HISTORICAL RECORD
OF THE
SIXTH REGIMENT OF FOOT.
The spirit of enterprise, intrepidity, firmness, endurance, physical strength, and innate love of fame exhibited by the British troops, have not only contributed to elevate this Kingdom to its present exalted station among the nations of Europe, but in the numerous wars which have taken place in Christendom, other States have evinced strong desires to obtain British aid. In the Dutch war of independence, from 1572 to 1648, British valour was eminently displayed in procuring the advantages of civil and religious liberty for the inhabitants of the United Provinces: British courage gave important aid to Henry IV. of France in his struggles for the throne: in the splendid achievements of the great Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the British had an important share: many of the conquests of Louis XIV., surnamed "The Great," were achieved by the aid of British troops; and the regiment which forms the subject of this memoir is one of the English corps raised for the service of a foreign state under the following circumstances.
The only remaining corps[6] of the numerous bands of English lancers, cuirassiers, carabineers, archers, musketeers, harquebusiers, pikemen, and battle-axemen, who fought in the Dutch war of independence from 1572 to 1648, was recalled from Holland on the breaking out of hostilities between the English and Dutch in 1665: during the negociations for the peace of London in the winter of 1673-4, the States General pressed King Charles II. to recall his troops from the service of France[7], and solicited permission again to employ in their army a British division. The king refused to recall his regiments from France; but his majesty engaged not to permit any additional British corps to be levied for the service of Louis XIV., and to prevent the others being recruited: at the same time permission was given to the States to raise for their service a body of troops in England and Scotland, to be commanded by the colonel of the old Holland Regiment, Sir Walter Vane, who was promoted to the rank of major-general in the Dutch army, and appointed colonel of one of the regiments to be raised for this service, now the Sixth Regiment of Foot, his commission bearing date the 12th of December, 1673.
The interests of the United Provinces and those of the reformed religion being intimately connected, their cause was popular in England; and when the king disbanded a great part of his army on the settlement of the peace in 1674, many officers and men voluntarily entered the Dutch service, particularly from the old Holland Regiment, which was reduced on that occasion from eighteen to ten companies. Among the most zealous in this service were Captains Sir Henry Bellasis, Thomas Monk, John Morgan, Philip Savage, Roger M'Eligott, Alexander Cannon, and four others, who arrived at the Briel during the summer of 1674 with a number of men, who were formed into ten companies. The Prince of Orange had in the meantime taken the field with the army, and Sir Walter Vane proceeding to the camp to complete some arrangements with his Highness, served as a volunteer at the battle of Seneffe on the 1st of August, 1674 (O. S.), and was killed.
Sir William Ballandyne was next appointed to command the British division, and the ten companies marched from the Briel to Bois-le-duc; from whence they were suddenly called to join the army and take part in the siege of Grave. They were commanded, while on this service, by Captain Hugh Mackay (afterwards lieutenant-general and commandant of the Scots brigade), who had transferred his services a few weeks previously from the French to the Dutch army; and was appointed major-commandant of the ten companies pro tempore. On the second day after their arrival before Grave, the ten companies were on duty in the trenches; and such was the fervour and eagerness of some of the officers and soldiers to signalize themselves, that Captain Savage and a few men stormed the counterscarp in the night without orders: they evinced great bravery, and gained some advantage, but were eventually repulsed, and Captain Savage was put in arrest, and reprimanded for his over-heated valour.
After the surrender of Grave on the 28th of October, the ten companies returned to Bois-le-duc, where four British regiments were formed during the winter;—two English, commanded by Colonels Lillingston and Disney;—one Scots, commanded by Colonel Graham;—and one Irish, of which the Viscount of Clare was colonel. Two old Scots regiments in the Dutch service were purged of foreigners and added to the above four: the six regiments formed as fine a body of troops as any in Europe, and they soon had opportunities of proving that they possessed the same heroic spirit and contempt of danger as their predecessors in the war of independence, and as the valiant English and Scots who so highly distinguished themselves under the great Gustavus Adolphus. Such was the origin of the Sixth Regiment of Foot. Its commanding officer was Colonel Luke Lillingston, whose appointment was dated in August, 1674.
The campaign of 1675 was passed in marching, manœuvring, and watching the operations of the enemy. During the winter the regiment was in garrison in Holland, and the colonelcy was conferred on Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Ashley; the command of the second English regiment was conferred on Colonel Ralph Widdrington; and the Irish regiment having previously been given to Colonel John Fenwick, it lost its designation of Irish, and the three were accounted English regiments.
In the summer of 1676 the regiment marched to Bois-le-duc, where, in the early part of July it was suddenly aroused about midnight by the drums beating to arms; and assembling on its parade ground, it immediately proceeded towards the province of Limburg. After several days' march it arrived in the vicinity of Maestricht, and, the Prince of Orange having joined the army, the siege of this celebrated city was commenced.
The three English regiments were commanded by Brigadier-General John Fenwick. Being proud of their national character, and jealous of their fame, they obtained permission to act separately, and to have a particular point of attack allotted them; "and they made it appear, by their fierce attacks, that they deserved this distinction[8]." They signalized themselves by the spirit with which they beat back the sallies of the garrison; and on the 30th of July they furnished two hundred men, in equal proportions from each regiment, to storm the Dauphin Bastion. A lodgment was effected; but the troops afterwards lost their ground, and they had one hundred and fifty men killed and wounded out of the two hundred. Colonel Widdrington was killed, and the command of his regiment was given to Lieut.-Colonel Dolman. The brigade was again on duty in the trenches on the 2nd of August, when Brigadier-General Fenwick was wounded.
At three o'clock on the morning of the 4th of August, a storming party of one hundred and eighty-three officers and men, with a support of sixty men, furnished in equal proportions from each of the three regiments, paraded at the head of the brigade; a similar detachment of the blue Dutch foot-guards was also in readiness, and at five this little band rushed forward in the face of a storm of fire, and made a second attack on the Dauphin Bastion with signal gallantry. The English, being emulous of fame, gained the lead of the Dutch, and throwing forward a shower of hand-grenades, assaulted the breach sword in hand, and effected a lodgment. Suddenly the ground under the soldiers' feet was agitated, a tremendous explosion blew a number of men into the air, and the bursting of the mine being succeeded by a fierce attack of the enemy, the storming party was driven back. Instantly rallying, and being exasperated by this repulse, the English and Dutch returned to the charge breathing vengeance and slaughter, by a powerful effort drove back their antagonists, and re-established themselves on the bastion, but with the loss of more than half their numbers killed and wounded. English valour shone conspicuously on this occasion, and the Dutch authorities acknowledged the superior gallantry of the brigade. In the Hague Gazette it was stated "the English gained very great honour;" and in the Brussels Gazette it was stated, "the Prince of Orange having resolved to retake the Dauphin Bastion, appointed two hundred English, and as many of his guards, to make the attack, which they did with great courage and resolution, and with very great honour to the English, who first entered the breach." Sir William Temple, Harris, Boyer, Carleton, Bernardi, and other authors, bore ample testimony to the native valour of the English soldiers. A Scots regiment, commanded by Sir Alexander Colyear, also distinguished itself at this siege.
A desperate sally was made from the town, on the morning of the 6th of August, by three hundred Swiss infantry, who, owing to the neglect of a sentry, surprised and made prisoners the English guard on the bastion; but a reinforcement coming forward, the Swiss were overpowered and destroyed, except about twenty men, who escaped into the town. The Prince of Orange complimented the English on their bravery: and being desirous of conferring on merit a special mark of his approbation, and of inciting other corps to emulate the English brigade, he made each of the three regiments a present of a fat ox and six sheep, which, however, occasioned some murmuring among the Dutch.
A strong horn-work was afterwards captured by the Dutch, and preparations were made for a general storm of the main breach; but Marshal de Schomberg advancing at the head of a powerful French army to relieve the town, the siege was raised, and the three English regiments, having sustained a severe loss, were sent into quarters in Holland.
The French monarch commenced the campaign of 1677 with great vigour; and the advantage derived from an army being under the sole direction of, and conducted by immediate orders from one head, over a confederate force, which meets with delays and obstructions from different interests, councils, negligences, and tempers, was very conspicuous,—the feeble preparations of the Dutch, and the apathy of the Spaniards, having left the Prince of Orange without a force capable of contending with the immense army of the enemy. Colonel Ashley's regiment, after replacing its losses with recruits from England, quitted Holland, and advanced with the remainder of the brigade to West Flanders. It formed part of the army, under the Prince of Orange, employed in the attempt to relieve the town of St. Omer; and was engaged on the 11th of April at the battle of Mont-Cassel, which was fought under great disadvantages in numbers and the nature of the ground. Two newly-raised regiments of Dutch marines, posted between the Prince's foot-guards and the English brigade, gave way at the first onset, and, confusion ensuing, the Prince retreated with the loss of his baggage and artillery.
At the close of the campaign, the ministers of the confederate states pressed King Charles II. to recall his troops from the service of France, attributing many of the French monarch's successes to the bravery of the British regiments; and in 1678 the king acceded. At the same time the gallant Earl of Ossory, eldest son of the Duke of Ormond, was appointed to the command of the British brigade; and Sir Henry Bellasis succeeded Colonel Ashley in the command of the regiment which is now the Sixth Foot. Ten thousand English troops were also embarked for Flanders, to take part in the war.
During the early part of the campaign of 1678, the British brigade, under the Earl of Ossory, was employed on detached services in Brabant and Flanders; and on the morning of Sunday, the 14th of August, it moved from its camp near the little river Senne, to attack the French army, commanded by Marshal Luxemburg, before Mons.
The French commander imagined himself safe in inaccessible entrenchments; but he was surprised by a party of Dutch dragoons while at dinner in the Abbey of St. Denis, near the village of that name, and his army was unexpectedly attacked, with great fury, about three o'clock in the afternoon. The Dutch, under Count Waldeck, assaulted and carried the abbey; the Spaniards, commanded by the Duke of Villa Hermosa, advanced by the village of Castehau; and the Dutch foot-guards, with the Earl of Ossory's brigade, prolonged the attack on the heights of Castehau, where the action was maintained with particular obstinacy. The Earl of Ossory drew his sword, and, pointing to the dark masses of the enemy, whose polished arms gleamed on the distant heights, led his British bands to the attack with signal intrepidity: his gallant mien and lofty bearing infused a noble ardour into the breasts of his officers and men, who urged, with resolute tread, their way through every difficulty to encounter their adversaries. The grenadiers of Bellasis's regiment (now Sixth Foot) headed by Major William Babington, led the attack on a body of French troops, posted in a hop-garden, with a spirit and resolution which were imitated by the musketeers and pikemen, and a vehement struggle ensued among the trees and umbrageous foliage which adorned the scene of conflict. Sir Henry Bellasis and Lieutenant-Colonel Monk were wounded, Major Babington was also wounded and taken prisoner, and the contest was fierce and sanguinary; but British valour prevailed, and the French were driven from among the hop-poles with great slaughter. Another stand was made by the enemy beyond the enclosure, and the storm of battle was renewed with additional fury. The Scots, under Major-General Kirkpatrick, Sir Alexander Colyear, and Colonel Mackay, vied with the English in their gallant efforts, and the Prince of Orange and Duke of Monmouth arriving at that part of the field, witnessed their heroic behaviour. Attack succeeded attack, and as the shades of evening gathered over the scene of conflict, the blaze of musketry and showers of hand-grenades indicated the fury of the opposing ranks of war. At length darkness put an end to the fight; and the French forsook their entrenchments and retreated. The excellent conduct of the British troops was appreciated by the Prince of Orange and the States-General; and in the narratives of the battle, published at the time, they received their meed of praise: in one account it was stated,—"the Earl of Ossory and his troops performed wonders;" in another,—"the English and Scots regiments did things to the admiration of those that beheld them;" and in a third,—"they behaved themselves with that courage and bravery which are so natural to them." The regiment which forms the subject of this memoir lost many non-commissioned officers and private soldiers, and had the following officers killed and wounded:—Captains Richardson and Vanderstraet, Lieutenants Price, Paul, and Lepingault, and Ensign Drury, killed: Colonel Sir Henry Bellasis, Lieutenant-Colonel Monk, Captain Penford, Lieutenant Lunnemon, and Ensign Nelson, wounded. Major Babington was wounded and taken prisoner: he was, in the first instance, included in the list of the slain[9].
Preliminary articles for a treaty of peace had, in the mean time, been agreed upon at Nimeguen; and the aspect of affairs was suddenly changed, the spot of ground where fury and bloodshed raged a few hours before was transformed, by the news of peace, to a scene of hilarity and jocund mirth, which was only alloyed by the remembrance of the loss of so many companions in arms, whose blood had stained the grassy fields.
When the States-General reduced the strength of their army to a peace establishment, the estimation in which the British troops were held occasioned their being retained in the service of the United Provinces; and in a treaty on this subject, the States agreed to send the six regiments to England, when the King should require their services.
During the five years succeeding the treaty of Nimeguen, Sir Henry Bellasis's regiment was employed in garrison duty. In 1680, its Lieutenant-Colonel, Thomas Monk, was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, which is now the fifth foot, in succession to Colonel Wisely, who was drowned on his passage to England; and Major William Babington was appointed to the lieutenant-colonelcy.
In 1684, when the French aggressions in the duchy of Luxemburg occasioned some alarm in the Netherlands, the regiment marched to the vicinity of Brussels, where a body of troops was encamped a short time, and subsequently near Malines: no war taking place, the camp was broken up in November, and the regiment was again employed in garrison duty.
In the summer of 1685, events transpired which occasioned the removal of the regiment from the Netherlands to England: the Earl of Argyle, and a number of other political exiles, who were zealous advocates for civil liberty and the reformed religion, proceeded in May from the Netherlands to Scotland, where they attempted to organize a rebellion against the government of King James II., who was a professed papist. His Majesty, in a letter to the Prince of Orange, dated Whitehall, the 22nd of May, stated;—"I make no doubt, by God's help, that the rebels will soon be mastered, yet there is no harm in providing for the worst; and, therefore, I have charged Mr. Skelton to propose to you the lending me the three Scots regiments that are in your service, to be sent over to Scotland; and if this is a thing you can do, the sooner it is done the more reason I shall have to take it very kindly of you[10]." The States acceded to this request: but before the Scots regiments embarked, the Duke of Monmouth had landed at Lyme, in Dorsetshire, and having erected his standard in the market-place, summoned the people to join him in an appeal to arms against the government: the destination of the three regiments was then changed to England. At the same time the King made the following application to the Prince of Orange, in a letter dated Whitehall, the 17th of June, 1685.
"When I wrote to you yesterday, I thought the militia would have kept the Duke of Monmouth shut up in Lyme; but by the fault of those of Devonshire, or Somersetshire, he has opened his way towards Taunton, which is a very factious town, and where he may increase his numbers; and though, with those troops I have raised, and am raising, I make no doubt of mastering him in some small time, yet, to make all sure, I desire you to lend me the three English regiments that are in your service, and they may be sent over with all speed[11]." Some of the towns of Holland were, however, so jealous of King James's predilection to papacy, and viewing the Duke of Monmouth in the light of a champion for the reformed religion, their secret wishes for his grace's success were so strong, that the Prince of Orange found some difficulty in obtaining the consent of the States for the regiments to proceed to England[12]; and when their consent had been procured, a new obstacle arose. The officers and soldiers of Sir Henry Bellasis's regiment (now Sixth Foot) were so devoted to the protestant interest, and so averse to becoming instruments by which the ascendency of popish principles should be established, that they objected to proceed to England[13]. Their scruples were, however, overcome, and the King expressed the gratification which he experienced on hearing they were ready for embarkation, in a letter to the Prince of Orange, in the following terms. "I received on Wednesday yours of the 6th, by which I see the English regiments were to be embarked by the beginning of this week, and must again thank you for them, and if they be but as good as the Scots regiments, which I saw this morning, I shall be doubly pleased; for, as to these I have seen, there cannot be, I am sure, better men than they are, and they do truly look like old regiments; and one cannot be better pleased with them than I am, and must again thank you for them[14]." His Majesty, however, declined the Prince of Orange's proposal to accompany the brigade to England, fearing that His Highness might acquire too much influence in this country.
The three English regiments arrived in the early part of July; and the rebel army having been overthrown at Sedgemoor on the 6th of that month, they were not required to draw their swords in the contest; but the presence of this celebrated body of men, at this critical juncture, could not fail to strengthen the interest of the court and overawe the disaffected. The brigade was encamped at Blackheath, and subsequently on Hounslow-heath, where the King reviewed it, and expressed his approbation of its warlike appearance, discipline, and good conduct; but the known staunch protestant principles of many of the officers and men gave his Majesty some concern. The three regiments (two of them now the Fifth and Sixth foot) obtained rank in the English army from the date of their arrival in England, and took precedence of the regiments raised by King James during the rebellion, in consequence of the latter not being completely organized when the brigade arrived. The rank of Sir Henry Bellasis's regiment (now Sixth Foot) was afterwards disputed in consequence of the refusal, in the first instance, to proceed to England[15]; but a board of general officers decided this question in its favour in 1694.
The rebellion having been suppressed, the English brigade returned to the Netherlands in August[16]; and the Scots a short time afterwards. The King was desirous of procuring the appointment of the Earl of Pembroke to the command of the six regiments, which was acceded to; but soon afterwards his Majesty pressed the Prince of Orange and States of the United Provinces to confer this important trust on the Earl of Carlingford, who was objected to (as the Earl of Dunbarton had been in the time of Charles II.), in consequence of his being a papist: his Majesty was particularly urgent on the subject; but the States did not acquiesce.
1687
Soon afterwards events transpired which occasioned Sir Henry Bellasis to be removed from his regiment, which was commanded, ad interim, by the Lieut.-Colonel, William Babington. Although this officer was not appointed to the colonelcy, it was usually styled Babington's regiment. The prevalence of French councils at the British court, and the advances made by the king towards the establishment of papacy and arbitrary government, occasioned the nation to look to the Prince of Orange as the only source from whence deliverance could be expected, and on the 27th of May, 1687, Sir Henry Bellasis wrote to the Prince as follows: "I have presumed by this worthy bearer to give your Highness the assurance of my devotion to your service in particular. The testimony I have given to the world of my loyalty and sufferings for the crown, obliges me in duty to pay the same to those who are so nearly related to it as the Princess Royal and your Highness. Though my hand be weak to express it, or enlarge myself upon the subject, my heart shall supply that defect, in the profession I make[17]."
The King felt some distrust at so efficient a body of British troops being in the service of a protestant republic at the time when he was meditating the subversion of the protestant religion and established laws of the kingdom: he was desirous of recalling them from Holland, and of transferring so many of them as would return, particularly the officers and men who were of the Roman Catholic religion, to the service of France. Louis XIV. had experienced the inconvenience of having the regiments in his service suddenly recalled, as the English and Scots corps were in 1678, and he declined the offer; but as the re-uniting of England in the communion of the church of Rome would further his projects of personal aggrandisement, he proposed to maintain a body of two thousand men in England, to be principally of the Roman Catholic church. This subject being arranged, King James wrote to the Prince of Orange on the 17th of January, 1688, as follows:
"I have charged my envoy, Mons. d'Abbeville, who will give you this letter, to give you an account that I think it for my service to call home the six regiments of my subjects that are under your command in the States' service; and have written to the States to the same purpose, and hope you will do your part to further their being embarked as soon as may be. What else I have to say on this subject I refer to my envoy; which is all I shall say now, but that you shall find me as kind to you as you can desire[18]."
The States well knowing the value of these favourite corps, and anticipating the speedy arrival of a period when they would have urgent occasion for the services of every regiment, refused to comply with the King's demand, alleging they were not bound by the treaty with the Earl of Ossory to send the six regiments to England, unless the King was engaged in a foreign war, or an insurrection at home, which was not the case. His Majesty was, however, determined, if possible, to deprive the States of the services of this select body of men; and, after some further correspondence on the subject, the following proclamation appeared in the London Gazette:—
"James R.
"Whereas we think it for our service to call home all our natural-born subjects who are now in the service of the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, being either mariners and seafaring men, or officers and soldiers serving at land, We do, therefore, by this Our royal proclamation, by and with the advice of Our privy council, streightly charge, require, and command all and singular masters of ships, pilots, mariners, seamen, shipwrights, and other seafaring men whatsoever, and wheresoever, and also all commanders, officers, and soldiers serving at land, being our natural-born subjects, who have betaken themselves unto, and now are in the pay or service of, the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, or in the pay or service of any of their subjects,—That upon their known and bounden duty and allegiance, they, and every of them, do quit the said respective services by sea or land, and return home to their native countries, within the times hereby prescribed,—that is to say, that all officers and commanders at land, whatsoever, who are now in the service of the said States General, in any place or part of the Netherlands or Low Countries, do quit the said service and return home within the space of two calendar months from the date hereof, and all other persons hereinbefore mentioned, wherever they are or shall be hereafter, in as short a time, and with as much speed, as they shall be able, wherein We do and will expect all due obedience and conformity. And we do hereby further publish and declare, that all and every the offenders to the contrary shall not only incur our high displeasure, but be rigorously proceeded against for such their offence, by all ways and means, according to the utmost severities of the law.—And we do hereby also authorize and command all and every Our captains, masters, and other officers serving and employed in any of our ships or vessels at sea, or elsewhere, and all and every other Our subjects whom it may concern, to seize, take, and bring away all such officers, mariners, and soldiers, and other persons aforesaid, as shall be found to be employed, or continue in the service aforesaid, in contempt of, and contrary to, the true intent and meaning of this Our proclamation.
"Given at Our Court at Whitehall, 14th March,
"1687-8, in the fourth year of Our reign."
Notwithstanding this proclamation, the States continued stedfast in their determination not to send the six regiments home; but as some of the officers were members of the Roman Catholic church, and it being probable a rupture on the subject of religion would shortly take place, they gave permission for as many of the officers to return to England as chose. About forty availed themselves of this opportunity and quitted the Dutch service. The King sent a frigate to bring them home. A few soldiers also withdrew from Holland, and three regiments[19] were formed, of nearly all papists, and taken into the pay of the King of France, but they remained in England. The six British regiments in the Dutch service were thus purged of Roman Catholics, the vacancies were filled with men of staunch protestant principles, and this distinguished body of men was considered stedfastly devoted to the protestant interest.
The Prince of Orange having been induced to proceed to England with a powerful armament for the purpose of rescuing the kingdom from the power of papacy, the six regiments were selected to form part of the expedition, and they were considered the most formidable and efficient portion of his army. They mustered about four thousand officers and men, were commanded by Major-General Hugh Mackay, and sailed under a red flag. A declaration was published, setting forth the reasons which induced the Prince of Orange to engage in this undertaking; and Captain Langham of Babington's regiment[20] (now Sixth Foot), arriving privately in England, was seized and imprisoned, and a number of the declarations were found in his portmanteau, which were shown to the King. When the expressions importing that the Prince of Orange was "most earnestly invited to come to England by divers of the lords, both temporal and spiritual, and by many gentlemen and others," were read, the King expressed great indignation, and sent for such noblemen and bishops as were in London, but none of them would acknowledge that they had given such an invitation.
The Dutch armament passed Dover and proceeded westward, while the English fleet, under the Earl of Dartmouth, lay wind-bound at the mouth of the Thames; but a tender, on board of which were four companies of the regiment which forms the subject of this memoir, commanded by Major Ventris Columbine, was separated from the remainder of the Dutch fleet by a gale of wind, and captured by Captain Aylmer in His Majesty's ship the Swallow. The four companies were landed in Devonshire; they were treated as prisoners, and measures were adopted to constrain them to enter King James's service. Meanwhile the other eight companies of the regiment continued their course, and landed on the 5th of November with the remainder of the Prince's army on the Devonshire coast, from whence they advanced to Exeter. The result may be told in a few words. The English army refused to fight against the best interests of the country. King James and his family fled to France, and the Prince and Princess of Orange were elevated to the throne. Thus the Sixth Regiment had the honour of taking a conspicuous part in the enterprise by which the established religion and laws of Great Britain were preserved.
After his accession to the throne King William detained this regiment in the south of England, and kept it upon the Dutch establishment: consequently, in the lists of the army given by Story and other historians of this period, it is designated a Dutch regiment. Major Columbine, and the other officers and men who were captured by the Swallow, were restored with honour.
In May, 1689, the regiment was quartered in London; in August it was encamped on Hounslow heath; it afterwards returned to London and was quartered in the Tower Hamlets.
Sir Henry Bellasis having been appointed to succeed the Duke of Norfolk in the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment (now twenty-second foot), the colonelcy of the Sixth was conferred on the lieutenant-colonel, William Babington, by commission dated the 28th of September, 1689; and Major Columbine was appointed lieutenant-colonel.
Although England was delivered from the power of papacy and despotism, a great part of Ireland was subject to King James and his adherents, whose cruel proceedings towards the protestants awakened the sympathies of the English nation, and King William resolved to proceed to the rescue of the unoffending sufferers. Colonel Babington's regiment was one of the corps selected to proceed to Ireland: it embarked at Highlake on the 12th of April, 1690, and immediately on landing marched to the siege of Charlemont—a strong castle situate on the angle formed by the confluence of the river Canlin with the Blackwater, on the eastern side of the county of Armagh, and erected in 1602 by Lord Mountjoy, as a curb on the Earl of Tyrone, whose chief mansion-house, with a strong fort, was at Dungannon, about five miles north-west of it. Under the shelter of this fort a town was built, which in 1689 was a corporation, sending members to parliament. It contained a good garrison under Teague O'Regan, an old soldier and a great humorist, who made a resolute defence. The garrison being in want of provision, King James sent a small supply, accompanied by a detachment of five hundred men under Colonel M'Mahon, who was permitted to enter the castle, but not to return. On the third night they attempted to force their way through the besieging force, but were repulsed with the loss of an officer and eight men; a second attempt made on the following day was also unsuccessful; and during the succeeding night they made another attempt, and were driven back with the loss of sixteen men. O'Regan was so incensed at their ill success, that he fastened the gates upon them, and refused to admit them into the castle; and they were forced to make huts in the dry ditch within the palisadoes and on the counterscarp. The place being closely invested, the garrison was forced to surrender in the middle of May for want of provision; and four companies of the Sixth, commanded by the major, took possession of the castle, where they found seventeen pieces of cannon and a large mortar, also a good supply of ammunition: but the fortress was found in so filthy a condition, that the officers and men were forced to encamp until it was thoroughly cleansed.
In the early part of June the regiment pitched its tents on the undulating grounds near Armagh; and the regiments of Lloyd, Cutts, Hastings, and Fowkes, eleven regiments of Danish horse and foot, and a brigade of Dutch cavalry, afterwards joined the camp.
King William arrived in Ireland, and, advancing to the banks of the Boyne, forced the passage of that river on the 1st of July, and overthrew the army of King James in a general engagement, in which the Sixth foot had the honour to take part. The regiment was in Sir Henry Bellasis's brigade, and shared in the glory of this memorable victory. The number of killed and wounded has not been ascertained; but, as the regiment only mustered four hundred and eighteen men at the general review at Finglass on the 7th and 8th of July, its loss may be supposed to have been great.
After delivering Dublin from the power of the papists, the regiment was detached against Athlone with the division commanded by Lieut.-General Douglas, who was a brave but rough soldier of fortune, and had served under King William in the Netherlands. On arriving before Athlone, a drummer was sent to summon the garrison to surrender. The governor, Colonel Richard Grace, of Moyelly castle, fired a pistol at the messenger, and said, "These are my terms; these only will I give or receive; and, after my provisions shall be consumed, I will defend Athlone until I eat my boots." The siege was afterwards commenced; and a battery opened its fire against the works: but the train of artillery proved too weak to make a practicable breach; and, ammunition becoming scarce, Lieut.-General Douglas raised the siege and retired. He did not preserve strict discipline in the division committed to his charge, which was accused of many outrages on the peasantry. On arriving at Ballymore, in the county of Westmeath, Babington's (now Sixth) regiment was removed from Lieut.-General Douglas's command, and ordered to proceed to Dublin to replace the regiments of Trelawny (now fourth) and Hastings (now thirteenth), which were ordered to embark for England.
The regiment remained a short time in garrison at Dublin, from whence it was detached to occupy a line of posts along the frontiers; and in November Lieut.-Colonel Columbine, advancing from Roscrea, made an incursion into the enemy's quarters near the Shannon, and in the neighbourhood of Nenagh, where he destroyed a quantity of corn and captured two castles.
In April, 1691, Colonel Babington was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by George Prince of Hesse d'Armstadt—an officer of distinguished merit, who was appointed to serve on the staff of the army in Ireland, with the rank of brigadier-general.
The regiment took the field with the army in May. The first service of importance was the siege of Ballymore, which fortress surrendered in the middle of June. The troops subsequently advanced against Athlone, a large and well-fortified town, divided into two unequal portions, or towns, by the river Shannon. Here the regiment was formed in brigade with Lloyd's (now fifth), Cutts', Nassau's, and three Danish battalions, commanded by Major-General the Count of Nassau and Brigadier-General the Prince of Hesse d'Armstadt. It furnished a detachment to attack by storm that part of Athlone which stood on the side of the river next to the army, called the English Town, which was captured in gallant style on the 20th of June. Its grenadier company, and a detachment of pikemen and musketeers, also formed part of the storming party selected to attack the opposite side of the town on the 30th of June. The tolling of the church-bell at six minutes after six o'clock in the evening gave the signal for the attack, when the forlorn hope, consisting of three officers and sixty grenadiers in armour, sprang out of the trenches and plunged into the river, which was waist deep, and rendered difficult by large stones. Three thousand men, under Major-General Mackay, seconded their efforts with signal intrepidity; and the soldiers, scrambling up the breach in the face of a heavy fire, one helping another up, soon overpowered all opposition, and in less than half an hour were masters of the town. This gallant exploit was performed with the loss of twelve men killed, and five officers and thirty men wounded: among the latter was the colonel of this regiment—the Prince of Hesse d'Armstadt, and Lieut.-Colonel Columbine. The regiment remained at Athlone while the works were being put in repair; and, during a severe thunder-storm on the 9th of July, it had two men killed and three dangerously injured by lightning[21].
The Irish army, commanded by General St. Ruth, retired and took up a position near Aghrim, where it was attacked on the 12th of July, and the regiment had another opportunity of signalizing itself in action. The Prince of Hesse d'Armstadt headed his own corps, and his characteristic intrepidity was so conspicuous on this occasion, that he has been accused of rashness. He was again wounded; but had the gratification of witnessing the heroism of his men, who emulated his example, and the overthrow of the Irish army, before he quitted the field. Night having put an end to the pursuit, the regiment halted on the scene of conflict: its loss was ten men killed, and six officers and forty-five men wounded.
General St. Ruth having been killed in action, the main body of the Irish army fled in terror and dismay towards Limerick, and King William's forces followed. On arriving at Galway the garrison was summoned, and refused to surrender; but the river having been passed in boats, and a fort captured by storm, the governor capitulated on the 21st of July. The next service in which the regiment was engaged was the second siege of Limerick: it was one of the corps which appeared before the town on the 15th of August, and on the 25th it was detached with the regiments of Tiffin (twenty-seventh foot) and St. John, seven hundred horse and dragoons, and five pieces of cannon, under its colonel, the Prince of Hesse d'Armstadt, against Castleconnell, a strong fortress on the river Shannon, four miles north of Limerick, which surrendered after a siege of two days. The siege of Limerick was afterwards prosecuted with vigour, and it was delivered up in the beginning of October. This event terminated the war in Ireland. The regiment marched from Limerick to Dublin, where it embarked for England on the 20th of December, and after its arrival commenced recruiting its numbers.
After reposing a short time in comfortable quarters in England, the regiment received orders to embark for the Netherlands, to take part in the war with France; and it served the campaign of 1692 with the army commanded by King William in person, by whom it was reviewed at the camp at Genappe on the 29th of June, in presence of the Elector of Bavaria and other distinguished persons. It was engaged in the manœuvres of the main army, and formed part of the division which attacked the French forces under Marshal Luxemburg, in their position near Steenkirk, on the 24th of July. It was one of the corps which supported the leading column under the Duke of Wirtemberg, and, having traversed some difficult grounds, formed with the cavalry of the left wing on the verge of a large wood. A narrow valley appeared in front, beyond which were several thick hedges, and the glittering arms and waving colours of the French infantry were seen through the thick foliage. After a sharp cannonade, the second battalion of the first foot guards, the first battalion of the Royals, the regiments of Fitzpatrick and O'Ffarrel, and two battalions of Danes, commenced the attack: they were supported by the regiments of Hesse d'Armstadt (Sixth), Cutts, Mackay, Leven's (twenty-fifth foot), Angus (twenty-sixth foot), Graham, and Lawder. These corps behaved with an intrepidity and valour which redounded to their honour: they drove the enemy from hedge to hedge, and gained considerable advantage. They were, however, not promptly sustained by the main body of the army under Count Solms, who neglected the King's orders, and occasioned the loss of the battle. Harris, in his History of the Life of King William, states, "The King, enraged at the disappointment of the vanguard, expressed his concern by often repeating, 'Oh! my poor English, how they are abandoned!' nor would he admit Count Solms to his presence for many months after."
The Sixth nobly sustained their reputation, and fought manfully, resisting the superior numbers of the enemy with signal firmness: their commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Foxon, fell mortally wounded: the French legions—dragoons, musketeers, pikemen, and grenadiers—crowded round this devoted corps in great numbers, and it sustained considerable loss. The King ordered a retreat, and the regiment withdrew from the field a mere skeleton. Its loss in killed and wounded was so great, that on the 8th of August it was ordered into quarters at Malines, and in September it embarked for England. After landing at Gravesend, a number of officers and serjeants were sent to various parts of England to procure recruits.