95thRifles.com - History of the 95th (Overview Continued...)

Text Box: History of the 95th Overview (continued...)

Text Box: tactics and experiencing aimed-fire from the 95th, their soldiers began to refer to British riflemen as ‘Grasshoppers’. From 1809 to 1810, the Rifles earned the respect of the rest of the army in addition to their supporting red-coated units in The Light Division and were jocularly noted by one British officer in 1813 ‘to be as superior to the French light infantry skirmishers as the French light infantry skirmishers are to ours !’ The Experimental Corps of Riflemen became the 95th Regiment (Rifles) on January 18th 1803, remaining so until 1816, when they were taken out of the line to become The Rifle Brigade. The Rifle Brigade became the Royal Green Jackets in 1968, an amalgamation that consisted of the 43rd and 52nd (former redcoat regiments of the Peninsular War ‘Light Division’) and the 60th and 95th. The Royal Green Jackets amalgamated again in 2007 with the Devonshire and Dorset Light Infantry, Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Light Infantry and The Light infantry to become The Rifles.

Overview