Historical Record of the Eighteenth, or the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1684, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1848.Cannon, Richard
History
Historical Record of the Eighteenth, or the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot: Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1684, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1848.
Cannon, Richard
Great Britain. Army -- History; Great Britain. Army. Regiment of Foot, 18th (Royal Irish)
The same confidence was placed in this regiment by King William
during the campaigns in Flanders from 1691 to 1697, for which the
most distinguished honours were conferred by His Majesty on the
corps on account of its heroic services.
In the war of the Spanish Succession, during the reign of Queen
Anne, from 1702 to 1712, the EIGHTEENTH, ROYAL IRISH, regiment is
recorded as having shared in the numerous sieges and victories
under the Duke of Marlborough, as detailed in the Regimental Record.
After the cessation of hostilities by the Treaty of Utrecht, in
1713, the services of the regiment were equally efficient and
useful in the British possessions, particularly at the island of
Minorca, from whence it proceeded in 1727 to Gibraltar, when the
Spaniards again besieged that fortress.
The ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT was again employed in Flanders during the
war of the Austrian Succession, from 1743 to 1748.
The regiment shared also in the arduous duties of the British
troops employed during the early part of the American war, which
commenced in 1775.
The next important service on which the EIGHTEENTH, ROYAL
IRISH, regiment was engaged, was the ever-memorable campaign of
the British army in Egypt, which succeeded in repelling from
that country the French army, which had vainly styled itself
"invincible," and through the efforts of which Napoleon Bonaparte
intended to open a route to India, and thereby disturb, if not
annihilate, the British possessions in Asia.
After returning from Egypt, the services of this valuable regiment
were employed in guarding the colonial possessions in the West
Indies for a period of twelve years, during which the British army
acquired additional honours and distinctions by its services in the
Peninsula, which terminated in 1814, and afterwards by the decisive
battle and overthrow of the French army at Waterloo.
The EIGHTEENTH was employed on garrison duty from 1821 to 1832 in
the islands of the Mediterranean.
In 1837 the regiment was embarked for Ceylon, and in 1840 it formed
part of the expedition to the Chinese seas, and by its gallantry
eventually compelled the government of the "_Celestial empire_" to
cede a portion of territory to the British Crown, and to pay an
indemnity for losses sustained: the word _China_ and the device of
the _Dragon_, authorized by Her Majesty to be borne on the colours
and appointments of the regiment, are proud memorials of its
services in this distant scene of warfare, which was a novel arena,
not only to the EIGHTEENTH, but to European troops generally. The
regiment was again employed during the military operations on the
Canton river in 1847, and towards the close of that year proceeded
to the East Indies.
After a service of twelve years in the eastern parts of the world,
the EIGHTEENTH, ROYAL IRISH, regiment has received instructions to
be prepared to return to its native country, on being relieved by
the _ninety-sixth_ regiment from the New South Wales Colony.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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