The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-09 00:00:00

~...r...
MEMOIR or . Tilt,
GIMPIT, OR Kiri-4 0 ~-D
1688,The fo2lstthh eßsepgie special i'p
r' 2:7-- et'
virtue of a
had taken refuge
Edinburgh, byi.'. -of- t e city of
cO:in''''ikri..‘cli'ss4ii:lgr.l6ayneteadr
by William Prince of Orange to the Earl of
composed of Scot-
tLi
sehvne ioi
b,
lem who,en
an withd gentlemen,whohis dfficers,
in Holland during the persecution in James ll.'s
reign came over to . Scotland with arms and ac-
coutrements, and embodied the regiment in
Edinburgh on the 19th March, 1689, under the
name of the Edinburgh-Regiment. So popular
was this enterprise among the inhabitants, that
the specific establishment of 800 men was filled
up in four hours ; and the corps instantly took
possession of the Parliament-house, which it
continued to occupy till the supremacy of William
and Mary. Was generally acknowledged, on the
11th of April following. The Duke of Gordon
held the Castle for King James till the 13th
June, when he surrendered it unconditionally,
on his own part, 'but obtained favourable terms
for the garrison.
Soon after this event the Edinburgh Regi-
ment moved northward, tinder General M'Kay,
and was engaged at the famous battle of Killie-
crankie, on which occasion its bravery in the
action, and orderly conduct during the retrograde
movement that followed, was specially noticed in
the London Gazette. ‘ The Magistrates of
Edinburgh thought so highly of the valour which
their townsmen had displayed in this affair, that
they conferred upon the regiment the exclusive
privilege of beating up, at all times, within the
city, without requesting permission thereafter
from the civic authorities for the time being.
In 1691, Leven's regiment was sent to rein-
force the army opposed- in Ireland to the adhe-
tents of King James, and. was present •;.t the
ieige of Athlone, the battle of Augrim, the siege
of Galway, and the memorable siege of Limerick,
t which it sustained considerable loss. Imme-
diately after the surrender of Limerick, all the
disposeable troops, including Leven's regiment,
passed over to England. Next year it embarked,
With about thirty thousand other troops, and
oined the confederates in Flanders. In the
subsequent campaigns, Leven's was present at
;he two sieges of Namur, the battle of Steenkirk,
4-1 which it suffered severely, the battle of Landen,
and many other actions of less note. At the
second siege of Namur 20 officers and 600 men
were blown up by the spring of a mine. If the
fictitious narrative may be allowed to confer ad-
ditional interest on an authentic one,• we would
here remind the reader, that .Uncle Toby, and
Corporal Trim, the two most prominent charac-
here in Tristram Shandy, served in Leven's-
Corporal James Butler, the prototype of Trim,
was wounded at Landen, and it was at the
second siege of Namur that honest Toby received
leis memorable wound in the groin.
I During this war, the handle of the bayonet
being solid, was screwed into the muzzle of the
musket, so that when fixed, ti.e piece could not
be discharged. But the French improved upon
this mode so far, as to have the handle made
hollow, to slip over the muzzle of the piece, in
the fashion still in use. The superiority of this
i,_vention was first experienced by Leven's regi-
ent. A French battalion, with bayonets fixed
n the new manner, advanced against it iii action,
tar
hen Colonel Maxwell, who commanded Leven's
magining the enemy were about to charge, or-
dered his men to " screw bayonets." The French,
however, *hen they came to a proper distance;
.o_uddenly halted, and threw in a heavy-fire, which,
for a moment, staggered their opponents ; but
the Colonel promptly giving the word to charge,
was as promptly obeyed, and the enemy were
kallantiy driven out of the line. in 1697, the
army returned to Britain, and the skeleton of the
Edinburgh regiment was marched to Scotland, for
the purpose of recruiting its ranks. ,
The massacre of Glencoe—that indelible stain
Lit King William's memory—liming occasioned
a partial insurrection. in the Highlands, it was
thonght.requisite to reinforce the military posts
in that quarter ; and the Edinburgh Regiment
.(now Maitland's) was employed on this duty.—
It would appear, from certain data, that the
:regiment afterwards served in the Low Countries
under the famous Marlborough, and in the West
Indies, but of this we have obtained no authentic
'record. Be it as it may, we again find the Edin-
burgh Regiment in Scotland, engaged at the
battle of Sheriff Muir, in 1715. In 1719, the
regiment (now Shannon's) then stationed in Ire-
land, was embarked for England; and ultimately
joined the expedition sent to Spain, that year,
!under lord Cobham. A few unimportant
.movements terminated that .bloodless campaign;
and the regiment returned to Ireland in 1720.
In 1726 .it was sent to
,Gibraltar, where it re-
mained, for ten years ; in
.the course of which
period that fortress was unsuccessfully invested
for four months by twenty thousand men, under
the Count de las Torres. _ _

itlftlttelaTi auxiliaries. e
..._ _,........ ..._ ...,..........
In 1743, the Edinburgh Regiment (Rothes')
left England for. Flanders and joined the confe-
derated armies, shortly after the battle of Dettingen.
It shared with credit in all the subsequent opera-
tions of the allied forces, and was present at the
, memorable battle of Fontenoy, in which it had
one officer, two sergeants, and fifty-two rank and
file killed, and eight officers, four sergeants, and
l, havinglriitehesrgoiumgehi
itthe
en romeltvirsecasoteenmdd
lulficritio,
sioi)if
seventy-two rank and file wounded.
diaaiiin.ii:tbeeasui.tglAhthat position along with some
place was ultimately forced to sur-
render, but the Edinburgh Regiment obtained
very honourable terms, and was allowed to march
out with the honours of war. Soon afterwards
the regiment was ordered home, to assist in sup-
pressing the rebellion which had broken out m
:Scotland, in favour of the Stuart dynasty. It
formed a part of the army that obstructed the
advance, and harrassed the retreat of the Pre-
tender from Derby to Scotland, and arrived in
Edinburgh, by a somewhat circuitous rout, on
the day the hostile armies met at Falkirk.
The Duke of. Cumberland having assumed
the command. in Scotland, the Royal' army, in_
cludin, the Edinburgh Regiment, advanced
northward, and ultimately encountered the rebels
at Culloden. In this decisive engagement it ma-
terially contributed to secure the victory to the
King's troops, by the timely support which 4t
gave to the first line when it was outflanked by
, the enemy. Lord Balmerinoch, who perished
on the scaffold for his share in this rebellion,
. had formerly served as a Captain in the Edin-
burgh Regiment, but had withdrawn from it
immediately subsequent to the battle of Sheriff
Muir in 1715, for the avowed purpose of join-
ing the Chevalier St. George.
This formidable insurrection having been sup-
pressed, the Edinburgh Regiment and several
other corps were embarked at Burnt-island, and
returned to the Low Courtries, where they
1.
'joined the army under Prince Charles of
tpwAhaecuslttlnicl: