Formation The unit was raised on the outbreak of the
War of the Spanish Succession: on 28 June 1701
William III issued a warrant to
William Caulfeild, 2nd Viscount Charlemont to raise a
regiment of foot in
Ireland. William died in March 1702 and his successor,
Queen Anne, issued a further warrant declaring that '''Charlemont's Regiment of Foot''' was to be one of six newly formed regiments to be equipped for "sea service".
Early service: the War of the Spanish Succession The regiment was selected to form part of an Anglo-Dutch force under the command of the
Duke of Ormonde that was to make an assault of the southern coast of Spain. They moved from Ireland to the
Isle of Wight in June 1702, embarking for
Cádiz in the following month. They landed on 15 August, but the force failed to take the
City of Cadiz, and the regiment left Spain on 24 September, sailing for the
West Indies. They returned to Ireland in 1704. In April 1705 Charlemont's Regiment left Ireland once more, forming part of an expeditionary force led by the
Earl of Peterborough. The force landed in
Catalonia in August, and the regiment took part in the
Siege of Barcelona, with the city falling in October. In April 1706 the regiment helped relieve
Barcelona which was under siege by a Franco-Spanish force. On 10 May 1706 Viscount Charlemont was replaced as colonel by Thomas Allnutt, within the unit becoming '''Allnutt's Regiment of Foot'''. Allnutt's Regiment was engaged in a number of minor engagements in
Valencia and
Murcia throughout the rest of 1706. In April 1707 they became part of a force of English, Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish troops under the command of the
Marquis of Minas and
Earl of Galway, suffering defeat at the
Battle of Almansa. The regiment was nearly destroyed, with Colonel Allnutt wounded and taken prisoner. In September 1707 Allnutt was permitted to return to England as part of a prisoner exchange. In 1710 Ilay resigned and the unit became '''Disney's Regiment of Foot''' when Henry Disney became colonel on 23 October. In 1711 Disney's Regiment was part of a 5,000 strong force dispatched to
North America as part of the
Quebec Expedition. On 30 July they sailed from
Boston for the
St Lawrence River. The expedition ended in failure, and Disney's Regiment returned to England, arriving in
Portsmouth on 9 October. In 1712
Louis XIV of France signed a peace treaty with Queen Anne of Great Britain. As part of the provisions, Louis ceded the Port of
Dunkirk, and Disney's Regiment landed there on 8 July, relieving the French garrison. They were stationed in Dunkirk when the
Treaty of Utrecht ending the war, was signed in the following year. When the
Jacobite rising broke out in Scotland in August 1715, Egerton's Regiment moved to
Stirling under the command of the
Duke of Argyll. They fought in the largely inconclusive
Battle of Sheriffmuir where they were overrun and forced to retreat.
War of Jenkins' Ear During 1739 tensions rose between Great Britain and the
Spanish Empire. Bland's Regiment was recalled from Ireland to England in September 1739 and war broke out on 23 October 1739. In 1740 they sailed to the
West Indies, arriving in
Dominica where there were large losses due to
dysentery. On 9 January 1741 James Fleming became colonel, and the renamed '''Fleming's Regiment of Foot''' arrived in
Jamaica later in the month.
War of the Austrian Succession By 1744 Britain found itself involved in a wider conflict, the
War of the Austrian Succession. Fleming's Regiment was dispatched to
Flanders where the formed part of the garrison of
Ghent. In the following year there was a second
Jacobite rising in Scotland, reaching
Edinburgh by January 1746. They fought at the
Battle of Falkirk and played a small part in the
Battle of Culloden that ended the uprising. The regiment returned to England in 1749 where its establishment was reduced before it was sent to
Gibraltar to form part of the garrison there. Following the death of James Fleming,
Lord Robert Manners became colonel in March 1751.
Seven Years' War On 18 May 1756 Britain declared war on France, beginning a conflict that became known as the
Seven Years' War. On 25 August, the 36 Foot was authorised to raise a second
battalion. The two battalions were encamped as part of a defensive force at
Barham Downs,
Kent. In 1758 the second battalion was reconstituted as the
74th Regiment of Foot. The 74th saw service in Senegal and Jamaica until its disbandment in 1763. In 1758 the 36th moved to the
Isle of Wight as part of a force under the command of Major-General
John Mostyn formed to make raids on the north French coast. The
Treaty of Paris of 1763 brought the war in Europe to an end.
1763–1782 The 36th Foot left England in March 1764 for
Jamaica where they remained until 1773. On 21 August 1782, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces,
Henry Seymour Conway, issued a regulation giving an English county designation to each regiment of foot other than those with a royal title or
highland regiments. The intention was to improve recruitment during the unpopular American War, and the
Home Secretary,
Thomas Townshend issued a circular letter to the
lieutenants of
each county in England in the following terms: My Lord, The very great deficiency of men in the regiments of infantry being so very detrimental to the public service, the king has thought proper to give the names of the different counties to the old corps, in hopes that, by the zeal and activity of the principal nobility and gentry in the several counties, some considerable assistance may be given towards recruiting these regiments". The 36th Foot took a county title as the
36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. The
Second Anglo-Mysore War was entering its closing stages and the regiment took part in the relief of
Cannonore in December 1783. The war was ended by the
Treaty of Mangalore in March 1784. The war ended in March 1792 with the signing of the
Treaty of Seringapatam. It took part in the capture of
Pondicherry in August 1793, They left India in October 1798, but did not reach England until July 1799, spending three months in
Saint Helena due to shortage of convoy ships. They returned to England in December 1809. The 1st/36th were stationed at
Battle,
Sussex where they were brought up to strength before sailing from
Portsmouth, arriving in
Lisbon on 5 March 1811. They then pursued the French Army into France fighting at the
Battle of the Pyrenees in July and August 1813, the
Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813 and the
Battle of the Nive in December 1813 as well as the
Battle of Orthez in February 1814 and the
Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. The 1st Battalion arrived back in Ireland in July 1814. On 24 October 1814 the 2nd Battalion was disbanded, with men fit for duty transferred to the 1st Battalion which became once more simply the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot. It formed part of the army occupying France from July to December 1815 and then moved to
Portsmouth on 22 December 1815. The regiment was sent to
Malta in September 1817 and then on to the
United States of the Ionian Islands in 1821, where they suffered from much sickness, before returning to England in 1826. The regiment was posted to
Ireland in 1827 and then embarked for
Barbados in 1831 although eleven men were killed in a
hurricane on the way. The regiment was at Barbados until 1833 when it moved to
Antigua; It then moved on to North America arriving in
Nova Scotia in 1838 and
New Brunswick in 1839 before returning to Ireland in 1842. The regiment moved to Northern England in 1845; a second or reserve battalion was formed at
Weedon Bec on 28 November 1846. It was posted back to the United States of the Ionian Islands in 1847: both battalions were stationed there during an
insurgency. The reserve battalion was absorbed by the 1st Battalion in April 1850. In 1851 the regiment returned to Barbados before moving on to
Trinidad in 1852. In 1853 it returned to Barbados and then, in 1854, it moved to Jamaica where the regiment lost a large number of men from an epidemic of
yellow fever. The 29th and 36th Foot were to be paired, with one regiment on active service while the other was on home duties, with the two swapping roles every few years. A depot was established at
Norton Barracks, near
Worcester. The amalgamated regiment inherited the traditions and battle honours of the 29th and 36th Foot. In 1970 the Worcestershire Regiment was itself amalgamated with the
Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) to form the
Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment. In another amalgamation in 2007, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment became part of a new
large regiment, the
Mercian Regiment. ==Facings, battle honours and motto==