58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot
History
In 1755, with the Seven Years War (1756-63) about to break out, Britain needed a larger army. One of the regiments raised that year was given the number 60, raising to 58 the following year when two older regiments were disbanded.
Its first overseas posting came in 1757 to North America. It was then shipped straight from there to join the invasion force against the Spanish colony of Cuba in 1762, although the French captured eight companies en route.
It returned to Britain later in 1762, moving to Ireland for seven years the following year. In 1770 it began a 14-year spell in Gibraltar, which included the Great Siege during the American War of Independence (1775-83). For its services there it was granted Gibraltar’s insignia as its cap badge. In 1782 the regiment was given a county association with Rutlandshire.
It first engagements of the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1803) came during two years in the West Indies from 1793. In 1798 it returned to Gibraltar and then moved to Minorca, before joining the British force in Egypt in 1801. This service earned it a Sphinx on its insignia.
In 1804 the regiment raised a 2nd Battalion. The regiment’s original troops were renamed 1st Battalion and spent 1805 to 1812 in Sicily and mainland Italy, where they fought at Maida (1806).
2nd Battalion's first overseas deployment was to Lisbon in 1809 during the Peninsular War (1808-14). It went on to fight in several battles including Salamanca (1812), Burgos (1812) and Nivelle (1813). In 1812 1st Battalion also arrived in the Peninsula, briefly serving on the east coast before being sent to join the War of 1812 (1812-15) in Canada later that same year.
The Battle of Salamanca, 1812The Battle of Salamanca, 1812
NAM. 1971-02-33-347
By December 1812 2nd Battalion had suffered such heavy losses that it had to send six companies back to Britain to re-recruit. The other four stayed in Spain as part of a 3rd Provisional Battalion. That battalion broke up in 1814 and 2nd Battalion’s ten companies re-grouped in Britain, only to be disbanded the following year. 1st Battalion arrived in the Netherlands in 1815, but too late for Waterloo. It spent the following decade garrisoning Ireland, Jamaica and England.
The regiment spent 11 years in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1828 and then escorted convict ships from Britain to New South Wales in 1843. It remained in Australia for two years before a 14-year posting in New Zealand that included service during the First Maori War (1846-47). Several men retiring from the regiment opted to stay in New Zealand when the 58th left in 1859. Home service in Britain and Ireland then followed before a 10-year stint of garrison duty in India from 1864.
Its final overseas posting as an independent unit was to South Africa in 1879, where it fought in the Zulu War (1879) and the Transvaal War (1880-81) against the Boers. During the latter conflict it served at Laing’s Nek on 28 January 1881, where it was the last British regiment ever to carry its Colours into action. Only four months later, in July 1881, the regiment merged with the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot to form The Northamptonshire Regiment.
Uniform
Ranks
Officers:
Captain
Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
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Cpt
Lt
2ndLt
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Officers:
Colour Serjeant
Serjeant
Corporal
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CSjt
Sjt
Cpl
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Lance Corporal
Private
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LCpl
Pte
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Roster
| | | | | | | Officers:
Captain
Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Non-Commissioned
Officers:
Colour Serjeant
Serjeant
Serjeant
Corporal
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John Hedges
Grylls
Luke Hepty
Wintson Hunter
Charles Barker
Duncan Jones
James MacKay
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Lance Corporal
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
Private
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Nathan McGregor
Stingers
Moon
Pedo
Chief
Rezorekt
Takashi
Robinz
Leon
Random
Willam Bush
Stuart Wesley
Thomas Wallace
harry turtle
Warlord
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Enlistment
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Big thanks to Hobbit for helping me with the post!
