Coote Manningham was a British army officer who played a significant role in the creation and early development of the 95th Rifles.
He was the second son of Charles Manningham of Surrey.

Manningham began his career as a subaltern in the 39th Foot serving under his uncle, Sir Robert Boyd, at the Siege of Gibraltar

Great Siege of Gibraltar

The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of 18 September 1782...

. On the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

 in 1793, he was appointed as Major to the light infantry battalion where he fought in the Caribbean. He became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 81st Foot

81st Regiment of Foot (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers)

The 81st Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793 and amalgamated into The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881.-Raising of the Regiment:...

 and then adjutant-general in Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...

, under the command of Lieutenant-General Forbes.

In early 1800, Colonel Manningham and Lieutenant-Colonel William Stewart proposed, and were given the assignment, to use what they had learned while leading light infantry to train the Experimental Corps of Riflemen, later to become the 95th Rifles and then the Rifle Brigade. That summer the new corps was trained in exercises developed by Manningham and were quickly deployed to provide covering fire to the amphibious landings at Ferrol.

Manningham was killed at the Battle of Corunna

Battle of Corunna

The Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...

 in the opening stage of the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 in which the 95th Rifles were to demonstrate the tactical value of the approach developed by Manningham and Stewart. An inscription under a monument honoring Manningham in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

conveys the esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries:

The distinguished soldier to whom friendship erects this inadequate memorial, began his career of military action at the siege of Gibraltar, and concluded it at the victory of Corunna, to which his skill and gallantry conspicuously contributed. He fell an early victim to the vicissitudes of climate, and the severities of war, and died 26th Aug., 1809, aged forty-four. Yet, reader, regard not his fate as premature, since his cup of glory was full, and he was not summoned till his virtue and patriotism had achieved even here a brilliant recompense: for his name is engraved on the annals of his country. In him the man and the Christian tempered the warrior, and England might proudly present him to the world as the model of a British soldier.