King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)

The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Border Regiment to form the King's Own Royal Border Regiment.

Previous names include the 2nd Tangier Regiment, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York and Albany's Regiment of Foot, The Queen's Regiment of Foot, and The King's Own Regiment.

Authorisation to recruit the regiment was given on 13 July 1680 to the Earl of Plymouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II; its nominal strength was 1,000 men, half recruited in London by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Trelawny and half from the West Country. Raised for service in the Tangier Garrison, it was known as the 2nd Tangier Regiment; Plymouth died shortly after arriving in Tangier and Edward Sackville assumed command, with Trelawney formally appointed as colonel in 1682. Tangier was abandoned in 1684 and on returning to England, the regiment was given the title Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York and Albany's Regiment of Foot; after James II became monarch in 1685, this changed to The Queen's Regiment of Foot.

During the Monmouth Rebellion, it fought at Sedgemoor in July 1685; at the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, Trelawny and half the regiment deserted to William III. He was briefly replaced by the loyalist Charles Orby, then reinstated when James went into exile. From 1690 to 1691, it served in the Williamite War in Ireland, including the Battle of the Boyne and sieges of Cork and Limerick. When the war ended with the October 1691 Treaty of Limerick, it returned to England.

Transferred to Flanders in March 1692, it took part in the latter stages of the 1689 to 1697 Nine Years' War. The regiment fought at the battles of Steenkerque in August 1692, and Landen in July 1693 and the Siege of Namur in summer 1695. After the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, it was reduced in strength and used to garrison Plymouth and Penryn.

When the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1702, it was reformed as a regiment of marines and fought at the Battle of Vigo Bay in October 1702 and the capture of Gibraltar in August 1704. In 1711, it was redesignated line infantry and took part in the Quebec Expedition. In what remains one of the worst naval disasters in British history, the fleet ran aground in thick fog and over 890 men lost, including 200 members of the regiment.

With the accession of George I in 1714, it was retitled The Kings Own and spent the next 30 years in Scotland and England. Sent to Flanders in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession, it garrisoned Ghent and when the 1745 Jacobite Rising broke out in August, it was transferred to Scotland. The regiment took part of the pursuit of the Jacobite forces on their retreat back into Scotland in December 1745, including the ensuring Clifton Moor Skirmish. The regiment then fought at the Battle of Falkirk Muir in January 1746. At the Battle of Culloden in April, it was based in the front line and took the brunt of the Jacobite charge; it suffered the heaviest casualties on the government side, with 18 dead and 108 wounded. The regiment's commander, Sir Robert Rich, was among the wounded, losing his left hand. Lord Robert Kerr, captain of the regiment's grenadier company, was among the dead. The two Regulation Colours (flags) carried by the regiment during the battle both survive and are now part of the collection of the National Museum of Scotland. The Regiment introduced the Loyal and Friendly Society of Orange and Blew to commemorate the victories at the Battle of Culloden and Boyne in 1732 and a full list of members wearing the society medal has been compiled.

Following the army reforms of 1751, the regiment was retitled 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot. At the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756, it was part of the Menorca garrison; forced to surrender in June it was transported to Gibraltar. It spent the rest of the war in the West Indies, taking part in the capture of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Lucia before returning home in July 1764. When the American Revolutionary War began in 1775, it was sent to North America; over the next three years, it took part in numerous actions, including Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Long Island and the Battle of White Marsh in December 1777. The first British soldiers to die in the American Revolution were arguably three members of the light company of the 4th Foot, who died at Concord Bridge in 1775. In early 1778, it returned to Saint Lucia where it was part of the garrison during the December 1778 naval battle of St. Lucia, part of the Anglo-French War.