To most people, “the Fourth of July” brings to mind the celebration of American Independence Day. However, there is another event, a battle between the British and the French during the Napoleonic Wars that we should also remember.

The Battle of Maida, fought 210 years ago in Calabria, Italy, in 1806 was significant enough to give its name to a residential district of London, however, there are reasons to associate the battle with Malta. Many of the officers who fought in the battle had recently served in our islands. This article looks into the careers and connections of four officers – Major John Hamill, Colonel Charles Herries, Colonel John Oswald and Lieutenant-Colonel James Kempt.

John Hamill came from County Antrim in what is today Northern Ireland. Hamill was commissioned ensign in the 2nd Regiment, The Irish Brigade, in October 1794 and was promoted to lieutenant on December 25, 1795. Hamill accompanied his regiment in 1796 and served in Martinique, Jamaica and Santo Domingo (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). However, his regiment was decimated by disease and it returned to Britain in 1798 and was disbanded. After five months on half-pay Hamill exchanged into the 70th Regiment then stationed in Gibraltar.

On May 2, 1800, Hamill exchanged into the newly-raised 2nd battalion of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot. Although the 40th sailed out to Malta with Sir Ralph Abercromby on his way to Egypt they remained in Malta since they were composed principally of militia who were constrained to serve in Europe. Hamill was soon appointed aide-de-camp to Major-General William Villettes, officer commanding His Majesty’s troops in Malta. As a result of the Treaty of Amiens Hamill’s battalion was disbanded in July 1802 and he returned to half-pay.

It is thought that he remained in Malta and in 1803, with the resumption of hostilities, Hamill returned to full employment with the 2nd battalion of the 58th (Rutlandhsire) Regiment of Foot. Hamill never served with his battalion, remaining on the staff in Malta.

Documents in the author’s possession dating to February 1805 and signed by Hamill as Villettes’ Military Secretary give evidence of his handwriting which matches the hand written volume of daily General Orders, Head Quarters Island of Malta, July 1802 to January 1803 also in the author’s possession. Hamill was very much Villettes’ right hand man and must have been responsible for recording his commanding officer’s daily garrison orders.

Major-General William Villettes, had been charged with raising a local regiment and December 7, 1804, the Royal Malta Regiment, also referred to as the Royal Regiment of Malta, was formed with Villettes as its colonel. While the regiment was recruited mainly from Maltese citizens, its senior officers were brought in from other units; thus, Hamill was appointed senior major in the regiment from the same date.

The British were not slow to recognise the importance of Malta as a key defensive port in the central Mediterranean so they were keen to oust the French from Malta and reluctant to give up the island as dictated by the terms of the Treaty of Amiens. The Treaty was thus short-lived and hostilities soon resumed.

Realising that Malta provided a tactical springboard to counter Napoleon’s expansion into Italy the British sent an expeditionary force under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir James Craig to shore up her only ally in Italy, King Ferdinand. Craig’s expedition stopped in Malta before setting out to protect the King of the Two Sicilies.

While in Malta Craig reorganised his forces by introducing a military reform that was then gaining recognition. By common practice a certain proportion of men who excelled in marksmanship were allocated to each company of a regiment. They were trained in light infantry duties and would act as ‘flankers’. Being highly mobile they would fight in front of or to one side of their company, sometimes even skirmishing with the enemy as the battalion engaged the enemy.

Craig formed whole battalions of grenadiers and light infantrymen out of the separate grenadier and light infantry companies of each of the infantry regiments under his command. For this expedition the Light Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Kempt and the Grenadier Battalion by Lieutenant-Colonel O’Callaghan. Hamill was seconded from the Royal Regiment of Malta and appointed second-in-command of the Grenadier Battalion.

John Herries and John Oswald both served in the 35th Regiment of Foot. The first British troops to land in Malta in 1799 to assist with the Maltese blockade of the French were the 30th and the 89th regiments which arrived in December 1799 from Messina under the command of Brigadier-General Thomas Graham. These were followed in July 1800 by the 48th Regiment and the second battalion of the 35th Regiment. At the time of their arrival in Malta Oswald was colonel commandant of the regiment and Herries a Captain-Lieutenant.

While in Malta Craig reorganised his forces by introducing a military reform

Oswald was a distinguished Scottish officer. By the end of his career he had served in the army for nearly 53 years. In 1793 he was captain in the 3rd Regiment of Foot and served in the West Indies where he was present at the capture of the islands of Martinque, St Lucia and Guadaloupe. From there he proceeded to St Domingo where, in April 1797, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 35th Regiment. In 1799 Oswald joined Sir Ralph Abercromby’s expedition to the Helder where he was wounded. Having returned to England he set sail in February 1800 for the Mediterranean with the corps under General Pigot.

Colonel John Oswald played an important part in the military life of the garrison at Malta and on General Graham’s departure from Malta it was to high praise from Oswald.

The 35th remained in Malta throughout the Peace, however, Oswald returned to England and rejoined his regiment in Malta when hostilities resumed in 1803. The 35th eventually left Malta in 1805 as part of Sir James Craig’s expedition to Italy with Oswald again as their head.

John Herries came from a well-established London family with close ties to the world of finance. In fact, one John Charles Herries (1778-1855), a politician and financier was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord Goderich’s government (1827-1828), Master of the Mint under the Duke of Wellington (1828-1830) and president of the Board of Control in Lord Derby’s administration.

It appears that John Herries remained with the 35th in Malta from 1800 until at least 1806 when the regiment joined the expedition to Italy. During his time in Malta Herries undertook a correspondence with Colonel Charles Herries who must have been a close relative. Charles Herries was a curious mix of banker and soldier who wore one hat as manager of the family bank of Messrs Herries & Co. (a splinter of the banking firm of Coutts & Co.) and another hat (or rather helmet) as the colonel commandant of the Light Horse Volunteers of London and Westminster from which he derived a tidy income as well as a high reputation.

When Charles Herries died in April 1819, at the age of 74, his fellow officers and members of the Light Horse Volunteers demanded to bury him and erect a monument to his memory at their own expense in Westminster Abbey. His funeral was a solemn and impressive event attended by an immense concourse of persons, including the Duke of Montrose, the Lord Mayor of London as well as the whole of the Light Horse Volunteers on foot, some with arms reversed. His funeral procession was made up of 50 carriages.

Various letters written by John Herries in Malta to his relative Charles in London have come onto the market in recent years and these provide us with an opportunity to gauge the mood of British troops in Malta during at that time.

On December 1, 1802, John, preoccupied by the accounts of his company, wrote a hasty note from “La Valletta” to Charles sending a bill of exchange for £100. He hoped his note would travel to London on HMS Thetis “a very fine frigate and will no doubt make a good passage”.

John also commented that the second battalion of the 20th and 27th regiments would be sailing in the same ship. It should be noted that the terms of the Treaty of Amiens, which took effect from March 27, 1802 stipulated, among other terms, that the British were to withdraw from Malta and restore it to the Knights of St John within three months. The troop movements referred to by Herries were, therefore, in compliance with the Treaty.

The General Orders given by Major-General Villettes on November 28, most likely transcribed by Major John Hamill, state: “The following alterations will take place in the arrangements for the embarkation on Tuesday morning. The men of the Royal Artillery Artificers, 13th, 20th, 27th and 63rd Regiments and Captain Dunlop’s Detachment [Royal Artillery] to embark on board His Majesty’s Ship Thetis. Those of the 35th and 48th Regiments and the officers of the Medical Staff on board the Adventure”.

By September 1803, Herries was complaining to Charles that having spent the last three years in dull Malta he felt quite cut off from the rest of the world. To make amends he had applied for a few months’ leave of absence. However, “that Rascal the Tyrant [Napoleon Bonaparte] has prevented me that pleasure”. With some apparent relief at the prospect of seeing some action he continued: “The report here is we are going to Sicily. I hope it may be true as we are all tired of Malta, now upwards of three years since we landed and perfectly excluded from the world.”

Besides reasons of patriotism men enlisted in the army for both glory and plunder: prize money was an important by-product of success and when the French surrendered Valletta they also forfeited the assets they controlled. Herries informed his kinsman that by 1803 the Malta Prize Money has already been paid in part and that as his banker Charles Herries should be in receipt of the funds due to him.

Sir James Craig’s expedition to Italy landed in the Bay of Naples on 21 November 21, 1805. However, by April the following year, Craig had resigned his command on grounds of ill health and overall command devolved upon Major-General Sir John Stuart. By that time the king of Naples has fled to Sicily and the British had retreated with him. On learning that the French forces in the south of Italy were seriously depleted Stuart decided to strike a surprise blow in an attempt to force the French out of Calabria, thus avoiding the threat of a French invasion of Sicily.

Stuart’s forces headed for the Bay of Santa Eufemia and landed unopposed on the beach in the vicinity of the deserted fort called the Bastione di Malta on July 1. Later that day, Colonel John Oswald advanced at the head of seven companies of the Royal Corsican Rangers and they soon met a small force of approximately 400 French and Polish skirmishers. After a brief exchange, Oswald’s troops emerged triumphant – two officers and about a hundred men captured and only one British soldier had been wounded. The campaign had started on a positive note for the British.

After three days of intelligence gathering, Stuart ascertained that General Reynier was approximately 10 miles away and in command of a force of about 4,000 infantry, 300 cavalry and four canon and that he was expecting 3,000 reinforcements from the south immanently. Stuart, who commanded a force of approximately 4,570 men, three horse-drawn guns and no cavalry, decided he should attack before the French could concentrate their forces and outnumber the British.

On July 4, Stuart advanced towards the gently rising plain where the French were encamped below the town of San Pietro di Maida. Reynier, now reinforced by 3,000 troops from Reggio and confident of his superior numbers, marched down the plain to meet the British thus abandoning an established principle of warfare – a force holding the high ground possessed a natural advantage since an attacking force labouring up the slope would tire by the time they reached the enemy. The British who dreaded the march uphill were amazed at their luck.

As the two armies approached Kempt’s highly-trained Light Battalion formed the British right flank and marched slightly ahead of the centre and left flank; they were thus closest to the enemy and the first to engage. Their adversaries were Reynier’s Première Régiment d’Infanterie Légère, a regiment of seasoned warriors.

Kempt halted his men and ordered them to drop their packs in order to load their muskets. In practice, a skilled British soldier could load and fire his muzzle-loaded musket five times in a minute. However, when firing volleys in action the rate slowed down to about three. The effective range of the typical ‘Brown Bess’ musket was 100 to 150 yards. Thus, the commanding officer’s judgement would dictate the best moment to give the order to fire. The British line held its fire.

At approximately 100 yards the French fired their first volley. When the smoke cleared the French could see that their opponent’s line stood more or less intact so Reynier ordered his troops to charge with bayonets fixed. Kempt was about to justify the months of shooting practice in Malta and Sicily.

When the French were within 100 paces he gave the order to fire and acrid gunsmoke engulfed the field. The light company then reloaded and as visibility returned a severely depleted attacking force received another volley ‘fired into their faces.’

The surviving French soldiers, realising the carnage they suffered, lost heart and fled in retreat hotly pursued by British soldiers eager to press their advantage, slaughtering their discouraged opponents. The French divisions in the vicinity of this first action realising their now exposed flanks fell back and fled to the adjacent hills. Deprived of cavalry and unwilling to over-extend his troops Stuart failed to pursue the retreating enemy and was thus deprived of the rout that might have ensued.

Hamill was killed in action leading the Royal Malta Regiment in defence of Capri

Herries, who was attached to the Grenadier Battalion, was positioned on the left flank. Here the action was not as decisive as the two sides were more evenly matched and the results hung in the balance until Colonel Robert Ross’ reinforcements arrived to save the day.

Oswald commanded the reserve brigade which consisted of Watteville’s and the 58th Regiment. The battle was so short that these troops saw little action.

Stuart’s army achieved an overwhelming victory. The French suffered great losses – more than 2,000 were killed, others wounded and taken prisoners. The British casualties included one officer and 44 other ranks, while 12 officers and 270 other ranks were wounded.

When the news of the British victory reached London a relieved populace rejoiced. This was the first victory over Napoleonic France on Continental Europe. Church bells rang and patriotic poetry abounded. A typical stanza read:

And now! The raptured Muse in martial strains,

Sounds Stuart’s triumph on Calabrian plains!

The French appalled! Bold Kempt pursues the blow,

And deals destruction, midst the flying foe.

For his success Stuart received the Order of the Bath and an annuity of £1,000 from the British, the title Count of Maida from King Ferdinand, the freedom of the City of London and a sword of honour. As a more long-lasting tribute a modest inn located in West London was named the Hero of Maida in his honour and this in turn gave its name to the residential district we know today as Maida Vale.

After four years military service in North America Sir James Kempt returned to Europe to serve on the staff of Wellington’s army in Spain and France. He commanded the 8th brigade at the Battle of Waterloo.

Sir John Oswald remained active in the Mediterranean for many years. Immediately after the Battle of Maida he marched south to lay siege to and capture Scylla Castle. The following year he joined Major-General Mackenzie’s expedition to Egypt, fighting at Alexandria and Rosetta.

In 1809 he participated in the expedition to Italy which ended in the capture of the islands of Ischia and Procida and later in the same year joined the expeditionary force which seized Zante, Cephalonia, Ithaca and Cerigo winning popular personal support from the Greeks. He also participated in some of the major actions in the Peninsular War.

After the Battle of Maida John Herries served in the 35th Foot with Oswald in Egypt and the capture of the Ionian Islands.

Major John Hamill may have been the most unfortunate of this small band of brothers. During the Battle of Maida he received what he described as a ‘trifling wound’ and was recorded as one of the wounded officers. In September 1806 the Committee of the Patriotic Fund in England awarded each of the officers wounded at the Battle of Maida £100 and Hamill decided to receive his award in the form of a silver vase. At an auction held in 2008 Hamill’s vase fetched a staggering £32,000.

Hamill was killed in action leading the Royal Malta Regiment in its defence of the Island of Capri in 1808. This episode was described in an article by the author in the summer 2009 issue of Treasures of Malta.

Author’s note
Readers seeking more detailed accounts of the Battle of Maida may refer to Tom Pocock’s book Stopping Napoleon: War and Intrigue in the Mediterranean and Richard Hopton’s contribution The Battle of Maida, 1806: Fifteen Minutes of Glory.