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Battalion Of Detachments
A battalion of detachments is a term used to refer to Battalion#British Army, battalion-sized units of the British Army formed from personnel drawn from several parent units. They were used to temporarily collect together detached companies or individual stragglers into more manageable-sized formations for logistics purposes or to provide additional fighting forces. Two longer-term battalions were raised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley in 1809 for service in the Peninsular War. These comprised stragglers left behind following the British withdrawal at Corunna and saw action in the First Battle of Porto, Porto and Battle of Talavera, Talavera campaigns before they were disbanded and the men returned to their regiments. Though effective on the battlefield, criticism was made of their discipline in camp and on the march and there was concern over the impact on manpower in their parent regiments. Other battalions of detachments were later formed in the fie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
52nd Regiment Of Foot By J
5 (five) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 Digit (anatomy), digits on their Limb (anatomy), limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat prime, a Mersenne prime exponent, as well as a Fibonacci number. 5 is the first congruent number, as well as the length of the hypotenuse of the smallest integer-sided right triangle, making part of the smallest Pythagorean triple (3, 4, 5). 5 is the first safe prime and the first good prime. 11 forms the first pair of sexy primes with 5. 5 is the second Fermat number, Fermat prime, of a total of five known Fermat primes. 5 is also the first of three known Wilson primes (5, 13, 563). Geometry A shape with five sides is called a pentagon. The pentagon is the first regular polygon that does not Tessellation, tile the Plane (geometry), plane with copies of itself. It is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a British army under Lieutenant-General John Moore (British soldier), Sir John Moore. The battle took place during the Peninsular War, which was part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. Doggedly pursued by the French under Soult, the British retreated across northern Spain while their rearguard fought off repeated French attacks. Both armies suffered from the harsh winter conditions. Much of the British army, excluding the elite Light Division, Light Brigade under Robert Craufurd, suffered from a loss of order and discipline during the retreat. When the British eventually reached the port of A Coruña, Corunna on the northern coast of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, a few days ahead of the French, they found their transport ships had not arrived. The fleet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walcheren Expedition
The Walcheren Campaign () was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Kingdom of Holland in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, the commander of the expedition, was ordered to capture the towns of Flushing and Antwerp and thus enable British ships to safely traverse the Scheldt River. A British expeditionary force of 39,000 troops, together with field artillery and two siege trains, crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the army serving in the Peninsular War in the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, it failed to achieve any of its goals. The campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the sickness popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 were killed in action; the survivors withdrew on 9Dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Dundas (British Army Officer)
General (United Kingdom), General Sir David Dundas (1735 – 18 February 1820) was a British Army officer who fought in the Seven Years' War and French Revolutionary Wars, wrote important texts on the ''Principles of Military Movements'' and then served as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces from 1809 to 1811. Military service The son of Robert Dundas, a Scottish merchant, and Margaret Dundas (née Watson), Dundas was enrolled at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Whilst still a cadet at the Academy he spent some time with his uncle, Colonel David Watson (British Army officer), David Watson, the Director of the Military Survey of the Highlands, where he was grounded in the arts of surveying under the tutelage of William Roy. He graduated as a lieutenant-fireworker in the Royal Artillery on 1 March 1755. He exchanged to the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot, 56th Foot as a lieutenant on 24 January 1756, serving with this regiment during the Seven Years' War taking part in com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horse Guards (building)
Horse Guards is a historic building in the City of Westminster, London, between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade. It was built in the mid-18th century, replacing an earlier building, as a barracks and stables for the Household Cavalry. The current and previous buildings were, between the early 18th century and 1858, the main military headquarters for the British Empire. Horse Guards originally formed the entrance to the Palace of Whitehall and later St James's Palace; for that reason it is still ceremonially defended by the King's Guard#King's Life Guard, King's Life Guard. Although still in military use, part of the building houses the Household Cavalry Museum which is open to the public. It also functions as a gateway between Whitehall and St James's Park. History The first Horse Guards building was commissioned by Charles II of Great Britain, King Charles II in 1663, on the site of a cavalry stables which had been built on the tiltyard of the Palace of Whitehall during th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess Of Londonderry
Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, (born Charles William Stewart; 1778–1854), was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and in the Napoleonic wars. He excelled as a cavalry commander in the Peninsular War (1807–1814) under John Moore (British Army officer), John Moore and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley (became Wellington in 1809). On resigning from his post under Wellington in 1812, his half-brother Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Lord Castlereagh helped him to launch a diplomatic career. He was posted to Prussia, Berlin in 1813, and then as ambassador to Austrian Empire, Austria, where Castlereagh was the British plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna. He married Lady Catherine Bligh in 1804 and then, in 1819, Lady Frances Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry, Frances Anne Vane, a rich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Gold Medal
The Army Gold Medal (1808–1814), also known as the Peninsular Gold Medal, with an accompanying Gold Cross, was a British campaign medal awarded in recognition of field officer, field and general officers' successful commands in campaigns, predominantly the Peninsular War. It was not a general medal, since it was issued only to officers whose status was no less than that of battalion commander or equivalent.Dorling, pages 54-55 Background Naval Gold Medals had been awarded since 1794 to captains and admirals who had served in specified successful naval actions, admirals' medals being larger. In 1806 a special gold medal was presented to British Army majors and above who had taken a key part in the Battle of Maida. This medal, in diameter, shows the profile of King George III on the obverse with a reverse design incorporating Britannia and the Sicilian triskeles. A general campaign medal for the Napoleonic Wars, awarded to all British troops irrespective of rank, would only be e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mentioned In Dispatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described. In some countries, a service member's name must be mentioned in dispatches as a condition for receiving certain decorations. Being mentioned in dispatches entitles a recipient to wear a small metallic device, but does not include an entitlement to post-nominals. United Kingdom, British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations United Kingdom Servicemen and women of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches are not awarded a medal for their actions, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon when worn alone. Prior to 2014, only one device could be worn on a ribb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Battle Of Porto
The Second Battle of Porto, also known as the Battle of the Douro or the Crossing of the Douro, took place on 12 May 1809. General Arthur Wellesley's Anglo-Portuguese Army defeated Marshal Soult's French troops and took back the city of Porto. After taking command of the British troops in Portugal on 22 April, Wellesley (later named 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess Douro) immediately advanced on Porto and made a surprise crossing of the Douro River, approaching Porto where its defences were weak. Soult's late attempts to muster a defence were in vain. The French quickly abandoned the city in a disorderly retreat. This battle ended the Second French invasion of Portugal. Soult soon found his retreat route to the east blocked and was forced to destroy his guns and burn his baggage train. Wellesley pursued the French army, but Soult's army escaped annihilation by fleeing through the mountains. Background The Second Portuguese campaign had started with the Battle of Braga. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Coape Sherbrooke
General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, (29 April 1764 – 14 February 1830) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. After serving in the British army in Nova Scotia, the Netherlands, India, the Mediterranean (including Sicily), and Spain, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia in 1811. During the War of 1812, his policies and victory in the conquest of present-day Maine, renaming it the colony of New Ireland, led to significant prosperity in Nova Scotia. Early life John Coape Sherbrooke was born in Oxton, Nottinghamshire, on 29 April 1764, the third son of the wealthy country squire William Coape and his wife Sarah Sherbrooke.Heathcote, ''Wellington's Peninsular War Generals'', p. 113. The surname comes from Shirebrook, Derbyshire. Upon his marriage Sherbrooke's father had taken his wife's surname as his own.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', "Sherbrooke, Sir John Coape". Army career Early career Sherbrooke joined the British Army as an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sontag (British Army Officer)
Lieutenant-General John Salomon Balthasar Sontag was a British Army officer who briefly served as General Officer Commanding the 7th Division during the Peninsular War. Military career Sontag was born the son of Johan Wilhelm Philip Sontag and his wife, Anna Hoek, in The Hague. He joined the British Army in 1779 and was naturalised as a British citizen in February 1780. He became aide-de-camp to General Ralph Abercromby in 1795 and accompanied Abercromby during his expedition to the West Indies in 1796 and during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799. He also saw action during the Walcheren Campaign and became Military Governor of Middelburg in August 1809; General George Don then appointed him Head of the Provisional Government of Walcheren in November 1809. He left when the British Forces withdrew from Walcheren in December 1809. He served as temporary General Officer Commanding the 7th Division in Spain during the Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Paget, 1st Marquess Of Anglesey
Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member of parliament for Carnarvon and then for Milborne Port, he took part in the Flanders Campaign and then commanded the cavalry for Sir John Moore's army in Spain during the Peninsular War; his cavalry showed distinct superiority over their French counterparts at the Battle of Sahagún and at the Battle of Benavente, where he defeated the elite chasseurs of the French Imperial Guard. During the Hundred Days he led the charge of the heavy cavalry against Comte d'Erlon's column at the Battle of Waterloo. At the end of the battle, he lost part of one leg to a cannonball. In later life, he served twice as Master-General of the Ordnance and twice as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Background, education and politics He was born Henry Bayley, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
