History
The regiment was raised in Ireland by Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredyth as Meredyth's Regiment in February 1702. It embarked for the Netherlands in May 1703 and fought under the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704, the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704 and the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706 as well as the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The regiment embarked for Canada in 1711 as part of the Quebec Expedition but lost 8 officers and 253 men when the ships in which it was sailing foundered on the rocks on the Saint Lawrence River; the expedition returned home. It was also in action at the Capture of Vigo in October 1719.
The regiment next saw action at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession. It also fought at the Battle of Falkirk in January 1746 during the Jacobite rebellion when its colonel, Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet, was shot and then finished off with three sword blows to the head. It went on to fight under the command of Colonel Lewis Dejean at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746 and was ranked the 37th Foot in 1747. The regiment returned to the Netherlands and fought at the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747.
On 1 July 1751 a royal warrant was issued which provided that in future regiments would no longer be known by their colonel's name, but would bear a regimental number based on their precedence: the regiment became the 37th Regiment of Foot. The second battalion became the 75th Regiment of Foot in 1758.
