Rye Castle Museum

by Brian Purdey

 Napoleonic Threat

An example of a very rare species arrived in the military district of Hastings and Rye in the early Spring of 1806 – a successful British General! In fact it is fair to say that at the time Sir Arthur Wellesley was the only really successful general officer that his country possessed and the posting to the coast of eastern Sussex of this phenomenon needs to be explained. Following the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens and resumption of hostilities with France, the southeast counties of England, and particularly Kent and Sussex, were once more in the front line facing a threatened invasion.

Coastal Defences around Rye and Hastings

In 1803 that great martial genius, Napoleon Bonaparte, soon to crown himself Emperor, had gathered a massive force ofd 130,000 men at Boulogne, together with 2,000 boats andthis Grand Army continued to grow throughout 1804. In Britain there waas some apprehension, though not the flight in panic of the population of the two counties described with such delight in the contemorary French press. Preparations for defence were undertaken, of course, and Bonaparte’s most implacable foe in Europe, William Pitt, Prime Minister and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, was personally involved in much of the detail, often from his official residence at Walmer Castle. The Royal Military Canal, “Mr. Pitt’s Ditch”, was dug, stretching eventually from Hythe to Cliff End, Pett, and Martello Towers were erected – but not withquite the speed that the situation seemed to demand, and naval and military volunteers were raised to support the regular forces of the Crown.

The Commander in Chief, the “Grand old Duke of York” , visited Hastings in August 1804 accompanied by Sir John Moore, officer commanding the troops based from Shorncliffe to Dungeness and they saw the main threat to be a landing between Dungerness and Beachy Head. An interesting change in the pattern of military deplymentstook place as a result of this view. Earlier invasion scares in the 1790′s had found the full time professional soldiery quartered further east andto the west of this area, around Canterbury and Brighton, but now the rapidly raised and less well trained militia that had previously guarded Rye and Hastings were replaced by regiments of regulars who had some knowledge of the business of war.

Wellesley’s Brigade

It is not surprising, therefore, that, even after Nelson’s comprehensive destruction of the bulk of the sea power of France and her allies at Trafalgar in October 1805, the government should dispatch a general with a proven record of vixtory in India to this crucial section of the coastline. Wellesley’s force, to which he was appointed on the 25th of February 1806, was a mere brigade, however, and many friends questioned how the general, having led “armies of 40,000 men in the field, having received the thanks of Parliament for his victories and having been made a Knight of the Bath, could submit to be reduced to the command of a brigade if infantry?” Sir Arthur’s answer was typical of the man. “For this plain reason, I am a nimmukwallah as we say in the east, that is have ate the King’s salt and therefore I conceive it to be my duty to serve with unhesitating zeal and cheerfulness, when and wherever, the King or his government may think proper to employ me”

 A monthly Army List from 1806 indicates that Wellesley’s brigade was a strong one consisting of well over 5,000 men and since it was neither sound generalship, nor indeed good common sense to place such a body of troops engaged upon coastal defence in one small town, the regiments were based at various locations throughout the area. 1,000 men were in purpose built barracks at Bexhill, another 1,100 were in temporary buildings in Battle, 2,000 were camped at Silverhill, Robertsbridge, 900 occupied newly erected barracks at Halton in Hastings and 350 were stationed at Rye and Playden. These figures changed as their commander redeployed his soldiers for training and other purposesand the late Kenneth Clarke recorded thattwo barracks sited on Rye Hill at one point housed 800 infantry with 168 cavalry and 80 infantry respectively.

It is interesting to note that Sir Arthur’s troops at Halton were fortunate to be stationed in brand new accommodation. The ancient and decayed barracks at Bopeep had obligingly burtn down due to a chimney fire in 1804 and replacements were provided at a cost of £8,541-10-2 in October 1805.

Marriage

Wellesley established his headquarters in a lodging house in the High Street, Hastings, opposite the fine old Swan Hotel. His time actually living there must have been brief, since crossing to Dublin, he married on the 10th April at St George’s church in that city, Catherine Sarah Dorothea, third daughter of the 2nd Baron Longford. On their return, he and his bride set up home at Hastings House, a grand Palladian mansion adjacent to All Saints Church – later demolished by developers in the 1860′s to be replaced by Old Humphrey Avenue.

While “Kitty” , the new Lady Wellesley, busied herself in making a comfortable domestic environment for her beloved Arthur, the general himself exercised his mind with the problems fo effective counter measures to possible invasion andfurther found time to read papers on “Rye inundations and the military virtues of Winchelsea ( Camber ) Castle”.

MP for Rye

Other matters occupied him too. Early in the month of his marriage, he had been returned as Borough Member of Parliament for Rye, not becuasehe felt a desire for prolonged triumphs in that arena, but in order that he might defend his elder brother Richard, Marquis Wellesley, recently returned from India and facing the possibility of impeachment for his management of the post of Governor General. Philp Guedalla, in The Duke, (1931) describes Wellesley’s election in some detail: “The campaign was not exacting, since the Rye electors listened more closely to their proprietor than to any candidate. Their simple appetites appear in Wellesay’s accounts and totalled £367/17/6 (in food, wine and other expenses),

Light Relief

brigade had more than just a military effect upon the neighbourhood of Rye and Hastings. It will be recalled what influence the presence of the dashing had on the Bennet girls, in Pride and Prejudice especially Lydia. Balls were organised by the Hastings garrison, sometimes only concluding at 5am “when the company retired highly delighted with the elegance of the entertainment and the extreme politeness of the officers”, and special performances were requested at the local theatres. In July 1806, one of Sir Arthur’s colonels, Houghton of the 8th Foot, and the officers of the regiment asked that the “celebrated tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”, be presented at the Theatre, Hastings, together – to afford light releif, no doubt, “the comic opera of the Poor Soldier”. This combined performance was for one night only, the theatre, adjoining the Hare and Hounds at Ore, reverting to what was, one imagines, the more popular fare of “Laugh when you can” and “Love laughs at Locksmiths”.

Royal Approval

The high point, in military terms of Wellesley’s service in Suissex was reached on the 10th of August 1806, when the Duke of York came to review the young major general’s command. He and his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, arrived from Hythe, towed along the Military Canal in a boat drawn by three horses. They were welcomed with a royal salute from the East battery of Captain Gill’s Cinque Port Artillary sited in the Gungarden. After spending two hours at the George, the royal Dukes inspected the forces, consisting of infantry, two troops of the 17th Light Dragoons and the 1st Somerset Militia. The Duke, pleased with the performance  of his troops, thanked Sir Arthur and proceeded via Cliff End to Hastings. There, according to some unsubstantiated sources, a banquet was held in honour of Wellesley. Be that as it may there seems little doubt the York and Cambridge took refreshment at the Swan Hotel and that Sir Arthur entertained them at Hastings House. The following day the royal pair departed to meet their elder brother at his favourite resort of Brighton.

Warden of the Cinque Ports

The general’s time at Rye and Hastings ended in December 1806, when he was posted to Deal, but his connections with the area were top be renewed when, in 1829, as Duke of Wellington, he was installed as Lord Warden of the CinquePorts. Even after his death in 1852, the force of his personality was still felt by the tow towns. The Mayor of Hastings, Thomas Hickes, on the announcement of the old soldier’s demise, journeyed to Rye, whose own Mayor, E.S.Banks, held the post of Speaker of the Cinque Ports that year, to suggest that a meeting should be convened to see that “every possible respect to the memory of the illustrious deceased ” be paid. Much to Mr. Hickes’ surprise, Mr. Banks declined to “give himself, any trouble in the matter”. “The Duke was a very good man, I dare say”, he added, “he is dead now, so why make any fuss? Let them bury him”.

Acting independently of the unconcerned Speaker, the Mayors of Hastings, Sandwich and New Romney waited on the Prime Minister, Lord Derby,and the eventual result was that a carriage for four persons, representing the Cinque Ports, was to be included in the funeral procession on November 18th. A meeting was held in Rye on October 28th to decide who should represent the Confederation and the shameless Mayor of Rye claimed the right to be one of the privileged four as the current Speaker. Perhaps, not surprisingly, the other Ports rejected this claim and the carriage that followed the great Duke on his final march contained the first citizens of Dover, Sandwich, New Romney and Hastings.