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40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot

The 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) to form the Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment) in 1881.

40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
Officer's Cap Badge 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot c.1830
Active1717–1881
Country Kingdom of Great Britain (1717–1800)
 United Kingdom (1801–1881)
Branch British Army
TypeLine Infantry
RoleLight Infantry
SizeOne battalion (2 battalions 1799-1802, 1804-1816)
Garrison/HQPeninsula Barracks, Warrington
Nickname(s)"The Excellers", "The Fighting Fortieth"
ColorsLight Buff Facings, Gold Braided Lace
EngagementsFather Rale's War
King George's War
Father Le Loutre's War
French and Indian War
American Revolutionary War
Napoleonic Wars
War of 1812
First Anglo-Afghan War
Gwalior campaign
New Zealand Wars

History edit

 
Governor of Nova Scotia Richard Philipps, First Commander of the 40th Regiment of Foot

Formation edit

The regiment was raised at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia by General Richard Philipps as the Richard Philipps's Regiment of Foot in August 1717 out of independent companies stationed in North America and the West Indies.[1][2]

Father Rale's War edit

Prior to Father Rale's War, the Mi'kmaq responded to the establishment of a British fort at Canso, Nova Scotia by raiding the settlement's fishing station in 1720. Phillips sent a company of the 40th, under the command of Major Lawrence Armstrong, to take up garrison of a small fort in Canso built by a group of New England fishermen.[3] The Mi'kmaq continued preying on nearby shipping, forcing the garrison to take action in February 1723.[4] Serving as marines, the troops and local fishermen were able to disperse the attacking indigenous people. The next engagement came in July 1724 when a party of sixty Mi'kmaq attacked Annapolis Royal. The garrison responded with a poorly calculated sortie from the town's dilapidated fort, resulting in the death of a sergeant and private, the wounding of an officer and three privates, and the repulse of the troops. After some pillaging, the Mi'kmaq departed with a number of civilian prisoners.[5]

From 1717 to 1743, Phillips' Regiment, garrisoning Annapolis, Placentia, and Canso, was successful in protecting settlers from Indian attacks, checking French influence in the area, and preserving the British foothold in Atlantic Canada.[5]

King George's War edit

 
Nova Scotia Lt. Gov. Paul Mascarene, commander of the 40th, portrait by John Smybert, 1729

At the outbreak of King George's War, the French at Louisbourg immediately engaged in the Raid on Canso in May 1744.[6] A flotilla containing 900 French regulars and militia. The four poorly supplied companies of Phillips' Regiment were forced to surrender. The town was destroyed and the prisoners sent to Louisbourg. Once the regiment's officers and men were paroled in September 1744, the regiment was evacuated to Boston where they provided valuable information on the defences of Louisbourg for the British siege the following year.[5] Governor Shirley was having difficulty raising troops requested by Mascarene and therefore he ordered the ex-Canso garrison to Annapolis Royal.[7]

 
Private, 40th Regiment of Foot, Nova Scotia, 1742

The Newfoundland Campaign started during August 1744. Captain Robert Young, of the 44-gun ship Kinsale, lying in St. John's, Newfoundland, received intelligence that five French ships were in the port of Fishotte and resolved on despatching an armed prize to attack them. The prize was named the St. Philip, and was manned by eighty men of the Kinsale's crew, and commanded by one of her lieutenants,[8] and accompanied by three 10-gun colonial privateers. The St. Philip succeeded, after grounding several times, in reaching the Moderate, of twelve guns and seventy-five men, which was boarded and carried ; then turning the Moderate's guns against the remaining ships, without the assistance of the privateers (who did not get into the harbour in time), compelled the whole to surrender. The St. Philip had ten killed, and thirty wounded.[9] The loss on board the French ships was more severe. The five vessels, which had on board 18,000 quintals of fish and eighty tons of oil, mounted together sixty-six guns, and carried 342 men.[10]

In July 1744, three hundred Indians under command of a French priest named Le Loutre attacked Annapolis, the only British garrison in Nova Scotia. Only eighty men of Phillips' Regiment were available to meet this threat, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Mascarene. Mascarene refused to surrender to Le Loutre. Le Loutre's party eventually burned a number of houses and withdrew. Following this, George II authorized the reorganization of the regiment which increased to six regiments the garrison at Annapolis, with an authorized complement of 450. Initially only seventy additional men were received. Recruitment efforts continued and Governor Shirley sent 206 recruits in February 1746. Despite the additional manpower the regiment remained under strength. It was at this time that Captain John Winslow first took command of a Philipp's regiment at Annapolis Royal, after being transferred from Newfoundland.[11] In September the enemy, this time three hundred regulars and militia with Indian support, reappeared outside the dilapidated earthworks of Annapolis Royal. After a four-week siege and lacking a train of artillery, the French withdrew from the defiant garrison.[5]

 
John Bradstreet - member of the 40th, captured by the French in the Raid on Canso in May 1744

A force of six hundred French and Indians again attempted to take Annapolis in May 1745. This demonstration ended quickly with the French and Mi'kmaq being ordered back to help defend Louisbourg from the British.[12]

The only other action seen by Phillips' Regiment occurred while serving as marines and seamen. A detachment from the garrison at St. John's, Newfoundland volunteered to serve on a captured twenty-gun ship for an expedition with three privateers to Fishotte Bay. The prize entered Fishotte Bay alone and engaged a number of anchored French ships. After five hours of fighting and the loss of ten killed and thirty wounded, the ship had captured three fourteen-gun and two twelve-gun enemy ships; forty six of their crews were killed and three hundred and thirty two made prisoner. The lagging privateers entered the harbour and assisted in the destruction of French fishing stages and the removal of enemy ships and prisoners.[5]

By the end of the war Phillips' Regiment, after defending Britain's foothold in Nova Scotia with a skeleton complement, had its establishment raised to seventy men for each company. Men were quickly impressed in England for service in the regiment.[5]

Between 1746 and 1748 the regiment contented itself with garrison duty at Annapolis and St. John's. With a continuing problem of finding recruits in Britain for the Philipp's regiment George II took the unusual step of allowing recruitment from the colonies for the British regiment.[13]

Father Le Loutre's War edit

 
Erasmus James Philipps, Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The 40th was also actively engaged in Father Le Loutre's War. In July 1749, the grenadier company under Captain Handfield were sent to garrison the new settlement of Halifax founded the month earlier by the new Governor of Nova Scotia, Edward Cornwallis. A surprise attack by local Mi'kmaq in the Siege of Grand Pré resulted in the capture of a detachment of the company including Lieutenant Hamilton and Handfield's son.[14] The captives were later returned to Halifax. Further engagements occurred with the Indians that year as the troops preserved the line of communication between Halifax and Annapolis Royal. Additional members of the regiment formed the garrison of Fort Sackville and established themselves at Fort Edward.[5]

 
40th Regiment of Foot by David Morier, 1751

By 1750 Cornwallis had taken over the colonelcy of the regiment. By the Royal Warrant of 1 July 1751, Cornwallis' Regiment was given the numerical distinction of the 40th Regiment of Foot.[15][16] Neglected for so many years by its former colonel, Cornwallis set about enhancing the condition of his new regiment. The companies in Newfoundland were rotated and discipline was improved. Desertion was poorly tolerated by Cornwallis. Of six deserters stationed at Fort Vieux Logis, two were shot and the rest reprieved. Three other deserters were hanged and their bodies suspended in chains as a warning to others. Further changes happened in the 40th with Cornwallis' appointment of Major Charles Lawrence of the 45th to the regiment's lieutenant colonelcy. Lawrence proved to be an energetic and effective military and administrative leader. After his appointment, Lawrence lead an expedition to the Missaguash River in August 1750 where he routed in the Battle at Chignecto a superior number of Indians under Le Loutre. That fall he built Fort Lawrence across the river where the following spring the French would build Fort Beausejour.[5]

In 1752 Peregrine Hopson succeeded Cornwallis as Nova Scotia's governor and colonel of the 40th Regiment. In poor health, Hopson returned to England in 1753 leaving the governing of the colony to Lawrence. In 1755 Hopson officially resigned as governor and Lawrence was appointed. However Hopson remained the colonel of the 40th Regiment until his death in 1759. (Afterward, for the first time since its formation, the regiment's colonel was not the governor of Nova Scotia. Hopson was succeeded as colonel in 1759 by John Barrington, followed by Robert Armiger in December 1760.)[5]

French and Indian War edit

 
Captain George Scott of the 40th by John Singleton Copley (c.1758), The Brook

By 1755 it was decided that the recently erected French Fort Beausejour had to be removed as a threat. The English force, including members of the 40th Regiment, was met by a large body of regulars and militia as they crossed the Missaquash river. This enemy force was attacked and dispersed quickly. Beausejour was subsequently laid siege to on 21 June and it surrendered four days later.[17]

Also in 1755, under the command of John Handfield, the 40th were engaged in the Expulsion of the Acadians from Annapolis Royal. After such a long stay in the colony, a number of the officers had married into the local Acadian population. Therefore, the deportation order forced officers to exile their own relations. Even the commander of the garrison, Major Handfield, had to deport his wife's "sister-in-law, nephews and nieces, uncles, aunts, and cousins." Handfield wrote to another officer performing the same task: "I heartily join with you in wishing that we were both of us got over this most disagreeable and troublesome part of the Service."[5]

In 1757, after forty years in Annapolis Royal, the town where the regiment had been raised, 43rd relieved the 40th where it then went to Halifax to prepare for service in the Seven Years' War.[18] In 1758, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Handfield, the regiment participated in the second siege of Louisbourg.[19][20] Some companies of the regiment participated in the Louisbourg Grenadiers on its formation in 1759.[21] The following year, the regiment took part in the successful three pronged attack against Montréal in September which concluded the war there.[22]

The regiment moved to Barbados in December 1761[23] and then took part in the Battle of Havana in June 1762.[24] In June 1763 the regiment rotated out of Havana to Annapolis Royal where it served until 1767 when it was transferred to Ireland.[25] This would be the first time in its 48-year history that the British regiment would serve on British soil.[19]

American Revolution edit

The regiment landed in Boston for service in the American Revolutionary War in June 1775.[26] It was evacuated from Boston in March 1776 and went to Halifax from where a detachment was sent to Georgia to gather rice for the army in June 1776.[27] It saw action at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776,[28] the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776[29] and the Battle of Princeton in January 1777.[30] It was in combat again at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777[31] and the Battle of Germantown in October 1777.[32] In November 1778 the regiment embarked for Barbados and took part in the Battle of St. Lucia in December 1778.[33] The regiment was then based in Antigua until June 1781 when it returned to Staten Island[34] and then took part in the Battle of Groton Heights in September 1781:[35] Major William Montgomery, commanding the regiment was killed in the assault.[36] In August 1782, the regiment took a county title as the 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot.[15] The regiment embarked for home in November 1783.[37]

Napoleonic Wars edit

In January 1794 the regiment embarked for Barbados for service in the French Revolutionary Wars and took part in the capture of Martinique in March 1794[38] and the attack on Guadeloupe in April 1794: some members of the regiment became prisoners of war and were held on the island for over a year.[39] The rest of the regiment returned home and in June 1794 embarked for Ostend:[40] the regiment was not significantly engaged and returned home again in April 1795.[41] The regiment returned to the West Indies in summer 1795 and took part in an attack on the French troops on Saint Vincent in September 1795.[42] It moved to Saint-Domingue in July 1797 before returning home in December 1798.[43] The regiment also took part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799[44] and fought at the Battle of Bergen in September 1799[45] and the Battle of Alkmaar in October 1799[46] before returning home in November 1799.[47]

The regiment also took part in the expedition to the Mediterranean and fought at the Battle of Abukir[48] and Battle of Alexandria in March 1801[49] and then returned to England in October 1801.[50] The regiment was part of the force assembled for the invasions of the River Plate in September 1806[51] and took part in the attack on Battle of Montevideo in February 1807[52] before returning to England in December 1807.[53]

In July 1808 the regiment embarked for Portugal, as part of Sir Arthur Wellesley's army, for service in the Peninsular War.[54] It fought at the Battle of Roliça in August 1808, the Battle of Vimeiro later that month[55] and the Battle of Talavera in July 1809.[56] The regiment also took part in the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810 and then fell back to the Lines of Torres Vedras in October 1810.[57] The regiment later took part in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812,[58] the Siege of Badajoz in March 1812[59] and the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812[60] as well as the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813.[61] It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813,[62] the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813[63] and the Battle of Orthez in February 1814[64] before also taking part Battle of Toulouse in April 1814.[65] The regiment returned home in June 1814.[66] In October 1814 the regiment was sent to New Orleans for service in the War of 1812 but recalled upon the ending of that conflict in March 1815.[67]

In May 1815 the regiment was rushed to join with Wellington's army just before the Battle of Waterloo commenced.[68] Initially placed in reserve, they were later in the day moved to the centre of his line to a position near La Haye Sainte.[69] They held firm all day and helped drive off Napoleon's final massed infantry attack, ultimately losing 170 killed or wounded, including their commanding officer Major Arthur Rowley Heyland.[70] The regiment then formed part of the Army of Occupation until returning to England in April 1817.[71]

The Victorian era edit

In 1823 the regiment was dispatched in small detachments in convict ships to New South Wales[72] where it served at both Sydney, and Van Diemen's Land, where they participated in the Black War.[73] It was then transferred to Bombay, with the first units of the 40th leaving Australia in 1828.[74] While in India, the regiment was stationed in Belgaum[75] and then Pune[76] before moving to Bombay.[77] In January 1839 the regiment was sent to the Sindh[78] and took part in the capture of Karachi.[79] The regiment camped at Quetta on their way to Afghanistan where they experienced one of the worst out breaks of disease of any regiment of the British Army.[80] It arrived in Kandahar in October 1841[81] and then fought under General William Nott at the Battle of Kabul in August 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War.[82] The regiment returned to India in December 1842[83] and fought at the Battle of Maharajpore in December 1843 during the Gwalior campaign.[84] It returned to England in September 1845.[85]

The regiment returned to Australia in June 1852[86] and served in Victoria where it suppressed the Eureka Rebellion in December 1854.[73] It also took part in the Taranaki and the Waikato campaigns in the early 1860s during the New Zealand Wars.[87] The regiment arrived home in August 1866[88] but returned to India in September 1872.[89]

As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 40th was linked with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers), and assigned to district no. 14 at Peninsula Barracks, Warrington.[90] On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers) to form the Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment).[15]

Uniforms edit

Battle honours edit

The battle honours of the regiment were as follows:[15]

Colonels of the Regiment edit

Colonels of the regiment were:[15]

The 40th Regiment of Foot edit

The 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Smythies, p. 1
  2. ^ Piers, p. 115
  3. ^ Dunn, p. 116.
  4. ^ Smythies, p. 5
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Henderson, Robert. "His Majesty's 40th Regiment of Foot in North America 1717-1764". The Seven Years War Website. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  6. ^ Smythies, p. 10
  7. ^ Dunn, p. 159.
  8. ^ Two of the lieutenants of the Kinsale at that time were Thomas Crosse and Charles Cheesemore.
  9. ^ Smythies, p. 13
  10. ^ Allen, p. 153
  11. ^ Dunn, pp. 160–161.
  12. ^ Dunn, p. 157.
  13. ^ Dunn, p. 170.
  14. ^ Smythies, p. 14
  15. ^ a b c d e . regiments.org. Archived from the original on 15 September 2006. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  16. ^ Smythies, p. 15
  17. ^ Smythies, p. 18
  18. ^ Smythies, p. 20
  19. ^ a b Dunn, p. 216
  20. ^ Smythies, p. 21
  21. ^ Smythies, p. 26
  22. ^ . Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  23. ^ Smythies, p. 32
  24. ^ Smythies, p. 33
  25. ^ Smythies, p. 36
  26. ^ Smythies, p. 40
  27. ^ Smythies, p. 41
  28. ^ Smythies, p. 42
  29. ^ Smythies, p. 45
  30. ^ Smythies, p. 47
  31. ^ Smythies, p. 49
  32. ^ Smythies, p. 50
  33. ^ Smythies, p. 56
  34. ^ Smythies, p. 57
  35. ^ Smythies, p. 58
  36. ^ Smythies, p. 59
  37. ^ Smythies, p. 60
  38. ^ Smythies, p. 65
  39. ^ Smythies, p. 66
  40. ^ Smythies, p. 67
  41. ^ Smythies, p. 70
  42. ^ Smythies, p. 71
  43. ^ Smythies, p. 75
  44. ^ Smythies, p. 76
  45. ^ Smythies, p. 77
  46. ^ Smythies, p. 79
  47. ^ Smythies, p. 80
  48. ^ Smythies, p. 85
  49. ^ Smythies, p. 88
  50. ^ Smythies, p. 94
  51. ^ Smythies, p. 99
  52. ^ Smythies, p. 101
  53. ^ Smythies, p. 108
  54. ^ Smythies, p. 109
  55. ^ Smythies, p. 110
  56. ^ Smythies, p. 115
  57. ^ Smythies, p. 119
  58. ^ Smythies, p. 125
  59. ^ Smythies, p. 130
  60. ^ Smythies, p. 136
  61. ^ Smythies, p. 140
  62. ^ Smythies, p. 143
  63. ^ Smythies, p. 154
  64. ^ Smythies, p. 157
  65. ^ Smythies, p. 158
  66. ^ Smythies, p. 163
  67. ^ Smythies, p. 177
  68. ^ Smythies, p. 179
  69. ^ Smythies, p. 181
  70. ^ "Major Arthur Rowley Heyland". Friends of the British Cemetery. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  71. ^ Smythies, p. 206
  72. ^ Smythies, p. 216
  73. ^ a b Odgers, p. 17
  74. ^ Smythies, p. 231
  75. ^ Smythies, p. 235
  76. ^ Smythies, p. 240
  77. ^ Smythies, p. 243
  78. ^ Smythies, p. 253
  79. ^ Smythies, p. 255
  80. ^ Smythies, p. 277
  81. ^ Smythies, p. 281
  82. ^ Smythies, p. 298
  83. ^ Smythies, p. 315
  84. ^ Smythies, p. 321
  85. ^ Smythies, p. 336
  86. ^ Smythies, p. 344
  87. ^ Smythies, p. 395
  88. ^ Smythies, p. 408
  89. ^ Smythies, p. 414
  90. ^ . Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.

Sources edit

  • Allen, Joseph (1852). Battles of the British Navy. Henry George Bohn.
  • Dunn, Brenda (2004). A History of Port-Royal/Annapolis Royal 1605–1800. Nimbus Publishing and the Historical Association of Annapolis Royal. ISBN 978-1551097404.
  • Odgers, George (1988). Army Australia: An Illustrated History. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-061-9.
  • Piers, Harry (1927). Regiments Raised in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia Historical Society.
  • Smythies, Captain Raymond R. H. (1894). Historical Records of the 40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment. Devonport: A. H. Swiss.

External links edit

  • Queen's Lancashire Regiment Museum
  • Transforming New Englanders into British Regulars: History of the 40th Regiment of Foot, 1717-1764
  • 40th Regiment – Re-enactors, French and Indian War
  • Harry Piers, "The Fortieth Regiment, Raised at Annapolis Royal in 1717; And Five Regiments Subsequently Raised in Nova Scotia," Nova Scotia Historical Society (1927)
  • Lt.-Col. Otho Hamilton of Olivestob : lieutenant-governor of Plancentia, lieutenant-colonel in the army, major of the 40th Regiment of Foot, member of the Nova Scotia council from 1731 to 1744 ; his sons, captain John and lieutenant-colonel Otho Hamilton, 2nd, and his grandson, Sir Ralph Hamilton, Kt. (1899)

40th, somersetshire, regiment, foot, infantry, regiment, british, army, raised, 1717, annapolis, royal, nova, scotia, under, childers, reforms, amalgamated, with, 82nd, regiment, foot, prince, wales, volunteers, form, prince, wales, volunteers, south, lancashi. The 40th the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal Nova Scotia Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot Prince of Wales s Volunteers to form the Prince of Wales s Volunteers South Lancashire Regiment in 1881 40th the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment of FootOfficer s Cap Badge 40th the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment of Foot c 1830Active1717 1881Country Kingdom of Great Britain 1717 1800 United Kingdom 1801 1881 Branch British ArmyTypeLine InfantryRoleLight InfantrySizeOne battalion 2 battalions 1799 1802 1804 1816 Garrison HQPeninsula Barracks WarringtonNickname s The Excellers The Fighting Fortieth ColorsLight Buff Facings Gold Braided LaceEngagementsFather Rale s WarKing George s WarFather Le Loutre s WarFrench and Indian WarAmerican Revolutionary WarNapoleonic WarsWar of 1812First Anglo Afghan WarGwalior campaignNew Zealand Wars Contents 1 History 1 1 Formation 1 2 Father Rale s War 1 3 King George s War 1 4 Father Le Loutre s War 1 5 French and Indian War 1 6 American Revolution 1 7 Napoleonic Wars 1 8 The Victorian era 2 Uniforms 3 Battle honours 4 Colonels of the Regiment 4 1 The 40th Regiment of Foot 4 2 The 40th 2nd Somersetshire Regiment 5 See also 6 References 7 Sources 8 External linksHistory edit nbsp Governor of Nova Scotia Richard Philipps First Commander of the 40th Regiment of FootFormation edit The regiment was raised at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia by General Richard Philipps as the Richard Philipps s Regiment of Foot in August 1717 out of independent companies stationed in North America and the West Indies 1 2 Father Rale s War edit Prior to Father Rale s War the Mi kmaq responded to the establishment of a British fort at Canso Nova Scotia by raiding the settlement s fishing station in 1720 Phillips sent a company of the 40th under the command of Major Lawrence Armstrong to take up garrison of a small fort in Canso built by a group of New England fishermen 3 The Mi kmaq continued preying on nearby shipping forcing the garrison to take action in February 1723 4 Serving as marines the troops and local fishermen were able to disperse the attacking indigenous people The next engagement came in July 1724 when a party of sixty Mi kmaq attacked Annapolis Royal The garrison responded with a poorly calculated sortie from the town s dilapidated fort resulting in the death of a sergeant and private the wounding of an officer and three privates and the repulse of the troops After some pillaging the Mi kmaq departed with a number of civilian prisoners 5 From 1717 to 1743 Phillips Regiment garrisoning Annapolis Placentia and Canso was successful in protecting settlers from Indian attacks checking French influence in the area and preserving the British foothold in Atlantic Canada 5 King George s War edit nbsp Nova Scotia Lt Gov Paul Mascarene commander of the 40th portrait by John Smybert 1729At the outbreak of King George s War the French at Louisbourg immediately engaged in the Raid on Canso in May 1744 6 A flotilla containing 900 French regulars and militia The four poorly supplied companies of Phillips Regiment were forced to surrender The town was destroyed and the prisoners sent to Louisbourg Once the regiment s officers and men were paroled in September 1744 the regiment was evacuated to Boston where they provided valuable information on the defences of Louisbourg for the British siege the following year 5 Governor Shirley was having difficulty raising troops requested by Mascarene and therefore he ordered the ex Canso garrison to Annapolis Royal 7 nbsp Private 40th Regiment of Foot Nova Scotia 1742The Newfoundland Campaign started during August 1744 Captain Robert Young of the 44 gun ship Kinsale lying in St John s Newfoundland received intelligence that five French ships were in the port of Fishotte and resolved on despatching an armed prize to attack them The prize was named the St Philip and was manned by eighty men of the Kinsale s crew and commanded by one of her lieutenants 8 and accompanied by three 10 gun colonial privateers The St Philip succeeded after grounding several times in reaching the Moderate of twelve guns and seventy five men which was boarded and carried then turning the Moderate s guns against the remaining ships without the assistance of the privateers who did not get into the harbour in time compelled the whole to surrender The St Philip had ten killed and thirty wounded 9 The loss on board the French ships was more severe The five vessels which had on board 18 000 quintals of fish and eighty tons of oil mounted together sixty six guns and carried 342 men 10 In July 1744 three hundred Indians under command of a French priest named Le Loutre attacked Annapolis the only British garrison in Nova Scotia Only eighty men of Phillips Regiment were available to meet this threat commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Mascarene Mascarene refused to surrender to Le Loutre Le Loutre s party eventually burned a number of houses and withdrew Following this George II authorized the reorganization of the regiment which increased to six regiments the garrison at Annapolis with an authorized complement of 450 Initially only seventy additional men were received Recruitment efforts continued and Governor Shirley sent 206 recruits in February 1746 Despite the additional manpower the regiment remained under strength It was at this time that Captain John Winslow first took command of a Philipp s regiment at Annapolis Royal after being transferred from Newfoundland 11 In September the enemy this time three hundred regulars and militia with Indian support reappeared outside the dilapidated earthworks of Annapolis Royal After a four week siege and lacking a train of artillery the French withdrew from the defiant garrison 5 nbsp John Bradstreet member of the 40th captured by the French in the Raid on Canso in May 1744A force of six hundred French and Indians again attempted to take Annapolis in May 1745 This demonstration ended quickly with the French and Mi kmaq being ordered back to help defend Louisbourg from the British 12 The only other action seen by Phillips Regiment occurred while serving as marines and seamen A detachment from the garrison at St John s Newfoundland volunteered to serve on a captured twenty gun ship for an expedition with three privateers to Fishotte Bay The prize entered Fishotte Bay alone and engaged a number of anchored French ships After five hours of fighting and the loss of ten killed and thirty wounded the ship had captured three fourteen gun and two twelve gun enemy ships forty six of their crews were killed and three hundred and thirty two made prisoner The lagging privateers entered the harbour and assisted in the destruction of French fishing stages and the removal of enemy ships and prisoners 5 By the end of the war Phillips Regiment after defending Britain s foothold in Nova Scotia with a skeleton complement had its establishment raised to seventy men for each company Men were quickly impressed in England for service in the regiment 5 Between 1746 and 1748 the regiment contented itself with garrison duty at Annapolis and St John s With a continuing problem of finding recruits in Britain for the Philipp s regiment George II took the unusual step of allowing recruitment from the colonies for the British regiment 13 Father Le Loutre s War edit nbsp Erasmus James Philipps Old Burying Ground Halifax Nova Scotia The 40th was also actively engaged in Father Le Loutre s War In July 1749 the grenadier company under Captain Handfield were sent to garrison the new settlement of Halifax founded the month earlier by the new Governor of Nova Scotia Edward Cornwallis A surprise attack by local Mi kmaq in the Siege of Grand Pre resulted in the capture of a detachment of the company including Lieutenant Hamilton and Handfield s son 14 The captives were later returned to Halifax Further engagements occurred with the Indians that year as the troops preserved the line of communication between Halifax and Annapolis Royal Additional members of the regiment formed the garrison of Fort Sackville and established themselves at Fort Edward 5 nbsp 40th Regiment of Foot by David Morier 1751By 1750 Cornwallis had taken over the colonelcy of the regiment By the Royal Warrant of 1 July 1751 Cornwallis Regiment was given the numerical distinction of the 40th Regiment of Foot 15 16 Neglected for so many years by its former colonel Cornwallis set about enhancing the condition of his new regiment The companies in Newfoundland were rotated and discipline was improved Desertion was poorly tolerated by Cornwallis Of six deserters stationed at Fort Vieux Logis two were shot and the rest reprieved Three other deserters were hanged and their bodies suspended in chains as a warning to others Further changes happened in the 40th with Cornwallis appointment of Major Charles Lawrence of the 45th to the regiment s lieutenant colonelcy Lawrence proved to be an energetic and effective military and administrative leader After his appointment Lawrence lead an expedition to the Missaguash River in August 1750 where he routed in the Battle at Chignecto a superior number of Indians under Le Loutre That fall he built Fort Lawrence across the river where the following spring the French would build Fort Beausejour 5 In 1752 Peregrine Hopson succeeded Cornwallis as Nova Scotia s governor and colonel of the 40th Regiment In poor health Hopson returned to England in 1753 leaving the governing of the colony to Lawrence In 1755 Hopson officially resigned as governor and Lawrence was appointed However Hopson remained the colonel of the 40th Regiment until his death in 1759 Afterward for the first time since its formation the regiment s colonel was not the governor of Nova Scotia Hopson was succeeded as colonel in 1759 by John Barrington followed by Robert Armiger in December 1760 5 French and Indian War edit nbsp Captain George Scott of the 40th by John Singleton Copley c 1758 The BrookBy 1755 it was decided that the recently erected French Fort Beausejour had to be removed as a threat The English force including members of the 40th Regiment was met by a large body of regulars and militia as they crossed the Missaquash river This enemy force was attacked and dispersed quickly Beausejour was subsequently laid siege to on 21 June and it surrendered four days later 17 Also in 1755 under the command of John Handfield the 40th were engaged in the Expulsion of the Acadians from Annapolis Royal After such a long stay in the colony a number of the officers had married into the local Acadian population Therefore the deportation order forced officers to exile their own relations Even the commander of the garrison Major Handfield had to deport his wife s sister in law nephews and nieces uncles aunts and cousins Handfield wrote to another officer performing the same task I heartily join with you in wishing that we were both of us got over this most disagreeable and troublesome part of the Service 5 In 1757 after forty years in Annapolis Royal the town where the regiment had been raised 43rd relieved the 40th where it then went to Halifax to prepare for service in the Seven Years War 18 In 1758 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Handfield the regiment participated in the second siege of Louisbourg 19 20 Some companies of the regiment participated in the Louisbourg Grenadiers on its formation in 1759 21 The following year the regiment took part in the successful three pronged attack against Montreal in September which concluded the war there 22 The regiment moved to Barbados in December 1761 23 and then took part in the Battle of Havana in June 1762 24 In June 1763 the regiment rotated out of Havana to Annapolis Royal where it served until 1767 when it was transferred to Ireland 25 This would be the first time in its 48 year history that the British regiment would serve on British soil 19 American Revolution edit The regiment landed in Boston for service in the American Revolutionary War in June 1775 26 It was evacuated from Boston in March 1776 and went to Halifax from where a detachment was sent to Georgia to gather rice for the army in June 1776 27 It saw action at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 28 the Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776 29 and the Battle of Princeton in January 1777 30 It was in combat again at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777 31 and the Battle of Germantown in October 1777 32 In November 1778 the regiment embarked for Barbados and took part in the Battle of St Lucia in December 1778 33 The regiment was then based in Antigua until June 1781 when it returned to Staten Island 34 and then took part in the Battle of Groton Heights in September 1781 35 Major William Montgomery commanding the regiment was killed in the assault 36 In August 1782 the regiment took a county title as the 40th the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment of Foot 15 The regiment embarked for home in November 1783 37 Napoleonic Wars edit In January 1794 the regiment embarked for Barbados for service in the French Revolutionary Wars and took part in the capture of Martinique in March 1794 38 and the attack on Guadeloupe in April 1794 some members of the regiment became prisoners of war and were held on the island for over a year 39 The rest of the regiment returned home and in June 1794 embarked for Ostend 40 the regiment was not significantly engaged and returned home again in April 1795 41 The regiment returned to the West Indies in summer 1795 and took part in an attack on the French troops on Saint Vincent in September 1795 42 It moved to Saint Domingue in July 1797 before returning home in December 1798 43 The regiment also took part in the Anglo Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799 44 and fought at the Battle of Bergen in September 1799 45 and the Battle of Alkmaar in October 1799 46 before returning home in November 1799 47 The regiment also took part in the expedition to the Mediterranean and fought at the Battle of Abukir 48 and Battle of Alexandria in March 1801 49 and then returned to England in October 1801 50 The regiment was part of the force assembled for the invasions of the River Plate in September 1806 51 and took part in the attack on Battle of Montevideo in February 1807 52 before returning to England in December 1807 53 In July 1808 the regiment embarked for Portugal as part of Sir Arthur Wellesley s army for service in the Peninsular War 54 It fought at the Battle of Rolica in August 1808 the Battle of Vimeiro later that month 55 and the Battle of Talavera in July 1809 56 The regiment also took part in the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810 and then fell back to the Lines of Torres Vedras in October 1810 57 The regiment later took part in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812 58 the Siege of Badajoz in March 1812 59 and the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 60 as well as the Battle of Vitoria in June 1813 61 It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813 62 the Battle of Nivelle in November 1813 63 and the Battle of Orthez in February 1814 64 before also taking part Battle of Toulouse in April 1814 65 The regiment returned home in June 1814 66 In October 1814 the regiment was sent to New Orleans for service in the War of 1812 but recalled upon the ending of that conflict in March 1815 67 In May 1815 the regiment was rushed to join with Wellington s army just before the Battle of Waterloo commenced 68 Initially placed in reserve they were later in the day moved to the centre of his line to a position near La Haye Sainte 69 They held firm all day and helped drive off Napoleon s final massed infantry attack ultimately losing 170 killed or wounded including their commanding officer Major Arthur Rowley Heyland 70 The regiment then formed part of the Army of Occupation until returning to England in April 1817 71 The Victorian era edit In 1823 the regiment was dispatched in small detachments in convict ships to New South Wales 72 where it served at both Sydney and Van Diemen s Land where they participated in the Black War 73 It was then transferred to Bombay with the first units of the 40th leaving Australia in 1828 74 While in India the regiment was stationed in Belgaum 75 and then Pune 76 before moving to Bombay 77 In January 1839 the regiment was sent to the Sindh 78 and took part in the capture of Karachi 79 The regiment camped at Quetta on their way to Afghanistan where they experienced one of the worst out breaks of disease of any regiment of the British Army 80 It arrived in Kandahar in October 1841 81 and then fought under General William Nott at the Battle of Kabul in August 1842 during the First Anglo Afghan War 82 The regiment returned to India in December 1842 83 and fought at the Battle of Maharajpore in December 1843 during the Gwalior campaign 84 It returned to England in September 1845 85 The regiment returned to Australia in June 1852 86 and served in Victoria where it suppressed the Eureka Rebellion in December 1854 73 It also took part in the Taranaki and the Waikato campaigns in the early 1860s during the New Zealand Wars 87 The regiment arrived home in August 1866 88 but returned to India in September 1872 89 As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s where single battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom the 40th was linked with the 82nd Regiment of Foot Prince of Wales s Volunteers and assigned to district no 14 at Peninsula Barracks Warrington 90 On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot Prince of Wales s Volunteers to form the Prince of Wales s Volunteers South Lancashire Regiment 15 Uniforms edit nbsp Grenadier 40th Regiment of Foot 1767 nbsp Officer and Private 40th Regiment of Foot 1815 nbsp Officer from the Light Company 40th Regiment of Foot 1826 nbsp Drummer 40th Regiment of Foot 1848 nbsp Colour Sergeant 40th Regiment of Foot 1881Battle honours editThe battle honours of the regiment were as follows 15 Egypt Montevideo Rolica Vimiero Talavera Badajoz Salamanca Vittoria Pyrenees Nivelle Orthes Peninsula Toulouse Waterloo Candahar 1842 Ghuznee 1842 Cabool 1842 Maharajpore New ZealandColonels of the Regiment editColonels of the regiment were 15 1717 1750 Lt Gen Richard Philipps 1750 1752 Lt Gen Hon Edward CornwallisThe 40th Regiment of Foot edit 1752 1759 Maj Gen Peregrine Thomas Hopson 1759 1760 Maj Gen Hon John Barrington 1760 1770 Lt Gen Robert Armiger 1770 1786 Lt Gen Sir Robert Hamilton 4th Baronet of SilvertonhillThe 40th 2nd Somersetshire Regiment edit 1786 1818 Gen Sir George Osborn 4th Baronet 1818 1829 Gen Sir Brent Spencer GCB 1829 1834 Gen Sir James Kempt GCB GCH 1834 1837 Lt Gen Sir George Cooke KCB 1837 1842 Lt Gen Sir Lionel Smith 1st Baronet GCB GCH 1842 1861 F M Sir Alexander George Woodford GCB GCMG 1861 1872 Gen Richard Greaves 1872 1881 Gen Augustus Halifax Ferryman CBSee also editLouisbourg GrenadiersReferences edit Smythies p 1 Piers p 115 Dunn p 116 Smythies p 5 a b c d e f g h i j Henderson Robert His Majesty s 40th Regiment of Foot in North America 1717 1764 The Seven Years War Website Retrieved 24 August 2013 Smythies p 10 Dunn p 159 Two of the lieutenants of the Kinsale at that time were Thomas Crosse and Charles Cheesemore Smythies p 13 Allen p 153 Dunn pp 160 161 Dunn p 157 Dunn p 170 Smythies p 14 a b c d e 40th the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment of Foot regiments org Archived from the original on 15 September 2006 Retrieved 11 July 2016 Smythies p 15 Smythies p 18 Smythies p 20 a b Dunn p 216 Smythies p 21 Smythies p 26 Locations 40th Regiment of Foot Regiments org Archived from the original on 23 August 2006 Retrieved 19 February 2020 Smythies p 32 Smythies p 33 Smythies p 36 Smythies p 40 Smythies p 41 Smythies p 42 Smythies p 45 Smythies p 47 Smythies p 49 Smythies p 50 Smythies p 56 Smythies p 57 Smythies p 58 Smythies p 59 Smythies p 60 Smythies p 65 Smythies p 66 Smythies p 67 Smythies p 70 Smythies p 71 Smythies p 75 Smythies p 76 Smythies p 77 Smythies p 79 Smythies p 80 Smythies p 85 Smythies p 88 Smythies p 94 Smythies p 99 Smythies p 101 Smythies p 108 Smythies p 109 Smythies p 110 Smythies p 115 Smythies p 119 Smythies p 125 Smythies p 130 Smythies p 136 Smythies p 140 Smythies p 143 Smythies p 154 Smythies p 157 Smythies p 158 Smythies p 163 Smythies p 177 Smythies p 179 Smythies p 181 Major Arthur Rowley Heyland Friends of the British Cemetery Retrieved 6 September 2016 Smythies p 206 Smythies p 216 a b Odgers p 17 Smythies p 231 Smythies p 235 Smythies p 240 Smythies p 243 Smythies p 253 Smythies p 255 Smythies p 277 Smythies p 281 Smythies p 298 Smythies p 315 Smythies p 321 Smythies p 336 Smythies p 344 Smythies p 395 Smythies p 408 Smythies p 414 Training Depots Regiments org Archived from the original on 10 February 2006 Retrieved 16 October 2016 Sources editAllen Joseph 1852 Battles of the British Navy Henry George Bohn Dunn Brenda 2004 A History of Port Royal Annapolis Royal 1605 1800 Nimbus Publishing and the Historical Association of Annapolis Royal ISBN 978 1551097404 Odgers George 1988 Army Australia An Illustrated History Frenchs Forest New South Wales Child amp Associates ISBN 0 86777 061 9 Piers Harry 1927 Regiments Raised in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Historical Society Smythies Captain Raymond R H 1894 Historical Records of the 40th 2nd Somersetshire Regiment Devonport A H Swiss External links editQueen s Lancashire Regiment Museum Transforming New Englanders into British Regulars History of the 40th Regiment of Foot 1717 1764 40th Regiment Re enactors French and Indian War HM 40th Regiment of Foot Light Infantry Company A Living history organization portraying the Light Company during the American War for Independence Harry Piers The Fortieth Regiment Raised at Annapolis Royal in 1717 And Five Regiments Subsequently Raised in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia Historical Society 1927 Lt Col Otho Hamilton of Olivestob lieutenant governor of Plancentia lieutenant colonel in the army major of the 40th Regiment of Foot member of the Nova Scotia council from 1731 to 1744 his sons captain John and lieutenant colonel Otho Hamilton 2nd and his grandson Sir Ralph Hamilton Kt 1899 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 40th the 2nd Somersetshire Regiment of Foot amp oldid 1170270227, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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