THE BRITISH FORCES ON THE EAST COAST OF SPAIN IN 1812
[A NOTE BY MR. C. T. ATKINSON]
I. MAITLAND’S FORCE, EMBARKATION RETURN, JUNE 25, 1812
(War Office: Secretary of State’s Original Correspondence, Series I, vol. 311.)
| Officers. | N.C.O.’s and Men. |
|
|---|---|---|
| 20th Light Dragoons | 9 | 158 |
| Foreign Troop of Hussars | 3 | 68 |
| R.A. (including drivers) | 8 | 73 |
| Marine Artillery | 1 | 29 |
| R.E. | 5 | 42 |
| Staff Corps | 1 | 13 |
| 1/10th Foot | 33 | 902 |
| 1/58th Foot | 31 | 840 |
| 1/81st Foot | 44 | 1,230 |
| 4th Line Battalion, K.G.L. | 36 | 953 |
| 6th Line Battalion, K.G.L. | 33 | 1,041 |
| De Roll’s Regiment (3 companies) | 11 | 320 |
| Dillon’s Regiment (5 companies) | 18 | 536 |
| Calabrian Free Corps (1 division)[790] | 14 | 338 |
| Total | 247 | 6,543 |
II.
CAMPBELL’S CORPS, EMBARKATION RETURN, PALERMO,
NOVEMBER 14, 1812
(Ibid., vol. 312.)
| Officers. | N.C.O.’s and Men. |
|
|---|---|---|
| 20th Light Dragoons | — | 13 |
| Guides | — | 14 |
| R.A. (including drivers) | 4 | 131 |
| Grenadier Battalion[791] | 35 | 924 |
| Light Infantry Battalion[792] | 21 | 582 |
| 1/27th Foot | 25 | 828 |
| 2nd Battalion, Anglo-Italian Levy[793] | 33 | 1,184 |
| Sicilian Artillery | — | 155 |
| Sicilian Grenadiers[794] | — | 605 |
| Total | 118 | 4,436[795] |
III. SUBSEQUENTLY EMBARKED, DECEMBER 25[796]
| Officers. | N.C.O.’s and Men. |
|
|---|---|---|
| 20th Light Dragoons | 8 | 223 |
| R.A. | — | 60 |
| 2nd Anglo-Italians | 2 | 176 |
| Calabrian Free Corps (1 division) | 14 | 325 |
| Sicilian Cavalry | 22 | 204 |
| Sicilian Infantry (the Estero Regiment) | 77 | 1,185 |
| Total | 123 | 2,173 |
It may be well to give here the garrisons of Cadiz and Gibraltar in 1812, as both of them supplied troops to the field army during that year.
In Gibraltar, under General Campbell, there were the 2/9th, 2/11th, 37th, and the 4th and 7th Veteran Battalions throughout the year. The 1/82nd was there till the summer, when it was relieved by the 1/26th, sent back from Portugal by Wellington. The 1/82nd sailed for Lisbon and marched up to the front, but arrived just too late for the battle of Salamanca.
At Cadiz General Cooke commanded, at the commencement of the year, the 3/1st Guards (which had arrived and relieved the ‘composite battalion of Guards’ before the end of 1811), also the 2/47th, 2/67th, 2/87th, two companies of the Chasseurs Britanniques, De Watteville’s regiment (which arrived before the end of 1811), the strange corps sometimes called the ‘battalion of Foreign Deserters,’ sometimes the ‘battalion of Foreign Recruits,’ two companies of the 2/95th, and a squadron of the 2nd Hussars K.G.L., also the 20th Portuguese.
Early in the year the 2/67th and five companies of De Watteville’s regiment were sent off to Cartagena.
In September the 3/1st Guards, 2/47th, 2/87th, two companies 95th, and 20th Portuguese marched to join Hill at Madrid, taking with them the German squadron and two field-batteries: they were just 4,000 strong.
The 2/59th came out from home about the same time, and was in October the only British battalion at Cadiz. With them remained the ‘Foreign Deserters,’ seven companies of De Watteville, and two companies of Chasseurs Britanniques, as also some artillerymen.