The Essex Regiment

 This is composed of the old 44^th and 56^th Regiments.

           In 1739 ten battalions of Marines were formed for the war with Spain, the last of which was numbered the 44^th, and was disbanded with the others.  Two years later seven Line regiments were formed, and of these the one then numbered 55^th became the present 44^th in 1748.  The county title of “East Essex” was added in 1782; the present was given in 1882. Under its first designation it fought at Prestonpans; but its earliest severe fighting occurred in 1755, when, as part of Braddock’s force, the 44^th shared in the disastrous skirmish near Fort du Quesne, and where the retreat was ably conducted by a certain “Colonel Washington,” whose lot it was later to fight former friends.  While in America the regiment also served at Ticonderoga and Fort Niagara, and, going home after the peace for a short time, it returned again to America to take part in the War of Independence, when General Washington now commanded the insurgent army.  The 44^th fought at Long Island, White Plains, Forts Washington and Lee, Duabeny, Ridgefield, Brandywine; at the skirmish against General Wayne’s ambuscade in 1777, Germanstown, Whitemarsh, and Monmouth Court House, coming home, after a short time spent in Canada, in 1786; but in 1794 its flank companies saw fighting in the West Indies at Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadaloupe.

           During the same year “the battalion companies”-it is curious to note how regiments in those days were split up-served at Boxtel, but were afterwards transferred to the West Indies, to take part in the second attack on St. Lucia. In 1801 the regiment formed part of the force under Abercromby in Egypt, landing in Aboukir Bay, and being engaged at Alexandria, Cairo, and the siege of Alexandria. For those services the Sphinx and “Egypt” were given, and the officers received gold medals from the Sultan.  It is said when the war terminated the flank companies were represented by only two sergeants.  The flank companies also served at Maida, and the regiment at Ischia, Procida, and Tarragona.  It took part uin the campaign of 1814 in America, and was present at Bladensburg, Baltimore, Washington, and Orleans.  In 1824 it formed part of the Burmese expedition, and fought at Rangoon, Ramoo, and Ramru, the Padawa Pass, Mahattie, and Arracan.  For these services “Ava” was added to the colours.  Its most memorable service, however, was in the first Afghan War, where, after the occupation of Cabool, it joined in the disastrous retreat, when, after continuous fighting and inconceivable sufferings until annihilated at Gundamuck, of 684 men of all ranks of the 44^th at Cabool on the 1^st of October, 632 had perished.  The Queen’s colour disappeared; but the regimental colour was saved by Lieutenant Souter, and is now in the church at Alverstoke.In 1854, armed with Minie rifles, the regiment was present at the Alma, Inkerman, and Sevastopol, and lost heavily on several occasion; during the siege Sergeant W. McWheeney gained the Victoria Cross for bravery on the 17^th June.  The alarm bell of the Redan is a trophy of the regiment; and the Crimean colours now rest in St. Peter’s Church, Colchester.

           During the Mutiny the 44^th remained on guard in Madras, but in 1860 formed part of the China expedition, and fought at Sinho, Tangku, and Taku (where Lieutnant R. M. Rogers and Private J. McDougal won the cross for surmounting the ditches, and by “each assisting the other to mount the embrasure, which climbed by sticking bayonets into the wall,” gained the interior of the North Fort).A 2^nd battalion, raised in 1803, was disbanded in 1816.  It was present at Torres, Vedras, Sabugal (where the Light Infantry captured the French dinners), Fuentes d’Onor, Almeida, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca (where an eagle and a French drum, long after used by the regiment, were captured), Villa Muriel, and in the disastrous retreat from Badajoz.  In 1814 it was at Merxem, Bergen-op-Zoom (where the loss of officers and men, killed, wounded, and taken prisoner, was severe); and in 1815 the battalion was present at Quatre Bras, where it not only received a cavalry charge in line, but met it by facing the rear rank to the rear.  The gallantry of Ensign Chester in this fight is worth recording.  He carried the colour, and, though wounded in the face by a French Lancer, he threw himself on the colour to prevent its capture, and only a fragment of silk was torn off on the point of his assailant’s lance.  The man was killed, but the part of the colour is still preserved in the regiment.

           A 2^nd battalion of the 44^th shared in the hard fighting at Waterloo, and between the 10^th and 18^th of June, 1815, it was reduced to nearly one-third of its strength.  About seventy officers had been killed and wounded under its colours.  This campaign earned for the regimental list of honours  “Waterloo”. The former linked battalion-the 56^th-was raised in 1755 as the 58^th, but became the56^th on the disbandment of two other regiments.  In 1782 it was given the title of “West Essex.”  Its early was services were at Cuba and Havannah in 1762; at Gibraltar from 1779 to 1783; at Martinique, St. Lucia, and Guadaloupe in 1974; at St. Domingo, Bomarde, Port Jack Thomas, Irois, and St. Mary’s in 1796-97; at Bergen and Egmont-op-Zee in 1799; at Mauritius and Bourbon in1809; as marines at Travancore in the same year; at Canool and Raree in 1814; in the Crimea at Sevastopol; and finally in the Nile campaign of 1884-85. A 2^nd battalion, which existed from 1809 to 1817, done good service at Mallia (in Kattawar), Palampore, and against the Guzeratis.  Another was raised and disbanded in 1814, after fighting at Merxem and Bergen in that year; a 3^rd, or “Reserve Battalion,” formed in 1847, was amalgamated with the 1^st in 1850.

           The scarlet uniform of the 44^th had yellow facings until 1882, when they were altered to white; the 56^th had purple facings. “Flashes,” a relic of the days of “pigtails,” were worn in the early part of the century.  The curls of the pigtails were “formed of some favourite lady’s hair, no matter what the colour might be.”  The badges are the Sphinx over “Egypt” (from the 44^th); the “Castle and Key,” with Gibraltar” and “Montis Insignia Calpe” (from the 56^th); the oak-leaf wreath, commemorating “the hiding of Prince Charles 2^nd. In a oak-tree in the forest of Hainault;! And the arms of the county of Essex-three silver sabres with gilt hilts, on a red ground.  Up to its amalgamation with the 44^th the word “Moro” was borne on the colours of the 56^th, “to commemorate its gallantry at the capture of the Moro Fort at Havannah in 1762.”  The name “Moro” still heads the list of battles.  The county badge, within an oak wreath, with the Sphinx, Castle, etc., is on the button; the collar has the county badge; on the helmet-plate are the oak wreath, Castle, Sphinx, etc., with the motto; the wreath, territorial title crowned, and the county badge, Castle, and Sphinx, etc., are worn on the waist-plate. The 3^rd and 4^th battalion are the Essex Rifles and the West Essex Militia, formed in 1759.  The volunteer battalions are the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th Essex regiments, dressed, the 1^st in green and black; the remainder in green, with green facings.  Their head- quarters are at Brentwood, Braintree, West Ham, and Silvertown. The 1^st battalion was named the “Two Fours” and the “little fighting fours”; the latter because of the size of the men in the Peninsular days.  The 2^nd battalion was called “the Pompadours,” from the original purple facings, which was the favourite colour of Jeanne Antoinette, Duchess of Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV.  This was corrupted into “the Saucy Pompeys. The depot was at Warley.   

WILLIAM McWHEENEY  (Sergeant)  44^th (Essex) Regiment           Decorated for his conduct on October 20^th 1854, when he saved the life private John Keane who had been dangerously wounded when the Sharpshooters were forced to retreat from the “Quarries.”  He took Keane on his back and carried him for a long distance under heavy rifle fire until he could place him in safety.  On December 5^th 1854.  Corporal Courtney, a sharpshooter, was severely in the head.  McWheeney went out into the open and, under a terrific storm of lead, brought him some distance back.  He then, with his bayonet, dug up the ground to form a slight cover for him, as they were by no means out of range and the fire was still very severe, and remained with him until darkness had set in, when he was able to retire with him into safety.  On June 18^th 1855, he volunteered for the advance guard of General Eyre’s Brigade in the Cemetery.  The Gazette states that he was “always vigilant and active,” and that he was “ never absent from duty during the war.”      

FRANCIS NEWTON PARSONS  (Lieutenant)  44^th (Essex) Regiment              On March 3^rd 1900, Lieut. –General Sir Thomas Kelly-Kenny recommended this officer for the Victoria Cross on account of his humane and devoted actions during the battle of Paardeberg, febraury 18^th 1900, when he went to the assistance of Private Ferguson, 1^st Battalion Essex Regiment, who had been wounded and fallen in an exposed place.  After dressing his wounds, he twice, under a terrific fire, went to the riverbank to fetch water for him, subsequently carrying him to a place of safety.  It is sad to have to relate that this gallant officer was killed at Dreifontein on March 10^th 1900, being again on that occasion noticed for his conspicuous bravery. Lieutenant Parsons was the son of Dr. C. Parsons, of Dover.  He was born on March 23^rd 1875, entered the 1^st Essex Regiment (44^th) on February 29^th 1896, and attained the rank he held at his death on March 1^st 1898.  His name is recorded, together with those of seven officers, one warrant officer, and 198 non-commissioned officers and men, on a tablet in the garrison church at Warley Barracks, placed there in memory of those of the Essex Regiment who gave their lives in their country’s cause in the Boer War.  Sir Evelyn Wood, V.C., unveiled the tablet in 1903.