North Hamptonshire Regiment (48th Regiment of Foot)

History

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'This ode was writen J W Croker for the 48th after their heroism at Talavera '
"Now from the summit, at his call,
A gallant legion firm and slow
Advances on victorious Gaul;
Undaunted, tho' their leader's low!
Fixed, as the high and buttressed mound,
That guards som leaguered city round,
They stand unmoved --"
The 48th North Hamptonshire Regiment of Foot, Battle Record of the Penninsular War, Canada and the America's, France,
Battle of Vimeiro 21/8/1808 : : Retreat to Corunna & Vigo 16/1/1809 : : Battle of Talavera 28/7/1809 : : Battle of Busaco 27/9/1810 : : Battle of Albuera 16/5/1811 : : Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo 8/1/1812 : : Siege Badajoz 1812 : : Battle of Salamanca 22/7/1812 : : Battle of Vittoria 21/6/1813 : : Pyrenees and Southern France 1813-1814 : : America and Canada 1812-1815 : :
The 48th North Hamptonshire Regiment of Foot, history in Australia. : : Sydney 1817-1820 : : Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania)1817-1824 : : Port Macquarie: The 48th Northamptonshire Regiment of Foot was to be the first Penninsular
Regiment to serve in Australia . Those of the 48th who settled in N.S.W.
Uniform of the 48th Northamptonshire Regiment
Weapons used by the 48th Northamptonshire Regiment
AWARDS OF THE MILITARY GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL :1793-1814
TO MEMBERS OF THE 48TH REGIMENT WHO SERVED IN NEW SOUTH WALES 1817-1824
The award of this medal was authorised in a General Order, 1st June 1847, and was issued in 1848 only to those who applied.The award took place 34 years after the last action it commemorated. Twenty nine clasps or bars were awarded for battles from 1801- 1814.Twenty one clasps were awarded for Peninsular battles engagements.: Three soldiers only from the 48th were awarded 12 clasps, one of whom was Benjamin Hodgkin.
Quartermaster Joshua Stubbs, awarded eleven clasps, received the most clasps awarded to the officers.
THE MEDAL The diademed head of Queen Victoria and the legend "VICTORIA REGINA " with the date "1848" Reverse : Queen Victoria , on a dais, about to place a laurel wreath on the head of the Duke of Wellington, kneeling on his left knee. nt. Around the top half of the circumference is the inscription "TO THE BRITISH ARMY".In the exergue are the dates "1793-1814".1.4 inches (36mm) diameter Ribbon:1.25 inch (32mm)wide, crimson in colour with a 1/8 th inch (3mm) wide dark blue border. Suspension : By a plain straight swivelling suspender Naming: Large indented Roman capitals
Clasps were awarded to the 48th for service in the following battles action .Talavera (28th June 1809), Busaco ( 27th September 1810), Albuera (16th May 1811), Cuidad Rodrigo(19th January 1812) ,Badajoz (May 1812), Salamanca (22/6/1812) , Vittoria (21st June 1813), Pyrenees (9 days in July 1813), St Sebastian (22nd July 1813), Nivelle, Nive, Orthes ( 27th February 1814) , & Toulouse (10th April 1814) ... No Clasps were ever issued to those troops or officers who were at any time captured. Most of whom escaped . to rejoin the 48th: Medals (at the cost of 143/4/- pounds) were awarded in total, thirty three to officers and 277 to other ranks.
From those who served in New South Wales in the 48th ,and were awarded medals, only 10 officers and around fifty other ranks elected to remain in or return to the colony.: The Regiment was raised in 1741 during the War of Austrian Succession as the 59th of line. In 1745 it took
part in the campaigning against the Young Pretender , fighting at the Battles of Falkirk and Culloden. It became the 48th Regiment after Army reorganisation in 1748. The 48th recieved its first battle honour in the America's at the Battle of Louisburg ,an honour not given till 1882 . The regiment was involved in the capture of Quebec under Wolf's command . The 48th was present at the capture Martinique and Havanah in the West Indies before returning to serve in Ireland in 1763.: The regiment returned to the West Indies in 1773. This area of the world became a graveyard for British
troops, with disease running rampant through the ranks .The remnants of the 48th were captured by the French who had entered the war of American Independence. Repatriated back to England in 1780,the war office began recruitment of troops in the Northampton District and it then became the Northamptonshire Regiment. 1960 saw the 48th become part of the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, then following further reorganisation, part of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment.: It was not until 1788 that the 48th reached its full compliment of troops and was once again deployed to the
West Indies . But yet again ,as fortune would have it, in 1793 the Regiment returned to England as it was so depleted, due to again illness.: The French activity had increased in the West Indies ,the regiment was again committed to the area in
1795. It was here that the first officer to join the regiment and to serve in Australia appeared,.Lieutenant Gilbert Cimitier .By late August 1797, only 50 of the original 847 troops to leave England were able to fight , again due to rampant disease. After returning to England yet again to recruit troops, in August 1799 ,the 48th departed for Gibraltar.
A member of the 48th, Ensign Thomas Bell ,custodian of the colours, planted the colours at St Angelo in Malta when the regiment recaptured the island from the French in September of 1800. In 1802 from Malta ,the regiment returned to England .: The second Battalion 48th was raised at Manchester as a limited line battalion of existing full service
lines, the trek to the Peninsula had began. Both Battalions of the 48th were despatched to this area .: As history shows very few of the original 900 or so troops were to survive this war. Only one Battlion was
to eventually return to England, a combination of the 1/48th and the 2/48th. On 10th of April 1814, the 48th regiment fought its last battle in Europe at Toulouse, a battle that need not have been fought, Napoleon had already abdicated on the 6th of April 1814. For the 48th the war was over. Since the regiment entered France they had lost 13 killed and 117 wounded. The regiment retired to Pauillac, it was from here that a battle weary 48th regiment returned to Ireland on the 19th of June 1814. A short history of these battles may be found in the links above .: The 48th regiment fought in several of the American battles but were mainly garrisoned in Southern Ireland.
The 48th regiment was not called for battle duty at Waterloo, mainly because of the sadly depleted force they were.: In December of 1816 whilst stationed at Naas near Dublin , orders were received for the 48th to embark for
New South Wales. The first of the 48th to embark for N.S.W was a guard detachment of 1 sergeant and 30 rank and file of the 48th & 46th Regiments, under the command of Lieutenant Franklin of the 69th Regiment. They sailed from Cove of Cork onboard the "Pilot ", a convict transport on 9th March 1817 and reached Port Jackson after a voyage of 123 days on 28th July, 1817.: The regiment's Battalion Headquarters Division , under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Erskine,
embarked on the "Barque..Matilda " 22nd March 1817. On this voyage were 13 officers, 179 "other ranks "and 50 women and children. Six days later they sailed from Cove of Cork and after a voyage of 130 days reached Port Jackson on 3rd August 1817.: The remainder of the 48th under Brevert Major Thomas Bell,CB, sailed on HM. ships " Lloyd's " ,
carrying 200 of the garrison arrived on 30 August, 1817 & "Dick " under Major Gilbert Cimitiere with the largest party arriving 3rd September 1817. The 48th presence in the colony of N.S.W. had commenced
When the regiment's tour of duty in New South Wales ended in 1824 , ten percent of the veteran other ranks and several officers settled in N.S.W
: Our Private John Waddington joined the 48th Regiment on 15th August 1803 aged 23 years from the
Army of Reserve in Manchester. In civilian life John was a sweeper. He took his discharge in Sydney on the 13th November 1824 after serving with the regiment for 21 years and 91 days. Awarded the MGSM (Military General Service Medal ) with 10 clasps,his medal is on display at the Naval & Military Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.: John returned to England to be reunited with his wife Margaret and only child, daughter Alice. The family
returned and settled at Morpeth, N.S.W . John was 5 feet & a quarter inch tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fair complexion. John was baptised on 19th October 1783, England, married Margaret Cawe on 20 December 1814, Blackburn, England & died 9th January 1855 and is buried at Morpeth Cemetery, New South Wales Australia.

Reference books :
Records of the 48th . Mitchel Library Sydney
The Colonial Garrison 1817-1824 ( Clem Sargent ) published 1996
Wellington's Military Machine( Philip J. Haythornthaite) published 1995

e- mail address
bmchapman@iprimus.com.au
Last revised: May 14, 2000.