Augmentations were accordingly made in the army and navy; ten regiments of Marines were raised in this and the following year; these corps were embarked on board the fleets under Admirals Vernon and Sir Chaloner Ogle, which proceeded against the Spanish possessions in South America.
1740
While the war was being carried on between Great Britain and Spain, Charles the Sixth, Emperor of Germany, died on the 20th of October, 1740; and the succession of his daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa, to his hereditary dominions, being disputed by the Electors of Bavaria and Saxony, also by the Kings of Prussia and Spain, a continental war was the result, in which England and France, acting in the first instance as auxiliaries, finally became principals in the contest, which has since been known as the "War of the Austrian Succession." The King of France, Louis XV., supported the Elector of Bavaria, while King George II., adhering to the "Pragmatic Sanction,"[6] to which nearly all the powers of Europe had been parties, supported the claims of the Archduchess Maria Theresa.
1741
In January, 1741, seven additional regiments[7] were raised for the regular Infantry, and were numbered in succession to the ten regiments of marines, from the Fifty-fourth to the Sixtieth regiment.
The FIFTY-SEVENTH was one of these seven regiments, and the command of the corps was conferred by King George II. on Colonel John Price, from the First Foot Guards, whose commission was dated the 13th of January, 1741. The regiment consisted of ten companies, of three serjeants, three corporals, two drummers, and seventy privates each; and its numbers, including officers, amounted to eight hundred and fifteen.
1742
In March, 1742, the FIFTY-SEVENTH regiment was stationed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
In May, 1742, several regiments were embarked for Flanders under Field Marshal the Earl of Stair, to support Maria Theresa, the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia; but the FIFTY-SEVENTH regiment remained in Great Britain.