Earliest militia
Colonel John Bowyer of Knypersley, near Biddulph, commanded a regiment of foot and two troops of horse in 1648. He fought for the Parliamentarians and was much involved in the destruction of Eccleshall Castle, home to the Bishop of Lichfield. Colonel Bagot of Blithfield Hall, near Uttoxeter, raised a troop of horse and fought for the Royalist cause including defending the fortress-cathedral at Lichfield.
In 1793, a volunteer yeomanry cavalry was formed at the Swan Hotel in Stafford. It had five divisions and the Lichfield division was commanded by Major Francis Perceval Eliot. By 1798, Eliot became colonel of the Staffordshire Yeomanry Infantry. He then took command of the Third Staffordshire Militia, disbanded a year later.
38th Regiment of Foot
Plaque on the wall of the King’s Head pub.
Its first posting was Ireland and then,1707, it was sent to the West Indies, but without Lillingston. In 1708, Lillingston was promoted and ordered to join his regiment, but he refused, and consequently was dismissed. The Regiment was given to his second-in-command which now became the James Jones's Regiment of Foot. It served in the West Indies, mostly Antigua, for 57 years; this was the longest posting of any Regiment. It was grossly neglected, unpaid and virtually forgotten. It became the first regiment to create a tropical uniform; it had to improvise since the regiment was neglected. In 1751, it was renamed the 38th Regiment of Foot.[2]
Badge of the 38th Regiment
The regiment returned in 1764 and
then posted to Boston, Massachusetts in 1774. It fought throughout the American War of Independence. 1775-83, most notably at Bunker Hill 1775, and
Brandywine 1777, with heavy losses. In 1782/3 it was renamed the 38th Regiment
of Foot (1st Staffordshire).
On the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, 1793-1802, the main body of the regiment was sent to Flanders. In 1796, the whole regiment was again in the West Indies helping to capture Martinique. The regiment went on to help take St Lucia 1796, and Trinidad 1797. In 1805, it helped capture the Cape in South Africa 1805, and then fought, 1807, in South America at Montevideo and Buenos Aires. In 1808, it fought at Roliça (formerly Roleia) and Vimeiro in Portugal in the Peninsular War, 1808-14, before joining the retreat to Corunna, Spain. In 1812, the regiment returned to the Iberian Peninsula to fight at Salamanca 1812, Vitoria, near Vitoria-Gasteiz, 1813, San Sebastián 1813, Nivelle 1813, the Nive 1813, Orthes 1814, Toulouse 1814, and Bayonne 1814. Ten battle honours were won in the Peninsular War.
They arrived too late to fight at Waterloo, 1815, but helped in the occupation of Paris.In 1818, the regiment was sent to South Africa to fight in the 5th Cape Frontier War, 1818-19. Fours years later they were in India and Burma, experiencing poor conditions with much disease.
38th Regiment Colours 1826–1839
From 1840, the regiment was in the eastern Mediterranean and then over the next eight years in Gibraltar, Jamaica and Halifax, Nova ScotiaIn 1854, the 38th sailed for the Crimean War,1854-56, fighting at the Alma 1854, Inkerman 1854, and Sevastopol 1854-55. They experienced much discomfort not being equipped for a winter campaign. The 38th was then sent to India during the Mutiny 1857-59, and took part in the capture of Lucknow in 1858 and then stayed in India until 1872.
Monument to Major William Hodson when he captured the King of Delhi, shown handing over his sword. He died in the siege and capture of Lucknow. He was the son of an archdeacon of Stafford and a Canon of Lichfield.
80th Regiment of Foot[3]
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Badge of the 80th Regiment
In 1801, the regiment left Ceylon and joined General Abercromby’s expedition
to recover Egypt from France. It won a sphinx in its cap badge for the
campaign.
Sphinx badge Monument to
the 80th Regiment who ejected Napoleon from Egypt.
In 1802, the regiment absorbed the Staffordshire Volunteers. From Egypt it went to India fighting in the Second Maratha War, 1803-05, and against the Nairs of Wynaud and the Travancore rebellion, 1808. From 1821, the regiment was in Gibraltar and Malta for ten years. Between 1831 and 1845 the regiment was in England and Ireland, before escorting convict ships sailing to Australia, and garrisoning Norfolk Island and New Zealand. In 1845, it sailed for India again fighting at Moodkee and Ferozeshah in 1845, and Sobraon in 1846 in the First Sikh War, 1845-46. There were heavy losses.
Memorial to the men fighting in the Sutlej Campaign or First Sikh War.
The regiment was heavily involved in the Second Burma War, 1852, participating in the storming of Rangoon, Pegu and Prome, Myanmar. The regiment returned to India on the outbreak of the Mutiny, 1857-59, taking part in the Central India Campaign. Warfare involved long marches in intense heat. This new Indian posting lasted until 1866 and involved service during the Bhutan War,1864-65. In 1872, the regiment was sent to the Far East to garrison Singapore and Hong Kong. In 1877, it moved to Natal, fighting in the Ninth Cape Frontier War, 1877-79 and then the Zulu War, 1879, including the battles at Myers Drift, Isandlwana and Ulundi (1879). The regiment's first V.C. was won at Isandlwana. A second was won shortly afterwards at Ntombi River, 1879.
 |
| Zulu shield shapes with the names of 88 soldiers killed in the three battles. The barrier has representations of assegais, type of spear or javelin with an iron tip. |
In 1880, Whittington Barracks was built. In 1881, in Malta, the 38th and 80th regiments were amalgamated to become the South Staffordshire Regiment. The 38th was the 1st battalion of the regiment and the 80th was the second battalion.
Memorial to
the soldiers who fell in the South African (Second Boer) War, 1899–1902.
In 1948, the two battalions fully joined and in 1959 joined with the North Staffordshire Regiment to become The Staffordshire Regiment (The Prince of Wales’s). In 2007, it became part of the Mercian Regiment.
Badge of South Staffordshires
[1]
Lillingston, Lillingstone or Lillingstein, 1643–1713, accompanied William
Orange to England in 1688. The regiment formed in Lichfield was the third Foot
Regiment to bear the name of Lillingston. The first was a takeover of another
regiment in 1692 and was then disbanded in 1694.The second was raised in the
West Indies in 1694, but was disbanded in 1696 or 1697. Lillingston was forced
to sell his estate at North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, and was also married
twice.
[2]
Foot regiments wore scarlet tunic uniforms with different coloured collar and
cuffs; those of the 38th and 80th regiments were yellow. The 38th were
nicknamed the Pump and Tortoise from their extreme sobriety and the slow way
they set about their work when stationed at Malta. The 80th were nicknamed the
Staffordshire Knots.
[3]
See https://staffs80.weebly.com/history.html
There had been two previous 80th regiments.
[4]
He first became a lieutenant in the 7th Regiment of Foot 1795, then captain in the 23rd Regiment of Foot, 1795, then
to major in
the 65th Regiment of Foot,1795 and finally lieutenant-colonel in the 80th Regiment of Foot
on 30 May 1795. One month later he left the Regiment and became a colonel of
the Light Dragoons.
[5]
On the outbreak of war with revolutionary France in 1793, most counties raised
militias. It has been estimated 30,000 men enlisted between 1793 and 94.
[6]
Paget was commissioned Colonel of the newly-raised Staffordshire Militia on
22 April 1776 during the War of American Independence.