Battle Honour 'CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 1806'.
The Battle Honour CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 1806 is emblazoned on the Regimental Colours of The Royal Irish Regiment.
The British had captured the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch in 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars and, although the Treaty of Amiens had restored the territory to Dutch rule in 1803, war with Napoleon again necessitated the seizure of the Cape. Therefore, an expeditionary force commanded by Major General Sir David Baird was embarked on Commodore Sir Home Popham's fleet bound for the Cape. Baird's force of 6,800 included two brigades with the 1st Battalion the 83rd Regiment in General Beresford's First Brigade. The 1/83rd sailed from Cork on 31 August 1805, with a strength of 796 all ranks, and joined the remainder of the fleet at Madeira before sailing on to the Cape via Brazil.
Beresford was detached on 5 January, leading a force from the brigade that landed 70 miles north of Cape Town. The Highland Brigade landed on 6 January. The 1/83rd landed on 7 January and the commanding officer, who was General Baird's brother, assumed command of the First Brigade in Beresford's absence. Baird sent his two brigades towards Cape Town on the morning of 8 January. His Highland Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Ronald Fergusson, advanced along the road and charged the Dutch force that had marched from Cape Town to engage Baird at Blueberg while his First Brigade cleared the heights above Blueberg. The 1/83rd can claim to have fought in both these brigade actions because it had attached officers and men to the 93rd Regiment in the Highland Brigade.
The advance was resumed on the morning of the 9 January and, several miles short of Cape Town, Beresford's force rejoined General Baird. A Dutch flag of truce arrived from the town shortly thereafter. The following day, the local Dutch commander defending Cape Town signed a document of capitulation. Following further British operations, the Dutch military governor of the Cape, General Janssens, signed a capitulation and on 18 January, all of the Dutch Cape territory came under British rule.
The 1/83rd's casualties were limited to seven wounded with one (Private Foley) dying of his wounds on 11 January. However, it was not until 1836 that the 83rd were granted the Battle Honour CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. The Adjutant General in a letter dated 17 March 1836 wrote:
Sir,
I have the honour to acquaint you by the direction of the General Commanding-in-Chief that His Majesty has been pleased to permit the 83rd to bear on its Colours and Appointments, in addition to any other Badges or Devices heretofore granted to the Regiment, the words "Cape of Good Hope," in commemoration of the distinguished gallantry displayed by that Regiment at the capture of Town and Garrison of the Cape of Good Hope on the 8th January, 1806, when it formed part of the First Brigade employed on that occasion.
