Historical Record of the Eighteenth, or the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1684, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1848.Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Eighteenth, or the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1684, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1848.
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 18th (Royal Irish)
"About four in the afternoon (18th September), the signal was
given, and, according to our orders, we rushed up the covered-way;
the enemy gave us one scattering fire, and away they ran: we jumped
into the covered-way, and ran after them. They made to a ravelin,
which covered the curtain of the fort, in which were a captain and
sixty men. We, seeing them get into the ravelin, pursued them, got
in with them, and soon put most of them to the sword. They that
escaped us fled over a small wooden bridge, that led over the moat
to the fort; and here, like madmen, without fear or wit, we pursued
them over that tottering bridge, exposed to the fire of the great
and small shot of the fort. However, we got over the fausse-braye,
where we had nothing for it but to take the fort or die. They that
fled before us climbed up by the long grass that grew out of the
fort; so we climbed after them. Here we were hard put to it to pull
out the palisades, which pointed down upon us from the parapet,
and, was it not for the great surprise and consternation of those
within, we could never have surmounted this very point: but, as
soon as they saw us at this work, they quitted the rampart, and
retired down to the parade in the body of the fort, where they
laid down their arms and cried for quarter, which was readily
granted them. Thus were the unaccountable orders of Lord Cutts as
unaccountably executed, to the great surprise of the whole army,
and even of ourselves, when we came to reflect on what we had done."
The enemy had about four hundred killed, and two hundred made
prisoners. The British loss, in killed and wounded, did not exceed
forty men.
Captain Parker, of the ROYAL IRISH regiment, adds,--"This affair
was the occasion of another almost as surprising. An express came
to Prince Nassau which gave an account that Landau was taken;
whereupon he ordered the army to draw down near the town, to
fire three rounds (as a feu de-joie); the cannon also of all the
batteries, the mortars, and cohorns, were ordered to fire, with
the troops, into the town. When the garrison and inhabitants saw
us drawing down on all sides, they judged it was with a design of
making such an attack on the town as we had made on the fort, which
struck such a terror into them, that the magistrates begged the
Governor to capitulate, and not suffer them all to be put to the
sword. The first round of all our batteries, and the small shot of
the army, so affrighted them, that men, women, and children, came
flocking to the ramparts with white cloths in their hands, crying,
'Mercy! mercy!' and the Governor, in as great a consternation
as the rest, sent out an officer to the Prince to desire a
capitulation, which was immediately granted; as we had other sieges
to carry on this season, the Prince allowed them honourable terms."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account