THE £ ROME-WALTON FAMILY. 
421 
Frederick the Great, in after years, in a discussion as to which was 
the greatest battle of modern times, declared “ C’etois sans contredit 
celle cle Fontenoi, clout le general etoit a la mort lorsquelle se donna ” 1 
The command in chief of the British and Hanoverian artilleries 
devolved upon Colonel Thomas Pattison, R.A. (aged 70), whose staff 
consisted of Lieut.-Colonel Deal, Major Wm. Belford, and Adjutant 
Joseph Brome. The killed and wounded of the Royal Artillery were 1 
Officer, 1 Conductor, 3 Sergeants, 1 Corporal, 9 Gunners, 24 Matrosses 2 ; 
and the Gazette adds that some cannon had to be left on the field “ for 
want of horses, the contractor with the artillery having run off with 
them so early that they reached Brussels the same day.” 3 
The wife of Lieutenant and Adjutant Joseph Brome, occupied a 
field tent at Fontenoy, during this battle in which her husband, 
her father-in-law (Captain Charles Brome), and her brother (Nicolas 
Mercator, the Store Officer), were engaged; and Mrs. Brome gave 
birth to a son, Charles Mercator Brome Walton, 4 on that eventful day. 
Although the Duke of Cumberland led off his army in good order, 
the Allies could act only on the defensive for the remainder of the 
campaign, in covering Brussels and Antwerp—with minor engage¬ 
ments at Ghent and Ostend 5 —until the ascending fortunes, in Germany, 
of Frederick enabled him to dictate the Peace of Dresden, on 25th 
December, 1745. A large portion of the British cavalry and infantry 
(under Sir John Cope) had been withdrawn in the spring to Scotland, 
to assist General Hawley in repelling the threatened invasion of the 
Pretender, who landed in August, from France; and the Royal Artil¬ 
lery followed in December—too late to be engaged at Prestonpans (21st 
September, 1745), or Falkirk (17th January, 1746) ; but in time for 
Culloden (16th April, 1746), the great and last battle fought on British 
soil, in which the victory, which secured the throne to the reigning 
dynasty, was mainly due to the Royal Artillery from Flanders. The 
Ordnance records of this time show that the army from Flanders 
arrived in a pitiable condition, from disease (small-pox, scurvy, and 
ague), and deficiences of small-arms and artillery equipment 6 ; but the 
suppression of the rebellion in Scotland is of such unique artillery 
interest, and the received regimental accounts are so imperfect and in¬ 
accurate that the events culminating in the battle of Culloden deserve 
special consideration, which must be deferred to our next chapter. 
In closing this chapter I beg to place on record my thanks for the 
good offices of E. Salisbury, Esq., the Principal of the general search 
room of the Public Record Office, London. 
1 Gust’s “ Annals of War,” 1750, p. 136. 
2 Whitehall Gazette, dated 11th May, 1745, and London Magazine, May, 1745, p. 234. 
3 Whitehall Gazette, 11th May, 1745, p. 2. 
4 Died 6th May, 1815, at Charfield, as General (Lieut.-Colonel 1st Life Guards). 
5 King’s Warrants hook 1711—1744, issues of arms to replace losses in these particular engage* 
ments. 
6 1796 musquets, 1765 bayonets, 18 halberts, three drums, 323 swords, 200 pairs of pistols, and 
a new field artillery equipment were issued out of the Ordnance Stores to the cavalry, infantry, 
and artillery ; while the City of London subscribed for supplies of bedding to the sick. (King’s 
Warrants book 1711—1749 j Ordnance “ Specifications,” ibid). 
(To be continued,) 
