Rebellion against the Hanoverian King George I began in 1715 by Jacobite supporters of James Stuart, "Old Pretender" to the throne of Great Britain. As unrest escalated in Britain, the Queen's Regiment arrived in Scotland and became absorbed by a Government army under the Duke of Argyll. Although numerically superior, the Jacobite army did not begin an advance south until November because of the caution of their leader, the Earl of Mar. The Duke of Argyll moved north from Stirling and positioned his forces in the vicinity of Dunblane on 12 November. On the morning of the 13th, in conditions that had frozen the ground during the night, the Battle of Sheriffmuir began.

The Queen's Regiment formed part of General Thomas Whetham's left wing. Confused troop movements led to both it and the Jacobite left being weaker than the corresponding right wing. While Whetham's men attempted to readjust their dispositions, a mass of Highlanders began a rapid charge. Entwined in hand-to-hand combat within minutes, the sides fought until Whetham's men broke and retreated in disarray. The Queen's had 111 killed, including Lieutenant-Colonel Hanmer, 14 wounded, and 12 captured. The remnants withdrew from the battlefield until almost upon Stirling. Without cavalry support, the Jacobite left also broke, and the Earl of Mar abandoned the area at nightfall.

At the behest of George I, to honour the regiment's service at Sheriffmuir, the Queen's became the King's Regiment of Foot with the White Horse of Hanover as its badge. The device continued to be used until the regiment amalgamated in 1958.

The King's Regiment remained in Scotland until 1717, by which time the Jacobite uprising had been suppressed. Between 1717 and 1739, the King's alternated between garrisons in England and Ireland.

In 1743 the regiment fought at the Battle of Dettingen. Despite the French enjoying superiority in numbers, Britain and its Allies defeated an army under the duc de Noailles.

 A soldier of the King's Regiment, dated 1742.

The following year the regiment took part in the Battle of Fontenoy. Due to its seniority, the King's Regiment became positioned in the frontline of the Duke of Cumberland's centre. The centre advanced with its right flank exposed because of the refusal by some allied regiments to fight, while the left flank made limited progress. In the midst of a French counter-attack, the centre was forced to withdraw. The regiment suffered more than 150 casualties in the Allied defeat.

In 1745, Prince Charles Edward (popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) landed in Scotland, seeking to restore the Stuarts to the British throne. The regiment did not become committed to battle until the Battle of Falkirk in 1746. The regiment was part of the left wing of the front line of the army, under the command of Lieutenant-General Henry Hawley. After a failed attack by dragoons of Hawley's army, the Highlanders loyal to Prince Charles charged the Government forces, compelling the left wing of the army to withdraw while the right wing held. The rebels and Government armies both withdrew from the battlefield by night-time. The regiment later fought in the Battle of Culloden. Once the impetuous Highlanders charged and overcame the initial volley of fire, vicious hand-to-hand fighting ensued with Hawley's men. The King's provided cross-fire support, firing across the front-line and into the Highlanders. The regiment sustained a single, severely wounded casualty.

Between 1746 and 1747, the King's fought in the battles of Roucoux and Lauffeld. In the latter, the King's and three other regiments became embroiled in a protracted struggle through the avenues of Val. Control of the village fluctuated throughout the battle until the Allies retreated before overwhelming numbers.

The British Army implemented a numbering system in 1751 to reflect the seniority of a regiment by its date of creation, with the King's becoming the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in the order of precedence. The beginning of the Seven Years' War, which would encompass Europe and its colonial possessions, necessitated the 8th's expansion to two battalions, amounting to a total of 20 companies. Both battalions form part of an expedition in 1757 that captured Ile d'Aix, an island off the western coast of France, as a precursor to a planned seizure of the mainland garrison town of Rochefort. The 2nd Battalion became the 63rd Regiment of Foot in 1758 and would not be replaced until 1804.

When the regiment augmented the Hanoverian Army in 1760, the 8th King's had its grenadier company committed to the battles of Warburg and Kloster Kampen. As a complete regiment, the 8th served at Kirch-Denkern, Paderborn, Wilhelmsthal, and the capture of Cassel.

<< Back       Next - American Revolutionary War (1768-1785) >>