British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815

British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 3rd Regiment of Foot

Secondary Titles:

East Kent (The Buffs)

Regimental History

1672:	Formed at Greenwich
1803:	21 July - 2nd Battalion raised at Portsmouth
1816:	24 December - 2nd Battalion disbanded at Hythe

Colonels

1786:	18 April	Thomas Hall
1809:	29 December	Charles Leigh
1815:	9 August	Sir Henry Clinton, G.C.B., G.C.H.

Stations and Combats – 1st Battalion

1793:	England ; Windsor; Tower of London; December – to West Indies, but diverted to Jersey
1794:	Holland; Waal,; Nijmegen; Sombreuil; retreat to Bremen
1795:	Germany ; April – to England ; absorbed 102nd Foot at Nursling; December – to West Indies
1796:	March – arrived Grenada ; St. Vincent
1797:	February – Trinidad; Port d’Essague
1798:	St. Kitts; St. Vincent
1799:	Leeward Islands
1800:	Leeward Islands; St. Kitts
1801:	March – depart St. Kitts; St. Croix; St. Eupatius; capture of various Dutch and Swedish possessions in West Indies and South America
1802:	St. Kitts; St. Croix; St. Eupatius; July - to England; Hilfen; Southampton; Jersey
1803:	Jersey; Ireland
1804:	Ireland
1805:	Ireland ; to Hanover on news of Napoleon’s move against Austria
1806:	February – to England ; Kent ; London
1807:	January – to Ireland ; October – Madeira
1808:	16 August – embarked Madeira; 1 September – disembarked Lisbon; Spain ; Ciudad Rodrigo
1809:	Retreat to Lisbon; Corunna (grenadier company only); DOURO; TALAVERA
1810:	Busaco; Torres Vedras
1811:	Campo Mayor; ALBUERA (over 75% losses); part of 1st Provisional Battalion 6 June to 7 August 1811 until reinforced from 2nd Battalion
1812:	Peninsula
1813:	VITTORIA; Roncesvalles; PYRENEES; NIVELLE; NIVE
1814:	St. Palais; ORTHEZ; Aire; TOULOUSE; May – to Lower Canada; August – arrived Canada ; Plattsburg
1815:	4 June – embarked Quebec; 9 July – arrived Ostend; Paris.

Stations and Combats – 2nd Battalion

1803:	21 July – battalion formed at Portsmouth
1804:	January – to Ireland ; May – Jersey; November – Guernsey; December – Alderney
1805:	Alderney
1806:	January – Guernsey
1807:	3 February – arrived England
1808:	England
1809:	England
1810:	England
1811:	England ; 11 July – sent reinforcements to 1/3rd in Peninsula
1812:	England – recruited back up the strength
1813:	England
1814:	England
1815:	England - Brighton; 24 December - disbanded at Hythe.

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

Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart

Major in 3rd Foot 1778; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 1780; brevet Colonel in 3rd Foot March 16 May 1782; retired 26 November 1793.

Lt. Col. John, Lord Newark

Major in 3rd Foot 1790(?); Lieutenant-Colonel 26 November 1793; ADC to King 21 December 1793; exchanged to 84th Foot (with Craven) 25 September 1794; retired December 1794.

Lt. Col. William, Baron Craven

Born 1770; Major in 84th Foot 28 February 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 84th Foot 31 May 1794; exchanged to 3rd Foot 25 September 1794; transferred to 40th Foot 1 September 1799; subsequently a Major-General; died 1825.

Lt. Col. Thomas Brownrigg

Born Ireland c.1755; Captain in 36th Foot 2 June 1793; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 6 March 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 1 September 1795 (on transfer from the half-pay of the 119th Foot); Deputy Quarter-Master General in Leeward Islands October 1795; Deputy Quarter-Master General in Ireland 1 April 1799; brevet Colonel 29 April 1802; rank stationary in 1820; died 1826.

Lt. Col. Richard Blunt

Major in 3rd Foot May 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel 23 August 1799; served in West Indies 1795 to 1802; served in Hanover 1806; commanded 1/3rd Foot in Peninsula September 1808 to March 1809; brevet Colonel 25 October 1809; in Portuguese service March 1809 to April 1814 - Governor of Perniche and Inspector-General of recruits; subsequently Major-General 1 January 1812.

Lt. Col. Richard Bingham

Born Dorset 1750; Lieutenant-Colonel in 102nd Foot 22 September 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel in 6th West India Regiment 14 May 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel in 9th Foot 27 August 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 9th July 1803; commanded 2/3rd Foot 1803 to 1809; brevet Colonel 1 October 1803; subsequently Major-General 25 July 1810; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1814; died 1823.

Lt. Col. John Blake

Born Galway c.1762; Brevet Major in 24th Foot 22 November 1790; Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 25 March 1797; brevet Colonel 9 January 1798; local Brigadier-General in Egypt 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 8 August 1804; retired December 1804; died 1836.

Lt. Col. James Muter

Major in 6th Foot 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 1 December 1804 (on transfer from 6th Foot); served in Peninsula June to July 1809; commanded 1/3rd Foot at Douro and Talavera; died of wounds received at Talavera 29 July 1809.

Lt. Col. William Henry Bunbury

Born 1778; Major in 35th Foot 1 January 1805; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 1 January 1806 (on transfer from 35th Foot); Deputy Quarter-Master General at Maida 1806; served in Peninsula September 1808 to February 1810; and again from June 1812 to December 1813; served at Douro, Talavera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nive, Nivelle; commanded 1st Battalion of Detachments February to September 1809; commanded 1/3rd Foot in 1813; 7th Baron Bunbury in 1821.

Lt. Col. Archibald Drummond

Major in 3rd Foot 9 July 1803 (on transfer from 46th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 25 April 1806; served in Peninsula September 1808 to July 1810; commanded 1/3rd Foot March to June 1809; and again July 1809 to July 1810; Lieutenant-Colonel 17 August 1809; died 22 July 1810 ‘on passage from Lisbon’.

Lt. Col. William Stewart

Born Scotland 1769; Major in 3rd Foot 14 March 1805; in Peninsula November 1809 to October 1812; in Portuguese service March to October 1810; Lieutenant-Colonel 16 August 1810; commanded 1/3rd Foot at Albuera; served in Canada 1814; brevet Colonel 12 August 1819; subsequently a Major-General; died New South Wales 1854.

Lt. Col. James Fergusson

Born Ireland 1788; served in Peninsula with 43rd Foot August 1808 to January 1809; and again July 1809 to January 1813; Major in 85th Foot 25 January 1813 (on transfer from 43rd Foot); served in Peninsula with 85th Foot August 1813 to April 1814; Lieutenant-Colonel in 3rd Foot 16 May 1814; commanded 2/3rd Foot in 1814-1815; on half pay after reduction of the battalion; died 1865.

Major Henry Roberts

Major in 3rd Foot 17 November 1808 (on transfer from 19th Light Dragoons); served in Peninsula April 1810 to April 1814; commanded 1/3rd Foot for periods between July 1810 and April 1814; served at Busaco, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nive, Nivelle, Orthez, Toulouse; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 19 May 1814.

Major Henry King

Major in 3rd Foot 17 August 1809; served in Peninsula September 1808 to November 1809; and again from September 1810 to April 1814; served at Douro, Talavera, Busaco, Albuera, Vittoria, Pyrenees; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1814; served in Canada 1814-1815.

Major George Morris

Major in 3rd Foot 16 November 1809; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1814; served with 2/3rd Foot 1809 to 1815; on half-pay of 40th Foot by 1820.

Sources:

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

Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the Third or Buffs Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment, and of its Subsequent Services to 1838. London: Longman, Orme & Co., 1839.

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.

Fletcher, Ian. Wellington’s Regiments. Staplehurst: Spellmount, 1994.

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.

Hall, John A. A History of the Peninsular War: Volume VIII – The Biographical Dictionary of British Officers Killed and Wounded 1808-1814. London: Greenhill Books, 1998.

London Gazette Website. March 2009.

The Napoleon Series – Peninsula Roll Call. March 2009.

Placed on the Napoleon Series: April 2009; updated October 2009

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