The 54th Regiment of Foot was an
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
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 ...
, raised in 1755. 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
39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot
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 Earl ...
to form the
Dorsetshire Regiment
The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...
in 1881.
History
Early history
The regiment was raised in
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
by
John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll
Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll (June 1723 – 24 May 1806), styled Marquess of Lorne from 1761 to 1770, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman. After serving as a junior officer in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succe ...
in 1755 as the 56th Regiment of Foot for service in 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 (1754 ...
. It was re-ranked as the 54th Regiment of Foot, following the disbandment of the existing
50th and
51st regiments, in 1756.
The regiment was deployed to
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
in 1756 and remained there until it moved 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 ...
in 1765.
[Records, p. 4]
American Revolution
![GrotonMonument1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/GrotonMonument1.JPG)
The regiment was deployed to
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 ...
for service in the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in 1776
and first saw action at the
Battle of Sullivan's Island
The Battle of Sullivan's Island or the Battle of Fort Sullivan was fought on June 28, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It took place near Charleston, South Carolina, during the first British attempt to capture the city from Americ ...
in June 1776.
[Records, p. 5] It went on to fight at the
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yo ...
in August 1776,
[ and the ]Battle of Rhode Island
The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and Militia forces under the command of Major General John Sullivan had been besieging the British forces in Newport, Rhode Isl ...
in August 1778.[
In May 1778 100 men of the 54th Regiment of Foot embarked on boats to attack saw mills at ]Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
. The galley ''Pigot'' and some armed boats were to provide support. ''Pigot'' grounded, but the attack proceeded anyway. A sharp skirmish ensued when the troops arrived at their objective. Even so, they were able to destroy one saw mill and one grain mill, as well as a large stock of planks and boards, other buildings, some cedar boats, and so on. They then withdrew, having lost two men killed and five officers and men wounded. As the tide returned, ''Pigot'' was floated off, but as ''Flora'' towed her off, ''Flora'' lost two men killed and a lieutenant severely wounded.
In July 1779, the regiment was part of a force of 2,600 men led by Major General William Tryon
Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...
, that conducted a series of raids on the Connecticut port towns of New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
, Fairfield, and Norwalk. The 54th was part of the first division, led by Brigadier General George Garth, which also consisted of several companies of Royal Fusiliers, foot guards, and Hessian jägers. Garth's division landed at West Haven
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
on 5 July, and proceeded to New Haven, encountering opposition from the local militia. There the 54th sustained significant losses, amounting to two officers, one drummer, and five rank and file wounded, one sergeant and five rank and file killed, and one sergeant and seven rank and file missing. The following day the regiment was ordered back to their transports while the rest of the division carried on with the assault of the town.[Townshend, p. 36] At Fairfield, due to an insufficient number of boats to transport the whole first division, the 54th did not go ashore, and Garth took only the flank companies of the Guards, one company of the Landgraves, and the King's America Regiment with two field pieces.[ On 12 July, at Norwalk, the 54th led the column against the rebels, driving them, with "great alacrity and spirit" from Drummond Hill.
The regiment went on to assault ]Fort Griswold
Fort Griswold is a former American defensive fortification in Groton, Connecticut named after Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold. The fort played a key role in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, in correspondence with Fort Trumbull ...
in Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...
, at the Battle of Groton Heights
The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781 between a small Connecticut militia force le ...
in September 1781. The battle resulted in almost 80 American soldiers being massacred by the British after the American commander, Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard
William Ledyard (December 6, 1738 – September 6, 1781) was a lieutenant colonel in the Connecticut militia who was killed during the American Revolutionary War. He commanded Fort Griswold in Groton and resisted the British forces during the B ...
, had surrendered. The regiment returned home in 1781 and adopted a county designation becoming the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot in 1782.[
]
Napoleonic Wars
In June 1794 the regiment embarked for Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
for service in 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 French First Republic, France against Ki ...
. The regiment returned to England in 1795 but then embarked for 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 Greater A ...
later in the year where it helped suppress an insurrection by caribs on Saint Vincent in 1796. A second battalion was raised in May 1800 to increase the strength of the regiment.[ Both battalions took part in the unsuccessful ]Ferrol Expedition
The Ferrol Expedition (or Battle of Brión) took place on 25 and 26 August 1800, and was an unsuccessful British attempt to capture Ferrol from Spain. Ferrol was a major Spanish naval base with a shipyard for shipbuilding and dry dock for rep ...
in August 1800 and the subsequent equally unsuccessful attack on Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
in October 1800. Both battalions then embarked for 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 Mediter ...
for service in the French campaign in Egypt and Syria
The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the ...
. They saw action at the Battle of Abukir in March 1801, the Battle of Alexandria later that month and the Siege of Cairo
The siege of Cairo, also known as the Cairo campaign, was a siege that took place during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French and British with Ottoman forces and was the penultimate action of the Egyptian Campaign. British commander J ...
in June 1801. The 1st battalion also took part in the Siege of Alexandria where it encountered fierce opposition at Fort Marabout in August 1801: the battalion eventually carried out a successful assault on the fort. The battalions amalgamated again in May 1802 and the regiment moved to Gibraltar in 1803.
In early 1807 the regiment embarked on the Second invasion of the River Plate under the leadership of Sir Samuel Auchmuty: it saw action at the Battle of Montevideo in February 1807 and Second Battle of Buenos Aires in July 1807.[ The regiment was sent to ]Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...
in Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...
1810 and remained there until 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 ...
in June 1815: its only involvement at Waterloo was capturing Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
in the aftermath of the battle.
The regiment was sent to South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 1819 for service in the Fifth Xhosa War. It moved to 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 ...
in 1822 and to Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
in 1824 for service in the First Anglo-Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese ...
: it formed part of an army which advanced up the River Irrawaddy to the Kingdom of Ava
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing th ...
before returning to India in 1825 and embarking for England in 1840.
Indian rebellion
On deployment to India during the Indian Rebellion
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...
about 350 men and five women of the headquarters, 54 Regiment, were aboard , one of the earliest iron, screw type steamers, when fire broke out on 11 November 1857.[Bradlee, p. 82] The ship had been built in 1846 and had previously been chartered by the British government for the Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
and was again under charter transporting troops and a large amount of powder and ammunition carried in two magazines.[Bradlee, pp. 82-83] The ship was a thousand miles from nearest land and outside shipping lanes, and if lost with all aboard would have been another mystery, though messages were placed in bottles that were never found.[ Some of the crew, which had been troublesome since sailing, abandoned ship in the two best boats leaving the ship's officers, remaining crew and men of the regiment to fight the fire.][ The ladies were put in a boat with what provisions could be found and Private William Wiles of the regiment and ship's Quartermaster Richard Richmond risked their lives to save the regimental colours from below decks.][Bradlee, p. 83]
The starboard magazine was cleared of explosives but the port magazine was reached only through suffocating smoke and volunteers led by Major Hughes cleared what they could but two large barrels of powder could not be brought up to be thrown overboard.[ At about nine in the evening the fire broke through the deck, set fire to rigging and shortly after the expected explosion of the powder occurred blowing out the after cabins, remnants of the saloon and ship's port quarter, even causing the ship's stern to momentarily dip under water. Though rafts had been prepared the remaining crew and troops continued to fight the fire through the night, cutting through the deck and using buckets to fight the fire that was beginning to turn the iron hull red hot. By nine the next morning the fire was under control but the ship's after portion was entirely burned out, with even glass in the ports melted, and flooded with loose water tanks smashing against the hull. Those in boats were recovered, the stern was strengthened with an arrangement of chain and leaks stopped with sail and steering managed by a system of six men sitting on planks rigged each side of the rudder controlling it using ropes. Thus the ship made the nearly thousand miles to ]Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
arriving on 25 November despite miseries endured with short rations of food and water. The regiment was sent to Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in another vessel and ''Sarah Sands'' was repaired enough to sail for Britain and full repair to sail for Bombay as a sailing ship—where she ran aground and was so badly damaged that she was abandoned.[ The iron construction, aided by three iron watertight bulkheads, one constantly kept cool by troops wetting it with water, saved the ship and probably all the lives and later substantially helped remove prejudice against iron vessels.][ The regiment saw little action during the rebellion and returned to England in 1866 but was re-deployed to India in 1871.][Records, p. 84]
Amalgamation
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 54th was linked with the 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot
The 95th (Derbyshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army infantry regiment, raised in 1823. Under the Childers Reforms, it amalgamated with the 45th (Nottinghamshire) (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot to form the Sherwood Foresters in 188 ...
, and assigned to district no. 26 at Normanton Barracks
Normanton Barracks was a military installation in Normanton, Derby, England.
History
The barracks were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style between 1874 and 1877. Their creation took place as part of the Cardwell Reforms which encouraged ...
in Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. On 1 July 1881 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 ...
came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot
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 Earl ...
to form the Dorsetshire Regiment
The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...
.[
]
Battle honours
Battle honours won by the regiment were:[
*Marabout, Egypt
*Second Burmese War: Ava
]
Colonels of the Regiment
Colonels of the regiment were:[
]
56th Regiment of Foot - (1755)
*1755–1757: F.M. John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll
Field Marshal John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll (June 1723 – 24 May 1806), styled Marquess of Lorne from 1761 to 1770, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman. After serving as a junior officer in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succe ...
(Marquess of Lorne)
54th Regiment of Foot - (1756)
*1757–1760: Gen. John Grey
*1760–1770: Gen. John Parslow
John Leonard Frederick Parslow (1935–2015) was an English ornithologist and author.
Parslow was born on 10 July 1935 in London, and, after wartime evacuation to Cornwall, was educated at Chingford Grammar School. He undertook National Serv ...
*1770–1801: Gen. Mariscoe Frederick
54th (the West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot - (1782)
*1801–1807: Gen. Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet
General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth, GCB (6 December 1757 – 18 August 1829) was a British Army officer.
Military career
He was born at Newbyth House in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh merchant family, and enter ...
, GCB, KC
*1807–1808: Gen. Oliver Nicolls
General Oliver Nicolls (c.1740 – 1829) was a British Army officer.
Military career
Nicolls was commissioned into the 1st Regiment of Foot in November 1756.Richard Cannon''Historical record of the Life Guards containing an account of the formati ...
*1808–1809: Gen. Hon. Edward Finch
*1809–1816: Gen. James Ochonar Forbes, 17th Baron Forbes
*1816–1841: Gen. Isaac Gascoyne
Isaac Gascoyne (21 August 1763 – 26 August 1841) was a British Army officer and Tory politician. He was born at Barking, London Essex on 21 August 1763, the third son of Bamber Gascoyne (senior) and Mary Green and was educated at Felsted Sc ...
*1841–1845: Lt-Gen. Sir Henry Sheehy Keating
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sheehy Keating KCB (13 November 1775 – 12 September 1847) was born at Bansha, County Tipperary in Ireland and was an officer of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in two ...
, KCB
*1845–1850: Gen. Ulysses de Burgh, 2nd Baron Downes, GCB
*1850–1856: Lt-Gen. William Alexander Gordon, CB
*1856–1860: Gen. Sir William Codrington, GCB
*1860–12 March 1868: Gen. Mildmay Fane
Mildmay Fane (c. October 1689 – 11 September 1715) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons for 8 months in 1715, before his early death.
Fane was the fifth son of Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland and his wife Rachel, daught ...
*24 March 1868 – 21 November 1876: Gen. Studholme John Hodgson
*21 November 1876 – 1877: Gen. David Elliot Mackirdy
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
*1877–1880: Gen. Lord Mark Ralph George Kerr
General Lord Mark Ralph George Kerr GCB (15 December 1817 – 17 May 1900) was a British Army officer who served in the Crimean War and in India.
Background
Kerr was born in his ancestral home (Newbattle Abbey), in Midlothian, Scotland in 1817 ...
, GCB
*1880–1881: Gen. John Ramsay Stuart, CB
*1881 ''Regiment amalgamated with the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot
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 Earl ...
to form the Dorsetshire Regiment
The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...
''
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
''Narrative of the Burning of the ''Sarah Sands'' Screw Steam Ship With the Headquarters of H. M. 54th Regiment On Board''
(1870 account by "A Late 54th Officer")
{{Regiments of Foot
Infantry regiments of the British Army
Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War
Dorset Regiment