On the 15th of May, 1765, Major-General the Honorable William Keppel was removed to the Fourteenth Foot; and in June His Majesty conferred the colonelcy of the Fifty-sixth on Lieut.-General James Durand, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the First Foot Guards.
1766
Lieut.-General Durand died in 1766, and was succeeded by Colonel Hunt Walsh, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the Twenty-eighth Regiment.
1767
1768
The regiment quitted Dublin in October, 1767, and proceeded to Waterford, where it remained seven months, and in May, 1768, it returned to Dublin.
By the Royal Warrant, dated 19th December, 1768, the facings of the Fifty-sixth Regiment were continued to be purple.
1769
1770
After performing Dublin duty two years, the regiment received orders to transfer its services to Gibraltar. It accordingly marched to Cork in May, 1770, and embarked from thence for that important fortress.
In December an order was received for augmenting the regiment, by the addition of a light infantry company of three serjeants, three corporals, two buglers, and sixty-two private soldiers; also an addition of twenty-one rank and file to each of the other companies.