87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot
The 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1793 and amalgamated into the Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) in 1881.
The regiment was raised in 1793 as the 87th (The Prince of Wales's Irish) Regiment of Foot, taking its title from George IV, then Prince of Wales, later modifying its title to 87th (The Prince of Wales's Own Irish) Regiment of Foot, then to 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot following the Prince's accession to the throne.
The 87th were famous for being the first British Regiment to capture a French Imperial Eagle during the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Barrosa on 5 March 1811, Ensign Edward Keogh and Sergeant Patrick Masterson captured the Eagle of the 8th Ligne. Keogh only managed to get a hand on the shaft when he was shot and bayoneted, he was killed instantly. Masterson had followed his officer and after killing several men he wrenched the Eagle from the dying hands of its bearer, Lieutenant Gazan. [1]
It was bugler Paddy Shannon of the 2nd Battalion of the 87th Regiment of Foot who "picked up" Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's baton after the battle of Vittoria .[2] The baton was sent to George the Prince Regent by Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington, who in return awarded Wellington, his English field marshal's baton.
Notes
- ↑ Fraser 1913, p. 137,138.
- ↑ Fraser 1913, p. 148.
References
- Fraser, Edward (1913). Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852; Great Britain -- History, Military 1789-1820. London: Methuen. pp. 129–148.
External links
- 87th (Royal Irish Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot Historical record of the Eighty-seventh Regiment, or the Royal Irish Fusiliers : containing an account of the formation of the regiment in 1793, and of its subsequent services to 1853