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COLONEL ROGER TOWNSHEND.
Roger Townshend, fifth son of Charles Viscount Townshend, and younger brother of Gen’l George Townshend (afterwards 4th Viscount and 1st Marquis) to whom Quebec surrendered when Wolfe was killed, was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel 1st Feb., 1758, and served as Adjutant-General in the Expedition against Louisbourg, and Deputy Adjutant-General in this Campaign with Rank of Colonel. He was killed in the Trenches before Ticonderoga by a cannon ball on the 25th July, 1759, and his remains were transmitted to Albany for interment. His spirit and military knowledge justly entitled him to the esteem of every soldier; and accordingly the loss of him was universally lamented.
Knox I, 360, 289, 401, 403.Wilson’s Orderly Book, page 77.
Knox I, 360, 289, 401, 403.
Wilson’s Orderly Book, page 77.
Supplement to the New York Mercury, Tuesday, July 31, 1759.
Extract from a letter dated Albany, July 29, 1759.
“The same evening (July 27), an Express arrived from Ticonderoga, with an account of Colonel Townshend being killed, in reconnoitering the Fort, by a cannon ball.Yesterday about 12 o’clock, Colonel Townshend’s corpse arrived here, and was decently interred.”
“The same evening (July 27), an Express arrived from Ticonderoga, with an account of Colonel Townshend being killed, in reconnoitering the Fort, by a cannon ball.
Yesterday about 12 o’clock, Colonel Townshend’s corpse arrived here, and was decently interred.”
In the “Church Book” St. Peter’s, Albany, appears the following entry:
The following is a copy of the inscription on the monument to Col. Townshend in Westminster Abbey
“This Monument was erectedBy a disconsolate ParentThe Lady Viscountess TownshendTo the Memory of her Fifth SonThe Hon’ble Lieut. Colonel Roger Townshendwho was killed by a Cannon Ballon the 25th of July, 1759, in the 28th year of his ageas he was reconnoitering ye French lines at TiconderogaIn North AmericaFrom the Parent the Brother and the FriendHis sociable and amiable mannersHis enterprizing BraveryAnd the Integrity of His HeartMay claim the tribute of afflictionYet Stranger weep notFor tho’ premature His DeathHis life was gloriousEnrolling Him with the namesof those Immortal Statesmen and CommandersWhose wisdom and IntrepidityIn the course of this Comprehensive and Successful WarHave Extended the CommerceAnd upheld the Majesty of these KingdomsBeyond the idea of any former age.”
Monument to Lieut. Colonel Roger Townshend in Westminster Abbey (The Bayonet on Monument found on battlefield of Ticonderoga and placed on memorial by Dean Stanley)
Monument to Lieut. Colonel Roger Townshend in Westminster Abbey (The Bayonet on Monument found on battlefield of Ticonderoga and placed on memorial by Dean Stanley)
The following is an extract from a letter from the head verger of Westminster Abbey
“I should like to draw your attention to the broken bayonet in the upper part of the Townshend monument. It is a relic of the struggle between the French and English in North America and it comes from Ticonderoga and may have been used in that particular ‘march to Ticonderoga, where Col. Townshend was killed.’ It was given to Dean Stanley when in America and he fixed it on the monument as he did the wreath of leaves on the monument of Major Andre.Lord Eversley, who when H. M. first Commissioner of Works was the Rt. Hon. J. G. Shaw Lefevre—is much struck by the Townshend inscription, especially the latter part, which, he has told me, is worthy of Edmund Burke and which I know he would like to attribute to that great orator and statesman.”
“I should like to draw your attention to the broken bayonet in the upper part of the Townshend monument. It is a relic of the struggle between the French and English in North America and it comes from Ticonderoga and may have been used in that particular ‘march to Ticonderoga, where Col. Townshend was killed.’ It was given to Dean Stanley when in America and he fixed it on the monument as he did the wreath of leaves on the monument of Major Andre.
Lord Eversley, who when H. M. first Commissioner of Works was the Rt. Hon. J. G. Shaw Lefevre—is much struck by the Townshend inscription, especially the latter part, which, he has told me, is worthy of Edmund Burke and which I know he would like to attribute to that great orator and statesman.”