(A.) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BRITISH INFANTRY OF THE LINE. July, 1809.
N.B.—The star * affixed to a battalion’s station means that it had just returned from Sir John Moore’s Corunna Campaign.
| No. of Regiment. | Territorial or other Designation. | Establishment. Officers and men. | Station of 1st Battalion. | Station of 2nd and other Battalions [if any]. |
| 1st | Royal Scots | 4926 | West Indies | 2nd East Indies; 3rd Home* [went to Walcheren]; 4th Home |
| 2nd | Queen’s Royal | 906 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 3rd | The Buffs | 1610 | Peninsular Field Army | Home |
| 4th | King’s Own | 2031 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 5th | Northumberland Regiment | 2031 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 6th | 1st Warwickshire | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 7th | Royal Fusiliers | 2031 | Nova Scotia | Lisbon [later Gibraltar] |
| 8th | The King’s Regiment | 1610 | West Indies | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 9th | East Norfolk | 2289 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Peninsular Field Army |
| 10th | North Lincoln | 1610 | Sicily | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 11th | North Devon | 2031 | Madeira [later Peninsula] | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 12th | East Suffolk | 941 | East Indies | [Raised a 2nd battalion in 1813] |
| 13th | 1st Somerset | 1126 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 14th | Bucks Regiment[A] | 2290 | East Indies | 2nd Home* [Walcheren]; 3rd Sicily |
| 15th | East Riding Regiment | 1400 | West Indies | Home |
| 16th | Bedfordshire333 | 406 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 17th | Leicestershire | 1151 | East Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 18th | Royal Irish | 1669 | West Indies | West Indies |
| 19th | 1st York, North Riding | 930 | East Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 20th | East Devon | 930 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 21st | Royal North British Fusiliers | 1820 | Sicily | Home |
| 22nd | Cheshire | 941 | East Indies | [Raised a 2nd battalion in 1814] |
| 23rd | Royal Welsh Fusiliers | 2079 | Nova Scotia | Home* [went to Walcheren] |
| 24th | 2nd Warwickshire | 2031 | Cape of Good Hope | Peninsular Field Army |
| 25th | King’s Own Borderers | 1400 | West Indies | Home |
| 26th | Cameronians | 1610 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 27th | Inniskillings | 3448 | Sicily | 2nd Battalion Sicily; 3rd battalion Garrison of Lisbon |
| 28th | North Gloucestershire | 2031 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Peninsular Field Army |
| 29th | Worcestershire | 1126 | Peninsular Field Army | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 30th | Cambridgeshire | 2242 | East Indies | Gibraltar [late Lisbon] |
| 31st | Huntingdonshire | 2079 | Malta | Peninsular Field Army |
| 32nd | Cornwall | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 33rd | 1st West Riding | 941 | East Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 34th | Cumberland | 1845 | East Indies | Home [later to Peninsula] |
| 35th | Sussex | 1820 | Sicily | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 36th | Herefordshire | 1610 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 37th | North Hants | 706 | West Indies | [Raised a 2nd battalion in 1811] |
| 38th | 1st Stafford | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 39th | Dorsetshire | 1820 | Malta | Peninsular Field Army |
| 40th | 2nd Somerset | 1820 | Peninsular Field Army | Home |
| 41st | None | 696 | Canada | [Raised a 2nd battalion 1814] |
| 42nd | Black Watch | 2031 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Peninsular Field Army |
| 43rd | Monmouth | 2031 | Peninsular Field Army* | Home* [went to Walcheren] |
| 44th | 1st Essex | 2030 | Sicily | Gibraltar |
| 45th | Nottinghamshire | 1610 | Peninsular Field Army | Home |
| 46th | South Devon | 496 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 47th | Lancashire | 2242 | East Indies | Home [later Cadiz] |
| 48th | Northamptonshire | 2251 | Peninsular Field Army | Peninsular Field Army |
| 49th | Hertfordshire | 906 | Canada | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 50th | West Kent | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 51st | 2nd West Riding | 906 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 52nd | Oxfordshire | 2079 | Peninsular Field Army* | Home* [went to Walcheren] |
| 53rd | Shropshire | 2242 | East Indies | Peninsular Field Army |
| 54th | West Norfolk | 706 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 55th | Westmoreland | 706 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 56th | West Essex | 2301 | East Indies | 2nd battalion East Indies [raised a 3rd battalion 1813] |
| 57th | West Middlesex | 1610 | Gibraltar [later Portugal] | Home |
| 58th | Rutland | 1820 | Sicily | Garrison of Lisbon |
| 59th | 2nd Nottinghamshire | 1290 | East Indies | Home* [went to Walcheren] |
| 60th | Royal Americans | 4847 | West Indies | 2nd battalion West Indies; 3rd battalion ditto; 4th battalion ditto; 5th battalion Peninsular Field Army; 6th and 7th West Indies |
| 61st | South Gloucestershire | 1820 | Peninsular Field Army | Home |
| 62nd | Wiltshire | 1610 | Sicily | Sicily |
| 63rd | West Suffolk | 1610 | West Indies | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 64th | 2nd Staffordshire | 916 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 65th | 2nd Yorks, North Riding | 731 | East Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 66th | Berkshire | 2031 | East Indies | Peninsular Field Army |
| 67th | South Hants | 2031 | East Indies | Home |
| 68th | Durham | 716 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 69th | South Lincolnshire | 1337 | East Indies | Home |
| 70th | Surrey Regiment | 706 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 71st | Glasgow Highlanders | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 72nd | Highlanders | 1600 | East Indies | Home |
| 73rd | 2nd Royal Highlanders | 1180 | Sailing to N.S. Wales | Home [only formed in 1809] |
| 74th | Highlanders | 696 | Home [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 75th | Highlanders | 696 | Home | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 76th | Hindostan Regiment | 1126 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 77th | East Middlesex | 696 | Home [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 78th | Rosshire Buffs | 1885 | East Indies | Sicily [later Home] |
| 79th | Cameron Highlanders | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 80th | Staffordshire Volunteers | 1151 | East Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 81st | 2nd Loyal Lincoln | 2079 | Sicily | Home* [went to Walcheren] |
| 82nd | Prince of Wales’ Volunteers | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 83rd | None | 2461 | Cape of Good Hope | Peninsular Field Army |
| 84th | York and Lancaster | 2276 | East Indies | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 85th | Bucks Volunteers | 716 | Home [went to Walcheren] | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 86th | Leinster Regiment | 731 | East Indies | [Raised a 2nd battalion 1814] |
| 87th | Prince of Wales’ Irish Fusiliers | 2299 | Cape of Good Hope | Peninsular Field Army |
| 88th | Connaught Rangers | 2031 | Peninsular Field Army | Lisbon [later Gibraltar] |
| 89th | None | 2031 | Cape of Good Hope | Gibraltar |
| 90th | Perthshire Volunteers | 1610 | West Indies | Home |
| 91st | Highlanders | 1390 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 92nd | Gordon Highlanders | 1820 | Home* [went to Walcheren] | Home |
| 93rd | Sutherland Highlanders | 1126 | Cape of Good Hope | [Raised a second battalion 1814] |
| 94th | Scotch Brigade | 696 | Home | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 95th | Rifles | 2283 | Peninsular Field Army* | 2nd Home* [went to Walcheren] 3rd Home [only just raised] |
| 96th | None | 1400 | West Indies | Home |
| 97th | Queen’s Germans | 907 | Peninsular Field Army | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 98th | None | 906 | Bermuda | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 99th | Prince of Wales’ Tipperary | 696 | Bermuda | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 100th | County of Dublin | 696 | Canada | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 101st | Duke of York’s Irish | 906 | West Indies | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 102nd | New South Wales | 906 | New South Wales | No 2nd battalion raised |
| 103rd | None | 486 | Canada | No 2nd battalion raised |
| Total. | 1st Battalions. | 2nd Battalions. | 3rd and Junior
Battalions. | Total. |
| At Home | 25334 | 42335 | 3336 | 70 |
| Peninsula | 11337 | 15 | 2 | 28 |
| Sicily and Malta | 10 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| East Indies | 21 | 2 | 0 | 23 |
| West Indies | 21 | 2 | 4 | 27 |
| Cape of Good Hope | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Canada and Nova Scotia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| New South Wales | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gibraltar and Madeira | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 179 |
A consideration of the prefixed table of “establishments” shows the following results. Putting aside the regiments with many battalions (the 1st, 14th, 27th, 60th, 95th), the remainder fall into two-battalion and single-battalion corps.
Of the 61 double-battalion regiments—
9 were at a strength of 2250 or thereabouts.338
17 were at a strength of 2031 or thereabouts.339
16 were at a strength of 1820 or thereabouts.340
12 were at a strength of 1610 or thereabouts.341
7 were at a strength of under 1600.342
All the regiments on the two higher establishments (with one exception) had both battalions on active service in 1809, either one in the Indies and one in Europe, or both in Europe. Hence it was necessary to keep them at a very high figure.
Those with 1820 or 1610 men were nearly all regiments which had one battalion on active service and one on home service, though a very few had both overseas (such as the 18th, 34th, 39th, 62nd); in such cases the 2nd battalion, though on service, was very weak.
The two-battalion corps with under 1600 men were almost invariably regiments which had one battalion in the Indies, worked down to very low numbers by disease, and had failed to keep up its strength (the 15th, 25th, 96th in the West, the 59th, 69th in the East Indies).
The 37 single-battalion regiments stood on the following establishments—
6 were at a strength of 1126 or thereabouts.343
13 were at a strength of 940 or thereabouts.344
15 were at a strength of 700–730 or thereabouts.345
3 were at a strength of under 600.346
Those corps on the two higher establishments are either actually serving, or are designated for immediate service abroad, and have therefore their establishments fixed high. Those on the lower establishments (730 or under) fall into two classes: either they are regiments in the East or West Indies which have died down to a low figure [e.g. 16th, 37th, 46th, 54th, 55th, 65th, 68th, 70th, 86th] or they are battalions quartered in peaceful stations and not expected to be sent on active service, [e.g. 41st, 99th, 100th, 103rd, in Canada and Bermuda] or at home [74th, 75th, 77th, 85th, 94th]. All the last-named five, on home service, were raised to a higher establishment and sent to the front in 1810–12.
It will be noted that of the one hundred and three 1st battalions, or single-battalion regiments, a great many were not available, viz. twenty-one in the East Indies, twenty-one in the West Indies (including Bermuda), eleven in the Mediterranean Garrisons, five at the Cape of Good Hope, six in Canada, two in (or bound for) New South Wales. There were only twenty-five 1st battalions at home, and of these twenty had served under Moore in the Corunna retreat and then went on the Walcheren expedition, so that in 1809 they were unavailable. Three more battalions which had not served under Moore had shared in the same descent on the Scheldt (74th, 77th, 85th). There were actually only two single-battalion corps which had neither gone to Corunna nor to Walcheren and were available at home (75th and 94th).347 In the way of the strongly organized first battalions, therefore, there was absolutely nil to send to Wellington in 1809 save Craufurd’s three Light Infantry battalions, which though they had been with Moore in January were back in the Peninsula by July (1/43rd, 1/52nd, 1/95th).
It is easy to see, therefore, that there was the greatest possible difficulty in finding battalions with which Wellesley’s Peninsular Army could be reinforced. Of troops which had not gone to Walcheren there were left in Great Britain only the 75th and 94th, with twenty-eight 2nd (or junior) battalions which had not joined in the expedition to the Scheldt. These were almost without exception very weak units, the first battalions of ten of these were in the Indies, then of five more already in the Peninsula, all their strength was used up in keeping their senior battalions full, of the remaining thirteen only two (2/5th 2/34th, 2/38th), were strong enough to be sent to Portugal. The reinforcements which Wellington was given in the autumn of 1809 and the summer of 1810 were largely scraped up from foreign garrisons—the 1/7th from Nova Scotia, the 1/11th from Madeira, the 1/57th from Gibraltar. But in 1810 Walcheren battalions began to come out, such as the 3/1st, 1/9th, 1/50th, 1/71st, 1/79th, and to load Wellington’s hospitals with ague-stricken convalescents. For later reinforcements see Chapter VII.
ESTABLISHMENT OF CAVALRY IN 1809.
| 1st Dragoon Guards | 905 | Home |
| 2nd Dragoon Guards | 905 | Home |
| 3rd Dragoon Guards | 905 | Peninsular Field Army |
| 4th Dragoon Guards | 905 | Home |
| 5th Dragoon Guards | 905 | Home |
| 6th Dragoon Guards | 905 | Home |
| 7th Dragoon Guards | 905 | Home |
| 1st Dragoons | 1083 | Peninsular Field Army |
| 2nd Dragoons | 905 | Home |
| 3rd Dragoons | 905 | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 4th Dragoons | 905 | Peninsular Field Army |
| 6th Dragoons | 905 | Home |
| 7th Hussars | 905 | *Home |
| 8th Light Dragoons | 720 | East Indies |
| 9th Light Dragoons | 905 | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 10th Hussars | 905 | *Home |
| 11th Light Dragoons | 905 | Home |
| 12th Light Dragoons | 905 | Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 13th Light Dragoons | 905 | Home |
| 14th Light Dragoons | 905 | Peninsular Field Army |
| 15th Hussars | 905 | *Home |
| 16th Light Dragoons | 905 | Peninsular Field Army |
| 17th Light Dragoons | 940 | East Indies |
| 18th Hussars | 905 | *Home |
| 19th Light Dragoons | 905 | Home |
| 20th Light Dragoons | 905 | 1/2 Sicily and 1/2 Peninsula |
| 21st Light Dragoons | 905 | Cape of Good Hope |
| 22nd Light Dragoons | 928 | East Indies |
| 23rd Light Dragoons | 905 | Peninsular Field Army |
| 24th Light Dragoons | 928 | East Indies |
| 25th Light Dragoons | 940 | East Indies |
N.B.—Note that there was no 5th regiment of Dragoons in 1809. The corps last bearing that number had been disbanded in 1799, and its successor was not raised till 1858.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOUSEHOLD TROOPS IN 1809.
| 1st Life Guards | 416 | Home |
| 2nd Life Guards | 416 | Home |
| Royal Horse Guards | 654 | Home |
| 1st Foot Guards (3 batts.) | 4619 | 1st Batt.* Home [went to Walcheren];
2nd Batt. Home;
3rd Batt.* Home [went to Walcheren] |
| 2nd (Coldstream) Foot Guards (2 batts.) | 2887 | 1st Batt. Peninsular Field Army; 2nd Batt. Home |
| 3rd Foot Guards (2 batts.) | 2887 | 1st Batt. Peninsular Field Army; 2nd Batt. Home |
N.B.—The Second Batts. Coldstream and 3rd Foot Guards both sent their flank companies to Walcheren. The troops sent to Cadiz early in 1810 were detachments, viz. 4 companies of the 2/1st Guards, 3 of the 2/2nd, 3 of the 2/3rd.
MISCELLANEOUS CORPS.
In addition to the regular units shown in these lists, there are on the estimates of 1809 twelve veteran battalions, with effectives ranging from 693 to 1129, and eight garrison battalions, mostly with an establishment of 906. Most of these were at home, but a few in the Mediterranean garrisons.
There were also the foreign corps of Meuron, de Roll, Watteville, Dillon, Chasseurs Britanniques, Royal Malta, Royal Corsicans and the Sicilian regiment, all in the Mediterranean, with the York Light Infantry, York Rangers, and Royal West India Rangers in the West Indies. These were all single battalion corps ranging from 1361 men (de Roll) to 694 (York L.I.). The black regiments, eight West India battalions with 1125 men each, could only be used in their own regions.
Of the King’s German Legion there were at home the two Heavy Dragoon Regiments with an establishment of 694 each, and the 2nd and 3rd Hussars, with the same numbers. The 3rd Hussars were just back from the Corunna Retreat: the 2nd went to Walcheren. Of the ten infantry battalions, four (1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th Line) were with the Peninsular Field Army, as was the 1st Hussars; four (3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th Line) were in Sicily; 1st and 2nd Light battalions (just back from Corunna) were at home, and went to Walcheren. Four battalions had establishments of 1062, six of 902, of all ranks.
