This display of valour on the part of the Royal Fusiliers was rewarded with the honour of bearing the word "Pyrenees" on their colours as a mark of royal favour and approbation; and their commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Blakeney, was also rewarded with an honorary distinction.

The Royal Fusiliers took part in the movements by which the enemy was driven through the Pyrenean mountains back to France; they were also engaged, on the 7th of October, in the operations connected with the passage of the Bidassoa, when the French were forced from several strong mountain positions defended with field-works. The light and fourth divisions advanced against the posts of Vera and Liran, and the attack was successful.

After the passage of the Bidassoa the Seventh were encamped about a month near the bridge of Lezaca and heights of Liran; and drafts amounting to about two hundred serjeants and rank and file were received from the second battalion, then quartered in the isle of Jersey.

On the 10th of November the allied army drove the enemy from his positions on the river Nivelle; the British now stood triumphant and firmly established in France, and the admirers of unprincipled aggression beheld the day of retribution overtake a country which had been vainly styled "sacred;" the deep wrongs of insulted nations were, however, not avenged on the French peasantry, who received less harsh treatment from the allies than from their own countrymen in arms; but the tyrant who had hurled the thunders of war against the unoffending nations of the Peninsula saw them recoil with accumulated fury upon his own head.

Major-General the Honourable Edward Michael Pakenham, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Fusiliers (an officer of such distinguished valour and ability that the regiment was truly proud of its lieutenant-colonel), was promoted on the 21st May, 1813, to the colonelcy of the sixth West India regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Blakeney, who had so often and so nobly headed the regiment in the field of battle, obtained permission to return to England, and the command devolved on Major John Beatty.[23]

A train of military and political events, not immediately affecting the fame or testing the valour of the Royal Fusiliers, took place in December, 1813, and January 1814. The passage of the Adour and Gave d'Oleron, with the blockade of Bayonne, took place in February, and the French withdrew to a position at Orthes, where they were attacked on the 27th of February. The Royal Fusiliers advanced against the enemy's right at St. Boës, and were thrown forward to commence the action as light troops, and to cover the advance of the columns of attack, a service which the nature of the ground particularly favoured. The brigade, composed of the Seventh, twentieth, and twenty-third regiments, was warmly engaged until two in the afternoon, when the fifth division arrived and took the brunt of the action at that point. Finally the French Marshal was forced to retire with severe loss.

The Royal Fusiliers had one serjeant and five rank and file killed; Lieutenants Burke, Nantes, Lorentz, and Cameron, four serjeants, and fifty-two rank and file wounded; and their gallantry procured them the honour of bearing the word "Orthes" on their colours. Major John Walwin Beatty, commanding the battalion, was rewarded with a gold clasp.

In March the Royal Fusiliers were detached, with other corps, towards Bourdeaux: the French garrison fled at the approach of the British, and the inhabitants declared in favour of the Bourbon dynasty.

The Royal Fusiliers returned to the army, and had the honour to take part in the battle of Toulouse on the 10th of April, when the French were once more defeated. The battalion was not seriously engaged on this occasion, and its loss was limited to one man killed and three wounded. Its gallant bearing was conspicuous, and was rewarded with the word "Toulouse" on its colours, and an honorary distinction for its commander, Major John W. Beatty, who was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Major S. B. Auchmuty, commanding the light companies of the brigade, was rewarded with a medal and the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

The French army withdrew within the town, with the view of defending the place to the last extremity, but subsequently retired, and hostilities were soon afterwards terminated by the abdication of Napoleon and the restoration of Louis XVIII. to the throne of France.

Thus years of toil and bloodshed, which had developed—in vast combinations—in astonishing exhibitions of skill, firmness, iron hardihood, heroic valour—the true character of Wellington and the soldiers he led from kingdom to kingdom, from victory to victory, and had forced all the nations of Europe to confess the glory of the British arms, terminated in the restoration of peace to the troubled states of Europe. The Royal Fusiliers had fought and toiled for the good of other countries; at this glorious termination of their labours, they were placed in quarters of refreshment among the French peasantry, and they received the blessings of the people they had delivered from usurpation and tyranny.

Among the numerous instances in which a very excellent spirit had been displayed by individuals during this arduous struggle, the Record Book of the Royal Fusiliers bears extraordinary testimony of the most laudable and indefatigable exertions of Adjutant James Hay, who, making the duties of his appointment the business of his life, aided with praiseworthy zeal his commanding officer in maintaining the efficiency, discipline, and reputation of his corps, in which he took a lively interest; he was never absent from his regiment during the whole of the Peninsular campaigns, excepting from wounds, and he thus earned an imperishable fame in the annals of the Royal Fusiliers.

At the end of May the regiment was withdrawn from its cantonments, and, proceeding towards Bourdeaux, was encamped a few days near that city; on the 14th of June it was embarked at Pouillac in transport brigs, and conveyed down the Garonne to the "Clarence" (a British seventy-four), lying in Verdun roads. In this ship the regiment sailed to England, where it arrived, after an absence of nearly seven years, towards the end of June, and on landing at Plymouth was greeted with the hearty cheers of crowds of countrymen assembled on the occasion, who testified their admiration of the brilliant career of the regiment in a most lively manner.

After landing, the regiment occupied quarters at Totness for several weeks; it subsequently proceeded to Portsmouth, where both battalions were stationed in garrison; the second battalion having returned in August from Jersey, where it had been stationed since November, 1811.

At the termination of the Peninsular War, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Blakeney was honoured with the dignity of Knight of the Tower and Sword by the Prince Regent of Portugal; he was also rewarded with a cross and clasp for his services at Martinique, Albuhera, Badajoz, Vittoria, and in the Pyrenees.

The Royal Fusiliers were not long permitted to enjoy repose, before an order from the Horse Guards summoned them to engage in scenes of conflict beyond the Atlantic ocean. The impressing of British seamen on board of American vessels, with the enforcing of certain Orders in Council, designed to counteract the decrees of Buonaparte, who, in the height of his power, endeavoured to destroy the commerce of Great Britain, had been followed by a war with the United States, and the Seventh were selected to proceed with the forty-third light infantry under Major-General Lambert, to join the troops engaged in active service against the American coast. The first battalion was completed to a thousand rank and file from the second, and embarked on the 4th of October, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Blakeney; it proceeded, in the first instance, to Plymouth, from whence it sailed to the West Indies.[24]

From the West Indies the regiment sailed towards the southern states of North America, and arrived, on the first of January, 1815, off the coast of Louisiana; it was there removed into small boats, to proceed along Lake Barque to join the army commanded by Major-General the Honourable Sir Edward Michael Pakenham, K.C.B., near New Orleans, a place of some note, situate on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. After a difficult navigation of eighty miles in small boats, the regiment landed (having lost a serjeant and sixteen men by the sinking of a boat on the lake); and on the following day joined the army at its camp on the bank of the Mississippi. Arrangements had previously been made for the attack by storm of a line of entrenchments and redoubts which the Americans had constructed behind a canal to cover the approach to New Orleans, and behind which they had collected an army treble the numbers of the British. A short time before day-light, on the morning of the 8th of January, the Royal Fusiliers were at their post, and forming, with the forty-third, the reserve to the storming party. Some delay occurred; the ladders were not ready at the proper moment; and when the soldiers rushed forward to storm the enemy's works, difficulties were encountered which it was found impossible to overcome. A serious loss had been sustained in killed and wounded; the commander-in-chief had fallen;[25] and no chance of ultimate success remained: when the storming parties fell back, the Seventh and forty-third, deploying into line, and making a forward motion, presented the appearance of a renewed attack, by which the Americans were so much awed that they did not venture to pursue the retreating soldiers; at the same time the two regiments presented so steady and confident a front under a heavy fire as to excite great admiration, and the storming parties rallied and formed in support. No prospect of ultimate success appearing, the troops withdrew to their camp. The loss of the Seventh on this occasion was Major King, Captain Henry, one serjeant, and twenty-three rank and file killed; Captains Mullins and Page, Lieutenant Lorentz and Higgins, six serjeants, and sixty-two rank and file wounded.

The Royal Fusiliers were subsequently employed in occupying posts close to the enemy's position; meanwhile a temporary road was constructed through a morass to the lake, and the British, withdrawing by a night march, embarked in boats and returned to the fleet: the Fusiliers and piquets remained before the enemy until the morning of the 19th of January, when they retired. During the few days the Royal Fusiliers had been before New Orleans, privations and sufferings of every kind had been endured with a cheerfulness which redounded to the honour of the officers and soldiers.

The Fusiliers were afterwards landed on Isle Dauphin, north of Mobile Bay, West Florida. An attack on Mobile was resolved on, and Fort Bowyer, which commanded the entrance to the harbour, was besieged and captured, and two companies of the Seventh garrisoned the fort. Further hostilities were, however, prevented by a treaty of peace; and in March the regiment embarked from the Isle Dauphin, West Florida, for England; two vessels were delayed on the voyage; the remainder, landing at Deal, occupied the barrack at that place until the middle of June. Napoleon Buonaparte had, in the meantime, regained the throne of France: a British army had assembled in the Netherlands, under the Duke of Wellington, to wage war against the usurper; and the Royal Fusiliers were ordered to embark for Flanders to share in the conflict. The first division of the regiment, consisting of the head-quarters and four companies, landed at Ostend on the 18th of June, the day the French army was overthrown at Waterloo, and proceeded in boats up the canal to Bruges. These companies were afterwards assembled at Ghent, from whence they advanced up the country, in charge of treasure for the allied army, and arrived in the vicinity of Paris on the 6th of July. The war had terminated; the Bourbon dynasty was restored; and the Royal Fusiliers were encamped near Paris three months, during which time the remainder of the battalion arrived at the camp. The regiment was present at several reviews of the British forces, in the presence of the Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, and other sovereigns. In September the regiment occupied a temporary barrack beyond the town and forest of St. Germain. In December it returned to Paris and occupied a large public building, which was fitted up for a barrack, the officers being quartered on the inhabitants.

On the 24th of December the second battalion transferred its men fit for service to the first, and was disbanded at Dover; at the same time a recruiting company was added to the establishment of the first battalion.

Honorary distinctions were this year conferred on many officers of the army. Colonel Sir Edward Blakeney, of the Royal Fusiliers, was honoured with the dignity of Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, and the following officers were appointed Companions of the Order of the Bath:—Lieutenant Colonels John Walwin Beatty, Samuel Benjamin Auchmuty, and Alexander Campbell Wylly.

On the 1st of January, 1816, the effective strength was one thousand and twenty-eight; the regiment left Paris on the 16th of January, and marching to the Pas de Calais, was placed in village-cantonments in the vicinity of Bapaume, forming part of the Army of Occupation in France.

The Royal Fusiliers were highly commended at the half-yearly inspection on the 22nd of May: they were reviewed by Lieutenant-General Lord Hill in August, and obtained his lordship's approbation; and in September Lieutenant-General Sir Lowry Cole made a minute inspection of the regiment, and expressed his entire satisfaction of its appearance and discipline.

In September the regiment was removed to the vicinity of Cambray, and was subsequently encamped near Denain, with the remainder of the first division, the other divisions being encamped about two miles distant. On the 22nd of October the British, Saxon, and Danish contingents of the Army of Occupation were reviewed by the Duke of Wellington, in presence of their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Kent and Cambridge, who expressed their admiration of the appearance and discipline of the troops. After the review the regiment returned to its village cantonments, and at the half-yearly inspection in November, Major-General Sir James Kempt expressed his satisfaction at its appearance and condition.

In the early part of 1817 the establishment was reduced to eight hundred and sixty seven non-commissioned officers and private soldiers; and in April the regiment marched to the city of Valenciennes, and with the twenty-third, forty-third, fifty-seventh, and ninety-first, formed the garrison of that fortress.

On the 6th of September the Royal Fusiliers were present at the review of the British and Danish contingents by the King of Prussia; on the 9th of that month they were reviewed by Lieutenant-General Lord Hill; and on the 15th of October, by his Grace the Duke of Wellington.

Having passed the winter at Valenciennes, the Seventh were reviewed, in June, near that fortress with the British, Danish, and Saxon contingents, by the Grand Duke Michael of Russia, for whom the regiment furnished a guard of honour. The British troops were subsequently reviewed by Lieutenant-General Lord Hill on the 3rd of September; by the Duke of Wellington in presence of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Kent, on the 10th of that month; and on the 23rd of October by the Emperor of Russia, King of Prussia, Prince of Orange, &c. &c.

Soon after this review the establishment was reduced to seven hundred and forty-six officers and soldiers; and the Army of Occupation being withdrawn from France, the regiment marched to Calais, where it embarked for England, and landed at Dover on the 2nd of November.

After occupying Dover Castle barracks a few days, the regiment marched to Deal, where it embarked for Ireland, and landed on the 26th and 27th of November at the Cove of Cork, from whence it proceeded to Fermoy, and, in December, to Dublin.

The regiment remained at Dublin until August, 1820, and its appearance, discipline, and interior economy were commended at the half-yearly inspections made by Major-Generals White, Buller, and Sir Colquhoun Grant. It subsequently occupied extensive cantonments, the head-quarters being at Londonderry, where it was inspected by Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird, and Major-General Sir Sidney Beckwith, and obtained the approbation of these distinguished officers. In November it embarked at Belfast for Scotland, and landing at Port Patrick, marched from thence to Edinburgh and Glasgow: its appearance and discipline were commended at the half-yearly inspection made by Major-General Sir Thomas Bradford; and in June, 1821, when it was ordered to march to England, this general-officer "expressed his warmest approbation of the uniform good conduct and regularity in quarters, as well as of the high state of discipline in the field and excellent interior economy;" at the same time requesting "Colonel Sir Edward Blakeney to convey these sentiments to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers."

Leaving Scotland in July, the regiment proceeded to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Carlisle, Tynemouth, and Sunderland; and in August the establishment was reduced to six hundred and fifty officers and men.

In the spring of 1822 the regiment marched to Chatham and Sheerness; from whence it was removed in June and July to Brighton and Windsor, and had the honour of performing the King's duty during the residence of King George IV. at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton.

In the summer of 1825 the regiment was divided into six service and four depôt companies; the service companies embarked at Gosport on the 14th and 15th of June for the Ionian Islands, where they were stationed until September 1828, when they were removed to Malta.

On the decease of General Sir Alured Clarke, the colonelcy of the Royal Fusiliers was conferred on Major-General Sir Edward Blakeney, K.C.B., G.C.H., by commission dated the 20th of September, 1832.

In December, 1833, the depôt companies embarked at Portsmouth for Ireland, where they arrived in January, 1834; they returned to England in October, 1835, and landed at Portsmouth.

The service companies remained at Malta until the early part of 1836, when they returned to England, and landing at Portsmouth, were stationed at that fortress until June, when they removed to Winchester.

In July the regiment marched to Windsor, and had the honour of performing the King's duty during the residence of His Majesty King William IV. at Windsor Castle.

While on duty at Windsor, a superb piece of plate for the officers' mess-table was directed by His Majesty King William IV. to be presented to the regiment, with the following inscription:—

"The Gracious Gift of King William the Fourth,
July 1836."

"His Majesty remembers with satisfaction, that he became a member of the Mess of the Royal Fusiliers at Plymouth in the year 1786, and he has directed his son, Colonel Lord Frederick Fitz Clarence, who had the advantage of commanding the Regiment during some years,[26] to present this piece of plate as a mark of His Majesty's approbation;—of his high sense of the gallant and admirable services, and of the exemplary discipline and gentlemanly conduct, which have uniformly distinguished the Royal Fusiliers."

Leaving Windsor in August, the regiment proceeded into Lancashire, and the head-quarters were stationed at Bolton until the autumn of 1837, when the regiment proceeded to Ireland. During the year 1838 the Royal Fusiliers were stationed at Dublin; in May, 1839, they were removed to Kilkenny, and in August following to Cork.

In the autumn six companies of the regiment embarked for Gibraltar, and arrived at that fortress in November, leaving four depôt companies in Ireland.

The service companies remained at Gibraltar until the 19th December, 1844, when they embarked for the West Indies, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Farquharson, on board of Her Majesty's Troop Ship "Resistance," and arrived at Barbadoes on the 18th January, 1845.

The depôt companies remained in Ireland from the embarkation of the service companies for Gibraltar until November, 1841, when they proceeded from Cork to Dover, and remained in England until June, 1845, when they returned to Ireland, where they have remained to the present year, 1846.

The service companies at the end of the year 1846, when this Record concludes, were in the West Indies, the head-quarters at St. Vincent.

The foregoing pages contain a faithful history of the Royal Fusiliers from the period of their formation in the year 1685, and of the peculiar service for which this Regiment was originally established. The introduction of artillery, and the expert and proper management of field-guns, rendered it necessary that a suitable description of officers and men should be selected for such an important and scientific branch of the service, in order to ensure its usefulness; hence it may be inferred, that as qualifications of a superior kind were requisite, the Subaltern Officers in the Royal Fusiliers obtained, on their first appointment, the rank of Lieutenant, a distinction which is continued to the present time.

During a period exceeding one hundred and sixty years, the Royal Fusiliers have proved themselves to be a faithful and zealous Regiment in the cause of Royalty, and in the interests of their country. Their services in various parts of Europe and America, when war has required their presence and exertions, have, on all occasions, been conspicuous; and their conduct on home-service, when relieved from their tour of duty abroad, has been marked by a strict adherence to the rules of order and discipline: these qualities have rendered them a valuable corps to the Government of the country, and have obtained for them a continuance of the approbation of their Sovereign.

1846.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE SEVENTH REGIMENT;

OR,

THE ROYAL FUSILIERS.

GEORGE LORD DARTMOUTH,

Appointed 11th June, 1685.

Lord Dartmouth was the son of Colonel William Legge, a zealous royalist, who was with King Charles I. at the battle of Newbury and other engagements, was also in the design of the Earl of Holland to restore His Majesty in 1648, and was wounded and taken prisoner. The King was so sensible of Colonel Legge's services, and esteemed him so highly for his fidelity, that a short period before his execution, his Majesty requested the Duke of Richmond to inform the Prince of Wales (afterwards Charles II.) "that whenever he was restored to his rights, he should be sure to take care of honest Will Legge, for he was the faithfullest servant that ever any prince had."

Colonel Legge also displayed great devotion to the cause of King Charles II., and was one of the commissioners appointed by the King, in 1659, to promise pardon to all who should endeavour to effect His Majesty's restoration; excepting the individuals who sat as judges on his royal father. After the restoration His Majesty informed Colonel Legge of the message of King Charles I. by the Duke of Richmond; but the colonel declined being advanced to the peerage, at the same time expressing a hope that his sons might deserve his Majesty's favour.

George Legge (the eldest son of Colonel William Legge) went to sea at the age of seventeen, under the care of Sir Edward Spragg, a distinguished officer who commanded the rear squadron of the combined English and French fleets against Holland in 1673, and fought the Dutch Admiral Tromp, ship to ship, until both their ships were so disabled that they quitted them, and, hoisting their flags in other vessels, renewed the battle with incredible fury. Sir Edward Spragg's ship being terribly torn, he designed to go on board of a third vessel; but his boat was struck by a shot and he was drowned. Under this gallant preceptor George Legge acquired a knowledge of his profession; in 1667 he commanded the Pembroke man-of-war; in 1671 the Fairfax; and in the following year the Royal Catherine. In 1672 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Portsmouth; in 1673 he was appointed governor of that fortress; also master of the horse and gentleman of the bedchamber to His Royal Highness the Duke of York (afterwards King James II.). At the augmentation of the army in 1678 he was appointed colonel of a newly-raised regiment of foot, which was disbanded after the peace of Nimeguen; he was also lieutenant-general of the ordnance, and was sworn a member of the privy council in 1681; in 1682 he was constituted master-general of the ordnance, and was commissioned to inspect all the forts and garrisons in England.

On the 2nd of December, 1682, he was advanced to the dignity of Baron of Dartmouth, with remainder, in default of issue, to his brother William; which remainder the King particularly ordered himself "in justice" (as he was pleased to say) "to the memory of old Colonel Legge, whose modesty ought not to prejudice his children."

The preamble of the patent imports—"That His Majesty, remembering the great merits of William Legge, one of the grooms of the royal bedchamber to his late father King Charles I., especially in that unparalleled rebellion raised against him, in which, being a person of singular skill and experience in military affairs, and also a valiant and expert commander, he faithfully served His Majesty in most of the battles and sieges of those unhappy times; that he also performed several eminent services to King Charles II. since his most happy restoration; and further, considering that George Legge, eldest son of the said William Legge, following his father's example in divers military employments, especially in sundry sharp and dangerous naval fights, wherein he did freely hazard his life, for which respect, being made general of the ordnance and artillery, and one of His Majesty's most honourable privy council, His Majesty has thought fit to dignify him with some further honour. &c."

In 1683 Lord Dartmouth was sent with the fleet to Africa, to destroy the works of Tangier and bring home the garrison and English inhabitants; on his return he was rewarded by his Majesty with a grant of ten thousand pounds. On the accession of King James II. his lordship was continued as master-general of the ordnance, and one of the privy council; he also held the appointment of constable of the Tower of London; and on the augmentation of the army in 1685, he was appointed Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. In 1687, when King James II. was making a tour through part of his dominions, the city of Coventry presented His Majesty with a large gold cup and cover, which he immediately delivered to Lord Dartmouth, telling him, "There was an acknowledgment from the citizens of Coventry for his father's sufferings in their town:"—Colonel Legge having endured a long imprisonment there, after being wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester, in 1651, and he escaped from thence by a stratagem on the part of his wife, in woman's attire.

When the Prince of Orange prepared an armament for a descent on the English coast, Lord Dartmouth was appointed admiral of the fleet of England sent out in the autumn of 1688 to intercept the Dutch. He accepted this employment out of gratitude to the King, "who," as Bishop Burnet observes, "loved him, and in whose service he had long been." The bishop adds,—"He was, indeed, one of the worthiest men of his court, and, although much against the conduct of his affairs, he was resolved to stick to him at all hazards." His conduct while in command of the fleet has been variously represented; but it appears evident he was only prevented fighting the Dutch fleet by unfavourable weather.

On the accession of the Prince of Orange to sovereign power, Lord Dartmouth was deprived of his appointments, and in 1691 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for corresponding with King James. After three months' confinement, he died suddenly of apoplexy, and King William commanded the same honours to be paid at his lordship's funeral which would have been due to him if he had died possessed of all his late employments. He was interred near his father, in a vault in Trinity Chapel, in the Minories.

JOHN, EARL OF MARLBOROUGH,

Appointed 26th August, 1689.

This talented and brave nobleman attained the summit of military fame, and was equally celebrated for sound judgment in the cabinet, and for persuasive eloquence in conversation; while he swayed the councils of foreign courts, and reconciled conflicting interests among the states of Christendom, he led their armies to battle and to victory, acquiring a renown which will live in the page of history to the remotest ages, and the record of his achievements serves as a monument to commemorate the national glory. He was born on the 24th of June, 1650, and before he was sixteen years of age he was page of honour to the Duke of York, who procured him the commission of ensign in the first foot guards in 1666. Being an enthusiast in his profession, he resigned the pleasures of the court to engage in actual warfare on the shores of Africa, and distinguished himself as a volunteer against the Moors under the walls of Tangier. In 1672 he was appointed captain of a company in the Duke of Monmouth's regiment of foot, and served with the French army, commanded by Louis XIV. in person, against the Dutch, where he signalized himself by a regular attention to duty, and volunteered his services on every occasion of difficulty and danger. He soon attracted the attention of the celebrated Marshal Turenne; distinguished himself at the siege of Nimeguen in 1672; and, in 1673, added to his rising honours by his gallantry at the siege of Maestricht, where he was wounded. In the following campaign he served with the French army on the Rhine, and was rewarded on the 3rd of April, 1674, with the colonelcy of an English regiment in the pay of Louis XIV., with which corps he continued to serve in the German war. In 1678 his regiment was recalled from France; and he proceeded to Flanders in command of a brigade of infantry; but the peace of Nimeguen taking place, he returned to England, and his regiment was disbanded. He continued in the suite of the Duke of York, whose constant attendant he became, and was employed in several delicate missions between His Royal Highness and the King, in which he evinced signal address. In 1633, he raised a troop of dragoons, and was appointed colonel of the royal regiment of dragoons,—a corps formed of two newly-raised troops of dragoons and four troops of Tangier horse. He was also elevated to the peerage of Scotland by the title of Baron Churchill of Aymouth; and soon after the accession of the Duke of York to the throne, he was created an English peer by the title of Baron Churchill of Sundridge, and promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. On the breaking out of the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, in June, 1685, Lord Churchill was detached with a body of troops against the insurgents, and his excellent conduct at the battle of Sedgemoor was rewarded with the colonelcy of the third troop of Life Guards, which gave him the privilege of taking the court duty of gold stick; but his devotion to the Protestant cause having induced him to join the standard of the Prince of Orange at the revolution in 1688, he was deprived of his appointment.

On the accession of King William III. and Queen Mary, Lord Churchill was restored to the command of the third troop of Life Guards; advanced to the title of Earl of Marlborough; and subsequently appointed colonel of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. He commanded the troops on the continent in 1689; gained additional laurels at the battle of Walcourt; and was appointed commander-in-chief in June, 1690. In the autumn of the same year he reduced Cork and Kinsale in Ireland;—and served at the head of the British infantry under King William III. in Flanders, in 1691; but, in May, 1692, he was sent prisoner to the Tower on a charge of high treason, which was not substantiated. In 1698 he was again received into royal favour; and in 1701 King William III. appointed him to the command of the British troops in the Netherlands, and to negotiate the treaties to be formed with foreign powers on the prospect of a war with France; he also appointed him, on the 12th of February, 1702, colonel of the twenty-fourth regiment of foot. On the accession of Queen Anne, he was appointed captain-general of the forces, and to the chief command of the English, Dutch, and auxiliary armies employed against the French; and all his operations were crowned with success. He took Venloo, Ruremonde, Stevenswaert, and Liege with surprising rapidity;—extended and secured the Dutch frontiers, and forced the enemy to seek shelter behind their lines. His great ability had become so conspicuous that on his return to England he was raised to the rank of Duke of Marlborough. In the spring of 1703 he once more took the field;—forced Bonn, Huy, and Limburg; but was impeded in his brilliant career by the jealousy or timidity of the Dutch generals. In April, 1704, he was appointed colonel of the first foot guards;—and in the succeeding campaign his grace led the army from the Ocean to the Danube;—he attacked the enemy on the 2nd of July, 1704, and forced the intrenchments at Schellenberg with distinguished gallantry. The decisive battle of Blenheim was fought on the 13th of August following, and the legions of France and Bavaria were overthrown;—there, the heaps of slain gave dreadful proofs of British valour; and whole legions of prisoners were proofs of their mercy. This victory, which exalted the reputation of the Duke of Marlborough, and displayed in its true light the distinguished character of the British troops, produced the most important results;—Bavaria was subdued:—Ratisbon, Augsburg, Ulm, Meminghen,—all were recovered. From the Danube he marched towards the Rhine and Moselle. Landau, Treves, and Traerback were taken; and the British commander was created a Prince of the Empire. His abilities in the field were equalled by his judgment in the cabinet; and his council guided the confederate princes of Europe. In the spring of 1705 he once more took the field, and menaced the French in Alsace. From the Moselle he proceeded to the Maese. Liege was relieved, Huy retaken, and the boasted impregnable French lines were forced at Helixem and Neer-Hespen; but his career of victory was again impeded by the opposition he met with from the Dutch generals. These difficulties were however removed. In the spring of 1706 another campaign opened,—when the discipline he had introduced, and the confidence he inspired, again proved invincible. He met, attacked, and triumphed over the French and Spaniards at Ramilies on the 23rd of May, 1706. This decisive victory was followed by the surrender of Louvain, Brussels, Malines, Liere, Ghent, Oudenarde, Antwerp, Damme, Bruges, and Courtray: in the meantime Ostend, Menin, Dendermond, and Aeth, were taken:—places which had resisted the greatest generals for months—for years:—provinces disputed for ages were the conquests of a summer. So great was the reputation of the armies of the allies, and of their distinguished commander, that throughout the campaign of 1707 the enemy avoided a general engagement; but in the following summer a gallant French army, led by the princes of the blood, was overcome at Oudenarde:—new armies and new generals appeared; but the career of Marlborough could not be stopped. The barriers of France on the side of the Low Countries, the work of half a century, were attacked. A numerous French army were spectators of the fall of Lisle,—the bulwark of their barriers. Every campaign added new conquests. Tournay was taken. The French army—posted near Malplaquet, in a position covered by thick woods, defended by treble entrenchments—was attacked. The battle was bloody—the event decisive. The woods were pierced. The fortifications were trampled down. The enemy fled. After this victory Mons was taken; and in the succeeding years, Douay, Bethune, Aire, St. Venant, Bouchain,—all underwent the same fate. Nothing availed against a general whose sagacity foresaw everything, whose vigilance attended to everything, whose constancy no labour could subdue, whose courage no danger could dismay, and whose intuitive glance always caught the decisive moment and insured victory; while the discipline he maintained and the confidence he inspired were equivalent to an army. The ambitious Louis XIV. saw his generals over-matched,—his armies beaten and dispirited,—his possessions wrested from him,—the barriers of his kingdom trampled down, and a powerful army ready to carry the horrors of war into the heart of his kingdom. The disasters of ten campaigns having proved that Marlborough was invincible, the French monarch sued for peace. The din and calamities of war were succeeded by the smile of plenty, tranquillity, and enjoyment: but, for some political cause, the gallant Marlborough was divested of all his offices dependent on the British crown. Continuing a stedfast adherent to the Protestant succession, he retired to the continent until the accession of George I., and was then replaced in his former posts, in which he continued until his decease in 1722. His unremitting exertions to inculcate the principles of order and discipline; his discernment in bringing merit into notice; his impartiality; and a series of glorious victories by which he upheld the national honour, and proved himself a valuable servant of the crown and kingdom, occasioned his memory to be deeply engraved on the hearts of the brave men who had fought under his command.

LORD GEORGE HAMILTON,

Appointed 23rd January, 1692.

Lord George Hamilton, fifth son of William Duke of Hamilton, was an officer in the Royal Regiment in the reign of Charles II., and also of James II., and, adhering to the Protestant interest at the Revolution in 1688, he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and on the 1st of March, 1690, to the brevet rank of colonel. He served under King William III. in Ireland, and distinguished himself at the battle of the Boyne; and in 1691 he was at the siege of Athlone, at the battle of Aghrim, and the capture of Limerick. In January, 1692, he was appointed colonel of the Royal Fusiliers, at the head of which corps he distinguished himself at the battle of Steenkirk, and his gallantry was rewarded with the colonelcy of the Royal Regiment. Continuing to serve under King William in the Netherlands, he distinguished himself in 1693 at the unfortunate battle of Landen, and in 1695 at the siege of Namur, and while engaged in this service he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. On the 3rd of January, 1696, he was advanced to the peerage by the titles of Baron Dechmont, Viscount of Kirkwall, and Earl of Orkney; and in March, 1702, he was promoted to the rank of major-general. He served the campaign of this year under the Earl of Marlborough, and was engaged in the siege of Stevenswaert. He commanded a brigade of infantry during the campaign of 1703, was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-general, and invested with the order of the Thistle in 1704; and, having proceeded with the army into the heart of Germany, took part in gaining the glorious victories of Schellenberg and Blenheim. In 1705 he distinguished himself at the siege and capture of Huy; and in the following year at the battle of Ramilies, and the siege of Menin. He also took a distinguished part in the battle of Oudenarde in covering the siege of Lisle; and in forcing the passage of the Scheldt in 1708. In 1709 he distinguished himself in the movements which preceded and led to the battle of Malplaquet, and during this hard-contested action he signalized himself at the head of fifteen battalions of infantry. He also signalized himself at the siege of Douay in 1710; and in the beginning of the following year he was promoted to the rank of general. He was also engaged in passing the French lines in 1711, and commanded twenty battalions of infantry at the siege of Bouchain.

On these occasions the Earl of Orkney had evinced personal bravery and military talents of a superior character. At the close of the war he was a member of the privy council, and governor of Edinburgh Castle. On the accession of George I. he was appointed one of the lords of the bedchamber to his Majesty, and governor of Virginia; and in January, 1736, he was promoted to the rank of field marshal. He was many years one of the sixteen representatives of the Scottish peerage; and died in January, 1737.