Historical Record of the Thirty-sixth, or the Herefordshire Regiment of Foot, by Richard Cannon

On the 1st of February 1823, the detachment which was stationed at Cerigo arrived at Corfu, and joined the head-quarters of the regiment.

In the year 1825, the establishment of the regiment was augmented from eight to ten companies, and formed into six service and four depôt companies, consisting of forty-two serjeants, fourteen drummers, and seven hundred and forty rank and file.

The regiment remained in the Ionian Islands until the 2d of December 1825, when it embarked at Santa Maura for England.

On the 18th of February 1826, the regiment disembarked at Chatham; in the spring it proceeded to Colchester, afterwards to Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester, and Bolton.

During the early part of the year 1827, the regiment remained at Bolton, in Lancashire, and in April it proceeded to Liverpool, from which place it embarked for Ireland on the 14th of that month. The regiment arrived at Dublin on the following day, proceeded from thence to Mullingar, and returned to Dublin in August following, where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.

In May 1828, the regiment proceeded from Dublin to Naas, and in October it was removed to Limerick.

The regiment remained at Limerick until August 1829, when it proceeded to Birr, and continued during the rest of the year at that station.

Lieut.-General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart., was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 21st of December 1829, in succession to General Sir George Don, G.C.B. and G.C.H., removed to the Third foot, or the Buffs.

In June 1830, the Thirty-sixth regiment proceeded from Birr to Fermoy, and was formed into six service and four depôt companies. The service companies embarked at Cork on the 11th, 13th, and 14th of October for the West Indies. The depôt companies remained at Fermoy for a short time, and were afterwards stationed at Spike Island.

The service companies disembarked at Barbadoes on the 20th, 21st, and 28th of November.

The service companies suffered severely during the great hurricane in Barbadoes in 1831, having eleven men killed, and several severely injured.

The depôt companies were removed from Spike Island to Charles Fort, Kinsale, in October 1831, and continued there during 1832.

The service companies which had, since their arrival in the West Indies, remained at Barbadoes, were removed to Antigua in February 1833. The depôt companies proceeded from Charles Fort to Ballincollig in January 1833; to Cork in February; to Templemore in August, and to Nenagh in October following.

During the year 1834, the service companies remained at Antigua. The depôt companies were removed in October from Nenagh to Limerick.

In November 1835 the service companies proceeded from Antigua to St. Lucia. The depôt companies quitted Limerick for Galway in May 1835, and marched for Cork in June following, where they embarked for Plymouth on the 14th of September; during the remainder of the year they were stationed at Devonport.

During the year 1836, the service companies remained at St. Lucia, and the depôt at Devonport.

On the 10th of November 1838, the service companies embarked at Barbadoes for Nova Scotia, and arrived at Halifax on the 8th of December.

The following extract of a letter to the Adjutant-General from Lieut.-General Sir Samford Whittingham, K.C.B., Commanding in the Windward and Leeward Islands, is highly creditable to the Thirty-sixth regiment, and is, therefore, here inserted.

“Head-Quarters, Barbadoes,
“14th November 1838.

“The Thirty-sixth regiment was prepared to embark in four and twenty hours after the arrival of the ‘Hercules,’ but the embarkation was delayed, in consequence of the captain reporting that he could not be ready to receive the troops on board till the 10th.

“I feel much pleasure in stating that the embarkation, the whole of which I witnessed, was conducted in the most orderly and soldier-like manner, and I did not perceive a single case of drunkenness.

“I have the honour to enclose copy of the farewell Order I issued on the departure of this old and distinguished corps, as also an embarkation return of it, and a disembarkation return of the Fifty-second regiment.”

“Head-Quarters, Barbadoes,
“9th November 1838.

“General Order.

“The Thirty-sixth regiment being about to embark for Halifax, in obedience to the orders of the General Commanding-in-Chief, Sir Samford Whittingham takes this opportunity of congratulating Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell, and the officers and non-commissioned officers of that veteran regiment, on the high state of efficiency in which it will proceed to America, after a period of eight years’ service in the West Indies.

“The Lieutenant-General had great pleasure in witnessing, at his late inspection, the healthy appearance of the men, and their steadiness under arms.

“It is now upwards of thirty years since the Lieutenant-General had first the honour of serving with the Thirty-sixth regiment, then commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Burne; and he has great pleasure in being able to state, that every succeeding campaign has crowned with fresh laurels this truly gallant corps.

“The Lieutenant-General begs Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell will accept, and communicate to the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the regiment he so ably commands, the expression of his best wishes for their health and happiness; and his conviction that the oftener they are tried in the field of battle, the greater will be their accession of glory and honour.

“By Command,

(Signed) “E. R. King, Capt.,
“D. A. A. G.”

In January 1839, the service companies proceeded to New Brunswick, and were stationed during the rest of the year at Fredericton.

The depôt companies were removed from Kinsale to Tralee in April 1839; in November they proceeded to Limerick, and in December to Nenagh.

During the year 1840 the service companies were stationed at Fredericton in New Brunswick.

The service companies were removed on the 7th of July 1841, from Fredericton to St. John’s, New Brunswick. The depôt companies continued at Clare Castle.

On the 29th of April 1842, the service companies embarked at St. John’s for Ireland, and arrived at Cork on the 28th of May, where they were consolidated with the depôt companies.

The regiment embarked at Newry for Great Britain on the 24th of April 1845; arrived at Whitehaven on the 28th of that month; and proceeded to Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Colonel Archibald Montgomery Maxwell, K.H., died at Newcastle-on-Tyne on the 21st of May 1845, and Major Charles Ashmore was promoted Lieut.-Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment from the 22d of May. Captain Edward R. King was promoted to the vacant majority.

In 1846 the Thirty-sixth regiment was augmented to sixty-seven serjeants, twenty-five drummers, and twelve hundred rank and file. It was also ordered to be formed into two battalions of six companies each. In May the regiment proceeded from Newcastle-on-Tyne to Manchester, and in August it was removed to Weedon, where on the 28th of November the regiment was divided into two battalions. While quartered at Weedon the regiment received new colours, which were presented by Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Arbuthnot, K.C.B., commanding the northern and midland districts of South Britain.

The first battalion of the Thirty-sixth regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles Ashmore, embarked at Gosport in Her Majesty’s troop ship “Resistance” for the Ionian Islands, on the 6th of January 1847; the reserve battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles Trollope, who had been promoted to that rank on the augmentation of the regiment, also embarked at Gosport for the Mediterranean, on the 2d of that month, in the “Vengeance” ship of war.

The head-quarters and three companies of the first battalion disembarked at Argostoli, in the island of Cephalonia, on the 8th of February. Two companies were detached to the island of Zante, and one to Ithaca.

The depôt of the Thirty-sixth regiment formed part of the depôt battalion at the Isle of Wight, on the embarkation of the two battalions for foreign service.

The detachment of the first battalion at Zante proceeded from thence on the 6th of May 1848, leaving one field officer, one captain, two subalterns, four serjeants, and ninety-six rank and file with the head-quarters at Cephalonia, the remainder proceeding to Corfu. The detachment at Cerigo was moved from thence to Corfu on the 13th of May 1848. The head-quarters and five companies of the first battalion proceeded from Cephalonia to Corfu on the 3d of August.

One company of the reserve battalion was detached at Vido from the 24th of March to the 19th of July 1848, and one company at Ithaca from the 15th of July to the 5th of October 1848. The reserve battalion proceeded from Corfu to Cephalonia on the 2d of August 1848. On the 26th of September an attack was made on the town of Argostoli by several hundred armed Villani, which was repelled by Serjeant Luke Dunn and twelve men of the battalion, the resident’s guard on that morning, with the loss of two killed and two wounded. Privates Daniel McNamara and William Elsom killed; privates Thomas Fox and James Lidwell wounded; several others received shots through their caps, clothing, &c.

On the same day a detachment of fifty men, under Major Lorenzo Rothe, Captain James Nugent, and Lieutenant Rickard Lloyd, succeeded in saving the public records at Lixuri, as they were on the point of being destroyed by a party of insurgents, who fired on, and slightly wounded, two soldiers; the detachment returned the fire, wounded some of the insurgents, and drove them from the town.

The reserve battalion was engaged for ten or twelve days and nights in guarding the towns of Argostoli and Lixuri, during which period the sentries and guards were repeatedly fired upon and otherwise annoyed by the insurgents. A party under Ensign Bernard Robert Shaw succeeded in capturing Cappoletto, one of the principal rebels, for whose arrest a reward of fifteen hundred dollars had been offered. Detachments of fifty men, each under Captain Alexander McGeachy Alleyne and Ensign George Massy Robins, and Lieutenant Cecil Rivers and Ensign John Edmund Harvey, were sent to the southern part of the island to scour the district of Scala.

Two companies of the first battalion, consisting of one captain, four subalterns, six serjeants, two drummers, and one hundred and fifty rank and file, under the command of Major Edward R. King, proceeded to Cephalonia on the 30th of August 1849, for the purpose of suppressing an insurrection in that island, and returned to Corfu on the 17th of November following.

Two companies of the reserve battalion, under Captain Charles Wilson Carden, were, in February, employed in aid of the civil power at St. Gerasimo for the purpose of enforcing payment of the fines inflicted on the villages concerned in the insurrection of the 26th of September of the previous year; this party returned to head-quarters on the 26th of February. A company under Captain James Nugent likewise proceeded to St. Gerasimo in May 1849 in aid of the civil power, and to assist in pursuit of banditti; it rejoined the head-quarters in August. A company under Captain John Pratt proceeded in May to Scala in aid of the civil power, and to assist in enforcing the embargo, and rejoined the head-quarters on the 22d of June.

A company of the reserve battalion under Captain Henry J. Coote was detached to Sissi on the 29th of August in aid of the civil power, and was subsequently employed in very arduous services under the proclamation of martial law, which lasted from the 31st of August, to the 27th of October 1849, and in suppressing the outbreak in Cephalonia. Privates Taylor and Green of this company were wounded in a skirmish with the insurgents. A company under Lieutenant Rickard Lloyd proceeded in September to Sissi to reinforce the detachment under Captain Coote, and after serving in conjunction therewith, returned to head-quarters with it on the 15th of October. One company under Captain Nugent proceeded to Faraclata on the 16th of September, and assisted in the pursuit of the outlawed rebels; a portion of this detachment, under Ensign Alfred Macdonald, was employed as a flying column, and scoured the country in chase of the three outlawed rebel chiefs for twenty-three days, during the whole of which time it was subjected to the most fatiguing marches and labour. The reserve battalion during the period of martial law from the 31st of August to the 27th of October 1849, which was administered by Lieut.-Colonel Trollope, was frequently employed in pursuit of rebels (parties, varying from forty to a hundred, being despatched into the country for this purpose) in disarming turbulent and refractory villages, and in guarding the town of Argostoli, the men having very seldom more than one night in bed.

In April 1850 it was directed that the regiment should be reduced to a thousand rank and file; the reserve battalion at Cephalonia was in consequence broken up, and consolidated with the first battalion at Corfu, where the regiment was stationed during this year.

In March 1851, four companies embarked at Cephalonia for England for the purpose of forming the depôt, which was afterwards stationed at the Isle of Wight, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Trollope.

The service companies, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Ashmore, embarked at Corfu for the West Indies on the 21st of March 1851 in the freight ship “Java,” and arrived at Barbadoes on the 16th of May following, where they were stationed during the remainder of the year.

Major-General the Lord Frederick FitzClarence, G.C.H., was appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth regiment on the 23d of July 1851, in succession to General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart., deceased.

The depôt companies proceeded in April 1852 from Parkhurst to Fort Pembroke Dock.

On the 31st of December 1852, the date to which this record has been brought, the service companies continued to be stationed at Trinidad, and the depôt companies at Fort Pembroke Dock.