British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815

British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815: 24th Regiment of Foot

Secondary Titles:

2nd Warwickshire

Regimental History

1689:	18 March – raised by Sir Edward Dering in Ireland
1804:	1 August – 2nd Battalion formed in Warwick from Army of Reserve recruits
1814:	24 October – 2nd Battalion disbanded in Warwick.

Colonels

1772:	15 January	William Taylor
1793:	13 November	Richard Whyte
1807:	19 July	Sir David Baird, Bt. K.B. & C.

Stations and Combats – 1st Battalion

1793:	Detroit
1794:	Detroit
1795:	Detroit; Upper Canada
1796:	Upper Canada; November – Bermuda
1797:	Quebec
1798:	Quebec
1799:	Quebec; November – Nova Scotia; detachment in Warwick
1800:	Nova Scotia; April – detachment at Lynn; September – to England; Hilsea Barracks; November – detachment at Swaffham; December – battalion reunited at Exeter
1801:	Exeter; June – Plymouth; July – Malta; EGYPT – capture of Alexandria; November – Malta – many opthalmia cases
1802:	February – to England ; Hilsea; June – Liverpool
1803:	Liverpool; June – Ipswich; Broomswell Heath
1804:	Norwich
1805:	Portsmouth; May – to Ireland ; Cork; September - to Cape of Good Hope
1806:	January – Blaauwberg; capture of Cape Town
1807:	Cape of Good Hope
1808:	Cape of Good Hope
1809:	Cape of Good Hope
1810:	Cape of Good Hope; June - to India – attacked by French ships, most of battalion POW; taken to Mauritius (Isle de France)
1811:	Isle de France (as POWs); released when island invaded; to Bengal; Calcutta
1812:	Fort William ( Calcutta)
1813:	Fort William (Calcutta)
1814:	Fort William ( Calcutta); November – Nepal ; Kalunga
1815:	Nepal – Jitgurgh; Deothal
1816:	Nepal (until 1818)

Stations and Combats – 2nd Battalion

1804:	Formed in Warwickshire
1805:	England
1806:	England
1807:	England
1808:	Guernsey
1809:	Jersey; April to Peninsula; TALAVERA
1810:	Bussaco
1811:	FUENTES D’ONORO
1812:	Ciudad Rodrigo; SALAMANCA; Burgos; December – amalgamated with 2/58th Foot in 3rd Provisional Battalion
1813:	VITTORIA; PYRENEES; Echelar; NIVELLE
1814:	ORTHEZ; June – to England ; October – disbanded in Warwickshire.

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

Lt. Col. Richard England

Born Ireland 1755; served in American War, wounded three times at Bunker Hill; taken POW at Saratoga; Major in 47th Foot 14 August 1781; Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 20 February 1783; served in Canada 1789 to 1796; commandant at Detroit 1793; brevet Colonel 1 March 1794; subsequently Major-General 3 May 1796; Lieutenant-General 25 September 1803; died in Canada 1812; at nearly 2 metres tall, his nickname was ‘Great Britain’; must not be confused with his son, General Sir Richard England (1793-1883).

Lt. Col. William Campbell

Major in 24th Foot 1 July 1788; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 9 September 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel 22 September 1795; Governor of Bermuda 1796; died on Bermuda 2 December 1796.

Lt. Col. John Blake

Born Galway c.1762; Major in 24th Foot 22 September 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel 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.

Major Charles Erle

Major in 24th Foot 2 September 1795; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; retired June 1802.

Major Robert Stiel

Major in 24th Foot 23 March 1797; retired April 1799.

Major William Doyle

Born Ireland 1755; served in American War 1776 to 1777; POW 1777 to 1781; Captain in 24th Foot 31 July 1787; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 22 July 1797; Deputy Adjutant-General in Canada 1797 to 1803; Assistant Adjutant-General in Ireland 1803; Major in 9th Reserve Battalion July 1803; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811, Lieutenant-General 12 August 1819; died Ireland 1823.

Lt. Col. William Kelly, C.B.

Major in 24th Foot 5 April 1799; served in Egypt 1801; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1805; served at Cape of Good Hope 1806; Lieutenant-Colonel 22 February 1810; commanded 2/24th Foot in Peninsula May 1811 to December 1812; commanded 3rd Provisional Battalion December 1812 to August 1813; brevet Colonel 4 June 1813; wounded at Echelar 2 August 1813; served in Nepal 1816; died 1818.

Lt. Col. John Randall Forster

Born Kent 1770; Major in 22nd Foot 27 February 1796; Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 10 December 1799; commanded 24th Foot in Egypt 1801; retired April 1802.

Lt. Col. Hon. Godfrey McDonald

Major in 55th Foot 21 November 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 28 April 1802 (on transfer from 55th Foot); commanded 2/24th Foot 1804 to 1808; exchanged to 1st Foot Guards 11 February 1808.

Major Edward James O’Brien

Major in 24th Foot 3 June 1802; retired on half-pay of Princess Charlotte of Wales Fencibles September 1804.

Lt. Col. Charles Hicks

Major in 24th Foot 1 August 1804 (on transfer from 61st Foot); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 25 July 1810; Lieutenant-Colonel 3 October 1811; commanded 1/24th Foot 1812 to 1813; retired December 1816.

Lt. Col. Thomas Chamberlin

Served in Egypt 1801; Major in 24th Foot 2 August 1804; served in Capr of Good Hope 1806; served in Peninsula with 2/24th Foot April 1809 to May 1811; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1811; again in Peninsula February to July 1812; Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1813; on half-pay 1815; Lieutenant-Colonel of 8th Royal Veteran Battalion 25 November 1819; died 1828.

Lt. Col. Randolph Marriott

Born Yorkshire 1770; served in West Indies 1796 to 1797; Major in 31st Foot 1 April 1797; served in Helder 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel in 9th Foot 14 November 1801; Lieutenant-Colonel in 11th Battalion of Reserve 11 July 1803 (from half-pay of 9th Foot); Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 1 September 1804; commanded 1/24th Foot at Cape of Good Hope 1808 to 1810; brevet Colonel 25 July 1810; wounded and POW at sea battle off Mozambique 1810; commanded 1/24th Foot in India 1811 to 1813; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1813; died 1821.

Major Samuel Taylor Popham

Major in 24th Foot 14 September 1804 (on transfer from 5th Battalion of Reserve); served in Peninsula with 2/24th Foot April to July 1809; taken POW at Talavera and in captivity until the end of the war; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1811; Deputy Quartermaster-General in West Indies 1815; subsequently Lieutenant-Colonel 10 September 1818.

Lt. Col. George Duncan Drummond

Captain & Lieutenant-Colonel in 1st Foot Guards 19 November 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel in 24th Foot 11 February 1808 (on transfer from 1st Foot Guards); commanded 2/24th Foot in Peninsula April to November 1809; severely wounded at Talavera; brevet Colonel 25 October 1809; on staff in Peninsula January to September 1811; commanded a brigade in Light Division February to September 1811; died of fever 8 September 1811.

Major Thomas Watkin Forster

Major in 24th Foot 22 February 1810; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 12 August 1819; on half-pay 1820.

Major William Robison

Served in Nova Scotia 1797 to 1801; Quartermaster-General in Cape of Good Hope 1806 to 1810; Major in 24th Foot 3 October 1811; ADC to Sir Samuel Auchmuty on Batavia 1811; commanded 1/24th Foot in Nepal 1815; subsequently Lieutenant-Colonel 12 December 1816.

Major Henry White

Major in 24th Foot 4 June 1813; on half-pay 1815.

Sources:

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

Chichester, Henry Manners, and Burges-Short, Henry. The Records and Badges of Every Regiment and Corps in the British Army. London: William Clowes & Sons, 1895.

McKenna, Michael G. The British Army – And Its Regiments and Battalions. West Chester, Ohio: The Nafziger Collection. 2004.

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.

Reid, Stuart. Wellington’s Officers, Volume 1. Leigh-On-Sea: Partizan Press, 2008.

Westlake, Ray. English & Welsh Infantry Regiments - An Illustrated Record of Service 1662-1994. Staplehurst: Spellmount, 2002.

London Gazette Website. September 2009.

Placed on the Napoleon Series: September 2009

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