The Earl of Huntingdon first raised this regiment in 1685, in and about Bucks.  Though largely composed of Roman Catholics, at least as regards its officers, it espoused the Protestant cause when William landed, and took part in 1689 in the suppression of the Scotch insurgents at Edinburgh and Killiecrankie; in the Irish campaign against James at the Boyne, Cork, Kinsale, Ballycleugh, and Lismore; and in 1745 in the last of the Jacobite risings at Falkirk and Culloden.  After some desultory foreign service, it shared in the campaign of 1702-4, at Kaiserswerth, Venloo, St Michael, Ruremonde, Fort Montjuich, and St Matheo.

While doing duty in the Peninsula the men were converted into Dragoons, and that with little previous preparation or notice; for after a review at Oropeso, Lord Peterborough, regretting he had not sufficient cavalry, and ascertaining that the officers were not unwilling to assist him, marched the regiment to the place where were stationed "eight bodies of horses, drawn up separately, and . . . all ready accoutred", and mounted the men, marching them to their new quarters.  As cavalry they did good service throughout the campaign, especially at the disaster of Almanza, and were disbanded in 1713.

Not all the regiment had been so employed.  The remainder had returned to England to recruit, and reappeared in Portugal in 1708, to fight on the Caya.  For the second time the 13th shared in a siege at Gibraltar in 1727, and next saw fighting at Dettingen and Fontenoy, at Val and Limburg.

After various periods of foreign service the 13th joined Sir Ralph Abercromby's expedition to Egypt, and fought at Aboukir, Mandora, and Alexandria, as well as at the siege of the latter place.  For this service it bears on its colours "Egypt", with the Sphinx, and all the officers received gold medals from the Sultan.  It took part in the capture and garrisoning of Martinique and Guadaloupe; after which it was transferred to Canada, and formed part of the expedition to Plattsburg in 1813, and had a sharp skirmish in defence of the mill on the La Cole river.

In 1822 it was constituted "Light Infantry", with green ball to the shako, while the officers wore scales instead of epaulettes, and a species of aiguillette of crimson cord on the breast.  Two years later the regiment embarked for the East Indies, and in the first Burmese War assisted to capture Rangoon, the island of Cheduba, the strong stockade of Kemmendine, Melloon, Simbike, Napadee Hills, and Pagaham Mew, and on the conclusion of hostilities was authorised to bear "Ava" on its colours.

The first Afghan War in 1838 gave the men further experience; and, proceeding through the Bolan Pass by Quettah, they reached Candahar with no molestation more serious than that offered by the hill tribes.  The capture of the fortress of Ghuznee followed; and after the army had been accorded by the Queen permission to wear "Afghanistan" and "Ghuznee" on the appointments, and had been decorated with medals and the order of the "Dooranee Empire", the 13th, under Major-General Sale, their old commander, was left to support the Government of the restored Shah Soojah, and took up cantonments in the Bala-Hissar at Cabool.  It shared in the attempted suppression of the disturbances at Tootumdurra, Julgar (where the detachment at first suffered a repulse), at Baboo-Kooshghur, and Purwan, at the Khoord Cabool Pass, and Tezeen; while during the whole operations the regiment was perpetually harassed by night attacks, called by the natives Shub Khoon, or “night slaughter”.

The garrison decide to retreat, in the late autumn of 1841, by Gundamuck and the Jugdulluck Pass, fighting the whole of the way until Jellalabad  was reached on 12^th November.  There it was particularly besieged until April, 1842; and, to add to its anxieties, it was disturbed by earthquake shocks, of which there were one hundred in one month alone.  The 13^th had defended a ruined fortress, almost without money or food, and with improvised defences, for five months; it was the one gleam of sunshine to illumine the disasters that befell the termination of the first Afghan War.  The mural crown and the words “Jellalabad” and “Cabool, 1842”, on the appointments, together with a silver medal, record the regiment’s gallantry.

The 13^th returned with Major-General Pollock to Cabool, fighting again at Jugdulluck and at the Huft Kotal Pass in the Tezeen Valley on the way.  Even on its final retirement from the Afghan capital, in October, 1842, there was much skirmishing with the tribes, and the Governer-General directed that the regiments comprising the “illustrious garrison of Jellalabad” should be received by all the troops “in review order with presented arms”.  All this was done with the Brown Bess as the infantry weapon, for it was not until the autumn of 1843 that percussion muskets were issued to the 13^th.  Returning home in 1845, it served next at Gibraltar and then in the Crimea in 1855, being present in reserve at the Tchernaya, and with the Fifth Division at the Redan.  Transferred to the Cape in 1856, it embarked for India at the outbreak of the Mutiny, and did good service at Azimghur, and in the jungles of Jugdespore and the Trans-Gorga districts.  In this campaign Private Caslin and Sergeant Napier gained the Cross for Valur; an honour also bestowed on Major W. K. Leet for bravery at Inhlobane in the Zulu War, 1878, where the regiment saw much service, as well as in the attack on Sekukumi’s Kraal in 1879.

The 2^nd battalion was not formed until 1858, and, curiously enough, had no predecessor.  Its first war service was in Burmah from 1885 to 87, and this is at present the last name on the battle roll.

The 13^th received the county title od the 1^st Somersetshire in 1782, and the “Prince Albert’s Regiment of Light Infantry” in 1842.

At the outset the facings were yellow; in 1751 they are described as “philemot” yellow; and this was changed to blue in 1842.  In 1840, a yellow band was also worn round the cap.  The scarlet uniform has the rose-pattern gold lace marked by a black stripe at top and bottom; a distinction it shares with seven other regiments: it is supposed to be, though with little evidence, a memorial of Culloden, or, as some think, of Quebec.  The 13^th , however, was not at Quebec.  From the same battle is believed to have descended the custom – peculiar to the 13^th – of wearing the sashes on the same shoulder, both officers and men.  The bugle, surrounded by collar with “Prince Albert’s”, surmounted by a mural crown, wreathed, is on the button; on the collar the bugle, surmounted by mural crown, with scroll “Jellalabad” above; the waist belt has the same with Sphinx between crown and bugle, surrounded by collar with “The Prince Albert’s”; the centre of the helmet plate is similar to that of the waist belt, but surrounded by garter, wreathed, a scroll on the wreath with “Somerset Light Infantry”.

The Militia battalions are the 1^st and 2^nd Somerset, raised in 1759, the former of which originally wore as a badge the crest of Monmouth, a dragon on a Cap of Maintenance within a garter, crowned, and had the motto “Defendimur”.  The Volunteer battalions are the 1^st Somerset, Bath (scarlet and blue); the 2^nd Somerset, Taunton, and the 3^rd Somerset, Weston-super-Mare (both grey and black). 

Raised in 1865 as the Earl of Huntingdon's regiment, becoming in 1822 The 13th Light Infantry.

Battle Honours.

VICTORIA CROSS AWARDS.

Five members of the regiment have been awarded the Victoria Cross:

2 during the Indian Mutiny

one in the Zulu and Basuto War,

One in World war One, and One in World War Two.

The Presentation of Colours to the 2nd Battalion, the Prince Albert's Somerset Light Infantry. (1895)

Somersetshire Light Infantry

The Prince Albert’s (Somersetshire Light Infantry)-Regimental District No.13-consisting of the famous old 13^th Foot, date from 1685, when the threatened invasion by Monmouth induced the king to increase the strength of the army.  At the time of the Revolution the sympathies of the regiment were divided, their Colonel, Lord Huntingdon, remaining loyal to king James, while others of the officers advocated the cause of the Prince of Orange.  When the country had settled down under the new regime the 13^th was employed in Scotland, taking part in the operations against Edinburgh and in the battle of Killiecrankie.  On the latter occasion, under Colonel Hastings, they shared with the 25^th the praise of being the only regiments that did not behave badly, the commander stating that in the thick of the flight he saw “Hastings on the right sustaining the reputation of the British lion.”  They fought at the Boyne and other Irish battles, and in 1701 commenced the career of Foreign Service in which they have won so great a renown.  They fought at Mineguen and assisted at the sieges of Venloo, St. Michaels, Ruremonde, Liege, and others.  In 1704 Barrymore’s Regiment, as the 13^th were then called, were sent to Gibraltar to assist the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt who was defending Gibraltar, and during the siege Major Moncall of the regiment rendered most important service.  A selected party of French Grenadiers forced their way some distance into the defences when Major Moncall led his men to the charge and drove the bold assailants off.  The 13^th then served at the siege of Barcelona and the relief of St. Matheo.  Shortly after the bulk of the regiment were, at the instance of Lord Peterborough, converted bodily into dragoons.  The nucleus returned home to recruit, and the following year returned again to Portugal, when they fought most gallantly at Caya.  In 1727 they took part in the defence of Gibraltar, after which they remained comparatively inactive till 1743, when they fought at Dettingen, the first name they bear on their colours.  They suffered heavy loss at Fontenoy, after which they returned home and took part in the engagements with the adherents of Prince Charles Edward.  In 1746 they went abroad, and at Roucoux and Val were distinguished for their “heroic conduct.”  Passing over the intervening years, during which they were not engaged in any war of importance, in 1790 we find the 1^st Somersetshire Regiment-to use the title given in 1782-ordered to the West Indies, where, notably at fort Bizzeton, in St.Domingo, they very greatly distinguished themselves.  They returned home “a regimental wreck” in 1796, and after taking part in the suppression of the Irish rebellion went, in 1800, to Egypt.  Here they were brigaded under General Cradock, their own Colonel being Colonel Colville, and at the battle and blockade of Alexandria earned high praise.  Their next fighting of importance was at Martinique, where, as well as at Guadeloupe under General Skinner, they again distinguished themselves.  The 13^th were not engaged in any of the Peninsular battles, but in 1813 were ordered to Canada, where they had their full share in what fighting was to be had.  After a few years at home they were ordered, in 1823, to India, and the following year paid a glorious part in the Burmese War.  Most interesting would it be to follow at length the brave deeds, which are commemorated by “Ava,” but a very brief recapitulation of them must perforce save our purpose.  In the capture of the Rangoon Major Sale of the regiment killed the Burmese commander in single combat, and took his gold-hilted sword and scabbard.  When fear leant prudence to the councils of the “Lord of the White Elephant” the European captives were released, but “Major Sale, of the 13^th Light Infantry-the future hero of Jellalabad-found Mrs. Hudson, of missionary celebrity, bound to a tree and immediately released her.” Throughout the campaign Major-soon afterwards Colonel-Sale was with his brave 13^th, foremost wherever fighting was, and almost invariably the same dispatch that recorded his courage added the ominous words, “severely wounded.”  At Melloone the 13^th, with the 38^th, formed the storming party.  “By these two British regiments, weakened in numbers by war and pestilence to nearly half their proper strength, fifteen thousand well armed men were hunted, in one confused mass, from the strongest works they had ever constructed.”  So fierce and irresistible was the assault that the total casualties of the storming column were only five killed and twenty wounded.  Returning to India, the 13^th had a period of repose for twelve years or so, after which their prowess found another opportunity for assertion in the Afghan War of 1829.  Well, indeed, may the regiment glory in the recollection of Jellalabad, and, like their ancestors of Agincourt,

  “Stand a-tiptoe when that day is named.”

  At Ghuznee they captured two standards.  There were a few of the 13^th amongst the unfortunate captives from Cabul; Lady Sale, the wife of their gallant Colonel, was wounded by a musket-ball, and sent back-happily for her-as a hostage; it was Colonel Dennie of the 13^th who, when rumours of trouble first came from Cabul, foretold with such terribly literal accuracy the ghastly catastrophe that came to pass: - “You will see that not a soul will escape from Cabul but one man, and he will come to tell us that the rest are all destroyed.”  Meanwhile, at Jellalabad, the gallant Sale and the 13^th were stemming the fierce torrent of murder and conquest, and when the time came for the army of Vengeance to start on its righteously stern mission, the command of on the divisions was given to him.  At Jugdulluck, the 13^th, with whom were the 9^th, “sealed the heights, turned the position, and bayoneted the defenders with dreadful slaughter, neither side asking quarter nor hoping for it.”  At Tizeen, that decisive battle that occupied only a few minutes, and where the might of the British power was indelibly written in grim and blood red letters, the 13^th operated in extended order on the right, and the central gorge was passed, “Closed in by companies, fixing their bayonets as they came cheering down the charge.”  When the rescued captives were brought in under an escort led by Sir Robert Sale in person, it is difficult to read without emotion how “the gallant 13^th Light Infantry crowded with loud cheers round the wife and widowed daughter” of their beloved chief.  On their return to India, the brave regiment that had fought so splendidly were received everywhere with praise and applause; garrisons presented arms to them as they passed; public and private bodies vied in doing them honour; and they received from the Sovereign the title of her Consort’s regiment, the right to wear the Royal facings, and the special badge of the “Mural Crown.” Many were the officers of the 13^th who distinguished themselves in that Afghan War, and amongst them was one whose name a few years later was on the lips and in the hearts of all his countrymen-Sir Henry Havelock.

           The 13^th returned to England in 1845, and for a few years enjoyed well-earned repose.  In the Crimean War they were attached to the fourth division, but did not take part in any of three famous battles whose names appear on the colours of the regiments; they bear, however, the comprehensive distinction of “Sevastopol.”  In October 1857, they arrived in India, where they shared in the relief of Azimghur, and “subsequently saw more service in the Jugdespore jungle, and in the Trans-Gogra districts during the years 1858-9.”  After a sojourn at home and in Gibraltar, the Prince Albert’s Light Infantry were ordered to the Cape, and were in the third column of Lord Chelmsford’s army, under Sir Evelyn Wood-subsequently the Flying Column-their own chief being Colonel Victor Gilbert.  At the battle of Kambula, on the 29^th of March 1879, they experienced some severe fighting, and greatly distinguished themselves, they and the 90^th “Vying with each other in noble rivalry, and beating back the hordes of Zulus upon the two most exposed flanks.”  They fought gallantly at Ulundi, where they unfortunately lost Lieutenant Pardoe, who was mortally wounded, and in July received orders to return to England, their departure effecting the disintegration of the famous Flying Column, which had done such great things.  Since the Zulu War, the only active service in which the Somersetshire have been engaged has been with the Burmah expeditionary force, the details of which are of too recent date to come within the scope of this work.  Extracted from ‘Her Majesty’s Army’s’ 

WILLIAM KNOX LEET  (Major, afterwards Major General, C.B.)  1^st Battalion 13^th Prince Albert’s Somersetshire Light Infantry              On March 28^th 1879, the fighting on the Inhlobane Mountain, under Sir Evelyn Wood, was so severe that a retirement was deemed advisable.  During the retreat the Zulus continuously harassed our men.  The 13^th Light Infantry formed part of the small force.  Towards evening Lieutenant A.M. Smith, Frontier Light Horse, had his horse shot from under him, and being closely pursued by the enemy, was on the point of being speared, when Major Leet, galloping to his rescue, took him up behind him, riding with him under rifle fire and a shower of assegais to a place of safety. During the Indian Mutiny General Leet served with marked distinction, both with his battalion under Lord Mark Kerr, and as a Staff Officer to several columns towards the end of the campaign, being twice mentioned in general orders.  Served in South Africa 1878, against Sckukuni, and also in the Expedition to Mandalay 1886-7, in both latter campaigns being mentioned in despatches.  Was in 1887 created a Companion of the Bath, and died on June 29^th 1898, aged 65. (Born November 3^rd 1833.

Midway: The Turning Point by Stan Stokes. (B)