The History of the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort's Own) Formerly the 95th

THE RIFLE BRIGADE.

CHAPTER I.

Towards the close of the last century Colonel Coote Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable William Stewart addressed a representation to the Government, pointing out the importance of having a corps furnished with arms of precision, and the advantage of training such a corps in the special duties of Riflemen. It would have been interesting to preserve the text of this document; but I regret that it does not now exist. Every search has been made in the records of the War Department, by the kindness of Mr. Denham Robinson, of the War Office, but, I regret to say, without success; and it has been suggested that it may probably have been transferred to the Small Arms Department, and may have perished with the records of that office in the fire at the Tower of London in 1841.

However, in consequence of the suggestions it contained, the following Circular was issued to the commanding officers of fourteen regiments of infantry:—

Thus we see that the Regiment was formed as a corps d’élite; and as regards the officers there was a double selection, eight of each rank of company officers being selected from the fourteen originally recommended.

The detachments so selected assembled at Horsham, in Sussex, in March 1800, and their first parade as ‘An Experimental Corps of Riflemen’ took place there on April 1 in that year; Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable William Stewart being apparently in command.

The following is the Return of the state and strength of the Corps on this its first formation:

The Corps being now formed marched to a camp of exercise at Swinley in Windsor Forest in May, and proceeded actively with their training as Riflemen. They are mentioned with great approbation by Mr. W. H. Fremantle in a letter, dated July 15, 1800, to the Marquis of Buckingham, as being ‘good, and much more useful’ than some other regiments then in that camp.[13] The camp broke up at the end of July, and at the request of Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart three companies of the corps (Captains Travers’,[14] Hamilton’s, and Gardner’s) were ordered to embark, under his command, with the expedition against the north coast of Spain, under Lieutenant-General Sir James Pulteney, Bart., and Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, K.B.

The expedition arrived before the harbour of Ferrol on August 25, and immediately commenced its disembarkation. This was effected without opposition in a small bay near Cape Prioriño; but on the troops proceeding to occupy a ridge of hills adjoining the bay, the Rifle Corps, which covered the advance, just as they gained the summit fell in with a party of the enemy which they drove back. In this skirmish Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart was dangerously wounded through the body. On the next morning, at daybreak, the position was attacked by a considerable body of the enemy, who were repulsed with much loss, and the English troops remained in complete possession of the heights. But in this action Captains Travers and Hamilton, and Lieutenant Edmonston, attached to the Rifle Corps, and eight rank and file were wounded. Sir James Pulteney being, however, of opinion that Ferrol could not be taken, or the ground he occupied be held, re-embarked the troops.[15] It was subsequently stated in the House of Lords that at the very moment he did so the proper officer was on his way with the keys of the place, to surrender it. And Mr. Ford affirms that ‘had the expedition sailed boldly up to the Ferrol, the Gallicians were only waiting to surrender, being, as usual, absolutely without means of defence.’ He attributes the failure to the combined indecision of the leaders.[16]

Of this, the first affair in which the Regiment was engaged, it may be observed that it has the high honour of having shed its first blood before its actual embodiment, and while it consisted only of detachments experimentally assembled for instruction. It was the only corps engaged on the day of disembarkation, and (with the exception of one officer of the 52nd) the only officers wounded were attached to it. August 25, the day on which it was first engaged, was the date of the commissions of its first officers when it was formally embodied.

The expedition then proceeded to Malta; and an order was issued by the Commander-in-Chief for all officers and men of the Rifle Corps, whose regiments formed part of the expedition, to rejoin them, and for those whose regiments were not so employed to be attached to corps serving with the expedition.

Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, Captain Travers, and Lieutenant Edmonston returned to England.

The Rifle Corps was immediately re-formed, principally from detachments of fencible regiments serving in Ireland, and I presume also, on the return of the expedition, from the men originally selected as Riflemen. These detachments began to assemble at Blatchington in Sussex, near Lewes, about the end of August, and continued to join during the autumn. The whole of the officers who had been attached to the experimental corps were appointed to it; their commissions being ante-dated, as I have observed, to August 25, the anniversary of which has been since observed as the foundation-day of the Regiment. A second lieutenant-colonel and two majors were appointed, and some others were added to complete the Corps to eight companies, with a captain and two subalterns to each. The establishment was, therefore, on December 25, returned as follows:

The officers on its formation were:

The Regiment, as it has existed since, and as it has won lasting renown in so many fields, as ‘a Corps of Riflemen,’ ‘the Rifle Corps,’[17] ‘the 95th,’ and ‘the Rifle Brigade,’ was then and thus organised under Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart. For though Manningham was the colonel, and justly shares the honour of its formation, he seems seldom to have been present with it; for he was equerry to George III., and often at Court.

William Stewart was the fourth son of John, seventh Earl of Galloway, and at the early age of thirteen was appointed Ensign in the 42nd Regiment; but subsequently served in the 22nd and 67th, and with the former had seen service at the capture of the French West India Islands in 1793. We have seen that it was owing to Manningham’s and his suggestions that the Rifle Corps was formed; and after its embodiment he also addressed a long letter to the Adjutant-General on the discipline and internal economy of such a corps. His recommendations (which were adopted) were: that it should first be formed of volunteers from infantry battalions which best could spare them, and by men from the undrafted part of the Irish militia; and he added the (rather singular) opinion that Irishmen were preferable for Riflemen, as ‘perhaps from being less spoiled and more hardy than British soldiers, better calculated for light troops.’[18]

He now set himself vigorously to organise and discipline the Corps thus formed at his suggestions. The standing orders of the Regiment, which, though issued of course in Manningham’s name, were probably principally compiled by Stewart, testify not only to his capability for organising and disciplining it, but in a most remarkable way to his pre-eminence above and beyond the military ideas of his time. The germs, if not, indeed, the actual existence of most of the late improvements for the training and advantage of the soldier are found in these orders. The good-conduct medal; the medals for acts of valour in the field; the attention given and the methods adopted to secure accurate shooting, dividing men into classes according to their practice at the target, and instituting a class of Marksmen; the rules for a regimental school, and for periodical examination of its scholars; the institution of a library; the provision for lectures on military subjects, tactics and outpost duties; the encouragement of athletic exercises; these and many other plans, carried out in the British army only after the middle of the nineteenth century, are inculcated in the original standing orders, and were adopted in the Regiment from its formation.[19]

Sir Charles Napier, who was appointed to a lieutenancy in the Rifle Corps, December 25, 1800, and joined it at Blatchington, in his letters to his family, bears high testimony to Stewart’s ability in organising the Corps; though he seems not to have liked him, and eventually to have quarrelled with him. ‘Stewart makes it a rule to strike at the heads. With him the field-officers must first be steady, and then he goes downwards: hence the privates say: “We had better look sharp if he is so strict with the officers.”’[20]

In 1801 Colonel Stewart was selected to command the troops (the 49th Regiment and a company of the Rifle Corps) ordered to embark on board the fleet commanded by Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. And on February 28 Captain Beckwith’s[21] company, consisting of 1 captain, 2 first lieutenants, 1 second lieutenant, 5 sergeants, 2 buglers, 1 armourer, and 101 rank and file, embarked at Portsmouth on board H.M.S. ‘St. George,’ bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson. On arrival in Yarmouth Roads the right platoon of Captain Beckwith’s Riflemen was shifted to the ‘London,’ Sir Hyde Parker’s flag-ship. But the men of the Rifle Corps seem to have been distributed, on arrival in the Baltic, among the ships of Nelson’s squadron, which on April 2 attacked and reduced the Danish fleet at Copenhagen.

In this action First Lieutenant and Adjutant Grant was killed ‘whilst gallantly fighting the quarter-deck guns of H.M.S. “Isis.”’ He was the first officer of the Regiment killed in action. He had volunteered for this service. His head was taken off by a cannon-ball as clean as if severed by a scimitar. Stewart recommended Second Lieutenant Pendergast, who was in the expedition, for the vacancy, and he was accordingly promoted on May 9. Two rank and file were also killed; and 1 sergeant and 5 rank and file wounded, of whom some subsequently died of their wounds.[22]

Lord Nelson, in his despatch, says: ‘The Honourable Colonel Stewart did me the favour to be on board the “Elephant;” and himself, with every officer and soldier under his orders, shared with pleasure the toils and dangers of the day.’

It is said in the Record of the 1st Battalion that ‘an appropriate medal was issued upon this occasion by Admiral Lord Nelson to the non-commissioned officers and several soldiers.’ I have not been able to find any trace of this medal, which does not seem to have been given to the officers. For it appears from a correspondence between Stewart (then Lieutenant-General Sir William Stewart), Earl St. Vincent, and Lord Sidmouth in 1821–2, that Nelson had been desirous of obtaining a medal for the captains of his squadron who were engaged at Copenhagen, and had recommended Stewart for one; but that Lords St. Vincent and Sidmouth opposed the issue of any such medal, on the ground that it would be a very invidious distinction from those captains who, being with Parker’s fleet, were not engaged. Stewart advanced a request for this medal in 1821, on the plea that, being a military man, his case was essentially different from that of the captains. But though his application was then supported by Earl St. Vincent, it was refused (in very flattering terms however) by Lord Sidmouth.[23]

The Regiment marched to Weymouth in the early part of the summer, and was encamped there. Their being near Windsor the year before, and now at Weymouth, the summer residence of George III., was probably due to Manningham’s being attached to the person of that sovereign. They returned to Blatchington barracks in the autumn.

On June 25 the establishment of the Corps was again changed, and companies were given to the field-officers, as was then the case in line regiments. But this arrangement was of short duration, for on March 27 following field-officers’ companies were abolished, and effective captains were appointed in their place.

In the autumn of 1802 the Regiment marched to Chatham. On this march, at Maidstone, some of the men broke open the plate-chest of the officers’ mess. One of the offenders was discovered, and being tried by court-martial, was sentenced to receive 800 lashes, the whole of which were inflicted at one time.

The Regiment appears, even at this early period, to have been a favourite one with volunteers from the line and militia; and Surtees mentions four men in the ranks who had been commissioned officers; one of whom, indeed, was drawing half-pay, and was eventually recalled to full pay as lieutenant.

After a short stay at Chatham, the Regiment was moved for the winter to Shorncliffe and forts in the vicinity.

On December 25, 1802, the Rifle Corps was ordered to be numbered as the 95th Regiment, and thus assumed the name under which it was long known, and which its services on the continent of Europe made famous.

In May 1803, the head-quarters, with five companies, returned to their old quarters at Blatchington, and in November moved to Colchester, and eventually to Warley and Woodbridge barracks; the other five companies, under Colonel Beckwith, remaining during the summer at Shorncliffe, where, on Colonel Stewart’s promotion to Brigadier-General and command of a district, the head-quarters and other five companies joined them. Here they formed part of that camp of instruction under Sir John Moore, the marvellous results of which have been so truly and eloquently described by Sir William Napier;[24] and here they first met and were brigaded with their compeers, the 43rd and 52nd, in united action with whom, as the Light Division in the Peninsula, so many of their laurels were won.

During the time the Regiment was encamped at Shorncliffe, Colonel Manningham, carrying out the intentions of his own standing orders, delivered a course of lectures on the duties of Riflemen in active service, which he published.[25]

On the breaking up of that camp, the Regiment moved into Hythe barracks till April 1805, when it appears to have returned to Shorncliffe.

On May 6, 1805, the 2nd Battalion was formed by the transfer of 21 sergeants, 20 corporals, 7 buglers, and 250 privates from the original Corps (now the 1st Battalion); the remainder of the proposed establishment being made up by volunteers from the militia; 1 major (Gardner), 6 captains and 3 first lieutenants being promoted from the 1st Battalion, which also supplied the adjutant. The command and formation of the Battalion was conferred on Wade,[26] of the 1st Battalion, who was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and so vigorously did he proceed in its organisation, that in less than three months it wanted only 7 sergeants, 6 buglers, and 98 privates to complete its full strength. It was formed at Canterbury, but moved to Brabourn Lees, near Ashford, in June, where it was brigaded with the 1st Battalion.

It was while the two Battalions were stationed at Brabourn Lees that a singular instance of self-control and magnanimity was shown by Sidney Beckwith, then commanding the 1st Battalion. Some men, volunteers from the Irish militia, meeting Mrs. Beckwith, with her child and nurse, on the Ashford Road, most grossly insulted them, proceeding to such lengths (Surtees says) as delicacy forbids to mention. The culprits were discovered, but not punished; for Beckwith next day on parade forming the Battalion into square, addressed them; and, after relating the outrage, added: ‘Although I know who the ruffians are, I will not proceed any further in the business because it was my own wife whom they attacked; but had it been the wife of the meanest soldier in the Regiment, I solemnly declare I would have given the offenders every lash to which a Court-Martial might have sentenced them.’ It is no wonder that by such acts of generosity, as well as by his leading them in the field, this man ‘won the heart of every soldier in the Battalion;’ as Surtees tells us, who served in the ranks under him.

So rapidly and effectually had the 2nd Battalion been organised, that it was in September of this year ordered on service; the right wing being marched to Dover to embark for the Continent, and the left wing to Winchester, to prepare to embark for the Mediterranean. However, it was subsequently countermanded; the right wing, from Dover, being marched to Hailsham in October, and the left from Winchester to Eastbourne; and both in November assembled at Bexhill, where they were quartered till March 1806.

In October 1805 the head-quarters and five companies of the 1st Battalion, under Beckwith, marched to Deal, and embarked at Ramsgate for Germany, in the expedition commanded by Lord Cathcart. After a stormy passage, in which some part of the Battalion seems to have been in great danger from the misconduct of the master of a transport,[27] they reached the Elbe in November, and on the 18th disembarked at Cuxhaven, and marched at once for Dorum, a village twelve or fourteen miles distant, and proceeded by Osterholz and Bremerlehe to Bremen, the Riflemen forming the advanced guard. On their arrival before Bremen on the 24th, the barriers were shut, and the commandant of the Prussian garrison refused to let the troops enter; the Senate of Bremen also demurring to General Don’s request for a passage through the place, on account of its neutrality. However, Beckwith, who commanded the advanced corps, was not the man to be daunted by such refusals. He accordingly informed the Prussian commandant that unless his corps was admitted he should force an entrance. This he did on the morning of the 26th, opening the barriers by force, apparently without any armed resistance; and the refusal of the Senate seems to have been prompted rather by coyness than dislike, for the authorities of the town and the inhabitants generally received the advanced guard with expressions of friendship and satisfaction, the Prussian garrison alone looking on these tokens of welcome with great dissatisfaction. The Riflemen passed on, still in advance, to Delmenhorst, a Prussian regiment accompanying them through the city and across the bridge over the Weser, in order to guard their magazine of corn at Bremen for the use of their army on the Weser. From Delmenhorst the Riflemen were detached: three companies at Oldenburg, and two, under Major Robert Travers, at Wildeshausen, on outpost duty. These last were soon moved back to Delmenhorst, and shortly after reunited to the other three companies at Oldenburg. Here they were welcomed and entertained by the inhabitants, and by none more than by the reigning Grand-Duke of Oldenburg, who became extremely fond of the Regiment, officers and men. In consequence of the battle of Austerlitz in December, and the powerful armies set free by that event, and by Mack’s surrender of Ulm, to act against us in the North of Europe, the outposts were withdrawn to Delmenhorst, and eventually into Bremen; and on their march from Oldenburg the Duke sent forward plentiful refreshments for the Riflemen, both officers and men.

They continued at Bremen till February 1806, when the army moved towards a place of embarkation, Beckwith’s force covering the retreat; but as great numbers of the Germans, who formed part of the British army there, were deserting, the 95th were directed to remain in the villages in order to intercept them. However, eventually Beckwith’s Riflemen also retreated, and embarking at Cuxhaven, arrived and landed at Yarmouth on the 19th; thence they marched, by Lowestoft, to Woodbridge barracks, where they rejoined the remainder of the Battalion. During this abortive expedition they had never, I believe, been engaged with the enemy.

From Woodbridge the Battalion marched, in the spring of 1806, to Deal, and afterwards to quarters at Ospringe and Faversham, where they joined the 2nd Battalion, which had moved there from Bexhill.

On June 13 three companies of the 2nd Battalion (Captains Macdonald’s, Elder’s, and Dickenson’s), under the command of Major Gardner, marched from Faversham and embarked at Portsmouth, as part of the force under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, destined for service in South America. The transports in which the troops were embarked were in such bad condition that they were obliged to put into Rio; and it was not until January 16, 1807, that a landing was effected at Maldonado, near the mouth of the river La Plata. This operation was not accomplished without opposition, in which one bugler was killed and Lieutenant Chawner wounded. The General moved forward and occupied the suburbs of Monte Video, with a view to investing the place. On the morning of the 20th the enemy made a sortie, and attacked our troops with a force of 6,000 men. They advanced in two columns, one of which pressed our picquet so hard, that Colonel Gore Browne, of the 40th, who commanded the left of our line, ordered up three companies of that regiment in support. These companies fell in with the head of the enemy’s column and very bravely charged it. The charge was as bravely received, and great numbers fell on both sides. At length the column began to give way, when it was suddenly and impetuously attacked in flank by the Riflemen and by a light battalion which Auchmuty had ordered up. The column then gave way on all sides, and was pursued with great slaughter to the town. The other column, observing the fate of their companions, retired without coming into action. In this sortie the Riflemen lost 5 men killed and 25 wounded.

A breach having been effected, Auchmuty resolved to assault the place; and an hour before daybreak on the morning of February 3 the attacking column moved forward. It was headed by the Riflemen under Gardner; the storming party being led by Captain Dickenson at the head of his own company. They got near the walls before they were discovered, when a destructive fire was opened from every gun that could bear on the column and from the musketry of the garrison. The enemy had piled up hides in the breach; and unfortunately, in the darkness, its situation was not immediately discovered, and the troops remained under a heavy fire for a quarter of an hour. At last the breach was discovered and pointed out by Captain Renny, of the 40th (which formed part of the attacking column), who fell in the assault. Our troops at once mounted it, led by Dickenson and the Riflemen, and forced their way into the town; and though cannon placed at the head of all the principal streets opened a destructive fire, the place was taken and occupied.

In this gallant affair Dickenson fell gloriously at the head of his company; 10 rank and file were killed, and Lieutenants Scanlan and Macnamara, 4 sergeants, and 15 rank and file were wounded. The Riflemen engaged were specially thanked in General Orders; and eleven sergeants received silver medals under the sanction of the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, for their gallantry on this occasion.

The three companies under Gardner remained in La Plata until they were joined in May by a wing of the 1st Battalion.

This force, consisting of five companies (Norcott’s,[28] O’Hare’s,[29] Jenkinson’s, Ramage’s, and Bennett’s), under the command of Majors M’Leod and Travers, and numbering 25 sergeants and 370 rank and file, marched from Faversham on July 23, 1806, and embarked at Gravesend on the 26th on board the ‘Chapman,’ armed transport. Their voyage was a slow one. They sailed on the 27th, remained at anchor in the Downs from the 30th till August 4, arrived on the 21st in Plymouth Sound, were disembarked on September 2, and encamped on Buckland Down till the 13th, when they re-embarked, Norcott’s and Bennett’s companies being placed on board the ‘Alexander’ transport. They did not sail, however, till October 6, and then only to Falmouth; the other ship, with the head-quarters, having preceded them on September 28.

On October 24, Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd (under whom the Regiment served subsequently so long and so gloriously in other fields) arrived at Falmouth and took command of the troops assembled in that harbour for (as it was then called) ‘the remote expedition.’

It sailed on November 12, and arrived in Porto Praza Bay, in the island of St. Jago (Cape Verde) on December 14. Here Craufurd, with the zeal for discipline which always distinguished him, minutely inspected the troops forming the expedition, on board the several transports. The companies of the 95th were frequently landed for exercise during their stay at this island. They sailed from St. Jago on January 11, 1807, and anchored in Simon’s Bay, Cape of Good Hope, on March 14, and in Table Bay on the 20th.

Here General Craufurd received instructions to proceed, not to the coast of Chili, to which the expedition was originally destined, but to the river La Plata to join the force under Sir Samuel Auchmuty. The troops therefore sailed on April 6, and arrived at St. Helena on the 21st; sailed again on the 26th, and anchored in the river La Plata on the 27th. They were not, however, disembarked; and on June 4 a most violent gale drove the ships out to sea, and they did not reach Monte Video till the 14th. Every preparation having been completed for the service on which it was about to be employed, the expedition, comprising the troops under General Craufurd and those already at Monte Video under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, sailed on June 17. General Whitelocke had been appointed to command the whole force, most unfortunately, as the event proved, and assumed his command at Monte Video. On the 27th they arrived at Ensenada de Barragon, about thirty miles to the eastward of Buenos Ayres, where they disembarked on the morning of the 28th, at nine o’clock.[30] After some fatiguing marches through a country much intersected by swamps and muddy rivulets, the army reached Reduction, a village nine miles distant from the bridge over the Rio Chuello, on the opposite bank of which the enemy had constructed a formidable line of defence. The General resolved to cross the river higher up and to turn this position. On the evening of July 2, the light division of General Gower’s column crossed at the ford of Passo Chico; the Chuello was about waist-deep, and the Riflemen carried their pouches on their shoulders. They were soon seriously engaged with the enemy. They charged rapidly, and overthrew their opponents in a few minutes, with great loss, taking twelve guns. In this affair Major Travers and the officers and men of both Battalions serving with this force greatly distinguished themselves. One sergeant and 1 private of the 1st Battalion were killed, and 2 sergeants and 10 rank and file wounded; and 1 private of the 2nd Battalion was killed, and Captain Elder and 10 rank and file wounded.[31]

The left column, with the Commander of the Forces, united with that under Major-General Gower in the suburbs of Buenos Ayres on the afternoon of July 3, and the whole army was placed in position. Two companies of the 1st Battalion, under Major Norcott, were immediately detached to occupy an advanced post, and became warmly engaged until dark; by which time they had completely dislodged a very superior force of the enemy from every point in their front which they were ordered to occupy.

On the morning of the 4th this picquet was furiously attacked by several hundreds of the enemy, whose continued exertions to dislodge it proved fruitless. Major M’Leod joined the post about the middle of the day, and distinguished himself by his gallantry and judicious arrangements. This affair lasted until dusk, and our loss amounted to 2 officers (Lieutenants James Coane and Charles Noble) severely wounded, 1 sergeant and 1 rank and file killed, and 2 sergeants and 2 rank and file wounded. The two companies were relieved at night by a detachment of the 36th, and joined the army in its position.

Orders were received during the early part of the night for the attack of the town at daylight on the 5th. The five companies of the 1st Battalion formed a part of the column of attack under Brigadier-General Craufurd and Lieutenant-Colonel Packe, leaving one company as an advanced guard to each division, supported by a light company. Major Travers commanded the advance of the right column and Major Norcott that of the left.

The companies of the 2nd Battalion seem to have been attached to Sir Samuel Auchmuty’s division, the light battalion of which was divided into wings, each followed by a party of the 95th. These troops were all unloaded, and were directed not to fire until the columns had reached their final points and formed.

At the appointed signal the troops were in motion. The right column proceeded down the line of street it was directed to take, until it nearly reached the river; when, turning to the left, with the view of making for the Franciscan Convent and taking possession of it, it was assailed from the parapets and windows of every house along the whole street in so vigorous a manner as to render it impossible to penetrate further without the probable loss of every officer and man. Orders were at this moment given to retire; and General Craufurd took post in the great Convent of St. Domingo, occupying as many houses as his means enabled him to break into, on the flat parapetted tops of which the troops formed. Every possible effort was made to assail the enemy from all parts of the Convent, but without success; for those points which the men were enabled to reach were mostly commanded by the neighbouring houses on one side, which the Riflemen had not been able to force open, and from which fire they suffered dreadfully. With the exception of the operations of the force under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, and of the 45th Regiment, every point of attack failed.

The capture of the 88th Regiment, together with the Light Brigade under Lieutenant-Colonels Packe and Cadogan, and the immense loss of killed and wounded, furnished the enemy with such powerful means of attack that at three o’clock he had dislodged our force from every house they occupied, and confined our operations entirely to one or two points of the Convent. The loss of officers and men at this time increased most considerably. Every effort was made to preserve the posts; but, finding his troops deprived of all means of succour, or prospect of success in holding out, having ascertained the fate of the neighbouring columns, and further resistance proving quite useless, the Brigadier surrendered with his column at four o’clock in the afternoon, and the officers and men were immediately marched as prisoners to the citadel and other buildings. Major M’Leod, of the 95th, however, on Craufurd consulting the field-officers in the Convent, was the only one who demurred to the necessity of surrendering. But when Craufurd offered, if M’Leod was decidedly of opinion that they could force their way out, to head the column with him, he declined the responsibility.[32]

The left column moved as directed until it came in view of the river; it had scarcely approached the Franciscan Convent when, by an almost invisible fire, it lost nearly half its officers and men. Finding it impossible to penetrate to the objects of attack, Lieutenant-Colonel Packe acceded to Lieutenant-Colonel Cadogan’s taking possession of some houses. This was effected, and they were afterwards defended to the last extremity by that officer and Major Travers; but they were at length compelled to surrender, having suffered most severely in killed and wounded, and all chance of further resistance being deemed useless on account of the capture of the column on their left. Nothing could exceed the persevering gallantry and conduct of every officer and man of the Regiment engaged on this unfortunate day.[33]

The loss of the five companies of the 1st Battalion was Captain Jenkinson, 2 sergeants, 2 buglers, and 36 rank and file, killed; Captain O’Hare, Lieutenants Cadoux, Macleod, and Turner,[34] wounded severely; Majors Travers and M’Leod, and Lieutenant M’Cullock, wounded slightly; and 8 sergeants, 2 buglers, and 73 rank and file wounded; and 2 sergeants, 2 buglers, and 39 rank and file missing.

Of the three companies of the 2nd Battalion the loss was 3 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 46 rank and file killed; and Lieutenants Hill[35] and Scott, 6 sergeants, and 40 rank and file wounded.

In consequence of the treaty which had been concluded on the 7th, the prisoners were released on the morning of the 8th July, and joined the different posts occupied by the army.

Every arrangement having been completed for the evacuation of the country on the south side of the river La Plata, the army was embarked by the 12th, sailed on the 13th, and anchored at Monte Video on the 15th.

On August 8 the five companies of the 1st Battalion sailed for England, and arrived at Falmouth on November 9. They proceeded to Dover by sea about the end of January, 1808, whence they marched to Shorncliffe barracks, and soon after to Colchester to join the other five companies of the Battalion, to which station they had moved after their return from Germany.[36]

The three companies of the 2nd Battalion embarked also, under Major Gardner, on July 12th. They landed at Portsmouth on December 2, and joined the Battalion at Hythe on the 18th.

But we must return to the companies of both Battalions which remained in England. In July, 1807, five companies of the 1st Battalion, under Colonel Beckwith, and five companies of the 2nd Battalion, under Colonel Wade, embarked at Deal with the expedition to Denmark under Lord Cathcart. They arrived in the Sound on August 18, and disembarked at Veldbeck, about ten or twelve miles from Copenhagen, on the 16th. Immediately on landing, the Riflemen of both Battalions were sent on in advance towards Copenhagen. And here first they served under the immediate command of the great chief, who commanded the advance; under whose eye they were so often to fight; whose praise they were so often to receive: their future Colonel, then Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley.

To this march no opposition was offered by the enemy; a small patrol of cavalry appeared in their front, but retired on the approach of the Riflemen. They halted for the night at Lingbye, rested on their arms all night, and early next morning again advanced, and about mid-day took up a position within a long gunshot of Copenhagen, and invested the place.

About three o’clock on that day (August 17) a considerable body of the enemy advanced from the town and attacked the picquets on the left of the line towards the seashore. This small force, consisting of four companies of the 2nd Battalion and six of two line regiments, in all not more than 1,000 men with two light field-pieces, were opposed to about 3,000 of the enemy. But almost as soon as they came in contact the Danes gave way and retired into the town, leaving a good many dead and wounded. The detachment of the 2nd Battalion lost 1 man killed, and 2 men were wounded.

On the 19th the 2nd Battalion was moved further to the right, and nearer to the town; and from this day till the 24th a constant fire was kept up between the advanced posts and the place; by which, however, no loss seems to have been inflicted on the Riflemen. On the 24th they were under arms at two o’clock in the morning, and immediately advanced, driving in the Danish outposts; in this operation they encountered considerable opposition, and had some skirmishing among the gardens and suburbs. During the 25th a constant fire both of artillery and small arms was kept up from the place, by which a battalion of the German Legion suffered rather severely. They were relieved on outpost duty a little before dark by the 2nd Battalion, who did not lose a man at this post. On the 26th a division was formed, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, to which the two Battalions of the 95th were attached; and they were ordered to proceed into the interior to disperse a large body of militia and armed peasantry. They marched about three P.M., and made their way through the country on the left of the great road to Roeskild. They halted that night at Cagstrup; and next morning continued to advance towards Kioge, halting in the evening at a village near Roeskild. The troops were now, or just previously, formed into two brigades, the five companies of the 1st Battalion being attached to that under the immediate command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, and those of the 2nd Battalion to General Baron Linsingen’s brigade.

On the 29th Sir Arthur Wellesley attacked the Danish army, which was established in position on the north side of the town and rivulet of Kioge. He sent round Baron Linsingen’s brigade to cross the rivulet at Salbye and fall upon the enemy’s left flank, while Sir Arthur himself advanced on his front, covered by the 1st Battalion skirmishers. The enemy gave way at once before an attack by the 92nd, and retreated in disorder, ‘followed in the most gallant style by the 1st Battalion of the 95th,’[37] and eventually by the whole infantry. Major-General Oxholm, the second in command of the Danish army, attempted to make a stand with the rear-guard in the village of Hervolge, but was briskly attacked by some German hussars and a company of the 2nd Battalion; and though he took up a strong position in the churchyard, which was considerably higher than any other part of the village, he was, after a short resistance, compelled to surrender with several officers and about 400 men. In this action at Kioge the loss suffered by the 95th appears to have been inconsiderable; no mention of casualties appears in the 2nd Battalion Record; Sir Arthur Wellesley says that ‘a few men of the 95th fell.’[38] They must have belonged to the 1st Battalion. The conduct and steadiness of the 1st Battalion of the 95th, under Colonel Beckwith, are ‘mentioned particularly’ in Sir Arthur Wellesley’s despatch.[39]

The two Battalions were engaged all the remainder of the 29th and during the 30th in scouring the woods near Kioge, in order to complete the dispersion of the Danish force and to prevent its reassembling. They reached Ringstæd on the 31st; and as the regular portion of the troops of the enemy had retired into one of the islands, and the militia had entirely disbanded itself, they halted here till after the surrender of Copenhagen on September 7. But during this halt detachments were occasionally sent out to search for and disperse any lurking parties of the enemy, and to bring in arms or stores. One of these detachments, consisting of 100 men of the 2nd Battalion, mounted in light German waggons, scoured a considerable tract of country, and took possession of ten guns of small calibre, forty rifles, and a number of muskets.

The terms of the capitulation of Copenhagen extended only to the British and Danish forces in the Island of Zealand, and the troops were, therefore, still liable to attack from any Danish force which might be reassembled on the mainland or in the other islands. Strong outposts were therefore established in the towns and villages along the Belt, and the two Rifle Battalions were employed on this service; the 1st Battalion occupying Callundborg, Slagelse, Corsoer, and Skielskior; and the 2nd Battalion, Nestved, Lundbye, Wordingborg, and Præstoe. They remained in their cantonments till October 15, when they retired towards Copenhagen, which they reached on the 17th. The two Battalions embarked on board the ‘Princess Caroline,’ 74, a Danish prize, sailed on the 21st, arrived in Yarmouth Roads in November, and (after a stormy passage) at Dover on the 15th, landed next day at Deal, and joined their Battalions at Hythe.[40]

On April 8, 1808, three companies of the 1st Battalion (Major Norcott’s, Captains Ross’[41] and O’Hare’s), under the command of Major Gilmour, marched to Harwich, embarked the next day, sailed the following day, and joined the troops assembled in Yarmouth Roads destined for the Baltic, under Sir John Moore, to co-operate with Sweden. They arrived at Gottenburg on May 17, but owing to misunderstandings with the King of Sweden they never landed; and having remained on board their transports nearly ten weeks, they sailed at the latter end of July, and eventually landed in Portugal, at Peniche, at the end of August, and formed a junction with the force under Sir Arthur Wellesley.

But previously to their arrival there, two companies from those of the Battalion remaining in England (Captains Cameron’s[42] and Ramage’s), under Colonel Beckwith, embarked at Harwich early in July. The strength of this detachment was about 180 men;[43] these landed on August 19, a few days before Major Gilmour’s force, which was immediately united to it.

About the same time four companies of the 2nd Battalion, under the command of Major Robert Travers, had embarked at Dover on June 8, and formed part of the force destined for Portugal under Sir Arthur Wellesley. The transports assembled in Cork harbour early in July. The strength of the detachment of the 2nd Battalion was 1 field-officer, 4 captains, 13 subalterns, 1 staff, 20 sergeants, 8 buglers, and 399 rank and file.[44] These disembarked at Figueira, in Mondego Bay, on August 1, 1808.

These four 2nd Battalion companies were attached to General Fane’s brigade; and, immediately after disembarkation, pushed on, keeping their right towards the sea, several miles over an unbroken plain of white sand. The men, who had been many weeks on board ship, were much fatigued by this their first day’s march, as the weather was hot, and the sand so loose that they sank ankle-deep every step. They encamped at night near the village of Lavaos, to which the rest of the army moved up as soon as they disembarked. On August 9, these companies, forming part of the advance, marched from Lavaos about three o’clock in the morning. Their destination was Leiria, and their orders were, if the enemy were in strength at Leiria not to drive him out till the 10th, but to halt in the pine-woods which cover the country between Lavaos and Leiria. And General Hill was ordered to let 200 Riflemen and a few dragoons feel their way into Leiria, and if they obtained possession to support them with his whole corps.[45] However, the French had evacuated Leiria before the Riflemen entered it, and it bore terrible marks of their cruelty and excesses.

The army marched hence towards Lisbon, the Riflemen still forming the advance, and daily expecting to fall in with the enemy, who were gradually retiring before them. The first meeting took place at Obidos on the evening of August 15, where, after a long march, a party of French cavalry and infantry were found. These were immediately attacked by the Riflemen under Major Travers, together with some of the 60th, and forced to retire. In the eagerness of this first encounter the pursuit was continued too far, and the Riflemen pushed on to a distance of three miles from Obidos, and quite away from any support. They were then attacked by a superior body of the enemy, who attempted to cut them off from the main body of the detachment to which they belonged, which now advanced to their support. Larger bodies of the enemy appeared on both flanks, and it was with some difficulty that General Spencer, who had gone out to Obidos, when he heard that the Riflemen had advanced, was able to extricate them.[46] In this sharp skirmish Lieutenant Bunbury and 2 men were killed, and Captain Pakenham[47] and 6 men wounded. Ralph Bunbury was the first English officer who fell in the Peninsula. Harris says that he was ‘the first man that was hit;’ and he was much regretted by his brother officers. It is painful to add that this first blood was spilt, in Sir Arthur Wellesley’s opinion, unnecessarily. ‘The affair,’ he writes to Lord Castlereagh, ‘was unpleasant, because it was quite useless; and was occasioned solely by the imprudence of the officer and the dash and eagerness of the men; they behaved remarkably well, and did some execution with their rifles.’[48] And to the Duke of Richmond he says, ‘that it was foolishly brought on by the over-eagerness of the Riflemen in the pursuit of an enemy’s picquet; the troops behaved remarkably well, but not with great prudence.’[49]

They held possession that night of an extensive knoll near the road by which the enemy had retired, and were under arms till morning, when they occupied the village of Obidos till the morning of the 17th.

Early on that day they advanced towards Roleia,[50] where, after a march of two or three hours, they found the enemy, under General Laborde, posted in a strong position on high ground, having Roleia and several passes into the mountains in his rear. The four companies formed part of General Fane’s brigade, which attacked the enemy’s position in front; but some were detached to cover the advance of General Ferguson’s brigade, which operated on the right of Laborde’s posts at Roleia. As soon as the army moved, the Riflemen of Fane’s brigade were sent into the hills on the left of the valley, in order to keep up the communication between the centre and the left columns, and to cover the advance of the former; and the enemy’s outposts were rapidly driven in. He was pressed by the attacking force in his front; Hill’s division advanced against his left, and the Riflemen were in the hills on his right. From this position he extricated himself by a rapid retreat by the passes into the mountains, where he took up a formidable position. The Riflemen were already on his right, and no time was lost in supporting them and attacking the different passes. These were all difficult of access, and it is well known that they were forced with great courage and impetuosity, especially by the 9th and 29th Regiments. Here, however, I have only to do with the part borne by the 95th; and their conduct during the day elicited the approval of Sir Arthur Wellesley. They were almost all young soldiers, and few of them had ever been under fire; yet, engaged with the French light troops during an intensely hot day, they succeeded in driving them before them from pass to pass, and mountain to mountain, in spite of a destructive fire from thick heath and brushwood, which hid their opponents from them. During this fight the Riflemen were fearfully galled by the fire from two houses which the French light troops occupied, and some high ground in front of the buildings gave them a further advantage. At last the Riflemen could stand it no longer; and one of them, jumping up and rushing forward, exclaimed, ‘Over, boys! over, over!’ In a moment every one of them was dashing forward, repeating the cry, ‘Over, over!’ and fixing their sword-bayonets as they ran up the rising ground. The voltigeurs could not stand this, but turned and fled; and the Riflemen soon entered and cleared out the houses. Their loss was 17 rank and file killed, and Captain Creagh and Lieutenants Hill and Cochrane, and 30 rank and file wounded. It was during this action that an incident occurred, which I give in Leach’s own words, who records it[51]: