The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus formed, were disbanded in 1763, after the peace of Fontainebleau.
Several other corps were likewise disbanded at this period, which occasioned a change in the numerical titles of the following regiments of Invalids.
| The | 81st | regiment (Invalids) | was numbered | the | 71st | regiment. |
| ” | 82nd | ” | ” | ” | 72nd | ” |
| ” | 116th | ” | ” | ” | 73rd | ” |
| ” | 117th | ” | ” | ” | 74th | ” |
| ” | 118th | ” | ” | ” | 75th | ” |
The 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, and 75th regiments, thus numbered, were formed into independent companies of Invalids in the year 1769, which increased the number of Invalid Companies from eight to twenty; they were appropriated to the following garrisons, namely four companies at Guernsey, four at Jersey, three at Hull, two at Chester, two at Tilbury Fort, two at Sheerness, one at Landguard Fort, one at Pendennis, and one in the Scilly Islands.
These numerical titles became thus extinct until October, 1775, when the seventy-first regiment was raised. In December, 1777, further augmentations were made to the army, and the regiments which were directed to be raised, were numbered from the seventy-second to the eighty-third regiment.
The army was subsequently increased to one hundred and five regular regiments of infantry, exclusive of eleven unnumbered regiments, and thirty-six independent companies of Invalids.
The conclusion of the general peace in 1783, occasioned the disbandment of several regiments (commencing with the seventy-first regiment), and thus changed the numerical titles of certain regiments retained on the reduced establishment of the army.
In 1786 the SEVENTY-THIRD was directed to be numbered the seventy-first regiment; the seventy-eighth to be numbered the seventy-second; and the second battalion of the forty-second to be constituted the SEVENTY-THIRD regiment. These corps had been directed to be raised in Scotland in 1777 and 1779, and were denominated Highland regiments.
The details of the services of the present SEVENTY-THIRD regiment are contained in the following pages; the histories of the seventy-first and seventy-second regiments are given in distinct numbers.