98th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot

98th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of Foot
Active	1824–1881
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	British Crown
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Line Infantry
Size	One battalion
March	God Bless the Prince of Wales
Engagements	First Opium War Second Anglo-Sikh War
Disbanded	1881, amalgamated with 64th Foot to become The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire) Regiment
Commanders
Colonel of the Regiment	HRH The Prince of Wales
Notable commanders	Sir Colin Campbell

The 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was originally raised in 1824 as the 98th Regiment of Foot, before assuming the title of the 98th (Prince of Wales) Regiment of Foot in 1876. Later, in 1881, following the Childers Reforms of the British Army, the regiment was amalgamated with the 64th Regiment of Foot to become the Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire) Regiment. As the 64th Foot was senior to the 98th, the 98th became the 2nd Battalion in the new regiment. Throughout the course of the regiment's existence it served mostly overseas in South Africa, China and India.

The 98th Foot was raised in Chichester by Lieutenant Colonel Mildmay Fane in response to the threat posed by the French intervention in Spain in March 1824. It was the sixth regiment to be numbered the 98th Foot. The first Colonel of the regiment was Major General Henry Conran. The first set of colours were presented by the Duchess of Richmond at a ceremony at Chichester on 6 October 1824.

In December 1824 the new regiment was posted to South Africa where for all bar two years of its 13-year tour it was based in Cape Town, the other two years being in Grahamstown. During the entire tour no active service was seen. Returning to England in 1837 the regiment was based for two years in Newcastle upon Tyne where it was frequently called out to support the civil powers during the Chartist unrests. At this point command of the regiment was taken over by its most famous commanding officer, Sir Colin Campbell who commanded the regiment for 12 years between 1835 and 1847.

In 1841 the regiment moved to Ireland but very shortly afterwards was sent to China during the First Opium War. Arriving in Hong Kong in 1842 it formed part of the 1st Brigade, commanded by Major General Lord Saltoun, along with the 26th Foot, the Bengal Volunteer Battalion and the grenadier and light companies of the 41st Madras Native Infantry. The brigade advanced on Chinkiang and after an ineffective pursuit of retreating Chinese forces took part in the final advance on Nanking. During this war very few battle casualties were taken but over 50 died from cholera with another over 200 unfit for duty. As a result of its participation in the war, the regiment was awarded its first battle honour "The DRAGON superscribed CHINA". A move to Hong Kong followed where the appalling death rate from disease continued with over 500 dying and sick. This loss of life affected the 98th's commander, Sir Colin Campbell; his biographer, Adrian Greenwood, argues that Campbell was suffering from manic depression at the time.

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