52nd Regiment of Foot

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The 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. During the Napoleonic Wars, the 52nd were part of the Light Division, and were present at most of the major battles of the Peninsula campaign, reowned for always being at the front of of an army, and leading the forlong hope at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, followed by the 300 "stormers" and again at "Santa Maria" , Thus becoming one of the most celebrated regiments, described by Sir William Napier as "a regiment never surpassed in arms since arms were first borne by men". They had the largest British battalion at Waterloo, 1815, where they formed part of the final charge against Napoleon's Imperial Guard. They were also involved in various campaigns in India.

The regiment was raised as a line regiment in 1755 and numbered as the "54th Foot"; they were renumbered as the "52nd Regiment of Foot" in 1757. In 1781, the regional designation "52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot" was given, and in 1803 the regiment was the first regular British Army regiment to be designated "Light Infantry"


Introduction:

The 52nd is the Mount & Blade: Warband - Napoleonic Wars branch of the multigaming community Kuffar Bastards. We have been a part of the Mount & Blade: Warband community for over two years now and a part of the MM community for over a year, (October 01, 2010, 11:30:30 PM.) Our regiment is run as a democracy for the most part, with any menial day to day tasks being handled by the leader(s). We have a very casual view of the game, and while we do take part in events, we do not hold regular trainings or expect our members to play daily.

The regiment has seen highs and lows but still stands as strong as ever, unrelenting in fighting whichever foe stands in its way. The 52nd excels itself in being melee competant above all else and is not afraid to charge headlong into impossible odds, (and more notably charging cavalry as line infantry.)


Kuffar Bastards:

As a member of the 52nd you are also a part of our parent community Kuffar Bastards, (although don't have to participate in anything else if you don't want to.)

If you would like to join Kuffar Bastards and play no Warband at all, you're welcome to do so, head on over to our forums and post a message in the Public House.


Banner:

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Code of Conduct:

No griefing and / or being rude, (however friendly banter is not just allowed, its encouraged.)
No cheating / hacking / glitching.
Respect all players, at all times.
No Dual-Clanning.
Thou shalt not use, "1337 spk".
Members must display their clan tag while playing.
Members must be active on Teamspeak and ingame.
Members must obide by sever rules, (if a server is for dueling, then make sure that is all you do in there please. Failing to obide by this rule could result in you being banned from certain servers).

Failure to follow these simple rules could result in you being removed from the 52nd.


Application:

Applications will only be considered from mature people who speak good English and swear allegiance to the King.

Click here to apply!

Please apply through our website by clicking the link above and filling in the short form there. If you have any questions regarding the 52nd please do not hesitate to contact Crusader or Kator Viridian through a private message or a reply in this topic.


nil desperandum!
 
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The History of the 52nd Regiment Of Foot (Light Infantry)
The Oxs &  Bucks/The light Bobs​
March:Lower Castle Yard

Colours: Buff & Scarlet
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Trivia
Lt John Gurwood of the 52nd is mentioned in the Sharpe series “Sharpe's Company “ at the Siege of Badajoz. His action of leading the forlorn hope followed by the 300 stormers led by 52nd Major George Napier at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo is briefly mentioned.

Detailed Sources
The 52nd Regiment Of Foot Wiki Page
The Peninsular War 1808-1814
British Battles

The 52nd Regiment Of Foot were the first regular regiment to be designated “light infantry” in 1803, seeing many notable actions throughout the Peninsula Campaign and the final battle of Waterloo. Described by Sir William Napier as "a regiment never surpassed in arms since arms were first borne by men" The battles I have mentioned below are so far what I would consider to be the unheard or least spoken off battles, I will continue to add to the list, to try and cover the entire battle record and list sources to sites so others may find information about other regiments they have a interest in.

Battle of Copenhagen (1807) The Crippling of Denmark

In 1807, Denmark having allied itself with France, the corps of light infantry (43rd, 52nd and 95th), led by Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, were part of a force which bombarded and captured Copenhagen and with it the entire Danish fleet. The Battle of Køge was a battle on 29 August 1807 between British troops besieging Copenhagen and Danish militia raised on Sjælland. It ended in a British victory and was also known as the 'Træskoslaget' or 'Clogs Battle', since the poorly-equipped Danish militia threw their heavy wooden clogs away when they were fleeing.
The Battle of Copenhagen (1807)

The Peninsular War
Notable actions by the 52nd

Battle of Viemrio
The battle began about 9:00 a.m. when General Junot sent Charlot's and Thomière's Brigades, along with seven guns, to attack the British on the ridgeline near Vimeiro. General Anstruther wrote later that:
"The enemy came rapidly along the road, directly in front of the 50th, and when within about nine hundred yards deployed to their left, so as to bring their front parallel to ours; heavy cannonade from our guns, which caused the enemy much loss, but did not check his advance. Brigadier-General Fane sent out nearly all the 60th and some companies 95th, to skirmish with their sharpshooters; after a good deal of firing our people were driven in. Sent the light company 97th and three companies 52nd to cover their retreat; the latter made a gallant stand, but were at length driven in almost to the position, and the enemy advanced to the edge of the copse, about one hundred and fifty yards from us."
Source:The Battle of Viemrio
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Battle of Corunna – The Rear Guard Action
Leading up to the battle of corunna, the french cavalry pursued the British Army the length of the journey, and a Reserve Division was set up to provide rearguard protection for the British troops. The core of this Reserve, commanded by Edward Paget, consisted of the 1/52nd and 1/95th battalions, who displayed none of the ill-discipline which plagued other regiments during the retreat, but "made a stand at every defile and riverline, buying time for the rest of the army to get away." Following the secondment of the 1/52nd and 1/95th to the Reserve, Craufurd's 1st Flank Brigade was reformed, and comprised the 1/43rd, 2/52nd and 2/95th. The 1st Flank Brigade deployed with the Reserve for a time, protecting the crossing of the river Esla near Benavente, before it separated from the Reserve and the main army and marched to Vigo, with over 4,000 other troops, for eventual transportation to England. The 1/52nd remained with the main army, which was caught by the French at Corunna. During the ensuing battle, in January 1809, Moore was killed; the army, including the 1/52nd, were evacuated to England
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Source:The Battle of Corunna
Source:The Battle of Corunna

Battle of the Côa – A Near Disaster
In the early hours of 24th July, after a night of torrential rain, Ney pushed forward his entire force of 24,000 men against Crauford's line. Strung out over a 3km-long front, the line was held from left to right by the 1/43rd, 3rd Caçadores, 1st Caçadores and 1/52nd with the 1/95th partly with the 1/43rd and partly dispersed along the front. Shortly after daybreak, Crauford's 5 battalions came under attack from 13 battalions of Loison's Division. No sooner had the first French attacks been checked by intense musket- and rifle fire than several hundred cavalry of the French 3rd Hussars braved the fire of the guns of Almeida and drove in the left flank of Crauford's line, practically annihilating a company of the 1/95th. With his line in danger of being rolled up from the left, Crauford ordered an immediate retreat to the bridge over the Côa.

Whereas the Caçadores were ordered to follow the guns and cavalry down the road to the bridge, the three British battalions strived to hold off the enemy while falling back from the left. The flight down the road was held up after an overturned wagon blocked the way, and not all the guns had crossed the bridge by the time the British battalions had been driven back to the river. While Crauford hurriedly deployed his guns and the Caçadores so as to cover the bridge from the slopes on the western side of the river, the British infantry guarded the approach to the bridge by occupying the rocky knoll above it.

Had Ney ended his attack at this point, he would have secured a clear victory; at little loss to themselves, the French had inflicted 300 casualties while driving the Light Division across the Côa. Instead, Ney ordered the bridge to be stormed. In the first attempt, grenadiers of the 66th surged down the knoll but, under a hail of musket- and cannon fire, failed to get further than halfway across the bridge. The second and most strongly-pressed attack was made by the Chasseurs de la Siège, an elite light infantry battalion. Oman wrote of how they "flung themselves at the bridge, and pushed on till it was absolutely blocked by the bodies of the killed and the wounded, and till they themselves had been almost literally exterminated, for out of a battalion of little more than 300 men 90 were killed and 147 wounded in less than ten minutes." The third and final attack was again made by the 66th; less determined than the two previous assaults, it was beaten off with little difficulty.
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Source:Battle of the Côa
Source:Battle of the Côa

Battle of Bussaco – The Revenge of Moore
The light Infantry section of the battlefield:
Loison’s division advanced up the hill with its left on the road. As it reached the crest, the 43rd and 52nd Foot of Craufurd’s Light Division rose from their positions in the sunken section of the road and poured a volley into the French column at 25 yards. The two light infantry regiments then attacked with the bayonet driving the French back down the hillside. A watching artillery officer described the fight as “carnage”.

As the 52nd Foot rose from the sunken road to attack Loison’s division, Craufurd is said to have called out “Now, 52nd! Revenge the death of Sir John Moore”. Moore had been colonel of the 52nd. The two light infantry regiments gave a terrible shout and charged driving Loison’s division down the hill in confusion.
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Source:The Battle of Busaco
Source:The Battle of Busaco

The Battle Of Casal Novo – Near Surrounded
The unotable small skirmishes that took place:
The combat of Casal Novo of 14 March 1811 was a rearguard action during Masséna’s retreat from Portugal that was notable for the reckless behaviour of General Erskine, the temporary commander of the British Light Division.
Having been forced out of his position at Condeixa on 13 March, Ney had taken up a new defensive position at Casal Novo. Marchand’s division had a strong position on rising ground, protected by stone walls. When Erskine’s men reached Casal Novo on the morning of 14 March the French position was hidden by fog. Erskine himself refused to believe the French were still in the village, and ordered three companies from the 52nd foot to clear away what he believed to be a thin line of French pickets. When the fog lifted it became clear that the five battalions of the Light Division were facing eleven French divisions, and a period of hard fighting followed, in which the British suffered 90 casualties.
The Light Division was saved by the arrival of the 3rd Division. When they began to move around the French left, Marchand pulled back towards Mermet’s division, two miles to the east, and the two French divisions formed up on a new line.
This time the British carried out a more skilful outflanking manoeuvre, and the French were forced to retreat with little lose. The same happened again later in the day at Chão de Lamas. After being turned out of this position Ney retreated six miles to the Eça River and joined up with the rear of the 8th Corps. This ended the fighting for the day, although the same units would clash again on the following day at Foz do Arouce in the last significant clash between the French rearguard and the British vanguard of this stage of the campaign.
The British suffered 155 casualties, nearly two thirds of them in the first combat of the day. After this Erskine began to lose Wellington’s confidence, completing that process at Sabugal on 3 April.
Source:The Battle Of Casal Novo – A Book Of Golden Deeds
Source:The Battle Of Casal Novo – First hand accounts from the 95th

Battle of Sabugal – The Pursuit by Wellesley
Sequence of Events:
Beckwith’s 1st Brigade crossed the river around 10:00hrs and immediately came into fire with some French pickets who were easily driven off. However this alerted the four battalions of the 4th Leger from Merle’s 1st Division who quickly formed column of divisions on the forward slope of the hill. The skirmish line was weak and was quickly driven in by the companies of the 1/95th and 3rd Cacadores. Merle advanced down the hill and drove in Beckwith’s skirmishers but found that the density of his units were a good target for the Allied firepower and had to withdraw after considerable loss.
Beckwith followed up the withdrawal, through a small chestnut wood and onto the crest of the hill. Here, he was confronted by the remainder of Merle’s division, seven battalions of the 2nd Leger and 36th Ligne. The early morning mist had now turned into rain and much diminished the firepower on both sides but the French having a 2 :1 superiority of numbers forced Beckwith’s men back down the hill and into some stone walled enclosures. Sergeant Anthony Hamilton of the 43rd Light infantry observed:
For a time the rain ceased and after some heavy exchanges of musketry the French fell into disorder and retired back to the crest to reform.
The Brigade, went up the hill a second time in pursuit but Merle had positioned two guns which could now come into play on Beckwith’s right flank.
The situation was made worse by the re–entry of the rallied 4th Leger who began to come in on the left and two squadrons of cavalry were also approaching from the right.
Once more the allies were forced back to the shelter of the stone walls.
Fortunately for Beckwith the 2nd Brigade now made an appearance and came up to support the right flank. After a bitter struggle the French fell back in disorder and the Light Division regained the crest.
Reynier, had he known right from the beginning, the size of his adversary, would of surely sent the whole of his available force en masse a lot sooner and dispensed with each individual attack as they appeared. Instead, he waited until Merle’s infantry were almost in flight before calling up Foy’s brigade of Heudelet’s Division.
All hell broke loose again, the seven battalions of the 17th Leger and 70th Ligne joined the fight for the summit, the two French squadrons charged again upon the flank of the 52nd  and a British squadron of the 16th Light Dragoons now entered into the melee.
At this moment the weather cleared again and Reynier caught sight of the two British divisions advancing from the west. The 5th Division were crossing the bridge at Sabugal and Picton’s 3rd Division were rushing in upon the flanks of the 17th and 70th.
Reynier’s position was now hopeless and he ordered a general withdrawal. The 47th Ligne and the 31st Leger were the only fresh troops that had missed out on the earlier fighting and these regiments were used to cover the retreat of the broken 2nd Corps.
A full pursuit by the allies was out of the question because of the bad weather.
Nevertheless, a squadron of the 1st KGL Hussars fell on the French transport column and captured the private baggage of Reynier and General Pierre Soult.
The following day  Massena’s army marched back across the frontier to Cuidad Rodrigo and would not see another major action for a month – Fuentes de Onoro on 3 May.
“Wellesley later referred to the Light Division's action in the battle as one of the most glorious that British troops were ever engaged in.”
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Source:Battle of Sabugal
Source:Battle of Sabugal
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Just wanted to say that I was forced to write this on your thread.  :cry:

Just kidding! Love you all! Goodluck with the 52nd! May my Lance never taste your blood!  :wink:
 
Angelus Lapsus Revan said:
Just wanted to say that I was forced to write this on your thread.  :cry:

Just kidding! Love you all! Goodluck with the 52nd! May my Lance never taste your blood!  :wink:

Hand behind your back and all that :wink:

Ah you know we'll by there bayonete read to stab you when you face plant the floor :wink:

goodluck to the brunswicks too and pass my luck to Smithy

James Stewart said:
Good luck 52nd :wink:

Thanks Tav you too :wink:
 
Fount this almost touching page 4,  should have screenshotted, even the locked threads managed to get above it?, but im sure it will be down there next week :grin:

Thanks for the well wishes Tav and Rev! Much obliged guys!
 
My favourite loverboys. Good luck 52nd, may the DLC bring you alot of joy. :wink:
 
Ah Sven! your a godsend! Thank you very much for the well wishes, my favourite 15e guy now! Crackman just moved down to 2nd place in my popularity book :smile:  Looking forward to the groupfighting tomorrow!
 
Unfortunately I'm not.. Piece of **** (high-end computer) computer broke down over the weekend whilst I was gone to the summerhouse, so I will not be able to attend, nor lead my squad of fighters. :sad:
 
SvenssonHD said:
Unfortunately I'm not.. Piece of **** (high-end computer) computer broke down over the weekend whilst I was gone to the summerhouse, so I will not be able to attend, nor lead my squad of fighters. :sad:

Had great fun at the group fighting, didn't make past the first round, but was very close, i see you made it on in the end :smile:

darthrobocop said:
Good Luck :grin:

Thank you very much DarthRobocop! May not see you guys at the saturday linebattle, since some of us are going to play in a deluge event, but looking forward to fighting alongside the 87th again in NW! Give those frenchies hell for us! Thanks again!
 
Hehe yep. Was refereeing your first game against the 'OSS', and I was cheering for you guys whilst watching it!
 
SvenssonHD said:
Hehe yep. Was refereeing your first game against the 'OSS', and I was cheering for you guys whilst watching it!

ah nice!! Thanks Sven! Shud have called default on that last round :razz: What did OSS stand for? tryed looking through the team list? Couldn't find the team it abbreviated? They were pretty good!, Were get back erm back in NW :smile:  Looking forward to the next one for sure! Hopefully win one this time!  :mrgreen:

LtSpearing said:
Bout damn time you guys got over here, I was worried for a bit!

Thank you very much, atleast some people care about us :smile:  Looking forward to singing "Men of Harlech" on your behalf when watching your chaps fight :smile:
 
OSS = Old Saits Souls

Very old group from the 1960s who specialised in woodwork.

Anyhow, good to see we have a thread haha.
 
ahhh ok! not heard of the old group thou? :lol:

Yeah we do have a thread, in need of some loving, and especially, recruits for NW, we can give them the honour of being a flutist or flag bearer, while we doing the fighting :grin:

Edit: Also Ranger as returned for a few days, on leave from the greatest army in the world,  to fight alongside the 52nd :smile:
 
Quite a few new recruits today lads.

Great fun are those rockets, lads had a laugh on the EU1 server, brilliant, and rockets can kill enemies. (proven!)
 
Great first night(after all the nonsense)! Massive welcome to the new guys who joined us.
We are still recruiting more able bodied retards for the 52nd war effort.
God save the King, and boobs and beer and weed and daft vids on youtube.
 
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