Author Topic: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]  (Read 50215 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline James Grant

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 2454
    • View Profile
  • Side: Union
88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« on: April 18, 2014, 08:33:49 pm »




Maj.

Lt.

CSjt.

Cpl.

Pte.


Cpt.

Ens.

Sjt.

LCpl.

Vol.

The 88th at the Battle of Bussaco in the repulse of Reyniers division.

Throughout their time in the Peninsula the 88th performed many courageous and memorable deeds in several battles, whilst not a full history below I shall offer a mere glimpse into the courageous men of the Connaught Rangers during the Peninsula war.

An account of the 88th regiment at the Battle of Bussaco.

The haze was so thick that little could be seen at any great distance, but the fire of the light troops along the face of the hill put it beyond doubt that a battle would take place. Lord Wellington was close up with the brigade of Lightburne and from the bustle amongst his staff; it was manifest that the point held by Picton's division was about to be attacked. Two guns belonging to Captain Lane's troop of Artillery were ordered upon the left of the 88th Regiment, and immediately opened their fire, while the Portuguese battery, under the German major, Arantchild, passed at a trot towards the Saint Antonio Pass, in front of the 74th British.
A rolling fire of musketry, and some discharges of cannon, in the direction of Saint Antonio, announced what was taking place in that quarter, and the face of the hill immeditaely in front of the brigade of Lightburne, and to the left of the 88th Regiment, was beginning to show that the efforts of the enemy were about to be directed against this portion of the ground held by the Third Division.

The fog cleared away and a bright sun enabled us to see what was passing before us. A vast crowd of tirailleurs were pressing onwards with great ardour, and their fire, as well as their numbers, was so superior to that of our advance, that some men of the brigade of Lightburne, as also a few of the 88th Regiment were killed while standing in line; a colour-sergeant named Macnamara was shot through the head close beside myself and Ensign Owgan. Colonel King, commanding of the 5th Regiment, which was one of those belonging to Lightburne's brigade, oppressed by a desultory fire he was unable to reply to without disturbing the formation of his batallion, brought his regiment a little out of its range, while Colonel Aexander Wallace, of the 88th, took a file of men, from each company of his regiment, and placing them under the command of Major George Bury and Lieutenant William Mackie, ordered them to advance to the aid of our people, who were overmatched and roughly handled at the moment.
Our Artillery still continued to discharge showers of Grape and canister at half range, but the French light troops, fighting at open distance heeded it not, and continued to multiply in great force. Nevertheless, in place of coming up direct in front of the 88th, they edged off to their left, out of sight of that corps, and far away from Lightburnes brigade, and from the nature of the ground, they could be neither seen or their exact object defined; as they went to their left, our advance inclined to the right, making a corresponding movement; but though nothing certain could be known, as we soon lost sight of both parties, the roll of musketry never ceased, and many of Bur's and Mackie's men returned wounded.
Those two officers greatly distinguished themselves, and Bury though badly wounded, refused to quit the field. A soldier of Bury's company, of the name of Pollard, was shot through the shoulder, but seeing his captain wounded, and continue at the head of his men, threw off his knapsack, and fought beside his officer; but this brave fellows career of glory was short, a bullet penetrated the plate of his cap, passed through his brain, and he fell dead at Bury's feet. These were the sort of materials the 88th were formed of, and these were the sort of men that were unnoticed by their general!
Lord Wellington was no longer to be seen, and Wallace and his regiment standing alone without orders, had to act for themselves. The colonel sent his captain of grenadiers (Dunne) to the right, where the rocks were highest, to ascertain how matters stood, for he did not wish, at his own peril, to quit the ground he had been ordered to occupy without some strong reason for so doing.
In a few moments, Dunne returned almost breathless,; he said the rocks were filling fast with Frenchmen, that a heavy column was coming up the hill beyond the rocks, and that the four companies of the 45th were about to be attacked. Wallace asked if he thought half the 88th would be able to do the business? "You will want every man." was the reply.
Wallace with a steady but cheerful countenance, turned to his men, and looking them full in the face, said, "Now, Connaught Rangers, mind what you are going to do; pay attention to what I have so often told you, and when I bring you face to face with those French rascals, drive them down the hill - don't give the false touch, but push home to the muzzle! I have nothing more to say and if I had, it would be of no use, for in a minit or two there'll be such an infernal noise about your ears, that you won't be able to hear yourselves."
-
Wallace then threw the battalion from line into column, right in front, and moved on our side of the rocky point at a quick pace; on reaching the rocks, he soon found it manifest that Dunne's report was not exaggerated; a number of Frenchmen were in possession of this cluster, and so soon as we approached within range, we were made to appreciate the effects of their fire, for our column was raked from front to rear. The moment was critical, but Wallace, without being in the least taken aback, filed out the grenadeiers and First battalion companies, commanded by Captains Dunne & Dansey, and ordered them to storm the rocks, while he took out the Fifth battalion company, commanded by Captain Oates, also out of the column, and ordered that officer to attack the rocks at the opposite side assailed by Dunne and Dansey. This done, Wallace placed himself at the head of the remainder of the 88th, and pressed on to meet the French column.
At this moment the four companies of the 45th, commanded by Major Gwynne, a little to the left of the 88th, and in front of the regiment, commenced their fire, but it in no way arrested the advance of the French column, as it, with much order and regularity mounted the hill, which at this point is rather flat. But here, again, another awkward circumstance occurred. A battalion of the Fifth Portuguese Infantry, under Colonel Douglas, posted on a rising ground, on our right, and a little in our rear, in place of advancing with us, opened a distant and ill-directed fire, and one which would exactly cross the path of the 88th, as that corps was moving onward to meet the French column, which consisted of three splendid regiments, viz, the 2nd Light Infantry, the 36th, and the 70th of the Line.

Wallace, seeing the loss and confusion that would infallibly ensure, sent Lieutenant John Fitzpatrick, an officer of tried gallantry, with orders to point out to this regiment the error into which it had fallen; but Fitzpatrick had only time to take off his hat, and call out "Vamous commarades." when he received two bullets,-one from the Portuguese, which passed through his back, and the other in his left leg from the French, which broke the bone, and caused a severe fracture; yet this regiment continued to fire away, regardless of the consequences, and a battalion of militia, which was immediately in rear of the 8th Portuguese, took to their heels the moment the first volley was discharged by their own countrymen!
Wallace threw himself from his horse, and placing himself at the head of the 45th and 88th, with Gwynne of the 45th, on the other side of him, and Captain Seton of the 88th, at the other, ran forward at a chaining pace into the midst of the terrible flame in his front. All was now confusion and uproar, smoke, fire, and bullets, officers and soldiers, French drummers and French drums knocked down in every direction; British, French, and Portuguese mixed together; while in the midst of all was to be seen Wallace,fighting,-like his ancestor of old! - at the head of his devoted followers, and calling out to his soldiers to "press forward!" Never was defeat more complete, and it was a proud moment for Wallace and Gwynne when they saw their gallant comrades breaking down and trampling under their feet this splendid division, composed of some of the best troops the world could boast of. The leading regiment, the 36th, one of Napoleon's favourite battalions, was nearly destroyed; upwards of two hundred soldiers, and their old colonel, covered with orders, lay dead in a small space, and the face of the hill was strewed with dead and wounded, which showed evident marks of the rapid execution done at this point; for Wallace never slackened his fire while a Frenchman was within his reach.

He followed them down the edge of the hill, and then he formed his men in line, waiting for any orders he might recieve, or for any fresh body that might attack him. Our gallant companions the 45th, had an equal share in the glory of this short but murderous fight,; they suffered severely, and the 88th lost nine officers and one hundred and thirty five men. The 8th Portuguese also suffered but in a less degree than the other two regiments, because their advance was not so rapid, but that regiment never gave way, nor was it ever broken; indeed there was nothing to break it, because the French were all in front of the 45th and 88th, and if they had the broken the Portuguese they must first have broken the two British regiments, which it is well known they did not!

Excerpt from "The Adventures of the Connaught Rangers-Volume 1" by Ensign William Grattan.





Officers of the Battalion.

Major Alexander Wallace


Captain John Kavanaugh
Lieutenant James MacDonald-Quartermaster.
Ensign Frederick Hill



Non Commissioned Officers
of the Battalion.


Serjeant William Burgh
Serjeant Nicholas Josephs
Corporal John Casey
Corporal Humphrey Arendale


59 men on the rolls.
Cpt. Kavanaugh's Company.
Battalion company.
Captain-Lieutenant John Kavanagh
Ensign Frederick Hill
Colour Serjeant James MacDonald
Serjeant Nicholas Josephs
Corporal Douglas Hill
Lance Corporal Buttwo
Lance Corporal Dietfrisky
Private Charinty
Private Veggisten
Private John Longshore - RESERVE
Private Walko
Private Apples - RESERVE
Private Jorvasker
Private Arnold Welker
Private Oak
Private Benjamin Martin
Private Simix
Private Cilawyn
Private The Respected Man
Private James von Hamm
Private Yorkist
Private Herumies
Private Abbott - RESERVE
Private Whitecalvin - RESERVE
Private Sigity
Private Isiah Tongue
Private Wilhelm - RESERVE
Private Shortshorts
Private James Kavanagh
Private OneAckJack
Private Menno - RESERVE
Private Ace
Private Sparky
Private Cajo
Private Falendor
Private Jack Spears
Private Owen Fitzpatrick
Volunteer Frederik
Volunteer Tragic
Volunteer Flesh
Volunteer Patrick Nagel
Volunteer Platen
Volunteer JHood
Company strength-39.

Sjt Burghs company.
Light Company.
Serjeant William Burgh
Corporal Casey
Corporal Humphrey Arendale
Lance Corporal Jake
Lance Corporal Eoin MacGregor
Private Dark Oakheart
Private Mercer
Private Desparin
Private Frank
Private Galloglaigh
Private Baldrick
Private JT
Private Wajual
Private Sanserof
Private Andrew Oak
Private Noobkiller
Private Robert Falke
Private One Ack Jack

Company Strength-19men.

« Last Edit: May 24, 2014, 08:37:49 pm by James Grant »

Offline James Grant

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 2454
    • View Profile
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2014, 08:34:03 pm »
Wish to Join the 88th Regiment of Foot?

Code
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Steam ID (Or a link to your profile page):[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Nationality:[/b]
[b]Prior NW/Any clan experience.:[/b]
[b]Do you understand the rules of the Regiment?[/b]
Preferred Company (though we can't put everyone where they want straight away)



Event schedule.

Tuesday-Training-7 GMT.
Thursday-Linebattle-7 GMT (Line only).
Saturday-NWL events. (Line only).
Sunday-59th Sunday linebattle. (Line & Lights).




Code
[center][url=https://www.fsegames.eu/forum/index.php?topic=15328.0][img]https://i.imgur.com/ooyDBBc.png[/img][/url][/center]

  By Diplex.
Code
[center][url=https://www.fsegames.eu/forum/index.php?topic=15328.0][img]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd371/DiplexHeated/88thRegSig.png?t=1350162027[/img][/url][/center]



Various art & images.

Spoiler
The 88th at the storming of Badajoz.




[close]
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 11:31:47 am by James Grant »

Offline Dom_

  • Donator
  • *
  • Posts: 3283
  • boi
    • View Profile
  • Nick: Kafka // Robert Black
  • Side: Neutral
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2014, 08:35:32 pm »
Good Luck  :D

Offline Earth Bby

  • FSE's Official Annoying English-Person
  • Donator
  • ***
  • Posts: 11585
  • Bottom Text
    • View Profile
  • Side: Neutral
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2014, 08:36:16 pm »
Such a cool regiment name, good luck :D


Offline Wolfy

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 1705
  • I'm not crazy. The people in my head told me.
    • View Profile
  • Nick: Wolfy
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2014, 08:37:25 pm »
y me no got col rank m8?

Offline Locust

  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 4579
    • View Profile
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2014, 08:38:58 pm »
Good luck!

Offline Dom13WorstNW

  • Donator
  • ***
  • Posts: 8689
    • View Profile
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2014, 08:39:08 pm »
best of luck  :D

Offline joer5835

  • Brigadier General
  • *
  • Posts: 2482
  • My face is tired.
    • View Profile
  • Nick: Joer
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2014, 08:39:15 pm »
Good luck.
Polan is of dangerous to FSE
Im from Poland , a land of lawlessness

Offline Sleek

  • Donator
  • ***
  • Posts: 4311
    • View Profile
  • Side: Neutral
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2014, 08:44:43 pm »
fake 88th

joker is reall 88th
Quote from: Theodin
Sleek somehow only attacks when he’s successfully pulled a dude away and his team is coming to help - as in, the most reasonable time to continue blocking

Quote
Sleek plays like he's underwater - slow

Offline Bastard

  • First Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 981
    • View Profile
  • Side: Neutral
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2014, 08:54:32 pm »
Best of luck

Offline Walko

  • Brigadier General
  • *
  • Posts: 4450
  • Tired art student.
    • View Profile
    • 4. Silesian Landwehr
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2014, 08:57:52 pm »
Awesome!  :)
Pointy stick champion

Offline CrumpetAwesome

  • Major General
  • **
  • Posts: 3565
  • Ex-Col, proudly lead the 4e
    • View Profile
  • Side: Confederacy
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2014, 09:09:30 pm »
Historically I love this regiment. Good luck :)

Offline Killington

  • Major General
  • **
  • Posts: 4037
  • Everyone's favourite
    • View Profile
  • Side: Union
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2014, 09:23:54 pm »
Good luck, great number and history! :)
In theory we could do huge player numbers far over 500 players per server...  As such we will surely keep our promise to deliver you the 500 players per server.

We will probably go (far) over it, but that's for later.

Offline Barraclough

  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4276
  • melee is overrated
    • View Profile
  • Side: Neutral
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2014, 09:30:37 pm »
So it wasn't the 28th merge I suspected....

You win this time Merfie.
The reg with the best memes by far. Not even a contest. Also decent at shooting I guess.
The best reg in the world apparently

Offline Earth Bby

  • FSE's Official Annoying English-Person
  • Donator
  • ***
  • Posts: 11585
  • Bottom Text
    • View Profile
  • Side: Neutral
Re: 88th Regt. of Foot-Connaught Rangers. Recruiting. [EU]
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2014, 09:33:01 pm »
So it wasn't the 28th merge I suspected....

You win this time Merfie.

28th is too good for Merfie m8