The death of Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, having occurred in the autumn of 1740, the succession of the Archduchess Maria-Theresa, as Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, was disputed by the Elector of Bavaria, and immediate signs of war appearing, an augmentation was made to the strength of the Royal Regiment; and its establishment was increased to 1628 officers and men.

Previous to this period both battalions had usually been employed at the same station: they were considered as one corps, and few instances occurred of their being engaged in separate services, even for short periods; but on the 21st of October, 1741, while the first battalion remained in Ireland, the second battalion, having been placed on the English establishment, embarked at Cork for the West Indies. It however remained in the West Indies only a few months, and arrived in England in December, 1742, together with the 6th, 15th, and 24th regiments[94]. In the following year it returned to Ireland.

In the meantime, the French having taken part with the Elector of Bavaria against the Archduchess Maria-Theresa, a British force had been sent to Flanders to co-operate with the Austrians; and in the spring of 1743 the first battalion of the Royal Regiment was ordered to proceed from Ireland to Flanders to join the army. It accordingly embarked from Ireland, and on its arrival at Ostend, in June, took charge, together with three other regiments, of the clothing for the army which had marched from Flanders to Germany. From Ostend the Royals marched with the clothing to Brussels, where they arrived on the 10th of July; thence, continuing their route for Germany, passed the Maese on the 14th and joined the army at Hanau, a few days after King George II. had gained a victory over the French at Dettingen. The Royals were afterwards engaged in operations in the west of Germany, but returned to the Netherlands in the autumn.

During the following year the first battalion of the Royals formed part of the army commanded by Field Marshal Wade, and was employed in several operations in the Netherlands; but no general engagement occurred.

In the spring of 1745 the French besieged Tournay; and the Royals formed part of the army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, who advanced to the relief of the town. The French took up a position near the village of Fontenoy to cover the siege; and the Duke of Cumberland, though inferior to the enemy in numbers, resolved to attack the position. The army accordingly advanced to the vicinity of Tournay, drove in the French out-posts on the 10th of May, and on the morning of the following day moved from its camp-ground to attack the enemy. Having passed through some narrow defiles and broken ground, the troops deployed on the plain in front of the enemy, and the British infantry commenced the attack with a spirit and resolution which overcame all opposition. But the Dutch having failed in their attack on the village of Fontenoy, and a brigade of infantry ordered to storm a battery above Vezont having delayed its attack, the British infantry, which had forced the French lines, were exposed to a dreadful cross-fire, and were ordered to retire. A second attack was afterwards made, with similar results: the cavalry advanced to charge; but the failure of the Dutch on Fontenoy, and the delay of the brigade detached against the flank battery at Vezont, rendered a retreat necessary; and the army withdrew from the field of battle, and halted that night under the cannon of Aeth. Although the attack failed, yet the army succeeded in impressing the French with a sense of British valour and magnanimity, and the honour of the British arms was preserved untarnished. The loss on both sides was nearly equal; that of the first battalion of the Royal Regiment was 2 serjeants and 85 rank and file killed; with Captains Thompson and Edmonstone, Lieutenants Cockburn, Nairn, Elliott, Abernethy, and Grant, Ensign Jones, 5 serjeants, and 178 rank and file, wounded; also 8 rank and file missing.

The Royals were subsequently encamped with the army on the plain of Lessines, from whence they retired to Grammont, and afterwards occupied a position near Brussels to cover Dutch Brabant; but the French, by means of their immense superiority of numbers, captured several towns in the Austrian Netherlands. In the autumn the army went into winter quarters.

Meanwhile Charles-Edward, the eldest son of the Pretender, being encouraged by several chiefs of the Highland clans, who were disaffected to the Protestant succession, landed on the western coast of Scotland, and was soon joined by a number of hardy mountaineers, with whom he advanced to Edinburgh, and obtained possession of that city. This success of the young Pretender occasioned the first battalion of the Royal Regiment to be withdrawn from the Netherlands, and it arrived in the Thames on the 25th of October. It was afterwards ordered to form part of the army assembled in the south of England to oppose the threatened descent of the French.

In the meantime the second battalion, having embarked from Dublin on the 30th of September, 1745, had arrived in England, and formed part of the army under Field Marshal Wade, assembled in order to prevent the advance of the Highlanders into England. The rebels, however, succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the King's troops, and penetrated as far as Derby. The second battalion of the Royal Regiment was at this time in Yorkshire; and when the young Pretender, being disappointed of the expected aid in England, was forced to make a precipitate retreat to Scotland, this battalion marched in pursuit of the rebels, and arrived at Newcastle-on-Tyne on the 24th of December. From Newcastle this battalion marched to Edinburgh, where it arrived in the early part of January, 1746, and was placed under the command of Lieut.-General Hawley.

The young Pretender had, in the meantime, been joined by some new levies, and having procured a supply of artillery and ammunition, he occupied the town of Stirling and commenced the siege of the Castle. A few regiments having been assembled at Edinburgh, one division, commanded by Major-General Huske, advanced on the 13th of January and drove a party of rebels out of Linlithgow; another division advanced to Barroustouness, and on the 16th the whole proceeded to Falkirk and encamped near the town. On the 17th, about mid-day, the rebel army was discovered advancing towards the high grounds on Falkirk Moor; the King's troops quitted their camp and marched through the broken and rugged grounds towards the enemy, and between three and four in the afternoon the action commenced. But at this moment a tremendous storm of wind and rain beat in the faces of the King's troops and nearly blinded them, and their muskets became so wet that the soldiers could not fire. At the same time the storm beating on the backs of the Highlanders caused them little annoyance, and they charged their nearly blinded antagonists under such advantageous circumstances, that several regiments were instantly broken and driven from the ground. The reserve, however, stood firm, and the Royals having rallied, joined these troops under Major-General Huske. This body of troops made a resolute stand; the storm had abated a little, and when the Highlanders attempted to charge the reserve, they were assailed by a shower of bullets, which caused them to shrink back; and they were eventually driven up the hill with precipitation. This division, of which the Royals formed part, maintained its ground to the last, and remained on the field until dark, when no enemy being in sight, and the night being cold and stormy, the troops retired from the Moor to their camp, and afterwards to Linlithgow, where the soldiers, who were all dripping wet and nearly exhausted, were put under cover, and on the following day they marched to Edinburgh.

Additional forces were afterwards sent to Scotland; the Duke of Cumberland arrived at Edinburgh and took the command; and on the 31st of January the troops were again in motion towards the Highlanders, who raised the siege of Stirling Castle and made a precipitate retreat for Inverness, and one division for the Highlands.

The second battalion of the Royal Regiment also took part in the several movements which preceded the battle of Culloden, which was fought on the 16th of April, on Culloden Moor, a few miles from Inverness. The army had advanced on the 14th to the Royal burgh of Nairn, about 16 miles from Inverness. During the night between the 15th and 16th of April, the Pretender attempted, by a forced march, to surprise the Royal camp, but the out-posts were found alert and the surprise impracticable, and he retreated towards Inverness, and halted on Culloden Moor. On the following day the King's army was discovered advancing in order of battle, with the second battalion of the Royal Regiment on the right of the first line, commanded by Lieut.-General the Earl of Albemarle. The action commenced between twelve and one, and in less than one hour the rebel army was overpowered and chased from the Moor with dreadful slaughter. This victory was decisive. The young Pretender fled from the field, and after wandering for some time in disguise amongst the isles and mountains, he escaped to France. The Royals, after returning from the pursuit of the fugitive Highlanders, pitched their tents near Inverness, where they remained for several weeks, and afterwards marched to Perth.

The rebellion being thus finally suppressed, part of the forces in England became disposable for other services; and the nation being at war with France, an attack on the French possessions in Canada was meditated; and the first battalion of the Royal Regiment, being at this period in the south of England, was selected to form part of the expedition, under its Colonel, Lieut.-General the Hon. James St. Clair, which was accompanied by a naval force under Admiral Lestock. The fleet was, however, detained so long by contrary winds that the attack on Canada was deferred, and an attempt on L'Orient, a considerable sea-port on the north-west of France, and the principal station for the French East India Company's shipping and stores, was resolved upon. The expedition sailed from Plymouth on the 14th of September, and on the 20th a landing was effected in Quimperle Bay, and a body of French troops were driven from the shore. On the following day the troops advanced in two columns towards L'Orient, the Royals being in the right column; some French militia fired upon the troops from the woods, but a few skirmishers were thrown out, and the militia were driven back. On arriving at Plemur the leading companies of the column entering the village were fired upon from the houses; but this resistance was speedily overcome, and the villagers were punished for their temerity. On the 22nd the troops appeared before L'Orient, when the governor sent a flag of truce, and proposed to surrender the town on certain conditions. These conditions were, however, considered too favourable to the French, and they were rejected in consequence of a report of the engineers stating the practicability of reducing the town. The siege was immediately commenced, the sallies of the garrison were repulsed, and the town was set on fire in three places by the bombs; but the expedition proved of insufficient force for the capture of the town, and the siege was raised on the evening of the 26th. The roads being bad, four pieces of cannon, one mortar, and some ammunition, were left behind; and the troops retreated to Quimperle Bay and re-embarked without opposition.

In the early part of October another descent was made on the French coast. The troops effected a landing on the peninsula of Quiberon, and Lieut.-General St. Clair, at the head of the Royals and 42nd Highlanders, took a fort with 18 guns, and having fortified the isthmus the troops were cantoned in the villages and farm-houses. The forts and guns in the peninsula, with those in the isles of Houat and Hedic, having been destroyed, and the country laid in ruins, the troops re-embarked and returned to England.

The war had, in the meantime, continued to rage in the Netherlands, and the French, having reduced the Austrian provinces, advanced, in April, 1747, into Dutch Flanders, and captured Sluys and Sas van Ghent, and besieged Hulst. The 1st battalion of the Royal Regiment had, in the meantime, proceeded to Holland, and was in cantonments in the province of Zealand, from whence it was detached, with Bragg's (28th) and Lord John Murray's Highland (42nd) Regiments, under the command of Major-General Fuller, to the relief of Hulst, and, having landed at Stapledyke on the 1st of May, was employed in the defence of an outwork called Fort Sandberg. On the 3rd of May the French attacked Sandberg by storm; the Dutch made a gallant resistance, and, on the advance of the British brigade, the enemy was driven back. On the 5th the Royals were on duty in the fort, and the French, having carried the sap along the dyke to within a few paces of the pallisades, attacked the place by storm about nine o'clock in the evening. The assailants advanced with all the spirit and fury which usually distinguishes the first attack of the French; the out-guards and piquets were instantly forced back into the garrison, and a Dutch regiment was disconcerted and gave way. The enemy continued his triumphant career until he encountered the Royals, when a most sanguinary conflict of musketry ensued, which was kept up throughout the night. "The narrowness of the ground in which the battalion was drawn up would not admit of wheeling outwards to the right and left, as is requisite in common street-firing, as it contained only a platoon abreast; so the first platoon fired their 24 rounds, and then filed off man by man, and were succeeded by the next and following platoons, which acted in the same manner; and what is extraordinary, all this, though in the night, was performed without any disorder and confusion."[95]

The morning light had already dawned upon this scene of conflict and carnage,—between three and four hundred officers and men of the Royals were hors de combat; yet the survivors,—though standing amidst the dying and the dead, and being unable to take one step without treading on a killed or wounded man,—maintained their ground with resolution, and continued to pour their fatal volleys upon the enemy, who had sustained an equal or greater loss, until five o'clock, when the Royals were relieved by the Highlanders; and the French, dismayed by the sanguinary tenacity of the defence, retreated.[96] In this desperate service Major Sir Charles Erskine was killed; Lieut.-Colonel Abercrombie, Lieutenants Forbes, Grant, Gordon, and Rutherford, with Ensigns Campbell and St. Clair, were wounded; and several of these officers afterwards died of their wounds: the battalion had also about four hundred non-commissioned officers and private men killed and wounded.[97]

The fire of the French batteries being resumed with increased fury, Fort Sandberg was rendered untenable a few days afterwards, and the Dutch governor, General La Roque, having resolved to vacate the Fort and surrender the town of Hulst, the British brigade proceeded to Welshorden, where it was attacked by the French; but, having repulsed the enemy, it embarked in small vessels, and, sailing to South Beveland, went into cantonments on that island. The Royals appear to have remained in South Beveland some time, and they did not engage in any other military operation this year.

In the spring of 1748 the 2nd battalion of the Royal

Regiment, having been withdrawn from Scotland, embarked for Holland, and joined the allied army commanded by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, at the camp near Ruremonde. Preliminary articles for a treaty of peace having been agreed upon, a suspension of arms took place.

After the conclusion of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the British troops were withdrawn from Holland, and both battalions of the Royal Regiment proceeded to Ireland, and were placed upon the Irish Establishment in 1749.

On the 1st of July, 1751, a warrant was issued under the sign manual for regulating the standards, colours, and clothing of the army, in which numerical titles were given to the several corps, and this was styled the "First, or Royal Regiment of Foot." The rank of the several regiments was first established by a board of general officers assembled in the Netherlands, by command of King William, on the 10th of June, 1694; another board of general officers was assembled by Queen Anne in 1713, to decide on the rank and seniority of regiments raised after 1694; and a third board was assembled by command of King George I. in 1715, on the same subject. These boards decided that English regiments raised in England should take rank from the date of their formation, and Scots and Irish regiments, with English regiments raised for the service of a foreign power, should take rank from the date of their being first placed on the English establishment. Thus the Royal Regiment obtained rank from 1661, as before stated.

In the warrant of 1751 the facing of the Royals is directed to be Blue.[98] "In the centre of their colours the King's cypher, within the circle of St. Andrew, and the crown over it; in the three corners of the second colour, the thistle and crown. The distinction of the colours of the second battalion is, a flaming ray of gold descending from the upper corner of each colour towards the centre.[99]

"On the grenadier caps the same device as in the centre of the colours, white horse, and the King's motto over it, on the little flap.

"The drums and bells of arms to have the same device painted on them, with the number or rank of the regiment under it."

Both battalions remained in Ireland until the undetermined limits of the British territory in North America gave rise to another war. The colonies on the coast had extended themselves on every side, while the Indian trade drew many wandering dealers into the inland country, where they found well-watered plains, a delightful climate, and a fruitful soil. These advantages appearing to compensate for the distance from the sea, a company of merchants and planters obtained a charter for a tract of land beyond the Allegany Mountains and near the river Ohio, and commenced establishing a settlement. The French laid claim to this part of the country, drove away the new settlers, and built a strong fort called Du Quesne, to command the entrance into the country on the Ohio and Mississippi. Another dispute had, in the meantime, occurred respecting Nova Scotia.

These aggressions on the part of the French occasioned a body of British troops to be sent to North America in 1755. War was declared against France in 1756; and in May, 1757, the 2nd battalion of the Royals embarked at Cork, and proceeded with the 17th, 27th, 28th, 43rd, 46th, 55th, and 58th regiments to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, where they arrived in the early part of July, being designed to form part of an expedition under the Earl of Loudoun against an island belonging to the French in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, called Cape Breton. On arriving at Halifax the Royals were landed and formed in brigade with the 28th, 44th, and 55th regiments, commanded by Major-General Hopson; and the expedition was deferred until the succeeding year.

In May, 1758, the troops were again embarked, and sailed under the orders of Lieut.-General Amherst (afterwards Lord Amherst)—the naval force being under Admiral Boscawen; but owing to the unfavourable state of the weather a landing could not be effected on the island until the 8th of June, when the troops proceeded in boats towards the shore in three divisions. The Royals, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Forster, formed part of the right division under Brigadier-General Whiteman, which proceeded towards White Point to make a diversion, while the men of the centre division, led by the gallant Brigadier-General James Wolfe, jumped into the water, in the face of a tremendous fire of cannon and musketry, hastened to the shore, attacked the French with fixed bayonets, and drove them from their posts in gallant style. The other divisions followed; but the surf was so high that several boats were overset, others were dashed to pieces, and many men were drowned.

The siege of Louisburg, the capital of the island, was afterwards commenced; and in carrying on the approaches the troops underwent great fatigues with a cheerful alacrity which redounded to their honour. By their meritorious perseverance, and the co-operation of the fleet, the town was taken by surrender on the 26th of July, and with it the whole island and two other small islands in the Gulf also surrendered. The French garrison was made prisoners, and eleven stand of colours were sent to England. The Royals lost in this service Lieutenants Fenton and Howe, killed; with Lieutenants Fitzsimmons, Bailey, and Ashe, and Ensign Waterton, wounded. This conquest was considered of great importance to the nation, and the meritorious conduct of the officers and soldiers was rewarded with the approbation of their Sovereign and the thanks of Parliament.

While the Royals were at Cape Breton, a body of British troops, employed on the continent of North America under the command of Major-General Abercrombie, had advanced against the fort at Ticonderago, which had been built by the French in 1756 on the west shore of Lake Champlain; and in the attack on this place the British troops were repulsed. Lieut.-General Amherst, having received information of this disaster, embarked from Louisburg on the 30th of August with the 2nd battalion of the Royals, 17th, 47th, and 48th regiments, and Frazer's Highlanders, and sailed to Boston, where he disembarked the troops, and, marching through the woods to Lake George, joined the camp of the forces under Major-General Abercrombie.

A resolution to attack the French possessions in North America at four different points at one time was ultimately agreed upon; and the Royals were selected to form part of the force, under Lieut.-General Amherst, designed to make a second attempt on Ticonderago.

The troops assembled for this purpose on the east bank of Hudson's River, about fifty miles from Albany, in the beginning of June, 1759, where they were encamped three weeks. Advancing from thence on the 21st of June, they arrived at the banks of Lake George in the evening, and there pitched their tents, and commenced erecting a fort; at the same time means were used to collect boats to convey the troops along the lake. This occupied one month, and on the 21st of July the regiments struck their tents, went on board the boats, and, using blankets for sails, arrived at the second Narrows on the following morning, and effected a landing. Thence, advancing towards Ticonderago, the van-guard encountered 400 French regulars and native Indians near the saw-mills two miles from the fort, and routed them in a few moments. The French commander, M. Bourlemaque, had fortified a post in front of the fort, but, when he saw the steady resolution of his opponents, he quitted his lines, placed a garrison in the fort, and embarked with his main body for Crown Point, another fort on Lake Champlain, erected by the French in 1731. The siege of Ticonderago was then prosecuted with vigour, and on the 25th of July the garrison blew up the fort and sailed to Crown Point; which place the French commander also abandoned, and retired down the lake to Isle aux Noix. The Royals and other forces afterwards proceeded to Crown Point and commenced erecting a new fort; vessels were also built in order to have a naval force on the lake. This work was in progress until the 11th of October, when the large boats, with a brigantine mounting eighteen guns and two swivels, and a sloop mounting sixteen guns, being ready, the troops embarked, and sailed down the lake in four divisions; but afterwards encountering high northerly winds, and a severe frost having set in, the expedition was countermanded; the troops returned to Crown Point and Ticonderago, and the Royals proceeded to New York for winter quarters.

Meanwhile the Cherokee Indians had been carrying on a cruel warfare against the settlers on the frontiers of the southern provinces of North America, and in the early part of 1760 the two flank and four battalion companies of the Royals, mustering 400 men, were ordered to proceed, under the command of Major Frederick Hamilton, to South Carolina, to strike a decisive blow against the aggressors. They accordingly embarked from New York, and, with a battalion of Highlanders and some provincial troops commanded by Colonel Montgomery, sailed to Charleston, and marched from thence up the country to Fort Ninety-six, situate on the borders of the Cherokee territory. Having halted a short time at this place, the troops advanced on the 28th of May, and arrived on the 1st of June at Twelve-mile River. The scouts being unable to find any Indian tracks, it was concluded that the Cherokees were not informed of the march; and, although the men had already traversed twenty miles of rugged ground that morning, from Beaver-dams to the river, the commanding officer resolved to push forward immediately. The tents, waggons, and cattle, were placed in a square, a guard was placed over them, and, just as the sun was sinking beneath the horizon, the troops moved quietly forward along the rugged wood-lands. After a march of sixteen miles the detachment arrived at an Indian hamlet called Little Keowee, and the light company of the Royals was ordered to surround the houses and bayonet the inhabitants. As the Royals approached the houses, a company of Indian warriors, who were sleeping under the trees near the hamlet, raised their usual war-cry, and opened a scattering fire; but the soldiers—undaunted by the dismal yell of their antagonists—fired one volley,—then, rushing forward, encountered the Indians in close fight, and bayoneted the whole except the women and children. The troops then continued their route, and just as the first rays of morning began to dawn they arrived at Estatoe, the capital of the Lower Cherokees; the town had, however, been abandoned nearly an hour before; but about a dozen warriors were intercepted and slain. The town, which was found well provided with ammunition, provision, and magazines of corn, was plundered and laid in ashes, and many of the inhabitants who had concealed themselves perished in the flames. This service performed, the troops resumed their march, and laid several other towns and villages in ashes; an act of necessary severity, which excited painful feelings in the breasts of the brave men who executed it. Colonel Grant observes, in his narrative of these transactions, published in the South Carolina Gazette,—"I could not help pitying them; their villages were agreeably situated, their houses neatly built and well provided, having abundance of everything; they must be pretty numerous, for Estatoe and Sugartown consisted at least of two hundred houses, and every other village of at least one hundred houses. After killing all we could find, and burning every house, we marched to Keowee, and arrived on the 2nd of June, after a march of sixty miles without sleeping, at Fort Prince George, at four in the evening." This service was performed with the loss of four men killed, and Lieutenants Marshal and Hamilton, of the Royals, wounded.

After this severe chastisement, pacific overtures were made to the Cherokee nation, but without the desired effect; and a second expedition into their country was resolved upon. For this purpose the six companies of the Royals and other troops were in motion at day-break on the morning of the 24th of June, taking with them six days' provision, and arrived that night at Orkonee Creek. Thence proceeding on the following day through woody dells and narrow tracts and chasms between mountains, reached War-woman's Creek in the evening. Continuing the march on the 26th through a country wild and rugged beyond description, the detachment arrived on the following morning within eighteen miles of the Indian town called Etchöey, and the troops proceeded forward with caution. A few horsemen marched in front and on each flank,—the grenadiers and light infantry scoured the thickets,—and the four battalion companies of the Royals marched in the rear. Arriving at a valley covered with trees and bushes, and overlooked by hills on both sides, Captain Morrison and a few men pushed forward into the thickets, and were assailed by a straggling fire, which proved fatal to the captain, and the next moment the woods echoed with the dismal howlings of a thousand Indians raising their war-cry. Undaunted by this appalling noise, the grenadiers and light infantry rushed forward amongst the trees to encounter the Indian warriors,—the four battalion companies of the Royals supported the attack,—while the Highlanders pushed forward on the left to cut off the retreat of the Indians to the hills. The savage warriors soon gave way,—the Highlanders intercepted them in their retreat,—the Royals pressed upon the rear, and a number of Indians were slaughtered amongst the trees on the side of the hill. The main body of the Indian army appeared soon afterwards on the face of the mountain on the left of the line of march, and, with frantic gestures and horrid sounds, bid defiance to their white adversaries. The Royals, having gained the front of the column, pushed forward to engage their fierce opponents with distinguished bravery. The Indians opened a scattering fire, and made the valley echo with their whooping and howling; but this noise produced little effect on the soldiers, who dashed through the bushes and thick foliage with a "valour, discipline, and steadiness, worthy of admiration;" and, although the warriors kept up a sharp fire with their rifles for some time, yet they eventually gave way. "The action lasted about an hour. Captain Manley Williams, of the Royals, was killed: he was truly a gentleman and an extreme good officer."[100] The Royals had also eight private men killed; and Captain Peter Gordon, Ensigns Edrington and Knight, one serjeant, and thirty-two private men, wounded.

The Indians fled from the field of battle towards Etchöey, to alarm their women and children; and the soldiers pressing forward soon drew near the town, when a band of warriors opened a straggling fire from amongst some trees and then fled. The town was found deserted, but well stored with corn. The Cherokees, finding themselves unable to resist the troops, abandoned several other towns and fled to the mountains. At the same time Colonel Montgomery, having no place of safety where he could leave his wounded men, did not advance any farther, but retired on the 28th of June to War-woman's Creek. The Indians, taking courage from this retrograde movement, returned in swarms from the mountains, and on the morning of the 29th the woods and bushes on the line of march appeared crowded with warriors ready to attack the troops in their retreat; but two officers and fifty men of the Royals being sent out to scour the bushes on the right of the road, and the same number of the Highlanders on the left, they were chased from their lurking-places, and the retreat was continued to Fort Prince George.

The Commanding Officer, in his despatch, observes:—

"The fatigue was immense, yet not an officer or soldier complained. The detachment has been all along in high spirits, judging nothing too difficult. Never did greater harmony appear than amongst the corps of our little army."

The two flank companies marched soon afterwards to Charleston, and there embarked for New York, leaving the four battalion companies in South Carolina under the command of Major Frederick Hamilton.

The four battalion companies left in quarters at New York, under Lieut.-Colonel Forster, had in the meantime advanced up the country to Crown Point, of which place the Lieut.-Colonel was appointed Commandant. Embarking from thence on the 11th of August, the four companies sailed, with several other corps under Colonel Haviland, down Lake Champlain towards Isle-aux-Noix, and, having landed on the 16th, encamped on the left bank of the River Richlieu. The enemy occupied a fort near the river; but when the batteries opened their fire against it, the French commandant retreated with the greater part of the garrison, leaving an officer and 30 men to capitulate, who were made prisoners. Two other forts were also abandoned by the French, and the Isle-aux-Noix was taken possession of by the English. In the meantime a British force, under General Amherst, had proceeded to Oswego, embarked from thence on Lake Ontario, and, sailing down the River St. Lawrence, invaded the French settlements in Canada on that side, and advanced upon Montreal. Quebec had been captured in the preceding year; and an army, commanded by Major-General Murray, was advancing from thence towards Montreal. The four companies of the Royals and other troops, under Colonel Haviland, were also advancing towards the same point by lake Champlain and the River Richlieu; and the whole were united near Montreal on the 7th of September. The French Governor, being unable to withstand the forces opposed to him, surrendered on the following day; and thus the conquest of Canada was effected with trifling loss. When the French battalions laid down their arms their colours were demanded; and their Commander answered:—"Although the several regiments had brought with them their colours from France, they had, finding them troublesome and of little use in this woody country, destroyed them."

While the second battalion of the Royal Regiment was thus engaged in North America the first battalion had embarked from Ireland, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Horne Elphinston, and sailed for Quiberon Bay, on the coast of France, which station was appointed for the rendezvous of an expedition under the orders of Major-General Kingsley, designed for the capture of one of the French islands in the Bay of Biscay, called Belle-Isle; but the death of King George II. occurring (25th October, 1760) before all the troops arrived, the expedition was laid aside, and the battalion sailed back to Ireland.

The four companies of the second battalion left in South Carolina, under Major Hamilton, were stationed at Charleston; and, the Cherokee Indians having rejected the proposed conditions for a peace, these companies, with two of the 17th, three of the 22nd, and eight of newly-raised provincials, proceeded up the country in March, 1761, again to make war on the refractory Indians. These companies encamped a short time on the banks of the Congaree, from whence they proceeded in May to Fort Prince George, and were joined by twenty Chickasaw warriors from the country on the east side of the Mississippi, and by King Heigler, with twenty Catawbas warriors. From Fort Prince George this company of regulars, provincials, and savages, advanced in the early part of June against the middle Cherokees, through a most difficult country. An officer of the expedition, in a letter published in July, 1761, observes:—"The defiles and passes along War-woman's Creek are horrid; on one side high and rocky mountains hanging over our heads, the path rocky, and no wider than for a single pack-horse; and on the other side a deep and frightful precipice, at the bottom of which is the creek." On the 10th of June, as the troops were on the march along the banks of a river, the Indian army was discovered, arranged for battle on a high woody hill on the right of the line of march, with a straggling line of warriors beyond the river. The Indian riflemen opened an irregular fire, and immediately afterwards more than a thousand warriors raised the dismal war-whoop, which echoed in the woods and dells. This produced little effect on the soldiers, who advanced in regular order to engage their savage antagonists. The commanding officer observed, in his report:—"The troops behaved with great spirit and coolness, and by the heavy fire of their platoons dislodged the enemy from the advantageous posts which they had taken possession of." The firing continued until two in the afternoon, when the Indians were driven from their posts and fled. The loss of the four companies of the Royals was three men killed; with Ensign Joseph Knight, and six men wounded.

After this victory the expedition continued its advance into the Cherokee country: the Indians fled to their mountain fastnesses; and the soldiers laid fifteen towns and villages in ruins, destroyed the crops of corn, and afterwards returned to Fort Prince George. This proceeding convinced the Indians of their inability to resist the King's forces, and they sued for peace, which was accordingly granted them.

The other four battalion companies of the second battalion of the Royal Regiment, which had been engaged in the conquest of Canada in the preceding year, had in the meantime proceeded from Montreal, across the country, to New York, and, leaving the two flank companies in garrison, embarked in April, 1761, for the West Indies, under the orders of Colonel Lord Rollo. About this period the British government had resolved to capture the Island of Dominico, which was declared neutral by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, but had become subject to France; and when the four companies of the Royals arrived at Guadaloupe they were selected to form part of the expedition for this service. Sailing from Guadaloupe on the 4th of June, the troops soon arrived at Dominico, effected a landing on the 6th, under a sharp fire of cannon and musketry, captured a flanking battery, and took the town of Roseau, the capital of the island, in a few hours. In the evening of the same day the troops assaulted and carried the intrenchments above the town, and captured the French commandant and several other officers; and no further resistance was made. Thus the whole island was reduced with trifling loss; and Lord Rollo observed, in his despatch:—"As to the King's troops, I cannot enough applaud the coolness and intrepidity with which they acted on this occasion."

Leaving Dominico in December, the four companies of the Royals proceeded to Barbadoes, where a body of troops was assembled, under the orders of Major General the Hon. Robert Monckton, for an attack on the French island of Martinico. A landing was effected in the early part of January, 1762, and the island was reduced in the succeeding month. "I cannot," observes the general, in his despatch, "find words to render that ample justice which is due to the valour of His Majesty's troops which I have the honour to command. The difficulties they had to encounter in the attack of an enemy possessed of every advantage of art and nature were great; and their perseverance in surmounting these obstacles furnishes a noble example of British spirit."

While the contest at Martinico was in progress, the four companies of the Royals which had been engaged in the war with the Indians embarked from Charleston, and sailed to the West Indies under the orders of Colonel Grant. War had, in the meantime, been declared against Spain; an attack on the Spanish settlements in the West Indies had been resolved upon; and the four companies of the Royals were placed under the orders of General the Earl of Albemarle, to proceed against the valuable settlement of the Havannah, in the island of Cuba. Proceeding through the Straits of Bahama, the expedition arrived within six leagues of the Havannah on the 6th of June; a landing was effected on the following day; and on the 9th the troops took up a position between Coximar and the Moro. The Moro fort being the key-position of the extensive works which covered the town, the capture of this place was of great importance; and the four companies of the Royal Regiment formed part of the force destined to make the attack on this formidable fortress. The hardships endured in carrying on the operations were very great: a thin soil, hardly sufficient to cover the troops in their approaches, a scarcity of water, and the labour of dragging the artillery several miles over a rocky country, and under a burning sun, were happily overcome by the unanimity which existed between the land and sea forces. The progress made in erecting batteries, carrying forward approaches, and sapping and mining the works, with the fire of the artillery, having alarmed the Spanish governor, he resolved to attempt to relieve the Moro. 1500 men were ferried over the harbour, and they made three separate attacks on the British line; the four companies of the Royals were brought forward to sustain the posts, and the Spaniards were repulsed, with considerable loss. The siege was afterwards continued with vigour; two mines were sprung; a practicable breach was made, and a detachment of the Royals was ordered to form part of the storming party,[101] under Lieut.-Colonel Stuart, of the 90th Regiment. The attack was made on the 30th of July. Lieut. Charles Forbes, of the Royals, led the assault, and, ascending the breach with signal gallantry, formed his men on the top, and soon drove the enemy from every part of the ramparts. The garrison was taken by surprise; the Spanish commander, Don Louis de Velasco, exerted himself to save the fortress; and, while endeavouring to rally his men, he was mortally wounded. The confusion amongst the ranks of the enemy was thus augmented; nearly 150 Spaniards were killed, 400 threw down their arms and were made prisoners, and the rest were either killed in the boats, or drowned in attempting to escape to the Havannah. As Lieutenants Forbes, of the Royals, Nugent, of the 9th, and Holroyd, of the 90th Regiments, were congratulating each other on their success, the two latter were killed by a party of desperate Spaniards, who fired from the light-house. Lieutenant Forbes, being exasperated at the death of his companions, attacked the light-house with a few men, and put all in it to the sword.

The capture of the Moro facilitated the attack on the Havannah; and on the 11th of August a new series of batteries opened so well-directed a fire that at two o'clock in the afternoon the guns of the garrison were silenced, and flags of truce were hung out from every part of the town and from the ships in the harbour. The capitulation was signed on the 13th, and on the following day the British troops took possession of this valuable settlement. Three Spanish men-of-war, with a company's ship, were found sunk at the entrance of the harbour, nine men-of-war were delivered up to the victors, and two were found upon the stocks. The loss sustained by the Royal Regiment in this important service was Lieutenants Cook and Ashe, 1 serjeant, and 31 rank and file, killed; Captain Balfour, Lieutenant Ruth, Ensign Keating, 2 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 75 rank and file, wounded; two rank and file missing; 3 men dead of their wounds, and 12 from diseases arising from the climate and severe exertions in carrying on the siege.

The British government having withdrawn many troops from North America to the West Indies, the French sent an armament across the Atlantic, and took possession of St. John's, Newfoundland. Detachments were immediately ordered from the British garrisons to dislodge the enemy; and the two flank companies of the second battalion of the Royal Regiment, having been left in North America, were employed in this service, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel William Amherst. A landing was effected, on the 13th of September, at Torbay, and the troops gained possession of the strong post of Kitty Vittiy. A detachment was sent to the top of a high rock which commanded the ford, and under cover of the fire of these men the light companies of the Royal and Montgomery's Highlanders passed the river. The grenadiers of the Royal and 77th Regiments supported the attack; and the French were driven from their post on a hill beyond the river. Two other heights were afterwards carried; and on the 17th, a battery being ready to open its fire on the fort, the French commander surrendered.

In November of this year General the Hon. James St. Clair died at Dysart; and the Colonelcy of the Royal Regiment was conferred on his cousin, Sir Henry Erskine, from the Twenty-fifth Regiment.