"Firing into the Brown" #42 - Ingoldsby's, Dues and stuff..

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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Joseph Sabin - portrait attributed to Edward Byng

Another of those 'regiments of renown' that I missed the unit histories for - this time we get a two'fer, as the regiment in question serves in two separate projects, and therefore exists in two separate instances in my collection of little metal men..  Ingoldsby's (from my Marlburian project), later became The Royal Welch Fusiliers, and then the 23rd Foot (in my American War of Independence project)

Raised in Wales and in the adjacent counties on 17 March 1689 by Henry Lord Herbert, the regiment was intended to assist King William III in his campaign in Ireland. In Ireland they fought in the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim and a number of other sieges. From 1693, they were commanded by, and got their original name from Colonel Richard Ingoldsby (who was promoted to Brigadier on 31 May 1696) but at Blenheim they were already under the command of a new Colonel (brevet), Joseph Sabine. Sabine was confirmed in his promotion, and got the regimental Colonelcy in 1705 (and remained in that role until his death.. in 1739!)

The regiment went on to win battle honours at all four of the great battles of the war; Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet. 

Timeline (abbreviated - the Kronoskaf site referenced below is far more/better detailed)

• On 7 June 1701, the regiment embarked at Carrickfergus, arriving on 30 June in Holland and proceeding to Workum and Heusden. 
• 1702, the regiment went to cover the siege of Kaiserwerth and later formed part of the covering army during the siege of Venlo. Designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers ("Welch" being correct, and the old spelling)
• 1703, the regiment proceeded to Maastricht, it was at the siege and capture of Huy. 
• 1704, the regiment marched towards the Rhine and then was part of Marlborough's march to the Danube. The regiment took part in the Battle of the Schellenberg (where Sabine was wounded) and later it fought at the Battle of Blenheim. The regiment then marched through Swabia to cover the siege of Landau.
• 1705, the regiment was in garrison at Roermond. A detachment of the regiment was employed in recapturing Huy. Later the regiment took part in the passage of the French lines at Helixem and Neerhespen.
• 1706, the regiment fought in the Battle of Ramillies. It formed part of the army covering the siege of Ostend, it continued to form part of the covering army during the sieges and capture of Menin, Dendermond and Ath. 
• 1707, no action - the opposing armies passed the campaign in manoeuvring and observing the movements of each other.
• 1708, the fought in the Battle of Oudenarde as part of Cadogan's Corps. From August, it took part in the siege of Lille. 
• 1709, the regiment received a body of recruits from England. In June, it formed part of the covering army during the siege of Tournai later in the year the regiment fought in the Battle of Malplaquet. The regiment then formed part of the covering army during the siege and capture of Mons.
• 1710, the regiment took part in the siege of Douai and later formed part of the covering army during the siege of Béthune, Aire and Saint-Venant.
• 1711, the regiment was part of the Allied army that passed the Ne Plus Ultra Lines at Arleux. The regiment then took part in the siege of Bouchain.
• 1712, the regiment formed part of the covering army during the siege of Le Quesnoy soon afterwards a suspension of arms was proclaimed between the British and French, preparatory to a treaty of peace
• 1713 the prefix "Royal" was added to the regiments name
• 1714, the regiment returned to England and was subsequently stationed in Ireland. Royal title confirmed when George I named them the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers.

At the Schellenberg the regiment was brigaded with the 1st Guards, Orkney's Regiment & Meredith's Regiment under the brigade command of Fergusson, where they were part of the Advance Guard in the division of Lt. General Goor under John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. They took significant casualties (in addition to the wounding of Sabine mentioned). 

At Battle of Blenheim they'd been re-organised, and comprised about 520 men all told. They were now a part of the column attacking Blenheim village, under the command of Lieutenant General John, 1st Baron Cutts of Gowran (the "Salamander") in Brigadier-General Rowe's Brigade comprising themselves plus the Scots Fusiliers (1 bn, 629 men), Howe's Foot (1 bn, 584 men), Duke of Marlborough's Foot/Derring's (1 bn, 524 men), and Lord North and Grey's Foot (1 bn, 580 men)

In 1689, the uniform consisted of a blue coat faced white; white breeches; and white stockings but by the time the War of the Spanish Succession had broken out they had probably already transitioned to scarlet, but for sheer interest I stuck with blue (weeeellll..  the colonels had to pay out of their own pockets so you wouldn't want good uniforms to go to waste, would you? 😏). No details on colours at that time so I went with a plain cream one..  if anything subsequently comes to light I'll give them a proper one..

My representation of Brigadier General Archibald Rowe's brigade - in the front row Ingoldsby's (Welch Fusiliers) on the right, and Derring's on the left. The brigadier with runner is in the middle and in the second rank we have Howe's on the left. The regiment on the right is a Dutch regiment, Rechteren's who have just photobombed the picture.. 😏

Following the 1751 British army reforms that standardised naming and numbering of regiments, it then  became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers). Up to 2004 it was one of only five line infantry regiments never to have been amalgamated, but it was announced then that the Royal Welch Fusiliers would merge with the Royal Regiment of Wales to form a new large regiment, the Royal Welsh.

Sources/references:

• Richard Ingoldsby's Foot - Project WSS (kronoskaf.com)
• Royal Welch Fusiliers - Wikipedia
• The Royal Welch Fusiliers | National Army Museum (nam.ac.uk)

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Interesting little snippet on the "Ian Visits" blog..  

Next week they will be celebrating the "Ceremony of the Constable’s Dues" at the Tower of London...  an old, old, tradition the origins of which are centuries old, and refer to when ships visiting London would have to make a payment to the Constable of the Tower of London. Over time, as the river became busier and busier, the dues became less and less, and in the end, disappeared all together apart from this one occasional ceremonial offering - usually by a visiting warship - and on an infrequent basis..  

This year though, the Royal Marines are doing it, and the river is being closed as they are using a Merlin helicopter and three ORC's! Should be a quick delivery as I saw one of those ORC's at the boat show a number of years ago [clicky](0 to 30 Knts in 10 seconds 😁!!)

More info..

• A helicopter and boats to perform a rare ceremony at the Tower of London (ianvisits.co.uk)
• Constable's Dues | Hidden London (hidden-london.com)

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...