The Battle of New Orleans, at which the regiment carried out a successful attack, January 1815
A second battalion was raised in 1800.[2] The 1st Battalion was deployed to Madeira in 1801 and both battalions went to Jamaica in 1802; the two battalions were amalgamated there later in the year.[3] The regiment absorbed the Bucks volunteers in 1802 and became the 85th (Bucks Volunteers) Regiment of Foot in 1802.[2] It returned to England in 1808 and converted to a Light Infantry role, becoming the 85th (Bucks Volunteers) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) later in the year.[2] The regiment next took part in the disastrous Walcheren Campaign in autumn 1809.[3]
The regiment was dispatched to North America in May 1814 and saw action in the last phase of the War of 1812.[4] It fought at the Battle of Bladensburg, capturing two American colours, in August 1814.[5] Under the command of Colonel William Thornton, the regiment accompanied by detachments from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines,[6][7][8] carried out a successful attack on the American positions on the west bank of the Mississippi River during the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815.[9] Casualties among the regiment were: 2 dead, 1 captured and 41 wounded.[9] The regiment returned home later that year.[3]
The Victorian era
The regiment was dispatched to Malta and became the 85th (or The Duke of York's Own) Regiment of Light Infantry (Bucks Volunteers) in April 1821.[2] After that it transferred to Gibraltar and became the 85th, or The King's Regiment of Light Infantry (Bucks Volunteers) in August 1827.[2] The regiment went back to Malta in 1828 and then returned home in 1831.[3] It embarked for Canada in 1838 as part of the response to the rebellions in Lower and Upper Canada and then transferred to the West Indies in 1843 before returning home in 1846.[3] The regiment was posted to Mauritius in 1853 and South Africa in 1856 before returning home again in 1863.[3] It embarked for India in 1868 and was deployed to Afghanistan for service in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878.[3] After returning to India, it took part in operations against the Zaimukhts and was involved in the destruction of their capital, Zawa, in 1879.[5]
^ abBurnham, Robert; McGuigan, Ron (2010). The British Army against Napoleon. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Frontline Books. p. 128. ISBN978-1-84832-562-3.
^"Correspondence from Cochrane, ADM 1/508 folio 757, states 'the whole amounting to about six hundred men'".
^Gleig, George (1840). "Recollections of the Expedition to the Chesapeake, and against New Orleans, by an Old Sub". United Service Journal (2). Gleig, on p340, uses the source document a report from Thornton to Pakenham 'we were unable to proceed across the river until eight hours after the time appointed, and even then with only a third part of the force which you had allotted for the service * viz 298 of the 85th, and 200 Seamen and Marines'
Patterson, Benton Rain (2008), The Generals, Andrew Jackson, Sir Edward Pakenham, and the road to New Orleans, New York: New York University Press, ISBN978-0-8147-6717-7
Further reading
Barratt, C.R.B. (1913). The 85th King's Light Infantry. Spottiswoode.
Robinson, Colonel William (1970). The History Of The Corps Of The King'S Shropshire Light Infantry. Volume II. The 85th Regiment, 1759-1881.
Kingdom of Great Britain (1793–1800)
United Kingdom (1801–1881)
British Army
