THE CUMBERLAND REGIMENT
OF
FOOT.
1702
At the commencement of the eighteenth century, the British monarch witnessed his efforts to curb the ambition of Louis XIV., and to preserve the balance of power in Europe, counteracted by the virtual union of two powerful states, under a dynasty distinguished for its thirst for conquest, the King of France having procured the accession of his grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, to the throne of Spain. Existing treaties were thus openly violated; at the same time the liberties of Europe were invaded by the seizure of the Spanish Netherlands, by the troops of France, and the detention of the Dutch garrisons in the barrier towns; and war was resolved upon. A considerable augmentation was made to the British army, and the Thirty-fourth Regiment of Foot is one of the corps embodied on this occasion. Its first colonel was Robert Lord Lucas, from the lieutenant-colonelcy of Sir John Jacob’s Regiment, now Thirteenth Light Infantry, his commission bearing date the 12th of February, 1702.
This regiment was composed of men from Norfolk, Essex, and the adjoining counties, and was raised under the authority of warrants from King William III., by Colonel Lord Lucas, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Dare, Major Garth, Captains Kitson, Edward Shadwell, E. Parsons, P. Lechire, —— Pardon, Richard Steele, and Robert Cecill, who each raised a company; and when the numbers were nearly complete, the establishment was augmented to twelve companies, of three officers and sixty-six non-commissioned officers and soldiers each: one wing of the regiment had its rendezvous at Colchester, and the other at Norwich.
While the regiment was completing its ranks, the death of King William III., and the accession of Queen Anne, occurred on the 8th of March, 1702, and the soldiers took the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty.
An expedition being fitted out against Cadiz, under the Duke of Ormond, Lord Lucas’s Regiment was ordered to send five companies to Landguard Fort, Sheerness, and Tilbury, early in May, to relieve the Buffs, who were ordered to embark on board of frigates for the Isle of Wight, to join the expedition to Spain; at the same time seven companies of Lord Lucas’s Regiment were ordered to relieve a detachment of the Foot Guards on duty at the Tower of London, of which fortress his Lordship was lieutenant-governor; two companies were afterwards detached to Dover Castle.
On the return of the expedition from Spain, the regiment was relieved from duty at the out-stations, and was quartered in the Tower, from whence it detached three hundred men to the West Indies, to complete Colonel Columbine’s Regiment, now Sixth Foot, which was ordered to proceed to that station. After the departure of this detachment, the regiment proceeded, in December, into Essex to recruit, the head-quarters being established at Chelmsford.