Richard Cannon

“ Colonel, Officers, and Soldiers,
“The good spirit and discipline which pervade your ranks are the best presages of your future conduct, wherever you may be called.
“In your hands, Sir, warmly supported as you are by the officers around you, with your vigilance, your perseverance, and your zeal for the welfare of the regiment, I feel persuaded that its reputation and high name will ever be nobly maintained. ”

“ With respect to you, Soldiers, there never was a period when the country had stronger claims on your attachment; when the regulations of the service so carefully provide for your maintenance, your comfort, and your protection, while serving; your support and honourable retirement, when age and infirmity render you incapable of active duty; and I may say, with confidence, there never was a time when the British soldiers were more sensible of the advantages they enjoy—more firm in their allegiance—more faithfully devoted to their King and country. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The best-regulated army during a campaign, even if carried on under the most favourable circumstances, always becomes more or less relaxed in its discipline; and when it is considered that the wreck of the Eighty-Eighth regiment, after its capture at Buenos Ayres, was made up by drafts from the second battalion, that a few short months, only, were allowed it to recruit and re-organize before it was again employed in Portugal, it may be matter of regret, but certainly not of surprise, that it did not form an exception to the general rule. ”

“ At length a few detached shots seemed to give a prearranged signal, at which the entire population of a vast town was to burst from its concealment, and in an instant the flat roofs of the houses swarmed with a mass of musqueteers, who poured a deadly, and almost unerring, fire upon the British soldiers. Under any circumstances the combat between men exposed in an open street, and adversaries ensconced behind the parapets of the houses on each side, must have been an unequal one ”

“ I have the honour to state, that some of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Eighty-Eighth Regiment have served in twelve different general actions, and have been two, three, and four times wounded, have been a long time in the regiment, and always conducted themselves well in the field and in quarters. I am anxious to bestow upon them some mark of distinction for their good conduct, as an encouragement to them and others in future. ”

“ Arrived within a few yards of the chapel they were met by the Ninth French regiment, supported by some hundreds of the Imperial Guard, who rushed on with their usual impetuosity and bravery, uttering loud shouts and throwing in their fire as they advanced; the Eighty-Eighth replied with the bayonet, and rapidly closing with their enemies, so totally overthrew them, that they were not able to rally afterwards. ”

“ Being told that it was in consequence of orders from Colonel Mackinnon, Colonel Pakenham replied, “I did not observe your number. Do as you are directed; your regiment has done enough for this day; but you may tell whatever troops you meet, that each man may as well bring a keg of ammunition under his arm, for those rascals shall never get possession of the town as long as I have life.” ”

“ A vast concourse of people, with all the beauty and fashion of the place, assembled at an early hour on the esplanade of the citadel, which is finely situated, commanding a view of the rugged and snow-topped mountains of Albania, of the sea, and of the fertile hills of the island covered with olives, and green with the opening vegetation of an early spring. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Troops advancing to assault a town, flushed, indeed, with victory, but uncertain whether that victory may not be wrenched the next minute from their grasp, have no time to deliberate. Some of the French Guard sought a vain refuge in bursting open the houses and ascending the chimneys, but their enemies were too close at their heels for them to succeed. ”

“ In South America the Connaught Rangers performed their duty as gallant soldiers: and throughout the Peninsular campaigns their services are associated with the Third Division of the British army, which was eminently distinguished for gallantry. After a series of victories in Europe, the services of the regiment were transferred to North America, where it was distinguished for a praiseworthy national feeling, which is inherent in brave men, and was evinced by the absence of desertion. ”

“ The constitution of a regiment is such that the acts of individuals, more or less, reflect honour or disgrace on the whole corps, and much of the fame and high character to which the Eighty-Eighth regiment has claim, would perhaps be tarnished, if grounds existed for imagining that any other individual belonging to it was concerned in this diabolical act ”

“ If, however, the period of its stay in Canada was barren of laurels to the Eighty-Eighth, it gave the regiment an opportunity of displaying qualities which, if not so dazzling and brilliant, are equally valuable in, and honourable to the soldier, namely, firm discipline and unshakeable fidelity to his king, his country, and his colours. The extent to which desertion prevailed amongst the British troops in America, is unhappily but too well known ”

“ Cool and unruffled amongst the dangers that surrounded him, Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace asked Captain Dunne if he thought half the battalion would be sufficient to do the business. “No,” was the reply, “you will want every man you can bring forward.” “Very well,” said Colonel Wallace, “I am ready—Soldiers; mind what I have said to you—I have nothing more to add—it now rests with yourselves.”
Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace then threw the battalion into column right in front, but had scarcely reached the rocks, when a murderous fire was opened upon him ”

“ The Serjeant who fell at Toulouse, was much regretted by the whole corps; his name was Thorpe, and he was Serjeant-Major of the battalion. He had been originally Drum-Major, in which capacity he was present at the battle of Busaco: on that occasion, when ordered with the band and drummers, to the rear, he entreated his commanding officer to allow him to join his company, and having obtained permission he fell into the ranks, behaving with the utmost gallantry throughout that memorable day. ”

“ To gain the good opinion and the confidence of those General Officers under whose orders we may serve, should at all times be our study; to succeed must in any case be gratifying; but in the instance of so very distinguished an officer as Sir Alexander Woodford, who so thoroughly knows what a British soldier is and ought to be ”

“ 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. ”

“ In the course of the march an accident occurred both annoying and prejudicial to the regiment. In order to facilitate the movements of the army, to render the column of march less encumbered, and to lessen the fatigue of the troops, it was customary, when not in the presence of the enemy, to proceed either by brigades or single corps: Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane’s brigade, of which the Eighty-Eighth formed part, moved by regiments. ”

“ The colours were just uncased, and the bayonets fixed, when Lieutenant-Colonel Wallace addressed a few animating words to the men, explaining their situation, and cautioning them to be aware of the enemy’s cavalry, which was watching them closely, and hanging on their flank: to the officers he said, “Gentlemen, the regiment is on this day, as it generally is on such occasions, tolerably strong, and (pointing to the batteries which crowned the hill in front) we are likely to have a good deal of noise about our ears. ”

“ 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. ”

“ During this short but arduous conflict Captain Dansey was severely wounded, and Captain Dunne had a hair-breadth [28] escape of swelling the return of killed. He had made a cut with his sabre at one of the French riflemen, but struck short, the man being above the reach of his weapon; the Frenchman’s bayonet, on the other hand, was within a few inches of Captain Dunne’s breast, and his finger on the trigger; one word was shouted by Captain Dunne—it was the name of a serjeant in the regiment, “Brazel!” ”

“ Jean de Pasquera as it had been when starting from its cantonments at Leomel. Some men died of the heat and fatigue, but the esprit de corps sustained the regiment through the long and severe forced march, across a country deeply intersected with ravines, thickly covered with gum cistus, and traversable only by goat-paths, by which it rejoined its division.
On the 27th of May the regiment entered Spain, and on the 20th of June, it was posted near the river Bayas, [50] when dispositions were made for attacking the enemy in his position in front of Vittoria. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The troops then entered the trenches with Major-General Mackinnon at their head; on leaving the approaches they advanced rapidly over the rugged ground leading to the breach, many of the men carrying bags filled with grass to throw into the ditch and break the descent. Arrived at the foot of the breach they speedily mounted, but met with a very gallant resistance, and many men [41] and officers fell: amongst the latter was the commander of the Brigade, Major-General Mackinnon, who was killed with many others by an explosion of gunpowder in the moment of victory. ”

“ The regret you express at the departure of the detachment, and the satisfaction it would afford, should the Connaught Rangers at any future period return to Bandon, must be fully participated in by every individual who has had the good fortune to be stationed here, where the officers have received such general and friendly attention, and where the men have witnessed such cordiality and good feeling. ”

“ We have now, however, thanks to the Almighty, the great satisfaction to see her Ladyship on this parade in renewed health and strength; under any circumstances you would receive with pleasure and honour throughout your lives, those Colours, borne as they are on the old and wounded poles which accompanied the regiment through many successful and triumphant battles, and with the only remaining fragments of the old Colours attached to them ”

“ As the British advanced, the fire of the enemy slackened, and they seemed inclined to give way, when several of their officers advanced in front to animate the men, and one officer of the Twenty-Second, (the leading regiment of the French column,) seizing a firelock, ran out in front of his men and shot Major Murphy of the Eighty-Eighth through the heart. ”

“ The French defended themselves with more than usual desperation, for they were aware that escape was out of the question, and that they had no alternative between repelling their assailants and being slain on the spot, or hurled headlong down the precipitous rocks on which they had established themselves. ”