H12

THE 66^th FOOT

The Seven Years War 1756-1764

When the Seven Years War broke out in 1756 it was realised that more infantry battalions would be required and so on the 25^th August second battalions were authorised for fifteen of the existing regiments. Among them was the 19^th Foot, The Green Howards and their second battalion was raised at Morpeth in Northumberland. However shortly afterwards on the 13^th May 1758 it was decided to make this an independent regiment and the number 66 was allotted to it. It had an establishment of 9 companies, including a grenadier company. These were initially distributed between Berwick (3), Morpeth (3) Alnwick (2) and Shields (1). Here they were engaged in escorting French prisoners of war and recruiting. 200 of these recruits were sent to Senegal in September 1758 and were absorbed into the 86^th Foot.

At the end of 1759 the regiment moved south to Godalming (3 companies), Petersfield (3), Alton(2) and Fareham (1). Again 574 men were taken away and drafted to the79th and 86^th Regiments, bound for India, but many of them refused to go but eventually they all went. After this they moved to a new area; Frome (3 companies), Bradford on Avon (3), Trowbridge (2) and Bruton (1) They had a brief spell in 1761 assisting the civil power at Bradford on Avon to suppress a potential riot. More men were taken away in April 1761 for the army in Germany and for the 61^st.

By May 1761 they were at Plymouth looking after French POWs and helping to form the 102^nd Queens Royal Volunteers. During 1762 they were joined at Plymouth by their ‘parent’ regiment the 19^th Foot. They moved to Ireland in May 1763 and in April 1764 embarked from Cork for Jamaica to relieve the 49^th.

Jamaica 1764-1773

Jamaica at this time was essentially a slave society with many escaped slaves recruiting among the sugar fields and indulging in the occasional murder of white planters. There was always the fear of a large scale insurrection and it was the military’s job to ensure this did not occur. One major plot was discovered in 1767 but on the whole the 66^th spent their time on parades and drill, trying to keep out of the sun and avoid diseases. A light company was added to the establishment in December 1770 and recruited in Aberdeen going out to Jamaica in 1772. When they returned home in April 1773 their total strength was down to 213.

Home Service 1773-1785

For the next few years the regiment was startioned variously in England, Scotland and Ireland: Winchester 1773, Romsey (July 1773), Lincoln (August 1773), Berwick (October 1773), Edinburgh (Jan 1774), Belfast (Oct 1775), Dublin (1776), Clonmel (1778) In most cases several of the companies were outstationed and there were the occasional inspections. At one at Romsey in 1773 King George III was not satisfied with their discipline or appearance. At their inspection at Ardfinnan on the 1^st October 1778 they had 31 officers and 676 men on parade.

In July 1782 the 66^th Regiment became 66^th (Berkshire) Regiment with no apparent connection to the county. They remained in Ireland until April 1785 when they embarked again for service in the West Indies, leaving behind a small recruiting team.

West Indies 1785-1793

They arrived at St Vincent 4^th June 1785 and made their first connection to Berkshire as a large part of the Regiment was quartered in the Berkshire Hills. While at St Vincent they received new Colours and the old Colours, presented in 1756, were laid up at the Court House in Kingstown. They made a good impression on the people of St Vincent who were very sorry to see them leave for Gibraltar in January 1793.

Gibraltar 1793-1795

They arrived at Gibraltar on the 13^th March 1793 but their stay was quite brief as they were destined once more for the West Indies.

West Indies 1796-1799

Their destination was Santa Domingo where they arrived 9^th February 1796. They went into action quite soon in an attack on a negro camp at Turgeot and seized control of the heights above Port au Prince. As usual the 66^th suffered terribly from the ravages of disease and between February 1796 and February 1797 they lost 15 officers and 691 men to disease out of a total of 50 officers and around 1000 men to start with in March 1796. Operations against the negroes continued but with little substantial result. The loss in manpower was enormous and the British Government decided to abandon Santa Domingo to its fate, to become eventually the Dominican Republic. The remnant of the 66^th left for Jamaica on the 24^th September 1798. In October 1798 its strength was shown as 16 officers and 95 men. They remained in Jamaica until March 1799 when they embarked for Halifax.

Canada 1799-1802

When they arrived at Halifax on the 17^th May 1799 they could hardly be described as a regiment but in a very short space of time tyhey received a large draft direct from England plus 300 men from the Royal Fusilers who were also stationed at Halifax. The Colonel of the 7^th Fusilers was the Duke of Kent, later father to Queen Victoria and he inspected them at Annapolis Royal in November 1799. They were moved on to St John’s Newfoundland in June 1800 to deal with a local regiment which was about to mutiny. They did not stay long and sailed for Portsmouth on the 24^th October 1802 and thence to Jersey

Jersey 1802-3

With the break down of the Peace of Amiens in May 1803 more battalions were needed so on the 18^th August the 66^th was made a two battalion regiment. At that point in time it had an establishment of ten companies with 38 officers, and 1075. The officers were split between the new battalions. There was a huge recruiting drive with the 1^st Battalion at Winchester and the 2^nd in Ireland where they remained until the call came for them to go to Portugal to join the forces of Wellington in February 1809.

Ceylon - The 1^st Battalion 1803-1814

They sailed from Portsmouth on the 7th May 1803 and only them were the men told of their desination.. This was Trincomalee in Ceylon where they landed on the 18^th July. They arrived just after the surrender of a British force which had been sent to support the Singhalese tribes of the south and take Kandy. The men were subsequently massacred by the forces of the King of Kandy who was a Tamil. The conflicts that followed were mirrored in the turbulence that affects Sri Lanka today. The Singhalese with the British holding the southern coasts and the Tamils the north. The 1/66^th do not appear to have taken much part in the conflicts which did arise.

At the end of July 1809 trouble had broken out in Madras and a detachment of 400 men was sent at four hours notice to support the Government. After that they were sent to Hyderabad but en route some of the officers and men threatened mutiny and after negotiations it was agreed to return them all to Trincomalee. A second detachment was sent to Madras in September 1810 to take part in an expedition to Mauritius, held by the French but in the end they simply returned to Trincomalee. They moved on to India in April 1814 to take part in the Nepalese War.

Portugal – The 2^nd Battalion 1809

They sailed from Cork on the 29^th March 1809 with a full complement of officers but only 720 men. They were part of Hill’s Brigade with 1^st/3^rd (Buffs) and 2^nd/48^th. They arrived at Belem on the 6^th April and set off for Coimbra. Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) arrived on the 22^nd April and immediately set about dealing with Marshall Soult who had invaded Portugal from the north. Hill’s Brigade set out on 10^th May by boat and landed at Ovar to await a second brigade. The French tried to contain them and there were a few skirmishes but no casualties for the 2/66^th.

On the 12^th May Soult had retreated to Oporto and burned the bridge over the river Douro with Wellesley’s forces on the south bank. Soult was expecting the British to either cross further downstream or attempt a landing by sea, but it was the 1^st/3^rd who crossed on stolen boats to take a seminary and the 48^th and 66^th followed over rapidly. Soult immediately moved his troops to oppose the landing but behind his back the Portugese inhabitants of Oporto fetched the rest of Wellesley’s forces across by boat. When Soult attacked Hill’s brigade there was a full scale fight in which the 2/66^th lost only one man killed with two officers and 34 men wounded. The regiment received the Battle Honour DOURO for this action.

Soult escaped and the 2/66^th set up camp on the left bank of the Tagus to await their next action. On the 28^th June 1809 Wellesley moved west to cross the Spanish border which was crossed on the 3^rd July.

Spain – The 2^nd Battalion 1809

On the 20^th July the British forces were joined by a slightly larger Spanish Army and, together they roughly matched Marshall Victor’s army of 46,000. Before they could mount their attack on the 25^th, Victor had fled as he had only about half of his forces in the area. The Spanish went off in pursuit of the French but were forced to come back and rejoin Wellesley when they found the French were much stronger than imagined. Wellesley fell back to Talavera, a site he had already earmarked as a favourable battleground. After an attack on the Spanish positions Victor decided to try a night attack on the British. This was fended off although the 2/66^th played no part in the action.

In the morning of the 28^th the French attacked again and Wellesley ordered the infantry to stay hidden behind the crest of the hill while the skirmishers gradually retreated followed by the French. The 2/66^th found themselves faced by the French 96^th Regiment. As they reached about 50 yards from the British line a shell fell among the 66^th officers but then the order was given to stand and fire a volley and then charge the French with bayonet. The French fell back in disarray and next morning a truce was called to allow each side to collect their dead and wounded. The French attacked again but further down the line but the 66^th were not involved apart from encountering artillery fire. Victor was forced to withdraw. In this action the 2/66^th lost 16 men killed and 11 missing with11 officers and 88 men wounded.

The 66^th reached Montijo in September 1809 having suffered from an outbeak of ‘Guadiana fever’ which took 100 men. They were left at Abrantes as part of a force guarding Lisbon from the south as Wellesley, now the Duke of Wellington retreated to Portugal after huge losses at Talavera.

Portugal – The 2^nd Battalion 1810-1811

The 2/66^th were moved forward to Portalegre on the Spanish border near Badajoz in February 1810 and remained there until June when they were ordered on the 9^th to cross the Tagus to Castello Branco but although there were a few skirmishes with the French invaders the 66^th were not engaged. Two days later they moved northwards and were in support in the battle of Busaco on the 27^th September where they lost one officer attached to a Portugese battalion. Wellington’s forces had several minor engagements but the 66^th stayed at Abrantes until February 1811 watching the French across the river but not actively engaged. Interestingly the French opposite them was the French 66^th Regiment.

The 66^th were spread out along the banks of the Tagus and opposite the mouth of the Zezere. The French were able to bring supply boats to their troops until Col Colborne of the 66^th moored his own guard boat close to the mouth of the Zezere and stopped them. On the 6^th March 1811 it was found the French had disappeared. The Tagus was crossed next day by the 2^nd Division (including the 66^th) and 4^th Division and attacked Badajoz. The British failed to break the French who were able to retreat to the fortress and begin a siege which held up Wellington’s plans considerably. It was not until the 5^th April 1811 that the 66^th were able to cross the Guadiana and be back in Spain.

Spain – The 2^nd Battalion 1811-1813

The 2/66^th were camped at Almendralejo with Beresford’s headquarters during April 1811. Beresford was commanding the 2^nd Division and carried out several operations without involving the 66^th. The French had been roaming around foraging for food and on the 2^nd May Beresford sent out a Brigade under the command of Col Sir John Colborne to curb their activities. This included the 2/66^th. Over the next 11 days the 66^th marched 250 miles and helped force the French to withdraw. On the 12^th news reached Wellington that Soult was coming to relieve the siege of Badajoz. The 66^th rejoined the rest of the 2^nd Division at Albuera on the 15^th They were forced to fall back across the Albuera stream and awaited the French attack. Colbourne’s brigade were poorly directed in face of French cavalry and while they were charging the French infantry the French Hussars fell on their rear and the regiment was all but destroyed 4 officer s were killed and 46 other ranks, one officer and 187 men were taken prisoner and 11 officers and90 men were wounded. The battalion was reduced to 181 men and were out of action. A number of the prisoners escaped and later rejoined and eventually Soults assault was repulsed.

As a result of the losses the 2/66^th were grouped with the 2/31^st to form a provisional battalion. Initially this included remnant of other battalions but they all returned to their regiments. Within 2^nd Division they were now part of Byng’s Brigade. They remained at Castello Branco to prevent French intervention with the operations of the rest of the division. They moved again on the 27^th December 1811 en route for Merida which was taken and on the 1^st January 1812 to Almendralejo which forced the French to retire yet again. Wellington was now ready to lay siege to Badajoz once more.and the 2^nd Division was deployed to prevent Soult advancing. On the 16^th March they returned to Merida and then went in search of the French armies under Drouet and Darrican. Drouet had slipped away and Drouet was disposed of without the help of the provisional battalion. Badajoz fell on the 6^th April and Wellington began his Salamanca campaign with 2^nd Division left in the south to guard the rear. Whilst moving around from Llerna back to Fuente del Maestre men from the provisional Battalion rashly drank from a water source infested by leeches – although not fatal having leeches working inside is not a pleasant experience. Soult began a French withdrawal following Wellington’s victory at Salamanca but was consolidating all his forces making Wellington withdraw again to the Portugese border.. In May 1813 Wellington began his advance towards France The Provisional Battalion was following and they reached the plain of Vittoria by the 20^th June where Wellington was carefully deploying his forces. In the ensuing battle the 66^th lost two men killed and one officer and 22 other ranks wounded, their role being fairly minor.

Wellington now set off in a two pronged attack with the Provisional Battalion moving towards Pampeluna. Byng’s Brigade was to hold the Roncevalles Pass. Little happened for three weeks and then Soult launched his attacks on the passes on the 25^th July. The defenders were well dug in and protected and the French made little progeress. On the 28^th Soult made a determined attack on the hill of Oricain held by Byng and on the 30^th Byng’s Brigade was moved to the front line and attacked the French with the artillery inflicting heavy losses and over 1700 prisoners were taken. Byng’s Brigade was ordered to lead the pursuit and was well past the Velate Pass by the 31^st. The Provisional Battalion together with the 57^th Foot captured a convoy of provisions and took prisoner many of the battalion guarding it. For three months they waited on the crest of the Pyrenees as Napoleon’s armies were retreating from Moscow.

France The Second Battalion 1813-1814

On the 30^th October Wellington decided to launch his invasion of France. As Byng’s Brigade approached the French on the heights above the river Nivelle the French thought they had an easy job, but the Brigade pushed on relentlessly and the French broke and ran. The 66^th lost 5 men killed and 32 wounded. At Nive on the 9^th December 1813 the British faced a much larger French force but they stormed ahead and routed the French. The 66^th losing eight killed and two officers and 63 men wounded. They were next engaged at the Battle of Garris with one man killed and 7 wounded including one officer. They pressed on towards Toulouse but by then Napoleon had abdicated and on the 2^nd July 1814 the 2/66^th embarked for Cork with 409 men having lost 647 during the Campaign. They were awarded a number of Battle Honours – DOURO, TALAVERA, ALBUERA, VITTORIA, NIVELLE, NIVE and PENINSULA.

St Helena – The Second Battalion 1814-1821

After landing at Cork on the 15^th July 1814 the 2/66^th went on to Portsmouth on the 27^th. They played no part in the Waterloo campaign but after that battle the 2/66^th were selected to be one of two regiments (the other was the 53^rd) to guard Napoleon on St Helena. This was not an amusing experience as boredom soon set it. The officers were received by Napoleon on the 1^st September 1817 and later he accused Capt Blakeney of discourtesy, By 1817 the 2/66th had been merged into the 1^st/66^th as a single battalion regiment and the headquarters returned to England on the 23^rd November 1817. The 20^th Foot relieved them of immediate charge of Napoleon in June 1819 but when he died on the 5^th May 1821 there was only one job left – to bury him. He was buried near Jamestown and twelve grenadiers of the 20^th and 66^th carried his coffin. Here it remained until 1840 when it was taken to Les Invalides in Paris. The 66^th returned to England on the 24^th May 1821 reaching Ctaham in August.

Nepal – The First Battalion 1815 – 1816

The 1^st/66^th left Calcutta on the 9^th August 1815 for Dinapore by river. They arrived on the 18^th September and set about preparing equipment for the operations in Nepal. On the 1^st November 1815 they moved up to the Frontier and the formal declaration of war was made by the Nepalese early in February 1816. The 1/66^th was part of Nicol’s Brigade. The frontier was crossed on the 17^th February 1816 and they approached a Gurhka stronghold but as they were preparing to storm it on the 3^rd March the news came through that the Nepalese had given in and the 66^th could return to Dinapore although by now carrying a lot of tropical bugs picked up on the way.

India The First Battalion 1816-1817

They remained at Dinapore until the 3^rd July 1816 when they set off up the Ganges to Cawnpore. Here the fever took a new turn and 150 men died with at one time no less than 300 in hospital. It was January 1817 before a level of health was restored and on the 19^th they returned to Calcutta and thence via Maurtitius and the Cape to St Helena to join the rest of the 66^th, formerly the 2^nd Battalion

Home Duties 1817-1827

The last detachment of the 66^th reached Chatham on the 20^th August 1821 and were deployed first at Hull with one company at Scarborough and then Sunderland in May 1822 with detachments in Tynemouth and Carlisle. The Sunderland men were sent up to Edinburgh in July 1822 to do duty at the Castle while King George IV was in residence.. In March 1823 they were ordered to Ireland where they had several bases and many detachments

Canada 1827-1840

In June 1827 they left Cork for Quebec to get embroiled in French Canadian politics. Much of the dispute surrounded Jesuit Barracks which had been a seminary until the Jesuits were ejected by the French before the fall of Quebec. One of the main problems was desertion to the United States which was actively encouraged by the Americans although the 66^th did not suffer as badly as some regiments. They moved up to Montreal in May 1830, travelling for the first time on a steamer.. They moved on again to Kingston in May 1831 where an epidemic of malia hit them in June 1832. They moved again to York in May 1833 and back to Kingston in May 1834 and a bout of cholera. May 1835 saw them back in Quebec. Here they had to deal with a French Canadian insurrection and lost one man killed and one wounded. A more serious outbreak occurred in 1838 but two years later their time in Canada was over and they returned to Gosport on the 3^rd December 1840.

Home Duties and Gibraltar 1841-1848

Over the next few years the Regiment saw service over the length and breadth of the country including Scotland and Ireland with a spell in Gibraltar from June 1845 to July 1848.

The Americas 1848-1854

On the 26^th July 1848 they sailed from Gibraltar for Barbados with a strength of 523. Four companies disembarked and the rest moved on to Demerera. Again they encountered disease – this time yellow fever which took the lives of five officers and 86 other ranks. They had detachments at St Lucia, St Vincent, Dominica and Grenada at one time or another. On the 21^st May 1851 they moved back to Quebec where they were presented with new Colours in July. Apart from fires in December 1851 and January 1854 which they helped to extinguish and a riot in 1853 which they put down their time at Quebec was fairly uneventful. A move to Montreal in July 1854 brought them to a cholera epidemic which took the lives of 13 men and one woman. The Regiment returned to England on the 27^th September 1854 leaving behind 154 men who had opted to join other regiments.

Gibraltar 1854-1856

They arrived back at Portsmouth on the 24^th October 1854 and went by rail to Preston to consolidate. Then on the 22^nd November they set off for Gibraltar to replace the 39^th Regiment which had gone to the Crimea. Here on the 1^st January 1856 they received the new pattern rifle to replace their ageing muskets.

Home Duties 1856-1857

By the time they had got back to Plymouth in July the Depot had moved down from Preston and in August they were reviewed by Queen Victoria. On the 24^th March 1857 they moved to Aldershot. But in India the mutiny was raging and they were needed there. On the 4^th August 1857 the establishment was raised to 1200 men and they were put on standby. They departed for India on the 29^th August

India 1857-1865

They reached Madras on the 1^st December 1857 and immediately set out again for Cannanore. Detachments went to Mangalore and Sira and to several other places but by then the mutiny was pretty well over and their main job was in showing the flag in as many places as possible. Drafts of men from England arrived as soon as they could be recruited. In December 1862 a move began to Bangalore and on the 21^st January 1865 they were ordered back to England with 296 men volunteering to join other regiments and remain in India. On their way home they stopped off at St Helena to mark the 44^th anniversary of Napoleon’s death.

Home Duties 1865-1870

When they arrived back in England they had 583 men having lost 108 died. Again they started off in Plymouth and then moved to Aldershot in April 1866, the Channel Islands in March 1867, Dublin in April 1868. In January 1870 they were ordered back to India.

India 1870-1879

The journey to India was by a quite different route.. This time they sailed for Alexandria from Queenstown on the 17^th and 25^th February, then travelled overland to Suez and on by boat to Karachi and Bonbay. They received new Colours on the 11^th November 1872. They moved to Nelgaum in December 1873 and on to Poona in January 1876 Again there was the usual number of detachments and further moves to Bombay and Karachi. On the 15^th November 1879 Lt Col Galbraith took command and the orders came for the move to Afghanistan. By this time the 66^th had been paired with the 49^th as the 41^st Brigade in preparation for the amalgamation in 1881.

Afghanistan 1879-1881

Their time in Afghanistan was to leave a lasting impression upon the Regiment and the people of Reading. At Maiwand on the 27^th September 1880 six companies were virtually wiped out. But that is the subject of a new book due in November 2008 so we will say no more.

H12 15/7/2008