By a War Office letter of 20th of February 1854, the regiment was to be augmented, from the 1st of April, by one pipe-major and five pipers.
The reserve battalion remained in Canada from 1849 to 1853, having been stationed successively at St John’s, Toronto, Kingston, and Quebec, returning from Canada in 1854, and forming the depôt of the regiment at Canterbury in October.
On the outbreak of the Crimean war all the effectives, with a proportion of officers, consisting of 1 major, 3 captains, 6 subalterns, 20 serjeants, 6 buglers, and 391 rank and file—total, 417—were ordered to proceed to the Crimea, and embarked at Portsmouth, on board the “Royal Albert,” November 24, and landed at Balaclava on the 20th of December. The first battalion joined the reserve in February 1855.
Major-General A. F. Mackintosh, Commander of the Forces in the Ionian Islands, issued the following order prior to the embarkation of the first battalion from Corfu for the Crimea, in January 1855:—
“General Order.
“Deputy Qr.-Master General’s Office,
“Corfu, 24th January 1855.
“The Major-General commanding addresses a few words to the 71st Light Infantry on their departure for the seat of war.
“The Major-General first saw the 71st a good many years ago, on a day when their commanding officer fell at their head; he has since often met the regiment in various parts of the world, and has always remarked among both the officers and men of the regiment that high military spirit and personal activity still conspicuous, which caused it to be selected and organised as a light corps.
“They are now about to appear on a scene where their predecessors in the regiment have so often distinguished themselves—the field of battle,—and the Major-General wishes them a prosperous passage, followed by a glorious career.
“R. Walpole,
“Dep. Qr.-Mr. General.”