
British Regulars is a term commonly used to describe the
Napoleonic-era British
foot soldiers who were known for their distinct red uniform and well-disciplined combat performance. These soldiers were members of the
regular army
A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following:
* a ...
, as compared to
irregular military
Irregular military is any military component distinct from a country's regular armed forces, representing non-standard militant elements outside of conventional governmental backing. Irregular elements can consist of militias, private armie ...
such as
private armies
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
or
mercenaries
A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
.
History
Known famously in
British folklore
British folklore includes topics such as the region's legends, recipes, and folk beliefs. British folklore includes English folklore, Scottish folklore and Welsh folklore.See discussion in, for example, Chainey 2018: 7-9.
See also
*Celtic myth ...
as the "
Red Coats", the hardened soldiers were the backbone of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in the 18th and the 19th centuries. There is no universally accepted explanation as to why the British wore red.
The classical British Regulars were most famous for their actions at the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...
(1746), the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
(1756–1763), the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
(1775–1783), the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...
(1808–1815), the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
(1812–1815) and the
Waterloo campaign
The Waterloo campaign, also known as the Belgian campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two War of the Seventh Coalition, Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied arm ...
(1815). During the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
(1803–1815), the British Regulars were a well-disciplined group of foot soldiers with years of combat experience, including in the Americas, the
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...
and the War of 1812.
Most of the British Regulars were between the ages of 18 and 29, and over 60% were to tall. At the time, the British government did not allow
enlisted men to be older than 45.
Although typically under English command, many of the enlisted Regulars were either
Scottish or
Irish. A small number of Regulars were from
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
and other states of the
German Confederation
The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...
. From those multiple origins also came the two different schools of thought: the American and the German. The American school focused on open-formation
light infantry
Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...
tactics, which were well suited for areas of rough terrain, and dense forested areas, which were best suited against enemies that had no
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
or
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
. It also favoured infantry ranks of two deep and the use of light infantry with rifles. The German school focused on disciplined close-drill order, which was well suited for the vast
European Plain. That approach was preferred in large battlefields if the enemy had large numbers of cavalry amd artillery. It favoured infantry ranks of three deep and the use of
smoothbore
A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. Some examples of smoothbore weapons are muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. ...
muskets.
In April 1775, during
Paul Revere's midnight ride, Revere's warning, according to eyewitness accounts of the ride and Revere's own descriptions, was "The Regulars are coming out!", in reference to the British Regulars.
After 1855, starting in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and gradually extending to other colonial outposts, the scarlet uniforms were often replaced with
khaki
The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge.
Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...
on campaign for the tactical reason of
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
. However, it was not until 1902, with the introduction of a universal khaki service dress, that scarlet was officially abandoned as the campaign dress for European operations.
Sources
*
*
References
{{reflist
18th-century history of the British Army
19th-century history of the British Army
Napoleonic era