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33rd Regiment of Foot

This article is part of the The Duke of Wellington's Regiment History.

The Duke of Wellington's Regiment

33rd Regiment of Foot

76th Regiment of Foot

The 33rd Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army. It was created in 1751 from the Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot of 1702, though it was also known by the names of subsequent Colonels of the regiment. It fought in a number of campaigns across Europe, winning its first battle honour at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, the last time a British King would lead his men into battle. The regiment won a number of other battle honours throughout its existence.

The 33rd itself had an astonishing reputation for its professionalism and capability, that was seemingly unequalled by any other regiment of the British Army for some time. Indeed, because of their astonishing professionalism on the field during the American War of Independence, the regiment were given the nickname 'The Pattern'.

The American Revolution

The 33rd saw much action during the American War of Independence, seeing their first engagements at Charleston in early 1776, when that town was besieged by British forces. In August that year, the 33rd were involved in the Battle of Long Island. After heavy fighting lasting a number of days, the Americans evacuated their remaining forces to Manhattan, the British were victorious. British forces suffered about 400 casualties, with the Americans receiving over 2,000 casualties. Long Island would remain in British control until 1784.

Their next action came just a month later, in September, this time at a place known as Harlem Heights. It was a small skirmish, indeed the only other British regiment (there was also some German forces) involved, was the 42nd Regiment of Foot, now the famous Black Watch, an equally fearsome and professional regiment. The force, initially not comprising the 33rd encountered the New England Rangers, a scouting force sent by George Washington. The force encounter the British. A small skirmish ensued, with the Americans subsequently retreating. Washington then sent another force to lure the British further up the northern plateau, which he held, along with a second force to move around the flank of the British. The British took the bait of the force sent to lure them and advanced further up the plateau. The flanking force was encountered by the British, which showed the British the imminent danger they faced. After some further fighting, the British retreated to a field, where they were joined by the 33rd and a number of Hessian battalions. After further fighting, the Americans retreated.

The regiment was also involved in the Battle of Fort Washington, with the 33rd seemingly always involved in the most challenging of assignments. After that, the 33rd were not involved in a major battle for some time, until September 1777, when they took part in the Battle of Brandywine Creek, in which the British received 550 casualties, with the Americans taking about 1,000 casualties. The regiment saw further action that year, at Germantown and at Whitemarsh, when they fought the Americans that had retreated from the battle at Germantown.

The following year was just as active, with the 33rd seeing action at the Battle of Monmouth, a rather large engagement that became the largest one-day battle of the war. The 33rd was also part of the defence of Newport and Quaker Hill, as well as the Battle of Old Tappan, which occurred in the closing months of the year.

Two years later, in 1780, the 33rd found themselves besieging Charleston, where their involvement had truly got off to a start in 1776. By the 11th May, the American general, a Benjamin Lincoln, began to negotiate terms of surrender. The following day, Lincoln, along with over 7,000 American soldiers, surrendered to the British forces under the command of Lieutenant-General Henry Clinton. In August that year, the 33rd were involved yet again in a challenger action, this time the Battle of Camden. It was a victory for the British. Approximately 324 British were killed or wounded. About 1,000 Americans were killed or wounded, with another 1,000 being taken prisoner.

The year 1781 proved to be it's most deadliest, but it's most successfully, at least for the 33rd They took part in the Battle of Wetzell's Mill, but their more famous action took place that same month at the Battle of Guildford Courthouse. At that battle the 33rd, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Webster, performed their duty exceptionally. During the battle, the 33rds commanding officer was sadly killed. The British suffered heavy casualties but they managed to defeat the Americans who were twice the size of the British forces. The 33rd also fought at the Battle of Green Spring in July of that year. They fought their engagement at the Battle of Yorktown, when they were part of the outnumbered British forces. The British forces surrendered on the 19th October, due them having little ammunition, food and supplies left, along with no sign of Henry Clinton's relieving force. The force arrived in the Chesapeake on the 24th October.

India

The 33rd, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Wellesley (promoted to full Colonel in 1797), the future Duke of Wellington, had taken part in the disastrous Battle of Flanders, along with the retreat from Germany, before their deployment to India. In 1799, the regiment, still under the command of the future Duke, and attached to Nizam's Auxiliary Corps, took part in the Battle of Seringapatam. The 33rd were involved in much bitter fighting with the Tippoo Sultans fearsome warriors, at one point were repulse with horrendous losses who attacked a wood, heavily defended by the Sultans forces. The 33rd fought further actions throughout the battle, with the British being victorious, and the Tippoo Sultan being killed. The regiment won a battle honour for it's involvement in the battle.

In 1857, the 33rd took part in the Indian Mutiny, being involved in a number of actions there, which ultimately led to the restoration of stability.

Waterloo

The 33rd in 1815 would come under the command of the Duke of Wellington once again, this time at the Battle of Waterloo. They took part in bitter fighting the day before, at the Battle of Quatre Bras. At Waterloo, the 33rd were part of the 5th Brigade, under the command of Major-General Sir Colin Halkett, which comprised the others regiments - 2nd Bn, 30th Foot, 2nd Bn, 69th Foot, the brigade which was in turn part of the 3rd Division under the command of General Count Sir Charles Alten, which was in turn part of I Corps, which was under the command of the Prince of Orange, who made several mistakes, which led to the deaths, needlessly, of many British soldiers, probably because of the Princes lack of experience, rather than him simply being a bad soldier.

The 33rd were involved in heavy fighting, though still battling on stoutly, doing their duty with great honour and courage. At the end of the battle, the regiments casualties numbered at eleven officers and one hundred and twenty eight men killed or wounded. The British and their allies won, but at a price, receiving about 15,000 casualties, additionally the Prussians suffered 7,000 casualties. Th French suffered 32,000 dead or wounded, along with around 8,000 taken prisoner.

Crimea

The 33rd, now the 33rd (The Duke of Wellington's) Regiment. It's name was changed in 1853, by request of Her Majesty Queen Victoria in honour of the iconic 1st Duke of Wellington, who died that same year, and who would now become linked forever with the regiment that he once commanded.

At the Battle of Alma, bitter fighting took place, with the 33rd being in the thick of it as part of the Light Division under the command of Sir George Brown. The British advanced up the slope, towards the Russian positions, the British formations became intermingled, turning into a mass of soldiers, rather than the professional, neat formations that the British Army was on parade. As they charged, a large number of Russians troops came down the slope to meet them. The British halted, fired with deadly precision, causing much, indeed so much, they were forced to retreat soon after. The British line was now relatively reorganised, at least as best it could, and moved inexorably up the slope towards the Great Redoubt, with the 33rd being the first to smash their way through the redoubt, as they did so, the 33rd suffered heavy casualties, from bitter hand-to-hand fighting.

The British forces initially prevailed, taking the objective, much to the relief of the soldiers taking part. However, Russian forces were now advancing on the Great Redoubt to counter-attack the British. One officer shouted to the British soldiers not to fire, claiming them to be French, despite the fact they weren't. Other officers soon contradicted him, ordering the men to fire at the massed ranks of soldiers that were advancing on their position. It made the situation all the more confusing, and the British soldiers soon decided the prudent option would be to get back down the hill to safety. The Russians failed to pursue, in large part, due to a few French artillery pieces that fired a few shots in the general direction of the Russian forces. The Guards Division, comprising the most elite infantry regiments of the British Army, were now advancing, having finally crossed the river, the Scots Guards were shattered, when retreating soldiers from the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who had been attacked by a mass of Russian soldiers, after having stood their ground, crashed into the Scots Guards, causing chaos amongst the formation. The Russians seized the moment, launching a mass bayonet charge, in heavy hand-to-hand fighting that saw the Scots Guards suffered 200 casualties, forcing them to beat a hasty retreat.

Bizarrely, as had happened before, an unknown officer ordered the Grenadier Guards, who were preparing to meet the advancing Russian forces, to withdraw, luckily the officer commanding a company of the Grenadiers ordered them to form a new formation to meet the advancing Russians. They poured an horrendous amount of fire into the Russian masses, causing much casualties. The British subsequently began to advance, and the Russians then retreated. The Great Redoubt was once again in British control. On the right flank, the Highland Brigade, just two lines deep, advanced whilst firing, an astonishing manoeuvre, at least in those days. The famous 'Thin Red Line' painting was created in honour of them. The Russians soon fled, victory had been assured. The forces suffered some 2,000 casualties, and the French 1,000. The Russians suffered some 6,000 casualties. The 33rd gained a battle honour for their bravery during that battle.

At the Battle of Inkerman the 33rd were again involved in some bitter fighting, in which the British infantry stoutly advanced despite heavy losses and solid defending by the Russians. The fighting truly got extreme, at times some resorting to attacking their enemy with the butts of their guns, or using them as clubs, harkiing back to a more primitive age. The British suffered some 2,357 killed or wounded, their allies, the French, lost about 939 soldiers. Russian casualties were immense, some 11,800 were killed or wounded.

The 33rd were also involved in the Siege of Sevastopol, which lasted for eleven long and deadly months. By 1856 the war was over but at a truly horrific price. The British had lost approximately 22,182 dead and 18,280 wounded, out of a total force of over 97,000. The majority were lost, not because of fighting with the Russians, but to disease. In total, the Allies lost over 160,000 dead, the Russians lost over 450,000 killed.

Abyssinia

The 33rd were part of the main task force that was sent to the East African nation, after a number of British citizens were taken hostage by King Theodore II. They had been seized, when a letter he had sent to Queen Victoria, requesting munitions and military experts from the British, was seemingly ignored, no response being made. So the Task Force, upon landing in 1868 at Annesley Bay consolidated their bridgehead their, with a number of regiments guarding the bay, while the 4th (The King's Own Royal), 33rd (Duke of Wellington's) and 45th (Sherwood Forresters) Regiments of Foot comprised the rescue force, along with a number of Indian units. It took two long months to reach their objective, the fortress of Magdala, crossing difficult and arduous terrain in their journey.

Before the forces could actually attack Magdala, they had to get past the plateau of Arogi, the only route to Magdala, it certainly looked formidable to attack. So the British did not believe that the Kign would leave the defences of Arogi and attack the British forces, so paid little regard to their defensive positions. But the King did attack and with thousands of warriors under his command. The 4th Foot quickly redeployed to meet the charging Abyssinians, and poured a devastating barrage of fire into the masses of the opposing warriors, and when joined by two Indian regiments, the onslaught became even more devastating, despite this, the Abyssinian warriors carried on, losing over 500 instantly in the barrage, with thousands more being wounded in just an hour and a halfs worth of fighting. During the chaotic battle, elements of the 33rd managed to overpower the artillery men, subsequently capturing the artillery pieces.

The British now prepared to assault the fortres of Magdala. King Theodore soon released all the British hostages unharmed. The bombardment soon occurred, from mortars and artillery. Infantry units them opened fire, covering the engineers sent to the gates of Magdala, in an attempt to blow the entrance up. Fire from the fortress defenders soon erupted, aimed at the engineers. One party of them forgot the most essential item in such an operation, the powder kegs. Thankfully a number of officers and men of the 33rd, along with one officer from the Royal Engineers, parted from the main force, reached the Abyssian defences, then climbed a cliff, then forcing their way over a wall and through a thorny fence. They surprised and overpowered the defenders that were causing havoc for the British engineers at the gates. They subsequently surrendered because of this action. Private James Bergin and Drummer Michael Magner, both of the 33rd, received VCs for their part in the astonishing action. King Theodore II was later found dead. He had shot himself with a pistol, that had ironically been a gift from Queen Victoria.

It was amalgamated in 1881 with the 76th Regiment of Foot due to the Childers Reforms (continuation of Cardwell's Reforms of the armed forces) to form The Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

Battle Honours

Dettingen, Seringapatam, Waterloo, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol,