The Cheshire Regiment 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

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 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...

, part of the Prince of Wales' Division

Prince of Wales' Division

The Prince of Wales's Division is a British Army command, training and administrative apparatus designated for all land force units in the West of England and Wales. The Prince of Wales's Division was formed in 1968 with the union of the Mercian Brigade, Welsh Brigade and Wessex Brigade...

.
The regiment was created in 1881 as part of the Childers reforms

Childers Reforms

The Childers Reforms restructured the infantry regiments of the British army. The reforms were undertaken by Secretary of State for War Hugh Childers in 1881, and were a continuation of the earlier Cardwell reforms....

 by the linking of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment of Foot and the militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 and rifle volunteers

Volunteer Force (Great Britain)

The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the...

 of Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

. The title 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment continued to be used within the regiment.

The 22nd Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk

Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk

Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, KG, PC, Earl Marshal was a politician and soldier. He was the son of Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk and Lady Anne Somerset, daughter of Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester and Elizabeth Dormer.He married Mary Mordaunt, the only daughter and heiress of...

 in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 325 years, being one of five line infantry regiments never to have been amalgamated in its history; Up to 2006, it shared this claim with:

• The Royal Scots
• The Green Howards
  The Green Howards
  The Green Howards was an infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division...
  
  
• The Royal Welch Fusiliers
  Royal Welch Fusiliers
  The Royal Welch Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and the imminent war with France...
  
  
• The King's Own Scottish Borderers
  King's Own Scottish Borderers
  The King's Own Scottish Borderers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division.-History:It was raised on 18 March 1689 by the Earl of Leven to defend Edinburgh against the Jacobite forces of James II. It is said that 800 men were recruited within the space of two hours...
  
  

On September 1, 2007, the Cheshire Regiment was merged with other regiments to form part of the Mercian Regiment

Mercian Regiment

The Mercian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed by the amalgamation of three existing regiments on 1 September 2007.The regiment has three regular army battalion's and one Territorial Army or reserve battalion...

, becoming 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire)
In 1689, Henry, Duke of Norfolk

Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk

Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, KG, PC, Earl Marshal was a politician and soldier. He was the son of Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk and Lady Anne Somerset, daughter of Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester and Elizabeth Dormer.He married Mary Mordaunt, the only daughter and heiress of...

, raised a regiment on the little Roodee at Chester, in an effort to resist any attempt by James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 to re-take the English throne.