Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in the Reign of King James VI. of Scotland, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1846Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the First, or Royal Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Origin of the Regiment in the Reign of King James VI. of Scotland, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1846
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 1st (Royal Scots)
In the meantime important events had transpired on the continent of
Europe. The invasion of Russia by Napoleon, the burning of Moscow,
the disastrous retreat of the French army from the north, and the
separation of Prussia, Austria, and other states, from the interest of
Napoleon, were followed by a treaty of alliance and subsidy between
Great Britain and Sweden, in which it was stipulated that a Swedish
army commanded by the Crown Prince should join the allies; and on the
2nd of August, 1813, the 4th battalion of the ROYAL SCOTS embarked
under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Muller for Stralsund, in Swedish
Pomerania, forming part of an expedition sent thither under the orders
of Major-General Gibbs. Thus a battalion of the regiment proceeded to
the same part of the world to which a body of daring Scots, who formed
the nucleus of this distinguished corps, proceeded exactly 200 years
before, to engage in the service of the Swedish monarch. The battalion
remained at Stralsund until the middle of December, when it advanced to
support the army of the Crown Prince of Sweden on the Elbe, and halted
on the 24th of December at Lubeck.
Thus at the conclusion of the year 1813 the regiment had four
battalions on foreign service in three different quarters of the globe;
namely--
1st battalion in Upper Canada, America.
2nd " the East Indies, Asia.
3rd " France, Europe.
4th " Germany, "
[Sidenote: 1814]
[Sidenote: 1st Batt.]
The services of the 1st battalion were limited, during the early
part of 1814, to the usual duties of a corps stationed on an enemy's
frontier. On the night of the 3rd of March, Captain Stewart received
information of the appearance of a strong body of Americans in
_Longwood_, in advance of Delaware town; and he directed the light
companies of the ROYAL SCOTS, and 89th regiment, to march at day-break,
to support the advance posts. At five o'clock on the evening of the
4th the Americans were discovered, in very superior force, posted on a
commanding eminence, protected with breastworks formed of logs of wood.
The companies of the ROYAL SCOTS and 89th instantly attacked the enemy
in front, "in the most gallant manner," while a company of rangers, and
a detachment of Canadian militia, made a flank movement to the right,
and a small band of Indians made a similar movement to the left, with
a view of gaining the rear of the position. "After repeated efforts
to dislodge the enemy in an arduous and spirited contest of an hour
and a half's duration, which terminated with the daylight, the troops
were reluctantly withdrawn, having suffered severely, principally
in officers."[118] The ROYAL SCOTS had Captain David Johnstone, 1
serjeant, and 9 private men killed; Lieutenant Angus Macdonald, 2
serjeants, and 37 private men, wounded; and a bugler taken prisoner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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