The 88th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army from 1779 to 1783, formed during the

American Revolutionary War 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 ...

. It was raised in Worcestershire under Colonel Thomas Keating and saw service in Jamaica. It was disbanded in England in 1783 at the end of the war.

History

The 88th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment raised by Lieutenant Thomas Keating, a

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 ...

officer from the

42nd Regiment of Foot The 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot was a Scottish infantry regiment in the British Army also known as the Black Watch. Originally titled Crawford's Highlanders or the Highland Regiment and numbered 43rd in the line, in 1748, on the disban ...

, in July 1779. Keating became the regiment's first and only

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

on 12 October, at the time of which the regiment was 762 men strong. Sir Alexander Leith was assigned as the regiment's

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

, with seven captains, a chaplain and an adjutant under him. The regiment was sent to serve in 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 ...

on 6 November, consisting at the time of 900 men. Having arrived at

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 ...

as escort to an artillery train, the 88th joined the command of Major-General John Vaughan on 7 December. It was expected that Vaughan would attempt to attack

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, or to retake Grenada, Dominica, or St Vincent. Leith died at Jamaica on 3 October 1780 whilst preparing to command an expedition to the

Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...

and was replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel

Henry Phipps Henry Phipps may refer to: * Henry Carnegie Phipps (1879–1953), sportsman and financier * Henry Phipps Jr. (1839–1930), entrepreneur and major philanthropist * Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave General Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave, ...

. Disease impacted all ranks of the regiment, and recruiting officers were sent to find more men, some of whom were taken from

prison hulks A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nation ...

stationed in North America. Lieutenant-Colonel William Gardiner took over from Phipps on 9 January 1782. Still at Jamaica on 1 March, the regiment had decreased in size to only 394 men, of which 142 were sick. Some time after this the 88th returned to England. Gardiner was promoted to colonel on 28 February 1783 and replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Gunter Legge. Under Keating and Legge the regiment was disbanded later on in the year.

Uniform

The regiment wore yellow

facings A facing colour is a common tailoring technique for European military uniforms where the visible inside lining of a standard military jacket, coat or tunic is of a different colour to that of the garment itself.René Chartrand, William Younghusb ...

, which sources describe as either pale yellow or bright yellow. The regiment's red coats were accompanied by white

breeches Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western men's c ...

and

waistcoats A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. I ...

. Officers wore

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

and buttons made from silver, while that of the rank of file is not recorded. It is likely that the regulation uniform was modified when the regiment began to serve in the hotter clime of the West Indies.

Notes and citations

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1779 Military units and formations disestablished in 1783 1779 establishments in England {{UK-mil-unit-stub