Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers

Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers (Late the 23rd Foot)
A.D.L. Cary and Stouppe McCance (Compilers)
Gerald C Hudson (Illustrator)
Volume 1 1689-1815
Published by The Naval & Military Press Ltd. Uckfield, East Sussex UK in 2005
ISBN. 1-845741765
324 Pages. Illustrated.

I purchased this book at the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum at Cardiff Castle, Wales when we visited the Castle on our Trafalgar Tour of England April/May 2008. The Museum is a must see for anyone interested in Military Heritage but for me it was really special because my 3x great grandfather George Lywood (Laywood) was a soldier in the 23rd Regiment of Foot during the Peninsular Wars and also at Waterloo. I have meant to read it for awhile and had glanced at it somewhat. The opportunity arose to read it and I found it most interesting.

There is at the beginning of the book a Chronological Summary of the activities of the regiment from the date of authorization by King William III to raise the regiment 16 Mar 1689 to the Stationing of the 23rd Regiment outside Paris during the autumn and winter following the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815). It is very detailed and includes every stop known by the compilers. There are a number of coloured plates including the regimental dress at various time periods in colour and a number of interesting black and white illustrations.

The Log of the Regiment by year follows and as noted in the Introduction the compilers had to produce this record in the almost entire absence of letters, diaries or journals of officers who served during the time period of this book. The log is a running narrative by date and beginning with the earliest records and moving forward.

The narrative runs by year commencing in 1689 with the founding of the Regiment. This Regiment first served in Ireland (indeed it was the resistance by King James II there that resulted in its creation) and was involved with the Battles fought between King James II and King William III. King James having been forced to abdicate and King William III and Queen Mary II (daughter of King James) having been invited to become King and Queen of England in 1688 during what became known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The running narrative has copy for every year thus far from 1689 on and in 1692 they take ship from Galway to Barnstaple. Marching across country they took ship at Portsmouth to aid King William III in his battles against Louis IV of France and in particular they were at the seige of Namur winning honours there. The Treaty of Ryswick 1697 brought an end to this conflict and the 23rd Regiment of Foot was reduced and returned to England. The remainder of the Regiment was marched to embark from Barnstaple to Ireland where they remained in a housekeeping role until 1700 and the return of hostilities due to the death of the Spanish King and the heir being the grandson of Louis IV of France. Philip V of Spain seized the Dutch forts in the Low Countries (Flemish) and the battle was on. The truly main cause though was the trade concessions which France received in the western hemisphere which blocked English trade.

The 23rd Regiment was brought back up to full strength and returned to the European theatre. They are there at most of the major battles (including Blenheim) between 1701 and 1713 (Treaty of Utrecht).

Continuing through the 1700s the 23rd Welsh Regiment as it was now known served alternately in Europe, in Ireland, in North America and then back to England for in between rest periods. They did real service in England, Scotland and Wales when they were there - rebuilding roads, government buildings and maintaining the peace where ever they were needed. They were often showcased at Hyde Park where they were reviewed by the King or the Prince of Wales.

I was keenly interested in reading about their recruitment practices because I wondered how my 3x great grandfather had ended up in the 23rd Welch Regiment when he lived at West Harnham, Wiltshire. Recruiting parties could be just about anywhere though I soon learned as I continued reading and it is highly likely that he joined up out of a sense of adventure and because he was the second son in the family. Any property that was to be inherited would go to his older brother. Hence he set out to make his fortune.

His papers on Find My Past state that he was discharged due to asthma 26 Oct 1816. He enlisted 16 Feb 1805 having already served for three months elsewhere. Looking at the published records it is impossible to tell if he served with the 1st or the 2nd Battalion. Something I hadn't noticed before, it appears he first served in the 8th Regiment of Foot and was transferred to the 23rd. That could well explain how he ended up in the 23rd. His service with the 8th Regiment of Foot was in India in 1804 and early 1805.

I am now up to 1810 having read through the Battle of Martinique where George Lywood served as he received the clasp.

Continuing through to 1815 and the Battle of Waterloo I am amazed that my George managed to survive all of those battles. It must have been quite gruesome. All in all I may not read the Regimental records of any regiment again but it was interesting reading although it has taken me longer to read than any book in my lifetime. You would need to have a military background I think to really comprehend this book and take in all the nuances but I am glad that I did read it. It brought me closer to my 3x great grandfather George Lywood. I absolutely never knew that my grandmother Blake's grandfather had had such a fascinating life.

He returned to Milston Wiltshire where he married Martha Peck. Their daughter Elizabeth Lywood married William Rawlings and it was their daughter Elizabeth Rawlings that was the mother of my grandmother.

I highly recommend the book. It is very precise giving detailed accounts of the battles in which the 23rd Regiment (Royal Welsh Fusiliers as they are now known) took part throughout their history up to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The images in the book illustrate the uniform that my George would have worn which was also very nice.