The 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

, raised in 1719. Under the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation wa ...

it amalgamated with the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment in 1881.

History

Early history

The regiment was raised by Colonel Edmund Fielding in March 1719 as Edmund Fielding's Regiment of Foot out of independent companies of invalids and Chelsea out-pensioners - soldiers incapable of normal service through disease, age or injury. For much of its early history the regiment undertook garrison duties at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

. It was renamed the Royal Invalids in 1741, and it was numbered the 41st Regiment of Foot in 1751. In 1782, when other regiments took county titles, it was denoted as the 41st (Royal Invalids) Regiment of Foot; in 1787 it ceased to comprise invalids and became a conventional line regiment, dropping the title. On 23 January 1788, Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, joined the regiment as a young

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

The regiment embarked for the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in 1793 for service in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

; it took part in the capture of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

in March 1794 and the attack on

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...

in April 1794 before returning to England in October 1796. It was posted to Canada in 1800 and saw service there during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. It fought under Major General

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he com ...

at the

siege of Detroit The siege of Detroit, also known as the surrender of Detroit or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the War of 1812. A British force under Major General Isaac Brock with Native American allies under Shawnee leader Tecums ...

in August 1812 and the

Battle of Queenston Heights The Battle of Queenston Heights was the first major battle in the War of 1812. Resulting in a British victory, it took place on 13 October 1812 near Queenston, Upper Canada (now Ontario). The battle was fought between United States regulars w ...

in October 1812. Following Brock's death, it fought under Major-General Henry Procter at the

Battle of Frenchtown The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan Territory that took place from January 18–23, 1813, during the War of 1812. It was fought between the ...

in January 1813 and formed the bulk of the attacking force at the siege of Fort Meigs in April 1813 and the

Battle of Fort Stephenson The Battle of Fort Stephenson in August 1813 was an American victory during the War of 1812. American forces successfully defended the fort in August 1813; it guarded an important supply depot. It was located on the west bank of the Sandusky Riv ...

in August 1813. It then formed part of the crew of the British naval squadron which was defeated at the

Battle of Lake Erie The Battle of Lake Erie, sometimes called the Battle of Put-in-Bay, was fought on 10 September 1813, on Lake Erie off the shore of Ohio during the War of 1812. Nine vessels of the United States Navy defeated and captured six vessels of the Briti ...

in September 1813 and faced defeat again at the

Battle of the Thames The Battle of the Thames , also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was an American victory in the War of 1812 against Tecumseh's Confederacy and their British allies. It took place on October 5, 1813, in Upper Canada, near Chatham. The Britis ...

in October 1813. It also took part in the successful Capture of Fort Niagara and Battle of Buffalo in December 1813, the

Battle of Lundy's Lane The Battle of Lundy's Lane, also known as the Battle of Niagara, was a battle fought on 25 July 1814, during the War of 1812, between an invading American army and a British and Canadian army near present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one o ...

in July 1814, and the

Siege of Fort Erie The siege of Fort Erie, also known as the Battle of Erie, from 4 August to 21 September 1814, was one of the last engagements of the War of 1812, between British and American forces. It took place during the Niagara campaign, and the Americans s ...

in August and September 1814.

Shadrack Byfield Shadrack Byfield (sometimes Shadrach) was a British infantryman who served in the 41st Regiment during the War of 1812. He is best known as the author of a memoir of his wartime experiences, ''A Narrative of a Light Company Soldier's Service'' ...

, a private in the regiment from 1809 to 1815, took part in many of these battles before losing an arm at Conjocta Creek in 1814 and, after returning home, chronicled the battles in his memoirs.

The Victorian era

The regiment was posted to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in July 1822 and was deployed to

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

for service in the

First Anglo-Burmese War The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmes ...

in May 1824.Lomax, pp. 137–143 It formed part of an army which advanced up the River Irrawaddy to the

Kingdom of Ava The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma ( Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing ...

and then captured

Bagan Bagan (, ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that wo ...

in February 1826. It received a territorial affiliation in 1831, becoming the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot. The regiment was sent to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

in 1842 for service in the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession di ...

and saw action at

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

and

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

Patrick Cleburne Major-General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne ( ; March 16, 1828November 30, 1864) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Born in Ireland, Cleburne served in ...

, a private in the regiment from 1846 to 1849, subsequently moved to

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and rose to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. The regiment landed at Kalamita in summer 1854 for service in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and fought at the

Battle of Alma The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) was a battle in the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septem ...

in September 1854 and the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, an ...

, where they captured the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n drums, in November 1854 before taking part in the siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854.Lomax, pp. 222–242 As part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 41st was linked with the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 24 at

Maindy Barracks Maindy Barracks is a military installation in the Cathays district of Cardiff in Wales. History Maindy Barracks opened in 1877. Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged the localisation of British military forces ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment.

Battle honours

The regiment's battle honours were as follows: *War of 1812:

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Queenstown,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Niagara *First Anglo-Burmese War: Ava *First Anglo-Afghan War: Kandahar (1842), Ghazni (1842) *Crimean War: Alma,

Inkerman Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but '' de jure'' within Ukraine. It li ...

, siege of Sevastopol

Victoria Crosses

Two Victoria Crosses were awarded to men of the regiment *Sergeant-Major Ambrose Madden,

(26 October 1854) *Captain

Hugh Rowlands General Sir Hugh Rowlands (6 May 1828 – 1 August 1909) was a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross for courageous action that led to the rescue of Colonel William O'Grady Haly during the Crimean War. Early life Hugh Rowlands was born i ...

, Crimean War (5 November 1854)

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the regiment were:

The Regiment of Invalids

*1719–1743: Lt-Gen. Edmund Fielding *1743–1752: Col. Tomkyn Wardour

The 41st Regiment of Foot (Invalids)

*1752–1764: Lt-Gen. John Parsons *1764–1765: Maj-Gen. Alexander Leslie, 6th Lord Lindores *1765–1771: Maj-Gen. John Parker *1771–1784: Lt-Gen. Jordan Wren *1784–1790: Maj-Gen. Archibald McNab

The 41st Regiment of Foot

*1790–1808: Gen. Sir Thomas Stirling, 5th Baronet *1808–1809: Lt-Gen. Hay McDowall *1810–1819: Gen. Sir

Josiah Champagné Gen. Sir Josiah Champagné (26 September 1755 – 31 January 1840) was a British military commander who was the fifth General Officer Commanding, Ceylon. He was appointed in February 1799 until 1799. He was succeeded by Hay MacDowall. Backgrou ...

, GCH *1819–1837: Lt-Gen. Hon. Sir Edward Stopford, GCB

The 41st (Welsh) Regiment of Foot

*1837–1848: Gen. Sir

Ralph Darling General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertain ...

, GCH *1848–1861: Gen. Charles Ashe à Court-Repington, CB, KH *1861–1881: Gen. Sir Richard England, GCB, KH

References

Sources

External links

* regiments.org * , focused on the regiment's service in Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:41st (Welch) Regiment Of Foot Welch Regiment Infantry regiments of the British Army Welsh regiments of the British Army Military units and formations in Wales Military units and formations in Cardiff Military units and formations established in 1719 British military units and formations of the War of 1812 Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 1719 establishments in Great Britain 1881 disestablishments in the United Kingdom