56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot

The 56th Regiment of Foot was raised on the 28th of December 1755 following heightening tensions with France under the colonelcy of one Lord Charles Manners as the 58th Regiment of foot before being renumbered a year later to the 56th.Alas the 56th would not yet be destined for battle being sent to garrison duties in Scotland where it would remain for a further four years at which point it would see further garrison duties in the sunnier climates of Hilsea in the South of England.Yet in 1762 the fortunes of the 56th changed for the better. Britain was now at war with Spain and sending an expeditionary force against Spanish holdings in the Caribbean,specifically Havana. Upon landing in Cuba, alongside four companies of the 1st Foot and a battalion of the 60th the regiment numbered a healthy Nine Hundred and Thirty three men, making up a full ten companies.And so it was on the 30th of July that a storming party was organised to take the Harbour fortress of Moro. After a brief,yet violent,assault the fortress fell with 150 of the garrison being killed in the attack,400 taken prisoner and a further 200 dieing in an attempted escape in a flotilla of dinghy's.The 56th for it's gallant action was bestowed it's first battle honour in the Seven Years War. Further on,the 13th of August,the city of Havana surrendered to George Keppel. During the expedition the 56th lost a dozen men with a further two dozen wounded.

Active 1755–1881
Country United Kingdom
Branch Army
Type Line Infantry
Nickname(s) The Pompadours
Motto Montis insignia Calpe
Colors Purple facings to uniform
March Rule, Britannia!
Battle honours Havannah,Moro,Gibraltar and Sevastopol