CAPTAIN BOGUE AND THE ROCKET BRIGADE. 
135 
to tell you that the body was found a few hours afterwards, and 
decently interred the next morning at the town of Taucha, about two 
miles from Leipsic; all the brigade attending with the deepest regret 
the melancholy ceremouy. 
With regard to the horses and effects of Captain Bogue, I hope on 
my return you will have the frankness to make me, without ceremony, 
the instrument for putting into execution any arrangements you may 
desire. 
I trust the sufferings of Mrs. Bogue are not so severe as you feared 
they would be. May I request to have my respects presented to her 
and believe me, etc., etc.,” 
John James. 
In 1814, the Crown Prince of Sweden (Bernadotte) acting through 
Mr. Thornton, H.M. Minister at Stockholm, sent the Swedish Order of 
the Sword to the widow of Captain Bogue, in recognition of his services, 
at the same time making a most generous offer to do anything in his 
power to assist the family, should it be desired. 
It will not be out of place here to mention that the effects produced 
by the Congreve rockets at the battles of Gfoerde or Gorde and Leipsic 
had been so marked by success, that in January, 1814, two rocket 
troops were formed. The first was at Woolwich, while the Rocket 
brigade became the 2nd. In May, 1815, the Prince Regent, in 
recognition of the distinguished services of the latter at Leipsic, 
directed that that name should be borne on the helmets and appoint¬ 
ments of the troop. After some further services in Germany 1 * it was 
attached to the force, under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham, in 
Holland until the summer of 1815, when it joined, near Brussels, the 
army under the Duke of Wellington. In the retreat from Quatre Bras 
the rockets were used with effect, 3 and in the battle of Waterloo the 
troop bore a distinguished part. 3 Lieut.-Colonel Augustus Frazer, 
R.H.A., wrote :—“ The rockets were used and were useful I am told. 
I did not see their application, the Duke never having gone more to 
the left than the intersection of our centre by the pave, which was in a 
1 These were as follows : — 
The siege of Fort Frederick, which capitulated December 19th, 1813 ; the siege of Gliickstadt, 
which capitulated January 5th, 1814 ; the siege of "Wittenberg, which lasted some time. During 
this siege the battle of Gorde was fought on September 16th, 1813, consequent upon a force from 
the 13th French corps, under General Pecheux, being detached by Marshal Davout from Hamburgh 
to protect a large convoy of powder moving there from Hanover. The movement was made in 
conjunction with the Governor of Magdeburg, where the convoy safely arrived on the 16th ; 
meanwhile, on that and the previous day, a large force of the allies, under General Walmoden, 
crossed the Elbe at Domitz, and between Dahlemburg and the forest of Gorde attacked 
Pecheux’s force. The French fought with great determination against superior numbers, losing 
upwards of 1,000 men. The Congreve rockets, whose effect was entirely new to their troops, con¬ 
tributed greatly to their discomfiture and loss. In his bulletin about the battle, Bernadotte 
reports, “ The English artillery and rocket eorps deserve the highest encomiums.” (See defence of 
Hamburgh, by General C. de Laville, as given in correspondence of Marshal Davout, by Mazade, 
Paris, Plon, 1885. 
After the battle of Gorde, the siege of Wittenberg was resumed. Exclusive of bombs, rockets 
were likewise used under the very able direction of the English captain, Bogue. The place was 
taken by assault, January 15th, 1814. See memoirs and campaigns of John Charles, Prince Royal 
of Sweden, by J. Phillippart, London, Barrington, 1814. 
3 See Mercer’s Waterloo Campaign, pages 277-81. 
3 See Siborne’s Waterloo letters, No. 86, page 209. 
