85th Regiment of Foot (Westminster Volunteers)
| 85th Regiment of Foot (Westminster Volunteers) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1777–1783 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Infantry |
The 85th Regiment of Foot (Westminster Volunteers) was a short-lived infantry Regiment in the British Army which was raised in 1777 to provide garrison troops for the West Indies during the American Revolutionary War.[1]
It was posted to Jamaica, where its numbers were ravaged by endemic diseases such as Yellow Fever. Many of survivors then perished in a storm off Newfoundland on their way home aboard the captured ship Ville de Paris in 1782. The remnants of the regiment were disbanded at Dover in 1783.[2]
The Colonels of the Regiment were: [3]
- 1778–1783: Gen. Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, GCH
- 1783: Lt-Col. Lord Henry FitzGerald
References
[edit]- ^ "The 85th Regiment : History 1759 - 1881". Shropshire Regimental Museum. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ "The King's Shropshire Light Infantry". britisharmedforces.org. Retrieved 4 August 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "85th Regiment of Foot (1759)". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007.