Just a quick question!

In the napoleonic era did the british ever have Generals leading regiments? Or was it always colonels

Originally Posted by royalxkillcamz

In the napoleonic era did the british ever have Generals leading regiments? Or was it always colonels

Steve Brown (Napoleon Series Forum) has produced two excellent articles on the British Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815 http://www.napoleon-series.org/milit...entsIntro.html and British Cavalry Regiments and the Men Who Led Them 1793-1815 http://www.napoleon-series.org/milit...entsIntro.html

Below is extracted from 1st Regiment of Foot Guards http://www.napoleon-series.org/milit...ootGuards.html
Note: In an army that embraced a commission system riddled with idiosyncrasies, the ranking of Foots Guards officers stands out as easily the most obfuscating.
Each Foot Guards regiment had in theory one Lieutenant-Colonel, plus one Major per battalion (therefore the 1st Foot Guards had a 3rd, 2nd and 1st Major); and company officers were styled ‘Captain & Lieutenant-Colonel’ to make their status above line officers clear to all. But in addition, many of these officers held these regimental ranks whilst also being general officers in the Army.
For example, at the beginning of 1814, the 1st Foot Guards numbered 4 field officers (2 of whom were also Lieutenant-Generals and 2 were Major-Generals) and 17 Captain & Lieutenant-Colonels (1 of whom was also a Lieutenant-General, 4 were Major-Generals and 5 were Colonels in the Army). Frequently these officers were on detached duty, leaving the running of their companies to the senior Lieutenant (styled ‘Lieutenant & Captain’ in the Guards).
Therefore in theory a company in the Guards could have been commanded by a Captain who ranked the same as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the line, but who was also a Lieutenant-General in the Army.

The Foot Guards are the exception!

Also for the british army during the same times. What were the names of the Marine regiments!

Originally Posted by royalxkillcamz

Also for the british army during the same times. What were the names of the Marine regiments!

They were known in total as "Corps of Royal Marines". There were no individual regiments - qualified slightly as see listing below (from wiki)
A large number of English and British marine regiments were raised for various specific wars. After the war for which they were raised, these regiments either became ordinary army infantry regiments or were disbanded. His Majesty's Marine Forces raised in 1755 are the oldest direct predecessor of the Royal Marines.

• 1664: Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot raised from the Trained Bands of London and later renamed Lord Admiral's Regiment. This marine regiment is the predecessor of The Buffs, itself a predecessor of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment.
• Two Marine Regiments of the Army raised in 1690 and disbanded in 1696: Earl of Pembroke's Regiment and Torrington's, (later Lord Berkeley's) Regiment.
• 1697: Mordaunt's Regiment and Seymour's Regiment converted into Marines.
• 1702: Six Regiments of Marines and six Sea Service Regiments of Foot raised. In 1713, three of these Regiments were transferred to the Line to become the 30th Foot (a predecessor of the Royal Anglian Regiment), 31st Foot (a predecessor of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment), and 32nd Foot (a predecessor of the Rifles). The others were disbanded.
• 1739-1748: Marine Regiments raised in the War of Jenkins' Ear.
• 1741: Spotswood's Regiment, later renamed Gooch's Marines, later becoming the 61st Foot (a predecessor of the Rifles) was raised from North American colonists.
• 1755: His Majesty's Marine Forces raised. The oldest predecessor to which the Royal Marines can trace a direct lineage.
• 1802: His Majesty's Marine Forces designated Royal Marines in recognition of past services to the nation.
• 1804: The Royal Marine Artillery (RMA) raised to replace Royal Artillery units formerly assigned to ships of the Royal Navy^[3]
• 1808: First Corps of Colonial Marines raised
• 1814: Second Corps of Colonial Marines raised from escaped American slaves
• 1855: His Majesty's Marine Forces renamed the Royal Marines Light Infantry (RMLI)
• 1862: Royal Marines Light Infantry slightly renamed Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI)
• 1914-1918: Royal Naval Brigades used during the First World War were composed of both marines and sailors
• 1923: The Royal Marine Artillery and Royal Marine Light Infantry amalgamated into the Corps of Royal Marines

Useful article at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...45512109,d.d2k

Having used the Wiki timeline in the post below I was left with a feeling of unease, so did some real digging.

The Royal Marines Museum has the following timeline at: http://www.royalmarinesmuseum.co.uk/item/researching-family-and-royal-marine-history/brief-chronology-of-marines-history-1664-2003

An excellent article on the Napoleon Series by Ron McGuigan on the Marines entitled "Per Mare Per Terram - the Royal Marines 1793-1815" - see http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/Britain/Marines/c_marines.html#_ednref11

Another excellent article is at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=26&cad=rja&ved=0CGUQFjAFOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acoy.co.uk%2FRoyalMarinesHistoryTraditionalFactsPrecisPack1.pdf&ei=DFFyUceJGqLK0AXbz4GIDg&usg=AFQjCNEwrt4pYM7e0d9vinr1kAr-c6xXmg&sig2=B2iCTJkTD8B9Pu3mbEo6jQ


"Historical record of the Royal Marine forces" by Nicolas, Paul Harris 1845
Volume 1:
http://archive.org/details/historicalrecord01nico
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a...page&q&f=falseVolume 2:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=f...XFORD590722211

From the above it is clear that before the Napoleonic Wars the Royal Marines were organised into Divisions which were subdivided into companies.