{{Infobox military unit |unit_name=69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot |image= |caption= |nickname= The Ups and Downs<br>The Old Agamemnons<ref name="Burnham">{{cite book |last1=Burnham|first1=Robert|last2=McGuigan|first2=Ron|year=2010|title=The British Army against Napoleon|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire|publisher=Frontline Books|isbn=978-1-84832-562-3|page=127}}</ref> |motto= |colors= |march= |ceremonial_chief= |type= Infantry |country={{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}} (1756–1800)<br>{{flag|United Kingdom}} (1801–1881) |branch={{army|United Kingdom}} |dates=10 December 1756–1 July 1881 |allegiance= |command_structure= |size=One battalion (two battalions 1795–1796 and 1803–1816) |specialization= |current_commander= |garrison=Maindy Barracks, Cardiff |battles=Seven Years' War<br>Napoleonic Wars<br>Fenian raids |notable_commanders= |anniversaries= }} The '''69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot''' was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment in 1881.
==History== ===Formation=== [[File:The battle of the Saints 12 avril 1782.jpg|thumb|The Battle of the Saintes, in which the regiment fought as marines]]
The formation of the regiment was prompted by the expansion of the army as a result of the commencement of the Seven Years' War. On 25 August 1756 it was ordered that a number of existing regiments should raise a second battalion; among those chosen was the 24th Regiment of Foot. The 2nd Battalion of the 24th Regiment of Foot was formed on 10 December 1756 and renumbered as the 69th Regiment of Foot on 21 April 1758.<ref name=regiments/> The regiment took part in the Raid on St Malo in June 1758 and then formed part of a force which successfully captured Belle Île in spring 1761.<ref name=locations>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/069-1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119044728/http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/069-1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 January 2007|title=69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot: locations|publisher=regiments.org|access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref> It embarked for the West Indies later that year and took part in the Invasion of Martinique in January 1762 before returning home in 1763.<ref name=locations/> The regiment returned to the West Indies in November 1781 and took part in the Battle of Saint Kitts in January 1782 and, while serving as marines, in the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782.<ref>Smyth, p. 4</ref> In August 1782 the regiment took a county title as the '''69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot'''.<ref name=regiments/> The regiment returned home in 1785.<ref name=locations/>
===Napoleonic Wars=== [[File:General Sir Cornelius Cuyler.jpg|thumb|upright|Cornelius Cuyler, the regiment's colonel from 1794 to 1819]] [[File:The attack on Bergen-Op-Zoom (cropped).jpg|thumb|The siege of Bergen op Zoom, which the regiment fought in]]
Detachments from the regiment embarked as marines in early 1793 and were in combat on the third-rate HMS ''Leviathan'' at the capture of Toulon in December 1793,<ref name=smyth5>Smyth, p. 5</ref> the attack on the Tour de Mortella in February 1794<ref name=smyth5/> and at the Glorious First of June in June 1794.<ref name=haythornthwaite>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYTvCwAAQBAJ&dq=HMS+San+Nicolas+%281797%29+matthew+Stevens&pg=PT100|title=Nelson's Navy|first=Philip|last=Haythornthwaite|publisher=Osprey|year=1993|isbn=978-1855323346}}</ref> They transferred to the third-rate HMS ''Agamemnon'' and served under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Genoa in March 1795,<ref name=locations/> and then, after Nelson's transfer into the third-rate ''Captain'' in June 1796, with him at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797.<ref name=haythornthwaite/> At Cape St Vincent, Matthew Stevens, a soldier from the regiment, was the first to board the Spanish ship {{HMS|San Nicolas|1797|2}}.<ref name=haythornthwaite/>
The main part of the regiment returned to the West Indies in 1796 to take part in a British invasion of Saint-Domingue,<ref name=smyth6>Smyth, p. 6</ref> where almost half of them caught yellow fever.<ref name=Perry72>Perry, p. 72</ref> After returning home in 1798, the regiment took part in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799.<ref name=smyth7>Smyth, p. 7</ref> It moved to Jamaica in July 1800 and returned home again in June 1802.<ref name=smyth8>Smyth, p. 8</ref>
A second battalion was raised in 1803.<ref name=regiments/> The 1st battalion embarked for India in 1805 and helped to suppress the Vellore mutiny in July 1806<ref name=smyth8/> and the Travancore Rebellion in spring 1809.<ref name=smyth11>Smyth, p. 11</ref> It went on to see action during the Invasion of Île Bonaparte in July 1810, the Invasion of Isle de France in December 1810 and the Invasion of Java in August 1811.<ref name=smyth12>Smyth, p. 12</ref>
Meanwhile the 2nd battalion embarked for the Netherlands in 1813 and took part in the Siege of Bergen op Zoom in March 1814.<ref name=smyth13>Smyth, p. 13</ref> It served at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo.<ref name=smyth13/> At Quatre Bras the King's Colour was captured by the enemy<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/Britain/Infantry/c_2-69Waterloo.html |title=2nd Battalion 69th (South Lincolnshire) Foot during the Waterloo Campaign|publisher=Napoleon Series|access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref> and Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Morice, commanding officer of the battalion, was killed in a French cavalry charge.<ref>Nofi, p. 113</ref> The two battalions amalgamated again in 1816.<ref name=regiments/>
===The Victorian era=== [[File:Private, 69th Infantry, Great Britain, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes MET DPB874232.jpg|thumb|upright|{{circa|1880}} cigarette card of a regimental private]]
The regiment embarked for the West Indies in November 1831 and was stationed in Saint Vincent before moving to Demerara in 1835.<ref>Smyth, p. 15</ref> It sailed for Halifax in Nova Scotia in January 1839 before returning home in September 1842.<ref name=smyth16>Smyth, p. 16</ref> It arrived in Malta in December 1847 and then went on to Barbados in 1851 before returning to England in May 1857.<ref name=smyth17>Smyth, p. 17</ref> It departed for Burma later that year and then went on to India in 1862 before returning home in May 1864.<ref name=smyth18>Smyth, p. 18</ref> It embarked for Canada in August 1867 and while, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Bagot, helped to defeat a Fenian Raid at the Battle of Trout River in May 1870.<ref>Smyth, p. 21</ref> It embarked for Bermuda later that year and moved to Gibraltar in 1873 before returning home in 1878.<ref name=locations/>
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 69th was linked with the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot, and assigned to district no. 24 at Maindy Barracks in Cardiff.<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> On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the regiment amalgamated with the 41st (Welch) Regiment of Foot to form the Welch Regiment.<ref name=regiments/>
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==Traditions== The regiment's nickname "'''The Ups and Downs'''" is said to refer to its being composed of old veterans and raw recruits.<ref name=ups>{{cite web|url=http://mainlynorfolk.info/steeleye.span/songs/theupsanddowns.html|title=The Aylesbury Girl / As I Strolled Out to Aylesbury / The Ups and Downs|publisher=Mainly Norfolk|access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref> Alternatively, it may come from the number, which reads the same upside down.<ref name=ups/>
==Battle honours== Battle honours won by the regiment were:<ref name=regiments>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/069-758.htm |title=69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot |publisher=Regiments.org |access-date=26 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116165949/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/inf/069-758.htm |archive-date=16 January 2007 }}</ref>
Bourbon, Java, Waterloo, India
==Colonels of the Regiment== Colonels of the Regiment were:<ref name= regiments/>
===69th Regiment of Foot=== *1758–1775: Lt-Gen. Hon. Charles Colville *1775–1790: Lt-Gen. Hon. Philip Sherard
===69th (South Lincolnshire) Regiment of Foot - (1782)=== *1790–1792: Lt-Gen. Sir Ralph Abercromby, KB *1792–1794: Gen. Henry Watson Powell *1794–1819: Gen. Sir Cornelius Cuyler, 1st Baronet *1819–1823: Gen. William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, GCB, GCH *1823–1836: Lt-Gen. Sir John Hamilton, 1st Baronet, of Woodbrook, KCB, KCH *1836–1848: Gen. John Vincent *1848–1858: Gen. Sir Ralph Darling, GCH *1858–1876: Gen. Ernest Frederick Gascoigne *1876–1877: Gen. Sir William Montagu Scott McMurdo, GCB *1877–1881: Gen. David Elliot Mackirdy
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Sources== *{{cite book |first=Albert A |last=Nofi |author-link=Albert Nofi |year=2007 |title=The Waterloo Campaign, June 1815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPFtsn-nRTwC |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81694-9}} *{{cite book |last=Perry |first=James |year=2005 |title=Arrogant Armies: Great Military Disasters and the Generals Behind Them |location=Edison |publisher=Castle Books}} *{{cite book |last=Smyth |first=Major Robert |year=1870 |title=Records of the Sixty-Ninth, or, South Lincolnshire regiment |isbn=9780665138096 |place=Quebec |url= https://archive.org/stream/cihm_13809}}
==Further reading== *{{Cite book |title=Regimental badges worn in the British army one hundred years ago |first=Edward |last=Almack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtWgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA46 |publisher=East & Blades |year=1900}} *{{Cite book|title=Regiments of Foot: A Historical Record of All the Foot Regiments of the British Army |first=H.L. |last=Wickes |year=1974 |publisher=Osprey Publishing}} {{Royal Welsh}} {{Regiments of Foot}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army Category:Military units and formations in Lincolnshire Category:Military units and formations established in 1758 Category:Regiments of the British Army in the American Revolutionary War Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1881 Category:1758 establishments in Great Britain