The 63rd Regiment of Foot was a

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 Gurkha ...

regiment raised in 1756. 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 wa ...

, it amalgamated with the 96th Regiment of Foot to form the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

in 1881.

History

Formation and service in the Seven Years' War

The formation of the regiment was prompted by the expansion of the army as a result of the commencement of 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 (1754 ...

. On 25 August 1756 it was ordered that a number of existing regiments should raise a second

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

; among those chosen was the

8th Regiment of Foot 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. The 2nd Battalion of the 8th Regiment of Foot was formed on 10 December 1756 and renumbered as the 63rd Regiment of Foot on 21 April 1758. Later that year, the newly created 63rd, along with a number of other regiments and various other assets, set off for 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 January 1759 the regiment took part in the unsuccessful invasion of Martinique. Later that month the regiment took part in the invasion of Guadeloupe: after the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

bombarded

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; gcf, label=Guadeloupean Creole, Bastè, ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefecture'' (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located o ...

, the British troops landed on the west part of the island, near

Fort Royal Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label= Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Histo ...

, a large citadel. By 24 January, British troops had entered the main town: the citadel there had been abandoned. The regiment suffered a number of attacks while garrisoning the citadel, the rest of the force having moved to the more hospitable east of the island. During one attack, the regiment's commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Desbrisay was killed. The regiment remained in the West Indies for a further five years.Slack, p. 11

American War of Independence

In 1764 the regiment reached Ireland. In 1775 the regiment arrived in America in response to a request for reinforcements due to the outbreak of 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 a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The regiment took part in the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

in June 1775, with a third attack, which ended in a bayonet charge, finally breaking the Americans. The regiment remained in Boston after the battle, the town becoming increasingly more uneasy to be in. Finally, in March 1776 the regiment, along with the rest of the forces in Boston, departed, heading for Halifax in Canada. The regiment took part in the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

in August 1776, a devastating blow against the Americans, though astonishingly, the American leader General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, managed to reverse the blow that had been struck against much of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

's morale in this battle, soon after. Grenadier and Light companies of the regiment also took part in the

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, Sir William Howe on September& ...

in September 1777Slack, p. 15 and the

Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Con ...

in October 1777. The main force of the regiment took part in the

Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery The Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery was an American Revolutionary War battle fought in the Hudson Highlands of the Hudson River valley, not far from West Point, on October 6, 1777. British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Cl ...

in October 1777. The regiment then moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

and took part in the

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...

in June 1778. In 1780 the regiment became involved in the campaign in

the Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nor ...

taking part in the siege and subsequent capture of Charleston. That year the mounted company of the regiment, augmented by a detachment from Tarleton's Legion under the command of the dashing,

Banastre Tarleton Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portu ...

, attacked and captured an American cavalry unit. The regiment also took part in number of battles as part of the forces commanded by

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

over the next two years, as well as taking part in another engagement near Camden in April 1781, as part of a force under the command of General

Francis Rawdon 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 b ...

. In 1782 the regiment was designated the 63rd (the West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot.

French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars

Oberst Alexander Lindsay - Earl of Balcarres

In 1794 the regiment joined British forces already taking part in the

Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Au ...

. The regiment was involved in a number of actions before the British forces withdrew from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1795. That same year, the regiment were part of a force designed to take a number of Caribbean islands under Dutch and French control. However, their transport ship sank, with the loss of two companies from the regiment, en route to the islands. The regiment took part in a variety of operations on the islands in the Caribbean, including helping to put down

Fédon's rebellion Fédon's rebellion (also known as the Brigands' War, or Fédon's Revolution, 2 March 1795 – 19 June 1796) was an uprising against British rule in Grenada. Although a significant number of slaves were involved, they fought on both sides (the majo ...

in the Grenada in 1796. It remaining in the region until 1799, when they departed for home. In August 1799 the regiment took part in the

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British an ...

, seeing action at the Battle of Alkmaar in October 1799. In November 1801 the regiment joined the garrison at

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 = Gibr ...

and, in 1803, it was deployed to Ireland.Slack, p. 51 A second battalion was raised in 1804. In 1807 the 1st battalion was involved in an expedition to

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, a Portuguese-controlled territory, under the command of Major-General William Beresford. Once the expeditionary forces landed, the Portuguese Governor agreed to all demands made by the British forces.Slack, p. 52 In February 1808 the 1st battalion was stationed in

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 estima ...

. It took part the expedition to Martinique, which the British force captured. On 9 April 1809, a detachment from the 1st battalion was serving on the Treasury store-ship ''Emma'', and so shared in the prize money for the French brig ''Navigateur'' for which ''Emma'' was a joint captor with sundry other ships. The 1st battalion became the garrison for island, suffering heavily from diseases one would expect in such tropical weather at that time. In January 1810, part of the 1st battalion took part in the capture of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and ...

, a duty the regiment had participated in many years before.Slack, p. 56 The 1st battalion returned to MartiniqueSlack, p. 57 and finally departed the Caribbean in 1819.Slack, p. 60 Meanwhile, the 2nd battalion took part in the disastrous

Walcheren Campaign The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chath ...

in autumn 1809, suffering from terrible fever while assisting in the capture of a number of towns on the island.

The Victorian era

In 1820, the regiment were deployed to Ireland, a deployment that would last until 1826. The regiment was involved in an expedition to

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 th ...

due to fears of impending insurrection in the country and landed there in January 1827. The rebel cause largely subsided, thanks largely in part due to the expedition made by the British forces. In 1829, the regiment began providing escorts for convict ships traveling to

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 ...

and

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

(now

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

). The rest of the regiment became garrison troops in the latter colony. A detachment of the regiment was present at the foundation ceremony of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1829, and had arrived in Western Australia that same year, on the warship HMS ''Sulphur''. The officer commanding the detachment of the regiment at the ceremony, Captain Frederick Chidley Irwin, would later twice serve as administrator of Western Australia. The regiment transferred from Australia to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), 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 and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in 1833. The regiment deployed to

Mawlamyine Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at t ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

in 1838, returned to India in 1842, and then embarked for England in 1847.

The Crimean War

The regiment landed in the Kalamita Bay in August 1854 as part of the 4th Division for service in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. The regiment took part in the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of Britain and France against the Imperial Russian Army. The battle broke the will of the Russian Army to defeat the allies in the field, an ...

in November 1854 and was engaged in extensive hand-to-hand fighting. At one point, both colour bearers fell: Ensign James Hulton Clutterbuck, carrying the Queen's Colour, and Ensign Heneage Twysden, who was mortally wounded carrying the Regimental Colour. The regiment also took part in the Siege of Sevastopol and was part of a force created to assault a part of the great fortress of

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

on 8 September 1855, during the last day of the long siege, known as

Battle of the Great Redan The Battle of the Great Redan (russian: Оборона Третьего бастиона) was a major battle during the Crimean War, fought between British forces against Russia on 18 June and 8 September 1855 as a part of the Siege of Sevas ...

Amalgamation

After leaving the Crimea, the regiment sailed for

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

in 1856. Upon their arrival at the dockyard in Halifax, a large crowd of many thousands came out to greet the regiment, as if they were a modern-day

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

team. The regiment returned home in 1865 and then departed for India in 1870.Slack, p. 189 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 attention ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 63rd was linked with the 96th Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 16 at

Wellington Barracks Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to ...

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 96th Regiment of Foot to form the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: * War of the Second Coalition:

Egmont-op-Zee Egmond aan Zee () is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, about 9 km west of Alkmaar. Egmond aan Zee was a separate municipality until 1978, when it merged with ...

* Napoleonic Wars: Martinique 1809, Guadeloupe 1810 * Crimean War: Alma,

Inkerman Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but '' de jure'' within Ukraine. It li ...

* Second Anglo-Afghan War: Afghanistan 1879-80

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were:

63rd Regiment of Foot

*1758–1760: Maj-Gen. David Watson *1760–1764: Gen. Sir William Boothby, Bt. *1764–1765: Lt-Gen. Sir Richard Pierson, KB *1765–1768: Gen.

Sir Charles Hotham, 8th Baronet General Sir Charles Hotham-Thompson, 8th Baronet (18 June 1729 – 25 January 1794) was a British Army officer and Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of Sir Beaumont Hotham, 7th Bt., of Beverley, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. He was ...

, KB *1768–1782: Lt-Gen. Francis Grant

63rd (the West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot - (1782)

*1782–1788: Lt-Gen. Hon

Alexander Leslie Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (15804 April 1661) was a Scottish soldier in Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland bec ...

*1788–1789: Col.

George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave George Waldegrave, 4th Earl Waldegrave, Viscount Chewton, PC, ADC (23 November 1751 – 22 October 1789) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1780. The eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Waldegrave, he was educated ...

*1789–1825: Gen.

Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres and ''de jure'' 23rd Earl of Crawford (18 January 175227 March 1825) was the son of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres. He was a general in the British Army. Early life He entered the army at the age ...

*1825–1847: Gen. William Dyott *1847–1850: Maj-Gen. Sir Henry Watson, CB *1850–1868: Gen. Sir Thomas Kenah, KCB *1868–1873: Lt-Gen. Arthur Cunliffe van Notten Pole *1873–1877: Gen. Thomas Maitland Wilson *1877–1881: Gen. Sir Richard Waddy, KCB

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{Regiments of Foot Infantry regiments of the British Army Manchester Regiment Military units and formations in Suffolk Military units and formations established in 1756 Regiments of the British Army in the Crimean War Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War 1756 establishments in Great Britain