34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot
Encyclopedia
The 34th Regiment of Foot was an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, formed in 1702 and amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot, into The Border Regiment in 1881.

Early 18th century

The regiment was raised in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 in February 1702 as "Lord Lucas's Regiment of Foot", and disbanded in 1712, but reformed without loss of precedence in 1715.

The 34th served in the Low Countries, southern England, and Scotland including the Battle of Culloden
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. Taking place on 16 April 1746, the battle pitted the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart against an army commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, loyal to the British government...

 in 1746, where the Regiment lost three private soldiers.

In 1751, they were numbered the "34th Regiment of Foot", and recognized as wearing red uniforms faced bright yellow.

Seven Years' War

Posted to Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....

 in 1755, the Regiment consisting of 26 officers, 29 sergeants, 19 Drummers, and 678 Rank and File as part of Lord Blakeney's
William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney
William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney KB was an Irish soldier known for his unsuccessful defence of the Spanish island of Minorca following the Battle of Minorca in 1756.-Early life:...

 garrison (with the 4th, 23rd and 24th Regiments.) As such they were besieged by a larger French force under Marshal Duke De Richelieu and retreated in good order to Fort St Phillip
Mahon
Mahón is a municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca , located in the eastern part of the island. Mahon has the second deepest natural harbor in the world: 5 km long and up to 900m. wide...

. After a vigorous and gallant defence of two months' duration, at one point watching themselves being abandoned by the fleet under Admiral Byng
John Byng
Admiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Vice-Admiral in 1747...

, the fort capitulated, the garrison being allowed to depart to Gibraltar with drums beating, colours flying, muskets in hand, and 20 rounds of ammunition per man. From Gibraltar the Regiment returned to England having lost 2 officers, and 20 rank and file killed during the siege, 77 NCOs and men wounded, 9 later dying of wounds, disease and exertions.

A second battalion was formed in 1757 to serve as marines. This unit was later re-designated the 73rd Regiment of Foot and disbanded in 1763.

The raids on the French coast of 1758 (24th, 34th and 72nd Regiments) in and around Brittany went well and were quite disruptive but a large French re-inforcement of the area rebuffed them with considerable loss during the departure from St-Cas.

The Regiment mustered 1000 all ranks as it departed with the British expedition against Cuba
British expedition against Cuba
The Battle of Havana was a military action from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, and dealt a serious blow to the Spanish navy...


and was part of the besieging force of Fort Morro
Morro Castle (fortress)
Morro Castle is a picturesque fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay in Havana, Euta. Juan Bautista Antonelli, an Italian engineer, was commissioned to design the structure. When it was built in 1589, Euta was under the control of Germany...

 in 1762. After a long and difficult battle the fort and soon afterwards the City of Havana were taken. The Regiment (brigaded with the 35th Regiment of Foot, 43rd Regiment of Foot and 75th Regiment of Foot
75th Regiment of Foot
Four regiments of the British Army have been numbered the 75th Regiment of Foot:*75th Regiment of Foot , formed 1758 and disbanded 1763*75th Regiment of Foot , renumbered from the 118th in 1763...

) garrisoned this port until peace with Spain was declared and Cuba was exchanged for the mainland colony of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and later Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Portions of the Regiment garrisoned at various times, St Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...

, Pensacola
Pensacola
Pensacola is a city in the western part of the U.S. state of Florida.Pensacola may also refer to:* Pensacola people, a group of Native Americans* A number of places in the Florida:** Pensacola Bay** Pensacola Regional Airport...

, New Orleans and Natches.

Returning to Europe in 1769 the Regiment was part of the Irish establishment until 1776 and called to lift the siege of Quebec
Battle of Quebec (1775)
The Battle of Quebec was fought on December 31, 1775 between American Continental Army forces and the British defenders of the city of Quebec, early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came at a high price...

 in 1776.

American Revolutionary War

Major General Burgoyne's army (which the 34th was a part) landed in the spring of 1776 with the breakup of the ice on the St Lawrence River. Participating in numerous small skirmishes the force drove out the American rebels and pushed them down through Lake Champlain. Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

 Guy Carleton
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB , known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier and administrator...

, the commander at Quebec for reasons still debated did not follow up his success and allowed the rebel forces a year to regroup.

In late July 1777 a detachment of the regiment took part in the Siege of Fort Stanwix
Fort Stanwix
Fort Stanwix was a colonial fort whose construction was started on August 26, 1758, by British General John Stanwix, at the location of present-day Rome, New York, but was not completed until about 1762. The fort guarded a portage known as the Oneida Carrying Place during the French and Indian War...

 while under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger
Barry St. Leger
Barrimore Matthew "Barry" St. Leger was a British colonel who led an invasion force during the American Revolutionary War.Barry St. Leger was baptised on May 1, 1733, in County Kildare, Ireland. He was the son of Sir John St...

, also commanding the 34th Regiment of Foot. The force, consisting of at its very highest 1700 men, comprised British (100 8th, 100 34th) Canadien (65-100), German (350), Loyalist (400) and Native American troops (possibly up to 700). In early August the rebels of Tryon County
Tryon County, New York
Tryon County, New York was a county in the colonial Province of New York in the British American colonies. It was created from Albany County on March 24, 1772. It was named for William Tryon, the last provincial governor of New York. Its boundaries extended far further than any current county...

 dispatched a force of militia to reinforce the besieged Stanwix defenders but a Native American force and the King's Royal Regiment of New York
King's Royal Regiment of New York
The King's Royal Regiment of New York was one of the first Loyalist regiments raised in Canada during the American Revolutionary War....

 under the command of Chief Joseph Brant
Joseph Brant
Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York, who was closely associated with Great Britain during and after the American Revolution. He was perhaps the most well-known American Indian of his generation...

, ambushed the Americans successfully at the Battle of Oriskany
Battle of Oriskany
The Battle of Oriskany, fought on August 6, 1777, was one of the bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign...

, inflicting over 400 rebel deaths. The fort itself was heavily defended and newly repaired and prepared for a siege. The besiegers on the other hand were too few in number and the guns and mortars brought along too light to make any real damage. During the time the ambush was taking place, a sortie by from the forts defenders swept out unopposed capturing much of the Loyalist and Indian camp and supplies. A few weeks later the siege collapsed with the disappearance of the dispirited native allies.

Captain Alexander Fraser of the 34th Regiment, a veteran of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

, commanded what became known as the Company of Select Marksmen
Company of Select Marksmen
Captain Alexander Fraser of the 34th Regiment, a veteran of the French and Indian War, commanded what became known as the Company of Select Marksmen during the Burgoyne campaign in 1777....

 during the Burgoyne campaign at the same time in 1777. The Marksmen, sometimes known as British or Fraser's Rangers, were to consist of two good men from each company of the regiments then in Canada: the 9th
9th Regiment of Foot
The 9th Regiment of Foot was a infantry line regiment of the British Army from 1751 to 1881. It became the Norfolk Regiment following the Army reforms of 1881.-Early history:...

, 20th, 21st, 24th, 29th
29th Regiment of Foot
The 29th Regiment of Foot was, from 1694 to 1881, an infantry regiment of the British Army. It now forms part of the Mercian Regiment.-Formation:...

, 31st, 34th, 47th
47th Regiment of Foot
The 47th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1741 in Scotland, the regiment saw service over a period of 140 years, before it was amalgamated with another regiment to become The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment in 1881...

, 53rd
53rd Regiment of Foot
The 53rd Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment founded in 1755. In 1881, as part of the Childers Reforms, it became The King's Shropshire Light Infantry Regiment. Its traditions are currently held by the 3rd battalion of The Light Infantry....

 and 62nd
62nd Regiment of Foot
The 62nd Regiment of Foot may refer to:*60th Regiment of Foot, later the King's Royal Rifle Corps, known as the 62nd Regiment of Foot between 1755 and 1757...

, excluding the 8th (or King's) Regiment. This company, acting as scouts and light infantry under Capt Fraser did much good work participating in the battles of Hubbardton, Bennington (were they were badly mauled but soon reformed) and Saratoga. Capt Fraser either escaped or was one of four British officers given passports from Saratoga with General Burgoyne's papers, returning through Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century fort built by the Canadians and the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York in the United States...

 and Quebec with news of the defeat. Alexander Fraser continued fighting and raiding throughout the Revolutionary War, commanding at Carleton Island
Carleton Island
Carleton Island is located in the St Lawrence River in upstate New York. It was the location of Fort Haldimand, controlled by the British during the American Revolution, and of great strategic importance, as well as being a center of shipbuilding. The ruins of the fort can still be seen at the...

 and Fort Schlosser and afterwards becoming the commanding officer of the 45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment in 1795.

Throughout the war, under command of Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger, the Regiment garrisoned numerous forts in the St Lawrence and Lake Ontario, conducted raids and acted as marines on gunboats. The Light and Grenadier companies which had been part of the composite Light and Grenadier Battalions on the Burgoyne Campaign were reformed and reinforced after surrendering with the army at Saratoga and becoming part of what was infamously known as the Convention Army. In autumn of 1778 a member of both these companies escaped captivity and managed to make their way back to Quebec to rejoin the battalion. Lt Bright Nodder of the Light Company was exchanged in 1782 and a year later took a captaincy with the 84th (Royal Highland Emigrants) Regt. Capt Harris (Gren Coy), Capt Ross and Lt Richardson (Lt Coy) were all wounded at Hubbardton and invalided back to Quebec, thus evading capture.

The greatest single loss of life affecting the regiment was the disappearance of the brig-sloop HMS Ontario
HMS Ontario (1780)
HMS Ontario was a British warship that sank in a storm in Lake Ontario on October 31, 1780, during the American Revolutionary War. She was a 22-gun snow, and, at in length, the largest British warship on the Great Lakes at the time. The shipwreck was discovered in 2008 by Jim Kennard and Dan...

 during a violent storm on October 31, 1780. Lost somewhere east of Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.-Origin:...

 on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

 with all hands, 80 souls perished. The 34th that day lost 1 officer, 2 sergeants, 1 corporal, 1 drummer, 30 privates, 4 women and 5 children. The resting site of the HMS Ontario remained a mystery until 2008 when the nearly pristine brig "was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 20 metres above the lake bottom", in approximately 150m of water "off the southern shore" by shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville. Other losses in that vessal were 31 Royal Navy, 3 Royal Artillery, 4 8th Regiment, 2 Rangers, 1 Passenger and 4 Mohawks.

1782 saw the Regiment granted the county title as the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot returning to Britain in 1786.

The Revolutionary War re-enactment unit 'Company of Select Marksmen
Company of Select Marksmen
Captain Alexander Fraser of the 34th Regiment, a veteran of the French and Indian War, commanded what became known as the Company of Select Marksmen during the Burgoyne campaign in 1777....

' portray members of the 34th and other member units with their women, children and native allies.

Napoleonic Wars

With the heightening of tensions after the French Revolution, the British army expanded their establishment and with this came a second battalion to the Regiment.

In the beginning of the Napoleonic conflict the First Battalion were posted to the West Indies to put down revolutionary inspired uprisings. They were then stationed on the Indian subcontinent for the remainder of the war.

The Second Battalion of the Regiment served with distinction in the Peninsular Campaign
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

 of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

. During the battle of Arroyo dos Molinos, they fought the French 34th regiment and won capturing the French drums and the Drum Major's mace which the regiment still possesses today (despite requests for their return by the French Government.) On the anniversary of the battle 28 October ("Arroyo day") the Regimental band would form up and march about beating the captured drums in celebration. These were presented for safe keeping to the Regimental Museum at Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle is situated in Carlisle, in the English county of Cumbria, near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. The castle is over 900 years old and has been the scene of many historical episodes in British history. Given the proximity of Carlisle to the border between England and Scotland, it...

 and are now on public display though the celebration is continued today.

Pax Brittannic

The political tensions in Britain and North America of the 1830s appeared in Canada as a series rebellions and border raids from 1837-39. The 34th(Cumberland)Regiment were a part of the 11,000 British regulars sent to put down the rebellions in Lower and Upper Canada. Posted to Fort Malden in Amherstburg, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada during the Upper Canada Rebellion
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Upper Canada Rebellion was, along with the Lower Canada Rebellion in Lower Canada, a rebellion against the British colonial government in 1837 and 1838. Collectively they are also known as the Rebellions of 1837.-Issues:...

 of 1837 they engaged Rebel forces at Peelee Island, Fighting Island and the Battle of Windsor and protected against American 'Hunter Lodges' raiding across the border.

At Fort Malden, a National Historic Site of Canada, there exists today in the smallest of three barracks buildings a full barracks display of that period. During the summertime, local students are hired and instructed representing members of the 34th on the proper drill and deportment in wearing the 1837 British Uniform and perform musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

firing demonstrations.

External links

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