95th Rifles

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V. l. No. Officer of the 95th, soldier of the 95th and soldier of the 60th Rifles Regiment (uniform studies from Richard Knötel )

The 95th Rifles ( 95th Rifle Regiment ) was a regiment of the British Army that was formed in 1800. In contrast to other, regular line infantry regiments , the Rifles did not fight in a strict line formation with volley fire , but proceeded in open formation in order to take out individual soldiers (officers, gun operators) with targeted fire. In addition, they were also used as skirmishers and scouts .

history

During the American War of Independence , the British had unpleasant experiences with irregular American units that did not fight in formation, but shot individual British soldiers from under cover and then disappeared. This practice was viewed as dishonorable and unsoldatic. The effectiveness could not be denied. Colonel Coote Manningham , Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon William Stewart and Sir John Moore established the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" in 1800. Volunteer officers and men from other regiments were recruited as members.

On August 25, 1800, three companies under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Stewart were landed at Ferrol , Spain , where they were supposed to assist the Spanish defenders. Despite the ensuing defeat and retreat on August 26, the Rifles fought valiantly and effectively. In 1801 a group of the "Corps" took part in the Battle of Copenhagen and was temporarily used on board ships of the Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson .

In 1802 the "Corps" was incorporated into the British Army as the 95th Regiment of Foot or 95th Rifles . In 1803 the regiment was moved to Shorncliffe , Kent , to train with line regiments.

Individual battalions of the regiment participated in missions in Germany and South America and distinguished themselves during the coalition wars in Spain under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington . In 1815 the Rifles took part in the Battle of Waterloo .

On February 23, 1816, the 95th Rifles went into the newly formed Rifle Brigade . The regiment number was only reassigned to the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot in 1823 .

Sister regiment was the King's Royal Rifle Corps , which had been set up in the North American colonies as Royal Americans from American colonists and was later renamed the 60th (King's Royal Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot . Both regiments later merged with the Royal Green Jackets regiment . Since 2007 the official traditional bearer is the regiment The Rifles .

The 95th Rifles were the first unit of the British Army to wear dark green skirts rather than royal scarlet skirts. The light battalions of the King's German Legion were added to the regiment, unless they were released to Germany to serve there to set up what would later become the Hanoverian Jäger Battalion No. 10 .

equipment

In addition to the dark green uniform with the black cruciate bandalier and green trousers, the soldiers were equipped with the Baker rifle (Baker Rifle) instead of the usual smooth-barreled Brown-Bess muskets , which had a rifled and twisted barrel and was therefore more accurate and a longer range ( about three times that of the Brown-Bess musket). However, the loading process took about 2 to 3 times longer (depending on the shooter's experience) than with a musket, as the ball had to be wrapped in a small leather rag to give the ball more grip in the twisted barrel. The Baker rifle was shorter than the standard muskets, which is why a 21-inch sword bayonet was planted in contrast to the standard musket's 17-inch long bayonet.

Training and tactics

The shooters were trained to act independently, in open formation and using natural cover. Mostly they preceded the massive formations of their own army in order to loosen up the enemy line with targeted shots. The targeted shot was constantly trained. In contrast to the rest of the army, the association practiced with live ammunition. The discipline of the Rifles was the same as that of the army as a whole, but was used less harshly. It was quite unusual at this time that the officers and the men went to table together, which was intended to keep the regiment together.

Media reception

  • Bernard Cornwell describes the career of an officer in the 95th Rifles in his Sharpe novels.
  • The novels by Bernard Cornwell about Richard Sharpe and the 95th Rifles were filmed in 16 parts from 1993 to 2008 and broadcast in Germany, albeit incompletely, as Die Schschnschützen on RTL II.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The History of the Rifle Brigade, the Prince Consort's Own: Formerly the 95th (1877), Kessinger Pub Co (August 15, 2009) ISBN 1-120-03515-5 .
  2. ^ The Rifleman's Wife: The Experiences of an Officer's Wife and Chronicles of the Old 95th, Publisher: Leonaur Ltd (July 3, 2010) ISBN 0-85706-203-4 .
  3. ^ The History of the 95th (Rifles) -During the South American Expedition 1806, the Baltic Expedition 1807, the Peninsular War, the War of 1812, Publisher: Leonaur Ltd (July 3, 2010) ISBN 0-85706-130-5 .
  4. ↑ Captain of the 95th (Rifles), Leonaur Ltd (December 1, 2005) ISBN 978-1-84677-001-2 .
  5. ^ Rifles: Six Years with Wellington's Legendary Sharpshooters. Published by Faber & Faber, London; Edition: New edition (September 2, 2004) ISBN 0-571-21681-1 .

literature

  • Wellington: The Iron Duke , Published by Harpercollins UK; Edition: New Ed (February 3, 2003) ISBN 0-00-713750-8 .