85th Regiment of Foot (Westminster Volunteers)
Military unit / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other units with the same regimental number, see 85th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation).
The 85th Regiment of Foot (Westminster Volunteers) was a short-lived infantry Regiment in the British Army which was raised in 1777 to provide garrison troops for the West Indies during the American Revolutionary War.[1]
Quick Facts Active, Country ...
85th Regiment of Foot (Westminster Volunteers) | |
---|---|
Active | 1777–1783 |
Country | Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Infantry |
Close
It was posted to Jamaica, where its numbers were ravaged by endemic diseases such as Yellow Fever. Many of survivors then perished in a storm off Newfoundland on their way home aboard the captured ship Ville de Paris in 1782. The remnants of the regiment were disbanded at Dover in 1783.[2]
The Colonels of the Regiment were: [3]
- 1778–1783: Gen. Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, GCH
- 1783: Lt-Col. Lord Henry FitzGerald