48th Foot, Northamptonshire Regiment - The Heroes of Talavera

Corporal of the 48th
at the time of the
Salamanca Campaign

The 48th Foot is the penultimate battalion I needed to complete for my British army at Oporto and they will feature in the Talavera campaign where both, 1st and 2nd, battalions took part. The 48th became part of Wellington's veteran infantry component to whom he could rely on when the need was most.

The History of the 48th Regiment can be found on the National Army Museum site. To quote,

"In 1741, during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48), James Cholmondeley raised a new regiment at Norwich. Three years later it was sent to Flanders, only to be rapidly recalled in 1745 to face the Second Jacobite Rebellion (1745-46) in Scotland, fighting at Falkirk and Culloden in 1746. In 1747 it was given the numeral 59, raised to 48 the following year..............

The regiment moved to Gibraltar in 1799, then to Minorca and Malta the following year. In 1803 the regiment formed a 2nd Battalion. The newly-named 1st Battalion was back in Gibraltar in 1805. Then in 1809 both regiments were sent to serve in the Peninsular War (1807-14), fighting at Talavera (1809), Albuera (1811), Badajoz (1812), Salamanca (1812), Vittoria (1813), Nivelle (1813) and Toulouse (1814).

1st Battalion remained in the Peninsula until 1814. However, 2nd Battalion had suffered so badly by 1811 that most of its survivors had to be absorbed by 1st Battalion, while a handful were sent back to Britain to re-recruit. 2nd Battalion was eventually disbanded in 1814."

Regimental Nickname
The Heroes of Talavera (Wellington stated that the 48th Foot saved the day at Talavera in 1809)

A more detailed account of the history of the two battalions of the regiment that served during the Peninsular War can be found on The Napoleon Series .

My battalion is primarily composed of figures from the Xan range, together with command and skirmish figures from AB. The colours are from GMB.

Next up is my final Oporto battalion for the British force, the 66th Foot (Berkshire Regiment).