136

No. X.

THE RIGHT HON.

ANDREW THOMAS BLAYNEY,

ELEVENTH BARON BLAYNEY OF MONAGHAN (1621), A LIEU

TENANT-GENERAL IN THE ARMY.

His Lordship was born Nov. 30th, 1770; and was the younger son of Cadwallader, the ninth Lord, by Sophia, daughter of Thomas Tipping, Esq.

He succeeded to the title on the death of his brother, on the 2d of April, 1784, and, in 1789, entered the army as an Ensign in the 32d regiment, which corps he joined at Gibraltar. He performed the various duties of subaltern in that garrison, and had the opportunity of forming his principles and future conduct, from the regiment being at that period remarkable for its excellent order, and perfect state of discipline. Lord Blayney embarked thence for the West Indies, and exchanged into the 41st regiment as Lieutenant, and afterwards obtained a company in the 38th, of which corps his father had been Colonel. In 1794 he obtained a Majority in the 89th, and accompanied Lord Moira's army in the expedition to Ostend. In the course of the rapid marches of that gallant little army Lord Blayney was frequently engaged; but the grand object of the expedition was at length effected, by forming a junction with the forces under the Duke of York. His Lordship served the whole of the campaigns in Flanders, and was frequently engaged, in the command either of his own regiment, or of a detachment. Upon one occasion the 8th and 12th British regiments were ordered, together with the 89th, to reinforce the Hesse d'Armstadt troops at Boxtel, near Bois-le-Duc. The enemy attacked

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these troops with such force and vigour, that nearly the whole of that body, together with a regiment of riflemen lately raised, were either killed, wounded, or made prisoners. The 8th being withdrawn, and the 12th detached to some distance, it fell to the lot of the 89th to sustain the formidable attack of troops so vastly superior in number, and elated with victory; insomuch, that the Hessian General Duering recommended a surrender as the only means of saving the lives of the troops; to which Lord Blayney observed, that as there were two detachments of the regiment in advance, he could not with propriety act in obedience to the order until assured of the safety of those detachments: moreover, it was unusual and inconsistent with the rules of the British service to surrender without a treaty, merely on report. This conversation had scarce finished, when the regiment was furiously attacked on its right flank by a heavy detachment of red hussars. The 89th soon formed, changed its front, and, by means of a small river, of which they took advantage, had the good fortune to defeat and repulse that body with considerable loss. attempt was then made on the centre, which was also repulsed by Lord Blayney; the attack was afterwards most formidable on the left, by a body of green hussars, supported by some infantry, which at first penetrated the ranks of the regiment, and caused some confusion on the left. Lord Blayney's horse was shot on the occasion, and he received a cut on the bridle hand, and over the eye, which, however, did not prevent him doing his duty, as, from having gained a small advantage, they were so fortunate as to defeat this third and last formidable attack against so vast a superiority of fresh troops. His Lordship kept possession of the position until released the following morning by an attack made by Sir Ralph Abercromby, with a detachment of the Guards, the 33d, and other regiments, but which were obliged to retire, from its proving to be the main body of the French army, under General Pichegru. The result was, that the whole of the Duke of York's army struck their tents and commenced a retreat, having once or twice on their march shown a front

and a disposition for battle, which the French refused. It may be inferred, that had not Lord Blayney, with the 89th regiment, made the resistance which deceived the enemy by its success, and intimidated them from advancing, the consequences would have been serious. General Duering (it was understood) soon after made away with himself. In the course of these campaigns Lord Blayney was often engaged; particularly near Nimeguen and at Tuyl, in covering the retreat in the severe winter from Rhenen, when the Austrians were attacked at Waggenhenjen.

At the close of these campaigns Lord Blayney returned to England with the remains of his regiment: they were forwarded afterwards, with other corps, to form a camp at Sunderland, in order to embark in the fleet under Admiral Christian for the West Indies. Constant heavy gales frustrated the greater part of that expedition, many regiments being forced back to England, and a few only having reached its destination.

In 1796 Lord Blayney obtained the brevet of lieutenantcolonel, and in 1798 the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 89th. Previous to the latter year he was solicited by Lord Carhampton, then commander of the forces in Ireland, to command a flying camp, composed of detachments of light cavalry, light artillery, and flank companies, the north of Ireland being then in a serious state of disturbance. In the course of this command it was difficult to steer clear of party, and to execute satisfactorily the duties required. His Lordship was, however, so far fortunate as to meet with public thanks from the grand juries of three separate counties, and the entire approbation of the Commander-in chief.

On the country being restored to good order, and the camp broken up, his services were required in various parts, and he had orders from General, afterwards Lord, Lake to proceed to their assistance, when he succeeded in repulsing several attacks. He was shortly after appointed to command a battalion of light infantry, and was most actively employed during the whole of the rebellion, having lost many of his

troops, killed and wounded, in the various conflicts, particularly at Vinegar Hill, and in the town of Enniscorthy, where the detachment was fired on from the windows, and furiously charged with pikes. His Lordship was here again wounded in the thigh. On these duties being performed, he was sent to the command of his regiment, and embarked, along with the 30th regiment, for Minorca. Particular advices being received shortly after by Sir Charles Stuart from Lord Nelson, relative to the precarious situation of the King of Naples, on being forced to abandon his continental dominions and retire to Sicily, his Lordship was selected, with the 89th and 90th regiments, to proceed thither. They were followed by Sir Charles; and, owing to the judicious management on that island, and the appearance of the British regiments, the disaffected troops belonging to the King of Naples were disarmed, and the British took possession of Messina; and, although the King was surrounded by hosts of enemies, and the British troops had to encounter intrigue, disaffection, and revolutionary principles, these regiments had the good fortune to be most materially useful in preserving that monarchy.

Lord Blayney was sent to Malta to assist Sir Alexander Ball in the siege and blockade of that island. His presence on that occasion was acknowledged to be materially useful; and, soon after his return, he was for some time at Palermo with Lord Nelson, Sir William Hamilton, and the court of Naples. From thence he was sent by Lord Nelson to Sir Thomas Troubridge, then on board the Culloden, during the bombardment of Civita Vecchia, with the Culloden, Minotaur, and the Perseus bomb, when a French force, consisting of above 4000 men, under the command of Admiral Garnier, surrendered themselves prisoners. The result was the capture of Rome; after which Lord Blayney proceeded to join the Russian army under Suwarroff at Augsburg: he remained some time at head-quarters, and then returned to England, bringing the accounts of the operations in that quarter.

In the course of two months his Lordship again embarked

on board the Pegasus sloop of war for the Mediterranean, and at Leghorn he found Lord Keith, Lord Nelson, and the British fleet together, with that country in the utmost confusion, in consequence of the decided victory gained by Buonaparte at Marengo, and its consequences. He proceeded from thence in the Minorcan gun-brig, (which vessel, on its passage, captured off Elba a French, privateer,) and joined his regiment, then actively engaged in the reduction of Malta, which, after an obstinate resistance, surrendered; and Lord Blayney, in command of a detachment of the Maltese corps and some flank companies, was the first who planted the British colours on the fort of Recasoli, five days previous to the entire capitulation of the island.

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Shortly after this interesting capture, so necessary to insure the success of future operations, his Lordship embarked on the expedition under Sir Ralph Abercromby for Egypt, where he was actively engaged in every action of that campaign. The regiment being afterwards detached along with the 90th foot, a few of the 11th light dragoons, and a corps of Albanese, had orders to occupy the right bank of the river Nile, and to possess Rosetta, which was accordingly done. This corps was under the command of Colonel W. Stewart, and had constant skirmishes with the enemy at Dassong, &c. One engagement is particularly worth notice. Orders being issued for the troops to march at six in the 89th regiment advanced with the Albanese. It happened, from a want of wind, the English gun-boats could not proceed up the river, and the small corps was entirely in advance, unsupported, which the enemy perceiving, endeavoured to avail themselves of. Dependence could not be placed on the Albanese, and the 89th, being then in advance, had to pass the fire of a heavy battery, and the enemy detached some chosen troops to cut them off; their files were counted, and their number was precisely thirty-seven more than the 89th: these British and French corps met in presence of many spectators of the French army from the opposite shore; and the circumstances, as to the main bodies of the respective