| 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1793–1881 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Great Britain (1793–1800) United Kingdom (1801–1881) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | One battalion (two battalions 1793–1795, 1808–1819) |
| Garrison/HQ | Pontefract Barracks,Yorkshire |
| Nicknames | The Young and Lovelies The Tigers |
| Engagements | French Revolutionary Wars Third Anglo-Maratha War Napoleonic Wars Indian Rebellion |
The84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot was a regiment in theBritish Army, raised in 1793. Under theChilders Reforms it amalgamated with the65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot to form theYork and Lancaster Regiment, with the 84th becoming the2nd Battalion, in 1881.
The regiment was raised atYork by Lieutenant ColonelGeorge Bernard as the84th Regiment of Foot, in response to the threat posed by theFrench Revolution, on 2 November 1793.[1] A short-lived 2nd Battalion was raised in March 1794.[1] The 1st Battalion was sent to join theDuke of York's army in theNetherlands in September 1794 as part of the unsuccessful defence of that country against the Republican French during theFlanders Campaign.[2] Returning to Britain in the spring of 1795, both battalions of the 84th were posted to theCape of Good Hope in 1795 where they were amalgamated.[2] From South Africa, the regiment was sent toMadras inIndia in 1798 and on toBombay in February 1799.[2]
A second battalion was raised again in May 1808 and the regiment became the84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot (reflecting the fact that the 1st Battalion had been raised inYorkshire and the 2nd Battalion had been raised inLancashire) in January 1809.[3] The 1st Battalion was sent to theFrench held island ofMauritius in theIndian Ocean where they participated in the capture of the island in 1810.[2] After this the battalion served inBangalore for the next four years. From there they were involved in the recapturing ofKurnool in 1815 and against theMahratta princes in the last stages of theThird Anglo-Maratha War.[2] The battalion returned to England in 1819 where it absorbed the 2nd Battalion.[2]
Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion took part in the disastrousWalcheren Campaign in autumn 1809.[2] The battalion embarked forPortugal for service in thePeninsular War in August 1813.[2] Pursuing the French Army into France, it saw action at theBattle of the Bidassoa in October 1813, theBattle of Nivelle in November 1813 and theBattle of the Nive in December 1813.[2] The battalion returned to England, where it was absorbed by the 1st Battalion in 1819.[4]
Detachments boardedHMSDromedary andHMSCoromandel as escorts for convicts bound forVan Diemen's Land andNew South Wales in 1820. Both ships continued to New Zealand to harvest kauri trees for use as spars for first rate (98 gun) Royal Navy warships. Two officers and a detachment of the regiment remained on HMSDromedary for the eleven month expedition to the Bay of Islands andWhangaroa.[5] The battalion was sent toJamaica, where it helped quell the slave riots, in 1827.[2] The regiment remained in theWest Indies until 1839 when it returned home.[6]
The regiment was sent toBurma in 1842 and to India in 1845.[2] The regiment was involved in theSiege of Cawnpore and theRelief of Lucknow during theIndian Rebellion. GeneralJames Outram wrote of the regiment:
A private letter is hardly a proper medium for giving expression to the strong feelings I bear to the glorious old 84th, but the feelings I do bear it are very strong, and every officer, non-commissioned officer and private of the Corps is, and ever shall be, my comrade and my friend![7]
After Cawnpore and Lucknow were recaptured the regiment was involved in the protection of the countryside under Brigadier John Douglas who wrote:
I did not think of the smallness of my force opposed to three separate bodies, each doubling it, when I remembered it was the 84th I had with me![8]
The regiment was the only formation ever to receive a salute from the battery at Fort William,Calcutta and received that acclaim when it left India in 1859.[9] It was deployed toMalta in 1865 and toJamaica in 1867 before going on toHalifax, Nova Scotia in 1870.[2] It returned home in 1871.[2]
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 84th was linked with the65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 7 atPontefract Barracks inYorkshire.[10] On 1 July 1881 theChilders Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot to form theYork and Lancaster Regiment, with the 84th becoming the2nd Battalion.[1]
The 84th Foot had sixVictoria Crosses awarded to men serving in its ranks all won during theIndian Mutiny :
Battle honours won by the regiment were:[1]
Colonels of the Regiment were:[1]