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Historical Record of the Seventy-Third Regiment / Containing an account of the formation of the Regiment from the period of its being raised as the Second Battalion of the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and of its subsequent services to 1851 cover

Historical Record of the Seventy-Third Regiment / Containing an account of the formation of the Regiment from the period of its being raised as the Second Battalion of the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and of its subsequent services to 1851

Chapter 9: INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORICAL RECORD
By Richard Cannon
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About This Book

The volume chronicles the formation of the regiment from its raising as the second battalion of the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and traces its service through 1851. It provides a chronological account of stations, campaigns, battles, sieges, and notable military operations; lists officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates killed or wounded; records honors, badges, captured trophies, and distinctions conferred; and includes biographical sketches of colonels and distinguished officers. Compiled under Adjutant-General authority, the work aims to preserve regimental records, illustrate examples of bravery and endurance, and to foster esprit de corps by presenting official reports, casualty details, and awarded recognitions.

INTRODUCTION
TO THE
HISTORICAL RECORD

OF THE

SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

 

During the last century several corps, at successive periods, have been borne on the establishment of the army, and numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD; the following details are therefore prefixed to the historical record of the services of the regiment which now bears that number, in order to prevent its being connected with those corps which have been designated by the same numerical title, but whose services have been totally distinct.

In the spring of 1758, the second battalions of fifteen regiments of infantry, from the 3rd to the 37th, were directed to be formed into distinct regiments, and to be numbered from the 61st to the 75th successively, as follows:—

Second Battalion Constituted
3rd Foot the 61st regiment.
4th ” ” 62nd ”
8th ” ” 63rd ”
11th ” ” 64th ”
12th ” ” 65th ”
19th ” ” 66th ”
20th ” ” 67th ”
23rd ” the 68th regiment.
24th ” ” 69th ”
31st ” ” 70th ”
32nd ” ” 71st ”
33rd ” ” 72nd ”
34th ” ” 73rd ”
36th ” ” 74th ”
37th ” ” 75th ”

The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus formed, were disbanded in 1763, after the peace of Fontainebleau.

Several other corps were likewise disbanded at this period, which occasioned a change in the numerical titles of the following regiments of Invalids.

The 81st regiment (Invalids) was numbered the 71st regiment.
” 82nd ” ” ” 72nd ”
” 116th ” ” ” 73rd ”
” 117th ” ” ” 74th ”
” 118th ” ” ” 75th ”

The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus numbered, were formed into independent companies of Invalids in the year 1769, which increased the number of Invalid Companies from eight to twenty; they were appropriated to the following garrisons, namely four companies at Guernsey, four at Jersey, three at Hull, two at Chester, two at Tilbury Fort, two at Sheerness, one at Landguard Fort, one at Pendennis, and one in the Scilly Islands.

These numerical titles became thus extinct until October, 1775, when the seventy-first regiment was raised. In December, 1777, further augmentations were made to the army, and the regiments which were directed to be raised, were numbered from the seventy-second to the eighty-third regiment.

The army was subsequently increased to one hundred and five regular regiments of infantry, exclusive of eleven unnumbered regiments, and thirty-six independent companies of Invalids.

The conclusion of the general peace in 1783, occasioned the disbandment of several regiments (commencing with the seventy-first regiment), and thus changed the numerical titles of certain regiments retained on the reduced establishment of the army.

In 1786 the SEVENTY-THIRD was directed to be numbered the seventy-first regiment; the seventy-eighth to be numbered the seventy-second; and the second battalion of the forty-second to be constituted the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment. These corps had been directed to be raised in Scotland in 1777 and 1779, and were denominated Highland regiments.

The details of the services of the present SEVENTY-THIRD regiment are contained in the following pages; the histories of the seventy-first and seventy-second regiments are given in distinct numbers.

 

1851