{{Short description|Regiment of the British Army}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name=37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot |image= |caption= |country={{flag|Kingdom of England}} (1689–1707)<br />{{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}} (1707–1800)<br />{{flag|United Kingdom}} (1801–1881) |branch={{army|United Kingdom}} |type=Infantry |dates=1702–1881 |size=1 battalion (2 battalions 1756–1758, 1813–1817) |ceremonial_chief= |nickname= |colors= |garrison=Lower Barracks, Winchester |march= |battles=War of the Spanish Succession<br />War of the Austrian Succession<br />American Revolutionary War<br />French Revolutionary Wars<br />Napoleonic Wars<br />Matale rebellion<br />Indian Rebellion |notable_commanders= }} The '''37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot''' was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in Ireland in February 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to become the Hampshire Regiment (later the Royal Hampshire Regiment) in 1881.
==History== ===Early years=== thumb|upright|{{circa|1742}} engraving of a regimental private thumb|upright|{{circa|1753}} portrait of a regimental lieutenant colonel
The regiment was raised in Ireland by Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredyth as '''Meredyth's Regiment''' in February 1702.<ref name=regt>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/037-702.htm |title=37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot |publisher=regiments.org |access-date=20 September 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060224104114/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/037-702.htm |archive-date=24 February 2006 }}</ref> It embarked for the Netherlands in May 1703 and fought under the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704,<ref name=whitting3>Whitting, p. 3</ref> the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704<ref name=whitting3/> and the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706<ref name=whitting6>Whitting, p. 6</ref> as well as the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708<ref name=whitting6/> and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession.<ref name=whitting7>Whitting, p. 7</ref> 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.<ref name=whitting7/> It was also in action at the Capture of Vigo in October 1719.<ref name=nam>{{cite web|url=http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/37th-north-hampshire-regiment-foot|title=37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot|publisher=National Army Museum|access-date=12 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112210649/http://www.nam.ac.uk/research/famous-units/37th-north-hampshire-regiment-foot|archive-date=12 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The regiment next saw action at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession.<ref name=whitting8>Whitting, p. 8</ref> 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.<ref>Mackenzie, pp. 133–134</ref> It went on to fight under the command of Colonel Lewis Dejean at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746<ref name=whitting8/> and was ranked the 37th Foot in 1747.<ref name=regt/> The regiment returned to the Netherlands and fought at the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747.<ref name=whitting8/>
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'''.<ref name=regt/> The second battalion became the 75th Regiment of Foot in 1758.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/075-758.htm |title=75th Regiment of Foot |publisher=regiments.org |access-date=9 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023105022/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/075-758.htm |archive-date=23 October 2007 }}</ref>
The regiment fought at the Battle of Minden in August 1759 during the Seven Years' War.<ref>Whitting, pp. 10–11</ref> After the battle the men of the regiment picked dog-roses from the hedges and put them in their headdresses to celebrate the victory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Pwrr_Reg_History(1).pdf|title=History of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> It also took part in a skirmish at Grebenstein in June 1762<ref name=whitting11>Whitting, p. 11</ref> and another at Fellinghausen in July 1762.<ref name=whitting11/> It was then garrisoned in Menorca from 1763 to 1769.<ref name=whitting12>Whitting, p. 12</ref>
The regiment embarked for North America for service in the American Revolutionary War in 1776 and was present at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776<ref name=whitting12/> and the British surrender at the end of the Siege of Yorktown in September 1781.<ref name=whitting14>Whitting, p. 14</ref> It became the '''37th (the North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot''' in 1782.<ref name=regt/>
===Napoleonic wars=== The regiment was next in action at the Battle of Tournay in May 1794 in the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars.<ref name=whitting14/> It was posted to the West Indies from 1800 to 1809<ref>Whitting, pp. 16–17</ref> to Gibraltar from 1812 to 1814<ref>Whitting, pp. 17–18</ref> and to Canada from 1814 to 1826.<ref>Whitting, pp. 19–22</ref>
===The Victorian era=== thumb|alt=Sketch of a seated man surrounded by other men|''Koor Sing, "The Rebel of Arrah", and his attendants – From a photograph'', from the ''Illustrated London News'' (1857) The regiment embarked for Ceylon in 1846 and took part in the suppression of the Matale rebellion in 1847.<ref>Whitting, pp. 29–32</ref> It moved to India in spring 1857 and, having arrived by steamer on the Son River, opened fire on the attacking mutineers at the Siege of Arrah in July 1857<ref>Malleson, George Bruce (1858). The mutiny of the Bengal army : an historical narrative. London: Bosworth & Harrison</ref> during the Indian Rebellion.<ref>Whitting, p. 32</ref> It returned to England in 1861 and was sent to Ireland in 1865<ref>Whitting, p. 35</ref> before returning to India in 1866.<ref>Whitting, p. 41</ref>
As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share a single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 37th was linked with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 40 at Lower Barracks in Winchester.<ref name=training>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210172841/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/depot/1873.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 February 2006|title=Training Depots|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> The regiment returned to England in 1875 and then moved to Ireland in 1880.<ref>Whitting, p. 51</ref> On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot to become the Hampshire Regiment (later the Royal Hampshire Regiment).<ref name=regt/>
==Battle honours== Battle honours won by the regiment were:<ref name=regt/> * Minden, Tournay, Peninsula * Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Dettingen ''(all awarded to successor regiment, 1882)''
==Regimental Colonels== Colonels of the Regiment were:<ref name=regt/> *1702–1710: Lt-Gen. Thomas Meredyth *1710–1715: Col. William Windress *1715–1717: Gen. John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland (Baron Catherlough) *1717–1722: Col. Edward Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke *1722–1735: Brig-Gen. Hon. Robert Murray *1735–1745: Maj-Gen. Hon. Henry Ponsonby (killed at the Battle of Fontenoy) *1745–1746: Col. Sir Robert Munro, Bt. (killed at the Battle of Falkirk) *1746–1752: Lt-Gen. Lewis Dejean
;37th Regiment of Foot *1752–1768: Lt-Gen. Hon. James Stuart *1768–1773: Lt-Gen. Sir George Gray, Bt. *1773–1783: Lt-Gen. Sir Eyre Coote, KB
;37th (the North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot *1783–1798: Gen. Sir John Dalling *1798–1810: Gen. Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple *1810–1814: Lt-Gen. Sir Charles Ross, Bt *1814–1831: Gen. Sir Charles Green, Bt *1831–1851: Gen. Hon. Sir Alexander Duff, GCH *1851–1858: Lt-Gen. William Smelt, CB *1858–1862: Lt-Gen. John Fraser *1862–1879: Gen. Sir Thomas Simson Pratt, KCB *1879–1881: Gen. Sir Edmund Haythorne, KCB
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Sources== *{{cite book|last=Mackenzie|first=Alexander|author-link=Alexander Mackenzie (historian)|year=1898|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofmunroso00mack#page/116/mode/2up|title= History of the Munros of Fowlis|publisher=A. & W. Mackenzie}} *{{cite book|last=Whitting|first=Captain John Everard|title=Annals of the Thirty-Seventh North Hampshire Regiment|publisher=Warren & Son|year=1878}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060115045554/http://www.pauljerrard.com/37th/37thfoot.html History of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot by Paul Jerrard] {{PWRR}} {{Regiments of Foot}}
Category:Royal Hampshire Regiment Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army Category:Military units and formations in Hampshire Category:Military units and formations established in 1702 Category:Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Category:Military units and formations of the United Kingdom in the Peninsular War Category:1702 establishments in England Category:British military units and formations of the War of 1812