The 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, raised on 3 December 1793. 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 w ...

the regiment amalgamated with the

87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot The 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 89th (Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Fusiliers, Pr ...

to form the

Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) The Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) was an Irish line infantry (later changed to light infantry) regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of the 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot, 87th (Prince of Wales's I ...

in 1881.

History

Formation

The regiment was raised in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

by Major-General William Crosbie as the 89th Regiment of Foot, in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 3 December 1793. The regiment was sent to join the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

's army in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in summer 1794 as part of the unsuccessful defence of that country against the Republican French during the Flanders Campaign. It was posted to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Blayney, it saw action at the

Battle of Vinegar Hill The Battle of Vinegar Hill (''Irish language, Irish'': ''Cath Chnoc Fhíodh na gCaor'') was a military engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 between a force of approximately 13,000 government troops under the command of ...

in June 1798 during the

rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

. The regiment became known for its perseverance in hunting down Irish rebels earning the nickname "Blayney's Bloodhounds". It was posted to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 1800 and arrived in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in March 1801 for service in the Egyptian Campaign. It saw action at the Battle of Alexandria later that month at 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 ...

in April 1801.

Napoleonic Wars

A second battalion was raised in Ireland in August 1804. The 1st Battalion embarked for the

Hanover Expedition The Hanover Expedition, also known as the Weser Expedition, was a British invasion of the Electorate of Hanover during the Napoleonic Wars. Coordinated as part of an attack on France by the nations of the Third Coalition against Napoleon by W ...

in December 1805 but lost its

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

in a storm off

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. After service in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

the battalion returned to England in February 1806. The battalion sailed for

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

in spring 1807 and took part in the disastrous expedition under Sir Home Popham. It sailed for the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

later that year and then transferred to

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in 1808. It took part in the

Invasion of Isle de France The invasion of Isle de France was a complicated but successful British amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. During the operation, a substantial military force was landed by the Royal ...

in November 1810, the Invasion of Java in August 1811 and the invasion of Sumatra in March 1812. It transferred to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

in India in 1815 and re-absorbed the 2nd Battalion in November 1816. Meanwhile, four companies from the 2nd Battalion embarked for

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

in October 1810 for service in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. Under the command of Lord Blayney, the four companies of the 2nd battalion took part in a

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

charge at the

Battle of Fuengirola The Battle of Fuengirola was a military engagement of the Peninsular War fought on 15 October 1810 between a 457-strong Franco-Polish garrison at the Sohail Castle near Fuengirola and a much larger Anglo-Spanish field force of 4,501 men led b ...

in October 1810. After defeat in the battle Lord Blayney and most of his troops were held as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

for the next four years. One company from the battalion embarked for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

in summer 1812 for service in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. It saw action at the Raid on Black Rock in July 1813 and the

Battle of Crysler's Farm The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812, in the British province of Upper Canada. A British and Upper Canadian force defeated a much larger American invas ...

November 1813. At Crysler's Farm the men of the 2nd Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Morrison, rose up out of concealment and opened fire on the attacking American Forces. The Americans dived behind tree stumps and bushes to return fire, and their attack lost all order and momentum. As ammunition ran short, they began to retreat out of line. The battalion went on to fight at the Battle of Buffalo in December 1813. At Buffalo, the men of the 2nd Battalion scored an early success when they drove off the American piquet at Conjunckaty Creek and captured the bridge and the battery there. The men of the 2nd Battalion also fought at the Battle of Longwoods in March 1814. They were less successful at Longwoods: Captain James Basden of the 2nd Battalion led a charge against the American position. As the British troops advanced towards a bridge, bunched into a column by the narrow road, the Americans poured a withering fire into them, mowing down the leading troops. After the British troops had crossed the bridge, Basden was wounded in the leg, and his men fell back into a ravine where the Americans fired on them from a height and inflicted heavy casualties.Zaslow, p. 139 The men from the 2nd Battalion also saw action at the

Battle of Lundy's Lane The Battle of Lundy's Lane, also known as the Battle of Niagara or contemporarily as the Battle of Bridgewater, was fought on 25 July 1814, during the War of 1812, between an invading American army and a British and Canadian army near present-d ...

in July 1814 and the

Siege of Fort Erie The siege of Fort Erie, also known as the Battle of Erie, from 4 August to 21 September 1814, was one of the last engagements of the War of 1812, between British and American forces. It took place during the Niagara campaign, and the Americans ...

in August 1814 before embarking for home in June 1815.

The Victorian era

The regiment, still in India, fought the Pindaris in 1817 and was deployed to

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

in 1824 for service in the

First Anglo-Burmese War The First Anglo-Burmese War (; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War in English language accounts and First English Invasion War () in Burmese language accounts, was the first of three wars fought between the ...

: it formed part of an army which advanced up the River Irrawaddy to the

Kingdom of Ava The Ava Kingdom (, ; INN-wa pyi) also known as Inwa Kingdom or Kingdom of Ava was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1365 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsa ...

. It returned to India arriving in Madras in 1826 and to England in 1831. It embarked for the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in 1835 and went on to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

before returning home in 1847. It sailed for

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in 1854 and then saw action at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. It transferred to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

in 1855 to protect British interests there while the cattle-killing movement was at its height before embarking for India in 1857 to help suppress the

Indian Rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

. It returned home in August 1865 and became the 89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot in May 1866. It returned to India in 1870 and was deployed to

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

in Burma in 1876 before going back to India in 1880. 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 attentio ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 89th was linked with the

94th Regiment of Foot The 94th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised as the Scotch Brigade in October 1794. It was renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in Decemb ...

and assigned to district no. 65 at

Gough Barracks Gough Barracks was a military installation in Armagh, Northern Ireland. History The barracks were first established on the site in 1773. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the bar ...

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the

to form the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *''Napoleonic Wars'': Egypt (Sphinx superscribed "Egypt"),

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

*''American war of 1812'': Niagara *''Anglo-Burmese Wars'': Ava *''Crimean War'':

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were:

89th Regiment of Foot

*1793–1795: Maj-Gen. William Crosbie *1795–1797: Lt-Gen. Andrew Gordon *1797: Lt-Gen Henry Bowyer *1797–1801: Gen. Alexander Ross *1801–1802: Gen. James Ogilvie *1802–1806: Gen. Sir Eyre Coote, GCB, KC *1806–1808: Lt-Gen.

John Whitelocke John Whitelocke (1757 – 23 October 1833) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He is known for leading the failed invasion of Buenos Aires and the forfeit of Montevideo to the Spanish by way of treaty. Military career Educate ...

*1808–1818: Gen.

Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey General Albemarle Bertie, 9th Earl of Lindsey (17 September 1744 – 18 September 1818) was a British Army officer and politician. Early life Bertie was born on 17 September 1744. He was the son of Peregrine Bertie, a barrister of Lincoln's Inn ...

*1818–1823: Gen. Sir George Beckwith, GCB *1823–1837: Gen. Sir Robert Henry MacFarlane, KCB, GCH *1837–1857: Gen. Sir Charles Bulkeley Egerton, GCMG, KCH *1857–1864: Gen. Charles George James Arbuthnot *1864–1870: Gen. Charles Gascoyne

89th (The Princess Victoria's) Regiment of Foot- (1866)

*1870–1874: Lt-Gen. Sir

John Garvock General Sir John Garvock (15 March 1817 – 10 November 1878) was a British Army General who achieved high office in the 1860s. Garvock, the only son of Maj. John Garvock of the Royal Horse Guards and his wife, Margaret, was born in Kennington, ...

, GCB *1874: Maj-Gen. Caledon Richard Egerton *1874–77: Lt-Gen. Lord Henry Hugh Manvers Percy, VC, KCB *1878-1880: General Sir Henry de Bathe, 4th Baronet *1880: General John Arthur Lambert

References

Sources

* *

External links

The War of 1812 Website Animated Battles
{{Regiments of Foot Royal Irish Fusiliers Infantry regiments of the British Army Irish regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1793 Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Defunct Irish regiments of the British Army British military units and formations of the Napoleonic Wars 1881 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War 1793 establishments in the British Empire British military units and formations of the War of 1812