The 2nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed and disestablished numerous times between 1809 and 2012. It was raised by Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley for service in the Peninsular War (part of the Coalition Wars of the Napoleonic Wars) as the 2nd Division. It was disestablished in 1814, but re-formed the following year for service in the War of the Seventh Coalition. The formation fought at the Battle of Waterloo and played an important role in defeating the final French attack of the day. It then marched into France and became part of the Army of Occupation, and was the only British force allowed to march through Paris. In December 1818, the division was disbanded once again.

During the mid- to late-19th century, several formations bearing the name 2nd Division were formed. Only two such were considered part of the division's lineage by Everard Wyrall, who compiled its First World War history. The first was created in 1854 to take part in the Crimean War against the Russian Empire, fighting in the Battle of Inkerman and throughout the Siege of Sevastopol. In 1856, after the conclusion of hostilities, it was stood down. The second incarnation was raised in 1899 for the Second Boer War. It took part in all the battles that made up the Relief of Ladysmith, before advancing into Boer territory. At the end of 1900, when conventional warfare ended, the division was broken up so its forces could be reassigned to mobile columns or to garrison towns in an effort to combat the Boer guerrilla tactics.

The division was re-formed in 1902, but this time as a permanent formation and not on an ad hoc basis for a particular emergency. It was based at Aldershot, in southern England, before the First World War. In 1914 it was deployed to France a few weeks after the start of the war, as part of the British Expeditionary Force. The formation served on the Western Front and suffered heavy casualties. After the war, the division returned to Aldershot where it remained throughout the inter-war period. During the Second World War, the formation was again deployed to France in the opening stages of the conflict. In the subsequent Battle of France it was forced back to the port of Dunkirk and evacuated to the United Kingdom. It then served in Burma, and ended the war in British India. The division remained within the British order of battle in the post-war years, and formed part of the British Army of the Rhine in Germany. In 1976 the formation was transformed into the 2nd Armoured Division and maintained this role until the end of 1982. It was then disbanded in Germany, and the 2nd Division was re-formed in York, England, in 1983. Following the end of the Cold War and the decrease in the size of the British Army, it was again disbanded; only to be re-raised in the mid-1990s. At the turn of the millennium the division moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and was most recently disbanded in 2012.

Napoleonic Wars Peninsular War

During the French Revolutionary Wars and early in the Napoleonic Wars, the brigade was largest organised formation used by the British Army during campaigns. These consisted of two or more battalions grouped together under the command of a major-general, and suited the small size of the army and the operations it conducted. When needed, larger forces were assembled on an ad hoc basis; these included multiple brigades that were grouped into "lines" or "columns". As the army and its operations grew, it implemented divisions—a single formation of two or more brigades that was usually commanded by a lieutenant-general. The division concept was not new and had been used by other European armies towards the end of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). On 18 June 1809 Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley, commander of British forces in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War, reorganised his force into four divisions: the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th.

Major-General Rowland Hill was given command of the newly formed 2nd Division, which was around 3,900 men strong. It first saw action at the Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809), and suffered 888 casualties over two days of fighting. The division, now 10,000-strong and including embedded Portuguese troops, was present at the Battle of Bussaco on 27 September 1810 but did not see combat. By October it was manning redoubts in the Torres Vedra defensive line, near Alhandra. While French forces skirmished with the division's pickets, the main position was not engaged. In November, Hill, who was suffering from fever, was replaced by Major-General William Stewart; one of the division's brigade commanders. Detached from Wellesley's main force, the division missed most of the major battles during the 1811–12 period and acquired the nickname the "Observing Division". Despite this, the division was involved in several battles during that period. At the Battle of Albuera Stewart received criticism for his handling of the division and ignoring orders. As the division moved to take position alongside engaged Spanish forces, Stewart ordered his lead brigade to strike the flank of the attacking French. Stewart ignored a request by the brigade commander to establish his own flank guard, thus leaving it vulnerable. While the brigade was engaged in this manoeuvre, and concealed by a blinding hailstorm, 800 Polish lancers had approached the brigade's open flank. The lancers charged into the British flank, inflicting 1,248 casualties, or 75 per cent of the brigade's strength. The total divisional losses in the battle amounted to 2,868. On 28 October 1811 the divisionwith attached Spanish cavalrytook part in the Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos, where it captured Arroyo dos Molinos, scattered the garrison and took around 1,300 prisoners with a loss of 101 men. On 19 May 1812, at the Battle of Almaraz, 900 men of the division entered Fort Napoleon by surprise. After a fierce, closely fought battle they forced the garrison to retreat. The fort's guns were used to subdue the garrison of nearby Fort Ragusa, which the division occupied, and then secured an important river crossing over the Tagus. The fighting resulted in around 400 French casualties, and the division suffered 189 casualties including 37 killed. In late 1812, while it covered the retreat of coalition forces, the division failed to fully destroy a bridge. This allowed French forces to cross the Tagus faster than anticipated.

The following year, on 21 June, the division fought at the Battle of Vitoria, where it formed part of the British right flank and suffered 1,110 casualties. In July the division briefly took part in the Siege of Pamplona, before it fought numerous engagements during the Battle of the Pyrenees. The most notable was the Battle of Maya. During the morning of 25 July 1813 French forces attacked to the south of the division's position. This attracted Stewart's attention, and he left to investigate without leaving instructions or informing anyone where he had gone. Oman wrote Stewart "must also be given the discredit of the very inadequate arrangements that had been made for the defence" of the Maya pass. French troops, who had made use of the terrain, advanced undetected towards the division, attacked, and overran five light infantry companies. The division then conducted several piecemeal counter-attacks. In the afternoon Stewart returned and organised a withdrawal to a new position, fended off new attacks, and ended the day in a strong position that blocked the pass despite having lost possession of it. Despite this, Stewart was ordered to withdraw after dark by Hill, who was now his corps commander. The fighting resulted in the division suffering 1,320 casualties, which also included Stewart who was wounded. Over the rest of July and into August, the division lost a further 516 casualties. The division next defended the Pyrenees passes at Roncesvalles over the following months, before it fought in several engagements during the advance into France. These included the Battle of Nivelle, a bloody engagement at Saint Pierre that cost 903 casualties, and fighting at Orthez and Aire-sur-l'Adour with relatively few casualties. The division played no further major role in the campaign, which concluded after the capture of Toulouse on 12 April 1814. Meanwhile, Napoleon, Emperor of the French, had abdicated following the capture of Paris on 31 March. With the War of the Sixth Coalition over, the division was broken up. The troops marched to Bordeaux, where they either returned to the United Kingdom or were transported to North America to take part in the ongoing War of 1812.

Waterloo

At the end of the war, British and Hanoverian troops moved into the Southern Netherlands (previously Austrian Netherlands), as part of an Anglo-Dutch effort to secure the territory while they awaited a political outcome at the Congress of Vienna. Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton arrived in late 1814 to command and train these forces. On 11 April 1815, after the outbreak of the War of the Seventh Coalition upon Napoleon's return to power, elements of this force became the 2nd Division under Clinton's command. This force comprised one brigade of British light infantry and riflemen, one brigade of the King's German Legion (KGL)a British unit consisting mainly of expatriate German troops, and one brigade of recently raised Hanoverian Landwehr.

At the Battle of Waterloo, on 18 June 1815, the division formed part of Hill's 2nd Corps. The division's 6,450 men started the day in reserve and protected the right flank of the British position. During the afternoon, when French skirmishers attacked British cannons, the division's light infantry brigadeunder the command of Major-General Frederick Adammoved forward to drive them back and protect the guns. Afterwards, it and the KGL brigade advanced to a position behind Château d'Hougoumont, an important tactical strongpoint in front of the British line. Formed into infantry squares and under fire from French skirmishers, the brigades assisted in the château's defence, and fired at French cavalry attacking other British forces. The KGL brigade also fended off several direct cavalry attacks. Around 19:30 the final French attack began when the Imperial Guard's Middle Guard advanced on the British right flank and engaged the British Foot Guard regiments. Adam responded by wheeling his brigade left into a line to face the French flank. His troops, particularly the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot, fired volleys into the French in a fierce firefight, and then charged. This, in conjunction with the resistance of the British foot guards, halted the French attack and caused the Middle Guard to retreat. With Hanoverian troops covering their flank, Adam's brigade advanced after the French before a general advance by the Anglo–Dutch army. With the French in retreat, the Hanoverian and KGL troops cleared the woods around the Château d'Hougoumont, while other elements of the Hanoverian brigade advanced. Adam's brigade, with one Hanoverian battalion in support, advanced towards the La Belle Alliance inn, the centre of the French position. Near the inn, Imperial Guard units, including elements of the Old Guard, had formed a square as a rearguard. Adam's troops engaged them and forced them to retreat. They halted at dusk, which heralded the close of the battle, during which the division had suffered 1,563 casualties.