Historical Record of the Thirty-fourth, or the Cumberland Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702 and of its subsequent services to 1844Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Thirty-fourth, or the Cumberland Regiment of Foot: containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1702 and of its subsequent services to 1844
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Infantry. 34th Regiment (Cumberland)
The regiment was afterwards encamped on the plains of Lessines; and
was subsequently employed in operations of a defensive character;
but the enemy had so great a superiority of numbers, that it was
found impossible to prevent the loss of several fortified towns.
In the mean time, Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender,
had arrived in Scotland, and being joined by the Highland clans,
he resolved to make a desperate effort to overthrow the existing
government. The THIRTY-FOURTH regiment was ordered to return to
England on this occasion; it left the camp at Vilvorde on the 13th
of September, embarked at Williamstadt, on the 19th, and arriving
in the river Thames on the 23rd, landed at Blackwall, from whence
it was ordered to proceed to Newcastle, where a body of troops was
assembling under Field-Marshal Wade. Having joined this force, the
regiment was formed in brigade with the Buffs, the Thirteenth, and
Forty-eighth Regiments, and when the clans penetrated England,
it marched by Durham, Darlington, and Richmond, in order to
cover Yorkshire, and eventually proceeded to Ferrybridge, where
it arrived on the 8th of December. When the Highlanders quitted
Derby, and made a precipitate retreat to Scotland, the regiment was
engaged in the attempt to intercept their return; but the clans
escaped with the loss of a few men killed in a skirmish on Clifton
moor.
[Sidenote: 1746]
Early in January, 1746, the regiment marched to Edinburgh, from
whence it advanced, with the troops under Lieutenant-General
Hawley, to _Falkirk_, for the purpose of forcing the insurgents to
raise the siege of Stirling castle.
The clans quitted Stirling, and on the 17th of January, they
advanced to Falkirk moor; when the King’s troops marched to
attack the insurgents. As the royal army diverged upon the moor,
a storm was seen approaching, and as the soldiers moved forward
to commence the battle, a violent hurricane, with a heavy shower
of rain, beat violently in their faces, and nearly blinded them;
at the same time, it beat on the backs of the Highlanders and
caused them little annoyance. The engagement commenced under great
disadvantages to the King’s troops, who could not see to take aim;
more than half the muskets would not give fire, and the powder
became wet and useless while the men were in the act of loading.
Being thus blinded and confounded by the storm, several regiments
faced about and retreated. Others stood firm and repulsed the
clans; but during the night the whole retired. The regiment lost
its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Powell, who was mortally
wounded on this occasion. Its colonel, Brigadier-General the
Honorable James Cholmondeley, highly distinguished himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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