During their tour in May, the General and Mrs. Simcoe had visited Ugbrooke, the Clifford family seat. This was the first time the families had met. Elizabeth, usually suspicious of Catholics, was favourably impressed. “Ld. and Lady Clifford are very worthy pleasant people; he has a great taste in drawing and she is one of the most amiable women that can be and nothing of a modern fine lady.”9
Charles, 6th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh was a deputy lieutenant of the county, assistant to Lord Fortescue, and on the Devon defense committee. He also commanded the Volunteer Companies at Chudleigh and Teignbridge. He had a remarkable younger brother, the Hon. Robert Edward — soldier, military analyst, translator of learned works, topographer and cartographer, collector of maps and books, Fellow of the Royal Society, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, suspected spy and much more. He met and corresponded with John Graves Simcoe for many years, often supplying him with books he sought, particularly military ones. Robert Clifford was educated in France. In 1758, King Louis XVI gave him a commission in Dillon’s, a regiment of Irish Jacobites, in the French service. The colonel proprietor was Lieutenant General Count Arthur Dillon, a cousin of Robert’s by marriage. Robert had tried to enter the army in England, but he was barred by a law prohibiting Catholics holding the King’s commission.
Robert left the regiment in 1791 and divided his time between England and France. He studied the development of military thinking and training, which had reached a high level of efficiency in France. He knew how the French operated, and his knowledge of the material, maps and plans made him useful. He shared confidential information with Simcoe, whom he looked upon as one of the more forward thinking senior officers in England.10
Simcoe was full of more ideas as a result of the tour of inspection, and he submitted many reports to Lord George Lennox. (He was a younger son of the 2nd Duke of Richmond. His son Charles became the 4th Duke, who in 1819 died of rabies soon after being sent to the Canadas as governor in chief.) General Lennox gave Simcoe his wholehearted support, and ordered him to place his ideas before a special Devon Standing Committee at a meeting on 15 May.11
Offers of aid poured in to the committee from all over the county. Morale was high, patriotism strong. More companies were added to the Honiton Volunteers. From the village of Starcross, on the River Exe, came an offer of service and boats from the local bargemen. A letter from Secretary at War Henry Dundas was read at the meeting, suggesting that gamekeepers might be formed into a corps of sharpshooters. Simcoe, familiar with German Jaegers during the American Revolution, probably agreed.
At the meeting of the committee on 15 May, Lord Clifford was in the chair. They discussed a plan for driving livestock away from areas most exposed to invaders and for “proper places of assembly” from which to travel to places of “General Rendezvous.” Each parish was to choose an assembly place for livestock, dead stock, wagons and supplies, and a route from there to two selected rendezvous, Dartmoor for Devon, and Somerton for Somerset. The final choice would depend on where the French landed. Simcoe produced a list of county bridges to be reserved for use of the troops or “to be crossed only by cattle.”
Superintendents of parishes were ordered to prohibit civilians from using the turnpike roads, which must be left open for the King’s use. Conductors and overseers responsible for livestock should carry provisions for a few days, a blanket and tools for breaking down hedges. Those in charge of dead stock must destroy hay, corn and cattle, horses not for public service, carts and wagons before seeking a place of safety, in other words, scorched earth. Only those who followed instructions would receive compensation for losses. Returns from all over Devon poured in to Exeter Castle. For Simcoe, this was the beginning.
The matter of his pay as a major general was cleared up in a letter from Under Secretary Windham on 26 June. He would receive the pay from the date of his commission, 3 October 1794, to 29 November 1796 inclusive, and for the time he spent in San Domingo.12
June brought the insurrection in Ireland that ended with the defeat of the rebels at Vinegar Hill on the 21st and the entry of British troops, led by General Gerard Lake, into Wexford. By that time Elizabeth was awaiting confinement. A second son, John Cornwall Simcoe, was born at Wolford Lodge on 7 July and baptized on 2 August. His sisters rejoiced for, as Eliza had written her great aunt Margaret Graves, they had “girls enow.”13
August saw French help to Ireland, too little and much too late. Some 900 troops landed, after the insurrection had been quelled, and all of them surrendered. French prisoners of war were a dilemma for Simcoe. Many were being brought to Plymouth, to be housed somehow. (Not until 1806 when Dartmoor Prison was being erected was the problem of the incarceration of French prisoners solved.)
Lord Clifford, active and valuable to Simcoe, wrote wondering whether the General might bypass the rules and obtain a King’s commission for him despite his religion. Simcoe replied, with regret, “His Majesty is unwilling to sign any commission for Noblemen or Gentry of the Roman Catholic persuasion.” However:
In this predicament I beg to concur in the opinion of Sir [Francis] Justice Buller, and to advise your Lordship to act as if you had received your Commission … till the Enemy land no overt act is called for, it being solely between you and your Company whether they choose to obey your orders, the Volunteers not being under military law … and when that shall be the case, your Lordship’s commission as Deputy Lieutenant most certainly will be superior to that as a Captain of a Troop, at least within the Hundred or County …14
Lord Lennox authorised exercises for troops encamped at Stanborough Heights, Milbourne Down, Berry Head and a few other places. Simcoe chose Saturday and Monday the 22nd and 24th of September, weather permitting. On the 22nd, troops at Milbourne would attack and capture outposts of the camp at Stanborough, then retire, “firing a salute in honour of the day.” On the 24th, troops from Stanborough would attack the camp at Dartington, but would be checked at the River Dart, to “exemplify the total impracticability of a foreign Invador passing our Rivers and fastness when the County shall rise as one Man & be properly arranged to oppose them.” He wanted all the Volunteer Yeomanry Corps to participate. He claimed he was preparing the troops for “Invasion or Insurrection”; this last seems odd in view of the enthusiasm the Devonians were showing for the cause.
Berry Head was particularly important as a defensive site, a headland outside the fishing town of Brixham, capped by an Iron Age fort. Stanborough Heights also had an ancient hill fort. Simcoe had sketch plans drawn, showing field patterns and parkland. Much of the exercise took place on high ground southeast of Dartington Hall. He referred to an “old Roman redoubt” in Dartington Park, a scene of some of the action. He was pleased with the exercise, which concluded with the “Combatants” gathered in the park to sing God Save the King which .”.. had a fine effect amidst the picturesque scenery of the Dart.”15
In October, four-month-old John Cornwall Simcoe was inoculated and developed smallpox. On the 13th Mrs. Gwillim wrote from Whitchurch that she hoped “our little Man” was safe from all danger of the smallpox for his life:
… but as Chicken Pox is about who ever inoculated him ought to be particularly careful of mistakes … but by your mentioning the ninth day it looks as to be the right sort the other drys [sic] away sooner.16
She was wrong. Little John developed a severe case from which he would never make a complete recovery.
The burden of defense, Simcoe was convinced, must fall upon the cavalry. In that event, he wrote Lord Fortescue, he would need more, preferably two regiments of regular cavalry. The Somerset regular cavalry was at Taunton, the Militia Devons at Exeter, and provisional regiments (incorporated militia) of the Devons were in South Hams and North Devon. A return towards the end of the year shows where Simcoe’s troops were located — “Return of the Distribution of Troops Under the Command of Major-General Simcoe 7th November 1798. In Barracks & Cantonment”:
1st Somerset
Militia 10 C
ompanies Exeter
North Devon Militia
4 Companies Biddiford
2 Companies Barnstable
2 Companies Torrington
Col. Warneford’s Infantry
4 Companies Ashburton & Buckfastleigh
2 Companies Chudleigh Bovey & Adjacents 1st Devon
Militia
2 Companies Totness
3 Companies Berryhead
1 Company Kingsbridge
1 Company Dartmouth
1 Company Modbury
Detachments Staddon Heights
62nd Regiment of Foot [regulars]
9 Companies South Molton
4th Devon Militia
2 Companies Newton Bushell Abbot
2 Companies Shaldon Teignmouth
Dawlish Starcross
2 Companies Sidmouth Sidford
Ottery Otterton
1 Company Topsham
1 Company Exmouth
East Somersets
2 Companies Columpton
2 Companies Tiverton
2 Companies Crediton
2 Companies Honiton
1st Royal Dragoons [regulars]
3 Troops Exeter
1 Troop Taunton
3 Troops Taunton
Surrey Line Cavalry
1 Troop Barnstable
1 Troop Tavistock
1 Troop Totness
1 Troop Modbury
Royal Artillery
Detachments Staddon Heights,
Barnstable (with North Devons)
Exeter (with 1st Somersets)
Berry Head (with East Devons)
Exeter Torbay17
The return did not encompass the Volunteer Corps, one of which may have been of very youthful members — the older boys at The King’s School who wrote to General Simcoe:
… We trust, Sir, that the small spark of the PATRUS AMOR which now warms our young hearts will, by this instance of your favour be breathed into a flame to animate us like our brave Ancestors in the defense of our Country And suffer us to assure you that the present occasion may be considered the happiest moment of our lives … Wherever we shall think on you, Sir, the character of the second Scipio will recur to our minds, who is reported, when retired from the din of war and the fatigue of State Affairs to have spent his time in innocent amusements with Children. His ungrateful country alas; hastened the death of a man whose family had been the cause of preserving its liberty … God save the King.18
It was signed “Captain Beague, Ensign Bacon, Sgt. Bastard” and twenty other young warriors, including two Coleridges. Publius Cornelius Scipio was the conqueror of Carthage, of whom Simcoe would approve.
A system of rapid communication was vital. Riders rode express, which implied non-stop, changing horses. Some riders were at key points, ready to carry dispatches and were efficient for the time. Simcoe had difficulty over toll roads, where keepers were uncertain who should pass without payment, until an order was relayed from Exeter:
Government allows the Major general of every District a carriage and ten horses for his Majesty’s Service and also 3 horses for his Brigadier Major … to pass Toll free and directed the Gate Keepers not to demand any.19
The County Committee for Internal Defense received applications for commissions in the Volunteer Corps that required the approval of Lord Lieutenant Fortescue. Only “gentlemen” were supposed to be eligible. When an application arrived for a Brixham innkeeper named John Underhay, Simcoe was appalled. He wrote Fortescue on 16 December 1798:
I am confident there is no one person of the Magistracy or Lieutenancy of the County would have recommended a Tavern Keeper to obtain a King’s Commission … and I should as I conceive, betray my professional, and not only that, but my political duty, did I not do my utmost to have the King’s Commission rescued from so vile a prostitution.20
Underhay, however, had considerable support in Brixham. Sir Francis Buller, a Justice of the Court of King’s Bench, informed Fortescue that Underhay was “the most considerable man at Brixham Quay.” The applicant was a land owner who had great influence over the local people Fortescue accepted Buller’s opinion and granted the commission as commander of the Brixham Volunteers.
Each commander was issued with a booklet entitled:
THE SOLDIER’S COMPANION; CONTAINING INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DRILL, MANUAL, AND PLATOON EXERCISE, AS COMMANDED BY HIS MAJESTY. INTENDED FOR THE USE OF THE VOLUNTEERS OF THIS COUNTRY. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A FEW OBSERVATIONS ON FIRST FORMING A MILITARY CORPS.
Meetings were to be at the most convenient times and situations not to interfere with other engagements, such as harvesting. Nothing in the book suggested that tavern keepers were excluded. Simcoe’s intolerance could have been because of an “Indisposition.” To Lord Clifford he wrote that favourable weather might help. Between visits to troops he did not have time to recover.21
Wolford Lodge was his headquarters, and scarcely a relaxing place for man or woman. His agents began looking for a suitable property somewhere in the Budleigh area. Elizabeth and the children, and where possible Simcoe himself, needed to be able to get away from the hubbub.
Simcoe’s pay was substantial, but not for one of his commitments. In addition to pay as a major general on the staff, he now was the honorary Colonel of the 22nd Foot, the Cheshire Regiment. His annual income as major general was £655, plus £114 “forage allowances on taking the field.” As colonel in a Regiment of Foot his pay was £410.12.6d. and £91.5.0d. forage while in the field22 He undoubtedly dipped into part of the income from his estates to cover some expenses.
NINTEEN
TROUBLED TIMES
The pace of life at “Brigade Headquarters” — Wolford Lodge — was frantic as 1799 dawned. A steady stream of people came and went; an equally steady stream of correspondence flowed from Lord George Lennox at Plymouth, Lieutenant General Richard Grenville in Somerset, and Lord Fortescue, not to mention Simcoe’s replies. On 10 January Mrs. Gwillim wrote her niece, sympathising over General Simcoe’s attacks of gout. In March, Simcoe admitted to one of his commanders, Lord Rolle, whose seat was at Bicton, that he was using an amanuensis to write his letters because of the pain in his right hand. On other occasions Elizabeth had helped him, but just now she was too worried about her children to spare the time. Francis and Caroline were down with whooping cough, a deadly killer of children. They recovered, but little John Cornwall Simcoe, still struggling to survive, died on 20 March, at age nine months. His was the first burial, on the 23rd, in the plot the family had chosen, at some Cistercian ruins near Wolford Lodge.1
The Simcoes found the retreat they had sought, at the small town of Budleigh Salterton, about four miles east of Exmouth at the mouth of the River Otter. At the time Budleigh was attracting sightseers, a prelude to its life as a popular holiday spot. The “Salterton” part was derived from salt pans nearby. Artist Sir John Millais made the town famous by his painting depicting Sir Walter Raleigh as a boy, on the beach. Raleigh had been born at Hayes Barton, a farmhouse at East Budleigh. One visitor to Budleigh whom Simcoe probably knew was James Lackington, a wealthy London bookseller who had been born in Wellington, Somerset, only ten miles from Wolford Lodge. Simcoe, the avid collector, may have done business with Lackington.
The new house was situated on high ground with a commanding view along the coast in both directions. The dwelling may have begun as a fisherman’s cottage. It was enlarged over the years, and was eventually known as Simcoe House, then Little Hill, and again Simcoe House. Judging by the amount of his correspondence that was dated Budleigh, Simcoe spent considerable time there from 1799 onwards.
He was too pressed to attend a meeting at the Guildhall, Taunton, on 9 May, where John, Earl Poulett, was in the chair. The meeting passed a resolution:
That General Simcoe is entitled to the Thanks of this Meeting for the comprehensive view he had taken of the Subject of the defense of the countryside and the means which he has suggested for that Object: and that this Meeting w
ill by every means in their Power endeavour to carry those Means into execution.2
Deputy lieutenants and esquires attending learned of French plans that had been sent to the Committee of Secrecy, House of Commons, entitled in French “Instructions for the March and Operations of General Humbert” (incidentally the same man who had led the French troops to Ireland in August 1798). The document proposed a landing on the western peninsula of England, and to establish the French in Devonshire. Humbert was to cut off communication between Plymouth, Dartmouth and Portsmouth (in Hampshire). He was to avoid the stations of the many garrisons unless he saw an opportunity to promote a “Commotion.” In fact, social unrest had begun to spread and there had been riots in the West Country. The French assumed that their invading army would live off the country, the very thing Simcoe had sought to render impossible. The landing never materialised.
John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806 Page 22