The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the

108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot The 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. However, it was raised initially as part of the Madras Army, by the East India Company (EIC) in 1766. In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion (1857), the B ...

to form the

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment o ...

in 1881.

History

Early years

The regiment was raised as local

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

by Colonel Zachariah Tiffin as Zacharaiah Tiffin's Regiment of Foot in June 1689, to fight against James II in the

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

. The regiment served successfully, most notably at the

Battle of Newtownbutler The Battle of Newtownbutler took place near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1689 and was part of the Williamite War in Ireland between the forces of William III and Mary II and those of King James II. The war in Western Ulst ...

in July 1689, and it gained a place on the English establishment in 1690 as a regular infantry regiment. As such it then fought at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

in July 1690, at the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim ( ga, Cath Eachroma) was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Jacobite army loyal to James II and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691 (old style, equivale ...

in July 1691 and at the Siege of Limerick in August 1691. A contingent from the regiment took part in the Siege of Namur in August 1695 during the Nine Years' War. The regiment was deployed to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

in late 1739 but returned in December 1740. It formed part of the Government army sent to defeat the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

, participating in the Battle of Falkirk in January 1746 and in the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. At this period they were commonly known as ''Blakeney's'' Regiment after the colonel-in-chief. In 1751, the regiment was formally titled the 27th (Enniskillen) Regiment of Foot. Soldier of 27th regiment 1742

In 1756 the regiment departed for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and fought against the French at the

Battle of Carillon The Battle of Carillon, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, Chartrand (2000), p. 57 was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War (which was part of the global Seven Years' War). It was fought near Fort Carillon (now ...

in July 1758 and the Battle of Ticonderoga in July 1759. The following year, the regiment took part in the successful three pronged attack against Montréal in September during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

. It then took part in the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the capture of Grenada in February 1762.Trimble, p. 36 It also took part in the Battle of Havana in June 1762 during the Anglo-Spanish War: the regiment suffered heavy losses and was evacuated to New York. In August 1767 the regiment returned to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

.Trimble, p. 37 In September 1775 the regiment returned to North America to take part in the American War of Independence, but as the result of the alliance formed by the French with the American colonists, it again found itself involved in numerous expeditions against the French West Indian possessions.Trimble, p. 40 The war with France came to an end in 1783 but broke out again ten years later with the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

and the regiment took part in the Flanders Campaign of 1793. In 1796 the 27th took Saint Lucia from the French, and its regimental colour was displayed on the flagstaff of the captured fortress at

Morne Fortune Morne Fortune is a hill and residential area located south of Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. Originally known as Morne Dubuc, it was renamed Morne Fortuné in 1765 when the French moved their military headquarters and government admi ...

for an hour before being replaced by the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

Napoleonic Wars

The 27th Regiment served throughout the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

including in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

where it formed part of

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

's force that fought the Battle of Alexandria against the French in March 1801, the 2nd Battalion formed part of the garrison of that city after its capture. The 1st Battalion served in the Calabrian campaign and fought at

Battle of Maida The Battle of Maida, fought on 4 July 1806 was a battle between the British expeditionary force and a French force outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,236 Anglo-Sicilian troops to victory ...

on 4 July 1806. In this engagement the light company fought in

James Kempt General Sir James Kempt, ( – 20 December 1854) was a British Army officer, who served in the Netherlands, Egypt, Italy, the Peninsula, and British North America during the Napoleonic Wars. He led a British brigade at the Battle of Waterloo and ...

's brigade while the one grenadier and eight line companies belonged to

Lowry Cole Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, (1 May 1772 – 4 October 1842) was an Anglo-Irish British Army general and politician. Early life Cole was the second son of an Irish peer, William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1 March 1736&ndas ...

's brigade. The 1st Battalion entered the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

in November 1812Glover, 360 and participated in the

Battle of Castalla In the Battle of Castalla on 13 April 1813, an Anglo-Spanish-Sicilian force commanded by Lieutenant General Sir John Murray fought Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's French Army of Valencia and Aragon. Murray's troops successfully repelled a ser ...

Smith, 414 and the Siege of Tarragona, both in 1813. The 2nd Battalion landed in Spain in December 1812 and fought brilliantly at Castalla on 13 April 1813. While formed in a two-deep line, the unit inflicted 369 killed and wounded on the French 121st Line Infantry Regiment in a few minutes. In the same action the entire brigade only lost 70 casualties. On 13 September 1813, the French surprised and cut the 2nd Battalion to pieces at the

Battle of Ordal The Battle of Ordal on 12 and 13 September 1813 saw a First French Empire corps led by Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet make a night assault on a position held by Lieutenant General Lord William Bentinck's smaller Anglo-Allied and Spanish advan ...

. In this action, the 2nd/27th lost over 360 men killed, wounded, and captured. The 3rd Battalion disembarked in Lisbon in November 1808. It became part of

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...

's army and fought at many of the key battles including

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...

in March 1812,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

in July 1812,

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

in June 1813 and the Pyrenees in July 1813 before pursuing the French Army into France and fighting them at

Nivelle Nivelle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department * Nivelle Offensive The Nivelle offensive (16 April – 9 May 1917) was a Franco-British operation on the Western Front ...

in November 1813,

Orthez Orthez (; eu, Ortheze; oc, Ortès, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of New Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the sm ...

in February 1814 and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

in April 1814. The 3rd Battalion belonged to Cole's 4th Division throughout the war. At the

Battle of Sorauren The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portuguese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting ...

(Pyrenees), the 3rd/27th lost two officers and 41 men killed, nine officers and 195 men wounded, and seven men taken prisoner. At Toulouse, the unit lost two officers and 23 men killed, and five officers and 76 men wounded. Enniskillen Cathedral of St

The 1st Battalion went on to fight at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

as part of John Lambert's 10th Brigade in the 6th Division. At about 6:30 PM, the French captured the key strongpoint of

La Haye Sainte La Haye Sainte (named either after Jesus Christ's crown of thorns or a bramble hedge round a field nearby) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road in Belgium. It has changed very little since it ...

farm. After this success, they brought up several cannon and took the Anglo-Allied lines under fire at extremely close range. At this period, the 698-strong battalion was deployed in

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

at the point where the Ohain road crossed the Charleroi to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

highway. At a range of , the French artillery caused the unit enormous casualties within a short time. At day's end, the 1st Battalion had lost 105 killed and 373 wounded, a total of 478 casualties, without breaking. The unit was described as "lying dead in a square". At the time of Waterloo, the soldiers of the 27th were dressed in red, short-tailed jackets, overall trousers, and a high-fronted shako. The facing colour was buff and it was displayed on the collar, cuffs, and shoulder-straps. The lace on the cuffs and jackets had square-ended loops.

The Victorian era

Between 1837 and 1847 the 27th Regiment was engaged in several of the

Xhosa Wars The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars) were a series of nine wars (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. T ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. In 1840, the spelling 'Enniskillen' was changed to 'Inniskilling'. The Gaelic form of the name is ''Inis Ceithleann'' ('the Island of Kathleen'), which is captured by various anglicisations. The Regiment was also nicknamed ''The Skins''. From 1854 and 1868 it served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

as part of the suppression of the Indian Mutiny and helped to maintain law and order in North-West India. 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 27th was linked with the

, and assigned to district no. 64 at St Lucia Barracks, Omagh. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the

: the "Twenty-Seventh" became the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot as the 2nd Battalion.

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *''West Indies'': St. Lucia on 24 May 1796 *''Napoleonic Wars'': Egypt, Maida, Waterloo *''Peninsular War'':

, Vittoria,

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

, Orthes,

, Peninsula *Martinique 1762, Havannah, St. Lucia 1778, South Africa 1835, 1846-47 (''awarded to successor regiment in 1882 and 1909)''

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were: *1689–1702: Brig-Gen. Zachariah Tiffin *1702–1725: Gen. Thomas Whetham *1725–1732: F.M.

Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth Field Marshal Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, PC (Ire) FRS (1680 – 12 October 1758), styled The Honourable Richard Molesworth from 1716 to 1726, was an Anglo-Irish military officer, politician and nobleman. He served with his r ...

*1732–1737: Lt-Gen. Archibald Hamilton *1737–1761: Lt-Gen.

William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney Lieutenant General William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney, Order of the Bath, KB, 7 September 1672 to 20 September 1761, was an Irish-born officer who served in the British army from 1695 until 1756. From 1725 to 1757, he also sat in the Parliamen ...

;27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot - (1751) *1761–1771: Gen.

Hugh Warburton General Hugh Warburton (1695 – 26 August 1771) was an officer of the British Army and fought in the French and Indian War with the 45th Regiment of Foot. He later commanded the 27th Regiment of Foot during the Seven Years' War. Early life ...

*1771–1773: Lt-Gen. Sir

Eyre Coote Eyre Coote may refer to: *Eyre Coote (East India Company officer) (1726–1783), Irish soldier and Commander-in-chief of India *Eyre Coote (British Army officer) (1762–1823), Irish-born general in the British Army * Eyre Coote (MP) (1806–1834), ...

, KB *1773–1804: Gen.

Eyre Massey, 1st Baron Clarina Eyre Massey, 1st Baron Clarina (24 May 1719 – 17 May 1804), was an Anglo-Irish British army officer of the 18th century, known primarily for his successful action at La Belle-Famille during the French and Indian War. In 1800, he was made ...

*1804–1826: Gen. Sir

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira b ...

, KG, GCB, GCH *1826–1842: Gen. Hon. Sir

Galbraith Lowry Cole Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, (1 May 1772 – 4 October 1842) was an Anglo-Irish British Army general and politician. Early life Cole was the second son of an Irish peer, William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1 March 1736&nda ...

, GCB *1842–1848: Lt-Gen. Sir John Maclean, KCB *1848–1853: Gen. Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, KCB *1853–1860: Lt-Gen. Edward Fleming, CB *1860–1864: Lt-Gen. John Geddes, KH *1864–1870: Gen. James Robertson Craufurd *1870–1881: Gen.

Randal Rumley Major-General Randal Rumley (12 November 1804 – 13 September 1884) was a British Army officer who became Commander-in-Chief, Scotland. Military career Rumley was commissioned into the British Army on 20 December 1824 and served for much of h ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Regimental Museum

1842 Roll of Honour, Durban Military Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:27th (Inniskilling) Regiment Of Foot Infantry regiments of the British Army Irish regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1689 Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Defunct Irish regiments of the British Army Military history of County Fermanagh Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War 1689 establishments in England Irish regiments