British Infantry Regimental Depots 1804

Heroes and Villains: Death and Desertion in the British Army 1811 to 1813

By Steve Brown

The following information has been extracted from statistics published in Parliamentary Papers tabled in 1814. In each instance, I have summarised the ‘top ten’ battalions which suffered the highest rates of either death or desertion for the calendar year.

Unfortunately it is not possible to differentiate between deaths from enemy action and deaths from disease; wherever possible, I have added comments which might enlighten as to the likely major cause of losses.

Deaths in Regular Army Regiments, 1811

Regiment	Deaths	Desertions	Stations	Commanding Officer	Comments
1/3rd ( East Kent) Regiment of Foot (Buffs)	283	3	Portugal	Lt. Col. Stewart	216 killed at Albuera
1/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fuzileers)	272	7	Portugal	Major Nooth	65 killed at Albuera
1/23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers)	251	4	Portugal	Lt. Col. Ellis	76 killed at Albuera
1/14th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot	241	1	Madras & Java	Lt. Col. Watson	Expedition to Java
1/57th ( West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot	215	2	Portugal	Col. Inglis	89 killed at Albuera
2/11th ( North Devonshire) Regiment of Foot	211	6	Gibraltar	Col. Griffiths	Fever
1/40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot	196	0	Portugal	Lt. Col. Harcourt
Royal West India Rangers	184	17	Leeward Islands	Lt. Col. Stewart	Fever
1/34th ( Cumberland) Regiment of Foot	171	2	Portugal	Lt. Col. MacDonnell	33 killed at Albuera
29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot	169	9	Portugal	Lt. Col. Way	80 killed at Albuera

Desertions in Regular Army Regiments, 1811

Regiment	Deaths	Desertions	Stations	Commanding Officer	Comments
37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot	21	173	Ireland	Lt. Col. Spread	Recruited in Ireland on return from WI in 1810
Chasseurs Brittanique	91	139	Portugal & Cadiz	Lt. Col. Eustace	Recruited from French émigrés and others
4/1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot	40	138	Scotland	Lt. Col. Macleod	In barracks in Scotland since formation in 1803
Greek Light Infantry	16	118	Sicily	Lt. Col. Church	Barracks duty in Mediterranean
2/90th Regiment of Foot (Perthshire Volunteers) (Light Infantry)	14	115	Ireland	Col. Steele	Long period of barracks duty in Ireland
2/84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot	23	101	Ireland	Lt. Col. Lloyd	At Walcheren 1809; to Spain 1813
2/59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot	8	97	Ireland	Lt. Col. Fane	At Walcheren 1809; to Cadiz 1812
3/27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot	124	92	Portugal	Lt. Col. Maclean	In Peninsula since 1808
Brunswick Infantry	101	89	Portugal	Lt. Col. de Bernewitz	Recruited partly from mixed POWs
2nd Light Battalion, King’s German Legion	53	89	Portugal	Lt. Col. Halkett	Recruited partly from German POWs

Observations for 1811:

The spectre of Albuera hangs over those units recording most deaths for the year – six out of the ten above were present in either the Colborne or Fusilier brigades.

It will be noted that most of the regiments with the highest number of desertions at home were 2nd or later Battalions, stationed in Ireland (mainly) having had at least 2 years of sedentary barracks duty. Others with high desertion rates were recipients of men from foreign sources with dubious loyalty.

Deaths in Regular Army Regiments, 1812

Regiment	Deaths	Desertions	Stations	Commanding Officer	Comments
1/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fuzileers)	439	2	Spain	Lt. Col. Blakeney	55 killed at Badajoz
1/40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot	377	2	Spain	Lt. Col. Harcourt	85 killed at Badajoz
Royal African Corps	250	16	Senegal , Goree etc.	Lt. Col. Maxwell	Fever
1/43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry)	249	11	Spain	Lt. Col. Hearn	77 killed at Badajoz
1/11th ( North Devonshire) Regiment of Foot	240	2	Spain	Lt. Col. Cuyler	45 killed at Salamanca
1/Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards	232	0	Spain	Lt. Col. Philipps	57 killed at siege of Burgos
1/23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers)	231	2	Spain	Lt. Col. Ellis	34 killed at Badajoz
1/52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry)	229	7	Spain	Lt. Col. Colborne	71 killed at Badajoz
74th ( Highland) Regiment of Foot	228	31	Spain	Lt. Col. Hon. R. Trench	22 killed at Badajoz
1/88th Regiment of Foot ( Connaught Rangers)	219	7	Spain	Lt. Col. Wallace	60 killed at Badajoz

Desertions in Regular Army Regiments, 1812

Regiment	Deaths	Desertions	Stations	Commanding Officer	Comments
1st Greek Light Infantry	15	215	Sicily	Lt. Col. Church	Barracks duty in Mediterranean
4/1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot	16	202	Scotland	Major Nixon	In barracks in Scotland since formation in 1803
Chasseurs Brittanique	76	171	Spain	Lt. Col. Eustace	Recruited from French émigrés and others
3/27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot	221	139	Spain	Lt. Col. Maclean	4th Division – heavy losses at Badajoz
2/84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot	20	113	Ireland	Lt. Col. Lloyd	At Walcheren 1809; to Spain 1813
Dillon’s Regiment	14	101	Sicily & Spain	Lt. Col. Watson	Recruited from numerous foreign sources
2/91st (Argyllshire Highlanders) Regiment of Foot	2	99	Scotland	Lt. Col. Ottley	In barracks in Scotland since formation in 1804
Glengarry Fencibles	29	94	Canada	Lt. Col. Battersby	Newly raised from settlers
Royal York Rangers	80	93	Leeward Islands	Lt. Col. Mahon	In West Indies since 1809
29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot	26	91	England	Lt. Col. Way	Home to recruit after Albuera

Observations for 1812:

In terms of deaths, we see a pattern emerging – one that should not surprise us; the troops of the Light Division, Picton’s Fighting Third, and the Fusilier Brigade all feature prominently, in a year that saw the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and the Battle of Salamanca.

The Inniskillings could have also appeared in the deaths summary – I decided to show them in the desertions summary as they leaked men into the countryside for a second year running. As indeed so did the 4th Battalion of the Royals, in their ninth consecutive year of barracks duty in Scotland ; something the 2/91st also shared in common.

Deaths in Regular Army Regiments, 1813

Regiment	Deaths	Desertions	Stations	Commanding Officer	Comments
1/1st Regiment of Foot Guards	570	0	Spain	Col. Griffith	548 died of fever January to July
1/4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot	464	7	Spain	Lt. Col. Brooke	122 killed at siege of San Sebastian
3/1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot	423	12	Spain	Lt. Col. Barnes	126 killed at siege of San Sebastian
1/5th (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot	349	2	Spain	Lt. Col. Pratt
1/38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot	318	4	Spain	Col. Hon. C. Greville	38 killed at siege of San Sebastian
1/82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)	283	7	Spain	Col. Grant
2/47th ( Lancashire) Regiment of Foot	282	23	Spain	Major Kelly	113 killed at siege of San Sebastian
1/Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards	257	3	Spain	Lt. Col. Woodford
1/9th ( East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot	255	6	Spain	Lt. Col. Cameron	68 killed at siege of San Sebastian
3/1st Regiment of Foot Guards	248	0	Spain	Col. Lord Proby	Nearly all fever deaths January to July
1/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fuzileers)	247	4	Spain	Lt. Col. Blakeney	53 killed in Pyrenees July - August
3/27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot	241	50	Spain	Lt. Col. Maclean	61 killed in Pyrenees July - August

Desertions in Regular Army Regiments, 1813

Regiment	Deaths	Desertions	Stations	Commanding Officer	Comments
Chasseurs Britanniques	124	224	Spain	Lt. Col. Eustace	Recruited from French émigrés and others
1st Greek Light Infantry	16	162	Sicily	Lt. Col. Oswald	Barracks duty in Mediterranean
2nd Italian Regiment	33	137	Spain	Lt. Col. Grant	Raised from Italian POWs
4/1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot	24	126	Scotland	Lt. Col. Muller	In barracks in Scotland since formation in 1803
Dillon’s Regiment	41	126	Sicily & Spain	Lt. Col. Watson	Recruited from numerous foreign sources
Royal York Rangers	74	109	Leeward Islands	Lt. Col. Mahon
Glengarry Fencibles	65	106	Canada	Lt. Col. Battersby	Recruited from settlers
5/60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot (Rifles)	72	102	Spain	Col. Keane	Recruited from German POWs
33rd (1st Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot	9	90	England & Germany	Col. Gore	Recruited heavily on return from India in 1811
2/73rd ( Highland) Regiment of Foot	8	76	England & Germany	Lt. Col. Harris	In barracks since 1809

Observations for 1813:

I expanded the deaths listing to twelve – so I could fit in those heroic rapscallions of the 27th!

Note that the 7th (Royal Fuzileers) feature for all three years – a total of 958 deaths (for an establishment of 1015 men!) – but only 15 desertions.

The 1st Foot Guards experienced a horrific fever plague whilst stationed in Oporto during the first half of the year.

The Chasseurs Britanniques appear high on the list of deserters all three years, thus proving their historical reputation in this area. One can only assume that Lt. Col. Eustace was bald by late 1813! 534 deserters in 3 years was nearly half its establishment.

The 33rd was the Duke of Wellington’s old regiment; the 2/73rd was another regiment that had languished in barracks at home for some years. Both of these regiments went on to serve with distinction at Waterloo.

Total Deaths and Desertions for the Period

Total figures for deaths and desertions for the period were as follows;

Year	Total Army Establishment	Deaths (% Establishment)	Desertions (% Establishment)
1811	234,594	13,476 (5.75%)	5,072 (2.16%)
1812	243,885	16,409 (6.73%)	6,001 (2.46%)
1813	255,876	18,015 (7.05%)	6,284 (2.45%)

Therefore on average the British Army could expect to lose one man in forty to desertion; one man in fifteen died.

Sources:

House of Commons; Parliamentary Papers. London; 1814.

Burnham, Robert. The British Army in the Napoleonic Wars: Manpower Stretched to the Limits? Napoleon Series.

Norman, C.B. Battle Honours of the British Army. Devon: David & Charles; 1971.

Placed on the Napoleon Series: August 2009

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