Tuesday 9 June 2009

Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot




Raised in 1664 this regiment - also known as the Lord High Admiral's Regiment - was part of the defence of the east coast during the Dutch raids of 1667.
Images by Charles Stadden from the excellent website of Suffolk attraction Landguard Fort.
According to the site;
In 1667, during the second Dutch War, on the orders of Admiral de Ruyter, 1500 Dutch marines (musketeers, pikemen, sailors (as grenadiers) and small cannon) landed at Cottage Point (now Cobbolds Point) and under the command of Colonel Thomas Dolman (an English officer who had served with Cromwell and, like many professional soldiers, had changed sides) attacked the Fort from the landward side. The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, commanded by Captain Nathaniel Darell, repulsed the Dutch assault. Landguard was held by the companies of Captains Henry Farr and Nathaniel Darrell, supported by the Suffolk Militia.
Governing Ordnance at the Royal Marines website here
Reenacting the regiment
This regiment has been a popular choice for reenactors as it should be - the Essex Militia recreate the regiment in the UK, and it is recreated in the Americas (see website) as the regiment served there during Bacon's Rebellion. Some companies fought under Turenne in the British Brigade in the Franco-Dutch war so all in all a good choice.
There's also this page with lots more on the regiment from local historian Mervyn Lemon

3 comments:

legatus hedlius said...

The link on bacon's Rebellion actually takes me to the Wikipedia site on Bacon. This was not unhelpful as it confirmed that, for some reason, North Americans favour streaky bacon rather than the far superior back bacon we eat in England.

I never can get proper bacon in the US or Canada!

This is an interesting uniform that I had not been previously aware of but cries out for a Copplestone painting!

Ralphus said...

Sorry if it got your stomach rumbling...definitely a Copplestone paint job!

M Lemon said...

"Landguard Fort was held by the companies of Captain Nathaniel Darrell (the governor of the fort) and Captain George Cartwright, supported by the Suffolk Militia on the high ground near Walton.!"

The History of Landguard Fort, in Suffolk by Major John Henry Leslie Page 41.

Mervyn Lemon, Landguard Fort Trust