Dillon ' s Regiment Dillon ' s Regiment ( French : " régiment de Dillon " ) was first raised in Ireland in 1688 by Theobald , 7th Viscount Dillon , for the Jacobite side in the Williamite War . He was then killed at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 . The regiment went to France in May 1690 as part of Lord Mountcashel ' s brigade , in exchange for some veteran French regiments . After the Treaty of Limerick in 1691 , the regiment remained in the service of the kings of France under its present name . It was next commanded in France by Theobald ' s younger son , Colonel Arthur Dillon , until 1733 . The formation continued to recruit from the Wild Geese Irish exile community . By 1757 , its uniform was the Irish Brigade ' s red coats ( a carry over from its Jacobite origins ) , with the black facings indicating the regiment . A member of the Dillon family remained hereditary colonel - proprietor of the regiment up to 1747 . Three caretaker commanders led the regiment until the last Dillon commander was old enough to take over in August 1767 , as Louis XV wanted to maintain the link with the family which had given so much service . As a part of the Irish Brigade , the regiment covered itself in glory at the battle of Fontenoy in 1745 , but suffered heavy losses . It was reinforced by a merger with the régiment de Lally in 1762 and with the régiment de Bulkeley in 1775 . From 1777 to 1782 , the Dillon regiment fought as part of the French expeditionary force in the American Revolutionary War , capturing Grenada in 1779 . It was also involved in the failed Franco - American siege of British - held Savannah in that year . The Irish Brigade remained loyal to the King at the beginning of the French Revolution and this led to its dissolution in 1791 . The constituent regiments lost their traditional titles and uniforms at this time . Along with the other non - Swiss foreign units , the Dillon Regiment was transferred into the regular French Army as line infantry , and given the designation of " 87th Line Infantry Regiment " before being dissolved as a separate entity in 1793 . The second battalion had been destroyed in Saint - Domingue in 1792 and its survivors absorbed into the British Irish Brigade operating in the Caribbean . Its first battalion then became the " 157th Line Infantry Regiment " and the reconstituted second battalion the " 158th Line Infantry Regiment " . Arthur Dillon , the last colonel of the French regiment was guillotined in 1794 during the Reign of Terror . Shadow formations . ( Henry ) Dillon ' s Regiment : Émigré elements of the French regiment passed into William Pitt ' s British Catholic ' Irish Brigade ' in 1794 . These consisted of the greater part of the officers who had emigrated from France , and a new raising on the Dillon lands in Ireland . Henry Dillon , a brother of Arthur Dillon was given command of the regiment . However on campaign in Jamaica and Haiti , it had such losses , mainly due to the unhealthy climate , that it was disbanded in 1798 . The flags and ensigns were returned to Charles , Lord Dillon , head of the Dillon family in Ireland . ( Edward ) Dillon ' s Regiment : ( Edward ) Dillon ' s Regiment of Foot was raised in northern Italy in 1795 , by Col . Edward Dillon , formerly of the Irish Brigade in France , to fight for the English in the Mediterranean . It consisted of various foreign troops , and French emigre officers . It was at Minorca ( 1799 – 1801 ) , fought with distinction in Egypt ( 1801 ) , and was then stationed on Malta ( 1805 – 1808 ) . At that stage the regiment consisted mainly of 450 Spaniards and Sicilians . Later serving in the Peninsular War , it was part of a provisionally named Roll - Dillon battalion , and consisted predominantly of Swiss troops who refused to serve the French Republic . They served in the Anglo - Italian Division : under General William Clinton at the Battle of Castalla in 1813 . This regiment was disbanded in 1814 .