Royal Veteran Battalions

Veteran battalions were made up of men no longer fit for front line service, the name had previously been 'invalid battalions' but this was deemed derogratory and changed.

Between 1802 and 1820, 13 royal garrison battalions were raised, taking into service army pensioners and invalids. They were renamed Royal Veteran Battalions in 1804. Although not always the case, these battalions worked in depots and stores doing mainly administration and support work, which enabled the more able-bodied soldiers to do the fighting. These veteran battalions were disbanded and re-formed right up until the 1820s.

Thirteen battalions were raised as Royal Garrison Battalions between 1802 and 1804. They were renamed Royal Veteran Battalions in 1804. Most were disbanded in 1814, but the 10th (in Canada) and the 13th (in Portugal) were not disbanded until 1815. The 6th bore the additional title Royal North British. The 13th was authorised to bear the battle honour 'Peninsula'. A second group of eight battalions were formed in June 1815, and disbanded the following year. A third group of ten were formed in 1819 and disbanded in 1821. A fourth group of three battalions was formed in 1821, all in Ireland, and disbanded in 1826.[1]

There was also a veteran battalion of the King's German Legion.

The Veteran Battalions

The 1st Royal Veteran Battalion served in Portsmouth, Gibraltar, Holland, Landguard Fort and Harwich where they were disbanded in 1814. Reformed the following year in Plymouth, they were disbanded in 1816 in Plymouth.[2][3]

The 2nd Royal Veteran Battalion was first formed in 1802 at Plymouth and was disbanded and re-formed eight times in different parts of the country. In 1806,[4] a detachment was sent to the New South Wales Corps. 2nd Royal Veteran Battalion served in Plymouth, Heligoland and Madeira (1809–1814). In January 1815, 9 companies were disbanded at London, but in June 4 companies of 8th Royal Veteran Battalion on Heligoland were ordered to form nucleus of new 2nd Royal Veteran Battalion before being disbanded in Harwich in 1816.[2][3]

In 1819, the 2nd Royal Veteran Battalion was re-formed at Portsmouth from fit out-pensioners to curb political unrest serving at Waterford in 1820 and in 1821 the battalion was disbanded at Gosport. It was raised again in 1821 at Newry, served in Londonderry in 1822 and was in 1826 disbanded at Enniskillen.[2][5][3]

The 3rd Royal Veteran Battalion was raised on Jersey and served there before being disbanded in Chelsea in 1814. In 1815. in 1815, 2 companies of both the 6th and 9th Royal Veteran Battalions were used to form new 3rd Royal Veteran Battalion at Edinburgh, where it was disbanded a year later.[2]

The 4th Royal Veteran Battalion was raised in Ireland and served there and in Gibraltar. In 1806, a detachment of 36 men was posted to the New South Wales Corps and in 1808, 1808 200 unfit men were transferred to the new 12th Royal Veteran Battalion. Returning from Gibraltar, he 4th Royal Veteran Battalion was disbanded in 1814 in Deptford. In 1815, the 10th Battalion was renumbered as the 4th, with many of its members settling in Canada c.1817 following its disbandment.[2][6][3]

The 5th Royal Veteran Battalion was raised and served in Guernsey and on Alderney. It disbanded in Chelsea in 1814. They were later reformed with 3 companies of 11th Royal Veteran Battalion before being disbanded once more in 1816 in Deptford.[2][3]

The 6th, or Royal North British Garrison Battalion was raised for the first time in December 1802 in Scotland and was disbanded in 1814 at Fort George (eight companies), less two companies amalgamated with two companies of 9th Royal Veteran Battalion, to form the new 3rd Royal Veteran Battalion.[2][7]

In 1815, the 6th was re-raised in Ireland using officers and men from 12th Royal Veteran Battalion disbanding at Cork the following year. The 6th Royal Veteran Battalion was re-formed in 1819 at Edinburgh from fit out-pensioners to curb political unrest and disbanded at Edinburgh in 1821.[2]

The 7th Royal Veteran Battalion was formed in Fulham originally in 1802 as a garrison battalion becoming 'veteran' in December 1804, based in the Tower of London. In 1807, 500 men were transferred to form new 11th Royal Veteran Battalion. The 7th was disbanded in Chelsea in 1814 .[2][3]

The 8th Royal Veteran Battalion was raised in Fulham in 1804 and served at Cumberland Fort and on Heligoland. It included officers from the New South Wales Corps who returned to England in 1810. In 1815, 4 companies transferred to the new 2nd Royal Veteran Battalion and the 8th Battalion disbanded. A new 8th Royal Veteran Battalion was formed from fit out-pensioners at Chelsea Hospital. It served on Jersey and disbanded in Portsmouth in 1816.[2]

The 9th Royal Veteran Battalion formed at Edinburgh in April 1805, serving at Edinburgh Castle and later a company each on Orkney and the Shetland Isles. Eight companies were disbanded in 1814 and the remaining two companies on the Isles were merged into the 3rd Royal Veteran Battalion in 1815.[2][3]

The 10th Royal Veteran Battalion was established in December 1806 on the Isle of Wight from volunteers of other Veteran Battalions for service in Canada, those volunteering promised land in Canada upon their retirement or the battalion's disbandment. When war broke out, the 10th was among the first into action. In April 1813 a corps of seventeen "Mounted Veterans" was formed presumably for maintaining communications between the various posts around Montreal. The Battalion was in 1815 renumbered as the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion and was disbanded in 1816. On 10 November 1816, the ship containing the families returning to England was wrecked and 143 drowned.[2]

The 11th Royal Veteran Battalion was formed in 1807 from 5 companies of 7th Royal Veteran Battalion. They served in Guernsey, Bexhill, Winchelsea, Isle of Man and Hythe. Four companies were disbanded at Hythe and three from Anholt were disbanded at Chelsea in 1814. The remaining three companies on Isle of Man transferred toyhe new 5th Royal Veteran Battalion in 1815. The 11th was briefly reformed and was finally disbanded at Deptford in 1816.[2][3]

The 12th Royal Veteran Battalion was formed at Cork from 200 men of the 4th Royal Veteran Battalion who were unfit for foreign service. They served in Ireland til disbandment in 1814.[2]

The 13th Royal Veteran Battalion was raised in 1813 at Lisbon from Peninsula War invalids. It served in 1815 in Ostend, returned to Sheerness and was renumbered on disbandment of other veteran battalions to become 7th Royal Veteran Battalion. The Battalion was disbanded in 1816 at Chelsea.

Veteran battalion of the King's German Legion: On 26 January 1813 approval was announced for the formation of a Veteran Battalion “to receive the worn-out men of the Kings German Legion.” The personnel were to be drawn from across the Legion. A memorandum of 8 February states that the battalion would incorporate the personnel of the Independent Garrison Company of the King's German Legion, then serving in Portugal. The Veteran Battalion was formed in Bexhill from 25 February, and was initially of four companies. In January 1814 it was augmented to six companies and in August 1815 to ten.

Regimental Colonels

1st RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel – William Edmeston; 30 June 1804: Colonel – James Stewart; 1819: Colonel - Colonel Archibald Christie, late 12th RVB

2nd RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel – David Home; 22 February 1810: Colonel – Anthony Lewis Layard; 1815: Colonel – John Watson Tadwell Watson; 1819 Colonel - Major-General William Douglas, from half-pay 97th Foot

3rd RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel – James Lumsdaine; 14 May 1807: Colonel – William Maxwell; 1815: Colonel - Sir Paulus Æmilius Irving, Bt

4th RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel – Grice Blakeney

5th RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel – Charles Horneck; 16 April 1804: Colonel – Hon. Francis Needham; 25 June 1810: Colonel – John Manners Kerr

6th RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel - Sir Paulus Æmilius Irving, Bt.

7th RVB - 25 December 1802: Colonel – Thomas Murray;

8th RVB - 1 January 1805: Colonel – John Watson Tadwell Watson; 15 June 1815: Colonel – Alexander Mair

9th RVB - 21 March 1805: Colonel – Colin Mackenzie

10th RVB - 25 December 1806: Colonel – Lowther Pennington, Lord Muncaster

11th RVB - 25 April 1807: Colonel – Andrew John Drummond

12th RVB - 25 June 1808: Colonel – John Despard; 31 August 1809: Colonel – George Benson

13th RVB - 19 November 1812: Colonel – William Raymond[8]

References

  1. ↑ "United Kingdom: Royal Reserve Battalions". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815". www.napoleon-series.org. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Online Database of Early British Military Buttons". Online Database of Early British Military Buttons. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  4. ↑ BBC. "BBC - Radio 4 Making History - Veteran soldiers". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  5. ↑ "Message Boards". www.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  6. ↑ "Perth Military Settlers" (PDF). Perth & District Historical Society. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "scottishmilitaryresearch.org.uk Forum". www.mrsite.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  8. ↑ Burnham, Bob; McGuigan, Ron (2010-08-09). The British Army Against Napoleon: Facts, Lists and Trivia, 1805-1815. Frontline Books. ISBN 9781473812710.


Additional sources

  • Lawson, C.C.P., 'A History of the Uniforms of the British Army' Volume 5 (London, Kaye & Ward, 1967) White, A.S.,
  • 'Garrison, reserve and veteran battalions and companies', in: Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, 38 (1960), pp. 156–67
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