;
and the British government projected the capture of Corunna in
Biscay, and of Peru in South America. The attack on Corunna was
first determined on; and the SIXTH formed part of a land-force of
four thousand men, placed under the orders of General Viscount
Cobham for this service. The troops embarked in the beginning
of September, 1719; but, on arriving off the coast of Gallicia,
circumstances occurred which occasioned the attack on Corunna to
be laid aside, and an attempt on _Vigo_ determined on. The fleet
entered the harbour of Vigo on the 29th of September, and seized
on seven ships, three of which were fitting up as privateers; on
the following day the grenadiers landed on the south side of the
river, three miles above the town; a sharp fire of musketry was
opened upon them from the mountains, but at too great a distance
to produce effect, and the battalion companies having gained the
shore, the troops passed the night under arms. On the 1st of
October the army approached the town, and encamped with its left to
the sea near the village of Boas, and its right extending towards
the mountains; abundance of wine being found in the houses, which
were left without inhabitants, the soldiers drank freely, and
it was found necessary to enforce strict discipline to prevent
irregularities. The town of Vigo, and fort St. Sebastian, were
abandoned by the enemy and taken possession of by Brigadier-General
Honeywood, with eight hundred men. A thousand Spaniards retired to
the citadel, and held out; but after a heavy battery had opened
its fire, and the garrison had lost nearly three hundred men, the
lieut.-governor surrendered. Two thousand barrels of powder, eight
thousand muskets, and fifteen fine brass guns, which had been
prepared for the invasion of Britain in favour of the Pretender,
were found in the castle: the troops in garrison were also part of
the force which had been selected to serve in the expedition under
the Duke of Ormond. While the siege of the castle of Vigo was in
progress, five hundred men were detached against _Rondondella_,
and they captured and burnt the town. A thousand men embarked
under Major-General Wade, on the 12th of October, and, proceeding
to the upper end of Vigo bay, landed and marched thirty miles to
_Pont-a-Vedra_; thirteen companies of Spaniards in garrison fled in
a panic; the country was thrown into confusion, and the principal
inhabitants hurried from their homes. The town of Pont-a-Vedra,
the arsenal, barracks for two thousand men, thirteen pieces of
brass, and eighty-six of iron ordnance, five thousand small arms,
three hundred barrels of powder, and abundance of other stores,
were captured. The arsenal, barracks, and Fort Marine, four miles
from Pont-a-Vedra, with the iron ordnance, were destroyed; the
more valuable stores were removed on board the transports, and the
detachment returned to Vigo.
The king of Spain, being oppressed on every side, his sources
exhausted, and his projects defeated, dismissed his turbulent
minister and made pacific overtures. A treaty of peace was
concluded before the projected expedition against Peru was
undertaken, and the SIXTH were again stationed in Ireland.
[Sidenote: 1720]
[Sidenote: 1738]
On the 9th of April, 1720, Colonel Robert Dormer was succeeded in
the command of the regiment by his brother, Colonel JAMES DORMER,
from the fourteenth dragoons, who was promoted in February, 1738,
to the first troop of horse grenadier guards: the colonelcy
appears to have remained vacant until November following, when it
was conferred on Lieut.-Colonel JOHN GUISE.
[Sidenote: 1739]
[Sidenote: 1740]
The regiment was withdrawn from Ireland in the autumn of 1739, and,
after its arrival in England, another war between Great Britain and
Spain having become inevitable, its establishment was augmented,
and it was ordered to hold itself in readiness to proceed on
foreign service.
A formidable armament was prepared for the attack of the Spanish
colonies in the West Indies, and the land forces were placed under
the orders of General Lord Cathcart, a nobleman of approved courage
and experience in war. The troops having embarked in October, 1740,
sailed under the convoy of a naval force commanded by Sir Chaloner
Ogle; and the colonel of the SIXTH, JOHN GUISE, was appointed to
serve as brigadier-general in the expedition. This regiment did not
form part of the first embarkation, but it was subsequently ordered
to proceed to the West Indies to reinforce the troops employed in
this enterprise.
A tempest dispersed the fleet, consisting of about one hundred
and seventy sail, in the bay of Biscay; but the greater part
of the vessels were re-collected and proceeded on the voyage.
Arriving at the neutral island of Dominica, to provide wood and
water, the troops sustained the loss of their gallant leader,
Lord Cathcart, who died of dysentery; and the command devolved on
Brigadier-General Thomas Wentworth.
[Sidenote: 1741]
On arriving at Jamaica in January, 1741, the expedition was joined
by Vice-Admiral Vernon; but the season of the year for active
service in the West Indies was fast passing away, and several
circumstances concurred to create further delay. At length an
attempt on _Carthagena_, the capital of an extensive and wealthy
province in the country of Terra Firma in South America, was
resolved upon; and, although this place was found strongly
fortified, and the garrison reinforced by the crews of a squadron
of large ships, commanded by Don Blas de Leso; yet, the fleet
having silenced several small forts, eight regiments landed on
the 10th of March, on the island of Tierra Bomba, near the mouth
of the harbour, and commenced the siege of the principal fort, or
castle, called _Bocca-chica_. On the evening of the 25th of March
the grenadiers mounted the breach to storm the fortress, when the
Spanish garrison fled, and the place was captured without loss.
Two channels having been made through the sunk vessels with which
the Spaniards had blocked up the entrance of the harbour, the
troops and artillery were re-embarked, and commenced landing, on
the 5th of April, near the city. The country round Carthagena was
found covered with trees and herbage of the most luxuriant growth,
and the interwoven branches formed a shelter impenetrable both to
heat and light; as the troops, led by Brigadier-General Blakeney,
advanced along a narrow defile, several men were wounded by shots
from the tracts and openings into the wood; and, on diverging from
the defile, six hundred Spaniards were seen advantageously posted
to dispute the passage: but they were speedily driven from their
ground, and the British bivouacked within a mile of the castle of
_St. Lazar_, which commanded the town. The men passed three nights
in the open air, for want of tents and tools, which could not be
landed sooner, and the health of the soldiers was in consequence
seriously injured.
As the men were fast diminishing in numbers from hard duty and
the effects of climate, Brigadier-General Wentworth resolved to
attack _St. Lazar_ by escalade; to which dangerous experiment
he was urged by Vice-Admiral Vernon, who accused him of want of
resolution. Twelve hundred men, commanded by Brigadier-General
Guise, stormed the enemy's intrenchments under the walls of
the fort, and though assailed by a heavy fire of musketry, the
grenadiers, led by Colonel Grant, rushed forward with astonishing
bravery, and leaping into the lines among the thickest of their
adversaries, carried the works in gallant style. The Spaniards fled
over a drawbridge into the fort; the British pursued under a heavy
fire, and called for the ladders to storm the works; but so hot was
the fire, that the Americans who carried the ladders threw them
down and fled back to the camp. Meanwhile the soldiers were exposed
to a most destructive fire, and were unable to cover themselves:
at length three ladders were brought forward, and a serjeant and
ten grenadiers mounted the walls, but were instantly cut to pieces,
excepting the serjeant, who saved himself by leaping down again.
Several of the ladders were found too short; it was ascertained
that, owing to a guide having been killed, the attack was made
on the strongest part of the works; Colonel Grant fell mortally
wounded; and after sustaining a most destructive fire for several
hours with intrepidity and perseverance, the troops were ordered to
retreat, having lost six hundred men in killed and wounded.
This repulse was followed by the violent periodical rains, the
country was deluged with water, and the change of atmosphere (which
is always attended with epidemical distempers and the climate
becomes extremely unhealthy) produced the most fatal effects. The
soldiers were so drenched with rain, and their health so seriously
impaired, that they re-embarked, and all hope of further success
immediately vanished. The admiral was blamed for not stationing
four or five of his large ships within pistol-shot of the town,
when the troops advanced to attack fort St. Lazar; and if this had
been done (Smollett observes), "in all probability the town would
have surrendered."
After re-embarking, the distempers peculiar to the climate produced
great havoc among the soldiers. Smollett states,--"Nothing was
heard but complaints and execrations: the groans of the dying, and
the service for the dead: nothing was seen but objects of woe and
images of dejection." Such are the sufferings often endured by the
British soldier in the various countries to which he is called upon
to proceed, and are generally borne with exemplary fortitude.
The forts and castles of the harbour of Carthagena having been
demolished, the fleet sailed to Jamaica; and subsequently to the
south-east part of the island of Cuba, where the soldiers landed,
and a camp was formed twenty miles up one of the large rivers of
this island. At this camp the SIXTH were stationed some time, and
it was in contemplation to form a British settlement on this part
of Cuba; the country was reconnoitred, detachments were sent out,
and the Spanish villages were found deserted. For a short time a
plentiful supply of fresh provisions was procured; but the men were
afterwards rationed with salt and damaged meat and biscuit, and
their numbers were so reduced by sickness, that in November they
were put on board again, and re-conveyed to Jamaica.
[Sidenote: 1742]
[Sidenote: 1745]
The SIXTH, having suffered severely from the effects of climate,
returned to England in December, 1742, and commenced recruiting
their numbers. They subsequently proceeded to Scotland, where they
were stationed in the summer of 1745, when Charles-Edward, eldest
son of the Pretender, raised his standard in the Highlands, and
asserted his father's pretensions to the throne.
The head-quarters of the SIXTH were at Aberdeen; two companies
were at Inverness, which has been termed the capital of the
Highlands, being the only town of importance north of Aberdeen;
three companies were at Fort Augustus, situated on a plain at the
head of Loch Ness, between the rivers Tarff and Oich, and built at
the spot where they discharge themselves into the lake; a strong
party, commanded by Captain Millar, occupied Fort William, which
was built in the reign of King William III., in a plain on a
navigable arm of the sea, called Loch Eil, near the influx of the
Lochy and Nevis, in the county of Inverness; a serjeant's party
occupied a redoubt at Ruthven; and a working party was employed
on the newly-constructed roads in the Highlands. While in these
quarters information was received of the arrival of the Pretender's
eldest son with a few Scottish and Irish adventurers on the coast
of Lochabar, and of their being joined by a number of Highlanders,
under their respective chiefs. The news of this bold and hazardous
undertaking was at first disbelieved, but Captain SWEETMAN of the
regiment, walking out from Fort Augustus to gain information,
entered an inn in the Highlands, where he was surrounded by eight
rebels and conveyed a prisoner to the young Pretender's camp. There
he was civilly treated, and suffered to go away on his parole;
one of the Pretender's manifestos was given him, with a passport
directed to all sheriffs, sheriff-deputies, and constables in
Scotland, and signed _Charles Pr. Custos Reg._ After his release
Captain Sweetman proceeded by post to London, where he was examined
by the Privy Council, and the tidings of the rebellion were no
longer doubted. The working parties of the SIXTH and other corps
were then ordered to rejoin their regiments.
The young adventurer having assembled about fifteen hundred men,
encamped in the neighbourhood of Fort William: two newly-raised
companies, of the regiments of St. Clair and Murray, proceeding to
Fort William, were attacked by a body of mountaineers, and after
a resolute resistance, the soldiers, having expended all their
ammunition, were forced to surrender. Lieutenant-General Sir John
Cope, the commander-in-chief in Scotland, assembled the disposable
force under his orders at Stirling, and advanced towards the road
leading through the Highlands to Inverlochy, taking with him a
thousand arms, in the expectation of being joined at Crieff by
a body of well-affected Highlanders. A detachment of the SIXTH
accompanied Sir John Cope in this advance through a wild country,
where the soldiers were obliged to take their provision with them,
and being disappointed of the Highlanders, the spare arms were
sent back for want of carriage. On arriving at Dalwhinnie,--the
place where the Fort Augustus and Inverness roads meet, information
was received that the rebels were in force in a position in the
winding of the road up the mountain, of such difficult approach and
natural strength, that it was thought impossible to force it, and
the soldiers, having only two days' provision with them, retired by
Ruthven to Inverness.
A veteran serjeant of the regiment, named MOLLOY, and twelve men
were left in charge of the little fort at _Ruthven_, which they
defended against the rebel host with such distinguished bravery,
that the following letter from this brave man to Sir John Cope
deserves a place in this memoir.
"_Ruthven Redoubt, 30th August, 1745._
"HON. GENERAL,
"This goes to acquaint you, that yesterday there appeared in the
little town of Ruthven about three hundred of the enemy, and sent
proposals to me to surrender this redoubt upon condition that
I should have liberty to carry off bag and baggage. My answer
was, '_I was too old a soldier to surrender a garrison of such
strength without bloody noses_.' They threatened hanging me and
my men for refusal. I told them I would take my chance. This
morning they attacked me about twelve o'clock (by my information)
with about a hundred and fifty men: they attacked fore-gate and
sally-port; and attempted to set sally-port on fire with some old
barrels and other combustibles, which took place immediately, but
the attempter lost his life by it. They drew off about half an
hour after three. About two hours after they sent word to me that
two of their chiefs wanted to talk to me; I admitted and spoke
to them from the parapet: they offered conditions; I refused;
they desired liberty to carry off their dead men; I granted.
There are two men since dead of their wounds in the town, and
three more they took with them, as I am informed. They went off
westward about eight o'clock this morning; they did the like
march yesterday in the afternoon, but came back at night-fall.
They took all the provisions the poor inhabitants had in the
town, and Mrs. M'Pherson, the barrack-wife, and a merchant of the
town, who spoke to me this moment, and who advised me to write to
your honour, and told me there were above three thousand men, all
lodged in the corn-fields west of the town, last night, and their
grand camp is at Dalwhinnie. They have Cluny M'Pherson with them
prisoner, as I have it by the same information. I lost one man,
shot through the head by foolishly holding his head too high over
the parapet. I expect another visit this night, I am informed,
with their pateraroes; but I shall give them the warmest
reception my weak party can afford. I shall hold out as long as
possible. I conclude, honourable general, with great respect,
"Your most humble servant,
"J. MOLLOY, SERJT. 6TH.[33]"
From Inverness Lieut.-General Sir John Cope marched to Aberdeen,
where he embarked the troops in transports, in order to proceed
by sea to Leith, to oppose the progress of the rebels southwards;
and two companies of the SIXTH, commanded by Captains Pointz and
Holwell, were employed in this service. Arriving at Dunbar, on the
16th of September, they landed on the south side of the Firth, and,
to their great mortification and disappointment, learnt that the
rebel highlanders and their adventurous chief had gained possession
of Edinburgh, towards which city Sir John Cope commenced his march
on the 19th of September.
Information having been received of the approach of a rebel force
of very superior numbers, the King's troops took up a position a
short distance to the east of the village of _Preston-pans_, near
the sea, and seven miles from Edinburgh. Several changes of ground
were made as the rebels menaced various parts of the line; but the
attack was delayed, and the soldiers passed the night under arms:
the two companies of the SIXTH, and eight companies of Lascelles'
(forty-seventh) regiment, formed one battalion, and were posted in
the right centre of the front line[34].
About three o'clock on the morning of the 21st of September,
large bodies of rebel Highlanders were seen in motion, and before
day-break a chosen band of these hardy mountaineers was discovered
through the thick atmosphere, moving like a dusky phantom swiftly
along the undulating grounds to attack the right. As they drew
near they raised a dismal yell, fired a volley, threw down their
muskets, and rushed sword in hand upon the troops which guarded
the artillery. The sudden advance of the Highlanders in the dark,
their superior numbers, and peculiar mode of fighting, struck with
dismay the two hundred soldiers appointed to guard the artillery
on the right, who saw themselves assaulted by more than three
times their own numbers, and as they caught the gleam of steel
flashing in their faces, they gave way and fled. The two hundred
and fifty dragoons on the right, seeing the artillery lost, became
disheartened; they advanced to charge a large mass of Highlanders;
but observing the disparity of numbers, they were seized with a
panic and galloped out of the field. Their conduct damped the
courage of the infantry, and the panic spread from rank to rank;
but several companies made resistance, and feats of valour were
nobly displayed by individuals and small parties; all semblance
of order was, however, soon lost, and a confused rout ensued. The
two companies[35] of the SIXTH were among the troops who resisted
the Highlanders; Captain Hollwell was killed; Captain Pointz was
surrounded, dangerously wounded, and taken prisoner; Lieutenants
Cumming and Paton, and Ensigns Wakeman and Irwine, were also made
prisoners; and the two companies had nearly every man either
killed, wounded, or taken prisoner: such were the disastrous
results of this battle, that of the King's forces, not more than
one-half escaped from the field. The prisoners were removed to
Edinburgh, and afterwards to the Highlands.
[Sidenote: 1746]
With the advance of the rebels into Derbyshire, their precipitate
retreat back to Scotland, and the battle of Falkirk, the services
of the SIXTH are not immediately connected; but in the early
part of 1746, after the Duke of Cumberland had forced the young
Pretender to raise the siege of Stirling castle, and to retreat
to the Highlands, the three companies of the regiment stationed
in _Fort Augustus_ were besieged by the rebel army. As the young
Pretender had obtained a train of artillery, and the services of
a few French officers and engineers, the reduction of the fort
was not a difficult operation, and the three companies were made
prisoners: the works were afterwards blown up and abandoned by the
enemy.
[Sidenote: 1747]