{{Short description|American Revolutionary War Loyalist military unit}} {{Distinguish|text=[[Irish Volunteers]] of the 20th century, [[Irish Volunteers (18th century)]], [[Volunteer (Irish republican)]] or [[Volunteer (Ulster loyalist)]]}} {{Infobox military unit |unit_name = Volunteers of Ireland |image = |image_size = |caption = |country = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Great Britain}} |allegiance = {{army|Kingdom of Great Britain}} |type = British provincial unit and later, became [[British establishment]] |branch = [[Infantry]] |dates = 1778–1784 |specialization = |command_structure = |size = regiment (1,000) |current_commander = |garrison = |ceremonial_chief = |nickname = |motto = |colors = |march = |mascot = |battles = [[American Revolutionary War]] *[[Siege of Charleston|Charleston]] (1780) *[[Battle of Camden]] (1780) *[[Battle of Hobkirk's Hill]] (1781) *[[Siege of Ninety-Six]] (1781) |notable_commanders = *Colonel [[Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings|Lord Francis Rawdon-Hastings]] *Sergeant Thomas Hudson |anniversaries = }}
The '''Volunteers of Ireland''', also known as the '''2nd American Regiment''' and the '''105th Regiment of Foot''', was a British Provincial military unit, raised for Loyalist service, during the [[American Revolutionary War]], which was later added to the British regular army. The Volunteers of Ireland should not be confused with the contemporaneous [[Irish Volunteers (18th century)|Irish Volunteers]] an autonomous [[militia]] that supported the [[Irish Patriot Party]], in the 1770s and 1780s.
==History== ===Formation=== The regiment was raised in [[Philadelphia]], [[Province of Pennsylvania]], as the '''Volunteers of Ireland''' in 1777 and went to [[New York City]] with the [[British Army]] in April 1778.<ref name=regiments>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-usa/prov1775/am2vi.htm |title=Volunteers of Ireland |publisher=Regiments.org |access-date=31 March 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060110021226/http://www.regiments.org/regiments/na-usa/prov1775/am2vi.htm |archive-date=10 January 2006 }}</ref> The regiment was placed on the American establishment as the '''2nd American Regiment (Volunteers of Ireland)''' on 2 May 1779, by [[Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings|Francis Rawdon-Hastings]], an Anglo-Irish lord who had joined the British Army and rose through the officer ranks and had been given permission to form a British Provincial regiment from men born in Ireland (then under British rule), serving in other Loyalist units, in the [[Thirteen Colonies|American Thirteen Colonies]].<ref>Middelkauff R., ''The Glorious Cause'' [[Oxford University Press]] (1982) p.455.</ref>
===American Revolutionary War=== Following the Patriot surrender at [[Siege of Charleston|Charleston]] in May 1780, the Volunteers helped win the [[Battle of Camden]], where Sergeant Thomas Hudson received a decoration for heroism, one of only two such decorations given during the duration of the prosecution of the war to a soldier of the British Army. The regiment was the primary unit in the [[Battle of Hobkirk's Hill]] in April 1781, as well as the relief of the Loyalist fort, at the [[Siege of Ninety-Six]] in May 1781. They remained in South Carolina until the British surrender of General [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]], at [[Siege of Yorktown|Yorktown]] in October 1781. The regiment was removed from the [[Province of South Carolina]] and taken by ship to New York. The Volunteers were put on the [[The Establishment|British establishment]] as the '''105th Regiment of Foot''' on 25 December 1782.<ref name=regiments/>
===Disbandment=== The soldiers of the Volunteers of Ireland were mustered out in [[New York City]], and thereafter taken by ship to [[Nova Scotia]]. This was in response to the policy of resettlement for British colonists displaced from their lands during the war, coupled with the fact that the vast majority of soldiers were Irish, and England had no desire to return Irish emigrants back to either [[England]] or [[Ireland]], because it needed new settlers in [[Canada]]. It was also much cheaper to move them to Canada than it would be to physically return them to England. The regiment was placed in a cadre status, and officially "moved" to England in 1784.<ref name=regiments/>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Regiments of Foot}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Loyalist military units in the American Revolution]] [[Category:Infantry regiments of the British Army|Ireland, Volunteers]] [[Category:Military units and formations established in 1778]] [[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1784]]