Part 6
Great Britain now began to see her former allies converted into enemies; and Holland, having become united to France in the early part of the previous year, was styled the Batavian Republic. In April 1796, a secret service having been ordered by Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, then Commander-in-chief in the West Indies, the THIRTY-NINTH, and the late Ninety-third and Ninety-ninth regiments, with a detachment of the Royal Artillery, were embarked at Barbadoes on this expedition, which proved to be against the Dutch colonies of _Demerara_, _Essequibo_, and _Berbice_. The troops were under the orders of Major-General John Whyte, and the THIRTY-NINTH regiment was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Hislop. The force sailed for its destination on the 15th of April, and arrived on the coast of Demerara on the 21st of that month: on the following day the Governor and Council were summoned to surrender the colony to His Britannic Majesty, and the capitulation was signed on the 23rd of April. The British troops accordingly occupied the fort and colony, and Lieut.-Colonel Hislop was left as Commandant of Demerara and Essequibo; but Major-General Whyte proceeded to take possession of the neighbouring colony of _Berbice_, which accepted the terms offered to Demerara.[22]
The THIRTY-NINTH remained at Demerara, upon the capitulation of that colony, and, in September, it received six hundred and ninety-one men, from the Ninety-third and Ninety-ninth having been directed to be drafted into the regiment. This raised the regiment to fifty-two serjeants, twenty-two drummers, and one thousand and ninety-three rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1797 to 1799.]
During the years 1797, 1798, and 1799, the THIRTY-NINTH regiment continued to be stationed at Demerara. On the 1st of November 1799, the regiment had been reduced by deaths to twenty-five serjeants, ten drummers, and four hundred and sixty-eight rank and file.
[Sidenote: 1800.]
In October 1800 the regiment proceeded from Demerara to Surinam.
[Sidenote: 1801.]
The regiment remained at Surinam during the year 1801.
[Sidenote: 1802.]
On the 27th of March 1802, a definitive treaty of peace was signed at Amiens between the French Republic, Spain, and the Batavian Republic, on the one part, and Great Britain on the other. The principal features of the treaty were, that Great Britain restored all her conquests during the war, excepting Trinidad and Ceylon, which were ceded to her, the former by Spain, and the latter by the Batavian Republic. Portugal was maintained in its integrity, excepting that some of its possessions in Guiana were ceded to France. The territories of the Ottoman Porte were likewise maintained in their integrity. The Ionian Republic was recognised, and Malta was to be restored to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The French agreed to evacuate the Neapolitan and Roman States, and Great Britain all the ports that she held in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.
Surinam was evacuated in December 1802, and the THIRTY-NINTH regiment embarked for Barbadoes, and proceeded thence to Antigua.
[Sidenote: 1803.]
In the beginning of March 1803, the THIRTY-NINTH embarked for England; and the regiment, consisting of thirty-three serjeants, nineteen drummers, and three hundred and fifteen rank and file, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel George Bell, arrived at Spithead on board the “Thalia” transport, on the 22nd of April. During its service on the different stations in South America, upwards of two thousand men had fallen victims to the climate.
The Peace of Amiens was of short duration, and on the 18th of May 1803 war was declared against France. Preparations were accordingly made by the British Government to meet the emergency, and the “_Army of Reserve Act_” was passed in July following, for raising men for home service by ballot, by which a second battalion was added to the THIRTY-NINTH regiment.[23] The second battalion was placed on the establishment from the 9th of July 1803, and was composed of men raised in Cheshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. The chief part of the men immediately afterwards volunteered for general service, whereby the first battalion of the regiment became available for foreign service.
At this period, Napoleon Bonaparte, the Chief Consul of France, was making preparations for the invasion of England, for which purpose he collected an immense flotilla at Boulogne. The threat of invasion aroused the patriotism of the British people, and the most strenuous measures were adopted to defeat this design; volunteer and yeomanry corps were formed in every part of the kingdom, and all parties united in one grand effort for the preservation of their native land.
[Sidenote: 1804.]
In May 1804 Napoleon was invested with the dignity of Emperor of the French, and on the 26th of May of the following year he was crowned at Milan as King of Italy.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
Further measures of defence were adopted by Great Britain, and the “_Additional Force Act_” was passed on the 29th of June 1804.[24] Under the provisions of this act, the second battalion was augmented with men raised in the county of Shropshire, and its establishment was subsequently fixed at the same strength as the first battalion, namely, forty-four serjeants, twenty-two drummers, and eight hundred rank and file. The second battalion, which, since its formation, had been quartered at Battle, in Sussex, embarked at Plymouth on the 27th of November 1804 for Guernsey, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel George Wilson.
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
In the year 1804, during the threatened invasion, the first battalion was stationed on the coast of Sussex.
The first battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Robert William O’Callaghan, which was selected to proceed with the expedition under Lieut.-General Sir James Craig to the Mediterranean, embarked at Portsmouth on the 26th of March 1805, and arrived at Malta on the 22nd of July following, where it formed part of the garrison.
In the autumn of 1805, Napoleon led his army into Germany to crush the confederacy forming against his interests. From the commencement of the war with England, Naples was occupied by French troops; but at this period a treaty of neutrality was concluded between France and Naples, the French troops were withdrawn, and the King of Naples was bound not to admit the fleets or armies of any power engaged in hostilities with France into his ports or territories. While the war in Germany was undecided, the flank companies of the first battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment were, in November 1805, detached to Naples, and landed at that city on the 22nd of that month. A Russian armament also arrived at Naples.
The Emperor Napoleon being triumphant in Germany, seized the moment of victory to denounce vengeance against the King of Naples for permitting a British and Russian armament to enter his ports and land on his shores; and on the morning after signing the Treaty of Presburg, Napoleon issued a proclamation declaring that “the Neapolitan dynasty had ceased to reign.” This was followed by the march of a numerous French army, under Joseph Bonaparte, to take possession of Naples: the Russians withdrew; and the British, under Lieut.-General Sir James Craig, were too few in numbers to think of defending that kingdom against the numerous forces sent to that devoted country.
[Sidenote: 1806. 1st Batt.]
The flank companies of the first battalion embarked from Naples in January 1806, and proceeded to Sicily, to which island the King and Queen of Naples had resorted, and which was preserved in their interest by the British. The Neapolitans abandoned their royal family to its fate, and submitted to the dictates of Napoleon, who issued a decree conferring the crown of Naples on his brother Joseph. The city of Naples was illuminated, and the nobles were eager to show their attachment to their new sovereign. Insurrections occurred in several places; but the French arms were successful, and the provinces became tranquil.
The flank companies returned to Malta in February 1806.[25]
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The second battalion remained at Guernsey until the 26th of February 1806, when it proceeded to Ireland, and arrived at Cork on the 15th of March. Having been a short time stationed in the county of Cork, it proceeded to Dublin, and, after performing garrison duty for some months, received orders to transfer all its limited service men to a garrison battalion, and all its disposable men to the first battalion at Malta.
[Sidenote: 1807.]
Being thus reduced to a skeleton, the officers and non-commissioned officers proceeded to England in January 1807, for the purpose of recruiting the ranks of the second battalion, and arrived at Liverpool on the 30th of that month. Having distributed recruiting parties to various stations, the head-quarters marched to Edmonton and Enfield, near London.
On the 29th of October 1807, His Majesty King George III. was pleased to direct that the county title of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment should be changed from EAST MIDDLESEX to DORSETSHIRE.
[Sidenote: 1808. 1st Batt.]
The flank companies of the first battalion proceeded from Malta to Sicily in May 1808.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The recruiting continued from the militia and in the ordinary mode with such success that the second battalion was soon increased to five hundred strong; and after being some time stationed at Berry-Head, embarked from thence for Guernsey, where it arrived on the 24th of May 1808. Subsequently, a general volunteering from the militia took place, when the battalion was augmented to about seven hundred rank and file, and being organised in the course of a short period, Lieut.-General Sir John Doyle, Bart., then Lieut.-Governor of Guernsey, was so pleased with the general appearance of the corps as to express his entire satisfaction with it, and to report the battalion fit for immediate foreign service.
[Sidenote: 1809. 1st Batt.]
In June 1809, Lieut.-General Sir John Stuart, commanding in chief in the Mediterranean, resolved to menace the capital and kingdom of Naples, as a diversion in favour of the Austrians, who were contending against numerous difficulties in their war with France. The flank companies of the first battalion were employed on this service; and after menacing a considerable extent of coast, which produced much alarm, the romantic and fruitful island of _Ischia_, celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, and situated in the Bay of Naples, about six miles from the coast, was attacked. A landing was effected in the face of a formidable line of batteries, from which the enemy was speedily driven. The siege of the castle was undertaken, and in a few days the garrison was forced to surrender. The island of _Procida_ surrendered on being summoned. Two valuable islands were thus rescued from the power of the Grand Duke of Berg, General Murat, upon whom the Emperor Napoleon had, in the preceding year, conferred the sovereignty of Naples, in succession to Joseph Bonaparte, who had been nominated by his brother to be King of Spain; and one thousand five hundred regular troops, with one hundred pieces of ordnance, were captured. An attempt was, at this period, made to reduce the castle of _Scylla_; but the large force which the enemy possessed in Calabria, rendered this impracticable.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The assumption of the sovereignty of Spain by Joseph Bonaparte, although the strongest places and most commanding positions in the Peninsula were occupied by French troops, had excited the indignation of the Spanish people, who solicited, and readily obtained, the aid of Great Britain; and the latter power had, in April 1809, sent Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley with reinforcements to Portugal, to save that country from invasion, and also to assist the Spaniards in their struggle for independence.
The second battalion was selected to proceed to join the army in the Peninsula under the command of Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley: it embarked on the 22nd of June 1809 for the Tagus, and arrived at Lisbon on the 2nd of July. The battalion shortly afterwards proceeded with a division, consisting of reinforcements, under the command of Brigadier-General Catlin Crawfurd, who endeavoured, by a forced march, to arrive in time for the battle of _Talavera_, which was fought on the 27th and 28th of July, and for which victory Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington. When the second battalion arrived at Sarza la Mayor, a despatch was received from Sir Arthur Wellesley, ordering the brigade and detachments to halt and bivouac at Niza until his arrival with the head-quarters at Badajoz, after which the battalion was stationed at the village of Torre Mayor: here it suffered severely from sickness, which at that season of the year is prevalent in Estremadura, and particularly on the banks of the Guadiana. On the 3rd of September the head-quarters arrived at Badajoz, and the army was distributed about Elvas, Campo Mayor, and other places adjacent; but when Viscount Wellington broke up from the Guadiana in the month of December, and crossed the Tagus, he left Major-General Rowland Hill (afterwards Viscount Hill), with a force of 10,000 men, British and Portuguese, at Abrantes: among the former was the second battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment.
[Sidenote: 1810. 1st Batt.]
In the summer of 1810, Joachim Murat, King of Naples, assembled upwards of a hundred heavy gunboats, a number of others more lightly armed, and about four hundred transport boats, and brought thirty thousand troops to the coast of Calabria for the purpose of invading Sicily. The battalion companies, under the command of Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Cavendish Sturt, accordingly proceeded from Malta, in June 1810, to Sicily, where they were employed in the defence of the island against the threatened invasion.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The second battalion accompanied the force under Major-General Rowland Hill in all its movements in Portugal and on the frontiers of Spain, and in August 1810 was one of the corps of the second division, when it formed, by forced marches, the memorable junction with Viscount Wellington on the heights of _Busaco_. Lieut.-Colonel George Wilson being appointed to the charge of a brigade, Major Patrick Lindesay, afterwards Major-General Sir Patrick Lindesay[26], commanded the battalion, which formed part of the right of the army in the battle at _Busaco_, on the 27th of September, but the battalion was not engaged in the action. When General Regnier attacked the position held by the third and fifth divisions, Major-General Hill withdrew towards his left to support them: it was unnecessary, however, these divisions having repulsed the enemy, and he therefore continued in his original position.
After the battle of Busaco, the second battalion accompanied the army in its retrograde movement to the Lines of _Torres Vedras_, where it remained until orders were given to advance in pursuit of the French troops towards Santarem, when it crossed the Tagus with the corps under Major-General Hill, and occupied cantonments at Almeirem, immediately opposite the head-quarters of the enemy.
[Sidenote: 1811. 2nd Batt.]
In consequence of the French army retreating from Portugal into Spain, the second battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment accompanied the second division in its movements towards the frontiers, and was present at the expulsion of the enemy from the fortress of Campo Mayor on the 25th of March 1811; subsequently the battalion crossed the Guadiana at Jerumenha, and was present with the second division in a variety of skirmishes at Los Santos and Zafra, as well as at the investment of _Badajoz_ on the 2nd of May, where the battalion was actively employed in making approaches and constructing batteries against that fortress until the 14th of May, when it marched with the corps under Marshal Sir William Carr (now Viscount) Beresford to _Albuhera_, where the battalion arrived on the evening of the 15th of that month, and was attacked on the following day by the French army under Marshal Soult.
In the battle of _Albuhera_, fought on the 16th of May, the second battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment, although only four hundred strong, bore a distinguished part. The brigade to which it belonged, having been brought up at a critical moment, materially assisted in deciding the fate of the day, preventing by its fire the deployment of a heavy column of the enemy’s reserve, which was ultimately obliged to give way with considerable loss, and retreated in confusion across the river Albuhera.
On this occasion the second battalion had Lieutenant George Beard and fourteen rank and file killed; Captain James Brine, Lieutenants John William Pollard, Francis H. Hart, Ensign Charles Cox, four serjeants, and seventy-three rank and file wounded.
For this action Major Patrick Lindesay, being in command of the battalion, obtained the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and was presented with a medal. Captain Charles Carthew, who commanded the light company, was publicly thanked by Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, commanding the division, for the gallant conduct of himself, the officers, and company, in their skirmishing with the enemy.
The royal authority was afterwards given for the THIRTY-NINTH to bear the word “ALBUHERA” on the regimental colour and appointments, to commemorate the distinguished conduct of the second battalion on that occasion.
The French army having retreated on the road to Seville, the battalion moved forward with the corps, and on the march made many prisoners, the hospitals and wounded having, in many instances, fallen into the hands of the British. The enemy having been completely driven over the Sierra Morena, the battalion retired with the division, and was cantoned on the frontiers until the 22nd of October, when it marched with the troops under Lieut.-General Rowland Hill, and on the 28th of that month arrived close to the village of _Arroyo dos Molinos_, where a division of the French army was surprised, and about fourteen hundred prisoners, with all its artillery and baggage, were taken. Several officers of rank and consideration, including General Brun and Colonel the Prince d’Aremberg, were amongst the prisoners. The light companies of the brigade, acting in battalion, were under the command of Major Roger Parke of the THIRTY-NINTH regiment.
General Girard, who commanded the French division, escaped, with about five hundred men, by ascending the Sierra de Montanches, when the second battalion of the THIRTY-NINTH was ordered to pursue them; but the French throwing away their knapsacks, and in many instances their appointments, they marched with such rapidity, that the battalion could only come up with the rear-guard, which occasionally occupied most favorable positions to cover their retreat. After some skirmishing the French descended into the plain: the battalion being excessively fatigued by a continued and harassing march, from two o’clock in the morning until six in the evening, Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Lindesay, then in command, finding further pursuit unavailing, tried the success of a “_ruse de guerre_,” by riding up to the enemy with a flag of truce, and proposing to General Girard to surrender, as no doubt he would be intercepted by the British cavalry on the plain, and that a Spanish corps under General Morillo was at hand. A captain and twenty men left the column, and surrendered to the battalion, then rapidly advancing in pursuit. The French general, mortified by the surprise and loss of his division, declared he would rather die than surrender. Unfortunately only one troop of cavalry arrived, and Morillo’s force was unable to come up, so that General Girard, and the remainder of his division, escaped by the bridge of Medellin.
In this affair the second battalion had Captain Hardress Saunderson, one serjeant, and nine rank and file wounded.
On the following morning the second battalion rejoined the division at Arroyo dos Molinos, and returned to Albuquerque.
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
Meanwhile the first battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Robert William O’Callaghan, had embarked from Sicily on the 20th of August 1811, to join the army in the Peninsula, and arrived at Lisbon in October following. The battalion moved towards the frontiers of Portugal, and on its arrival at Crato was joined by the second battalion on the 24th of December 1811, commanded by Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Lindesay.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
On the 25th of December 1811, the second battalion transferred all its effective men to the first battalion, after which the skeleton marched to Lisbon, where it embarked for England on the 27th of January following.
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The first battalion, thus completed to twelve hundred rank and file, proceeded on the 26th of December to join the second division of the army under Lieut.-General Rowland Hill.
[Sidenote: 1812. 2nd Batt.]
The portion of the second battalion, which had proceeded to England, disembarked at Weymouth on the 2nd of March 1812.
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
In March _Badajoz_ was invested for the third time, and the first battalion formed part of the covering army under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill[27] at the successful siege of this important fortress, which was taken by the British on the night of the 6th of April. The battalion afterwards continued with the division in all its various movements from the frontiers of Portugal to the Spanish capital. The victory gained at _Salamanca_ on the 22nd of July by the army under the immediate command of the Earl of Wellington, for which he was raised to the title of Marquis, was followed by the surrender of Madrid to the allies, who entered that city on the 12th of August, and were joyfully received by the inhabitants. The situation of the British commander at Madrid was critical; and it being deemed impracticable to remain there, the Marquis of Wellington on the 1st of September departed from that city, and advanced to Burgos; but the siege of the castle at that place was not successful, and a retrograde movement was made in order to unite with the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, information having been received that Marshal Soult and King Joseph, with their combined forces, were advancing from Valencia, and that their advanced guard was in the neighbourhood of Ocanna, and moving on Madrid. Lieut.-General Hill, at the approach of Marshal Soult, abandoned that city, and retired slowly towards Salamanca. On the retreat from Madrid to the Tormes, the first battalion formed part of the rear-guard of the army; here the battalion rejoined the second division, and continued the march by Salamanca until its arrival at Coria on the 1st of December 1812, where it remained for the winter.
[Sidenote: 2nd Batt.]
The second battalion, upon its arrival in England in February 1812, was stationed at Weymouth until October following, when it proceeded to Exeter, but returned to Weymouth in December.
[Sidenote: 1813. 1st Batt.]
Shortly after the arrival of the first battalion at Coria, the THIRTY-NINTH sustained the loss of a most gallant and distinguished officer in Colonel George Wilson, who died on the 6th of January 1813. This officer had served in the regiment upwards of twenty-nine years, and was at the period of his decease aide-de-camp to His Majesty King George III., lieut.-colonel of the second battalion, colonel on the staff of the army, and commanding the brigade to which the first battalion was attached.[28]