Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : $b Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853 — John Shaqi
Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : $b Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853Cannon, Richard
History
Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : $b Containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Princess Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers
The evening before this attack, there was an order that the great
coats and kits of the regiment should be left in the house which
the commanding officer had occupied, under the charge of the
Quartermaster; or, in his absence, of a subaltern officer, with
the sick or lame men who could not march, as a guard for this
baggage. The Quartermaster was employed on the general staff as
an assistant engineer, and the tour of duty fell upon Lieutenant
Michael Barry, of the grenadier company; but this high-spirited
young man earnestly solicited, and obtained permission, to
accompany his regiment, and was the first officer who fell the
next day. No other subaltern being found willing to remain behind,
the charge was entrusted to Quartermaster-Serjeant William Grady.
He was the first man who joined the corps on its formation,
and had been distinguished for his bravery, intelligence, and
trustworthiness; his guard, inefficient as it must be, mustered
somewhat more than twenty men. In front of the house there was
a thick orchard, with a narrow path leading to it; upon this he
placed double sentries during the night, and a piquet of half his
force in the day-time. It appeared that at the further end of this
orchard a mounted body of the enemy was concealed; these men had
been posted in advance of the town, but being unable to return,
in consequence of the British troops having got between it and
their position, they determined to get into the country by this
narrow pass; but when they rushed out of the orchard, they were
fired upon by Serjeant Grady’s sentries, and, their leader falling,
they retreated into their cover, and after several ineffectual
attempts to escape in that direction, the party, consisting of
two officers and seventy men, well mounted and armed, surrendered
to the Quartermaster-Serjeant’s small force. Having secured their
arms and ammunition, he marched the prisoners to head-quarters,
and delivered them up to Major-General Gower. Two hours after he
received written orders from Lieut.-General Whitelocke to return
the arms, &c. to the prisoners, who were released, and not to fire
upon or stop any party, whether armed or not, going into or coming
out of the town. At nine o’clock the next night, upwards of five
hundred mounted men came out of the town and surrounded the house,
the owner of which was an officer of the party, who, in addition
to national hostility, was in a state of great irritation at his
house having been taken from him, and, as he stated, plundered
by the advanced guard of the British army. They surrounded and
made prisoners Serjeant Grady and his party, who had orders not
to fire upon any armed body. They were marched into the town,
and thrust into loathsome dungeons. The Serjeant was a peculiar
object of revenge, because he refused to accept a commission in
their service, and to drill their troops. This brave and excellent
soldier was subsequently rewarded for his exemplary conduct by
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