British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815

British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 4th Regiment of Foot

Secondary Titles:

King’s Own

Regimental History

1680:	13 July – formed for service in Tangier
1799:	5 August – 2nd Battalion raised at Barham Downs
1799:	October – 3rd Battalion raised at Portsmouth
1802:	24 May – 3rd battalion disbanded at Portsmouth
1802:	October – 2nd Battalion disbanded at Winchester
1804:	24 April – 2nd Battalion re-raised at Hythe
1815:	25 December – 2nd Battalion disbanded at Deal.

Colonels

1792:	8 August	George Morrison
1799:	5 December	John, Earl of Chatham, K.G.

Colonels-Commandant

1793:		James Ogilvie (1st Battalion)
1799:	5 December	John, Earl of Chatham, K.G. (2nd Battalion)
1799:	5 August	Lord Charles Henry Somerset (3rd Battalion)
1801:	28 March	William Anne Villettes (1st Battalion)

Stations and Combats – 1st Battalion

1793:	Newfoundland; 7 May – to Ance-a-Savoyard
1794:	Quebec
1795:	Quebec
1796:	Canada - St. Johns; Chambly; Isle-aux-Noix; November – Montreal
1797:	June – Quebec; 25 September – transferred other ranks to 26th Foot; cadre home; lost colours in sea battle en route and cadre taken prisoner
1798:	May – cadre home to England; 400 Irish recruits joined at Botley
1799:	Botley; April – Worcester; Horsham; August - Barham Downs; 2,700 recruits join from militia; 3 September – new colours presented by King; October – to Holland; Alkmaar; Bergen, Egmont-Op-Zee; Beverwyk; December – to England; Ipswich
1800:	Ipswich; Ashford; Windsor; Weymouth; Barnstaple; Bideford; Winchester
1801:	Winchester; Horsham; Lewes
1802:	Horsham; Lewes; Chatham; Dover Castle
1803:	Dover Castle; Deal; Shorncliffe
1804:	Shorncliffe; Hythe
1805:	Canterbury; Beachy Head; 27 October – to Hanover
1806:	February – to England; Worthing; Yarmouth; Colchester
1807:	25 July – to Copenhagen; 7 November - returned to Deal
1808:	Colchester; 28 April – to Gothenburg, Sweden; to Peninsula; 25 August – disembarked Madeira
1809:	CORUNNA; 31 January – disembarked England; Colchester; 700 recruits joined from militia; 16 July – to Walcheren; 16 September – disembarked Harwich; Colchester
1810:	24 October – to Peninsula
1811:	Fuentes d’Onoro
1812:	BADAJOZ; SALAMANCA
1813:	Burgos; VITTORIA; SAN SEBASTIAN; Pyrenees; Nivelle; NIVE;
1814:	Bayonne; 29 May – embarked at Garonne; Bermuda; east coast USA; Patuxent River; BLADENSBURG; outskirts of Washington; North Point; 31 October – disembarked in West Indies; December - to Louisiana
1815:	New Orleans; Fort Bowyer; Mobile; 16 May – disembarked England; 10 June – to Ostend; WATERLOO; Paris; Army of Occupation
1818:	October - returned home.

Stations and Combats – 2nd Battalion

1799:	5 August – raised at Barham Downs; to Holland; Zyper-Sluis; Bergen; Egmont-Op-Zee; Castricum; Alkmaar
1800:	To England; Exeter
1801:	Exeter; Winchester; Lewes; Horsham
1802:	Horsham; Lewes; Portsmouth; October – disbanded at Winchester
1804:	24 April – re-raised at Hythe
1805:	Beachy Head
1806:	Chelmsford
1807:	To Jersey
1808:	Jersey; to England
1809:	Colchester; 16 July – to Walcheren; 16 September – disembarked Harwich; Colchester
1810:	February – to Gibraltar; Cadiz
1811:	Gibraltar
1812:	14 May – joined 1st battalion in Spain; SALAMANCA; 24 December – fit men transferred to 1st battalion; cadre returned home
1813:	Colchester; recruited from militia
1814:	England
1815:	Transferred fit men to 1st battalion; 25 December – disbanded at Deal.

Stations and Combats – 3rd Battalion

1799:	October – raised at Portsmouth
1800:	Exeter
1801:	Exeter; Winchester; Lewes; Horsham
1802:	Horsham; Lewes; 24 May – disbanded at Portsmouth

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

Major Francis Peregrine Thorne

Major in 4th Foot 26 October 1789; commanded garrisons of 1/4th Foot at various islands off Newfoundland, 1793; transferred to 6th Foot, 21 June 1794.

Lt. Col. John Hodgson

Major in 6th Foot June 1794; transferred to 4th Foot 21 June 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel 1 September 1795; commanded 1/4th Foot 1795 to 1801; exchanged to 131st Foot April 1801.

Lt. Col. Nathaniel Thomas Kane

Born Dublin c.1758; Major in 4th Foot 9 September 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel 6 August 1799; retired December 1799; died 1826.

Lt. Col. William Dickson

Major in 4th Foot 9 January 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel 5 August 1799; killed in action at Beverwyk 6 October 1799.

Lt. Col. Thomas Cholmondeley

Major in 90th Foot 4 November 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 30 December 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 5 August 1799 (on transfer from half-pay of 90th Foot); commanded 1/4th Foot in Holland; taken prisoner at Beverwyk; paroled and retired July 1800.

Lt. Col. Heneage Twisden

Born Kent 1764; Major in 4th Foot 15 May 1795; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 18 January 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel 8 August 1799; Inspecting Field Officer of Yeomanry by September 1803.

Lt. Col. Thomas Brinley

Major in 4th Foot 6 August 1799 (on transfer from 2nd West India Regiment); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 13 October 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel 7 October 1799; commanded 1/4th Foot 1803-1804; Quarter-Master General in West Indies 1805; transferred to Nova Scotia Fencibles August 1805.

Lt. Col. James Wynch

Major in 4th Foot 6 August 1799 (on transfer from 36th Foot); wounded at Beverwyk 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel 15 November 1799; commanded 1/4th Foot at Copenhagen; served in Peninsula August 1808 to January 1809; wounded at Corunna; commanded 1/4th Foot at Walcheren; brevet Colonel 24 October 1809; commanded brigade in Light Division in Peninsula from November 1810 to January 1811; died of typhoid fever at Lisbon 6 January 1811.

Lt. Col. William Archdall

Born Ireland c.1770; taken prisoner at Beverwyk 1799; Major in 4th Foot 4 March 1800; Lieutenant-Colonel 10 July 1800; retired April 1801.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Fish

Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 131st Foot 4 February 1797; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 11 April 1801 (on exchange from 131st Foot, with Hodgson); retired July 1801.

Lt. Col. John Baldwin

Major in 4th Foot 20 January 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel 17 April 1801; subsequently to Garrison Battalion, then 5th Foot on disbanding of 2nd and 3rd battalions; Inspecting Field Officer of Yeomanry by July 1807.

Major William Henry Pringle

Born England 1770; Major in 4th Foot 6 August 1799 (on transfer from 111th Foot); taken prisoner at Beverwyk 6 October 1799; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 5 December 1799; transferred to 2nd Foot Guards 17 September 1802.

Lt. Col. John Daniel Kane

Born Dublin 1770, nephew of Nathaniel Kane; Major in 4th Foot 19 May 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel 17 July 1801; Inspecting Field Officer of Yeomanry by September 1803 on disbanding of 2nd and 3rd battalions; died 1847.

Major Sydney Edward Scroggs

Born Wiltshire c. 1770; Major in 4th Foot 6 August 1799 (on transfer from half-pay of 36th Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1801; transferred to 82nd Foot in 1803 on disbanding of 2nd and 3rd battalions; died 1856.

Lt. Col. Alexander Keith

Major in 27th Foot 27 September 1796; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 19 October 1799 (on transfer from 27th Foot); exchanged to 73rd Foot 27 April 1802.

Lt. Col. Sir William Cockburn, Bart.

Born Ireland 1768; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 73rd Foot 1798; on half-pay 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 27 April 1802 (on exchange with Keith); Inspecting Field Officer of Volunteers in Ireland 1804; brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; died Bath 1835.

Lt. Col. Henry William Espinasse

Major in 11th Foot 6 August 1799; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel May 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in 18th Foot 14 September 1804 (on transfer from 11th Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 6 August 1805; commanded 2/4th Foot at Walcheren; retired January 1810.

Lt. Col. Charles Bevan

Born London 1778; Major in 28th Foot 1 December 1804; served in Peninsula August 1808 to January 1809; Lieutenant-Colonel in 4th Foot 18 January 1810 (on transfer from 28th Foot); commanded 1/4th Foot in Peninsula January 1811 to July 1811; committed suicide at Portelagre 8 July 1811 after being held accountable for the loss of the French garrison at Almeida.

Lt. Col. Francis Brooke, C.B.

Born Ireland 1770; Major in 4th Foot 18 July 1804; served in Peninsula with 1/4th Foot August 1808 to January 1809; and again November 1810 to November 1813; Lieutenant-Colonel 14 February 1811; commanded 2/4th Foot February to July 1811; commanded 1/4th Foot July 1811 to July 1812, and December 1812 to November 1813; commanded brigade in 5th Division July 1812 to December 1812; missed 1814 North American campaign due to illness; returned early 1815 and wounded at New Orleans; commanded Lambert’s brigade at Waterloo (as Lambert was de facto commander 6th Division); retired 1819; died 1826.

Lt. Col. Edmund Faunce

Born Quebec 1775; Major in 4th Foot 15 August 1804; served in Peninsula August 1808 to January 1809; Lieutenant-Colonel 1 August 1811; commanded 2/4th Foot July 1811 to 1813; retired July 1813.

Major John Piper, C.B.

Served in Peninsula with 1/4th Foot August 1808 to January 1809; Major 16 August 1810; served in Peninsula again November 1810 to January 1814; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 17 August 1812; commanded 1/4th Foot July 1812 to December 1812; wounded at San Sebastian; temporarily commanded a brigade in 5th Division December 1813; died 1822.

Lt. Col. David Williamson

Major in 4th Foot 4 June 1807; served in Peninsula with 2/4th Foot July 1812 to January 1813; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 17 August 1812; Lieutenant-Colonel 22 July 1813; commanded 2/4th Foot at San Sebastian; wounded seven times in the Peninsula; on half-pay 1820.

Major Alured Dodshaw Faunce, C.B.

Born Bristol 1775; Served in Peninsula with 1/4th Foot August 1808 to January 1809; and again from November 1810 to June 1812; Major in 4th Foot 14 February 1811; then in Peninsula with 2/4th Foot July 1812 to January 1813; commanded 1/4th Foot in Peninsula from March 1814 to April 1814; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 29 September 1814; commanded 1/4th Foot in North America 1814-1815; wounded at New Orleans; subsequently (and belatedly) Lieutenant-Colonel 24 January 1822; died 1850.

Captain George David Willson, C.B.

Captain in 4th Foot 7 August 1804; served at Copenhagen 1807; served in Peninsula August 1808 to January 1809; wounded at Corunna; served in Walcheren; and again in Peninsula 1810 to April 1814; ADC to General Pringle 1812; brevet Major 26 December 1813; commanded 1/4th Foot at Waterloo (in absence of Brooke as brigade commander); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 18 June 1815.

Captain John Easton Kipping

Born Kent 1775; Captain in 4th Foot 8 August 1804; served in Peninsula August 1808 to January 1809; and again November 1810 to April 1814; severely wounded at Vittoria; commanded 1/4th Foot for a time after San Sebastian; brevet Major 25 December 1813; retired August 1820.

Sources:

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

Cannon, Richard. Historical Record of the Fourth or King’s Own Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment, and of its Subsequent Services to 1839. 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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