Military Subjects: Organization, Strategy & Tactics

British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 17th Regiment of Foot

By Steve Brown

Secondary Titles:

Leicestershire

Regimental History

1688:

27 September – raised in London by Col. Solomon Richards

1799:

5 August – 2nd Battalion formed at Deptford

1802:

August – 2nd Battalion disbanded at Cork

Colonel

1782:

29 May

George Morrison

Colonel-Commandant

1799: 

5 August

Eyre Coote (till 1802)

Stations and Combats – 1st Battalion

1793:

Ireland

1794:

Ireland ; flank companies on Martinique; April – St Lucia ; December – Guadeloupe

1795:

Ireland ; flank companies at Guadeloupe

1796:

February – rest of battalion to West Indies; San Domingo; Jeremie

1797:

San Domingo – high number of fever deaths

1798:

San Domingo; June – Mole St Nicholas; October – remnants to England

1799:

January – England; received 1500 recruits from militia; August – to Helder; Krabbendaam; Zyper-Sluis; Bergen; Egmont-Op-Zee; Castricium; Alkmaar

1800:

To Dover; Deal; May – to Minorca

1801:

Madeira

1802:

Madeira; July – to Ireland ; August – Cork; Limerick

1803:

Ireland - Limerick; Cork; July – Dublin

1804:

Dublin; April – to England; Isle of Wight; July – to India; December – Madras; Fort William

1805:

India - Fort William; June/July – high rate of sickness and deaths; received drafts from England ; September – Allahabad; Cawnpore

1806:

2 companies to Jutta; December – Bundelkund

1807:

January – capture of Chunar; Cawnpore; September – Muttra; November – 5 companies to Comona

1808:

Muttra; November – Sutlej

1809:

Sutlej; May - Muttra; received drafts from England ; November – Meerut

1810:

Meerut

1811:

Meerut

1812:

Meerut; November – Ghazepore

1813:

Ghazepore; April – 4 companies to Secrole and Merzapore

1814:

Ghazepore; October – Nepal ; Jutgurgh

1815:

Ghazepore

1823:

Arrived back in England from India – after 19 years away.

Stations and Combats – 2nd Battalion

1799:

5 August – formed in Deptford from militia recruits; August - to Helder; Zyper-Sluis; Bergen; Egmont-Op-Zee; Castricium; Alkmaar

1800:

To Dover; Deal; May – to Minorca

1801:

Minorca

1802:

Minorca; July – to Ireland ; August – disbanded at Cork.

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

Lt. Col. Henry Johnson

Born 1748; Lieutenant-Colonel in 17th Foot 4 October 1778; brevet Colonel 28 February 1793; subsequently Major-General 30 December 1793; Lieutenant-General 26 June 1799; General 25 April 1808; died 1835.

Lt. Col. George Hallam

Major in 17th Foot April 1794 (on transfer from 35th Foot); 2nd Lieutenant-Colonel 15 July 1794; superseded September 1797.

Lt. Col. George Philip Hooke

1st Major in 17th Foot 15 July 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 9 September 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel ?; died on San Domingo late 1796.

Major Andrew Hertzogg

Captain in 17th Foot 27 October 1787 (on transfer from 43rd Foot); 2nd Major 15 July 1794; died December 1796.

Major William Cosby

Brevet Major October 1795; Deputy Adjutant-General in San Domingo 1796; Major in 17th Foot 20 December 1796 (on transfer from 56th Foot); died late 1796.

Major Daniel O’Meara

Born Ireland 1764; brevet Major 9 September 1794; Major in 17th Foot 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 3 May 1796; Major in 68th Foot 1 April 1797; subsequently Major-General 1810; Lieutenant-General 1819;.

Lt. Col. John Burnet

Major in 43rd Foot 13 May 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel in 17th Foot 14 September 1797; Military Superintendent of Hospitals in South Britain May 1800; brevet Colonel 30 October 1805; transferred to 1st Foot 31 October 1805; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; died 1817.

Lt. Col. Richard Stovin

Born Yorkshire 1761; served in Martinique 1794; commanded left wing in Beville campaign on Guadeloupe; POW 1794 to 1796; Major in 17th Foot 21 September 1796; served on staff in Canada 1796 to 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel 6 September 1798; commanded 1/17th Foot in Helder campaign 1799; served in Mediterranean 1800 to 1802; brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; commanded at brigade in Canada 1814; died 1826.

Lt. Col. David Latimer Tinling (-Widdrington)

Born Cumberland 1761; Major in 17th Foot 18 January 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel 6 August 1799; commanded 2/17th Foot in Helder campaign; served in Minorca 1800 to 1802; on half-pay 1802 on reduction of 2nd Battalion; on staff at Gibraltar and brevet Colonel 25 October 1809; took Widdrington surname 1809; subsequently Major-General 1 January 1812; Lieutenant-General 27 May 1825; died Kent 1839.

Major William Grey

Major in 17th Foot 6 September 1798 (on transfer from 7th West India Regiment); wounded at Helder 10 September 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel in 6th Royal Garrison Battalion 31 March 1803.

Lt. Col. Francis William Farquhar

Major in 29th Foot 6 September 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 17th Foot 8 August 1798 (on transfer from 29th Foot); Deputy Inspector-General of Recruiting Services 15 March 1803.

Major Robert Wood

Major in 17th Foot 5 August 1799 (on transfer from 15th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 8 August 1798; wounded at Helder 10 September 1799; brevet Colonel 7 May 1808; gone by 1810.

Major Peter Cockburne

Major in 17th Foot 6 August 1799; wounded at Helder 10 September 1799; gone by 1802.

Major St. John Fancourt

Major in 17th Foot 13 August 1799 (on transfer from 56th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 15 January 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 69th Foot 20 January 1801; died February 1807.

Major Edward Blakeney

Born Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1778; served in West Indies in 1796 – taken POW three times; served in Helder campaign 1799; served in Mediterranean 1800 to 1802; Major in 17th Foot 17 September 1801; half-pay 25 September 1802 on reduction of 2nd Battalion; Major in 47th Foot 9 July 1803; subsequently a Field Marshall in 1862; died 1868.

Major Montagu Thorley

Major in 17th Foot 21 January 1804 (on transfer from 11th Battalion of Reserve); Lieutenant-Colonel in Royal Africa Corps 18 May 1804.

Major Sir George Alexander William Leith, Bart.

Born Scotland 1775; Major in 17th Foot 1 January 1800 (on transfer from 73rd Foot); Lieutenant-Governor of Penang 1800 to 1803; Lieutenant-Colonel in 2nd West India Regiment 13 June 1805; subsequently Major-General 1819; died 1842.

Major Frederick Hardyman

Major in 1st Foot 16 July 1802 (on transfer from 17th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 6 July 1804; Lieutenant-Colonel in 17th Foot 31 October 1805; brevet Colonel 4 June 1813; subsequently Major-General 12 August 1819.

Major Clement William Whitby

Major in 17th Foot 4 July 1805; Lieutenant-Colonel in 1st West India Regiment 11 July 1811.

Major Philip Henry Nicoll

Served in Helder 1799; served in Mediterranean 1800 to 1802; served in India 1804 to 1808; Major in 17th Foot 19 July 1808; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1812.

Lt. Col. Sir Thomas McMahon, Bart., K.C.B.

Major in Royal West India Rangers 6 October 1806; Major in 2nd West India Regiment April 1809 (on transfer from 15th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 May 1809; served in Peninsula May 1809 to February 1812; commanded 15th Portuguese Line August 1809 to March 1811; Brigadier-General 5 March 1811; Lieutenant-Colonel in 17th Foot 20 June 1811; commanded Portuguese Brigade August 1811 to February 1812; brevet Colonel 4 June 1814; served in Nepal 1814; Adjutant-General in India 1819 to 1820; ADC to King 1820.

Major George William Hawkins

Major in 17th Foot 1 August 1811; died early 1813.

Major Garret Fitzsimmons

On half-pay 1802 on reduction of 2nd Battalion; Major in 17th Foot 25 March 1813; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1812; on half-pay of 67th Foot 1820.

Sources:

Adams, Margaret. British Regiments in India . Sheffield, Yorkshire: The Indiaman Magazine, 2005.

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

Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the Seventeenth or Leicestershire 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.

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

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.

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

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

London Gazette Website. May 2009.

 

Placed on the Napoleon Series: June 2009

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