Part 6

During the greater part of the battle, the SEVENTY-THIRD, with the second battalion of the thirtieth, were very much exposed to the enemy’s artillery, and constantly engaged in repelling numerous charges of cavalry that appeared determined to break their square, which ultimately was reduced to a very small size, from the casualties occasioned by round and grape shot. Lieutenant Robert Stewart, one of the junior officers of the SEVENTY-THIRD, commanded the battalion at the termination of the battle, and in consequence was some years afterwards promoted to a company without purchase.[17]

The casualties amongst the officers were unusually great. Of _twenty-three_ who marched into action on the 16th of June at Quatre Bras, _twenty-two_ were killed and wounded on that and the two following days.

In the battle on the 18th of June the SEVENTY-THIRD had Captains Alexander Robertson and John Kennedy; Lieutenant Matthew Hollis; and Ensigns William Law Lowe and Charles Page _killed_.

The officers wounded were Lieut.-Colonel William George Harris (Colonel) commanding the battalion, severely; Major Archibald John Maclean, who died of his wounds; Captains Henry Coane, William Wharton, and John Garland, all severely. Lieutenants John McConnell, Thomas Reynolds, and Donald Browne all severely; Lieutenant Browne afterwards died of his wounds. Ensigns William McBean, Charles Bedford Eastwood, and George Dondridge Bridge (severely), and Ensign and Adjutant Patrick Hay severely.

Three serjeants, one drummer, and forty-three rank and file were killed, and thirteen serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and sixty rank and file were wounded; twenty-four of the above number died of their wounds; forty-one rank and file were missing.

In acknowledgment of the services which the army performed in the battle of Waterloo, and the actions immediately preceding it, each subaltern officer and soldier present were permitted to count two years additional service, and silver medals were conferred on all ranks, bearing on the one side an impression of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, and on the reverse the figure of Victory, holding the palm in the right hand, and the olive branch in the left, with the word “_Wellington_” over its head, and “WATERLOO,” 18th June, 1815, at its feet.

The thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to the army with the greatest enthusiasm, “for its distinguished valour at Waterloo;” and the SEVENTY-THIRD and other regiments engaged, were permitted to bear the word “WATERLOO” on their colours and appointments, in commemoration of their distinguished services on the 18th of June, 1815.

After the battle of Waterloo, the battalion, which was reduced to a complete skeleton, advanced with the army to Paris, where it arrived in the first week in July, and encamped in the Bois de Boulogne until November, when it was placed in cantonments in the vicinity of that metropolis.

Meanwhile Louis XVIII. had entered Paris, and was again reinstated on the throne of his ancestors. Napoleon Bonaparte had surrendered himself to Captain Maitland, commanding the “Bellerophon” British ship of war, and the island of St. Helena having been fixed for his residence, he was conveyed thither, with a few of his zealous adherents.

When the allied forces retired from Paris in December, 1815, with the exception of the “_Army of Occupation_” left in France, the second battalion of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment was ordered to return to England; it embarked at Calais on the 23rd of December, and landed on the same day at Ramsgate; from Ramsgate it marched to Colchester to join the depôt, which continued in that town during the absence of the battalion on foreign service.

[Sidenote: 1816]

The battalion afterwards marched to Nottingham, where it arrived on the 12th of February, 1816.

[Sidenote: 1817]

The battalion was stationed between Nottingham, Weedon, and Colchester, until May, 1817, when it was ordered to proceed to Chelmsford to be disbanded, which measure took place on the 4th of May, 1817, the most effective men, consisting of three hundred and ten non-commissioned officers and privates being embarked to join the first battalion of the regiment at Ceylon.

1817.

CONCLUSION.

The earlier services of the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment, originally formed as a second battalion to the forty-second Highlanders, are connected with the wars against Hyder Ali and his son, Tippoo Saib, the powerful sultans of the Mysore territory: the word “_Mangalore_,” granted by royal authority for the gallant defence of that fortress in 1783, and the word “_Seringapatam_” for the share taken by the regiment in the capture of the capital of Tippoo’s country in 1799, when that sovereign terminated his career by a soldier’s death, are borne on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of these arduous campaigns in India.

Other services were, however, performed by the regiment in the East, among which may be named the capture of the French settlement of _Pondicherry_ in 1793, and that of the Dutch island of _Ceylon_ in 1796, when the French Directory had caused Holland to become involved in hostilities with Great Britain.

After a service of _twenty-four_ years in India, the regiment returned to England, and arrived at Greenwich in July, 1806.

In 1809 the regiment proceeded to New South Wales, when a second battalion was added to its establishment.

Brief as was the career of the second battalion, namely from 1809 to 1817, it added the imperishable word “WATERLOO” to the regimental colour and appointments, that distinction being conferred by the Sovereign to commemorate its services in that battle, which gave a lengthened peace to the powers of Europe.

In 1814 the first battalion embarked from New South Wales for Ceylon, in the capture of which island the regiment had formerly participated.

The regiment returned to England in 1821, and continued on home service until 1827, when it embarked for Gibraltar, from which fortress it proceeded to Malta in 1829, and in 1834 to the Ionian Islands, whence it returned to Gibraltar in 1838, and embarked for North America.

In 1841 the regiment returned to England, and, in 1845, proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, where it is now employed in active operations against the Kaffirs.

The orderly behaviour of the regiment in quarters, whether employed at home, or on foreign stations, combined with its soldier-like conduct in the field, have secured the confidence of the nation, and the approbation of the Sovereign.

1851.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] On the 21st of August, 1810, the French Marshal Bernadotte, one of Napoleon’s generals, was elected Crown Prince of Sweden. The appointment of a successor to the throne of that country was considered necessary in consequence of the Duke of Sudermania, who had been elected king in the room of the deposed Gustavus IV., being advanced in years, and without children.

[15] The following statement of the above operations is contained in the _Annual Register_, vol. 87, page 280:--

“After landing at Stralsund, and assisting in completing the works of that town, Lieut.-Colonel Harris, with the SEVENTY-THIRD, was detached into the interior of the country, to feel for the enemy, and also to get into communication with Lieut.-General Count Wallmoden, which dangerous service he successfully effected, though he had, with great care and caution, to creep with his small force between the large _corps d’armée_ of Davoust and other French generals at that time stationed in Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and Hanover. Having joined Count Wallmoden, the SEVENTY-THIRD contributed greatly to the victory that General gained over the French on the plains of Gorde, in Hanover, where Lieut.-Colonel Harris, at the head of his battalion, declining any aid, and at the moment when the German hussars had been routed, charged up a steep hill, took a battery of French artillery, and unfurling the British colours, at once spread terror amongst that gallant enemy which feared no others; a panic struck them, and they fled.”

[16] A list of the British and Hanoverian army at Waterloo is inserted in the _Appendix_, page 73.

[17] “Once, and once only, during the dreadful carnage at Waterloo, did the stern SEVENTY-THIRD hesitate to fill up a gap which the relentless iron had torn in their square; their Lieut.-Colonel (Brevet Colonel Harris) at once pushing his horse lengthwise across the space, said with a smile, ‘Well, my lads, if you wont, I must’; it is almost needless to add that immediately he was led back to his proper place, and the ranks closed up by men still more devoted than before.”--(_Annual Register_, _vol. 87_, page 280.)

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

SIR GEORGE OSBORN, BART.

_Appointed 18th April, 1786_.

The early services of this officer were associated with the sixteenth light dragoons, in which, upon that regiment being raised in 1759, Sir George Osborn, Bart., obtained a troop on the 20th of December of that year, and on the 13th of February, 1762, he was promoted to the rank of major in the eighteenth, Royal Irish, regiment of foot. On the 31st of March, 1763, Major Sir George Osborn was appointed deputy quarter-master-general to the Forces in Ireland, and on the 19th of November, 1765, he was promoted to the third regiment of foot guards as captain and lieut.-colonel, in which regiment he was appointed second major, with the brevet rank of colonel in the army, on the 7th of August, 1777. On the 19th of February, 1779, he was advanced to the rank of major-general, and was appointed lieut.-colonel in the third regiment of foot guards on the 25th of March, 1782. Upon the second battalion of the forty-second, Royal Highlanders, being numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland regiment in 1786, His Majesty King George III. appointed Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart., to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD on the 18th of April of that year, and on the 11th of August following he was removed to the fortieth regiment, which he retained until his decease. On the 28th of September 1787, Sir George Osborn was advanced to the rank of lieut.-general, and to that of general on the 26th of January, 1797. General Sir George Osborn died at Chicksands Priory on the 29th of June, 1818, in the seventy-seventh year of his age.

SIR WILLIAM MEDOWS, K.B.

_Appointed 11th August, 1786_.

The early services of this distinguished officer are connected with the fourth horse, now seventh dragoon guards, in which corps he was appointed captain in March, 1764, and was promoted to the rank of major on the 1st of October, 1766. He was further advanced to the rank of lieut.-colonel of the fifth Fusiliers in 1769; was removed to the twelfth light dragoons in 1773, and to the fifty-fifth regiment in 1775. While serving with his regiment in North America, he evinced that valour, magnanimity, and military skill, which were afterwards more fully developed in the West, and also the East Indies. He was again removed to the lieut.-colonelcy of the fifth Fusiliers in 1777, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel Walcott, who died of wounds received at the battle of Germantown, in Pennsylvania, which was fought on the 4th of October, 1777. He commanded the fifth during the long and hazardous retreat from Philadelphia to New York; and having been appointed to act as brigadier-general, he proceeded with the expedition under Major-General James Grant to the West Indies. Brigadier-General Medows commanded the reserve, consisting of the fifth foot, grenadiers, and light infantry, at the attack of St. Lucia in December 1778; and having seized on the post of La Vigie, he evinced signal intrepidity in defending it against the attacks of a French force of very superior numbers: though severely wounded early in the day, he refused to quit his post, and finding his ammunition nearly expended, he drew up his men in front of their colours, and waving his sword, exclaimed, “Soldiers, as long as you have a bayonet to point against an enemy’s breast, defend these colours.” They did so, and secured the conquest of St. Lucia.

His distinguished bravery was rewarded in 1780, with the colonelcy of the (late) eighty-ninth regiment: and in 1781 he was promoted to the local rank of major-general in the East Indies, where he acquired numerous laurels under General the Earl Cornwallis. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1782, and was appointed to the colonelcy of the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland regiment on the 11th of August, 1786; and his meritorious services procured him the honor of wearing the insignia of a Knight Companion of the Bath. Sir William Medows was afterwards appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Madras. In 1792 Sir William Medows was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general; in 1796 he was appointed colonel of the seventh dragoon guards; and in 1798 was advanced to the rank of general. He was also Governor of Hull, and a member of the Privy Council in Ireland. The decease of General Sir William Medows, K.B., occurred on the 20th of November, 1813.

GERARD LAKE,

(Afterwards Viscount Lake.)

_Appointed 2nd November, 1796_.

Gerard Lake, third son of Lancelot Charles Lake, Esq., choosing the profession of arms, was nominated to the commission of ensign and lieutenant in the first foot guards, on the 9th of May, 1758; in 1762 he was promoted to lieutenant and captain, and in 1776 to captain and lieut.-colonel. He served in North America during the War of Independence; was engaged in operations in the southern states, under General the Earl Cornwallis, and had opportunities of distinguishing himself. When Earl Cornwallis’s force was besieged in York Town, by the united French and American armies, Lieut.-Colonel Lake commanded a detachment of foot guards and grenadiers of the eightieth regiment, which made a sortie on the 16th of October, 1781, forced the entrenchments, spiked eleven heavy guns, and killed and wounded about a hundred French soldiers. On the surrender of York Town he became a prisoner of war; but hostilities were terminated soon afterwards, and he returned to England, having been promoted to the rank of colonel in February, 1782. In 1784 he was nominated major, and in 1792 lieut.-colonel in the first foot guards. In 1790 he was advanced to the rank of major-general. On the breaking out of the French revolutionary war, he was nominated to the command of the brigade of foot guards which proceeded to Flanders, and served under His Royal Highness the Duke of York. He commanded this brigade at the battle of Famars, and at the siege of Valenciennes, and highly distinguished himself at Lincelles, on the 18th of August, 1793, for which he was thanked in general orders. He also served before Dunkirk, and in other operations: and in 1794 he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the fifty-third regiment, and the government of Limerick; he was afterwards nominated Governor of Dumbarton. In 1796 he was removed to the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment: in 1797 he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general, and placed on the staff of Ireland, where he evinced talent and energy in suppressing the rebellion which broke out in 1798, and gained several important victories over the insurgents. When the French landed in Ireland, he was obliged to retire a short distance; but additional troops advancing to his aid, he intercepted the French soldiers and forced them to surrender prisoners of war. In 1800 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief in India, and colonel of the eightieth regiment; and in 1802 he was promoted to the rank of general. He arrived in India at the period when the Governor-General, the Marquis Wellesley, was displaying the energies of his mind in counteracting the intrigues of France among the native powers of Hindoostan; and the ambitious designs of the Mahratta chiefs soon called General Lake into the field, when his talents were conspicuously displayed. His spirited and judicious operations at Coel, on the 29th of August, 1803; the assault of Aly Ghur, on the 9th of September; and the overthrow of the Mahratta army near Delhi, on the 11th of September, on which occasion his charger was killed under him, produced decisive results. The country between the Ganges and Jumna rivers, called the Doab (a general name in India for the space between two rivers), became subject to British authority; and six days afterwards General Lake visited the Emperor, Shah Alum, whom he had rescued from oppression, and who conferred upon him titles which signified,--The Saver of the State,--Hero of the Land,--Lord of the Age,--and the Victorious in War.

Afterwards proceeding to Agra, General Lake speedily captured that place, and on the 1st of November, 1803, he gained an important victory at Leswaree, when the French-officered battalions of Dowlat Rao Scindia were annihilated, the Mahratta army overpowered, and its colours, artillery, and baggage captured. His services on this occasion were of a distinguished character; he led the charge of the cavalry in the morning;--conducted in person the attacks of the infantry, and in the midst of the storm of battle he displayed valour, professional ability, promptitude and decision; his magnanimous example inspired confidence and emulation in the troops, and they triumphed over very superior numbers. Two horses were killed under him on this occasion.

His important services were rewarded, in 1804, with the title of LORD LAKE OF DELHI AND LESWAREE.

Pursuing, the war with vigour, Lord Lake routed the power of Holkar at Furruckbad; but the war was protracted by the defection of the Rajah of Bhurtpore; and when his Lordship besieged the city of Bhurtpore, he failed in capturing the place from the want of a battering train. The Rajah of Bhurtpore was, however, brought to terms; and Lord Lake pursued the hostile Rajah of Berar from place to place until this chief was brought to submission. The British military power in the East was strengthened by these successes; and the extent and stability of the dominions in India augmented.

His Lordship returned to England, and in 1807 he was advanced to the dignity of VISCOUNT LAKE.

He caught cold while sitting on the general court-martial which tried Major-General Whitelocke; and died on the 30th of February, 1808.

GEORGE LORD HARRIS, G.C.B.

_Appointed 14th February, 1800._

This distinguished officer entered the service in 1759 as a cadet in the Royal Artillery, and was appointed ensign in the fifth fusiliers on the 30th of July, 1762; he was promoted to be lieutenant on the 2nd of July, 1765, was appointed adjutant in 1767, and promoted to the rank of captain on the 25th of July, 1771. In May, 1774, Captain Harris embarked for America, and was present in the first action of the American war, namely, at Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775. At the battle of Bunker’s Hill on the 17th of June following, he was severely wounded in the head, and obliged to be trepanned, which caused him to be sent to England; but he returned in time to take the field previously to the landing of the British army on Long Island in August, 1776. Captain Harris was present at the affair of Flat Bush; in the skirmishes on York Island; in the engagement at White Plains; at Iron Hill (where he was shot through the leg), and in every action up to the 3rd of November, 1778, except that of Germantown. In 1778 he was promoted to the rank of major in the fifth fusiliers, and embarked with the regiment for the West Indies with the force under Major-General James Grant, by whom he was appointed to command the battalion of grenadiers, and landed with the reserve of the army under Brigadier-General Medows, at St. Lucia on the 25th of December. After the taking of Morne Fortunée, Major Harris was second in command under Brigadier-General Medows at the post of La Vigie, where the French were repulsed in their repeated attacks, and in consequence they retreated from the Island. Immediately after the departure of the French armament, the Governor surrendered the Island of St. Lucia to the British troops, the capitulation being signed on the 30th of December, 1778. In 1779, Major Harris embarked with the fifth fusiliers, which were ordered to serve as marines, and was present in the engagement off Grenada, under Admiral Byron, on the 6th of July, 1779. In 1780, Major Harris returned to England, and in December of that year succeeded to a lieut.-colonelcy in the fifth fusiliers, from which he exchanged into the seventy-sixth regiment, and accompanied to the East Indies, as secretary, Sir William Medows, who was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Madras. Lieut.-Colonel Harris served in the campaigns of 1790 and 1791 against Tippoo Sultan; in the action of the 15th of May, 1791, he was appointed by General the Earl Cornwallis to command the second line; he was also personally engaged in the attack of the Sultan’s camp and of the Island of Seringapatam, on the night of the 6th of February, 1792, the success of which terminated that war. Peace being re-established, Lieut.-Colonel Harris returned with Lieut.-General Sir William Medows to England. On the 18th of November, 1792, he was promoted colonel by brevet, and on the 3rd of October, 1794, he was advanced to the rank of major-general, when he re-embarked for India, and was placed on the Bengal Staff. On the 3rd of May, 1796, Major-General Harris received the local rank of lieut.-general, and was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the Presidency of Fort St. George; in February, 1798, he succeeded to the military and civil government of the troops and territories of Madras.

In December, 1798, Lieut.-General Harris was selected, by the Marquis Wellesley to command the army assembled to repel the threatened hostility of Tippoo Sultan, to besiege his capital, and to reduce his power. The army under the command of Lieut.-General Harris exceeded fifty thousand men, and the object of the expedition was accomplished by the capture of _Seringapatam_, the death of Tippoo, and annexation of his dominions to the British Crown, as detailed in the Historical Record of the SEVENTY-THIRD, of which regiment he was appointed colonel on the 14th of February, 1800, as a reward for his important services:--on the 1st of January, 1801, he was promoted to the rank of lieut.-general. On the 1st of January, 1812, Lieut.-General Harris was advanced to the rank of general. In August, 1815, General Harris was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Harris of Seringapatam and Mysore in the East Indies, and of Belmont in Kent, and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on the 27th of May, 1820. His Lordship succeeded General Francis Dundas as Governor of Dumbarton Castle in January, 1824. During the latter years of his life his Lordship lived in retirement at his seat at Belmont, Feversham, in Kent, where his decease occurred on the 19th of May, 1829, at the advanced age of eighty-two years.

THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR FREDERICK ADAM, G.C.B., & G.C.M.G.

_Appointed 22nd May, 1829._

Removed to the fifty-seventh regiment on the 4th of December, 1835, and to the twenty-first, Royal North British Fusiliers, on the 31st of May, 1843.

WILLIAM GEORGE LORD HARRIS, C.B., & K.C.H.

_Appointed 4th December, 1835._