8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot
8th (King's) Regiment of Foot | |
---|---|
Active | 19 June 1685 – 1 July 1881 |
Country | Kingdom of England (to 1707) Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) Line Infantry |
Size | Two battalions |
Regimental Depot | Peninsula Barracks, Warrington |
Nickname(s) | The Leather Hats, The King's Hanoverian White Horse |
Motto(s) | Nec Aspera Terrent (Difficulties be Damned) |
Colours | Blue |
March | Here's to the Girl |
Anniversaries | Blenheim (13 August) Delhi (14 September) |
Battle honours | Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen, Martinique 1809, Niagara, Delhi 1857, Lucknow, Peiwar Kotal |
Commanders | |
Colonel of the Regiment | General Thomas Gerrard Ball (1861–1881) |
The 8th (King's) Regiment of Foot, also referred to in short as the 8th Foot and the King's, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1685 and retitled the King's (Liverpool Regiment) on 1 July 1881.
As
The regiment served in numerous conflicts during its existence, notably in the wars with France that dominated the 18th and 19th centuries, the
History
The regiment formed as the Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot during a
It took part in the Siege of Carrickfergus in Ireland in 1689[3] and in the Battle of the Boyne the following year.[4] Further actions, while under the command of John Churchill (later 1st Duke of Marlborough) took place that year involving the regiment during the sieges of Limerick, Cork and Kinsale.[4]
War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714)
For almost a decade, the regiment undertook garrison duties in
Later in the year, the regiment assisted in the capture of Huy and Limbourg,[8] but the campaigns in 1702 and 1703 nevertheless "were largely indecisive".[9] To aid the beleaguered Austrian Habsburgs and preserve the alliance, Marlborough sought to engage the French in a definitive set-piece battle in 1704 by advancing into Bavaria, an ally of France, and combining his force with that of Prince Eugene.[9] As an army of 40,000 men assembled, Marlborough's elaborate programme of deception concealed his intentions from the French.[9][10] The army invaded Bavaria on 2 July and promptly captured the Schellenberg after a devastating assault that included a contingent from the Queen's.[11] On 13 August, the Allies encountered a Franco-Bavarian army under the overall command of the duc de Tallard, beginning the Battle of Blenheim. The Queen's Regiment, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Sutton, supported General Lord Cutts' left wing, opposite to French-held Blenheim.[11] According to a contemporary account by Francis Hare, Chaplain-General of Marlborough's army, the Queen's secured a French-constructed "barrier" to prevent it being used as a route of escape, taking hundreds prisoner in its vicinity.[12] Blenheim had become congested with French soldiers and its streets filled with dead and wounded.[11] About 13,000 French soldiers eventually surrendered, including Tallard, while the collective carnage caused more than 30,000 soldiers to become casualties.[13]
The effective collapse of Bavaria as a French ally and the capture of its most significant fortresses followed Blenheim by year's end.
In May 1706, Villeroi, pressured by
The threat of a French-supported
The Queen's became occupied by a succession of sieges: at Ghent, Bruges, and Lillie.[24] In 1709, the regiment assisted in the protracted Siege of Tournai, which capitulated in September. On the 11th, the regiment fought in the bloodiest battle of the war: Malplaquet. After being committed from reserve in the battle's closing stages, the regiment advanced under heavy fire and fought through dense wood, having Lieutenant-Colonel Louis de Ramsay killed.[24] The memoirs of Private Matthew Bishop, of the Queen's Regiment, contained an account that recalled: "the French were well prepared to give us a warm salute. It soon broke us in a terrible manner, though our vacancies were quickly filled up...when we got clear of the dead and wounded, we ran upon them and returning their fire, even broke them out of the breast-work."[25]
In 1710, the regiment was represented at the sieges of Douai, Béthune, Aire and St. Venant.[26]
Jacobites and renewed European conflict (1715–1768)
Rebellion against the Hanoverian
The Queen's Regiment formed part of General Thomas Whetham's left wing. Confused troop movements led to both it and the Jacobite left being weaker than the corresponding right wing.[30] While Whetham's men attempted to readjust their dispositions, a mass of Highlanders began a rapid charge.[27] Entwined in hand-to-hand combat within minutes, the sides fought until Whetham's men broke and retreated in disarray.[30] The Queen's had 111 killed, including Lieutenant-Colonel Hanmer, 14 wounded, and 12 captured.[27] The remnants withdrew from the battlefield until almost upon Stirling.[27] Without cavalry support, the Jacobite left also broke,[28] and the Earl of Mar abandoned the area at nightfall.[27]
In 1716 at the behest of George I, to honour the regiment's service at Sheriffmuir, the Queen's became the King's Regiment of Foot, with the
The King's remained in Scotland until 1717, by which time the Jacobite uprising had been suppressed.
In 1745, Prince Charles Edward (popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) landed in Scotland, seeking to restore the Stuarts to the British throne. The regiment did not become committed to battle until the Battle of Falkirk in January 1746.[38] The regiment was part of the left wing of the front line of the army, under the command of Lieutenant-General Henry Hawley. After a failed attack by dragoons of Hawley's army, the Highlanders loyal to Prince Charles charged the Government forces, compelling the left wing of the army to withdraw while the right wing held. The rebels and Government armies both withdrew from the battlefield by night-time.[39] The regiment also fought in the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.[39] Once the impetuous Highlanders charged and overcame the initial volley of fire, vicious hand-to-hand fighting ensued with Hawley's men. The King's provided cross-fire support, firing across the front-line and into the Highlanders. The regiment sustained a single, severely wounded casualty.[39]
The King's fought in the Battle of Rocoux in October 1746[40] and the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747. In the latter, the King's and three other regiments became embroiled in a protracted struggle through the avenues of Val. Control of the village fluctuated throughout the battle until the Allies retreated before overwhelming numbers.[41]
The British Army implemented a numbering system in 1751 to reflect the seniority of a regiment by its date of creation, with the King's becoming the 8th (King's) Regiment of Foot in the
When the regiment augmented the
American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
The 8th Foot arrived in
During its posting, the 8th Foot possessed a number of officers adept in cultivating a relationship with tribes on the Great Lakes,
The
From Fort Oswegatchie, Captain George Forster, of the regiment's light company, led a composite force, including 40 regulars and about 200 warriors, across the St. Lawrence River to attack Fort Cedars, held by 400 Americans under Timothy Bedel.[53] Forster maintained illicit contact with occupied Montreal,[53] and received intelligence of American troop movements using Indian operatives and Major de Lorimier.[54] On arriving at the fort on 18 May, the British briefly exchanged fire before Forster parleyed with Bedel's successor, Major Isaac Butterfield, to request his surrender and warn him of the consequences should Indian warriors be committed to battle.[55] Butterfield, whose men had apparently been disconcerted by an earlier display of Indian war chanting, expressed a willingness to do so on the proviso of being allowed to retire with his weapons – a condition that Forster refused.[53]
Butterfield conceded the fort on the 19th, on the day an American relief force of about 150 resumed its advance on the Cedars, having previously reembarked aboard
Emboldened by the two victories, the British landed at
In late July 1777, the regiment contributed Captain Richard Leroult and 100 men to the Siege of Fort Stanwix. Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Barry St. Leger, 34th Foot,[59] the force ambushed the American troops at the Battle of Oriskany in August 1777: however a few weeks later the siege collapsed with the disappearance of the dis-spirited native allies.[60]
The regiment took part in further actions at
French Revolutionary War
In 1793, revolutionary France declared war on Great Britain. The King's became assigned to an expeditionary force sent to the
In 1799, the King's became resident on Menorca, which had been captured from Spain the previous year.[65] In 1801, the regiment landed at Abukir Bay, Egypt, with an expedition sent under the command of General Ralph Abercromby to counter a French invasion.[66] The King's participated in the capture of Rosetta, 65 miles west of Alexandria,[67] and a fort located in Romani.[68] The British completed the occupation of Egypt by September.[68]
Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812
The regiment was sent to Gibraltar in 1802 and returned to England in 1803.[69] It landed at Cuxhaven in Germany in October 1805 as part of the Hanover Expedition, but was withdrawn in February 1806[70] before taking part in the Battle of Copenhagen in August 1807.[71]
The 1st Battalion moved to Canada in 1808 as the Napoleonic Wars extended to the Americas.[71] Within a year, in January 1809, the battalion had embarked at Barbados with an expeditionary force comprising two divisions assembled to invade Martinique.[71] Although a number of engagements with the French garrison preceded the island's seizure, disease represented the principal threat to Britain's five-year occupation. By October 1809, some 1,700 of more than 2,000 casualties had succumbed to disease.[72] The 8th Foot returned to Nova Scotia in April, having had its commanding officer, Major Bryce Maxwell, and four others killed in a skirmish with French soldiers on the Surirey Heights during the advance on Fort Desaix in February.[73] When sustained tension between the United States and Britain culminated in the War of 1812, the 1st and 2nd battalions were based in Quebec and Nova Scotia respectively.[74]
Sporadic raids into Canada on the eastern frontier provided impetus for a former regimental officer, Lieutenant-Colonel
In April 1813, two companies of the 8th, elements of the Canadian militia, and Native American allies attempted to repulse an American attack on York (present-day Toronto).[78] As the Americans landed on the shoreline, the grenadier company engaged them in a bayonet charge with 46 killed, including its commanding officer, Captain Neal McNeale. The Americans nevertheless overwhelmed the area but subsequently incurred 250 casualties, notably General Zebulon Pike, when retreating British regulars detonated Fort York's Grand Magazine.[79]
While garrisoning Fort George, at Newark (present day Niagara-on-the-Lake), in May 1813 with companies of the Glengarries and Runchey's Company of Coloured Men, the 8th Foot attempted to disrupt an amphibious landing by the Americans. Although numerically inferior, the British delayed the invasion and retreated without disorder.[80] In June 1813, the 8th and 49th regiments assaulted an American encampment at Stoney Creek. Five companies from the two British regiments engaged more than 4,000 Americans in a nocturnal battle. Although the Americans had two brigadiers captured and suffered losses, the British commander, Colonel John Harvey, considered the possibility of his opponents realising their numerical advantage too compelling to ignore and withdrew.[81]
In July 1814 the regiment fought in the Battle of Chippawa in which the British commander General Phineas Riall retreated after he misidentified American regulars for militia.[82] Later in the month, the regiment fought in the Battle of Lundy's Lane.[83] The British, Canadian and Native soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond, engaged the American force. It was one of the bloodiest battles recorded on Canadian territory.[84] The following month, the King's took part in the action at Snake Hill during the siege of Fort Erie.[85] In September 1814 the Americans attacked the British posts with overwhelming force and the regiment suffered heavy losses.[85] The King's Regiment received the battle honour 'Niagara' for its contributions to the war.[86] The regiment landed back in England in summer 1815.[86]
Indian rebellion and Second Afghan War
Between the end of the war and the
The complex array of motives and causes that culminated in the mutiny of much of the Bengal Army would be catalysed in 1857 by rumours that beef and pork fat was being used to grease paper rifle cartridges. Confined first to a number of Bengal regiments, the mutiny eventually manifested in some areas as a more diverse, albeit disparate, rebellion against British rule.[88][89] Soon after reports were received of the first mutiny at Meerut on 10 May, the 8th's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Hartley, had two companies secure the fort of Phillaur, near Jullundur, due to the significance of its magazine stores and reports that the 3rd Bengal Native Infantry intended to seize it.[89]
After a period of seven weeks in Jullundur, the regiment became attached to an army preparing to besiege Delhi. Because of a shortage of troops, due primarily to cholera and other diseases, several weeks elapsed before the British had attained a strength sufficient to commence operations.[89]
In July 1857, two companies supported a position that had been under attack for seven hours. The King's participated in the capture of Ludlow Castle, in the vicinity of
The 1st Battalion was brought back to Britain in 1860.[93] It spent the year 1865 in Dublin, Ireland, where the battalion supported garrison operations against Irish Republican activity in the city.[94] Then, after two years in Malta, the 1st King's returned to India in 1868.[94] where it remained for a decade.[95] The regiment's 2nd Battalion, which had been reconstituted in 1857,[96] was itself posted to Malta (in 1863) and India (in 1877), and met up with the 1st King's on the island and at Mundra, in the Bombay Presidency.[95]
Within a year of the battalion's arrival in India,[95] in November 1878, Britain invaded Afghanistan when an ultimatum to its ruler by the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton, went unanswered.[97] Lytton's demands had followed the reluctant hosting of a Russian mission to Kabul by Sher Ali and the prevention of a similar British mission from entering Afghanistan at Ali Masjid.[98] Though still acclimatising and consequently susceptible to fever, the 2nd King's was allocated to the Kurram Valley Field Force, under Major-General Frederick Roberts.[99] The 2nd King's fought at the Battle of Peiwar Kotal in November 1878.[100]
The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the
Colonels
Colonels of the Regiment were:[31]
Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot
- 1685–1687: Col Robert Shirley, Lord Ferrers of Chartley
- 1687–1688: Lt-Gen James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick
- 1688–1695: Col John Beaumont
- 1695–1715: Lt-Gen John Richmond Webb
Queen's Regiment of Foot
- 1715–1720: Brig-Gen Henry Morrison
King's Regiment of Foot
- 1720–1721: Sir Charles Hotham, 4th Baronet
- 1721–1732: Brig-Gen. John Pocock
- 1732–1738: Col. Charles Lenoe
- 1738–1745: Lt-Gen. Richard Onslow
- 1745–1759: Lt-Gen. Edward Wolfe
8th (The King's) Regiment
- 1759–1764: Major-Gen. The Hon. John Barrington
- 1764–1766: Lt-Gen. John Stanwix
- 1766–1772: Lt-Gen. Daniel Webb
- 1772–1794: Gen. Bigoe Armstrong
- 1794–1814: Gen. Ralph Dundas
- 1814–1825: Gen. Edmund Stevens
- 1825–1846: Gen. Henry Bayly, GCH
- 1846–1854: Gen. Sir Gordon Drummond, GCB
- 1854–1855: Lt-Gen. John Duffy, CB, KC
- 1855–1860: Gen. Roderick Macneil
- 1860–1861: Maj-Gen. Eaton Monins
- 1861–1881: Gen. Thomas Gerrard Ball
For colonels after 1881 see King's Regiment (Liverpool)
Notes
- ^ Mileham (2000), p. 1
- ^ a b Mileham (2000), pp. 2-3
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 17
- ^ a b Cannon (1844), p. 18
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. xxii
- ^ a b Mileham (2004), p. 4
- ^ The Spanish Succession: 1702 - King William III dies Archived 21 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, spanishsuccession.nl. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
- ^ a b Mileham (2000), p. 5
- ^ a b c Hoppit (2002), p. 116
- ^ Chandler, David (2003), p83
- ^ a b c Mileham (2000), p. 6
- ^ Murray (1845), p. 407
- ^ a b Black (1998), p. 50
- ^ a b Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. 23
- ^ a b Sundstrom (1991), p. 151
- ^ a b c d e f g Mileham (2000), p. 7–8
- ^ a b c d e Chandler (2003), p70–3
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. 26
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. 27
- ^ Jones (2001), p. 280
- ^ Churchill (1947), pp. 363-4
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. 29
- ^ Churchill (1947), p. 368-9
- ^ a b Mileham (2000), p. 9
- ^ Nicolas, Nicholas Harris & Southern, Henry (1828), The Retrospective Review, and Historical and Antiquarian Magazine, p52
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 45
- ^ a b c d e Mileham (2000), p. 11-2
- ^ a b c d Szechi (2006), pp. 151-2
- ^ Black (1996), p. 100
- ^ a b Roberts (2002), p. 45
- ^ a b c d Mills, T.F. "The King's Regiment (Liverpool)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 4 August 2004. Retrieved 8 November 2005.
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. 39
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 51
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 52
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 53
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 54
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 55
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 56
- ^ a b c Cannon (1844), p. 57
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 58
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 60
- ^ a b c Mileham (2000), p. 15
- ^ Szabo (2007), p. 80
- ^ "63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
- ^ Houlding (1981), p. 17
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 66
- ^ Mileham (2000), p. 19
- ^ Mileham (2000), p. 21
- ^ Nester (2004), p. 198
- ^ Barnes & Royster (2000), pp. 72-3
- ^ Allen (1992), p. 47
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), pp. 56-7
- ^ a b c d e f g h Morrissey & Hook (2003), pp. 66-8
- ^ Stanley (1977), p. 119
- ^ Nester (2004), p. 106
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), pp. 57-8
- ^ Kingsford (1893), p. 51
- ^ Stanley (1977), p. 122
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 70
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 71
- ^ a b Potter, William L. "Redcoats on the Frontier: The King's Regiment in the Revolutionary War". National Park Service. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ Banta (1998), p. 158
- ^ a b Cannon (1844), p. 72
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 73
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 74
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 76
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 77
- ^ a b Cannon (1844), p. 78
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 79
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 80
- ^ a b c Cannon (1844), p. 81
- ^ Buckley (1998), p. 265
- ^ Mileham (2000), p. 36.
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 84
- ^ Whitfield, Carol M. (2000). "MacDonnell (McDonald), George Richard John". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
- ^ a b Mileham (2000), p. 37.
- ^ Turner (2000), p. 68.
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), pp. 76–77.
- ^ Benn (1993), pp. 54–56
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 88
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 91
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 95
- ^ Cannon (1844), p. 96
- ^ Heidler (2004), p. 161
- ^ a b Cannon (1844), p. 99
- ^ a b Cannon (1844), p. 100
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), pp. 103
- ^ Parsons (1999), pp. 45-6
- ^ a b c Mileham (2000), p. 49
- ^ Raugh (2004), p. 119
- ^ Roberts (1897), pp. 141-2
- ^ Collier (1964), p. 270
- ^ Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), p. 151-2
- ^ a b Cannon, Cannon & Cunningham (1883), pp. 155-6
- ^ a b c Mileham (2000), pp. 56-7
- ^ Mileham (2000), p. 53
- ^ Riddick (2006), p. 72
- ^ Hopkirk (1992), pp. 382-3
- ^ Roberts (1897), p. 349
- ^ "Battle of Peiwar Kotal". British Battles. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- ^ "Training Depots 1873–1881". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016. The depot was the 13th Brigade Depot from 1873 to 1881, and the 8th Regimental District depot thereafter
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