The 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a

line infantry Line infantry was the type of infantry that formed the bulk of most European land armies from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus are generally regarded as its pioneers, while Henri de la Tour d ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, raised in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in February 1702. 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 w ...

it amalgamated with the

67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot The 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Hampshire Regiment (later the Roya ...

to become the

Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

(later the

Royal Hampshire Regiment The Hampshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot and the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The re ...

) in 1881.

History

Early years

The regiment was raised in

by Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredyth as Meredyth's Regiment in February 1702. It embarked for the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in May 1703 and fought under the

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was a British army officer and statesman. From a gentry family, he ...

at the

Battle of Schellenberg The Battle of Schellenberg took place on 2 July 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The engagement was part of the John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Duke of Marlborough's campaign to save the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburg capital ...

in July 1704,Whitting, p. 3 the

Battle of Blenheim The Battle of Blenheim (; ; ) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the reconstituted G ...

in August 1704 and the

Battle of Ramillies The Battle of Ramillies (), fought on 23 May 1706, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. For the Grand AllianceAustria, England, and the Dutch Republicthe battle had followed an indecisive campaign against the Bourbon armies of K ...

in May 1706Whitting, p. 6 as well as the

Battle of Oudenarde The Battle of Oudenarde, also known as the Battle of Oudenaarde, was a major engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession, pitting an Anglo-Dutch force consisting of eighty thousand men under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Ove ...

in July 1708 and the

Battle of Malplaquet The Battle of Malplaquet took place on 11 September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession, near Taisnières-sur-Hon in modern France, then part of the Spanish Netherlands. A French army of around 75,000 men, commanded by the Duke of V ...

in September 1709 during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

.Whitting, p. 7 The regiment embarked for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1711 as part of the Quebec Expedition but lost 8 officers and 253 men when the ships in which it was sailing foundered on the rocks on the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

; the expedition returned home. It was also in action at the

Capture of Vigo The capture of Vigo and Pontevedra (also known as the British expedition to Vigo and Pontevedra) occurred in October 1719 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance when a Kingdom of Great Britain, British expedition made a Amphibious warfare, desc ...

in October 1719. The regiment next saw action at the

Battle of Dettingen The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Karlstein am Main in Bavaria. An alliance composed of British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops, known as the Pragmatic Army, defeated a French ...

in June 1743 during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

.Whitting, p. 8 It also fought at the

Battle of Falkirk The Battle of Falkirk (; ), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by Edward I of England, King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scottish people, Scots, led by William Wal ...

in January 1746 during the Jacobite rebellion when its colonel,

Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet (24 August 1684 – 17 January 1746) was a Scottish military officer and politician whose life followed an 18th-century pattern. He fought in support of the Revolution Settlement and the House of Hanover, and their ...

, was shot and then finished off with three sword blows to the head. It went on to fight under the command of Colonel Lewis Dejean at the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

in April 1746 and was ranked the 37th Foot in 1747. The regiment returned to the Netherlands and fought at the

Battle of Lauffeld The Battle of Lauffeld took place on 2 July 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fought between the towns of Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht, a French army of 80,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragma ...

in July 1747. 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 37th Regiment of Foot. The second battalion became the 75th Regiment of Foot in 1758. The regiment fought at the

Battle of Minden The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of F ...

in August 1759 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. After the battle the men of the regiment picked dog-roses from the hedges and put them in their headdresses to celebrate the victory. It also took part in a skirmish at

Grebenstein Grebenstein (; ) is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 16 km northwest of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. In 1762 it was the scene of a skirmish between British and French troops during the Seven Year ...

in June 1762Whitting, p. 11 and another at Fellinghausen in July 1762. It was then garrisoned in

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , 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 Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

from 1763 to 1769.Whitting, p. 12 The regiment embarked for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

for service in 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

in 1776 and was present at 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 and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...

in August 1776 and the British surrender at the end of the

Siege of Yorktown The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown and the surrender at Yorktown, was the final battle of the American Revolutionary War. It was won decisively by the Continental Army, led by George Washington, with support from the Ma ...

in September 1781.Whitting, p. 14 It became the 37th (the North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot in 1782.

Napoleonic wars

The regiment was next in action at the

Battle of Tournay 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 1794 in the Flanders Campaign of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. It was posted to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

from 1800 to 1809 to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

from 1812 to 1814 and to

from 1814 to 1826.

The Victorian era

The regiment embarked for

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in 1846 and took part in the suppression of the Matale rebellion in 1847. It moved to India in spring 1857 and, having arrived by steamer on the

Son River Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...

, opened fire on the attacking mutineers at the

Siege of Arrah The siege of Arrah (27 July – 3 August 1857) took place during the Indian Mutiny (also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857). It was the eight-day defence of a fortified outbuilding, occupied by a combination of 18 civilians and 50 members ...

in July 1857 during the

Indian Rebellion 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 form ...

. It returned to England in 1861 and was sent to

in 1865 before returning to India in 1866. 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 attentio ...

of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 37th was linked with the

, and assigned to district no. 40 at Lower Barracks in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

. The regiment returned to England in 1875 and then moved to Ireland in 1880.Whitting, p. 51 On 1 July 1881 the

came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to become the

(later the

Battle honours

Battle honours won by the regiment were: *

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

, Tournay,

Peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

* Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen ''(all awarded to successor regiment, 1882)''

Regimental Colonels

Colonels of the Regiment were: *1702–1710: Lt-Gen. Thomas Meredyth *1710–1715: Col. William Windress *1715–1717: Gen.

John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland (24 March 1685 – 26 August 1762), styled The Honourable John Fane from 1691 to 1733 and Lord Catherlough from 1733 to 1736, of Mereworth Castle in Kent, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in ...

(Baron Catherlough) *1717–1722: Col.

Edward Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke Edward Richard Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke (7 July 1692 – 3 October 1722) was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1722. Hinchingbrooke was the eldest son of Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sand ...

*1722–1735: Brig-Gen. Hon. Robert Murray *1735–1745: Maj-Gen. Hon.

Henry Ponsonby Major-General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (10 December 1825 – 21 November 1895) was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary. Biography Born in Corfu, he was the son of Major-General Si ...

(killed at the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

) *1745–1746: Col. Sir Robert Munro, Bt. (killed at the

) *1746–1752: Lt-Gen. Lewis Dejean ;37th Regiment of Foot *1752–1768: Lt-Gen. Hon. James Stuart *1768–1773: Lt-Gen. Sir George Gray, Bt. *1773–1783: Lt-Gen. Sir

Eyre Coote Eyre Coote may refer to: *Eyre Coote (East India Company officer) (1726–1783), Irish soldier and Commander-in-chief of India *Eyre Coote (British Army officer) (1762–1823), Irish-born general in the British Army *Eyre Coote (MP) (1806–1834), ...

, KB ;37th (the North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot *1783–1798: Gen. Sir

John Dalling General Sir John Dalling, 1st Baronet ( 1731 – 16 January 1798) of Burwood Park in Surrey, was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Origins Dalling was the son of John Dalling (1697–1744), of Bungay in Suffolk, by his wife Catheri ...

*1798–1810: Gen. Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple *1810–1814: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles Ross, Bt *1814–1831: Gen. Sir Charles Green, Bt *1831–1851: Gen. Hon. Sir Alexander Duff, GCH *1851–1858: Lt-Gen. William Smelt, CB *1858–1862: Lt-Gen. John Fraser *1862–1879: Gen. Sir

Thomas Simson Pratt General Sir Thomas Simson Pratt, (19 July 1797 – 2 February 1879) was a British Army officer. He served in the First Anglo-Chinese War (1839–1841), in India from 1843 to 1855 where he was deputy adjutant-general at Madras, and was commande ...

, KCB *1879–1881: Gen. Sir Edmund Haythorne, KCB

References

Sources

* *

External links

History of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot by Paul Jerrard
{{Regiments of Foot Royal Hampshire Regiment Infantry regiments of the British Army Military units and formations in Hampshire Military units and formations established in 1702 Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War 1702 establishments in England British military units and formations of the War of 1812