44th ( East Essex ) Regiment of Foot The 44th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army . After 1782 the regiment became known as the 44th ( East Essex ) Regiment of Foot . The lineage of the 44th transferred to the Essex Regiment in 1881 . Through the process of amalgamation and restructuring of the Army , the lineage now rests with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment . Origins : Long ' s Regiment . The regiment was raised in 1741 as James Long ' s Regiment of Foot ( the tradition at the time to name regiments after their Commanding Officers , in this case Colonel James Long ) . Long ' s Regiment saw active service in the Jacobite Rising ( 1745 ) , including the Battle of Prestonpans , and served in Flanders ( 1748 ) . Originally ranked as the 55th Regiment of the Line , the regiment was re - ranked as the 44th in 1748 following the disbandment of other regiments - the removal of the 11 Marine regiments from the British Army ' s numbering system . Service in North America . The regiment was renamed the 44th Regiment of Foot in 1751 when British regiments ceased to be named for their Colonels . The regiment saw active service overseas in North America and participated in the French and Indian War and in the American Revolution . Notably , the regiment fought at Braddock ' s defeat ( 1755 ) , the Battle of Carillon ( 1758 ) , the Battle of Brooklyn ( 1776 ) , the Battle of Brandywine ( 1777 ) , and the Battle of Monmouth ( 1778 ) . In 1782 , most British regiments of foot were given county designations , and the 44th became known as the 44th , or East Essex Regiment of Foot . Napoleonic Wars ( 1792 – 1815 ) . 1st Battalion , 44th Regiment of Foot . The regiment was increased in strength during the Napoleonic Wars and the original regimental strength ( a single battalion ) was organised as 1st Battalion . The 1st Battalion saw active service in Spain ( 1814 ) and North America ( 1814 - 1815 ) . Notably , the battalion fought at the Battle of Bladensburg ( 1814 ) , the Battle of North Point ( 1814 ) , and the Battle of New Orleans ( 1815 ) . 2nd Battalion , 44th Regiment of Foot . The regiment increased in strength during the Napoleonic Wars and a new battalion was organised as 2nd Battalion in 1803 . The 2nd Battalion saw active service in the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign . Notably , the battalion fought at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro ( 1811 ) , the Siege of Badajoz ( 1812 ) , the Battle of Salamanca ( 1812 ) , the Battle of Quatre Bras ( 1815 ) , and the Battle of Waterloo ( 1815 ) . The battalion was disbanded in 1816 at the conclusion of the wars . Capture of French Imperial Eagle . The 2nd Battalion won great glory for the 44th at the Battle of Salamanca in 1812 when it captured the French Imperial Eagle , the equivalent of a British Regiment ' s Colours , of the French 62nd Regiment . The Eagle was carried on parade by the Essex Regiment , a tradition inherited by the 3rd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and now the 1st Battalion . First Anglo - Burmese War ( 1824 – 1826 ) . The 44th Foot saw active service in the First Anglo - Burmese War . The 44th was serving as garrison in the Bengal Presidency , India and joined British and British East India Company regiments at Chittagong in January 1825 . The regiment fought at Arakan on in March , capturing the city and then proceeding to clear the Arakan Province of enemy forces . Relatively few casualties were incurred during the fighting , but with the onset of the rainy season the European regiments ( the 44th and the 54th ) suffered from virulent fevers and dysentery until scarcely a man remained fit for duty . The regiment was awarded the battle honour " Ava " to its Regimental Colour . First Anglo - Afghan War ( 1839 – 1842 ) . The 44th Foot fought in the First Anglo - Afghan War and the regiment formed the rearguard on the retreat from Kabul . After a continuous running battle in two feet of snow , the force had been reduced to fewer than forty men . On 13 January 1842 , the few survivors of the decimated regiment made a last stand against Afghan tribesmen on a rocky hill near the village of Gandamak . The ground was frozen and icy . The men had no shelter and were starving . Only a dozen of the men had working muskets , the officers their pistols and a few unbroken swords . When the Afghans surrounded them on the morning of the 13th the Afghans announced that a surrender could be arranged . " Not bloody likely ! " was the bellowed answer of one British sergeant . It is believed that only two survived the massacre . Most notable was Captain Thomas Souter , who by wrapping the regimental colours around himself was taken prisoner , being mistaken by the Afghan as a high military official . The other was Surgeon William Brydon who rode his exhausted horse for days until he came to the British garrison at Jalalabad . A vivid , if romanticised , depiction entitled " Last Stand of the 44th Regiment at Gundamuk " was painted by the artist William Barnes Wollen in 1898 which now hangs in the Chelmsford and Essex museum in Oaklands Park , London Road , Chelmsford . This disaster to British arms served to encourage the Indian nationalists who were leaders in the great mutiny in India ( 1857 ) . Crimean War ( 1853 – 1855 ) . The 44th Foot was reconstituted and saw active service in Turkey and Russia during the Crimean War . The regiment was awarded three battle honours to its Regimental Colour for service in the Crimea . The Alma . The 44th served at the Battle of the Alma on 20 September 1854 as part of the 6th Brigade of 3rd Division , under command of General Sir Richard England . Inkerman . The 44th served at the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854 as part of the 2nd Brigade of 3rd Division , under command of General Sir Richard England . The division formed the British reserve during the battle . Sevastopol . The 44th served at the Siege of Sevastopol from September , 1854 to September , 1855 . The regiment formed part of Sir William Eyre ' s brigade in 3rd Division . The regiment served throughout the long siege , and notably took part in the attack on dockyard creek on 18 June 1855 and the capture of the cemetery - the sole success achieved . Sevastapol cannon Second Opium War ( 1857 – 1862 ) . The 44th Foot saw active service in China during the Second Opium War . 44th in China . The 44th were serving in Madras , India in 1860 as the garrison for Fort St George . Drafts of reinforcements arrived during 1859 and the regiment was composed of 35 officers and 1 , 176 organised in 10 companies . At the outbreak of war with China , 5 companies of the regiment embarked on transports on 31 January . The remainder of the regiment embarked on 3 March . On arrival in China the commanding officer Colonel Charles William Dunbar Staveley was appointed to command the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division , and command of the 44th fell to Lieutenant Colonel MacMahon . Taku Forts . The regiment participated in the capture of the Taku Forts on 21 August 1860 as part of the Anglo - French forces under command of General Sir James Hope Grant . The 44th were in the vanguard of the assault on the North Taku entrenchments . The attacking force crossed a series of ditches and bamboo - stake palisades under heavy Chinese musketry , and tried to force entrance by the main gate . When this effort was unsuccessful , an assault party climbed the wall to an embrasure and forced entry to the fort . The first British officer to enter the fort was Lieutenant Robert Montresor Rogers of the E Company , who was awarded the Victoria Cross for his conspicuous bravery . He was closely followed by Private John McDougall who was also awarded the VC . During the fighting the 44th had Captain George Ingham and Lieutenant Robert Montressor Rogers severely wounded , fourteen men killed , one drummer and forty - five men wounded . For this bloody action the Essex Regiment was awarded the battle honor " Taku Forts " to its Regimental Colour . China Garrison Duty . On 25 August the 44th embarked for Shanghai and landed at the city on 10 September . The regiment garrisoned the city until 15 November when it embarked for Hong Kong , arriving 27 November . Lieut . - Colonel MacMahon was appointed commandant of the island , and command of the regiment passed to Brevet Lieutenant - Colonel Andrew Browne . One wing of the regiment garrisoned Hong Kong island , with the other quartered at Kowloon on the mainland . The regiment left China in October 1861 and returned to India . In fiction . Sharpe . The capture of a French Imperial Eagle by the fictional " South Essex Regiment " in the Sharpe novels of Bernard Cornwell is based upon the 2 / 44th ' s battle honour . The South Essex is depicted as having yellow coat facings like the 44th ( East Essex ) . Sharpe ' s Waterloo again uses a historical incident involving the 44th as a backdrop for an action by the " South Essex " , the back - to - back stand against French cavalry at the Battle of Quatre Bras . Flashman . The retreat from Kabul and the events leading up to it form a major part of the plot of George MacDonald Fraser ' s Flashman . He goes on to meet the regiment in Flashman at the Charge and Flashman and the dragon , but they feature only as incidental colour . In the series the titular character names his house " Gandamak " . The Essex Regiment ( 1881 ) . On 1 July 1881 , as part of the Childers Reforms which removed the numbering of Regiments , the 44th ( East Essex ) Regiment of Foot united with the 56th ( West Essex ) Regiment of Foot to form the Essex Regiment .