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87-715: The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment) , frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army , in the King's Division . Raised in 1688, it served under various titles until it was amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) , all Yorkshire-based regiments in

174-518: A company of voltigeurs , who were expected to act as skirmishers as well being able to deploy into line. In the Russian Empire, light infantry was forming at a very fast pace; by the end of the 18th century, regiments of light infantry totaled 40,000 soldiers ( Jaeger ). The armament of light infantry was very different from the armament of linear infantry. They were armed with high-quality muskets, as well as pistols (for close combat). After

261-598: A connection with the County which might at all times be useful towards recruiting" and so the regiment was redesignated the 19th (1st North Riding of Yorkshire) Regiment . With the end of the American War, the regiment was stationed in Jamaica, a notoriously unhealthy posting where it was common for units to lose 100% of their strength every two years. It remained there until 1791, when it returned to Britain; in 1796, it

348-500: A pied (light infantry), one of Grenadiers and one of Carabiniers . Similar differentiations were made in the majority of European armies of the period, although English-speaking authors sometimes use the designation "line infantry" when referring to the ordinary infantry of some other countries where the exact term was not in use. The term was also used by US units during the Second World War, as shown by this quote from

435-572: A report of the 782nd Tank Battalion in late April 1945: On the 22nd of April, the Battalion moved from Oberkotzau, Germany to Wunsiedel , Germany. Here the attachment of the line companies to the Regimental Combat Teams of the 97th Division was completed. We separated, not coming together again until the war was over. Company "A" joined the 303rd at Rehau, Germany: Company "B" joined the 386th at Arzburg, Germany: and Company "C"

522-740: A short distance. In some cases, it was possible to defeat the enemy with just one volley at close range. The line was considered the fundamental battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. Against surrounding enemy cavalry, line infantry could swiftly adopt square formations to provide protection. Such squares were hollow (consisting of four lines), unlike the pikemen's and old-style musketeers' square. Troops in skirmish formation, though able to take cover and use initiative, were highly vulnerable to cavalry and could not hold ground against advancing infantry columns. Line infantry provided an "anchor" for skirmishers and cavalry to retreat behind if threatened. Movement in line formation

609-435: A small part of the infantry branch of most armies, because of their vulnerability to hostile cavalry. Pikemen formed the majority of infantrymen and were known as heavy infantry. A significant part of infantry consisted of old-style musketeers, who did not use the linear tactics, instead skirmishing in open formation. However, by the middle of the 17th century, musketeers deployed in line formation already provided about half of

696-486: A way of instilling discipline and unit cohesion . Members of the US Army utilize the term "line company" (informally) in light infantry battalions to differentiate those companies (generally A–D) that perform the traditional infantry role from the support companies (generally F and HHC) charged with supporting the "line companies". The Marine Corps does the same for all its infantry units. In this vein, officers assigned to

783-807: The 2nd (Sialkot) Cavalry Brigade in the 2nd (Rawalpindi) Division throughout the war and then took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. The 2nd Battalion landed at Zeebrugge as part of the 21st Brigade in the 7th Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front . The 2nd Battalion held the Menin crossroads for 16 days during the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914 sustaining heavy casualties. The 1/4th and 1/5th Battalions landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of

870-642: The 69th Brigade in the 23rd Division in August 1915 also for service on the Western Front but moved to Italy in November 1917 and then returned to France in September 1918. The 10th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 62nd Brigade in the 21st Division in September 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 12th (Service) Battalion, formed as the "Middlesbrough Pals " by

957-492: The 73rd and 74th regiments , clambered up the breach and fought their way along the ramparts. On the night of 3 May some officers crossed over to the glacis, examined the breach and the manner of attacking the fort (Lushington, Life of Harris , p. 325). It was probably on this occasion that it was arranged between the English officers and Mir Sadiq that the assault should take place at midday( p. 313). The assault

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1044-497: The American Civil War . The Austro-Prussian War in 1866 showed that breech-loading rifles , which gave the individual shooter a greatly increased rate of fire as well as the capability to reload from a prone position, were greatly superior to muzzle loaded rifles. In the 1860s, most German states and Russia converted their line infantry and riflemen into 'united' infantry, which used rifles and skirmish tactics. After

1131-609: The Childers Reforms , all non-royal English infantry regiments were to wear white facings from 1881. In 1899, the regiment was able to reverse this decision with the restoration of the grass green facings formerly worn by the 19th Foot. In April 1801 the regiment was deployed to Ceylon for service in the Kandyan Wars . The regiment lost six officers and 172 other ranks in a massacre there in June 1803 and then remained on

1218-790: The First Gulf War in 1991 and during the Bosnian War from 1996 to 1997. In March 2006 at a farewell dinner at Dunster Castle in Somerset , the regiment paid farewell to HM King Harald V , its retiring Colonel-in-chief . Until the regiment's rebadging, the Green Howards was one of five remaining line infantry regiments that had not been amalgamated in their entire history, a claim shared with The Royal Scots , The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment , The Royal Welch Fusiliers and The King's Own Scottish Borderers . However, on 6 June 2006

1305-655: The Franco-Prussian War , both the German Empire and the French Third Republic did the same. However, Great Britain retained the name "line infantry", although it used rifled muskets from 1853 and breech loading rifles from 1867, and switched from closed lines to extended order during the Boer wars . The growing accuracy, range, and rate of fire of rifles, together with the invention of

1392-614: The Interbellum , the 2nd Battalion was posted from 1925 to 1927 to the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. During the Second World War , the regiment was again increased in size, although not to as large an extent as in the 1914–1918 conflict. In all, twelve battalions saw service: In 1942, the 12th Battalion was converted to armour as the 161st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps , but retained its Green Howards cap badge on

1479-630: The Maxim machine gun in 1883, meant that close order line infantry would suffer heavy losses before being able to close with the enemy, while the defensive advantages given to line infantry against cavalry became irrelevant with the effective removal of offensive cavalry from the battlefield in the face of the improved weaponry. With the turn of the 20th century, this slowly led to infantry increasingly adopting skirmish style light infantry tactics in battle, while retaining line infantry drill for training. Although linear battle tactics had become obsolete by

1566-527: The Mayor and Town of Middlesbrough , landed at Le Havre as pioneer battalion to the 40th Division in June 1916 also for service on the Western Front. The 13th (Service) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 121st Brigade in the 40th Division in June 1916 also for service on the Western Front but, after returning to the United Kingdom in June 1918, moved to Murmansk in November 1918. During

1653-726: The Royal Military College, Sandhurst , now standing in front of the officers' mess. Tipu's Tiger , an automaton now in the Victoria & Albert Museum , was captured at Seringapatam. Much of the site of the battle is still intact including the ramparts, the Water Gate where the Tipu Sultan 's body was found, the area where the British prisoners were held, and the site of the destroyed palace. Around 80 men of

1740-654: The Tyne-Tees Regiment , based in Scarborough and Middlesbrough respectively, merged with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment and Duke of Wellington's Regiment companies of the East and West Riding Regiment to form the 4th Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment. Following further mergers, in 2012, the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) was removed from the order of battle . Each year, all companies in

1827-691: The West Indies and Newfoundland , losing many men to disease before returning to Ireland in 1704. Back in Flanders in 1710, it took part in the sieges of Douai and Bouchain and when the war ended in 1713 , it resumed garrison duties in Ireland. With the exception of the 1719 Vigo expedition , it did not see action again until 1744. When the War of the Austrian Succession began in 1740,

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1914-523: The Wodeyar dynasty back to power after the victory through a treaty of subsidiary alliance and Krishnaraja Wodeyar III was crowned the King of Mysore. However, they retained indirect control ( British paramountcy ) of the kingdom's external affairs . The battle consisted of a series of encounters around Seringapatam (the anglicised version of Srirangapatnam ) in the months of April and May 1799, between

2001-833: The York and Durham Brigade in the Northumbrian Division in April 1915 for service on the Western Front. Both battalions saw action at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. The 6th (Service) Battalion landed at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli as part of the 32nd Brigade in the 11th (Northern) Division in August 1915; the battalion was evacuated to Egypt in January 1916 and then moved to France in July 1916 for service on

2088-408: The matchlock muskets of some line infantry were equipped with bayonets . Bayonets were attached to the muzzles and were used when line troops entered melee combat. They also helped to defend against cavalry. At the end of the 17th century, a solution was sought to a flaw within the design of matchlock muskets. Since the matchlock musket used a slow burning piece of twine known as a slow match ,

2175-612: The 387th at Waldsassen, Germany. The British Army retains the traditional distinction between "Guards", "Line Infantry" and "the Rifles" on ceremonial occasions for historical reasons. It is linked to the order of precedence within the British Army and regimental pride, so for example Colonel Patrick Crowley states in the "introduction" in A Brief History of The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment (2015): The examples of valour, adherence to duty, and fortitude, continue to inspire

2262-1112: The 5th West York Militia in 1881 was a reserve battalion. It was embodied in December 1899, and 700 men embarked on the SS Assaye in February 1900 for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War . Many of the officers and men returned home in May 1902 on the SS Sicilia . The 4th (Militia) Battalion, formed from the North York Rifles in 1881 was also a reserve battalion. It was embodied for service on 5 May 1900, disembodied on 2 July 1901, and re-embodied again for service during Second Boer War in South Africa. 555 officers and men returned to Southampton by

2349-558: The American Civil War, both Union and Confederate armies had only a few line regiments equipped with the old-style smooth-bore muskets. However, France, due to Napoleon III, who admired Napoleon I, had 300 line battalions (comprising an overwhelming majority) even in 1870. Although the French line infantry received Chassepot rifles in 1866, it was still being trained in the use of close formations (line, column and square), which

2436-549: The Austrian army abandoned their pikes. In 1703, the French army did the same, in 1704 the British and 1708 the Dutch. In 1699–1721, Peter I converted almost all Russian foot-regiments to line infantry. The abandonment of the pike, together with the faster firing rate made possible by the introduction of the new flintlock musket and paper cartridge , resulted in the replacement of the deeper formations of troops more suitable for

2523-517: The British had completed their southern batteries and brought them up to the wall. At sunrise on 2 May, the batteries of the 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad succeeded in opening a practical breach in the outer wall. In addition, the mines that were laid under the breach were hit by artillery and blew up prematurely. The leader of the British troops was Major General David Baird , an implacable enemy of Tipu Sultan: twenty years earlier, he had been held captive for 44 months. The storming troops, including men of

2610-464: The British troops were briefed and whiskey and a biscuit issued to the European soldiers, before the signal to attack was given. The forlorn-hopes, numbering seventy-six men, led the charge. The columns quickly formed, were ordered to fix bayonets, and began to move forward. As the hour approached, Mir Sadiq withdrew the troops stationed at the breach under the pretext of distributing their pay. There

2697-779: The German Jäger ), armed with rifled carbines and trained in aimed shooting and use of defilades . In Britain, much of the light infantry was armed with smooth-bore muskets, only a few regiments used rifled muskets. In France, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , the division into the Guard, line infantry and light infantry formally continued to exist, line and "light" regiments had identical weaponry (smooth-bore fusils) and tactics. (Napoleon preferred smooth-bore weaponry for their faster reload speeds.) However, each battalion in both line and "light" regiments included

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2784-399: The King's Division, to form the Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) on 6 June 2006. The regiment was formed during the 1688 Glorious Revolution from independent companies raised in Somerset by Colonel Francis Luttrell , to support William III . In 1690, it supplied detachments for Ireland and Jamaica , incurring heavy losses from disease, including Luttrell who

2871-557: The Russian light infantry were equipped with the M1854 rifle, the remainder retaining smoothbore percussion muskets. In the second half of the 19th century, the development of mass production and new technologies, such as the Minié ball , allowed European armies to gradually equip all their infantrymen with rifled weapons, and the percentage of line infantry equipped with muskets fell. In

2958-836: The SS Tagus in October 1902, following the end of the war, and was disbanded at the Richmond barracks. In July 1902, the regiment was redesignated as Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) . In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve ; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. The 1st Battalion remained in India as part of

3045-535: The Sixth Coalition , the training of regular French line infantry recruits was limited due to the relentless attack of the Coalition Forces. A recruit was trained by firing only two cartridges and four blanks. There was also light training of forming several formations. However, training large quantities of elite line infantry was generally a complicated process. In the middle of the 16th century,

3132-604: The Swiss ‘ de Meuron Regiment ’, who fell during the siege, and their family members are buried in the Garrison Cemetery, Seringapatam . Wilkie Collins 's novel The Moonstone begins with the looting of the jewels removed from Seringapatam in 1799 from Tipu's treasury. The siege was also depicted in H.M Milner's play ""Tippo Saib, Or The Storming of Seringatam" in 1823 at the Royal Colburg Theatre on

3219-630: The United Kingdom in September 1902. The 2nd battalion was in Ireland from 1881 to 1886, when it returned to garrison back home in England. From early 1890 the battalion was stationed in British India , where it took part in military campaigns on the North-West Frontier . The battalion had various postings, including at Sitapur and Benares until late 1902 when it was posted to Cawnpore . A 3rd ( Militia ) Battalion, formed from

3306-414: The Western Front. The 7th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 50th Brigade in the 17th (Northern) Division in July 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 8th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 69th Brigade in the 23rd Division in August 1915 also for service on the Western Front. The 9th (Service) Battalion landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of

3393-426: The allied Nizam Ali Khan, 2nd Nizam of Hyderabad and Marathas , achieved a decisive victory after breaching the walls of the fortress at Seringapatam and storming the citadel. The leader of the British troops was Major General David Baird , among the lesser known allies were the Portuguese in Goa and Damaon . Tipu Sultan , the ruler after the death of his father , was killed in the action. The British restored

3480-443: The arm of their uniform. The Green Howards Regimental Museum is located in the old Trinity Church in the centre of the market place in Richmond, North Yorkshire . The regiment's battle honours were as follows: Soldiers of the Green Howards awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) Colonels of the regiment included: e.g. Luttrell's, Erle's etc. Present : Past : Bond of Friendship : Unofficial : The precise date on which

3567-424: The assault on Belle Île including five captains and the regimental major. When peace was declared the regiment was reassigned to garrison duty in Gibraltar and Scotland. It's next active service was not until 1781 when it took part in a disastrous southern campaign in the closing stages of the American Revolutionary War . In 1782, all foot regiments without a special designation were given a county title "to cultivate

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3654-410: The battalion took part in a competition, consisting of sports and military skills tests, to win the right to be named 'King Harald's Company', after the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief . The winning company was given a special flag bearing the King's personal cypher, the Company Sergeant Major was presented with a special pace stick, and all members of the company were permitted to wear a special red badge on

3741-478: The best shooting soldiers fight in loose ranks and cover their battalions from the enemy skirmishers. The total number of light infantry reached 40% of the entire field infantry. The sharp increase in the number of light infantry greatly influenced their quality of training and equipment. The Russian infantry of 1854 comprised 108 regiments, of which 42 were line infantry. The remainder were specialized or elite units such as Guards, Grenadiers and Jägers. Only part of

3828-424: The black beret of the Royal Armoured Corps as did all other infantry units converted in the same way. In October 1943 it was then converted again, this time to the reconnaissance role, as 161st (Green Howards) Regiment in the Reconnaissance Corps. It never went into action as a regiment, but provided a replacement squadron to the 43rd (Wessex) Reconnaissance Regiment , which had suffered heavy losses when its transport

3915-408: The body, he was in stature about 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and not very fair, he was rather corpulent, had a short neck and high shoulders, but his wrists and ankles were small and delicate. He had large full eyes, with small arched eyebrows and very small whiskers. His appearance denoted him to be above the Common Stamp. And his countenance expressed a mixture of haughtiness and resolution. He

4002-410: The colours of their uniform facings were used to distinguish them. In this way, one became 'Howard's Buffs' (eventually simply The Buffs ), while the other became the Green Howards. Although the Green Howards were referred to unofficially as such from then on, it was not until 1921 that the regiment was officially retitled as the Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment). Under

4089-527: The combined forces of the British East India Company and their allies, numbering over 50,000 soldiers in all, and the soldiers of the Kingdom of Mysore , ruled by Tipu Sultan , numbering up to 30,000. The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War came to an end with the defeat and death of Tipu Sultan in the battle. When the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War broke out, the British assembled two large columns under General George Harris . The first consisted of over 26,000 British East India Company troops, 4,000 of whom were European while

4176-400: The command of officers, but in practice this happened only in the first minutes of the battle. After one or two volleys, each soldier charged his musket and fired at his own discretion, without hearing the commands of the officers. This disrupted the system, while the gunsmoke prevented accurate shooting. Such a shootout in clouds of smoke could occur for an extended period of time and the result

4263-480: The current officers and soldiers of the modern Regiment, who are proud to belong to the most senior English Regiment of the Line. The Canadian Army also retained these traditional distinctions, and its infantry regiments were organized, titled, and uniformed in full dress as foot guards , fusiliers , light infantry, line infantry, rifles, and kilted infantry regiments. The infantry of most 21st-century armies are still trained in formation manoeuvre and drill , as

4350-428: The fall of the city, in the gathering dusk, some of the British officers went to look for the body of Tipu Sultan . He was identified as the fat officer who had fired hunting weapons at the attackers, and his body was found in a choked tunnel-like passage near the Water Gate. Benjamin Sydenham described the body as: wounded a little above the right ear, and the ball lodged in the left cheek, he had also three wounds in

4437-485: The following: The Indian (sepoy) forces consisted of the following: Seringapatam was besieged by the British forces on 5 April 1799. The River Cauvery , which flowed around the city of Seringapatam, was at its lowest level of the year and could be forded by infantry – if an assault commenced before the monsoon. When letters were exchanged with Tipu , it seemed that he was playing for time. He requested two persons to be sent to him for discussions and also stated that he

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4524-399: The foot troops in most Western European armies. Maurice of Nassau was noted as the first large scale user of linear tactic in Europe, introducing the 'counter-march' to enable his formations of musketeers to maintain a continuous fire. After the invention of the bayonet, musketeers could finally defend themselves from the enemy's horsemen, and the percentage of pikemen fell gradually. In 1699,

4611-406: The home country, line infantry forces were often raised from the local population, with the British East India Company 's sepoys perhaps being the most historically significant example. Line tactics required strict discipline and simple movements practiced to the point where they became second-nature. During training, the drill and corporal punishments were widely used. During 1814, in the War of

4698-413: The island to enforce British rule. The regiment did not return to England until May 1820. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Alma in September 1854 and at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during the Crimean War and then saw action again during the Indian Rebellion . In 1875, Princess Alexandra, Princess of Wales presented new colours to the 1st Battalion at Sheffield , and consented to

4785-486: The main objectives of which were fast deployment of a line, rapid shooting, and manoeuvre. Line infantry quickly became the most common type of infantry in European countries. Musketeers and grenadiers , formerly elite troops , gradually became part of the line infantry, switching to linear tactics. Over time the use of line infantry tactics spread outside of Europe, often as a result of European imperialism. In European colonies and settlements with small populations from

4872-497: The melee-oriented pikemen with shallower lines that maximized the firepower of an infantry formation. Besides regular line infantry, there were elite troops (royal guards and other designated elite regiments) and the light infantry . Light infantry operated in extended order (also known as skirmish formation) as opposed to the close order (tight formations) used by line infantry. Since the late 18th century, light infantry in most European countries mostly consisted of riflemen (such as

4959-467: The movement of units. In Russia, Great Britain, France, Prussia, and some other states, linear tactics and formation discipline were maintained into the late 19th century. With the invention of new weaponry, the concept of line infantry began to wane. The Minié ball , an improved rifle ammunition, allowed individual infantrymen to shoot more accurately and over greatly increased range. Men walking in formation line-abreast became easy targets, as evidenced in

5046-412: The new fusils retained the name "musket". Both muskets and fusils were smoothbore , which lessened their accuracy and range, but made for faster loading, lesser amount of bore fouling and more robust, less complicated firearms. The accuracy of smooth-bore muskets was in the range of 300–400 yd (270–370 m) against a line of infantry or cavalry. Against a single enemy, however, the effective range

5133-426: The next decade on garrison duty in Scotland and Northern England. During the 1756 to 1763 Seven Years' War , it took part in the capture of Belle Île in April 1761, where it suffered over 200 casualties. Officer recruitment was challenging as the cost of purchasing a commission in the 19th Foot was very high. This led to severe shortages in middling and senior ranks, with a total of 15 officer positions vacant during

5220-473: The other, ' Buff Howards '. The Green Howards fought at the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745, with a short period in England during the 1745 Jacobite Rising . It took part in the Battle of Rocoux and the Battle of Lauffeld before the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war, after which it became part of the garrison of Gibraltar . While there, the 1751 army reforms retitled it the 19th Regiment of Foot . It returned to Britain in 1752 and spent most of

5307-485: The ramparts and swept aside the defenders quickly. The British follow-up columns turned right and left, sweeping along the inside of the walls until they met on the far side of the city. The column that rounded the northwest corner of the outer wall was immediately involved in a serious fight with a group of Mysorean warriors under a fat officer, which defended every traverse. The officer was observed to be discharging hunting weapons loaded and passed to him by servants. After

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5394-439: The regiment adopted the green facings from which it derived its name is uncertain, with yellow known to have been the colour of the lapels in 1709. However the official Cloathing Book of 1742 shows full green facings being worn on the standard red coats of the era. Thereafter the actual shade of the regimental colour changed at various times from yellow-green to a dull green. White facings were worn from 1881 until 1899 when green

5481-423: The regiment amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) , all Yorkshire-based regiments in the King's Division , to form the Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) . The official rebadging took place on 6 June 2006, whilst elements of the regiment were stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo . A and B (Green Howards) companies of

5568-414: The regiment bearing her name, thus becoming the 19th (1st Yorkshire North Riding – Princess of Wales's Own) Regiment of Foot. The regiment adopted a cap badge consisting of the Princess's cypher "A" combined with the Dannebrog or Danish cross and topped by her coronet. The Princess became Queen Alexandra in 1901, and was the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief from 1914 until her death in 1925. The regiment

5655-443: The regiment was based in Edinburgh ; by 1744, many of its men were Scots and recruiting officers warned to exclude 'Jacobites and Irish Papists.' The unit was then commanded by Charles Howard and thus known as 'Howard's Regiment'; when it joined the army in Flanders, this clashed with another regiment also commanded by a Howard. To avoid confusion, they were referred to by the colour of their facings , one becoming 'Green Howards' and

5742-404: The rest were local Indian sepoys . The second column was supplied by the Nizam of Hyderabad , and consisted of ten battalions and over 16,000 cavalry. Together, the allied force numbered over 50,000 soldiers. Tipu's forces had been depleted by the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the consequent loss of half his kingdom, but he still probably had up to 30,000 soldiers. The British forces consisted of

5829-413: The rifle companies are referred to as "line officers" while billeted to positions such as Platoon Leaders and Commanding and Executive Officers. Siege of Seringapatam (1799) British victory The siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore . The British, with

5916-520: The second half of the nineteenth century, regiments in several European armies retained the "line infantry" (or cavalry) title. This designation had come to mean an army's regular or numbered regiments, as opposed to specialist or elite formations. Accordingly, the distinction had become a traditional title or classification without significance regarding armament or tactics. For example, the Belgian Army order of battle in 1914 comprised 14 regiments of Infanterie de Ligne (line infantry), three of Chasseurs

6003-451: The twine sometimes would accidentally set fire to the gunpowder reservoir in the musket prematurely setting off the gunpowder, resulting in serious injury or death to the operator. For this reason and others, matchlock muskets began to be replaced by lighter and cheaper infantry fusils with flintlocks , weighing 5 kg (11 lb) with a caliber of 17.5 mm (0.69 in), first in France and then in other countries. In many countries,

6090-413: The universal adoption of small arms (firearms that could be carried by hand, as opposed to cannon) in infantry units from the mid-17th century, the battlefield was dominated by linear tactics , according to which the infantry was aligned into long thin lines, shoulder to shoulder, and fired volleys . A line consisted of two, three, or four ranks of soldiers. The soldiers were expected to fire volleys at

6177-422: The unsuccessful army reforms of Paul I, the number of light infantry in the Russian army was significantly reduced and made up only 8% of the entire field infantry. However, the Russian army soon returned to the trend of increasing the number of light infantry, begun in the 18th century. By 1811, 50 light infantry regiments were formed in the Russian army. In addition, each linear battalion was required to have 100 of

6264-577: The walls of Seringapatam. The location of the breach, as noted by Beatson, the author of an account of the Fourth Mysore War, was 'in the west curtain, a little to the right of the flank of the north-west bastion. This being the old rampart appeared weaker than the new.' The Mysorean defence succeeded in preventing the establishment of a battery on the north side of the River Cauvery on 22 April 1799. However, by 1 May, working at night,

6351-467: Was changed only after the dethronement of Napoleon III. This was common practice in all conventional Western armies until the late 19th century, as infantry tactics and military thinking had yet to catch up with technological developments. In the years after the Napoleonic Wars, line infantry continued to be deployed as the main battle force, while light infantry provided fire support and covered

6438-544: Was dressed in a fine white linen jacket, chintz drawers, a crimson cloth round his waist with a red silk belt and pouch across his body and head. He had lost his turban and there were no weapons of defence about him. All members of the British-led forces who took part in the siege were awarded a medal by the Governor-General of India. Two cannon captured by the British during the battle are displayed at

6525-468: Was no more than 50–100 yd (46–91 m). It should be borne in mind that ordinary linear infantrymen were poorly trained in aimed shooting, due to the expense of gunpowder and lead (modern reenactors achieve much better results by firing smooth-bore muskets). Line infantrymen were trained in rapid reloading. The recruit was expected to load 3 rounds a minute, while an experienced soldier could load 4–6 rounds per minute. In battle conditions, this number

6612-608: Was no one to protest against such a measure. Sayyid Abdul Ghaffar, who was very loyal to the Sultan, was killed by a cannon ball. Immediately after the Sayyid was killed, the traitors made a signal from the fort holding out a white handkerchief to the English troops who were assembled in the trenches, waiting for such a signal p. 313-314). The storming party dashed across the River Cauvery in water four feet deep, with covering fire from British batteries, and within 16 minutes had scaled

6699-705: Was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Richmond Barracks in North Yorkshire from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under the reforms the regiment amalgamated with the militia battalions and rifle volunteers in its designated regimental district and became The Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) on 1 July 1881. The 1st battalion

6786-636: Was posted to India, the also saw action at the Siege of Seringapatam in April 1799 during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War . The regiment was known as the Green Howards from 1744. At that time, regiments were known by the name of their colonel. The 19th regiment's colonel was Hon. Sir Charles Howard . However, at the same time, the 3rd Regiment of Foot had been commanded by its colonel Thomas Howard , since 1737. To tell them apart (since they both would have been known as 'Howard's Regiment of Foot'),

6873-461: Was preoccupied with hunting expeditions. Tipu Sultan's Chief Minister, Mir Sadiq , is alleged to have been bought over by the British. The British had sought the assistance of Mir Sadiq who, like Purnaiya and Qamar-ud-din Khan, had been for sometime past carrying on correspondence with the English against his ruler. The Governor-General of India, Richard Wellesley , planned the opening of a breach in

6960-485: Was reduced and after the first few minutes of combat, no more than 2 rounds per minute could be expected even from well trained troops. The bulk of the line infantry had no protective equipment, as armor that could provide protection from musket fire were considered too expensive and heavy. Only the former elite troops could keep by tradition some elements of protection, for example, the copper mitre caps of grenadiers. Initially, soldiers equipped with firearms formed only

7047-600: Was replaced by Thomas Erle . Transferred to Flanders in early 1692 during the Nine Years' War , it was present at the battles of Steenkerque and Landen , as well as the Siege of Namur . after the 1697 Peace of Ryswick , it escaped disbandment by being made part of the Irish garrison, where it remained until the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1702. In 1703, it was part of an expeditionary force in

7134-471: Was restored. The remaining features of the Green Howard's uniform followed the normal British infantry progression from red coat to scarlet tunic to khaki service dress and battle dress . Regimental titles in italics indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881. Line infantry Line infantry mainly used three formations in its battles: the line, the square, and the column. With

7221-419: Was slow, and unless the battalion was superbly trained, a breakdown in cohesion was assured, especially in uneven or wooded terrain. As a result, the line was mostly used as a firing formation, with troops moving in column formations and then deploying to the line at their destination. Usually, columns would be adopted for movement and melee attacks. Line infantry was trained in the manual of arms evolutions,

7308-704: Was stationed at Nova Scotia from 1884, moved to the Mediterranean in 1888 where it was stationed at Malta but also saw action in Egypt, then moved to Jersey in 1895 followed by Ireland in 1898. After a brief spell in Gibraltar in 1899, the battalion was posted to South Africa as reinforcement for the Second Boer War , where it was involved in the Relief of Kimberley and the battles of Diamond Hill (June 1900) and Belfast (August 1900). The battalion returned to

7395-782: Was sunk on the way to France to fight in the Battle of Normandy . From 1949 to 1952, the regiment took part in the Malayan Emergency . Over the next 30 years it served in Afghanistan , Suez , Cyprus , Hong Kong , Libya , Belize , Berlin and Northern Ireland . While serving with the SAS , a former officer of the regiment, Gavin Hamilton , was killed in action during the Falklands War in 1982. It also saw action during

7482-427: Was to begin at 1:00 p.m. to coincide with the hottest part of the day when the defenders would be taking refreshment. Led by two forlorn hopes , two columns would advance upon the defences around the breach, then wheel right and left to take over the fortifications. A third reserve column, commanded by Arthur Wellesley , would deploy as required to provide support where needed. At 11:00 a.m., on 4 May 1799,

7569-439: Was unpredictable. In addition, at the time of the “hot” shootout, the soldiers were so engaged and focused on shooting that they were not watching out for an attack of cavalry from the flank. For these reasons, experienced officers tried to avoid such uncertain exchanges and restrained their soldiers from premature firing in order to get as close to the enemy’s line as possible so that they could deliver several devastating volleys at

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