Passages in the Early Military Life of General Sir George T. Napier, K. C. B

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Passages in the Early Military Life of General Sir George T. Napier, K. C. B at Ike, age of 50 . ofFlcrreroce- . PASSAGES IN THE EARLY MILITARY LIFE OF GENERAL SIR GEORGE T. NAPIER, KGB. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF EDITED BY HIS SON GENERAL W. C. E. NAPIER WITH PORTRAIT LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1884 All rights reservrii DEDICATED TO THE 52 ND LIGHT INFANTRY IN WHICH GLOBIOUS REGIMENT SIR GEORGE NAPIER RECEIVED HIS EDUCATION AS A SOLDIER AND PASSED THE HAPPIEST YEARS OF HIS MILITARY CAREER 495928 PEEFACE. THE narrative from which the following extracts are taken was written in the year 1828 by my father, entirely for the instruction and amusement of his children, and not with any view to publi- cation. Having lately become possessed of the manuscript, it has appeared to me and to others of my family that the publication of portions of it might be useful to young officers, and not with- out interest to the general reader, as it relates to stirring times, and treats of scenes and men of historic interest and fame. I therefore venture to lay these extracts before the public, premising that if the language used and the lessons of morality and conduct inculcated appear to be simple and homely, it must be recollected that Vlll PREFACE. the narrative was written for boys and girls of a tender age. General Sir George Thomas Napier was the second son of Colonel the Hon. George and Lady Sarah Napier. He was born in June 1784, en- tered the army in January 1800, at the age of fifteen and a half, served in the Corufia cam- paign as aide-de-camp to Sir John Moore, and in the Peninsular war with the 52nd Eegiment ; served afterwards in the Guards ; was Governor of the Cape of Good Hope 1838-44, and died at Geneva on the 8th of September, 1855. What his character was will be gathered from the narrative itself. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Choice of a Profession Sir Charles Napier Sir William Napier Captain Henry Napier, R.N. 24th Light Dragoons 46th Regiment Sir James Duff 52nd Regiment Sir John Moore Mr. Conolly Debt Threatened Invasion of England Lord Frederick Bentinck Recruiting in Ireland Sir Samuel Gibbs Colonel the Honourable George Napier Lord Comwallis Nelson Collingwood Tangier A Levanter Tetuan Ceuta Messina Scylla and Charybdis Things that an Officer should observe when Travelling Should keep a Journal Courts-Martial Sicily 1 CHAPTER II. Expedition to Sweden Portugal Convention of Cintra Aide- de-Camp to Sir John Moore Anecdote of Moore March to Salamanca Retreat on Coruna General Lefevre Desnouettes Lugo Army Disorganised Officers Grumbling Their Duty to obey, not to criticise Battle of Coruna Death of Sir John Moore Majors Napier and Stanhope of the 50th Regiment Sir David Baird The Duke of York Sir David Dundas General Order on the Death of Moore Despatch of the Battle of Coruna 40 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. THE PENINSULAR WAR. PAGE Lord Lynedoch Passage of the Douro March of Craufurd's Brigade to Talavera Retreat to Portugal Sickness among the Troops The Lines of Torres Vedras Lord Wellington Gallantry of a French Detachment The Private Soldier Combat of the Coa General Alava Battle of Busaco Retreat to the Lines of Torres Vedras The Medical Depart- ment Lisbon Young Ladies Captain Pakenham, R.N. 103 CHAPTER IV. Advance from the Lines of Torres Vedras Night Alarm The' Brunswick Oels Regiment Execution of Deserters Wel- lington's kindness of Heart Pursuit of Massena French method of obtaining Provisions Affair of Redinha Adjutant Winterbottom, 52nd Regiment Sir William Erskine Death of Lieutenant Gifford, 52nd Regiment A Hot Day's Work Brother William and self wounded Lord March Colonel Light Private John Dunn Coimbra General Beckwith Adventure with a Thief. 160 CHAPTER V. Promotion General Craufurd refuses to let me join the Portu- guese Army Lord Beresford Portuguese Army Colonel Ross. 52nd Regiment Siege of Ceudad Rodrigo Assault of the Lesser Breach Lieutenant Gurwood, 52nd Regiment Wounded Prince of Orange General Vandeleur Arm Amputated Medical Etiquette Colonel Colborne, 52nd Regiment General Craufurd His Death The Light Division Craufurd's character Wellington's care of his Sick and Wounded Return to England 202 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER VI. PAGE Marriage Appointed to the Staff at York Rejoin the 52nd at St. Jean de Luz Lord March joins the Regiment Decline a Staff Appointment Character of Sir Edward Pakenham His Death at New Orleans Sir Samuel Gibbs Battle of Orthez Lord March wounded Anecdote of Wellington Tarbes Colonel Sturgeon Conduct of the Spanish Army in France That of the Portuguese That of the French Battle of Toulouse Councils of War condemned Welling- ton's character. 232 CHAPTER VII. Appointed to the Command of the 71st Light Infantry Succeed in restoring the Tone and Discipline of the Regiment How to Command a Regiment Was Soult aware of the Peace when he Fought the Battle of Toulouse ? The 71st left to bring up the rear of the Army marching to Bordeaux Good Conduct of the Regiment on the March Arrive at Bordeaux Adventure on the River Sail for England. 264 CHAPTER VIII. Concluding Extract Death and Burial of Lady Louisa Conolly. 284 Addenda and Errata. ' Page 16, insert as foot-note to 'Colonel Eowan (line 10), 'Colonel Charles Rowan served in the Peninsula, France, and Flanders ; was wounded at Waterloo.' 26, 1. 14, for in the read on the very spot 34, 1. 3 from foot, for that our soldiers read and our soldiers 43, 1. 6, for Burnard read Burrard 48, 1. 1, delete he before did ' 70, insert as foot-note to ' Major-General Sir Henry Hardinge * (1. 9), Major-General Sir Henry Hardinge, G.C.B., was born in 1785, became Governor-General of India in 1844, was created Viscount Hardinge of Lahore in 1846, commander- in-chief of the British army in 1852, field-marshal in 1855, and died in 1856.' 106, insert as foot-note to 'Sir H. D. Eoss' (1. 12), 'Sir Hew Dalrymple Ross, K.C.B., was dangerously wounded at Bada- jos; he served in France and at Waterloo, and became adjutant-general of artillery.' 136, 1. 8, for Lord Downes read Lord Downe GENERAL SIR GEORGE T. NAPIER. CHAPTER I. Choice of a Profession Sir Charles Napier Sir William Napier Captain Henry Napier, R.N. 24th Light Dragoons 46th Regiment Sir James Duff 52nd Regiment Sir John Moore Mr. Conolly Debt Threatened Invasion of England Lord Frederick Bentinck Recruiting in Ireland Sir Samuel Gibbs Colonel the Honourable George Napier Lord Cornwallis Nelson Collingwood Tangier a Levanter Tetuan Ceuta Messina Scylla and Charybdis Things that an Officer should observe when Travelling Should keep a Journal Courts- Martial Sicily. I WAS at first determined to be a sailor, and was ' entered on the books of the Invincible,' Captain but as the sea Thomas Packenham ; disagreed with me I did not join the ship. I then thought I would be a clergyman (and a good clergyman, let is the of and if me observe, most respectable men ; he has the will, has the power to do more real good to his fellow-creatures, and particularly to the other of poor, than almost any member society ; B 2 GEKERAL SLR GEORGE T. NAPIER. CH. i. there is no situation in which one can, by a scrupulous discharge of one's duty, prove more useful to mankind in this life, or more sure of being acceptable to God in the next), as niy uncle, Mr. Conolly, had a living in Bedfordshire which he would have given me when fit for it. However, after working at Latin I was so idle, and disliked it so much, that I would not go into the Church, but said I would be a soldier, as I liked fighting, a red coat, and a sword ! Now here it is necessary to observe that it was lucky I was only a little boy at the time, and did not know my own mind, therefore, the saying I would change my profes- sion was mere words and did not signify. Had I been a young man and entered first the Navy, then altered my mind and gone to College to study for the Church, got tired of study, and after all entered the Army, why, I should have been fit for nothing, being too old to like the drill and a subaltern must I should hard work go through ; have acquired lazy and idle habits, and been totally unfit for my profession, which, above all others (except the navy), requires a man to be strong in body and mind, able and willing to bear and of all kinds fatigue, deprivations, hardships ; CH. I. SIR CHARLES NAPIER. 3 and not only to bear them without a murmur, but to seek them, always volunteering for every sort of for the the the more duty ; greater fatigue, severe the hardships, and greater the danger, the more glorious is the soldier's life. When a man once fixes on a profession he is bound to pursue it ardently, zealously, and indefatigably, till he mounts to the top of it, or is provided for by death. Now to resume my narrative. Being, as I said, determined to enter the army, I studied, or rather flattered myself I studied, mathematics and French, but not being much looked after, what I did learn was very superficial, and I soon forgot it all, to my inexpressible sorrow^ as even the little I did acquire would now be of vast use to you [his children]. Your uncle Charles, on the contrary, being very clever, persevering, and of a studious turn of mind, learned so well and so thoroughly, that he soon got over all difficulties, and made himself master of the theoretical part of his pro- fession by the time he was a captain, and was ' appointed to a regiment called the Staff Corps,' which only such officers as are good mathema- ticians, understand fortification, military drawing, B 2 4 GENERAL SIR GEORGE T.
Recommended publications
  • Sir Charles Napier
    englt~fJ atlnl of Xlction SIR CHARLES NAPIER I\I.~~III SIR CHARLES NAPIER. SIR CHARLES NAPIER BY COLONEL SIR WILLIAM F.BUTLER 3ionbon MACMILLAN AND cn AND NEW YORK 1890 .AU rlgjts f'<8erved CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAOB THI HOME AT CELBRIDGE--FIRST COllMISSION CHAPTER II EARLY SEBVICE--THE PENINSULA. 14 CHAPTER III CoRUIIINA 27 CHAPTER IV THE PENINSULA IN 1810-11-BEIUIUDA-AMERICA -RoYAL MILITARY COLLEGE. 46 CHAPTER V CEPHALONIA 62 • CHAPTER VI OUT OF HARNESS 75 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER VII PAOK COlWA..'ID OJ' THE NORTHERN DISTRICT • 86 CHAPTER VIII bmIA-THE WAR IN Scn.""DE 98 CHAPTER IX . ~.17 CHAPTER X THE MORROW OJ' lliANEE-THE ACTION AT DUBBA 136 CHAPTER XI THE ADHINISTRATION OJ' ScnlDE • • 152 CHAPTER XII ENGLAND--1848 TO 1849 175 CHAPTER XIII ColDlANDER-IN-CHlEl!' IN INDIA 188 CHAPTER XIV HOKE-LAsT ILLNESS-DEATH THE HOldE AT CELBRIDGE-FIRST COMMISSION • TEN miles west of Dublin, on the north bank of the Liffey, stands a village of a single street, called Celbridge. In times so remote that their record only survives in a name, some Christian hermit built here himself a cell for house, church, and tomb; a human settlement took root around the spot; deer-tracks' widened into pathways; pathways broadened into roads; and at last a bridge spanned the neighbouring stream. The church and the bridge, two prominent land-marks on the road of civilisation, jointly named the place, and Kildrohid or "the church by the bridge" became hence­ forth a local habitation and a name, twelve hundred years later to be anglicised into.
    [Show full text]
  • Young People's Gatherings in the Urban Public Realm Enhancement
    Young People's Gatherings Ref 066 in the Urban Public Realm enhancement of or distraction from its liveability Reem Zako University College London, London, United Kingdom [email protected] Keywords spatial configuration; social structures; urban space; public realm; young people Abstract This paper focuses on where young people gather in the urban public realm, and the effect that this may have on the perceived liveability of an area. Gatherings of young people have become very topical in the UK in recent years, especially because of the way that the public perceives this activity as intimidating and potentially aggressive. This has resulted in much concern by the public and interest by the press about the consequential antisocial nature of these gatherings, leading to government debate and legislation to control the antisocial behaviour of young children and adolescents in public space. The study is based on a questionnaire/survey distributed to residents in twenty housing estates and residential developments in London's city fringe district of Clerkenwell. The aim of the study was to capture the residents' perceptions about the liveability of their locality through an assessment of twenty-four different types of criteria relating to the built environment, including the condition of the urban fabric, the effects of traffic, and the prevalence of anti-social activities and behaviour. The dominant factor affecting the perceived liveability of an area was found to be the extent to which the public realm was blighted by the threatening nature
    [Show full text]
  • STATE of POLICING Foreword This Is My Report to the Secretary of State Under Section 54 of the Police Act 1996
    © PA Images STATE OF POLICINGOF STATE Foreword This is my report to the Secretary of State under section 54 of the Police Act 1996. It contains my assessment of the efectiveness FOREWORD and efciency of policing in England and Wales, based on the inspections we carried out between April 2018 and May 2019. My report on the efectiveness and efciency of fire and rescue services in England will be published separately. This report’s structure and purpose Part 1 contains my assessment of the state of policing in England and Wales. In making my assessment, I have drawn on the inspections we carried out over the past year, as well as the fndings and reports of other organisations, and other information and analysis available to me. Part 2 gives an overview of the fndings of the inspections we carried out between 1 April 2018 and 2 May 2019, including a summary of our police effciency, effectiveness and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections. Part 3 sets out the full list of our inspections and other work in the year in question. The results of our individual inspections enable an assessment of the performance of individual forces, or a more general assessment of performance in specifc aspects of policing. I hope that people, including the public, who hold policing to account will draw on the overall conclusions in this report just as much as they draw on the specifc conclusions we have reached for each force. 6 STATE OF POLICINGOF STATE FOREWORD © Sussex Police Changes to our PEEL programme Inspection is a continuous process of design, monitoring and reporting; it isn’t just when we have ‘boots on the ground’.
    [Show full text]
  • The Napier Papers
    THE NAPIER PAPERS PHILIP V. BLAKE-HILL A. THE FIRST SERIES IN 1956 the Department of Manuscripts incorporated in its collections a series of papers of various members of the Napier family which had been bequeathed by Miss Violet Bunbury Napier, youngest daughter of General William Craig Emilius Napier. They commence with those of the Hon. George Napier, 6th son of Francis, 6th Baron Napier of Merchiston, and continue with those of four of his sons, Charles, George, William, and Richard, and Sir Charles's daughter, Emily. They have been arranged in eighty- eight volumes of papers (Add. MSS. 49086-49172) and twenty-four charters, mostly army commissions (Add. Ch. 75438, 75767, 75769-75790). The first series is divided into sub-sections: (i) the Hon. George Napier, (2) Sir Charles James Napier, (3) Emily Cefalonia^ and William Craig Emilius Napier, (4) Sir George Thomas Napier, (5) Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, and (6) Richard Napier. The relationship between them is shown in the genealogical table. At the end is a section consisting of papers of other members of the family. I. Papers of George and Lady Sarah Napier The Hon. George Napier married en secondes noces Lady Sarah Bunbury, daughter of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and divorced wife of Sir Thomas Bunbury: she was the famous beauty to whom George III had once proposed. Although some of her corre- spondence is included in this section, the majority of the papers are the official documents and letters of Napier in his capacities as Comptroller of the Royal Laboratory, Woolwich (1782-3),^ Deputy Quartermaster General of the Army (1794 8), and Comptroller of Army Accounts, Ireland (1799-1804).
    [Show full text]
  • The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829
    Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 55 Article 18 Issue 1 March Spring 1964 The etrM opolitan Police Act of 1829 J. L. Lyman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation J. L. Lyman, The eM tropolitan Police Act of 1829, 55 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 141 (1964) This Criminology is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. POLICE SCIENCE THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829: An Analysis of Certain Events Influencing the Passage and Character of the Metropolitan Police Act in England J. L. LYMAN J. L. Lyman, D. Pub. Adm. (Oxon.) is an Assistant Professor, Department of Social Science, Youngstown (Ohio) University. In addition to graduate study in history and political institutions at London University, Dr. Lyman spent time as an observer with the Metropolitan Police and various other English police units. In 1958 she lectured before the Ohio Chiefs of Police Association on the Organization and Administration of the Metropolitan Police, and has published articles in several other professional journals.-EDroR. The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 introduced system had become ineffective. Tradition and the a centralized and unified system of police in concepts of tlhe new industrial capitalism delayed England. The Act constituted a revolution in both the recognition of, and the willingness to deal traditional methods of law enforcement.
    [Show full text]
  • Ireland and the Waterloo Campaign of 1815 Peter Molloy
    Journal of Military History and Defence Studies Volume 1. Issue 1. (January 2020) Ireland and the Waterloo campaign of 1815 Peter Molloy Abstract Ireland’s experience of the Waterloo campaign has been consistently under- explored, despite the degree of attention paid to the campaign by historians. This paper shows that that experience was far more significant and multi-faceted than has generally been recognised. Irish people played an important practical role in the events of 1815. Irish soldiers saw service in their thousands during the campaign, at every rank from private to general. These men represented a comprehensive cross-section of contemporary Ireland, coming from every county on the island and from every kind of socio-economic background. Some Irish soldiers and military units earned distinction for their actions on the battlefield and a number of participants from the country left valuable primary testimony. Civilian Irish women and children were also caught up in events in Belgium. Domestically, Ireland was a centre of activity as hostilities against Napoleon developed and analysis of contemporary media coverage and private correspondence makes it clear that ongoing events on the Continent had a keenly engaged Irish audience. Waterloo also left a distinctive legacy for Ireland and for Irish people. This paper explores all of these issues in detail, providing a thorough examination based on primary sources to address the impact of Waterloo on Ireland, and of the Irish on Waterloo. This paper is a reproduction of an MA thesis submitted for the MA in Military History and Strategic Studies at Maynooth University in 2011 and published online via the Maynooth University Research Archive Library MURAL in 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • Confidence in the Police: Balancing Public Image with Community Safety - a Comparative Review of the Literature
    Confidence in the police: Balancing public image with community safety - A comparative review of the literature Author Keane, John, Bell, Peter Published 2013 Journal Title International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2013.06.003 Copyright Statement © 2013 Elsevier. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/64986 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Confidence in the police: balancing public image with community safety – a comparative review of the literature Examining the evolution of British and Australian policing, this comparative review of the literature considers the impact of community legitimacy derived from early concepts of policing by consent against contemporary policing challenges. Using the August 2011 disorder in Britain as a lens, this paper considers whether, in striving to maintain community confidence, undue emphasis is placed on the police’s public image at the expense of community safety. Examining the path of policing reform, the impact of bureaucracy on policing and the evolving debate surrounding police performance, this review suggests that, while largely delivering on the ideal of an ethical and strong police force, a preoccupation with self-image may in fact result in tarnishing the very thing British and Australian police forces strive to achieve – their standing with the public. This paper advocates for a more realistic goal of gaining public respect rather than affection in order to achieve the difficult balance between maintaining trust and respect as an approachable, ethical entity providing firm, confident policing in this ever-evolving, modern society.
    [Show full text]
  • May 2004 Front
    LENT 2013 COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS Give thanks and celebrate the good things in your life this Lent with our thought-provoking Count Your Blessings calendar enclosed in this edition of the Review. Each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, forty bite-sized reflections will inspire you to give thanks for the blessings in your life, and enable you to step out in prayer and action to help FKDQJH WKH OLYHV RI WKH ZRUOG·V SRRUHVW communities. To order more copies please ring 611 0801 or write to us at: Christian Aid, 17 Clanwilliam Terrace Dublin 2 8 9 9 6 Y H C www.christianaid.ie CHURCH OF IRE LAND UNITE D DIOCE S ES CHURCH REVIEW OF DUB LIN AND GLE NDALOUGH ISSN 0790-0384 The Most Reverend Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough, Church Review is published monthly Primate of Ireland and Metropolitan. and usually available by the first Sunday. Please order your copy from your Parish by annual sub scription. €40 for 2013 AD. POSTAL SUBSCRIIPTIIONS//CIIRCULATIION Archbishop’s Lette r Copies by post are available from: Charlotte O’Brien, ‘Mountview’, The Paddock, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow. E: [email protected] T: 086 026 5522. FEBRUARY 2013 The cost is the subscription and appropriate postage. I was struck early in the New Year, while leafing through a newspaper, to find the following statement: Happiness and vulnerability are often the same thing. It was not a religious paper and in COPY DEADLIINE no way did the sentiment it voiced set out to be theological. However, it got me thinking, as often All editorial material MUST be with the I find to be the case with certain things which say something from their own context into another Editor by 15th of the preceeding and quite different context, about something important to me.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa and Sarah Lennox 1740 - 1832 Free Download
    ARISTOCRATS: CAROLINE, EMILY, LOUISA AND SARAH LENNOX 1740 - 1832 FREE DOWNLOAD Stella Tillyard | 480 pages | 14 Mar 1995 | Vintage Publishing | 9780099477112 | English | London, United Kingdom Lady Sarah Lennox It was not normal at the time for monarchs to have non-Royal spouses. Since all of us, at any given point and regardless of motive, end up peeking into the lives of others, it is perhaps no surprise to see the genre of historical biography have such success - we all love even just 5 m of gossiping That really spoke to me at this point in my life. What lives they led, what people they met, what a fascinating, turbulent time to be alive! Showing Customer reviews. Sarah was pushed into a marriage with Thomas Bunbury, a man of little sense, money, or desire for his teenaged bride. I'm really enjoying reading this book about the Lennox sisters, it is really well written and a fascinating true story. I was more curious about their Louisa and Sarah Lennox 1740 - 1832 to day lives than their politics. They developed one of the first Industrial Schools where boys learnt trades, and Lady Louisa took active personal interest in Emily the students. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Other editions. It's also a nice corrective Louisa and Sarah Lennox 1740 - 1832 all the Regency romances out there that give the impression that women had a lot more say in their lives at this moment of history. There are some sections at the beginnings of Aristocrats: Caroline chapters where she indulges in some fictional explorations of their inner minds, but I could accept these as the scenes Aristocrats: Caroline paints resonate with the facts so carefully Emily.
    [Show full text]
  • The Life and Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox, 1745-1826
    Vfi H ex-* 7*" QJacnell HntBersity ffiihraty Stljaca, Keid gork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Date Due SEP—? 7 1941 MAY 2 7 1'349 j 11 1357 T,S MW 12- 2Z=£: CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 743 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088010743 THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF Lady Sarah Lennox First Edition .... October, 1901. Reprinted November, 1901. Reprinted December, 1901. Reprinted January, 1902. Reprinted March, 1902. THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF Lady Sarah Lennox 1745-1826 DAUGHTER OF CHARLES, 2ND DUKE OF RICHMOND, AND SUCCESSIVELY THE WIFE OF SIR THOMAS CHARLES BUNBURY, BART., AND OF THE HON: GEORGE NAPIER; ALSO A SHORT POLITICAL SKETCH "OF THE YEARS 1760 TO 1763 BY HENRY FOX, 1ST LORD HOLLAND EDITED BY THE COUNTESS OF ILCHESTER AND LORD STAVORDALE With numerous Photogravure Portraits VOLUME I. LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1902 fyv\3r^ PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE MEMORY OF MY DEAR MOTHER-IN-LAW THE HON. MRS FOX STRANGWAYS TO WHOSE INSPIRATION IN BYGONE DAYS THE PUBLICATION OF THESE PAGES IS LARGELY DUE INTRODUCTION. Lady Sarah Lennox, fourth daughter of Charles, second Duke of Richmond, and Sarah, second daughter of William, Earl Cadogan, was the heroine of so much that is romantic, and was so constantly in touch with many persons of historical and general interest during her long and eventful life, that I think no apology is needed for bringing her letters before those who care to read them.
    [Show full text]
  • The Napoleon Series
    The Napoleon Series List of Officers, Killed, Wounded, and Missing at Waterloo: 18 June 1815 (Extracted from the London Gazette.) KILLED General Staff—Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, G. C. B.; Major-General Sir W. Ponsonby, K. C. B.; Colonel Baron Charles Ompteda; Lieutenant-Colonel E. Currie, Ninetieth Foot, A. A. General. Brigade Major Staff, K. G. L.—Captain Henry Weigman. General Staff—Captain Honourable William Curzon, Sixty-ninth Foot, D. A. A. G.; Captain Walter Crofton, Fifty-fourth Foot, Brigade-Major; Captain T. Reignolds (Major), Second R. N. B. Dragoons, Brigade-Major; Captain Charles Eccles, Ninety-fifty Foot, Brigade-Major, Captain de Cloudt, K. G. L. First Life-Guards—Major Samuel Ferrior (Lieutenant-Colonel), and Captain M. Lind. Second Life-Guards—Richard Fitzgerald (Lieutenant-Colonel). Royal Regiment Horse-Guards Blue—Major Robert C. Pack. First Dragoon Guards—Captain John D. Bringhurst (Major); Captain George Battersby; and Adjutant Thomas Shelver. Second or R. N. B. Dragoons—Lieutenant-Colonel James J. Hamilton; Captain G. L. Barnard; Lieutenant Trotter; Cornets Edward Westly, F. C. Kinchant, and L. Shuldham. Sixth Dragoons—Adjutant Michael Cluskey. Tenth Hussars—Major Hon F. Howard, and Lieutenant George Gunning. Eleventh Light Dragoons—Lieutenant Edward Phillips. Twelfth Light Dragoons—Lieutenant L. J. Bertie, and Cornet J. F. Lockhart. Thirteenth Light Dragoons—Captain James Gubbins. Fifteenth Hussars—Major Edward Griffith, and Lieutenant Isaac Sherwood. Sixteenth Light Dragoons—Captain J. P. Buchanan; and Cornet Alexander Hay. First Light Dragoons, K. G. L.—Captain Frederick Peters; and Lieutenants C. F. Sevetson and Otto Kuhlmann. Second Light Dragoons, K. G. L.—Captain F.
    [Show full text]
  • The Contribution of the Irish Soldier to the British Army During the Peninsula Campaign 1808 – 1814
    The Journal of Military History and Defence Studies Volume 1 Issue 1 (January 2020) The contribution of the Irish soldier to the British Army during the Peninsula campaign 1808 – 1814 James Deery The majority of the historiography concerning the Irish contribution to the British army during their campaign on the Iberian Peninsula (1808 -1814) has focused on the Irish regiments and their service with Wellington in Portugal, Spain and France. While the significance of research into these regiments is undeniable it has unintentionally resulted in an under appreciation of the true extent of the Irish soldier’s contribution. The purpose of this paper is to add to the existing historiography by examining the wider Irish contribution in order to arrive at an empirical based assessment as to the criticality of the Irish soldier to Wellington’s victory during the Peninsula war. The majority of Irish soldiers who served in the Peninsula did so in English and Scottish infantry regiments. Their abilities and crucially their integration into the British army were key success factors for Wellington during the Peninsula campaign. An examination of how this was achieved forms a key part of this paper which finds that the capabilities of the Irish soldier and the British army organisational structure and system mutually supported each other. Furthermore, the Irish officer’s contribution has only been assessed based on individual accounts and narratives in the absence of any in-depth evaluation of their actual numbers. With over 30 per cent of Wellington’s officers being Irish an analysis of their levels of command was undertaken to demonstrate their significance to the overall conduct and operation of the Peninsula army.
    [Show full text]