Historical Record of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, or Northumberland Fusiliers: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1674, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1837 — John Shaqi
Historical Record of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, or Northumberland Fusiliers: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1674, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1837Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, or Northumberland Fusiliers: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1674, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1837
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Northumberland Fusiliers
following day Lieutenant-General Whitelocke agreed to vacate the
place. In this affair the FIFTH sustained a loss of fourteen
killed, also forty-seven wounded, amongst the latter was Major the
Honourable Henry King; and twenty-four missing. On the conclusion
of the treaty between General Whitelocke and General Liniers, the
English army re-embarked, and, after a tedious voyage, during
which it was exposed to considerable want both of provisions and
water, the 1st battalion of the FIFTH Regiment landed at Cork, in
December, 1807, where the 2nd battalion also arrived from Alderney
on the 3rd of the same month.
In the same year, the sanction of his Royal Highness the Prince
Regent was obtained for clothing the drummers of the regiment in
white, with white and red lace, instead of gosling green.
[Sidenote: 1808]
The second battalion was quartered at Charles Fort, Kinsale,
from whence it marched in February, 1808, to Fermoy. In the
summer of the same year, the first battalion, under the command
of Lieutenant-Colonel John Mackenzie, was ordered to proceed to
the aid of the Portuguese in their resistance to the tyrannical
power of Buonaparte; it accordingly embarked at Cork, and sailed
on the 12th July for Portugal; where it landed on the 9th of
August, and immediately joined the army of Lieutenant-General Sir
Arthur Wellesley. In the action at _Roleia_, on the 17th, it was
one of the few corps whom circumstances and the nature of the
ground permitted to come to actual engagement with the enemy; and
advancing by the right-hand path to the heights of Zambugeira, it
climbed the rugged rocks in the face of a French force, which,
after a gallant resistance, was driven from the heights. Thus by
its conduct on that day, wherein two of its officers, Major Emes
and Lieutenant Doyle were wounded, it earned the Royal permission
to have the word "ROLEIA" inscribed on its colours. Its further
loss was three killed, and two serjeants and thirty-nine rank and
file wounded. Sir Arthur Wellesley, in his despatch, observed, "I
cannot sufficiently applaud the conduct of the troops throughout
this action. The enemy's positions were formidable, and he took
them up with his usual ability and celerity, and defended them most
gallantly. I must observe, that although we had such a superiority
of numbers employed in the operations of this day, the troops
actually engaged in the heat of the action were, from unavoidable
circumstances, only the FIFTH, Ninth, Twenty-ninth, the riflemen
of the Sixtieth and Ninety-fifth, and the flank companies of
Major-General Hill's brigade, being in number by no means equal to
that of the enemy;--their conduct therefore deserves the highest
commendation."
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