The 130th Regiment of Foot was an infantry

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

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 ...

, created in 1794. After being raised it was sent to the West Indies, where it suffered heavy losses from tropical disease. The unit was disbanded at

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

in 1796, with the survivors drafted into other regiments.

Background

The 130th Regiment of Foot was raised as part of a rapid expansion of the British Army from 1793 as a reaction to 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 France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

, which had begun in 1792. More than 40 regiments of foot and cavalry were added to the establishment; many of these units were short lived. British Army regiments are given a number, according to the seniority in which they were raised, but the numbering of these units is somewhat erratic. The supposedly junior 131st Regiment of Foot was accepted onto the

Army List The ''Army List'' is a list (or more accurately seven series of lists) of serving regular, militia or territorial British Army officers, kept in one form or another, since 1702. Manuscript lists of army officers were kept from 1702 to 1752, the ...

a full 18 months before the 130th Regiment. This probably represents differences in the speed of recruitment to individual regiments (units were not accepted onto the list until they had reached a certain "establishment" strength). The naming of the new units is also varied. Some were granted formal names but others were known by their commander's names or by number alone. Most of the new regiments disbanded by 1797.

History

In 1794 Captain George Pigot, formerly of the 38th Regiment of Foot was promised promotion to lieutenant-colonel—and command of the new 130th Regiment of Foot if he could recruit the men to establish the unit. The 130th Regiment of Foot was formed at

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Staffordshire, in 1794 and was titled the "Loyal Staffordshire Volunteers". It was also known as "Pigot's" or "Meyrick's" Regiment. Pigot was appointed to command the 130th Regiment on 21 March 1795 and the unit was entered onto the Army List on 12 June. The 130th Regiment was posted 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 Greate ...

in 1795, at a time when the British were fighting the Second Maroon War against the revolt of the

Jamaican Maroons Jamaican Maroons descend from Africans who freed themselves from slavery on the Colony of Jamaica and established communities of free black people in the island's mountainous interior, primarily in the eastern parishes. Africans who were ensl ...

. The unit suffered badly from tropical disease. It numbered 166 fit men at

in November but by December numbered only 7 men fit and 11 sick. The regiment was disbanded at Santo Domingo in 1796 by drafting the survivors into other units. Shoulder belt plates bearing the insignia of the

Stafford Knot The Stafford knot, more commonly known as the Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped knot that is the traditional symbol of the English county of Staffordshire and of its county town, Stafford. It is a particular representation of the s ...

and the inscription "Loyal Staffordshire Volunteers" found in Dominica and Haiti and sometimes identified as belonging to the

80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) The 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot to form the South Staffordshire Regim ...

, are instead probably associated with the 130th Regiment. Colonel Pigot was placed on

half pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

and afterwards rose, by a series of brevet promotions, to the rank of general.

References

External links

* {{Regiments of Foot Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1794 Military units and formations disestablished in 1796 1794 establishments in Great Britain 1796 disestablishments in Great Britain