OF THE
FIFTEENTH, OR YORKSHIRE EAST RIDING
REGIMENT OF FOOT.
Sir William Clifton, Bart.
Appointed 22nd June, 1685.
William Clifton succeeded, on the decease of his uncle, in January, 1675, to the dignity of Baronet, of Clifton in Nottinghamshire. On the breaking out of the rebellion of James Duke of Monmouth, he evinced loyalty to King James II., and interested himself in raising a regiment for His Majesty's service, now the Fifteenth foot, of which he was appointed colonel, by commission dated the 22nd of June, 1685. When tranquillity was restored, he retired from the service, and was not afterwards employed in a military capacity.
Arthur Herbert.
Appointed 12th May, 1686.
Arthur Herbert (son of Sir Edward Herbert, attorney-general to King Charles I., and afterwards keeper of the great seal) was educated for the naval service, and after serving in subordinate commissions, he had the command of a squadron before Tangier; he afterwards was at the head of a fleet sent against Algiers, and obtained the reputation of an able naval commander. King James II. gave him the colonelcy of a corps of musketeers and pikemen, now the Fifteenth foot; but afterwards deprived him of his commission for opposition to the measures of the court. He proceeded to Holland, and was well received by the Prince of Orange, who nominated him Admiral of the Dutch fleet which accompanied His Highness to England in the autumn of 1688, when the revolution was accomplished. When the Prince and Princess of Orange were elevated to the throne, Admiral Herbert was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Torbay and Earl of Torrington, his creation bearing date the 29th of May, 1689. He was also constituted first commissioner of the Admiralty, commander-in-chief of the fleet, and colonel of a regiment of marines, which was afterwards disbanded. He commanded the British shipping in a sharp engagement with the French, in Bantry-bay, in the summer of 1689; he also commanded the British fleet in the disastrous naval action off Beachy-head, in the summer of 1690; and was afterwards committed to the Tower on suspicion of treachery, in consequence of his not having brought the British fleet gallantly into action, which occasioned the Dutch shipping to sustain severe loss in contest with superior numbers. He was brought to trial before a court-martial, and acquitted; but he was removed from his appointments, and was not afterwards employed in the service of his sovereign. He died in April, 1716.
Sackville Tufton.