Activation
and Early Service 1793 - 1808
The 82nd Regiment of
Foot was raised by a letter of service dated September 20, 1793, as England
prepared for war with revolutionary France. Its men were initially recruited
from Lancashire Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. The
regiment wore the standard red tunic of infantry of the line along with pale
yellow facings. It was granted as its badge the plume of the Prince of Wales,
probably because its first Colonel, Maj. Gen. Charles Leigh*,
was a member of the Prince's retinue. Thus its
full name became 82nd South Lancashire Regiment (Prince of Wales Volunteers). It
should be noted that this regiment bore no relation to the 82nd Regiment
(Invalids), which had been recruited in Scotland and disbanded in 1783 after
fighting in the American Revolution.
The
West Indies 1795 - 1798
The regiment first saw action in the campaigns of the West Indies, as the
British moved to seize French colonies and disrupt their commerce with the home
country. In 1795, the 82nd sailed to Gibraltar under Lt. Col. George Garnier
and in July of that year was sent on as the vanguard of a large expedition of
reinforcements meant to break a stalemate situation in the former French colony
of Saint Domingue, now known as Haiti. On Aug. 9, 1795, the 989 men of the corps
went ashore at the Colony of Port-au-Prince. The regiment, well-accoutered in
their new scarlet tunics and comprised of fine, healthy young men, much
impressed the colonists who witnessed it coming ashore.
Fighting
in the hot jungle clime was not an easy affair
The British hold on Saint Domingue was tenuous when the 82nd arrived. Only several coastal areas
and towns were actually held against a confusing array of enemy
forces, including French, Spanish, Mulattos and rebellious ex-slaves such as those under
the celebrated General Toussaint. The
regiment is attested in several histories as having served with distinction at the actions of
'Mirelbois' (anglican-ized Mirabalais), 'Anse a Veau', 'the three months’ defense of Jovis' and other small actions.
Of both Jovis and Anse-a-Veau no history yet found provides an account, although
the former is to be found on maps as a small village on the south peninsula of
the island, quite believable as a place of contest.
Mirabalais, on the other hand, is well-attested in the histories as a strategic
crossroad town about 30 miles north-east of Port-au-Prince along the Artibonite
River. Sir Adam Williamson, the British Governor, ordered an attack on
Mirabalais soon after the 82nd arrived. The town and its neighbour Grand
Bois were taken by the British in September. There are no accounts of the actual
fighting yet found, but no doubt the newly arrived South Lancashire's took part. Further advances however, proved impossible, as yellow fever now
served to destroy the 82nd Regiment. The disease spread through the ranks like a
wild-fire. By November...only 120 days after landing in the
colony...half of the men of the regiment were dead while most of the rest were
on the sick roll. One year later, only 100 men of the corps remained
alive. Only
one officer+ and 22 men lived to arrive back in England in January, 1798.
The regiment basically had to be rebuilt from scratch, and so it was, recruited this time
with volunteers from the East York, Shropshire, Kent and Middlesex militia’s.
That same year, the British fled Saint Domingue never to return.
The colonial operations in the West Indies had been a huge drain on the treasury and
absolutely non-conclusive for England. Despite the success of disrupting commerce and the
seizing of some colonies, it was realized by Sir William Pitt and his ministry that
the decisive arena of the struggle was to be in Europe. The West Indies
campaign, however, did have some advantages in that it provided England with
some needed experience in battle somewhat lost after the large de-mobilizations
following the American Revolution. The British army also needed
time to learn new technologies and techniques of battle then coming into use.
From this time, until the advent of the Peninsular War in 1808, Great Britain
pursued a policy of small-scale marine expeditions against various coastal areas
on the continent, in support of her hard-pressed European allies. Meanwhile her
army was built up to a respectable strength and level of experience.
So, having been drafted and trained up to a respectable strength, the 82nd
Regiment, now commanded by Lt. Col. Frederich Augustus Wetherall, again
entered active service, taking part in the abortive expedition to Quiberon Bay,
France in June and July, 1800. From there, it moved to garrison duty in Minorca,
until that island was restored to Spain in 1802. That year, the regiment
returned to England and served garrison duty in Ireland for several years, in
support of the Act of Union, recently passed by Parliament. During this period,
England's allies on the continent were crushed by the armies of revolutionary
France, forcing England into a reluctant peace with her enemy that was to last
for all of one year. France was now under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte,
who returned from an abortive conquest of Egypt in 1800 to seize power. France
was now to experience a decade of great military success under this most
remarkable of Generals.
After the renewal of the war with France, a 2nd Battalion of the 82nd Regiment
was raised in 1804 at Horsham, Sussex, which like many 2nd battalions was to
serve as a depot, or recruiting, battalion for the regiment. Unlike many 2nd
battalions, it was not pressed into service as the conflict with France dragged
on, remaining in England until the battalion was disbanded in December, 1814.
The existence of this depot unit was of great benefit to the regiment, as the
1st Battalion while on active service was therefore able to periodically recruit
its strength with detachments of trained officers and men from its depot in
England.
Copenhagen
1807
In 1807, the corps returned from garrison duty at Cork, Ireland and was again
sent on active service, taking part in the Copenhagen expedition in August and September of
that year: an enterprise whose purpose was to secure the Danish navy from
potential seizure by the French. Here the 82nd, now led by Lt. Col. George
Smith, was for the first time under the supreme command of Sir Auther Wellesley,
the future Duke of Wellington. Lt. George Wood, having just joined the new
Regiment, recounts a few words soldierly admonition given to the new officers by
Lt. Col. Smith prior to embarkation:
"Now
, gentlemen, you are about to join a grand expedition; and if I mistake not, the
is not one of you that has yet had the honour of seeing a shot fired from an
enemy. It is therefore necessary to acquaint you that the whizzing of the balls
is apt to cause a disagreeable sensation; but this, gentlemen, arises from a
mistaken idea, for the moment you hear that sound, the danger is passed. You
will not, therefore, show a bad example to the men by ducking your heads and
flinching your bodies, for that is unsoldier-like, and may cause a panic in the
troops; but always keep the head up. the body erect, and even in danger show a
pleasing and determined aspect, which may command respect and admiration in your
men, and animate them to that glory which Britons have a right to
anticipate."[1]
Copenhagen
Bombed
The 82nd Regiment, minus Lt. Wood (he was forced to stay behind due to a matter
of seniority), landed in Denmark shortly after, and took part in the successful battle at
Koge over a Danish army (Aug. 29). After a terrible bombardment of the city by the
British where 2,000 civilians perished, Copenhagen was taken on 5 September and
the Danish navy successfully seized. Soon after, the expedition departed back to
England crowned with laurels, a sadly uncommon occurrence for British
continental expeditions during in this period.
Siege
of Copenhagen Map
Returning from Copenhagen, the 82nd Regiment took up temporary residence at Deal
Barracks in Kent, and henceforth departed for the Mediterranean theater, where
it was employed in various small-scale operations at Palermo, Gibraltar and
Cadiz under General Sir Brent Spencer. In 1808, as the British government
settled on the Iberian Peninsula as an appropriate theater for confronting
Napoleon, the regiment was ordered to Portugal to join an expedition once again
under the command of Lt. General Wellesley, with the immediate purpose of
supporting that Kingdom in its defense against a French invasion. Seven years of
much hard campaigning were about to commence for the 82nd Regiment.
_________________________________________________________
*
The regiment was actually initially named 'Maj. Gen. Leigh's Regiment', as until
the 18th century, a corps took the name of the gentleman who raised and led it.
+
The lucky man appears from the rolls to have been Capt. Lieut. Alexander Brash
[Reg. Adjutant]. He left the regiment shortly after returning home
[1]
G. Wood. The Subaltern Officer (Cambridge: Ken Trotman Ltd, 1986),
pg 15.
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