British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815

British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 8th Regiment of Foot

Secondary Titles:

The King’s

Regimental History

1685:	19 June - formed in Derbyshire
1804:	24 April – 2nd Battalion raised in West Yorkshire
1815:	24 December – 2nd Battalion disbanded at Portsmouth.

Colonels

1771:	20 October	Bigoe Armstrong
1794:	30 July	Ralph Dundas
1814:	8 February	Edmund Stevens

Stations and Combats – 1st Battalion

1793:	Ireland ; flank companies in Martinique and Guadeloupe
1794:	April – to England ; June – to Ostend; Nieuport; Nijmegen; Waal
1795:	January – retreat to Bremen; May – arrived England ; October – to West Indies
1796:	Grenada ; siege of St. Lucia ; June – St. Vincent
1797:	West Indies
1798:	Isle of Wight; August - Guernsey
1799:	Guernsey; 6 May – embarked for Minorca
1800:	Minorca; 24 August – embarked for Cadiz; Gibraltar; Malta ; Marmora ( Turkey )
1801:	February – to Egypt ; Alexandria; Mandora; Rosetta; Rahmanie; Cairo; October - Malta
1802:	Malta ; Gibraltar
1803:	Gibraltar; August – disembarked Portsmouth
1804:	Richmond
1805:	17 May – embarked Portsmouth; 7 August – Cork; 29 October – to continent; November – arrived Cuxhaven
1806:	11 February – embarked at Bremen-Lee; 26 February – arrived Ramsgate; December – Liverpool to Ireland
1807:	July – Dublin to Liverpool; August – Hull to Zeeland; Copenhagen; 14 October – to England
1808:	January – Portsmouth to Nova Scotia; April – arrived Halifax; November – to West Indies
1809:	29 January – embarked Barbados ; MARTINIQUE; 17 April – Halifax
1810:	May – Nova Scotia to Lower Canada; 28 May – Quebec
1811:	Quebec
1812:	Quebec; July – Montreal; August – Chambly; Upper Canada
1813:	13 February – Ogdenburg (1 company); March – Kingston, Fort George; 27 April – combat at York; Fort George (5 companies); Sacketts Harbour (5 companies); Stony Creek; Beaver Dams; Black Rock; Buffalo
1814:	Kingston; York; Chippawa; Fort George; Lundy’s Lane; Fort Erie; Snake Hill; Montreal; NIAGARA
1815:	June – embarked Quebec; July – arrived Plymouth.

Stations and Combats – 2nd Battalion

1804:	25 December – raised in West Yorkshire
1805:	York
1806:	March – to Scotland ; December - England
1807:	England – Stretford; Colchester; Chester
1808:	England
1809:	16 July – flank companies to Walcheren; December – return to England ; Jersey
1810:	Jersey; 21 June – return to Portsmouth; August – 6 companies to New Brunswick (arrived October); 4 companies in Ludlow
1811:	New Brunswick (6 co.); Ludlow (4 co.); November – home companies in Ashford
1812:	New Brunswick (6 co.); Ashford (4 co.)
1813:	New Brunswick (6 co.); England (4 co.)
1814:	February – overland crossing to Quebec; Plattsburg (6 overseas companies only)
1815:	June – 6 companies embarked Quebec; August – arrived Portsmouth; December 24 – fit men into 1st battalion; disbanded.

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

Lt. Col. Arent Schuyler de Peyster

Born in New York 1736; Loyalist service in American War; Lieutenant-Colonel in 8th Foot 10 February 1784; resigned due to illness August 1794; Major-Commandant Dumfries Volunteers 1795; died Scotland 1822.

Lt. Col. Edward Dawson

Major in 8th Foot November 1793 (on transfer from 51st Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel 1 March 1794; brevet Colonel 9 January 1798; nothing further known.

Lt. Col. Sir Gordon Drummond, G.C.B.

Born in Quebec 1771; Major in 23rd Foot January 1794 (on transfer from 41st Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel in 8th Foot 1 March 1794 (on transfer from 23rd Foot); commanded 1/8th Foot in Holland 1794-1795; and also in West Indies 1795-1796; brevet Colonel 1 January 1798; commanded 1/8th Foot at Minorca 1799-1800; and also in Egypt 1801-1802; Brigadier-General on Staff 1804; subsequently Major-General 1 January 1805; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1811; Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada 1813; later Governor-General of Canada; died 1854.

Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell

Major in 74th Foot April 1784; transferred to 8th Foot 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 March 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel 22 August 1794; served in West Indies 1795-1796; brevet Colonel 1 January 1798; Colonel of Breadalbane Fencibles July 1799; subsequently Major-General 1 January 1805; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1811.

Lt. Col. George Airey

Born 1761; Major in 68th Foot 1 May 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 8th Foot 4 May 1798; served at Minorca 1799-1800; brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; Quarter-Master General in Ireland 1813; served in many and varied staff positions 1800 to 1820; died 1833.

Lt. Col. Daniel Hoghton

Born Lancashire 1770; Major in 67th Foot August 1795 (on transfer from 97th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 67th Foot 14 May 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 8th Foot 23 November 1804; brevet Colonel 1 January 1805; subsequently Major-General 25 July 1810; served in Peninsula as brigade commander in 4th Division October 1810 to May 1811; killed in action at Albuera 16 May 1811.

Lt. Col. Robert Young

Major in 8th Foot 4 January 1797; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 11 May 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel 27 April 1809; brevet Colonel 1 January 1805; Colonel on the staff in Canada 1814; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1814.

Major Bryce Maxwell

Major in 8th Foot 13 October 1803; commanded 1/8th Foot in West Indies 1808-1809; killed in action 2 February 1809 on Martinique.

Lt. Col. Peter Thomas Robertson

Major in 8th Foot 3 November 1804; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1811; Lieutenant-Colonel 6 June 1811; dismissed from the service 9 September 1819.

Lt. Col. James Ogilvie, C.B.

Major in 8th Foot 4 June 1807; Assistant Adjutant-General of North-west District 1809; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1813; commanded 1/8th Foot in North America 1813; severely wounded (lost an arm) at Fort George; Lieutenant-Colonel 28 July 1814; on half-pay 1820.

Major Thomas Evans, C.B.

Served in Peninsula with 38th Foot; Major in 8th Foot 6 February 1812; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 13 October 1812; commanded detached companies of 1/8th Foot in North America 1813-1814; Major in 70th Foot 17 May 1816; wounded 4 times and mentioned in despatches 10 times.

Sources:

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

Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the Eighth or The King’s Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment, and of its Subsequent Services to 1844. London: Parker, Furnivall & Parker, 1844.

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.

Irving, L. Homfray. Officers of the British Forces in Canada During the War of 1812-1815. Toronto: Canadian Military Institute, 1908.

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: May 2009; updated October 2009

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