Richard Cannon

“ The fame of the deeds of the past and present generations in the various battle-fields where the robust sons of Albion have fought and conquered, surrounds the British arms with a halo of glory; these achievements will live in the page of history to the end of time. ”

“ The arms and equipment of the British troops have seldom differed materially, since the Conquest, from those of other European states; and in some respects the arming has, at certain periods, been allowed to be inferior to that of the nations with whom they have had to contend; yet, under this disadvantage, the bravery and superiority of the British infantry have been evinced on very many and most trying occasions, and splendid victories have been gained over very superior numbers. ”

“ Although the movements and evolutions have been copied from the continental armies, yet various improvements have from time to time been introduced, to insure that simplicity and celerity by which the superiority of the national military character is maintained. The rank and influence which Great Britain has attained among the nations of the world, have in a great measure been purchased by the valour of the Army, and to persons who have the welfare of their country at heart, the records of the several regiments cannot fail to prove interesting. ”

“ In the wars of Queen Anne, the fame of the British army under the great Marlborough was spread throughout the world; and if we glance at the achievements performed within the memory of persons now living, there is abundant proof that the Britons of the present age are not inferior to their ancestors in the qualities [xvii] which constitute good soldiers. Witness the deeds of the brave men, of whom there are many now surviving, who fought in Egypt in 1801, under the brave Abercromby, and compelled the French army, which had been vainly styled Invincible, to evacuate that country ”

“ The natives of Britain have, at all periods, been celebrated for innate courage and unshaken firmness, and the national superiority of the British troops over those of other countries has been evinced in the midst of the most imminent perils. History contains so many proofs of extraordinary acts of bravery, that no doubts can be raised upon the facts which are recorded. ”

“ During the winter six hundred men of the regiment joined the garrison of Maestricht, while the Dutch soldiers were working at the entrenchments on the heights of Petersberg: in May, 1704, the remainder of the regiment [9] marched towards the Rhine, and was joined at Bedburg by the detachment from Maestricht.
The Duke of Marlborough led his army from Holland to the heart of Germany, and, there encountering the legions of France and Bavaria, he gained two important victories on the banks of the Danube, and exalted the reputation of the British arms. ”

“ 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 [v] long a period, being 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. ”

“ Many of the respectable inhabitants of the French island of St. Domingo solicited the protection of the British government against the fury of the blacks, and a detachment of British troops proceeded to their aid, from Jamaica, in 1793. The SIXTEENTH regiment furnished a portion of this detachment, but the climate of St. Domingo proved injurious to the health of the British troops, and the whole of the party of the SIXTEENTH died of a pestilential fever, excepting Lieutenant Vernon and one serjeant, who rejoined the regiment at Jamaica. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These have all been surmounted by the conduct of the troops themselves; and the enemy has been taught, that whatever advantages of position or of numbers he may possess, there is inherent in the British officers and soldiers a bravery that knows not how to yield,—that no circumstances can appal,—and that will ensure victory, when it is to be obtained by the exertion of any human means. ”

“ At first some partial successes were gained by the insurgents; but the British nation evinced firmness and decision in supporting the rights of their sovereign, and [18] in preserving the constitutional privileges of the people. The services of the regiment were, at this period, limited to the south of England, where a body of troops was held in readiness to repel a menaced invasion by the French. ”

“ In 1781 the Spaniards sent a numerous sea and land force against Florida, under Don Bernard de Galvez, and the invading army commenced operations by an attack upon the works defending Pensacola, where a detachment of the SIXTEENTH regiment was stationed. From the strength of the Spanish force, mustering nine thousand men, and a numerous fleet, at the same time the British garrison only amounted to twelve hundred men, the reduction of the place appeared inevitable ”

“ The French troops landed, and were joined by an American force under General Lincoln; but they encountered a resistance which proved the determined valour of the garrison. A detachment from the SIXTEENTH was engaged in a sally on the 24th of September, under Major Graham of the regiment, and this service was performed with judgment and bravery. "Major Graham artfully drew the enemy into a snare, by which the French and Americans fired on each other, and had fifty men killed before the mistake was discovered." ”

“ The weapons carried by the infantry, during the several reigns succeeding the Conquest, were bows and arrows, half-pikes, lances, halberds, various kinds of battle-axes, swords, and daggers. Armour was worn on the head and body, and in course of time the practice became general for military men to be so completely cased in steel, that it was almost impossible to slay them. ”

“ In 1664 King Charles II. raised a corps for sea-service, styled the Admiral's regiment. In 1678 each company of 100 men usually consisted of 30 pikemen, 60 musketeers, and 10 men armed with light firelocks. In this year the King added a company of men armed with hand-grenades to each of the old British regiments, which was designated the "grenadier company." ”

“ During a great part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth each company of infantry usually consisted of men armed five different ways; in every hundred men forty were "men-at-arms," and sixty "shot;" the "men-at-arms" were ten halberdiers, or battle-axe men, and thirty pikemen; and the "shot" were twenty archers, twenty musketeers, and twenty harquebusiers, and each man carried, besides his principal weapon, a sword and dagger.
[xii]
Companies of infantry varied at this period in numbers from 150 to 300 men ”

“ Numerous improvements were eventually introduced in the construction of fire-arms, and, it having been found impossible to make armour proof against the muskets then in use (which carried a very heavy ball) without its being too weighty for the soldier, armour was gradually laid aside by the infantry in the seventeenth century: bows and arrows also fell into disuse, and the infantry were reduced to two classes, viz.: musketeers, armed with matchlock muskets, [xiii] swords, and daggers; and pikemen, armed with pikes from fourteen to eighteen feet long, and swords. ”

“ A treaty of peace having been concluded with the Americans, the regiment was ordered to return to Europe; it sailed from Quebec in July, and arrived at Portsmouth in August. The return of Buonaparte to France,—his reassumption of the imperial dignity,—his overthrow at Waterloo, and surrender to a British man-of-war, had occurred while the regiment was in Canada, and on the passage to Europe; on its arrival at Portsmouth, it was ordered to proceed to the Continent, to join the army commanded by the Duke of Wellington. The regiment landed at Ostend, and marching to Paris, encamped at St. ”

“ The regiment embarked from Ireland in 1767, for North America, and was stationed in the pleasant and fertile territory of Florida, which had been ceded to Great Britain, by the Spaniards, in 1763, in exchange for the Havannah. ”

“ 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 honorable career, are among the motives that have given rise to the present publication. ”

“ In these pleasant and healthy quarters the regiment was stationed when a number of the British colonies in North America revolted, and declared themselves a free and independent people, under the title of the United States. This occurred in 1775, and in the following year the SIXTEENTH were withdrawn from Florida, to join the army at New York, under Lieut.-General Sir William Howe ”

“ By the exertions of some workmen, who were making preparations to erect a lighthouse on the rock, all were saved excepting one man, one woman, and some children; all the arms, appointments, and baggage were lost. On the following day the party was taken off the rock by a brig, and conveyed to Beaumaris in Wales.
1813
After occupying quarters at various stations, and receiving many volunteers from the English and Irish militia, the regiment marched to Sunderland in July; and in March, 1813, embarked from thence for Perth: in July of this year it proceeded to Ireland. ”

“ Orders having been issued for the regiment to return to England, it transferred a number of volunteers to other corps, and embarked, in three divisions, in [33] December, 1840, and January, 1841, under Lieut.-Colonel Campbell, Major H. Clements, and Brevet-Major Dalzell; and landing at Gravesend in April following, marched from thence to Canterbury, from whence four companies were afterwards detached to Dover.
In August the regiment was supplied with new Percussion Arms. In December it marched to London, and proceeded from thence by railway to Winchester. ”