The 4th Infantry Division was a regular infantry division of the British Army with a very long history, seeing active service in the Peninsular War and Waterloo Campaign, the Crimean and Boer Wars and both World Wars. It was disbanded after the Second World War and reformed in the 1950s as an armoured formation before being disbanded and reformed again and finally disbanded on 1 January 2012.
Napoleonic Wars The 4th Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War. It fought in the Battles of Talavera, Salamanca, Roncesvalles, Vitoria, the Pyrenees, Orthez, and Toulouse, and the siege of Badajoz.
Peninsular War order of battle The order of battle from January 1812 was as follows:Fletcher, Ian. Men-at-Arms Campaign 48: Salamanca 1812. Great Britain: Osprey History, 1991. .
Major General Sir Charles Colville (to April 1812) Major General Lowry Cole (from June 1812) 1st Brigade: Major General James Kemmis 3/27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot 1/40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot 1/48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot (from October 1812) 2nd Provisional Battalion (2nd & 1/53rd Regiments of Foot) (from December 1812) 1 Coy., 5/60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot 2nd Brigade: Major General Sir Edward Pakenham 1/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) 2/7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers) (November 1810 to May 1811) 20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot (from November 1812) 1/23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) 1/48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot (to October 1812) 1/82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) (October to November 1812) 1 Coy., Brunswick-Oels Jaegers 3rd Brigade: Major General Skerrett (October to December 1812) 3/1st Foot Guards 2/47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot 2/87th (Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot 2 Cos., 2/95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles) Portuguese Brigade: Major General Collins 1/11th Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army 2/11th Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army 1/23rd Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army 2/23rd Line Infantry of the Portuguese Army 7th Caçadores of the Portuguese Army
Waterloo At the Battle of Waterloo it was tasked with holding Wellington's right flank and, with the exception of its 4th brigade, took no active part in the fighting, but did capture the town of Cambrai afterwards. The commanding general at this time was Charles Colville. In his novel Les Misérables Victor Hugo credits Colville with asking for the surrender of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo and receiving General Cambronne's reply of "Merde".
Waterloo order of battle Commanding General Major-General Sir Charles Colville 4th Brigade – Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Henry Mitchell 3/14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1/23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers) 51st (2nd Yorkshire West Riding) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) 6th Brigade – Major-General George Johnstone 2/35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1/91st (Argyllshire) Regiment of Foot 6th Hanoverian Brigade – Major-General Sir James Lyon Field Battalion Calenberg Field Battalion Lauenburg Landwehr Battalion Bentheim Landwehr Battalion Hoya Landwehr Battalion Nienburg
Crimean War The Division was also called for service during the Crimean War fought between the allied forces of the United Kingdom, French Empire and the Ottoman Empire on one side and Russia on the other. It saw action in the Battle of Alma the Battle of Inkerman and the Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 (famous for the Charge of the Light Brigade and the Thin Red Line).
Crimean War order of battle Commanding General: Major General Sir George Cathcart 7th Brigade: Brigadier General Torrens 20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) 8th Brigade 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot one field battery royal Artillery
Second Boer War The Army Corps sent from Britain on the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899 comprised three divisions (six brigades) while the troops already in South Africa were intended to constitute a 4th Division of three brigades. However, the troops intended to form the 7th and 8th Brigades became caught up in the Siege of Ladysmith.Amery, Vol III, p. 152. (The 9th Brigade fought at the Battle of Modder River under Lord Methuen and later joined his 1st Division.Amery, Vol II, p. 323.Amery, Vol IV, Appendix to Chapters I-XIV, pp. 503–14.) It was only after the Relief of Ladysmith in March 1900 that the 4th Division under the command of Lieutenant-General the Hon Neville Lyttelton was formed from the garrison and joined the Natal Field Force. It was sometimes known as the 'Ladysmith Division'.Amery, Vol IV, p. 168.Amery, Vol IV, p. 437.
Order of Battle The division was constituted as follows:
7th Brigade Brigadier-General Walter Kitchener 1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment 1st Battalion, Manchester Regiment 2nd Battalion, Gordon Highlanders 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
8th Brigade Major-General Francis Howard 1st Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers – not from the Ladysmith Garrison 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps
Divisional troops 2nd Brigade-Division, Royal Field Artillery 21st, 42nd and 53rd Batteries 2 x Naval 12-pounder guns 23rd Company, Royal Engineers
Service The troops of 4th Division were still sickly after the Siege of Ladysmith, and it played little part in Sir Redvers Buller's operations to clear the Boers out of Natal in May and June. It was then left to defend Natal when Buller advanced into Transvaal in July. The division was not complete until 5 August when Walter Kitchener's 7th Brigade caught up. It marched out next day with Buller towards Balmoral to link up with Lord Roberts's Army. The division fought an engagement with the Boers on the way to Amersfoort on 7 August, then carried out a 10-day march via Ermelo, skirmishing every day, with the opposition increasing as the column advanced. On 22 August Walter Kitchener was detached with part of his brigade to clear some troublesome Kopjes on the flank, and next day section of 21st Battery, RFA, was heavily engaged with Boer guns. The division joined up with Roberts on 27 August, when 7th Brigade assaulted an entrenched position on the Berg-en-dal kopje.Amery, Vol IV, pp. 175–80.Amery, Vol IV, pp. 398–9.Amery, Vol IV, pp. 438–56.
The Battle of Bergendal was the last set-piece action of the war, but was followed by a long period of Guerrilla warfare. British forces were increasingly dispersed into ad hoc columns pursuing small Boer forces. Lyttelton's division was reduced to five-and-a-half battalions and a Mounted infantry detachment for Buller's advance to Lydenburg in September. On 5 September 7 Brigade's camp came under long range artillery fire, but Howard and the artillery cleared the Boers away. The column entered Lydenburg on 7 September, then attacked Paardeplaats next day, when Lyttelton with his four remaining battalions attacked the Boer right. Buller's column then marched into the rugged country of North East Transvaal through the 'Devil's Knuckles' and 'Hell's Gate' before returning to Lydenburg on 2 October, capturing a large Boer supply column on the way.Amery, Vol IV, pp. 460–8.
Roberts and Buller returned to the UK In early October and Lyttelton took over command of Buller's forces scattered in small garrisons guarding the Natal–Delagoa Bay Railway. The brigade and divisional organisation was abandoned for the rest of the war.Amery, Vol V, pp. 47–50.
First World War
As a permanently established Regular Army division it was amongst the first to be sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front for the duration of the war and was present during all the major offensives including the Battle of the Marne, Battle of Ypres, Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Passchendaele.
Order of battle The order of battle of 4th Division during the First World War was as follows: 10th Brigade 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment 2nd Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers (left August 1917) 2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers (left November 1916) 10th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 22 December 1915, moved to 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918) 10th Trench Mortar Battery (formed June 1916) 1/7th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from January 1915 until March 1916) 1/9th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (from May to July 1915) Household Battalion (from November 1916 until February 1918) 3/10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (from August 1917 until February 1918) 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) (from February 1918)
11th Brigade 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (left February 1918) 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) 1/5th (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment (London Rifle Brigade) (from November 1914 until May 1915) 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (from July 1915 until May 1916) 11th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps (formed 23 December 1915, moved to 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918) 11th Trench Mortar Battery (formed June 1916)
12th Brigade 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (left December 1914) 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment 1/2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (until January 1916) 1/5th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment (from February 1915 until January 1916) 12th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps (formed 24 January 1916, moved to 4th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps 26 February 1918) 12th Trench Mortar Battery (formed 11 June 1916) 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) (from January 1916 to 10th Bde. February 1918) 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (from March until July 1915)
From early November 1915 until February 1916 the 12th Brigade was swapped with the 107th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
Artillery XIV Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (until 14 January 1917) XXIX Brigade, Royal Field Artillery XXXII Brigade, Royal Field Artillery XXXVII (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (until 17 February 1915) CXXVII (Howitzer) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (from 6 August 1915 until 21 May 1916) 31st Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (until 29 April 1915)
Engineers 7th Field Company, Royal Engineers (until 29 April 1915) 9th Field Company, Royal Engineers 1st West Lancashire Field Company, Royal Engineers (from 14 February 1915 until 28 February 1916) 1st Renfrew Field Company, Royal Engineers (joined 2 May 1916; became 406th (Renfrew) Field Company 3 February 1917) 1st Durham Field Company, Royal Engineers (joined 20 September 1916; became 526th (Durham) Field Company 3 February 1917)
Pioneers 21st (Service) Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (from 21 June 1916)
Second World War France and Belgium