1757
1758
1759
In April, 1757, the regiment marched to Berwick, from whence it afterwards continued its route to Scotland, where it was stationed several years, occupying quarters at Aberdeen, and its vicinity, in 1758; and in the following year at Edinburgh, from whence a detachment proceeded to Germany, to recruit the regiments serving in that country.
1760
1761
Embarking from Leith, in July, 1760, the regiment proceeded to Hilsea barracks, where it was stationed during the year 1761.
On the 17th of December, Lord Charles Manners was succeeded in the colonelcy by Colonel the Honorable William Keppel, fourth son of William-Anne, second Earl of Albemarle, from the First Foot Guards.
1762
In the mean time, France had been deprived of all her possessions in North America, and British troops, then employed in Germany, were opposing formidable resistance to the schemes of the court of Versailles; but the celebrated treaty, called the “Family Compact,” between the sovereigns of France and Spain (both Bourbon princes), gave a new character to the war. Confiding in the prowess of his seamen and soldiers, the British monarch did not shrink from the unequal contest, but proclaimed war against Spain on the 4th of January, 1762; and an expedition was afterwards prepared for the attack of the valuable Spanish settlement of the Havannah, in the island of Cuba. The Fifty-sixth Regiment, being selected to take part in this enterprise, sailed from Portsmouth on the 5th of March, and on arriving in the West Indies, it joined the armament under General the Earl of Albemarle: the colonel of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, the Honorable William Keppel, had the local rank of Major-General in the expedition.
Passing through the dangerous navigation of the Straits of Bahama without accident, the fleet arrived off the Havannah on the 6th of June, and a landing was effected on the following day. The Fifty-sixth Regiment mustered nine hundred and thirty-three officers and soldiers, under Lieut.-Colonel James Stewart, and were formed in brigade with four companies of the Royals, and a battalion of the Sixtieth, under Brigadier-General Haviland.
The Havannah, from its great importance, had been carefully fortified; the entrance to the harbour, which is one of the finest in the world, was secured on one side by the Moro fort, built of solid masonry on a projecting point of land, and having an immense ditch cut out of the rock. The west side of the harbour was defended by the Puntal fort, and the town was surrounded by a rampart, flanked with bastions, and strengthened by a ditch. The reduction of the Moro fort was the first object which engaged the attention of the troops, and this service was intrusted to Major-General the Honorable William Keppel (colonel of the Fifty-sixth), his own regiment forming part of the force placed under his orders, and having repeated opportunities of evincing its spirit and perseverance in this arduous undertaking, rendered particularly difficult by the oppressive heat, a scarcity of water, the necessity of dragging the artillery along a rocky coast, and from the thinness of the soil; so great was the labour in carrying on the approaches, that several men were daily lost by diseases produced by their extraordinary exertions. The destruction of the grand battery by fire augmented the labours of the besieging troops; but they resumed their work, repulsed a sortie of the Spaniards, and erected new batteries. On the 30th of July, a storming party was formed under the orders of Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, of the late Ninetieth Regiment (disbanded on 18th March, 1763): two mines were sprung, a small practicable breach made, and the British soldiers rushed in at the aperture with so much impetuosity, that the Spaniards were instantly overpowered. Nearly one hundred and fifty of the enemy were killed; four hundred threw down their arms and were made prisoners; upwards of two hundred endeavoured to escape in boats, but lost their lives in the attempt.
The spirited capture of the Moro fort was followed by the erection of a line of batteries on Cavannos Hill, commanding the eastern side of the city, and the guns of the captured fort were also turned against the Spaniards. On the 11th of August the batteries opened a well-directed fire on the Puntal fort and the town; and so severe was the cannonade, that in less than six hours the enemy’s guns were silenced, and the white flag hoisted. A capitulation was concluded on the 13th, and possession was taken of the town and Puntal fort on the following day.