A HISTORY OF DORSET 



Foot. A commission to raise troops for another regiment of dragoons, 

 issued inter alia to Thomas Maxwell at Shaftesbury, resulted in the form- 

 ation of a regiment in July, 1685, which was joined by many Dorset 

 loyalists who had fought against Monmouth, and which was afterwards 

 known as the Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Dragoons (now 4th 

 Dragoons).' 



The Dorset Regiment itself was not formed till 1702, during the 

 preparations for war with France and Spain. It was raised in Ireland in 

 1702, and was stationed there for five years. In 1707 it was sent to 

 Portugal, to reinforce the troops after the battle of Almanza, gaining con- 

 spicuous honour, from making a determined stand with the 5th and 20th 

 and Lord Paston's regiments, to cover the retreat of the Portuguese Army 

 at the passage of the Caya. On the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht 

 (11 April, 17 1 3), the 39th went to Gibraltar, but later in the year was 

 sent to form part of the garrison of Minorca, where it remained till 1719. 

 It then passed some years in Ireland.'' In 1727 it took part in the recovery 

 of Gibraltar, and in 1729, on the conclusion of peace, was sent to Jamaica, 

 where it arrived in 1730. In 1732 it returned to Ireland, and in 1737 the 

 Duke of Argyle was colonel. In 1744 the regiment was sent to England, 

 and was employed for two years as marines on board the fleet. In 1746 it 

 took part in the expedition to Brittany which attacked L'Orient, the head 

 quarters of the French East India Company's shipping and stores in Europe. 

 In 1747 and 1748 the 39th again served as marines.' 



After the Peace of Aachen in 1748 the regiment spent five years in 

 Ireland, going in 1754 to the East Indies. It remained at Madras till 1756, 

 and being the first king's regiment employed in India earned the motto still 

 borne of ' Primus in Indis.' The gallant behaviour of the 39th at Plassy in 

 1757 earned it the royal authority to bear the word upon the regimental 

 colours. In 1758, on its return to Ireland, it was shipwrecked upon the Irish 

 coast. A large detachment joined Ferdinand of Brunswick in 1759. In 

 1769 the regiment was besieged in Gibraltar, a siege which, in spite of 

 three reliefs and reinforcements, was not finally abandoned till 1783. The 

 loss of the regiment during the whole siege was only five officers, ten sergeants, 

 two drummers, and one hundred and thirteen of the rank and file.* 



On 31 August, 1782, the 39th became the East Middlesex regiment, 

 territorial denominations being then adopted. From 1783 to 1792 it con- 

 tinued in Ireland ; in February 1793 it was sent to the French West Indies, 

 and assisted at the captures of Martinique and Guadaloupe. The stay in 

 Guadaloupe proved very deleterious to the health of the men. In 1794 it was 

 in Ireland, in 1795 in Barbadoes. From Barbadoes in 1796, the 39th, together 

 with a detachment of the Royal Artillery, proceeded against the Dutch 

 colonies of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, which were taken in April. 

 They remained in Demerara till November, 1799. In October, 1800, they 

 went to Surinam, and spent 1801 there. On the conclusion of the Peace of 

 Amiens in 1802 they returned to Barbadoes, and went thence to Antigua, 

 reaching England in March, 1803. During the South American years they 

 lost 2,000 men from climatic diseases alone. 



' Hist. Rec. of Brit. Army (ed. Cannon), i ith Foot, 1,2; 4th Dragoons, 10. 



' Hist. Rec. of Brit. Amy, 39th Dorset Rcgt. 8. * Ibid. 12, 13. * Ibid. 



170 



