The Napoleon Series British Infantry Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815 By Steve Brown 44th Regiment of Foot Secondary Title: East Essex
Regimental History, 44th Regiment of Foot 1741: Raised as James Long's Regiment of Foot 1750: Halkett's Regiment of Foot 1751: Numbered as 44th Regiment of Foot 1782: Secondary title - East Essex 1803: 9 July - 2nd Battalion formed in Ireland 1816: 25 January - 2nd Battalion disbanded at Dover 1881: 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment 1958: 3rd Battalion, East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot) on amalgamation with The Bedfordshire Regiment and The Hertfordshire Regiment 1964: 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment on amalgamation with 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk), 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's Own Royal Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire) and The Royal Leicesterhire Regiment 1992: 3rd Battalion disbanded
Service History and Demographics, 1st Battalion 44th Regiment of Foot 1793: Ireland - Dublin; September - Kilkenny; flank companies to Barbados 1794: Flank companies at Martinique, St Lucia and Guadeloupe; battalion companies in Ireland; April - Dublin; to England; Liverpool; June - to Flanders; Ostend; Malines; Breda; Boxtel; line of the River Waal 1795: Retreat to Bremen; Bremenlee; April - to England; Harwich; Durham; Newcastle Upon Tyne; November - to Barbados; storms in English Channel 1796: February - part of battalion Barbados; April - remainder of battalion arrived; capture of St Lucia; Morne Fortunee; La Vigie 1797: West Indies; June - fit men drafted into 87th Foot; to England; July - Portsmouth; Gravesend 1798: Bury St Edmunds; May - Canterbury; October - Portsmouth; to Gibraltar 1799: Gibraltar 1800: Gibraltar; October - to Egypt; Bay of Marmorice 1801: February - EGYPT; Aboukir; Alexandria; Cairo; seige of Alexandria; October - Malta; December - to England 1802: May - Bristol; to Ireland; Waterford 1803: Wexford; New Geneva; Waterford; October - to England; Portsmouth 1804: Winchester; April - Isle of Wight; August - Shorncliff; September - Fairlight; November - Battle 1805: Battle; April - Hilsea; May - to Mediterranean; Malta 1806: Malta 1807: Malta | 11% English/Welsh, 3% Scots, 86% Irish 1808: Malta; May - flank companies to Sicily; September - battalion companies to Sicily 1809: Sicily; June - Ischia; Procida; August - Sicily; Messina; Scylla; September - detachment to Ionian Islands 1810: Messina 1811: Messina; March - Salvadore dei Greci; August - to Malta 1812: Malta; June - five companies to Sicily 1813: Malta; February - battalion reunited; May - five companies to Sicily; Minorca; to east coast of Spain; Tarragona; September - remaining five companies to Spain 1814: Tarragona; March - Villafranca; Saragossa; April - to France; Bourdeaux; June - to North America; Chesapeake; Washington; BLADENSBURG; Baltimore; to West Indies; October - Jamaica; to Louisiana 1815: New Orleans; Fort Bowyer; to Ireland; May - Cork.
Service History and Demographics, 2nd Battalion 44th Regiment of Foot 1803: July - formed in Ireland from Irish Army of Reserve Act men; Kilkenny 1804: Mallow; March - to England; April - Isle of Wight; August - Sandown; October - Guernsey 1805: Guernsey 1806: Guernsey 1807: Guernsey 1808: Guernsey | 8% English/Welsh, 1% Scots, 91% Irish 1809: Guernsey; August - Alderney 1810: Alderney; March - to Cadiz; Isla de Leon; September - to Portugal; Lisbon; Lines of Torres Vedras 1811: Torres Vedras; Fort Concepcion; Barba del Puerco; Nava de Aver; Caya; Portalegre; Guarda; Villa de Rey; Oliveirinha 1812: Ciudad Rodrigo; BADAJOZ; SALAMANCA; August - Madrid; Burgos; Villa Muriel; Castellegos; December - St Martinha 1813: February - fit men into four companies, remaining six to England; into Provisional Battalion with 2/30th Foot; June - to England; July - Portsmouth; Horsham; Brighton, Steyning; November - Ramsgate; to Flanders; Tholen 1814: Antwerp; Merxcem; March - Bergen-op-Zoom - most of battalion taken POW; May - Ostend; POWs released 1815: Ostend; April - Brussels; Quatre Bras; WATERLOO; advance on Paris; Army of Occupation 1816: January - Calais; to England; Dover; March - disbanded at Dover.
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Significant Militia/Volunteer Intakes: (militia units unless noted otherwise) 1799: 2nd Surrey 1801: 1st Devonshire 1804: Received Additional Fores Act men from County Kildare, County Wicklow, County Carlow, County Westmeath, King’s County and Queens County 1807: Queen's County 1808: County Down South 1810: County Tipperary 1811: Worcestershire 1812: West Kent; Worcestershire; County Wicklow 1813: 1st Lancashire; West Kent; County Clare; County Longford
Colonels
Charles RAINSFORD Born: Essex 1728 Regimental Service: Captain & Lieutenant-Colonel in Coldstream Foot Guards 5 March 1761; 2nd Major in 1st Foot Guards 1763; Colonel of 44th Foot 4 May 1781 Early Service: Served at Fontenoy; served in Jacobite Rebellion; Governor of Chester 1776-1796; Governor of Gibraltar 1794-1795 Service 1793-1815: Governor of Tynemouth and Cliffords Fort 1795-1809 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 5 August 1774; Major-General 29 August 1777; Lieutenant-General 20 November 1782; General 3 May 1796 Awards & Honours: MP 1772-1774, 1787-1788, 1790-1796 Died: London 24 May 1809.
Sir Thomas TRIGGE Born: 1741 Regimental Service: Major in 12th Foot 17 November 1773; Lieutenant-Colonel 6 June 1778; Colonel of 68th Foot 25 March 1795; Colonel en Second RE 6 November 1804; Colonel of 44th Foot 27 May 1809 Early Service: Served in Germany 1759-1762; served at the Great Siege of Gibraltar; commanded ground troops at capture of Surinam 1799 and The Saints 1801 Service 1793-1815: Governor of Portsmouth 1790; Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar 1803-1804; Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance 1804-1814 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 20 November 1782; Major-General 12 October 1793; Lieutenant-General 1 January 1798; General 25 September 1803 Awards & Honours: KB Died: London 11 January 1814.
John Howard, Earl of SUFFOLK Born: 1739 Relations: Son of Captain Philip Howard, HM Marines Regimental Service: Captain & Lieutenant-Colonel in 1st Foot Guards May 1773; Colonel of 97th Foot 13 September 1782; Colonel of 70th Foot 16 August 1783; Colonel of 44th Foot 12 January 1814 Early Service: Served in North America 1779-1781 Service 1793-1815: Governor of Londonderry and Culmore 1806-1820 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 17 November 1780; Major-General 28 September 1787; Lieutenant-General 26 January 1789; General 29 April 1802 Awards & Honours: 15th Earl of Suffolk in 1783; FRS Died: 23 January 1820.
Lieutenant-Colonels
William John DARBY Regimental Service: Major in 7th Foot 10 August 1780; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 13 June 1789 Early Service: Served in American Revolution Service 1793-1815: Commanded 44th Foot 1789-1793 Retired: 26 November 1793.
Robert RIDDELL Regimental Service: Major in 18th Light Dragoons 31 March 1793; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 26 November 1793 (vice Darby) Service 1793-1815: Commanded 44th Foot 1793-1796 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel in West Indies 20 October 1796 Died: St Lucia 27 September 1796.
David OGILVIE Relations: Second son of Sir William Ogilvie of Inverquharity Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel 1 September 1795 Service 1793-1815: Commanded 44th Foot 1796-1801; served in West Indies; served in Egypt, wounded at Alexandria Died: Died of wounds at Alexandria 4 April 1801.
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Charles BAILLIE Regimental Service: Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 27 August 1794; Lieutenant-Colonel in 101st Foot 22 October 1794 (on transfer from 67th Foot); on half-pay 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 18 January 1797 (vice Riddell); exchanged to Lieutenant- Colonel in 50th Foot 25 July 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 51st Foot 6 September 1798; Colonel of 3rd Ceylon Regiment 7 April 1804 Service 1793-1815: Served in Ceylon 1804-1810 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 1 January 1800; Brigadier-General in Ceylon 31 July 1806; Major-General 25 April 1808 Died: 1810.
Francis ERSKINE Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 912 Regimental Service: Major in 50th Foot 1 September 1795; Lieutenant-Colonel in 96th Foot 2 January 1796; exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 25 July 1798 (vice Baillie); exchanged to half-pay of 99th Foot 24 January 1799 Died: 7 June 1833.
Christopher TILSON (CHOWNE) Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 207 Born: Oxfordshire 1771 Relations: Took Chowne surname 14 January 1812 Regimental Service: Lieutenant-Colonel in 99th Foot 15 November 1794; to half-pay of 99th Foot; exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 24 January 1799 (vice Erskine); Colonel of 76th Foot 17 February 1814 Service 1793-1815: Wounded in Egypt 1801; commanded brigades in Peninsula April to December 1809; commanded 2nd Division in Peninsula April to December 1812 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 1 January 1801; Brigadier-General in Mediterranean 25 March 25 March 1805; Major- General 25 April 1808; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1813; General 22 July 1830 Awards & Honours: LAGM (Tal) Died: London 15 July 1834.
Kenneth MacKENZIE Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 392 Born: Dundee 1754 Relations: Changed surname to Douglas in 1831 Regimental Service: Major in 90th Foot 13 May 1794; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 19 October 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 5 April 1801 (vice Ogilvie); exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 52nd Foot Early Service: Served in West Indies 1788-1791 Service 1793-1815: Served in Flanders 1793 – wounded at Dunkirk; served at Quiberon 1795; commanded a flank battalion in Portugal 1797; Deputy Adjutant-General in Mediterranean 1798 to 1800; trainer of light infantry at Shorncliffe; served at Cadiz 1810; served on staff in Flanders 1813 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; subsequently Major-General 4 June 1811; Lieutenant-General 19 July 1821 Awards & Honours: Baronet Douglas of Glenbervie in 1831 Retired: After fall from horse November 1803, reinstated in 1810, retired again 1813 Died: London 22 November 1833.
Alexander DIROM Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 231 Born: Banffshire 1757 Regimental Service: Major in 52nd Foot 3 September 1795; exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 24 February 1803 (vice MacKenzie) Early Service: Served in West Indies 1780-1784; served in India 1790-1792 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 29 April 1802; Brigadier-General in Mediterranean 28 May 1807; Major-General 25 October 1809; Lieutenant-General 4 June 1814 Awards & Honours: FRS Died: Dumfries 6 October 1830.
Thomas NICOLL Born: 1768 Regimental Service: Major in 70th Foot 1 September 1795; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel 9 August 1799; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 8 October 1803 Service 1793-1815: Commanded 2/45th Foot 1803-1804 Retired: 15 June 1804.
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Sir Arthur BROOKE Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 569 Born: County Fermanagh 1772 Relations: Younger brother of Sir Henry Brooke, Bt.; great granduncle of WW2 Field-Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 26 December 1802 (vice Johnstone); Lieutenant-Colonel 15 June 1804 (vice Nicoll); Colonel of 86th Foot 24 May 1837 Service 1793-1815: Served in Flanders 1793-1795; served in West Indies 1796; served in Egypt 1801; commanded 1/44th Foot in Mediterranean 1804-1812; served in Peninsula August 1813 to April 1814; served in North America 1814-1815 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 4 June 1813; Major-General 12 August 1819; Lieutenant-General 10 January 1837 Later Service: Governor of Yarmouth 1822-1825 Awards & Honours: KCB Died: London 26 July 1843.
Robert GARDEN Regimental Service: Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798; Major in 54th Foot 5 January 1799; to half-pay of 54th Foot 25 July 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in 10th Battalion of Reserve 16 January 1804; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 1 December 1804; to Lieutenant-Colonel in 89th Foot 5 January 1809 Service 1793-1815: Inspecting Field Officer of Yeomanry 1803; commanded 2/44th Foot 1804-1809 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 25 April 1808 Died: 30 June 1810.
Sir Charles Bulkeley EGERTON Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 529 Born: Cheshire 1774 Regimental Service: Major in 89th Foot 1 June 1798; Lieutenant-Colonel in 9th Foot 14 November 1802; exchanged to Lieutenant- Colonel in 44th Foot 5 January 1809 (vice Garden); Inspecting Field Officer of Militia in Canada 22 August 1811; Colonel of 89th Foot 26 September 1837 Service 1793-1815: Served as a marine officer at Glorious 1st of June; served in Irish Rebellion 1798; served on Malta 1800; served in Egypt 1801; commanded 2/44th Foot in Peninsula June 1810 to September 1811; commanded a brigade in 5th Division March and April 1811 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 4 June 1811; Major-General 4 June 1814; Lieutenant-General 22 July 1830; General 9 November 1846 Awards & Honours: GCMG; KCH; MGSM (FDO); NGSM (1 June) Died: London 8 July 1857.
Hon. George CARLETON Born: Oxfordshire 1781 Relations: Second son of General Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester Regimental Service: Lieutenant-Colonel 28 January 1808; Lieutenant-Colonel in 44th Foot 22 August 1811 (vice Egerton) Service 1793-1815: Inspecting Field Officer in Canada; commanded 2/44th Foot in Peninsula December 1811 to April 1812, wounded at Badajoz; commanded 2/44th Foot in Flanders 1814 Awards & Honours: SAGM (Bad) Died: Killed in action at Bergen-op-Zoom 8 March 1814.
John Millett HAMMERTON Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 1016 Born: 1777 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 15 June 1804 (vice Brooke); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1811; Lieutenant-Colonel 31 March 1814 (vice Carleton); to half-pay 25 March 1816; Colonel of 55th Foot 1848 Service 1793-1815: Served in Flanders 1794; served in West Indies 1796; served in Egypt 1801; commanded 2/44th Foot in Belgium 1814-1815; commanded 2/44th Foot and wounded at Quatre Bras Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 27 May 1825; Major-General 10 January 1837; Lieutenant-General 9 November 1846; General 20 June 1854 Awards & Honours: CB Died: Clonmel 28 January 1855.
Hon. Thomas MULLINS Born: County Kerry c.1770 Relations: Son of 1st Baron Ventry Regimental Service: Captain in 44th Foot 9 July 1803; brevet Major 1 January 1805; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1812 Service 1793-1815: Served in Peninsula August 1813 to April 1814; served in North America 1814-1815 Retired: Cashiered 1 August 1815 after New Orleans Died: February 1823.
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Majors
Bryan BLUNDELL Born: Liverpool 1757 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 4 April 1783; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 18 November 1790; Lieutenant-Colonel in 45th Foot 20 May 1795 Service 1793-1815: Commanded battalion of light infantry under Grey in West Indies 1794-1795 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 21 August 1795; Major-General Died: Exeter 23 September 1799.
Sir Rufane Shaw DONKIN Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 384 Born: Northumberland 1773 Relations: Son of General Robert Donkin Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 1 September 1795; to Lieutenant-Colonel in 11th Foot Service 1793-1815: Served in West Indies 1794; served at Ostend 1798; served at Copenhagen 1807; Assistant Quartermaster- General in Portugal August 1808 to January 1809; commanded brigade in 3rd Division June to November 1809; Quartermaster- General on east coast of Spain July 1812 to September 1813 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 25 April 1808; Major-General 4 June 1811 Later Service: Served in Mahratta War 1817-1818; Acting Governor of Cape of Good Hope 1820-1821; Surveyor-General of the Ordnance 1835-1841 Awards & Honours: SAGM (Tal); GCH; KCB; FRS; FRGS; MP 1832-1837, 1839-1841 Died: Committed suicide at Southampton 1 May 1841.
Edward WILSON Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 21 October 1795 Died: 1796.
Alexander MALL Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 17 January 1797 (on transfer from 3rd West India Regiment); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1798 Retired: December 1801.
George JOHNSTONE Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 544 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 24 May 1798; to Lieutenant-Colonel in 58th Foot 27 November 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel in New Brunswick Fencible Infantry 9 July 1803; exchanged to Lieutenant-Colonel in 93rd Foot 3 May 1810 Service 1793-1815: Commanded a brigade in Waterloo campaign; at Hal on 18 June Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 1 January 1812; Major-General 4 June 1814 Died: Edinburgh 1825.
Sir Charles PHILLIPS Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 533 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 14 January 1802 (vice Mall); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 9 March 1803 Service 1793-1815: Deputy Quartermaster-General on Malta 1803; served on Mediterranean staff 1803-1815 Brevets & Staff Service: Brevet Colonel 1 January 1812; Major-General 4 June 1814 Awards & Honours: Knight of St Januarius
Henry POULETT Regimental Service: Major in 20th Foot; Major in 44th Foot 9 July 1803; to Lieutenant-Colonel in 7th Garrison Battalion Service 1793-1815: Served at Helder 1799, wounded twice; served and wounded at Maida; wounded at St Euphemia Later Service: Captain of Carisbrook Castle Died: February 1817.
Thomas DANSER Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 9 July 1803 Died: Malta 6 August 1805.
George HARDING Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 1119 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 16 August 1805 (vice Danser); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 1 January 1812; Lieutenant- Colonel in 99th Foot 1824 Service 1793-1815: Served in Flanders 1794-1795; served in West Indies 1796-1797; served in Peninsula July 1811 to February 1813; wounded at Villa Muriel; wounded and taken POW at Bergen-op-Zoom Awards & Honours: SAGM (Sal) Died: 1829.
Edward GREGORY Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 1235 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 27 November 1806 (vice Poulett); brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 4 June 1813 Service 1793-1815: Served in Flanders 1794-1795; served in West Indies 1795-1797; served in Egypt 1801; served in Peninsula April 1810 to September 1811
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Fountain ELWIN Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 2027 Born: Surrey 1779 Regimental Service: Major in 44th Foot 31 March 1814 (vice Hamerton) Service 1793-1815: Served in Peninsula September 1813 to April 1814; Assistant Adjutant-General in east Spain Awards & Honours: KC Died: Dulwich 8 December 1846.
George O'MALLEY Royal Military Calendar Entry: No. 1228 Born: Castlebar 1780 Regimental Service: Major in 101st Foot 21 August 1806; Major in 44th Foot 27 April 1815; brevet Lieutenant-Colonel 18 June 1815; Major in 38th Foot 12 August 1819; Lieutenant-Colonel in 88th Foot 2 June 1825 Service 1793-1815: Served as a volunteer in Irish Rebellion; served in Egypt 1801; served in Canada and West Indies; commanded 2/44th Foot at Waterloo, wounded twice Brevets & Staff Service: Major-General 23 November 1841 Awards & Honours: CB Died: London 16 May 1843.
Sources:
WO379/6 - Monthly disposition of the Army, arranged chronologically or by regiment. National Archives.
War Office. Army Lists 1791 to 1818. London: various years.
Carter, Thomas. Historical Record of the Forty-Fourth, or the East Essex Regiment of Foot. London: W. O. Mitchell, 1864.
Gordon, Iain. Bloodline: The Origins and Development of the Regular Formations of the British Army. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2010.
Linch, Kevin Barry. The Recuitment of the British Army 1807-1815. University of Leeds, PhD Thesis, 2001. Used with permission.
McKenna, Michael G. The British Army – And Its Regiments and Battalions. West Chester, Ohio: The Nafziger Collection. 2004.
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.
Reid, Stuart. Wellington’s Officers, Volume 2. Leigh-On-Sea: Partizan Press, 2009.
Reid, Stuart. Wellington’s Officers, Volume 3. Leigh-On-Sea: Partizan Press, 2011.
17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers. November 2014. National Library of Australia. National Library of Australia
The Napoleon Series – Peninsula Roll Call. November 2014. Napoleon Series
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