Note 42 — Chapter VI · THE REFORM OF THE ARMY.

Fortescue ('History of the British Army') says that the regiment was clothed in dark brown. This would seem to have been the first regiment in the British army to be designated "Light Infantry"; it was numbered the 80th, but was disbanded within a few years. In 1759 Morgan's Light Infantry was raised, numbered the 90th, and disbanded in 1763. For the next forty years no light infantry regiments appeared in the Army List. The following are the dates of the formation of other light infantry regiments: 1803, 52nd and 43rd; 1808, 68th and 85th; 1809, 71st and 51st; 1815, 90th; 1822, 13th; 1840, 105th and 106th; 1855, Royal Marines; 1858, 32nd. There are now in the Regular Army seven light infantry regiments, each with two battalions.