Connzcdf
Sergeant Knight
In 1707 another change of owner now found the regiment called Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot and in this guise it landed at Alicante in Spain. Mordaunt's were there as part of an expeditionary force sent against the French and their allies. The allied force consisted of German, Dutch and Portuguese as well as British troops. The force was under the command of the Earl of Galway. On the 27th April the Earl's forces met the French and Spanish army at Almanza. The opposing army was led by the Duke of Berwick who was a son of James II and Arabella Churchill, a cousin of Marlborough. The battle opened with a ferocious attack by the British which immediately caused the enemy to give ground. Unfortunately Berwick saw that the forces supporting the right of the British line had fled when the frist shots were fired. This meant that the British were outflanked and Berwick was a good enough commander to fully exploit the weakness. He committed his reserves and after fierce hand to hand fighting Galway's whole army was routed. Mordaunt's Regiment lost 300 officers and men out of a total strength of 532. This was the first time, but certainly not the last that the regiment was to be let down by it's so called allies. In 1734 Colonel Phillip Bragg took command of the Regiment so that their official name became Bragg's Regiment of Foot. He was a remarkable character and a very able leader. He was to remain in charge of the Regiment for the rest of his army career which lasted for 25 years and was to leave the legacy of his name which was to last to the present day. 'The Old Bragg's'. In 1742 a very important event took place in 1742 when the government of the day decided to number regiments according to the date that they were raised . The 'old Bragg's receiving the number 28. At first the new fangled number was disliked and regiments continued to be known by their commanding officers name for several years after the order was implemented but eventually as new battle honours were won soldiers became proud of their new title 'The 28th Regiment of Foot. In 1745 Against the French again the Regiment found itself in Belgium where it met the enemy at Fontenoy which lies to the south east of Tornai. In a terrific assault the French were driven back by fire and bayonet but once again the British were abandoned by their allies who either sought cover or fled the field entirely. The 28th along with other famous regiments was forced to retreat with heavy losses. The tally amounted to 11 officers and 126 other ranks. In 1757 the 28th set sail for Canada to join a force under General Amherst ( later to become Field Marshal Lord Amherst ). Amherst had been tasked with capturing the fortress of Louisburg in Nova Scotia. This was to be swiftly followed up by an attack on Quebec which was the capitol of French Canada. It took six weeks of hard siege work before Louisburg fell and by that time bad weather had set in and the army had to spend the winter there. The following year General Wolfe took command and the British forces sailed up the St Lawrence river and landed beneath the Heights of Abraham under cover of darkness. The British force with the 28th in front began a precipitous climb up a steep track whilst it was still dark. At daybreak they were in position on a plain to the west of the city. Although caught by surprise the French commander prepared to give battle and advanced with supporting artillery fire. The British line with the 28th at it's centre held firm until the French were within 35 paces when it opened fire with withering volleys. Under the hail of shot the French wavered and began to run pursued by the jubilant British with fixed bayonets. After five more days of siege the city surrendered but sadly General Wolfe died of a wound received during the battle cutting short what surely would have been a brilliant career. In 1761 the 28th left Canada and sailed to the West Indies where it won new honours at Martinique and Havannah. | 
|
In 1782 Another important change took place in this year when the government of the day decided to link regiments to districts or counties for the purpose of recruitment. So it was that when the 28th came home in the following year of 1783 it was to be known by the new title of the 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment of Foot. The county they were now linked to was also home to the 61st South Gloucestershire Regiment of Foot and the Royal North, and South Gloucestershire Militia's. Almost crowded from a military point of view! And unlikely that all those units could have found enough recruits within the county to satisfy all their needs. In any case the 28th had little chance to become acquainted with their new territory because they were immediately packed off to Northumberland for the winter. It may well be that they heartily wished themselves back in the warmer West Indies with all it's attendant perils of disease.
1815. In March of this year Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France gathering popular support as he travelled slowly from the coast to Paris. Whole regiments that were sent to intercept and arrest him defected to his cause. An allied army was assembled in Belgium which included the 28th who had hurried across the sea from Ireland where they had been stationed for several years. Napoleon was aware that he had only a short time to obtain a quick victory whilst the allies were still bickering about who should do what and before the allied army grew to an overwhelming size. He therefore marched towards Brussels on the 15th June. He met the Prussian army at Ligny driving them off and nearly destroying them completely. Wellington had decided to stop the French advance at Quatre Bras some 25 miles south of Brussels and on 16th June at the crossroads the battle was joined. The 28th in square against cavalry valiantly resisted every effort to break them and eventually Marshall Ney, the French Commander was forced to withdraw. During the height of the battle Sir James Kempt, the Brigade Commander rode into the 28th's square, doffed his hat and cried 'Bravo 28th, The 28th are still the 28th and your conduct this day shall never be forgotten'. After the battle of Quatre Bras the 28th joined the main army at Waterloo. Wellington had chosen the location for it's suitability to his now well known tactic of hiding the exact number and strength of his force by screening parts of it behind dips and rises in the land. As a bonus this also served to protect some units from direct damage from artillery. He intended to deny the battlefield to the enemy until Blucher's Prussians could recover from their mauling at Ligny and come up to re-enforce him. As he said afterwards, "It was a damned serious business, the nearest thing you ever saw in your life". During the course of the evening Napoleon was informed that the Prussians would shortly arrive, and in desperation he flung in the last of his reserves, the famed Imperial Guard. Unfortunately the ploy failed and the Guard were repulsed with heavy loss. Wellington took of his hat and waved it as a signal for a general advance. The French army was broken and fled the field. Napoleon went into exile once again this time to remain there until his death.
The 28th North Gloucestershire Regiment is proud to count Waterloo amongst it's many battle honours and equally proud to have been the only regiment mentioned by name in Wellingtons Waterloo Despatches.
| Officers Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Major Captain Lieutenant Ensign | NCO's Serjeant Major Color Serjeant Serjeant Corporal | Enlisted Lance Corporal Regular Private Recruit | ||
| If you want to join the regiment then you just can add an officer on steam or fill in the application below. Give an officer atleast 12 hours to accept your application or your friend request on steam. | Officer's steam accounts: [size=12pt]Captain Murphyhttp://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198008769744 Lieutenant James Wilson Lieutenant Connzcdf Adjutant Joer |
[tr][td]
[/td][/tr]
| Rules 1. Don't troll! 2. Obey the orders! 3. Play seriously when needed! 4. Respect others! 5. Have fun when you can! 6. No racism! | Schedule WIP | Teamspeak Info Teamspeak IP is 85.236.100.27:17887 No spamming in there No rude or offensive pictures/avatars No racism | ||
Many thanks to Muffin for allowing us to use parts of his thread.
