15th Regiment of Foot

History of the 15th East Yorkshire.

Raised in 1685 in Nottingham by Sir William Clifton, 3rd Baronet, it was originally, like many British infantry regiments, known by the name of its current Colonel. In 1751, when the numerical system of designation of Regiments of Foot was adopted, it became the 15th Regiment of Foot and in 1782 the 15th (The Yorkshire East Riding) Regiment of Foot.

The 15th Regiment of foot fought with great distinction under Marlborough at Blenheim, Ramillies, Ovdenarde and Malpaquet (1704-1709) and again under James Wolfe at Louisburg in 1758 and in the following year at Quebec. The officers of this regiment wear black 'ground' with their collar badges and a black line in the goldlace of the full dress uniform - all as a memorial to the regiment`s association with General Wolfe. White roses (the white roses of York) are fastened to the colour pikes on Quebec day.

During the War of American Independance (1777) the 15th ran short of ammunition at Philadelphia during the battle of the Brandywine; the commanding officer ordered the men to 'snap and be damned'. The best shots fired ball ammunition and the rest either fired blank charges or snapped the locks of their empty muskets so as to confuse the enemy - hence the nickname of 'The Snappers'.

In the Napoleonic wars, the 15th unfortunately did not fight in the European theatre, they did however contribute greatly in the Caribbean theatre of war.
In the invasion of Martinique in 1809 the opposing French forces offered little stiff resistance until all the defenders fled to Fort Desaix.
For nine days, the British soldiers and sailors of the expeditionary force constructed gun batteries and trenches around the fort, bringing ashore large quantities of supplies and equipment in readiness for a lengthy siege. At 16:30 on 19 February the preparations were complete and the bombardment began, 14 heavy cannon and 28 mortars beginning a continuous attack on the fort which lasted for the next four days. French casualties in the overcrowded fort were severe, with 200 men killed or wounded. British casualties were minimal, with five killed and 11 wounded, principally in an explosion in an ammunition tent manned by sailors from HMS Amaranthe. At 12:00 on 23 February, Villaret de Joyeuse's trumpeter was sent to the British camp with a message proposing surrender terms. These were unacceptable to Beckwith and the bombardment resumed at 22:00, continuing until 09:00 the following morning when three white flags were raised over the fort and the French admiral surrendered unconditionally. The bombardment had cracked the roof of the fort's magazine, and there were fears that further shelling might have ignited the gunpowder and destroyed the building completely.
In 1810 the 15th similarly participated in the invasion of nearby Guadeloupe where it aided in the capture of the 66e's Imperial Eagle.

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