The 59th Regiment The Battalion was formed at Nottingham, under the command of Colonel Fane shortly after the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens in 1803. In the autumn of 1808 it first went on service, as part of the army which sailed for Corunna under Sir David Baird. It took part in the Sir John Moore’s disastrous retreat from Benevento. They fought in the battle of Corunna, in which Sir John Moore was killed. Although newly formed, the 59th’s conduct was noticed in terms of commendation by Gen, Leith, who commanded the division in which they served. Col. Fane and several other officers were severely wounded upon this occasion. The battalion was also part of the expedition to Walcheren, in July 1809, where they suffered disease. …show more content…
They then spent four months in the Bois-de-Boulogne, before moving to Montlery, near Paris until 6 December they marched for Calais, and a few days after landed in England. The regiment arrived at Dover early in the morning of 10 January along with troops from several other regiments that sailed in three transports and 14 passage vessels. They were immediately unloaded and the ships set sail for Calais again. On the same morning 2 small vessels arrived in Ramsgate having sailed from Calais carrying part of the regiment. On the morning of 24 January the regiment together with the 62d arrived in Ramsgate from Deal and embarked upon four large transports; they will precede to Ireland with their several officers this evening’s tide, if the weather continues moderate. Dover to Deal is a 3 hour march, Deal to Ramsgate 4 hours. Ireland having been again fixed on as their ultimate destination, the regiment embarked on board the Sea-Horse and Lord Melville transports. Traces of the seventeenth century prejudice against a standing army still persisted in Britain into the early 19th century, and although a large scale barrack building project commenced there in the 1790’s, it was Ireland that still provided a large proportion of barracks and a protestant community that welcomed them. So many of the regiments were sent to Ireland to replace many of the Irish militias that were been