View source for 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot

{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
| image=46th Foot colours.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=Colours of the 46th Regiment
|dates=1741–1881
|country={{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}} (1741–1800)<br>{{flag|United Kingdom}} (1801–1881)
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|type=[[Infantry of the Line|Line Infantry]]
|role=[[Light Infantry]]
|size=One [[battalion]] (two battalions 1800–1802)
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=''The Red Feathers'', ''Murray's Bucks'', ''The Surprisers'', ''The Lacedemonians''.
|motto=
|colors= Light Yellow Facing, Silver Braided Lace
|march=
|mascot=
|battles= [[Jacobite rising of 1745|Jacobite rising]]<br>[[French and Indian War]]<br>[[American Revolutionary War]]<br>[[Napoleonic Wars]]<br>[[Crimean War]]
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}
The '''46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot''' was an infantry [[regiment]] of the [[British Army]], raised in 1741. Under the [[Childers Reforms]] it amalgamated with the [[32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot]] to form the [[Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry]] in 1881, becoming the 2nd Battalion of the new regiment.
==History==
===Early wars===
[[File:Soldier of 46th regiment 1742.jpg|thumb|Soldier of 46th regiment, 1742]]
[[File:Dominic Serres - The Capture of Havana.jpg|thumb|left|[[Morro Castle (Havana)|Morro Castle]] before the British attack in July 1762, by [[Dominic Serres]]]]
The regiment was raised in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] by [[John Price (British Army officer)|John Price]] as '''John Price's Regiment of Foot''' in 1741.<ref name=regiments>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/046-751.htm |title=46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot |publisher=regiments.com |access-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022111226/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/046-751.htm |archive-date=22 October 2007 }}</ref> The regiment proceeded to [[Scotland]] and took part in the [[Battle of Prestonpans]] in September 1745 during the [[Jacobite rising of 1745|Jacobite rising]].<ref>Cannon, p. 6</ref> It was ranked as the 57th Regiment of Foot in 1747 but re-ranked as the '''46th Regiment of Foot''' in 1751.<ref name=regiments/> After eight years' service in [[Ireland]], the regiment embarked for [[Nova Scotia]] in May 1757 for service in the [[French and Indian War]].<ref name=cannon11>Cannon, p. 11</ref> The regiment saw action at the [[Battle of Carillon|assault on Fort Ticonderoga]] in July 1758<ref name=cannon11/> the [[Battle of Fort Niagara|assault and capture of Fort Niagara]] in July 1759<ref name="Cannon, p. 13">Cannon, p. 13</ref> and the [[Montreal Campaign]] in August to September 1760.<ref name="Cannon, p. 13"/>
The regiment then moved to the [[West Indies]] in October 1761 and took part in the [[Invasion of Martinique (1762)|capture of Martinique]] in January 1762,<ref>Cannon, p. 17</ref> the [[Morro Castle (Havana)|storming of Morro Castle]] in July 1762<ref>Cannon, p. 18</ref> and the [[Battle of Havana (1762)|capture of Havana]] in August 1762.<ref>Cannon, p. 19</ref> The regiment returned home in 1767.<ref>Cannon, p. 20</ref>
[[File:Battle of Paoli.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Battle of Paoli]], at which the regiment earned their nickname the ''Red Feathers'', in September 1777, by Xavier della Gatta]]
The regiment arrived at in [[North Carolina]] in April 1776 for service in the American War of Independence/[[American Revolutionary War]].<ref name=cannon21>Cannon, p. 21</ref> It fought at the [[Battle of Sullivan's Island]] in June 1776,<ref>{{cite book|last=Morrill|first=Dan|title=Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution|publisher=Nautical & Aviation Publishing|year=1993|location=Baltimore, MD|isbn=978-1-877853-21-0|oclc=231619453|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/southerncampaign00morr|page=19}}</ref> [[Battle of Long Island]] in August 1776,<ref name=cannon21/> the [[Battle of White Plains]] in October 1776<ref name=cannon22>Cannon, p. 22</ref> and the [[Battle of Fort Washington]] in November 1776.<ref name=cannon22/> It saw further action during the [[Philadelphia campaign]] at the [[Battle of Brandywine]] in September 1777<ref>Cannon, p. 23</ref> the [[Battle of Paoli]] also in September 1777<ref name=cannon24>Cannon, p. 24</ref> and the [[Battle of Germantown]] in October 1777.<ref name=cannon24/> It was following the British attack on the Americans at Paoli, where the light company of the regiment took no prisoners and the Americans demanded vengeance, that the regiment decided to insert identifying red feathers in their [[shako]] caps to prevent anyone else suffering on their account: hence the nickname ''the Red Feathers''.<ref name=cannon25>Cannon, p. 25</ref> The regiment went on to fight at the [[Battle of Monmouth]] in June 1778<ref name=cannon25/> and [[Grey's raid|operations against New Bedford and Martha's Vineyard]] in September 1778.<ref>Cannon, p. 26</ref> It sailed for the West Indies in November 1778 and took part in the [[Battle of St. Lucia|attack on Saint Lucia]] and the [[Capture of St. Lucia|Battle of Vigie]] in December 1778.<ref>Cannon, p. 27</ref> The regiment returned to England and was renamed the '''46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot''' in 1782.<ref name=regiments/>
===Napoleonic Wars===
[[File:46th Foot uniform.jpg|thumb|Regimental uniform of the 46th Regiment of Foot, c. 1850]]
The regiment embarked for the West Indies in November 1794<ref>Cannon, p. 30</ref> and helped suppress an [[Second Carib War|insurrection by caribs]] on [[Saint Vincent (Antilles)|Saint Vincent]] before returning home in November 1796.<ref>Cannon, p. 34</ref> It returned to the West Indies in April 1804 and, fighting alongside the [[West India Regiment|1st West India Regiment]] in February 1805, defended [[Dominica]] against a French force for over a week until the French abandoned the attack; hence the regiment's first battle honour "Dominica".<ref>Burnham, p. 238</ref> The regiment took part in another action when in May 1806 when 40 of its soldiers boarded the [[packet boat]] ''Duke of Montrose'' and set out in pursuit of the French privateers [[HMS Dominica (1805)|''Napoleon'']] and [[French schooner Impériale (1805)|''Impériale'']]: they captured the ''Impériale'' and its crew.<ref>Cannon, p. 45</ref> The regiment took part in the [[Invasion of Martinique (1809)|invasion of Martinique]] in February 1809 and then returned to England in December 1811.<ref>Cannon, p. 47</ref>
===Colonial Australia===
The regiment embarked for [[Colony of New South Wales|New South Wales]] in August 1813: they were stationed at [[Hobart]] on [[Tasmania|Van Diemens Land]] with orders to suppress a gang of [[bushranger]]s.<ref>Cannon, p. 50</ref> In April 1816, Governor [[Lachlan Macquarie]] issued orders for the regiment to undertake [[punitive expedition]]s against [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal groups]] in the Nepean, Hawkesbury and Grose River valleys in New South Wales. The regiment was to take as many prisoners as they could; if anyone refused to surrender, the soldiers were to "fire upon and compel them to surrender, breaking and destroying the spears, clubs and waddies of all those you take prisoners". Furthermore, if the soldiers did kill anyone, Macquarie ordered their bodies to be "hanged up on trees in conspicuous situations, to strike the survivors with greater terror".<ref>Macquarie, "Instructions to Schaw, Wallis and Dawe", April 1816, in Tasmanian Archives, Reel 6045, pp 152-155.</ref> The orders issued by Macquarie would then be replicated by other colonial officials in Australia during the [[Australian frontier wars]] of the 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last=Connor|first=John|year=2002|title=The Australian Frontier Wars |publisher=UNSW Press |isbn= 978-0868407562}}</ref> The regiment then sailed for [[Chennai|Madras]] in September 1817<ref>Cannon, p. 52</ref> and, after a tour on the [[Indian subcontinent]], returned to England in March 1833.<ref>Cannon, p. 58</ref>
===The Victorian era===
The regiment was sent to the [[Crimea]] in summer 1854 and saw action at the [[Battle of Alma]] in September 1854, the [[Battle of Balaclava]] in October 1854 and the [[Battle of Inkerman]] in November 1854 as well as the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55)|Siege of Sebastopol]] in winter 1854.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/46th-south-devonshire-regiment-foot|title=46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot|publisher=National Army Museum|access-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229184146/http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/46th-south-devonshire-regiment-foot|archive-date=29 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
As part of the [[Cardwell Reforms]] of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 46th was linked with the [[32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot]], and assigned to district no. 35 at [[Victoria Barracks, Bodmin]].<ref name=training>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210172841/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 February 2006|title=Training Depots|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> On 1 July 1881 the [[Childers Reforms]] came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot to form the [[Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry]], becoming the 2nd Battalion (with the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot becoming the 1st Battalion).<ref name=regiments/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://riflesmuseum.co.uk/?cat=195 |title=Image of a Light Infantry Company Soldier c.1771|publisher= The Rifles Museum|access-date=22 April 2018}}</ref>
==Battle Honours==
Battle honours were:<ref>Chant, p. 144</ref><ref name=regiments/>
*Dominica (1805)
*Crimean War: [[Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)|Sevastopol]]
==Colonels==
Colonels of the regiment were:<ref name=regiments/>
*1741–1743: Brig-Gen. [[John Price (British Army officer)|John Price]]
*1743–1764: Lt-Gen. Hon. [[Thomas Murray (British Army officer)|Thomas Murray]]
===The 46th Regiment of Foot - (1748)===
*1764–1775: [[William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe|Gen. Sir William (Howe), 5th Viscount Howe]], KB
*1775–1795: [[John Vaughan (British Army officer, died 1795)|Lt-Gen. Hon. Sir John Vaughan]], KB
===The 46th (South Devon) Regiment - (1782)===
*1795–1804: [[James Henry Craig|Gen. Sir James Henry Craig]], KB
*1804–1816: Gen. [[John Whyte (British Army officer)|John Whyte]]
*1816–1838: Gen. [[Henry Wynyard]]
*1838–1839: Lt-Gen. Sir [[John Keane, 1st Baron Keane]], GCB, GCH
*1839–1843: Lt-Gen. [[John Ross (British Army officer, died 1843)|John Ross]], CB
*1843–1853: Gen. [[John Dalrymple, 8th Earl of Stair|Sir John Hamilton Dalrymple, Bt.]], later 8th [[Earl of Stair]], KT
*1853–1854: Lt-Gen. [[Richard Egerton]], CB
*1854–1860: Gen. Sir [[John Pennefather]], GCB
*1860: Lt-Gen. John Geddes, KH
*1860–1861: Gen. [[Thomas Gerrard Ball]]
*1861–1870: Lt-Gen. [[Charles Ash Windham|Sir Charles Ash Windham]], KCB
*1870:Lt-Gen. Edward Hungerford Delaval Elers Napier
*1870–1881: Gen. [[Charles Stuart (British Army officer, born 1810)|Charles Stuart]]
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Sources==
* {{cite book|last=Burnham|first=Bob|title=The British Army Against Napoleon: Facts, Lists and Trivia, 1805-1815|publisher=Frontline|year=2010|isbn=978-1848325623}}
* {{cite book|last=Cannon|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Cannon| title=Historical Record of the Forty-Sixth, or the South Devonshire Regiment of Foot|year=1851|location=London|publisher=Parker, Furnivall and Parker|url=https://archive.org/stream/histrecordforty00canniala#page/n3/mode/2up}}
* {{cite book|last=Chant|first=Christopher|title=The Handbook of British Regiments |publisher=Routledge Revivals|year=2013|isbn=978-0415710763}}
{{The Rifles}}
{{Regiments of Foot}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:46th (South Devonshire) Regiment Of Foot}}
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1741]]
[[Category:Military units and formations in Devon]]
[[Category:Regiments of the British Army in the Crimean War]]
[[Category:Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1881]]
[[Category:Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry]]