OF THE

THIRTY-FOURTH,

OR

THE CUMBERLAND REGIMENT

OF

FOOT.

At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the British monarch witnessed his efforts to curb the ambition of Louis XIV., and to preserve the balance of power in Europe, counteracted by the virtual union of two powerful states, under a dynasty distinguished for its thirst for conquest, the King of France having procured the accession of his grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, to the throne of Spain. Existing treaties were thus openly violated; at the same time the liberties of Europe were invaded by the seizure of the Spanish Netherlands, by the troops of France, and the detention of the Dutch garrisons in the barrier towns; and war was resolved upon. A considerable augmentation was made to the British army, and the Thirty-fourth Regiment of Foot is one of the corps embodied on this occasion. Its first colonel was Robert Lord Lucas, from the lieutenant-colonelcy of Sir John Jacob’s Regiment, now Thirteenth Light Infantry, his commission bearing date the 12th of February, 1702.

This regiment was composed of men from Norfolk, Essex, and the adjoining counties, and was raised under the authority of warrants from King William III., by Colonel Lord Lucas, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Dare, Major Garth, Captains Kitson, Edward Shadwell, E. Parsons, P. Lechire, —— Pardon, Richard Steele, and Robert Cecill, who each raised a company; and when the numbers were nearly complete, the establishment was augmented to twelve companies, of three officers and sixty-six non-commissioned officers and soldiers each: one wing of the regiment had its rendezvous at Colchester, and the other at Norwich.

While the regiment was completing its ranks, the death of King William III., and the accession of Queen Anne, occurred on the 8th of March, 1702, and the soldiers took the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty.

An expedition being fitted out against Cadiz, under the Duke of Ormond, Lord Lucas’s Regiment was ordered to send five companies to Landguard Fort, Sheerness, and Tilbury, early in May, to relieve the Buffs, who were ordered to embark on board of frigates for the Isle of Wight, to join the expedition to Spain; at the same time seven companies of Lord Lucas’s Regiment were ordered to relieve a detachment of the Foot Guards on duty at the Tower of London, of which fortress his Lordship was lieutenant-governor; two companies were afterwards detached to Dover Castle.

On the return of the expedition from Spain, the regiment was relieved from duty at the out-stations, and was quartered in the Tower, from whence it detached three hundred men to the West Indies, to complete Colonel Columbine’s Regiment, now Sixth Foot, which was ordered to proceed to that station. After the departure of this detachment, the regiment proceeded, in December, into Essex to recruit, the head-quarters being established at Chelmsford.

The ranks of the regiment were speedily completed, and in the spring of 1703 it marched to Hull, Berwick, and Carlisle; where it was stationed in the following year.

On the 31st of January, 1705, Colonel Lord Lucas died; and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Lieutenant-Colonel Hans Hamilton, from the Earl of Derby’s Regiment, now the Sixteenth Foot.

Meanwhile, the war which commenced on the frontiers of the Netherlands, in 1702, had taken a wider range, and Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Spain, had become the theatre of conflict; and in May, the regiment embarked on board the fleet under Sir Cloudesly Shovel, with other forces commanded by General the Earl of Peterborough, either to aid the Duke of Savoy in driving the French out of Italy, to make an attempt on Naples and Sicily, or to effect a landing on the coast of Spain, as should appear most for the interest of Her Majesty’s service. The fleet arrived at Lisbon in June, and additional forces were put on board; Archduke Charles, who was acknowledged as King of Spain, also embarked, and an attempt on the coast of Catalonia was resolved upon. From Lisbon the armament sailed, on the 28th of July, for Gibraltar, where a reinforcement joined from the garrison, and Colonel Hans Hamilton, of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, was nominated quartermaster-general of the expedition.

Leaving Gibraltar, the fleet proceeded to the Bay of Altea, in Valencia, and a number of Catalonians and Valencians throwing off their allegiance to the House of Bourbon, and acknowledging Archduke Charles as king of Spain, the British general was induced to undertake the siege of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, which was defended by upwards of five thousand men, under the viceroy of Catalonia, Don Francis Velasco. In 1697, this fortress resisted thirty thousand French troops eight weeks, and cost Louis XIV. twelve thousand men; but the Earl of Peterborough was unable to bring more than seven thousand men into the lines, which gave an interesting character to the enterprise.

Landing near the river Bassoz, on the 23rd and 24th of August, the troops advanced towards the town, and after some difficulties were overcome, the siege was commenced. The native energy of British soldiers was conspicuously displayed on this occasion, and the grenadiers of the Thirty-fourth had the honor to take part in storming the detached fortress of Montjuich, situate on a hill on the west side of the town. The troops engaged on this service made a detour through the mountains during the night of the 13th of September, and stormed the outworks early on the following morning, making a lodgment, gaining the bulwark of a new fortification, and establishing themselves in the works. In a few days afterwards the garrison surrendered.

This success facilitated the siege of the city of Barcelona, in which the Thirty-fourth Regiment took an active part. The armed Catalonian and Valencian peasantry blocked up the avenues of the town; seamen were landed from the fleet to take part in the siege; the soldiers were incessant in their exertions; cannon and mortars were dragged up steep precipices by men; and a practicable breach being effected, a detachment of the regiment was in readiness to take part in storming the town; but the garrison surrendered, and saved the effusion of blood which would have attended this enterprise. A number of armed countrymen entered the city through the breach, to plunder the partisans of the house of Bourbon; but the Earl of Peterborough entered the town at the head of a troop of dragoons, and the grenadiers of the Thirty-fourth, and other regiments, put a stop to the plundering, and rescued the governor and his garrison from the vengeance of the people.

The capture of Barcelona produced great astonishment throughout Europe, and the splendour of the achievement augmented the reputation of the British arms.

This success was followed by the submission of all the province of Catalonia, and part of that of Valencia; and after a short stay at Barcelona, the Thirty-fourth Regiment was selected to form part of the garrison of the ancient town of Tortosa, situated in a pleasant fertile country, on the left bank of the Ebro, near its influx into the sea. At this town, which was called Dordosa by the Romans, and received municipal privileges from Scipio, the regiment was stationed some time: its services are consequently not immediately connected with the exploits of the Earl of Peterborough in Valencia.

As the operations of the British troops became extended, the regiment quitted its pleasant quarters at Tortosa, and was employed in several movements in the early part of 1706.

King Charles and his counsellors did not make efforts to provide for the defence of the towns which had been gained, nor to obtain the means for future conquests; but spent their time and money in diversions: the breaches of Barcelona and Montjuich were not repaired, and the garrison was unprovided for a siege. King Philip pursued a different line of conduct; he collected forces from various quarters, and assembled a numerous army, with a powerful artillery, for the re-capture of the provinces he had lost, and a formidable French and Spanish force approached the capital of Catalonia by land; at the same time a French fleet appeared before the city. The garrison being weak in numbers, corps were hurried from various places to increase its strength; and the Thirty-fourth Regiment travelled one hundred and twenty miles on mules, on the 30th and 31st of March, and on the 1st of April mounted guard on the works. The regiment had not been two hours on duty when the French approached the place, and made an attack on the outworks of fort Montjuich; but were repulsed by a hundred men of the Thirty-fourth, in gallant style[6]. To the timely arrival of the regiment may be attributed, in a great measure, the preservation of the town: the soldiers repaired the breaches, and made a desperate and resolute defence.

King Charles remained in Barcelona; his presence stimulated the garrison to extraordinary efforts, and British valour was conspicuously displayed in his cause; but the troops were not sufficiently numerous for the defence of so extensive a place. When the garrison, bravely struggling against multiplied difficulties, had become exhausted; its numbers decreased by deaths, wounds, and sickness to about a thousand men, and a practical breach was ready for the enemy to attack the place by storm, the combined English and Dutch fleets approached with reinforcements; the French naval force hurried from before the town, and the garrison was relieved. Losing all hope of final success, and having had five thousand men killed and wounded before the town, the enemy made a precipitate retreat on the 12th of May, leaving two hundred brass cannon, thirty mortars, and immense stores of ammunition and provision, together with the sick and wounded of their army, behind them, and hurrying to France, they thus left the allies at liberty to engage in new enterprises. Barcelona was thus preserved by British skill and valour; and the Thirty-fourth Regiment received, with the other corps in garrison, the thanks of King Charles for its heroic conduct. Its numbers were considerably reduced by casualties during the siege.

An immediate advance on Madrid was resolved upon; and the allied army on the frontiers of Portugal was requested to penetrate boldly to the capital of Spain. The Thirty-fourth Regiment embarked for Valencia to join in this enterprise; and, after landing, it furnished a number of select men towards completing the Earl of Peterborough’s Regiment of Dragoons, which was embodied on this occasion. The advance to Madrid was delayed; pernicious councils, which paid more attention to court formalities than to military operations, retarded the journey of King Charles. This gave time for the French forces to re-enter Spain, and for the arrival of additional troops to reinforce the enemy; and the allied army, after advancing to Madrid, was obliged to retreat to Valencia and Murcia.

After passing the winter in Spain, the Thirty-fourth Regiment, being much reduced in numbers, was directed to transfer its private soldiers fit for duty to other corps, in the spring of 1707, and to return to England to recruit. This took place before the army took the field; and while the officers and non-commissioned officers were waiting for transports, the battle of Almanza was fought, on the 25th of April, when the enemy gained a decisive victory. The embarkation was afterwards delayed a short period; but in the autumn the regiment arrived in England, and commenced recruiting its ranks, in which it had great success.

The regiment was stationed in the south of England in the spring of 1708, when the King of France fitted out a fleet, and embarked troops, for the invasion of Scotland, in favour of the Pretender. On this occasion the regiment had so far recruited its numbers, and become efficient, that it was selected to proceed to the north, to confront the invaders; but it was ordered to halt at Leeds, in consequence of the French shipping having been chased from the British shores by the English fleet.

Having defeated the enemy’s designs of invading the United Kingdom, the British Government fitted out an armament against the French coast, and the Thirty-fourth Foot were ordered to return from Yorkshire to take part in the enterprise. They proceeded to the Isle of Wight, where they were reviewed by Major-General Erle, on the 19th of July, and afterwards embarked on board the fleet, under Admiral Sir George Byng. The expedition approached the coast of France in the early part of August, and after menacing several places, a landing was effected to create alarm, and make a diversion in favour of the allied army in Flanders. The troops subsequently returned on board the fleet, and, after menacing the coast at several points, withdrew towards England. Orders were afterwards received to proceed to Ostend, where the several regiments arrived on the 21st of September; when a body of French troops, under Count de la Motte, who was advancing to surprise the town, made a precipitate retreat towards Bruges, cutting the dikes to lay the country between Ostend and Nieuport under water. Major-General Erle landed with the Thirty-fourth and other regiments, and taking post at the village of Leffinghen, formed an intrenched position.

At this period the allied army in the Netherlands was engaged in the siege of the important fortress of Lisle, and ammunition becoming scarce, the Duke of Marlborough sent seven hundred waggons, under a strong guard, to Ostend, for a supply. Major-General Erle had drained the inundations, built a bridge over the canal at Leffinghen, and opened a communication with the army, towards which the waggons laden with stores began their march on the 26th of September; and the guard having repulsed the forces under Count de la Motte, at Wynendale, the convoy arrived safe at its destination, and the army was enabled to continue the siege.

The French commanders resolved to cut off the communication of the allied army with Ostend, and the Duke of Vendosme proceeded to Oudenburg with thirty thousand men, established posts along the canal between Plassendale and Nieuport, cut the dikes in several places, and laid a great extent of country under water. The Thirty-fourth and other regiments, under Major-General Erle, pitched their tents on the high grounds of Raversein, and the Duke of Marlborough put the covering army in motion; when the Duke of Vendosme made a precipitate retreat, and the Thirty-fourth Foot took part in forwarding a supply of ammunition across the inundations in boats. The Duke of Vendosme detached a body of troops to besiege Leffinghen, which was taken after a sharp resistance. He also menaced the camp at Raversein, when Major-General Erle retreated to the outworks of Ostend.

A numerous body of the enemy marching to Brabant, under the Elector of Bavaria, the Thirty-fourth, and four other regiments, embarked from Ostend, under Brigadier-General Wynne, for Antwerp, where they were stationed when the citadel of Lisle surrendered, and the campaign was terminated by the re-capture of Ghent and Bruges.

The Thirty-fourth Regiment, being composed of young soldiers, was employed on garrison duty during the year 1709.

In April, 1710, the regiment quitted its quarters, and traversed the country towards the frontiers of France, to serve the campaign of that year with the army under the celebrated Duke of Marlborough. The regiment was engaged in the operations by which the French lines were passed at Pont-a-Vendin, and it afterwards took part in the siege of the strong fortress of Douay, where it had repeated opportunities of distinguishing itself. This fortress was defended by a numerous garrison, under General Albergotti, an officer of reputation, who made a determined resistance; and the soldiers of the Thirty-fourth Regiment were fully employed on duty in the trenches, carrying on the approaches, repulsing the sallies of the garrison, and storming the outworks, which occasioned considerable loss. The French army advanced to raise the siege, but did not hazard a general engagement; and Douay surrendered on the 27th of June. The Thirty-fourth Regiment had one subaltern, six serjeants, and seventy-five rank and file killed; two captains, three subalterns, five serjeants, and one hundred and twenty rank and file wounded, during the siege[7].

After the capture of this fortress, the regiment joined the main army, which was encamped at Villers-Brulin during the siege of Bethune, which fortress was reduced before the end of August. The regiment was subsequently employed in covering the sieges of Aire and St. Venant, both of which fortresses were captured before the end of the campaign.

Quitting its winter quarters among the Walloon peasantry, in April, 1711, the regiment joined the army, and was reviewed, at the camp at Warde, on the 8th of June, by the Duke of Marlborough. It was formed in brigade with the Tenth, Twenty-first, and Wynne’s (afterwards disbanded) Regiment, under Brigadier-General Hamilton, and took part in the movements by which the enemy’s formidable lines were passed at Arleux, on which occasion the superiority of the English general’s tactics was particularly conspicuous.

This splendid success was followed by the siege of the town of Bouchain, situated on both sides of the river Scheldt, and the Thirty-fourth Regiment had the honor to take an active share in the operations against this fortress, which was taken by capitulation in the middle of September. When the damaged works at Bouchain were repaired, the regiment went into winter quarters.

Early in April, 1712, the Thirty-fourth Regiment took the field, and joined the army under the command of the Duke of Ormond, who penetrated the French territory to the frontiers of Picardy, encamping at Cateau-Cambresis, while the Germans undertook the siege of Quesnoy. In the mean time the French monarch had solicited peace, and had agreed to deliver the city of Dunkirk into the hands of the British sovereign, as a pledge of his sincerity. A suspension of arms was proclaimed between the British and French, and the army under the Duke of Ormond withdrew to Ghent. On the 4th of August the regiment was detached from the camp near Ghent, with several other corps, under Lieutenant-General the Earl of Orkney, to Dunkirk, where it was stationed some time.

On the 30th of November, 1712, Queen Anne conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Chudleigh, from Brigadier-General Durell’s regiment, in succession to Brigadier-General Hamilton, who, on the death of Brigadier-General Durell, in December following, was nominated colonel of his corps,—the Sixteenth Foot.

At the conclusion of the peace of Utrecht, the regiment was withdrawn from Dunkirk, and proceeded to Great Britain. At this period a considerable reduction took place in the numbers of the regular army, and all the corps raised after the peace of Ryswick, in 1697, were directed to be taken off the establishment, except two, viz., the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Regiments of Foot. This reduction included the Thirty-fourth Regiment, which was accordingly reduced, and the officers placed upon half-pay.

The decease of Queen Anne, and the accession of King George I., on the 1st of August, 1714, was followed by a short period of tranquillity; but in 1715 the partisans of the Pretender made efforts to procure his accession to the throne, and commotions occurred in England; at the same time the nation was threatened with invasion from abroad. The King augmented the army, and warrants were issued for the restoration of the Thirty-fourth and several other regiments of foot, in the summer of this year.

Names of the officers appointed to the Thirty-fourth Regiment, at its restoration in the summer of 1715:—

Soon afterwards the standard of the Pretender was raised in Scotland, by the Earl of Mar; but the Thirty-fourth Regiment was retained in England; and the rebellion was suppressed in the early part of 1716, by the troops under the Duke of Argyle.

In 1717, the regiment received orders to proceed to Ireland, to relieve one of the corps ordered to be disbanded in that country.

The regiment remained in Ireland until the early part of 1719, when the preparations made by the King of Spain to forward the interests of the Pretender, occasioned it to be withdrawn from that country; and it was subsequently encamped in the Isle of Wight, and held in readiness for active service. The British Government projected the capture of Corunna, in Biscay, and of Peru, in South America; and the Thirty-fourth sailed in the early part of September with the expedition, under General Viscount Cobham, for the attack of the former place; but on arriving off the coast of Gallicia, circumstances occurred which occasioned an attack on Vigo to be resolved upon. The fleet entered the harbour of Vigo on the 29th of September, seized on seven Spanish ships, and on the following day the troops landed under the fire of musketry from the mountains. Advancing towards the town, the British forced the Spaniards to abandon Vigo and Fort St. Sebastian, which were taken possession of by eight hundred men, under Brigadier-General Honeywood. A battery being opened against the citadel, the garrison was soon induced to surrender, giving up two thousand barrels of powder, eight thousand muskets, and fifteen pieces of brass artillery, which had been prepared for the invasion of Britain in favour of the Pretender. While the siege of the castle of Vigo was in progress, Rondondella was captured by a detachment from the army; and on the 12th of October a thousand men proceeded, under Major-General Wade, against Pont-a-Vedra, from whence thirteen companies of Spaniards fled in a panic; the town, arsenal, barracks for two thousand men, thirteen pieces of brass and eighty-six of iron ordnance, five thousand small arms, three hundred barrels of powder, and a great quantity of other stores, were captured. The arsenal, barracks, and Fort Marine, were destroyed; the iron ordnance and the more valuable stores were removed on board the fleet.

Finding himself oppressed on every side, and his resources exhausted, the King of Spain made pacific overtures; and a treaty of peace was concluded before the expedition to Peru was undertaken. The armament returned to England, and the Thirty-fourth were again stationed in Ireland.

On the 18th of February, 1723, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Hayes, from the command of a company in the First Foot Guards, was appointed colonel of the regiment, by purchase, in succession to Colonel Chudleigh, who retired.

Few years elapsed before the Spanish monarch again violated the peace of Europe. The possessions, of which he was deprived by the peace of Utrecht, in 1713, had been relinquished with reluctance, and towards the end of 1726, he assembled an army in Andalusia, under the command of the Count de la Torres, to make a determined effort for the re-capture of Gibraltar.

In February, 1727, the garrison of Gibraltar opened its fire on the besieging army; and the Thirty-fourth Regiment was, at this period, on its way from Ireland, to share in the honor of a successful defence of this important fortress. The regiment encountered a storm at sea, and lost several companies by shipwreck; six companies proceeded to Plymouth, and afterwards continuing their voyage, arrived at Gibraltar on the 26th of March, in company with the Twenty-fifth Regiment; they were followed by several other corps. The garrison made a very gallant defence of the fortress committed to their charge, against the storm of war, which raged against them with increasing fury until the thunder of one hundred cannon became almost incessant in the day time, and was partially continued throughout the night. The tremendous fire of the Spaniards produced little effect beyond the bursting of many of their own cannon, and rendering others useless; and many thousands of the besieging army perished in the attempt. In the early part of June, the fire slackened; on the 18th of that month hostilities ceased; and the fortress of Gibraltar continued to form one of the trophies of British prowess.

Peace having been concluded with Spain, the regiment was withdrawn from Gibraltar, and proceeded to Ireland, where it was conspicuous for its good conduct in quarters.

Colonel Robert Hayes died at Jamaica, on the 7th of April, 1731, and the colonelcy of the regiment remained vacant until the 8th of January 1732, when King George II. conferred the appointment on Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Cornwallis, from the command of a company in the Foot Guards.

Colonel Cornwallis commanded the regiment until 1738, when he was removed to the Eleventh Foot, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Lord James Cavendish.

On the commencement of the war with Spain, in 1739, the establishment of the regiment was augmented, and in the autumn it was removed to England.

In 1740, a detachment of the regiment served on board the fleet, as marines.

Colonel Lord James Cavendish died in November, 1741, and in 1742 the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on Colonel the Honorable James Cholmondeley, from the Fifty-ninth, now Forty-eighth Regiment.

During the summer of this year a British army proceeded to Flanders, to support the house of Austria, against the united efforts of the King of France and the Elector of Bavaria, who were endeavouring to deprive the Archduchess, Maria Theresa, of her hereditary dominions. In 1743, a victory was gained at Dettingen; and in the summer of 1744, the allied army confronted the forces of France in the Austrian Netherlands.

In June, 1744, the Thirty-fourth Regiment embarked for Flanders, and joining the allied army at the camp on the bank of the Scheldt, took part in several operations. It penetrated the territory subject to France to the vicinity of Lisle; and subsequently returned to Flanders, where it passed the winter.

The French monarch assembled a numerous army in the spring of 1745, and commenced operations by besieging the strong fortress of Tournay; and the Duke of Cumberland, having arrived in Flanders, assembled the allied army with the view of raising the siege. The Thirty-fourth were called from their quarters in April, to take part in this service; and when the allied army approached, the French took up a position at the village of Fontenoy.

At an early hour on the morning of the 11th of May, the allied army advanced to engage the enemy, and the Thirty-fourth Regiment entered the plain in front of the French batteries, to take part in the action. Soon after nine o’clock, the British infantry moved forward to attack the French position on the right of the village of Fontenoy, and their gallant bearing, in the face of a storm of grape and musketry, excited admiration; by a resolute charge they broke the French lines; but the Dutch failed in their attack, and the British regiments were forced to retire. A second attack was made, and the heroic valour of the English infantry was conspicuous; their steady fire destroyed entire ranks of their enemy, and the determined charge with the bayonet proved irresistible; but the Dutch again failed, and a retreat was ordered. The Thirty-fourth Regiment evinced great gallantry on this occasion, and it had the honor of performing a conspicuous part in covering the retreat, and in bringing up the rear of the right wing out of the plain, to the village of Vezont. The determined bearing of the regiment, with that of the Thirty-second Foot, and the brigade of Life Guards under Major-General the Earl of Crawford, intimidated the enemy, and the retreat was effected, without serious loss, to the town of Aeth.

The regiment had one serjeant and seventeen rank and file killed; Lieutenants Cramer, Forrest, Mure, Courtenay, and Hargraves, Ensigns Donallen and Stacey, two serjeants, and fifty-three rank and file wounded; one serjeant and twenty-seven rank and file missing.

The regiment was afterwards encamped on the plains of Lessines; and was subsequently employed in operations of a defensive character; but the enemy had so great a superiority of numbers, that it was found impossible to prevent the loss of several fortified towns.

In the mean time, Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, had arrived in Scotland, and being joined by the Highland clans, he resolved to make a desperate effort to overthrow the existing government. The Thirty-fourth regiment was ordered to return to England on this occasion; it left the camp at Vilvorde on the 13th of September, embarked at Williamstadt, on the 19th, and arriving in the river Thames on the 23rd, landed at Blackwall, from whence it was ordered to proceed to Newcastle, where a body of troops was assembling under Field-Marshal Wade. Having joined this force, the regiment was formed in brigade with the Buffs, the Thirteenth, and Forty-eighth Regiments, and when the clans penetrated England, it marched by Durham, Darlington, and Richmond, in order to cover Yorkshire, and eventually proceeded to Ferrybridge, where it arrived on the 8th of December. When the Highlanders quitted Derby, and made a precipitate retreat to Scotland, the regiment was engaged in the attempt to intercept their return; but the clans escaped with the loss of a few men killed in a skirmish on Clifton moor.

Early in January, 1746, the regiment marched to Edinburgh, from whence it advanced, with the troops under Lieutenant-General Hawley, to Falkirk, for the purpose of forcing the insurgents to raise the siege of Stirling castle.

The clans quitted Stirling, and on the 17th of January, they advanced to Falkirk moor; when the King’s troops marched to attack the insurgents. As the royal army diverged upon the moor, a storm was seen approaching, and as the soldiers moved forward to commence the battle, a violent hurricane, with a heavy shower of rain, beat violently in their faces, and nearly blinded them; at the same time, it beat on the backs of the Highlanders and caused them little annoyance. The engagement commenced under great disadvantages to the King’s troops, who could not see to take aim; more than half the muskets would not give fire, and the powder became wet and useless while the men were in the act of loading.

Being thus blinded and confounded by the storm, several regiments faced about and retreated. Others stood firm and repulsed the clans; but during the night the whole retired. The regiment lost its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Powell, who was mortally wounded on this occasion. Its colonel, Brigadier-General the Honorable James Cholmondeley, highly distinguished himself.

The troops in Scotland were reinforced: his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland assumed the command, and on the 31st of January they again advanced; when the Pretender raised the siege of Stirling castle, and made a precipitate retreat. The Thirty-fourth were engaged in the pursuit of the clans to Perth, where the army halted in consequence of the severe weather, until the 20th of February, when the march was resumed, and in the beginning of the following month the army arrived at Aberdeen, where its progress was retarded by heavy rains and snow storms. In the early part of April, the King’s troops were again in motion towards Inverness, and on the 16th of that month, they discovered the clans in order of battle on Culloden moor, when they formed line opposite the hostile ranks; the Thirty-fourth, or Cholmondeley’s[9], five hundred men, being in the right wing of the front line, and on the left of the second battalion of the Royal regiment.

The action commenced between twelve and one o’clock, and in less than one hour the rebel army was overpowered and chased from the moor with great slaughter. This victory was decisive, and it instantly transformed the young Pretender from an imaginary monarch to a humble fugitive; an interval of hardship and suffering followed, and after wandering for some time in disguise, among the isles and mountains, he escaped to France.

The loss of the Thirty-fourth Regiment at the battle of Culloden[10] was limited to three private soldiers. After returning from the pursuit of the clans, the regiment was encamped a short time near Inverness, and it was subsequently employed in escorting prisoners towards South Britain. The rebellion being finally suppressed, the services of the Thirty-fourth were no longer required in Scotland, and they were stationed in England.

The war of the Austrian succession was terminated in 1748, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and in 1749 the regiment was placed on a peace establishment.

Major-General the Honorable James Cholmondeley was removed to the Twelfth Dragoons, in July, 1749; and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the Thirty-fourth Foot by Colonel the Honorable Henry Seymour Conway, from the Forty-eighth Regiment.

On the 1st of July, 1751, regulations were issued, under the sign manual, for establishing uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of the several regiments; in which the facings of the Thirty-fourth were directed to be of bright yellow. The first, or the King’s colour, was to be the Great Union; the second, or regimental colour, to be of bright yellow silk, with the Union in the upper canton; in the centre of the colour, the rank of the regiment in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk. The costume of the regiment at this period was three-cornered cocked hats, bound with white lace, and ornamented with a white loop and a black cockade; scarlet coats faced and lined with bright yellow, and ornamented with white lace; scarlet waistcoats and breeches; and white gaiters.

In December of this year, Colonel the Honorable Henry Seymour Conway was removed to the Thirteenth Dragoons, and King George II. conferred the colonelcy of the Thirty-fourth Foot, on Colonel the Honorable Charles Russell, from major in the Second Foot Guards.

Early in the year 1752, the regiment embarked for Minorca, the second of the Balearic islands, situated in the Mediterranean, near the coast of Spain: this island had fallen successively under the dominion of the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Moors, the Arragonese, and the Castilians; in 1708 it was captured by the British, and it was ceded to Queen Anne at the peace of Utrecht in 1713. In this small island, which is diversified with hills and valleys, and in some parts rich in vegetation, and abounding with the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life, the Thirty-fourth were stationed several years.

Colonel the Honorable Charles Russell died on the 20th of November, 1754, and was succeeded in the command of the regiment by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Earl of Effingham, from the second troop, now second regiment, of Life Guards.

While the regiment was stationed at Minorca, the undetermined limits of the British and French territory in North America, occasioned a war between the two kingdoms; and early in 1756, the French monarch prepared a powerful armament for the capture of the island of Minorca.

The French expedition, commanded by Marshal Duke of Richelieu, arrived at Minorca in April, and effected a landing at Ciudadella; and no part of the island being fortified to resist so powerful a force, excepting Fort St. Philip, situate on a rocky promontory at the entrance of the harbour of Port Mahon, the several detachments were withdrawn from the interior, and assembled in the fort, where they resolved on making a desperate defence, in the hope of being reinforced.

The Thirty-fourth mustered twenty-six officers, twenty-nine serjeants, nineteen drummers, and six hundred and sixty-five rank and file fit for duty, exclusive of thirteen sick, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Reed, for the defence of Fort St. Philip, and the officers and soldiers evinced an extent of personal bravery and resolution, which reflected honor on their country. The garrison was commanded by Lieutenant-General Blakeney.

The siege of the fort was commenced by the enemy, and the determined resistance encountered by the French commander occasioned him to send for additional forces. The conduct of the garrison became a subject of admiration, and the bravery and vigilance of the officers inspired the soldiers with increased confidence.

The British fleet was discovered on the 19th of May, and the soldiers, having become exhausted by hard duty, were stimulated to perseverance by the prospect of being speedily relieved; but were disappointed: Admiral Byng skirmished with the French squadron, and afterwards retired, for which conduct he was subsequently brought to trial, and shot. Lieutenant-General Thomas Fowke, then commanding at Gibraltar, was also brought to trial, for not sending a reinforcement to Minorca, and sentenced to be suspended for one year; the king confirmed the sentence, and directed Lieutenant-General Fowke to be dismissed the service.

Although thus abandoned to their fate, the four regiments in garrison at Fort St. Philip, (viz., the Fourth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Thirty-fourth) defended their post with great gallantry; incessant duty and watching so exhausted the soldiers, that they frequently were overpowered by sleep under a heavy cannonade, yet they persevered with admirable resolution. During the night of the 27th of June, a general assault was made by the enemy at several points, when the garrison met the assailants with great courage, and repulsed them several times with much slaughter,—many of the sick and wounded coming out of the hospital to take part in the defence. The enemy’s superior numbers enabled him to renew the attack, and after much severe fighting he gained possession of three of the outworks. On the following day, conditions of capitulation were tendered and accepted; when the French marshal caused it to be inserted in the articles,—“The noble and vigorous defence which the English have made, having deserved all the marks of esteem and veneration which every military man ought to show to such actions, and Marshal Richelieu being desirous also to show to General Blakeney the regard due to the defence he has made, grants to the garrison all the honors of war they can enjoy under the circumstances of going out for an embarkation; to wit,—firelocks on their shoulders, drums beating, colours flying, twenty cartridges each man, and also lighted match. He consents, also, that General Blakeney and his garrison carry away all the effects that belong to them.”

On this subject, Beatson observes in his Naval and Military Memoirs,—“Thus did four regiments, and one company of artillery, maintain the fort against such numbers of the enemy, by sea and land, for such a length of time, as can, perhaps, scarcely be paralleled in history. The terms on which the fort was at last surrendered by a handful of men, so distressed, so shattered, and so neglected, remains a lasting monument to their honor.”

The regiment had Captain Hobby, Lieutenant Armstrong, and twelve rank and file killed during the siege; also Captain Sir Hugh Williams, Bart., and seventy-seven non-commissioned officers and soldiers wounded; seven men died of their wounds, and two of diseases produced by excessive exertion: at the general assault the regiment only lost four men.

Immediately after the surrender of Fort St. Philip, the regiment embarked for Gibraltar, and after a short stay at that fortress, proceeded to England, where its arrival was hailed with acclamations by the inhabitants of the towns through which it passed, who were proud of the honor acquired by the regiments which defended the principal fortress of Minorca.