The Dorsetshire Regiment,
COMPRISING
1st Batt. (formerly) The 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot.
2nd Batt. ( " ) The 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot; with Militia.
3rd Batt. The Dorset Militia.
"Primus in Indis."
The Marabout Sphinx.
The Castle, Key, and Motto.
TITLES.
1st Batt.
1702-51. Colonel Richard Coote's (or successive Colonels') Regiment of Foot.
1751-82. The 39th Regiment of Foot.
1782-1807. The 39th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot.
1807-81. The 39th (Dorsetshire) Regiment of Foot.
2nd Batt.
1755-57. The 56th Regiment of Foot; renumbered.
1757-82. The 54th Regiment of Foot.
1782-1881. The 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot.
1881 (from). The Dorsetshire Regiment.
PRINCIPAL CAMPAIGNS, BATTLES, &c.
* "Honours" on the Colours, the figures showing the Battalion concerned.
1707-12. Spain.
1707. Almanza (?).
1709. Caya.
1718. Messina.
1727. Gibraltar.
1757. Calcutta.
*1757. Plassey (1).
1776-81. America.
1776. Brooklyn.
1778. Rhode Island.
1778. Connecticut.
*1779-84. Gibraltar (1).
1780. Charlestown.
1794-95. Flanders.
1794. Martinique.
1794. St. Lucia.
1794. Guadaloupe.
1796. St. Vincent.
1800. Isle Houat.
1800. Cadiz.
1800. Minorca.
1800. Malta.
1801. Egypt (2).
1801. Aboukir.
1801. Mandora.
1801. Alexandria.
*1801. Marabout (2).
1806. Buenos Ayres.
1807. Montevideo.
*1809-14. Peninsula (1).
1810. Busaco.
*1811. Albuera (1).
1811. Arroyo-dos-Molinos.
1812-14. Canada.
1812. Badajos.
*1813. Vittoria (1).
*1813. Pyrenees (1).
*1813. Nivelle (1).
*1813. Nive (1).
1814-15. Netherlands.
*1814. Orthes (1).
1814. Tarbes.
1814. Bayonne.
1814. Toulouse.
1814. Plattsburg.
1814. Antwerp.
*1824-26. Ava (1).
*1843. Maharajpore (1).
*1855. Sevastopol (1).
*1858-59. Indian Mutiny.
*1897-98. Tirah.
1900. South Africa.
Uniform.—1st and 2nd Batts., Scarlet with Green facings (at formation); Scarlet with White facings (present time).
Regimental and other Badges, &c.—The motto, "Primus in Indis" (the 39th Foot was the first King's Regiment to serve in India). Also "The Castle, Key, and Motto"—"Mortis Insignia Calpe" (for defence of Gibraltar—1779-83). Also the "Marabout Sphinx" for "Egypt" (1801)—at this battle a gun, now at Woolwich, was captured by the 54th.
Nicknames, &c.—"Sankey's Horse" (of the 39th, 1707, from its Colonel's name, and a tradition that to expedite its march to Almanza it was mounted on mules). Also (circa 1742) "The Green Linnets" (from its pea-green facings).
Notes.—The 39th captured four guns and two standards at Maharajpore in 1843.
Bibliography.—Historical Record of the 39th, or Dorsetshire Regiment of Foot. 1702-1853. Illustrated. [London: Parker. 1853.]
Records of the 54th West Norfolk Regiment. [Roorkee: Thomason. 1851.]