British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 5th Regiment of Foot

By Steve Brown

Regimental History

Colonels

Colonels-Commandant

Stations and Combats – 1st Battalion

Stations and Combats – 2nd Battalion

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

Lt. Col. Thomas Carleton

Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 29th Foot 23 September 1782; Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 30 September 1788 (on transfer from 29th Foot); transferred to 93rd Foot 22 July 1794. (Not to be confused with Colonel Thomas Carleton, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick 1786 to 1817).

Lt. Col. John Smyth

Major in 5th Foot 5 February 1787; Lieutenant-Colonel 22 July 1794; retired January 1796.

Lt. Col. Charles Stevenson

Served in the American War 1775 to 1781; ADC to Sir Henry Clinton; Major in 5th Foot 1792?; commanded both battalions of 5th Foot at Texel 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel 1 September 1797; brevet Colonel and Colonel of York Rangers 25 September 1803; subsequently Major-General 25 July 1810; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1814.

Lt. Col. Thomas Talbot

Born Ireland 1771; Major in 85th Foot 30 September 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 16 January 1796 (on transfer from 85th Foot); served in Canada 1791 to 1794; served in Holland 1799; resigned and migrated to Canada May 1803; early settler of Lake Erie district.

Lt. Col. Hon. Edward Bligh

Born Ireland 1769; Major in 3rd Foot Guards 5 March 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 85th Foot 30 September 1794 (on transfer from 3rd Foot Guards); brevet Colonel 1 January 1798; ADC to King January 1798 (whilst on the half-pay of the 107th Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 5 August 1799; commanded 2/5th Foot 1799 to 1803; subsequently Major-General 1 January 1805; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1811; died 1840.

Major Hon. John Lindsay

Born Scotland 1762; Major in 55th Foot 1 September 1795; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 6 August 1799; transferred to 5th Foot May 1800; transferred to 46th Foot 1802; subsequently brevet Colonel 25 October 1809; Major-General 1 January 1812; died 1826.

Lt. Col. William Minet

Born Hertfordshire 1763; Major in 4th Foot 29 November 1796; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; transferred to 5th Foot November 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel December 1798; transferred to York Rangers October 1803 on disbanding of 2nd battalion; died 1828.

Lt. Col. Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset

Born Monmouth 1776; Major in 12th Light Dragoons 22 November 1800; Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 25 December 1800 (on transfer from 12th Light Dragoons); exchanged to 4th Dragoons 3 September 1801.

Lt. Col. Thomas Gooch

Born Suffolk 1767; Major in 10th Light Dragoons 27 October 1798; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 31 July 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Dragoons 22 August 1801 (on transfer from 10th Light Dragoons); Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 3 September 1801 (exchanged with Somerset); retired September 1802; died 1851.

Lt. Col. Arthur Gore

Major in 40th Foot 15 July 1802 (on transfer from Caithness Fencibles); Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 28 September 1802 (on transfer from 40th Foot); exchanged to 33rd Foot 2 November 1802.

Lt. Col. John Coape Sherbrooke

Born Nottingham 1764; Lieutenant-Colonel in 33rd Foot 1 March 1794 (succeeded Arthur Wellesley in the position); brevet Colonel 1 January 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 2 November 1802 whilst recovering from illness (exchanged with Gore); appointed Colonel of a regiment from the half-pay of 5th Foot July 1803.

Lt. Col. William Cockell

Major in 105th Foot 18 April 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 105th Foot 16 September 1795; Assistant Quarter-Master General in Ireland 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 46th Foot 1800; transferred to 5th Foot 3 October 1802 (from the half-pay of the 46th Foot); brevet Colonel 25 September 1803; Brigadier-General in Cape of Good Hope 1806; subsequently Major-General 25 July 1810; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1814.

Lt. Col. Humphrey-Phineas Davie

Born Devon c.1776; Major in 111th Foot 1796; transferred to 5th Foot 6 August 1796; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel 1 August 1804; commanded 2/5th Foot 1804 to 1808; retired March 1808.

Lt. Col. Edward Baynes

Major in 76th Foot 23 April 1800 (on transfer from 32nd Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 29 April 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 14 September 1804 (on transfer from 76th Foot); ADC to General Craig April 1805; exchanged to 1st Garrison Battalion 1 June 1805; subsequently Adjutant General to forces in North America; sent to negotiate armistice with US government July 1812; Major-General 4 June 1814.

Lt. Col. John Baldwin

Major in 4th Foot 20 January 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 17 April 1801; transferred to 15th Garrison Battalion July 1803; Lieutenant-Colonel in 5th Foot 1 June 1805 (from half-pay of 15th Garrison Battalion); Inspecting Field Officer of Yeomanry by July 1807.

Lt. Col. John McKenzie

Major in 5th Foot 1 August 1804 (on transfer from half-pay of 85th Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel 6 May 1806; commanded 1/5th Foot in Peninsula July 1808 to January 1809; wounded at a skirmish the evening before Corunna; died of wounds 15 January 1809.

Lt. Col. Charles Pratt, K.C.B.

Major in 5th Foot 25 August 1804; Lieutenant-Colonel 25 March 1808; served in Walcheren 1809; commanded 1/5th Foot in Peninsula June 1812 to April 1814; brevet Colonel 4 June 1814; served in North America 1814; on half-pay 1820; died 1838.

Major Edward Copson, C.B.

Born Warwick 1775; Major in 15th Foot 29 August 1801; transferred to 5th Foot 21 March 1805; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 23 August 1808; served in Peninsula with 1/5th Foot July 1808 to January 1809; commanded 2nd Battalion of Detachments February to August 1809; again in Peninsula with 2/5th Foot June 1812 to April 1814; brevet Colonel 4 June 1814; served in North America 1814; died 1822.

Lt. Col. Hon. Henry King, K.C.B.

Major in 5th Foot 24 August 1804 (on transfer from 43rd Foot); served in Hanover 1805; served in South America 1806 – commanded attack on Buenos Aires; Lieutenant-Colonel 16 January 1809; commanded 2/5th Foot in Peninsula January 1810 to January 1811; and again May to September 1811; and again May to September 1812; brevet Colonel 4 June 1814; died 1839.

Major Henry Ridge

Born Hampshire 1778; served in South America 1806; Major in 5th Foot 25 March 1808; served in Peninsula with 2/5th Foot January 1810 to April 1812; commanded 2/5th Foot January to May 1811; and again September 1811 to April 1812; killed in action at Badajoz 5 April 1812 – reputedly the first British officer into the fortress.

Major John Grey, K.C.B.

Major on half-pay of 9th Garrison Battalion 27 November 1806; transferred to 5th Foot 13 June 1811; served in Peninsula with 2/5th Foot September 1811 to April 1812; twice wounded at Ciudad Rodrigo; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 6 February 1812; on half-pay 1820; died 1856.

Major Henry Bird

Brevet Major 1 January 1805; served in Peninsula with 1/5th Foot July 1808 to January 1809; commanded 1/5th Foot in Walcheren; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1812; Major in 5th Foot 10 June 1813; again in the Peninsula June 1812 to August 1813; Major in 87th Foot 28 March 1816.

Major Thomas Emes

Served in Hanover 1805; Major in 5th Foot 8 May 1806; served in Peninsula with 1/5th Foot July 1808 to January 1809; wounded at Rolica; served in Walcheren 1809; and again in Peninsula June 1812 to April 1814; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1813; died Dominica 1824.

Major John Drigue Morgan

Joined the army in 1780; Major in 5th Foot 1802; on half-pay due to reduction of the 2nd battalion 1803; Inspecting Field Officer of a recruiting district 1807; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 25 September 1810; on half-pay list 1815; brevet Colonel 12 August 1819; died 1844.

Major Sir Horace David Cholwell St. Paul, Bart.

Born Northumberland 1775; Major in 5th Foot 1 November 1805 (on transfer from 1st Dragoon Guards); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 25 September 1810; brevet Colonel 12 August 1819; by 1820 had been on the half-pay of 5th Foot for many years; died 1840.

Sources:

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

Wood, Walter. The Northumberland Fusiliers. London: Grant Richards, 1901.

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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