This is a long shot, but can anyone tell me where the 1/96th Foot were in May 1804? I have tried to find a copy of the "History of the Manchester Regiment (Late the 63rd and 96th Foot)" by HC Wylly (1923), in hope that this will answer my question, but to no avail.
If anyone has a copy I would be most grateful if they could take a quick look.
Many thanks.
Thanks for this useful detail Ron.
Wylly's History contains accounts of regiments numbered 96 going back to 1761.
It has the 96th (afterwards 95th) 1802-1818.
It certainly keeps the researcher on his/her toes!
I wasn't aware of the 52nd's involvement. Even more complicated than I thought. This, of course, made the regimental system the formidable force that it became, as well as keeping the enemy guessing.
Hello John
Thanks for your post. My interest relates only to the 1/96th that was formed from the 2/52nd in early 1804. On reflection therefore, you may well be right in suggesting that HC Wylly's book is unlikely to assist my enquiry.
Regards.
There might be some confusion here. The 96th Regiment in existence in May 1804, raised in 1799 was disbanded at the end of the war, whereupon the 97th (Queen's Own Germans) Regiment became the 96th before also being disbanded in 1818. In 1824, a new 96th Regiment was raised in Manchester and not until 1874 was it recognised as successor to the 96th Queens Germans, former 97th, before being created 2nd Bn, Manchester Regiment in 1881. That means, any records you consult relating to either battalion of the 96th in 1804 will not have any connection with those relating to the Manchester Regt and its antecedents.
There is isn't there, but this would have been too late for my 'theory'. This process has helped to clarify my thoughts and I'm happy to drop it now that I've explored it a little.
Cheers.
There's mention on the 2nd battalion recruiting in Wales after it was formed. Perhaps that's the cause of the confusion.
Hello Rob
Many thanks for looking in to this for me. My reading is also that the battalion was in Ireland, but something that I'm working on suggested to me that at least a part might have remained in England. I was simply hoping that the regimental history might have provided some more detail.
Your Tameside link is very interesting and useful and does help to firm up my ideas on this. In fact, I now think that I was going down a rabbit hole of my own making for does seem that the bn was in Ireland after all!
Regards.
Ireland I think. That's what the wiki article says (I know – but it seems well sourced) and I just did a quick search of the British Newspaper Archive and found a report of them sailing from there in December 1804 for the West Indies. There's also this: https://www.tameside.gov.uk/MuseumsandGalleries/Daniel-James-96th-Regiment-of-Foot