On the 1st of July, 1751, a Royal Warrant was issued, regulating the clothing, standards, and colours of the several regiments of the British army; in which the uniform of the SEVENTEENTH regiment was directed to be scarlet, faced and lined with greyish white. The first, or king's colour, to be the great union; the second, or regimental colour, to be the red cross of St. George in a white field, with the union in the upper canton; in the centre of each colour the number of the rank of the regiment, in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk.
1752
1757
Lieut.-General Wynyard died in 1752, and King George II. nominated Brigadier-General Edward Richbell to the colonelcy of the regiment. This officer died on the 24th of February, 1757, and was succeeded by Colonel John Forbes, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the Scots Greys.
In the mean time another war had commenced with France, and in May of this year the regiment embarked from Cork, and sailed to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, where it arrived in the early part of July, in order to take part in an attack on the French possessions in Canada: but the expedition was deferred until the following year, and the regiment remained in Nova Scotia during the winter.
1758
The regiment sailed from Halifax in May, 1758, with the expedition against Cape Breton, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, under Lieut.-General (afterwards Lord) Amherst. The regiment mustered thirty-one officers, and nine hundred and sixty-seven non-commissioned officers and soldiers, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Arthur Morris; and on the 8th of June it was in boats, with the division under Brigadier-General Wightman, proceeding towards White Point, to alarm the French at that quarter, while the troops under Brigadier-General James Wolfe effected a landing, which was accomplished in gallant style. The SEVENTEENTH were afterwards engaged in the siege of Louisburg, the capital of the island, which was captured on the 26th of July; and with the capital the whole island was also surrendered. On this occasion the regiment had Captain William Earl of Dundonald killed; Captain Paul Rycant and Lieutenant Francis Tew wounded; also several men killed and wounded.
During the period the regiment was at Cape Breton, a body of troops under Major-General Abercromby was repulsed at Fort Ticonderago, on the west shore of Lake Champlain; and on the 30th of August the SEVENTEENTH and several other corps embarked from Louisburg, and, sailing to Boston, marched through the woods to Lake George, where they joined the troops under Major-General Abercromby.
1759
In the beginning of June, 1759, the regiment joined the troops assembling on the east bank of Hudson's River, about fifty miles from Albany, and afterwards marched to Lake George, where a fort was erected, and boats were procured to convey the troops along the lake, which occupied a month. On the 21st of July the regiments embarked in boats, and, using blankets for sails, arrived at the Second Narrows on the following morning. Advancing towards Ticonderago, they drove a body of French regulars and native Indians from a strong post two miles from the fort, and evinced such steady resolution, that the French commander quitted his fortified lines and embarked for Crown Point, leaving a garrison at Ticonderago. The siege of this place was commenced; and on the 25th of July the garrison blew up the fort and sailed to Crown Point, which place the French commander also abandoned, and retired down the lake to Isle aux Noix. The SEVENTEENTH proceeded to Crown Point, where a new fort was erected, and a small naval force prepared for navigating the lake. In October the troops embarked, and sailed down the lake in four divisions; but encountering high northerly winds, and a frost having set in, they returned, and went into winter-quarters.
Brigadier-General Forbes died in the spring of this year, and the colonelcy of the regiment was conferred on Brigadier-General the Honorable Robert Monckton, from colonel-commandant of the second battalion of the sixtieth regiment.