HISTORICAL RECORDS
OF THE
BRITISH ARMY.
PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE
ADJUTANT-GENERAL.
THE SECOND REGIMENT OF FOOT;
OR,
QUEEN'S ROYAL.
LONDON:
Printed by William Clowes and Sons,
14, Charing Cross.
HORSE-GUARDS,
1st January, 1836.
His Majesty has been pleased to command, that, with a view of doing the fullest justice to Regiments, as well as to Individuals who have distinguished themselves by their Bravery in Action with the Enemy, an Account of the Services of every Regiment in the British Army shall be published under the superintendence and direction of the Adjutant-General; and that this Account shall contain the following particulars, viz.,
—— The Period and Circumstances of the Original Formation of the Regiment; The Stations at which it has been from time to time employed; The Battles, Sieges, and other Military Operations, in which it has been engaged, particularly specifying any Achievement it may have performed, and the Colours, Trophies, &c., it may have captured from the Enemy.
—— The Names of the Officers and the number of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates, Killed or Wounded by the Enemy, specifying the Place and Date of the Action.
—— The Names of those Officers, who, in consideration of their Gallant Services and Meritorious Conduct in Engagements with the Enemy, have been distinguished with Titles, Medals, or other Marks of His Majesty's gracious favour.
—— The Names of all such Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates as may have specially signalized themselves in Action.
And,
—— The Badges and Devices which the Regiment may have been permitted to bear, and the Causes on account of which such Badges or Devices, or any other Marks of Distinction, have been granted.
By Command of the Right Honourable
GENERAL LORD HILL,
Commanding-in-Chief.
John MacDonald,
Adjutant-General.
The character and credit of the British Army must chiefly depend upon the zeal and ardour, by which all who enter into its service are animated, and consequently it is of the highest importance that any measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone great and gallant actions are achieved, should be adopted.
Nothing can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object, than a full display of the noble deeds with which the Military History of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honourable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication.
The operations of the British Troops are, indeed, announced in the 'London Gazette,' from whence they are transferred into the public prints: the achievements of our armies are thus made known at the time of their occurrence, and receive the tribute of praise and admiration to which they are entitled. On extraordinary occasions, the Houses of Parliament have been in the habit of conferring on the Commanders, and the Officers and Troops acting under their orders, expressions of approbation and of thanks for their skill and bravery, and these testimonials, confirmed by the high honour of their Sovereign's Approbation, constitute the reward which the soldier most highly prizes.
It has not, however, until late years, been the practice (which appears to have long prevailed in some of the Continental armies) for British Regiments to keep regular records of their services and achievements. Hence some difficulty has been experienced in obtaining, particularly from the old Regiments, an authentic account of their origin and subsequent services.
This defect will now be remedied, in consequence of His Majesty having been pleased to command, that every Regiment shall in future keep a full and ample record of its services at home and abroad.
From the materials thus collected, the country will henceforth derive information as to the difficulties and privations which chequer the career of those who embrace the military profession. In Great Britain, where so large a number of persons are devoted to the active concerns of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and where these pursuits have, for so long a period, been undisturbed by the presence of war, which few other countries have escaped, comparatively little is known of the vicissitudes of active service, and of the casualties of climate, to which, even during peace, the British Troops are exposed in every part of the globe, with little or no interval of repose.
In their tranquil enjoyment of the blessings which the country derives from the industry and the enterprise of the agriculturist and the trader, its happy inhabitants may be supposed not often to reflect on the perilous duties of the soldier and the sailor—on their sufferings—and on the sacrifice of valuable life, by which so many national benefits are obtained and preserved.
The conduct of the British Troops, their valour, and endurance, have shone conspicuously under great and trying difficulties; and their character has been established in Continental warfare by the irresistible spirit with which they have effected debarkations in spite of the most formidable opposition, and by the gallantry and steadiness with which they have maintained their advantages against superior numbers.
In the official Reports made by the respective Commanders, ample justice has generally been done to the gallant exertions of the Corps employed; but the details of their services, and of acts of individual bravery, can only be fully given in the Annals of the various Regiments.
These Records are now preparing for publication, under His Majesty's special authority, by Mr. Richard Cannon, Principal Clerk of the Adjutant-General's Office; and while the perusal of them cannot fail to be useful and interesting to military men of every rank, it is considered that they will also afford entertainment and information to the general reader, particularly to those who may have served in the Army, or who have relatives in the Service.
There exists in the breasts of most of those who have served, or are serving, in the Army, an Esprit du Corps—an attachment to every thing belonging to their Regiment; to such persons a narrative of the services of their own Corps cannot fail to prove interesting. Authentic accounts of the actions of the great—the valiant—the loyal, have always been of paramount interest with a brave and civilized people. Great Britain has produced a race of heroes who, in moments of danger and terror, have stood, "firm as the rocks of their native shore;" and when half the World has been arrayed against them, they have fought the battles of their Country with unshaken fortitude. It is presumed that a record of achievements in war—victories so complete and surprising, gained by our countrymen—our brothers—our fellow-citizens in arms—a record which revives the memory of the brave, and brings their gallant deeds before us, will certainly prove acceptable to the public.
Biographical memoirs of the Colonels and other distinguished Officers, will be introduced in the Records of their respective Regiments, and the Honorary Distinctions which have, from time to time, been conferred upon each Regiment, as testifying the value and importance of its services, will be faithfully set forth.
As a convenient mode of Publication, the Record of each Regiment will be printed in a distinct number, so that when the whole shall be completed, the Parts may be bound up in numerical succession.
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THE REGIMENT
IN THE YEAR 1661, AND OF ITS SUBSEQUENT
SERVICES TO 1837.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY CLOWES AND SONS, 14, CHARING CROSS.
MDCCCXXXVIII.
THE SECOND,
OR
QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF FOOT,
BEARS IN THE CENTRE OF
EACH COLOUR
THE QUEEN'S CYPHER
ON A
RED GROUND WITHIN THE GARTER, AND CROWN OVER IT;
ALSO THE FOLLOWING DISTINCTIONS,
Egypt, with the Sphynx—Vimiera—Corunna—Salamanca—Vittoria—Pyrenees—Nivelle—Toulouse—and Peninsula.
IN THE DEXTER CANTON OF THE SECOND COLOUR
THE UNION:
IN THE THREE OTHER CORNERS
THE PASCHAL LAMB;
WITH THE MOTTOES
Pristinæ Virtutis Memor, and Vel Exuviæ Triumphant,
AND THE DISTINCTIONS ABOVE SPECIFIED.
OR
QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF FOOT.
The Second Regiment of Foot was raised in 1661, for the purpose of providing a garrison for Tangier, a fortress on the northern coast of Africa, which was ceded to England as part of the marriage portion of Donna Catherina, Infanta of Portugal, who, in the following year, was married to King Charles II[1].
The command of this regiment was conferred by King Charles II. on Henry (second) Earl of Peterborough, whose commission as Colonel bears date the 30th of September, 1661.
King Charles II. having, soon after his restoration, disbanded the army of the Commonwealth, the ranks of Lord Peterborough's regiment were speedily completed with disciplined soldiers: it is reported to have assembled on Putney heath on the 14th of October, 1661, and to have numbered one thousand men.
The destination of Lord Peterborough's regiment to garrison so valuable a portion of Her Majesty's dower was, no doubt, the cause of its early advancement to royal favour: it was designated 'the Queen's,' and the Paschal Lamb, the distinguishing badge of Portugal, was placed on its colours, and has ever since been continued to be borne by the regiment[2].
In a few months after its formation, the Earl of Peterborough embarked with his regiment and a troop of horse[3], and arrived at Tangier on the 29th of January, 1662, where he found a British fleet, under the command of the Earl of Sandwich, lying in the roads, and Sir Richard Steyner, with a detachment of officers and seamen, occupying the town: a duty from which the Queen's Regiment, relieved them on the following day[4].
The fortress was already surrounded by walls upwards of a mile and a quarter in extent, but the English began constructing, at immense cost both of money and labour, a series of external fortifications. It was also determined to form a secure harbour by building a pier, or mole, several hundred yards in length. A spirit of enterprise, which has since become so conspicuous in British subjects, was, at this early period, strongly evinced in these improvements, carried on amidst barbarian tribes on the unpromising shores of Africa.
Tangier was announced after its occupation 'a place of such concernment that all the world will envy the English the attainment of it;' but this opinion was founded more on an expectation that the new colony would open a mart for trade, and bring to our influence, if not to our power, the adjoining states. It was, however, an acquisition of consequence to a nation aiming at commercial rivalry at a time when the voyage to India by the Cape of Good Hope was of rare occurrence. Tangier was situated so as to be a convenient resting-place for the Mediterranean trader, similar to what Gibraltar affords at the present time. These speculations gave the command a great importance, made evident by the warrant from King Charles II. on the appointment of the Earl of Peterborough to his government. It designates him 'Captain General, Chief Governor, and Vice-Admiral of our City of Tangier, and of the ports and coasts adjacent, and any of our dominions and territories, castles and forts, in or near the kingdom of Tangier, Fez, and Morocco, in Africa, which are or shall be in our possession, or reduced to our obedience, &c.'
On the arrival of Lord Peterborough at Tangier, he found Gaylan, the sovereign chief of Fez, with a body of 10,000 men, encamped within a league of the fortress. A treaty of peace was concluded between these commanders, and limits were fixed, beyond which the English were not to forage or cultivate. No great reliance was placed by the British on their new ally, and accounts from the new colony state, 'how the Moors will observe these articles we know not; however, we are, and we still shall be, upon our guard.'
Three other battalions of infantry also proceeded to Tangier from Dunkirk[5]. The friendly understanding which was established with the natives was for some time interrupted only by trifling skirmishes, in which the Moors satisfied themselves by beating back, with sticks, those of the garrison who passed the stipulated bounds. A jealousy was, however, very soon evinced; and upon opposition being made to the English in prosecuting the works and fortifications already alluded to, war burst out, in which the number and ferocity of the Moors were defeated and overcome by great discipline and courage on the part of the garrison. The use of cannon by the Europeans at length diminished the courage of the barbarians, but not before the garrison suffered severely. They had already lost 250 men, and the Moors about 500, amongst whom was a brother of Gaylan, when a peace was at length concluded in 1663, and Lord Peterborough returned in the same year to England[6].
The Earl of Peterborough was succeeded, both in the government of Tangier and in the Colonelcy of the Queen's Regiment, by Lieutenant-General Andrew Rutherford, Earl of Teviot (late Governor of Dunkirk), whose commission was dated the 9th of April, 1663. This second governor of Tangier consolidated all the infantry in garrison, and added them to the Queen's Tangier Regiment; he also so beautified and strengthened the town, that he obtained the title of its 'Restorer.'
Gaylan, hearing of the progress of the works, assembled an army of 4000 horse and 20,000 foot[7]; and at mid-day, on Sunday the 14th of June, 1663, when all the officers were at dinner, the Moors surprised and carried the advance-posts and attacked the great redoubt, where Major Ridgert of the Queen's Regiment, with forty men, made a most gallant defence, until the garrison, led by Colonel Norwood, sallied out, and charging the Moors with signal bravery, retook all the posts which had been captured. The garrison lost fourteen men killed and twenty wounded in this encounter; and the enemy upwards of one hundred. In an account of this action published at the time, it is stated, 'The Moors are men of resolution, and have most excellent fire-arms. When the horse charged us, he that did command them was clothed in crimson velvet, who being killed, they all went off immediately; it is presumed, therefore, that he was one of their chief men.'
A second attack was subsequently made with 10,000 men, 'but the most vigilant governor had so warily supplied the defects of the place, by planting great guns to annoy the assailants, that though the assault was very sharp, the enemy was beaten off with the loss of 900 men[8].'
In August a peace was concluded for six months, and a free trade was opened with the Moors, 'they daily bringing their camels laden with commodities, and in return they get money and other things.' Further additions were also made to the works, which again gave rise to acts of hostility, and in one encounter the garrison captured a splendid scarlet standard. A correspondence was opened with Gaylan—the Earl of Teviot insisted on making additional works—Gaylan objected, when his Lordship replied, 'he must have peace on those terms, or war without them.' The latter was the result, and led to numerous losses, particularly of the natives, in attempts to assault the fortress.
The chief losses sustained by the garrison of Tangier were in the sallies they made into the adjacent country to obtain fresh provisions. The Moors had a custom of driving two or three hundred head of cattle within sight of the walls, and planting a body of men in ambuscade, ready to fall on the detachment, which military ardour, to say nothing of a natural wish for fresh beef, was sure to bring beyond the cover of the fortress. These skirmishes frequently brought on more serious engagements, and in a sally made by the garrison on the 4th of May, 1664, the Earl of Teviot[9] met his death.
The Earl of Teviot was succeeded in the command of the Queen's Regiment by Colonel, afterwards Lieutenant-General Henry Norwood, whose commission is dated the 10th of June, 1664. The government of Tangier at this time was bestowed by His Majesty on John Lord Bellasyse, a younger son of the Earl of Fauconberg, who arrived at his government in April 1665, on board the Smyrna fleet, consisting of 'seven lusty, brave ships.'
Lord Bellasyse found the judicious arrangements of the late Commander-in-Chief had rendered Tangier impregnable to its enemies, who by this time were much disheartened, and inclined to terminate hostilities. A peace was concluded in the following year, and Lord Bellasyse was himself the bearer of it to England, where he arrived in May, 1666. The London Gazette states his favourable reception by His Majesty, and great expectations of future prosperity to Tangier were raised from his report.
General NorwoodMuley Xeriff