49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot

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The 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment raised in 1743 in Jamaica as Edward Trelawney's Regiment of Foot. It was later numbered the 63rd in 1747 and became the 49th in 1751. The regiment spent early years in Ireland and Newfoundland before moving to North America for the American Revolutionary War, arriving in Boston in 1775. It fought at Long Island, White Plains, Fort Washington, Brandywine, Paoli and Germantown. After Brandywine, the regiment adopted red feathers in their shakos to mark their actions there. It then sailed to the West Indies, helping secure a British victory at St. Lucia in 1778, before returning to Ireland in 1780. In 1782 it received the county designation Hertfordshire.

In 1793, the regiment’s men were redesignated as marines for service in the French Revolutionary Wars and garrisoned Dominica in 1794. After returning to England in 1796, it went to Ostend in 1798–1799 and fought at Alkmaar in 1799, and later served under Admiral Hyde Parker at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. After dropping the marine designation, the regiment was sent to Canada in 1802 and served in the War of 1812, including the Battle of Queenston Heights in 1812 under Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. It returned home in 1815 for royal guarding duties at Weymouth.

Princess Charlotte of Wales admired the regiment’s scarlet coats and white breeches, and in 1816 it became the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment later served in Canada and in the First Opium War in China (1840–1842), fighting at Chusan, Canton, Amoy and Shanghai before returning home in 1843. It then participated in the Crimean War (Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol) and came back to Britain in 1856. As part of Cardwell Reforms in the 1870s, the 49th was linked with the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment and shared a depot at Brock Barracks, Reading. On 1 July 1881, under the Childers Reforms, the regiment amalgamated with the 66th to form the Princess Charlotte of Wales's (Royal Berkshire Regiment).