Historical Record of the Thirty-first, or, the Huntingdonshire Regiment of Foot;: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1850Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Thirty-first, or, the Huntingdonshire Regiment of Foot;: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702, and of its subsequent services to 1850
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 31st
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment marched to Deal, embarked for Holland
on the 8th of September, and arrived at the Helder on the 15th of
the same month. The THIRTY-FIRST and other regiments were embarked
after the departure of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, in order
to reinforce his army. The Duke of York, having preceded these
additional troops by two days, was already in command of the army,
which was intrenched in the advance of the Helder on the Zuype, in
which lines Sir Ralph Abercromby had, on the 10th of September,
near the village of _Crabbendam_, repulsed the attack of the French
and Dutch under General Brune.
Immediately on landing, the THIRTY-FIRST marched to the lines, and
joined Major-General the Earl of Chatham’s brigade, in the division
of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, on the 15th of September. The
Duke of York, having been reinforced by the expected arrival of a
corps of twelve thousand Russians, under Lieut.-General Hermann,
resolved on attacking the French position in advance of _Alkmaar_,
reaching from Zuyder-Zee on the right, to Camperdown on the left,
and embracing the town of Bergen.
The attack was made on the 19th of September, in four columns: the
right, formed entirely of Russians, under Lieut.-General Hermann,
moved on Bergen; the centre divisions, under Lieut.-General Dundas
and Lieut.-General Sir James Pulteney, forced the village and post
of Oude Carspel, on the road to Alkmaar; while the left column,
in which was the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under General Sir Ralph
Abercromby, advanced to the capture of Hoorne.
The point of attack selected for Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division
being at a considerable distance beyond the extent of the line,
the THIRTY-FIRST, and other regiments, marched at eight o’clock on
the night of the 18th of September, and the movement was performed
with such skill and secrecy, that Hoorne was surprised and carried
on the following morning without loss, which placed the French
position in considerable peril. The Russians having failed in
holding Bergen, after having entered it in gallant style, rendered
it impossible for the centre division to continue in possession
of the posts it had acquired. The British troops were therefore
withdrawn to their former lines upon the Zuype, to which the
Russians had retreated. Hoorne was evacuated, and the THIRTY-FIRST,
with the other regiments of Sir Ralph Abercromby’s division,
returned on the night of the 19th of September to the ground they
had quitted on the former evening.
From the 20th of September until the 1st of October, both armies
remained within their intrenchments, strengthening their lines of
defence; the French had received reinforcements, and had inundated
a large tract of country on their right by cutting the sluices,
thus contracting the ground of operations to six or seven miles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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