MEMOIRS AND SERVICES OF THE
EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT
MEMOIRS AND SERVICES
OF THE
EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT
COUNTY OF DUBLIN
FROM 1793 TO 1907
INCLUDING
THE CAMPAIGNS OF THE REGIMENT
IN THE WEST INDIES, AFRICA, THE PENINSULA,
CEYLON, CANADA, AND INDIA
LONDON
HUGH REES, LTD.
119, PALL MALL, S.W.
1908
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT
“CAPE OF GOOD HOPE”
“TALAVERA.” “BUSACO.” “FUENTES D’ONOR”
“CIUDAD RODRIGO”
“BADAJOS.” “SALAMANCA.” “VITTORIA”
“NIVELLE”
“ORTHES.” “TOULOUSE.” “PENINSULA”
“CENTRAL INDIA”
PREFACE
This Memoir of the Services of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment,
now 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, was originally arranged and
prepared for publication, from September, 1793, “in which year the
Regiment was raised,” to September, 1863, by Brevet Major Edward
William Bray, who was then serving with the Regiment. The later
history, from 1864 up to present time, has been collected from the
Authentic Records preserved in the Regimental Orderly Room.
MEERUT,
_December, 1907_.
CONTENTS
PART I contains the Services of 1st Battalion, from
1793, the date of its being raised, to 1817, when the 1st and
2nd Battalions were amalgamated at the Cape of Good Hope.
PART II contains the History of the 2nd Battalion
from 1804 to 1814, and the Services of the Regiment during the
Peninsular War.
PART III contains the Services of the Regiment in
Ceylon from 1814 to 1829.
PART IV contains the Services of the Regiment from 1829
to 1848, including its Services in Canada.
PART V contains the Services of the Regiment in India,
including the Indian Mutiny, from 1849 to 1857.
PART VI contains the Services of the Regiment from 1858
to 1863, including the campaign of 1858 in Central India.
PART VII contains the Services of the Regiment from
1864 to 1907, including the campaign of 1881 in South Africa.
MEMOIRS
OF THE
EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT
PART I
SERVICES OF THE 1ST BATTALION, 1793–1817
[Sidenote: 1793.]
In September, 1793, Major William Fitch obtained a letter of service
to raise a regiment, which, after being numbered, became the 83rd, its
formation bearing date 28th September, 1793, and of which the major was
appointed lieutenant-colonel commandant. The regiment was embodied at
Dublin, and quartered in the old Custom House at Essex Bridge for about
two months, when it was called upon to take a portion of the garrison
duties, in consequence of a great number of troops having been drawn
from that garrison for the purpose of embarking for the West Indies.
The regiment then moved to the royal barracks. The establishment of the
regiment at this period was fixed at 72 sergeants, 26 drummers, 1200
rank and file, and an additional lieutenant added to each company.
[Sidenote: 1794.]
In October, 1794, a second battalion was added to the regiment, and the
establishment of the first battalion was reduced to 52 sergeants, 22
drummers, and 1000 rank and file. The 2nd Battalion soon afterwards was
numbered, and became the 134th Regiment.
On the 7th November, 1794, the regiment embarked at Dublin and sailed
for England. It landed at Pill and marched to Bath, in Somersetshire,
where it was quartered several months. It then marched to Poole, in
Dorsetshire, where it remained about five months, and from thence to
Southampton.
[Sidenote: 1795.]
On the 5th May, 1795, the regiment embarked at Stokes Bay for the West
Indies, and sailed in about ten days afterwards.[1]
On the arrival of the regiment at Martinique, it received orders to
proceed to Jamaica, and, after a few days’ sail, arrived at Port Royal
on the 16th July, 1795.
The regiment was then removed from the chartered ships to men-of-war
and transports, and sailed for Saint Domingo; but the Maroon
insurrection having broken out a few days after the regiment had
sailed, Lord Balcarras, the Governor, despatched a schooner to recall
them; but she could only overtake two ships, which returned with about
half the regiment, which landed at Mondego Bay and was marched into the
interior.
The regiment was actively employed in the suppression of the Maroon
insurrection for about eight months, and sustained a loss of 70 killed
and wounded; amongst the former was the Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant,
William Fitch; and Captains Lee and Brunt slightly wounded--the former
died in four days afterwards.
On the 13th September, 1795, Major-General James Balfour succeeded to
the colonelcy, vice Lieutenant-Colonel Fitch, killed in action.
[Sidenote: 1798.]
The few men that remained of the detachment that went to Saint Domingo
in 1795 returned to Jamaica in 1798.
[Sidenote: 1802.]
The regiment remained on the north side of Jamaica until the beginning
of June, 1802, when it embarked in men-of-war at Savannah le Mar,
Falmouth, and Mondego Bay, for Port Royal, and on its arrival marched
to Spanish Town; shortly afterwards the men were allowed to extend
their services in the 60th and 85th, and a few to the 2nd West India
Regiment.
On the 4th July, 1802, the regiment embarked on board His Majesty’s
ship _Delft_, and landed at Portsmouth on the 22nd August
following, its strength being 1 lieutenant-colonel, 2 majors, 9
captains, 16 subalterns, 29 sergeants, 11 drummers, and 294 rank and
file.
During the service of seven years of the regiment in the West Indies,
it received drafts and volunteers from several regiments, amounting to
410 rank and file, and deducting men who were drafted and volunteered
on its embarkation from England, the regiment appears to have lost by
deaths 870 non-commissioned officers and rank and file, from the period
of its arrival in the West Indies to its return to England in August,
1802.
During this period the officers named in the margin also died.[2]
The regiment on disembarking proceeded to Hilsea Barracks, where it
remained about three weeks, from whence it proceeded to Chelmsford; and
in March, 1803, received the route for Portsmouth, and on its arrival
embarked for Jersey, on board the _Acastra_ frigate and other
vessels; and on its disembarkation was quartered at Grove Hill.
[Sidenote: 1806.]
On the 4th May, 1805, the regiment embarked at St. Heliers. It joined
the expedition at the Cove of Cork, destined against the Cape of
Good Hope, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird,
and landed at the Cape on the 6th January, 1806; and was actually
employed in the reduction of that settlement, where its head-quarters
were stationed, and where it remained quartered until October, 1817,
when it was joined by a large detachment of the 2nd Battalion, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Collier, on the reduction of the 2nd Battalion at
Armagh in 1817. The whole of the regiment, now reunited, and forming
but one battalion henceforward, was collected together at Simon’s Bay,
Cape of Good Hope, in September, 1817, and embarked for Ceylon on 1st
October, 1817.[3]