Early history , who was the regiment's commanding officer at the
siege of Toulon in autumn 1793 and the
siege of Calvi in July 1794.
Portrait of Sir John Moore by
Thomas Lawrence in July 1761 The regiment was formed by Lieutenant General
Robert Napier as the '''53rd (Napier's) Regiment of Foot''' in 1755 for service in the
Seven Years' War. The regiment started out in
Exeter but was transferred to
Leeds later in the same year. In the space of one month, 800 men had volunteered to serve for three years or as long as the country needed them to. It was re-ranked as the '''51st (Brudenell's) Regiment of Foot''', following the disbandment of the existing
50th and
51st regiments, in 1757. The regiment's first action was when it embarked on ships and took part in the
Raid on Rochefort in September 1757 during the
Seven Years' War. The regiment embarked for
Germany in 1758 and saw action at the
Battle of Minden in August 1759, the
Battle of Corbach in July 1760 and the
Battle of Warburg later that month as well as the
Battle of Kloster Kampen in October 1760, the
Battle of Villinghausen in July 1761 and the
Battle of Wilhelmsthal in June 1762. After returning home in spring 1763, the regiment was posted for garrison duty in
Ireland later in the year. The regiment embarked for
Gibraltar in 1792 for service in the
French Revolutionary Wars, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
John Moore, and took part in the
siege of Toulon in autumn 1793 and the
siege of Calvi in July 1794. After returning home in 1807, it embarked for
Portugal in October 1808 for service in the
Peninsular War and saw action at the
Battle of Corunna in January 1809 before being evacuated from the Peninsula. The regiment went on to fight at the
Battle of Salamanca in July 1812, the
siege of Burgos in September 1812 and the
Battle of Vitoria in June 1813.
The Victorian era The regiment travelled to
Australia in detachments as escorts to prisoners in 1837 and then moved on to
India in 1846. On 1 July 1881 the
Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 105th Regiment of Foot (Madras Light Infantry) to form the
King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. ==Battle honours==