9th Regiment of Foot, East Norfolk

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Surname/tag: Military_and_War

9th Regiment of Foot (East Norfolk)

The history of the Regiment can be found in the Historical Record of the Ninth, or the East Norfolk, Regiment of Foot, by Richard Cannon.

The origins of the regiment are with the appointment of Captain Henry Cornwall of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, on the 19 June 1685, to raise a Regiment of Foot in response to the Rebellion by James Duke of Monmouth. Cornwall set the general rendezvous at the city of Gloucester and the regiment mustered consisted of eleven companies of pikemen and musketeers, of three officers, three Sergeants, three corporals, two drummers, and one hundred private soldiers each. The companies were raised by and commanded by, under royal warrants dated 22 June: Colonel Henry Cornwall, Sir John Morgan, Richard Kidley, Esq., John Powell, Esq., Thomas Coxe, Esq., John Boothe, Esq., Jeremiah Bubbs, Esq., Sir Francis Edwards, Thomas Williams, Esq., Daniel Wicherly, Esq. and James Purcell, Esq.. The Regiment never saw action in the Rebellion but was retained to establishment.

The regiment fought in the Williamite War in Ireland, seeing action at the Battle of the Boyne and Battle of Aughrim, as well as the First Siege of Limerick (1690), and Second Siege of Limerick (1691) and Siege of Athlone in 1691. The Regiment remained, from 1692 to 1700, on duty at Cork, Ireland, following the war.

In the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714, the regiment initially found themselves deployed to the Duchy of Cleves, and encamped at Cranenburg, to cover the siege of Kayserswerth on the lower Rhine. They later fought in many of the engagements of the War, including the Battle of Almansa on the 25 April 1707 where the Regiment, out of 467 Officers and men, lost eight officers, and about a hundred men killed; fifteen officers and nearly two hundred men wounded. Following the battle the Regiment was returned to their headquarters at Cork where they remained until 1718. Between 1719 and 1749 the Regiment was on garrison duty in the Mediterranean, initially at Minorca and then from 1746 to 1749 at Gibraltar. In 1749 they returned to Ireland.

In the Seven Years War, the 9th were on garrison duty until 1761 when the deployed, under Major-General, Studholme Hodgson, for the Battle of Belle Île, a small island off the coast of Brittany, France in May 1761, where the Regiment will win its first Battle Honour. In 1762 they sailed with George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle in the British expedition against Cuba and took part in the siege and subsequent capture of Havana. Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and the end of the war they moved to garrison duty at St. Augustine, Florida. In 1769 they redeployed to Ireland.

In 1776 the Regiment was deployed to Canada and took part in the operations to drive the Americans from Canada. In 1777 they were at the siege of Fort Ticonderago. They were captured as part of the Saratoga Campaign and retained by the Americans, in violation of the conditions of the peace convention, until 1781, the Colours having been secreted in the baggage of Lieutenant Colonel Hill. 1783 saw the Regiment back in Britain, initially England, then Scotland in 1784 and then returned to Ireland.

1788 saw the Regiment bound for the West Indies and they were stationed on St. Kitts. While there they fought against the French and were at the capture of Tobago in 1793, Martinique, St. Lucia and Guadaloupe in 1794. They put down the revolt on Grenada in 1795. In 1798 they were returned to Britain and to spend their initial service at the Tower of London. For their service they were authorised. in 1799, to wear "BRITANNIA" in their badge.

Sep 1799 saw the Regiment in Flanders under the Duke Of York and immediately into action at the Battle of Bergen on the 19th, where the two battalions of the Ninth formed part of the column under Lieut.-General De Hermann. It should be noted that the Wikipedia article bears no resemblance to the Regimental Histories of those units that participated.  !800 saw the Regiment back in England, camped at Norwich and the to Gibraltar in anticipation of operations against the French in Egypt which were over before they got there and they returned to England. In 1802 the Regiment embarked for Ireland, landing at Kinsale. It was in Kilkenny in 1804 and then Dublin. In 1805 they were at Clonmel.

In Nov 1805 the 1st Battalion, in anticipation of joining the Army in Oennany, had embarked at Cork on the 10th. The fleet was dispersed in bad conditions and one, Ariadne, with the Headquarters on bard was wrecked on the coast of France. Two other ships were driven to England and only two made it to Germany. The Staff Officers of the Regiment and two hundred and sixty-two soldiers, were made prisoners of war.

1808 saw the Regiment deployed under Wellesley to Portugal and Galacia. They fought at Roliça and Vimiero and were awarded the Battle Honour Vimiera as a direct request from Wellesley. Following the retreat from Corunna the 9th buried Sir John Moore and were the last British regiment to leave Spanish soil. Their conduct during the whole course of this expedition procured for them the honour of bearing the word Corunna on their colours. In 1809 they were in LIsbon. The 1st Battalion then deployed to Holland while the 2nd participated at the Battle of Tarifa and was stationed in Gibraltar. In 1810 the Regiment was again combined under Wellesley, now Viscount Wellington, for operations in Spain. They fought at Bussaco in Sep. In Mar 1811 they stormed Casa Viejas on the 2nd of March; the French were driven from Vejer de la Frotera on the 3rd, and on the morning of the 5th, after a night march of sixteen hours, the army arrived at the heights of Barrosa. They were at the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in Jan 1812 and then Badajos and Torrecilla de la Orden in July. By the end of July they were back at Salamanca, where they gained the Battle Honour. Vittoria, where they won an Honour, the Siege of San Sebastián, where they stormed the redoubt of San Bartolomeo and lost seventy officers and soldiers killed and wounded, the storming of San Sebastián itself on the 31st of August 1813 where they lost four officers, five Sergeants and 42 rank and file killed and over 100 wounded with many to die later from wounds. St. Sebastian was added to the Colours. They were at Nive, where they won an Honour, in Dec 1813.

The end of the War saw the Regiment heading to Canada and the 1st Battalion was at Ottawa then Kingston in Oct. It was only a short stay and the Regiment was back in Europe as part of the Occupation Force after Waterloo. The 2nd Battalion disbanded and the 1st were stationed at St. Amand near Valenciennes in France.

1819 saw the Regiment back in the Caribbean on St. Lucia and Dominica. They were to remain there for eight years and in this time they lost eight officers and two hundred and seventy-one soldiers from disease. (Although Wikipedia suggest this happened in 1763 it is incorrect)

The Regiment was back in England, Manchester, Stockport, and Oldham, in 1827 and then Ireland in 1830 where it was stationed at Richmond barracks, Dublin. In 1831 they were in Limerick and then Cork in 1832. From 1833 to 1835 they were in Mauritius.

1834 saw them in India, initially Calcutta, but then station at Chinsurah until 1840 when they proceeded to Agra, Bengal.

In 1842 they saw action at Kabul in the First Anglo-Afghan War, and in the First Anglo-Sikh War they fought with exceptional valour at the Battle of Mudki, Battle of Ferozeshah and the Battle of Sobraon.

In the Crimean War, the regiment fought at the Siege of Sevastopol.

The 2nd battalion was raised once more in 1857, and was landed at Yokohama as part of the British intervention there in the 1860s. The battalion saw action on the North-West Frontier in 1877, and then in the Second Anglo-Afghan War fought at Kabul in 1879.

Following the Childers Reforms of 1881 the Regiment was combined into the Norfolk Regiment with two regular battalions and two militia battalions.