The Northamptonshire regiment, in Military Antique Prints and Reproductions art prints of The Northamptonshire Regiment's History.

The Northamptonshire Regiment      The battalions forming this regiment were linked before 1881, when they were territorialized under their present title.  They were the 48^th (Northamptonshire) and the 58^th (Rutlandshire) Regiments.  The first battalion was formed in 1741 as Cholmondeley’s Regiment, received its number in 1751, and the county title in 1782.  Its first recorded active service was in Flanders, where it fought at Val with heavy loss; and next it appears in America with the unfortunate expedition of Braddock against Fort Duquesne.  It was present at Cape Breton in 1756, at Louisburg in 1758, at the attack on Quebec in 1759, in the defence of the town the same year, at Sillery and Motreal, and at Martinique and Havannah, returning home in 1763.  The regiment served in the West Indies in 1794-96, at the capture of the French West Indian Islands and St. Lucia.  In 1809 it joined the army in Portugal, fought at the Douro, Talavera (when Wellesley said “that the day was saved by the advance, position, and steadiness of the 1^st battalion of the 48^th”). Badajoz and Albuhera, at Badajoz again, Salamanca, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, the Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse, after which it returned home and saw no further active service until 1834, when it took part in the Coorg campaign.  In 1855 it was despatched to Sevastopol, remaining until the end of the siege.

           A 2^nd battalion existed from about 1798 to 1802; another, formed in 1803, embarked for Portugal in 1809, and shared with the 1^st battalion and Peninsular battles above referred to up to Albuhera, when it returned home and was disbanded in 1814. 

           The 58^th, which now forms the 2^nd battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment, appears first in 1740, but became the 47^th in 1748.  The next of the number was enlisted in 1755 and became the 56^th; the third was numbered the 60^th in 1755and became the 58^th in 1757.  In that year it embarked for active service at Louisburg and Quebec, at Sillery and Montreal, and at Havannah in 1762.  It won the badge of the “Castle and Key” for its share in the gallant defence of Gibraltar from 1789 to 1793; took part in the reduction of the French West Indian Isles in 1794, was at the capture of Minorca in 1798, and after much service in the Mediterranean it accompanied Abercromby to Egypt and fought at Alexandria, Rosetta, Mandora, and Cairo.  Returning to the Mediterranean in 1805, the 58^th served at Naples, Sicily, Calabria, in the battle of Maida, etc.  And on the coast of Spain up to 1814; thence it was transferred to Canada, and formed part of the Plattsburg Expedition, after which it returned home too late for the battle of Waterloo, but shared in the occupation of Paris.  From 1823 to 1838 the regiment was stationed in Ceylon, helping to suppress the Kandian insurrection; in 1845-46 it took part in the New Zealand campaign; and between 1879 and 1881 formed part of the army in South Africa during the Zulu War and the Boer campaign.           A 2^nd battalion, formed in 1803, saw service at Salamanca, in Barnes’s Brigade at Vittoria, Pampeluna, and elsewhere, and at Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Bordeaux; by which time it had become so weakened in numbers that it was incorporated with the 1^st battalion.

           The 48^th had Buff, the 58^th black facings; but the latter had previously worn white then buff; now both have white.  The regiment has no new special badge; but the 48^th earned “Talavera” because of its bravery in that battle, and the 58^th “Gibraltor” with the castle, Key, and motto, and the Sphinx with “Egypt.”  The Horseshoe is the badge of the county of Rutland, and was worn by its Militia, as the St. George’s Cross-was by that of Northamptonshire.  The button has the castle and key, crowned, and the regimental name; the collar a laurel wreath and the title, crowned, with St. George’s Cross and the Horseshoe; the helmet-plate bears the castle and key with “Gibraltar” and “Talavera” and the title; the waist-plate has very much the same; the forage-cap the Castle and Key with “Gibraltar” and “Talavera.”

           The militia battalions are furnished by the Northampton and Rutland regiments; they date from 1761, and bear the Mediterranean distinction, and also add the Horseshoe and St. George’s cross to the regimental badges.  The volunteer battalion is the 1^st Northamptonshire, clad in grey with scarlet facings.           The nicknames of the 58^th are the “Black Cuffs” and the 2Steelbacks.”  The latter is said to be bestowed from their coolness in taking the floggings that were freely given in early days.  This is admirably described in “Nicknames and Traditions of the British Army” in the following words; “While serving under Wellington in the Peninsular War, one Hovenden, a private in the regiment, was ordered to be flogged for his share in a breach of discipline; at the twentieth lash he became so exhausted that he fainted.  So annoyed were his comrades that they would not recognise him.  Discovering the cause of their conduct, he marched on to the square where the colonel was standing and told him that he (the colonel) was a fool; for this he was again sentenced to be flogged.  During the night, while lying in his cell, the French attacked the regiment.  Evading the guard, he escaped from the scene of the conflict, only to see his colonel wounded and in the hands of the enemy.  Seizing a musket, he shot the Frenchman and liberated the colonel.  After binding up his wounds he left him, and was making his way back to the cell when a bullet struck him, and entering the cell he expired.  His desire to be flogged again was therefore not gratified.”           The depot was at Northampton.