Barrell's at Culloden

There is no doubt that Barrell's regiment did most of the fighting that day. The men fixed bayonets and were ordered to lunge at the Highlander on their right rather than the man approaching their front. In this way they were able to strike a blow behind their shields rather than having a bayonet stuck in the shield. The casualty figures show how bravely they fought before being forced back. 17 killed and 108 wounded, by far the greatest number out of all the regiments. Lord Robert Kerr, commanding the Grenadier Company was killed. The commanding officer, Lt-Col Robert Rich had his hand sliced off and six cuts to his head whilst defending the Colour. Ensign Brown was trampled under foot defending the same Colour, but survived. Other officers wounded were Capt John Romer, Lieut James Edmunds and Ensign Campbell. Some of the other ranks casualties are recorded:

Isaac Midgely 37, from Halifax, had a hand disabled and 14 other wounds
Ralph Jackson 24, from Oldham, hand disabled
Samuel Hunt, a farm labourer from Leicestershire, head and hand wounds
David Lofty, shot in the right arm
Corporal John Griffith, disabled left leg
George Webb shot in the left arm
John Telford from Dumfries
John Low, a baker from Alford, shot in the leg

By 1776 the Grenadiers of the 4th were part of the 1st Grenadier Battalion under the command of Col Meadows, and the Light Company was part of the 1st Light Battalion under Brigadier-General Leslie. The battalion companies were in the 1st Brigade commanded by Major-Gen Robinson. These units went to Charleston in June and then New York. In the battle of Brooklyn on 27th August 1776 the Grenadiers and Light Battalions took the brunt of the onslaught suffering 167 casualties. At another action at Haarlem on 16th Sept, the Light Battalion took many casualties along with the 42nd regiment.

In 1777, the Light Company took part in the battles at Brandywine on 11th Sept, and Germantown. The 4th, with a strength of 354, was in Vaughan's Brigade in Clinton's First Division for the expedition to Philadelphia. In 1778 the strength of the 4th was down to 295.

Corunna 1809

The regiment served under Sir John Moore at Shorncliffe in 1804 and a second battalion was raised. The 1st battalion then went to Hanover in 1805 and was at Copenhagen in 1807. They were with Sir John Moore in Sweden in 1808 when he took them to Portugal for the ill-fated campaign that resulted in the retreat to Corunna. They were in Baird's Division. Because of Moore's influence on their training the regiment suffered less than most.

Peninsular War 1810-14

The regiment was sent on the disastrous Walcheren Expedition which was intended to capture Antwerp. But sickness plagued the whole army and the attempt had to be abandoned. The 4th suffered deaths from the illness but were one of the first Walcheren regiments to be sent to the Peninsula where the 1st battalion joined the 5th Division under Leith at Torres Vedras in Nov 1810. The second battalion went to Gibraltar, spending some time at Ceuta, then at the siege of Cadiz. The battalions were subsequently re-united in Spain.

Badajoz 1812

The British had already stormed Ciudad Rodrigo but Badajoz proved to be a terrible fight that involved incredible bravery in all the regiments involved. The town was defended by French and German troops. On the night of April 6th, four separate attacks were made on the breaches that had been made by artillery fire. Leith's 5th Division, of which the 4th was part, launched it's attack on the north-west corner of the town, the San Vincente bastion, and were successful after bloody hand to hand fighting. They were able to come to the aid of the other British attacks by falling on the defenders from the rear. The British troops avenged their dead comrades by looting and raping the townspeople over a two day period.

As they cleared the enemy from the ramparts, Private George Hatton of the 4th captured the Colour of the Regiment Hess D'Armstadt. He later presented the flag to the Duke of Wellington who rewarded him with money and promotion. The Colour was kept at the Royal Hospital Chelsea for 135 years but restored to the regiment in 1947.

Salamanca 1812

This action was preceded by a month of marching and manoeuvres in the hot sun before Wellington was prepared to give battle to the French commander Marmont on 22nd July. It was a hard fought battle that resulted in heavy casualties, 14,000 French and 5,200 Allies. The 4th had both battalions present, brigaded with 30th, 44th and some Brunswickers. They broke up some French Infantry squares and later faced the advance of French columns under Sarrut which they defeated.

Vittoria 1813

After the victory at Salamanca, Wellington had to withdraw with a hungry army demoralised after an abortive attempt on Burgos. But the following year saw an upturn in Allied fortunes and the French were being forced back to the Pyrenees. In June the French, commanded by Joseph and Jourdan halted in the valley of Vittoria. Wellington split his force to approach them from different directions.. The 4th King's Own were in the 5th Division, which, with the 1st Division numbered 25,000 men. On 21st June they approached from the north-east under the command of Thomas Graham. They found themselves opposite Sarrut's division, as hey had at Salamanca. Their brisk volleys caused the French to break and they began to retreat eastwards. It was like the breaking of a dam and spelled the beginning of the end of the French hold on the Peninsula. A huge hoard of treasure was recovered from the fleeing enemy which enriched every soldier in the Allied army.

San Sebastian 1813

Lieutenant Maguire

The last strongholds of the French in Spain were Pamplona and San Sebastian, and it was decided to deal with these before moving into France. An assault on 25th July had failed so another attempt was made on 22nd August on the arrival of an efficient battering train and a unit of sappers and miners. On the 31st August, after a bombardment, the 5th Division were sent into the breach on the eastern defences of the town. This was led by Robinson's brigade which consisted of the 4th, 47th, 59th regiments and Brunswickers. During this assault, a Forlorn Hope section of the regiment was sent in, led by Lieutenant Francis Maguire. He died in the attempt. It was his 21st birthday.

The fighting was very fierce and looked as if it would not succeed until Graham ordered an artillery bombardment while the men were pinned down at the base of the breach. The artillery aim was so good that there were few British casualties. They broke through into the town as a terrific thunderstorm opened up. Total Allied losses were 3,700 men.

Bidassoa and Nivelle 1813

The retreating French prepared defences on the River Bidassoa but these were overrun in a surprise attack by the Allies on 7th October. It was no mean feat, resulting in the Allied loss of 1,600 men. A further battle was fought at the River Nivelle on 10th November which resulted in the withdrawl of the French to defensive lines along the Adour and Nive rivers which run into the sea at Bayonne. The 4th were there but were not awarded a battle honour although the 'honour' NIVELLE was mistakenly added to their badge in 1833 but later changed to NIVE.

Nive 1813

The Battle of Nive lasted 4 days from 9th to 12th December. The regiment were in the 5th Division under Sir John Hope which launched a diversionary attack towards Bayonne on the first day. On the 10th, Soult counter-attacked but the Division held their ground. On the final day the Portuguese were under attack in Barroilhet but were reinforced by the 5th Division. Unfortunately they were badly supplied with ammunition. Lieut John Fraser died of wounds he received at this battle. The regiment went on to blockade Bayonne for the last action of this war.

Bladensburg 1814

In May 1814 the 4th were sent to North America to contribute to the War of 1812. The British, urged by the governor of Canada were to attack New York and Washington. The regiments involved in the attack on Washington were the 4th, 21st, 44th, 85th and the Marines. The Americans were badly led by Brig-Gen William Winder and Gen Tobias Stansbury. They decided to make a stand at Bladensburg but they were routed and the Americans ran through the streets of Washington so fast that they inspired a poem, 'The Bladensburg Races'. Washington was badly damaged by fire caused by British troops.

New Orleans 1815

The British commander, Ross was killed by a sniper and replaced by General Packenham, brother-in-law of Wellington. He led the attack, in January, on New Orleans which was defended by Andrew Jackson, future president of America. The British were roundly defeated with the 4th suffering the loss of half their number. Soon after this they sailed home.

Waterloo 1815

The depleted battalion was reinforced from the second battalion and sent straight out to Flanders for the final battle against Napoleon. Lt-Col Francis Brooke commanded the 4th, the regiment being brigaded with the 27th and 40th under Maj-General Sir John Lambert. They did not see action at Quatre Bras and began the battle of Waterloo, on 18th June, as a reserve brigade. But by 6pm they were brought up to the front line, just to the north-east of La Haie Sainte. This farm had finally fallen to Marshal Ney and he placed artillery to cause havoc in Wellington's thin red line. Lambert's 10th Brigade took heavy casualties from the salvos of French artillery. Worst hit were the 27th Inniskillings with 105 killed, 373 wounded, then the 40th Somersets with 52 killed, 169 wounded. The 4th suffered 12 killed and 122 wounded. The regiment stayed in France until 1818 as part of the army of occupation.