Houghton's Regiment / Warburton's Regiment The regiment was originally raised by Colonel Daniel Houghton as '''Houghton's Regiment''' in 1741 for service during the
War of the Austrian Succession. From 1745, the Regiment was named after Colonel
Hugh Warburton. It was first posted to
Gibraltar in 1745, before moving to
Nova Scotia in 1747 for garrison duty under the command of Warburton.
Numbered Regiment The regiment was ranked as the 56th Regiment of Foot in 1747 but was re-ranked the following year as the
45th Regiment of Foot in 1748. On 1 July 1751 the regiment officially adopted the numerical system rather being named after the commander. The regiment then defeated the French monarchists (French soldiers, natives and Acadians) at the
Battle of Fort Beauséjour in June 1755. The regiment also took part in the
Siege of Louisbourg in July 1758 during the
French and Indian War. The regiment also saw action in North America during the
American War of Independence, fighting at the
Battle of Long Island in August 1776 before returning to England in 1778. In 1779 the citizens of Nottinghamshire petitioned for the regiment to have the county name included in the regimental name: this was granted and the regiment became the
45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Regiment. and garrisoned
Martinique,
Dominica and
Îles des Saintes during the
French Revolutionary Wars. In May 1801, on the home journey, some 150 French prisoners aboard the ship, the
Windsor, overpowered the guard, locked the officers in their cabins and took possession of the ship.
Notable soldiers •
Winckworth Tonge •
Horatio Gates •
Patrick Sutherland Gallery File:Winckworth Tonge, Old Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia.jpg|
Winckworth Tonge,
Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia) File:'45th Regiment of foot', 1742 (c) (cropped).jpg| engraving of a regimental private File:David Morier (1705^-70) - Grenadiers, 43rd, 44th and 45th Regiments of Foot, 1751 - RCIN 405586 - Royal Collection.jpg| painting of a regimental grenadier (right) File:HoratioGatesByStuart crop.jpg|
Portrait of Horatio Gates by
Gilbert Stuart Napoleonic wars In spring 1807 the regiment embarked on the disastrous
British invasion of the River Plate: it saw action at the Second Battle of Buenos Aires in July 1807 but, in the face of defeat, discipline collapsed and eleven men of the regiment completely disappeared. However another unit of the regiment successfully charged the enemy, taking two
howitzers and many prisoners. , where the regiment won the nickname "Old Stubborns" in July 1809, by
William Heath The regiment embarked for
Portugal in July 1808 to serve under General
Sir Arthur Wellesley in the
Peninsular War. The regiment fought at the
Battle of Roliça in August 1808, the
Battle of Vimeiro later that month and the
Battle of Talavera, where it won the nickname "Old Stubborns", in July 1809. The regiment went on to fight at the
Battle of Bussaco in September 1810 before falling back to the
Lines of Torres Vedras. It saw action again at
Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro in May 1811, the
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812 and the
Siege of Badajoz in March 1812 before fighting at the
Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 and the
Battle of Vitoria in June 1813. It then pursued the French Army into France and fought at the
Battle of the Pyrenees in July 1813, the
Battle of Nivelle in November 1813 and the
Battle of Orthez in February 1814 as well as the
Battle of Toulouse in April 1814. The regiment returned home in June 1814. The regiment was sent to
Ceylon in January 1819 and to
Burma in 1824 for service in the
First Anglo-Burmese War. It formed part of an army which advanced up the
River Irrawaddy to the
Kingdom of Ava and then returned to England in March 1838.
The Victorian era In May 1838 the regiment took part in the
Battle of Bossenden Wood, a skirmish between a small group of labourers from the
Hernhill,
Dunkirk, and
Boughton area and a detachment of soldiers of the 45th regiment sent from
Canterbury to arrest the marchers' leader, the self-styled Sir William Courtenay, who was actually
John Nichols Tom, a
Truro maltster who had spent four years in
Kent County Lunatic Asylum. In November 1839 the regiment was involved in suppressing the
Newport Rising which had been organised by
Chartist protestors. The regiment was deployed to South Africa in 1843 and saw action in the
Seventh Xhosa War in 1846 and the
Eighth Xhosa War in 1851 before returning home in 1859. In 1866, the regiment became the
45th (Nottinghamshire) (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot. 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 45th was linked with the
17th (Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot), and assigned to district no. 27 at
Glen Parva Barracks in
Leicestershire. On 1 July 1881 the
Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the
95th (Derbyshire) Regiment to form the
Sherwood Foresters. ==Battle honours==