A brief history of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, 1755 to 1915

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Contents

Sections Page

I. — 1755-1763. — Origin of the Regiment and its Services in North

America as 60th Eoyal Americans - - 2 — 6

Preface

The first edition of this abridged history of the Regiment was in part prepared by certain members of the History Committee, edited by the Chairman, and published in 1912. The first edition of 7,500 copies having been exhausted, a second edition, bringing the history up to the 31st December, 1915, is now published at the request of the General Committee of the Celer et Audax Club.

The Editor, Chairman of the History Committee (Lieut.- General Sir Edward Hutton), is indebted to the following members of the Regimental History Committee: — Major-General Astley Terry, Brigadier-General the Hon. C. Sackville-West, Lieut. - Colonel Sir Hereward Wake, and also to Brigadier- General Horatio Mends for the contribution, wholly or in part, of Part I, Sec. 3 ; Part II, Sees. 4 and 5 ; Part III, Sees. 9 and 10 ; and Part III, Sees. 7 and 8 respectively. Colonel Lewis Butler, author of The Annals of the Regiment, and Colonel R. Byron, d.s.o., Editor of the Regimental Chronicle, have also lent their valuable assistance. The Editor holds himself alone responsible for the opinions given, and for the deductions drawn.

Every effort has been made to narrate in a concise and popular form the origin, history, and world-wide services of the several battalions, so that every Rifleman may be able to learn at least the outlines of the history of his Regiment — a Corps whose battle honours are unequalled in number, and whose reputation for discipline and courage is unsurpassed in the annals of the British Army.

As Section X (South African War, 1899-1902) and Section XII (Present Great War, August 4th, 1914, to December 31st, 1915) deal with contemporaneous history, and concern members of the Regiment still serving, it has been deemed advisable to adopt a short record of events by battalions, leaving to the historian of the Regiment the compilation hereafter of the complete narrative.

The gallant exploits of the Regiment are here given in no spirit of pride or self-adulation, but with the earnest hope that, profiting by the example of their predecessors, the present and future generations of Riflemen may not only successfully maintain as a sacred trust the credit and renown of The King's Royal Rifle Corps, but may also still further add to the honours and reputation already won. The Editob.

December 31st, 1916, b

THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS.

ORIGIN.

60th ROYAL AMERICANS

HENRY BOUQUET.

I

1755-1763. — Origin of the Regiment and its Services in North America, as 60th Royal Americans-

The Regiment was raised during 1755-56 in North America under special conditions — Christmas Day, 1755, has always been adopted as the actual birthday — for the express purpose of assisting our Army to retrieve the terrible disaster which had befallen the British troops under General Braddock on the 8th July, 1755, at the hands of a smaller force of French and Red Indians in the forest fastnesses upon the banks of the Ohio River. It had been found that the slow and ponderous movements of troops trained upon the German model, with their heavy accoutrements, tight uniforms, and unsuitable tactics, were helpless against savages, and almost equally helpless against soldiers such as those of France then serving in America, who were habituated to war in the dense forests and trackless wastes of that country. It was therefore decided by the British Government to raise in America, from the Colonists themselves, a force which should be able to meet these conditions.

Designated as the 62nd, and the following year as the 60th Royal Americans, the Regiment was accordingly formed of 4,000 men in four battalions, and General The Earl of Loudoun, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in America, was appointed Colonel-in-Chief. It was recruited from settlers, mainly of German and Swiss origin, in the States of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina, to which were added volunteers from British regiments and others from Europe. Many of the senior officers and a considerable number of the Company officers were also drawn from the armies of Europe, some of them being highly trained and experienced soldiers.

Through the bold initiative of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Bouquet,* a Swiss officer of distinction, commanding the 1st Battalion, the 60th Royal Americans adopted Colonial methods of equipment, simpler drill, open formations, and the Indian system

•Afterwards Brigadier-General Bouquet. Born 1719, died 1765. The viotor of Bushey Run. A brilliant officer, of the highest capacity as a leader and administrator. It has been said that by his untimely death Great Britain lost a general whose presence might well have caused the American War of Independence to assume a different aspeot. Vide Biographical sketch, Regimental Chroniole, 1910, now published by Messrs. Warren, Winchester. Vide also Bouquet MS., British Museum.

of forest warfare, thus early acquiring those attributes of individual 1768

action, swift initiative, and of elastic though firm discipline, which have been the conspicuous characteristics of the Regiment throughout its long and brilliant career, characteristics which have made its reputation. Thus equipped, The Royal American Regiment from its very beginning played a distinguished and memorable part in establishing British power in North America.

The great struggle between France and England for supremacy in America was at its height, when early in 1758, Abercromby,* who had succeeded Loudoun as Commander-in-Chief, decided upon a general advance. The plan of campaign was to invade Canada on two fronts — one from the South, vid Lake Cham- July 8th, 1758, plain, upon Montreal and the Western portion of Canada, MCOHDEROGA. and the other from the East by sea, vid Louisburg (Cape Breton) and the St. Lawrence River, upon Quebec and the Eastern.

The 1st and 4th Battalions, under Bouquet and Haldimand, f formed part of the main Army in the Western Field of operations, and on the banks of Lake Champlain, at the memorable defeat of Ticonderoga, " at once a glory and a shame," the 4th Battalion and a portion of the 1st showed a stubborn courage worthy of the highest praise, and lost very heavily in killed and wounded. On July the 27th, three weeks later, regardless of their losses, the Regiment furnished a part of the column under Bradstreet,J of the 60th, which, after a forced march, captured Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario by a coup de main upon the 27th August.

In November following the 1st Battalion, employed on the Western frontiers under General Forbes, played the leading part in the advance against Fort Duquesne on the Ohio, and led by jj ov _ 2 5th 1768 the gallant Bouquet effected its capture from the French and Red Capture of FORT Indians. This brilliant triumph over great physical difficulties DUQUESNE. was achieved by sheer determination, endurance, and pluck; and the solid value of the victory is thus summed up by the American historian, Parkman : — " It opened the great West to English enterprise, took from France half her savage allies, and relieved her Western borders from the scourge of Indian Wars." Fort Duquesne, re-christened Fort Pitt, was thereupon garrisoned by a detachment of the 60th, and was destined later to play a prominent part in the subsequent operations.

* General James Abercromby, Colonel-in-Chief, 1757-1758.

t Afterwards Lieut. -General Sir Frederick Haldimand. Born 1710, died 1791. Like his friend and comrade, Colonel Bouquet, he was a Swiss soldier of fortune. In his earlier career he served under Frederick the Great, and was present at the battle of Mollwitz. Commander-in-Chief in North America, and Governor of Canada — he was a distinguished soldier and civil administrator. Vide Haldimand Papers, British Museum; also Life of Sir F. Haldimand, " Makers of Canada " series (Toronto, 1904).

J Afterwards Major-General John Bradstreet. Born 1710, died 1774; a successful leader of irregular troops. Greatly distinguished himself at Ticonderoga and Oswego.

THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS.

1758-1760.

July 26th, 1758, LOUISBUKG.

Sept. 13th, 1759, QUEBEC.

1760, MONTREAL.

The 2nd and 3rd Battalions, under Lieut.-Colonel Young and Major Augustine Prevost* respectively, early in 1758 were ordered to join Generals Amherst f and Wolfe in the Eastern Field of operations, and they took a prominent part in the landing and capture of Louisburg, the great stronghold and sea-base of the French at Cape Breton.

These two Battalions were subsequently in 1759 moved up the St. Lawrence to Quebec, where they still further distinguished themselves at Montmorency Falls, below Quebec, on July the 31st, and by their rapid movements and their intrepid courage won from General Wolfe the motto of " Celer et Audax " (Swift and Bold). A still greater opportunity occurred on the 13th of September at the decisive battle of Quebec, where upon the Plains of Abraham the 2nd Battalion, whose light Company covering the landing had been the first to scale the heights, protected the left during the battle against a very superior force of Red Indians and French, who made the most determined efforts to assail the flank and rear of Wolfe's army under cover of the dense bush and rocky ground. The Grenadier Companies of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were included in the companies, comprising the Louisburg Grenadiers — a corps a" 'elite — to whom was assigned the place of honour in the centre of the Line. It was in close proximity to our Grenadiers that the immortal Wolfe fell, and it is said that it was Lieutenant John Brown, of The Royal Americans, who was the first to reach the dying hero, and, together with Lieutenant J. F. W. des Barres,t his A.D.C., also of the Regiment, to raise him from the ground. The 3rd Battalion played a no less important part by holding in check the enemy under Bougainville, who threatened the rear through the thick woods on the river bank.

The Regiment had thus a prominent share in this momentous victory — which gave the possession of the North American Continent finally to the Anglo-Saxon race.

Amherst, who in 1759 had succeeded Abercromby in chief command of the Army, led the main force in its advance to Montreal, where, on the 8th of September, 1760, the 4th Battalion, a portion of the 1st, and the Grenadiers of the 2nd and 3rd, shared in the glories of the surrender of the French Army under the Marquis de Vaudreuil — a surrender through which the supremacy in America finally passed to the British Crown.

* Afterwards Major-General. Swiss by extraction, he was born 1723, and died 1786; dangerously wounded in July, 1769, above Quebec; the victor of Savannah, 1779, and a distinguished soldier.

t Afterwards Field-Marshal Sir Jefiery Amherst, Baron Amherst. Colonel. in-Chief, 1758-1797.

t Afterwards Major-General. Born 1722, died 1824. An engineer of Huguenot birth ; he assisted to navigate the Fleet up the St. Lawrence • beoarae Governor of Prince Edward's Island, and died aged 102.

Following up their successes in 1758 under General Forbes in 1760—1763. the Ohio Valley, Bouquet and the 1st Battalion had by degrees captured or occupied the whole of the French posts west of the Alleghany Mountains, and they were accordingly chosen for the arduous task of defending the various forts established in the unexplored country south of the great lakes. A region embracing thousands of square miles of dense forest and immense lakes was thus consigned to the keeping of five or six hundred men — a vast responsibility for a single weak Battalion garrisoning a few insignificant forts.

In 1763 took place the general and sudden rising of the Indians under Pontiac — a formidable conspiracy, bringing ruin and desolation to the settlers in those wild regions, and even threatening the safety of the Colonies themselves. By surprise or stratagem the Indians, in overwhelming numbers, secured many of the widely scattered posts held by the 60th, murdering some of the slender garrisons and beleaguering others. But the important posts of Fort Detroit upon the Straits joining Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and of Fort Pitt commanding the Ohio River valley, both garrisoned by the 60th under Gladwyn* and Ecuyer respectively, were gallantly and successfully held against tremendous odds. The relief of these two important posts were operations of the greatest urgency, and every effort was made to get sufficient troops for this purpose.

It was at once decided that Fort Pitt on the Ohio, guarding as it did the Western frontier of the Colonies, must be saved at any cost, but owing to the reduction of the Army in America after the great war, it was with the utmost difficulty that, at Carlisle, 150 miles west of Philadelphia, a small column was formed under Bouquet, consisting of barely 500 men of the 1st Battalion 60th Royal Americans and the 42nd Highlanders. This courageous band, led by the stout-hearted and experienced Henry Bouquet, marched almost as a forlorn hope to the relief of the garrison. Reaching, after a long and weary march, the dangerous defiles of Bushey Run, twenty miles from their objective and Ang. 5th and 6th, within view of the scene of Braddock's crushing defeat, a site j im Tm! B '-aTnr of battle deliberately chosen by their cunning foe, the little force was suddenly attacked by a vastly superior force of Indian braves. During two long trying days the combatants fought a desperate battle, until at last Bouquet's genius as a leader achieved a brilliant victory. The fight becoming stagnant and his men showing signs of exhaustion, Bouquet saw that the crisis had come, and adopted a ruse often practised by the Indians themselves of assuming a retreat and withdrawing a portion of the front, and thus inducing his opponents to attack. The

* Major Gladwyn was promoted from the 80th Regiment into the 60th Royal Americans in 1762, but wbb re-transferred later to his old Regiment. — (Bouquet MSS., British Museum.)

THE KING'S ROYAL, RIFLE CORPS.

1763-1764.

Nov. 15th, 1764, BED INDIAN

CAMPAIGN.

1762, MARTINIQUE.

Aug. 13th, 1762, HAVANNAH.

stratagem succeeded, and Bouquet delivered a desperate counter-attack upon the fronts and flanks simultaneously, of the enemy thus caught in the open, which completely routed the stubborn foe. This victory, pronounced by an American historian " the best contested action ever fought between white men and Indians," was followed up in the coming year by a vigorous advance by Bradstreet upon Detroit by way of Lake Erie ; and by Bouquet marching from Fort Pitt with a column consisting of his own Battalion of the 60th, the 42nd, and Provincial troops, which he led into the very heart of the enemy's country. Bouquet's column was triumphant, and upon reaching the Indian settlements on the River Muskingum, deep in the wild fastnesses of the primeval forest, their leader's diplomatic skill and defiant attitude completed the successful issue of the campaign. Bouquet thus rightly earned for himself and his men the credit of having finally broken the French influence and Red Indian power in the West, giving to the British Crown all the vast territories west of the Alleghany Mountains and south of the Great Lakes, comprising now the States of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Western Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.

The conspicuous part played at this period by the 60th Royal Americans, and the exceptional merit of many of its officers have hitherto been better understood in the United States and in Canada than by our own countrymen. But it is now at last acknowledged that the Regiment, owing to its especial attributes, was in the forefront of all those operations which (more than any others) added a peculiar lustre to the British Crown at this early stage of the evolution of the British Empire in North America. There is no period in its eventful history of which The King's Royal Rifle Corps may more justly be proud than the epoch from its birth in 1755 to the final overthrow of the French and Red-Indian power in 1764.

The dominating influence in the Regiment at this period was undoubtedly Henri Bouquet. His spirit of initiative and his force of character caused reforms, which he had introduced into the 60th Royal Americans, both of organization, drill, tactics, and equipment to be adopted by the whole Army.

Meanwhile, in 1761, the 3rd Battalion, under Augustine Prevost, moving to the West Indies, had taken part in the first capture of Martinique from the French on the 27th January, 1762. It subsequently joined the expedition to Cuba under the Earl of Albemarle, where, led by Brigadier-General Haviland,* it played a leading part in the capture of Havannah from the Spaniards on the 13th of August, in the course of which it penetrated into a morass, where it charged and defeated a Regiment of Spanish Dragoons and other mounted troops.

* Aftorwaids General William Haviland: Colonel Commandant 1761-1762.

1764-1807 — West Indies and the American War.

On the termination of the French War in America the British WEST INDIES. Army was reduced, and in 1764 and 1763 respectively the 3rd and 4th Battalions were disbanded.

The discontented and hostile feeling of the American Colonies at this period rendered it advisable to transfer The Royal Americans to the West Indies, recruited as they were from the Colonists themselves. Thus it fell to the lot of the Regiment to take a prominent share in the conquest and annexation of the West Indian Islands and the adjacent coast, which took place at this period. The officers in many instances filled important posts as Governors and Administrators of the various islands.

On the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1775 the 3rd and 4th Battalions were again raised in England and despatched to the West Indies, and thence to Florida, where they figured prominently in the operations in that region.

In 1779 the 3rd and some companies of the 4th Battalion formed portion of an army under General Augustine Prevost in Georgia and South Carolina. The Regiment played a leading part at the brilliant action of Briars Creek (March 3rd, 1779), and also in the subsequent siege of Savannah, where a superior 1779,

force of French and Americans under Comte d'Estaigne and SAVANNAH. General Lincoln was successfully held at bay by a very much w^l RICAIf smaller army under Prevost, and at the final assault was signally defeated with great loss (October the 9th, 1779). An improvised body of Light Dragoons (or Mounted Infantry), organised by Lieut.-Colonel Marc Prevost,* of the 60th, did remarkable service during these operations, and at the victory on the 9th of October lost heavily, but greatly distinguished itself by repulsing the main assaulting column of the enemy and capturing the colour of the Carolina Regiment, now in the possession of the Prevost family.

Upon the termination of the American War of Independence in 1783 the 3rd and 4th Battalions were disbanded for the second time, but were again raised in 1788 for the third time and despatched to the West Indies. The 1st and 2nd Battalions at this WEST INDIES, period were quietly stationed in Canada until in 1797 a partial re-construction took place.

The 3rd and 4th Battalions in the West Indies took part in the following military operations at this period : —

Capture of Nicaragua-Panama ... April 13th, 1780 1780-1809.

Capture by assault of the Island of

Tobago, a brilliant feat

of arms April 17th, 1793

* Lieut.-Colonel Marc Prevost, born 1736, died 1785, youngest brother of General Augustine Prevost — a brilliant and most promising officer, who succumbed to the effect of his wounds.

THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS.

1794-1797. Capture (2nd) of Martinique ... March 23rd, 1794

„ Saint Lucia April 2nd, 1794

Saint Vincent June 9th, 1796

Trinidad Feb. 18th, 1797

Attack on Porto Rico April 18th, 1797

Capture (3rd) of Martinique ... Feb. 24th, 1809

It will be seen that the Regiment at this period was closelyidentified with the ebb and flow of disaster and success in the conquest and re-conquest of the West Indian Islands. It was cursed with a perpetual and deplorable death-rate due to disease, official negligence or ignorance, and the vicissitudes of the notoriously evil climate. Yet the spirit of the Regiment, which had won from Wolfe himself the proud motto of " Celer et Audax," remained — the spirit of the original heroes of Louisburg, of Ticonderoga, of Quebec, of Bushey Run, and of Savannah still survived !

On the 23rd of August, 1797, Field-Marshal H.R.H. Frederick Duke of York * was appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Regiment, vice Lord Amherst deceased.

In December of the same year the famous 5th Battalion was raised at Cowes, Isle of Wight, under Lieutenant-Colonel Baron Francis de Rottenburg^ upon the Austrian model as a Special Corps of Jagers or Riflemen. Four hundred of Hompesch's Mounted Riflemen — a German Corps Taised for service under the British Crown — were drafted into the Battalion, which was armed with rifles and dressed in green with red facings. The second Lieutenant-Colonel was that celebrated Robert Crauford, who afterwards made his name so famous in the Peninsular War as the honoured leader of the Light Division. Thus, by the addition of the 5th Battalion to the Regiment as Riflemen in 1797, the gradual evolution of the 60th Royal Americans into The King's Royal Rifle Corps was auspiciously begun.

The raising of this Battalion and the appointment of Lieut.- DE EOTTEHBUBG. Colonel Francis de Rottenburg to its command, marks not only a distinct epoch in the history of the Regiment, but an important stage in the development of the British Army. Just as Bouquet in 1756 had introduced radical changes of dress and tactics into the newly-raised 60th Royal Americans in America, and thus into the British Army, so also did De Rottenburg in 1797 introduce a system of Riflemen and Light Infantrymen's duties new to the British Army, which contributed not a little to the successful issue of the Peninsula campaign.

(RIFLES) RAISED.

* Frederick, Duke of York, was the second son of George III, and brother of George IV and William IV.

t Afterwards Lieutenant-Qeneral. Born 1760, died 1832. He commanded the 5th Battalion, 1797-1808. An Austrian by birth, and ancestry.

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De Rottenburg prepared for Field-Marshal H.R.H. Duke of 1798-1808. York — recently appointed Commander-in-Chief — the "Regulations for the Exercise of Riflemen and Light Infantry, and Instructions for their conduct in the Field," illustrated by excellent diagrams, which, with a memo, by the Adjutant-General, was published in 1798. This book proved the text-book for the training of the 5th Battalion, and was thereupon adopted for use in the British Army ; it formed the basis upon which subsequent Rifle and Light Infantry battalions were organised and trained. It was this work which largely influenced the illustrious Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, who in regard to his training of the famous Light Division, thus writes to the Adjutant-General (August 30th, 1803): — " I mean to make De Rottenburg the ground-work, noting in the margin whatever changes we make from him."

It is interesting to record that in 1788 Sir John Moore himself served as major in the 60th Royal Americans, and that De Rottenburg in 1808 succeeded him at Shorncliffe and Brabourne as a trainer of the Light Troops of the British Army.

In 1799 a 6th Battalion was added to the Regiment — a company of which was clothed and trained as a Rifle company — so that the close of the eighteenth century saw the Regiment composed of six battalions.

III. 1808-1824. — Peninsular War. 60th The Royal American

Regiment becomes

60th The Duke of York's Own Rifle Corps.

In 1808 Great Britain determined to take the offensive against France, and, by occupying Portugal, endeavoured to drive Napoleon and the French from the Peninsula of Spain and Portugal.

Thus began the Peninsular War, so full of glorious memories for the British Army. The 5th Battalion, under the command of Major Davy,* formed part of the force despatched under Sir Arthur Wcllesley to Portugal, and in conjunction with the 2nd Battalion of the 95th f opened the campaign at Obidos on the 15th of August; and two days later took part in the fight of Roleia. The services of the Battalion as Light Troops Aug. 17th, 1808, or Riflemen were valued so highly by the Commander of the B0H3IA. forces, and so important was their example, that in a very complimentary order he directed its distribution by companies

* Afterwards General Sir William Gabriel Davy, o.B., k.o.h., Colonel Commandant, 60th Rifles, 1842-1860. He succeeded Baron de Rottenburg in command of the 5th Battalion in 1808.

t Formed in 1800, and now The Rifle Brigade.

THE KING'S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS.

Aug. 31st, 1808, YIMIERA.

Jan. 16th, 1809, CORUNNA.

July 27th and 28th,

1809, TALAVEBA.

1810-1812.

Sept. 27th, 1810, BUSACO.

among the several brigades of the army. Thus it came to be engaged in nearly all the great battles throughout the war, starting brilliantly with the battle of Vimieba,* where a signal victory was gained over the French under General Junot.

Wellesley was shortly afterwards superseded by Sir Harry Burrard f and Sir Hem Dalrymple, who ended the campaign by the Convention of Cintra, under the terms of which the French evacuated Portugal.

The three commanders were then ordered home, and Sir John Moore % was selected to advance with a force upon Madrid. Sir David Baird landed at Corunna with reinforcements, including the 2nd Battalion, and on the 20th of December he joined Moore near Mayorgo. By the masterly dispositions of Napoleon himself, an overwhelming force of French was concentrated under Marshal Soult, which forced the British to retire on Corunna. Soult, following in pursuit, attacked them in the act of embarking, but met with a crushing defeat. The British, however, paid a high price for their victory : Baird was severely wounded, and the gallant Sir John Moore was killed — his death being a heavy loss to the British Army. At this juncture General Hope § took over the command and completed the embarkation of the troops. The 2nd Battalion, having been allotted to the defence of the town of Corunna, was in part only engaged in the battle.

In 1809 Wellesley, for the second time, landed in Portugal and assumed command. He at once advanced against Soult, who had invaded the northern provinces, and by a brilliant feat of arms forced the passage of the River Douro, and drove Soult out of Portugal. Then, marching upon Madrid by the valley of the Tagus, he defeated the French at Talavera. In his subsequent despatches Sir Arthur spoke warmly of our Regiment, which deserved his praise, for by its smartness and intrepidity it had saved him from being taken prisoner. " Upon this occasion," he states in his despatch, " the steadiness and discipline of the 5th Battalion 60th Regiment were conspicuous."

The French having been largely reinforced, Wellesley retired into Portugal, which was invaded in 1810 by the enemy under Marshal Massena. The British General, now created Lord Wellington, inflicted on the French a sanguinary check at Busaco, where the 60th — under Colonel Williams || — again distinguished themselves. The enemy was, however, too strong to be permanently stopped, and Wellington retired to the lines of Torres Vedras, covering Lisbon.

* The Battalion was especially mentioned in Wellesley's despatch, t Formerly a Captain in the 60th.

J Formerly Major in the 4th Battalion 00th.

§ Afterwards General The Earl of Hopetoun, g.o.b., Colonel Commandant 6th Battalion 60th.

|| Afterwards Major-General Sir William Williams, k.o.b., k.t.s., died 1832.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE REGIMENT.

Thence, in 1811, he again advanced ; expelled the French from Portugal, and defeated them at Fuentes d'Onor. A few days later a detachment of the Anglo-Portuguese Army (including four companies of the 60th), under Marshal Beresford,* which was covering the Spanish fortress, Badajos, repulsed a most determined attack at Albuhera, an action in which British courage and tenacity had never been surpassed. Captain Galiffe, of the 60th, and one Rifleman were present both at Fuentes d'Onok and Albuhera. It is believed that no other individual officer or man in the whole army fought in the two battles.

In October some Rifle companies were present at the surprise of the French at Arroyo des Molinos, where Captain Blassiere distinguished himself by penetrating into the town on the previous night.

The next year, 1812, opened with the siege, assault, and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo, and Badajos, fortresses on the Spanish frontier. Sending Hill to destroy the bridge of Almarez, and advancing into Spain, Wellington on the 22nd of July defeated Marmont at the decisive battle of Salamanca. The English General thereupon marched towards Madrid, and, driving before him the King, Joseph Buonaparte, entered the capital in triumph on the 12th of August. But the French were so strongly reinforced that the British troops were obliged to retire for the winter to Portugal.

In May, 1813, the Army finally quitted Portugal, and again advancing drove the French northwards by brilliant strategy. On the 21st of June Wellington gained a splendid victory over King Joseph at Vittoria, capturing 150 guns and his whole transport. The 3rd Division, containing the Headquarter companies of the Regiment, played an especially brilliant part by a diagonal attack upon the enemy's position at a critical moment. Ignominiously driven from Spain the French Army rallied on the frontier river Bidassoa, where Soult assumed command, having been despatched by Napoleon to supersede his brother King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan. He immediately attacked the English, but was defeated with great slaughter at the battle of the Pyrenees, which lasted eight days, July the 24th to August the 2nd. The 5th Battalion was at this time commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Fitzgerald.f Wellington, then advancing into France, forced the passage of the Bidassoa on October the 7th, and carried the strongly fortified lines of the French upon the Nivelle river, after a battle which he considered the finest action of his career. The campaign ended in a further victory on the Nive after a battle lasting five days.