Military unit
The
39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot
was an
infantry
regiment
of the
British Army
, raised in 1702. Under the
Childers Reforms
it amalgamated with the
54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot
to form the
Dorsetshire Regiment
in 1881.
History
[
edit
]
Early years
[
edit
]
The regiment was first raised by
Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Lisburne
as
Viscount Lisburne's Regiment of Foot
in 1689 but was disbanded in 1697.
[1]
It was re-raised in
Ireland
, without lineal connection to the previous regiment, by Colonel Richard Coote as
Richard Coote's Regiment of Foot
in August 1702.
[1]
The regiment landed at
Lisbon
in June 1707 for service in the
War of the Spanish Succession
.
[2]
It saw action at the
Battle of La Gudina
in May 1709
[3]
and then remained in
Portugal
until 1713 when it embarked for
Gibraltar
and then moved to
Menorca
later in the year.
[4]
It was posted to Ireland in 1719 and sailed to Gibraltar in 1726 to reinforce the garrison.
[5]
The regiment sailed for
Jamaica
in 1729 and then returned to Ireland in 1732.
[6]
The regiment served as marines from March 1744 to September 1746 when it took part in the
Raid on Lorient
during the
War of the Austrian Succession
.
[7]
The regiment then spent another two years serving as marines and then returned to Ireland.
[8]
On 1 July 1751 a royal warrant was issued which provided that in future regiments would no longer be known by their colonel's name, but would bear a regimental number based on their precedence: the regiment became the
39th Regiment of Foot
.
[1]
The regiment was posted to
India
in 1754 and saw action at the
Battle of Chandannagar
in March 1757 during the
Seven Years' War
.
[9]
Under the command of Major
Eyre Coote
, the regiment played a major part in capturing the fort of
Katwa
at the
Battle of Plassey
in June 1757.
[10]
The regiment returned to Ireland in autumn 1758
[11]
and was engaged in the
Great Siege of Gibraltar
in 1779 and the following three years.
[12]
Napoleonic wars
[
edit
]
In 1782 the regiment took a county title as the
39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot
.
[1]
The regiment sailed for the West Indies took part in the capture of
Martinique
in March 1794, the capture of
Saint Lucia
in April 1794 and the attack on
Guadeloupe
in June 1794 during the
French Revolutionary Wars
.
[13]
The British troops at Guadeloupe were forced to surrender in December 1794 and were held in captivity for over a year.
[14]
The regiment was reformed in Ireland the following year by absorbing the short-lived 104th Regiment of Foot (Royal Manchester Volunteers).
[1]
The regiment participated in a task force under Major-General John Whyte to capture the Dutch settlements of
Demerara
,
Essequibo
, and
Berbice
in April and May 1796.
[14]
The regiment moved to
Suriname
in October 1800
[15]
to
Barbados
in December 1802 and then returned to England in March 1803.
[16]
In 1803 a 2nd battalion was raised.
[1]
The 1st battalion moved in
Naples
in January 1806 and to
Sicily
shortly thereafter.
[17]
In 1807 a number of regiments had their territorial affiliations shuffled, with the East Middlesex title passing to the
77th Foot
and the 39th taking the Dorsetshire title previously held by the
35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot
to become the
39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot
.
[1]
The 2nd battalion deployed to the Peninsula to support General
Sir Arthur Wellesley
in June 1809 and fought at the
Battle of Talavera
in July 1809,
[18]
the
Battle of Bussaco
in September 1810
[19]
and the
Siege of Badajoz
in May 1811
[20]
as well as the
Battle of Albuera
in May 1811
[20]
and the
Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos
in October 1811.
[21]
Meanwhile, the 1st battalion deployed to the Peninsula in August 1811 and saw action at the
Battle of Vitoria
in June 1813
[22]
and across the Pyrenees, including the
Battle of Sorauren
in July 1813.
[23]
It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the
Battle of Nivelle
in November 1813,
[24]
the
Battle of the Nive
in December 1813
[24]
and the
Battle of Orthez
in 1814
[25]
as well as the
Battle of Toulouse
in 1814.
[25]
The battalion was then posted to
North America
for service in the
War of 1812
[26]
and took part in the
Battle of Plattsburgh
in September 1814
[27]
before returning to England in July 1815.
[28]
The regiment formed part of the Army of Occupation in France from 1815 to 1818 when it embarked for Ireland.
[29]
The Victorian era
[
edit
]
The regiment arrived in the British colony of
New South Wales
toward the end of 1825
[30]
and saw service guarding convicts and establishing settlements at
Hobart
,
Sydney
,
Swan River Colony
and
Bathurst
, where in 1830 it helped suppress the
bushranging
insurgency known as the
Bathurst Rebellion
. The regiment left for
India
in July 1832.
[31]
It saw action at various skirmishes in spring 1834 during the
Coorg War
[32]
and at the Battle of Maharajpore in December 1843 during the
Gwalior campaign
.
[33]
It embarked for the
Crimea
in spring 1854 and saw action at the
Siege of Sevastopol
in winter 1854 before returning to
Canada
in 1856 and moving on to
Bermuda
in 1859; it returned to England in 1864 and was posted back to India in 1869.
[34]
As part of the
Cardwell Reforms
of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 39th was linked with the
75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot
, and assigned to district no. 39 at
Dorchester Barracks
in
Dorchester
.
[35]
On 1 July 1881 the
Childers Reforms
came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the
54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot
to form the
Dorsetshire Regiment
.
[1]
Battle honours
[
edit
]
The battle honours of the regiment were as follows:
[1]
- Plassey, Gibraltar 1779-83, Albuhera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Peninsula, Maharajpore, Sevastopol
Colonels
[
edit
]
Colonels of the regiment included:
[1]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot"
. Regiments.org. Archived from
the original
on 13 October 2007
. Retrieved
14 July
2016
.
- ^
Cannon, p. 3
- ^
Cannon, p. 5
- ^
Cannon, p. 8
- ^
Cannon, p. 9
- ^
Cannon, p. 11
- ^
Cannon, p. 13
- ^
Cannon, p. 14
- ^
Cannon, p. 19
- ^
Cannon, p. 21
- ^
Cannon, p. 25
- ^
Cannon, p. 27
- ^
Cannon, p. 40
- ^
a
b
Cannon, p. 41
- ^
Cannon, p. 42
- ^
Cannon, p. 43
- ^
Cannon, p. 46
- ^
Cannon, p. 48
- ^
Cannon, p. 49
- ^
a
b
Cannon, p. 50
- ^
Cannon, p. 51
- ^
Cannon, p. 54
- ^
Cannon, p. 56
- ^
a
b
Cannon, p. 58
- ^
a
b
Cannon, p. 61
- ^
Cannon, p. 62
- ^
Cannon, p. 63
- ^
Cannon, p. 64
- ^
Cannon, p. 65
- ^
Cannon, p. 66
- ^
Cannon, p. 72
- ^
Cannon, p. 73
- ^
Cannon, p. 90
- ^
"39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot"
. National Army Museum. Archived from
the original
on 14 November 2016
. Retrieved
13 November
2016
.
- ^
"Training Depots"
. Regiments.org. Archived from
the original
on 10 February 2006
. Retrieved
16 October
2016
.
Sources
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3rd generation
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Regimental titles in
italics
indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881.
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