List of regiments of foot

This is a list of numbered regiments of foot of the British Army from the mid-18th century until 1881, when numbering was abandoned. Foot was the contemporary term for infantry.

Introduction

Rank and numbering

Establishment of precedence

The rank of regiments of the English Army was first fixed during the Nine Years' War. Doubts as to the respective rank of regiments fighting in the Spanish Netherlands led William III to command a Board of General Officers meeting on 10 June 1694 to establish the order of precedence of the various units.

With the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 the British Army came into existence (see Creation of British Army). The order of seniority for the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. Scottish and Irish regiments were only allowed to take a rank in the English army from the date of their arrival in England or the date when they were first placed on the English establishment.

The rank or precedence of regiments was fixed by the following criteria:

English regiments, raised in England, should rank from their date of raising
English, Scots and Irish regiments, raised for service of a foreign power, should rank from the date that they came onto the English establishment Similarly, the Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. However, this regiment was placed as the second senior regiment as it entered the service of the Crown after the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. (The Coldstream answered by adopting the motto Nulli Secundus—Second to None.)

Numbering

While regiments were known by the name of their colonel, or by their royal title, the number of their rank was increasingly used. Thus, in the Cloathing Book of 1742, which illustrated the patterns of uniforms worn by the King's forces, the regiments of foot are designated simply by numbers.

The substitution of numbers for names was completed by a clothing regulation of 1747 and a royal warrant of 1751. The 1747 document, which used numbers for the regiments throughout, decreed that no colonel was "to put his Arms, Crest, Device or Livery on any part of the Appointments of the Regiment under his command." Furthermore, in the centre of the regiment's colours was to be "painted or embroidered in gold Roman characters the number of the Rank of the Regiment". The warrant, dated 1 July 1751, repeated the instructions of the 1747 regulation and provided that regiments should in future be known by their numbers only.

As the size of the army expanded and contracted during the various conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries, junior regiments were raised and disbanded. Accordingly, there were often a number of different regiments that bore the same number at different periods. Additionally, there were occasional partial renumberings. For instance, in 1816 the 95th (Rifle) Regiment of Foot was renamed the "Rifle Brigade", without a number. The existing 96th–103rd regiments were redesignated as the 95th–102nd.

Childers reforms

With modifications the numbers existed until 1881, when the Childers Reforms introduced "territorialisation". From 1 July 1881 the United Kingdom was divided into regimental districts, each allocated a two-battalion regiment, usually bearing a "county" title. Regimental numbers were abandoned: the 1st to 25th foot, which already had two battalions adopted new titles. The remaining regiments were paired to become the 1st or 2nd battalions of the new regiments. Two rifle regiments: the King's Royal Rifle Corps (ex 60th Foot) and the Rifle Brigade, who had four battalions each, recruited nationally.

Although the numbers were officially abolished in 1881, in some cases they continued to be used informally within the regiments. The regimental system introduced in 1881 was to last for more than seventy years. When new regiments were formed by amalgamation from 1958 onwards, the old regimental numbers were sometimes reintroduced into their titles. Examples are the 3rd East Anglian Regiment (16th/44th Foot), Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th/45th Foot).

Royal and subsidiary titles

The 1751 warrant confirmed the royal titles or other special designations of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 27th and 41st regiments.

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The names of the counties were added to the regimental titles in parentheses, ranging from the 3rd (Buffs – East Kent) Regiment of Foot to the 70th (Surrey) Regiment of Foot. In some cases more than one regiment was allocated to a county, for example, the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot and 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot. The attempt to link regimental areas to specific counties was found to be impractical, with regiments preferring to recruit from major centres of population. By June 1783 each regiment was again recruiting throughout the country, although the county names were to remain. In a few cases, affiliations were altered: for example the 14th and 16th Foot "exchanged" counties in 1809. The 60th Foot, which had some rifle battalions, was converted to rifles in 1824.

List of regiments of foot

1st–10th foot

{| class="wikitable"

!Number

!Titles

!Date of raising or coming onto establishment

!Fate

!Successor 2023

|align=center valign=middle|1

| 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot 1751–1812

1st Regiment of Foot (Royal Scots) 1812–1821

1st or the Royal Regiment of Foot 1821–1871

1st or the Royal Scots Regiment 1871–1881

| 1661 Raised 28 March 1633, in Scotland for French service. Was on English establishment in 1661 and in 1666–67; permanently from 1678.

| 1661 Raised 1 October 1661, as the Tangier Regiment

| 1665 Raised 1572 for service in Holland.

Came onto the English establishment in 1665 as the Holland Regiment.

| 1680 Raised 13 July 1680, as the 2nd Tangier Regiment.

| 1685 Raised 8 August 1674, as the Irish Regiment for Dutch service.

Came onto the English establishment in 1685.

| 1685 Raised 12 December 1673, in Ireland for Dutch service.

Came onto the English establishment temporarily in 1685 and permanently in 1688.

| 1685 Raised 11 June 1685, as the Ordnance Regiment, an escort to the artillery train. Became the Royal Regiment of Fuzileers in 1689.

| 1685 Raised 19 June 1685, as Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Foot.

| 1685 Raised 19 June 1685, as Henry Cornewall's Regiment of Foot.

| 1685 Raised 20 June 1685, as the Earl of Bath's Regiment of Foot.

| 1685 Raised 20 June 1685 as the Duke of Beaufort's Musketeers.

| 1685 Raised 20 June 1685 as the Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot.

13th (1st Somersetshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1822–1842

| 1685 Raised 20 June 1685 as the Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot.

14th (Buckinghamshire) Regiment of Foot 1809–1876

| 1685 Raised 22 June 1685 as Sir Edward Hales's Regiment of Foot.

| 1685 Raised 22 June 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot.

| 1688 Raised 10 September 1688 as Archibald Douglas's Regiment of Foot.

| 1688 Raised 27 September 1688 as Solomon Richard's Regiment of Foot.

| 1688 Raised in Ireland on 1 April 1684 as the Earl of Granard's Regiment of Foot. Placed on the English establishment in 1688.

| 1688 Raised 20 November 1688 as Francis Lutterell's Regiment of Foot.

| 1688 Raised 20 November 1688 as Sir Richard Peyton's Regiment of Foot.

| 1688 Raised 23 September 1678 as the Earl of Mar's Regiment.

| 1689 Raised 8 March 1689 as the Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot.

| 1689 Raised 16 March 1689 as Lord Herbert's Regiment of Foot.

| 1689 Raised 8 March 1689 as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot.

25th (King's Own Borderers) Regiment of Foot 1805–1881

| 1689 Raised 14 May 1689 as The Earl of Angus's Regiment of Foot.

| 1689 Raised 26 June 1689 as Zacharaiah Tiffin's Regiment of Foot.

| 1694 Raised as Sir John Gibson's Regiment of Foot 16 February 1694, disbanded 1697. Reraised 12 February 1702

| 1694 Raised as Thomas Farrington's Regiment of Foot 16 February 1694, disbanded 1698. Reraised 12 February 1702

| 1689 Raised 8 March 1689 as Viscount Castleton's Regiment of Foot, later (1694) Thomas Saunderson's Regiment of Foot. Disbanded 1698. Reraised 12 February 1702 as Thomas Saunderson's Regiment of Marines

| 1696

Reraised 14 April 1702 as George Villiers's Regiment of Marines. Converted to line infantry in 1714.

32nd (Cornwall) Light Infantry 1858–1881

| 1702 Raised 12 February 1702 as Edward Fox's Regiment of Marines. Converted to line infantry in 1715.

33rd (1st Yorkshire, West Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1853

33rd (The Duke of Wellington's) Regiment of Foot 1853–1881

| 1702 Raised 12 February 1702 as The Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot.

| 1702 Raised 12 February 1702 as Lord Lucas's Regiment of Foot.

35th (Sussex) Regiment of Foot 1805–1832

| 1702 Raised 10 May 1701 on the Irish Establishment as Viscount Charlemont's Regiment of Foot, on English Establishment in following year.

37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881

| 1702 Raised 13 February 1702 as Luke Lillingston's Regiment of Foot

| 1702 Raised 29 February 1702 as Richard Coote's Regiment of Foot

| 1717 Raised 25 August 1717 as Richard Philipps's Regiment of Foot

41st Regiment of Foot 1787–1831

41st (The Welsh) Regiment of Foot 1831–1881

| 1881: 1st Battalion, The Welsh Regiment

42nd (The Royal Highland) Regiment of Foot (The Black Watch) 1861–1881

| 1739

Six Independent Highland Companies raised 24 April 1725. The Earl of Craufurd's Regiment was formed 25 October 1739 by the regimentation of the independent companies.

| 1881: 1st Battalion, The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

| Royal Regiment of Scotland

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="3"|43

|Alexander Spotswood's Regiment (43rd), later Gooch's American Regiment

|colspan="3"| 1739 Raised by Alexander Spotswood in North America: on Spotswood's death in April 1740 William Gooch became colonel. After War of Jenkins' Ear was disbanded in 1742.

43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1803

43rd (Monmouthshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot

| 1741 Raised 1 March 1741 as Thomas Fowke's Regiment of Foot, ranked as 54th foot in 1747. Renumbered as 43rd in 1748/49 on disbandment of a number of regiments.

| 1741 Raised 7 January 1741 as James Long's Regiment of Foot. Ranked 55th, renumbered 44th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.

45th (Nottinghamshire Sherwood Foresters) Regiment of Foot 1866–1881

| 1741 Raised 11 January 1741 as Daniel Houghton's Regiment of Foot. Ranked 56th, renumbered 45th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.

| 1741 Raised 13 January 1741 as John Price's Regiment of Foot. Ranked 57th, renumbered 46th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.

| 1741 Raised 15 January 1741 as Sir John Mordaunt's Regiment of Foot. Ranked 58th, renumbered 47th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.

| 1741 Raised 31 January 1741 as James Cholmondeley's Regiment of Foot. Ranked 59th, renumbered 48th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.

49th (Hertfordshire - Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Regiment of Foot 1816–1881

| 1743 Raised 1743 as Edward Trelawney's Regiment of Foot. Ranked 63rd, renumbered 49th in 1748 on disbandment of ten regiments of marines.

| 1755 Raised 1755 as the 52nd Regiment of Foot. Renumbered as 50th Foot in 1757 following disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding, Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1809–1821

| 1755 Raised as 53rd Regiment of Foot 1755, renumbered 51st in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

52nd (Oxfordshire Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1803–1821

| 1755 Raised as 55th Regiment of Foot 1755, renumbered 53rd in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 1755 Raised 1755 as 56th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 54th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Border Regiment

| Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="3"|56

| 56th Regiment of Foot 1741–1748

| 1755 Raised 1755 as 58th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 56th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 1755 Raised 1755 as 59th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 57th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 1755 Raised 1755 as 60th Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 58th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 1755 Raised 1755 as 61st Regiment of Foot, renumbered as 59th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot 1757–1824

60th (The Duke of York's Own Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot 1824–1830

60th (The King's Royal Rifle Corps) Regiment of Foot 1830–1881

|Raised as 62nd (Royal American) Regiment of Foot in 1755, renumbered as 60th in 1757 on disbandment of existing 50th and 51st Foot.

| 61st Regiment of Foot 1742–1748

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment

| The Rifles

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="4"|62

| 62nd Regiment of Foot 1742–1748

| 1756 Raised as 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 62nd Regiment of Foot 1758.

| 1757 Raised as 2nd Battalion, 8th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 63rd Regiment of Foot 1758.

| 1881: 1st Battalion, The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire Regiment)

| Mercian Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="2"|65

| 65th Regiment of Foot (Shirley's) 1745–1749

65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881

66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881

67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot 1782–1881

68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot 1782–1812

68th (Durham - Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1812–1881

| 1756 Raised as 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 69th Regiment of Foot 1758.

| 1756 Raised as 2nd Battalion, 31st Regiment of Foot 1756, reconstituted as 70th Regiment of Foot 1758.

| 71st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769

| 72nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769

| 1778 Formed as 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1778 (or Seaforth's Highlanders), renumbered as 72nd 12 September 1786 on disbandment of a number of senior regiments.

| 1881: 1st Battalion, The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's)

| Royal Regiment of Scotland

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="5"|73

| 73rd Regiment of Foot 1745–1746||colspan=3|1745 Raised 1745 as Lord Cholmondeley's Regiment, ranked as 73rd Foot. Disbanded 1746.

| 73rd Regiment of Foot 1758–1763

| 73rd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Black Watch

| Royal Regiment of Scotland

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="5"|74

| 74th Regiment of Foot 1745–1746||colspan=3|1745 Raised 1745 as Lord Halifax's Regiment, ranked as 74th Foot. Disbanded 1746.

| 74th Regiment of Foot 1758–1763

| 74th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769

| 75th (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1764–1769

76th Regiment of Foot 1812–1881

|1787 Raised by Honourable East India Company for service in India.

|colspan="3"|1778 Raised 1778, renumbered 72nd in 1786.

| 79th (Royal Liverpool Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1784

|colspan="3"|1757 Raised 1778, disbanded 1784.

| 79th (Cameronian Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1793–1804

79th (Cameronian Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1804–1866

79th (Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1866–1873

79th (Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot 1873–1881

|1793 Raised 16 August 1793.

|1881: Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders

|Royal Regiment of Scotland

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="3"|80

| 80th (Light Armed) Regiment of Foot 1758–1764

|colspan="3"| 1758 Raised 1758, disbanded 1764.

|1881: 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment

|Mercian Regiment

81st–90th foot

{| class="wikitable"

!Number

!Titles

!Date of raising or coming onto establishment

!Fate

!Successor 2012

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="4"|81

| 81st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1757–1764

|colspan="3"|1757 Raised 1757 as 81st (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 71st (see above) in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments.

| 1793 Raised as 83rd Foot in 1793, renumbered in 1794 on disbandment of existing 81st and 82nd Regiments.

| 1881:2nd Battalion, The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment

|Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="4"|82

| 82nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot 1757–1764

|colspan="3"|1757 Raised 1757 as 82nd (Invalids) Regiment of Foot, renumbered 72nd (see above) in 1764 following disbandment of a number of senior regiments.

| 1881:2nd Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment)

|Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="4"|83

| 83rd Regiment of Foot 1758–1763

|colspan="3"| 1758 Raised 1758. Disbanded 1763.

| 83rd (Royal Glasgow Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1783

|colspan="3"| 1758 Raised 1758 by Eyre Coote for service in India. Disbanded 1764.

|1793 Raised 1793.

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment

| Disbanded 1968

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="3"|85

| 85th (Royal Volunteers Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1759–1763

|colspan="3"| 1759 Raised 1759. Disbanded 1763.

| 85th (Westminster Volunteers) Regiment of Foot 1778–1783

85th (Bucks Volunteers) (The King's Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1821–1881

|colspan="3"| 1759 Formed 1759 by redesignation of the 2nd Battalion, 76th Foot. Disbanded 1763.

86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot 1812–1881

|1794 Raised 1793 as Sir Cornelius Cuyler's Shropshire Volunteers, placed on regular establishment as 86th Foot in 1794.

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles

| Royal Irish Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="3"|87

| 87th Regiment of Foot 1759–1763 (Keith's Highlanders)

|colspan="3"|1779 Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.

|1793 Raised 1793.

|colspan="3"|1779 Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.

| 89th Regiment of Foot 1779–1783

|colspan="3"|1779 Raised 1779, disbanded 1783.

|1793 Raised 1793.

| 1881: 1st Battalion, The Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers)

| Royal Irish Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="3"|90

| 90th (Irish Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1759–1763

|colspan="3"| 1759 Raised 1759, disbanded 1763.

|colspan="3"|1759 Raised 1759, disbanded 1763.

| 1794 Raised as 98th Foot in 1794, renumbered in 1796 on disbandment of a number of regiments.

| 1881:1st Battalion, The Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders)

|Royal Regiment of Scotland

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="4"|92

| 92nd (Donegal Light Infantry) Regiment of Foot 1760–1763

|colspan="3"|1760 Raised 1760, disbanded 1763.

| 93rd Regiment of Foot 1779–1783

| 94th Regiment of Foot 1780–1783

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Connaught Rangers

|Disbanded 1922

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="6"|95

| 95th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763

| 95th Regiment of Foot 1780–1783

|The Rifles

| 95th Regiment of Foot 1816–1818

|colspan="3"|1803

Raised as 96th Regiment of Foot in 1803. Renumbered as 95th in 1816 when existing 95th Foot became Rifle Brigade without a number.

| 1823 Raised 1823

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (Derbyshire Regiment)

|Mercian Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="6"|96

| 96th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763

| 96th Regiment of Foot (British Musketeers) 1780–1784

| 1881: 2nd Battalion, The Manchester Regiment

|Duke of Lancaster's Regiment

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="6"|97

| 97th Regiment of Foot 1760–1763

|colspan="3"|1780 Raised 1780, disbanded 1784.

|colspan="3"|1798 Raised 1798 as The Minorca Regiment, redesignated the Queen's own German Regiment in 1802, numbered in 1805.

|1824 Raised 1824.

|colspan="3"|1779 Raised 1779, disbanded 1784.

|1824 Raised 1824.

|colspan="3"|1779 Raised 1780, disbanded 1783.

|1824 Raised 1824.

|colspan="3"|1780 Raised 1780, disbanded 1784. Also known as "Loyal Lincolnshire Regiment".

| 1881: 1st Battalion, The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)

| Disbanded 1922.

101st–110th foot

{| class="wikitable"

!Number

!Titles

!Date of raising or coming onto establishment

!Fate

!Successor 2012

|align=center valign=middle rowspan="5"|101

| 101st (Highland) Regiment of Foot 1760–1763

|colspan="3"|1760 Raised 1760, disbanded 1763. Also known as "Johnstone's Highlanders".

|colspan="3"|1760 Raised 1760, disbanded 1763.

|colspan="3"|1761 Raised 1761, disbanded 1763.

|colspan="3"|1761 Raised 1761, disbanded 1763. Known as "Black Musketeers".

|colspan="3"|1761 Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.

|colspan="3"|1760 Raised 1760. Disbanded 1763.

|colspan="3"|1761 Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.

|1761 Raised 1761. Disbanded 1763.