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CHAP. VI.

Author returns with his Regiment to Dublin. Is made Corporal by Lord Ligonier, the Colonel. New Exercise. Account of Lord Harrington. State of Newgate Jail at that time, and of the City Watch. Anecdote of Monsieur Sartine, Lieutenant of Police at Paris. Reflections on Military Justice, &c. Author embarks for North America. Stations of the Infantry force of the British Army at that period.

IN the beginning of the year 1775, our regiment was ordered for Dublin duty, and Lord Ligonier, the colonel, arrived from England to inspect and take the command of it. His Lordship was generous, humane, and, from the excellency of his mind, and the affability of his manners, was greatly beloved by the men in general. Some time after his having joined the regiment, I was by him promoted to be a corporal, and sent among several other non-commissioned officers to be instructed in the new exercise which shortly before had been introduced by General Sir William Howe. It consisted of a set of manœuvres for light infantry, and was ordered by his Majesty to be practised in the different regiments. To make trial of this excellent mode of discipline for light troops, and render it general without delay, seven companies were assembled at Salisbury in the summer of 1774. His Majesty himself went to Salisbury to see them, and was much pleased with their utility, and the manner of their execu tion. The manœuvres were chiefly intended for woody and intricate districts, with which North America abounds,

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where an army cannot act in line. The light infantry manœuvres made use of at present are different from those of Sir William Howe, which were done from the centre of battalions, grand divisions, and sub-divisions, by double Indian files. They were six in number, and well adapted for the service in America. Our regiment was instructed in them by the 33d, at that time quartered in Dublin, and commanded by Lord Cornwallis. The 33d was in a high state of appointment, and exceedingly well disciplined, by that able disciplinarian Colonel Webster, of whose character and death I gave a correct account in my Journal of the American War, (see page 305). I never witnessed any regiment that excelled it in discipline and military appearance. The men mounted guard in a superior style. Each centinel, during the two hours he remained on his post, continued always in motion, and could not walk less than seven miles in that time. The soldier was ever alert and alive in attention; when on duty-all eye-all ear. Even in the centry-box, which the centinal never entered unless when it rained, he was not allowed to keep the palm of his hand carelessly on the muzzle of his firelock, which, if the piece were loaded, was considered dangerous, and always an awkward attitude for the soldier.

This

soldierly character they always maintained while they served in North America. The Royal Welch fuzileers were brigaded with the 33d during the entire of the campaign in South Carolina; both regiments were well united together, and furnished an example for cleanliness, martial spirit, and good behaviour. This in a great measure was owing to the care and attention of their Colonels, who were unremitting in trying to make their men excel in discipline, duty, and general propriety of conduct. In effecting this military excellence of our Brigade, Colonel (now General) Nesbit Balfour, who commanded the Royal Welch fuzileers, deserved great credit, and when he was removed to the important situation of Commandant at

Charlestown, the men sustained a loss; for it should be mentioned to his honour as an officer, that during his short stay with us, the regiment was much improved, so much so, that we were not in any thing inferior to the 33d. It is here not unworthy of remark to observe, that both in war and peace, the state of the regiment in every military point of view, and even in good morals, depends on the exertion and ability of the officer commanding, by whom the men are kept regular, steady, vigilant, and active in all

cases.

On this subject, as a disciplinarian and experienced officer, Lord Harrington, at present Commander in Chief in this country, deserves notice, particularly for his introduction of the new exercise. When it was introduced by General Sir William Howe, his Lordship (then Lord Petersham) commanded one of the companies detached to Salisbury, for his Majesty's inspection, and preparatory to the general practice of it, and his Lordship's exertions contributed to give it the deserved extension and effect. A brief sketch of this distinguished Nobleman's character cannot but be gratifying to gentlemen of his own profession, and no doubt to every class of readers.

Although Earl Harrington's ability and efforts to accomplish himself in the military line, might have raised any individual to rank and honours, his Lordship had not the strong inducements which stimulate numbers, to make him proceed with ardour in the soldier's career. If he were disposed to lead a life of tranquillity at home, a title and opulent means by family inheritance awaited him. But with such high advantages, he inherited also from his ancestry a martial spirit. His father was a General, commanded in the old horse guards, and during the late king's reign was Secretary of State, and in the year 1747, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1770, his Lordship began to serve as Ensign in the foot guards; in 1774, he obtained a Captaincy in the 29th infantry; in 1776, embarked for

North America, where he was constantly and actively employed in the 29th regiment in Canada, as also in the whole of the difficult campaign, and the arduous encounters of General Burgoyne with the American armies.* He acted as aid-de-camp to that able commander, who particularly noticed his talents and services, and was favoured with the intimacy of all the General officers, and the friendship of Brigadier General Frazer, who frequently said, that Lord Petersham was one of the most promising young officers in the service at that trying time. After the surrender at Saratoga, his Lordship was sent home with General Burgoyne's dispatches, and to give his Majesty information respecting American affairs. Soon after his arrival from North America, he purchased a company in the foot guards, and in 1779, on the decease of his father, succeeded to his present title. His Lordship sometime after married his lady, then Miss Flemming, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Michael Flemming, Bart. with a large fortune. Her Ladyship, who always ranked in the highest circles as a pattern, not merely of engaging manners, but the most amiable and virtuous life, has been long honoured with the esteem and confidence of the present queen. Although his Lordship in the bloom of youth was thus favoured by Providence with the choicest blessings in this world, such enjoyments could not keep him in the lap of dignified privacy and peace. France now meditating the invasion of the British West India Islands, and new regiments to serve in them being raised, Earl Harrington received the command of one, and sailed with it as Lieut. Colonel Commandant for Jamaica. In this dangerous expedition he was accompanied by Lady Harrington, who could not be deterred from going, by the various perilous circumstances attending it, on the ocean; and in latitudes destructive to European constitutions, with the Divine aid,

See Journal of the American War, page 158,

her constant attention to his Lordship when his health was injured in a tropical climate, became an excellent mean of preserving his valuable life. Before he was disabled by loss of health he greatly assisted Major Gen. Sir Archibald Campbell, the Governor of the island, to model and make up his troops there in an efficient manner, and was made a Brigadier General, with the command of the flank companies of all the regiments. His great exertions reduced him to a state of debility, which obliged himself and his Lady to return to England, where he met a gracious reception from his Sovereign, who appointed him one of his aid-du-camps; and, on the death of General Calcraft, Colonel of the sixty-fifth foot.. With this regiment he came to serve in Ireland, and had the command of the garrison in Dublin during the administration of the Duke of Rutland, when General David Dundas submitted his plan of discipline, which his Lordship approved of, and tried it with the sixty-fifth, by which this celebrated system of tactics at first obtained attention, until it has been successfully brought into universal use in his Majesty's army. In 1785, his Lordship's regiment being ordered to America, he returned to England, and had some leisure for domestic avocations. He was not, however, inattentive to the duties of his honourable profession; he read much, and took every occasion to introduce good order and useful arrangements into the service in general. The present military sword was first introduced by Lord Harrington, adopted by his Royal Highness, the Duke of York, in the Coldstream regiment, and now by his Majesty's order is used in all the regiments. On the demise of Lieutenant General Evelyn, his Lordship got the command of his old favourite regiment the 29th; into which with joy he was received by his early associates, whom he accompanied in the hard fought battles under General Burgoyne. In 1792, his Majesty conferred on him the Colonelcy of the life-guards, with the gold stick,

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