Early wars before the British attack in July 1762, by
Dominic Serres The regiment was raised in
Newcastle upon Tyne by
John Price as '''John Price's Regiment of Foot
in 1741. The regiment proceeded to Scotland and took part in the Battle of Prestonpans in September 1745 during the Jacobite rising. It was ranked as the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1747 but re-ranked as the 46th Regiment of Foot''' in 1751. The regiment saw action at the
assault on Fort Ticonderoga in July 1758 and the
Montreal Campaign in August to September 1760. the
storming of Morro Castle in July 1762 and the
capture of Havana in August 1762. The regiment returned home in 1767. , at which the regiment earned their nickname the
Red Feathers, in September 1777, by Xavier della Gatta The regiment arrived at in
North Carolina in April 1776 for service in the American War of Independence/
American Revolutionary War. It fought at the
Battle of Sullivan's Island in June 1776,
Battle of Long Island in August 1776, and the
Battle of Fort Washington in November 1776. the
Battle of Paoli also in September 1777 and the
Battle of Germantown in October 1777. The regiment went on to fight at the
Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 It sailed for the West Indies in November 1778 and took part in the
attack on Saint Lucia and the
Battle of Vigie in December 1778. The regiment returned to England and was renamed the
46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot in 1782. and helped suppress an
insurrection by caribs on
Saint Vincent before returning home in November 1796. It returned to the West Indies in April 1804 and, fighting alongside the
1st West India Regiment in February 1805, defended
Dominica against a French force for over a week until the French abandoned the attack; hence the regiment's first battle honour "Dominica". The regiment took part in another action when in May 1806 when 40 of its soldiers boarded the
packet boat Duke of Montrose and set out in pursuit of the French privateers
Napoleon and
Impériale: they captured the
Impériale and its crew. The regiment took part in the
invasion of Martinique in February 1809 and then returned to England in December 1811.
Colonial Australia The regiment embarked for
New South Wales in August 1813: they were stationed at
Hobart on
Van Diemens Land with orders to suppress a gang of
bushrangers. In April 1816, Governor
Lachlan Macquarie issued orders for the regiment to undertake
punitive expeditions against
Aboriginal Australians in the Nepean, Hawkesbury and Grose River valleys in New South Wales. The regiment then sailed for
Madras in September 1817 and, after a tour on the
Indian subcontinent, returned to England in March 1833.
The Victorian era The regiment was sent to the
Crimea in summer 1854 and saw action at the
Battle of Alma in September 1854, the
Battle of Balaclava in October 1854 and the
Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 as well as the
Siege of Sebastopol in winter 1854. 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 46th was linked with the
32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 35 at
Victoria Barracks, Bodmin. On 1 July 1881 the
Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot to form the
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, becoming the 2nd Battalion (with the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot becoming the 1st Battalion). ==Battle Honours==