EIGHTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT OF FOOT,
OR
CONNAUGHT RANGERS.
1793
When the breaking out of the war with France in 1793 occasioned considerable additions to be made to the British army, this regiment was raised in Ireland, under commission bearing date 25th September, 1793, by Colonel the Honourable Thomas de Burgh (afterwards Earl of Clanricarde). Being recruited chiefly from the province of Connaught, it assumed, as its distinctive appellation, the name of “Connaught Rangers;” and when the new-levied regiments were numbered from Seventy-Eight upwards, received for its number Eighty-Eight. Its facings were yellow, and it bore on its colours and appointments a harp and crown, with the motto “Quis separabit?”
1794
It was not long before the active services of the new regiment were called for in the field: in the summer of 1794 a reinforcement of seven thousand men, under the command of Major-General the Earl of Moira, was sent to join the army of the Duke of York in Flanders; and of this force the Eighty-Eighth Regiment, one thousand strong, and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Keppel, formed part. The expedition landed at Ostend on the 26th of June, at which time the Duke of York, pressed by superior numbers, was retiring upon Antwerp; and the Earl of Moira resolved not to attempt the defence of Ostend, but to endeavour to join his Royal Highness. After a tedious and difficult march, in the face of a superior and victorious enemy, whose troops were already overrunning the country in all directions, his Lordship arrived at Alost, where he was attacked by the French, on the 6th of July, with great fury; the enemy was, however, repulsed; the steadiness and valour of the troops, with the skill of their leader, overcame all difficulties, and the junction between Lord Moira’s corps and the army under his Royal Highness the Duke of York was accomplished at Malines, on the 9th of July, when the Eighty-Eighth was formed in brigade with the Fifteenth, Fifty-third, and Fifty-Fourth Regiments.
In the harassing operations of the autumn of 1794, and in the disastrous winter campaign and retreat which followed, the Eighty-Eighth had a full share. For some time it formed part of the garrison of Bergen-op-Zoom, where it was reviewed by the Prince of Orange and some Hessian officers of high rank, and received much commendation for its appearance and efficiency. When Bergen-op-Zoom was considered no longer tenable, the Eighty-Eighth was withdrawn in the night by boats, under the command of Lieutenant (afterwards Admiral Sir Home) Popham, and proceeded to join the army near Nimeguen; in which fortress it was also subsequently placed in garrison, but was withdrawn a few nights before the surrender. It was then formed in brigade with the Eighth, Thirty-Seventh, Forty-Fourth, and Fifty-Seventh Regiments, under the command of Major-General de Burgh, and stationed near the Waal, to defend the passage of that river.
On the 27th of November, 1794, General John Reid was appointed Colonel of the Regiment, in succession to Major-General de Burgh, who was removed to the Sixty-Sixth Regiment.