In February, 1761, it again advanced, and, having crossed the Dymel, proceeded through a deep snow into Hesse-Cassel, where it had great success in several actions with the enemy; but returned to its former quarters in March.

The regiment again took the field in June, forming part of the Marquis of Granby's corps, and, after some manœuvring and skirmishing, it was encamped upon the heights in front of Kirch-Denkern in the bishopric of Paderborn. This post was attacked on the 15th of July, and was defended by the British troops with admirable firmness and resolution, and eventually the enemy was driven back with great loss. The attack was renewed by the enemy on the following morning with great fury, when the Fifth displayed its usual spirit and determination in the defence of its post; and, after five hours' sharp fighting, some disorder appearing in the enemy's ranks, the regiment advanced to the charge and routed the enemy; at the same time the grenadier battalion, of which the company of the Fifth formed a part, took prisoners the regiment of Rouge (formerly Belsunce) with its cannon and colours. The Fifth lost in this action, Lieutenant Lillewood, 2 serjeants, and 9 men killed; also two officers, 5 serjeants, and 12 men wounded.

The regiment remained at its post near Kirch-Denkern until the 27th of July; it was afterwards employed in manœuvring and skirmishing in various parts of the bishopric of Paderborn and on the river Weser, and in September, it was employed in a diversion in the country of Hesse. It was engaged, on the 5th of November, in forcing the enemy's post at Capelnhagen, and on the 6th and 7th it took part in slight skirmishes at Eimbeck in the Electorate of Hanover. The grenadier company of the Fifth was also engaged in a skirmish at Foorwohle on the 7th of November, and again on the 10th of that month, when the combatants were knee deep in snow. On the 12th the regiment encamped on the banks of the Huve near Eimbeck, from whence it proceeded in the early part of December into cantonments in the bishopric of Osnaburg.

Having passed the winter amongst the rude peasantry of Osnaburg, the regiment again took the field, and joined the camp on the heights near Blumberg on the 4th of June 1762, from whence it proceeded to Corbeke.

The enemy took post at Groebenstien, and Prince Ferdinand formed a design of surprising them in their camp. For this purpose the army was formed into several columns. The Fifth forming part of the centre column, left its camp before daylight on the morning of the 24th of June, and crossed the Dymel at Liebenau at four o'clock; then, advancing a distance of nine miles through a rugged and woody country, arrived in front of the enemy's camp, and commenced a sharp fire. The French, surprised and confounded, abandoned their camp, leaving their tents standing, and commenced their retreat: at the same time General Stainville threw himself with his division into the woods of Wilhelmsthal to favour the movement. Against this division, the right column of the allies, commanded by the Marquis of Granby, and the centre column under Prince Ferdinand, immediately advanced.

The Fifth, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Marlay, taking the lead of the centre column, threw itself into the wood, and opened its fire with good effect; at the same time the Marquis of Granby's column attacked the enemy's rear. The French made a spirited resistance; but the Fifth pressed forward with a conquering violence which overcame all opposition, while the main body followed in full career, and the Marquis of Granby intercepting the enemy's retreat captured many prisoners; when the remainder of the French division (excepting two battalions that escaped) after one fire, surrendered to the Fifth[26]. After the French had surrendered, an officer of the Fifth regiment, who went up to receive their colours from their standard-bearer, was shot dead upon the spot by a French serjeant who was standing near. This circumstance might have led to much bloodshed, but, fortunately, little confusion resulted; the serjeant was instantly put to death, and the colours were quietly taken possession of[27]. The loss of the regiment was Lieutenant Robinson, killed; and 1 serjeant, and 11 men wounded; also six men taken prisoners in the skirmish at the commencement of the action. Its conduct on this occasion excited much admiration;—as a mark of distinction the men were permitted to exchange their hats for the French grenadier caps; and the regiment for many years afterwards, wore a fusilier's cap instead of the hat then used by the infantry of the line. In commemoration of the gallantry displayed by the Fifth Regiment on this occasion, his Majesty King William IV. was graciously pleased, in 1836, to authorize the regiment to bear the word 'Wilhelmsthal' on its Colours and Appointments.

After the action the Fifth encamped on the heights of Wilhelmsthal; it was subsequently employed in several operations; and on the 23rd of July, the grenadier company was engaged in a gallant affair at Lutterberg, when the Saxons under Prince Xavier were driven from their post and thirteen pieces of ordnance were captured. On the 24th of the same month one hundred men of the regiment were engaged with other corps in dislodging a detachment of the enemy from the heights of Homburg. The regiment was subsequently employed in operations on the Ohm, and the Lahn, and in several skirmishes in which it lost many men. It also formed part of the covering army during the siege of Cassel, which was terminated by the surrender of the place on the 1st of November. Shortly afterwards a suspension of hostilities took place; which was followed by a treaty of peace, concluded at Fontainbleau, and the regiment was ordered to return to England.

It accordingly marched from Germany, through Holland, to Williamstadt, where it embarked on the 22nd of February, 1763[28], and landed in England in the early part of the following month. In May of the same year it proceeded to Bristol and embarked for Ireland, where it arrived on the 2nd of June, and landed at Passage near Waterford.

The regiment passed the next ten years in Ireland, and was so remarkable for its cleanliness and attention to dress and appointments, that the men were usually called "The Shiners."

Early in the year 1767 a system of honorary distinctions for long-continued good behaviour was introduced into this regiment, which was found to stimulate the indifferent to good conduct, and those already worthy, to perseverance in well-doing, and it produced such a body of non-commissioned officers as few corps could boast of. These distinctions consisted of three classes of medals[29] to be worn, suspended by a ribbon, at a button-hole of the left lappel; the first, or lowest class, which was bestowed on such as had served irreproachably for seven years, was of gilt metal, bearing on one side the badge of the regiment, St. George and the Dragon[30], with the motto "Quo fata vocant;" and on the reverse, "Vth Foot, MERIT." The second was of silver, bearing on one side the badge and motto, and on the other, "Reward of fourteen years' military merit." The third was similar to the second, but was inscribed with the name of the individual whose conduct had earned it: "A. B., for twenty-one years' good and faithful service as a soldier, had received from his commanding officers this honourable testimony of his merit." These medals were bestowed only upon soldiers who, for the respective periods of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years, had never incurred the censure of a court-martial: they were given by the commanding officer at the head of the assembled battalion; and if, which rarely happened, the owner of a medal subsequently forfeited his pretensions to enrolment among the men of merit, his medal was cut from his breast by the drum-major as publicly as he had been invested with it. Those who obtained the third, or twenty-one years' medal, had also an oval badge of the colour of the facings on the right breast, embroidered round with gold and silver wreaths, and inscribed in the centre with the word "Merit" in letters of gold.

On the 7th of November, 1768, Lieutenant-General Hodgson was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Fifth by Hugh, Earl Percy, afterwards Duke of Northumberland. Earl Percy, when Colonel, duly estimating the good effects produced by this Regimental "Order of Merit," kept it up with all the liberality and dignity it deserved; and the following order, issued by him on the subject, is referred to in Adye's Essay on Rewards and Punishments, viz.: "Earl Percy having perceived, with great pleasure, the happy effects of the regimental Medals of Merit, influencing the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Fifth to deserve the favour of their officers, and being anxious, as far as may be in his power, to encourage them to persevere in such sentiments of honour, is determined, for the future, to give them out every year, a short time before the review, instead of the usual day, as it often has happened that the regiment has been separated, which prevented the men, who were entitled to that mark of honour, from receiving it in so public a manner as his Lordship could wish."

During the stay of the Fifth in Ireland it was frequently engaged in the service of the revenue; and also in suppressing the outrageous proceedings of bands of armed peasantry called Whiteboys, Hearts of Steel, and Hearts of Oak, and particularly against the latter in 1772, at and near Guildford in the north, where the house of Richard Johnson, Esquire, was attacked and reduced to ashes, and a clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Meroll, was barbarously murdered by these misguided insurgents.

The regiment remained in Ireland until the unfortunate misunderstanding between Great Britain and her North American Colonies assumed an aspect so formidable, that it was deemed necessary to send additional forces to that country. The Fifth was one of the corps selected to proceed on this service; and, having embarked at Monkstown near Cork on the 7th of May, 1774, it landed in the beginning of July at Boston, the capital of the state of Massachusetts, which had recently been the scene of violence and outrage, particularly of the destruction of an immense consignment of Tea by the provincials. After landing, the regiment was encamped near the town for some time; a body of troops was assembled at this place under the Governor of the province, General Gage, and several fortifications were constructed.

During the winter a determination to proceed to open resistance became general in the American States; they embodied a militia force, and in April 1775, a circumstance occurred which occasioned the display of these hostile designs. The occasion was the collection of some military stores at Concord, in Middlesex county, about eighteen miles from Boston; when General Gage sent the grenadiers and light infantry, including the companies of the Fifth, under the orders of Colonel Smith, to destroy those stores. This detachment embarked in boats on the evening of the 18th of April, and, having proceeded a short distance up Charles river, landed on the marshes of Cambridge and proceeded to the village of Lexington, where it arrived at day-break and found a company of the militia formed up near the entrance of the town. These men were ordered to lay down their arms, but they did not comply; some desultory firing immediately occurred, which was followed by a volley from the troops which laid ten of the militia dead upon the spot, wounded several others, and dispersed the remainder: thus was the first blood drawn in this unhappy contest. After this skirmish, the troops continued their march to Concord, detaching six Light Infantry companies to take possession of the bridges beyond the town, while the remainder of the detachment effected the destruction of the military stores. In the mean time the country had been alarmed by the firing of guns and the ringing of bells: and a division of provincial militia was seen advancing towards the bridges, but they avoided committing any hostile act until the light infantry companies had killed two men, when the Americans instantly opened a sharp fire, and by their superior numbers forced the King's troops to retire. The country now appeared swarming with armed men, who fired on the troops on all sides, while numbers followed in their rear, and during the six miles' march from Concord to Lexington, skirmish succeeded skirmish, and a continued but irregular fire was sustained until the detachment had expended nearly all its ammunition. Fortunately it was met at Lexington by Earl Percy (Colonel of the Fifth), who had been sent forward to support the detachment with his brigade and two pieces of artillery, and his lordship after a short halt made dispositions for continuing the march to Boston[31]. But the moment the troops were in motion the attacks became more frequent and more violent than before, the Americans hovering in hundreds upon the rear and keeping up a sharp fire from houses, from behind walls, trees, and other coverts, on both sides of the road; yet the troops, displaying a steady and noble bearing, united with a high state of discipline and undaunted spirit, marched under all these difficulties, in perfect order, a distance of fifteen miles to Charlestown, where they arrived at sunset, quite exhausted from a march of about thirty-five miles, on a hot day, and experiencing the extraordinary fatigues already mentioned. From Charlestown the troops crossed the river by the ferry to Boston, under cover of the fire of the men-of-war. The loss of the Fifth, in this day's skirmishes, was five men killed; with Lieutenant Thomas Baker, Lieutenant William Cox, Lieutenant Thomas Hawkshaw, and fifteen men wounded; also one man taken prisoner[32].

This affair was followed by the appearance of the whole province in arms;—an immense number of men invested Boston, where the King's troops were stationed, on the land side; and on the morning of the 17th of June, it was ascertained that they had constructed works on Bunker's Hill—a high ground beyond the river. A body of troops, of which the Fifth formed a part, was ordered to attack the heights; and this force, having embarked about noon, landed without opposition and formed up on some high ground near the shore. The enemy appearing resolved to defend this post, the ships of war opened their fire upon the works, while the King's troops, advancing under cover of the guns, went boldly to the attack; and commenced one of the most sanguinary actions on record. The Fifth, ever emulous of glory, was seen ascending the hill on the side next Charlestown with signal intrepidity, and bravely sustaining its ancient reputation. Captain Harris (afterwards the conqueror of the Mysore) while leading on the grenadier company, was severely wounded, and obliged to quit the field, but he had in Lieutenant Lord Rawdon (afterwards Marquis of Hastings) a successor in command, who emulated and equalled the intrepidity of his disabled captain. Eventually the troops were staggered by the resolute tenacity of the defence, and the superior numbers of the enemy; yet, recovering, they appeared in a moment fired by a new ardour, and with fixed bayonets they went cheering forward with determined bravery and resolution,—encountering the Americans in close combat and driving them, after a sharp contest, out of the works. The King's troops were now established on Bunker's Hill, which they afterwards fortified and occupied in force. The loss of the Fifth was 22 men killed; Captain Harris, Captain Jackson, Captain Downes, Captain Marsden, Lieutenant M'Clintock, Lieutenant Croker, Ensign Charleton, Ensign Ballaguire, 10 Serjeants, 2 Drummers, and 116 rank and file wounded[33]. General Burgoyne, in a letter written at the time to Lord Derby and subsequently published, says, in reference to Bunker's Hill, "The Fifth has behaved the best, and suffered the most[34]."

Notwithstanding this success, the army at Boston remained in a state of blockade, and the troops were eventually so distressed for fresh provisions and other necessaries, that live cattle, vegetables, and even fuel, were sent for their use from England. The shipping with these supplies were, however, many of them wrecked, or fell into the hands of the Americans, and, the distress of the troops increasing, much sickness and loss of life occurred.

In the midst of this calamity, the provincial troops, being better supplied with necessaries, began to act offensively with vigour, and the appearance of new batteries with the opening of a heavy cannonade, occasioned the King's troops to evacuate the place. Accordingly, in the middle of March, 1776, the army embarked from Boston, and proceeded to Halifax in Nova Scotia, but after their arrival at that place the greater part of the troops remained on ship board, the town not being capable of providing quarters, nor of affording a sufficient supply of provisions.

The Fifth remained at Halifax about two months, and leaving that place early in June to engage in an extensive plan of operations, formed part of the force which effected a landing on Staten Island near New York on the 3rd of July. In the following month a reinforcement of British and Hessian troops arrived, and on the 22nd of August a descent was made on the south-west end of Long Island, when the enemy's detachments along the coast withdrew to the range of woody hills which intersect the country from east to west. In the manœuvres by which these hills were passed, and in the defeat of the provincial corps on the 27th of August, the Fifth took an active and spirited part, but did not sustain any loss. After this success, preparations were made to attack the enemy's lines at Brooklyn; but the Americans, impressed with a sense of the superiority of the King's troops, quitted their post during the night of the 28th, and passed the troops in boats across the East River to New York.

The reduction of Long Island having thus been effected with trifling loss, the Fifth was again embarked, and a landing was made on the 15th of September, on New York Island, within a few miles of the city; which General Washington immediately abandoned, and retired towards the northern end of the island, designing to remain on the defensive, and to avoid a general engagement. The Fifth was subsequently employed in several operations, and on the 28th of October, being on the march towards the American camp at White Plains, it was engaged, with the 28th 35th and 49th regiments, commanded by Brigadier-General Leslie, in forcing the passage of the Brunx's rivulet under a sharp fire, and having ascended the hill with admirable intrepidity, attacked and routed a division of Americans, chasing them from behind walls and other coverts, and driving them behind their entrenchments at the entrance of White Plains: from whence they subsequently retreated. The regiment only lost two men on this occasion, and had its commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Walcott, wounded.

At length, it being found impossible to bring on a general engagement, the army retired by the North River, to the heights of Fordham; and on the 16th of November, the Fifth supported the storming party in the capture of Fort Washington. A few days afterwards the regiment was detached across the North River against Fort Lee, and on the flight of the American troops, it was stationed a short time at English Neighbourhood: but was soon called upon to take an active part in the reduction of New Jersey; and in the early part of January, 1777, it was quartered at Maidenhead.

The Fifth passed the remainder of the winter in the island of Jersey. "The weather was particularly severe; the duty unremitting and hard; the enemy watchful; and provisions and forage were not obtained without repeated skirmishes. Nevertheless the soldiers endured these hardships with a fortitude and a perseverance that acquired them infinite honour[35]." The campaign being opened in the early part of June, 1777, the regiment took part in several manœuvres, designed to bring on a general engagement, but the enemy kept in the mountain fastnesses, by which he succeeded in defeating the designs of the British commander; and on the 30th of June the troops embarked from the Jerseys and proceeded to Staten Island.

An expedition to Pennsylvania having been resolved on, the Fifth formed part of the force ordered for this service, and, having embarked at Sandy Hook on the 5th July, sailed to Chesapeak Bay, thence proceeding up the Elk River, landed at Elk Ferry on the 25th of August, and afterwards advanced on Philadelphia: at the same time the enemy took up a position at Brandywine Creek, to oppose the advance. But on the 11th of September the enemy's out-posts were driven in and the position attacked. The FIFTH formed part of the force, which advanced to Chad's Ford in the centre of the enemy's line, forced the passage in gallant style, carried the batteries and intrenchments with fixed bayonets, and captured five pieces of cannon and a howitzer. The regiment encamped during the night on the scene of conflict; its only casualties being Ensign Andrews, 1 serjeant, and 12 men wounded.

This success was followed by the capture of Philadelphia: at the same time the army occupied a position near Germantown, and the Fifth had its post in the right wing of the line. The troops at the head of the town were attacked by the enemy in force at daybreak on the morning of the 4th of October, when the Fifth was ordered forward to their aid. The enemy had already gained some advantage, and the Fortieth regiment, which had thrown itself into a stone building, was surrounded by an American brigade, when the Fifth and Fifty-fifth regiments, advancing from the right, opened their fire with good effect, and being seconded by several other corps from the centre and left, drove back the enemy and pursued them through some woody grounds and strong enclosures with signal bravery. The Fifth lost on this occasion, 1 drummer and 9 men killed; also Lieutenant-Colonel Walcott, Captain Charlton, Ensign Thomas, Ensign Stuart, 5 serjeants, and 37 men wounded: Lieutenant-Colonel Walcott died of his wounds six weeks afterwards.

On the 18th of October the army quitted Germantown and encamped in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia, until after the capture of two forts on the river. In the mean time the enemy formed a strong camp at White Marsh, fourteen miles from Philadelphia; and in the early part of December the Fifth took part in several operations and skirmishes designed to bring on a general engagement; but the enemy remaining behind his trenches and abbatis de bois, the regiment returned to Philadelphia on the 8th of that month. After the retreat of the King's troops, the enemy removed to Valley Forge, where he built huts and passed the winter in the woods, while the British lay in comfortable quarters in the capital of Pennsylvania, where the want of strict discipline during the period of a temporary repose produced several evil consequences, particularly the estrangement of many persons previously in the interest of the royal cause.

Before the commencement of active operations in 1778, the King of France had concluded a treaty with, and agreed to aid, the Americans, which so completely changed the nature of the contest, that the evacuation of Philadelphia was resolved upon, and the Fifth had to take part in the difficult service of retreating through a wild and woody country intersected by rivers, and abounding in narrow and ragged passes. The army accordingly crossed the Delawar on the 18th of June, and directing its march along the eastern bank of that river, afterwards proceeded through the Jerseys, while the enemy hovered near the rear and menaced an attack in force. No action of importance, however, occurred until the 28th of June, when, as the last division descended from the heights above Freehold in New Jersey, the enemy appeared in the rear, and on both flanks, and some sharp fighting took place. At this time the Fifth was in advance, but it was recalled to take part in the action, and the enemy was eventually repulsed. The regiment had Captain Gore of the grenadier company and several men killed on this occasion.

After the action the army continued its march, and having crossed the channel to Sandy Hook, in the beginning of July, embarked from thence for New York; from whence the Fifth advanced to a post beyond the town.

In September, part of the regiment was detached on an expedition to Little Egg Harbour in New Jersey—a noted rendezvous for privateers. This detachment, consisting of 300 men of the Fifth and New Jersey Volunteers, commanded by Captain Ferguson, embarked in transports towards the end of September, and, on arriving at the harbour, went on board small vessels which, with several row-galleys, proceeded twenty miles up the river, to Chesnut Neck, where the troops landed under cover of the fire from the galleys, and by a spirited attack, routed the enemy's force assembled to oppose the descent, and chased them into the woods. After returning from the pursuit, the troops destroyed the village, with several storehouses, and armed vessels:—having only sustained the trifling loss of one man of the Fifth, wounded. A night excursion was afterwards made ten miles farther up the river, when the troops, surprising some companies of the enemy in their quarters, made a dreadful slaughter with the bayonet, and reduced the houses to ashes, with the loss of only two men of the Fifth killed, and two wounded. "It is but justice to inform you," observes the commanding officer in his despatch, "that the officers and men, both British and Provincials, behaved on this occasion in a manner to do themselves honour. To the conduct and spirit of Captain Cox, Lieutenant Littleton, and Ensign Cotter, of the Fifth regiment, and of Captain Peter Campbell of the Third Jersey Volunteers, this little enterprise owes much of its success[36]."

Immediately after the return of this detachment, the regiment was ordered to form part of an expedition against the French West India Islands, and embarking on this service under the command of its Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Sir William) Medows, sailed from Sandy Hook on the 3rd of November.

After stopping two days at Barbadoes, during which time the land and sea commanders, General James Grant and Admiral Barrington arranged their plans of attack, the expedition arrived at St. Lucie on the 13th of December, and the reserve, consisting of the Fifth regiment, the grenadiers and light infantry being immediately landed under the command of Brigadier-General Medows, forced some heights occupied by a French force under the governor, the Chevalier de Micoud, and took a field-piece and a four-gun battery. On the following morning, the rest of the army being landed, the Fifth advanced and took possession of the town of Morne Fortuné, the governor's house, hospital and barracks; and from thence, after a short halt, proceeded to occupy an important post, called La Vigie, situated on a tongue of land commanding the north side of the Carenage harbour, and separated by that harbour from the rest of the army. In the mean time, the French fleet under Count D'Estaing arrived off the island, and disembarked a force of nine thousand men, by the whole of which General Medows' little band was attacked on the 18th. The enemy, commanded by MM. de Bouillé and Lavendahl, advanced in three columns; their first two attacks were made, to use the words of General Grant's despatch, "with the impetuosity of Frenchmen, and repulsed with the determined bravery of Britons." They made a third attempt, but were soon broken, and they retired in confusion.

The conduct of the Fifth regiment and its Lieutenant-Colonel on this occasion, was of the most distinguished description. Brigadier-General Medows, though severely wounded in the right arm early in the day, would not quit his post, but continued in the field, riding about and giving orders, till the attack was over. At one moment, finding his ammunition nearly expended, he drew up his little phalanx in front of their colours, and waving his sword in his hand, emphatically exclaimed, "Soldiers, as long as you have a bayonet to point against an enemy's breast, defend these colours." They did so, and secured the conquest of St. Lucie. It was in this action that the Fifth by its gallant conduct acquired the privilege of wearing a White Plume in the cap instead of the red and white tuft worn by the other regiments of the line; having taken from the bodies of the slain French grenadiers, the advance and élite of the enemy's force, as many white feathers as sufficed to equip every man in the regiment with the new decoration. The loss of the French amounted to about four hundred killed and eleven hundred wounded, while the killed on the side of the British was only ten, and one hundred and thirty wounded; amongst whom were Lieutenants Pratt and Harris. The sense General Grant entertained of the services of Brigadier-General Medows and the detachment under his command, was expressed in the following letter, dated from Morne Fortuné, the 19th of December, 1778:

During the year 1779, the regiment was sometimes embarked on board ship, and at others employed on shore at St. Lucie and Antigua, and was engaged with the enemy on the 19th of June, 6th of July, and 7th and 8th of September. From January to July, 1780, it was occasionally in Gros Isle Bay, St. Lucie, at Martinique, St. Kitt's, and Carlisle Bay, Barbadoes, and was engaged on the 17th of April, and on the 15th of May. It was then ordered home, and after a boisterous passage, landed on the 16th of September at Portsmouth, from whence it embarked again for Ireland in December, and arrived at Cork in January, 1781.

Towards the end of 1781, a detachment was employed at the mouth of the Shannon, in protecting a foreign vessel, stranded on the coast, from plunder by the natives. The regiment was afterwards quartered at Kilkenny, where its conduct was such that, on its being ordered to a different part of the country, the inhabitants petitioned the Government successfully for its return; at Limerick also, and several other places, its soldier-like and orderly behaviour received the official thanks of the civil authorities. With the volunteers of Ireland, at that time in the height of their popularity and the heyday of their zeal, the Fifth was on the best footing; whenever it marched through any town, the volunteers turned out to receive it with all due honours, and so great was their respect for the regiment and confidence in its then commander, Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Lord) Harris, who had served in the corps from the rank of Ensign upwards, that when, on the report of an intended landing of the French near Cork, the Fifth was marched to Youghal, several volunteer corps offered to join it in case a landing was effected by the enemy.

In March, 1783, the regiment was marched from Kilkenny to Dublin, and at the first installation of the newly-founded order of St. Patrick, its grenadier company furnished the guard of honour at the Cathedral. A detachment was about the same time sent, under the command of Major Battier, to Carlow, in support of the fencibles, who had been insulted by the volunteers at Kilkenny.

In 1784, the regiment lost a distinguished leader, a powerful patron, and an attached and sincere friend, by the promotion of Earl Percy to the Colonelcy of the second troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. The Fifth had been his first command; he had held that command for sixteen years, including the whole of the American war of independence, and in compliment to him, the regiment had received the denomination, which it still retains, of the "Northumberland" Regiment. He took leave of his old comrades in the following very complimentary and affectionate letter:—

Earl Percy was succeeded by Major-General the Honourable Edward Stopford, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixty-sixth Foot, whose commission as Colonel of the Fifth is dated 1st November, 1784.

The colours of the Fifth being worn out by time and numerous honourable perforations received in action, a new set was presented to it with the usual solemnities, on St. George's day, 1785, in the parish church of Belfast, where the regiment was then stationed. In the evening the men dined sumptuously in the barrack-yard by companies, at the expense of their lately promoted Colonel, Earl Percy. In the same year, the assistance rendered by the Fifth on the occasion of a great fire which broke out in Belfast called forth the public thanks of the corporation and inhabitants.

The Fifth remained in Ireland, earning, by its discipline and conduct, the repeated commendations of the several general officers by whom it was commanded or reviewed, till May the 24th, 1787, when it embarked at Monkstown, near Cork, for Canada, and after a voyage of two months, touching by the way at Newfoundland, arrived at Quebec on the 26th of July.

After a short stay at the capital of Lower Canada, the regiment was encamped on the heights above Silleri, and after being reviewed there on the 29th of August, 1787, by his Royal Highness Prince William Henry (afterwards King William IV.), was embarked at Wolfe's Cove on the 6th of September, in batteaux, for the interior, where it remained for nine years.

From June, 1790, to the same month in 1792, it was quartered at Detroit, on the Straits of St. Clair, above Lake Erie, in Upper Canada. While the regiment was at this station, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith[37]; the first aggression was made by the troops of the United States on the Indian territory; and his humane interference and exertions rescued many Americans from the Indians, into whose hands they had fallen, for which he received the thanks of the President.

From Detroit the regiment moved, in June, 1792, down to Niagara, where it was reviewed by his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent and Major-General Simcoe, who made a highly favourable report of it to the Commander-in-Chief, declaring it to be "most fit for actual service." From Niagara, Lieutenant Sheaffe[38] of the Fifth, was detached to coast the shore of Lake Ontario, and protest against the settlements made by the Americans at Sodius, and other places, during the suspended execution of the first American treaty.

General Stopford died in 1794, and was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Fifth, by Sir Alured Clarke, G.C.B., whose commission was dated the 25th of October, in that year. The regiment was still at Niagara, where it remained till that post was given up to the Americans in 1796, when it was ordered to Quebec.

In the winter of 1796 it was employed against the insurgent Canadians at Point Levi, on which occasion it crossed the St. Lawrence on the ice. In 1797, the corporals and privates were drafted into the Twenty-fourth regiment, while the officers and serjeants returned to England, and on their disembarkation were ordered to Grantham, in Lincolnshire, to recruit; which service was very successfully carried on in all the principal towns of the county. From Grantham it was moved to Boston, and from thence suddenly ordered to Norman Cross barracks, where some disturbances had broken out among the French prisoners. After a few months, however, at the particular request of the inhabitants of Boston, it was again quartered in that town, on which occasion the volunteer corps lined the streets through which the regiment had to pass, and a splendid dinner and ball were given to the officers by the inhabitants. This kindly feeling between Lincolnshire and the Fifth regiment has continued ever since, and more recruits have joined its ranks from that county than from any other.

When the expedition sent out with the view of delivering Holland from the power of France was determined on in 1799, the Fifth regiment, already in a high state of efficiency, both with respect to numbers and discipline, was selected to form part of the army destined for that service, and was accordingly marched to the camp on Barham Downs. It was immediately after divided into two battalions, upwards of eight hundred each, in strength, Major-General George Hewett being appointed on the 5th of August, 1799, Colonel-Commandant of the second battalion; and in September both battalions embarked at Deal for Holland, where they landed on the 14th and 15th, and formed with the Thirty-fifth regiment, the eighth brigade of the army, under the command of His Royal Highness Prince William of Gloucester.

In the general attack made on the 19th of September on the whole line of the French positions in North Holland, the Fifth regiment formed part of the column under Lieutenant-General Dundas, destined to carry the intrenched villages of Walmenhuysen, and Schoreldam, in the attack upon the latter of which, the first battalion took an active part, and had one Lieutenant (Harris) mortally, and its Lieutenant-Colonel (Stephenson) severely wounded; sustaining, besides, a loss of five killed, four wounded, and four missing. Of this action the Duke of York observed, in his public despatch, "The gallantry displayed by the troops engaged, the spirit with which they overcame every obstacle which nature and art opposed to them, and the cheerfulness with which they maintained the fatigue of an action, which lasted without intermission, from half-past three o'clock in the morning, until five in the afternoon, are beyond my power to describe or extol. Their exertions fully entitle them to the admiration and gratitude of their King and country."

In the battle of Egmont-op-Zee on the 2nd and 6th of October, Prince William's brigade was not actively engaged; but the flank companies of the Fifth, which were attached to the grenadier and light infantry battalions of the line, and formed part of the reserve under Colonel Macdonald of the Fifty-fifth regiment, had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves; they had several men killed and wounded, also Captain Pratt wounded on the 2nd, and Lieutenant Hamilton on the 6th of October; and on both occasions behaved so well as to receive the particular thanks of their commander.

On the 10th of October the posts occupied by the two battalions of the Fifth, in front of the village of Winkle, were attacked by the enemy in great strength. The French troops had succeeded in forcing a passage over a canal which covered the village, when Colonel Bligh, who commanded the first battalion, perceiving that if the advance of the enemy was not checked, the remainder of the brigade was in danger of being cut off, planted the colours of the Fifth on the top of the dyke, and kept his ground till he had secured and covered the retreat of the brigade; the second battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Talbot, in the mean time maintaining its positions till ordered to retreat by Prince William, who on this occasion, issued the following general order:—