How the Sussex Regiment saved Royalty!

by Jay

As a proud volunteer at the Redoubt Fortress, it is my pleasure to write a blog of my very own to share with you all, thanks to the kind permission of the Redoubt staff. Aren't they just the greatest? So here goes! During my time at the Redoubt, I regularly looked upon an oil portrait of an officer of the 35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot, hanging in the Royal Sussex Regiment casemate. The portrait was annotated as Major Thomas Austin of the 35th, c.1813, known in his later years as “Old Stick Leg”. He was portrayed here in his days as a Lieutenant, wearing the uniform of the regiment's light company. I long wondered what his story was. Eventually I resolved to do some digging, and I found that he was credited with saving the life of the Duke of Clarence, third son of King George III and later to be William IV, who would bestow the “Royal” title upon the Sussex Regiment. This remarkable story occurred during the British expedition to the Low Countries in the winter of 1813-14, toward the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Thomas Austin, c.1813.

This dashing fellow in the portrait started his military career when he was but fifteen: in October 1809 he was commissioned as an ensign (junior officer rank in the army) in the Middlesex Militia, before being commissioned as an ensign in the 35th, May 1810. Here is his portrait being shown by our historian superwhizz Victoria with Thomas Austin and his wife who travelled all the way from New Zealand; a descendant of Major Austin himself!!!

By this period, Napoleon had retreated back across the Rhine, with a large allied army of various European states combined in pursuit. Sensing the turn of the political tide, the Netherlands sparked insurrection against their French masters. Britain had long feared the threat the Low Countries presented: in the 17th Century the Dutch navy had successfully sailed into the Thames and burned the English fleet still anchored there. Thus the liberation of the Netherlands from France lay within British interests, and in the winter of 1813, a British contingent led by General Sir Thomas Graham landed there to join a Prussian corps: an “Army of Holland” as Austin had put it. The second battalion of the 35th (Sussex) was part of it, and thus so was Lt. Austin.

Bergen op Zoom, 1814.

The unfortunate climax of the campaign: after Antwerp was captured a second time, Sir Thomas Graham commanded an ill-fated assault on the nearby French occupied fortress of Bergen op Zoom on the 8th March 1814. The 2/35th arrived on the 9th to cover a retreat, but prior to this Lieutenant Austin had horrifically lost his leg by a cannon ball during the second Antwerp attack, and so was not present. Army casualties, including those taken prisoner, amounted to over 3,000 men of all ranks.

Lt. Austin was subaltern (rank below that of captain, similar to today's second lieutenant) to the regiment's light company. Light infantrymen in this period were trained to be more skillful in musketry and marksmanship, performing roles such as to advance ahead of the main body of an army to harass the enemy, or cover a retreat. They would spread out across the battlefield, sometimes in pairs, making use of cover and presenting themselves as poor targets to enemy fire, while returning their own fire with muskets or rifles. They were often, increasingly so during the Napoleonic Wars, the first and last soldiers to engage the enemy. On a bitterly cold January day of 1814, following several engagements in nearby towns and villages, Lt. Austin and his light company advanced to the enemy occupied village of Merksem, just outside Antwerp, and found themselves accompanied by the Duke of Clarence himself. Royalty maintained a strong relationship with the military, and it was not uncommon for them to accompany armed expeditions (although George II was the last English king to lead troops directly into battle). The Duke himself had a martial background with the Royal Navy: he was promoted to Admiral of Fleet in 1811.

Uniform of the 35th Regiment, c. 1803-10.The type of uniform worn by the 35th during the Napoleonic Wars, though by the time of the expedition there would have been some minor changes: noticeably, the adoption of the “Belgic” Shako (hat) to replace the “Stovepipe” Shako (as in the above image). The light infantry uniform, with its shoulder “wings” can be seen top left and bottom right, as well as officer’s light uniform (top centre)

The Duke had earlier been advised by Major MacAlester to retreat to safety lest he be shot or captured by enemy soldiers but, defiant as ever, he apparently exclaimed “Retire!? Certainly not!”, and proceeded with the skirmishers. He soon landed in difficulty: while driving the enemy from defensive positions among the snow covered hedgerows and fences around the village, Lt. Austin caught sight of the Duke scrambling through some fencing, only to be approached by a party of French soldiers who had spotted him from a nearby building. Rushing out, they successfully cut off any possible escape route for the Duke. Fearing the worst, Lt. Austin grabbed at the nearest body of fellow soldiers around him, including some of the 78th Highlanders and those of the famous 95th Rifles, ordered that they follow him and made for His Royal Highness.
What ensued next was a short and brutal exchange of musket and rifle fire while closing in on the enemy party, followed by an even more brutal melee with the bayonet, or as Austin wrote, “a brief contest”. After the struggle, the enemy turned and fled, throwing down their weapons “in order to facilitate their flight”, leaving behind eight dead, several wounded and eleven men to be taken prisoner. His Royal Highness was saved! It was said in various sources that the Duke of Clarence had remained composed and cool headed during this encounter, confirmed by Lt. Austin who remarked that the Duke had “evinced great coolness and courage throughout the affair.”
Though the Duke was grateful, unfortunately Lt. Austin saw no reward or official recognition for his actions. He spoke rather irately of a Highlander present with him in the action who later had “obtained his commission for his bravery on the occasion...but promotion did not come to me from the north, south, east or west!"

William, Duke of Clarence, c.1800.

Joining the navy in 1779, the third son of George III was steadily promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet in 1811. He did accompany the Netherlands expedition of 1813-14 where he was saved from imminent danger in Merksem by the skirmishing party led by Lieutenant Austin. As King William IV, he granted the 35th “Royal” status in 1832, and their famous orange facings were swapped for royal blue!

I now had a remarkable story to associate with this face looking at me from the casemate wall he was fixed to. He certainly had plenty of other fascinating tales to tell before his leg injury inflicted during the expedition, but perhaps that can be revealed another time! We should also ask ourselves: what if the Duke had been captured or killed? Historically he became King William IV, resolute in his determination to live long enough for his niece Victoria to reach her eighteenth year, and deny her mother, whom William detested, the Regency. What would have happened if the man in this portrait had not acted to save him?