The Order of the Bath.
At the close of the Peninsular War, the Order of the Bath, which up till then had consisted of but one class (the K.B.), was enlarged, and henceforth comprised three classes, as at present. The First Class, or Knight's Grand Cross, was reserved for General and Flag Officers; the Second Class was open to officers not below the rank of Post-Captain in the navy or Lieutenant-Colonel in the army. In order to obtain the Third Class of the Bath, better known as the C.B., an officer must have been mentioned in despatches for service in presence of the enemy. This qualification does not apply to the two higher classes, and it has happened more than once that officers have received the Grand Cross of the Bath who, under its statutes, are ineligible for the lowest class! The number of K.C.B.'s was limited to 180, and of these, 80 were bestowed on the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and 100 on the army, in the following proportion as to ranks: 19 Admirals and 9 Lieutenant-Generals were granted the Order; 23 Vice and 25 Rear Admirals; and 37 Major-Generals, 19 Post-Captains, and 22 Colonels; whilst 32 Lieutenant-Colonels commanding regiments or Staff Officers received the same Order. Three officers of Marines were likewise granted the Order of the K.C.B. It is very rare now for a regimental commanding officer, still rarer for a Post-Captain, to obtain admission to the Second Class of the Bath.
I think I am right in stating that the late Sir William Peel and Sir Harry Keppel were the last Post-Captains who obtained this distinction. Sir Robert Sale and Sir Harry Smith were actually Lieutenant-Colonels of the 13th Light Infantry and of the Rifle Brigade respectively when they were advanced to the dignity of Grand Crosses of the Bath, but they held the local rank of Major-General in the East Indies. The latter was almost immediately promoted to the rank of substantive General Officer; the former was killed before reaching the higher grade.
The Battle of Waterloo was the first engagement for which the C.B. was granted. It is true that in the same Gazette a number of officers received the decoration for their services in the Peninsular War, and of these not a few also appeared in the Waterloo Gazette with a star against their names, intimating that they had received the decoration for previous services. The list of officers granted the dignity of K.C.B. was published in the Gazette of January 2, 1815; but the C.B.'s, both for the Peninsula and for Waterloo, appeared in the Gazette of September 4, 1815.
The following list gives the number of decorations conferred regimentally. It will be noticed that a number of regiments do not figure in the list at all. On the other hand, a number of regiments which participated in these honours have long since ceased to exist, amongst them the well-known King's German Legion and the little-known Greek Light Infantry. Of these I have not given the details.
The First Regimental Recipients of the Bath.
No regimental officers were granted the dignity of a K.C.B. for the Battle of Waterloo.