Richard Charles

Name
Richard /Charles/
Surname
Charles
Given names
Richard
Occupation
Cavalryman (fluctuating rank up to Sergeant)
INDI:OCCU:CORP: 5th Dragoon Guards
Birth of a daughter
Birth of a son
Baptism of a son
Note: Baptised at same time as Samuel Charles according to Register of Woods Chapel district. Whether a twin or just baptised simultaneously not clear from Register
Birth of a grandson
Birth of a grandson
Birth of a grandson
Birth of a granddaughter
Birth of a grandson
Marriage of a son
Birth of a grandson
Birth of a granddaughter
Death of a wife
Marriage of a grandson
Marriage of a son
Marriage of a grandson
Marriage of a grandson
Marriage of a grandson
Death of a daughter
Birth of a son
Death
yes
Family with Margaret Hull
himself
partner
daughter
9 years
son
18081874
Birth: 1808
Death: 1874
son
1909
Death: 23 September 1909Cliff Towers, Wolseley Road
son
Occupation
Note

COMMENTARY - Paul King, updated March 2007:

David Cullinane's account in "The Marks Connection" (source Leslie Fox?) notes that Richard & wife Margaret brought up Grandchild William Marks (b 1824). William was considered too weak to travel to Australia with his parents as a child. At age 19 and upon the death of Richard & wife Margaret William travelled to Sydney in the company of his uncle Samuel Charles, arriving on the Glen Tanner on 23 Aug 1843, and from there he rejoined his parents in Kaima.

The Marks Connection also describes Richard Charles as a war veteran - a sergeant-major of the 15th Enniskillin Dragoons who saw action at both the Peninsular War (1808-1814) and at Waterloo (1815)

The Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for Samual Charles (Richard's son) concurs with the rank and battle honours though says Richard was actually enlisted with the "5th Dragoons" regiment.

According to the researcher engaged by me (Bob Ohara of searcher-na.co.uk), the military records show that Richard was almost certainly NOT a Waterloo or Peninsular veteran.

There were records found for only one enlisted soldier of that name who served during the Napoleonic wars, and while this Richard Charles served in what was then known as the 5th Dragoon Guards, throughout both wars he was engaged primarily on recruiting duties in various locations in Ireland & England.

Furthermore, while he had previously risen to the rank of sergeant, by the time of the Peninsular War this had been reduced to private. (Bob O'Hara indicates this was a not uncommon response to drunkenness or insubordination)

From my own researches to date it seems some of the 5th Dragoon Guards (heavy cavalry) did fight in the Peninsular War, but not at Waterloo. Much, much later(1922) the regiment merged with the 6th Inniskillin(g) Dragoons (light cavalry) who had fought atWaterloo, but not in the peninsular.

The merged regiment, then renamed the "5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards" (now just the "Royal Dragoon Guards"), could thus technically claim battle honours at both - but not until 1922!

It appears there simply was no such regiment as the "15th Enniskillin Dragoons" as described in the Marks Connection Document - Perhaps at some point a "1" was mistakenly added before the "5th" to give "15th" ?

The 15th Light Dragoons (or later the 15th Kings Hussars) however were definitely present at both campaigns, but with no connection to the place/word Enniskillin or Inniskillin or Inniskilling or Ireland that I can find.

It was apparently not unheard of for enlisted men to move between regiments, often as they were promoted, or as trusted senior NCO's who followed their commissioned officers between regiments as they were transferred or promoted (advice from Colin Sibun, Director , Army Museums Ogilby Trust, UK dir@amot.demon.co.uk). It is thus conceivable Richard could have seen action at both arenas by transferring between regiments this way, but no military records were found that support this idea.

One must wonder if the illustrious career of Richard Charles has been slightly inflated, either by himself, or perhaps by a socially ambitious descendant... (possibly after 1922 given the use of "Inniskillin" in regiment name, and the claim of battle honours at both locations)?

HISTORICAL NOTE

At the battle of Vittoria in the Peninsular, Gen Sir William Ponsonby commanded the 3rd British Brigade, which included 5th Dragoon Guards.

At Waterloo, he commanded the 2nd Union Brigade, which happened to include the 6th Inniskillin(g) Dragoons, who took part in the infamous Union Brigade charge.

After a British artillery barrage on enemy lines at Waterloo, the Union Brigade charged across the valley up to the French gun line on the far ridge, inflicting significant casualties on the French. Problems arose however when the British regimentsdid not respond to recall orders - due to the inherent difficulty in pulling up cavalry committed to an attack.

The Brigade became overextended, some units even charging up & down enemy lines attacking the retreating French foot soldiers randomly, and were in turn overwhelmed by a French cavalry counter attack.

General Ponsonby himself was killed.

It is of note that of the three regiments in the Union Brigade, two: the Greys and Inniskillings, had not served in the Peninsula and lacked battle experience. (http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/waterloo-army-positions.htm)

It is further reported that General Ponsonby's borrowed hack horse and many others in the two heavy cavalry regiments involved became blown during the extended attack - particularly exposing them to the counter attack. However the lighter Inniskilling' cavalry was able to courageously cover the retreat of much of the heavy cavalry

Following this the Inniskilling's were apparently so praised by the Duke of Wellington that a statue of an Inniskilling Dragoon was erected on the Wellington Memorial in Hyde Park, London.

It is widely believed that the Auckland suburb Ponsonby was later to be so named in the ill fated General's honour, just as the City Wellington was later named after the "Iron" Duke.

TRADITIONAL SONG - "Enniskillen Dragoons", date & author unknown. Lyrics found on Polish website!
http://ula-kapala.art.pl/spiewnik/songs/en/enniskillen_dragoons.html

This tune appears to be a variant of "Skillet dubh". Kerr (Merry Melodies), Vol. 1; pg. 41. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905; No. 547, pg. 139.

Our troop was made ready at the dawn of the day
From lovely Enniskillen they were marching us away.
They put us then on board a ship to cross the raging main,
To fight in bloody battle in the sunny land of Spain.

Fare thee well Enniskillen, fare thee well for a while
And all around the borders of Erin's green isle,
And when the war is over we'll return in full bloom
And you'll all welcome home the Enniskillen Dragoons.

Oh Spain it is a gallant land where wine and ale flow free
There's lots of lovely women there to dandle on your knee
And often in a tavern there we'd make the rafters ring
When every soldier in the house would raise his glass and sing

Well we fought for Ireland's glory there and many a man did fall
From musket and from bayonet and from thundering cannon ball
And many a foeman we laid low, amid the battle throng
And as we prepared for action you would often hear this song

Well now the fighting's over and for home we have set sail,
Our flag above this lofty ship is fluttering in the gale
They've given us a pension boys of fourpence each a day
And when we reach Enniskillen never more we'll have to say

Note

Email from British National Archives researcher Bob Ohara of searcher-na.co.uk, to Paul King (10/11/06):

Dear Paul

I have completed my search for the records of Richard Charles, who was thought to have served with the 6th Enniskillen Dragoons at the Battle of Waterloo.

I began by searching the Waterloo Medal Roll. Richard did not serve at Waterloo with the 6th Enniskillen Dragoons or the 15th Hussars. The 5th Dragoons were not present.

I then searched the muster rolls of the 6th Dragoons, WO 12/12547, Depot 1803-1809, and WO 12/715, 1809-1813, but Richard was not present. I searched the musters of the 15th Dragoons, WO 12/1201, 1808-1811, but he was not present here either. I also searched the musters of the 5th Dragoon Guards, and am pleased to say that he was present in these musters. I have reconstructed his career below.

WO 12/294 1793-1798 On Passage from Cork to ? and then Ireland
Richard was not present in the muster ending 31st March 1793. The next muster covers 25th June to 24th December 1793, but it is totally illegible. However, there is a muster “taken at embarkation at passage on 18th and 19th September 1793” and Richard is present as a Private on this muster. He therefore joined the regiment at some point after 31st March 1793 and before 18th September 1793. This embarkation muster was signed at Cork. No places are given in the subsequent parchment musters. You will be able to find out the whereabouts of the regiment if you go to www.regiments.org, but I’m afraid I had run out of time by this stage, so have not done this (the search was conducted backwards to Richard’s enlistment). Richard was promoted to Corporal during the muster of 25th June to 7th October 1796, when the regiment was in Colchester. He was then back as a Private upon landing in Ireland on 8th October 1796. He was shown as a Corporal again during the muster of April to September 1797 and was promoted to Sergeant on 8th October 1797. These large parchment sheets are very difficult to film because of their size and the fact that they have a tendency to curl. They can no longer be photocopied either, but I have obtained the best images I can. The subsequent musters are not on parchment and are in smaller volumes, so are much more manageable.

WO 12/295 1798-1799 Dublin and Gloucester
Richard was listed as a Sergeant with Lieutenant Colonel Tayler’s Company and then Lt Col Sherlock’s Company. In the muster of November 1798 he was listed as a Private with Captain Moore and Captain Price’s Companies. No reason is given for his demotion. He is then reappointed as a Sergeant with Captain Gordon’s Company as of 7th November 1799

WO 12/296 1800 Gloucester, Bristol and Romford
Richard was present throughout as a Sergeant with Captain Gordon’s Company and was recruiting in Ireland from February to July 1800.

WO 12/300 1804 Newcastle and Piershill Barracks
Richard was present throughout as a Sergeant with Captain Gordon’s Company. He was on furlough (vacation) from 2nd November to 31st December 1804.

WO 12/303 1807-1808 Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Cork, Dorchester, Guildford and Colchester
Richard was present throughout with Captain Aickin’s Company. He held the rank of Sergeant until 7th March 1807, when he was reduced to the rank of Private.

WO 12/304 1809-1811 Colchester, Norwich, Colchester, Chichester
Richard moved to the Depot of the regiment in August 1811 in order to attend the Ophthalmic Hospital in Bognor. He was then noted as sick in the General Hospital during the muster of October to November 1811. The Depot was stationed in Canterbury, so I would assume that it was this hospital, although the musters do not give further details.

WO 12/305 1812-1813 Canterbury
Richard remained with the Depot in Canterbury. From March to May 1813 he was sent to recruit in Dublin. He was then sent to recruit in Kells until December 1813.

WO 12/306 1814-1816 Newcastle, Dublin
Richard remained on recruiting duties with the Depot of the regiment until 24th June 1814. His locations are not stated. The Depot then joined the main battalion, and Richard remained on recruiting duties and is noted as being in Dublin and then Ireland. He returned to join his battalion in Newcastle upon Tyne on 24th May 1816. The battalion then moved to Dublin.

WO 12/307 1817-1819 Hamilton Barracks
Richard discharged on 28th January 1817. Unfortunately, the Non-Effectives page has not been completed, so no further details are given.

Richard did serve for long enough to have been entitled to a pension, but there are no discharge papers in place for him in WO 97 or WO 121, which would imply that he accepted a gratuity rather than a pension. I searched the relevant pension records which cover his period of discharge, held in WO 120/20 and WO 116/24, just to confirm that he did not receive a pension, and he was indeed not listed in either of these collections.

I also searched the Regimental Returns of Births, but there were no relevant listings. These Returns are not complete, however, particularly this early.