In the mean time reports were circulated of the insurrection against the French, and it was affirmed that enthusiastic multitudes of Spaniards were pressing forward from every quarter to complete the destruction of the legions of Napoleon, which were stated to be baffled, dispirited, and on the eve of quitting Spain. Although the accounts given by the Spaniards of their own strength and power were absurdly exaggerated, yet the British government, placing some confidence in the immense numbers of the patriots, and in the goodness of their cause, sent Lieut.-General Sir John Moore with an army into Spain to aid them in their laudable exertions to effect their emancipation; and the Sixth were withdrawn from Almeida to take part in this hazardous enterprise. After passing the frontiers of Portugal and pushing forward boldly into Spain, the British troops met with disappointment and disaster. Bonaparte had passed the Pyrenees with a powerful army, and rushing like a tempest upon the undisciplined multitudes of patriots, he quickly broke, destroyed, and dispersed them; then bending his course to Madrid, entered the capital in triumph. Little remained to be done to complete the conquest of Spain, but the destruction of the army of Britons, who, by long and toilsome marches through a difficult country, had ventured to menace his lines, and were the only troops in Spain capable of resisting his veteran legions. Quitting Madrid, he advanced with an immense army capable of enveloping and of swallowing up the handful of British troops; but Sir John Moore, with his characteristic energy and skill, withdrew towards the coast, and escaped the toils of his adversary. The Sixth were nearly eight hundred strong; they were commanded by Major Gordon, and were brigaded with the ninth, twenty-third, and forty-third regiments, under Major-General Beresford: they suffered most severely in the long and harassing retreat over mountains and rivers, through narrow defiles, and along roads covered with snow; but on arriving at Corunna, the men obtained shelter in the neighbouring villages and recruited their wasted strength. While the troops were waiting the arrival of transports, the French army approached, and, on the 16th of January, 1809, was fought the hard-contested battle of Corunna, in which British valour and endurance were conspicuously displayed, and this disastrous expedition was terminated by a glorious victory, which reflected lustre on the British arms; but the officers and soldiers had to lament the loss of their gallant leader, Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, who was mortally wounded during the heat of the action.

After this victory the troops embarked for England: the Sixth were one of the last corps which went on board the transports, having lined the walls of Corunna during the embarkation; and, on arriving in England, it was ascertained that they had lost about four hundred men in this arduous enterprise, in which they earned the honorary distinction of bearing the word "Corunna" inscribed on their colours.

The regiment remained in England until the middle of July, when the first battalion, having been completed to its establishment by drafts from the second, embarked with the expedition against Holland commanded by Lieut.-General the Earl of Chatham. In the siege and capture of Flushing and the reduction of the island of Walcheren, the regiment had only Ensign Addison and a few men wounded; but when the Walcheren fever broke out among the troops, its ranks were thinned by the ravages of that pestilential disease. The object of the expedition having been frustrated by delays, the island was evacuated; and in December the Sixth returned to England so reduced in numbers, and the sick men so numerous, as to be unable to furnish the usual reliefs of the ordinary regimental guard.

In August, 1810, the first battalion embarked at Dover, for Ireland, and was stationed at Cork and Kinsale until October, 1812, when it embarked for the Peninsula. Previous to going on board the transports it was inspected by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, the Commander of the Forces in Ireland, who was pleased to express himself much gratified at witnessing the high state of discipline, and the general appearance and efficiency of the corps.

The Sixth, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Archibald Campbell, arrived at Corunna on the 28th of October; but as the allied army, commanded by Field-Marshal the Marquis of Wellington, had evacuated Madrid, and was retiring from Burgos upon Salamanca, the transports again put to sea, and proceeded to Lisbon, where the regiment landed on the 15th of November, on which day it was joined by four hundred men from the second battalion at Jersey.

After halting a short period at the capital of Portugal, the regiment marched up the country to join the allied army; and taking the field in May, 1813, had the honour of serving in one of the most brilliant campaigns on record, in which the legions of Buonaparte were overthrown in a pitched battle, the barrier of the Pyrenees was forced, and the victorious British soldiers trod the soil of France in triumph. The Sixth, with a provisional battalion (formed of the second battalions of the Twenty-fourth and Fifty-eighth regiments), and the light infantry of the Brunswick Oels, composed the brigade of Major-General Edward Barnes, in the seventh division commanded by Lieut.-General the Earl of Dalhousie.

The Marquis of Wellington appeared at the head of a magnificent and well-appointed army, and, after passing the frontiers of Portugal, the tide of war, directed by the comprehensive mind of so able a commander, flowed onwards with majestic violence: formidable positions were turned; the rivers Esla, Tormes, Carion, Pisuerga, Arlanzan, and Ebro, were crossed in succession; and the obstructions of rocks, mountains, and deep ravines were overcome with a facility which bespoke the ability of the commander and the excellent quality of the troops serving under his directions. As the allied army advanced, the enemy fell back in tumult and disorder, evacuating strong posts without firing a shot, destroying defensive works, and calling in detachments with precipitation, until his forces were concentrated in the valley of Vittoria, where he prepared to make a resolute stand.

On the morning of the memorable 21st of June, 1813, the Sixth moved from their camp on the river Bayas, and traversed the mountains in the direction of Vittoria, to engage in the attack of the enemy's formidable position; but so rugged was the country, and the tracts along the hills so difficult, that the battle was raging with great violence when the division, led by the Earl of Dalhousie, arrived at their appointed station. They were, however, in time to take part in forcing the passage of the Zadora; and the seventh division, with one brigade of the third, having passed the river, formed the left of the British line, and were engaged with the French right in front of the villages of Margarita and Hermandad. Finally a complete and most decisive victory was gained. The conduct of the Earl of Dalhousie and his division was commended in the public despatch; the commanding officer of the Sixth, Lieut.-Colonel Archibald Campbell, was presented with a gold medal, and the gallantry of the regiment was rewarded with the honour of bearing the word "Vittoria" inscribed on its colours.

The Sixth moved forward in pursuit of the wreck of the French army in the direction of Pampeluna; but were subsequently detached against a division of the enemy under General Clausel, who was not at the battle, and had taken post at Logroño, from whence he made a precipitate retreat to Saragossa, and effected his escape by the pass of Jaca.

After returning from this enterprise the regiment penetrated the Pyrenean mountains; and the light and seventh divisions occupied the heights of Santa Barbara, the town of Vera, and the Puerto de Echalar, and communicated with the troops in the valley of Bastan. The French army, having been re-organised under Marshal Soult, attacked the British posts on the 25th of July. The Sixth, with the remainder of their brigade, moved forward to support two brigades of the second division which had been forced from their ground at the head of the valley of Bastan, and the enemy was driven back with loss. But the brigades in Roncesvalles having been obliged to retire, the troops in the valley of Bastan also fell back to a very strong post in the mountains behind Irueta. The regiment lost several men on this occasion, and had Major Gomm and Ensign Radcliff wounded. Its conduct, with that of the other corps engaged, was commended by the Marquis of Wellington, who observed in his despatch:—"Notwithstanding the enemy's superiority of numbers, they acquired but little advantage over these brave troops during the seven hours they were engaged. All the regiments charged with the bayonet."

From Irueta the Sixth retired with their division to the Lizasso, and on the 29th of July took post in the mountains near Marcolain, to connect the operations of the main body of the army with Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill's corps. Some sharp fighting took place in the mountains on the following day. The Sixth were engaged in carrying the height which separated the enemy's right flank, and had Lieutenant Sandys and several men wounded.

When Marshal Soult found himself frustrated in his attempt to relieve Pampeluna, and retired with the main body of his army, leaving a strong corps in an excellent position in the pass of Donna Maria, the Sixth moved forward in pursuit, and, with the remainder of the seventh division and Sir Rowland Hill's corps, ascended the two flanks of the mountain on the 31st of July, and dislodged the enemy in gallant style.

The army continued to press on the rear of the French, and the fourth and seventh divisions proceeded by the valley of the Bidassoa towards the frontiers of France. The Sixth, with the remainder of the Earl of Dalhousie's division, marched on the morning of the 2nd of August a distance of ten miles over mountains and ridges, along paths frequented only by shepherds and wild goats, from Sumbilla towards the Puerto de Echalar, where two French divisions were found in a formidable position on the height, with nearly the whole of their army posted behind the Puerto. The division was in advance, and the enemy appeared in force. But military ardour, with confidence in the prowess of the officers and men, occasioned the prudential caution of waiting the arrival of additional troops to be disregarded, and Major-General Barnes formed his brigade for the attack. The Sixth composed more than half the brigade: having received drafts regularly from the second battalion on home service, they appeared a fine and gallant body of men, all eager to engage their opponents. The provisional battalion and Brunswickers forming the remainder of the brigade, though inferior in numbers, were animated with the same spirit as the Sixth, and the gallant Major-General Barnes led the three battalions up a ridge which it appeared almost madness to have attacked. The officers and men, ascending the heights with cheerful alacrity, confronted, with firm and steady ranks, their numerous opponents, and advanced to the charge with that determined resolution for which Britons have been celebrated, and which occasioned a distinguished officer to say, "Barnes set at the French as if every man had been a bull-dog, and himself the best bred of all." It was a moment of trial: the innate bravery of the officers and men was put to the test; but by a powerful effort, in which the national character was eminently displayed, they forced the two divisions of the enemy from these formidable heights, and were pursuing their victorious career, when orders were received to halt. The Marquis of Wellington witnessed this brilliant achievement with feelings of exultation, and expressed his admiration in terms which occasioned the following order to be issued immediately.

In his public despatch, the Marquis of Wellington observed:—"Major-General Barnes's brigade was formed for the attack, and advanced before the fourth and light divisions could co-operate, with a regularity and gallantry which I have seldom seen equalled, and actually drove the two divisions of the enemy, notwithstanding the resistance opposed to them, from those formidable heights. It is impossible that I can extol too highly the conduct of Major-General Barnes and these brave troops, which was the admiration of all who were witnesses of it."[36]

On this memorable occasion, of which every officer and soldier of the Sixth may be justly proud, the regiment had Captain William Brownlow, two serjeants, and thirteen rank and file killed; Major Guy Campbell, Lieutenants Everest, Tarleton, and Addison, four serjeants, and one hundred and thirty-six rank and file wounded. Majors Guy Campbell, Hugh Maurice Scott, and Henry Gomm were promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and the regiment was rewarded with the honour of bearing the word "Pyrenees" inscribed on its colours.

The Sixth were stationed several weeks in the lofty Pyrenean mountains: the corps at Roncesvalles and Maya stood in a most commanding situation, and the Marquis of Wellington resolved to place his left in an equally menacing position, by dispossessing the enemy of some strong ground on the right of the Bidassoa, the key of which was a steep mountain, called La Rhune. The attack was commenced on the 7th of October, and completely succeeded. A detachment of the Sixth, sent forward through the Puerto de Echalar, was partially engaged, and had Captain Shawe and one man killed; Captain Rogers, one serjeant, and five rank and file wounded.

In the attack of the enemy's position on the Nivelle, on the 10th of November, the Sixth were in the column under Marshal Sir William Beresford, which carried the redoubts on the left of the enemy's centre; advanced on the left of the river upon St. Pé; crossed the stream at that place, and drove a body of French from the heights beyond the village: in which service the regiment had one man killed and six wounded; and its gallant bearing was rewarded with the privilege of displaying the word "Nivelle" on its colours.

In the passage of the Nive, and the actions of the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th of December, the regiment co-operated, but was not brought into contact with the enemy; and the army afterwards went into quarters until the severity of the weather was abated.

Operations were, however, recommenced in February, 1814, and the regiment formed part of the corps under Sir William Beresford, who attacked, on the 22nd of that month, the fortified posts at Hastingues and Oyergave, and obliged the enemy to retire within the tête de pont at Peyrehorade.

The enemy being in position at Orthes, the Sixth, and other corps under Sir William Beresford, crossed the Gave de Pau on the morning of the 26th of February, and moved along the high road from Peyrehorade towards Orthes. On the following day they advanced to attack the enemy's right, on the heights on the high road to Dax, and at the village of St. Boes. The village was carried by the fourth division; and the Sixth advanced in column to turn the head of a ravine between themselves and the enemy; but on emerging from the village they were ordered to form line. Colonel Ross's brigade of horse artillery came up at full speed and unlimbered in the rear of the regiment, when sections were thrown back to permit the fire of the artillery to pass through the line. The ground was, however, so low that the troops could not deploy to attack the heights. The Sixth moved forward, and in the after descent of the back of the ravine the French fire told heavily on the regiment. Several officers and many men fell; Lieut.-Colonel Gardiner, of the Sixth[37], who commanded the brigade on this occasion, had his horse killed under him while leading the regiment forward, and as a serjeant and a private were extricating him from under the animal, the private was shot through the chest and died instantly, and the serjeant's hands were both pierced by musket-balls: one of the colour-staves was also damaged by a ball. At this moment the Marquis of Wellington came galloping past the regiment, and cried, "Sixth, incline to your right;" which was obeyed; but the ground was so rugged, and the enemy's fire so heavy, that some confusion took place: the road was, however, boldly gained; and from a ditch and earthen bank the regiment opened a destructive fire on the enemy, who were in line on each flank, and, some kneeling and others lying on the ground, kept up a heavy cross fire. Meanwhile the left of the height on which the enemy's right stood had been carried; Sir Rowland Hill had also forced the passage of the Gave above Orthes; and the troops opposed to the Sixth eventually gave way, when the regiment moved forward in pursuit.

The regiment lost, on this occasion, Lieutenants Patullo and Scott, five serjeants, and nineteen rank and file killed; Captains Rogers, Thompson, Smith, and Fitzgerald, Lieutenants Jones, Craufurd, and Gilder, with Ensigns St. Clair and Blood, sixteen serjeants, one drummer, and a hundred and four rank and file wounded. Colonel Gardiner, who commanded the brigade, and Lieut.-Colonel Scott, who commanded the regiment, were presented with gold medals; and the word "Orthes" was inscribed on the regimental colours as a testimony of its gallantry.

On the 8th of March the regiment was detached, with other forces under Sir William Beresford, towards Bourdeaux: the French troops in garrison withdrew to the right of the Garonne, and on the 12th of that month, as the British approached the town, they were met by the civil authorities and population of the place, and were received into the city with acclamations; the magistrates and city-guards removing the tri-coloured and displaying the white cockade.

The Sixth were subsequently employed against the French troops on the Garonne and Dordogne; and on the 5th of April two companies attacked the rear of a column of the enemy and took many prisoners. The regiment was afterwards employed in investing the fort of Blaye, which commanded the navigation of the Garonne; in which service it was engaged when Buonaparte abdicated the throne of France, and the Bourbon dynasty was restored, which gave peace to Europe.

The distinguished part which the Sixth had taken in the splendid achievements by which the kingdoms of Portugal, Spain, and France had been delivered from the despotic rule of Buonaparte was rewarded with the honour of bearing the word "Peninsula" on their colours. Soon after the termination of the contest in Europe they were destined to transfer their services across the Atlantic, to take part in the war between Britain and the United States of America, which commenced in 1812, in consequence of the resistance of the Americans to the British orders in council respecting the trade of neutral nations, and to the impressing of British seamen on board of American ships. The regiment embarked from Bourdeaux on the 5th of May, arrived in Canada in the beginning of July, and proceeded to Montreal, from whence it was removed to the Niagara frontier to reinforce the division commanded by Lieut.-General Gordon Drummond, who was engaged in the siege of Fort Erie. Having joined this division of the army, the Sixth formed part of the reserve brigade; and on the 6th of September the eighth company, commanded by Captain Pattison, cut off a strong piquet of Americans close under the walls of the fort, in a manner very creditable to the discipline, spirit, and enterprise of the officers and men. On the 17th of the same month the regiment was engaged in repelling a very bold sortie made by a numerous body of Americans, with the view of carrying by assault, and afterwards destroying, the British works and batteries; on which occasion the following order was issued:—

Thus the Sixth were triumphant in the interior of France and on the frontiers of Canada in the same year, and their gallantry on the last occasion procured for them the royal permission to bear the word "Niagara" inscribed on their colours. This honour was, however, purchased with the loss of many lives: Captain Pattison was numbered among the slain; Captain Smith and Lieutenant Andrews were wounded, and the last-mentioned officer died of his wounds.

A treaty of peace having been concluded with the Americans, hostilities ceased, and the Sixth reposed a short period in quarters.

In the summer of 1815, the return of Buonaparte to France having rekindled the flame of war in Europe, the Sixth were directed to embark from America, in order to engage once more in actual warfare. They left Canada in the beginning of July, landed at Ostend on the 10th of August, and proceeded to Ghent, from whence they continued their march to Paris, and joined the army commanded by Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington, encamped near that city. The Sixth, sixteenth, fifty-eighth, and eighty-second regiments formed the fifteenth brigade, and were posted in the seventh division, commanded by Major-General Thomas Brisbane.

When the definitive treaties between France and the allied powers were settled, the Sixth were selected to form part of the army of occupation in France, and constituted, with the twenty-ninth and seventy-first regiments, the sixth brigade of infantry, under Major-General Sir Thomas Bradford, in the second division, commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Henry Clinton. The Sixth were quartered at Versailles, from whence they marched, in December, to Ecouen, a village on the road from Paris to Luzarches.

On the 24th of December, 1815, the second battalion was disbanded at Winchester.

The Sixth remained in the neighbourhood of Ecouen until the 23rd of January, 1816, when they marched for St. Pol in the Pas de Calais, and in February three companies occupied Lillers, and seven the adjacent villages.

In August, 1816, the regiment proceeded to the vicinity of St. Omer, and encamped, with the remainder of the second division of the British contingent of the army of occupation, on Helfant Heath. In October it proceeded to the plains of Denain, near Valenciennes, where the British contingent was reviewed by Field-Marshal His Grace the Duke of Wellington on the 22nd of that month. After the review the regiment returned to its former cantonments at Lillers and the neighbouring villages.

The Sixth were again encamped on Helfant Heath in July, 1817; in September they pitched their tents on the glacis of Valenciennes, near the Quesnoy gate; and on the 6th of that month were reviewed, with the remainder of the British infantry, by the King of Prussia. They removed in October to the plains of Denain, where the British contingent was reviewed by the Duke of Wellington on the 15th of October; on the 20th the Sixth returned to their former quarters at Lillers, &c. In these quarters they remained until June, 1818, when they once more pitched their tents on Helfant Heath, where they were reviewed by Lieut.-General Lord Hill on the 24th of June, and by the Duke of Wellington on the 31st of July. In August they again pitched their tents on the glacis at Valenciennes. On the 10th of September the British, Saxon, Danish, and Hanoverian armies, commanded by the Duke of Wellington, were reviewed by His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent; and on the 23rd of October, the same troops, and also the Russian contingent, were reviewed by the Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, &c. After the review, the army of occupation was withdrawn from France. The Sixth embarked at Calais on the 29th of October, landed on the morning of the 30th at Dover, and marched to Romford in Essex, where the establishment was reduced to ten companies, of thirty-nine officers, thirty-five serjeants, thirty corporals, twenty-two drummers, and six hundred and twenty private men.

From Romford the Sixth marched in November to Sunderland and Carlisle, and in June, 1819, to Edinburgh Castle, with one company detached to Stirling, another to Aberdeen, and in the autumn a company was detached to Berwick. In consequence of the disturbed state of the northern counties of England, seven companies were ordered into Yorkshire—four companies proceeding to Leeds, and three to Halifax: the company left at Berwick arrived at Halifax, and the two companies left at Edinburgh at Leeds, in January, 1820. At an inspection on the 27th of April following, Lieut.-General Sir John Byng expressed his approbation of the appearance, discipline, and interior economy of the regiment; and also at the inspection on the 22nd of May, 1821.

The Sixth remained at Leeds and Halifax until June, 1821, when they proceeded to Hull, and embarked for the island of St. Helena. Two companies had sailed for their destination when information arrived of the death of Napoleon Buonaparte in exile at St. Helena. The remainder of the regiment then proceeded to the Downs, where its destination was changed to the Cape of Good Hope, and after a tedious voyage arrived on the 3rd of November at Table Bay, where it was joined by the two companies from St. Helena. Having landed, the regiment was inspected by Lieut.-General Sir Rufane Donkin, K.C.B., at Cape Town, and was commended for its appearance, conduct, and efficient state—its effectives being only one man less than on its embarkation from England. After remaining a few days on shore, five companies, under Brevet-Major Rogers, re-embarked and sailed to Algoa Bay, from whence they proceeded to Graham's Town, and marched from thence to several posts and forts along the frontier line. The establishment had, in the mean time, been reduced to eight companies of thirty-three officers and six hundred and eighteen non-commissioned officers and private soldiers.

In January, 1822, the head-quarters, under Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Scott, embarked from Cape Town, and arrived at Graham's Town towards the end of the same month; at the same time Lieut.-Colonel Scott took the command of the troops on the frontier line of Caffreland. The regiment was stationed along the frontiers, and was much employed in patrolling and other duties to prevent the aggressions of the natives. When not thus occupied, the men were engaged as labourers and artificers at the government works.

In October, 1823, the flank companies proceeded to Cape Town, and were followed by the head-quarters in November. Colonel Mark Napier, having arrived at the Cape, assumed the command of the regiment; Lieut.-Colonel Scott was nominated commandant at Simonstown, and the command of the six companies left on the frontiers of Caffreland devolved on Captain Cox.

In August and September, 1824, four companies were withdrawn from the frontiers and joined the head-quarters: in January, 1825, the regiment was inspected at Cape Town by Lieut.-General Lord Charles Henry Somerset, who was pleased to express himself much gratified at witnessing its good appearance after being so long detached, and the men employed in working parties.

The regiment had in the mean time been placed on the India establishment; and the usual augmentation of officers arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in March, 1825. On the 22nd of March it embarked at Table Bay on board the Windsor and Vansittart, Indiamen, and landed on the 31st of May at Bombay. It occupied the barracks at Fort George, and, Colonel Napier having been appointed commandant of the fort and garrison, it was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Scott. It was inspected on the 9th of June by Major-General Samuel Wilson, of the Hon. East India Company's service, who expressed himself much pleased with the steady and veteran appearance of the men, and particularly commended its interior economy.

In June, 1825, the establishment was augmented to a thousand and eight rank and file. During that and the following months the regiment suffered severely from the cholera morbus, which carried off many of the finest and strongest men: the mortality was particularly great among the women and children.

At the close of the rainy season, in September, the regiment was suddenly ordered from Bombay to form part of a field-force assembling at Cutch, with a view to the invasion of Scinde, between the umeers of which country and the Bombay government serious differences had arisen, in consequence of the incursions of a tribe of Mayanas on the Cutch frontier. The regiment embarked from Bombay on the 21st of September, four hundred and sixty-eight strong, landed at Mandavie, in the gulf of Cutch, between the 10th and 15th of October, and marched towards Bhooj, the capital, beyond which city it pitched its tents, on the 2nd of November, near the village of Juruck, where eight thousand men were assembled under the command of Colonel Mark Napier of the Sixth. It was formed in brigade with the Twenty-first regiment of Sipahees and the flank companies of the second Bombay European regiment, under the orders of Lieut.-Colonel Scott of the Sixth; and the command of the regiment devolved on Major Algeo.

On the 3rd of December the troops moved from Juruck to the neighbourhood of Raddiapoor, and, Colonel Napier being obliged to leave the army from indisposition, the command devolved on Lieut.-Colonel Scott of the Sixth. While at this camp six officers and seventy-seven fine recruits, from Yorkshire and Lancashire, joined the regiment.

In January, 1826, the army removed to Madapoor; in February it encamped near the fort and city of Bhooj; and, in March, the umeers of Scinde having yielded to the demands of the Bombay government, the regiments were ordered back to their different stations. The Sixth embarked from Mandavie on the 20th and 21st of March, in pattimars (small craft with open decks); arrived at the presidency on the 26th and 30th of that month, and occupied the barracks on the little island of Colaba. Its loss from sickness, during the first six months after its arrival in India, was one officer and sixty-nine men, and forty-one invalided.

Brevet-Major Thompson, Lieutenant Gordon, and one hundred and forty-six recruits, joined from England in the beginning of May; and, at the inspection on the 18th of that month, Major-General Wilson commended the appearance and orderly conduct of the regiment in quarters, which he repeated at the inspection on the 14th of December. During the year 1826 the regiment lost four officers and fifty men.

Lieut.-Colonel Scott, commandant of the fort and garrison of Bombay, inspected the regiment on the 3rd of May, 1827, and expressed his satisfaction at its appearance and condition. On the 8th of that month six officers and one hundred and eighty men joined from England. The decease of Lieut.-Colonel Scott occurred in October following, and Major Algeo of the Sixth assumed the command of the fort and garrison of Bombay, until the arrival of Colonel Henry Sullivan in November, when Major Algeo resumed the command of the regiment. Colonel Sullivan inspected the regiment on the 15th of December, and every department met with his approval. During the year 1827 the regiment lost two officers and forty men; and invalided twenty-three men.

Seven officers and two hundred and eleven men joined from England in May, 1828. During the heavy rains many men were carried off by the cholera morbus; in the month of July alone the Sixth lost fifty-eight men from this disease. This was a year of general sickness all over India; but at no station did any regiment suffer so much as the Sixth on Colaba island; their loss being two officers and one hundred and twenty one men, and they sent sixty-two invalids to England.

The very sickly state of the regiment, from its having been stationed during four monsoons at Bombay, occasioned it to be removed to the more healthy station of Poona in the Deccan: it embarked from Colaba on the 6th of February, 1829, landed at Panwell on the opposite coast in the evening, and marched for Poona, where it arrived on the 17th, and was stationed in the lines then recently occupied by the twentieth regiment. The health of the men began to improve rapidly, and in a few months the Sixth were one of the most healthy and efficient corps in India. In May one hundred and thirty-five volunteers from the forty-seventh regiment joined the Sixth in camp at Poona; and at the inspection, on the 10th of June, Major-General Sir Lionel Smith, K.C.B., expressed himself much gratified with the appearance and efficiency of the corps. The loss from disease during this year was thirty-two men.

The condition of the regiment was also much commended by Sir Lionel Smith at the inspections in January and June, 1830. In July the flank companies were ordered to be completed to one hundred rank and file each, under the command of Captain Murphy, with the second or Queen's royal, and flank companies of the eleventh and thirteenth native infantry, the whole to be commanded by Colonel Willshire, to march against Ukkulcote; but this fort having surrendered to the troops under the President of Sattara (Lieut.-Colonel A. Robertson, the Resident at the court), the march was countermanded. In December the strength of the regiment was increased by the arrival at the camp at Poona of fourteen volunteers from the first, or the royals, and ninety-two from the eighty-ninth regiment. Its loss from disease this year was three officers and twenty-four men.

At the inspections in January and June, 1831, Colonel Henry Sullivan, commanding the Poona division, expressed his unqualified approbation of the condition of the regiment. This year it was particularly healthy, its loss being only one officer and eight men; and when inspected in November, by Major-General Sir James Stevenson Barns, K.C.B., commanding the forces in the Bombay presidency, its appearance, discipline, efficiency, and general good conduct in quarters, were commended.

The regiment remained at Poona during the year 1832, and on the 24th of May, 1832, His Majesty King William IV. was graciously pleased to confer upon it the title of Sixth, or Royal First Warwickshire Regiment of Foot[38]; at which time its facings were changed from yellow to blue.

In January, 1833, the regiment was at Panwell, in February it was encamped near Dungah, and in March at Deesa, where it remained during that and the two succeeding years, when it proceeded to Colaba. It was stationed at Colaba during the years 1836 and 1837[39]; and in the beginning of 1838 returned to cantonments at Poona, where it has remained until the end of the year; which brings this record to a conclusion.

The formation of the Sixth, or Royal First Warwickshire Regiment, in 1674, to support the cause of civil and religious liberty in Holland against the power of the ambitious Louis XIV. of France, gives an interesting character to its origin, and also to its early services in support of the Protestant interests. At the Revolution, in 1688, it had the honour to compose part of the army which appeared in England to rescue the country from the dangers by which it was menaced. It aided in delivering Ireland from the power of papacy, and afterwards fought under King William III. in the Netherlands. In the war of the Spanish succession it performed much sharp fighting and arduous duty in Spain. Its services at home, and in the West Indies, have been of an important character. It had the honour to gain laurels under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, and also under the Duke of Wellington, in Portugal, Spain, and France, and acquired distinction on the distant shores of Lake Erie in North America. During the last eighteen years it has been employed in protecting the British colonial possessions in Africa and Asia, a service from which important commercial advantages are derived by the country.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF THE

SIXTH REGIMENT OF FOOT.

SIR WALTER VANE,

Appointed 12th December, 1673.

Sir Walter Vane, fifth son of the celebrated Sir Henry Vane, secretary to King Charles I., served in the royal cause during the rebellion. He afterwards distinguished himself on the continent, and having acquired the character of a brave and meritorious officer, was advanced to the rank of marshal of the field in the Spanish service. On the decease of Colonel Robert Sidney, in 1668, King Charles II. conferred the colonelcy of the Holland regiment (now third foot, or the buffs) on Sir Walter Vane; who, in the winter of 1673-4, was promoted to the rank of major-general in the English army, and appointed commandant of the British troops in the pay of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and colonel of one of the English regiments (now Sixth foot) ordered to be raised for the service of the States-General. He joined the army in the field, commanded by the Prince of Orange, and signalized himself on the 1st of August, 1674, at the battle of Seneffe, where he was mortally wounded. He was interred in the great church at the Hague, and a mural monument was erected in the cloister of the said church, with the following inscription:—

Hic juxta reponuntur exuviae
WALTERI VANE,
militis,
filii quinti;
Henrici Vane
militis,
Carolo Primo Magnae Britanniae Regi
A sacris conciliis et secretarii Principal.
Qui a serenissimo principe
Auriaco
Campo præfectus,
media inter agmina,
forti manu, sed fortiori animo
in
Prælio Seneffensi
Hostium impetum et rabiem repellens,
Cæco sed inexpugnabili marte percussus,
Montii oppido quod est Hannoniæ
Anno Dom. CI_Ɔ.I_ƆC.LXXIIII
Ætatis suæ LV.
III Nonas Augusti
Invictam ver vulnera reddidit
Animam Deo[40].

TRANSLATION.

Close to this spot are deposited the remains of
WALTER VANE,
a soldier,
Fifth son of
Henry Vane
soldier,
Privy Councillor and chief secretary to
Charles the first, King of Great Britain.
He was made marshal of the field,
by his serene highness
Auriacus.

And while repelling, in the midst of his troops, with a brave hand, but with a braver soul, a furious attack of the enemy, at the battle of Seneffe, was struck with a blind, but inevitable blow, and in the town of Montium, which is a town of Hannonia,

In the year of our Lord 1674
In the 55th year of his own age
On the 3rd day of August,
He gave up his soul, unconquered by his wounds,
To God.

LUKE LILLINGSTON,

Appointed in 1674.

This officer commanded a company in one of the regiments raised by King Charles II, in 1672; after the peace of London his regiment was disbanded, when he proceeded to Holland with a number of men of his company, and entered the Dutch service. He served at the siege of Grave, and during the following winter he was appointed colonel of one of the English regiments raised on that occasion, now the Sixth foot; but his decease occurred before he attained any higher rank.

THOMAS ASHLEY,

Appointed 13th September, 1675.

Thomas Ashley held a commission in the English army previous to the treaty of London in 1674; when his regiment was disbanded, and he entered the Dutch service. He served under the Prince of Orange (afterwards William III.), and towards the end of the campaign of 1675 he was promoted to the colonelcy of a regiment, now the Sixth foot. He distinguished himself at the siege of Maestricht in 1676, and was at the disastrous battle of Mont-Cassel in the following year.

SIR HENRY BELLASIS, KNIGHT[41],

Appointed 3rd April, 1678.

Sir Henry Bellasis was educated in strict principles of loyalty and attachment to monarchical government, and though but a youth at the time, he suffered in the royal cause during the usurpations of Cromwell. Soon after the restoration he was appointed captain of an independent company of one hundred men, in garrison at Hull, of which fortress the Lord Bellasis (or Belasyse) was appointed governor; who resigned, in 1673, in consequence of the Test-act, he being a Roman Catholic. In the summer of 1674 Sir Henry Bellasis raised a company of musketeers and pikemen for the service of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and was engaged at the siege of Grave in the autumn of that year. He also served at the siege of Maestricht in 1676; at the battle of Mont-Cassel in 1677; and in the following spring he succeeded Colonel Ashley in the command of the regiment which is now the Sixth foot. At the battle of St. Denis, in 1678, he evinced signal valour and ability, vying in feats of gallantry with his commanders the Prince of Orange and the celebrated Earl of Ossory, and was wounded. During the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, in 1685, he accompanied his regiment to England; and in 1687 circumstances occurred which occasioned him to withdraw from the Dutch service; but he preserved his attachment to the protestant interest and to the Prince of Orange. In 1689 he succeeded the Duke of Norfolk in the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment (now twenty-second foot), with which corps he served in Ireland under the veteran Duke Schomberg. He served as brigadier-general under King William in 1690; was at the battle of the Boyne; and at the siege of Limerick, where he again distinguished himself. In 1691 he acquired new honours at the siege of Athlone; he also displayed bravery and judgment at the battle of Aghrim; and on the reduction of Galway he was appointed governor of that fortress, and took possession of the town on the 26th of July, with his own and two other regiments of foot. The rank of major-general was conferred on this distinguished officer in April, 1692, and he commanded a brigade under King William in Flanders, in the autumn of that year. He acquired additional reputation at the battle of Landen, in 1693; also in the command of a brigade under King William during the following campaign; and in October, 1694, his Majesty rewarded him with the rank of lieutenant-general. His meritorious conduct procured him the favour and confidence of his sovereign, by whom he was employed on important services. He commanded the camp on the Bruges canal in May, 1695; and a division of the covering army was placed under his orders during the siege of Namur. At the close of the campaign he was appointed president of the general court-martial which tried the officers who surrendered Dixmude and Deinse to the enemy, and sentenced Major-General Ellemberg to be shot. He continued to serve in the Netherlands until the peace of Ryswick. In 1701 he obtained the colonelcy of the Queen Dowager's regiment (now second foot) in exchange with Colonel Selwyn. In 1702 he was second in command of the British troops in the expedition to Cadiz; and having been charged with participating in the plunder of Port St. Mary, he was tried by a court-martial and dismissed the service. His reputation was thus unfortunately tarnished; but his crime does not appear to have been considered of a heinous nature, as he was subsequently elected a member of parliament for the city of Durham; was appointed by Queen Anne, in 1711, one of the commissioners to inquire into several particulars respecting the accounts of the army in Spain; and in June, 1713, he was appointed governor of Berwick. He died on the 14th of December, 1717.

WILLIAM BABINGTON,

Appointed 28th September, 1689.

This officer served with distinction under the Prince of Orange in the Netherlands; he was rewarded with the lieut.-colonelcy of Sir Henry Bellasis' regiment (now Sixth foot), and in September, 1689, he was promoted to the colonelcy. He commanded the regiment in Ireland; but retired in 1691, and his decease appears to have occurred before he attained any higher rank than that of colonel.

GEORGE PRINCE OF HESSE D'ARMSTADT,

Appointed 15th April, 1691.

George Prince of Hesse D'Armstadt descended from an ancient and illustrious family in Germany, and was brother of the reigning landgrave of that name. Having entered the service of the emperor of Germany, he gave early proofs of innate valour in 1685, in the war with the Turks; he also signalized himself in the three succeeding campaigns,—particularly at the famous siege of Negropont; and in 1689 he served against the French with the army on the Rhine, and was wounded at the siege of Bonn, and also at the siege of Mentz. In the following year he visited England, and attending King William during the campaign in Ireland, he was wounded on the evening preceding the battle of the Boyne, by the cannon-ball which grazed his Majesty's shoulder. In April, 1691, the King rewarded him with the colonelcy of the Sixth foot, and the appointment of brigadier-general on the staff of the army in Ireland, where he highly distinguished himself at the head of the grenadiers at the storming of Athlone; and led his regiment to the charge with surprising intrepidity at the battle of Aghrim, and was wounded. He also added to his rising reputation by his conduct during the siege of Limerick. King William was anxious to reward such distinguished merit, but the Prince, being a Roman Catholic, was not eligible for promotion in the British army: his Majesty, therefore, procured him an appointment in the Spanish service; and having signalized his valour, zeal for the confederate cause, and ability to command, during the siege of Barcelona, in 1697, the King of Spain constituted him viceroy of Catalonia.

The Prince quitted Spain on the accession of the Duke of Anjou, in 1701, to the throne of that kingdom, and proceeding to England, was consulted by King William respecting the best mode of recovering that monarchy from the power of the house of Bourbon. He accompanied the expedition commanded by the Duke of Ormond, to Cadiz, in 1702, in the capacity of plenipotentiary from the emperor of Germany; and he was subsequently employed on a mission to the court of Portugal. He had the honour of taking a distinguished part in the capture of Gibraltar in 1704; and the valour, skill, indefatigable industry, and unshaken resolution, with which he afterwards defended that fortress, were commended by the historians of that period. He accompanied the Archduke Charles of Austria in the expedition against Barcelona in 1705, and was killed at the head of the storming party at the capture of Fort Montjuich on the 13th August, 1705.

HENRY MARQUIS DE RADA,

Appointed 1st February, 1694.

This nobleman was the son of the Marquis de Montpouillan; he served at the head of the Sixth foot, under King William, in the Netherlands, and died of a fever at Bruges, in the beginning of the campaign of 1695.

VENTRIS COLUMBINE,

Appointed 23rd June, 1695.

Ventris Columbine served with reputation under the Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, and was promoted to the commission of major in the regiment which is now the Sixth foot. He accompanied the Prince in the expedition to England in 1688, but the transport in which he was embarked was captured by the British ship, the Swallow. He was rewarded with the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment in 1689; served under King William in Ireland, in 1690; and, in 1691, was wounded at the storming of Athlone. He subsequently exchanged to the foot guards; served under King William in the Netherlands, and while engaged in the memorable siege of the strong fortress of Namur he was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment in which he had formerly served with honour to himself and advantage to his Majesty's interest. He served at the head of his regiment in 1702, in the expedition to Cadiz, and was engaged in storming the forts at Vigo; but his decease occurred before he was promoted to a higher command.

JAMES RIVERS,

Appointed 2nd November, 1703.

James Rivers had the honour of serving under King William in Ireland and the Netherlands, and his meritorious conduct was rewarded with the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment which now ranks as Sixth foot, with which corps he served in the expedition to Cadiz, and at the storming of the forts at Vigo. In 1703 Queen Anne promoted him to the colonelcy of the regiment; but he only enjoyed that honourable command two years, and died in the winter of 1705-6.

WILLIAM SOUTHWELL,

Appointed 6th February, 1706.

This officer entered the army previous to the Revolution in 1688, and rose to the rank of major in the regiment which is now the Sixth foot. He served in the expedition to Cadiz and at the storming of the forts at Vigo, in 1702; and was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy in 1703. He commanded the regiment in the expedition under the Earl of Peterborough, in 1705; and his distinguished conduct at the siege of Barcelona (as narrated in the record of the Sixth foot) was rewarded with the colonelcy of the regiment. He afterwards served in Catalonia and Valencia; but retired in 1708. In 1714 he was appointed commandant of the company of foot-guards armed with battle-axes, and instituted for the guard of the lord-lieutenant of Ireland.