Historical Record of the First Regiment of Foot

The siege was afterwards prosecuted with vigour, and on the 31st of August the fortress was again attacked by storm. The Royal Scots, commanded by Lieut. – Colonel Barns, were directed to make their attack on the left of the second breach, and were supported by the 38th regiment. The assault was made with great gallantry; some of the traversers of the semi-bastion were carried by the leading companies, but were retaken by the enemy. Nothing could exceed the bravery and steadiness of the troops employed at this point; and the enemy, observing the whole division in motion, sprung a mine on the top of the curtain; but the explosion was premature, and only a few of the leading men of the Royal Scots suffered from it. Yet undismayed by the bursting mine, and fierce opposition of the enemy, the Royal Scots pressed forward upon their adversaries, and carried the coverlain; the troops crowded into the town in every direction, and in the course of an hour were masters of the place, excepting the citadel.112

On the 8th of September batteries mounting fifty-four pieces of ordnance opened a tremendous fire upon the citadel. In less than three hours the enemy hoisted a flag of truce, and, after some discussion, surrendered. As a testimony of the royal approbation of the signal valour evinced by the Royal Scots during this siege, and of the value attached to their services, they were permitted to bear the words "St. Sebastian" on their colours. Their loss in the successful storm of the town was, Ensign Boyd, 3 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 48 rank and file, killed; Lieutenants Armstrong, Holebrooke, Macdonnell, Clark, and Suckling, 7 serjeants, and 133 rank and file, wounded. Captain James Stewart, who was performing the duty of aide-de-camp to Major-General Hay, was killed from the castle while reconnoitring the works on the 4th of September. Captain Robert Macdonald was promoted to the rank of Major in the army, for his distinguished services at the storm of St. Sebastian.

After the capture of this fortress the troops advanced to the frontiers; and on the 7th of October the light company of the Royal Scots, commanded by Lieutenant J. N. Ingram, crossed the Bidassoa, followed by the remainder of the battalion and that portion of the army which had reduced St. Sebastian; the Royal Scots being the first British corps of the allied army which entered France. Thus, after driving the legions of Napoleon out of Portugal and Spain, the seat of war was transferred to the enemy's country; and the interior of France became the scene for the display of British prowess. After crossing the Bidassoa the troops drove the enemy to the heights of Irun, a distance of about three miles.

On the 10th of November the enemy's formidable line of works on the river Nivelle were attacked, and the Royal Scots, with the other regiments of the 5th division, drove the enemy from a field redoubt, and pursued them under the guns of Bayonne. The battalion lost, on this occasion, 1 rank and file, killed, and 4 serjeants and 15 rank and file wounded. Further operations were retarded by snow and rain; but in the early part of December the army passed the river Nive, and drove the French into their entrenched camp in front of Bayonne; from whence they issued on the three following days, and attacked the allies, but were repulsed. The Royal Scots were warmly engaged on these occasions, and their gallantry was rewarded with the royal permission to bear the word "Nive" on their colours. Their loss was 3 rank and file killed, and 1 serjeant and 3 rank and file wounded.

4th Batt

In the meantime important events had transpired on the continent of Europe. The invasion of Russia by Napoleon, the burning of Moscow, the disastrous retreat of the French army from the north, and the separation of Prussia, Austria, and other states, from the interest of Napoleon, were followed by a treaty of alliance and subsidy between Great Britain and Sweden, in which it was stipulated that a Swedish army commanded by the Crown Prince should join the allies; and on the 2nd of August, 1813, the 4th battalion of the Royal Scots embarked under the command of Lieut. – Colonel Muller for Stralsund, in Swedish Pomerania, forming part of an expedition sent thither under the orders of Major-General Gibbs. Thus a battalion of the regiment proceeded to the same part of the world to which a body of daring Scots, who formed the nucleus of this distinguished corps, proceeded exactly 200 years before, to engage in the service of the Swedish monarch. The battalion remained at Stralsund until the middle of December, when it advanced to support the army of the Crown Prince of Sweden on the Elbe, and halted on the 24th of December at Lubeck.

Thus at the conclusion of the year 1813 the regiment had four battalions on foreign service in three different quarters of the globe; namely —

18141st Batt

The services of the 1st battalion were limited, during the early part of 1814, to the usual duties of a corps stationed on an enemy's frontier. On the night of the 3rd of March, Captain Stewart received information of the appearance of a strong body of Americans in Longwood, in advance of Delaware town; and he directed the light companies of the Royal Scots, and 89th regiment, to march at day-break, to support the advance posts. At five o'clock on the evening of the 4th the Americans were discovered, in very superior force, posted on a commanding eminence, protected with breastworks formed of logs of wood. The companies of the Royal Scots and 89th instantly attacked the enemy in front, "in the most gallant manner," while a company of rangers, and a detachment of Canadian militia, made a flank movement to the right, and a small band of Indians made a similar movement to the left, with a view of gaining the rear of the position. "After repeated efforts to dislodge the enemy in an arduous and spirited contest of an hour and a half's duration, which terminated with the daylight, the troops were reluctantly withdrawn, having suffered severely, principally in officers."113 The Royal Scots had Captain David Johnstone, 1 serjeant, and 9 private men killed; Lieutenant Angus Macdonald, 2 serjeants, and 37 private men, wounded; and a bugler taken prisoner.

The battalion assembled at Fort George on the 1st of June; and on the 3rd of July two flank and five battalion companies marched from that place towards Chippewa. In the meantime a body of Americans had landed at Black Rock, and had driven in the garrison of Fort Erie. On the 4th the enemy advanced in force by the river, and the light company of the Royal Scots was engaged in a skirmish with the American riflemen. On the 5th of July a severe engagement with very superior numbers of the enemy took place.114 The attack was not attended with success. Major-General Riall, speaking of the conduct of the troops in general orders, observed – "Although their efforts were not crowned with the success they deserved, yet he has the greatest satisfaction in saying it was impossible for men to have done more, or to have sustained with greater courage the heavy and destructive fire with which the enemy, from his great superiority in numbers, was enabled to oppose them." The Royal Scots had Captain E. P. Bailey, 5 serjeants, and 71 rank and file killed; Lieut. – Colonel Gordon, Lieutenants W. Campbell, A. Macdonald, A. Campbell, J. T. Connell, B. Fox, George Jackson, and Charles Hendrick, 12 serjeants, and 132 rank and file, wounded; Captains E. M. Bird and John Wilson severely wounded and taken prisoners; 5 serjeants and 72 rank and file missing.

Fort Erie afterwards surrendered to the superior numbers of the enemy; the Royal Scots returned to Fort George; and on the 13th of July seven companies took up a position at Fifteen-mile Creek.

The three companies left at Fort George quitted that place a few days afterwards, and, having crossed the Niagara river on the 25th of July, marched to Lewiston to attack a body of the enemy; but the Americans fled, and the Royal Scots captured a quantity of stores and other articles. The three companies afterwards re-passed the river at Queenstown; and, advancing to the Falls of Niagara, formed in the position of Lundy's Lane, under the orders of Lieut. – General Drummond. In the mean time the other seven companies were on the march from Fifteen-mile Creek towards the Falls.

The three companies of the Royal Scots had scarcely taken their post in the centre of the position of Lundy's Lane, when about 5000 Americans advanced, and attacked the British troops with great fury; and a most sanguinary contest ensued. During the heat of the conflict the seven companies of the Royal Scots arrived from Fifteen-mile Creek, under the command of Lieut. – Colonel Gordon, and took post on the right of the line. The enemy attempted to force the centre for the purpose of gaining the crest of the position, but were repulsed with loss, and the Royal Scots distinguished themselves in driving back the assailants. About nine in the evening there was an intermission of firing; but the Americans renewed the attack soon afterwards with fresh troops, and a fierce conflict of musketry and artillery followed in the dark. The Americans charged up the hill; the British gunners were bayoneted while in the act of loading, and the guns were in the possession of the enemy for a few moments; but the troops in the centre, where the three companies of the Royal Scots were fighting, soon drove back the Americans, and retook the guns. The storm of battle still raged along the heights; the muzzles of the British and American artillery were within a few yards of each other, and the fight was kept up with a sanguinary obstinacy seldom witnessed. In limbering up the guns, at one period an American six-pounder was put by mistake on a British limber, and a British six-pounder on an American limber. At one moment the Americans had the advantage; at the next the shout of victory rose from the British ranks; and about midnight the enemy retreated.115 The troops were thanked for their distinguished bravery in general orders on the following day; and "the admirable steadiness of the Royal Scots, under Lieut. – Colonel Gordon, at several very critical points and movements, claimed the Lieut. – General's particular notice." The three companies in the centre of the line particularly distinguished themselves, and were twice mentioned in the Lieut. – General's public despatch in terms of the highest commendation. The Royal Scots lost on this occasion Lieutenant William Hemphill, 3 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 48 rank and file, killed and missing; Captain Brereton, Lieutenants Haswell and Fraser, 4 serjeants, and 93 rank and file, wounded; Lieutenants Clyne, Lamont, and Fraser taken prisoners. The conduct of the battalion on this occasion, with the distinguished bravery evinced by the grenadier company in the storm of Fort Niagara on the 19th of December, 1813, obtained the Royal permission to bear the word "Niagara" on the colours of the regiment.

An attack on Fort Erie having been resolved upon, the 1st battalion of the Royal Scots appeared before this place on the 4th of August, and formed part of the besieging force. During the progress of the siege several slight skirmishes occurred; and on the 10th of August the Royal Scots had Lieutenant Gregor M'Gregor and 3 private men killed and 9 private men wounded.

The batteries having produced an impression on the place, a general assault was made on the fort and adjoining works on the 15th of August before day-break; and two companies of the Royal Scots formed part of the force selected to storm the fort and entrenchments leading from it to the lake. This portion of the storming party made its attack with signal gallantry, and after a desperate resistance succeeded in effecting a lodgment in the fort through the embrasures and demi-bastion, and turned the guns against the enemy, when a sudden explosion of some gunpowder placed under the platform occurred, and almost all the men who had entered the place were either killed or dreadfully mangled. This occasioned the troops to retreat; the enemy opened a heavy fire of musketry, and the storming party retired. The eight companies of the Royal Scots which had not taken part in the storming of the fort were immediately thrown out to cover the retreat – "a service which that valuable corps executed with great steadiness."116 The loss of the battalion in this unfortunate affair was – Captain Torrens and 32 rank and file killed, 2 serjeants and 37 rank and file wounded.

The troops continued before the fort, and on the 9th of September 2 private soldiers of the Royal Scots were killed, and Lieutenant P. Grant wounded by a shell. On the 17th the enemy made a sortie, and an engagement took place, which lasted nearly five hours. "On the right the enemy's advance was checked by the 1st battalion Royal Scots, supported by the 89th regiment, under the command of Lieut. – Colonel Gordon of the Royals; and in the centre he was driven back by the Glengarry light infantry, under Lieut. – Colonel Battersby, and directed by Lieut. – Colonel Pearson, inspecting field officer."117 On this occasion the battalion lost 2 serjeants and 22 rank and file killed and missing; Lieut. – Colonel Gordon, Lieutenant Rutledge, and 30 rank and file, wounded. Lieutenant Rutledge died on the same day, and Lieut. – Colonel Gordon on the 25th.118

On the 17th of October the battalion marched to Chippewa, and engaged the enemy at Cook's Mills, drove the Americans from their post, without sustaining any loss. Shortly afterwards the battalion proceeded to Fort Niagara, where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.

2nd Batt

In April, 1814, the left wing of the 2nd battalion in the East Indies marched to Bellary; at the same time the right wing, forming part of the force in the southern Mahratta country, quitted the field, and joined the left wing at Bellary in May. Soon afterwards the battalion proceeded to Hyderabad, where it remained until the beginning of November, when it received orders to proceed to Ellichpoor, to join the field force under the command of Brigadier-General Doveton, and was subsequently employed against a barbarous people called the Pindarees, who infested the British territory in India at this period, and committed dreadful ravages wherever they appeared.

3rd Batt

The 3rd battalion was employed in the spring of 1814 in the blockade of the strong fortress of Bayonne, in France; while a great part of the allied British, Spanish, and Portuguese army, which had passed the Pyrenees mountains, advanced up the country.

4th Batt

In the meantime the Dutch had made an energetic struggle to free themselves from the power of Napoleon, and a strong party had declared in favour of the Prince of Orange. A British force was sent to Holland under the orders of Lieut. – General Sir Thomas Graham, afterwards Lord Lynedoch, and the 4th battalion of the Royal Scots was ordered from the north of Germany to join the troops in Holland. The battalion accordingly commenced its march from Lubeck on the 17th January, 1814, and encountered many difficulties, from the inclemency of the weather. While traversing the forest of Shrieverdinghen, 120 men were lost in a snow storm; much extreme suffering occurred during the journey; and on the 2nd of March the men went into cantonments at Rozendalh. After halting six days the battalion was ordered to join the force destined to make an attempt on the strong fortress of Bergen-op-Zoom; and was selected to form part of the 4th column of attack; at the same time its flank companies were detached to join another column. The attack was made about ten o'clock on the night of the 8th of March. The Royal Scots succeeded in crossing the Zoom, and forced an entrance by the water-port. Having gained possession of the ramparts round the water-port gate, the battalion was exposed to a heavy fire of grape and musketry from two howitzers, and a strong detachment of French marines, stationed near the arsenal: two companies were detached to keep the enemy in check, and were relieved every two hours by two other companies of the battalion. These companies were actively engaged in this service from eleven o'clock until daylight; when the enemy made a furious attack in strong columns, which bore down all before them. The two detached companies of the Royal Scots were attacked by a host of combatants, and driven in. A heavy fire of grape was opened upon the battalion from the guns of the arsenal; and it was forced to retire by the water-port gate, when a detached battery opened upon it. Being thus placed between two fires, with a high palisade on one side, and the Zoom filled with the tide on the other, the battalion was unfortunately obliged to surrender. The colours were first sunk in the river Zoom by Lieutenant and Adjutant Galbraith: the battalion then surrendered, on condition that the officers and men should not serve against the French until exchanged. The failure of the coup-de-main on Bergen-op-Zoom occasioned an immense sacrifice of gallant men. Of the Royal Scots, Captains M'Nicol, Edward Wetherall, and Purvis, Lieutenant Mills, 1 serjeant, and 36 rank and file, were killed; Lieutenants Robertson, Stoyte, Midgley, and Stewart, 7 serjeants, 1 drummer, and 63 rank and file, wounded.

On the following day the battalion marched out of Bergen-op-Zoom, and on the 8th of April it embarked for England: on the 21st it arrived at Hilsea barracks, where it was supplied with clothing and equipments, and on the 6th of May it embarked on board the Diomede and Leopard (two sixty-fours, armed en-flute), and sailed for Canada.

3rd Batt

Meanwhile the success of the arms of the allied sovereigns in various parts of Europe had been followed by the abdication of Bonaparte, and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the throne of France. This event occurred in April, 1814, at which time the 3rd battalion of the Royal Scots was employed in the blockade of Bayonne. The French commandant in this fortress, not believing the statement of Bonaparte's abdication to be true, made a sortie with the garrison on the morning of the 14th of April, and gained a temporary advantage; but was afterwards repulsed. Major-General Hay,119 Lieut. – Colonel of the Royal Scots, was killed at the first onset; the battalion also had 5 rank and file killed; Captain Buckley, Lieutenant Macdonnell, 1 serjeant, 1 drummer, and 32 rank and file, wounded; also a few private men missing.

This was the last action of the war; and the British troops, after vanquishing the legions of Bonaparte in various parts of the globe, stood triumphant in the interior of France, and saw the fall of that gigantic power which had shaken the throne of every sovereign on the continent of Europe, and, aiming at universal empire, had sought to rule the world with Asiatic despotism. The Royal Scots remained encamped near Bayonne until August, when they marched back to Spain, and were the last British corps which quitted the French territory after the termination of this glorious war. The battalion, having embarked at Passages for Ireland, landed at the Cove of Cork on the 13th of September, 1814.

His Royal Highness the Prince Regent was pleased to confer upon the 3rd battalion the honour of bearing the word "Peninsula" upon its colours, as a mark of his royal approbation of its meritorious conduct in Portugal and Spain.

4th Batt

The right wing of the 4th battalion, which sailed for Canada in May, arrived at Quebec on the 26th of June, and on the 1st of July sailed up the St. Lawrence to Three Rivers; but the left wing, in the Leopard, was wrecked on Anticosti, a barren island in the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, and lost all its arms and baggage. The right wing afterwards returned to Quebec, and, the left having joined it, the battalion formed part of that garrison until May of the following year.

18151st Batt4th Batt1st and 4th Batts

In January, 1815, the first battalion quitted Fort Niagara, and proceeded to Queenstown. From this place it proceeded to Fort George, Kingston, Prescott, Montreal, and Three Rivers, which latter place it reached on the 25th of May, when it embarked for Quebec; and on its arrival off Cape Diamond, peace having been concluded with the United States, it was removed on board of transports. At the same time the 4th battalion was withdrawn from garrison at Quebec, and, having embarked on board the fleet, both battalions sailed for England, and arrived at Portsmouth on the 17th and 18th of July.

3rd Batt

In the meantime Napoleon Bonaparte, with that perfidy which had ever marked his conduct, had quitted the island of Elba, and, attended by 600 men, made his appearance on the shores of France. The French troops joined the standard of the invader, the royal family fled, and Bonaparte reascended the throne with a rapidity which exceeded the wildest flights of poetry or romance. The peace of Europe was thus broken. The allied sovereigns resolved to wage war against the usurper; and in April, 1815, the 3rd battalion of the Royal Scots was suddenly ordered from its quarters at Fermoy to the Cove of Cork, to embark for the Netherlands, where a British force was assembling to engage in the approaching contest, under Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington – a leader under whose eye this portion of the Royal Regiment had already acquired numerous laurels in the Peninsular War.

The battalion landed at Ostend in the early part of May, and proceeded to Ghent, and from thence to Brussels, where it was stationed several weeks. It formed part of the 9th brigade, commanded by Major-General Sir Denis Pack, and was placed in the 5th division, under the command of Lieut. – General Sir Thomas Picton.

During the night between the 15th and 16th of June, while the Royal Scots were reposing in comfortable quarters at Brussels, the men were suddenly aroused by the bugles sounding and drums beating to arms. Instantly quitting their beds, the soldiers prepared for action, and, seizing their muskets, issued in bands from every part of the city; and in a few hours the British regiments were passing through the dark forest of Soignes in the direction of Charleroi, a sharp conflict having already commenced between the corps in advance and the enemy. After a march of about twenty-two miles, the 5th division arrived at the scene of conflict soon after mid-day on the 16th of June, and, diverging from the high road, confronted the enemy on the undulating grounds near the farm-house of Quatre Bras.

The Royal Scots, advancing from their post in the centre of the 5th division, by a movement to their left through a field of corn which reached to the shoulders of the tallest men, encountered a column of French infantry, and by a determined charge drove it from its ground. The enemy's musketeers rallied under the protection of their formidable cavalry, and opened a galling fire, which was returned by the Royal Scots with steadiness and precision. The enemy, having the advantage of a rising ground, poured down volley after volley of grape and musketry with dreadful execution. The Royal Scots stood their ground with unflinching firmness; and, after fighting for some time in line, the battalion formed square, to resist the French cavalry, which was advancing in great force. The valour and intrinsic merit of the corps were now tested; but in vain the foaming squadrons of cuirassiers came rushing forward – in vain the daring swordsmen sought to penetrate the square; neither the superiority of their numbers, nor the fury of their charge, availed against the Royal Scots; the battalion stood firm, and resisted every attack of the enemy with an unshaken fortitude, which reflected honour on the corps.120 After repulsing the formidable onsets of the enemy's steel-clad horsemen, the battalion deployed; again the French cuirassiers and lancers advanced, and the battalion once more formed square. The daring squadrons rushed forward in full career; the battalion sent forward a shower of balls, which emptied a hundred saddles, and the remaining horsemen wheeled round, and galloped away.121 Thus the Royal Scots were triumphant, and they were soon afterwards moved to sustain the 28th regiment, which had suffered severely: another furious onset was made by the French cavalry, when the two corps formed one square, and repulsed their assailants with firmness. The French, dismayed by the sanguinary resistance of their adversaries, and being attacked in turn, were already giving way. Sir Thomas Picton placed himself at the head of the Royal Scots and 28th regiment, and leading them to the charge, the enemy was driven from his position with loss.