“Over the hills and far away”: The Black soldiers of the 43rd Foot 1796-1826

By John D Ellis

Dedicated to the Black riflemen of the 3rd Battalion Royal Green Jackets who served with the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in Celle, West Germany in the 1980s. “Celer et Audax”.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries most British Army regiments employed Black men as enlisted military musicians.(1) The fashion for “Turkish music” and the “racialised” belief in the “natural propensity for music of Black people”, resulted in Black military musicians playing percussion instruments such as cymbals, tambourines and drums (in addition to trumpets and bugles). Serving as symbols of regimental opulence and prestige, they were initially enlisted by high status cavalry and Guards regiments, however, by the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), most regiments had Black soldiers; serving as individuals or in groups of drummers, trumpeters or bandsmen.(2) (The British Army of the period made no distinction between soldiers of African or Asian origin, referring to them as either “Black” or “of colour”).

Many regiments had Black soldiers with a high profile (a Black bandsman of the Grenadier Guards was depicted in Sir David Wilkie’s painting Chelsea Pensioners), employed them over a longer period (the 4^th Dragoons from 1715 to 1840), or in greater numbers (the 29^th Foot had ten Black drummers serving at any one time from the 1750s to the early 1800s).(3) However, few regiments had Black soldiers who saw as much campaign service as those of the 43^rd Foot during the Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815).

The Black Soldiers of the 43^rd Foot.

Although the Black soldiers of the 43^rd discussed in this article were born in the Caribbean and the United States, the records show that they had been recruited from the Black population resident in Britain and Ireland. British and Irish regiments of the period were ethnically diverse. Albeit linked to Monmouthshire for recruiting purposes, the 43^rd contained Welsh, Scottish, Irish and English soldiers, in addition to Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans.(4) There is no evidence that this impeded the operational efficiency of the regiment, and the camaraderie that developed between officers and men of different nationalities and ethnicities probably improved the efficiency of the unit. Black soldiers are known to have come into conflict with White soldiers and civilians, however, there is no evidence that this was the case in the 43^rd.(5)

Neither names nor civilian occupations reveal anything of their origins prior to joining the army, although Gibeon Lippett, described as a “mulatto”, shared a surname and birthplace (Rhode Island), with a prominent Patriot family of the American War of Independence, and his occupation, sailmaker, indicates a nautical link – as does his place of enlistment, Cork in Ireland. There is no reference to slavery in any of the documents pertaining to the Black soldiers of the 43^rd. Whilst they served as bandsmen in the 1^st Battalion of the 43^rd both Arundell (another Black soldier) and Lippett also served as company buglers and “carried arms” as private soldiers during the Peninsular campaign (something the high casualty rate the regiment suffered no doubt necessitated). Although restricted to musical roles, Black soldiers were trained and paid in the same manner as their White peers. Private soldiers were paid 1s per day, (the average wage of an agricultural labourer), and buglers 1s/2d per day. Bandsmen were paid as privates, but their pay was augmented by a subscription paid by the officers of a regiment. Despite their extensive combat experience none of the Black soldiers of the 43rd were promoted to non-commissioned rank – reflecting the fact that some White soldiers were reluctant to serve under Black leaders. (Despite this, several regiments did promote Black soldiers, but they were invariably combat veterans of long service).

Arundell, Freeman and Jackson (who we will hear more about) served in other units in addition to the 43^rd, and this reflects the experience of many Black “journeyman soldiers”, for whom the profession of arms was not simply chosen out of economic necessity, but by virtue of the fact that in most regiments there was an existing Black (indeed historical) presence and that “racial” norms had already been negotiated.

These Black soldiers of the 43^rd can be identified because they survived to claim pensions from the Royal Hospitals at Chelsea and Kilmainham, (Dublin), and by virtue of the fact that Description Books from the period 1818 to 1838 survive.(7) However, it is unlikely that the full extent of the Black presence in the 43^rd will ever be known, particularly when partners and children are considered.

Bandsmen and Buglers – Black Soldiers in the 43rd.

Bandsmen

In peace time and whilst stationed “at Home” (in Britain and Ireland), the role of a band was to entertain and promote regimental prestige. References to Black bandsmen frequently appear in early nineteenth century newspapers. The festivities at Danbury Camp, Essex, in August 1808 saw the bands of the 87^th and 88^th Foot (both Irish regiments), provide the entertainment for the ball: “The black drummers of the regiments, habited in the dress and insignia of Turks and Persians, were posted in particular parts of the tents, holding banner rolls in their hands, which added greatly to the effect, and seemed to realise the description of Eastern magnificence.“(8) The band of the Staffordshire Militia, including “Francis, a black” provided the entertainment for the royal family at Frogmore Gardens, Windsor, in 1800. With Francis and his eight-year-old daughter performing a “Turkish dance”.(9)

On campaign, the role of a band was to communicate orders in battle. With shot and shell making verbal orders difficult to hear, commands were relayed by the beat of a drum or the call of a trumpet and bugle. Bandsmen had a secondary role as medics and frequently augmented the ranks (as the bandsmen of the 43^rd Foot did in the Peninsular Campaign). Thus, Black soldiers were not simply bandstand or parade ground eye-candy. During the battle of Salamanca in 1811 a Black bandsmen of the 11^th (North Devonshire) Foot was decapitated by round-shot.(10)

The band of the 43^rd was also used at social events, balls and dances organised by the regiment to win the “hearts and minds” of the Spanish during the Peninsular campaign. It was a strategy aimed at winning over a populace who had suffered greatly under French occupation.(11) Although the memoirs of John Cooke, who served as an officer with the 43^rd in the Peninsular, suggest that the intentions of the young officers of the regiment during balls and dances were of an amorous nature and directed towards the Spanish ladies.(12)

The “hearts and minds” strategy was also accompanied by iron discipline – with offences against civilians being punished by flogging or execution. (Major-General Robert Craufurd who commanded the Light Division from 1810 until being mortally wounded at the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo 1812 was known as “Black Bob” for his stern demeanour, violent mood swings and strict discipline). Tradition dictated that floggings and executions were performed in front of the regiment, and by military musicians (bandsmen, buglers, drummers and trumpeters). This served both as a deterrent to other potential ne’er-do-wells, and demonstrated justice being served. Therefore, the Black soldiers of the 43^rd would have been employed in flogging their White colleagues – an inverting of the “racial” hierarchy that a number of White soldiers and civilians appear to have found offensive.(13)

Buglers

Bugles, rather than drums, were used at company level in the light infantry: They were easier to carry whilst skirmishing and their call carried further in battle. Lieutenant Charles Booth of the 43^rd, recounted that the Battle of Busaco (1810), “Orders, to be sure, could only be communicated by sound of bugle, or by the stentorian voice of a company officer”.(14)

Buglers were armed with swords, rather than muskets, in a similar manner to officers. Accompanying officers and enlisted senior-non-commissioned officers (sncos) in battle, they sounded the necessary notes of command: Alarm, fire/cease-fire, advance, stand-fast. Tradition dictated that buglers (like drummers), wore a uniform that was the reverse of the rank and file of their regiment: The soldiers of the 43^rd wore scarlet uniforms with white facings (cuffs, lapels and tails). The buglers of the 43^rd wore white uniforms with scarlet facings, and as a result they were prominent in battle, (as were the officers and senior-non-commissioned officers they accompanied), and therefore a target for the French voltigeurs wanting to disrupt command and communications.

Whilst buglers were not expected to take up arms and engage the enemy, they were clearly in “harms-way”. In the 43^rd John Jackson suffered a head wound that resulted in him being discharged on a pension. Bugler Charles Bogle, a “man of colour” in the 79^th Foot was killed fighting in hand-to-hand combat during the assault on the fortress of Burgos in the Peninsular (1812). After the battle he was “found dead at the gate near to a French soldier, the sword of the former and the bayonet of the latter through each other’s bodies.”(17)

Cooke recalled the bugles (he referred to them as “horns” and “bugle-horns”), of the regiment playing the tune “Over the hills and far away” when on the march, and how as the 43^rd passed through the mountains of Spain towards the end of the campaign, “the winding notes of the bugle horns echoed in the distant valleys”.(18)

Over the hills and far away

The 43^rd lost two buglers during the retreat to Corunna. (The 2^nd Battalion lost one bugler during the Walcheren Expedition of 1809). The 1^st Battalion had one bugler wounded at Badajoz (possibly John Jackson). One killed at Vittoria. One declared missing at Nive. One killed and two wounded at New Orleans.(20) (Casualties amongst bandsmen were counted amongst the rank and file).

In camp, whilst campaigning, the light infantry provided a piquet for the Army – patrolling in pairs. In a period when soldiers fought in massed ranks, the pairing system required soldiers to use their initiative. (Whistles and bugles being used to communicate orders and warnings). Buglers also blew the calls that dictated the daily events of the regiment from reveille, through daily duty calls (breakfast, assembly, duty, sickness, dinner), to last post.

The 43^rd Foot

The 43^rd Foot was raised in 1740.(21) Between early 1794 and 1796 the regiment served in the West Indies, participating in the capture of Martinique and Guadeloupe (1794). Only a cadre returned to England, the remainder of the rank and file transferring to regiments in theatre. (“Seasoned” troops were much valued and could earn a bounty for volunteering to remain in “the Indies”). In 1796, whilst the regiment was at Hilsea, Gibeon Lippett of Rhode Island enlisted. He was recruited in Ireland – a country which provided approximately one third of the officers and rank-and-file of the Napoleonic British Army. Thereafter the 43^rd were to employ enlisted Black military musicians until 1826. In 1797 the 43^rd returned to the Caribbean, being stationed in Martinique and Barbados. In 1798 and 1799 they were in Martinique. In 1800 they returned to England, being quartered in Stroud and then Tilbury.

Between 1801 and 1804 the 43^rd were in Guernsey. A number of recruits joined from Ireland in 1802, including the twelve-year old Charles Arundell. Born in St Kitts, Arundell’s military service started when he enlisted in Tarbet’s Fencibles in Dublin in 1799 but did not officially count towards his pension until 1806 when he turned 18 and commenced his “adult service”.(22)

In July 1803, the 43^rd were designated as a light infantry regiment. The experience of the British Army in the American Wars, (both the American War of Independence and fighting “insurgents” in the West Indies), and successful use by the French of voltigeurs (light troops) as skirmishers, resulted in a handful of regiments being converted into light infantry, including the 43^rd, 52^nd and 95^th Regiments of Foot, (the latter being subject of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books and the subsequent TV series).(23) Soldiers in all three regiments (and also the 60^th Foot), were trained to use their initiative in battle, fighting in pairs to provide harassing fire against their enemies on the battlefield and serving as either the advance or rear guard of the Army. Officers were expected to be proficient, lead by example and take an interest in the wellbeing and development of their soldiers.

In June 1804, the 43rd were stationed at Shorncliffe Barracks in Kent and brigaded with the 52^nd and 95^th Regiments of Foot. In November 1804, a second battalion of the 43^rd was raised in Bromsgrove. In December 1806, the 43^rd recruited Jean-Pierre Liberoupe from amongst the French Prisoners of War incarcerated in Portsmouth. In 1807 the former servant from Martinique, was serving in the regiment as Private Jean-Pierre le Bouer. (It is not known which battalion of the regiment he served in).

Both battalions of the regiment served in the Peninsular Campaign (1808-1814). The 1^st was at Vimiero (1808), and with the 2^nd formed part of the rear-guard during the retreat to Corunna (1809).

Both Arundell and Lippett served in this campaign. However, there are very few visual depictions of, or references to, Black soldiers on active service.

The two battalions of the 43^rd then returned to England, with the 2^nd later participating in the Walcheren Expedition (1809), and then remaining in Colchester, training recruits and providing drafts for the 1^st. William Davis of Boston enlisted in Colchester in June 1809 and subsequently served as a private in the band of the 2^nd Battalion prior transferring to the 1^st Battalion.

The 1st Battalion, including Charles Arundell and Gibeon Lippett, returned to the Peninsular as part of the Light Division serving at Busaco (1810), where Charles Booth commented that bugles were necessary to communicate orders.(25)

The 43^rd was to see much hard fighting: Fuentes D’Onoro, (1811), the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, the Siege of Badajoz and Salamanca (1812). John Cooke recalled the band of the 43^rd playing the tune “The Fall of Paris” prior to the assault on Ciudad Rodrigo).(26) It was at the siege and capture of Badajoz, the infamous “hell before daylight”, that the losses of the 43^rd as they attempted a night assault against a heavily defended French glacis, exceeded those of any other British regiment. The Muster Books and Paylists for the 1^st Battalion place both Arundell and Lippett at Badajoz: The former as a bugler and the latter serving in the ranks (the bandsmen being sent “to the ranks” for the attack).(27)

The year 1813 saw them at the battles of Vittoria, Nivelle and Nive. For the 43^rd, the Peninsular campaign ended with the battle of Toulouse (1814), after which they returned to England. Despite Napoleon being banished to Elba, there was no resting on laurels for the regiment. They served at the Battle of New Orleans (1815) during the “War of 1812”, and although they missed the Waterloo Campaign, they participated in the Capture of Paris in July 1815. John Freeman, a Black Royal Marine from Barbados, enlisted in the 2^nd Battalion in January 1816.

“Fall Out the Black Soldiers?”

After the Capture of Paris, the regiment served with the Allied Army of Occupation until November 1818, (with John Freeman dying at the Regimental Hospital at Valenciennes the same month).

In November 1818, the 43^rd returned to England. Whilst stationed in Canterbury several newspapers reported that: “Two hundred men of the 43^rd Regiment, which are under orders for Ireland, were discharged on Thursday last in Canterbury. Report says that a great proportion of the discharged Black Soldiers will be sent to Africa, such of them as are entitled to pensions receiving them there.”(29)

The reference is significant in that it acknowledges the presence of Black soldiers in the 43^rd. However, Black soldiers had served in British regiments well before the Napoleonic Wars and were to continue to serve for decades after.(30) There is no suggestion that Black soldiers enlisted during the Napoleonic Wars on “Hostilities Only” terms of engagement to defeat Republican France, or because of Britain’s “moral authority” over abolition (1807). Indeed, the introduction of “Limited” (i.e. seven years), as opposed to “Unlimited” (i.e. life) service in the early 1800s, to aid recruitment, does not appear to have been attractive to Black recruits. They were in it for the duration.

The suggestion that they should be “sent” to Africa bore no relation to their places of birth, nor indeed their subsequent place of residence after leaving the Army. Most Black soldiers appear to have settled in England, with a number settling in Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Asia and Australia.(31) A few returned to the Caribbean. It may have been an assumption influenced by the work of the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor (1786) and the settlement of Black Loyalists, former slaves and the Black poor in Sierra Leone. Also, the fact that after the Abolition Act (1807), the Royal Navy forcibly re-patriated thousands of Africans liberated by their anti-slavery patrols. However, when viewed within the context of Queen Elizabeth I’s edict to deport “Blackamoores” (1596), and the relatively recent treatment of both Gurkha (and former Commonwealth) soldiers and the Windrush Generation, it is difficult not to be struck by the ignorance and ingratitude.

“O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
“But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins,” when the band begins to play.”(32)

In 1819 the 43^rd went to Belfast, and in October 1820 they were in Dublin. The regiment remained in the city until December 1821 when they marched to Naas in County Kildare. Charles Arundell was discharged on a pension in December 1822. Although he was to re-enlist a few years later. In early 1823 the 43^rd served successively in Limerick, Galway and Fermoy, before sailing for Gibraltar, where Gibbeon Lippett, the last Black soldier known to have served in the regiment, was discharged in 1826.

Biographies

Charles Arundell

Charles Arundell was born in St Kitts c.1789. He enlisted as a boy in Tarbet’s Fencibles in Dublin in November 1799. On enlistment he was described as a “mulatto” (but also during his service as “a man of colour” with a “tawny” complexion), with hazel eyes and black curly hair. His occupation was given as labourer. Arundell transferred into the 43^rd Foot in Guernsey in 1802 and commenced his adult service in the 1^st Battalion in December 1806. His service in the 43^rd was spent as a private in the band (in which he was a bugler) and a company bugler. He was discharged on a pension of 1s/ and 1/2d per day by the Royal Hospital Chelsea in August 1822, due to disability arising from length of service. On discharge he was 5 feet 8 and 3/4″ tall and described a good and efficient soldier. It was noted that he had been “with the 43rd Regiment at the capture of Copenhagen in 1807. General Sir John Moore’s retreat in 1809, and in every siege and battle in which the 43rd Regiment was engaged from the Battle of Coa 24th July 1810, to the end of the war in the South of France. Served at New Orleans in America, 8th January 1815 and present at the Capture of Paris in July 1815.” He signed his pension record, indicating that he was signature literate.

In December 1827 he re-enlisted in the 69^th (South Lincolnshire) Foot, in Dublin, becoming one of three Black bandsmen in the regimental band.(33) He accompanied the 69^th to the West Indies, (where he served for six years), and was finally discharged on pension, for a second time, in July 1838 aged 49 years, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It was noted that he had been a “good and trustworthy soldier” and had received “four honorary badges for meritorious conduct”.

His records contain a hand-written note of the actions he was present in during the Peninsular campaign and after: “Battle of Coa 24th July 1810. Attack by the Enemy at Martins Agua 21st September 1810. (Probably Martagao). Battle of Busaco 27th September 1810. Attack by the enemy at Rouedon 3rd October 1810. (Probably Aruda). Attack by the enemy at Pombal 11th March 1811. Engagement with the enemy on the Plains of Redhina 14th March 1811. Engaged with the enemy at Sabugal 3rd April 1811. Battle of Fuentes d’Onor 5th May 1811. Siege and Storm of Ciudad Rodrigo 19th January 1812. Siege and Storm of Badajoz 7th April 1812. Battle of Salamanca 22nd July 1812. Entry into Madrid 12th August 1812. Attack by the enemy at the Bridge of San Munoz 17th November 1812. Battle of Vittoria 21st June 1813. Attack by the enemy on the march to Pamplelona 23rd June 1813. Attack by the enemy 29th June 1813. Battle of Nivelle 10th November 1813. Battle of Nive 23rd December 1813. Attack by the enemy at Tarbes 5th March 1814. Battle of Toulouse 10th April 1814. After the battle of Toulouse he embarked with the regiment for England and landed at Plymouth 22nd July 1814. Embarked 26th October 1814 for America, landed at New Orleans 2nd January 1815 and was engaged with the enemy on the 8th of the same month. Returned to England 5th June 1815, embarked for Flanders, landed at Ostend the following day and marched to Brussells, subsequently Paris, and was present at the capture of the city 6th July 1815. Remained with the Army of Occupation until 1818. Embarked with HQ 69th Regiment in December 1831, landed West Indies 6th February 1832 and served until 31st January 1838.”

In 1841 he was working as a labourer in Chatham, Kent, and lodging in the home (on High Street), of John Herbert a seventy-five-year-old shoe-maker and his wife Mary. Both John and Mary were Irish. Chatham was a location where several Black veterans chose to settle. In addition to being a major port, many had served in Kent, and there was a military hospital there. That Charles Arundell chose to lodge with an Irish family was also natural – he had lived and served in Ireland, and there were many Irish soldiers in the British Army. He died of an inflammation of the lungs in Chatham on the 5th of April 1842. John Herbert was present at his death. If he had lived to receive the retrospectively awarded Military General Service Medal 1793-1814 in the late 1840s Charles Arundell would have been eligible to claim fourteen clasps. This would have made him one of the most decorated veterans of the Light Division. Sources: Surname also rendered as Arndell, Arendel, Arrendell and Arundel. TNA WO 12/5574 and 5576. WO 23/10. WO 25/454, 979. WO 97/724/61. 1841 English Census for the High Street, Chatham, Medway, Kent. HO107. Piece 487. Book 3. Folio 16. Page 3. England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007. 1842. Quarter 2. Chatham, Medway, Kent. Volume 5. Page 246.

William Davis

William Davis was born in Boston, USA c.1788. (One record gives Baltimore as his place of birth). He enlisted for limited service (seven years) in the 2^nd Battalion of the 43^rd Foot in Colchester, Essex in June 1809. (Just prior to its participation in the Walcheren Expedition). He served as a Private in the band of the 2^nd Battalion and re-enlisted for unlimited service on Christmas Day in 1815. In January 1816 he recruited William Freeman into the 43^rd. (For which he would have received a bounty). He transferred to the 1^st Battalion on the reduction of the 2^nd and was discharged at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin), on a pension in May 1821, being unfit for service due to “scrophula in a severe form”. It was noted that his character was good, and that his application for pension was supported “in consequence of his destitute situation”. On discharge he was 5 feet 8 and ¼” tall, with black eyes, black hair and a black complexion. His occupation was given as labourer and he was signed his pension record, indicating he was signature literate. His fate remains unknown. Sources: TNA WO 12/5636. WO 22/172, WO 23/48, WO 25/386. WO 116.

John Freeman

John Freeman was born in Barbados c.1785. He served as a Private in the Plymouth Division of the Royal Marines between January 1800 and December 1815. He was one of 140 marines to enlist in the 43^rd Foot on New Year’s Day 1816. In Freeman’s case, he appears to have been persuaded to enlist by William Davis, (who was noted as having enlisted him), and no doubt by the bounty of £7/7s paid to all the former marines. On enlistment he was described as a “mulatto”, aged 31 years, 5 feet 7” tall with black eyes and black hair. His occupation was given as labourer. He served as a Private in the band of the 2^nd battalion, and on its reduction transferred to the 1^st battalion serving with the Allied Army of Occupation in France. He died on the 6th of August 1818, in the Regimental Hospital at Valenciennes. (Now the Royal Hainaut Spa and Hotel). Sources: TNA WO 12/ 5576. WO 25/386.

John Jackson

John Jackson was born in Wilmington, USA c.1768. He appears to have served in one of the two battalions of the 43^rd between 1809 and 1812, and then was transferred to the 3^rd Veterans Battalion, where he served until 1814. He was discharged from the Royal Hospital Chelsea on a pension in 1814 being “wounded in the head”. It is not known where and when he was wounded, but it is likely that he served with the 1^st Battalion of the 43^rd, and Levigne stated that the battalion did have a bugler wounded at Badajoz (1812), so it is possible that it was John Jackson. On discharge he was 5 feet 6″ tall, with black eyes, black hair and a black complexion. His occupation was given as labourer. Jackson settled in London and was almost certainly the Black Chelsea out-pensioner referred to in the article “The Chelsea Pensioner and the Wayside Beggar” in “West Middlesex Advertiser and Family Journal”, 8 November 1856 (see the Appendix to this article).

In May 1821 Jackson was remanded into Newgate Gaol charged with a capital offence. (On entry to Newgate he was 53 years of age and 5 feet 6” tall. He was referred to as “a man of colour, stout made”, being born in South Carolina, America. He gave his occupation as “Soldier – 43rd Regiment”). After being convicted at the Old Bailey in June 1821 Jackson was sentenced to death, only to have the sentence commuted to transportation for life. He was shot and killed in Hobart, Van Dieman’s Land (now Tasmania), in January 1824. (See Appendix). Sources: TNA WO 120/32. UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857. TNA ADM 101/17/4. ancestry.co.uk findmypast.co.uk

Toussaint Juro

Touissant Juro was born at Guadeloupe c.1778. A labourer by occupation, he enlisted at Edinburgh in November 1807. On enlistment he was 5 feet 11” tall with a black complexion, black eyes and black hair. He has not been identified in the records of the 43^rd and his fate remains unknown.

Sources: Edinburgh, Scotland, Army Attestation Registers, 1796-1857. ancestry.co.uk

Jean Pierre Liberoupe

Jean Pierre Liberoupe was born in Martinique c.1789. He was a servant on the Alexandre, a French man-of-war, when it was taken by HMS Spencer in the “Action of St Domingo” in early 1806. Incarcerated as a Prisoner of War in Portsmouth, he was described as being 5 feet 2” tall, stoutish, with a round visage, black complexion, black hair and black eyes. Liberoupe volunteered for service in the 43^rd in December 1806 and served as a Private under the name Jean Pierre le Bouer. His fate remains unknown. Sources: TNA WO 25/979. Prisoners Of War 1715-1945. Portsmouth. French prisoners of war, 1806. Portsmouth Depot. ADM 103/348.

Gibbeon Lippett

Gibbeon Lippett was born in Rhode Island, USA c.1779. He enlisted for unlimited service in Cork, Ireland in 1796. Cork was a major port, and Lippett’s occupation, sail-maker, suggests that it was his work that took him there. Lippett spent all his service with the 1^st Battalion in which he served in the band, although at Badajoz he served in the ranks. His campaign service matched that of Charles Arundell: “With the 43rd Regiment at the capture of Copenhagen in 1807. General Sir John Moore’s retreat in 1809, and in every siege and battle in which the 43rd Regiment was engaged from the Battle of Coa 24th July 1810, to the end of the war in the South of France. Served at New Orleans in America, 8th January 1815 and present at the Capture of Paris in July 1815.”

He was discharged as a Private on a pension, 5th April 1826, his constitution being worn out by long and severe service. On discharge it was noted that he was of very good character. He was described as being 5 feet 8″ tall, with black eyes, black hair and a black complexion. (He was also referred to as a “mulatto”). His records suggested that he intended to reside in Gibraltar. His fate remains unknown. If he had lived to receive the retrospectively awarded Military General Service Medal 1793-1814 in the late 1840s Gibbeon Lippett would have been eligible to claim fourteen clasps. Like Charles Arundell, this would have made him one of the most decorated veterans of the Light Division.  Sources: Forename also rendered as Gibean, Gibbean, Gibeon, Gibson and Gideon. Surname rendered as Lipet, Lippit and Lippet. TNA WO 12/5574 and 5576. WO 25/386 and 979. WO 97/587. WO 120/35.

 References

1)Ellis, JD. “The Visual Representation, Role and Origin of Black Soldiers in British Army Regiments during the Early Nineteenth Century”, (MA Thesis, University of Nottingham, September 2000). For a synopsis see www.academia.edu Also Ellis, JD. “Soldiers of African origin in British Army Regiments in England and Yorkshire, 1700s to 1840s”. A paper presented at “What’s happening in Black British History? VIII.” University of Huddersfield, 10 May 2018. See www.academia.edu

2)Ibid.

3)Ellis, JD. “They were there too – Black Soldiers in the British Army at the Battle of Waterloo”. www.academia.edu Ellis, JD. “Trumpeter James Goodwin” in The Light Dragoon: The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons. Vol.3. Number 1. April 2002. pps 73-74. Ellis, JD. “Drummers for the Devil? The Black Soldiers of the 29^th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot, 1759-1843.” JSAHR. Eighty. Autumn 2002. No.323. pp 186-202.

4)UK Regimental Descriptions of Service, 1756-1900. The National Archives (TNA) WO 25/386, 387 and 388.

5)Ellis, JD. “Soldiers of African origin in British Army Regiments in England and Yorkshire, 1700s to 1840s”. A paper presented at “What’s happening in Black British History? VIII.” University of Huddersfield, 10 May 2018. See www.academia.edu

6)Ellis, JD. “The Visual Representation…”

7)UK Regimental Descriptions of Service, 1756-1900. The National Archives (TNA) WO 25/386, 387 and 388.

8)Hibernian Journal; or, Chronicle of Liberty, 22 August 1808. The presence of Black soldiers in the band of the 88^th Foot during the Peninsular Campaign is referenced by William Grattan. See Ellis, JD. Serving in “the Devil’s Own”: The Black bandsmen of the 88^th (Connaught Rangers) Regiment of Foot during the Napoleonic Wars. www.academia.edu/ Also Ellis, JD. “The Black, the Red and the Green: Black Red-Coats and Ireland during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.” Irish Sword 23, no.323 (2003): pp 409-25. See www.academia.edu

9)Caledonian Mercury, 19 July 1800. findmypast.co.uk

10)Fletcher, I. “Wellington’s Regiments, The Men and Their Battles from Rolica to Waterloo 1808-1815.” (BCA. London. 1994). pp.145

11)Hathaway, E (ed.). “A True Soldier Gentleman”: The memoirs of Lt. John Cooke 1791-1813”. (Shinglepicker, 2000). pp. 97 and 136.

12)Ibid. pp.68.

13)Ellis, JD. “Soldiers of African origin…”

14)Levigne, Sir RGA. “Historical Records of the Forty-third Regiment, Monmouthshire Light Infantry: With a Roll of the Officers and Their Services from the Period of Embodiment to Close”. (W. Clowes, 1868). pp. 85-228.

15)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/43rd_(Monmouthshire)_Regiment_of_Foot#/media/File:43rd_Regiment_of_Foot_Badge.png

16)Images provided by kind permission of www.centuriontoysoldiers.co.uk These images provide an accurate representation of the uniforms worn and equipment carried by the soldiers of the 43^rd. However, the three are White soldiers.

17)Jameson, Capt. RJ. “Historical Record of the Seventy Ninth Regiment of Foot or Cameron Highlanders”. (William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London. 1887). pp.36.

18)Hathaway, E (ed.). Op-cit. pp.68 and 84.

19)A version of the lyrics by George Farquhar for his play The Recruiting Officer (1706).

20)Levigne. Op-cit. pp. 85-228.

21)In 1803 the 43^rd were linked with Monmouthshire in South Wales. In 1881 the regiment were retitled the Oxfordshire Light Infantry, and later Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. It was an antecedent regiment of the Royal Green Jackets, and then the Rifles (2007-). The Rifles still retain a bugle as part of their cap-badge.

22)Enlisting boy recruits, both Black and White, was common. Several have been identified as being the sons of serving Black and White soldiers. The youngest Black soldier identified as serving in action was William Damerum of Poonamallee in the East Indies, who was present with the 74^th Foot at the Battle of Assaye in 1803 aged ten. After 37 years-service in five regiments, he was discharged on a pension and settled in Madras, where he died in 1859. For William Damerum see TNA WO 25/404 and WO 97/6809 and WO 120/67-70. The 74^th Foot became the Highland Light Infantry, then the Royal Highland Fusiliers and are now part of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

23)Black soldiers also served in the 52^nd and 95^th regiments. The Black presence in the 52^nd Foot is explored in Ellis, JD. “The drowning of Richard Lisles”. www.africansinyorkshireproject.com John Bathurst, described as “a man of colour” served in the 3^rd Battalion of the 95^th in Kent in 1815. Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal, 7 July 1815 and 25 July 1815. Muster books and pay lists of the 3^rd Bn/95^th Foot. December 1814 to March 1815. TNA WO 12/9590.

24)www.timewisetraveller.co.uk/corunna.html General Moore was one of the architects of light-infantry tactics and led counter-insurgency operations in both the Caribbean and Ireland. He was mortally wounded by artillery fire at Corunna and was buried on the field of battle.

25)Levigne. Op-cit. pp.134-137

26) Hathaway, E (ed.). Op-cit. pp.102

27)TNA WO 12/5574.

28)Lieutenant Colonel Macleod was killed at Badajoz, aged 27 years. The officers of the 43^rd led by example and from the front, suffering a casualty rate that reflected that style of leadership. Despite commissions being purchased, and the (blessedly brief) presence of officers like George “Beau” Brummell in the 10^th Dragoons, the British Army of the Napoleonic Wars was far from the “lions led by donkeys” image of World War One. www.britishbattles.com/peninsular-war/storming-of-badajoz

29)See Morning Advertiser, 11 November 1818. Also see: Globe, 11 November 1818. The Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser & County Express, 14 November 1818. Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 16 November 1818.

30)Ellis, JD. “Soldiers of African origin in British Army Regiments in England and Yorkshire, 1700s to 1840s”. A paper presented at “What’s happening in Black British History? VIII.” University of Huddersfield, 10^th May 2018. See www.academia.edu

31)Ibid.

32)Kipling, R. “Tommy”, (1890 poem) in “Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses”, (Methuen, 1892).

33)The 69^th (South Lincolnshire) Foot, later the Welch Regiment, then Royal Regiment of Wales and now the Royal Welsh. Ellis. JD. “The Black, the Red and the Green…” explored the employment of Black soldiers by the 69^th Foot in 1827. See www.acadmia.edu

34)www.wyedean.com/royal-hospital-chelsea

35)theinstantwhen.taittinger.fr/en/lepopee-du-royal-hainaut/

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Appendix. The conviction, transportation and death of John Jackson of the 43^rd Foot

Caveat: I have identified 500 individual Black soldiers serving in the British and Irish regiments of the Crown between 1715 and 1860. In addition to over 100 Black Royal Navy pensioners serving during the same period. Very few have negative references to their conduct or appear in newspaper reports. Their lives prior to military service and then their subsequent re-integration into civilian life pass with their “race”/ethnicity un-noticed in public records (e.g. parish registers and census returns). (As do the lives of their children). However, and this is a personal observation, the British and Irish newspapers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century (on findmypast.co.uk), tended to focus on reporting serving/former Black soldiers and sailors when the story was related to sex (e.g. relationships with White women, fecundity, bigamy, adultery and homosexuality), crime (more frequently the victim rather than the perpetrator), and death (age of and circumstances surrounding).

THE CHELSEA PENSIONER AND THE WAYSIDE BEGGAR. From the “West Middlesex Advertiser and Family Journal”, 8th November 1856.

We have been favoured with a most affecting narrative, written by an old inhabitant of Chelsea, the insertion of which in our column we are satisfied will not be considered as misplaced. The story is very simply told, but it conveys an appeal to the heart that must create the most laudable feelings of benevolence towards the poor.

“Love glows with social tenderness,
And feeds for all mankind.”

     The falling leaves and dreary weather remind us of the approach of stern winter, and soon we shall be called on to evince the sincerity of our Christianity by the exercise of brotherly love to the indigent and unemployed. Such charity, unostentatious and warm-hearted, is a benign principle; it is a holy impulse kindled by the flame of divine love. We trust that the following recital may be instrumental in producing more generally such an effect:-

Upwards of thirty years since, on a piercing cold day, there was a poor man sitting on the path-way, in the King’s Road, evidently enduring the most severe suffering from cold and hunger. An aged black, a Chelsea pensioner, was returning with his allowance of soup and bread from the Hospital to his lodgings – the privilege of sleeping “out-doors” being granted to many of the “in-door” pensioners” – and, perceiving the deplorable condition of a fellow-creature, after a momentary look of compassion, generously gave him his own meal. Struck with delight as such a singular instance of humanity, I never passed that poor black without an emotion of kindness towards him. Some considerable time afterwards I was much pained at hearing that the sentence of death had been passed on him, and that he was consequently in Newgate awaiting his execution. The crime for which he had been condemned need not be mentioned; the amelioration in our criminal laws, which has since happily taken place, mitigates the offence to transportation. This melancholy information at once brought most vividly to my mind his unsolicited mercy towards a destitute stranger; and it seemed as if God intended that I should recompense him, although I was at that time a mere obscure youth. The first impulse of my heart was to visit the now condemned and aged black criminal. Without possessing an order for admission, I knocked at the prison door, and after very great difficulty, succeeded in gaining an interview. There are many serious thoughts connected with the recollection of my visits to him, but they are such as the reflective reader will easily supply. The external appearance of the prison to which we allude; the very narrow passage, with, at that period, a miserable oil-light in the centre, which conducted to the condemned yard; and the search which a visitor has to undergo lest he convey some prohibited article – all tend to inspire the mind with at least momentary terror. The beatings of my youthful heart, and the scenes I witnessed, it would be impossible for me adequately to describe. I visited him several times. My arrival he always greeted with joy, and my farewell salations caused tears. In the interval of one of my visits he had been informed of the arrival of a reprieve – principally obtained through the exertions of the late Col. Le Blanc – and when I saw him the next time he begged to possess some memorial of me.(1) I purchased a Bible, wrote my name on the blank page and took it to him on a Friday. On the following Monday I went again, but he had been taken away early that morning! I have often thought of the way-side beggar, the aged black convict and the Bible. Reader, can you not supply a profitable comment on the recital of these affecting facts? The destitute, cold-stricken, and half-starved way-side object of compassion might have perished but for the prompt humanity of the aged black man. Think not that all are undeserving your benevolence. Lazarus was a beggar on earth, but in heaven he sweetly reposed on the bosom of Abraham! “He that hath pity on the poor rendeth unto the Lord; what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again.

Nov. 4^th 1856. ALPHA.(2)

Identifying the Black Chelsea Pensioner

Assuming that the recollection is correct, it has been possible to identify the Black Chelsea out-pensioner, because although not identified by name there are indicators that assist in revealing their identity:

a)They were in receipt of an out-pension from the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

b)They were resident in London during the 1820s, and lived sufficiently close to the Royal Hospital Chelsea to be able to walk there for the free meal provided for out-pensioners.

c)They were in receipt of an out-pension whilst Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Le Blanc served as Major of the Royal Hospital Chelsea between 1814 and the early 1850s.

d)They were incarcerated at Newgate Gaol.

e)They were convicted of a capital offence and sentenced to death, later commuted to life.

Cross referencing Army pension records with the records for Newgate Gaol reveals that the Black pensioner was John Jackson, formerly of the 43rd.

Newgate Gaol

The admission registers for Newgate Gaol recorded John Jackson’s incarceration: Received at Newgate 26th May 1821. John Jackson aged 53 years, 5/6” tall. A man of colour, stout made. Born in South Carolina, America. Soldier 43rd Regiment. Charged with assaulting Charlotte Newbury and by force having carnal knowledge of her body against her will and consent. On trial 6th June 1821. Found guilty (of rape). Sentenced to death, (commuted to transportation for life, 4th August, to the hulk at Woolwich).(3)

John Jackson appeared at the Old Bailey in front of Sir William Garrow. However, and in common with most crimes of a sexual nature, coverage in the court reports and newspapers of the time was brief; providing few details other than the names of the victim and the accused, and the verdict and sentence.(4)

Transportation

Prior to transportation, Jackson’s jail report noted “not known before” (indicating the conviction was his first offence), and the Prison Hulk report noted “orderly.”(5) John Jackson was transported to Van Dieman’s Land on the Claudine, sailing on the 20th May and arriving on the 15th December 1821.(6) Records for the Claudine confirm that he was transported for life, and was a soldier born in North Carolina. He was described as being 56 years old, 5/6 and ¼” tall, with dark brown eyes and black hair.(7)

There were two convicts named John Jackson on the Claudine. (The second was a bleacher from Manchester). One of the two appears to have had his irons removed on being appointed cook on the Claudine. A Royal Navy surgeon’s report subsequently recorded that the same man had been “double ironed” for using threatening language to one of the guards.(8)

A Convict in Tasmania

John Jackson’s convict records for Tasmania do not contain any references to disciplinary incidents after his arrival in the colony. They simply note “shot” 17th January 1824, and “buried 21st January 1824”.(9

The Hobart Town Gazette and Van Dieman’s Land Advertiser confirm the date of Jackson’s death and reveal something of the circumstances of it.(10) He was shot with a pistol late at night on Saturday 17^th January 1824 by William Tibbs, servant to Mr AF Kemp, near to the latter’s store.(11)

Hobart, a convict colony, was facing considerable law and order problems and nocturnal burglaries were a frequent occurrence. However, the presiding judge was clear that Jackson was innocent of any wrong-doing when shot. The judge directed the jury to be clear about who had fired the pistol at Jackson, and how far that action had been justified.(12) After a long investigation the jury gave a verdict of manslaughter against William Tibbs.(13) Tibbs was subsequently sentenced to 3 years transportation.(14)

References for the Appendix

1)Henry Le Blanc was born in Bury St Edmonds in 1776 and commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 71^st Highlanders in 1792. He served in India and South America, losing a leg at Buenos Aires. He was promoted to Major in the regiment in 1806. He transferred as Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel to the 5^th Royal Veteran Battalion in 1807, (rank reduced in 1815). Served as Major of Chelsea Hospital from September 1814 until the early 1850s. Married Elizabeth McClintock. Died Chelsea, 13^th November 1855. Reid, S. “Wellington’s Officers. Volume 2.” (Partizan Press, 2010).

2)West Middlesex Advertiser and Family Journal, 8 November 1856. findmypast.co.uk

3)TNA PCOM2/195.

4)Sun (London), 7 June 1821. Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 7 June 1821. Morning Chronicle, 20 June 1821. Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 20 June 1821. Sun (London), 20 June 1821. Morning Post, 20 June 1821. Baldwin’s London Weekly Journal, 23 June 1821. Globe, 20 June 1821. The Old Bailey online documents indicate that the victim, Charlotte Newbury, was an adult. See www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18210606-4-defend120&div=t18210606-4#highlight

5)foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/c31a31230214

6)convictrecords.com.au

7)Australia Convict Ships 1786-1849. Musters and Other Papers Relating To Convict Ships 1790-1849, (Nrs 1155). Reel 2420. Also findmypast.co.uk

8)UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857. TNA ADM 101/17/4.

9)TNA WO 120/32.

10)Hobart Town Gazette and Van Dieman’s Land Advertiser, 28 May 1824.

11)Ibid.

12)Op-cit, 28 May 1824.

13)Op-cit, 23 January 1824.

14)Op-cit, 6 August 1824.