Name : Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Started : 1881 Ended : 1968 Previous Regiment Lineage(s) : ---------------------------------------- Tiffin's Regiment of Foot (1689 - 1702) Whetham's Regiment of Foot (1702 - 1725) Viscount Molesworth's Regiment of Foot (1725 - 1732) Hamilton's Regiment of Foot (1732 - 1737) Baron Blakeney's Regiment of Foot (1737 - 1751) 27th (Enniskillen) Regiment of Foot (1751 - 1840) 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot (1840 - 1881)
---------------------------------------- 3rd Madras (European) Regiment (1854 - 1859) 3rd Madras Infantry (1859 - 1862) 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot (1862 - 1881)
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Subsequent Regiment Lineage : ---------------------------------------- Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) (1968 - 1992) Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment) (1992 - Present)
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The regiment is composed of two battalions with very different histories. The 1st, the old 27th Foot, dates from 1689; the 2nd, the late 108th, was the 3rd Madras Europeans before it was amalgamated with the home army, and was third of its name, two other "108th" having existed between 1761 and 1763, and from 1797 to 1798.
The 27th Inniskillings was the result of a combination of three battalions of Foot raised for the defence of the town of Inniskilling in the Irish war, and took part also in the battles of Aughrim, the Boyne, and Limerick. It was transferred to Scotland in 1715 to meet the Jacobite rising, and embarked for the West Indies and Carthagena in 1741, when it lost 591 men out of 600. By this time its direct connection with Ireland had ceased. Its name had already, as far back as 1702, been the 27th Inniskillings, and in 1744 it was ordered to recruit from Yorkshire. A greater change can hardly be imagined.
From 1756 to 1757 it served in America and the West Indies, being present at the affair of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, in Canada, in Nova Scotia, Martinique, Grenada, and Havannah; but after a short return home it took part in the greater War of Independence, and shared in the battles of Brooklyn, White Plains, and Germanstown. During the rest of its service in the West up to 1785 it was present at the capture of St Lucia, the first name in the regimental battle roll, at Granada, and St Eustatia.
Under the Duke of York in 1792 it formed part of the army of Flanders, saw service at Nieuwport, Nimeguen, and Guildermalsen, was transferred to the West Indies under Abercromby, and again distinguished itself at St Lucia. In 1796, when the place fell, the victorious general, in appreciation of the valour of the Inniskillings, ordered that the French garrison "should lay down their arms to the 27th, and that their king's colour should fly from the flagstaff of Fort Morne Fortunee (the citadel of St Lucia) for one hour before the Union Jack was hoisted in its place." Returning home in 1787 it again came under the Duke of York's command in Holland, at Bergen, Egmont-op-Zee, and Alkmaar; after which it served at Quiberon, Ferrol, and Cadiz. Later on it was at the siege of Alexandria (earning the badge of "Egypt" with the Sphinx, the second name on the colours), in Naples, Sicily, and Calabria (where it did good work at Maida, the third name on the colours), on the east coast of Spain in 1811, and at Bordeaux in 1814.
Transferred to Canada, it took part in the expedition to Plattsburgh, and then reinforced the army at New Orleans; returning to Europe in time to add "Waterloo" to the list of honours. For its services in the Kaffir War of 1835 (its gallant and arduous defence of its camp in Natal against the insurgent Boers) was also added "South Africa, 1835", and for the Second Kaffir War "South Africa, 1841 - 47" to its battle-roll. Lastly, for its work in India (during the Mutiny), on its way to which country it was wrecked in the Charlotte off Port Elizabeth, with the loss of ninety-eight souls - men, women, and children - it added the last of its titles, "Central India", to a most honourable record. But the "Old Inniskillings" records the work of other battalions than the 1st, which the previous brief story marks.
A 2nd battalion was formed in 1800, and served at Quiberon, Ferrol, and Cadiz, and also at Aboukir Bay and Alexandria; but it disappeared after the Peace of Amiens. Another 2nd battalion was formed on the outbreak of hostilities, did duty in Naples and Calabria, and finally served in Spain. It was disbanded in 1816. A 3rd battalion was raised in 1805 in Ireland; but, curiously enough, was embodied in Scotland. It embarked for the Peninsula in 1808, joined Wellington the next year, and distinguished itself at Albuhera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, St Sebastian, the Bidassoa, the Pyrenees, the Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse. It also shared in the campaign of Canada, and was disbanded in 1816.
The present 2nd battalion served under the East India Company as the "3rd Madras Europeans", which did good service in Central India during the Mutiny. The regiment is the only one in service that carries the "old Irish warpipes". The badges are "Egypt" with the Sphinx, the Castle of Innsikilling with St George's colour flying, and the word "Inniskilling", and the white horse of Hanover with "Nec aspera terrent".
The affiliated militia battalions are the Fermanagh, which formerly had the motto "Ut prodie", and has headquarters at Enniskillen; the Royal Tyrone, the oldest Fusilier Militia battalion, with headquarters at Omagh; and the Donegal (Lifford). Being an Irish regiment, there are no Volunteer battalions attached to it. The names of the "Old Munster" and the "Limps" seem to have been applied to the 2nd battalion rather than to the 1st, which apparently has had no special nicknames. The depot is at Omagh.
Extract from "The British Army and Auxiliary Forces" Colonel C. Cooper King, R.M.A. , 1894.
