Carole Divall

2nd Batallion: in camp near Sobral, Portugal

The Belem Tower at Lisbon, picture by kind permission of PAZghost.

This is one of the first sights British troops would have seen as they came ashore.

Although the battalion was off Cape Vincent on the 1^st October, they subsequently suffered foul weather and were then becalmed.  On the 5^th, they took a pilot aboad.  His arrival was particularly welcome because not only did he bring news of an Anglo-Portuguese victory at Buçaco on the 27^th September but he also supplied the officers with fresh fish.  The next day, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the battalion disembarked at Belem and marched to the castle, their quarters when they were previously in Lisbon (April 1809).

The castle at Lisbon

The weather was excessively wet when they marched for Montachique on the 10^th October.  Here the men had to spend two nights in a flooded barn while the officers were quartered in large house, where they slept on the floor wrapped in their boat cloaks.

On the 12^th they reached divisional headquarters (the 5^th Division) at Enxara dos Cavaleiros.  The following morning they marched at daybreak in the expectation of action, but they were disappointed when the French did not appear.

Two days later they marched up country towards Sobral (held by the French) and are now encamped at the Great Redoubt, the central position in the first of three defensive lines.  They have been informed by their new comrades in the 5^th Division that when the army retreated south from Buçaco no-one suspected the existence of the defences which made use of the natural landscape and which have been prepared at Wellington’s order.  Indeed, the battalion are still coming to terms with the defensive situation in which they now find themselves.

Ensign Daniell (the former battalion quartermaster sergeant) has remained in Cadiz with the heavy baggage, awaiting its transportation.

Patrick Carroll, one of the sick left in Cadiz, died on the 4^th October.

Lieutenant Colonel Minet decided to leave the thirteen boys with the battalion in Lisbon, since he does not judge them ready for the fatigues of an active campaign.

1st Battalion: Trichinopoly

The fort at Trichinopoly

Although there have been four deaths in the last three weeks, the battalion continues to be considered generally healthy.

On the 6^th October Sergeant Bartholomew Neville and Corporal John Dewardine were both reduced to the ranks.  Sergeant Thomas Hogg has transferred to the East India Company service.

Ensigns John Herring and James Light, who left England earlier in the spring have finally joined the battalion.

Lieutenant Lewin remains at Myore for recovery of health.

The battalion recently received a communication from Horse Guards, dated the 24^th February, concerning the removal of Major Hamilton and Lieutenant and Adjutant Stewart from the second battalion to the first.  This was accompanied by a conflicting general order of the same date informing the battalion that the two officers were not to be taken onto the strength. There is some doubt as to what should happen to these two officers.

Depot: Wakefield

His Britannic Majesty’s most excellent 33rd Regiment of Foot at drill.

Three men and a boy have enlisted at headquarters for unlimited service.

Twenty-seven volunteers have been received from the Tipperary Militia.  As trained men, they are particularly welcome and it is hoped that more militia volunteers can be persuaded to enlist.  The men are tempted into general service with the offer of a higher bounty that is given to recruits.

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2nd Battalion: at sea, off Cape St. Vincent, by the mouth of the River Tagus

Cape St Vincent

The anticipated route (directions) for Portugal arrived on the 24th September and the battalion prepared to embarked the following day.  On the same day the detachment which had left the depot on the 2nd July finally arrived.  It had set off under the command of Ensign Neville but arrived under the command of Captain Chambers, who was thought to be still in India.  In fact, he had returned to England with a party of invalids, having signed a resignation from the regiment.  Instead of activating this, however, he attached himself to the detachment and has accompanied them to Cadiz.  He does, in fact, belong to the second battalion, so his presence has been welcomed.

Captain Thomas Walker Chambers, by kind permission of Mr J Macdonald

Also with the detachment are Ensign Freear, new to the regiment, two long-serving and reliable sergeants, William Brummage and Francis Keith, and eighty-three rank and file, a welcome addition to the strength of the battalion.  Of particular interest is Drummer John Winterflood, who was on the Jenny when she was wrecked in 1805, taken prisoner by the French, but subsequently escaped from a French prison and made his way to England.

Several members of the battalion have been left behind in Cadiz: Quartermaster Williamson, with the baggage, Sergeant James Moylan, who is sick, and William Hassell, still serving as hospital orderly, Corporals John Hopwell, who is sick in the general hospital, and Denis Moran, serving as hospital orderly, with a drummer and thirty-one rank and file, also sick.  In addition Private John Hill has remained in Cadiz, as servant to General Graham.

General Graham has communicated to Lord Wellington his high opinion of two officers of the battalion, Major Hamilton and Captain Malet.  He first met these officers in 1793.  Hamilton was his brigade-major during the reconquest of Malta from the French (1800), and Malet has consistently proved himself an exceptionally able staff officer.

The embarkation was successfully completed on the 25th, although the adjutant, William Stewart, narrowly missed a serious injury when a chisel fell from the mizzen mast and struck the deck immediately beside him.  The battalion are sailing with the second battalion of the 44th, some of whom served in the same brigade as the 30th in Egypt 1801.

Initially, progress was slow; on the 27th and 28th they were making about 1 knot.  On the 29th the voyage became uncomfortable with a rolling sea.  On the 30th, however, land was sighted, and today they are off Cape St Vincent.

1st Battalion: Trichinopoly

Days of the Raj

Lieutenant Cramer has been appointed acting adjutant and paymaster at Poonamallee.  Lieutenant Brien has now officially left the regiment.

News has arrived that Private William Kearns deserted on the 24th May while on passage to Europe.

Drummer Thomas Brennan and four privates are being held prisoner in the guard room, awaiting regimental court martial.  There has been an increased level of indiscipline recently in the battalion.

Depot: Wakefield

Musket drill, from a contemporary manual of instruction

Thirteen recruits are with the various recruiting parties and  are expected at head quarters in the near future.

Captain Beaumont has reported to the depot.  He has leave for recovery of health (from India) until the 24th December.

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