The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the English Army and then 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 ...

, formed in 1689. 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 ...

it amalgamated with the

108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot The 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. However, it was raised initially as part of the Madras Army, by the East India Company (EIC) in 1766. In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion (1857), the B ...

to form the

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th (Ma ...

in 1881.

History

Early years

The regiment was raised as local

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

by Colonel Zachariah Tiffin as Zacharaiah Tiffin's Regiment of Foot in June 1689, to fight against James II in the

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobitism, Jacobite supporters of James II of England, James II and those of his successor, William III of England, William III, it resulted in a Williamit ...

. The regiment served successfully, most notably at the

Battle of Newtownbutler The Battle of Newtownbutler took place near Enniskillen in County Fermanagh, Ireland, in 1689 and was part of the Williamite War in Ireland between the forces of William III and Mary II and those of King James II. War in Western Ulste ...

in July 1689, and it gained a place on the English establishment in 1690 as a regular infantry regiment. As such it then fought at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

in July 1690, at the

Battle of Aughrim The Battle of Aughrim () was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the largely Irish Army (Kingdom of Ireland), Irish Jacobitism, Jacobite army loyal to James II of England, James II and the forces of Will ...

in July 1691 and at the Siege of Limerick in August 1691. A contingent from the regiment took part in the Siege of Namur in August 1695 during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. The regiment was deployed to 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 late 1739 but returned in December 1740. It formed part of the Government army sent to defeat the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

, participating in the

Battle of Falkirk The Battle of Falkirk (; ), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by Edward I of England, King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scottish people, Scots, led by William Wal ...

in January 1746 and in the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

in April 1746. At this period they were commonly known as ''Blakeney's'' Regiment after the colonel-in-chief. In 1751, the regiment was formally titled the 27th (Enniskillen) Regiment of Foot. Soldier of 27th regiment 1742

In 1756 the regiment departed for

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 ...

and fought against the French at the

Battle of Carillon The Battle of Carillon, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War (which was part of the global Seven Years' War). It was fought near Fort Carillon (now known as Fort Ticonderog ...

in July 1758 and the Battle of Ticonderoga in July 1759. The following year, the regiment took part in the successful three pronged attack against Montréal in September during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. It then took part in the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 and the capture of

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

in February 1762.Trimble, p. 36 It also took part in the Battle of Havana in June 1762 during the Anglo-Spanish War: the regiment suffered heavy losses and was evacuated to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In August 1767 the regiment returned 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 ...

.Trimble, p. 37 In September 1775 the regiment returned to

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 ...

to take part in 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, but as the result of the alliance formed by the French with the American colonists, it again found itself involved in numerous expeditions against the French West Indian possessions.Trimble, p. 40 The war with France came to an end in 1783 but broke out again ten years later with the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

and the regiment took part in the Flanders Campaign of 1793. In 1796 the 27th took

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

from the French, and its regimental colour was displayed on the flagstaff of the captured fortress at

Morne Fortune Morne Fortune is a hill and residential area located south of Castries, Saint Lucia, in the West Indies. Originally known as Morne Dubuc, it was renamed Morne Fortuné in 1765 when the French moved their military headquarters and government admi ...

for an hour before being replaced by the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

Napoleonic Wars

The 27th Regiment served throughout the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

including 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 ...

where it formed part of

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank of lieutenant general in the British ...

's force that fought the Battle of Alexandria against the French in March 1801, the 2nd Battalion formed part of the

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

of that city after its capture. The 1st Battalion served in the Calabrian campaign and fought at

Battle of Maida The Battle of Maida, fought on 4 July 1806 was a battle between the British expeditionary force and a French force outside the town of Maida in Calabria, Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. John Stuart led 5,236 British troops to victory over a ...

on 4 July 1806. In this engagement the light company fought in James Kempt's brigade while the one grenadier and eight line companies belonged to Lowry Cole's brigade. The 1st Battalion entered 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 ...

in November 1812Glover, 360 and participated in the Battle of CastallaSmith, 414 and the Siege of Tarragona, both in 1813. The 2nd Battalion landed in Spain in December 1812 and fought brilliantly at Castalla on 13 April 1813. While formed in a two-deep line, the unit inflicted 369 killed and wounded on the French 121st Line Infantry Regiment in a few minutes. In the same action the entire brigade only lost 70 casualties. On 13 September 1813, the French surprised and cut the 2nd Battalion to pieces at the

Battle of Ordal The Battle of Ordal on 12 and 13 September 1813 saw a First French Empire corps led by Marshal of France, Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet make a night assault on a position held by Lieutenant General Lord William Bentinck's smaller Anglo-Allied ...

. In this action, the 2nd/27th lost over 360 men killed, wounded, and captured. The 3rd Battalion disembarked in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in November 1808. It became part of

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

's army and fought at many of the key battles including

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

in March 1812,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

in July 1812,

Vitoria Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória ( ...

in June 1813 and the Pyrenees in July 1813 before pursuing the French Army into France and fighting them at Nivelle in November 1813,

Orthez Orthez (; ; , ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, and region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies 40 km NW of Pau on the Southern railway to Bayonne. The town also encompasses the small village of Sai ...

in February 1814 and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in April 1814. The 3rd Battalion belonged to Cole's 4th Division throughout the war. At the

Battle of Sorauren The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portuguese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting ...

(Pyrenees), the 3rd/27th lost two officers and 41 men killed, nine officers and 195 men wounded, and seven men taken prisoner. At Toulouse, the unit lost two officers and 23 men killed, and five officers and 76 men wounded. Enniskillen Cathedral of St

The 1st Battalion went on to fight at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

as part of John Lambert's 10th Brigade in the 6th Division. At about 6:30 PM, the French captured the key strongpoint of

La Haye Sainte La Haye Sainte (, , named either after Jesus' crown of thorns or a nearby bramble hedge) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment near Waterloo, Belgium, on the N5 road connecting Brussels and Charleroi. It has changed very ...

farm. After this success, they brought up several cannon and took the Anglo-Allied lines under fire at extremely close range. At this period, the 698-strong battalion was deployed in

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

at the point where the Ohain road crossed the

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

highway. At a range of , the French artillery caused the unit enormous casualties within a short time. At day's end, the 1st Battalion had lost 105 killed and 373 wounded, a total of 478 casualties, without breaking. The unit was described as "lying dead in a square". At the time of Waterloo, the soldiers of the 27th were dressed in red, short-tailed jackets, overall trousers, and a high-fronted shako. The facing colour was buff and it was displayed on the collar, cuffs, and shoulder-straps. The lace on the cuffs and jackets had square-ended loops.

The Victorian era

Between 1837 and 1847 the 27th Regiment was engaged in several of the

Xhosa Wars The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars) were a series of nine wars (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers from the Dutch colonial empire in what is now the ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 1840, the spelling 'Enniskillen' was changed to 'Inniskilling'. The Gaelic form of the name is ''Inis Ceithleann'' ('the Island of Kathleen'), which is captured by various anglicisations. The Regiment was also nicknamed ''The Skins''. From 1854 and 1868 it served in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

as part of the suppression of the

Indian Mutiny 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 ...

and helped to maintain law and order in North-West India. 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 27th was linked with the

, and assigned to district no. 64 at

St Lucia Barracks, Omagh St Lucia Barracks, Omagh, is a former military base in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. History The War Office leased the site from the Archdale family on 10 April 1875 for sixty pounds per annum. The lease was made for 999 years or unt ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the

: the "Twenty-Seventh" became the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot as the 2nd Battalion.

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *''West Indies'': St. Lucia on 24 May 1796 *''Napoleonic Wars'': Egypt, Maida, Waterloo *''Peninsular War'':

, Vittoria,

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, Nivelle, Orthes,

, Peninsula *Martinique 1762, Havannah, St. Lucia 1778, South Africa 1835, 1846-47 (''awarded to successor regiment in 1882 and 1909)''

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the regiment were: *1689–1702: Brig-Gen. Zachariah Tiffin *1702–1725: Gen. Thomas Whetham *1725–1732: F.M.

Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth Field Marshal Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, PC (Ire), FRS (1680 – 12 October 1758) was an Anglo-Irish army officer and politician. He fought in the Battle of Blenheim before being appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marl ...

*1732–1737: Lt-Gen. Archibald Hamilton *1737–1761: Lt-Gen.

William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney Lieutenant-General William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney, KB (7 September 1672 – 20 September 1761) was a British Army officer and politician who served from 1695 until 1756. From 1725 to 1757, he also sat in the Parliament of Ireland as MP ...

;27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot - (1751) *1761–1771: Gen. Hugh Warburton *1771–1773: Lt-Gen. Sir Eyre Coote, KB *1773–1804: Gen. Eyre Massey, 1st Baron Clarina *1804–1826: Gen. Sir

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira bet ...

, KG, GCB, GCH *1826–1842: Gen. Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole, GCB *1842–1848: Lt-Gen. Sir John Maclean, KCB *1848–1853: Gen. Sir

William Francis Patrick Napier General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB (7 December 178512 February 1860) was a British soldier in the British Army and a military historian. Early life Napier was born at Celbridge, County Kild ...

, KCB *1853–1860: Lt-Gen. Edward Fleming, CB *1860–1864: Lt-Gen. John Geddes, KH *1864–1870: Gen. James Robertson Craufurd *1870–1881: Gen. Randal Rumley

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Regimental Museum

1842 Roll of Honour, Durban Military Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:27th (Inniskilling) Regiment Of Foot Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Infantry regiments of the British Army Irish regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1689 Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Defunct Irish regiments of the British Army Military history of County Fermanagh Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War 1689 establishments in England