The 86th (Royal County Down) 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 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 Gurkha ...

, raised in 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 wa ...

it amalgamated with the

83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot The 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, which was formed in Ireland in 1793 for service in the French Revolutionary Wars. The regiment served in the West Indies, South Africa and the Peninsular War, ...

to form the Royal Irish Rifles in 1881.

History

Formation

The regiment was raised in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

by Major-General Sir Cornelius Cuyler as Sir Cornelius Cuyler's Shropshire Volunteers, in response to the threat posed by the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, on 30 October 1793. It was absorbed into the British Army the following year as the 86th (Shropshire Volunteers). Serving as

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

, the regiment embarked on ships in January 1795. The men took part in the Battle of Hyères Islands in July 1795. It absorbed the remnants of the disbanded 118th Regiment of Foot (Fingall's Regiment), which had been raised the previous year for service as marines, in October 1795. The regiment embarked for the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

arriving there in September 1796 with orders to consolidate the position in the colony following the surrender of Dutch Forces earlier that month.Cannon, p. 13 The regiment was dispatched to Maddras in

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 February 1799 arriving there in May 1799. It then transferred to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

in July 1799. From there three companies were deployed to

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in late 1800. The regiment embarked for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

in April 1801 for service in the

Egyptian Campaign The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...

. The regiment landed at

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

and following a long march across northern EgyptCannon, p. 15 and the surrender of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

by the French Army in June 1801, the regiment occupied the

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

at Cairo.Cannon, p. 18 The regiment returned to Bombay in spring 1802Cannon, p. 19 and then provided storming parties for two unsuccessful assaults at the

Siege of Bharatpur The siege of Bharatpore was a siege that took place in the Indian princely state of Bharatpur (now part of Rajasthan) between December 1825 and January 1826. British troops under Lord Combermere initially surrounded the state's capital until ...

in January 1805 during the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha War ...

.Cannon, p. 32 Twenty-five soldiers from the regiment were killed in the disastrous operation.Cannon, p. 34 The regiment returned to Bombay in March 1806 and immediately embarked for Goa.Cannon, p. 36 The regiment became the 86th (Leinster) Regiment of Foot in October 1809.

Napoleonic Wars

The regiment took part in the Invasion of Île Bonaparte in July 1810Cannon, p. 38 and, following 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 ...

, occupied the island in March 1811Cannon, p. 45 before returning to Madras in February 1812. Having become the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot in May 1812, the regiment moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

in January 1816Cannon, p. 47 from where it was involved in operations to suppress the Pindaris.Cannon, p. 48 It sailed for

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

in September 1818 where it took part in operations to suppress the KanyiansCannon, p. 49 and only embarked for home in April 1819.Cannon, p. 57

The Victorian era

The regiment embarked 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 October 1826.Cannon, p. 59 It was initially based in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

but moved 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 estima ...

in January 1828,

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

in January 1830 and Demerara and Berbice in February 1833.Cannon, p. 60 It embarked for home in March 1837.Cannon, p. 61 It returned to India in 1842 and saw action in Central India during the

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

. It formed part of the force led by Major-General Sir Hugh Rose which besieged and captured Jhansi Fort in April 1858: four

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previousl ...

es were awarded to members of the regiment for this operation. It returned home in August 1859 and was deployed to

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 ...

in 1864 and then went on to

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

in 1867 before returning to the Cape of Good Hope in 1870. It returned home in 1875 and then embarked for

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 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 attention ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 86th was linked with the

and assigned to district no. 63 at

Victoria Barracks, Belfast Victoria Barracks was a military installation in New Lodge, Belfast in Northern Ireland. History The barracks were completed just before the Irish Rebellion in 1798. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under th ...

. On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Rifles.

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *Egypt (sphinx superscribed "Egypt") *India, Bourbon, Central India

Victoria Cross recipients

*Captain Henry Edward Jerome - 1858,

Jhansi Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...

(

Indian Rebellion of 1857 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 for ...

). *Lieutenant Hugh Stewart Cochrane - 1858, Jhansi (Indian Rebellion of 1857). *Private James Byrne - 1858, Jhansi (Indian Rebellion of 1857). *Private James Pearson - 1858, Jhansi (Indian Rebellion of 1857).

Colonels of the Regiment

Colonels of the Regiment were:

Sir Cornelius Cuyler's Shropshire Volunteers

*1793–1794: Gen. Sir Cornelius Cuyler, Bt.

86th (the Shropshire Volunteers) - (1794)

*1794–1795: Gen. Russell Manners *1795–1803: Gen.

William Grinfield General William Grinfield (1744/45–19 October 1803) was a British Army officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Grinfield joined the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards in 1760 and was promoted through the ranks, becom ...

*1804-1806: Gen. Sir James Henry Craig, KB

86th (The Leinster) Regiment of Foot - (1806)

*1806–1810: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles Ross, Bt. *1810–1832: Gen.

Francis Needham, 1st Earl of Kilmorey Francis Needham, 1st Earl of Kilmorey (5 April 1748 – 21 November 1832), known as Francis Needham until 1818 and as The Viscount Kilmorey from 1818 to 1822, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Member of Parliament. Kilmorey was the third son of John ...

86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot - (1812)

*1832–1835: Lt-Gen. William Harris, 2nd Baron Harris of Seringapatam and Mysore, CB, KCH *1835–1836: Maj-Gen. Hon. Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, GCMG, KCB, KCH *1836–1837: Gen. Sir

James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick a ...

, KCB *1837–1843: Lt-Gen. Sir Arthur Brooke, KCB *1843–1852: Gen. John Maister *1852–1854: Maj-Gen. Roger Parke *1854–1862: Gen. Lord James Hay *1862–1881: F.M. Sir John Michel, GCB

References

Sources

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Infantry regiments of the British Army History of Ireland (1801–1923) Military units and formations established in 1793 Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Defunct Irish regiments of the British Army Military history of County Down 1881 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1793 establishments in Great Britain