Summary. Staffordshire regiments formed early 17th-century fought in sieges at Eccleshall Castle and Lichfield Close. A regiment of foot was raised in Lichfield in 1793. There is a long list of engagements with Staffordshire and later Mercian regiments.
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 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,
see the post, ‘Fortress cathedral – 1640.’
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 took command of the Third Staffordshire Militia, disbanded a year
later.
A Regiment of Foot was raised by
Colonel Luke Lillingston[1] at
Lichfield on 26 March, 1705. The enlistment occurred at the King’s Head
coaching inn in Bird Street.
Plaque on the wall of the King’s Head pub.
Its first posting was Ireland and
then in 1707 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
was 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).
Soldier of the 38th Regiment of Foot
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, 1806, 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.[3]
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. Four
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 Scotia. In 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. Hodson later killed the family of the king and gained the reputation of
being a bigoted murderer. He died in the siege and capture of Lucknow. He was
the son of an archdeacon of Stafford and Canon at Lichfield. The monument has
contested history and is a Victorian product of celebrating heroes no matter
their wrongdoing. It is a fine piece of sculpture, but has a very dark side.
80th Regiment of Foot[4]
This regiment
was raised 9 December 1793 in Lichfield, enlistment again being at the King’s
Head, by the 25 year old Henry William Paget, 1st
Marquess of Anglesey.[5]
Paget became the regiment’s Lieutenant-Colonel, despite having little military
experience. It was in response to the threat posed by the French
Revolution.[6] The
regiment was largely recruited from the Staffordshire Militia[7] and
comprised of men living on Paget’s estates. The 700 men wore red tunics, blue
trousers with yellow facings, collars and cuffs.
It was sent to garrison Guernsey
and then fight in the dreadful Flander’s campaign. Many died in the harsh
conditions and in 1795 around half of the regiment returned. In 1796, it was
sent to assist in the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch and a
year later, 1801, to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
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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.
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. Such a monument within the cathedral has been contested.
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.
Cap badge of
the Staffordshire Regiment
[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. The Staffordshire Knot does not appear until the
15th-century, though similar symbols have been found on Anglo-Saxon artefacts.
[3]
D. Cooper, The Staffordshire Regiments: Imperial, Regular and Volunteer,
1705–1919. ‘Knotted together’. (Churnet Valley: 2003), 24.
[4]
See https://staffs80.weebly.com/history.html
There had been two previous 80th regiments.
[5]
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.
[6]
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.
[7]
Paget was commissioned Colonel of the newly-raised Staffordshire Militia on
22 April 1776 during the War of American Independence.
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