420 
THE BEOME-WALTON FAMILY. 
of artillery march was the same as that detailed on pp. 125-6 of the 
i( History of the Royal Artillery/* Yol. I., with the same proportions 
of horses for the battalion and field guns, &c. The Colonel, Major 
and Adjutant were mounted. The Allies frittered away the time 
until negotiation of the Treaty of Worms, in September i 1 in October, 
George II. returned to Hanover, the Allies dispersed into winter 
quarters, the troops in British pay and the English wintering in 
Flanders ; and the R.A. remained inactive during the whole of 1744 2 — 
enjoying the society of their wives and children from England, and per¬ 
fecting themselves in drill, discipline, “ quick-firing, and building gun 
and mortar batteries.*'’ 
In October, 1744, a fourth company R.A. was embarked for Flanders, 
in anticipation of resumption of hostilities in the coming spring, viz.:— 
Captain Mace’s. 3 In January, 1745, Lieutenant and acting Adjutant, 
Charles Brome was promoted Captain-Lieutenant into a Flanders com¬ 
pany ; but before embarking for the seat of war he was permitted a brief 
respite at Charfield with his wife’s brother, Richard Hickes, J.P. , who 
died at the Manor House on 6th March, 1745, leaving the manor and 
freehold estates to his nephew, Joseph ( Walton ) Brome (now Adjutant in 
Flanders) subject to life interest, of his widow, Mrs. Richard Hickes. 4 
On arrival in Flanders, on 4th April, 1745, Captain Charles Brome was 
posted to Captain Desagulier’s Company—which, on account of having 
the 6-pr. equipment, had two Captain-Lieutenants, the other being 
Samuel Cleaveland (first father of the “ Cleaveland MSS./* who sub¬ 
sequently became the Sir Alexander Hickson, of the 18th Century). 
Lieutenant Forbes Macbean was also posted to this Company, which 
was attached to the First Regiment of Foot Guards (Ligonier’s) at 
Fontenoy, where the seven 6-prs. as battalion guns, won the admiration 
of the Army. 
Battle of Fontenoy. 
Louis XIV. having taken the field in 1745, in order to complete the 
conquest of Flanders, the battle of Fontenoy was fought on 11th April, 
1745, between the French under Marshal Saxe and de Noailles—in 
behalf of Prussia—against the English, Hanoverians, and Austrians, 
under H.R.H. the Duke of Cumberland and Count Konigsegg. Ample 
justice has been rendered by historians to the distinguished services of 
the Royal Artillery in this famous battle—particularly by Sir Ed. Cust, 
in his t( Annals of War,” 1745, to which the official despatches leave little 
to add. “ The battle of Fontenoy gave the first example of that exten¬ 
sive employment of artillery in war, of which Frederick afterwards 
largely availed himself; and the importance of reserves composed of 
troupes d?elite has been also recognised since this battle ” (Cust, p. 65). 
1 Russel's “Modern Europe,” Vol. II., p. 396. 
2 Cust, p. 36. R.A. Muster Rolls, 1744. 
3 This company was reduced in December, 1748, when under command of Captain T. Ord. 
4 MSS. in handwriting of General Chas. Mercator Brome Walton (of the Life Guards), son of 
Joseph Brome, R.A. Also, Will of Richard Hickes, dated 25th April, 1741. Joseph Brome’s 
mother, Charles Brome's wife, sister of Richard Hickes, was living at this date, and is named as 
a beneficiary in the Will, hut I cannot trace her further ; she probably died at Blackheath or 
Greenwich (where I have not searched), but certainly not at Charfield or at Woolwich. The 
family may now take up the search for the end of this romantic lady, whose marriage with 
Charles Brome was narrated in Chapter I, 
