The 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) 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 ...

, formed in 1755 in response to the threat of renewed war with France. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot to form the

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...

in 1881.Swinson, p. 158

History

Early history

The regiment was raised in the counties of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

by Sir Charles Montagu as the 61st Regiment of Foot in 1755 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 59th Regiment of Foot, following the disbandment of the existing 50th and 51st regiments, in 1756. Shortly after its formation, the regiment moved from England to Ireland, where it performed garrison duty until 1763. In that year the 59th Foot sailed to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

where they remained until 1772 when they stationed in Boston, Massachusetts. The 59th were in Boston when the

American War of Independence 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 ...

broke out, and suffered severe casualties. The remains of the regiment returned to England in 1776 to reform. In 1782, the closing stages of the Anglo Spanish War, the 59th were assigned to the

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 ...

garrison, remaining there for ten years. From 1792–1794 the regiment was based in England and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. In 1782 all regiments of the line without a royal title were given a county designation and the regiment became the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot (the 45th Foot being designated the 1st Nottinghamshire).

French Revolutionary Wars

With the outbreak of war with revolutionary France, the 59th formed part of the British force dispatched to

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, ...

, arriving in 1794. The campaign was a major reverse for the British and their allies, and the regiment was evacuated back to England in 1795. Later in 1795 the 59th Foot sailed 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 Greater A ...

, where they were to remain for seven years. They were stationed in Saint Vincent, where they suppressed uprisings by the

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

. They returned to England in 1802.

Napoleonic Wars

In August 1804, while stationed in England, a second battalion of the 59th Foot was raised. The 1st Battalion sailed in the following year for the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

, while the 2nd Battalion was to remain on garrison duty in England, Ireland and the Channel Islands until 1808. The Cape of Good Hope, which had been captured by the British in 1795, had been returned to the Dutch under the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

. On 7 January 1806 the 1st Battalion of the 59th was part of a brigade that landed at the Cape, and within two days the Dutch forces had surrendered. Although the regiment suffered only light casualties (two dead and six wounded) this was to be the 59th's first

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military t ...

. The 2nd Battalion, meanwhile, sailed for Spain in 1808. On 16 January 1809 it took part in the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Bri ...

, a British tactical victory which allowed for the evacuation of their forces from the Iberian peninsula. From England, the battalion was dispatched to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in July 1809, taking part in the fruitless

Walcheren Campaign The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chath ...

. The unit was to remain in England and Ireland until 1812. From the Cape, the 1st Battalion sailed to India. In November 1810 the battalion took part in the invasion of Mauritius. In the following year they invaded Java in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. They remained in Java until 1815, when they returned to India. In 1812 the 2nd Battalion returned to Spain. They took part in the

Battle of Vittoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leading ...

(June 1813), the

Siege of San Sebastián In the siege of San Sebastián (7 July – 8 September 1813), part of the Peninsular War, Allied forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington failed to capture the city in a siege. However in a second siege the Alli ...

(July – August 1813), the Battle of the Bidassoa (October 1813), the

Battle of Nivelle The Battle of Nivelle (10 November 1813) took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops (20, ...

(November 1813) and the

Battle of the Nive The Battles of the Nive (9–13 December 1813) were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army defeated Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army on French soil ...

(December 1813). From France the 2/59th had sailed to Ireland. When Napoleon returned to France, triggering the "

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

", the battalion was part of the British force dispatched to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. While they were present in the Waterloo area, they did not take part in the hostilities. Having formed part of the army of occupation in France, the 2nd Battalion returned to England in 1816, where they were disbanded.

The Victorian era

On the disbandment of the 2nd Battalion, the 1st was redesignated simply as the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot. The unit moved from India to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 1817, returning to India in the following year, where it fought in the

Third Anglo-Maratha War The Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817–1819) was the final and decisive conflict between the English East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. The war left the Company in control of most of India. It began with an invasion of Maratha ter ...

. In 1825–1826 they took part in the siege and capture of the

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

fortress of Bharatpur (awarded as the honour "Bhurtpore"). The regiment returned to England in 1829. HM Troopship Apollo refitting an encampment of the 59th Regiment CSK 2006

HM Troopship Apollo refitting an encampment of the 59th Regiment CSK 2006

For the next twenty years the 59th was engaged in garrison duties in England, Ireland,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and the West Indies. In 1849 they sailed to China to become part of a small force enforcing the terms imposed on China following the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

. In 1856 Britain deemed the terms of the treaty to have been broken, and the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

commenced. In January 1858 the 59th Foot, along with members of the

Royal Marine Light Infantry The history of the Royal Marines began on 28 October 1664 with the formation of the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot soon becoming known as the Admiral's Regiment. During the War of the Spanish Succession the most historic achi ...

and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

occupied the city of Canton. In 1858 the 59th Foot moved 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 ...

, subsequently returning to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1861. From 1867 – 1878 the regiment again served in India and Ceylon. From India the 59th crossed into

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in November 1878 as part of an invasion force, seeking to stem

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

influence in the region. In April 1880 they fought in the

Battle of Ahmed Khel The Battle of Ahmed Khel took place during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It was fought on 19 April 1880, on the road between Kandahar and Kabul in central Afghanistan between Afghan tribesmen and soldiers of the British Empire, including forces fro ...

. Later in 1880 the 59th Foot returned to England.

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 59th was linked with the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 51 at

Burnley Barracks Burnley Barracks was a military installation at Burnley in Lancashire, England. Built for cavalry, but later used for infantry and storage, military activities at the barracks declined in the late 19th century. Background The time of the French ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot to form the

with the 59th Foot becoming the 2nd Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment. Following a series of amalgamations, the lineage of the 59th is now continued by the

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Du ...

Battle honours

The 59th Foot was awarded the following battle honours to be borne on the regimental colours. The year in brackets is the year of the award of the honour, not of the action it commemorates.Sumner, p. 26–28 *Cape of Good Hope 1806 (1836) * Corunna (1812) *Java (1820) * Vittoria (1818) * San Sebastian (1818) *

Nive The Nive (; eu, Errobi; oc, Niva) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by t ...

(1818) *Peninsula (1815 to 2nd battalion; to whole regiment 1816) *Bhurtpore (1826) *Canton (1861) *Ahmed Khel (1861) *Afghanistan 1878–80 (1881)

Victoria Cross

A Victoria Cross was awarded on 24 October 1879 to Captain Euston Henry Sartorius during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were:

61st Regiment of Foot

*1755–1760: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles Montagu, KB

59th Regiment of Foot (1756)

*1760–1776: Lt-Gen. John Owen *1776–1797: Gen. Sir David Lindsay, 4th Baronet

59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot (1782)

*1797-1801: Lt-Gen. Andrew Gordon *1801–1827: Gen. Alexander Ross *1827–1840: Gen. Sir

Frederick Philipse Robinson Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, GCB (September 1763 – 1 January 1852) was a soldier who fought for Britain during the American War of Independence. His father, Colonel Beverley Robinson, was a Virginian who moved to New York, marrying a wea ...

, GCB *1840–1844: Lt-Gen. Sir

Robert Lawrence Dundas Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Lawrence Dundas (27 July 1780 – 23 November 1844) was a British Whig and military commander during the Peninsular War. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons representing Malton from 1807 to 18 ...

, KCB *1844–1852: Lt-Gen. Sir

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

, KCB, KCH *1852–1857: Lt-Gen. George Augustus Henderson, KH, KC *1857–1862: Lt-Gen. Jeremiah Taylor *1862–1863: Maj-Gen. Plomer Young *1863–1865: Maj-Gen. John Clarke, KH *1865–1881: Gen. Henry Eyre (died 1889)

References

Sources

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