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76th Regiment of Foot

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For other units with the same regimental number, see 76th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation).

The 76th Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 33rd (Duke of Wellington's) Regiment to form the Duke of Wellington's Regiment in 1881.

76th Regiment of Foot
Cap badge of the 76th Regiment of Foot
Active1787–1881
Country Kingdom of Great Britain (1787–1800)
 United Kingdom (1801–1881)
Branch British Army
TypeLine Infantry
Size11 Companies
Garrison/HQWellesley Barracks, Halifax
Nickname(s)The Immortals
The Pigs
The Old Seven and Sixpennies
Motto(s)none
ColorsRed Facings
MarchQuick: "Scotland the Brave"
Slow: "Logie o'Buchan"
Mascot(s)Indian Elephant
EngagementsThird Anglo-Mysore War
Second Anglo-Maratha War
Napoleonic Wars
War of 1812
Commanders
Last Commanding OfficerLieutenant Colonel JMD Allardice (1880–1881)
Last Colonel of the RegimentGeneral Fredrick Darley George CB (1875–1881)

History

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Sir Thomas Musgrave, 7th Baronet, founder of the regiment, by Georg Siegmund Facius after Lemuel Francis Abbott.

Formation

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The regiment was raised by Sir Thomas Musgrave, 7th Baronet for service in India as the 76th Regiment of Foot in October 1787.[1] In accordance with the Declaratory Act 1788 the cost of raising the regiment was recharged to East India Company on the basis that the act required that expenses "should be defrayed out of the revenues" arising there.[1] The majority of recruits were raised from Nottingham and Leicestershire, but many of them also came from the Musgrave family estates around Hayton Castle, near Aspatria, Cumbria.[2]

The Royal Warrant for their raising was issued on 12 October 1787 and read:

GEORGE R.
Whereas We have thought fit to order a Regt of Foot to be
forthwith raised under your Command, which is to consist of ten
Companies, with 3 Sergts, 4 Corpls, 2 Drumrs & 71 private Men
in each, with two Fifers to the Grenadier Compy and one
Compy, of 8 Sergts, 8 Corpls, 4 Drumrs & 30 private Men with
the usuals Comd. Officers, these are to authorise you by Beat of
Drum or otherwise to raise so many Men in any Country or part
of our Kingdom of Great Britain as shall be wanted to complete
the said Regt, to the above mentioned numbers. And all above
Given the 12th October. 1787 in the 27th Year of Our Reign.
By H.M.'s Command (Sd.) Geo. Yonge[3]

India

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Moat at Aligarh Fort where the siege took place in September 1803

The regiment embarked for India in 1788 for service in the Third Anglo-Mysore War and saw action at the Siege of Bangalore in February 1791[4] and the Siege of Seringapatam in February 1792.[5][6] The regiment also saw service in the Second Anglo-Maratha War and fought at the Siege of Aligarh in September 1803.[7] The regiment laid siege to Aligarh Fort, a fort commanded by a French mercenary officer Pierre Perron and captured it from the Marathas.[7] The French prepared for the siege by lining 14 ditches around the fort with sword-blades and poisoned chevaux-de-frise.[7] The walls were reinforced with French artillery, and the French also used tigers and lions of Scindia's menagerie.[7] During the battle, the British lost as many as 900 soldiers.[7] The regiment went on to fight at the Battle of Delhi in September 1803, the Battle of Laswari in November 1803, and the Battle of Deeg in November 1804.[5] For their distinguished service in these actions, King George III authorized the regiment to have the word "Hindoostan" emblazoned upon the regimental colours, along with an elephant badge with a howdah atop the elephant, also inscribed with the word "Hindoostan".[8] The regiment returned to England and became the 76th (Hindoostan) Regiment of Foot in October 1806.[1]

Napoleonic Wars

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The Battle of Plattsburgh, September 1814

In 1807, the regiment was deployed to Jersey in the Channel Islands for garrison duty, remaining there until 1808, when it was deployed to Spain to take part in the Peninsular War.[5] The regiment took part in the Battle of Corunna in January 1809 and was evacuated from the Peninsula later that month.[5] The regiment took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809 and, having reverted to the title of 76th Regiment of Foot in 1812,[1] returned to the Peninsula in 1813 seeing action at the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813[9] and the Battle of the Nive in December 1813.[10] It then embarked for North America for service in the War of 1812 and saw action at the Battle of Plattsburgh in September 1814.[11]

The Victorian era

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Depiction of the Rebecca Riots, Illustrated London News 1843

The regiment did not return from North America until 1827.[5] It was garrisoned in Ireland until 1834 when it departed for the West Indies.[12] It went to the Bermuda Garrison in British North America,[13] and on to Canada in 1841 before returning home in 1842.[12] The regiment were deployed to South Wales later in the year to help suppress the Rebecca Riots.[14] After that the regiment went to Corfu in 1848 and on to Malta in 1850 before sailing for Saint John, New Brunswick in March 1853.[15] It was garrisoned at Fredericton in New Brunswick[14] before embarking for home again in September 1857.[16] It embarked for India in September 1863[17] and was stationed in Fort St. George, Madras[14] before moving on to Burma in January 1868, returning to India again in 1870 and sailing for England in 1876.[18]

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 76th was linked with the 33rd (Duke of Wellington's) Regiment, and assigned to district no. 9 at Wellesley Barracks in Halifax.[19] On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 33rd (Duke of Wellington's) Regiment to form the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.[1]

Battle honours

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The regiment's battle honours were:[1]

  • Hindoostan
  • Peninsular War: Nive, Peninsula

Colonels

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Colonels of the Regiments were:[1]

76th Regiment of Foot (1787) ;76th (Hindoostan) Regiment of Foot (1806)
76th Regiment of Foot (1812)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "76th Regiment of Foot". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 25 February 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  2. ^ Brereton & Savory, p. 79
  3. ^ Hayden, p. 142
  4. ^ Hayden, p. 6–10
  5. ^ a b c d e "76th Regiment of Foot: Locations". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  6. ^ Hayden, p. 8–12
  7. ^ a b c d e Thackeray, chapter 2
  8. ^ Hayden, p. 61
  9. ^ Hayden, p. 87–89
  10. ^ Hayden, p. 90–91
  11. ^ Hayden, p. 104–106
  12. ^ a b Hayden, p. 112
  13. ^ "Bermuda Online: British Army in Bermuda from 1701 to 1977". Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  14. ^ a b c Capewell, Roger. "76th Regiment of Foot". Family History in India. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  15. ^ Hayden, p. 114
  16. ^ Hayden, p. 116
  17. ^ Hayden, p. 122
  18. ^ Hayden, p. 130
  19. ^ "Training Depots". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.

Sources

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Further reading

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