The Devonshire Regiment

Devonshire Regiment
Cap badge of the Devonshire Regiment.
Active	1685–1958
Country	Kingdom of England (1685–1707)  Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800)  United Kingdom (1801–1958)
Branch	British Army
Type	Line infantry
Role	Infantry
Size	1–2 Regular battalions Up to 2 Militia and Reserve battalions Up to 5 Volunteer and Territorial battalions Up to 19 Hostilities-only battalions
Garrison/HQ	Topsham Barracks, Exeter
Nickname(s)	The Bloody Eleventh
Motto(s)	Semper Fidelis (Ever faithful)
Colors	Lincoln green facings
March	We've Lived and We've Loved Together

The Devonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army which served under various titles and served in many wars and conflicts from 1685 to 1958, such as the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1958 the regiment was amalgamated with the Dorset Regiment to form the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment which, in 2007, was amalgamated with the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, the Royal Green Jackets and The Light Infantry to form a new large regiment, The Rifles.

In June, 1667, Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, was granted a commission to raise a regiment of foot, The Marquess of Worcester's Regiment of Foot. The regiment remained in existence for only a few months and was disbanded in the same year. It was re-raised in January 1673 and again disbanded in 1674. In 1682, Henry Somerset was created Duke of Beaufort, and in 1685 he was again commissioned to raise a regiment, The Duke of Beaufort's Regiment of Foot, or Beaufort Musketeers, to defend Bristol against the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion.

The regiment was not required to fight at the time of its formation since the Duke of Monmouth was drawn away from Bristol. Its first action came in Ireland at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690 and the Siege of Limerick in August 1691 when it fought for William III against the deposed James II. It joined the armies of the Duke of Marlborough in Holland in the War of Spanish Succession in 1703, and also fought in the Iberian Campaign, being captured by the French at Portalegre in 1704 and part of the British army defeated at the Battle of Almansa in April 1707. Back in the United Kingdom, it helped put down the Jacobite rising of 1715, fighting the rebels at the inconclusive Battle of Sheriffmuir in November 1715 and at the Battle of Glen Shiel in June 1719.