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
The increase of pay produced a feeling of contentment in the whole army;
and if sedition had no chance of thriving in the Artillery before, it
certainly had none after. An unsuccessful attempt having been made at
Woolwich in 1797 to stir up discontent among the men, we gather, from a
General Order published shortly afterwards, that the non-commissioned
officers and men subscribed a sum of money, which they offered as a
reward for the detection of the offenders; and, further, signed
voluntarily a paper declaring anew their loyalty to the King and
fidelity to the country. This latter step--to modern eyes somewhat
superfluous in _attested_ soldiers--was doubtless called forth by
certain insults to the King which had been published, and which called
forth the indignation of the whole community; and also by the fact that
certain soldiers serving in Ireland had been seduced from their colours
by the rebels, who, under the name of United Irishmen, were traversing
the whole country. The same feeling which prompted this action at
Woolwich expressed itself in subscriptions from the Regiment at home
and abroad to Mr. Pitt’s Loyalty Loan. It is recorded that the “officers
and men of the Royal Artillery at Gibraltar, Martinique, and St.
Domingo, having, as tokens of their [Sidenote: Cleaveland’s MSS.] love
and attachment to their King and country, transmitted to England
subscriptions, as detailed underneath, the Master-General thought it his
duty to lay the same before His Majesty, and to observe to His Majesty
how rapidly the spirit, which had so laudably shown itself in the
Artillery at home, had spread to the detachments abroad. His Majesty, on
receiving the information, was graciously pleased to express his
approbation, and to permit the Master-General to communicate the same to
the Regiment. [Sidenote: B. O. 4 June, 1798.] ‘The Master-General,
Marquis Cornwallis, has the greatest satisfaction in obeying this His
Majesty’s command, and takes the opportunity of congratulating the Royal
Regiment of Artillery on that zeal and alacrity, which, in all services
and in all climates and countries, have uniformly marked the character
of the Corps.’
“_Subscriptions from Gibraltar._--Major-General Martin, 100_l._; Field
Officers and Captains, 30 days’ pay each; subalterns, 14 days’ pay;
non-commissioned officers and gunners, 7 days’ pay each.
“_From Martinique._--Officers, 30 days’ pay; non-commissioned officers
and gunners, 20 days’ pay each.
“_From Cape Nicholas Mole._--Officers and men, 10 days’ pay each.”
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