In 1804 the Candians again made preparations for an attack on the British settlements; and the English troops penetrated the provinces of Candy. Some sharp fighting occurred; and on the 14th of October Lieutenants B. Vincent and H. L. Smith were killed at Fort M^cDowall.

Another attack on the British territory was made in the early part of 1805; but the Candians were completely routed in every quarter. In October of this year the NINETEENTH regiment embarked for Columbo.

The regiment proceeded by sea to Trincomalee in September, 1806; but marched back to Columbo two months afterwards.

During the years 1807 and 1808, the regiment was stationed at the capital of the island of Ceylon.

Disputes of a tedious and complicated character between the British government and the Rajah of Travancore, a province situated at the south-west extremity of Hindoostan, occasioned the NINETEENTH regiment to be withdrawn from Ceylon in February, 1809, and to proceed to Madras to join the troops designed for the reduction of the hostile Rajah. The country of Travancore was taken possession of without much serious opposition, when a force of sufficient strength was assembled for that purpose, and the Rajah was forced to submit. In December the regiment returned to Ceylon.

General Sir Samuel Hulse having been removed to the sixty-second regiment, the colonelcy of the NINETEENTH was conferred on Lieut.-General Sir Hew Dalrymple from the thirty-seventh, by commission dated the 25th of June, 1810.

The war with France was continued, a British army was fighting for the liberties of Europe in Portugal and Spain, and in 1810 the English government resolved to deprive Napoleon of the Isle of France, now called the Mauritius, the only remaining territory in the possession of France, in the East. To take part in this enterprise, four companies of the NINETEENTH regiment embarked from Ceylon on the 6th of September, 1810. The expedition rendezvoused at the island of Rodriguez, from whence it sailed to the Isle of France, and a landing was effected on the 29th of November. The troops suffered much from the want of water in their advance upon Port Louis, the capital, and finding a plentiful supply at the powder-mills on the road, they halted there during the night of the 30th of November. Some sharp skirmishing occurred, and several men were killed and wounded. On the following day the troops resumed their march; drove the French from their positions with great gallantry; and forced the governor to surrender this valuable colony in three days.

The four companies afterwards returned to Ceylon.

Lieut.-General Sir Hew Dalrymple was removed, in April, 1811, to the fifty-seventh regiment, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the NINETEENTH by Major-General Hilgrove Turner, from the Cape regiment.

The reigning sovereign of Candy evinced so cruel and tyrannical a disposition, that he became odious to his subjects, who experienced a total insecurity of life and property under his rule, individuals being frequently deprived of both at the caprice of the king. The governor of one of his provinces was summoned to appear at the capital; but this chief, expecting that the sacrifice of his life, and the seizure of his property, were intended, did not obey the mandate. The king assembled an army, overpowered the forces of the disobedient chief, and forced him to fly for protection to the British settlements. About the period when these events agitated the interior of the island of Ceylon, the NINETEENTH regiment embarked for Trincomalee, where it arrived in the beginning of March, 1814.

Elated with his success against the disobedient chief, the King of Candy prepared to invade the British territory; and the governor, Major-General Brownrigg, resolved to preserve the English provinces from aggression by invading the kingdom of Candy. The British troops advanced into the kingdom of Candy, in seven divisions, in the beginning of February, 1815, and the NINETEENTH regiment marched from Trincomalee to take part in this service. The soldiers underwent great fatigue in crossing mountains, passing morasses and rivers, and traversing regions inhabited only by the wild beasts of the forest; they succeeded in overcoming all opposition, and arrived at the capital in the middle of February. The king fled; but he was seized by his own subjects, ill-treated, and brought a prisoner to the British camp. An assembly of Candian chiefs declared the Malbar dynasty deposed, and the provinces of Candy united to the dominions of the British crown. Thus was an extensive tract of country, bountifully endowed with natural gifts, and producing the necessaries and luxuries of life, including spices, metals, and precious stones, added to the British dominions; a numerous race of human beings, of a peculiarly interesting character, was delivered from the power of despotism, and brought under the advantages of the just government and equitable laws of Great Britain. Every species of torture was immediately abolished; but the ancient religion of the inhabitants, and the former mode of administering justice, were preserved. The conduct of the British troops was highly meritorious, and reflected credit on the several corps employed on this enterprise: the soldiers abstained from plunder and violence, and behaved with such order and regularity as to conciliate the inhabitants, whose condition, improved by a policy founded on liberal ideas, and exhibiting enlarged views, prepared the way for their emancipation from the errors of superstition, and their introduction to the advantages of Christianity, and of European arts, sciences, and commerce.

The British troops occupied posts in the newly-acquired territory, and the corps not required for this duty returned to their former quarters.

The NINETEENTH regiment remained at Trincomalee, and other stations in that quarter of the island, until February, 1818, when it returned to Columbo.

Soon afterwards a new claimant to the throne of Candy arrived in that country, from the continent of India, and being supported by several native chiefs, who were hostile to the British interests, a rebellion took place. This event called the NINETEENTH again into the field; they marched for Candy in April, 1818, and again traversed mountainous districts and wild and beautiful regions; some desultory fighting occurred; but a greater loss of life was occasioned by the climate, than by the swords of the insurgents. The rebellion was suppressed; the regiment returned to Columbo in September; and in October it marched to Point de Galle.

After serving twenty-three years at Ceylon, and taking a distinguished part in the important events which had occurred in that island, the regiment was relieved from duty there, and embarked for England in January, 1820; it landed at Gravesend on the 19th of May, and was stationed in the south of England during the remainder of the year.

In February, 1821, the regiment marched to Weedon Barracks; and in November embarked from Liverpool for Ireland, and, after landing at Dublin, marched to Mullingar, Longford, Tullamore, Philipstown, and Maryborough.

The regiment remained in Ireland during the years 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825; in the autumn of 1826 it was divided into six service and four depôt companies: the service companies embarked from Cork in October, for the island of Demerara, where they arrived in December.

The depôt companies were stationed in Ireland until June, 1830, when they embarked from Cork for Portsmouth, where they arrived in two days.

After occupying various stations in the British West India Islands, during the period of nearly ten years, the service companies embarked from Barbadoes in July, 1836, and landed at Cork in August: they were afterwards joined by the depôt companies from England.

During the years 1837 and 1838, the regiment was stationed in Ireland; in December, 1839, it embarked from Dublin for Bristol; but returned to Ireland in March following.

In the summer of 1840 the regiment was again divided into six service, and four depôt companies, and in September the service companies embarked from Cork for the island of Malta, where they landed on the 3rd and 13th of October.

The depôt companies left Ireland in 1841, and were stationed a short time at Gosport; they proceeded to Brighton in March, 1842, and to Dover Castle in October.

General Sir Hilgrove Turner, G.C.H., K.C., died at Jersey, in May, 1843, and General Sir Warren Marmaduke Peacocke, K.C.H. and K.C., was appointed by Her Majesty Colonel of the NINETEENTH regiment.

The service companies proceeded in the Resistance troop-ship from Malta to the Ionian Islands on the 9th of January, 1843, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hay, and arrived at Corfu on the 20th of the same month; five days afterwards the head-quarters and three companies embarked in the Boyne transport for Cephalonia.

In October, 1843, the depôt companies marched from Dover to Winchester, and from thence to Portsmouth, where they embarked for Jersey.

On the 18th of June, 1845, the depôt companies embarked at Jersey for Ireland, and disembarked at Waterford.

On the 5th of December, 1845, the service companies of the NINETEENTH regiment embarked at Corfu for the West Indies, in the Java freight-ship, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Hay.

The regiment arrived at Barbadoes on the 19th of January, 1846.

In February, 1847, the regiment embarked at Barbadoes for St. Vincent.

The regiment returned to Barbadoes in April, 1848, and was transhipped on board the Bombay transport on the 12th of that month, and sailed in a few days for North America.

On the 1st of July, the date to which the record has been continued, the service companies were stationed at Montreal, under the command of Major Sanders, and the depôt companies, under Major Calley, remained in Ireland, the head-quarters occupying the barracks at Castlebar.

The details narrated in the foregoing pages, contain accounts of the services of the NINETEENTH REGIMENT OF FOOT, for a period of one hundred and sixty years, and although the Regimental colour does not display any mark of distinction for services performed, yet the record of the regiment proves, that when opportunity has offered, the regiment has evinced that zeal and devotion to its country's cause, and that patient endurance and bravery in the field, for which every British corps has been distinguished; these qualities were shown in the war in Flanders under King William III., particularly at the battles of Steenkirk and Landen, and at the siege of Namur, from 1692 to 1695; again in Flanders in 1710 and 1711, with the army under the command of the Duke of Marlborough. The regiment again distinguished itself in the war in Flanders, particularly at the battles of Fontenoy, Roucoux, and Val, in 1745, 1746, and 1747. In 1761, in the attack and capture of Belle Isle, where nature as well as art had combined to render the place impregnable, the regiment evinced an extraordinary degree of bravery. Its services were again evinced in Flanders, with the army under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, in 1794 and 1795.

The regiment has also been distinguished by long and arduous services in the eastern parts of the world from 1796 to 1820; it was engaged in the storming of Seringapatam on the 4th of May, 1799, where the celebrated Tippoo Saib was mortally wounded, and the city captured. Its services in the conquest of the Island of Ceylon and the deposition of the King of Candy, in 1815, likewise form an important and honorable era in the records of the regiment; the gallantry of the troops on this occasion caused the annexation of the colony of Ceylon to the British dominions, and the conduct of the NINETEENTH regiment in suppressing the rebellion in that island, in 1818, secured the possession of this valuable appendage to the territories of Great Britain.

The services of the NINETEENTH regiment in the Field, as well as in arduous Colonial duties, have been such as to show in the foregoing pages, that the officers and men have ample cause for feelings of pride in the honor acquired by the corps in whatever duty it has been employed, and this tribute of commendation is considered to be justly due to a regiment, the services of which have been so highly meritorious during a period of one hundred and sixty years.

1848.

APPENDIX.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF THE

NINETEENTH,

OR THE FIRST YORKSHIRE NORTH RIDING

REGIMENT OF FOOT.

Francis Lutterell.

Appointed 28th February, 1689.

Francis Lutterell, was one of the zealous Protestant gentlemen who joined the standard of the Prince of Orange, at the Revolution in 1688, and on the elevation of the Prince to the throne, in February, 1689, he was nominated Colonel of a regiment of foot, now the NINETEENTH, which was formed of companies raised in November, 1688. He died before he attained any higher rank.

Thomas Erle.

Appointed 1st January, 1691.

Thomas Erle evinced attachment to the principles of the Revolution of 1688, and on the 8th of March, 1689, he was commissioned to raise a regiment of foot for the service of King William III., which was afterwards disbanded. He proceeded with his regiment to Ireland in 1689, and proved an officer of great merit and personal bravery. He served under King William at the battle of the Boyne, and at the siege of Limerick in 1690; and greatly distinguished himself at the battle of Aghrim in 1691, where he was taken prisoner at the head of his regiment, in attempting to force the passage of a bog. He was rescued by his men, and headed another attack, when he was wounded and again taken prisoner; but was rescued a second time by his men. He afterwards served at the siege of Limerick, and being sent to England with despatches, he was removed by King William to the NINETEENTH regiment, his commission being dated the 1st of January, 1691. He was nominated Brigadier-General in 1793, and served under King William in Flanders; but was obliged to quit the field from ill health. While confined to his bed with a fever, at Malines, he heard that a general engagement was likely to take place, when he rejoined the army, behaved with great gallantry at the battle of Landen, and was dangerously wounded. He recovered of his wound, and commanded a brigade during the campaigns of 1694 and 1695; on the 1st of June, 1696, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General; and in February, 1703, to that of Lieut.-General. He was employed on the staff of South Britain, and raised a regiment of dragoons, the colonelcy of which was afterwards conferred on Lord Cutts. In 1708, he commanded an expedition to the coast of France, but nothing of importance was accomplished; he afterwards proceeded with the infantry to Ostend, and performed great service in forwarding supplies to the allied army during the siege of Lisle. In 1709, he disposed of the colonelcy of his regiment. He was afterwards nominated Lieut.-General of the Ordnance, and also Commander of the land forces in South Britain; and in January, 1711, he was promoted to the rank of General. Political events occasioned his removal from the appointments of Lieut.-General of the Ordnance, and Commander in South Britain, in 1712. He died on the 23rd of July, 1720.

George Freke.

Appointed 23rd May, 1709.

This officer was appointed Ensign in the NINETEENTH regiment on the 19th of April, 1693, and he served in Flanders under King William III. In 1702, he served in the expedition to Cadiz, from whence he proceeded to the West Indies, and was afterwards rewarded with the lieut.-colonelcy of the NINETEENTH regiment, the colonelcy of which corps he obtained by purchase in 1709. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General on the 12th of February, 1711. His decease occurred before he attained any higher rank.

Richard Sutton.

Appointed 3rd April, 1712.

Richard Sutton was appointed Ensign in a regiment of foot, on the 1st of April, 1690, and he served in Ireland, and also in Flanders, under King William III. He was afterwards promoted to the majority of the Eighth regiment, with which he served at the battles of Schellenberg and Blenheim in 1704; at the forcing of the French lines at Helixem in 1705; and at the battle of Ramilies, in 1706. Being afterwards promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy, he commanded the regiment at the battle of Oudenarde in 1708. On the 23rd of March, 1709, he was promoted to the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment, and in 1710 he was nominated a Brigadier-General. He commanded a brigade in Flanders during the campaign of 1711; served at the forcing of the French lines at Arleux, and at the siege and capture of Bouchain. In 1712, he was removed to the NINETEENTH regiment, was nominated Governor of Hull, and commanded a brigade in Flanders under the Duke of Ormond: he was afterwards promoted to the rank of Major-General; but in 1715, he retired from active service. He was restored to the colonelcy of the NINETEENTH regiment in 1729, and promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1735. He died in 1738.

George Grove.

Appointed 5th August, 1715.

George Grove served in the foot guards, in which corps he rose to the rank of Captain and Lieut.-Colonel. Being a very zealous and loyal officer, at a period when Jacobite principles had become prevalent in the kingdom, he was nominated Colonel of the NINETEENTH regiment, his commission being dated the 5th of August, 1715: he did not attain any higher rank than that of Colonel. His death occurred on the 13th of October, 1729.

Richard Sutton.

Re-appointed 27th October, 1729.

Died in 1738.

The Honorable Charles Howard.

Appointed 1st November, 1738.

The Honorable Charles Howard, second son of Charles third Earl of Carlisle, was appointed Ensign and Lieutenant in the Second foot guards on the 10th of August, 1715; in 1717 he was promoted to Captain in the sixteenth foot, from which he exchanged to the ninth dragoons; and in April, 1719, he was nominated Captain and Lieut.-Colonel in the Second foot guards. He was appointed deputy governor of Carlisle in 1725, Aide-de-camp to the King with the rank of Colonel in 1734, and Colonel of the NINETEENTH regiment in 1738. He proceeded with the army to Flanders, in 1742, with the rank of Brigadier-General; in 1743 he obtained the rank of Major-General, and in 1747 that of Lieut.-General; in 1748 he was removed to the third dragoon guards. He was advanced to the dignity of a Knight of the Bath in 1749, and promoted to the rank of General in 1765. He was governor of Forts George and Augustus in Scotland; one of the grooms of the bed-chamber to King George II.; and many years member of parliament for Carlisle. He died in 1765.

Lord George Beauclerk.

Appointed 15th March, 1748.

Lord George Beauclerk, sixth son of Charles first Duke of St. Albans, served in the first regiment of foot guards, and was promoted to Captain and Lieut.-Colonel in September, 1736. In 1745 he was nominated Aide-de-camp to King George II. with the rank of Colonel, and in 1747 he obtained the colonelcy of the eighth Marines (afterwards disbanded), from which he was removed, in 1748, to the NINETEENTH regiment: in 1753 he was appointed governor of Landguard Fort. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1755, and to that of Lieut.-General in 1758. He performed the duties of Commander-in-chief in Scotland some time; and was Member of Parliament for Windsor. He died on the 11th of May, 1768.

David Graeme.

Appointed 25th May, 1768.

David Graeme evinced loyalty and zeal for the interests of the Crown and Kingdom, during the Seven Years' War, by raising a corps of Highlanders, which was honored with the title of the 105th, or Queen's Own Royal regiment of Highlanders, of which he was appointed Colonel in 1761. This corps was disbanded after the peace in 1763; and in 1764 he was nominated Colonel of the forty-ninth regiment, from which he was removed, in 1768, to the NINETEENTH. He was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1762; to that of Lieut.-General in 1772; and to that of General in 1783. He died in 1797.

Samuel Hulse.

Appointed 24th January, 1797.

Samuel Hulse entered the army in 1761, as ensign in the first foot guards, and was promoted to Captain and Lieut.-Colonel in 1776; in 1780 he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of his regiment, with the rank of Colonel, and was employed in suppressing the riots in London in the same year. At the commencement of the French revolutionary war, he was called into active service, and commanded the first battalion of his regiment, in Flanders, in 1793. He served at the siege of Valenciennes; and distinguished himself at the action of Lincelles, on the 18th of August, for which he was thanked in orders by His Royal Highness the Duke of York. He was engaged in the operations before Dunkirk, and in the subsequent movements until October, when he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and returned to England. In May of the following year he again proceeded to Flanders, and commanded a brigade before Tournay, where several partial actions occurred, and in the retreat to Holland. Returning to England early in 1795, he was appointed Colonel of the fifty-sixth regiment, and placed on the home staff, where he continued three years: in 1797 he was removed to the NINETEENTH regiment. On the 1st of January, 1798, he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General, and during the troubles in Ireland, in the summer of that year, his services were extended to that part of the kingdom, but he returned to England in November, and resumed his command on the staff. He served in Holland under His Royal Highness the Duke of York, in 1799, and was at the several engagements from the 19th of September to the 6th of October. On returning to England he was appointed to the command of the southern district, in which he continued until the peace in 1802. He was advanced to the rank of General in 1803; appointed Lieut.-Governor of the Royal Hospital at Chelsea in 1806; and removed to the sixty-second regiment in 1810. He was one of the earliest servants placed by King George III. on the household establishment of the Prince of Wales, and was many years his Royal Highness's treasurer and receiver-general; on the accession of the Prince to the throne, General Hulse was nominated treasurer of the household. On the 19th of February, 1820, on the decease of General the Right Honorable Sir David Dundas, he was appointed Governor of Chelsea Hospital. In 1821 he was Knighted. He was also appointed ranger of Windsor home park; a privy councillor; and Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order. On the accession of King William III., General Sir Samuel Hulse, G.C.H., was promoted to the rank of Field-Marshal. He died in 1837, at the advanced age of ninety years.

Sir Hew Dalrymple, Bart.

Appointed 25th June, 1810.

Sir Hew Dalrymple was appointed Ensign in the thirty-first regiment in 1763; Captain in the second battalion of the Royals in 1768, Major in the same corps in 1777, and was Knighted in 1779. He was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the sixty-eighth regiment in 1781, and obtained the rank of Colonel in 1790; he afterwards exchanged into the First foot guards. He served the campaign of 1793 in the grenadier battalion of the foot guards, and was at the battle of Famars, at the siege of Valenciennes, and in the action before Dunkirk. At the conclusion of the campaign he returned to England; and was promoted to the rank of Major-General in 1794; in 1795 he was placed on the staff of the northern district; and in 1796 appointed Lieut.-Governor of Guernsey, where he held the local rank of Lieut.-General from 1799. In 1801 he was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General, and was placed on the staff in the command of the northern district in 1802; in 1806 he was removed to the staff of Gibraltar. Receiving orders to take the command of the British army in Portugal, in 1808, he arrived in that kingdom in time to become responsible for the Convention of Cintra, by which treaty the French army evacuated that country. Sir Hew Dalrymple was promoted to the rank of General in 1812; and was advanced to the dignity of a Baronet in 1815. He obtained the colonelcy of the thirty-seventh regiment in 1798, was removed to the NINETEENTH in 1810, and to the fifty-seventh in 1811. He died in 1830.

Sir Tomkyns Hilgrove Turner.

Appointed 27th April, 1811.

This officer was appointed Ensign in the third foot guards in 1782, and serving in Flanders in 1793, was at the battles of St. Amand and Famars, at the siege of Valenciennes, the action at Lincelles, and also before Dunkirk. In 1794 he was repeatedly engaged, commencing with the attack on Vaux, afterwards in several affairs during the siege of Landrecies, including the battle of Cateau; he served at the battle of Tournay; the actions at Roulaix, Monveaux, and Templeuve. In November, 1794, he was promoted to Captain and Lieut.-Colonel, and in 1801 to the rank of Colonel. He served in the expedition to Egypt; was at the battles of the 8th, 13th, and 21st of March, and the action on the west side of Alexandria. He received a medal from the Grand Seignior: and returned to England in charge of the Egyptian antiquities, now in the British Museum. In 1804 he was nominated to the rank of Brigadier-General; and he served in South America in 1807 and 1808. Returning to England in the latter year, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General, and placed on the staff of the home district: he was subsequently appointed deputy secretary at Carlton House, under the Right Honorable Colonel M'Mahon. His services were rewarded with the colonelcy of the Cape regiment, and in 1811 he was removed to the NINETEENTH regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-General in 1813, and appointed Lieut.-Governor of Jersey in 1814. He received the Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order; and the dignity of Knight of the Crescent of Turkey, and of St. Anne of Russia. He was promoted to the rank of General on 22nd of July, 1830. His decease occurred at Jersey, in May, 1843.

General Sir Warren Marmaduke Peacocke,

K.C.H. and K.C.

Appointed 31st May, 1843.

London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street,
For Her Majesty's Stationery Office.