The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 4th Foot.

In 1661, King Charles II married the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza. Her dowry included the possessions of Bombay (now Mumbai) in India and Tangier (now in Morocco). By July 1680, however, Tangier was under blockade from the Moroccan sultan and in need of reinforcement. 

The founder of the regiment, Charles Fitzcharles,
Earl of Plymouth 1657-1680, illegitimate son of Charles II.

One of the units raised on the 13th July 1680, was recruited by the Earl of Plymouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II, with its nominal strength at 1,000 men, half recruited in London by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Trelawny and half from the West Country; and it was immediately deployed to meet this threat, titled the 2nd Tangier Regiment of Foot, and it remained part of the Tangier garrison until the British withdrawal in 1684.

'The Royal City of Tangier with the lines and fortifications when it is was ataqued [sic] by ye Moores in May, 1680' - National Army Museum.

Charles's brother James was still Duke of York when the regiment came under the patronage of his wife the Duchess of York and Albany, but that title only lasted until the following year when he became King James II and the regiment was titled the Queen’s Regiment of Foot. As such they fought at the battle of Sedgemoor on 16th July 1685 against the rebel forces of the Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II.

 The Queen's Regiment of Foot fought at the Battle of Sedgemoor and I visited the battlefield back in 2014.
JJ's Wargames - Battle of Sedgemoor

Just three years later, however, it was the first British regiment to go over to James II's rival, William of Orange (later William III), when he landed on the Devon coast at Brixham, during the ‘Glorious Revolution’.

It fought for William against James and his European allies in Ireland - including at the Battle of the Boyne (1690) - as well as in Flanders, where it was involved at Steenkirk (1692), Landen (1693) and the Siege of Namur (1695).

When the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1702, it was reformed as a regiment of marines and fought at the Battle of Vigo Bay in October 1702 and the capture of Gibraltar in August 1704.

The site of the 1711 naval disaster during the failed attempt to capture Quebec.

In 1711, it was redesignated line infantry and took part in the Quebec Expedition, and in what remains one of the worst naval disasters in British history, the fleet ran aground in thick fog and over 890 men were lost, including 200 members of the regiment

With the accession of George I in 1714, it was retitled The Kings Own and spent the next 30 years in Scotland and England. 

Sent to Flanders in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession, it garrisoned Ghent and when the 1745 Jacobite Rising broke out in August, it was transferred to Scotland, taking part of the pursuit of the Jacobite forces on their retreat back into Scotland in December 1745, including the ensuring Clifton Moor Skirmish.

A soldier of the King's Own Regiment of Foot, c1742

The regiment then fought at the Battle of Falkirk Muir in January 1746, and at the Battle of Culloden in April, it was based in the front line and took the brunt of the Jacobite charge; suffering the heaviest casualties on the Government side, with 18 dead and 108 wounded.

The Battle of Culloden" painting by David Morier (between 1746–1765)
This painting of Barrell's regiment during their moment of glory at Culloden was pained by David Morier, the Duke of Cumberland's artist. The grenadier Company is shown engaged in hand to hand combat with the Jacobite Highlanders. The men wear the distinctive grenadier cap while their officers wear tricorn hats. The uniforms show that the painting was actually made in 1753, no attempt being made to show the 1746 uniforms. The men are in parade dress which would have been unlikely. Black or brown gaiters would have been worn and haversacks and waterbottles carried. The 'scotsmen' look a little fake as they were modelled by soldiers of the 4th King's Own.

The regiment's commander, Sir Robert Rich, was among the wounded, losing his left hand, and Lord Robert Kerr, captain of the regiment's grenadier company, was among the dead. The two Colours (flags) carried by the regiment during the battle both survive and are now part of the collection of the National Museum of Scotland.

Map of the Battle of Culloden 16th April 1746, map by John Fawkes.

Barrell's Regiment, the 4th Foot, is shown on the extreme left of the Government Line, that bore the brunt of the Jacobite charge.

Following the army reforms of 1751, the regiment was retitled 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot, and at the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756, it was part of the Menorca garrison, where it was forced to surrender in June and was later transported to Gibraltar. It then spent the rest of the war in the West Indies, taking part in the capture of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia before returning home in July 1764.

A good view of the Regimental Colour bearing the The Lion of England from the Royal Arms, believed to have been granted to the regiment by William III and confirmed by the Royal Warrant of 1st July 1751.

The 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot arrived in Boston in the late summer of 1774, and were brigaded with the 23rd and 47th Regiments under Brigadier Lord Percy. 

Concord Bridge - Don Troiani

The first British soldiers to die in the American Revolution were arguably three members of the light company of the 4th Foot, who died at Concord Bridge in 1775; with its light company taking part in the engagements at Lexington and Concord, and both flank companies (light and grenadier) also seeing action at Bunker Hill.

Battle of Harlem Heights on 16th September 1776 during which the light company of the 4th Foot were heavily engaged as part of the Light Battalion.

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 the 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 4th Foot took part in the battles at Brandywine on the 11th September, and Germantown on the 4th of October, and the 4th, with a strength of 354 men, was in Vaughan's 1st Brigade in Clinton's First Division for the expedition to Philadelphia, which by the following year was down to 295 men.

General Knyphausen's division on Chad's Ford illustrating the position of where the 4th Foot engaged men from Sullivan's Division guarding the crossing at Brinton's Ford.

At Brandywine Creek, as part of General von Knyphausen's Right Division, the 4th were ordered to reconnoitre the road left of the divisions position, following the road unopposed until they came in view of Brinton's Ford where they were opposed by Sullivan's Division posted on the other side of the Brandywine to cover the crossing.

After a brief cannonade between the accompanying artillery, Sullivan's men retired to their former position and the 4th filed to their right taking position on a height overlooking the creek as all firing ceased.

At Germantown the 4th and 49th Foot were out on the right flank of the British position as it developed to resist the American surprise attack, hampered in their movements by the foggy conditions made worse by exchanges of musketry and the associated clouds of smoke.

As Washington started to amass his guns against the defenders of Chew House at about 07.00 on the morning of the 4th October, General Green's Division arrived on the British right flank, driving in the pickets of the 1st Light Battalion, but seeing the fog hamper the American attempts to coordinate their movement as Green's and Stephen's Divisions became separated as the latter, against orders, inclined to their right in support of the fight developing around Chew House (Cliveden as shown on the map above).

British 40th Foot occupying the Chew House at the Battle of Germantown on 4th October 1777  - Xavier della Gatta.

An hour later and on the back of the delay in the forward movement of the American attack caused by the attempts to take Chew House, which was assailed for a full hour by the infantry and guns of several American brigades, the British counterattack developed as both Sullivan and Wayne continued past the Chew House and began their attack. In the fog, brigades of Wayne’s Division encountered those of Stephen’s Division and the both forces exchanged fire, blindly trading volleys for some minutes.

At about 08.00 significant elements of the American line began to run out of ammunition, with Wayne's men the first to break off the action, followed by Greene's and Sullivan's, not before Major General Grant attacked Greene's Division with the 37th, 5th and 15th Regiments supported by the 49th and 4th as he exploited the gap left in the line by Stephen's Division which effectively broke the American left flank and in the ensuing retreat the 9th Virginia Regiment were captured en masse.

The last stand of the 9th Virginia Regiment at Germantown as depicted by Don Troiani

Attacked by the British Guards and the 25th and 27th Foot, Greene withdrew up the main road to the north west, assisted by the efforts of Muhlenberg’s brigade. As the American army retreated, its condition deteriorated and Washington was forced to withdraw some sixteen miles, harried by the British light dragoons.

With French entry into the war in February 1778 the newly installed commander-in-chief General Sir Henry Clinton in Philadelphia, was ordered to redeploy 8,000 troops, a third of his army, to the West Indies and Florida, consolidate the rest of his army in New York and adopt a defensive posture; and the 4th Foot, now re-united with their Grenadier and Light Companies and their strength quoted as 444 rank and file present and fit for duty, sailed to St Lucia in December 1778.

Plan of St. Lucia, in the West Indies- Shewing the positions of the English and French forces with the attacks made at its reduction in December 1778

The Capture of St Lucia was the result of a campaign from 18th to the 28th of December 1778 by British land and naval forces to take over the island, which was a French colony, following the capture of the British-controlled island of Dominica by French forces in a surprise invasion in September 1778.

Naval battle of St Lucia, December 15th, 1778 between the 12 French ships of d'Estaing (left) and seven English ships of Admiral Barrington (right) - Dominic Serres

During the Battle of St. Lucia, the British fleet defeated a French fleet sent to reinforce the island, and a few days later French troops were soundly defeated by British troops during the Battle of Morne de la Vigie. Realising that another British fleet would soon arrive with reinforcements, the French garrison surrendered, and the remaining French troops were evacuated, whilst the French fleet returned to Martinique, another French colony. St. Lucia stayed in the hands of the British and the 4th were awarded the Battle Honour 'St Lucia 1778'.

In 1780 the 4th 'King's Own' Regiment of Foot returned home.

My interpretation of the 4th Regiment of Foot uses the plastic British infantry from Perry Miniatures, Colours from GMB and low profile sabots from Supreme Littleness Designs and shows them as a five stand regiment to represent them when at around 350-400 men strong.

As always, more anon

JJ