British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 16th Regiment of Foot

By Steve Brown

Secondary Titles:

Buckinghamshire (to 1809); thence Bedfordshire

Regimental History

1688:

9 October – raised in southern counties by Colonel Archibald Douglas

Colonels

1788:

6 March

Hon. Thomas Bruce

1797:

15 December

Henry Bowyer

1808:

29 August

Sir Charles Green, Bart.

1814:

17 February

Sir George Prevost, Bart.

Stations and Combats

1793:

Jamaica; detachment in San Domingo (all died except 2 men)

1794:

Jamaica

1795:

Jamaica – Maroon Rebellion

1796:

Jamaica; March – Maroons surrender; few survivors to England; Greenwich

1797:

Scotland; recruited 1000 parish boys; Fort George

1798:

Scotland - discharged boys to other regiments; received volunteers from English militia; June – Montrose; Dundee; Fort George

1799:

Scotland – Fort George; to London; Margate; Horsham; Canterbury

1800:

Horsham; Liverpool; to Ireland; Dublin; Cork

1801:

Ireland - Cork; Bandon

1802:

Ireland - Kinsale; limited service men discharged; recruited from Irish militia and Fencibles

1803:

Ireland – Kinsale; Ross; Tralee

1804:

Monkstown; to West Indies; March – Barbados; April – Surinam

1805:

Surinam

1806:

Surinam; Arnena

1807:

Surinam

1808:

Surinam

1809:

Surinam; changed title to Bedfordshire

1810:

Surinam; detachment to England

1811:

Surinam; detachment to England

1812:

Surinam; last detachment to England, having lost 527 men in West Indies; one ship wrecked off Ireland, all arms and baggage lost; July – Sunderland

1813:

Sunderland; March – Perth; July – to Ireland

1814:

Monkstown; to Canada; May – Quebec; Chambly; Montreal; Fort Wellington

1815:

Canada; July – to England; August – Portsmouth; Ostend; Paris; Army of Occupation; December - Calais; Dover.

Careers of Senior Officers (shown as highest rank attained in regiment in the period)

Lt. Col. James Henry Craig

Born Gibraltar 1748; Lieutenant-Colonel in 82nd Foot 18 May 1782; Lieutenant-Colonel in 16th Foot 8 July 1783; commanded 16th Foot 1783 to 1793; brevet Colonel 18 November 1790; commander of forces in Jersey January 1793; Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey October 1793; Adjutant-General of forces on continent under Duke of York December 1793; subsequently Major-General 3 October 1794; Colonel of 46th Foot 4 August 1795; Lieutenant-General 1 January 1801; General 1 January 1812; died London January 1812.

Lt. Col. Hon. George James Rawdon

Born Ireland 1761; Lieutenant-Colonel in Earl of Granard’s Fencible Regiment 17 May 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 9 September 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 16th Foot 8 August 1795; retired February 1797; died 1800.

Lt. Col. Quin John Freeman

Born 1754; served in Canada during American War; again in Canada from 1787 to 1793; Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 27 November 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 93rd Foot 10 May 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel in 16th Foot 1 September 1795; Assistant Adjutant-General in Ireland 1796 to 1799; brevet Colonel 1 January 1801; subsequently Major-General 25 April 1808; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1813; General 1830; died Liverpool 1834.

Lt. Col. Hugh Wallace

Major in 16th Foot 21 June 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel 9 February 1797; retired July 1801.

Major Andrew Rutherford

Brevet Major 9 September 1794; Major in 16th Foot 1 September 1795; retired June 1796.

Lt. Col. John Skinner

Served in North America 1773 to 1781; Major in 16th Foot 12 August 1795; served in Maroon Rebellion 1795 to 1796; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel 11 April 1805; commanded 16th Foot 1803 to 1807; brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; subsequently Brigadier-General in West Indies 25 December 1808; commanded a brigade in Guadeloupe 1810; Major-General 4 June 1811; Lieutenant-General 19 July 1821.

Major John le Couteur

 Born Jersey 1760; served in India and taken POW 1782 to 1784; Major in 16th Foot 12 April 1797 (on transfer from 11th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1798; Inspector of militia and Quartermaster-General in Jersey June 1799; brevet Colonel 7 May 1808; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; Lieutenant-General 19 July 1821; died Jersey 1835.

Major Hugh MacKay Gordon

Born Boston 1760; served in American War, taken POW at Pensacola; served in West Indies 1793 to 1794; Assistant Quartermaster-General in East Indies 1798; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 23 January 1798; Major in 16th Foot 28 June 1799; Inspector of militia in Jersey 1799; on half-pay 1802; brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; on staff in Madeira 1811; Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth 1815; Lieutenant-General 19 July 1821; died London 1823.

Captain George Sutherland

Captain in 16th Foot 10 September 1795; brevet Major 1 January 1798; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 September 1803; died 1804.

Lt. Col. St. John Fancourt

Major in 17th Foot 13 August 1799 (on transfer from 56th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 15 January 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 16th Foot 17 July 1801 (on transfer from 69th Foot); commanded 16th Foot 1801 to 1803; exchanged to 34th Foot 12 March 1803; died February 1807.

Major Lionel Smith

Major in 85th Foot 27 April 1802; Major in 16th Foot 29 June 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in Nova Scotia Fencibles 6 June 1805; subsequently Major-General 12 August 1819; Lieutenant-General 10 January 1837; died Mauritius 1842.

Lt. Col. Isaac Gascoyne

Born Suffolk 1763 (brother of Bamber); wounded at Lincelles 1793; brevet Colonel 3 May 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 34th Foot 24 January 1799; Major-General 29 April 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in 16th Foot 12 March 1803; Lieutenant-General 25 April 1808; General 12 August 1819; MP 1796 to 1831; died London 1841.

Major Brabazon Dean Vernon

Born 1768; Major in 16th Foot 27 June 1805; commanded 16th Foot 1807 to 1808; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 30 December 1811; died September 1814.

Major Mathew Mahon

Major in 16th Foot 28 November 1805; to half-pay of 95th Foot; Major in Royal York Rangers 11 August 1808.

Major Francis Heaton Thomas

Brevet Major 25 April 1808; Major in 16th Foot 26 June 1808; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1814.

Major William Bowyer

Major in 8th West India Regiment 5 June 1806; Deputy Adjutant-General in Windward & Leeward Islands January 1808; exchanged to 16th Foot April 1808; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 14 February 1808; died August 1808.

Lt. Col. Henry-Dunbar Tolley, C.B.

Major in 71st Foot 5 February 1803 (on transfer from 24th Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel in 1st West India Regiment 25 February 1808; Lieutenant-Colonel in 16th Foot 23 November 1809; commanded 16th Foot 1810 to 1815; brevet Colonel 4 June 1814; subsequently Major-General 27 May 1825; died 1837.

Major William Vandaleur

Brevet Major 1 January 1812; Major in 16th Foot 29 September 1814.

Captain Sackville Hamilton Berkeley

Served in West Indies 1804 to 1811; Brevet Major 18 February 1808; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 20 June 1811; Deputy Adjutant-General in Windward & Leeward Islands June 1811; subsequently Major-General 1837; Lieutenant-General 1846.

Sources:

War Office. Army Lists 1796 to 1815. London: various years.

Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the Sixteenth or Bedfordshire Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment, and of its Subsequent Services to 1848. London: Parker, Furnivall & Parker, 1848.

Chichester, Henry Manners, and Burges-Short, Henry. The Records and Badges of Every Regiment and Corps in the British Army. London: William Clowes & Sons, 1895.

Westlake, Ray. English & Welsh Infantry Regiments - An Illustrated Record of Service 1662-1994. Staplehurst: Spellmount, 2002.

McKenna, Michael G. The British Army – And Its Regiments and Battalions. West Chester , Ohio: The Nafziger Collection. 2004.

Reid, Stuart. Wellington’s Officers, Volume 1. Leigh-On-Sea: Patrizan Press, 2008.

Park, S.J. and Nafziger, G.F. The British Miltary – Its System and Organization 1803-1815. Cambridge, Ontario: Rafm Co. Inc. 1983.

Philippart, John. The Royal Military Calendar, or Army Service and Commission Book. London: A.J. Valpy, 1820.

London Gazette Website. May 2009.

 

Placed on the Napoleon Series: July 2009

[  More on the British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815 ]


© Copyright 1995-2017, The Napoleon Series, All Rights Reserved.

[  | Home ]