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  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.




GENERAL ORDERS.


  _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_.




PREFACE.


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.




  HISTORICAL RECORD

  OF THE

  SECOND,

  OR

  QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT
  OF FOOT;

  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.


[Illustration: SECOND (THE QUEEN'S ROYAL) REGIMENT OF FOOT.]




  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.




HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE SECOND,

OR

QUEEN'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF FOOT.


[Sidenote: 1661]

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].

[Sidenote: 1662]

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.'

[Sidenote: 1663]

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.

[Sidenote: 1664]

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