Talk originally held at Bexhill on 15 March 2011 to the Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group (BHSG), slightly revised for Waterloo 200.

Gabriele Eilert-Ebke and Hans Ebke,

Andrew Cleeves: Life as an officer of the King’s German Legion

1. Introduction Little did we realize when we first established contact with the Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group1 two years ago that we would be able to give a comprehensive account of the life of the KGL officer: Andrew Cleeves, who was my three times great grandfather. The story of our research started with first superficial attempts way back in 1972, after my grandmother, Clara Cleeves, had died in March of the same year. As part of her ‚legacy‘, a box fell into the hands of my mother, Ria Eilert, born Cleeves. It contained old letters, papers and other documents of the Hanoverian Cleeves family that had belonged to her father and had been handed down to him from generation to generation. Two of these documents are especially relevant for the topic, we are discussing today.

The first one is a kind of ‚birth certificate‘, written and signed by Andrew Cleeves and without which, we wouldn‘t know that his son William was christened in Portchester, where the artillery brigade of the KGL was based, and that his mother was Jane Isaac from Fareham. The second document is William‘s diary of his early years and his time as a journeyman – he later became a saddler and settled in the Ruhr area – and this diary starts with his birth in Titchfield in January 1808, which he had to leave as a child in order to travel from England to Hanover.

His father is referred to as having - at the time - been major in the Hanoverian horse artillery and he adds – English-German Legion.

1 Our thanks particularly to Stella Child, Fred Rye, Peter Cole, Susan Brunt and Rona Hemingway

2

This is all we knew about Andrew Cleeves when we, Hans and me, started to pick up the pieces a couple of years ago and then decided to find out more.

2. The Cleeves family in the 18th century The first amazing discovery was the fact that the Cleeves family originally came from the coastal areas in Somerset and Dorset, hence the name Cleeves, derived from cliff. In German, this name, related to topography, would be spelt with only one ‚e‘ as is the case with the town Cleve or Kleve. A spelling variety that has been a source of constant confusion ever since. It is therefore not surprising that we do find Andrew Cleeves or Andreas Cleves referred to in many different ways in the various sources, which doesn‘t make it any easier to trace him. Part of the family moved to the Salisbury during the Civil War. Joseph Cleeves with his wife and two sons went from Salisbury to Hanover in 1718 together with ten other fellow technicians of hydraulic systems from Shaftsbury and Salisbury.

They had been ordered to go to Hanover by King George I. As King of Britain and Electorate of Hanover, he wanted to have an impressive emblem of power built in his home gardens at Hanover representing his newly acquired royal status. Joseph senior and junior and his son Johann Christian stayed in Hanover and were successively employed as ‘Master of the Waterworks‘ in the Royal Household at Herrenhausen Gardens. 2 Joseph senior was granted the right to brew his own English beer, because the Hanoverian Bräuhahn, a local light ale, didn‘t agree with him. What the younger Joseph did like, however, was the daughter of the local brewer, Sophia Charlotte Rosemeyer, whom he married to start the Hanoverian line of the Cleeves family. The existence of Joseph Cleeves, of his son and grandson were unknown to us, until we managed to unveil this bit of history two years ago by pure coincidence.

3. The young Andrew from 1778 until 1803 Andreas Heinrich Cleeves was born on the 17 January 1778 in Hanover - Herrenhausen in one of the official servants buildings, where all members belonging to the Royal Household lived. The three Cleeves generations lived right next to the great fountain, which their respective fathers were in charge of. Andreas Heinrich, son of Johann Christian Cleeves and Joseph junior’s grandson was number 10 of 14 children and we know what became of his brothers and sisters, simply because we still have letters from the family. His brothers and sisters belonged to the well-educated middle class. They were either married to Lutheran priests or were Lutheran priests themselves. Others were corn

2 Bernd Adam, Die Herrenhäuser Wasserkünste, in: Herrenhausen: Die Königlichen Gärten in Hannover, 2006, p. 53ff.

3

dealers, medical doctors, officers in the Hanoverian army or employed in the administration of the Royal Hanoverian Household. Andreas’s school education started at the local elementary school in Herrenhausen. After the early death of his father, his family had to leave the official buildings and they moved to Hanover. Andreas then attended the Court School for children belonging to the members of the Royal Household. He left school, as was usually the case, after his Lutheran confirmation in 1793 at the age of fifteen. What was to become of him? A priest or corn dealer like some of his brothers or an officer in the Hanoverian army like his brother Adolph and his uncle, Christian Ludwig Bindseil, captain of the Hanoverian Artillery? The dice were cast and Andreas was introduced to the Commander of the Hanoverian Artillery, Oberst Victor von Trew, who liked to question potential candidates in the local dialect by asking them: ‘Het hei all pulver roken’ – meaning ‘Has he ever sensed the smell of powder?’ – to which the young probant Georg Julius Hartmann is said to have replied ‘I certainly have, I’ve even tried it !’ 3 A response likely to have come also from Andrew Cleeves. In 1793 Andrew was accepted into the military service. For his mother, a widow, this meant finding the money to buy him the proper uniform of a volunteer cadet. She applied to the royal administration for financial support and her request was granted and signed by King George III. We found document in the Hanoverian State Archives, but, unfortunately, were not allowed to make copies. Andreas attended the artillery school for cadets from 1793 till 1797 and was trained by Gerhardt Scharnhorst, later to become the well-known Prussian General Scharnhorst, reformer of the Prussian army and Chief of the General Staff. From 1797 until 1803 Andreas became a member of the 9th Infantry Regiment as an attached artillery ensign. The regiment was stationed in Celle, where two of his elder brothers were already working and living, one as a priest and the other as a soldier. Living in barracks was not customary at the time and there weren’t any. His brother Adolph in his position as quartermaster of the regiment had managed to find a place, where the three brothers could live. On the whole, the condition of the Hanoverian army at that time can be described as: over-aged, lacking in equipment and in discipline. In short: lack of everything, which may also explain the defeat of the 1st Coalition War in the Netherland from 1793 to 1795. 1803, therefore, marked the final decline and fall with Napoleon rising to power and claiming parts of the patchwork carpet that represented the German collection of dukedoms and kingdoms.

4. The fall of the Electorate Hanover, formation of the KGL in Bexhill and Portchester and the first expeditions to Hanover and the Baltic (1803 – 1808) 4.1. The fall of Hanover Andreas Heinrich Cleeves experienced the fateful year of 1803 as a 25-year old ensign, when French troops under General Mortier had taken possession of the Electorate of Hanover.

3 Julius von Hartmann (junior), Der königlich hannoversche General Sir (Georg) Julius von Hartmann, 1857, p. 7

4

Resistance on the Hanoverian part seemed doomed to failure. The Convention of Lauenburg/ Elbe in July 1803 resulted in the dissolution of the Electorate and its army. As a consequence, 15 thousand soldiers laid down their weapons, went home and became ordinary citizens under French occupation. Some officers were not prepared to put up with this humiliation and formed a conspiracy against the Napoleonic supremacy. These were young officers such as Georg von Coulon, Ernst von Langwerth and Georg Hartmann. Both, the Hartmann and the Cleeves families, lived in the old centre of Hanover and belonged to the same social circles. One step into Hartmann’s house and a French spy could have discovered something rather interesting, if not suspicious: an office for conscribing officers, prepared to form a new Hanoverian Army across the Channel in England. An initiative which was started by the Duke of Cambridge, Adolph Friedrich, who was George III’ s youngest son and later to become the Commander in Chief of the KGL. Andrew joined this circle, received fraud identity papers in order to prevent being caught by French spies and military police, and left Hanover in early September 1803, only to return as a celebrated major and battle hero 12 years later. Together with other artillery comrades such as William Braun, Ludwig Heise, Carl von Rettberg and the Sympher brothers, they managed to escape through northern Germany to the then Danish port of Husum. Here they embarked on a small fishing boat, which was to take the young men to the island of Helgoland, where an English packet boat was ready to take them to Harwich. Andreas Cleeves or Andrew - as he is from now on called - and his comrades arrived in England on the 23 of September 1803. All Hanoverian soldiers were first gathered at Hilsea Barracks near Portsmouth, amounting to about 2300 soldiers, soon to be officially named the King’s German Legion. Andrew Cleeves was handed over the patent as artillery officer of the KGL, gazetted on the 17th of November 1803 and from now on was entitled to full pay. By February 1804, the number of trained artillerists had risen to 200 and it was decided that they should move across the Solent to Portchester Castle and form their barracks outside the castle walls.

The same month, Andrew was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the horse battery of Captain Hartmann. He was paid 9 Shillings per day. Considerably better off than a private, who only received 1 Shilling a day.

5

The infantry, obviously the major part of the KGL, was transferred to Bexhill-on-Sea.4 We know that Andrew came to visit Bexhill on a number of occasions. We know for sure that Andrew’s unit went to Weymouth in the summer of 1804 to meet up with the cavalry of the KGL. The royal family regularly spent the summer months in Weymouth. The king made sure to meet his Hanoverian soldiers there in order to talk to them in their local dialect, which he obviously was in command of. It is reported that he liked to address them in low German with ‘Minne Kinners’ (my children). Andrew’s successive steps of promotion and military action are recorded in the Military calender of 1820:

According to this source, Andrew was promoted First Lieutenant in September 1804. 4.2. The Expedition to Hanover (Elbe – Weser) from October 1805 until February 1806 British politics under William Pitt had promised military support to the Anti-Napoleonic coalition on the continent. As a consequence British and Hanoverian troops were sent to northern Germany and sailed down the rivers Elbe and Weser. Amongst these 10 thousand was the young commanding officer Arthur Wellesley. He spent Christmas near Bremen complaining about constant rain, awfully cold weather and worst of all: inactivity. So did Andrew Cleeves and the rest of the KGL. All of them were eager to get back to Hanover to free their home town of the French occupation. The formerly so prosperous Hanover had been suffering for over two years by then. A victorious liberation of Hanover, however, was not to be. In December 1805, Napoleon had successfully emerged from the Three-Emperors-Battle at Austerlitz and the British forces had no other choice but to retreat to England as quickly as possible. Like the ‚Town Musicians of Bremen’ in Grimm’s fairy tale, they quickly had to make their escape, if they wanted to save their lives. At the end of February, the KGL had sold most of their horses, were ready to leave Bremen and set sail for Portchester. Andrew stayed in Portchester and its vicinity until June 1807 and must have enjoyed the time of peace. What was on the agenda? Most certainly, exercises with military units in Portchester and Bexhill. But also some leisure time: He and Hartmann explored the surrounding area on horseback, visiting the nearby market towns of Titchfield and Fareham or rode into the Hampshire countryside or made their way across the Solent to the Isle of White. In spring 1807 the weather was fine. With no immediate action in view, the focus soon shifted to other pursuits: Romantic adventures with the local lasses were not encouraged, but could not always be prevented. It could obviously not be prevented in Andrew’s case, as we shall find out later. June 1807 first of all saw his promotion to 2nd captain. 4.3. The Baltic 1807 and 1808

4 Information and illustrations on Bexhill were kindly provided by Peter Cole of BHSG

6

The political situation was aggravated by Napoleon’s continental embargo and made it inevitable for Britain to support the last free ally in the Baltic: the kingdom of Sweden. Prussia had finally been defeated at the Battle of Jena-Auerstädt in October 1806 with the effect that Napoleon now had most of the Baltic coastline and trade at his disposition except for the island of Rügen and the Hanseatic town Stralsund. The area had fallen into the position of the Swedish crown in the Thirty-Year-War and had become known as Swedish-Pomerania. In July 1807, the English government sent a corps of 20 thousand soldiers including 8 thousand Hanoverians across the sea to the Baltic, amongst them our 2nd Captain Andrew Cleeves. England, unfortunately, had to suffer yet another pre-taste of ‚Dunkirk’. Napoleon was too strong and it appeared to be more realistic and safer to withdraw to a part of the Baltic, not dominated by Napoleon: the neutral Denmark. The British government instructed the expedition corps under Lord Cathcart to force the Danish King to hand over the Danish fleet to the English before the French could get hold of it. This, however, was easier said than done, because Denmark strongly resisted. Next followed the famous bombardment of Copenhagen at the beginning of September 1807, in which Andrew as artillerist must have been involved and for the first time under Wellesley’s orders. Financially, this engagement proved equally rewarding. Andrew received an extra pay of 95 Pounds Sterling. In comparison: every general received 1,500 and every private 3 pounds. The arrival in England in the autumn of 1807 was impeded by heavy gale forces in the Channel and caused a number of ships and packet boats to go shipwreck. Horses, soldiers and their wives and children suffered severely and many never made it to the safety of the coast. The winter 1807/08 was spent without any military action and the troops remained in their barracks in England. Andrew had time to concentrate more on his private life. Andrew’s romantic adventure of spring 1807 had resulted in the birth of his first born son William in January 1808. Various things had now to be sorted out. The boy had been baptized in the Parish Church St. Peter and Paul in Fareham by his mother Jane Isaac as a private baptism (pb) on 24 March 1808. 5 According to Andrew’s own note, a second christening must have taken place some time later in the old Norman church of St. Mary’s. It must have been conducted by one of the KGL’s field vicars and entered into his own register, because the Parish documents provide no evidence of the christening. We know that there was another KGL representative: Lieut. William Braun, officer of the KGArtillery, is mentioned as godfather.

In May 1808, time for private arrangements was over. A new expedition corps set sail for Gotenberg. Britain felt the need to answer a call for help by the Swedish king. The commander-in-chief was Sir John Moore in charge of a corps of which 50% were Hanoverians. Andrew Cleeves and Georg Hartmann were amongst them and happy to enjoy a warm summer on board ship with music, dances and a lot of fresh fish from the sea and hardly any military action, simply because the mad king Gustav IV refused entry

5 Baptisms at St. Peter’s and Paul’s Parish Church, Fareham

7

into Sweden. General John Moore was arrested. The episode of Moore’s escape from Stockholm dressed as an old peasant is well known. The mission was not to be completed as intended and the British armada was back in its home base in Spithead near Portsmouth on 21st of July 1808, but not for very long. In the meantime, the political situation on the Iberian Peninsula had become a threat to British politics and trade and this meant: Good bye to families, friends and – as is often recorded – to the famous pig tails, so typical of the 18th-century soldier. Before setting sail for Portugal, Andrew had one month left to see his young son William and William’s mother, the 22-year old Jane Isaac, eldest daughter of James Isaac, currier in Fareham.

5. The Peninsular War 1808 until 1813 5.1. The year 1808 On 31st of July 1808, 168 transport and 4 warships left Spithead under the command of General John Moore. Their target was Portugal and towards the end of August it was reached. Moore and his 11 thousand men set foot on the Maceira Bay. A few weeks earlier, Wellesley together with 9 thousand soldiers had landed further north at Mondego Bay, only to be involved immediately in action with the French: Wellesley’s first victory on the Peninsula. Moore’s men went further south to Lisbon and Andrew’s 4th foot battery took its base at Fort San Juliao. The Portuguese welcomed the arrival of the Hanoverian artillery, so much so that on the first Sunday a Service of Gratitude was held in the church of Cascaes. The Hanoverians were taken by surprise when begged by the Portuguese clergy to contribute a typical Hanoverian hymn to the Holy Service. After a short discussion with Andrew and the other officers, it was decided that all soldiers present should sing along to the famous folk song ‘Freut Euch des Lebens’, a song more suitable for beer halls than churches and the delivery may have caused a few smiles. 6 Life in Lisbon was different to what the Hanoverians had experienced so far at home and in England. It turned out to be a real culture shock and reports of disgust about the sanitary conditions in the city are numerous. Andrew and his comrades may well have complained about people emptying their chamber pots where the KGL were about to tread. Andrew will have remembered the stench coming from the filthy streets and he will certainly have recalled another incident: On New Year’s Eve he was present in the officer’s mess at Fort San Juliao, but took leave shortly before midnight because he had prepared a special surprise for his fellow officers. Let’s hear, what an eye-witness, his comrade Captain Adolph Hesse has to say:

On New Year’s Eve all officers had gathered in the officer’s mess to celebrate the New Year. When the bells of Lisbon’s churches tolled midnight, the ceremony master rose from his seat and asked all the officers to raise their glasses according to a German custom. The very moment the officers clang their glasses, a strong and unexpected thunder of more than 20 nearby cannons fired forth as if to give extra strength to the meaning of the speech. Both air and ground were shaken, combined with a rattle of countless broken pieces of glass from window panes and doors.

6 Adolf Hesse, Aufzeichnungen und mündliche Mitteilungen, in: Heinrich Dehnel, Erinnerungen deutscher Offiziere in britischen Diensten aus den Kriegsjahren 1805 bis 1816, Hannover 1864, p.43.

8

The explosion shattered the night to such an extent that no drop of wine reached its original destination. Unfortunately, some good wine got spilled from the drinking glasses. It was soon found out who had caused such havoc: The initiator of this surprising spectacle was Captain Cleeves, the commanding artillery officer of Fort St. Juliao. Unnoticed, he had sneeked outside and ordered his gunners to load the guns with double charge and fired them on a given signal. The commanding Admiral of the British Fleet on the Tajo, Vice Admiral George Berkeley, one of Wellington’s close friends, ordered to be informed of the reason of that mighty cannonade. When he was assured that Cleeves had acted in compliance with the German custom of how to welcome the New Year, he pursued the matter no further. 7

Thus the first year on the Peninsula ended with a joke. For other English and Hanoverian troops it ended less funny: La Coruna, further north, saw the painful retreat of Moore and his troops, which ended with John Moore’s death in battle in January 1809. 5.2. 1809: Ceuta and Oporto The retreat at La Coruna necessitated an immediate embarkation on board ship. This, unfortunately, led to major slaughters of horses and mules along the coastline of La Coruna. Since the KGL-Artillery in Lisbon had rendered all their horses to Moore’s troops, the army was now without any means of transport. Andrew Cleeves and several others of the 4th Foot Battery detachment were sent to Ceuta in North Africa, which was and is Spanish. The expedition to Ceuta must have been successful. In April 1809 the 4th Foot Battery was again equipped with 124 strong horses and a number of mules. In Lisbon, their return had been eagerly expected. Wellesley had arrived from England and planned an attack to drive the French out of the northern part of Portugal, especially around Oporto. On 13 May 1809, the allies crossed the river Douro. The two KGL-batteries commanded by Hartmann, Rettberg, Heise and Cleeves provided curtain fire with their artilleries to ensure a successful crossing of the Douro. The French fled Oporto and withdrew from Portugal altogether. Moore’s defeat was revenged. Wellesley praised Hartmann with the following words: ‘Der Mann ist zu etwas zu gebrauchen’ (he was a useful chap’).8 5.3. 1809: Talavera With Portugal being freed, the next target was to move on to Madrid. Marshall Soult’s northern flank of the French army had to be separated from Marshall Victor’s southern part. Talavera della Reyna on the brinks of the river Tagus saw the first major battle of the Peninsular Wars between 50 thousand French and 21 thousand British, supported by 35 thousand Spanish soldiers. The final strike took place on the 27th and the 28th of July 1809. Captain Rettberg’s 2nd battery took part and later received special attention from Wellesley for their precise cannon fire. Friedrich Dierking - later to become caretaker at Göttingen University - managed to split up a French square by firing his howitzer directly at them. This caused Wellesley to clap him on the back saying: ‚Very well, my

7 Adolf Hesse, Aufzeichnungen und mündliche Mitteilungen, in: Heinrich Dehnel, Erinnerungen deutscher Offiziere in britischen Diensten aus den Kriegsjahren 1805 bis 1816, Hannover 1864, p.47-48. 8 Julius von Hartmann, dito, p.70.

9

boy!’ 9 Andrew Cleeves and his battery is not explicitly mentioned, but must have supported Rettberg’s action with his men. The KGL-Artillery was stationed together with the infantry of the Legion and the English infantry under General Hill („Daddy Hill“) at the strategically important hill Cerro de Medelin. General von Langwerth was in command of the KGL-Infantry. A few days before the battle, he had written to his wife:

I am happy and of good health, but the heat and the long marches are very tiring ... only God knows, how much I am longing to see you ... Send my heartiest greetings to the boys. ... I still am in command of the legion and seem to have to keep it. Wellesley praises the legion much, because he has full trust in our gallantry. The guards and all the other regiments envy us. Stay calm and don’t worry too much about me.10

On the second day of the battle, Langwerth was killed by a bullet in the midst of French fire and was buried the same day on the battle ground. His wife Julie was told about her husband’s death, when she was about to go on board the ship, which was to take her from Falmouth to Lisbon. She was so distraught that Mrs. Murray, the wife of General Murray, took her into her own house in London to be able to take better care of her. The losses on both sides were enormous; those who had survived were faced with a tremendous shortage of food and drink and the horses were left with dry straw to eat. The original plan to separate the two French flanks had failed. Soult’s army was on their heels. Wellesley thought it best to order the retreat to Badajoz. By early September 1809 Badajoz was reached. After Talavera the allied army felt considerably weakened and had to focus on defending Portugal. Andrew and his 4th battery were billeted in the village of Montijo close to Badajoz to stay here for the winter. No military action is mentioned for that time. Andrew, however, didn’t stay there all winter. The Military Calender of 1820 says: ‘In December 09 Andrew Cleeves received the command of the British brigade of Artillery attached to the first division.’ A Hanoverian Officer as commander of a British brigade was obviously not out of the question. 5.4. 1810 Busaco and Torres Vedras For June 1810, we receive further information from the Military Calendar about Andrew’s career. The 1st Captain of the 4th battery, Ludwig Heise, was sent back to England on sick leave. This meant that Andrew had to fill his place from now on. Cleeves’ battery was attached to the 4th Infantry Division under General Lawry Cole. At the Battle of Busaco on 27 September 1810, the French under Marshall Massena did not manage to drive the allied forces back into the sea. The two KGL-batteries Rettberg and Cleeves together with units of the newly deployed Portuguese army successfully withstood the French attacks. Wellington ordered the retreat behind the lines of Torres Vedras, which had been built between 1809 and 1810 north of Lisbon. In view of this, the French gave up any further pursuit and withdrew to their winter camps. Wellington used the winter to recruit support from England and ended up with a strengthened army of 130 thousand men in total. At the outset of winter, Andrew Cleeves was sent back to Portsmouth and was involved in the recruitment of new replenishment.

9 Johann Freiherr von Reitzenstein, Geschichte der Artillerie, 1886, p. 507. 10 Marie Ballauff, Des Königs deutsche Legion bis zur Schlacht bei Talavera, Hannover 1909, p.144.

10

Amongst the soldiers who now joined the team was Friedrich Lindau, about whom Reverend James Bogle gave a talk to the BHSG last year. From Lindau’s diary, we get a vivid impression of the sea voyage to Portugal in early spring. We hear of the calamities of sea-sick soldiers and officers. 11 Amongst them must have been Andrew Cleeves. He had used the time in Portsmouth to visit his young family in Titchfield, William and his mother Jane Isaac. And we have a proof: 9 month later in September 1811 his second son George was born. 5.5 1811 Campo Major and the Battle of Albuera Massena had tried several times but without much success to break through the lines of Torres Vedras. His army was much weakened due to several smaller combats and illness. He, therefore, thought it advisable to draw his army out of Portugal, which was completed in March 1811. He did not leave without being pursued. Marshall Beresford and Wellington followed him on his heels. Andrew Cleeves, commander of the 2nd Foot Battery, and his colleague Rettberg also took part. On 11 March the important fortification Badajoz, until then occupied by the French, was taken. On 25 March 1811 we can trace Andrew’s steps more closely again. We find him involved in the Battle of Campo Major, about 18 kilometres north of Badajoz. Beresford’s ill-fated judgement of the situation, especially about the condition of the horses, led to a fierce controversy between him and his officers, in particular with General Long, in charge of the cavalry, and was to continue for another 30 years. To go into detail here, would take too long. What interests us today, is the fact that Andrew played a minor role in this story. Beresford had just called off any action and at the very moment, two of Andrew’s canons started fire onto a French column. As Lieutenant Mielmann, Hartmann’s ADC, mentions in his reply to Lord Beresford’s letter in 1835: ‘the officer who commanded the two guns at Campo Major was Captain Andrew Cleeves, long since dead!’ 12 16 May 1811: The Battle of Albuera Badajoz had been besieged, but was not taken. Beresford decided to give up Badajoz and marched south to the village Albuera on the banks of a river bearing the same name. The two KGL-batteries commanded by the Captains Cleeves and Sympher were part of the English-Hanoverian and Portuguese troops to get involved in the famous action of Albuera. Cleeves was on the battleground with his men and their five cannons and one howitzer from 7 o’clock in the morning till lunch time. The artillery was under severe attack from Polish lancers and there was a constant toing and froing from both sides, which caused a tremendous amount of bloodshed, hence Lord Byron’s poetical reference to ‚ Bloody Albuera’. 13 Amidst this turmoil, we find Andrew Cleeves being taken prisoner by Polish lancers. Let’s listen to what he recalls of this part of the battle himself:

Corporal Fincke had presence of mind enough to quit his horse (in order) to replace the (leading driver of the left gun, who had just been shot off his horse) and then galloped boldly through the enemy’s cavalry;

11 James Bogle, A Waterloo Hero, The Reminiscenes of Friedrich Lindau, 2009. 12 Charles Edward Long, Reply to Lord Beresford’s second letter, 1835, p.17. 13 photos kindly provided by Susan Brunt of the BHSG

11

his own horse, which ran alongside of him, secured him from the enemy’s cuts and saved the gun, which I immediately made (ready to) join the fight again. At this moment I was (taken) prisoner, but had the luck to escape unhurt. The guns were nearly immediately retaken, but the howitzer was taken off (by the enemy).14

5.6. The Siege of Badajoz in June 1811 Cleeves’s battery was withdrawn from Beresford’s army to join Wellington’s units in order to support the siege of Badajoz. Andrew’s skillful manner of making a breach into the walls of Fort St. Cristobal had attracted Wellington’s attention. According to his dispatch of 13 June to the Earl of Liverpool, the Secretary of War, he wrote: ‘Captain Cleeves of the Hanoverian artillery conducted that department on the right of the Guardiana with great success.’ 15 Soon after the Battle of Albuera and the siege of Badajoz Andrew’s 2nd battery, which had suffered severe losses, was ordered to retreat to Lisbon to Fort St. Juliao to recover from the ordeal. Two more positive aspects were awaiting Cleeves: his battery was reinforced by new recruits from England and Andrew was honoured with the British Gold Medal for Albuera. The rest of the winter was spent in Lisbon. 5.7. 1812: Salamanca and Madrid In early 1812 Andrew Cleeves’s 2nd Foot Battery had received reinforcement, but was not ready for action. It therefore stayed in Lisbon and did not join the main part of the army on their way to Ciudad Rodrigo. In February 1812 Major Hartmann and Captain Cleeves joined Wellington’s main army near Badajoz for the third and this time successful attempt to take the fort. The Siege of Badajoz ended in the night from 5th to 6th of April 1812 - as so often on both sides of the Peninsular War - with horrendous bloodshed and plunders as a revenge for the almost 5 thousand losses of men on the British-Hanoverian and Portuguese side. After the important strategic points of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz had been taken, Wellington decided to start his offensive into the heart of the Spanish mainland: Salamanca was the first target. Another aspect encouraged him to do so: Napoleon’s engagement in Eastern Europe grew more and more intensive and in June 1812 he marched into Russia. A number of military units had, therefore, been withdrawn from Spain and removed to that part of Europe in 1812. By mid-June the allied army commanded by Wellington comprising 44 thousand soldiers and 64 canons had reached Spain’s most prominent university town of Salamanca. The KGL was represented by the 4th Foot Battery commanded by Captain Sympher. When taking two forts just outside Salamanca, the KGL- Artillery Lieutenant Scharnhorst, son of Andrew’s former artillery teacher in Hanover, was injured and lost one of his eyes. The actual Battle of Salamanca took place on 22 of July 1812 and marked Wellington’s change from defensive to offensive commander-in-chief. Wellington could witness on several occasions the outstanding performance of the KGL-Artillery. As a token of their success, promotions were granted. Georg Hartmann was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Captain Sympher to Major. Cleeves was not promoted to major yet, but he

14 L. Beamish, History of the KGL, Vol.I, p.385 (Letter from Captain Cleeves to Major Hartmann of May 20, 1811 about the loss of a howitzer belonging to Captain’s Cleeves battery) 15 Lieut. Colonel Gurwood, Dispatches and General Orders by Field Marshall The Duke of Wellington, 1851, Vol.III, No. 556.

12

was admitted to the rank of an English Officer and put on life-long entitlement to half pay pension. The beaten French Army led by Marshall Marmont retreated to Burgos. Wellington’s road to Madrid was free and he took it. On 12th of August 1812 he entered the Spanish Capital under cheers from the citizens of Madrid, escorted by German dragoons and artillerists of the KGL. Georg Hartmann, Frederik Sympher and Andrew Cleeves were amongst those, who enjoyed the friendly welcoming. The following three months were spent in Madrid, until towards the end of October the French army came closer again. Attacks from the south and east under Marshall Soult became unavoidable. In view of this, a retreat from Madrid seemed necessary. Wellington ordered all arms and other military equipment in the arsenal of the Retiro Park to be demolished. Most of this was French equipment, too heavy to transport and of no further use to the allied army. On 29th of October at 10 o’clock in the morning, Wellington gave the following order:

Sir! As soon as you receive this letter you will be pleased to destroy the Retiro and the stores at Madrid, according to the orders, which have been given to you on the subject. ... I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant Fitzroy Somerset, Military Secretary. 16

Thus rifles were broken to pieces and discharged from where the French would and could not retrieve them. The rubble ended up in the city latrine. French canons also had to be destroyed. These were also stored in the Retiro, ironically in the building of a china factory. It was Andrew’s job to take care of this. If Andrew and his artillery behaved ‚like bulls in a china shop’, we don’t know. What we know from a report by Georg Hartmann is the following:

Around lunchtime we were allowed to explode the mines, protected by a cavalry line. Captain Cleeves together with 4 men on horseback was sent there with the necessary equipment. On examining the mines, he noticed that the detonation cord (Zündwurst) was somewhat mislaid. He tried to amend this as much as possible by adding more ignition powder and used a long ignition light, which he thought to be of English production. Unfortunately, it wasn’t and ignated at once, with the result that the captain was heavily bruised and burnt at both head and hands and totally covered by the rubble his explosion had produced. Fortunately, he wasn’t knocked unconscious and could free himself. He was, however, so severely wounded that he later had to retire from office earlier. 17

Madrid was recaptured by the French army on the following day, the 1st of November. Andrew was wounded and not fit for action. First aid was provided by the field surgeons and we are certain that he went back to England to recuperate. The journey must have been a long miserable trip across the Guadarrama Mountains, towards Salamanca, past Ciudad Rodrigo and finally Lisbon. From there in another tediously long and rough passage across the sea back to Portsmouth. Opposite Portsmouth, near Gosport lies the military hospital Haslar. It had already seen a vast number of casualties from the earlier Coalition Wars and the first years of the

16 Generalmajor Hartmann, Zerstörung des Arsenals im Retiro zu Madrid, in: Hannoversches militairisches Journal, 7. Beitrag, 2.Heft, 1834, p. 95-114. 17 Generalmajor Hartmann, dito.

13

Peninsular War. From December 1812 till February 1813 it may well have added Andrew Cleeves to its list of patients, we don’t know for sure:

Andrew must first have arrived at Haslar. He was then sent on to either either Hilsea or more likely Portchester Hospital. The hospital was a rest centre for the Army as were other establishments within Portsmouth and Southsea. Many of Andrew's army colleagues returned to Haslar from the campaign suffering from Typhus with many to die at Haslar from the disease. Andrew was very lucky to have survived. Apparently, army quartermasters were taking all the blankets and uniforms from the soldiers and selling them to the civilians of the area. In turn it started a Typhus outbreak from Portsmouth to Brighton.18

It is likely indeed that Andrew recovered from his injuries in the Portchester area, perhaps even at the small Portchester Hospital. At Portchester the KGL-Artillery had been based right from the start in 1803. He would have been in an area he knew and with people he had known such as the Kitson family, who had lived in Portchester at least since 1803. The Vestry Minutes of Portchester Parish Church 19 reveal John Kitson as a house and land owner and as somebody professionally involved with logistics. For 1808, we even find John Kitson as parish overseer of the poor. The time spent in Portchester may thus have paved the way for another development, where Andrew Cleeves met John Kitson’s eldest daughter Martha Sykes Kitson. She appears in connection with the KGL in Portchester Church as early as 1804, when she - at the age of thirteen - acted as wedding witness for two KGL-marriages. In Portchester, therefore, Martha may have crossed Andrew’s way again and it is also very possible that in 1804 Andrew was billeted in the house near the castle, which John Kitson, Martha’s father, possessed and where the Kitson family lived. 5.8. 1813: Sabugal – Battle of Vittoria – Siege of San Sebastian – Across the Pyrenees 1813 brought the crucial turning point and led to the final victory of the Peninsular War. The KGL and its artillery played an important role in this. Let’s hear what happened to our Captain Andrew. As the Military Calendar points out:

In the spring of 1813, he carried the pontoons across a branch of the Estrella Mountains to Sabugal; afterwards received the command of the spare ammunition and reserve; accompanied the army with the same to the Battle of Vittoria; Siege of San Sebastian; across the Pyrenees.

What are we to make of this? Andrew had just returned from his recuperation trip to Hampshire. With him new equipment, ammunition and men had arrived from England. Major Hartmann was ordered by Wellington to deploy a new Reserve Artillery. Andrew Cleeves was put in charge of an Ammunition Supply Company allocated to the 2nd Division of General Rowland Hill. Obviously, his boss Georg Hartmann didn’t want to put him under unnecessary strain of a fighting battery. To this unit two pontoon trains were added. These had to be transported across the Estrella Mountains to Sabugal, a small town on the border to Spain. The destination was Wellington’s main army in Ciudad Rodrigo.

18 Information kindly provided by Eric Birbeck of the Haslar Heritage Group. 19 Vestry minutes of St. Mary’s, Portchester, 1803 – 1811, in: Portsmouth City Record Office.

14

Wellington had planned to attack the French armies with the aim of driving them out of Spain once and for all. His route took him and his soldiers via Burgos to Vitoria in the Bask province. The day of the decisive attack was the 21 of June, the famous Battle of Vitoria. Andrew’s role is mentioned as an important supplier of equipment and pieces to Hill’s 2nd division. The artillery’s performance in general was acclaimed by the Prince Regent and it paid off. Andrew, for example was gratified an allowance of 5 Shillings per day for the rest of his life. The battle was much noticed by its contemporaries and is memorized till today in Beethoven’s overture „Wellington´s victory or the battle of Vitoria“. At the time, another memento was relished: the chamber pot of Napoleon’s brother, King Joseph, fell into the hands of English officers. They apparently couldn’t resist turning this precious dish into a champagne bowl and let it pass round for cheers to the King. The soldiers paid equal tribute to their victory and plundered the abandoned French wagons. Wellington’s comment in a dispatch to Lord Bathurst was: ‘we have in the service the scum of the earth as common soldiers.’ 20 The next steps on Spanish ground are quickly told. We know that Andrew was involved in the storming of San Sebastian, probably again in his function as supply unit. On the 7th of October 1813 in the early hours of the morning, Hartmann and Andrew provided curtain fire for the KGL Light Battalions, previously stationed at Bexhill, to enable them to cross the frontier to France. The Peninsular War had finally come to an end.

6. 1814 South France - England - Netherlands 6.1. The campaign in South France: Bayonne – Orthez – Toulouse In January and February 1814 the allied troops spent the time out of action in their winter quarters, close behind the Spanish-French border near Biarritz. According to Wellington’s plans, the fortification at Bayonne had to be taken and the French armies under Marshall Soult were to be defeated. Bayonne was a difficult task and it took about 3 months, before it was finally taken over. On the 27th of February the KGL was involved in the Battle of Orthez. The commander of the 4th battery, Major Frederic Sympher, one of Andrew’s oldest comrades and friends, fell in action. The 4th battery was the best trained artillery unit of the KGL and one of four, always to be in action. With Sympher’s death, Andrew Cleeves had lost a friend, but taken over a new responsibility. From April until his return to Hanover in February 1816, he was to be in charge of the 4th battery, obviously a great honour and the name of the battery can be traced till today. We found evidence on the internet of two re-enactment groups called ‚KGL- 4th Foot Battery.’ Frederic Sympher’s older brother August was also officer in the KGL-Artillery. From the Parish Book Records of St. Mary’s in Portchester, we know that two of his children were born and christened in 1807 and 1809 in Hampshire and a third daughter in St. Peter in Bexhill in September 1812. The spouses and children of the KGL-Artillery officers had obviously left Portchester in 1810 to join the major part of the KGL in Bexhill, where the main artillery depot was then based. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Coalition Army. It was time for Andrew to get back to England and Portsmouth. The 4th battery was therefore moved to Bordeaux, from where it went on board ship to sail back to England. About mid July 1814 Portsmouth was reached. Mid-August Georg Hartmann

20 Christopher Hibbert, Wellington: A personal history, 1997, p. 139.

15

and Cleeves with his 4th Foot Battery received order to move their units to the Netherlands. Outside Brussels they were re-united with the other KGL units, which had marched all the way across France. It was their task to protect the Dutch border, should the newly gained peace be threatened. Bexhill was vacated but for one officer to sort out the artillery depot and see to the wounded and invalids. 6.2. Andrew’ s private affairs As we have just heard, Andrew was back in Portsmouth and later Bexhill in the summer of 1814 for about 6 weeks. What may have happened during that time? He had to settle his private affairs. Jane Isaac and her two sons were expecting his return; perhaps with mixed feelings. The sight of the returning war ships may have caused some anxiety on the part of Jane. In August, four weeks after his return, Andrew got married. He did not – as could have been expected - marry Jane, but married Martha Sykes Kitson instead. On the 26th of August, they signed their wedding contract in St. Mary’s Church in Portsea. The soldiers of the 4th Battery had already left for Bexhill, where he and his sons joined them shortly after the wedding. Later in the year Martha and her younger sister Mary followed them to Ostend and Brussels and after Waterloo to Hanover. Poor Jane, my 3 times great grandmother, stayed behind, never to see William and George again. A marriage with her had been made impossible by the social etiquette.

7. The Waterloo Campaign 7.1. Brussels 1814, Quatre Bras and Waterloo 1815 The time from September 1814 until June 1815 was spent in Zellick near Brussels, with exercises, parades, rides on horseback around the country, parties, etc. A lively description of the country, its people, towns, villages, etc. is given by Alexander Cavalier Mercer’s well written Journal of the Waterloo Campaign. Napoleon was not defeated yet. He had returned from exile on Elba in March 1815, had gathered new troops and had made his way towards Brussels. Here they were to meet: the British army supported by the KGL and other German and Dutch troops under the supreme command of Field Marshall, the Duke of Wellington. The following details are taken from Andrew Cleeves’s own report 21 and revised by us for the purpose of this talk: On the 16th of June 1815, at 2 o’clock in the morning Andrew together with his men of the 4th Foot Battery was ordered to move along the Nivelles Road towards Quatre Bras. Ready for battle, they arrived at the crossroads of Quatre Bras in the early afternoon. The Duke and his staff were already there. Andrew was told by George Wood, commander of the army’s artillery, to position his battery as a reserve behind the Quatre Bras houses. The enemy had positioned a strong battery in front of the houses and was supported mainly by French cavalry, which kept attacking from a nearby wood, but were driven back every time by the 4th battery with their heavy 9 pounders.

21 Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Cleeves, An das Königliche Generalkommando zu Hannover, Wunstorf, den 25. November 1824, in: Hauptstaatsarchiv Hannover. A brilliant translation of this report in: John Franklin, 1815: Hanoverian Correspondence, Vol. I, 2009, p. 131 ff.

16

During the battle, Andrew was ordered to change position and move to the left flank. He was to support another Hanoverian battery, commanded by his old colleague Ludwig Heise. With combined forces, the two experienced and well co-ordinated KGL-batteries managed to chase the French artillery away for the rest of the day. The cavalry was more persistent and kept charging against the KGL-batteries. Andrew’s men – according to his own report - managed‚ to drive back the cavalry and to inflict quite considerable losses on them. One of Andrew’s men, gunner Friedrich Jahns, later wrote in a letter to his brother about the losses in his own battery and how some of his comrades were killed by shots right next to him. One bullet killed two others before it blew him off his canon. On inspecting Jahns a few minutes later ‘Andrew Cleeves asked him: ‚ my son, have you lost your arm? ’ Whereupon poor Jahns could only stutter: ‚Don’t know, don’t dare to have a look! ’ 22 Jahns was taken off the battle field. Fortunately, his arm wasn’t lost, but severely wounded. The battle raged on and whenever Andrew had a moment to stop, he heard heavy and continuous fire from elsewhere. It was the Prussians fighting the French at Ligny and he writes in his report: ‘as darkness enveloped the field, the whole area in that direction was lit ’ and continues:

on the 17th June the enemy remained quiet, except for some skirmishing. In the morning the battery undertook the necessary repairs. I accompanied General von Alten to look at the position; after this I went with Colonel von Ompteda to inspect the roads and paths in order to prepare our withdrawal (from QB). At 12 O’clock, the division retired to Genappe. My battery was at the rear. The day was extremely hot and the march was very tiring. Before Genappe ... we could see the enemy cavalry and horse artillery on our left pursuing our rearguard. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, we were drenched by a heavy thunderstorm.... Between 7 and 8 o’clock in the evening we arrived upon the heights of Mont St. Jean, where the army assembled, and took the position it was to defend the following day. .... We remained in this position throughout the night, which was very stormy and rainy.

23 It was a Sunday. Andrew Cleeves’s battery was positioned exactly where today we find the Bute du Lion, directly in front of Major Lloyd’s Royal Artillery:

At around 11 o’clock, we discovered a compact enemy infantry column of between 3 or 4 thousand men, moving forward towards the wood of Hougemont ... through the high corn fields. When they were about 700 to 800 paces from us, I ordered the battery to fire. The first canon shots of the battle ... were accompanied by the guns from Lloyd and Kuhlmann ...The Prince of Orange and General von Alten were present at this time. They acclaimed this ominous overture.

The battle went on and before 5 o’clock all the ammunition wagons supplying Andrew’s battery were empty. Andrew waited for fresh supplies from Brussels and in the

22 Johann Freiherr von Reitzenstein, dito, p. 620 ff. John Franklin, 1815: Hanoverian Correspondence, Vol. II (not yet published). 23 Battle diagram from: B. Schwertfeger, Geschichte der Königlich Deutschen Legion, Vol. I, p. 585.

17

meantime refreshed his men with a little barrel of brandy. The canonniers were obviously quenched with thurst with all the fighting, fire and smoke around them. Mist and smoke from firing was to stay and became stronger with the burning of Hougoumont. A violent cavalry attack from the enemy was noticed too late and caused a lot of confusion, simply because the air around the KGL-batteries was thick with smoke. Consequently, the battery suffered enormously and lost many men. Major August Sympher (father of the girl, who was born in Bexhill, we mentioned him earlier) and his 9-pounders had been kept in reserve and now came to support their old KGL-comrades of the 4th battery. And again: no ammunition, which caused a lot of toing and froing for Andrew. His battery was, however, replenished in time for the final attack:

we moved into the line right of the division and started a heavy fire onto the approaching enemy’s column and its artillery ... . After this attack against the enemy centre had been successful, it caused confusion and led to their final withdrawal .

24 Thus the battle against the French army under Napoleon came to an end for Andrew and his 4th battery. It was beginning to get dark, just after 9 o’clock. The toll, the 4th battery had to pay was: 11 men killed and 13 injured, also 8 horses killed and 2 had run away. Who can blame them! Totally exhausted, dirty, thirsty, hungry and tired, but alive, they spent the night on the battle field before moving west towards Paris the next day. For his conduct on these memorable days, Andrew was promoted to major and later received Knight of the Guelphic Order in Hanover. 7.2. Peronne – Paris 1815 The allied Army, now joined by Blücher and his Prussian army pursued Napoleon on his escape to Paris. In his report, Andrew mentions the Siege of Péronne on the 27th on June. Andrew recalls the event as follows:

After a vain request for the town to capitulate, the order to attack was issued. ...The battery took a position on favourable ground as close as possible to the town as circumstance would allow, and in the evening, between 8 and 10 o’clock , it fired and the town was stormed … as the senior artillery officer I received the order from General Maitland to go to the arsenal, where canons and wappons of all kinds, as well as the official cash box, and its content of 97 Francs, were seized. 25

We have no doubt that all the money to the last Sous was handed over, as we can see from Maitland’s report to Wellington. Interesting to see that Andrew Cleeves is suddenly

24 Print by Gerry Embleton, taken from: John Franklin, 1815: Hanoverian Correspondence, Vol.I, 2009, p. 93. 25 Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Cleeves, An das Königliche Generalkommando zu Hannover, ditto.

18

promoted to Brigade General by Maitland, he must have been blinded by the amount of equipment piled up in front of his eyes. Finally, Paris was reached on the 7th of July and Andrew with his battery bivouacked in Bois de Boulogne. Andrew thought it was time to get back to Hanover after not having seen his family for 12 years. However, his request to go on leave was not granted by Wellington. According to a report by Cavalier Mercer dated 26th of August, Wellington was unwilling to comply with such wishes:

As I had been anxious for some time to get leave and go to England, I went that same day to ask Sir George Wood to make an application for me, which, however, he would not do, telling me that the Duke had refused leave (and very angrily) to Captain Cleeves of the German Legion Artillery, though summoned to his father’s deathbed.26

Andrew’s father was long since dead, his mother was still alive. Who Andrew may have been referring to, we do not know. In any case, he had to wait until December, before a return to Hanover was on the agenda. On the 6th of February 1816, the artillery led by Georg Hartmann entered Hanover through the city gate called ‚ Am Steintor’. Andrew’s mother, his wife Martha, the boys William and George and all his brothers and sisters and their families were amongst the cheering crowd welcoming the returning soldiers.

8. In Hanover and Wunstorf from 1816 - 1828 From 1816 until his retirement in 1828, when he had just turned 50, Andrew and Martha Cleeves lived in Wunstorf near Hanover. The Horse Artillery Regiment of the newly founded Royal Hanoverian army was stationed in the Wunstorf garrisons. Andrew was commander of the horse artillery. William and George, his two sons, did not live in the same household. They grew up under the supervision of Andrew’s brother and brother-in-law, who were both Lutheran priests and teachers. Two events during his time as commander in Wunstorf are noteworthy: 1. George IV’s royal visit of to the kingdom of Hanover in 1821. As is and was the case, such visits are highlighted by parades and official receptions. George IV was received in his ‘guelphic’ homeland Hanover with never ending cheers and jubilations. His visit was celebrated to an extent, he may not have encountered at home in London all too often. For this special occasion, our artillery men, whom we already know from the campaigns in Portugal and Spain, were not to be missed. Georg Hartmann, Andrew Cleeves and August Sympher had arranged parades and exercises in honour of their king. The king, however, did not appear. George IV had to excuse himself. He had to rest his gouty knees badly affected by the humidity of the autumn weather. Addicted to port, beef and brandy, he had accumulated a weight of over hundred and ten kilos and was unfit for parades. On his way out to Hanover, he had of course visited the battlefield at Waterloo and had been shown around by Wellington himself. The king – according to Wellington – showed hardly any interest as he was taken from one vantage point to the next in the pouring rain.

26 General Alexander Cavalie Mercer, dito, Vol.II, p. 281.

19

‘He never asked a single question’ reported Wellington, ‘ nor said one word, till I showed him where Lord Angelsey’s (Lord Uxbridge) leg was buried, and then he burst into tears …. Then he pottered about for some time, poking at the ground with his stick, hoping to find the bones .27

2. In the summer of 1824 Andrew had taken his 2nd Horse Artillery Battery a few kilometres west of Wunstorf to a spa by the name of Bad Rehburg. As is till today customary in many spa towns in Germany, a number of well-to-do and elderly people had come to Bad Rehburg for a wellness holiday. It must have been in the afternoon and the thermal spring was crowded with people taking their daily rationing of the healing water. Andrew’s artillery men came dashing down the spa avenue on their horses. They saluted the intimidated civilians with several shots from their guns to signal their departure. The guests felt unduly disturbed, some were furious and others bitterly complained. Andrew’s young lieutenant Heinrich Dehnel later made jokes about this incident rather sneeringly and this came to the notice of General Hartmann. Not Andrew, but his young lieutenant had to bear the brunt. Official apologies had to be made to Andrew and the culprit was put under arrest for a week. On his release, he had to join another battery.28 In July 1824, Andrew Cleeves was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, but due to his injuries, received in Madrid in 1812, he decided to resign a few years later. 0n the 17th of January 1828, Andrew celebrated his 50th-birtday with family, friends and comrades and soon afterwards he retired.

9. In England from 1828 - 1830 In the State Calendar of Hanover from 1829, we find him as a pensioner with address in Liverpool. In Beamish’s book about the KGL we read that he died in 1830 in Selby. What are we to make of this? Obviously, Martha and Andrew left Hanover in the summer of 1828, after he had retired and went to England on a longer visit. They wanted to meet relatives, friends and former comrades from the Peninsular Campaigns. But why Liverpool and Selby? The riddle unfolds itself with the help of the internet. Martha’s brother John Sykes Kitson was a captain of the Royal Engineers.

From 1826 to 1829 he was in charge of constructing Fort Perch Rock on New Brighton beach, just off Wirral and opposite Liverpool in the Mersey estuary. Fort Perch Rock stands till today and was originally commissioned by Liverpool merchants to protect Liverpool harbour against possible attacks. Andrew as a former artillery officer came in handy and could advise John about the positioning of the cannons. On the 16th February 1830, John Sykes Kitson married Elizabeth Grant in Portsmouth cathedral. Elizabeth was the daughter of a banker in Portsmouth and in Portsmouth, John and Elizabeth must have met. Five years later John died when stationed in the West

27 Christopher Hibbert, dito, p. 237. 28 Hans Sagatz, Wunstorfer Gesellschaftsleben, 1970, p. 292ff.

20

Indies. His wife Elizabeth and their three young children wanted to return to England, but never made it. The ship that was to take them back home, was caught in a storm, went shipwreck and all passengers tragically drowned. A plaque in Portchester Cathedral commemorates their fate till today.

29 What happened to the Cleeves couple. After the wedding of Martha’s brother in 1830, they wanted to return to their home town Hanover. In Selby, they were to embark on a river boat that was to take them to Hull and from thence on a packet boat to Bremen or Hamburg.

Andrew had a stroke, probably in the old coaching inn The George next to Selby Abbey. He died on 8th of June and was buried outside the west portal of the Abbey on the 11th of June 1830.

We found his grave in November 2009 and in June 2010 two of his descendants, Hildegard Battafarano-Eilert and Gabriele Eilert-Ebke, put down a wreath of commemoration to remember his 180th burial.

29 Tim Backhouse’s website: www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/churches/cathedral/kitson.htm