Historical Record of the Forty-sixth or South Devonshire Regiment of Foot by Richard Cannon

Author:Richard Cannon [Cannon, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Reference, General, Historical, Fiction, Literary, Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Classics, Fiction & Literature
ISBN: 4064066151782
Google: gLPyDwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 54720595
Publisher: Good Press
Published: 2019-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

Governor Seton, considering that some attempt would be made against Kingston, sent on the 7th of May, a party, under Captain John Hall, of the FORTY-SIXTH, consisting of a subaltern and thirty-three rank and file of that regiment, forty militia, and forty of the corps of rangers, with five of the royal artillery, and a fourteen pound field-piece, to take possession of Dorsetshire Hill. About one o'clock in the morning of the 8th of May, the party under Captain Hall was attacked by a force of three hundred French and Caribs, and after a vigorous resistance, was compelled to withdraw to the post on Sion Hill, in consequence of the enemy's great superiority in numbers, leaving the field-piece spiked.

Kingston would inevitably have been destroyed, if the enemy had kept possession of Dorsetshire Hill, and sixty rank and file of the FORTY-SIXTH, under Captain William Cooper Forster, of that regiment, were immediately detached with other troops to attack the foe at daybreak.

The Caribs, with great dexterity, found means to clear the field-piece of the spike during the short time they had it in their possession, and had been joined by upwards of a hundred French and others of their party immediately after the retreat of Captain Hall's party. The British, however, attacked them with great spirit, and, in less than half an hour, they retook the field-piece, and obtained possession of the hill, the enemy flying on all sides.

The FORTY-SIXTH regiment had three rank and file killed, and nine wounded. Captain William Cooper Forster and Ensign Michael Lee, were also wounded.

On the 12th of June the troops under Lieut.-Colonel Baldwin Leighton, of the FORTY-SIXTH regiment, carried by assault, the enemy's post on the Vigie, on which occasion Captains John Law and William Cooper Forster, of that regiment, were wounded:—after this success the Lieut.-Colonel advanced into the Carib country, and took up a position on Mount Young.

On the 1st of August, 1795, Major-General James Henry Craig was appointed Colonel of the FORTY-SIXTH regiment, in succession to Lieut.-General the Honorable Sir John Vaughan, K.B., deceased.

In September, 1795, reinforcements arrived from England, consisting of the fortieth, fifty-fourth, and fifty-ninth regiments, and Major-General Paulus Æmilius Irving assumed the command. The enemy, apprised of the arrival of fresh troops, retired from his position on Fairbane's Ridge, during the night of the 30th of September.

At three o'clock on the morning of the 2nd of October, the troops advanced against the Vigie, and after a severe action, the Caribs abandoned that post, of which possession was taken by the British.

1796

After this action the British remained on the defensive, but several attacks were made by the enemy. Major-General Peter Hunter, after an action fought on the 8th of January, 1796, evacuated the New Vigie, in order to provide for the safety of Fort Charlotte and Kingston. The party from Morne Ronde was also withdrawn.

On the 8th of June further reinforcements arrived under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.B., and on the following day the troops marched in one column, by

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