The regiment was detained some time by contrary winds; but it landed at Boston on the 1st of January, 1776. At this period the British troops at Boston were blocked up on the land side by a numerous army of provincials; much inconvenience was experienced in procuring provisions; and as this town did not appear to be a place calculated to become the base of extensive military operations for the reduction of the revolted provinces, Lieut.-General Sir William Howe resolved to vacate Boston, and proceed with the army to Nova Scotia; this resolution was carried into effect in the middle of March, when the SEVENTEENTH sailed with the army to Halifax.

Reinforcements being expected from England, the army sailed from Halifax in June, and, proceeding to the vicinity of New York, landed, on the 3rd of July, on Staten Island, where the SEVENTEENTH, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Mawhood, were formed in brigade with the fortieth, forty-sixth, and fifty-fifth regiments under Major-General James Grant.

On the 22nd of August a landing was effected on Long Island, and on the evening of the 26th the army was put in motion to pass a range of woody heights which intersect the island, and attack the American army in position beyond the hills. The SEVENTEENTH regiment formed part of the column under Major-General Grant, which was directed to advance along the coast, with ten pieces of cannon, to draw the enemy's attention to that quarter. Moving forward at the appointed hour, this column fell in with the advanced parties of the Americans about midnight, and, at daybreak on the following morning, encountered a large force, formed in an advantageous position defended by artillery. Skirmishing and cannonading ensued, and was continued, until the Americans discovered, by the firing at Brooklyn, that the left of their army had been turned and forced, when they retreated in great confusion through a morass. They were met and attacked by the second battalion of grenadiers, which was soon reinforced by the seventy-first regiment (Highlanders); and were also assailed on the left by Major-General Grant's corps, and sustained severe loss; many of the Americans being killed, and others drowned or suffocated in the morass. The American army was driven from its positions with severe loss, and made a precipitate retreat to the fortified lines at Brooklyn.

The regiment had Captain Sir Alexander Murray and two rank and file killed; Lieutenant Marcus A. Morgan, one serjeant, and nineteen rank and file wounded.

The Americans having quitted their fortified lines at Brooklyn and passed the river to New York, the conquest of Long Island by the British troops was completed; and the SEVENTEENTH regiment shared in the operations by which the capture of New York was accomplished; also in the movements by which the Americans were driven from White Plains; and in the reduction of Fort Washington. Afterwards proceeding to the Jerseys, the regiment was stationed at Brunswick, and subsequently at Princetown.

During the winter, General Washington suddenly passed the Delaware river, and surprised and made prisoners a corps of Hessians at Trenton, and afterwards made a precipitate retreat. Being reinforced, he again passed the river, and took up a position at Trenton. Major-General the Earl Cornwallis advanced with a division of British troops, and, after reconnoitring the American position, sent orders for the SEVENTEENTH, fortieth, and fifty-fifth regiments to join him from Princetown.

Early on the morning of the 4th of January, 1777, the three regiments commenced their march. The SEVENTEENTH regiment, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Charles Mawhood, being in advance, encountered the van of the American army, General Washington having suddenly quitted Trenton with his whole force to surprise the three regiments. The morning being foggy, Lieut.-Colonel Mawhood could not discern the numbers of the force he had met; but supposing it to be only a detachment, he instantly attacked his opponents, and the SEVENTEENTH speedily drove back a force of very superior numbers with great gallantry. The regiment was soon environed in front and on both flanks by a numerous force; and Lieut.-Colonel Mawhood, discovering that he was engaged with the American army, resolved to make a desperate effort to extricate himself: having confidence in the valour and resolution of the regiment, he directed a charge with bayonets to the front, to break through the American army. Undismayed by the multitudes of opponents which environed them, the SEVENTEENTH rushed upon the ranks of the enemy, broke through all opposition, and continued their march to Maidenhead. Their conduct excited great admiration; and the Americans acknowledged the superior gallantry of the regiment. A serious loss was, however, sustained; thirteen officers and soldiers being killed, fifty-three wounded, and thirty-five missing: among the former was Captain the Honorable William Lesley, son of the Earl of Leven, an officer of great promise, whose death was much regretted.

"The bravery and abilities of Colonel Mawhood, on this occasion, deservedly gained him the highest applause;"[9] and the resolute attack of the SEVENTEENTH so occupied the American army, that the fortieth and fifty-fifth regiments effected their retreat with much less loss than could have been expected. The American army had many men killed and wounded on this occasion; among the killed was an officer of reputation, Brigadier-General Mercer, from Virginia.

When the army took the field, the regiment was employed in operations in the Jerseys to bring the American army to a general engagement; but General Washington kept close in his strong position in the mountains; and the British undertook an expedition to Pennsylvania: the SEVENTEENTH were employed in this enterprise, and were formed in brigade with the fifteenth, forty-second, and forty-fourth regiments, under Major-General (afterwards Earl) Grey.

A landing was effected on the northern shore of Elk River on the 25th of August; and the army of the revolted provinces took up a position at Brandywine to oppose the advance; an attack was made on the position on the 11th of September, when the Americans were driven from their ground with loss. On this occasion the SEVENTEENTH formed part of the column under Major-General Earl Cornwallis.

Advancing upon Philadelphia, the British troops took possession of that city, and the army took up a position at Germantown. The Americans attempted to surprise the British troops early on the morning of the 4th of October, and they gained some advantage at the first, but were speedily repulsed with severe loss. On this occasion several companies of the fortieth regiment, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Musgrave, threw themselves into a building, where they were attacked by an American brigade; when Major-General Grey brought forward the SEVENTEENTH and another British regiment, and drove back the enemy with great gallantry.

Ensign Nathaniel Philips and four rank and file of the regiment were killed on this occasion; and three serjeants and twenty-one rank and file were wounded.

The regiment passed the winter in quarters in Philadelphia, and in the spring of 1778 it furnished several detachments, which ranged the country in various directions to open communications for obtaining provisions. The regiment also took part in the fatigues and difficulties of the march of the army from Philadelphia, through the Jerseys, in order to its return to New York; and its flank companies were engaged in repulsing the attack of the enemy on the rear of the column, at Freehold, in New Jersey, on the 28th of June, on which occasion Captain William Brereton, commanding the grenadier company, was wounded.

The regiment was stationed at New York, and other posts in the vicinity of that city; and when Stoney Point, a fortified post on the river Hudson, had been captured by the British troops, the SEVENTEENTH, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Henry Johnson, were placed in garrison at that fort. On the night of the 15th of July, 1779, this post was suddenly beset by nearly four thousand Americans under General Wayne, who assaulted the works. The SEVENTEENTH made a gallant resistance, but were overpowered by superior numbers: Captain Tew, an officer of distinguished gallantry, and a number of soldiers were killed, and the survivors were made prisoners of war.

The regiment remained some time in custody, and, being afterwards exchanged, the men fit for duty were formed into a small battalion, and, being united with a number of detachments of provincial troops, they were placed under the orders of Colonel Watson, of the foot-guards. They sailed from New York in October, 1780, with a detachment under Major-General the Honorable Alexander Leslie, and landed in Virginia. They were employed in various services there, and early in 1781 they were directed to join the army under Earl Cornwallis. This army attacked the Americans at Guildford Court House on the 15th of March, and gained a victory. After performing much harassing service the troops under Earl Cornwallis took possession of York Town and Gloucester, where they were invested by the combined French and American forces in September. They defended York Town until the works were destroyed by the enemy's batteries, and, when no possibility remained of being able to resist successfully, they surrendered, and the SEVENTEENTH again became prisoners of war, but did not remain long in custody before they were exchanged.

In 1782 the regiment was stationed in Virginia.

On the death of Lieut.-General the Honorable Robert Monckton, King George III. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment on Major-General George Morrison, from the seventy-fifth regiment (afterwards disbanded), by commission dated the 29th of May, 1782.

In August of this year orders were issued for the regiment to assume the title of the Seventeenth, or the Leicestershire Regiment, and to cultivate a connection with that county, which might, at all times, be useful towards recruiting.

In the early part of 1783 the regiment was stationed at New York. Peace having been concluded with the Americans, the regiment was removed to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where it was stationed during the years 1784 and 1785.

Having been relieved from duty in North America, the regiment embarked for England, where it arrived in August, 1786.

In the year in which the regiment returned to England, a company of merchants, residing in the East Indies, formed a settlement at Nootka Sound,—a bay of the North Pacific Ocean, on the west coast of North America,—with the view of obtaining furs. This settlement was seized by the Spaniards in 1789, and two ships were detained. To chastise this violation of British enterprise and liberty, a fleet was fitted out, and the SEVENTEENTH were embarked to serve as marines, but the subject was settled without hostilities taking place.

Lieut.-General Morrison was removed to the fourth foot in 1792, and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment by Major-General George Garth, from lieut.-colonel in the first foot-guards.

The regiment was employed on home service during the early part of the war of the French Revolution, and was stationed in Ireland, from whence it embarked on the 25th of February, 1796, for the island of St. Domingo, where a contest was being carried on between the British troops and the republican forces on that island. The climate of St. Domingo proved particularly injurious to the health of the British troops, and the SEVENTEENTH regiment lost Lieut.-Colonel Hooke, and several other officers and a number of men, by disease; also a few men in skirmishes with the republican troops. The island was eventually evacuated, and the surviving officers and men embarked for England in 1798, and landed at Deptford in January, 1799.

In this year the soldiers of the militia corps were permitted to volunteer their services into regiments of the regular army, when fifteen hundred men volunteered to the SEVENTEENTH regiment, which was augmented to two battalions, the second battalion being placed on the establishment of the army in the beginning of August, under the orders of colonel-commandant Major-General Eyre Coote; four lieut.-colonels and four majors being placed on the establishment.

A favourable opportunity appearing to present itself for rescuing Holland from the power of France, Great Britain and Russia sent a body of troops to that country, under the command of his Royal Highness the Duke of York; and the two battalions of the SEVENTEENTH formed part of the leading division of the British force under Lieut.-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, which effected a landing on the Dutch coast, near the Helder, on the 27th of August, and defeated a body of French and Dutch troops.

The SEVENTEENTH were engaged in repulsing an attack of the enemy on the 10th of September, when the first battalion had two rank and file killed, and the second two killed and eighteen wounded.

At the attack of the enemy's positions on the 19th of September, the regiment distinguished itself; but the inconsiderate valour of the Russians occasioned a failure. The first battalion had six rank and file killed; Major William Grey, Major Peter Cockbourne, Captains M. J. Grace and William Knight, Lieutenant Charles Wilson, Ensign J. Thompson, two serjeants, and thirty-four rank and file wounded; Lieutenant Wickham and three rank and file missing: the second battalion had two men killed; Major Robert Wood, Lieutenant William Saunders, and nineteen rank and file wounded.

In the action at Bergen on the 2nd of October, the regiment was again engaged, and had two rank and file killed; Lieutenants William Wynne and Joshua Morrison, and five men wounded. The Dutch people not seconding these gallant efforts for their deliverance, the army returned to England.

The regiment embarked from England in May, 1800, and proceeded to Minorca to join the armament assembled to co-operate with the Austrians in Italy; and when this enterprise was abandoned, the regiment remained at Minorca, where it was stationed until the peace of Amiens in 1802, when it embarked for Ireland, and, landing at Cork in August, was reduced to one battalion.

Hostilities were resumed in 1803; in July of that year the regiment was suddenly ordered from Limerick to Dublin, where a serious riot had taken place on the 23rd of July, when Lord Chief Justice Kilwarden, and his nephew the Rev. Richard Wolfe, were attacked in his carriage and murdered by the rioters.

Embarking from Ireland in April, 1804, the regiment proceeded to the Isle of Wight; in July it sailed for the East Indies, and arrived at Fort William in December; having lost Ensign Strickland by disease on the voyage.

In June and July, 1805, the health of the officers and soldiers suffered severely from the effects of the climate. The casualties were replaced by a strong detachment from England, and the effective strength was augmented to twelve hundred and sixty officers and soldiers. In September the whole embarked in boats for the upper provinces; the head-quarters and three companies landed and encamped a short period at Allahabad; the other companies proceeded to Cawnpore, where they were joined by the head-quarters.

Two companies were detached, in October, 1806, with some artillery, under Captain Nicoll, to reduce a fort on the right bank of the Jumna; but it was evacuated by the insurgents on the approach of the detachment, and the two companies returned to their cantonments.

On the 20th of December two companies of the regiment marched under Captain Hawkins for the purpose of reducing several forts in the mountainous district of Bundelkund, which was resigned to the British by the Mahrattas in 1804; but several chiefs proved refractory. Little resistance was made excepting at Chumar, which place was captured by storm in January, 1807, on which occasion Lieutenant Peter McGregor was killed gallantly fighting in the breach. Lieutenant Despard also distinguished himself; he received a contusion in ascending the breach.

In an official communication on this subject, it was stated: "In justice to the merits of two companies of His Majesty's SEVENTEENTH regiment, forming part of the army immediately employed in Coonch, Major-General Dowdesdell, divesting his mind of every ground or intention of partiality, cannot forego the expression of the sincere pleasure he has received from numerous concurrent testimonies of their excellent behaviour, which is generally allowed to have been conspicuous in the affair at Chumar, and uniformly to redound to the credit and highly appreciated character of His Majesty's SEVENTEENTH regiment."

The two companies returned to Cawnpore, where the regiment remained until September, when it commenced its march for Muttra.

In October five companies took the field under Lieut.-Colonel Hardyman, for the purpose of attacking the fort of Comona, and on the 19th of November the breach was stormed with great gallantry; but it was found impracticable, and the troops were forced to retire. The enemy was, however, so fully impressed with a sense of British valour and perseverance, that he fled from the fort during the night. Captains Radcliff and Kirk, Lieutenants Harvey and Harrison, three serjeants, and forty-four rank and file of the SEVENTEENTH were killed in the act of making a gallant effort to ascend the breach; at the same time Lieutenants Wilson, Campbell, and Dadingstone, two serjeants, ninety-three rank and file were wounded. Pay-serjeant Suttle distinguished himself, and was killed at the top of the breach. The conduct of the troops on this occasion was highly commended in General Orders by the Governor-General in Council: Lieut.-Colonel Hardyman of the regiment was particularly noticed.

The other companies of the SEVENTEENTH were afterwards withdrawn from Muttra, and the regiment was employed some time in pursuit of the hostile tribes, which made a short resistance at the fort of Gonoivie, and afterwards fled. The regiment then returned to Muttra.

In November, 1808, the regiment joined the force under Major-General St. Leger advancing against the Sikhs, and proceeded as far as the river Sutlej without meeting with serious opposition. The dispute being settled by negotiation, no action of importance took place, and in the beginning of May, 1809, the regiment returned to Muttra, where its efficiency was increased by a large detachment from England. In November the regiment marched for Meerut, Muttra being discontinued as a station for European troops.

The regiment remained at Meerut during the years 1810 and 1811. On the 4th of June of this year Colonel R. Stovin was promoted to the rank of major-general, and was succeeded in the command by Colonel Frederick Hardyman, the second lieut.-colonel.

From Meerut the regiment marched in November, 1812, for Ghazeepore, where nine companies arrived in January, 1813. Two companies were stationed at Chumar fourteen months, and afterwards joined the regiment. In April, 1813, four companies marched under Captain Despard, to Secrole and Mirzapore, for the purpose of watching and intercepting the bands of marauders called Pindarees, who infested the British territory: these companies rejoined the regiment in June.

The depredations of the Nepaulese having brought on a war with that kingdom, the regiment was called from its quarters at Ghazeepore, to join the army invading that mountainous country. It commenced its march on the 31st of October, and, joining the division under Major-General John Sulivan Wood, was engaged in the unsuccessful attack on Jutgurgh. The Major-General stated in his despatch—"His Majesty's SEVENTEENTH regiment of foot led the column, headed by its gallant commander, Colonel Hardyman, and supported by the grenadiers of the second battalion of the seventeenth and fourteenth regiments of Native infantry, and advanced upon the works; while the grenadiers and one battalion company of His Majesty's SEVENTEENTH succeeded in gaining the hill on the right of the redoubt. This party was led by a brave and cool officer, Captain William Croker, who drove the enemy up the hill, killing a chief, Sooraj Tappah: still the fire from the enemy, concealed by the trees, was kept up with great obstinacy, and the hill which rose immediately behind the works was filled with troops, rendering the post, if it had been carried, wholly untenable. I therefore determined to stop the fruitless waste of lives, by sounding the retreat." The regiment lost several men on this occasion, and had Lieutenants Matthew Pickering and Arthur Poyntz wounded.

Afterwards joining the army under Major-General George Wood, the regiment took part in several operations, and subsequently returned to its cantonments. The rulers of Nepaul were brought to submission.

The regiment was stationed at Ghazeepore during the year 1815.

In 1816 a combination of Native princes against the British authority called part of the regiment into the field; in July of that year the flank companies under Captain Croker proceeded to join a flank battalion forming at Allahabad, to unite with the army proceeding against Scindia, under the Marquis of Hastings.

The battalion companies of the regiment, under Lieut.-Colonel Nicoll, formed, in October, 1817, part of the brigade under Brigadier-General Hardyman, which was ordered to proceed by forced marches towards Nagpore, where a body of British troops was surrounded. On the march a considerable portion of the enemy's troops were discovered in order of battle in front of Jubblepore, with their right to the hills. The enemy's guns were captured by a charge of the eighth Native cavalry, and the Arab infantry were attacked, overpowered, and driven from their ground with severe loss, by the SEVENTEENTH regiment. The two corps were thanked in General Orders for their distinguished conduct on this occasion. The SEVENTEENTH lost a few men, and had Lieutenants Maw and Nicholson wounded.

The enemy evacuated the fortified town of Jubblepore, leaving a quantity of stores; and the regiment continued its march towards Nagpore. Being obliged to halt two or three days at Lucknadoon, for the elephants to come up with provision, information was received of the overthrow of the Nagpore Rajah's forces, and of the termination of his resistance: the regiment then returned to its cantonments at Ghazeepore: it received prize-money for the capture of Nagpore.

The regiment remained at Ghazeepore until December, 1818, when it proceeded by water to Fort William, where it arrived on the 24th of January following.

General Garth died, after commanding the regiment twenty-six years, and was succeeded by Lieut.-General Sir Josiah Champagné, G.C.H., from the forty-first regiment.

In August, Colonel Hardyman was promoted to the rank of Major-General; he was universally esteemed as an officer and a gentleman, and the officers of the regiment resolved to present him with a sword, value one hundred pounds, as a token of their respect; but proceeding to Meerut, to assume the command, he died suddenly of one of the diseases prevalent in that climate, before he received the sword. He was succeeded by Lieut.-Colonel Wilbraham Tollemache Edwards, who, on arriving, assumed the command; Colonel Sir Thomas McMahon, the senior lieut.-colonel, being adjutant-general of His Majesty's forces in India.

On the 21st of December, 1820, the regiment marched for Burhampore; having lost, during the two years it was at Calcutta, eight officers and one hundred and thirty-one soldiers, the cholera being prevalent during that period.

Arriving at Burhampore on the 8th of January, 1821, the regiment remained at that station until August, 1822, when it proceeded by water to Calcutta, in order to its embarkation for Europe. In November, Colonel Edwards exchanged with Lieut.-Colonel Archibald Maclean of the fourteenth foot.

Four hundred and twelve men volunteered to remain in India: and on the 20th of January, 1823, the regiment embarked at Fort William: on which occasion General Sir E. Paget, Commander-in-Chief in India, issued a General Order, in which he stated,—"The Commander-in-Chief feels it to be a just tribute to this old and distinguished corps to express the high character it has always preserved in Europe, and which his Excellency is happy to find has been maintained during a long service of eighteen years in India.

"A copy of this Order will be submitted to the gracious notice of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, and the Commander-in-Chief takes this opportunity of wishing the regiment a prosperous voyage, and that it may long enjoy its justly-earned reputation."

The regiment landed at Gravesend on the 27th of May, after an absence of nineteen years from Europe, and bringing back four officers and sixty-six non-commissioned officers and soldiers of those who embarked with it in 1804: it lost in India one thousand and twenty-one men by disease and killed in action; and four hundred and twelve were invalided.

The regiment marched to Chatham, and subsequently to Gosport, where it was joined by the depôt. On the 24th of October it was reviewed on Southsea Common with the other troops at Portsmouth, Gosport, &c., by his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, afterwards King William IV.; and in November marched to Hull, detaching one company to Carlisle and one to Tynemouth.

In 1824 the regiment commenced practising the new system of drill and field movements, as established in the army at this period, agreeably to the improvements introduced by Major-General Sir Henry Torrens, K.C.B., Adjutant-General of the Forces.

On the 25th of June, 1825, His Majesty King George IV. was graciously pleased to approve of the regiment "bearing on its colours and appointments the figure of the 'Royal Tiger,' with the word 'Hindoostan' superscribed, as a lasting testimony of the exemplary conduct of the corps during the period of its service in India, from 1804 to 1823."

From Hull the head-quarters were removed to Scotland in the summer of this year, and the regiment was stationed at Edinburgh during the winter, with detachments at out-stations. In the beginning of the following year it unanimously subscribed one day's pay of all ranks towards the relief of the distressed operatives of Paisley, where six companies were stationed a short time.

In the summer of 1826 the regiment marched to Greenock, where it embarked for Liverpool; it was stationed three months in Lancashire, the head-quarters being at Bolton, and in October embarked at Liverpool for Ireland; it landed at Dublin, from whence it marched to Mullingar; where the head-quarters were stationed until April, 1827, when they were removed to Galway.

The regiment remained in Ireland until May, 1829, when it embarked at Dublin for Liverpool, and was quartered in South Britain twelve months.

In 1830 the regiment commenced embarking by detachments for New South Wales.

After occupying various stations in New South Wales several years, the regiment received orders to transfer its services to India; and it embarked for Bombay in March, 1836; after landing it proceeded to Poona; near which place it was encamped during the year 1837.

The regiment remained at the camp near Poona until November, 1838; during which period events had transpired on the frontiers of Affghanistan, which, connected with the political measures of the chiefs who had assumed the dominion of that country, induced the British government to undertake the restoration of the former sovereign, Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk, to the throne of that kingdom, as a precautionary measure to protect the frontiers of the British dominions in the East against aggression. To take part in this enterprise, the regiment quitted the camp near Poona, and embarked for the mouth of the Indus: it landed in December and proceeded to the ancient town of Tatta, situate in Lower Scinde, upon a rising ground four miles west of the river.

To ensure the course of the Indus, the Bombay division of the army assembling for the invasion of Affghanistan commenced its march from the mouth of that river, through the country occupied by the confederation of the Ameers of Scinde, who refused permission for the British troops to pass in peace through their territory, and a passage had to be effected by forcible means. Hyderabad, the capital, was captured; Kurrachee, the richest city of Scinde, was taken possession of; and the Ameers were brought to submission in the early part of February, 1839. The army then continued its march; passed the great river Indus on a bridge of boats near the fortress of Bukkur; traversed an arid country to Usted, and afterwards marched through the desert plains of Beloochistan to Dadur, occasionally suffering inconvenience from the want of water, and sustaining loss from the hordes of predatory natives.

From Dadur the troops marched through the Bolan Pass, with gloomy crags rising perpendicularly in awful grandeur on each side, to Dusht-i-be-doulut, or the Unhappy Desert, having some camp-followers murdered and baggage plundered, in these wild regions, by the Beloochees. Afterwards continuing the march over difficult mountains and sterile plains, suffering from a deficiency of forage and provision, the army entered Affghanistan, when the Barukzye chiefs fled, and the British troops took possession of Candahar, the capital of Western Affghanistan.

The SEVENTEENTH regiment encamped in the grassy meadows of Candahar nearly two months, and afterwards marched along a valley of dismal sterility to the Turnuck River; then, advancing up the right bank, entered the country of the Ghilzees, and arrived before Ghuznee, a fortress of great strength, garrisoned by three thousand Affghans under Prince Mahomed Hyder Khan, well provided with stores, and every gate, excepting one, blocked up with masonry.

Before daylight on the morning of the 23rd of July, one of the principal gates was destroyed by an explosion of gunpowder; and the British troops rushed in at the opening and captured the strong fortress of Ghuznee by storm. The SEVENTEENTH regiment, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Croker, had the honour to take a conspicuous share in the capture of this fortress: it led the assault of the citadel, which was captured with little loss, and at five o'clock in the morning its colours were waving triumphantly on the fortress. The loss of the regiment was limited to one private killed and six men wounded. A standard was captured by the SEVENTEENTH, but was afterwards lost by the wreck of a transport in which a part of the regiment was embarked.

From Ghuznee the British army advanced upon Cabool, the capital of Eastern Affghanistan; the army of Dost Mahomed Khan refused to fight in his cause, and the British, proceeding by triumphant marches to the capital, restored Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk to the capital of his dominions in the early part of August.

On the 18th of September the Bombay portion of the "Army of the Indus" left Cabool en route for India. The column reached Ghuznee by the same road it had advanced, and from thence proceeded to Quetta, where it arrived on the 31st of October.

The SEVENTEENTH regiment was afterwards detached, under Major-General Sir Thomas Willshire, against the Khan of Khelat, to reduce this treacherous chief to submission. On the morning of the 13th of November, after a previous march, some fighting, and the assault of the heights commanding the approach to Khelat, on which the enemy had six guns in position, the gate of this strong fortress was blown open, and the second and SEVENTEENTH British and thirty-first Bengal regiments charged into the town in the face of two thousand Beloochees, the élite of the nation, who disputed every foot of ground to the walls of the inner citadel. British valour was, however, triumphant, and the capture of the last stronghold of Beloochistan was accomplished. In this desperate defence the Khan and many of his chiefs were slain. Here also, as at Ghuznee, a standard was taken by the regiment.

The regiment had six rank and file killed; Captain L. C. Bourchier, three serjeants, and twenty-nine rank and file wounded.

Lieut.-Colonel Croker caused the names of Colour-Serjeants J. Dunn and Mills to be entered in the records of the regiment, on account of their bravery at Khelat.

The Chiefs, who had joined in hostile designs against the British interest, having been removed, and a friendly monarch placed on the throne of Affghanistan, a medal was given by the Government of India to the officers and soldiers present at the storming of Ghuznee, which the Queen authorized them to accept and wear.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria was graciously pleased to approve of the regiment bearing on its colours the words "Affghanistan," "Ghuznee," and "Khelat," to commemorate its distinguished conduct in enduring the toils and privations of the campaign in Affghanistan with patient fortitude; its gallantry at the storming of Ghuznee on the 23rd of July; and its heroic conduct at the taking of Khelat on the 13th of November, 1839. Lieut.-Colonel Croker and Major Pennycuick were nominated Companions of the Order of the Bath; and the latter obtained the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

Lieut.-Colonel Croker, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Pennycuick, and Major Deshon were nominated members of the order of the "Dooranée Empire," newly instituted by Shah Shooja, on being restored to the throne of Affghanistan. Major Deshon received the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and Captain Darley that of Major.

Soon after the capture of Khelat, the regiment continued its journey back to the British territory in India, and arrived in Scinde in December.

On the 6th of February, 1840, the regiment embarked in boats on the great river Indus, and sailed to Tatta, where it arrived on the 13th; eight days afterwards it marched for Kurrachee; and on the 16th of March four companies, and the head-quarters, embarked on board the Hannah transport, and were wrecked on a sand-bank off the mouth of the Indus on the following day. They re-embarked on board the Bernice steamer on the 26th of March, and arrived at Bombay on the 29th of that month.

General Sir Josiah Champagné, G.C.H., died in the beginning of this year; and was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by General Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall, G.C.H., from the sixty-second regiment.

The regiment embarked from Bombay in April, for Panwell, from whence it proceeded to Poona, leaving a detail on duty at Bombay.

On the 2nd of June, 1841, the regiment left Poona, and arrived at Bombay in ten days. On the 22nd of September the head-quarters and four companies embarked from Bombay for Arabia Felix, and on the 2nd of October arrived at Aden, the capital of a pleasant and fertile district near the mouth of the Red Sea, where a detachment of the regiment arrived from Bombay in October, and another in November.

On the evening of the 5th of October, 1841, a detachment, amounting to about six hundred men, selected from the troops at Aden, proceeded, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Pennycuick, to attack an Arab force, which had caused much inconvenience by preventing supplies being received from the country. After a severe skirmish of two hours' duration, in the hottest part of the following day, the troops destroyed the Arab post of Sheik Othman, and returned to Aden on the evening of the 6th, having traversed upwards of forty miles of ground in about twenty-two hours.

The head-quarters of the regiment remained at Aden, in Arabia Felix, during the year 1842. In February a detachment proceeded from Bombay to Poona, and in November a detachment marched from Poona to Ahmednuggur: in December four officers and thirty-four rank and file arrived at Aden from Poona.

On the 18th of December, 1842, the venerable General Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall, G.C.H., after a service of sixty-seven years, and attaining the age of eighty-eight years, died, and Her Majesty Queen Victoria was pleased to confer the colonelcy of the regiment on Lieut.-General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., from the seventy-sixth regiment, on the 2nd of January, 1843.

During the years 1843 and 1844 the regiment remained at Aden. In July and August, 1844, the detached wing at Ahmednuggur was affected with cholera. In the course of fifteen days one hundred and eight cases occurred; the deaths during the period amounted to thirty-two. Amongst them was Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Deshon, an officer of the highest talents and character.

During the latter part of the year 1844, and beginning of 1845, a company of the regiment was employed on field service in the southern Mahratta country, where, at the assault of the fort of Munscentosh, four privates were killed; Lieutenant Gardiner, who commanded the company, and one serjeant and five rank and file, were wounded.

The head-quarters of the regiment embarked at Aden on the 13th of March, 1845, and arrived at Bombay on the 7th of April. The left wing marched from Ahmednuggur on the 11th of December, and joined the head-quarters at Bombay on the 26th of the same month.

In the beginning of January, 1846, the regiment, having been selected for field service, embarked at Bombay for Scinde, and on the 11th of January marched from Kurrachee, en route to Bhawulpore; it arrived at Sukkur on the 3rd of February, and on the 16th of that month proceeded on its march towards the Punjaub; but accounts being received of the termination of the war in that country, the troops advanced no further than Bhawulpore, on the Sutlej, where the regiment remained until the 12th of March, when it returned to Sukkur, from whence it embarked for Kurrachee on the 9th of August, 1846.

The regiment embarked at Bombay on the 13th of March, 1847, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pennycuick, K.H., in the freight-ships Ann and John Brewer, and arrived at Gravesend on the 6th of August, from whence it marched to Canterbury. In November the regiment was removed to Dover.

Apprehensions were entertained that the public peace would be disturbed by the several meetings of Chartists in the vicinity of the Metropolis on Monday, the 10th of April, 1848; and as they appeared determined to unite on Kennington Common, in order to proceed from thence in procession to the House of Commons with their petition, the Government took the usual precautionary measures to prevent tumultuous assemblages of the people. Accordingly the regiment was ordered to proceed from Dover to London on the 8th of April, but happily the meetings dispersed more quietly than was anticipated, and the regiment marched to Portsmouth on the 13th of that month, in which garrison it remained until the 26th of July, when it proceeded to Chatham, where the regiment is doing duty at the period of the termination of this record, on the 1st of November, 1848.

1848.

SUCCESSION OF COLONELS

OF

THE SEVENTEENTH

OR THE

LEICESTERSHIRE REGIMENT OF FOOT.

Solomon Richards.

Appointed 27th September, 1688.

Solomon Richards served on the Continent in the reign of King Charles II., and in the autumn of 1688 he was nominated by King James II. to raise a corps of pikemen and musketeers, now the SEVENTEENTH regiment of foot, of which he was appointed Colonel on the 27th of September, 1688. At the Revolution he transferred his services to the Prince of Orange, afterwards King William III., who sent him, with his regiment, to the relief of Londonderry. He returned to England, at the suggestion of the governor of Londonderry, who stated the place could not be defended against the army advancing to attack it, and King William, disapproving of his conduct, deprived him of his commission. He was not afterwards employed in the army.

Sir George St. George.

Appointed 1st May, 1689.

No record of the services of this officer, previous to his appointment to the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment on the 1st of May, 1689, has been met with. He served the campaign of 1694 in Flanders; and in 1695 he exchanged to a newly-raised regiment, which was disbanded in 1798.

James Courthorpe.

Appointed 1st May, 1695.

James Courthorpe entered the army in the time of King Charles II., and afterwards commanded a company of foot. He was appointed Colonel of one of the regiments raised for the reduction of Ireland in 1689; and in 1695 he exchanged to the SEVENTEENTH foot. He served in the Netherlands under King William III., and was killed at the head of his regiment when storming the breach of Terra Nova at the Castle of Namur, on the 30th of August, 1695.

Sir Matthew Bridges.

Appointed 1st September, 1695.

After a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, this officer was appointed Lieut.-Colonel in the SEVENTEENTH regiment; he distinguished himself at the storming of the breach of Terra Nova at the Castle of Namur, on the 30th of August, 1695, when he was wounded. King William III. conferred the colonelcy of the regiment upon him, and he served under His Majesty until the treaty of Ryswick in 1697; and subsequently commanded his regiment in Ireland. The date of his decease has not been ascertained.

Holcroft Blood.

Appointed 26th August, 1703.

This officer was the son of the celebrated Colonel Thomas Blood, who made a desperate effort to carry off the crown from the Tower of London in the reign of King Charles II., for which the Colonel was afterwards pardoned, in consequence of his previous services in the Royal cause. Holcroft Blood served on board the fleet, in the war with Holland, in 1672 and 1673; and he subsequently entered the French army as cadet in the guards of Louis XIV., where he made great proficiency in the study of fortifications. At the Revolution in 1688 he returned to England, and was appointed to a commission in Colonel Seymour's regiment, in which corps he rose to the rank of major. He served in Ireland, where he was employed as an engineer, and evinced ability at the sieges of Athlone and Limerick: he also distinguished himself at the siege of Namur in the Netherlands, in 1695; and was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He accompanied the SEVENTEENTH to Holland in 1701, and in 1702 he served as a principal engineer at the sieges of Venloo and Ruremonde, where he displayed great ability. He particularly distinguished himself at the storming of Fort St. Michael, at Venloo, where "he showed the part of a brave officer, charging with the men sword in hand, and killing an officer of the enemy's grenadiers, who made a vigorous opposition with his party."[10] The talents and bravery of Colonel Blood procured him the favour of the great Duke of Marlborough, who obtained for him the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment and the command of the British artillery on foreign service on the Continent, with the rank of brigadier-general. At the memorable battle of Blenheim in 1704, Brigadier-General Blood highly distinguished himself; and, by bringing nine field-pieces into action at a critical moment, greatly contributed to the gaining of that splendid victory: by a General Order issued in the evening of that day, all the trophies captured were placed under his care. Towards the close of the campaign he accompanied the Duke of Marlborough to the Moselle, and was engaged in the capture of several places in that quarter. He continued in the command of the British artillery on the Continent, and his services were associated with the forcing of the French lines at Helixem and Neer Hespen in 1705, and the splendid victory at Ramilies in 1706. On the 1st of January, 1707, he was promoted to the rank of Major-general. He died at Brussels on the 20th of August, 1707.

James Wightman.

Appointed 20th August, 1707.

James Wightman was many years an officer in the SEVENTEENTH regiment, with which corps he served in the Netherlands under King William III. He accompanied the regiment to Holland in 1701, and served the campaigns of 1702 and 1703 under John Duke of Marlborough. He was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment in 1702, and to the rank of colonel in the army in August 1703. He served in Portugal and Spain under the Earl of Galway; was nominated Brigadier-general on the 1st of January 1707, and to the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment in August following: in 1710 he was promoted to the rank of Major-general. He served in Scotland under the Duke of Argyle during the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, and commanded a division of infantry at the battle of Dumblain: he wrote an account of the battle, which was published at the time. In 1719 he commanded the King's troops at the battle of Glenshill, when he forced the Highlanders to disperse, and the Spanish troops to surrender prisoners of war. His services were rewarded with the government of Kinsale. He died suddenly at Bath, of a fit of apoplexy, in September, 1722.

Thomas Ferrers.

Appointed 28th September, 1722.

This officer served under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough, and was promoted to Captain and Lieut.-colonel in the foot-guards; in May, 1705, he was advanced to the rank of Colonel, and in 1710 to that of Brigadier-general. Being conspicuous for loyalty at a period when Jacobin principles were prevalent in the kingdom, he was commissioned to raise a regiment of dragoons, which was disbanded in 1718; and in the following year he was appointed Colonel of the thirty-ninth foot, from which he was removed, in September, 1722, to the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He died about three weeks afterwards.

James Tyrrell.

Appointed 7th November, 1722.

James Tyrrell was appointed Ensign in a regiment of foot on the 6th of February, 1694, and he served under King William III. in the Netherlands. He distinguished himself in the wars of Queen Anne; and was promoted to the colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot in April, 1709. At the peace of Utrecht his regiment was disbanded; and in 1715 he raised a regiment of dragoons for the service of King George I., which was disbanded in November, 1718: in 1722 His Majesty gave him the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-general in 1727; to that of Major-general in 1735; and Lieut.-general in 1739. He died in August, 1742.

John Wynyard.

Appointed 31st August, 1742.

John Wynyard was many years an officer of the SEVENTEENTH regiment of foot, with which corps he served in the Peninsula in the war of the Spanish succession, and in Scotland during the Earl of Mar's rebellion. On the 10th of July, 1718, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the regiment; and his zealous attention to all the duties of his situation was rewarded, in November, 1739, with the colonelcy of the fourth regiment of marines, which was then newly raised, from which he was removed, in 1742, to the SEVENTEENTH regiment, which corps he had commanded many years with reputation. He died in 1752.

Edward Richbell.

Appointed 14th March, 1752.

This officer entered the army in the reign of Queen Anne, and served with reputation under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough. He evinced a constant attention to the duties of his profession, and was promoted, on the 18th of May 1722, to the lieut.-colonelcy of the thirty-seventh regiment. He distinguished himself in the war of the Austrian succession, and was promoted to the colonelcy of the thirty-ninth regiment on the 14th of June, 1743. In 1746 he commanded a brigade under Lieut.-general St. Clair, in the expedition against Port L'Orient; and in 1752 he was removed to the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He died in 1757.

John Forbes.

Appointed 25th February, 1757.

John Forbes obtained a commission in the army on the 10th of April, 1710; after a progressive service in the subordinate commissions, and distinguishing himself in the war of the Austrian succession, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the Scots Greys on the 29th of November, 1750: in 1757 he was advanced to the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He was nominated Adjutant-general to the expedition against Louisburg in 1757; and afterwards appointed Commander-in-chief of the troops in the southern provinces of North America, with the rank of Brigadier-general. He died on the 11th of April, 1759.

The Honorable Robert Monckton.

Appointed 24th October, 1759.

The Honorable Robert Monckton, son of John, first Viscount Galway, served in the army in the war of the Austrian succession; and in February, 1751, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of the forty-seventh regiment: in 1757 he was nominated Colonel-commandant of the second battalion of the sixtieth regiment. He commanded a brigade, under Major-general James Wolfe, in the expedition against Quebec, and evinced great gallantry and ability on several occasions; he was shot through the lungs at the battle on the heights of Abraham, on the 13th of September; but recovered of his wound, and was nominated Lieut.-governor of Annapolis Royal, and Colonel of the SEVENTEENTH regiment. In 1761 he was appointed Governor and Commander-in-chief of the province of New York; and promoted to the rank of Major-general. Soon afterwards he was selected to command the land-forces of an expedition against the French island of Martinique, which he captured, after overcoming numerous difficulties, early in 1762. He was nominated Governor of Berwick and Holy Island, and afterwards of Portsmouth, which place he represented in Parliament several years. He was promoted to the rank of Lieut.-general in 1770. His decease occurred on the 21st of May, 1782.

George Morrison.

Appointed 29th May, 1782.

This officer served many years on the staff of the army; he was advanced to the rank of Lieut.-colonel in 1761, at which period he held the appointment of Deputy-quartermaster-general; and in 1763 he was placed at the head of that department. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1772, and to that of Major-general in 1777; in 1779 he was appointed Colonel of the seventy-fifth regiment (afterwards disbanded), from which he was removed, in 1782, to the SEVENTEENTH, and also promoted to the rank of Lieut.-general. He was appointed to the fourth regiment of foot in 1792; and promoted to the rank of General in 1796. He died in 1799.

George Garth.

Appointed 8th August, 1792.

This officer served thirty-seven years in the first regiment of foot-guards, in which corps he was appointed Ensign and Lieutenant at the commencement of hostilities with France in 1755. In 1758 he obtained the rank of Lieutenant and Captain, and he afterwards served in Germany under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick: on the 6th of February, 1772, he was promoted to the rank of Captain and Lieut.-colonel. When the American war commenced, his services were extended to that country, where the foot-guards had opportunities of distinguishing themselves. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1779; was nominated Major in his regiment in March, 1782, and advanced to the rank of Major-general in November following: in 1789 he was appointed Lieut.-colonel in his regiment. King George III. was pleased to confer on Major-general Garth the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment in 1792; also to promote him to the rank of Lieut.-general in 1796, and to that of General in 1801. General Garth was subsequently appointed Lieut.-governor of Placentia. He died in 1819.

Josiah Champagné, G.C.H.

Appointed 14th June, 1819.

On the 28th of January, 1775, Josiah Champagné was appointed Ensign in the thirty-first foot, and embarking with his regiment, in March, 1776, for the relief of Quebec, then besieged by the Americans, he arrived in Canada in May, and took part in the operations by which the troops of the United States were forced to quit the British provinces. He remained on active service in Canada during the remainder of the American war, was promoted to a lieutenancy in his regiment in July, 1777, and, returning to England at the peace in 1782, was nominated captain in the ninety-ninth foot (afterwards disbanded) in 1783, and removed to the third foot in March, 1784. He joined the Buffs at Jamaica in May of the same year; and in 1789, when the Nootka Sound question threatened to involve Great Britain and Spain in war, he embarked with a detachment of his regiment on board the fleet: he returned to England soon afterwards. He again embarked for the West Indies, with his regiment, in 1793—the Buffs forming part of the expedition under Lieut.-general Sir Charles Grey; but their destination was afterwards changed to Ostend; and they subsequently joined the armament under Major-general the Earl of Moira, prepared to aid the French loyalists. In the same year Captain Champagné was promoted to the majority of the eightieth foot, and afterwards to a lieut.-colonelcy in the same corps. In 1794 he again proceeded to the Continent, and, after serving in the retreat through Holland, returned to England. He embarked for the coast of France in 1795, and served with the expedition under Major-general Doyle which took possession of Isle de Dieu. In 1796 he proceeded with his regiment to the Cape of Good Hope, and towards the close of the same year sailed to the East Indies. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1797; and in 1800 he was nominated to command an expedition against Batavia, with the rank of Brigadier-general, but this enterprise was countermanded; and he was afterwards named second in command of the army which proceeded from India to Egypt in 1801. He returned to England in 1803; and in September of that year he was promoted to the rank of Major-general. On the 22nd of February, 1810, he was rewarded with the colonelcy of the forty-first foot; and in July following promoted to the rank of Lieut.-general. In 1819 he was removed to the SEVENTEENTH regiment. He was honored with the dignity of Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order; and was advanced to the rank of General in 1821. He died on the 31st of January, 1840.

Sir Frederick Augustus Wetherall, G.C.H.

Appointed 17th February, 1840.

This officer entered the service in August, 1775, as Ensign in the SEVENTEENTH foot. He embarked at Cork with the regiment in September following for Boston, North America, where he remained during the siege, and accompanied his corps at the evacuation to Halifax in March, 1776. In June following he proceeded with the army under the command of Sir William Howe to Staten Island, preparatory to the attack of New York. In August, 1776, he received a lieutenancy; in which rank he served five years, and was constantly employed in North America and Europe. He was present at the battles of Brooklyn, Whiteplains, Fort Washington, Princetown, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, exclusive of several affairs of posts, in North America. He was embarked and did duty as a Captain of marines on board His Majesty's ship Alfred, and was in the battles of Cape Finisterre and St. Vincent, under Sir George Rodney, previous to the relief of Gibraltar. On 17th May, 1781, he raised an independent company, which was embodied in the hundred and fourth regiment, and was employed on the island of Guernsey. On 16th April, 1783, he exchanged into the eleventh regiment, and proceeded to Gibraltar, where he did duty six years. In 1790 he attended the Duke of Kent to Quebec, and accompanied his Royal Highness as aide-de-camp to the West Indies in 1794; he was at the taking of Martinique, where he received two wounds. On 1st March, 1794, he was appointed Major in the eleventh foot, and employed as Deputy-adjutant-general to the forces in Nova Scotia, under the command of the Duke of Kent, to which situation he was appointed on 23rd August, 1794. On 20th May, 1795 he was appointed Lieut.-colonel in Keppel's regiment, and employed at St. Domingo under the command of Lieut.-general Sir Adam Williamson and Major-general Forbes; he was intrusted by the latter officer with despatches for Sir Ralph Abercromby at Barbadoes, and on the passage was taken by a French frigate, and wounded in action; he remained at Guadaloupe a prisoner of war upwards of nine months, and when exchanged was appointed Adjutant-general to the forces under the command of the Duke of Kent in North America. On 3rd August, 1796, he was removed to the lieut.-colonelcy of the eighty-second regiment, and on 29th April, 1802, received the brevet of Colonel. He afterwards raised the Nova Scotia fencible regiment in North America, of which he was appointed colonel on 9th July, 1803, and Adjutant-general and Brigadier to the forces on the Caribbee Island station in May, 1806. On the 25th of October following he was removed to the Cape of Good Hope, when he served as Brigadier to the forces in that colony until 1809; he obtained the rank of Major-general on 25th October of that year, and was appointed to the Staff in India. On his passage from the Cape to India he was again taken prisoner in the Company's ship Wyndham, after a severe action, by a French squadron, in the Mozambique Channel, and carried to the Isle of France, when, after being confined two months, he was exchanged, and sailed for Calcutta. He served there as second in command, under Sir Samuel Auchmuty, on the expedition against Java, which terminated in its conquest. For his services on that occasion he had the honour to receive a medal, and the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. His next appointment was to the command in Mysore and its dependencies, which he held until June, 1815, when he returned to England. He received the rank of Lieut.-general on 4th June, 1814. On 10th January, 1837, he was advanced to the rank of General, and His Majesty King William IV. conferred upon him the colonelcy of the sixty-second regiment. On 17th February, 1840, the Queen bestowed upon him the colonelcy of the SEVENTEENTH regiment, in which he commenced his military career. He died at Ealing, in Middlesex, on the 18th of December, 1842, having attained the advanced age of eighty-eight years.

General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B.

Appointed from the seventy-sixth regiment,
on 2nd January, 1843.

London: Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street,
For Her Majesty's Stationery Office.