The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 46th Foot.

The County of Devonshire can lay claim to three regiments of Foot Infantry up until the first amalgamations of the late 19th century with the 11th North Devons, the 20th East Devons and the regiment featured here, the 46th South Devons .

The 46th Foot was raised in 1741 in Newcastle as John Price's Regiment of Foot by Colonel John Price, an officer of the 1st Foot Guards. 

The regiment proceeded to Scotland for a shocking introduction to battle taking part in the Battle of Prestonpans in September 1745 during the Jacobite rising, and was initially ranked as the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1747.

The Battle of Prestonpans was fought on the 21st of September, 1745, a shocking introduction to battle for the 57th Foot (Murray's) - Peter Dennis.

Sir John Cope led a British army of around 2,500 men and was confident of victory over a slightly smaller Jacobite force of around 2,000 men, situated as he was with marshy ground to his front likely to impede any highland charge and his flanks secured by the Firth of Forth and park walls, only to be undone by a night march by the Jacobites led by Lord George Murray, that caused him to have to make a hasty about-turn.

As the Highlanders began their charge, his artillerymen fled, leaving the guns to be fired by their officers. The artillerymen were soon followed by the two dragoon regiments on the flanks that panicked and rode off, and their flight exposed the infantry in the centre, which became attacked on three sides and overrun in less than fifteen minutes. With retreat blocked by the park walls behind them, most were taken prisoner, but some escaped when the Highlanders stopped to loot the baggage train. 

Map of the Battle of Prestonpans, Murray's 57th Foot were on the left flank alongside Hamilton's 14th Dragoons and Lascelles' 58th Foot.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Prestonpans.svg

Government losses were roughly 300 to 500 killed or wounded and another 500 to 600 captured, most of whom were released to save the expense of feeding them. Jacobite casualties were estimated as 35 to 40 dead plus 70 to 80 wounded.

Returning to England in 1746, the regiment's next posting was to Jersey the following year and then to Ireland in 1749.

After eight years' service in Ireland, during which the the regiment was re-ranked as the 46th Regiment of Foot in 1751, it embarked for Nova Scotia in May 1757 for service in the French and Indian War fighting at Ticonderoga (1758), Niagara (1759) and Montreal (1760). 

The Capture of Havana, 1762: The Morro Castle and the Boom Defence Before the Attack - Dominic Serres.
In July 1762 the 46th Foot took part in the storming and capture of the Moro Castle.

In 1761, the regiment was deployed to the West Indies for two years, taking part in the capture of Martinique and Havana in 1762, before returning to Canada and then Ireland for garrison duties.

Etching of Lieutenant General the Hon. Sir John Vaughan by Albert Rosenthal
Promoted to Colonel in 1772 he commanded the 46th Foot for most of its time in America.

The 46th Foot composed of seven companies, were one of a six regiment reinforcement from Ireland that sailed for America, and on the 11th May 1776 Brevet Colonel Hon. John Vaughan became Colonel of the 46th Regiment at the same time as the British Army was evacuating from Boston, Massachusetts and regrouping in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There the 46th received orders to depart for South Carolina as part of General Henry Clinton's expedition to capture the capital of Charleston, reaching Cape Fear on the 1st June where they were resupplied. Three companies departed on board the Argo on the 12th May under Colonel Enoch Markham.

Engraving of a sketch of the 1776 Battle of Sullivan's Island, made by a British Army officer. A plan of the attack of Fort Sulivan, near Charles Town in South Carolina by a squadron of His Majesty's ships on the 28th day of June 1776, with the disposition of the King's land forces and the encampments and entrenchments of the rebels, from the drawings made on the spot.

In the Spring, South Carolina rebels had crossed the bay from Charleston and built a fort on O'Sullivan's Island to defend it. The expedition found the bay too deep for troops to wade through, and any amphibious assault was prevented by American firepower, thus on the 28th June, the operation was called off and the British fleet sailed north for New York to regroup.

The Battle of Long Island on 27th August 1776  - Map by John Fawkes

The 46th joined in the British offensive on Long Island, being part of Major-General James Grant's 4th Brigade which pushed along the western coast to flank the Continental Army positions around Brockland, Kings County; this flanking manoeuvre paid off and on 28th August the Americans abandoned their positions and crossed the East River to New York Island. Within a few days remaining Continental troops and militia left behind were killed or captured and Long Island fell firmly under British-Loyalist control.

The 46th would further participate in the Battle of White Plains in October 1776 and the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776. Crossing the Hudson, they would remain at Perth Amboy, New Jersey for the winter, using an old transport ship in the harbour as barracks. 

During the Forage War, detachments would transport weapons and ammunition into New Jersey, where they faced repeated ambushes on their way to Trenton, Princetown and Burlington where the army's vanguard was stationed. On the 5th January, several companies of rebels, estimated at ninety men, attacked a detachment at Ranway under Lieutenant Cameron. One man was killed and three wounded, and though Cameron only had twenty men they were successful in beating off their attackers.

In early 1777, a detachment was sent out up the North River to secure Peek's Hill, the site of an Americans weapons cache erected in the winter, and with this attack proving successful, they returned to New York.

The 46th embarked from Sandy Hook in the August 1777, sailing around the Delmarva Peninsula and into Chesapeake Bay, from where they travelled up the Elk River, landing on its northern shore on the 25th August and joining with the rest of the British army at Head of Elk as part of Major General James Agnew's 4th Brigade. 

18th century Hessian map from the Marburg State Library in Germany of the Philadelphia Campaign

The landing and following campaign to capture the American capital Philadelphia resulted in the Battle of Brandywine on the 11th September 1777, the Battle of Paoli on the 20th September and the Battle of Germantown on October 4th 1777. 

Night attacks during the 'horse and musket' era are extremely rare occurrences, for obvious reasons given the additional problems of command and control at night, and successful night attacks are even rarer. In the Battle of Paoli, the various regiments' Light companies, that included the 46th Foot, were formed together into a Light Battalion under Major-General Charles Grey, that spearheaded a force of 1,500 men sent out to surprise the Americans of Brigadier-General Anthony Wayne's Division, two miles south-west of Paoli Tavern on the night of the 20th September, themselves left behind by the American army to strike upon the flanks of the British army as it marched north in pursuit of Washington. 

The night attack at Paoli, September 20th 1777 in which the light company of the 46th earned the regiment the nickname the Red Feathers - Xavier della Gatta.

In a swift silent attack at the point of the bayonet with General Gey having ordered his men to 'pull' the ball and charges from their barrels and to remove their flints, with no firing permitted in order to maintain silence and the element of surprise; the 2nd Light Infantry swept into the camp at bayonet point overrunning the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment who had formed up at the alert of the camp picket, but who gave their positions away by their firing in the darkness, revealing themselves to the British attack.

This was a decisive victory for Grey's men, as Wayne's division were subjected to a ferocious bayonet assault that saw 163 Americans killed, 70-80 taken prisoner and many more wounded, resulting in a strong American desire for retribution.

Intelligence indicated that any American victory in response to this attack was to give no quarter to captured soldiers, and as a sign of defiance, the 46th's Light company began wearing red-stained feathers on their hats to identify themselves as part of the guilty party of Paoli, and the successors to the regiment, the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry wore red patches on their headgear to remember their participation in the Paoli Affair.

The British enter Philadelphia, September 26th 1777.

In the following month, the army continued their push towards Philadelphia, occupying Germantown along the way, where on the morning of the 4th October an American force confronted them, but were defeated once more. 

By the year's end the brigade had reached Philadelphia as planned, though it was largely deserted, and with the American hierarchy increasingly decentralised the loss of their capital no longer collapsed authority as would have done in Europe. 

The 46th remained in Philadelphia over the winter, and with news of a new Commander-in-Chief and war with France, the British force began moving back north to New York. During this movement they were harassed along the way by ambush parties as the Continental Army hoped to cut them off, and on the 28th June they fought at the Battle of Monmouth, as part of 4th Brigade under Lt. Colonel Webster, they made their way into New Jersey.

Upon its return to New York, the 46th were sent out once more under Major-General Grey, bound for the east coast of Long Island where it was understood French forces were aiding New England. The regiment fought in New Bedford, where the objective was to destroy privateer vessels, and soon after on to Martha's Vineyard before returning to New York.

The Battle of Vigie Peninsula
Plan of St. Lucia, in the West Indies: Showing the positions of the British and French forces with the attacks made at its reduction in December 1778.

After returning to New York, it became clear in reports that the French military in the West Indies, backed by French civilians within the British colonies, were taking advantage of the situation in British America to make gains undisturbed. The 46th was subsequently ordered out for Barbados, under the command of Major-General Grant, arriving in November 1778. From there they participated in an attack on St. Lucia with the 15th, 28th and 55th regiments under Major-General Prescott, capturing it in mid-December. The Light and Grenadier companies in this brigade were stationed at La Vigie, where they were able to repulse a French landing.

The regiment returned to England and was renamed the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot in 1782.

My interpretation of the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot uses the plastic British set from Perry Miniatures and a set of colours from GMB flags, finished off with my usual low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.