This part of the battalion (the larger part) continues to operate as a provisional battalion with the 2/44th. Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton has received praise from General Robinson for the excellent training he has given the combined unit. There is certainly a feeling among the men that they will conduct themselves well in the forthcoming campaign, the start of which is eagerly anticipated now that there is green forage for the army’s horses.

There is some concern about the number of senior officers present with the  battalion, just Hamilton and Captain Chambers. The ten subalterns are keen, but overall have only limited experience, even though some of them have been commanding companies for two years. Nevertheless, the departure of Ensigns Madden and Flude to join the six companies in England is regretted since it further weakens the complement of officers.

Paymaster Wray has rejoined from leave.

A serjeant and 3 rank and file have been discharged to the Royal Veterans on the order of Lord Wellington.

2nd battalion (six companies) at Newcastle, on the march to Berwick

Although the six companies have a paper strength of 238 rank and file, only 36 are present, fit, with a further 8 present sick. There are 52 with the recruiting parties, 11 invalids awaiting discharge, 16 boys and 100 recruits at drill, including 10 volunteers from the West and North Yorkshire Militia. A further 30 recruits are still with the recruiting parties.

Two corporals, Warner and Gallagher, returned from Portugal, are to be discharged as no longer fit for service.

Major Bailey has finally joined the six companies, and has taken command.

!st battalion, Cannanore

After being on a charge for seven months, Lieutenant French has finally been found guilty and sentenced to be cashiered. His fellow officers know that he has no hope of receiving the King’s mercy. He has already been sentenced to be cashiered for duelling once before, and was saved only by a royal act of clemency. This time there will be no pardon.

The arrest of Captain Samuel Bircham has caused considerable surprise. Although few of the present complement of officers remember him as an enterprising serjeant at Toulon in 1793, most have heard the story of how he brought his company safely off Mount Faron after all the officers were wounded. Furthermore, he enjoys general, respect despite being commissioned from the ranks.

The main concern of the senior officers is the forthcoming inspection (early May), which has led to grumbling amongst the men who find themselves and their equipment being more rigorously scrutinised, to say nothing of the extra drill!

]]> http://www.caroledivall.co.uk/diary-of-a-regiment-25th-april-1813/feed/ 0 http://www.caroledivall.co.uk/diary-of-a-regiment-25-march-1815/ http://www.caroledivall.co.uk/diary-of-a-regiment-25-march-1815/#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:59:32 +0000 Carole Divall http://www.caroledivall.co.uk/?p=2454 2nd Battalion, Vila Nova del Rey

The two battalions, 2/30th and 2/44th, are now functioning efficiently as a provisional battalion. The men of the 44th are reacting well to the command of the new (to them) staff officers, and it is expected that the combined battalion will perform effectively in the forthcoming campaign.

Only three men have died this month, and there seems to have been a marked improvement in the general health of the men under the care of the two assistant surgeons, Evans and Clarke.

Eleven men have been invalided to England; one man has joined the Royal Veterans; and one man has returned from prisoner of war. Sixteen men are still posted as missing, against the thirty-three posted missing during the retreat from Burgos.

General Frederick Robinson has replaced General Andrew Hay in command of the second brigade of the fifth division. He has been generally welcomed because he has shown great concern for the men’s diet. In particular, he has made sure they receive fresh bread as conducive to good health.

1st Battalion, Cannanore

There have been three deaths this month, including Sergeant Loseby. (Last month there were none.) Seven sergeants, two drummers and 107 men have been returned sick, present.

Thirteen men have been invalided to Europe from Poonamallee, including Sergeant John Mudd and Corporal William Arnott.

Lieutenant French remains under arrest.

Depot, Hull

The depot is in the process of being amalgamated with the six companies returned from Portugal, although recruiting activities will continue. Seven recruits have joined, and thirty-four are still with the recruiting companies, including thirteen at Cambridge and eight at Sleaford. These remain the most fertile recruiting grounds for the regiment.

There have been ten deaths in the four companies still in Portugal, and the health of the men continues to give cause for concern. The death of Surgeon Hughes has left Assistant Surgeon John Evans with the task of caring for the 47 men in the regimental hospital, while a further 192 men are sick in the general hospitals. Paymaster Wray has also been sent to the rear for recovery of health. This leaves just 189 rank and file, with 20 serjeants and 9 drummers fit for duty at headquarters. The battalion is not alone in still suffering the effects of the retreat from Burgos and Madrid, however. Indeed, the 1st Foot Guards, who were unacclimatised when they joined the retreat, have buried over 400 men during the past two months.

Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton has taken the opportunity to enjoy a short period of leave in Lisbon, accompanied by his wife, who has been in the Peninsula since 1810. Captain Chambers is in temporary command of the battalion.

Five rank and file have joined from England, while a further 3 serjeants and 74 rank and file were left in Lisbon when the six companies sailed for England, and it is assumed that they will now march back to join the four companies.

The six companies are now in Portsmouth, waiting for marching orders. The companies themselves might best be described as skeleton units, the numbers ranging from 6 to 17 per company, with 10 officers, 10 serjeants and 3 drummers overall. They are in the process of discharging or transferring to garrison duties 20 men who have been identified as no longer fit for active service.

1st Battalion, Cannanore

Lieutenant John Winrow, who was found guilty at his court martial last month, is now serving his four months’ suspension from rank and pay. Lieutenant French still awaits his court martial.

There have been no deaths this month, during a period which is generally regarded as the healthiest and most comfortable for Europeans. There is a high level of sickness, however; 7 sergeants, 3 drummers and 105 rank and file with the battalion, and a further 17 rank and file at Poonamallee.

2 corporals have been reduced, and Stephen Cooke and John Keep appointed in their place. John Maskell has been promoted directly from the ranks to serjeant. News has also arrived that Serjeant William Martin, who remained in Madras when the battalion marched to Cannanore, has volunteered into East India Company service.

Depot, Hull

15 recruits, including 5 volunteers from the Wexford Militia, have joined at head quarters, while a further 18 recruits are still with the recruiting parties. The depot now has 77 recruits at drill.

There have been 4 desertions during the past month.

Now that the 6 companies are in England, it is expected that the depot will march to join them.

The casualty rate within the battalion continues to be high, as the physical effects of a long campaign and a testing retreat are compounded by an outbreak of fever.  There have been sixteen deaths this month, including two long-serving sergeants,  McIlhatton and Murdagh. The battalion has been particularly shocked by the loss of their excellent surgeon, Hughes, on the 23td January.

The battalion, reduced to four companies, is now brigaded with the 2/44th. Such is the good feeling between the two units that there have been no organisational problems. Meanwhile, Captain Bamford, Lieutenants Daniell, Neville, Brisac, O’Halloran and Hughes, and Ensigns Flude, Madden, Beere, Travers, Tincombe and Poyntz have marched with 17 serjeants, 3 drummers and 65 rank and file to Lisbon for embarkation to England. A further 78 invalids have already been sent home.

The battalion was inspected by General Hay on the 25th December and received a good report.  The officers have been described as zealous, the NCOs praised for doing ‘their utmost to promote the discipline of the regiment’, while the men were found to be young, clean and healthy in appearance. They have been drilled according to the regulations, so that their movements and formations were made ‘with precision and a proper degree of celerity’. No complaints have been recorded. As for the regimental hospital, General Hay found it to be ‘in most excellent order’. The composition of the battalion is 303 English NCOs and other ranks, 310 Irish, 17 Scottish and 2 foreigners.

A new departure is for the inspection report to include details of general and regimental courts martial; 19 were recorded between 16th May and the 15th January, when the report was written up.

1st Battalion, Cannanore

Major General Wetherall inspected the battalion on the 18th January, and was fulsome in his praise of the officers of all ranks, describing them as attentive, zealous and able. The privates were ‘a fine body of men…obedient and respectful.’ The field exercises and manoeuvres were performed steadily and correctly, although time was wasted between the words of command and the execution of the movement. The General was concerned that 8 complaints had not been dealt with, and also by the high incidence of venereal disease. The composition of the battalion is 657 English NCOs and other ranks, 197 Irish, 19 Scottish, and 5 foreigners.

In the six  months since the previous inspection there have been 79 courts martial, a discrepancy between the two battalions which is not fully explained by their relative strength. It is generally acknowledged that discipline is more difficult to maintain in India.

Lieutenant John Winrow, who has been under arrest for several months, was finally brought to trial on the 24th December, when he was charged by Major Leach with ‘conduct highly unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman in coming to my house on the evening of the 8th instant, in company with Lieut. French, entering my bedroom, when I was at rest, and refusing to quit my house, when repeatedly required by me to do so, and demanding the letter I received from Lieut. French as an apology, and making use of expressions hurtful to my character, in the hearing of my messman, and in the presence of my native servants.’ The trial continued with several adjournments until 6th January, when the court found the prisoner guilty of conduct unbecoming…’ on account of his state of intoxication when he came to Major Leach’s house, his refusal to leave, and his demanding of Lieutenant French’s letter, but acquitted him of the other charges. He was sentenced to be suspended from rank and pay for four months.

Lieutenants Winrow and French had actually been placed under arrest in August, but there were no proceedings against them and letters of apology led to their release.

Depot. Hull

Recruiting is continuing with reasonable success, 14 men and 9 boys having joined from the recruiting parties, and 2 boys have enlisted at headquarters. A further 23 recruits are with the recruiting parties.

Four officers, Captain Douglas, Lieutenants Skirrow and Kettlewell, and Ensign Darling have left the depot to embark for India.

The battalion is now safely back in Portugal, and on the way to winter quarters. However, on the 25th October they went into action with the rest of the fifth battalion at Villamuriel to prevent General Maucune bringing his division across the River Carrion. Had the French succeeded, the position of the whole allied army would have been seriously endangered, particularly as General Foy was in possession of nearby Palencia. Consequently, Lord Wellington depended on the division to hold the position.

Although the bridge at Villamuriel was successfully blown up (unlike the bridge at Palencia), the French eventually found a way across, using the fords which they finally located after much searching. The division was driven back through the village to the dry canal beyond. Here they  reformed, and in concert with the Galicians, successfully counter-attacked to drive the French back across the Carrion. The 2/30th and the 2/44th, acting together, cleared the village, in the process taking more prisoners than their own total numbers. During this advance they faced seventeen enemy guns.

There was a price to pay. Serjeant Keith and two rank and file were killed, while Serjeant Nightingale died of wounds the following day. Captain Hitchen, Lieutenants Andrews, Rumley and Brissac, Ensigns Madden and Tincombe, and twenty–five rank and file were wounded, while seventeen men (including a volunteer, Mr John Hughes) were posted missing. It is assumed that they are prisoners of the French.

There were a further  eight deaths during the retreat to Salamanca, where there was every expectation that a second battle would be fought. These hopes were disappointed on the 15th November when the retreat continued in desolate conditions: rain, which prevented the lighting of fire, mud to the knees, and no rations. During the next three days, a further four men were posted missing, and there were two deaths.

Sickness is now rife. Twelve rank and file are sick present, and eight officers, thirteen sergeants and three hundred and twenty-six rank and file are sick, absent. Two men have died since reaching the safety of Ciudad Rodrigo, which remains firmly in allied hands (as does Badajoz to the south).

Nevertheless, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, in command, is optimistic that a period of rest followed by some judicious military exercise will bring the battalion back to fitness ready for the next campaign.

1st battalion, Cannanore

This has been a quiet month, although there has been considerable sickness and seven deaths. Serjeant Illston and four corporals have been reduced. Three privates have been promoted to corporal, and Corporal Thomas Wells has been promoted to serjeant. John McGill is now drum major.

Lieutenants French and Winrow remain under arrest, the former for duelling and the latter for drunkenness.

Depot, Hull

Twelve men have joined at the depot, three of them invalids from the 2nd battalion, seven men for unlimited service and two boys, also for unlimited service. A further thirty-nine recruits are with the recruiting parties, including fifteen in Ireland, twelve at Cambridge and seven in Sleaford.

The bridge at Villamuriel 

The battalion, as part of the 5^th division, remained on duty as the covering force for the siege of Burgos until the 21^st October, when Lord Wellington finally abandoned the siege and began a retreat towards Salamanca.

Before that, however, there was evidence to suggest that the French at Briviesca were preparing to probe the positions of the allied covering force. As a result the troops had to stand to arms from an hour before daybreak until the senior officers were satisfied there was no threat of a French attack. This daily experience was made all the more unpleasant by the uniformly wet weather.

On the 20^th October the enemy finally made a determined move against the allied positions under the command of General Maucune, and the 1^st and 5^th divisions had to be brought forward to drive the French out of Monasterio, which they achieved with some desultory fire.

Meanwhile in Burgos Lieutenant Neville was serving as an assistant engineer. On the 4^th October he was wounded during an assault on the outer line (which followed the explosion of a mine), and was lucky to survive, saving himself by grabbing the leg of Lieutenant Pitt R.E, who pulled him from the debris of the explosion..

The retreat began in the early hours of the 21^st. By the end of the following day the 5^th division was at Hornillos, and on the 23^rd they reached Cordovilla, along with a Galician force under General Castaños. (Thus the men were not tempted by the wine vats at Torquemada where the rest of the army disgraced itself with widespread drunkenness.) On the 24^th they crossed the Carrion at Palencia, and then marched on to Villamuriel, where they are now guarding the bridge, having left behind the Royals and one division of the Galicians to perform a similar duty at Palencia. They now await the arrival of the French…

The Roman bridge at Palencia 

News has arrived that 90 rank and file under the command of Lieutenant Theophilus O’Halloran, and accompanied by Ensigns Poyntz, Madden and Kelly and Mr Hughes, volunteer, are on the march from Lisbon and are expected to join at any time.  Ensigns Pratt and Beere have already joined from sick leave. There have been ten deaths this month, while since the beginning of the retreat eight men have been posted missing. Another man went missing on the 16^th October, although the circumstances are not clear.

1st Battalion, Cannanore, India

A section of the fort at Cannanore

The battalion continues to enjoy good health. The have been only three deaths this month (including Serjeant John Edwards) and very few men have been returned sick. It is generally agreed that Cannanore is a healthier posting than Madras.

There have been a large number of changes among the NCOs.  One serjeant and two corporals have been reduced, while a serjeant and a corporal have resigned. Three corporals have been made up to serjeant, and eight rank and file have been promoted to corporal.

Lieutenants Winrow and French remain under Lt Colonel Vaumorel’s arrest.

Depot, Hull

 The serjeant tells the recruits exactly how it is to be done!

Lieutenant Fullerton, previously recruiting in Sleaford, is now superintendent of the Derby sub-division. Lieutenants Skirrow and John Roe (1) have joined at headquarters.

The activities of the recruiting parties continue to bring in men and boys. Twenty men and five boys have joined at headquarters for unlimited service, while a further thirty-seven men are still with the recruiting parties, thirteen of them at Cambridge, and seven at Sleaford. Two men have returned from desertion.

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Lord Byron

When Lord Byron hurriedly left England in 1816, hounded out by the scandal of his rumoured association with his half-sister, he visited the battlefield of Waterloo, which had claimed the life of one of his friends, ‘young gallant Howard.’ Byron had already written two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage some years before, inspired by his travels around Europe and including an evocative impression of the bloody field of Albuera. Now he embarked on the composition of a third canto, which included an extended sequence of verses on Waterloo, culminating in an image which saw ‘Rider and horse, – friend, foe, – in one red burial blent!’

Marie-Henri Beyle, who wrote under the pen name “Stendahl”

Where Byron led, others followed, including two writers who were actually veterans of the wars.  Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) was a survivor of the Russian misadventure, 1812, while Frederick Marryat was a retired naval officer who had seen service  from 1806, just after the victory at Trafalgar, until 1830. For Stendhal’s characters, Napoleon is an almost mystic inspiration. In Le Rouge et le Noir (1830) the late Emperor is the source of Julien Sorel’s daydreams and the motivation for many of his later actions, while in The Charterhouse of Parma (1839) Fabrice del Dongo risks his life to join Napoleon at Waterloo.

Captain Frederick Marryat, R.N. 

Perhaps in these two novels we see how strongly the legend of Napoleon had taken root in French consciousness, just as across the Channel Nelson had acquired the status of a demi-god and his Navy, the epitome of maritime supremacy. Both Peter Simple (1834) and Mr Midshipman Easy (1836), by Marryat, reinforce the image of an institution that was harsh but ultimately invincible.

The flow of works continued in Britain with Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (1847-1848) and Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities (1859). The former includes the Duchess of Richmond’s Ball and the Waterloo campaign, seen from both a military and a civilian perspective.

 William Makepeace Thackery, author of “Vanity Fair”

Waterloo serves to kill off one of the main characters: ‘Darkness came down on the field and city; and Amelia was praying for George, who was lying on his face, dead, with a bullet through his heart.’ Amelia continues to mourn her dead husband almost to the end of the novel, when she discovers just how little he cared for her.

Dickens’ novel takes the reader back to ‘the best of times: the worst of times’, to events that triggered nearly a quarter-century of war, from the storming of the Bastille to the Reign of Terror. It embraces in the character of Sydney Carton the idea of the rogue who redeems himself with an act of self-sacrifice.

Charles Dickens

In France Alexandre Dumas (père) published The Count of Monte Christo (1844). Although this is less specifically a Napoleonic novel, certainly in the military sense, the narrative commences during the period of The Hundred Days, and Edmond Dantès, subsequently the soi-disant count, is imprisoned as a Bonapartist traitor, the event which determines the rest of the narrative.

Alexandre Dumas, author of “The Count of Monte Christo”

The 1860’s saw the publication of two works which have done much to create an image of Waterloo and of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, both of which survive to this day – a reminder of the power of imaginative fiction on the public consciousness. Victor Hugo was obsessed with Waterloo to the point that a memorial has been erected on the battlefield to his memory.

“L’Aigle Blessé” (the wounded eagle), on the battlefield at Waterloo, a memorial associated with Victor Hugo

Hugo’s Les Miserables appeared in 1862. Like The Count of Monte Christo, it is not explicitly a Napoleonic novel, even though the action begins in 1815, but the 60-page interlude devoted to Waterloo has become, for many, the defining account of the battle against which historians still struggle today.

Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a prodigious work which takes us from the early years of Tsar Alexander I’s reign through to Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. Historical characters, Alexander, Kutusov, Napoleon himself, rub shoulders with fictional beings as everyone is sucked into the maelstrom of war. The scope of the novel is epic and the themes are universal. It is no wonder that for most readers this becomes the defining image of Russian experience during the Napoleonic War.

Leo Tolstoy, author of “War and Peace”

However, there is room for a lighter touch, which was provided by two British writers. The Trumpet Major is one of the most amusing of Hardy’s novels, a love story as Anne Garland tries to choose between the two brothers, Robert Loveday, a flirtatious sailor, and John Loveday, the more serious trumpet-major of the title.  Then there is boastful Festus Derriman of the Yeomanry cavalry. Robert wins the lady, to the disappointment of most readers, while John blows his trumpet for a last time on one of the Spanish battlefields of the Peninsular War. Hardy was told that his heroine had married the wrong man but merely replied that heroines usually did.

Thomas Hardy, author of “The Trumpet Major”

Hardy himself presented a more sober version of history in The Dynasts, An Epic-Drama of the War with Napoleon, in three parts, nineteen Acts and one hundred and Thirty scenes (1904-1908), his final word on a theme that had become increasingly prominent in his work, the working of fate in the affairs of men. Most people, however, prefer The Trumpet-Major to this blank-verse epic.

The other British writer to bring humour to the subject of war was Conan Doyle with his Adventures of Brigadier Gerard, a series of comic short stories, the first of which were published in 1894. Some would argue that war is not a suitable subject for comedy. But one has only to look at many of the contemporary accounts to appreciate that even in the thick of war human beings can still find the ability to laugh.  Read William Wheeler’s account of his experience at Valladolid when forced to ride the battalion mule, Betsy, or his description of the Mongrels (7^th Division) awoken by a false alarm and the point becomes clear.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

That brings us to the end of the 19^th Century, but the story (or stories!) does not end there.  Next month, I shall take a look at works produced in the 20^th Century because, as everyone knows, then there was Sharpe!

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The 5^th division left Madrid at the end of August with the 1^st and 7^th divisions, and marched to Cuellar where they joined forces with the 6^th division.  The four divisions then marched north in pursuit of the Army of Portugal under General Clausel.

General Bertrand Clausel, commanded the French Army of Portugal

Near Valladolid there was hope of bring the French to battle, but the guns of the 5^th division, which were to have opened the action, were unaccountably delayed and the opportunity was lost.  The advance then made slow progress as Lord Wellington waited for the arrival of the Galician army under General Castaños.

General Francisco Javier Castanos, commanded the Galician Army

Once the Spanish arrived, the advance made rapid progress and caused the French to withdraw north of Burgos, leaving a garrison of 2,000 men in the citadel, which has now been invested.  Any hope the battalion, along with the other battalions of the 5^th division, may have had that they would have the chance to take an active part in the siege was disappointed when they and the 7^th division were designated as the covering force.

There have been twelve deaths during the past month, including Serjeant Rennick.  The sickness rate also remains high.  Over half the battalion are sick absent, although only two men have been returned sick present.  In addition three ensigns, Lockwood, Pratt and Beere, have been sent sick to the rear. However, Lieutenants Eagar and Freear have re-joined from sick leave.

Welcome news has arrived that a detachment of 78 men, including four experienced corporals, has landed in Lisbon under the command of Captain Richardson, and is on its way to join the battalion in Spain.  A lieutenant, three ensigns and a volunteer are also reported to be with the detachment.

Thomas Vipond, who has served with the battalion since its formation, has been appointed Drum Major.  Corporal Terence O’Neil has been demoted.

1^st Battalion: Cannanore

There is very little to report from India.  There have been five deaths this month, and one reduction (Corporal Dewick).

A Hindu temple at Poonamalee

Lieutenants French and Winrow remain under arrest, awaiting court martial proceedings. Lieutenant Winrow has been charged with drunkenness.  Captain Lynch has arrived from England but has leave to stay in Madras, while Lieutenant Ross has leave to remain at Poonamallee.

Depot: Hull

Four rank and file have joined at headquarters, 1 man has been received as a transfer, and one man has been discharged.  There are thirty-three recruits with the recruiting parties, twelve at Sleaford (which remains the most fertile recruiting ground), seven at the three other English stations, and eight in Ireland.

A recruiting sergeant in action.

The depot has received a circular instructing them the recruit men over 35 for limited service (seven years) only.

‘In your first lecture to the Gentlemen of the army, you have observed, that, from the want of any general school for military instruction in England, the officers enter the army without any military knowledge whatever; whereas in France they receive a course of military instruction, acquire a stock of knowledge, which, improved by one or two practical campaigns, completes them in the art of war, which I must perfectly agree in, and lament the truth of your observation.’

 

Although the writer conceded that ‘military schools have been established in this country for the educations of gentlemen intended for the army’, he did not believe that such establishments would enable their students to become ‘masters in the art of war’.  In his opinion, the subjects taught, mathematics, fortification, drawing, writing, arithmetic, and geography, provided insufficient preparation.  He instanced ‘general information of distinguished military characters’, history and topographical knowledge as missing elements.  He also stressed the need for the officer to be acquainted with ‘both men and manners’, which suggests that gentlemen was as significant a term as officer.

By the time St Philip wrote his letter, the Royal Military College at High Wycombe had been in existence for more than a decade.  The establishment was the brainchild of Lieutenant Colonel (later major General) John Gaspard Le Marchant, who in January 1799 presented the idea of ‘the establishment of a Military College for the education of persons intended for the land service, which also comprised a course of instruction for officers intended to serve on the General Staff.’

Lieutenant Colonel (later major General) John Gaspard Le Marchant

When the Royal Military College was opened to the first students, Le Marchant became lieutenant-general and superintendant general, while a French émigré officer, General Jarry, was the first inspector-general.  Jarry spoke only French and was regarded was eccentric but had distinguished himself as a staff officer with the French Army of the North in 1792.  His Instructions for the Light Infantry in the Field proved seminal.

The effects of the staff education offered at High Wycombe took time to be recognised.  Indeed, Wellington, in the Peninsula, was still of the opinion that ‘family, fortune and influence’ were preferable to the ‘coxcombs and pedants’ produced by the college.  Nevertheless, he managed to work as successfully with the thirty-four graduates of High Wycombe who served on his staff as with the men whose circumstances were more to his liking.

The college acquired a junior department in 1802, which was established at Marlow, before being moved to Sandhurst in 1811.  As the original regulations stated: ‘His Majesty, in consideration of the many and very essential advantages to be derived from the establishment of an institution for the purpose of affording a regular military education to those who may from an early life be intended for the military profession, and who by these means may be grounded in science previous to their attaining the age that enables them, consistently with his Majesty’s regulations, to hold commissions in the army, [has] been pleased to establish an institution under the title of The Royal Military College.’  It was always intended that Marlow should be a temporary location, but the commissioners were able to announce that ‘a commodious house and premises have been taken, and are now nearly ready for the reception of one hundred gentlemen cadets, who are to be formed into a company, and to be called the first company of the junior department.’

Royal Military College Marlow, 1810

Further details were appended, setting out ‘leading rules, orders, and regulations for said department.

‘The cadets are to be received upon three different establishments, viz.

30, the sons of officers, who have died or been maimed in his Majesty’s service:

These are to receive their education, board and clothing free from expense.

20, the sons of officers actually in his Majesty’s service:

These are to pay 40l. per annum each, for which they are to receive their education, board and clothing.

30, the sons of noblemen and gentlemen, and 20, the cadets of the East India Company service:

These are to pay 90 guineas per annum each, for which they are to receive their education, board, and clothing.

Linen is not included.

No cadet to be admitted who is under thirteen or above fifteen years of age, or who has any mental or bodily defect which may disqualify him for military service.  He is to produce a satisfactory certificate of the time of his birth.

Every candidate for admission is to be well grounded in a knowledge of grammar and common arithmetic; he is also to write a good legible hand…

The cadets will be formed into a military body, and be instructed in languages and the military sciences and duties, by professors and masters of approved abilities.  The cadets of the East India Company will likewise be instructed in the Oriental languages.

Public examinations will be held for the purpose of ascertaining progress and improvement; and no cadet will be recommended from the college for a commission until he has undergone a public examination, and has received a certificate as to his sufficiency.

No cadet can remain longer than four years.

The health and morals of the cadets will be strictly attended to, and habits of temperance and œconomy strongly inculcated.’

As already noted, not everyone in the military establishment was in favour of this form of officer preparation, while the small number of cadets (320 by 1809) meant that the influence of the Royal Military College was slow to take effect.  Nevertheless, T.J., in a long letter written in 1811 On Military Education, recognised that ‘Marlow and Wycombe are rapidly effecting a very desirable change [to the lack of acquirements which every gentleman would wish to possess, and of branches of knowledge which are more immediately connected with a military life] not only by the numerous accomplished officers which they produce, but the desire of knowledge which has thereby been disseminated through the army.  Officers, even of the rank of lieutenant-colonel, feeling the deficiency of their first education, return to school to make themselves masters of subjects which greatly increase their value and importance, and open for them a shorter and more splendid road to preferment and distinction.’

The early 19^th Century British army was innately conservative, and it would be many decades before the desirability of educating all potential officers for their future career was generally accepted.  The inspiration of John Le Marchant, however, served to open the debate.

Memorial plaque to Le Marchant

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Although this has been a less strenuous month than the last, the battalion have still spent much of the time on the march.  Once it was obvious that General Clausel was continuing his retreat towards Burgos and that Joseph Bonaparte was abandoning Madrid, Lord Wellington decided to take six of his divisions, including the 5^th, to the Spanish capital.

Scenes of celebration as the civil population greeted Wellington.

The welcome they received from the citizens was unlike anything the men had previously experienced: the streets so crowded with people that it took two hours to get through them; offers of food and drink from all sides; deafening vivas; kisses from men, women and children.  The 5^th division then encamped in the Retiro Park, ready to attack the Retiro palaces, which were held by a small French force.  Two days after the triumphant entry, though, just as the attack was about to be launched, the French governor surrendered.  For the troops who had expected to be involved in the attack there was an unexpected reward.  The Retiro was well-packed with supplies.  Not surprisingly, the men of the battalion seemed to be unusually well supplied with tobacco, as well as suddenly acquiring new shoes and shirts.

The battalion spent a further two days in Madrid before withdrawing north to the Escorial.  Although many were reluctant to leave the pleasures of the city, it was generally agreed that this escape from the heat was some compensation.  Life, whether in Madrid or near the Escurial, would have been better with some money but none has been forthcoming.  Men and officers alike are now seriously in arrears of pay.

The monastery of San Lorenzo at El Escorial

The health of the battalion is not good.  Over three hundred men remain sick absent, many of them long-term invalids.  Corporal John Boyes, with a drummer and seven men, has been invalided to England, and it is expected that many more will follow.  There have been eight deaths, including two corporals (Looker, who was only appointed on the 25^th July, and Healyburton) and a sergeant (Matthews, who died on the 14^th August of the wounds he received at Salamanca).  As well as William Looker, Luke Lydon and John Taylor were appointed corporal on the 25^th July.  On the same day Drummers Bradshaw and Bamford were appointed private.

Captains Hitchen and Chambers have now re-joined the battalion.  Sadly, the battalion received news of the death of Ensign Carter, who died of sunstroke at Ciudad Rodrigo on the 23^rd July.  Two ensigns, Smyth and Campbell, have been promoted to lieutenant.  There are also two new ensigns, McDonald and Prendergast, who are still in England.

1^st battalion, Cannanore

The coastline at Cannanore

Two officers, Lieutenants French and Winrow, have been placed under arrest, while Lieutenant Sparkes has been promoted out of the regiment.  Lieutenant Nicholson’s leave has been extended indefinitely, and it is expected that he will return to England for recovery of health.

There have been five deaths this month, a similar figure to the last three months.  Thanks to the care the men receive from Surgeon Pearse, the battalion enjoys better health than many British battalions in India.

On the 25^th July John Mitchell, James Bowler and Charles Page were appointed corporal, and William Farrow was appointed drummer.  John Dowman has returned to the rank of sergeant from drum major.  On the 29^th Sergeant Waters was reduced, while on the 13^th August Corporal Marshall resigned.  He was replaced by John Boncer.  Private Thomas Ward was transported as a felon for seven years on the 31^st July.

Depot, Hull

Eight recruits have joined at the depot, while a further nineteen, nine of them at Sleaford, are still with the recruiting parties.  Another volunteer has joined from the West Yorkshire Militia.

Drill, drill, and more drill makes the perfect infantryman.

Private Gabbutt, who was returned as a deserter last month, re-joined with proof that his furlough had been extended.  Unfortunately, this information had not come to the attention of the commanding officer.  A sick certificate was received on the 25^th July for Private Hollings, who had also been returned as a deserter.  Private Gabbutt is now on the march to join the second battalion, along with 95 other men and four ensigns, under the command of Lieutenant O’Halloran.  Major Bailey is making his own way to Portugal to join the battalion.