The 87th Regiment of Foot was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

, 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

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

, 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

French Imperial Eagle

French Imperial Eagle refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars....

 during the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

. At the Battle of Barrosa

Battle of Barrosa

The Battle of Barrosa was an unsuccessful French attack on a larger Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish force attempting to lift the siege of Cádiz, Spain during the Peninsular War...

 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.

It was bugler Paddy Shannon of the 2nd Battalion of the 87th Regiment of Foot who "picked up" Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...

 baton after the battle of Vittoria . The baton was sent to George

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

 the Prince Regent

Prince Regent

A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....

 by Arthur Wellesley

Arthur Wellesley

Arthur Wellesley may refer to:*Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman*Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington , British soldier and nobleman...

, Marquess of Wellington, who in return awarded Wellington, his first field marshal's baton

Batons of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington acquired many titles and honours including the rank of field marshal or equivalent in eight nation's armies. Each one of these nations provided him with a baton as a symbol of his rank...

.

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