NAM.1988-08-36-2

Journal, MS campaign 1743, 1742-1743. The volume contains Lt Gen Sir James Adolphus Oughton's journal of his time in the Low Countries and Germany, 1742-1743. The entries appear on the right hand pages with additional material on the left hand pages. The text contains detailed descriptions of the various towns he passed through, including their fortifications, cathedrals and churches. In addition to the manuscript, the volume also includes a French plan of Dettingen and a French plan of the 'retranchment pres de Germersheim', 22 Sep 1743, demolished by the allies on 2 Oct 1743. The narrative is prefaced by details of the 'English Forces sent over to Flanders in the year 1742' and begins with an account of the voyage of the troops to Ostend, which was reached on 27 June. In July he moved to Bruges where he seems to have remained (apart from visiting Dunkirk) until 26 December when he was sent to England to recruit. He reached London on 13 Jan 1743, proceeding to Coventry where he remained until 1 May when he left London to return to Ostend which he reached on 16 May. He records in parallel his own movements and those of the army on the Continent from 16 January. He crossed the Rhine on 3 June and soon caught up with the army, and included accounts of the Battle of Dettingen on the 27th, in both French and English. They moved on the next day and reached Worms on the 30th. He copied out the Earl of Stairs's letter of resignation from the command of the British Army, 4 September and the main articles of the Treaty of Worms, 13 September between Britain, Hungary and Sardinia. On 4 September they moved to Spires in pursuit of the enemy and the entries end on 1 October. The last pages in the volume contain a later copy of a letter of 4 October from Oughton to his friend, Mr Talbot, describing the demolition of the enemy's lines at Germersheim. With the volume are five loose foolscap folios. One gives Oughton's CV from his birth in 1719 to his installation as a KB in May 1779. The other four, in a later hand, contain diary entries for 2-23 May 1743 and provide fuller account than is to be found in the volume, including an explanation of his unsuitability as a recruiting officer. From papers of Lt Gen Sir James Adolphus Oughton (1719-1780), 1734-1779. Associated with the 37th Regiment of Foot, Battle of Dettingen, War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748).

Dettingen, Battle of, 1743 (War of the Austrian Succession 1740-1748)