| 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot | |
|---|---|
 Colours of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot | |
| Active | 1702–1881 |
| Country |  Kingdom of England (1702–1707)
 United Kingdom (1801–1881) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Garrison/HQ | Carlisle Castle |
| Nickname | Cumberland Gentlemen[1] |
| Engagements | War of the Spanish Succession Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War Napoleonic Wars Upper Canada Rebellion Crimean War Indian Rebellion |
The34th Regiment of Foot was aninfantryregiment of theBritish Army, raised in 1702. Under theChilders Reforms it amalgamated with the55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form theBorder Regiment in 1881.
The regiment was raised inEast Anglia by ColonelLord Lucas asLord Lucas's Regiment of Foot in February 1702 to fight in theWar of Spanish Succession.[2] The regiment embarked forSpain in May 1702[3] and took part in thesiege of Barcelona in September 1705.[4] The regiment was then garrisoned atTortosa before returning to England in spring 1707.[5] The regiment then embarked forFrance in July 1708 and fought at thesiege of Lille in autumn 1708,[6] the siege ofDouai in spring 1709[7] and thesiege of Bouchain in summer 1711.[8] The regiment returned to England after theTreaty of Utrecht and was disbanded in spring 1713.[9] The regiment was reformed without loss of precedence in 1715.[2] It sailed in September 1719 and took part in thecapture of Vigo in October 1719 during theWar of the Quadruple Alliance and then returned home later in the year.[10]
The regiment embarked forFlanders in June 1744 and saw action at theBattle of Fontenoy in May 1745 during theWar of the Austrian Succession.[11] It was ordered home in September 1745 as part of the government response to theJacobite rebellion[12] and were in the right wing of the front line at theBattle of Culloden in April 1746.[13] In 1751 a royal warrant declared that regiments should no longer be known by the name of their colonel, but their number in the order of precedence, and Conway's duly became the34th Regiment of Foot.[2]
Posted toMenorca in 1755, the regiment deployed a detachment of 26 officers, 29 sergeants, 19 Drummers, and 678 other ranks as part ofLord Blakeney's garrison (with the4th,23rd and24th Regiments).[14] As such they were besieged by a larger French force under MarshalDuke De Richelieu and retreated toFort St Phillip. After a defence of two months' duration, at one point watching themselves being abandoned by the fleet underAdmiral Byng, the British forces capitulated and retreated toGibraltar.[15] A second battalion was formed in 1757 to serve as marines.[2] The regiment then took part in theraid on St Malo in June 1758, theraid on Cherbourg in August 1758 and theBattle of Saint Cast in September 1758.[16]
The regiment departed with theBritish expedition against Cuba and was part of the besieging force which tookFort Morro in July 1762 andHavana in August 1762.[17] The following year it proceeded toFlorida, which had been ceded by Spain to the United Kingdom, before returning to England in 1768.[17]
The regiment was dispatched toCanada in spring 1776 and, while participating in numerous small skirmishes, drove out the American forces and forced them to abandonFort Ticonderoga in July 1777.[18] A detachment of the regiment under the command of Lieutenant ColonelBarry St. Leger also took part in the unsuccessful siege ofFort Stanwix.[19] Captain Alexander Fraser, a veteran of theFrench and Indian War serving with the regiment, commanded what became known as the Company of Select Marksmen and saw action as skirmishers during theSaratoga campaign in autumn 1777.[20] A number of other officers and other ranks, including Lieutenant Bright Nodder, were captured by the American forces and held as part of theConvention Army.[21]
On 31 October 1780 thebrig-sloopHMSOntario was foundered during a violent storm and was sunk east ofFort Niagara onLake Ontario with the loss of 80 lives including one officer, 34 other ranks, four women and five children from the regiment.[22] The resting site of HMSOntario remained a mystery until 2008 when the nearly pristine brig "was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 20 metres above the lake bottom", in approximately 150 meters of water "off the southern shore".[23]
The regiment was granted the county title as the34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot in 1782[2] but did not return to England until 1786.[19]
The regiment was posted to theWest Indies in February 1795 and was based inSaint Lucia where it defended the island from French forces and then suppressed a rebellion inSaint Vincent.[24] The regiment returned to England in July 1797.[25] It was posted to theCape of Good Hope in 1800 and toIndia in 1802.[26] It remained in India campaigning against theMaratha Empire for nineteen years before returning home.[27]
A second battalion of the regiment was raised in 1804 serving in England andJersey,[28] and embarked forPortugal in July 1809 for service in thePeninsular Campaign of theNapoleonic Wars.[29] The 2nd battalion took part in thesiege of Badajoz in spring 1811[30] and theBattle of Albuera, (order of battle) during which the regimental colours were successfully recovered after the colour-bearer was shot, in May 1811.[31] The battalion captured the drums and the Drum Major's mace of the French 34e Régiment at theBattle of Arroyo dos Molinos in October 1811.[32] It went on to fight at thesiege of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812,[33] theBattle of Almaraz in May 1812[33] and theBattle of Vitoria in June 1813.[34] It then pursued the French Army into France fighting at theBattle of the Pyrenees in July 1813,[35] theBattle of Nivelle in November 1813[36] and theBattle of the Nive in December 1813[37] as well as theBattle of Orthez in February 1814[37] and theBattle of Toulouse in April 1814.[37] The battalion then embarked forIreland in July 1814.[38]
In August 1829 the regiment was posted toCanada.[39] A detachment from the regiment fought AmericanHunters' Lodges at theBattle of Windsor in December 1838 during theUpper Canada Rebellion.[40] The regiment embarked for the journey back to England in June 1841.[41] The regiment was then engaged suppressingChartist riots in the North of England in 1842.[42] The regiment next saw action at thesiege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during theCrimean War.[43] It also fought at thesiege of Cawnpore in June 1857 and thesiege of Lucknow in autumn 1857 during theIndian Rebellion.[43]
As part of theCardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 26th was linked with the55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 2 atCarlisle Castle.[44] On 1 July 1881 theChilders Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form theBorder Regiment.[2]
Battle honours won by the regiment were:[2]
Victoria Crosses awarded to men of the regiment were:
Colonels of the regiment were:[2]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)