86th Regiment of Foot

86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot
Regimental colours
Active	1793–1881
Country	Kingdom of Great Britain (1793–1800)  United Kingdom (1801–1881)
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Size	One battalion (two battalions 1813–1814)
Garrison/HQ	Victoria Barracks, Belfast
Engagements	French Revolutionary Wars Second Anglo-Maratha War Napoleonic Wars Indian Rebellion

The 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Irish Rifles in 1881.

The regiment was raised in Shropshire by Major-General Sir Cornelius Cuyler as Sir Cornelius Cuyler's Shropshire Volunteers, in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 30 October 1793. It was absorbed into the British Army the following year as the 86th (Shropshire Volunteers). Serving as marines, the regiment embarked on ships in January 1795. The men took part in the Battle of Hyères Islands in July 1795. It absorbed the remnants of the disbanded 118th Regiment of Foot (Fingall's Regiment), which had been raised the previous year for service as marines, in October 1795.

The regiment embarked for the Cape of Good Hope arriving there in September 1796 with orders to consolidate the position in the colony following the surrender of Dutch Forces earlier that month. The regiment was dispatched to Maddras in India in February 1799 arriving there in May 1799. It then transferred to Bombay in July 1799. From there three companies were deployed to Ceylon in late 1800.

The regiment embarked for Egypt in April 1801 for service in the Egyptian Campaign. The regiment landed at Suez and following a long march across northern Egypt and the surrender of Cairo by the French Army in June 1801, the regiment occupied the citadel at Cairo. The regiment returned to Bombay in spring 1802 and then provided storming parties for two unsuccessful assaults at the Siege of Bharatpur in January 1805 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Twenty-five soldiers from the regiment were killed in the disastrous operation. The regiment returned to Bombay in March 1806 and immediately embarked for Goa. The regiment became the 86th (Leinster) Regiment of Foot in October 1809.