84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot

The 84th (York and Lancaster) Regiment of Foot was a regiment in the British Army. In 1881 it was amalgamated with the 65th Regiment of Foot to create the York and Lancaster Regiment, with the 84th becoming the 2nd Battalion.

The regiment was raised on 2 November 1793 by Lt.Col.George Bernard, and was the third regiment to be ranked as the 84th Regiment of Foot. The 1st Battalion of the 84th Foot served in the ill-fated First Walcheren Expedition of 1794. It moved to the Cape of Good Hope in 1796 and India in 1799.

A 2nd Battalion was raised and sent to the second Walcheren Campaign in 1809. The battalion then served in the Peninsular War from 1812 to 1814 during which the regiment gained its first medals. The Army Gold Medals were awarded to Lt.Col.R.Lloyd and Maj.J.Tonson. The 2nd Bn, 84th Foot fought its first action of the war in late 1813 at the Battle of the Bidassoa (or Vera). They then went on to fight at Nivelle in November and Bayonne (or Nive) in December where Wellington's force, despite being outnumbered by Marshal Soult's army, defeated Soult. The 2nd Battalion returned to Britain where it was absorbed by the 1st Battalion in 1819.

India
The 1st Battalion in India was stationed in Bombay by 1807 and in 1809 the regiment was given the secondary title of York and Lancaster (the 1st Battalion was raised in Yorkshire and the 2nd Battalion was raised in Lancashire ) which would remain the regiment name when it merged with the 65th Regiment of Foot in 1881. In 1810 the 1st Bn, 84th Foot was sent to the French held island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean where they participated in the capture of the island. It was also the first time the 65th Foot and the 84th Foot were to come into contact with each other.

After this the battalion served in Bangalore for the next four years. From there they were involved in the recapturing of Kurnool in 1815 and against the Mahratta princes in the last stages of the Pindari Campaign or 3rd Mahratta War. The 84th Foot was returned to England in 1819 for seven years home service where it absorbed its 2nd Battalion. In 1820 apparently a detachment travelled on HMS Coromandel as escorts for convicts bound for Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales.

In 1827 the 84th Foot was sent to Jamaica where it helped quell the slave riots there. The regiment remained in the West Indies until 1839.

Indian Mutiny
The regiment travelled around the various garrisons of the British Empire for the next few years, mainly in India and Burma. It was not until 1857 that it would see action again in the Sepoy Rebellion in India. The 84th Foot had been in Burma when the rebellion of 1857-1858 broke out. The 84th Regiment were moved from Rangoon to India and detachments scattered throughout the various forts that were soon besieged and the Regiment received great acclaim for their actions during this period. General Outram wrote of the 84th:

A private letter is hardly a proper medium for giving expression to the strong feelings i bear to the glorious old 84th,but the feelings i do bear it are very strong, and every officer, non-commissioned officer and private of the Corps is,and ever shall be, my comrade and my friend!

The 84th Regiment is the only regiment ever to receive a salute from the battery at Fort William, Calcutta when they left India in 1859. The regiment was involved in the Relief of Lucknow and a detachment was in the Siege of Cawnpore while most of the regiment was part of the relief force sent to Cawnpore. After Cawnpore and Lucknow were recaptured the 84th Regiment was involved in the large scale protection of the country side under a Brigadier Douglas who, whilst surrounded wrote:

I did not think of the smallness of my force opposed to three separate bodies, each doubling it, when i remembered it was the 84th i had with me!

Victoria Crosses
The 84th Foot had six Victoria Crosses awarded to men serving in its ranks all won during the Indian Mutiny :
 * Abraham Boulger
 * Joel Holmes
 * George Lambert
 * John Sinnott
 * Augustus Anson
 * Patrick Mylott

Amalgamation
The 84th Regiment left India in 1859 for England and then began another tour of the empire which ended with the 84th Foot stationed in Ireland in 1880 when Childers Reforms began in 1881 and the regiment became the 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment.