Thanks for your help guys. here's the answer that was given: From the initiator of the question: ".. This answer for this question is not taken from a work of fiction, but from the 1835 writings of the officer of the 95th rifles who had the job. As a very big clue, the officer held the position of adjutant for his battalion.." The response to the correct answer: "...it is indeed Captain Sir John Kincaid. In his book "Random Shots from a Rifleman", he speaks of the difficulty in selecting the members of the forlorn hope from the large number of volunteers eager for honour. Incidentally, Cornwall's "South Essex Regiment" is a fictitious unit. Cornwell acknowledges that he purposely did not give the South Essex a number so as not to take from any other British regiment of the line, all of which were numbered..."