63rd ( West Suffolk ) Regiment of Foot The 63rd Regiment of Foot known as " The Bloodsuckers " , was a British Army regiment in the 18th and 19th centuries . As part of the Childers Reforms , the 63rd and the 96th Regiments of Foot amalgamated in 1881 to form The Manchester Regiment . The lineage of the 63rd is continued today by the Duke of Lancaster ' s Regiment ( King ' s Lancashire and Border ) . History . For most of its history the regiment was a single battalion , but a 2nd Battalion existed from 1804 until 1814 during the period of the Napoleonic Wars . Seven Years ' War . In 1758 , the 2nd Battalion of the 8th ( The King ' s ) Regiment of Foot formed the 63rd Regiment of Foot . Later that year , the newly created 63rd , along with a number of other regiments and various other assets , set off for the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe , which was a French territory , with the intent of capturing the island for Britain during the Seven Years ' War . The invasion began in January of the following year , though many of the soldiers were suffering from a variety of ailments synonymous with service in the Caribbean at that time , which severely sapped the energy and fighting efficiency of the men . The British troops landed after the Royal Navy bombarded Basse - Terre , the west part of the island , including Fort Royal , a large citadel . By 24 January , British troops had entered the main town . The citadel there had been abandoned , though French forces on the island had merely dispersed to fight a guerrilla campaign against the British forces now in control of Guadeloupe . The enemy had a considerable force , a number of companies of marines , as well as a few thousand natives who could prove deadly in terrain that they knew well . The 63rd suffered a number of attacks while garrisoning the citadel alone , the rest of the force having moved to the more hospitable east of the island . During one attack , the regiment ' s commanding officer Lieutenant - Colonel Peter Desbrisay was killed . The French governor finally surrendered on 1 May . The 63rd ' s duties on the island were , however , not over . They remained there for a further five years . The territory was returned to France by the Treaty of Paris . However , this would not be the last time Guadeloupe was captured by Britain in a war against France . American War of Independence . In 1764 the regiment reached Ireland , and would have a largely uneventful time there . In 1775 the 63rd arrived in America in response to a request for reinforcements due to the outbreak of the American War of Independence . The regiment took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill , with a third attack , which ended in a bayonet charge , finally breaking the Americans . The 63rd remained in Boston after the battle , the town becoming increasingly more uneasy to be in . Finally , in March 1776 the regiment , along with the rest of the forces in Boston , departed , heading for Halifax in Canada . The regiment took part in the Battle of Long Island , a devastating blow against the Americans , though astonishingly , the American leader General George Washington , managed to reverse the blow that had been struck against much of the Continental Army ' s morale in this battle , soon after . Grenadier and Light companies of the 63rd also took part in the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown . The main force of the 63rd took part in the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery . In 1777 the regiment moved to Philadelphia and in the following year took part in the Battle of Monmouth . In 1779 the 63rd took part in a number of engagements , though in 1780 the 63rd would become involved in the campaign in the Carolinas , a campaign that would see their most active involvement in the war . The 63rd took part in the siege and subsequent capture of Charleston , and became the garrison force for the town once the rest of the forces proceeded to other objectives . Elements of the 63rd ' s light company had become mounted infantry , in effect dragoon s . That year the dragoons of the 63rd , augmented by a detachment from Tarleton ' s Legion , under the command of the dashing , if somewhat controversial Banastre Tarleton , attacked an American under the command of General Thomas Sumter . Soon after that engagement , the dragoon element of the 63rd , joined Lieutenant - Colonel Banastre Tarleton ' s , taking part in a number of successful harassing engagements against American forces . The regiment also took part in number of battles under the command of Lord Cornwallis between 1780 – 81 , as well as taking part in another engagement near Camden in April 1781 , as part of a force under the command of General Rawdon . In 1782 the regiment was designated the 63rd ( the West Suffolk ) Regiment of Foot . French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars . In 1794 the 63rd joined British forces already taking part in the Flanders Campaign , as part of 1st Brigade commanded by Lieutenant - General Friedrich von Buttlar . The regiment was involved in a number of actions , though in 1795 , the British withdrew from the Netherlands . That same year , the 63rd were part of a force designed to take a number of Caribbean islands under Dutch and French control . However , tragedy struck , when their transport ship sank , with the loss of 150 men of the 63rd . The remnants of the regiment did however take part in the expedition . The regiment took part in a variety of operations in many islands in the Caribbean , remaining in the region until 1799 , when they departed for Britain . In that year the 1st Bn of the 63rd took part in another expedition in the Netherlands , seeing a number of actions in the campaign . Later that year the regiment joined the garrison at Gibraltar . Soon after , it was deployed to Ireland . In 1807 the regiment was involved in a very brief expedition to Madeira , a Portuguese - controlled territory . The expedition was under the command of Major - General William Beresford , soon to make his name in the Peninsula War . Once the expeditionary forces landed , the Portuguese Governor agreed to all demands made by the British . In February 1808 the regiment was stationed in Barbados . They took part the expedition to Martinique , with the intention of capturing the island for Britain , which the British force duly did . On 9 April 1809 , a detachment from the regiment was serving on the Treasury store - ship " Emma " , and so shared in the prize money for the French brig " Navigateur " for which " Emma " was a joint captor with sundry other ships . The 63rd became the garrison for island , suffering heavily from diseases one would expect in such tropical weather at that time . In 1810 , part of the 63rd took part in the capture of Guadeloupe , a duty the regiment had participated in many years before . The 63rd was returned to Martinique , rather than becoming garrison troops for Guadeloupe . In 1814 the regiment was based in Barbados , but just a year later , returned to Guadeloupe with a British force , with the intent of recapturing the island , which had been restored to French rule in 1814 . The regiment finally departed the Caribbean in 1819 . The 2nd Bn of the 63rd took part in the Walcheren Expedition , assisting in the capture of a number of towns on the island . The force , however , would suffer from a terrible illness known as Walcheren Fever , which killed 4 , 000 British soldiers , with many thousands more also suffering from it . It was such a debilitating illness that many soldiers still suffered from its effects in 1812 . Indeed the Duke of Wellington requested that no unit that served in the campaign be sent to him . The Garrison years . In 1820 , the 63rd were deployed to Ireland , a deployment that would last until 1824 . In 1826 , the 63rd was involved in an expedition to Portugal due to fears of impending insurrection in the country , landing in the country in 1827 . The rebel cause largely subsided , thanks largely in part due to the expedition made by the British . In 1829 , the 63rd began providing escorts for convict ships traveling to New South Wales and Van Diemen ' s Land ( now Tasmania ) . The rest of the regiment became garrison troops in the latter colony . A detachment of the regiment was present at the foundation ceremony of Perth in 1829 , and had arrived in Western Australia that same year , on the warship HMS " Sulphur " . The officer commanding the detachment of the 63rd at the ceremony Captain Frederick Chidley Irwin , would later have two stints as administrator of Western Australia . In 1830 the battalion was involved in internal security duties in Van Diemen ' s Land , in order to prevent further incidents by the native Aborigines there . Such duties later expanded to the rest of Australia . The regiment left Australia in 1833 and in 1834 was based in India . In 1838 , the 63rd deployed to Burma , a deployment that proved uneventful , the returning to India in 1842 . They returned to Britain in 1847 . The Crimean War . The 63rd landed in August 1854 from Ireland , the year the Crimean War began . The regiment was part of the 4th Division , which was to play a prominent role in the war . It took four days to complete the landing , a length that would prove indicative of much of the logistics and organisation of the war . The regiment took part in a number of engagements during the Battle of Inkerman . The 63rd , along with the 21st poured heavy fire into a Russian force attacking position known as ' Home Ridge ' . The two regiments fire was horrendous upon the Russians , indeed it completely halted their attack toward the British position . Seemingly under their own authority , the two regiments then advanced , in a professional formation , upon the Russian forces , pushing the enemy back . The engagement became one of movement , with a large dose of hand - to - hand fighting also being involved . The stubbornness of both sides not to withdraw and to concede defeat was evident , with the two British regiments , as well as the Russians suffering rather heavy casualties . Many of the men had been drafted in while the 63rd had been stationed in Ireland , due to shortage of men , which they drastically needed with the outbreak of war . They had no experience of fighting , especially in such incredibly poor conditions as what faced the soldiers that fought in the Crimean War . Despite this fact , many individual soldiers , including many drafted in Ireland , showed immense heroism and performed great deeds of honour during the action . At one point the standard bearers , an Ensign James Hulton Clutterbuck , was killed carrying the Queen ' s Colour , and Ensign Heneage Twysden was mortally wounded carrying the Regimental Colour . Colour Sergeant Robert Hughes and another Sergeant retrieved the fallen Colours despite being wounded themselves and both advanced carrying them under great danger to themselves . Another Sergeant later retrieved the body of the dead Ensign Clutterbuck , in which he succeeded in doing so under great personal danger . Further fierce fighting took place , the two regiments carried on , and soon after , pushed the enemy back a considerable distance . The shot - up Colours are still in the possession of the present - day regiment , The King ' s and remain a vivid symbol of The King ' s bloody past . The 63rd also took part in the bitterly long Siege of Sevastopol . The war had been cruel upon the 63rd , and due to limited manpower in early 1855 , the regiment was withdrawn from the line . They returned later that year after drafts of soldiers arrived to bring the regiment up to a greater strength . The regiment was part of a force designed to assault a part of the great fortress of Sevastopol on 8 September 1855 , during the last day of the long siege , known as the Great Redan . In the early hours of the 9th the Russian forces withdrew , with immense explosions destroying the fortress of Sevastopol , as well as the town itself . An era of relative peace . Many important reforms were implemented in 1873 by the then Secretary of State for War Edward Cardwell , which became known as Cardwell ' s Reforms , though further reforms in 1881 would lead to the amalgamation of the 63rd and 96th into The Manchester Regiment . Upon them departing the Crimea at the end of the war in 1856 , the regiment sailed for Nova Scotia , Canada . Upon their arrival at the dockyard in Halifax , a large crowd of many thousands came out to greet the 63rd , as if they were a modern - day football team . They remained in Canada until 1864 , having played a prominent role in the country . They returned to the UK in 1865 , spending a number of years there in various parts of the country . In 1870 the 63rd reached the sub - continent , being based in various parts of British India . The regiment had a brief involvement in the Second Afghan War in 1878 . In 1881 , while still stationed in India , the regiment , under Childers Reforms , a continuation of Cardwell ' s Reforms , saw the 63rd amalgamate with the 96th Regiment of Foot , to form The Manchester Regiment , becoming the city regiment of its namesake .