4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)

4th Division 4th Infantry Division 4th Armoured Division 4th Division
Insignia of the 4th Division
Active	1809–1947 1956–1978 1995–2011
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Part of	Land Forces
Garrison/HQ	Aldershot Garrison
Engagements	Napoleonic Wars Battle of Talavera Battle of Albuera Battle of Badajoz (1812) Battle of Salamanca Battle of Roncesvalles (1813) Battle of Vitoria Battle of the Pyrenees Battle of Orthez Battle of Toulouse (1814) Crimean War Battle of Alma Battle of Inkerman Battle of Balaclava First World War Le Cateau Battle of Marne Retreat from Mons Battle of Aisne First Battle of Ypres Battle of Messines Hill 60 Second Battle of Ypres Battle of Albert Battle of Le Transloy Battle of the Somme First Battle of the Scarpe Third Battle of the Scarpe Battle of Polygon Wood Battle of Broodseinde Battle of Poelcapelle Battle of Passchendaele Battle of Arras Battle of Hazebroucke Battle of Bethune Advance in Flanders Battle of the Scarpe Battle of Drocourt-Quéant Battle of the Canal du Nord Battle of the Selle Battle of Valenciennes Second World War Battle of France Oued Zarga the Medjez Plain Tunis Trasimene Line Arezzo Florence Rimini Line Monte Cassino
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lieutenant General Sir Charles Colville, (7 August 1770 – 27 March 1843) Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow KCB, KCMG (5 May 1858 – 30 August 1940) General Sir Alfred Dudley Ward, GCB, KBE, DSO (27 January 1905 – 28 December 1991) Field Marshal Sir Nigel Thomas Bagnall, GCB, CVO, MC (10 February 1927 – 8 April 2002)
Insignia
Insignia of the 4th Division, replaced by current design in 1995.

The 4th Infantry Division was a regular infantry division of the British Army with a very long history, seeing active service in the Peninsular War, the Crimean War, the First World War, and during the Second World War. It was disbanded after the war and reformed in the 1950s as an armoured formation before being disbanded and reformed again and finally disbanded on 1 January 2012.

The 4th Division was originally formed in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War. It fought in the Battle of Talavera and the Battle of Salamanca, Battle of Badajoz and the Battle of Roncesvalles, Battle of Vitoria, Battle of the Pyrenees, Battle of Orthez, Battle of Toulouse.

(from January 1812)

Major General Sir Charles Colville (to April 1812) Major General Lowry Cole (from June 1812)

At the Battle of Waterloo it was tasked with holding Wellington's right flank and, with the exception of its 4th brigade, took no active part in the fighting, but did capture the town of Cambrai afterwards.

The commanding general at this time was Charles Colville. In his novel Les Misérables Victor Hugo credits Colville with asking for the surrender of the Imperial Guard at Waterloo and receiving General Cambronne's reply of "Merde".