86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot
The 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1793 and amalgamated into The Royal Irish Rifles following the Childers Reforms in 1881.
History
The regiment was raised in 1793 as a volunteer corps in Shropshire, and taken into the British Army the following year as the 86th (Shropshire Volunteers). In 1795, after the Battle of Groix it absorbed the remnants of the disbanded 118th Regiment of Foot (Fingall's Regiment), which had been raised in 1794 for service as marines.[1]
In 1809 it became the 86th (Leinster) Regiment of Foot,[2] and then in 1812 it was renamed as the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot.[3]
In 1881 it became the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. Its lineage is continued today by the Royal Irish Regiment.
Battle honours
Battle honours won by the regiment were:[4]
- Egypt (sphinx superscribed "Egypt")
- India, Bourbon, Central India
Victoria Cross recipients
- Captain Henry Edward Jerome - 1858, Jhansi (Indian Rebellion of 1857).
- 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:[4]
Sir Cornelius Cuyler's Shropshire Volunteers
- 1793–1794: Gen. Sir Cornelius Cuyler, Bt.
86th (the Shropshire Volunteers) - (1794)
- 1794–1795: Gen. Russell Manners
- 1795–1804: Gen. William Grinfield
- 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
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, 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
See also
References
- ↑ 118th Regiment of Foot, National Archives Catalogue index.
- ↑ "His Majesty has been pleased to order that the 86th Regiment of Foot shall in future be styled the 86th (or Leinster) Regiment."The London Gazette: no. 16309. p. 1690. 24 October 1809.
- ↑ "His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty, has been pleased to approve of the 86th Regiment being in future styled the 86th (or Royal County Down) Regiment..."The London Gazette: no. 16604. p. 929. 26 May 1812.
- 1 2 "86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 March 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Cannon, Richard (1842). Historical Record of the Eighty-Sixth, or Royal County Down Regiment of Foot. London: J. W. Parker.