The 87th Regiment of Foot was a
line infantry regiment of the British Army. It was raised to help garrison the West Indies during 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 ...
.
History
The regiment was raised at
Bromsgrove in Worcestershire by
George Waldegrave in July 1779.
It was despatched to the
Leeward Islands under the command of Lieutenant-colonel
George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea
George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea (4 November 1752 – 2 August 1826), was an important figure in the history of cricket. His main contributions to the game were patronage and organisation but Winchilsea, an amateur, was also a very keen pla ...
, arriving in January 1780.
[ It returned home in 1783 at the end of hostilities and was disbanded at ]Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
in April that year.[
]
References
{{Regiments of Foot
Military units and formations established in 1779
Military units and formations disestablished in 1783
Infantry regiments of the British Army
Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War