The History of the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort's Own) Formerly the 95thCope, William Henry
History
The History of the Rifle Brigade (the Prince Consort's Own) Formerly the 95th
Cope, William Henry
Great Britain. Army. Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
The officers commanding the four Battalions have given free access
to, or transcripts of the several Battalion Records. These, though
drawn up in obedience to an order issued in 1822, do not seem to have
been compiled till some years afterwards.
That of the 1st Battalion appears to have been written by, or under
the eye of, Sir Amos Norcott, who then commanded it, and by whom the
transcript transmitted to the Horse Guards is signed. For it is very
full and explicit in relating the actions in which he was personally
engaged (as, for instance, the account of the engagement at Buenos
Ayres, which bears internal evidence of having been drawn up by an
eye-witness) but is rather slight and meagre in the narrative of many
Peninsular and other victories.
The Record of the 2nd Battalion, transmitted to the Horse Guards,
and dated March 10, 1831, is a model of what such a document should
be. It has been compiled with great accuracy; and the movements and
engagements of the Battalion, the lists of killed and wounded, and
the distinctions won by its officers and men, are recorded under
separate heads and with great minuteness.
These Records have been continued to the present time, for the most
part with great accuracy and precision.
The Records of the 3rd and 4th Battalions have also been placed in
my hands. The latter, containing, of course, only the movements of
the Battalion, calls for no comment; that of the 3rd Battalion has
been, in the earlier parts, kept irregularly, probably in consequence
of the Battalion being broken up and constantly in the field; and
no one perusing it could form an idea of, or trace accurately the
distinguished service of that Battalion during the Indian Mutiny.
Nor is it to Riflemen alone that I am indebted for assistance. I
have to thank Major-General Sir John Adye for permission to use the
plan of Cawnpore, published in his account of those eventful days;
Major-General Payn for an interesting letter on the same subject;
the author of the articles on Ashantee in ‘Colburn’s United Service
Magazine’ for his liberal and unsolicited authority to use them as
materials for my narrative; and especially Lieutenant-Colonel Home,
R.E. for his kindness in giving me tracings of the plans of the
operations at New Orleans deposited in the Quarter-Master General’s
Office, and for permission to have copies made of the plans prepared
in the topographical department of that office for the Record of the
52nd.
I have expressed in another place the assistance I have derived from
the accurately kept journal of the late Major George Simmons, and
from his separate memoir on Waterloo, which were placed in my hands
by his widow.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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