Memoir of Captain Dalton, defender of Trichinopoly, 1752-1753
Dalton, Charles, 1850-1913
(Z&.^ruw&e ~y//J///<; ?/„,<■, ,:j,/y ,/ {>«/,/<■ CAPTAIN JOHN DALTON. Ff^om The Priginal Portrait, by Romney, fr.T J^ANGTON j-fALL, ^VIaLTON. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON, H.E.I.C.S. DEFENDER OF TRICHINOPOLY, 1752-1753. By CHARLES I) ALTON, P.R.G.8., AUTHOR OF "LIFE AND TIMES OF GENERAL SIR EDWARD CECIL.'* 11 A gallant and able officer." Malcolm's Life of Clive, i. 119. LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. S.W. 1886. (All Bights reserved.) t>.S470 PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. HEJMRY MORlE STEPH«W» cue IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY OF MY BELOVED AUNT AND FRIEND, ISABELLA b ALTON. a* 511728 PREFACE. 11 Facts are stubborn things." The memoirs now offered to the reading public were written some years ago, and a few copies printed for private circulation. A revised edition of these memoirs is now made public, because I find that few, if any, outside the immediate circle of Captain Dalton' s descend- ants, are aware that Bobert Orme, the Indian historian of the eighteenth century, transferred a great part of the contents of the MS. journal kept by Captain Dalton, during the last few years of his service in India, to his History of the War in India, which appeared in 1763. Much of the credit that devolved upon Orme for his historical production was really due to Dalton, and it is because this fact still remains unknown that I now publish the military memoirs of my great- VI PREFACE. grandfather, who supplied the historian with the minute details which characterise a great part of the first volume of a work which went through four editions, and has supplied the foundation- stone of all subsequent works relating to the transactions of the British in India a hundred and thirty odd years ago. I have no wish to detract from the fame of the mighty dead. I merely wish to do an act of justice to the memory of a brave and single- minded soldier, who, I am quite sure, desired no public acknowledgment of the favour he con- ferred upon the historian, by furnishing him with the interesting chronicle of the stirring military events which took place in Southern India between 1750 and 1754. Succeeding generations of biographers have expressed their admiration of Orme's historical powers. Here are two specimens : — " Few historians," says Chalmers, "have connected the events of their story with more perspicuity or related them with more concise- ness. " " Orme, inferior to no English historian,' ' wrote Lord Macaulay, " in style and power of PREFACE. VII painting, is minute even to tediousness. In one volume he allots on an average a closely printed quarto page to the events of every forty-eight hours. " The lynx-eyed Macaulay saw, what other bio- graphers failed to discover, the discrepancy in style in parts of the Indian historian's work. Had he known, what the reader now does, that Orme had fitted in whole extracts from Captain Dalton's Indian journal into his " History/' weaving the whole together with the dexterity and ingenuity of a first-class parlour-fire histo- rian, he would not have wondered at the minute- ness, which is more in keeping with a daily journal than a history extending over many years. Again, Sir John Malcolm, who knew, from Orme's own letters to Clive, that the historian sent his proof-sheets to Lord Clive for correction, and received maps and much valuable informa- tion from that great soldier, does not appear to have been aware of the existence of Dalton's Journal, nor of Orme's wholesale extracts from it. " No apology," writes Malcolm in his Life of V11J PEEFACE. Clive, " is necessary for adopting his (Orme's) narrative, which, in its very minuteness, is as interesting as it is instructive.' ' During the last twelve months of Captain Dalton's residence in India, Orme was absent from that country, having returned to England ; Clive was also in England ; so that Dalton's journal, recording, as it did, the chief events in Southern India during that stirring year, was peculiarly valuable to a historian. If it be thought unprecedented to disclose the secrets of a historian who has been long dead, I may quote a precisely similar case. More than 250 years after Holinshed's Chronicles appeared in print, a MS. journal relating to the siege of Guisnes, and written by Arthur Lord Grey de Wilton, was discovered in an old box of deeds at Oulton Park, Cheshire, and was found to coincide, nearly verbatim, with the account given of that siege by Holinshed in his Chronicles of England and Scotland. Holins- hed never mentioned who furnished him with this interesting journal, which he transferred wholesale to his history ; and, on account of this silence on his part, a member of the Grey de PREFACE. IX Wilton family, in 1847, published, in one of the Camden Society's publications, the newly-dis- covered journal of his ancestor, penned nearly 300 years before, and gave the parallel passages from Holinshed, showing most clearly how the old chronicler had copied entire passages from the manuscript lent him by Lord Grey de Wilton. Here, if it were wanted, is precedent enough for my showing where Orme gleaned some of his graphic descriptions. But in the case of Captain Dalton's Journal, which contains over 166 folio pages, there would be nothing gained by publishing the entire MS. now, as the pith of it is to be found in Orme's history. I have given, in the following pages, more extracts from Orme's history than from Dalton's journal, as I feel, all the time I am quoting from Orme, that my ancestor supplied the information, although what he wrote in the bustle of camp life, and in the few leisure moments at his dis- posal, when commandant of the beleaguered town of Trichinopoly, has, in some parts, been pruned down to due historic proportions. I am much indebted to my brother-in-law, the Eev. C. B. Norcliffe, of Langton Hall, Malton, X PREFACE. for the extracts he has kindly copied for me from Captain Dalton's journal — which valuable manu- script is in his possession — as well as for the tracings of the two military plans drawn by Captain Dalton in his journal, and which I have had lithographed, in a reduced size, for my reprint. I also am much indebted to my cousin Colonel Yule, C.B., Member of the Indian Council, for helping me to obtain access to the East India Records in the India Office, from which records I obtained much valuable information. Finally, I have to acknowledge, with many thanks, the courtesy and invariable civility I have met with from the officials of the Public Record Office, London, and the Record Office of Ireland in Dublin. C. DALTON. 32, West Cromwell Eoad, London, S.W. Sept. 15, 1886. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introduction. — James Dalton appointed to the Sixth Regiment of Foot. — Joins in Dublin. — The Archbishop's Visitation. — The Sixth marches to Limerick, 1719. — Marriage of Lieut. James Dalton — Birth of John Dalton, 1725. — The Sixth proceeds to Scotland, 1739. — War with Spain. — Ten new Regiments raised. — James Dalton promoted Captain, 1740. — John Dalton obtains a Commis- sion in Hanmer's Marine Regiment, 1741. — The Sixth embarks for West Indies on Active Service. — Death of Captain James Dalton, 1742. — Remarks on the Climate of the West Indies, and of Jamaica in particular.— The Old Marine Regiments - p. 1 CHAPTER II. The Cruise of H.M.S. Preston, 1743-1748 - - - - p. 20 Xll CONTENTS, CHAPTER III. Retrospective Sketch of the East India Company's Affairs. — Strength of their Army in 1748. — Peace signed between England and France. — Reduction of the ten Marine Regiments. — Lieutenant Dalton placed upon Half -pay. — He is appointed 1st Lieutenant of an Independent Company by Admiral Boscawen. — Interesting Letter from an Artillery Officer at Fort St. David to a Friend at Woolwich. — Lieutenant Dalton joins the East India Company's Service in 1749, and is made Captain of the Grenadier Company. p. 41 CHAPTER IV. The Rev. F Fordyce versus Lieutenant Clive and Captain Dalton. p. 67 CHAPTEE V. The First and Second Expeditions against Devi Cotah - p 65 CHAPTER VI. Rival Princes. — War to the Knife p. 76 CONTENTS. X11J CHAPTER VII. (1751.) Tho Nabob applies to tbe English for Assistance. — Troops sent to Trichinopoly under Captain Cope. — Revolt at Madura. — Capture of that City by Allum Khan. — Captain Cope offers to retake it. — His Troops lay siege to tbe Place. — Failure of the Attack. — Their Retreat. — Captain De Gingins sent with a large Force to assist Mahommed AH. — Capture of Verdachelum. — Affair at Volcondah. — Retreat of the Troops. — Remarks on the same. — French Slanders. — Army retreats to Trichinopoly. — Captain Dalton com- mands Advanced Post at Wootatoor and defeats the Enemy. — Operations of the French. — Clive's Expedition to Arcot. — English besieged at Trichinopoly by French and Chunda Saheb. — Nabob asks Assistance from the Regent of Mysore. — Captain Dalton defeats a Detachment of the Enemy. — Arrival of a Mahratta Force. — Their Bravery and Success. — Disasters at Kistnavaram. — Death of Captain Cope. — Captain Dalton ordered to proceed to Kistnavaram to take the Command - p. 84 CHAPTER VIII. (1752.) Dalton arrives at Kistnavaram. — Interview with the Regent of Mysore. — Operations against the Enemy. — The Mysorean army arrives at Trichinopoly. — Clive's Successes in the Carnatic. — Discontent of the Mysoreans and Mahrattas. — Lawrence arrives from England, and marches with a Reinforcement to Trichinopoly. — French try to intercept him. — Skirmishes with the Enemy. — Is joined by Dalton with a large Detachment. — Encounters with the Enemy. — Clive and Dalton gain an Advantage. — Dalton sent with a Detachment to attack Chunda Saheb's Camp in the Night. XIV CONTENTS. — Is misled. — Captures Elmiserum. — Takes a Gun from the Enemy on the other side of the Cavery. — Defeats D'Auteuil at Wootatoor and captures Post. — Clive given Command of a large Force. — Dalton joins Clive and serves under him as a Volunteer. — Is wounded at the Reduction of Pitchandah by the Bursting of a Gun. — Result of Clive's Operations against the Enemy. — Fate of Chunda Saheb. — Dalton receives Surrender of the French at Jumbakisna. — Is left Commandant of Trichinopoly by Lawrence. p. 124 CHAPTER IX. Dalton's Position as Commandant. — The Nabob's Secret Promises. — State of Affairs in consequence. — Departure of the Nabob's and Lawrence's Forces. — Plots against the Commandant. — His Life in Danger. — Treachery and Bribery. — Counter-plot. — The Marplot of Trichinopoly. — Precautions against Surprise. — Dalton's Letters to the Governor and Council at Fort St. George - p. 146 CHAPTER X. (1752-1753.) The Regent's Starvation Scheme. — Dalton ordered to treat him as an Enemy. — Marches in the Night and attacks Mysorean Camp. — Action at Seringham. — Dalton's Despatches. — He turns the 700 Mysoreans out of the City. — Weakness of the Garrison. — Famine p. 171 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XI. Lawrence's Despatch to the Governor and Council. — Startling Dis- covery made by Dalton at Trichinopoly. — His Despatch to Lawrence at Trivadi. — Lawrence marches with his whole Force to Trichinopoly. — Dalton cannonades the Mysorean Camp and captures Baggage and Grain. — Battle of the Golden Rock. — Mahommed Ali insulted by his Troops in Trichinopoly, and not allowed to leave his Palace. — Is rescued by Dalton and escorted to Lawrence's Camp by the Grenadier Compan}\ — Famine Prices in Trichinopoly. — The French Spy. — Is detected by Dalton, who tries to entrap the French in their own Toils. — Lawrence arrives with Provisions. — Second Battle of the Golden Rock. — Execution of the French Spy. — Battle of the Sugar-Loaf Hill - p. 186 CHAPTER XII. (1753-1754.) Private Letters. — Dalton applies to be relieved from the Command of Trichinopoly. — His Resignation not accepted. — Ill-health the Cause of his Request. — His Letter to the Council at Fort St. George. — Their Reply. — Dalton's own Account of his Departure from Trichinopoly. — Volunteers to relieve Palam Cotah. — Night Attack on Trichinopoly by the French. — Dalton's Battery de- scribed.— Result of the Attack. — Dalton resigns his Commission March 1st, 1754. — Is thanked by the Governor and Council for his Services. — Sails for England March 10 - - - p. 209 XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. Conclusion ------- ..p 232 Appendix p. 241 Flarv of VolcondcuTort, & the actiorv that happened near il, June 19 r 1751. A. Volconda Citadel. B. The Town. C. Mud-walled Village. D. English Guards. E. English Bat- talion. F. French Bat- talion in march to gain the Water- course. G. Chunda's Army. H. Advanced party of the Enemy march. I. Our advanced Guard before the Action. K. French Camp. L. Chunda's Camp. M. Our Bomb Battery. N. English Camp. O. Our Cofferys advancing to stop the Ene- my's march. P. Our Grena- diers and some Sipoys supporting the Cofferys. Q. Nabob's Horse. B. His Camp. S, Sipoys. T. A Portugue Company and some Sipoys with 3 Guns belonging to the Nabob. U. Small ad- vanced Party from our Gre- nadiers before the Action. W. Two of the Enemy'sGuns which, made our Battalion retreat while our Coffreys were engaged. X. Encampment of the Enemy after the Ac- tion. Y. Our Retreat. J\ \C ■*& 'Sipoys J? mt hzrGrenadurs and ^before DurAmorv : i ! 3- S J3%= *±\\A Plan, of the Action near Wootatoor, July 13^1751. Note. -All those with- Blade Colcrurs are belonging to ike Enemy t f7| Tost far the security of the. fy^zri?*- Rear of our Camp. the Enemy encamped aftiW^ iheArturrv t. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON CHAPTER I. Introduction. — James Dalton appointed to the Sixth Regiment of Foot. — Joins in Dublin. — The Archbishop's Visitation. — The Sixth marches to Limerick, 1719. — Marriage of Lieut. James Dalton. — Birth of John Dalton, 1725. — The Sixth proceeds to Scotland, 1739. — War with Spain. — Ten new Regiments raised. — James Dalton promoted Captain, 1740. — John Dalton obtains a Commis- sion in Hanmer's Marine Regiment, 1741. — The Sixth embarks for West Indies on Active Service. — Death of Captain James Dalton, 1742. — Remarks on the Climate of the West Indies, and of Jamaica in particular. — The Old Marine Regiments. TN the Illustrated London News of September 16, 1854, there is a picture of a new railway bridge across the Cavery, uniting Trichinopoly with the island of Seringham, and the description of Trichinopoly begins as follows : — " Trichinopoly, once the strong- hold of British power in Southern India, and rendered 1 Y % MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN ID ALTON, famous by the deeds of Clive, Lawrence, Dalton, and other heroes/' &c. The successful defence of Trichinopoly against the French and their allies in 1752-53 by Captain John Dalton, the Commandant, is recorded in every history of British India ; but the pleasant task of first making public the memoirs of Captain Dalton's military life, and giving some details of the family of Dalton, has now fallen to my lot. The father of the subject of these memoirs was Captain James Dalton, of the 6th Regiment of Foot, who came of an old Yorkshire family which had been long settled in the East Riding prior to removing into Richmond shire. James Dalton was great-grandson of that Lieutenant- Colonel John Dalton of Caley Hall near Otley, who, on the outbreak of the great Civil War, served under his brother-in-law, the Lord Darcy, in the Royalist army, and was dangerously wounded •on July 5, 1643, on passing the bridge of Burton- on-Trent# while conducting Queen Henrietta Mariaf from Bridlington to Oxford. Colonel Dalton never * Sir Thomas Tyldesley (as he soon after became) forced the bridge of Burton-upon-Trent by a desperate charge of cavalry. f On February 22, 1642-3, Queen Henrietta Maria landed at Brid- lington, -was at York, March 30, at Newark, June 27, and met her husband July 13. See Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England, vol. iv. pp. 217-227 ; edit. 1877. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 3 recovered from this wound, and, after twelve months of ill-health, died at York on July 24, 1644, and received honourable burial in York Minster. The following touching entry was inscribed by Sir William Dalton,* the deceased officer's father, on the fly-leaf of a law-bookf where he had chronicled the births and deaths of his children and grandchildren : — " My only sonne John Dalton was wounded at Burton upon Trente the fift of July 1643 and thereof dyed the 24 or 25th of July 1644, who was A valiant man and A duetyfull and lovinge sonne." In 1627 Colonel Dalton had married Dorothy Darcy, daughter of Conyers Lord Darcy, by Dorothy, daughter of Sir Henry Bellasis, Knight and Baronet, whose wife (Ursula) was daughter of that Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton who had served as a soldier of fortune in Italy and Germany. Besides other issue, Colonel Dalton left at his decease two sons, William and Thomas. William, the eldest son, was knighted by Charles II. for the services he and his father had * Sir William Dalton, of Hauxwell, Knt., Attorney-General to the Northern Court at York, was knighted at Whitehall, April 28, 1629. He married Theophane Booth, of the ancient family of Booth of Killingholm, Lincolnshire. He died in January 1649, and was buried in York Minster. t This interesting old book, with its quaint family registers, is in the possession of the Rev. C. B. Norcliffe, Langton HalL l * 4 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. rendered during the Civil Wars. The second son,. Thomas, settled at Bedale, and, marrying Anne, daughter of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, Bart., of Con- stable Burton, was father of John Dalton of Bedale, who, dying in 1701, left an only child, James. On May 2, 1718, in the nineteenth year of his age, James Dalton was gazetted Ensign in the Royal War- wickshire Regiment of Foot, then commanded by Colonel Robert Dormer, being the 6th Line Regiment. In the following month he joined in Dublin. A good idea of the state of Ireland may be gathered from a general order issued to the officers commanding Hi& Majesty's Forces in that kingdom : — " Whereas His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, one of the Lords Justices of the Kingdom, is going on his Visitation to Kilkenny, and that it will be for His Grace's safety to have a guard to attend him on some parts of his Road thither and back again, where the country is infested with Tories, Robbers, and Rapparees, these are to direct and require you to send with His Grace the Lord Archbishop such a number of men through such parts of the Road, lead- ing to and from Kilkenny, as His Grace shall think fit to attend him for his safety. Each party when relieved are to return to their former Garrison. The Civil Magistrates being to provide them with convenient MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 5 quarters on their march according to Law. Given, &c, 28 May, 1718."* In July 1719 Dormer's regiment marched from Dublin to Limerick, where it was stationed some time. James Dalton was made Lieutenant on August 29, 1721, and a year or two after was appointed subaltern to the Grenadier Company of his regiment. There is a tradition in his family that his sword and pistols were by no means idle during his long service as a sub- altern officer in Ireland, and that the duels he fought earned him the sobriquet of " Fighting" Jem Dalton. He married Miss Elizabeth Smith of Limerick, and had an only child, John Dalton, the subject of this memoir, who was born about the close of 1725 in Dublin, or Dublin County, where Dormer's regiment was then stationed. In the summer of 1739 ten regiments on the Irish establishment, of which Guise's, late Dormer's, was one, were brought over to Britain. Stirring times were at hand. Another war between Great Britain and Spain having become inevitable, the army was increased and the establishment of Guise's regiment was augmented. This augmentation promoted James Dalton to be captain, his commission being dated * From a copy in the Record Office of Ireland, Dublin. 6 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTOK. January 19, 1739-40; and John Guise, the colonel of this regiment, was made a brigadier-general. Early in 1740 six regiments of marines were raised to serve under Admiral Vernon in the West Indies. A war with Spain — a war in itself just and necessary, and entered into by the repeated advice oE both Houses of Parliament — was most popular. The enthusiasm through the country was intense. Officers on half -pay, and those civilians who desired commis- sions, flocked up to London in large numbers to try and get appointed to the new regiments. The newspapers gave out that some considerable enterprise would be undertaken as soon as the marine forces were ready for service. Recruiting went on so merrily that the six marine regiments of about one thousand men each were speedily formed. George II., finding the war so popular, ordered four more marine regiments to be raised in the autumn of 1740. These additional regi- ments were raised directly after the first embarkation of the troops, in October 1740, who sailed under the convoy of a naval force commanded by Sir Chaloner Ogle — the troops being under the command of the gallant Lord Cathcart. One of the four new marine regiments was raised in November 1740, and, in December, Colonel William Hanmer, who came of the old Flintshire family of MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 7 that name, was appointed to be colonel and captain of a company in the said regiment.* In those days every regiment was called by the name of its then colonel, and accordingly, this marine regiment, which was really the 8th Marines, was called " Hanmer's " Marines. Captain James Dalton applied for and ob- tained a commission for his son, as second lieutenant in Hanmer's Marines, and, on February 6, 1741, John Dalton — then only fifteen — was appointed to Hanmer's regiment. In those days the Gazettes took little or no notice of subaltern officers, and, in looking through volumes of the London Gazette, I find but few promo- tions or appointments chronicled, under the rank of captain. The information I received from the War Office, fortunately provides me with the date of John Dalton's first commission. I conclude that his first commission was purchased, and a good sum paid for it too, as I read in the London Daily Post for " February 19, 1742," that the marine officers who went out with Admiral Vernon's expedition had paid such " vast sums of money for their commissions to a certain Secretary, that it was expected that there would be a Parliamentary enquiry about it." I suppose this * " Wm. Hanmer, Esq., to be colonel of a new raised regiment of marines." — London Gazette, December 1740. 8 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. " extortion " was practised upon all the new regiments, whether they went abroad or not. Having started our young marine subaltern on his military career, I must return for a brief time to his father, who was with his regiment at Inverlochy in Inverness-shire. Guise's regiment had received orders, in July 1741, to hold itself in readiness to embark on active service. " 'Tis said," wrote a Scotch correspon- dent of the London Daily Post under date of August 25, 1741, "that Guise's regiment and some other troops will immediately embark on board some trans- ports from Clyde for Cork, which is reported will be the place of rendezvous of the force designed for America. His Excellency General Clayton* set out yesterday for Inverlochy where that regiment is quar- tered." Before this review, which was preliminary to the immediate departure of the regiment, took place, Captain James Dalton had set his affairs in order and executed a deed which provided for his wife's main- tenance during his absence abroad, and, in case of his death, left her in sole possession of all his worldly goods. This will, which is short and soldierly, begins as follows : — " Know all men by these presents I Captain James * Major- General Jasper Clayton, Colonel of the 14th Regiment and Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, 1741. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 9 Dalton of the Honble. Brigadier Guise's Regiment of Foot to have made constituted and appointed and by these presents to make constitute and appoint and in my place depute Elizabeth Dalton my beloved wife my true and lawfull attorney procuratrix for me the said Captain James Dalton and in my name stead and place to receive from Robert Mit- chiner Esqre Paymaster to the said Brigadier Guise's Regiment or any other paymaster who may hereafter be appointed Paymaster to the said Regi- ment the sum of four pounds sterling money to be payd monthly to her out of my subsistence* during all the days of my lifetime . . . and in the event of my death and of her surviving me then and in that case I hereby give convey and bequeath to the said Elizabeth Dalton my wife all goods and sums of money pertaining and belonging to me or that will be justly due me by bills bonds ticketts accounts arrears of my pay or any other manner or way whatsomever the time of my decease hereby ordaining constituting and ap- pointing the said Elizabeth Dalton my wife my sole executrix of this my last Will and Testament. . .. In testimony whereof I the said James Dalton have hereunto sett my hand and seal at Inverness in North * A captain's pay in 1740 was 10s. a day. 10 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. Britain this thirteenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-one. . . . James Dalton."* It is noticeable in this will that James Dalton makes no mention whatever of his only son. He left every- thing to his beloved wife, and he had but little to leave behind him. His son had been fairly started in life and was expected to make his own way independent of his mother. The son did not fall short of his father's expectations. Early in September 1741, the Scotch correspondent of the London Evening Post sent the following bit of news to that paper, relative to Guise's regiment — Guise's " Geese," as they were jocularly termed by military wags : — " We hear from Glasgow that Guise's Regiment of Foot is marched for Greenock, in order to be embarked on board the transports for Jamaica ; that the officers and soldiers were all well and in high spirits, and that, of the whole regiment, not four private men had deserted." When it is remembered that nothing but misfortunes and reverses had befallen the British troops since they * From a copy of the original will at Somerset House, London. Registered 156 Boycott. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 11 had left England in the previous autumn, the enthusiasm of all the troops now about to be sent to reinforce the British forces in the West Indies is highly to their credit. The expedition against Carthagena in South America had proved an utter failure, and, what was worse, had cost many brave lives. Fever, dysentery, and epidemics peculiar to the Spanish Main, had deci- mated the troops. Officers and men suffered alike. Lord Cathcart, the Commander-in-Chief of the land forces, had died of dysentery at the Island of St. Christopher at the very outset of the campaign. He was badly replaced by Brigadier- General Went worth, between whom and Admiral Vernon, the naval Com- mander-in-Chief, there was not always the cordial co- operation so necessary for success in a combined naval and military expedition. The reports of the losses and sufferings of the British troops before Carthagena, and in the Island of Cuba, where they were stationed for some months, were fully chronicled in the London papers, and from them copied into other journals. So popular was a Spanish war, however, that when volun- teers were called for from other regiments, to raise the regiments ordered on active service up to their war strength, whole companies volunteered for the service, and clamoured to go. Tommy Atkins, a hundred and fifty years ago, looked with the same contempt on a 12 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN BALTON. Spaniard as his sons and grandsons did on the French at the commencement of the great Peninsular War, as recorded in the doggerel : — Two d d Frenchmen, one Portugee, One jolly Englishman lick all three I Nor were the officers any less enthusiastic than the men. The 1st Royals was a two- battalion regiment, and only a certain number of companies were ordered on active service. One battalion was at Cork and the other at Edinburgh. The captains of both battalions agreed to draw lots as to which companies should go abroad. In the Evening Post is this entry : — " Cork, October 6, 1741 .—The Captains of the Royal Regiment have drawn lots for the companies to go to the West Indies, and the Lieutenants and Ensigns are to draw lots to-morrow." Those who drew lucky numbers, as they considered, went with the expedition. Poor fellows ! Most of them had drawn their death-warrants, as but few lived to return home. Here is an extract from another London paper showing the martial spirit evinced by all ranks : — "Cork, October 23, 1741. — All the troops are well and in full spirits, and amount to between 3,000 and 4,000 men. Vast numbers of the men whose lot it was to stay at home are greatly troubled. In one case, MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 13 where two men had cast lots to go, the one who had to stay had but six shillings in the world, and he gave it to his comrade to go in his stead."* I find from the Evening Post that the fleet, having on board the Royals, Blakeney's and Guise's regiments (Guise's being under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Murray in the absence of its colonel, Brigadier Guise, who had gone out with the troops in the previous autumn as one of the four brigadiers), sailed from Cork, October 24, 1741, with a convoy of fifty ships, bound for the West Indies. An epidemic having broken out at the British camp in Cuba, the troops were re-embarked and conveyed to Jamaica in November. The change does not seem to have been profitable, and an English officer writing from Jamaica, early in 1742, to a friend in England, said there was no need for the Spaniards to attack them, as they were dying off as fast as their enemy could wish ! The same writer mentions a naval expe- dition, with a few troops on board, being despatched from Jamaica in the spring of 1742 to make a descent upon some Spanish port ; but no good fortune attended it. I believe it to have been in one of these futile expeditions that Captain James Dalton lost his life, as * London Daily Post, Nov. 5, 1741. 14 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. he was drowned when making a landing in the West Indies in the spring of 1742. In the Gentleman's Magazine for 1742 I find the following notice : — " Died in the West Indies, from March 8 to May 18, Guise's regiment, Captains Hunt, Bell, and Dalton, and «ight lieutenants." Thus, in less than three months, were half the officers in one regiment swept away. Under date of August 27, in this year, the London Daily Post has this sad notice : — " Various letters from Jamaica bring advice that the last land forces that were sent over thither have been so impaired by sickness that there are not half of them capable to bear arms." All through the winter months the transports came staggering home, under-manned, ill-victualled, and often without their commanders, who had perished from disease in the West Indies."* These transports brought the shattered remnants of a once fine army. No regiments suffered more than the Marine regi- ments, as is plainly, set forth in the London Evening Post. * " No less than forty of the commanders of the transports which took out the troops to the West Indies in October, 1740, died there in the space of a few months." — London Daily Post, 1741. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 15 " April 13, 1743. — Yesterday Brigadier- General Blakeney's Regiment of Marines — which consists only of 18 men out of 800, who either died or were killed in the West Indies — landed from Jamaica." Here is another extract regarding Colonel Robinson's Marine regiment, which had been raised in Yorkshire early in 1740, and had formerly consisted of " picked Yorkshiremen " : — " Some marines arrived from Jamaica say that the unhealthiness of the climate is so great, that of Cochran's and Robinson's marine regiments hardly anything is left but the names." Captain James Dalton's widow waited until the return of her husband's regiment to Great Britain before proceeding to prove his will, and it was not until May 9, 1743, that the before-mentioned will was proved in London by his widow. There is no doubt that Captain Dalton left his widow Tery badly provided for. Being of the younger branch of his family, he had no property of his own, the family property being then in the possession of Sir Charles Dalton, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, grandson of Colonel Dalton the Cavalier officer. The pension for a captain's widow in those days was only £26 a year, and I doubt if Mrs. Dalton had much money of her own. 16 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. I must now return to "her son, and say something about his regiment. In September 1741, Colonel Hanmer died, and the Colonelcy of the regiment remained vacant till March 1743, when it was bestowed on Lieu- tenant-Colonel John Duncomb of the Foot Guards. London Gazette — " March 1743. Lieutenant-Colonel John Duncomb., to be Colonel of Marines, late Hanmer's, and Captain of a Company. " Where the regiment was from 1741 to 1743 does not appear, but I am very certain that it was not on active service, as John Dalton was five years a second lieu- tenant, which stagnation in promotion meant home service. Before proceeding to the next landmark in Lieu- tenant Dalton' s career, I must say a few words about the Marine regiments of that time, as they were on a different footing to the present corps of Royal Marines, which was not formed until 1755, and with which the ten Marine regiments of 1740 must not be con- founded. It was the " Merry Monarch" who first introduced Marines into the British service. By his orders six companies of fi lande souldiers *' were raised as a regi- ment to serve on board the fleet. This regiment, which was numbered the Third, the Admiral's, or MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 17 Duke of York's Maritime Regiment, afterwards became a land corps exclusively, and was eventually honoured by being incorporated with General Monk's proud Coldstream Guards. William III. improved on Charles II. 's " Maritime Regiment/' and by his direc- tion two Marine regiments were raised and placed on the establishment of the Royal Navy. Grose, in his Military Antiquities, records that, when required, the rank and file were discharged from their regiments and entered on a ship's books, as foremast men, as soon as they became qualified for such duties. Several Marine regiments were levied by Queen Anne to serve with the Fleet and on land, when occasion required, but to serve as soldiers, and not as sailors as in the previous reign. The 30th, 31st, and 32nd regiments of the Line were originally Marine regiments, and the two latter were raised in 1702 to go with Sir George Rooke's fleet to the Spanish coast. After the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, all the Marine regiments were dis- banded, and it was not till the close of 1739, when active preparations were being made for war with Spain, that these popular regiments of " Jollies/' as the sailors termed them, were again raised. We have already seen, ten Marine regiments were raised in 1740, and, as they were to go on active service, members of the best families in England were glad to 2 18 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. obtain commissions in them. They were purchase regiments and were officered from the Line. Promo- tion was rapid, and exchanges to and from Line regi- ments could be easily effected; but all this ceased when the Corp3 of Royal Marines was raised in 1755. History does not record whether these old Marine regiments were credited with the inordinate amount of tale-believing credulityt hat sailors are said to lay to the charge of the Marines of this century ; but as they were a good deal on land in those good old days, they probably had to swallow some strange yarns from " Jack M when they went afloat. Before leaving the subject of the old Marine regiments, it is necessary to state that they ranked after the 43rd regiment of the Line. Thus the 44th was Churchill's 1st Marines, which consisted of ten companies of 100 men each ; the 45th was Frazer's 2nd Marines; the 46th was Holmes's 3rd Marines ; the 47th was Byng's 4th Marines ; the 48th was Cochran's 5th Marines ; the 49th was Robinson's 6th Marines ; the 50th was Cornwall's 7th Marines; the 51st was Duncomb's 8th Marines; the 52nd was Powlett's 9th Marines; and the 53rd was Sir Andrew Agnew's 10th Marines. In 1747 there were sixty-six Line regiments, including the above ten Marine regiments. When the ten Marine regiments were reduced in 1748 and 1749, the MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 19 Line regiments below the ten Marine regiments ranked after the 43rd regiment according to seniority, but none of the regiments were called by their seniority numbers till 1751 ; before that date each regiment was called after its colonel for the time being. 20 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. CHAPTEE II. The Cruise of H.M.S. " Preston," 1743-1748. On December 12, 1743, John Dalton was appointed 2nd Lieutenant of Marines to H.M.S. " Preston," of 50 guns — then at Spithead — commanded by Captain the Earl of Northesk,* with a complement of 300 men. The Marines only numbered twenty-four, including the officer. After a short cruise in the Downs the " Preston" returned to Spithead, and in March, 1744, sailed from Portsmouth with Commodore Barnet's squadron for India, and the following extract from the London Gazette gives us the object of the expedition : — " In consequence of applications made by the East India Company to the Lords of the Admiralty, Com- modore Barnet, with the ships under his command, * The Right Hon. George Carnegie, sixth Earl of Northesk, was appointed to the " Preston " on September 14, 1742. — London Daily Post. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 21 viz., the ' Deptford ' and ' Medway ' of 60 guns, the 1 Preston ' of 50, and one of 20, sailed from Ports- mouth for India to protect settlements in those parts." From the muster books of the " Preston " at the Public Record Office, I have been able to trace all the movements of this ship, which, supplemented by extracts from historical works, fill in the history of the " Preston's " cruise and furnish us with mile-stones and finger-posts, speaking metaphorically, in Lieu- tenant Dalton's early career. Feb. 20, 1744 The Downs. March 30, 1744 May 2, 1744 May 29, 1744 June 5, 1744 Spithead. At sea. St. Jago. At sea. August 29, 1744 do. Extract from the London Gazette, August 1744 : — " Letters from Commodore Barnet who arrived at Porto Pray a on the island of St. Jago, 26th of May last, with a squadron of His Majesty's ships under his command, gives an account that he found rideing in the road a Spanish privateer called the ' Amiable Maria' of 14 carriage and 12 swivel guns and 79 22 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. men, together with a Pink of about 250 Tons under Spanish colours, which he at first took no notice of, having no intention to violate the neutrality of the King of Portugal's Port, but being afterwards informed that Privateer had taken Pink together with a Brigan- tine and burnt two other English ships which were all at anchor in the Island of May, and whose men they left on that island, the Commodore acquainted the Governor that finding Privateer had so notoriously violated Neutrality of Island of May, he did not think himself obliged to observe any with regard to her, and he accordingly summoned Privateer and Pink to sur- render, which they did, and he took possession of them.', Sept. 4, 1744 Sept. 13, 1744 Sept. 21, 1744 Nov. 7, 1744 Nov. 14, 1744 Dec. 13, 1744 Feb. 4, 1745 Feb. 22, 1745 April 29, 1745 May 6, 1745 June 3, 1745 July 22, 1745 St. Augustine Bay. Madagascar. At sea. At Prince's Island. Batavia. Anchored off Luceparas. Straights of Sunda. Batavia Road. Sunda. At sea. Off Ceylon. Fort St. David. MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. 23 The following extracts from Orme's History of India, explain the above cruise of the " Preston w : — M War was now declared between Great Britain and France, in consequence of which a squadron of English men of war appeared in the Indian seas. It consisted of two 60-gun ships, one of 50 and a frigate of 20 guns : these ships did not come immediately to the English settlements in Indostan, but passing beyond them cruised in two divisions in the straights of Sunda and Malacca. They took in these stations three French ships returning from China to Europe,* and one returning from Manilla to Pondicherry ; the cargoes of which produced £180,000 sterling After rendezvousing at Batavia, the squadron united appeared on the Coast of Coromandel in the month of July 1745, at which time the garrison of Pondicherry consisted of no more than 436 Europeans \ its fortifica- tions were not completed, and no French squadron had hitherto appeared in India." The French Governor of Pondicherry was so alarmed for the safety of that place, that he asked the Nabob of Arcot to insist with the English Company at Madras that Commodore Barnet should confine his operations to * Commodore Barnet took a French 50-gun ship and three prizes. (Campbell's Naval History, vol. iv. page 54.) 24 MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN DALTON. the sea. The Nabob being won over to this one-sided bargain, ordered the English Governor to inform the Commodore that no hostilities must take place on land, or he — the Nabob of the Carnatic — would make the town of Madras suffer for it. "This threat," says Orme, " made so much impression upon the government of Madras, that they requested and prevailed on Com- modore Barnet to confine his operations to the sea. He therefore sent one of the 50-gun ships to cruise in the road of Balasore at the entrance of the river Ganges, where she took two or three French ships returning from different parts of India to the French settlements in Bengal/' The ship sent to Balasore was the " Preston," as the following dates show : — August 14, 1745 . . At sea. Sept. 4, 1745 ... In Balasore road. 