Note 25 — HISTORICAL RECORD (continued 2)

Major-General the Honourable Sir Edward Michael Pakenham, G.C.B., brother of the Earl of Longford, was appointed Captain in May, 1794, in the ninety-second regiment, a corps raised on the breaking out of the French Revolutionary War in 1793, and disbanded soon afterwards. In December, 1794, he was appointed major in the thirty-third light dragoons, and when this corps was disbanded, he obtained the majority of the twenty-third light dragoons, from which he was promoted, in 1799, to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the sixty-fourth foot: in May, 1804, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the Royal Fusiliers. He assumed the command of the first battalion of the Seventh at Weymouth in 1806, and by his amiable deportment and attention to the welfare of his corps, he soon won the affection and esteem of the officers and soldiers. He commanded the regiment in the expedition to Copenhagen in 1807, and at the capture of Martinique in 1809, when he gave presage of that noble ardour and contempt of danger which were afterwards most signally displayed under the great Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain. While in Nova Scotia, he established a book of merit in the Seventh; and when, on leaving the regiment to serve under Lord Wellington, the officers presented him with a valuable sword, he sent the following answer to their address.

"I received your letter, caused by my proposed departure, with warmth equal to its tenor, with satisfaction few men have had a right to experience.

"Friendship formed at ease, confirmed in danger, becomes too sacred to need professions.

"Your cordial zeal, however, anticipated my wishes towards the prosperity of the corps, which your generosity has too much attributed to my exertions. Let my actions speak a continuance of attachment.

"Your gift, and desire of recollection hereafter, to me will serve as professional impellants.

"In leaving the Fusiliers, I separate from the best comrades, from the chief source of my soldier's pride; yet it is for the object of duty:—here draw the line.

"Do you, by usual energy, continue ripe for service; it is for me to improve to become the more honourable to lead you."

From this period (1809) he served at nearly every action fought by the British troops in the Peninsula; and was rewarded with honorary distinctions for the battles of Busaco and Fuentes d'Onor. In October, 1811, he was promoted to the local rank of major-general in Spain and Portugal, and in 1812 to the rank of major-general in the army.

At the battle of Salamanca he commanded the third division, and acquired additional honour by the spirited manner in which he assailed the enemy's left, overthrowing all opposition, and was rewarded with another honorary distinction. In May, 1813, he was appointed colonel of the Sixth West India regiment, and he was employed as Adjutant-General to the army commanded by the Marquis of Wellington until the colossal power of Napoleon was destroyed, and the Bourbon dynasty restored to the throne of France. After the peace of 1814 he was honoured with the dignity of knight grand cross of the order of the bath. He was subsequently appointed to the command of the expedition against New Orleans, where he encountered the most extraordinary difficulties. At the storming of the enemy's works, when he saw the prowess of his troops unable to overcome the obstructions, he rode forward to encourage them by his presence, and fell a victim to his bravery. He lived an ornament to his profession, admired, beloved, and esteemed by all who knew him, and died regretted in the thirty-sixth year of his age.