"Napoleons guard on St Helena" Topic

Hello, can anyone help me? Trying to find out which units were assigned to guard Napoleon on st Helena during his exile there.

thanks!

There were 600 men of the 53rd Foot, 700 of the 2/66th Foot, and 600 of the St Helena Regiment; they were supported by RA personnel (60), local gunners (300), and a troop of light dragoons (20). HMS Newcastle (60) and a frigate also guarded the approaches to the island, along with two brigs.

St Helena was administered by the HEIC before and after Napoleon's residence, but I don't think any HEIC troops were involved.

Which is an impressive answer within an hour of asking……..!

impressive! Thanks muchly, can you tell me which regt if any the light dragoons were from?

edit- never mind, found it- it was the 21st LD. Thanks though, was helping a friend with some family history!

According to "A St Helena's Whos Who" by Arnold Chaplin atPDF link

1/66th Foot took over from the 2/53rd Foot in 1817 when it was sent to India, and in turn was superseded by 20th Foot in February 1820.

The St Helena Regiments (2 regiments with attached artillery funded by the HEIC) – interestingly mostly recruited from the UK!

Regarding the 2/53rd. They were disbanded at the end of their duty at St. Helena in 1817, with most of the men transferring in to the 1/53rd who were sent to India.

Paul :)

I answered a similar question from a fellow club member a little while back and still had the email. Glad it was of use.

You have to be careful with the St Helena Regiment, as there was an 1842 version that is much better known, was also recruited almost entirely in England, and the different versions are often confused.

"helping a friend with some family history"
- And here I was, looking forward to a jailbreak scenario !