96th Regiment of Foot

"96th Regiment" redirects here. For the French unit, see 96th Infantry Regiment (France). For other units with the same regimental number, see 96th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation).

96th Regiment of Foot (Queen's Own Germans)

Active| 1798–1818
1824–1881
Country|  Kingdom of Great Britain (1798–1800)
United Kingdom (1801–1881)
Branch|  British Army
Type| Infantry
Nickname(s)| The Ups and Downs[1]
Engagements| French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
New Zealand Wars

Military unit

The 96th Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1798. Under the Childers reforms it amalgamated with the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot to form the Manchester Regiment.

## History

[edit]

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Charles Stuart, founder of the regiment, by George Romney

### Formation

[edit]

The Battle of Alexandria, 21 March 1801, by Philip James de Loutherbourg

The regiment was raised in Menorca (then called Minorca) by Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Stuart from German-speaking prisoners of war of Swiss regiments in Spanish service on 12 December 1798.[2]

The regiment embarked for Gibraltar in October 1800 and then sailed on to Abu Qir in Egypt in January 1801 to take part in the Egyptian Campaign.[2] At the Battle of Alexandria in March 1801, Private Antoine Lutz of the regiment distinguished himself by seizing the colour of the 21st Demi Brigade Legère. The colour had initially been captured by Sergeant Sinclair of the 42nd Regiment of Foot but after Sinclair fell in battle, a French officer recovered the colour for his country. Private Lutz shot the French officer holding the colour and took possession of the colour before being ridden over by French cavalry. As two dragoons charged towards him, Lutz claimed to have shot the horse from under one, whose life he spared. He returned to the British lines with both the colour and the captured dragoon.[3] The regiment sailed for home in autumn 1801.[2] It was renamed The Queen's Own German Regiment in 1802[2] and 97th (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment of Foot in January 1805.[2]

### Napoleonic Wars

[edit]

In 1807 members of the regiment were lost in the sinking of the "Prince of Wales".[4] The regiment embarked for Portugal in spring 1808 for service in the Peninsular War.[2] It saw action at the Battle of Vimeiro in August 1808, the Battle of Talavera in July 1809 and the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810.[2] It also fought at the First Siege of Badajoz In February 1811 and the Battle of Albuera in May 1811 before sailing for home in October 1811.[2] The regiment was dispatched to Upper Canada in May 1814 and took part in the Siege of Fort Erie in August 1814 during the War of 1812 before arriving back home in July 1815.[2] It was renumbered as the 96th (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment of Foot in February 1816 and was disbanded at Limerick in Ireland in December 1818.[2]

### The Victorian era

[edit]

Lieut. Col James Fullarton, 96th Regiment, Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The regiment was reformed (and subsequently confirmed as the successor of the predecessor formation with full continuity of battle honours),[a] in response to the threat posed by the French intervention in Spain, in January 1824.[5] The regiment embarked for Halifax, Nova Scotia in summer 1824, transferred to Bermuda in 1825 and then returned to Halifax in 1828 before embarking for home in 1835.[5] Between December 1839 and August 1841, it provided detachments for convict ships sailing to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, South Australia and Western Australia.[6]

In 1843, amid tensions in New Zealand between British settlers and Māoris related to breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, a detachment from the regiment was dispatched to the North Island of New Zealand.[7] Four members of the regiment were killed in action at the flagstaff blockhouse when captured by a large Māori force during the Battle of Kororāreka in the Bay of Islands on 11 March 1845; the blockhouse crew were forced to withdraw to the lower blockhouse.[7]

The regiment embarked for India in 1849 and, after returning to England in 1855, sailed for Gibraltar in 1856.[5] It embarked for Canada in February 1862 to help suppress attacks by Fenians. One of the transport ships had to seek refuge in the Azores for a week in the face of extremely poor weather.[6] The regiment spent only a brief time in Canada, the crisis having subsided, and returned to England in April 1862.[6] The regiment deployed to the Cape of Good Hope in 1863 and then travelled on to India in 1865 before returning home in 1875.[5]

As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 96th was linked with the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 16 at Wellington Barracks in Ashton-under-Lyne.[8] On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot to form the Manchester Regiment.[5]

## Battle Honours

[edit]

Battle honours won by the regiment (or its predecessors) were:[2][5]

* Egypt (inherited from the Minorca Regiment) (1801)
* Peninsular (inherited from 96th (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment of Foot)
* New Zealand (1846-1847)

## Colonels of the Regiments

[edit]

Colonels of the Regiments were:[2][5]

### The Minorca Regiment - (1798)

[edit]

* 1798: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles Stuart

### 97th (later the 96th) (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment of Foot - (1816)

[edit]

* 1806–1814: F.M. Thomas Grosvenor
* 1814–?1818: Gen. Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB
* Disbanded in Ireland, 1818

### 96th Regiment of Foot - (1824)

[edit]

* 1824–1832: Lt-Gen. Sir Joseph Fuller, GCH
* 1832–1834: Lt-Gen. Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCH
* 1834–1839: Lt-Gen. Sir William Thornton, KCB
* 1839–1852: Gen. Sir Lewis Grant, KCH
* 1852–1855: Lt-Gen. Charles Edward Conyers, CB
* 1855–1860: Gen. Mildmay Fane
* 1860–1863: Gen. George Macdonald
* 1863–1866: Maj-Gen. Sir Charles Warren, KCB
* 1866–1869: Gen. Hon. Sir Augustus Almeric Spencer, GCB
* 1869–1872: Lt-Gen. George Thomas Conolly Napier, CB
* 1872–1877: Lt-Gen. Thomas Crombie
* 1877–1881: Gen. Thomas Maitland Wilson

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Confirmation was issued by the War Office in 1874

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Burnham, Robert; McGuigan, Ron (2010). The British Army against Napoleon. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Frontline Books. p. 128\. ISBN 978-1-84832-562-3.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "97th Regiment of Foot (Queen's Own Germans)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2016.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
3. ^ Mackesy, p. 135
4. ^ "Rochdale & the Prince of Wales". On-line Journal of Research on Irish Maritime History. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
5. ^ a b c d e f g "96th Regiment of Foot". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 19 April 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2016.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
6. ^ a b c "96th Regiment". Tameside Borough Council. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
7. ^ a b "96th Regiment NZ Wars memorial plaque". New Zealand History. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
8. ^ "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Mackesy, Piers (1995). British Victory in Egypt, 1801: The End of Napoleon's Conquest. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415040648.
* Wylly, Harold Carmichael (2016). History of the Manchester Regiment (1758 - 1883). Vol. 1\. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1540607546.

## See also

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

Predecessors|

| 1st generation|

* Border Regiment (1881–1959)
* East Lancashire Regiment (1881–1958)
* King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) (1680–1959)
* Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (1881–1970)
* Manchester Regiment (1881–1958)
* South Lancashire Regiment (1881–1958)
* 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot (1702–1881)
* 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot (1755–1881)
* King's Regiment (Liverpool) (1685–1958)
* 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot (1744–1881)
* 96th Regiment of Foot (1798–1881)
* 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot (1702–1881)
* 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot (1755–1881)
* 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot (1717–1881)
* 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) (1793–1881)
* 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot (1741–1881)
* 81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) (1793–1881)

|

2nd generation|

* King's Own Royal Border Regiment (1959–2006)
* King's Regiment (1958–2006)
* Lancashire Regiment (1958–1970)
* Queen's Lancashire Regiment (1970–2006)

Victoria Cross|

* Thomas Grady
* Harry Christian
* James Miller
* Jack White
* Tom Fletcher Mayson
* Albert Halton
* Joseph Henry Collin
* James Hewitson
* Thomas Neely
* William Robert Fontaine Addison
* Harry Hampton
* Henry James Knight
* William Edward Heaton
* Joseph Harcourt Tombs
* Edward Felix Baxter
* Arthur Herbert Procter
* David Jones
* Oswald Reid
* Jack Thomas Counter
* James Pitts
* Robert Scott
* James Leach
* John Hogan
* Issy Smith
* William Forshaw
* George Stringer
* George Evans
* Charles Harry Coverdale
* Walter Mills
* Wilfrith Elstob
* Alfred Robert Wilkinson
* James Kirk
* George Stuart Henderson
* John McDermond
* Mark Walker
* John Lucas
* Euston Sartorius
* Spencer Bent
* Henry Edward Kenny
* William Young
* Alfred Victor Smith
* Richard Basil Brandram Jones
* Thomas Orde Lawder Wilkinson
* Gabriel Coury
* John Readitt
* William Ratcliffe
* John Thomas Davies
* Basil Horsfall
* Marcus Ervine-Andrews
* Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke

See also|

* King's Division
* King's and Cheshire Regiment
* Lancastrian and Cumbrian Volunteers
* Lancashire Militia

* v
* t
* e

Regiments of foot 1740–1881

* 1st or The Royal Scots
* 2nd (Queen's Royal)
* 3rd (East Kent - The Buffs)
* 4th (The King's Own Royal)
* 5th (Northumberland) (Fusiliers)
* 6th (Royal 1st Warwickshire)
* 7th (Royal Fusiliers)
* 8th (The King's)
* 9th (East Norfolk)
* 10th (North Lincoln)
* 11th (North Devonshire)
* 12th (East Suffolk)
* 13th (1st Somersetshire) (Prince Albert's Light Infantry)
* 14th (Buckinghamshire - The Prince of Wales's Own)
* 15th (York, East Riding)
* 16th (Bedfordshire)
* 17th (Leicestershire)
* 18th (The Royal Irish)
* 19th (1st Yorkshire, North Riding - Princess of Wales's Own)
* 20th (East Devonshire)
* 21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers)
* 22nd (Cheshire)
* 23rd (Royal Welch Fusiliers)
* 24th (2nd Warwickshire)
* 25th (King's Own Borderers)
* 26th (Cameronian)
* 27th (Inniskilling)
* 28th (North Gloucestershire)
* 29th (Worcestershire)
* 30th (Cambridgeshire)
* 31st (Huntingdonshire)
* 32nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry
* 33rd (The Duke of Wellington's)
* 34th (Cumberland)
* 35th (Royal Sussex)
* 36th (Herefordshire)
* 37th (North Hampshire)
* 38th (1st Staffordshire)
* 39th (Dorsetshire)
* 40th (2nd Somersetshire)
* 41st (The Welsh)
* 42nd (Oglethorpe's)
* 42nd (The Royal Highland) (The Black Watch)
* 43rd (Spotswood's)
* 43rd (Monmouthshire Light Infantry)
* 44th (1st Marines)
* 44th (East Essex)
* 45th (2nd Marines)
* 45th (Nottinghamshire Sherwood Foresters)
* 46th (3rd Marines)
* 46th (South Devonshire)
* 47th Regiment (4th Marines)
* 47th (Lancashire)
* 48th (5th Marines)
* 48th (Northamptonshire)
* 49th (6th Marines)
* 49th (Hertfordshire - Princess Charlotte of Wales's)
* 50th (7th Marines)
* 50th (American Provincials)
* 50th (The Queen's Own)
* 51st (8th Marines)
* 51st Regiment of Foot (Cape Breton Regiment)
* 51st (2nd York, West Riding, The King's Own Light Infantry)
* 52nd (9th Marines)
* 52nd (Oxfordshire Light Infantry)
* 53rd (10th Marines)
* 53rd (Shropshire)
* 54th (West Norfolk)
* 55th (Westmorland)
* 56th (West Essex)
* 57th (West Middlesex)
* 58th (Rutlandshire)
* 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire)
* 60th (De Grangues's)
* 60th (The King's Royal Rifle Corps)
* 61st (Gooch's)
* 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot
* 62nd (Baterau's)
* 62nd (Royal American)
* 62nd (1st Highland Battalion)
* 62nd (Wiltshire)
* 63rd (American)
* 63rd (2nd Highland Battalion)
* 63rd (West Suffolk)
* 64th (Loudon's Highlanders)
* 64th (Draper's)
* 64th (2nd Staffordshire)
* 65th (Shirley's)
* 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding)
* 66th (Pepperrell's)
* 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot
* 67th (Bolton's)
* 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot
* 68th (Bedford's)
* 68th (Durham) (Light Infantry)
* 69th (South Lincolnshire)
* 70th (Surrey)
* 71st (1758-1763)
* 71st (Fraser's Highlanders)
* 71st (Invalids)
* 71st (Highland Light Infantry)
* 72nd (1758–1763)
* 72nd (Invalids)
* 72nd (Royal Manchester Volunteers)
* 72nd (Duke of Albany's Own Highlanders)
* 73rd (1758–1763)
* 73rd (Invalids)
* 73rd (Highland)
* 73rd (Perthshire)
* 74th (1758–1763)
* 74th (Invalids)
* 74th (Argyleshire Highlanders)
* 74th (Highland)
* 75th (1758–1763)
* 75th (Invalids)
* 75th (Prince of Wales's Regiment)
* 75th (Stirlingshire)
* 76th (1758–1763)
* 76th (MacDonald's Highlanders)
* 76th Regiment of Foot
* 77th (Montgomery's Highlanders)
* 77th (Atholl Highlanders)
* 77th (East Middlesex) (Duke of Cambridge's Own)
* 78th (Fraser's Highlanders)
* 78th (Highland)
* 78th (Highland) (The Ross-shire Buffs)
* 79th (1758-1763)
* 79th (Royal Liverpool Volunteers)
* 79th (Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders)
* 80th (Light Armed)
* 80th (Royal Edinburgh Volunteers)
* 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers)
* 81st (Invalids)
* 81st (Aberdeenshire Highland)
* 81st (1793)
* 81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers)
* 82nd (invalids)
* 82nd (1777)
* 82nd (1793)
* 82nd (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)
* 83rd (1757-1763)
* 83rd (Royal Glasgow Volunteers)
* 83rd (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers)
* 83rd (County of Dublin)
* 84th (1758-1764)
* 84th (Royal Highland Emigrants)
* 84th (York and Lancaster)
* 85th (Royal Volontiers Light Infantry)
* 85th (1779-1783)
* 85th (Bucks Volunteers) (The King's Light Infantry)
* 86th (1759-1763)
* 86th (1779-1783)
* 86th (Royal County Down)
* 87th (Keith's Highlanders)
* 87th (1779-1783)
* 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers)
* 88th (Highland Volunteers)
* 88th (1779-1783)
* 88th (Connaught Rangers)
* 89th (Highland)
* 89th (1779-1783)
* 89th (Princess Victoria's)
* 90th (Irish Light Infantry)
* 90th (Yorkshire Volunteers)
* 90th (Perthshire Light Infantry)
* 91st (1759-1763)
* 91st (Shropshire Volunteers)
* 91st (1793-1795)
* 91st (Princess Louise's Argyllshire Highlanders)
* 92nd (Donegal Light Infantry)
* 92nd (1779-1783)
* 92nd (1793-1795)
* 92nd (Gordon Highlanders)
* 93rd (1760-1763)
* 93rd (1779-1783)
* 93rd (Highland) (1793-1798)
* 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders)
* 94th (Royal Welsh Volunteers)
* 94th (1780-1783)
* 94th (Irish)
* 94th (Scots Brigade)
* 94th
* 95th (1759-1763)
* 95th (1780-1783)
* 95th (1794-1796)
* 95th (Riflemen)
* 95th (1816-1818)
* 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot
* 96th (1760-1763)
* 96th (British Musketeers)
* 96th (1803-1816)
* 96th (Queen's Own Germans)
* 96th Regiment of Foot
* 97th (1760-1763)
* 97th (1780-1784)
* 97th (Inverness-shire Highlanders)
* 97th (Queen's Own Germans)
* 97th (1816-1818)
* 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot
* 98th (1760-1763)
* 98th (1780-1784)
* 98th (Argyllshire Highlanders)
* 98th (1804-1816)
* 98th (Prince of Wales's Tipperary)
* 98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot
* 99th (1760-1763)
* 99th (Jamaica Regiment)
* 99th (1794-1797)
* 99th (Prince of Wales's Tipperary)
* 99th (Prince Regent's County of Dublin)
* 99th (Duke of Edinburgh's)
* 100th (Highland)
* 100th (1780-1784)
* 100th (Gordon Highlanders)
* 100th (Prince Regent's County of Dublin)
* 100th (New South Wales Corps)
* 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian)
* 101st (Highland)
* 101st (1780-1783)
* 101st (Irish)
* 101st (Duke of York's Irish)
* 101st (Royal Bengal Fusiliers)
* 102nd (Queen's Royal Volunteers)
* 102nd (1780-1783)
* 102nd (Irish)
* 102nd (New South Wales Corps)
* 102nd (Royal Madras Fusiliers)
* 103rd Regiment of Foot (Volunteer Hunters)
* 103rd Regiment of Foot (King's Irish Infantry)
* 103rd (Loyal Bristol Volunteers)
* 103rd (1809-1816)
* 103rd (Royal Bombay Fusiliers)
* 104th (King's Volunteers)
* 104th (1782-1783)
* 104th (Royal Manchester Volunteers)
* 104th (New Brunswick )
* 104th Regiment of Foot
* 105th (Queen's Own Royal Highlanders)
* 105th (Volunteers of Ireland)
* 105th (1794-1796)
* 105th (Madras Light Infantry)
* 106th (Black Musqueteers)
* 106th (1794-1796)
* 106th (Bombay Light Infantry)
* 107th (Queen's Own Royal Regiment of British Volunteers)
* 107th 1794-1795
* 107th (Bengal Light Infantry)
* 108th (1760-1763)
* 108th (1794-1795)
* 108th (Madras Infantry)
* 109th (1761-1763)
* 109th (Aberdeenshire)
* 109th (Bombay Infantry)
* 110th (Queen's Royal Musqueteers)
* 110th (1794-1795)
* 111th (1761-1763)
* 111th (Loyal Birmingham Volunteers)
* 112th (King's Royal Musqueteers)
* 112th (1794-1795)
* 113th (Royal Highlanders)
* 113th (1794-1795)
* 114th (Royal Highlander Volunteers)
* 114th (1794-1795)
* 115th (Royal Scotch Lowlanders)
* 115th (Prince William's)
* 116th (Invalids)
* 116th (Perthshire Highlanders)
* 117th (Invalids)
* 117th (1793-1795)
* 118th (Invalids)
* 118th (1794-1795)
* 119th (The Prince's Own)
* 119th (1794-1796)
* 120th (1762-1763)
* 120th (1794-1795)
* 121st (1761-1763)
* 121st (1794-1795)
* 122nd (1762-1764)
* 122nd (1794-1796)
* 123rd (1762-1764)
* 123rd (1794-1796)
* 124th (1762-1763)
* 124th (Waterford)
* 125th
* 126th
* 127th
* 128th
* 129th
* 130th
* 131st
* 132nd (Highland)
* 133rd (Highland)
* 134th (Loyal Limerick)
* 135th (Limerick)

Regimental titles in italics indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881.
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