The Duke of Wellington, continued from the Previous page....
About this time Arthur signed himself for the first time as Wellesley, not Wesley, a reversion to an ols spelling of the family name, a practice begun by Richard who saw it as being more distinguished.
When Richard Lord Mornington arrived as Govenor General in May 1798 he decided to put an end to the suspected ambitions of the ruler, Tippu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore and son of Hyder Ali, who was reported to be associating with the French. The ensuing Battle of Seringapatam in 1799 brought an end to Tippu and military honour to Arthur Wellesley who, in General Harris's army, commanded a large force that included hos own 33rd Foot, Madras troops of the East India Company and battalions of Britain's ally the Nizam of Hyderaba. His command of the latter greatly angered Major General David Baird, a tough Scottish giant who thought that he should have been appointed: he was older than Wellesley and, having once been a prisoner in Tippu's dungeons, had wished for a chance at revenge. Ordered to attack at night the Sultanpettah Tope, a dense grove of of bamboo, Wellesley had not been able to reconnoitre the ground. He nevertheless deeply regretted his failure and the deaths of his men. Some say he escaped reprimand only because of his brother's position. Wellesley given the chance to make amends, took the Tope without loss the next morning, 6th April. In early May a successful attack on Seringapatam's defence works went in. Baird volunteered to lead the assault of two columns and did so with
enthusiasm and skill, while Wellesley commanded a third, in reserve. Tippu Sultan was found dead. Wellesley emerged from this victory having made an enemy of Baird who expected to be Govenor of Seringapatam, the honour going to the well-connected Wellesley. By the time of Wellesley's great victory at Assaye in September 1803 against the Mahratta forces of Doulot Rao Scinda, where he won much respect as the Major General in the Company's services who finally restored order in the Deccan, he had begun to display the innate coolness under fire and moral authority among his troops that was to characterize him in the Peninsular War. But Wellesleywould later observe that this battle was ' the bloodiest i ever saw. '
When Richard Lord Mornington arrived as Govenor General in May 1798 he decided to put an end to the suspected ambitions of the ruler, Tippu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore and son of Hyder Ali, who was reported to be associating with the French. The ensuing Battle of Seringapatam in 1799 brought an end to Tippu and military honour to Arthur Wellesley who, in General Harris's army, commanded a large force that included hos own 33rd Foot, Madras troops of the East India Company and battalions of Britain's ally the Nizam of Hyderaba. His command of the latter greatly angered Major General David Baird, a tough Scottish giant who thought that he should have been appointed: he was older than Wellesley and, having once been a prisoner in Tippu's dungeons, had wished for a chance at revenge. Ordered to attack at night the Sultanpettah Tope, a dense grove of of bamboo, Wellesley had not been able to reconnoitre the ground. He nevertheless deeply regretted his failure and the deaths of his men. Some say he escaped reprimand only because of his brother's position. Wellesley given the chance to make amends, took the Tope without loss the next morning, 6th April. In early May a successful attack on Seringapatam's defence works went in. Baird volunteered to lead the assault of two columns and did so with
enthusiasm and skill, while Wellesley commanded a third, in reserve. Tippu Sultan was found dead. Wellesley emerged from this victory having made an enemy of Baird who expected to be Govenor of Seringapatam, the honour going to the well-connected Wellesley. By the time of Wellesley's great victory at Assaye in September 1803 against the Mahratta forces of Doulot Rao Scinda, where he won much respect as the Major General in the Company's services who finally restored order in the Deccan, he had begun to display the innate coolness under fire and moral authority among his troops that was to characterize him in the Peninsular War. But Wellesleywould later observe that this battle was ' the bloodiest i ever saw. '
The storming of Seringapatam
the raising of irish regiments for the British army and the revolutionary war in france
During these years Irish Regiments were among many raised in the Brirish Army that would serve under Wellesley when France declared war on britain in 1793. The heroic Irish Regiments in the British Army embodied the heroic tradition.
It may strike readers unfamiliar with Irish History as odds that a country constantly rising in arms against its rulers should continue to supply these rulers with a steady supply of loyal first class fighting men. Irish romantic and Nationalist writers tend to play this down or attribute it to the admittedly bad social and economic conditions of the times...A national proclivity to quareel may have prevented this martial people from uniting amongst themselves but when properly trained and equipped they have been accepted as among the best soldiers in the world
Henry Harris.
Henry Harris.
When Major John Doyle ( later General Sir John Bart ) of an old Irish family raised an Irish regiment for the war between Britain and France that began in the late 18th Century, he appealed to Irishmen in heroic terms. A Dublin newspaper of 7th September 1793 stated that Doyle, ' The Soldiers' Friend ' had permission from his Majesty to ' Raise forthwith a legion og heroes, the 87th....such spirited lads as are desirous of serving this honourable corps to be called the ' Prince of Wales ' Irish Heroes.
Three months later the 89th Foot was raised in Dublin by Colonel William Crosbie. In 1798 Major Lord Andrew Blayney of Castle Blayney, Monaghan, purchased the Lieutenat-Colonelcy of this regiment which then aquired the nickname ' Blayney's Bloodhounds ' said to be from chasing rebels in the '98 United Irishmen Rising. Hard on the heels of the 87th and 89th, in 1793 the 83rd Foot was raised in Dublin by Colonel William Fitch, a brave benevolent commander who was killed in action in Jamaica in 1795. Their naickname of Fitch's Grenadiers was a rather ironic sobriquet because grenadiers were by tradition always chosen from the tallest troops and Fitch's men were mostly of diminutive stature. The 86th, not at first an Irish regiment, was also raised in 1793, in Shropshire, England, by Major General Sir Cornelius Cuyler and almost immediately moved to Ireland where the number 86 was alloted to it. In 1812, in recognition of their capture of the French island of Bourbon in 1810, the 86th was granted the title The Royal County Down Regiment of Foot and permitted to wear on their buttons insignia of the Irish harp and crown. Later in the 19th Century the 83rd and 86th would become the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles and the 87th and 89th would be the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Of the regiments raised in 1793 the one with the reputation for being most Irish was the 88th Foot, the Connaught Rangers, some of whom knew only enough English to get by on parade. Its first Colonel was the Honorable Thomas de Burgh, later Earl of Clanricarde. With one or two exceptions all its officers were Irish, the sons of gentlemen belonging to septs or families that had some relationship with the Colonel. Many of these officers raised recruits from their estates or communities in Connaught and from the begining a strong ' familial ' spirit soon merged with a regimental allegiance that was uniquely treasured. It was the only regiment raised at this time with a territorial designation. The regimental spirit of the Connaught Rangers was early evident in a fracas with the Derbyshire Militia at Eastborne, England, where the militia were so impressed with the fighting prowess of the 88th that some 200 of them were persuaded to transfer into the Rangers. In late 1808 when ordered to the Peninsula, the commander of the 88th was Major Vandeleur of the Vandeleur family whose younger sons were classic Irish Junkers. In the 18th century the process was well underway that gave Wellington's army in Spain its very Irish character with no fewer than fourteen Irish regiments and as the Duke estimated himself an Irish presence of 30 percent in other regiments.
Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley, whom Napoleon would disparagingly call the ' Sepoy General ' returned to Britain in 1805 after an absence of eight years in India a hardened campaigner with a capacity for handling large bodies of men under fire and attention to detail. This Irishman had learned his trade well and he would become legendary. Showered with honours including his KCB and thanked by Parliament with a fortune, his financial troubles disappeared. Despite these plaudits the senior military command he really wanted did not come his way. He was given command of a brigade to Hanover, a ' brief abortive expedition' followed by command of a brigade guarding the coastline at Hastings, England. There seemed little regard for anyone who had served in India, nor had he sufficient European experience for a higher appointment. Wellesley accepted stoically the limitations at this time in his career, for in military matters his duty was to serve the King wherever he was sent. The concept of duty would be his abiding principle throughout his life. Wellesley could now open negotiations to resume his courtship of Kitty Pakenham despite the many intervening years. In April 1806 they married in Dublin in what proved to be a union far from ideal.
Wellesley eventually beame a member of parliament for Rye while he was at Hastings, advised to do so by his old friend Robert Stewart, now Lord Castlereagh and Secretary for War, to defend the honour of his brother Richard accused of sharp practices in India by a fellow member of the Commons. Wellesley was a soldier not a politician and became impatient while Napoleon was striding across Europe with his armies. He petitioned Castlereagh many times for a command, reminding him that by remaining in a large civil office, by which he meant his position as Chief Secretary of Ireland appointed in April 1807, he might lose the confidence and esteem of the officers and men in the army. At last Wellesley achieved necessary service in Europe when in August 1807 he joined an expedition to Denmark to force the Danes to give up their fleet before the French seized it. A more experienced officer was his second in command, a ' minder ' but a tactful man, and Wellesley soon tokk over and led his brigade in a successful attack at Koge which brought about Copenhagen's surrender on the 6th September.
Three months later the 89th Foot was raised in Dublin by Colonel William Crosbie. In 1798 Major Lord Andrew Blayney of Castle Blayney, Monaghan, purchased the Lieutenat-Colonelcy of this regiment which then aquired the nickname ' Blayney's Bloodhounds ' said to be from chasing rebels in the '98 United Irishmen Rising. Hard on the heels of the 87th and 89th, in 1793 the 83rd Foot was raised in Dublin by Colonel William Fitch, a brave benevolent commander who was killed in action in Jamaica in 1795. Their naickname of Fitch's Grenadiers was a rather ironic sobriquet because grenadiers were by tradition always chosen from the tallest troops and Fitch's men were mostly of diminutive stature. The 86th, not at first an Irish regiment, was also raised in 1793, in Shropshire, England, by Major General Sir Cornelius Cuyler and almost immediately moved to Ireland where the number 86 was alloted to it. In 1812, in recognition of their capture of the French island of Bourbon in 1810, the 86th was granted the title The Royal County Down Regiment of Foot and permitted to wear on their buttons insignia of the Irish harp and crown. Later in the 19th Century the 83rd and 86th would become the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles and the 87th and 89th would be the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Of the regiments raised in 1793 the one with the reputation for being most Irish was the 88th Foot, the Connaught Rangers, some of whom knew only enough English to get by on parade. Its first Colonel was the Honorable Thomas de Burgh, later Earl of Clanricarde. With one or two exceptions all its officers were Irish, the sons of gentlemen belonging to septs or families that had some relationship with the Colonel. Many of these officers raised recruits from their estates or communities in Connaught and from the begining a strong ' familial ' spirit soon merged with a regimental allegiance that was uniquely treasured. It was the only regiment raised at this time with a territorial designation. The regimental spirit of the Connaught Rangers was early evident in a fracas with the Derbyshire Militia at Eastborne, England, where the militia were so impressed with the fighting prowess of the 88th that some 200 of them were persuaded to transfer into the Rangers. In late 1808 when ordered to the Peninsula, the commander of the 88th was Major Vandeleur of the Vandeleur family whose younger sons were classic Irish Junkers. In the 18th century the process was well underway that gave Wellington's army in Spain its very Irish character with no fewer than fourteen Irish regiments and as the Duke estimated himself an Irish presence of 30 percent in other regiments.
Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley, whom Napoleon would disparagingly call the ' Sepoy General ' returned to Britain in 1805 after an absence of eight years in India a hardened campaigner with a capacity for handling large bodies of men under fire and attention to detail. This Irishman had learned his trade well and he would become legendary. Showered with honours including his KCB and thanked by Parliament with a fortune, his financial troubles disappeared. Despite these plaudits the senior military command he really wanted did not come his way. He was given command of a brigade to Hanover, a ' brief abortive expedition' followed by command of a brigade guarding the coastline at Hastings, England. There seemed little regard for anyone who had served in India, nor had he sufficient European experience for a higher appointment. Wellesley accepted stoically the limitations at this time in his career, for in military matters his duty was to serve the King wherever he was sent. The concept of duty would be his abiding principle throughout his life. Wellesley could now open negotiations to resume his courtship of Kitty Pakenham despite the many intervening years. In April 1806 they married in Dublin in what proved to be a union far from ideal.
Wellesley eventually beame a member of parliament for Rye while he was at Hastings, advised to do so by his old friend Robert Stewart, now Lord Castlereagh and Secretary for War, to defend the honour of his brother Richard accused of sharp practices in India by a fellow member of the Commons. Wellesley was a soldier not a politician and became impatient while Napoleon was striding across Europe with his armies. He petitioned Castlereagh many times for a command, reminding him that by remaining in a large civil office, by which he meant his position as Chief Secretary of Ireland appointed in April 1807, he might lose the confidence and esteem of the officers and men in the army. At last Wellesley achieved necessary service in Europe when in August 1807 he joined an expedition to Denmark to force the Danes to give up their fleet before the French seized it. A more experienced officer was his second in command, a ' minder ' but a tactful man, and Wellesley soon tokk over and led his brigade in a successful attack at Koge which brought about Copenhagen's surrender on the 6th September.
