The
Light Division was a
light infantry Division of the
British Army formed in the early 19th Century.
It can trace its origins to the
Light Companies which had
been formed to move at speed over inhospitable terrain and protect
the main forces by skirmishing tactics. The Light Division was
primarily aimed at disrupting and harassing the enemy in light
skirmish engagements before the two opposing armies clashed. Over
the course of the following two centuries, the regimental makeup of
the Division differed, but the philosophy remained constant.
Origins of the Light Division
On July 17, 1803, the Corps of Light Infantry was formed from
brigading together the
The 43rd Regiment,
the
52nd Regiment of
Foot and the
95th Rifles.
Portuguese Army Caçadores being
later added.
Despite the best efforts of General Sir
John Moore, when it came
to choosing a new uniform in which to fight, conservativeness won
the day. While the 95th Rifles were permitted to adopt the green
clothing and black leather equipment of the German regiments in
British service, the Light Infantry regiments were ordered to
conform to the regulations for light companies by retaining their
red jackets..
The 95th came armed with the
Baker rifle
and wearing dark green uniforms, the Green Jackets were hard to
spot and spent their time picking off officers, sergeants and any
other figure of authority in an enemy formation. Though nowhere
near as devastating as a
musket volley from
the line infantry, a well-aimed shot could bring down an enemy
commander with ease, lowering morale in the enemy. The Baker Rifle
enjoyed far greater accuracy and range than the standard muskets of
the time and the men using them were considered marksmen, trading
devastating firepower for superior accuracy and range.
In 1807,
the Light Division were involved in the Second Battle of Copenhagen
and in 1808 the Corps of Light Infantry sailed for Spain
, with
General Moore for what would become known as the Peninsular War
which proved to be the making of the concept of Light Infantrymen
and Riflemen on operations.
Napoleonic Wars
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
In 1807,
Denmark
having allied itself with France, the corps of
light infantry (43rd, 52nd and 95th), led by Sir Arthur Wellesley,
the future Duke of Wellington, were part of a force which bombarded
and captured Copenhagen
and with it the entire Danish fleet.
Battle of Corunna
The
Battle of
Corunna
, (January 16, 1809), was an attack by 16,000
French
under Marshal
Soult during the amphibious evacuation of 16,000 British
under General Sir John Moore.
Moore had
hoped to draw the French Army away from Portugal
, to allow
the small British force in that country to be reinforced, and to
allow the Spanish armies to reform. The Light Division,
under the command of Charles Alten and
Robert Crauford, was sent to the
port of Vigo
. But
the retreat, made in a harsh winter, was a shambles. The exhausting
marches, cold weather and frequent skirmishes with the pursuing
French units saw many turn to alcohol and become so drunk that they
were left behind. The Battle is remembered for what became known as
Plunkets Shot
Thomas Plunket was a Rifleman in the 95th Rifles.During the
retreat Plunket shot the French Général de Brigade Auguste-Marie-François
Colbert at a range of between 200 and 600 metres using a
Baker rifle. Plunket had run
forward to make this shot, and before returning to his own lines he
reloaded, and shot a trumpet-major who had rushed to the aid of the
fallen general. This second feat showed that the first
shot had not been a fluke, and the deaths were sufficient to throw
the pending French attack into disarray. The shots were at
a sufficiently long distance to impress others in the 95th Rifles,
whose marksmanship (with the Baker rifle) was far better than the
ordinary British soldier who, armed with a Brown Bess musket, was trained to shoot into a
body of men at 50 metres with volley fire.
Battle of Talavera
In July 1809 under the command of Brigadier-General
Robert Craufurd the Division was three
marches or more in rear of
Arthur Wellesley, 1st
Duke of Wellington's army when a report came in that a great
battle was in progress. The march which followed is one almost
unparalleled in military annals.
The three battalions of the Light Division
(43rd, 52nd and 95th) started in full marching order, and
arrived at the front on the day after the Battle of
Talavera
(July 27, 1809) having covered 62 miles, in
twenty-six hours.
Battle of the the River Côa
Craufurd's operations on the Coa and Agueda in 1810 were daring to
the point of rashness; the drawing on of the French forces into
what became the
Battle of the River
Côa (July 24, 1810), in particular was a rare lapse in
judgement that almost saw his removal from command. Although
Wellington
censured him for his conduct, he at the same time increased his
force to a full division by the addition of two picked regiments of
Portuguese
Caçadores,
Chestnut
troop,
Royal Horse
Artillery (RHA) & part of the
14th &
16th,
Light
Dragoons
Battle of Bussaco
The
Battle of
Bussaco
, (September 27, 1810) was a defensive battle won by
the Allies which allowed Wellington to resume the retreat of his
army into the previously fortified Lines of Torres Vedras
. He reached these by October 10. Finding the
lines too strong to attack, the French withdrew into winter
quarters. Deprived of food and harried by British hit-and-run
tactics, the french lost 25,000 men captured or dead from
starvation or sickness before they retreated into Spain early in
1811, freeing Portugal from French occupation except for
Almeida, near the frontier. During the retreat, the
Battle of Sabugal was also
fought.
Battle of Sabugal
The
Battle of Sabugal (April 3,
1811), Crauford had taken ill and was home in England so the
Division was under the command of Major-General
William Erskine, the plan
was for the
Light Division and two brigades of cavalry to
circle behind the French open left flank while the other four
divisions attacked the front. On the day of the battle there was a
heavy fog, the other commanders decided to wait until visibility
improved. Undeterred, Erskine ordered Lieut-Colonel
Thomas Sydney Beckwith's 1st Brigade
forward. Instead of crossing the Coa beyond the French, the brigade
drifted to the left in the fog, crossed at the wrong location and
struck the French left flank.Erskine, who was very nearsighted and
mentally unbalanced, then became cautious and issued explicit
instructions to Colonel
George Drummond not to
support his fellow brigade commander. At this point, Erskine rode
off to join the cavalry, leaving the
Light Division
leaderless for the rest of the battle. The French switched most of
their 10,000-man corps against Beckwith's 1,500 and pressed the
light infantry back. When Drummond heard the sounds of battle
approaching, he deduced that Beckwith's men were retreating.
Disobeying orders, Drummond led his 2nd Brigade across the Coa and
joined Beckwith. Together they drove the French back.
Battle of Fuentes De Onoro
At the
Battle of Fuentes de
Onoro (May 3, 1811) the
51st Foot and
85th Light Infantry, along
with the Light Division demonstrated how the French Cavalry could
be beaten by a combination of rapid movements, accurate rifle fire
and disciplined formations. During the battle the Light Division
was sent to reinforce the 51st and 85th Light Infantry, who had
been caught in open ground and surrounded by French Cavalry. When
reinforced, the whole force was able to retire rapidly – chased by
the French cavalry. Whenever the French came close, the Light
Infantrymen, Riflemen and Caçadores, rapidly formed squares at the
last safe moment, beating of the Cavalry. This series of rapid
moves, combined with the disciplined forming of squares – off the
line of march, was a spectacle that few could have believed to have
been possible.
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo
The Division now once again under the command of
Robert Crauford was involved in the
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (January 8,
1812), where they stormed and took the Grand Teson redoubt. Then on
January 19 together with Major-General
Thomas Picton's
3rd Division they
were ordered to storm the city. Picton's Division assaulting the
greater breach in the northwest of the citys walls while the Light
Division was sent against the lesser breach in the north.
Launched at 7 pm, the assault was completely successful, although
amongst the dead were Major-Generals
Henry Mackinnon and Craufurd. The victory
was somewhat marred when the British rank and file thoroughly
sacked the city, despite the efforts of their officers.
Battle of Salamanca
Following
on from the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and the death of Crauford the
Division now under the command of Charles
Alten, was held as the reserve division for the Battle of
Salamanca
(July 22, 1812) and did not take a major part in
the fighting.
Battle of Vitoria
At the
Battle of Vitoria (June 21,
1813), the division was part of the Right Center Column under
Wellington's personal direction, Wellington launched his attack, in
four columns and after hard fighting the enemy's centre was broken
and soon the French defence crumbled. About 5,000 French soldiers
were killed or wounded and 3,000 were taken prisoner, while
Wellington's forces suffered about 5,000 killed or wounded. 152
cannons were captured, but King
Joseph
Bonaparte narrowly escaped. The battle led to the collapse of
Napoleonic rule in Spain.
Battle of the Pyrenees
During the French withdrawal across the Pyrenees and into France
the Light Division was involved in the
Battle of the Pyrenees (July 25,
1813) and the
Battle of
the Bidassoa (October 7, 1813),during which the toughest
fighting of the day occurred in Major General
Bertrand Clausel's center sector.
John Colborne's brigade of
Charles Alten's Light Division
attacked
La Bayonette. Not waiting for the attack, the
French charged downhill and drove back the 95th Rifles. Suddenly
the 52nd,appeared and quickly turned the tables. Following closely
behind the retreating French, they overran the redoubt with
surprising ease.Meanwhile,
James Kempt's
second Light Division brigade and Francisco Longa's Spanish
division attacked up two spurs of Mont Larroun to secure some
positions. The next day the French abandoned the position to avoid
encirclement.
Battle of Nivelle
The
Battle of Nivelle (November
10, 1813), started just before dawn as the Light Division headed
towards the plateau on the summit of the Greater Rhune (the summit
had been garrisoned by French troops but they had fled after the
skirmish on the River Bidassoa, fearing to be cut off from their
own army). The objective of the division was to sweep the three
defensive forts constructed by the French out of the battle. They
moved down into the ravine in front of the Lesser Rhune and were
ordered to lie down and await the order to attack. After the signal
from a battery of cannon, the offensive began. It started with the
43rd, 52nd and 95th – with the Portuguese Caçadores in support,
storming the redoubts on the crest of the Rhune. Despite this being
a risky move and the men being almost exhausted, the surprise and
boldness of the British sent the French fleeing towards other forts
on other hills.
While the 43rd and 95th were dealing with the French on the Rhune,
there still remained one very strong star-shaped fort below on the
Mouiz plateau which reached out towards the coast. This was
attacked by Colborne's 52nd, supported by riflemen from the 95th.
Once again, the French were surprised and the British succeeded.
They had, in the French eyes, appeared from the ground at which
point, in danger of being cut off, the French soldiers quickly fled
leaving Colborne in possession of the fort and other trenches
without loss of a single fatal casualty.
Battle of Toulouse
The final
action of the Peninsula War was the Battle of Toulouse, (April 10,
1814), In the evening of April 10, 1814, Marshall Soult, received an official
communiqué from Paris
informing
him that Napoleon had surrendered to the
Coalition forces in northern France. Unsure of what to do,
Soult's generals advised him to surrender the city, as
reinforcements were unlikely to arrive and further news reached
Toulouse
informing Soult of the surrender of French armies
across France.This ended the Peninsula War.
Claimed to be one of the strongest divisions in the British army in
the Peninsula War, the Light Division proved its tough nature in
the numerous actions it had been involved in from the infamous
retreat to Corunna right up until the invasion of France in 1814
and the conclusion of the war at the Battle of Toulouse.
Structure during the Peninsular War
Waterloo
After the
abdication of Napoleon in 1814 and his exile to the island of
Elba
, the Peninsula army was dismantled and
divided. Following Napoleons escape and return to power in
France, there was one more battle to fight.
A
Light Division by name was not formed for Waterloo but
the Light Infantry Regiments did form the
3rd (Light)
Brigade of the 2nd Division alongside a line brigade of
the
Kings German Legion and a
Landwehr (Light Infantry) Brigade of the
Kings German Legion under the command of Lieutenant-General
Frederick Adam.
The final action of the day saw Sir
John
Colborne bring the 52nd Light Infantry round to outflank the
Old Guard, of the French
Imperial Guard as it advanced
towards the British centre in a last ditch attempt to defeat
Wellington.As the column passed his brigade, the 52nd charged,
fired a destructive volley into the left flank of the Chasseurs and
attacked with the bayonet. The whole of the Guard was driven back
down the hill and began a general retreat to the cry of
"La
Garde recule"
After
their unsuccessful attack on the British centre, The French
Imperial Guard made a last stand in squares on either side of the
La Belle
Alliance
.The 3rd (Light) Brigade charged the square
which was formed on rising ground to the (British) right of La
Belle Alliance and again threw them into a state of
confusion. The other square was attacked by the Prussians.
The French retreated away from the battle field towards
France.
Structure at Waterloo
- 3rd (Light) Brigade
- 1st Brigade, King's German
Legion
- 1st Line Battalion, KGL
- 2nd Line Battalion, KGL
- 3rd Line Battalion, KGL
- 4th Line Battalion, KGL
- 3rd Hanoverian Brigade
Crimean War
The
Crimean War (1853–1856) was fought between
Imperial
Russia
on one side and an alliance of France, the
United Kingdom
, the Kingdom of
Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire
on the other. Most of the conflict took place on the
Crimean
Peninsula
, with additional actions occurring in western
Turkey
, and the
Baltic
Sea
region and is sometimes considered to be the first
"modern" conflict and "introduced technical changes which affected
the future course of warfare."
The
Light Division was again formed for service and was
involved in the
Battle of the
Alma (September 20, 1854), which is usually considered the
first battle of the Crimean War , took place in the vicinity of the
River Alma in the Crimea. An Anglo-French force under General St.
Arnaud and Lord Raglan defeated General Menshikov's Russian army,
which lost around 6,000 troops.
They were also engaged in the Siege of Sevastopol
, and the battle of Battle of Inkerman
(November 5, 1854) prior to the end of
hostilities.
Structure during the Crimean War
By the late 19th century the concept of fighting in formation was
on the wane and the distinctions between light and heavy infantry
began to disappear. Essentially, all infantry became light infantry
in practice. Some regiments retained the name and customs, but
there was in effect no difference between them and other infantry
regiments.
World Wars
During World War I two
Light Divisions were formed
the
14th Division
(they were the first Division to be attacked by the German use of
flamethrowers), and the
20th Division, both served on the
Western Front and were involved in the
major battles, includingthe
Battle
of the Somme,
Battle of Arras
and the
Battle of Ypres.
The British Army did not form a
Light Division for
service during World War II, but the ethos of the Light Division
was carried on in new infantry formations such as the
Commandos,
Parachute Regiment and the
Chindits all lightly armed fast and agile
units.
The Light Division reformed
After the Second World War the British Army had fourteen infantry
depots, each bearing a letter.
Infantry Depot J at Farnborough, was the headquarters for the six
English light infantry regiments and Infantry Depot O at Winchester
was the headquarters for the two rifle regiments
and the Middlesex
Regiment. In 1948, the depots adopted names and this
became the
Light Infantry
Brigade and
Green Jackets
Brigade.
Then in 1968 the Light Division was reformed as an Administration
Division with the regimentation of the Light Infantry Brigade and
the Green Jackets Brigade.
As formed, the Light Division comprised seven regular infantry
battalions:
The Light Infantry lost its 4th Battalion in 1969, while both
regiments lost a battalion in 1992.
In 2005, two further regiments were attached to the Light Division:
This was in preparation for all four regiments being amalgamated
into a single large regiment named
The
Rifles.Which was formed in February 2007. Regimental names of
the regiments that formed The Rifles were not maintained. As a
consequence, upon the formation of The Rifles, the name
Light Division was no longer to be used.
Prior to that in 2005 a new manouvre brigade appeared in the
British Army,
19th Light Brigade,
as a fast, agile, lightly armed Brigade to balance the mix of Heavy
and Light Brigades in the British Army order of battle.
Footnotes
- Hadaway, Stuart. Rifleman Thomas Plunkett: 'A Pattern for the
Battalion.'
- Costello, Edward - 'Rifleman Costello' ISBN 1-84677-000-9 First
published in 1841 titled "The Adventures of a Soldier" Costello
served with Plunkett and can both cite personally witnessed
experiences and the legend he already was at the time
- The Weapons Collection: Technical Notes - Introduction
REME Museum of technology. See
paragraph six in the section "Development of the lock"
- Crauford p 100ff
- Chartrand p.77
- Gates, p.386
- Moorsom, W S, (ed). "Historical Record of the Fifty-Second
Regiment (Oxfordshire Light Infantry) from the year 1755 to the
year 1858". 2nd edition. London: Richard Bentley, 1860 p267
(facsimile printed by The Naval & Military Press Ltd, East
Sussex, England)
- Royle. Preface
References
- Light Infantry Reunited - Site for all ex and serving
Light Infantry/RGJ and Rifles personnel
- Standing Orders of the Light Division (printed in
Home's Précis of Modern Tactics, pp. 257–277).
- William Napier
,Peninsular War, bk. xvi. ch. .v.
- Hibbert, Christopher (editor) The Recollections of Rifleman
Harris The Windrush Press 1996 ISBN 0 900075 64 3
- Keegan, John. The Face of Battle. Vintage, 1977.
- Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.
Greenhill, 1998.
- Crauford, Alexander H.: General Crauford and his light
division (reprint Naval & Military Press 2006) ISBN
1-845740-13-0
- Haythornthwaite, Philip:
Weapons & Equipment of the Napoleonic Wars Arms and
Armour 1996 ISBN 1-85409495-5
- Brassey's Almanac: The Peninsular War; The Complete Companion
to the Iberian Campaigns, 1807–14, Chrysalis Books Group (2004),
ISBN 1-85753-329-1
External links
- Light Infantry Reunited - Site for all ex and serving
Light Infantry/RGJ and Rifles personnel
- http://www.britishbattles.com/
- http://www.95thrifles.com 95th (Rifle) Regiment of Foot -
Battle Re-enactment and Living History
- http://www.1st95thrifles.com/ 1st Battalion, 95th (Rifle)
Regiment of Foot (1/95) - 95th Rifles Living History Society
- http://www.geocities.com/the_rifles/ 2nd Battalion, 95th
(Rifle) Regiment of Foot (2/95) - Living History and Battle
Re-enactment
- http://www.royalgreenjackets.co.uk Royal Green Jackets and
Rifle Brigade Museum
- http://robertcraufurd.iespana.es
- http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regts/the_rifles/index.htm
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