The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the

Childers Reforms The Childers Reforms of 1881 reorganised the infantry regiments of the British Army. The reforms were done by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers during 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell Reforms. The reorganisation was ...

it amalgamated with the

58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot The 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881. Hist ...

to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881.

History

Early history

The regiment was raised at Norwich by Colonel James Cholmondeley as James Cholmondeley's Regiment of Foot in 1741 during the War of Austrian Succession. It was sent to Scotland in 1745 and fought against the Jacobites the Battle of Falkirk Muir in January 1746 and the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...

in April 1746 during the Jacobite rising. The regiment was deployed to Flanders in spring 1747 for service in the War of the Austrian Succession and saw action at the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747. It was ranked as the 59th Regiment of Foot in 1747 but re-ranked as the 48th Regiment of Foot in 1751. The regiment embarked for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in January 1755 for service in the French and Indian War and, having landed in Virginia in February 1755, saw action at the disastrous Battle of the Monongahela, the Siege of Louisburg in June 1758 and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759. It sailed for the West Indies in 1761 and took part in the invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the Battle of Havana in March 1762. The regiment returned home in 1763 for service in Ireland. In 1773 the regiment returned to the West Indies. After losing many troops to fever the remnants of the regiment were captured by the French in

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War; they were interned until 1780 when they were released and allowed to travel home. The regiment was given a county designation in 1782 becoming the 48th (the Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot.

Napoleonic Wars

The regiment returned to the West Indies in 1796 for garrison duty during the French Revolutionary Wars and again lost men to disease before returning home the following year. In 1800 the regiment sailed for Malta where Ensign Thomas Bell, a junior officer of the regiment, planted the regimental colours at

Fort St. Angelo Fort St. Angelo ( mt, Forti Sant'Anġlu or ''Fortizza Sant'Anġlu'') is a bastioned fort in Birgu, Malta, located at the centre of the Grand Harbour. It was originally built in the medieval period as a castle called the ''Castrum Maris'' ( en, C ...

following the recapture of the island from the French in September 1800. A second battalion was raised in 1803 and both battalions were deployed to Portugal in spring 1809 for service under General Sir Arthur Wellesley in the Peninsular War. The 2nd battalion saw action at the Second Battle of Porto in May 1809 and both battalions were in action at the Battle of Talavera in July 1809 when they carried out a bayonet charge and then broke the French attack. Both battalions also fought at the Battle of Albuera in May 1811 but the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel George Henry Duckworth (a son of Admiral Sir John Duckworth) was killed in action and the losses of the 2nd battalion were such that its remnants were either absorbed into the 1st battalion or sent home later that year. The 1st battalion went on to fight at the Siege of Badajoz in March 1812, the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 and the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813. The regiment then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813, the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813, the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. The regiment returned home later that year for service in Ireland.

The Victorian era

The regiment embarked for New South Wales in the role of convict escorts and guards in August 1817. It was then deployed to India in 1824 and saw action suppressing a rebellion by the forces of Chikka Virarajendra, the Raja of Coorg, in 1834 during the Coorg War. It departed for service in the Crimean War in early 1855 and took part in the Siege of Sevastopol later that year. As part of the

Cardwell Reforms The Cardwell Reforms were a series of reforms of the British Army undertaken by Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell between 1868 and 1874 with the support of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone. Gladstone paid little attention ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 48th was linked with the

, and assigned to district no. 29 at Gibraltar Barracks in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment.

Battle Honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *Peninsular War: Douro, Talavera,

Albuhera The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about south ...

, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse, Peninsula *Crimean War: Sevastopol *Louisburg, Quebec 1759 ''(awarded to successor regiment, 1882)'' *Martinique 1762, Havannah ''(awarded to successor regiment, 1909)''

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the regiment were: *1741–1743 Gen. Hon. James Cholmondeley *1743–1745 Col. Lord Henry Beauclerk *1745–1746 Col. Francis Ligonier *1746–1749 F.M. Hon. Henry Seymour Conway *1749–1750 Maj-Gen.

George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington Major General George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington (21 September 1701 – 7 April 1750) (styled ''The Honourable George Byng'' from 1721 to 1747), of Southill Park in Bedfordshire, was a British Army officer and peer. Origins He was the 2nd surv ...

The 48th Regiment of Foot - (1748)

*1750–1752 Lt-Gen. William Home, 8th Earl of Home *1752–1755 Lt-Gen. Thomas Dunbar *1755–1766 Lt-Gen. Daniel Webb *1766–1773 Lt-Gen. William Browne *1773–1783 Lt-Gen. William Alexander Sorrell

The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment - (1782)

*1783–1787 Lt-Gen. Robert Skene *1787–1805 Gen. Patrick Tonyn *1805–1829 Gen. Lord Charles FitzRoy *1829–1843 Gen. Sir Thomas Hislop, 1st Baronet, GCB *1843–1850 Lt-Gen. George Middlemore *1850–1864 Gen. Sir James Henry Reynett, KCB, KCH *1864–1875 Gen.

Arthur Dalzell, 9th Earl of Carnwath General Arthur Alexander Dalzell, 9th Earl of Carnwath (15 September 1799 – 28 April 1875) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of Robert Alexander Dalzell, 6th Earl of Carnwath and Andulusia Browne. Military career He was lieu ...

*1875–1881 Gen. William Anson McCleverty

History

Early history

Napoleonic Wars

The Victorian era

Battle Honours

Colonels of the Regiment

The 48th Regiment of Foot - (1748)

The 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment - (1782)

See also

References

Sources

Further reading