The 49th, Princess Charlotte of Wale’s
Regiment, a title granted in 1815 for its having formed a guard of honour
for the Princess at Weymouth, is a Hertfordshire regiment, and in 1782 was
so designated; and its linked battalion, the 66th, or Berkshire
Regiment (also receiving its county title in 1782), was united to it under
the present name in 1882. The
prefix “Royal” was bestowed upon the regiment because of the gallantry
of the 1st battalion at Tofrek, near Suakin, in 1885.
The 49th had a sort of colonial origin in two companies
of the 22nd regiment, which on returning to England, in
Anne’s reign, had left them as “Independent Companies” in Jamaica. To these six other companies were added before they left the
colony and became in 1744 a regiment of the Line, known at first as the 63rd
Americans; but on the reduction of some other regiments it received its
late number about 1748.
Its first visit to England took place in 1762, when it was relieved
by its present 2nd battalion; but it sailed West again to join
Lord Howe in 1776, and fought at Blunker’s Hill, Brooklyn, Brunx, Long
Island, Brandywine, etc. During
the campaign the light companies wee allowed to wear red and the
grenadiers white and black plumes; but the authority for this has
disappeared.
After doing hard work at St. Domingo, at Ostend and Egmont-op-Zee
in 1798-99, as marines on board the fleet and at Copenhagen in 1801, and
in Canada between 1803 and 1814, fighting at Queenstown, Chrystler’s
Farm, Fort George, Black Rock, Stony Creek, etc., the 49th did
only general duty until 1841, when it shared in the first China War.
It was engaged at Chusan, Canton, Amoy, Shanghai, and Ningpo, and
for its gallant service earned distinction of the “Dragon Badge.”
It was one of the most earliest regiments in
the Crimea, was present at the battles of the Alma and Inkerman, and
shared in the siege of Sevastopol and the desperate fighting of the
assaults on the Quarries and the Redan.
In this campaign Sergeant G. Walters and Corporal J. Owens won the
Cross for Valour for bravery and for assisting General Adams and Major
Conolly. In 1882 it formed
part of the army despatched to Egypt; did not accompany the rest of the
army to Ismailia, but assisted in the capture of Kafr-ed-Dauar.
Near Chalouffe one man of the 49th had an extraordinary
escape- a shell passed between his legs and the explosion carried away the
seat of his trousers, yet he was otherwise uninjured.
It also did good service round Suakin, fighting at the battles of
Hasheen and Tofrek in 1885, and shared in the arduous labours of the Nile
campaign for the relief of Gordon.
The 66th Foot, which is now the second battalion of the
Berkshire Regiment, formed, in 1775, a 2nd battalion of the 19th
Regiment, but three years later it was made independent under its late
number. After much foreign
service, during which its first colours were deposited in the Court House
of Kingston, Jamaica, instead of the parish church of a county town, it
was first actively engaged at St. Domingo between 1795 and 1797, where its
loss from various amounted to 705 officers and men.
Proceeding to India in 1806, it was with
Ochterlony on the Nepaul frontier from 1814 to 1816, doing gallant service
at Muckwanpore; and in 1817 it was amalgamated with a 2nd
battalion, that had been raised in 1803, at St. Helena, where it remained
as a guard over the Emperor Napoleon I. Until he died, when the regiment
formed the guard of honour at his funeral at Longwood.
In Canada, from 1827 to 1841, it assisted in the suppression of the
rebellion of 1838, being present at the affair of St. Charles; during the
Russian War it again served in North America.
The 66th was in India from 1857 to 1865, when it came
home; to return there in 1870 and take part later in the Afghan War as
part of the Kandahar Field Force. It was engaged with General Burrows at Girishk, fought with
the mutinous troops of the Wali of Kandahar in 1800, and again in the
defence of the city, as well as in the battle fought by Sir Frederick
Roberts which finished the campaign.
But meanwhile, with the exception of two companies in garrison at
Khelat-I-Gilzai, the bulk of the regiment had shared in the brilliant but
disastrous “affair” of Maiwand. No
pen can call describe the devoted bravery of the officers and men of the
66th on the 27th of July, 1800, when they fought
against overwhelming odds. Olivey
and Honeywood carried the colours, and the latter was heard to cry as he
held the flag on high, “Men, what shall we do to save this?” when he
fell dead, as did Sergeant Major Cuphage, who next tried to take it.
Elsewhere a detachment of about a hundred fought till all were
slain, the last survivors forming a group, till “standing in the open,
back to back, firing steadily and truly, every shot telling, surrounded by
thousands, these eleven officers and men died.”
A monument to the memory of these
most gallant soldiers has since been erected in the public gardens at
Reading. The 66th
had a distinguished 2nd battalion, mentioned above, from 1803
until 1817. It added the
Peninsular battles to the honour-roll for its gallant services at the
Douro, Busaco, Nivelle, Garros, Nive, Orthes, Toulouse, and Bayonne; and
during the war its total loss was 547 officers and men, or more than half
its strength. Forming part of
the garrison of St. Helena in the early part of Napoleon’s exile there,
it was amalgamated in 1817 with the 1st battalion, which came
from India for that purpose.
Before the Afghan War the 66th had
a regimental pet named “Bob.” He
was a dog, and was present at and survived the battle of Maiwand.
He died at Chatham, and his dead body was stuffed to adorn the
sergeants mess. The
original facings of the two battalions were green, the 49th
having first “full” green and next “Lincoln green,” and the latter
inheriting the colour from the 19th Regiment; now they are
“Royal Blue.” The first
regimental badge is the Chinese Dragon with “China,” derived from the
49th. The 66th
provides the second, a stag under an oak, which was worn by the Berkshire
Militia. The dragon, crowned,
with “Berkshire” and “Princess Charlotte of Wale’s,” decorates
the button; the dragon is worn on the collar and forage-cap; the
helmet-plate bears the stag, with the regimental title; the waist-plate
the dragon and title.
The Royal Berks Militia forms the 3rd
battalion. The Volunteer battalion is furnished by the 1st
Berkshire, with head-quarters at Reading,
and is dressed in scarlet and blue. The Brigadier of the Home District Brigade, Lord Wantage, V.C.,
K.C.B., etc., was long its
distinguished colonel. To
this battalion are also attached the cadet corps of Wellington and
Bradfield Colleges.
The 49th seem to have had no “pet name”; the 66th
were called the “Green Howards,” from the colour of their facings and
their colonel’s name.
The depot was at Reading.
