Historical record of the Thirteenth, First Somerset, or the Prince Albert's Regiment of Light Infantry: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent services to 1848.Cannon, Richard
History
Historical record of the Thirteenth, First Somerset, or the Prince Albert's Regiment of Light Infantry: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1685, and of its subsequent services to 1848.
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Somerset Light Infantry
The fleet left Carlisle Bay on the 28th of January, 1809, and
arrived off the island of _Martinique_ in two days. On the 30th,
the troops landed in two divisions; the first division at Bay
Robert, under Lieut.-General Sir George Prevost; and the second
division, commanded by Major-General Maitland, near St. Luce and
Point Solomon. Both divisions were actively engaged in operations
for the reduction of the island. After a night march of seven
miles through a difficult country, the first division occupied a
position on the Great Lizard River; and on the 1st of February
it engaged the enemy on Morne Brune and the heights of Surirey,
which were warmly contested; but British valour was triumphant. In
eight days from the time the fleet quitted Barbadoes, Fort Desaix
(or Fort Bourbon) was invested, ‘notwithstanding heavy rains, and
most unfavourable weather, in which the troops have borne every
species of privation in a manner worthy the character of British
soldiers.’[10] The siege of the fort was prosecuted with vigour;
and on the 24th February, the French governor, General Villaret,
surrendered, the French twenty-sixth and eighty-second regiments
becoming prisoners, and delivering up their arms and EAGLES to the
British troops. The conduct of the regiment, at the capture of this
valuable island, was afterwards rewarded with the royal authority
to bear on its colours the word “MARTINIQUE,” to commemorate its
services on this occasion.
The THIRTEENTH were stationed at Martinique, where they received
two hundred and fifty volunteers from the English militia, in
October, 1809.
[Sidenote: 1810]
A strong detachment of the regiment embarked from Martinique
on the 21st of January, 1810, and sailed to Prince Rupert’s,
Dominica, where it joined the expedition against _Guadaloupe_,
under the orders of Lieut.-General Beckwith: the detachment of
the THIRTEENTH, sixty-third (600 rank and file), York light
infantry volunteers, and fourth West India regiment, formed the
fourth brigade under Brigadier-General Skinner, in the first
division, commanded by Major-General Hislop. This division sailed
from Dominica on the 26th of January, landed at St. Mary’s, in
Capesterre, on the 28th, and took an active part in the operations
by which the French troops in the island of Guadaloupe were forced
to surrender on the 6th of February. The loss of the THIRTEENTH
foot, in this service, was limited to one man killed and five
wounded; and immediately after the capture of the island, the
detachment rejoined the regiment at Martinique.
[Sidenote: 1811]
[Sidenote: 1812]
During the years 1811 and 1812, the THIRTEENTH were stationed at
the island of Martinique.
[Sidenote: 1813]
On the 15th of February, 1813, General Campbell was removed to
the thirty-second regiment, and was succeeded in the colonelcy
of the THIRTEENTH by Lieut.-General Edward Morrison, from
Colonel-Commandant in the sixtieth foot.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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