History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Vol. 2: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Vol. 2: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
For the few years following this augmentation, the establishment
remained virtually the same; but, in January 1813, 194 officers,
non-commissioned officers, and men were added to act as Rocket
Detachments, and also as a depôt to supply the troops on service. A
depôt for the Royal Horse Artillery has existed under various names,
and in somewhat chequered circumstances. It commenced--as stated
above--in 1813; it existed for many years in the form of an Adjutant’s
Detachment at Woolwich; in 1859 it was transferred to Canterbury; on a
somewhat larger scale it was transferred to Maidstone after the
amalgamation of the Royal and Indian Artilleries; for a short time
subsequently, the Horse Artillery Batteries at home acted as a depôt for
those serving abroad; and, at the date of the publication of this work,
the last-mentioned arrangement is supplemented by the existence of two
Horse Artillery Batteries in the general depôt for the Regiment.
In 1814, the various Rocket Detachments were combined, those at home
becoming the 1st, and those abroad the 2nd, Rocket Troop. The officers
appointed to command these were Captain W. G. Elliott, an officer who
retired from the Regiment in 1828, and Captain--afterwards Sir--E. C.
Whinyates, an officer whose ability, zeal, and services have hardly been
surpassed in the Regiment. He ultimately--after a long and active
career--became Commandant of Woolwich, where his kindly manners were
long remembered. He commanded the Rocket Troop at Waterloo, where he was
severely wounded.
Among the many heart-breaking reductions which exasperate the Artillery
student, perhaps none are more distressing, than the reduction of the
2nd Rocket Troop in 1816. _The 1st Rocket Troop had never been out of
England_; the 2nd had done good service at Leipsic and Waterloo. Neither
of them had had a long existence; but one had had a stirring, glorious
history. On the 16th May, 1815, the following order had been
issued:--“His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on the
behalf of His Majesty, has been pleased to command that _the Rocket
Troop of Royal Artillery, which was present at the Battle of Leipsic_,
be permitted to wear the word ‘Leipsic’ on their appointments, in
commemoration of their services on that occasion.” And to the same troop
the reward fell, given to those who had been at the Battle of Waterloo.
Yet, when the pruning-knife came to be used, the troop which had earned
these honours was selected for reduction; and, as if adding insult to
injury, the word ‘Leipsic’ came actually to be worn by the surviving
troop, which had never been on active service at all! On its reduction,
the officers of the 2nd Rocket Troop were transferred to the Corps of
Royal Artillery Drivers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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