Sgt. Samuel Bassett is a descendant of #190B William Bassett of Stroud, England as follows:
William Bassett and wife Mary Whiteaker
Samuel Bassett (b. 1782)
Sergeant Samuel Bassett (1782-1846)
61st Regiment of Foot
Samuel Bassett was born to William & Mary (nee Whiteaker) Bassett in Ruscombe (near Stroud), Gloucestershire, UK, and was baptised on 21 July 1792. He enlisted in the 61st Regiment of Foot on 25 July 1799, although it is not known where he joined the regiment. In 1799 it was in fact based in South Africa; in February 1801 was sent to India but was diverted to Cosseir (Al Qusayr, Egypt) on the Red Sea and marched to Kermah and thence to the Nile where it remained until March 1803. The 61st then sailed for Malta, where it was stationed for about two years. In November 1805 it was sent to Naples; to Sicily in January 1806, to Gibraltar in December 1807; and to Lisbon in June 1809 for the Peninsular Wars.
A second battalion of the 61st was raised in 1803, but remained in the United Kingdom for the duration of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). It did however provide reinforcements to what was now the first battalion serving overseas. The second battalion was stationed in Cork, Ireland from February 1806 to February 1807, so it is quite possible that Samuel Bassett was originally in the second battalion before being posted to the first battalion overseas. Additionally, he may have met his future wife in Cork.
Samuel Bassett was promoted to the rank of Corporal in 1802 and then to Sergeant in 1807, and was married in Stroud, Gloucestershire on 18 December 1808 to Elizabeth Roberts (who was born in 1783 in Ireland). By June 1809 he was with the 1st Battalion 61st Regiment of Foot as part of the army led by Sir Arthur Wellesley (later The 1st Duke of Wellington) and engaged in the Peninsular Wars in Portugal and Spain.
One of the major battles of the Peninsular Wars and Wellington’s first victory in Spain was at Talavera. He had driven the French forces out of Portugal and led his army on the offensive into Spain. He joined up with Spanish forces and engaged the occupying French army at the town of Talavera de la Reyna on 27 July 1809. The battle lasted for two days. The 61st Regiment of Foot was part of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division and was heavily engaged on both days. In particular, it was involved in a bayonet charge on the afternoon of the 28th which resulted in heavy losses.
Samuel Bassett’s Statement of Service makes the simple statement that he lost his left leg during the battle. The 61st Casualty List for that time shows that he was taken as a Prisoner of War and this presumably accounts for the fact that his pension application is five years after the battle.
The illustration shows the uniform of the 61st Regiment of Foot during the Napoleonic Wars. Samuel Bassett would have worn sergeant stripes on his upper sleeves, a shako (hat) with a white plume, and would have been armed with a standard-issue Brown Bess flintlock musket and bayonet.
His Statement of Service (dated 06 October 1814) makes for interesting reading as it also contains his physical details, timescales, and an attestation as to his conduct. It was in fact an application for an army pension due to his disability, and was endorsed on the reverse side by the Regimental Surgeon Samuel Peacock on 05 January 1815.
The 1841 census shows Samuel Bassett living in Parliament Street, Stroud, aged 60, with his wife Elizabeth and son Richard; his occupation is given as “army”. Likely children are: Anne (1809-1876), Henry (1820-1862), Richard (1822-1877), and possibly others during the period 1816-1820. His son Henry Bassett’s marriage certificate of 11 Feb 1845 to Mary Ann Cross shows Henry’s father as Samuel Bassett with the occupation “pensioned”.
His most likely death is in Stroud in 1846, and his wife, Elizabeth at about the same time.
Alan Bassett
Surrey, UK
Author’s note:
My late father told me some years ago that a family legend was that an ancestor had fought in the Napoleonic Wars. I was pleased to trace the direct family line back to Samuel Bassett (my 3 x great grandfather) and found his Statement of Service and the 61st Regiment Casualty Lists at the National Archive in Kew. The Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum in Gloucester provided the Regimental History and photograph of the Regimental uniform and colours.
61st Regiment Uniform
Click for full size