The 39th (Dorsetshire) 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 mar ...

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 ...

, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the

54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot The 54th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881. History Early history The ...

to form the Dorsetshire Regiment in 1881.

History

Early years

The regiment was first raised by

Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Lisburne Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Lisburne (1647 – 15 September 1691) was an Anglo-Irish peer and military commander. He was the second son of Sir Arthur Loftus of Rathfarnham, co. Dublin and Lady Dorothy Boyle, daughter of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl o ...

as Viscount Lisburne's Regiment of Foot in 1689 but was disbanded in 1697. It was re-raised in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, without lineal connection to the previous regiment, by Colonel Richard Coote as Richard Coote's Regiment of Foot in August 1702. The regiment landed at Lisbon in June 1707 for service in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

.Cannon, p. 3 It saw action at the

Battle of La Gudina A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in May 1709Cannon, p. 5 and then remained in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

until 1713 when it embarked for

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 ...

and then moved to

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

later in the year.Cannon, p. 8 It was posted to Ireland in 1719 and sailed to Gibraltar in 1726 to reinforce the garrison.Cannon, p. 9 The regiment sailed for

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 1729 and then returned to Ireland in 1732.Cannon, p. 11 The regiment served as marines from March 1744 to September 1746 when it took part in the Raid on Lorient during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's ...

.Cannon, p. 13 The regiment then spent another two years serving as marines and then returned to Ireland.Cannon, p. 14 On 1 July 1751 a royal warrant was issued which provided that in future regiments would no longer be known by their colonel's name, but would bear a regimental number based on their precedence: the regiment became the 39th Regiment of Foot. The regiment was posted to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in 1754 and saw action at the

Battle of Chandannagar The Battle of Chandannagar was a successful attack on the French-held settlement of Chandernagore by a British force under the command of Robert Clive and Charles Watson on 23 March 1757 during the Seven Years' War. Chandernagore remained u ...

in March 1757 during 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 (175 ...

.Cannon, p. 19 Under the command of Major Eyre Coote, the regiment played a major part in capturing the fort of

Katwa Katwa is a sub-divisional town and railway junction in Purba Bardhaman district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Katwa subdivision. The town was built at the confluence of Ganga and Ajay. Katwa is a border ci ...

at the Battle of Plassey in June 1757.Cannon, p. 21 The regiment returned to Ireland in autumn 1758Cannon, p. 25 and was engaged in the Great Siege of Gibraltar in 1779 and the following three years.Cannon, p. 27

Napoleonic wars

In 1782 the regiment took a county title as the 39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot. The regiment sailed for the West Indies took part in the capture of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...

in March 1794, the capture of Saint Lucia in April 1794 and the attack on Guadeloupe in June 1794 during 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 ...

.Cannon, p. 40 The British troops at Guadeloupe were forced to surrender in December 1794 and were held in captivity for over a year.Cannon, p. 41 The regiment was reformed in Ireland the following year by absorbing the short-lived 104th Regiment of Foot (Royal Manchester Volunteers). The regiment participated in a task force under Major-General John Whyte to capture the Dutch settlements of

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state ...

, Essequibo, and Berbice in April and May 1796. The regiment moved to Suriname in October 1800Cannon, p. 42 to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

in December 1802 and then returned to England in March 1803.Cannon, p. 43 In 1803 a 2nd battalion was raised. The 1st battalion moved in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in January 1806 and to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

shortly thereafter.Cannon, p. 46 In 1807 a number of regiments had their territorial affiliations shuffled, with the East Middlesex title passing to the 77th Foot and the 39th taking the Dorsetshire title previously held by the 35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot to become the 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot. The 2nd battalion deployed to the Peninsula to support General Sir Arthur Wellesley in June 1809 and fought at the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish a ...

in July 1809,Cannon, p. 48 the

Battle of Bussaco The Battle of Buçaco () or Bussaco, fought on 27 September 1810 during the Peninsular War in the Portuguese mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, resulted in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army. Having o ...

in September 1810Cannon, p. 49 and the Siege of Badajoz in May 1811Cannon, p. 50 as well as the

Battle of Albuera The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about south ...

in May 1811 and the Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos in October 1811.Cannon, p. 51 Meanwhile, the 1st battalion deployed to the Peninsula in August 1811 and saw action at the

Battle of Vitoria 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 leadin ...

in June 1813Cannon, p. 54 and across the Pyrenees, including 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 ...

in July 1813.Cannon, p. 56 It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at 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, ...

in November 1813,Cannon, p. 58 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 ...

in December 1813 and the

Battle of Orthez The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered Fr ...

in 1814Cannon, p. 61 as well as the Battle of Toulouse in 1814. The battalion was then posted to North America for service in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

Cannon, p. 62 and took part in the Battle of Plattsburgh in September 1814Cannon, p. 63 before returning to England in July 1815.Cannon, p. 64 The regiment formed part of the Army of Occupation in France from 1815 to 1818 when it embarked for Ireland.Cannon, p. 65

The Victorian era

The regiment arrived in the British colony of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

toward the end of 1825Cannon, p. 66 and saw service guarding convicts and establishing settlements at Hobart, Sydney, Swan River Colony and Bathurst before leaving for

in July 1832.Cannon, p. 72 It saw action at various skirmishes in spring 1834 during the

Coorg War The Coorg War was fought between the British East India Company and the State of Coorg in 1834. Defiance of the Raja of Coorg (Chikka Virarajendra), a small state in South India, led to a short but bloody campaign in 1834. In February 1834, ...

Cannon, p. 73 and at the Battle of Maharajpore in December 1843 during the Gwalior Campaign.Cannon, p. 90 It embarked for the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

in spring 1854 and saw action at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 before returning to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1856 and moving on to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

in 1859; it returned to England in 1864 and was posted back to India in 1869. As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 39th was linked with the

75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot The 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Foot, was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot to form the Gordon Highlanders in 1881. History ...

, and assigned to district no. 39 at Dorchester Barracks in Dorchester. On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the

to form the Dorsetshire Regiment.

Battle honours

The battle honours of the regiment were as follows: * Plassey, Gibraltar 1779-83, Albuhera, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Peninsula, Maharajpore, Sevastopol

Colonels

Colonels of the regiment included: *1689–1692

*1692–1702 Col. Richard Coote *1702–1703 Col. Richard Coote *1703–1719 Lt-Gen. Nicholas Sankey *1719–1722 Brig-Gen. Thomas Ferrers (also 23rd Dragoons, 17th Foot, Ferrers's Foot) *1722–1730 Brig-Gen. William Newton *1730–1732 Lt-Gen. Sir John Cope, KB *1732–1737 Lt-Gen. Thomas Wentworth *1737–1738 Gen.

John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll General John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll KT PC (c. 1693 – 9 November 1770), was a British Army officer and Scottish Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1713 and 1761. From 1729 to 1761 he was known as John Campbell of ...

, KT *1738–1739 Lt-Gen. Richard Onslow *1739–1740 Col. Robert Dalway *1740–1743 Brig-Gen. Samuel Walter Whitshed *1743–1752 Maj-Gen. Edward Richbell (also 17th Foot, 61st Foot)

39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot

*1752–1766 Lt-Gen.

John Adlercron Lieutenant General John Adlercron (died 31 July 1766) was Commander-in-Chief, India. Military career Born into a Huguenot family who had taken refuge in Dublin at the end of the seventeenth century, Adlercron joined the Royal Army: in 1754 he we ...

*1766–1794 Gen. Sir Robert Boyd, KB *1794–1823 Gen.

Nisbet Balfour General Nisbet Balfour (1743, Dunbog10 October 1823, Dunbog) was a British soldier in the American Revolutionary War and later a Scottish Member of Parliament (MP) in the British Parliament. He was born in Dunbog, in the county of Fife, Scotla ...

(also 93rd Regiment of Foot (1793))

39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot

*1823–1833 Lt-Gen. Sir George Airey, KCH *1833–1840 Lt-Gen. Hon. Sir Robert O'Callaghan, GCB *1840–1852 Gen. Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, GCB *1852–1853 Lt-Gen. George Burrell, CB *1853–1867 Gen. Sir Richard Lluellyn, KCB *1867–1881 Gen. Sir

Charles van Straubenzee General Sir Charles Thomas van Straubenzee (17 February 1812 – 10 August 1892), was a British Army officer. He served as Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong, and Governor of Malta. Military career Van Straubenzee was born ...

, GCB

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment Of Foot Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations in Dorset Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Dorset Regiment 1702 establishments in England